ATLA - Soaring - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“We need to talk.”

Trying to lighten the mood a little, Sora put on a shocked face, “No! You can't break up with me!”

That shocked everyone for a moment that ended when Sokka had to cover his face to keep from laughing out loud too much. Katara had a bit of a smile as well. Aang though, he looked serious still. His eyes narrowed at Sora while he pushed on, “What you did to Zuko, it was wrong. Air Nomads are peaceful, pacifistic. We don't look for fights and we don't kill, anything. We're supposed to pursue spiritual enlightenment and detachment from wealth and worldly affairs.”

The mood immediately dropped. Sora let out a sigh and looked Aang straight in the eyes, “I'm not an Air Nomad and I never have been. The standards and beliefs of the Air Nomads mean nothing to me. The only thing we have in common is being able to Airbend. Besides which. You're wrong.”

Aang eyes widened, “I'm not wrong! I was there! I was raised by the monks and learned everything they could teach me!”

Sora nodded along, “I believe you did. Though clearly they didn't teach you that fighting to protect not just your life, but the lives of others is just.”

Aang opened his mouth to refute Sora, but Sora just plowed over him, “It wasn't just Air Nomad bodies I buried at the temple.”

That brought about a shocked silence that allowed Sora to explain, “I buried Fire Nation soldiers as well. I wasn't sure until I saw those guys at the village. There were dead bodies wearing similar armor at the temple. Now. If the monks never fought, never killed, why were there dead Fire Nation soldiers?”

Aang looked shocked. His eyes moved back and forth as he tried to think of an excuse. Finally he voiced, “Maybe they killed each other or... something.”

Everyone could clearly hear how little Aang believed that. Sora though, shook his head in denial, “One of the monks I buried, he was surrounded by seventeen different bodies. I remember that one specifically because he was the one surrounded by the most bodies and he wore a necklace no one else had on.”

Aang's head snapped up to stare at Sora at that declaration. He swallowed thickly as he asked, “The necklace, what did it look like.”

Sora crossed his arms over his chest and described it, “Large, wooden, and inscribed with the symbol for Air Bending.”

Aang hung his head while speaking softly, “Monk Gyatso, he was my teacher.”

Sora nodded in understanding. He knew the pain of losing your teacher and could sympathize with Aang over their mutual loss. He let the silence drag for a moment before he spoke again, “I took inspiration from Monk Gyatso. He fought to the end, he fought with his life on the line and was clearly unafraid of taking the lives of those trying to kill him. I don't know how you were raised, but I do know it has nothing to do with me. I plan to follow the example set by Monk Gyatso and fight to the end, even taking lives, if necessary.” He narrowed his eyes at Aang, “But not frivolously. I didn't kill the Firebenders, or their leader. I disabled the leader in the most effective way possible, showed him that I could potentially kill him at any moment, then ordered him to leave civilians alone from now on. Or else.”

Aang looked conflicted, “But that was an act of violence! You should've...”

Sora cut him off, “Should've what? Talked to him? Asked nicely? His people were burning down homes. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but it's really damn cold around here. What do you imagine would happen to those people if too many homes burned down? You want them sleeping out side so they can die of the cold?”

Sora let out a long sigh, “Look, Aang, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life or how to do your Avatar thing. At the same time, I expect you to let me live mine. I promise, I wont go around murdering random people, but I will defend myself and the people I care about. I will end threats, permanently.”

Aang still looked conflicted, but Sora could see he was thinking. Aang's eyes seemed to finally take in the dark blue outfit Sora was wearing. It looked nothing like Air Nomad clothing. The cut, colors, and designs adorning it paid some tribute to Airbending, but none to Air Nomads. Aang seemed to finally understand that Sora was not one of his people. He was an Airbender and not an Air Nomad, a distinction Aang would have to get used to from now on.

Aang silently climbed to his feet and made his way to sit on top of Aapa's head. Silence reigned as no one seemed to know what to say. Sora tried to break the mood when he saw Sokka wiping the Kyoshi Warrior makeup off of his face with a rag, “Nice dress Sokka.”

That earned him a glare from Sokka, a laugh from Katara, and a small chuckle from Aang. The moment might have been a bit tense, but it was now in the past and they could move forward, together.

-----Line Break-----

Zuko paced around his room on his ship. He was angry, no beyond angry. His crew had already lost sight of the Avatar. It was nearly impossible for his ship to keep up with the Avatar unless his beast flew in a straight line over water. That was frustrating, but not the main source of his anger. No, that was reserved for the Airbender that had humiliated him.

