Chapter 4

Episode 2, The Avatar Returns

As I was running, I thought about the worst scenarios that could happen, but I dismissed that thought and concentrated on running faster. In the distance I could see the village and the Fire Navy Ship halfway in it. When I got nearer, I could make out the villagers all standing in front of the ship. When I arrived in the village, I stood behind the crowd and saw Sokka lying there covered in snow. Oh no, I hope he's not injured.

"Where are you hiding him?" someone asked. I only noticed him now, he was standing in front of Katara and Gran-gran, but his voice sounded so young like he was about one or two years older than me. The boy looked around and when no one answered his question he grabbed Gran-gran and held her on the collar of her jacket, "He'd be about this age, master of all elements." He explained to us. He's looking for Aang but still nobody knows what he is talking about. Ughh, why are they so stupid. When, again, no one answered he pushed Gran-gran into Katara's arms. The boy looked angry and he shot fire in our direction, "I know you're hiding him." He yelled. I wanted to step forward but Sokka beat me to it. He grabbed his weapon and ran up at the stranger to attack him. Unfortunately, my brother doesn't know that you shouldn't yell when you try to do a sneak attack so the boy dodged his attack and Sokka landed on the floor in front of the village. I rolled my eyes and face palmed.

Sokka quickly turned around and threw his boomerang at the boy but he was fast enough to duck. "Show no fear." A cute little boy from Sokka's warrior training threw his spear to Sokka. He caught it and tried to attack the fire boy again. He broke the spear with Sokka's every attempt to stab him and used the last part of the spear to hit Sokka on the head three times. My brother fell on the ground but luckily the boomerang came back without the strange boy noticing. It hit him in the head and he got furious. Fire came out of his hands and he was ready to attack or to kill Sokka. I quickly made my way through the crowd and I made it on time. The boy shot fire at Sokka, though I couldn't push Sokka out of the way anymore, I shot my own blue fire out of my fist to stop his orange flame from hitting Sokka. His flame collided with my flame and it actually worked, the flames disappeared and Sokka or the others weren't harmed. All the villagers gasped and the boy looked confused. I only realized now what I have done: I revealed my fire bending not only to the entire village but also to a part of the Fire Navy. Way to go, great.

"You're a traitor to the Fire Nation." the boy exclaimed. What? A traitor? He's insane, but before he or anyone else could say anything, Aang showed up on a penguin and hit the boy with it. He flew in the air, his helmet falling from his head in the process, and fell back on the ground with a thud. I had to cover my mouth with a hand to prevent a laugh from escaping my lips. The children cheered when they saw Aang, and he stopped in front of us getting up from the penguin's back.

"Hey guys." Aang greeted us like nothing happened. "Hey Aang, thanks for coming." Sokka greeted back. Meanwhile the strange boy stood up from the ground and wow, he was hot. He had a scar on the left side of his face, it was going over his eye to his ear and it looked like he was burned. But in my opinion the scar made him even more attractive. His eyes were of a golden colour and he had a ponytail. Okay, he definitely should change his hairstyle but the rest is perfect. I shook my head to dismiss that thought. I can't think about his sexiness when he is about to kill us. At least it is my destiny to die of the hands of a very handsome guy. Okay, I need to stop thinking about this and start concentrating.

He motioned for the other Fire Navy people to surround Aang. Luckily, I was fast enough to take a step back. Aang used his glider to air bend the snow onto the enemies and stop them from attacking him. Scar face looked up balled his fists and the snow all over him melted.

"Looking for me?" Aang asked. "You're the air bender? You're the Avatar?" the scarred boy asked sceptically and everyone gasped. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter, training, meditating. You're just a child." Yeah, way to state the obvious. "Well, you're just a teenager." Aang responded raising his eyebrows. I had to chuckle at his statement. The scarred boy didn't like that and attacked Aang by punching fire at him. Aang tried to avoid getting hit with swinging his glider.

But the boy didn't stop shooting fire at him, and he couldn't avoid all the fire so the fire almost hit the villagers. When Aang noticed that he stopped dodging the attacks, "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" Aang suggested. What? Is he stupid? I told him to leave so the Fire Nation won't find him, and he is practically going there himself. The boy got out of his fighting position and nodded.

The guards grabbed Aang and went to the ship, "Take the traitor as well." He orders the other guards before turning around and following Aang. I didn't realize that he meant me until the two guards grabbed me taking me to the ship. "Let me go." I shouted trying to wiggle out of their grasps. Sokka stood up and ran after us, "Hey, you can't just take my sister! Stop!" but he was knocked out by one of them. Katara was so under shock she couldn't even move a muscle.

I still tried to wiggle myself free when the boy shouted, "Head a course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home." The ramp behind be closed and I couldn't even look at my family for one last time. Maybe it was better for me since I revealed my bending and they would have banished me anyway. They were taking me on deck where Aang was already standing. Scar face took Aang's glider and when I stood next to Aang the two guards let me go. I shook my arms since their grip was so tight, my upper arms will certainly be bruised tomorrow.

I hit Aang on the back of his head, "You brainless piece of elements" I whispered near his ear. Before Aang could respond to my little outburst the boy interrupted, "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father," he examined the glider and continued, "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised my monks. Take the Avatar to the prison hold and take this to my quarters." He gave Aang's glider to the old man standing next to him.

Two guards grabbed Aang and guided him down the stairs to the prison cells, "Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me." The old man asked on of the many guards on this ship. I chuckled at the man, he actually seemed nice and funny. "Take the traitor to the prison hold on the other side of the ship. She shall not see the Avatar." Ponytail ordered again. Two guards grabbed me again, "Hey let me go. I swear if you don't let go of me, I will burn you to death." I threatened them but they completely ignored me. We went down the stairs and through dark corridors until we arrived at a door. it looked like a normal door but once we entered it there was a cell in the room, isolated from other cells. One guard unlocked the cell and the other pushed me in. I fell on my knees and they locked my cell and the normal looking door. As if I could escape from here.

It was so cold in here, the entire ship was made out of metal. I only has a little window here in this room but in my cell I had nothing, not a bank to sit on not a blanket and not even a toilet. I mean, what if I need to go to the toilet. What kind of prison cell is this? I sat down on the floor hugging my knees and putting my head down on them. I really am screwed. I never get to see my family again who probably hates me right now. I am a prisoner to the Fire Nation. And last but not least I am either going to rot in this cell before we arrive in the Fire Nation or they will kill me when we get there.

My head shot up when I heard someone outside the door. I stood up and tried to see who it was through the little window in the door. No way! I smiled when I saw Aang tying to get the door open but it didn't work. The whole crew is probably looking for him now and if he doesn't go now, they will catch him again. "Go! Now!" I shouted but he only shook his head signalling me that he wouldn't go without me. I saw guards turning the corner and spotting Aang. He noticed them too and panicked, "Leave" I shouted. He turned to face me and mouthed 'sorry, I'll come back' then he turned around and left.

I sat back down and heard shouts and other noises like people fighting. I only hope Aang can escape. Suddenly I felt the ship crash into something and one part of the roof gave in to the heavy ice which fell on the ship. I looked up to see a hole where I could easily climb up on the deck. When I got on deck I stood up and looked around. The whole front of the ship was covered in ice and snow, the crew was frozen, one iceberg was left without its top and Aang was gone. Guess, I'll have to try escaping in another way.

"Good news for the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid" the old man from earlier spoke up. "That kid, uncle, just did this." Scar boy stated and a laugh escaped my lips. The boy turned his head to me and narrowed his eyes, "You," he pointed his index finger at me, "You will help me find the Avatar." He said it as if it was obvious that I would be helping him voluntarily.

"No" I stood my ground and crossed my arms over my chest. Aang just escaped and I definitely won't help him find Aang. I'll die anyways soon, so they won't get my help in anything. "You will, and I won't underestimate him again," he responded turning his attention to the huge amount of ice in front of us, "Dig the ship out and follow them," he ordered his crew who was busy freeing the other members from the ice, "As soon as you're done with that." He added when he noticed this.

Did he just say 'follow them'? I quickly turned my attention back to scar boy and walked over to him. "Them? Who is them?" I wanted to know. He ignored me completely and grabbed my arm leading me to his quarters. He opened and metal door and closed it behind him as soon as we entered his room.

"Where is he going?" scar boy demanded his voice raising. Wow, he really was kind of obsessed with the Avatar or something. "I don't know." I answered his question truthfully, but he didn't believe me. "Fine, then you will rot in your cell until you decide to tell me." He shouted and I flinched, I didn't expect him to be so aggressive and loud. He pushed me back out of the room and lead me down the stairs to another cell room because my old cell I kind of free.

Great, now I'm in the same situation like a few minutes before. At least this cell had a bank in it, and I laid down folding my hands over my stomach closing my eyes. Not long after I decided to lay down someone entered my room. I opened one eye to see who it was and swung my legs over the bank to sit up when I saw it was the funny old man. He held two cups of steaming hot tea in his hands.

"Hello," he greeted me sitting down in front of my cell and offering me one cup. I got up and sat down in front of him, only the bars between us now, taking the cup from him. "I'm Iroh, but you can call me uncle Iroh if you want. What's your name, dear?" he asked me with a small smile. "I won't tell you anything." The words came out of my mouth before I even noticed. I didn't want to be rude but I couldn't shook the feeling away that scar boy sent Iroh to get me to talk. The only thing is I don't even know where Aang is going.

"I am actually here to warm you up with a cup of Jasmine tea. I didn't know which one your favourite is, so I made Jasmine tea. But I guess everyone likes Jasmine tea." He told me shrugging his shoulders with the last sentence. That's such a sweet gesture, I smiled and mumbled a 'Thank you' before taking a sip of the tea. "Wow, That's the best tea I've ever drunk." It was beyond delicious. Iroh smiled brightly at my little compliment, "Thank you. I also wanted to apologize for my nephew's behaviour, he really can be a hothead sometimes." He chuckled at his own pun. "Really? I hardly noticed." I responded bitterly rolling my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, Iroh was such a sweet and nice man and I didn't want to be so unpolite, but I actually didn't know how to act. I mean, I don't get kidnapped everyday, and I don't know how to talk to my kidnapper's uncle, so, sarcasm and rudeness, my survival instincts kicked in.

Iroh looked at me and seemed deep in thought. He cleared his throat, "You look familiar. Do I know you or your parents?" "I don't think so. I mean, my family comes from the water tribe." I answered his question, he must have taken me for someone else.

"I have a friend from the southern water tribe. You know, some people fled from the Fire Nation and its cruelty." He told me. "I guess the friend of yours is probably dead by now. The Fire Nation attacked our tribe and killed many people including my mother. And the men, including my father, left to fight in the war. So I think my guess is most likely true." I explained him with a bit sympathy in my voice. I know it's hard to lose someone you are close to, I learned that the hard way by first loosing my mother forever and my dad... I don't even know if he will come back but it doesn't matter anymore because I most likely won't be there if he comes back.

"I am sorry to hear that." Iroh shook his head in disappointment of his Nation, "I think you shouldn't be sleeping here tonight." He changed the subject. But before he could continue to say anything else, his nephew barged into the room.