Just thinking of that man sent a shiver down Zuko's spine. Zuko knew fear and despair, his own father had taught him their taste. This new Airbender had terrified him far more than his father's cold indifference had. Just remembering how helpless he'd felt sent a shiver of fear down his spine that quickly morphed into anger.

How dare that upstart peasant threaten him! He was the prince of the Fire Nation! His nation ruled almost the entire world! Yet a single Airbender dared to threaten him?! Worse, he believed the Airbender would follow through with his threat. His experience with the Avatar showed that the Avatar was just a child, in all respects. The Avatar didn't really fight back against people. He dodged, evaded, and ran away like a coward. This new Airbender though... He attacked without mercy. If he'd so desired, Zuko knew he'd be dead right now.

This couldn't stand. He turned on his heels and stomped out of his room and through the ship until he located his uncle, “Uncle! I need to speak with you.”

Iroh looked up from the Pai Sho board he was playing on and studied his nephew. He didn't say anything, letting Zuko speak first was generally the best way to get his nephew to talk about his problems. He was disappointed when Zuko continued.

“I need to speak with you.” Zuko narrowed his eyes at his uncles opponents at the Pai Sho table, “Privately.”

Iroh let out a put upon sigh as the others got the message and quickly vacated the room. After they left, Zuko began to pace back and forth, clearly angry and upset about something. Iroh patiently waited and his patience was rewarded a few minutes later, “Uncle, what do you know of Airbenders?”

Iroh shrugged his shoulders, “Not much aside from what is written in the history books. The Air Nomads were a peaceful people more concerned with spirituality than the concerns of the world. Why?”

Zuko turned to face his uncle, “I was almost killed by one today.”

Iroh sat up straighter and paid much closer attention to Zuko, “The Avatar almost killed you?”

Zuko shook his head, “No. There was another Airbender there. I didn't even see the Avatar until they were fleeing. No, this Airbender came when I called out for the Avatar to face me.” Zuko's eyes darkened as he went back to that moment in is mind, “The new Airbender, he's different from the Avatar. He didn't hesitate to attack me and when he did...” Zuko shivered in remembrance, “Uncle... he... he pulled the very air from my lungs. I couldn't breath, I couldn't Firebend. I was completely at his mercy.”

Iroh instantly went from lazy and laid back to serious. Zuko was rather surprised to see the change in his uncle's demeanor, “Tell me everything.”

Zuko did so, explaining and describing everything he could remember from the moment he'd met Sora until they left the island on Aapa. Iroh listened closely to everything his nephew said contemplating on it all. When Zuko finished, iroh was silent for a few moments before he let out a long sigh, “You must be careful around this new Airbender.”

Iroh climbed to his feet when he saw Zuko's face scrunching up as he geared up for a rant. Iroh cut him off by slashing his arm through the air, “Listen! The Avatar is an Air Nomad as well as an Airbender. Do NOT mistake the two for being the same. It is the Air Nomad's that were peaceful, who only defended and dodged, rarely attacking. This is all you have experienced from the Avatar. This new boy is an Airbender only and, judging from what he did to you, either a Master, or very close to becoming one.”

Iroh began to pace around the room as he continued, “Not much is known about the Airbender's these days since one hasn't been seen since Fire Lord Sozin wiped them out.” Iroh faced Zuko and narrowed his amber eyes, “However, when I was a young man I once entered the private archives in search of information on them. It was idle curiosity on my part, but I learned much from reading the reports of the battle.”

His eyes locked on Zuko's, “If you only listen to what is taught in schools, you will be led to believe that our victory over the Air Nomads was a simple thing thanks to the power of Sozin's Comet. You would be wrong. Even with the power of the comet greatly strengthening their Firebending, it took the lives of a dozen Firebenders to defeat each Airbending Master.”

Zuko looked shocked at that information. Iroh studied his nephew for a moment seeing if Zuko understood. Seeing that he did, Iroh nodded his head and continued, “If this new boy is an Airbending Master and not one restrained by youth and the beliefs of the Air Nomad's, then he is a most dangerous opponent. Do not ever underestimate what he is capable of, it could cost you your life.”

Zuko looked like he wished to protest, but the memory of not being able to breath was still too fresh and forced him to nod in agreement. Iroh nodded back and finished the conversation with, “I would also suggest you follow along with what he said.” He narrowed his eyes at Zuko, “Attacking civilians is dishonorable and should be avoided as much as possible regardless.”

Zuko, looking slightly shamed, left the room to return to his own.

-----Line Break-----

Sora sighed as he floated along next to Aapa as they flew through the air on the way to their next destination, Omashu. Things had been rather awkward between himself and Aang ever since they'd left Kyoshi. Katara and Sokka hadn't exactly had issues with Sora's actions. Unlike Aang, the siblings understood what war really meant. They understood that Sora hadn't actually done anything all that bad and even approved of the threat leveled against Zuko. Sokka especially approved.

This made things awkward for everyone as Aang was sort of the odd man out with his overly peaceful beliefs. Still, a few days away from the issue had allowed the rift to mend some. Aang had even resumed working with Sora on his Airbending after they made camp the previous night.

Aang had also officially declared Sora an Airbending Master. It only took so long because Sora's style was significantly different than what Aang had been taught by the monks. According to Aang, sora's bending was more primal, using shorter movements to accomplish much the same as Aang himself could. The only downside being that Sora's Airbending, while formidable, wasn't quite as flexible as Aangs own. It wasn't better, or worse, than Aangs, just different with different strengths and weaknesses.

Sora still refused to shave his head and allow Aang to tattoo him. That was an Air Nomad thing and not something he was interested in. Besides, he really liked his hair and, if Aria's reaction to him was anything to go by, so did women.

Sora was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Aapa groaning. He flipped over from flying on his back to look in the direction they were going. Another benefit of flying on his own, other than avoiding Aang and awkward conversation, was his view of where they were going wasn't blocked by Aapa's body.

Omashu was quite the sight. Despite it's grand look, the first though to pass through Sora's mind was 'bland'. Sure the place looked impressive, but the fact that everything was made out of the same stone by Earthbending gave it a bland monotone look. A little paint would go a long way to making the place look much more impressive. But as it was? Tan. That was the only thing that Sora could think about looking at it.

The group landed a fair distance away from the city. As everyone else climbed off of Aapa and joined Sora on the ground, Sora gave Aang a curious look, “Why are we stopping out here?”

Aang looked slightly ashamed for a moment and explained, “It was my fault Kyoshi was attacked. I think it would be best if I entered Omashu in disguise so the same thing doesn't happen.”

Sora gave Aang a long look and scoffed, “There's a huge difference between a small village and a massive city. Especially a massive city that's remained standing during the entire war.”

Aang frowned then shook his head, “I still think it's best that I not announce my presence here.”

Sokka spoke up, “You need a disguise.”

Aang nodded, “Yeah, but what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?”

Sokka frowned but when Aapa let out a groan, he grinned, “Exactly!”

Thanks to some hair from Aapa, Aang sported a mustache and a big head of white hair tied together with a piece of rope. In Sora's opinion, it was a horrible disguise as it didn't hide anything but Aang's bald head and part of his face. They didn't change anything else, including his brightly colored clothing and the obvious tattoo's on his hands. Still, Sora wasn't going to say anything. It's not like they were going into enemy territory or anything.

There was a small altercation on the bridge but they got into the city just fine. Though Sora had to fight hard not the laugh when he personally witnessed the cabbage merchant getting his cart blown off of the bridge into the deep chasm below. The pained cry of 'My cabbages!' nearly had Sora laughing himself half to death. As it was he was forced to cover his mouth while his shoulders hook and endure the weirded out looks from his companions.

As they got further into the city, they got their first look at the mail system. Sora was willing to admit that it was clever, the Pony Express of the bending world. Minus the countrywide delivery, anyway. Aang gestured to the stone boxes moving on the ramps with a bright grin, “This is the Omashu delivery system! Miles and miles of tubes and shoots. Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down.”

Sokka broke in with an apathetic, “Greeeeeeat, so they get their mail on time.”

Aang completely ignored Sokka's tone as he happily replied, “They do get their mail on time! But my friend Bumi found a better use for them!”

He didn't explain further and instead lead the group deeper into the city and up several levels until he found an unoccupied slide. Grinning almost manically beneath his fake mustache, Aang grabbed an empty nearby stone box and moved it to the slide. He looked at the others, “Climb in!”

There was no questions from Katara or Sokka, oddly enough, as both climbed into the box behind Aang. They looked at Sora, still standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Sora raised an eyebrow at the distinct lack of room for him in the box, “I guess I'll meet you guys at the bottom?”

Aang looked a little sheepish, “Sorry, I didn't realize there wouldn't be enough room for four.”

Sora looked around and grinned when he spotted another stone box a little bit away near a different slide. He did find it a bit odd that so many were unmanned. Maybe the area wasn't frequently used? Either way, he grabbed it and dragged it to the slide next to Aang's. After hopping in, he turned to shout out to Aang, “Race you to the bottom!”

Aang, clearly accepting Sora's challenge, leaned forward, “Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Sora laughed and leaned forward to get his own box moving. Aang laughed as he leaned forward as well. Katara and Sokka, on the other hand, Sora could hear Katara's screaming even with the distance separating them. Sora found himself greatly enjoying his ride down the slide. It wasn't as awesome as flying but it had its own charm, like the various kinds of roller coasters he used to go on in his last life.

As his slide got closer to Aang's, he whooped loudly drawing Aang's attention. When he looked over at Sora, Aang got an idea on how to win the race and grinned mischievously. He starting rocking the stone box as he called out, “Hold on guys!”

A moment later, Aang rocked his box right out of the slide it was on and into the air. Sora watched, shocked, as Aang disappeared from sight as the box he was 'piloting' went crazy. Sora quickly jumped out of his box while spreading his arms revealing the sewn in wings to disguise his flight ability. He quickly followed the path of destruction that Aang had left in his wake. Seeing some of the damage made Sora wince. If the king had been anyone but Bumi, Aang would have been in deep trouble.

Sora knew he was catching up when he heard a high pitched shout of, “MY CABBAGES!”

He dropped to the ground a short distance away and ran around the corner to see Aang, Katara, and Sokka being led off by city guards. He groaned to himself. He knew they weren't in trouble. In fact, he knew they were perfectly safe. He was groaning over not being arrested with them. Why? Because he knew they were being carted off to a nice feast! So unfair!

Still, he wouldn't abandon them just in case something went wrong and things weren't going to happen like he expected. It seemed unlikely, but butterfly's and all that jazz. He followed them up until they reached the palace. Unfortunately, it was too well guarded and too bright for him to stealthily fly around the palace searching for the others. He would have to wait until nightfall. Good thing he was patient.

-----Line Break-----

Sora was slightly disgruntled that he had to wait until night had fallen to infiltrate the palace. He'd left the city before nightfall and gotten a change of clothes from his bag back on Aapa. Why he hadn't brought it into the city with himself eluded him. Probably because no one else had and he wasn't thinking far enough ahead. Well, whatever the reason, he was no wearing his darkest clothing. Sadly, he didn't have anything in actual black, just deep blues and greens.

Apparently black wasn't his color. Who knew?

Once night had fallen, he'd used the darkness and his darker clothing to fly back into the city. The walls might be hugely tall and dozens of feet thick, but air superiority was superior for a reason. He made his way to the palace and, as expected, no one spotted him. Why would they? It had been a hundred years since there was anyone with the ability to fly through the air.

He quickly flew around the palace, stopping at every window with light coming out of it to listen and see if he could learn anything. As he flew, a random thought occurred to him. None of the windows had glass. They were open to the air and usually blocked by intricate stone designed that could only be achieved with Earthbending. Well, that or hundreds of hours of carving. He was betting on bending.

Regardless, he found it curious that they had no glass. Logically thinking about it, all glass was made of was melted sand. In other words, Earth. Maybe it was the same reason there were currently no Metalbenders? That was definitely something he would have to bring up with Toph, when he met her.

He dismissed the thoughts when he heard voices coming from a window. He came to a stop and listened in.

“How are our guests settling in?” Came from a wizened sounding voice.

“They're ensconced in the room as you requested.” Was the reply.

There was a cackle before the older voice spoke again, “Is everything prepared for tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir. We got Jako and Veder all set with their outfits. They should make for a very intimidating sight.”

“Wonderful! It wouldn't do much good if Aang chose one of them. What of the fourth member of their group?”

“The gate guards reported that he left before the notice to bring him in arrived. We're currently uncertain of his whereabouts.”

“Pity. It would have been fun to put Aang under even more pressure!” Anotehr cackle echoed out of the window after that statement.

Sora grinned to himself as he listened. It seemed like everything was on track for Bumi to put Aang through his tests. Sora contemplated what he should do and came to a conclusion. He wanted to help mess with Aang! He turned around and faced the window while pulling his arm back. A simple punch was all he needed to send out a strong blast of wind that shattered the stone filling the window and send it crashing into the room as so many fragments.

Sora slowly flew in through the window to find a half down Earthbender's in fighting stances and King Bumi sitting on his throne. Considering Bumi was at least one hundred and ten years old, he looked fantastic for his age. That wasn't taking into account how ripped the dude was beneath his loose robes.

The whole room was tense as Sora casually flew into the room with his arms crossed over his chest. Bumi affected an uncaring attitude, but Sora could see the King was eyeing him up and assessing him. It kind of scared Sora a bit. Still, he didn't want to loose the initiative so he spoke up first in a dead serious tone of voice, “I'm afraid I can't let you mess with Aang and my friends...”

The tension rose higher as he let his statement hang in the air. Sora suddenly grinned widely, “Unless I'm in on it!”

The tension was immediately broken as Bumi cackled with glee. The guards took in their unconcerned laughing king and slowly relaxed their guard. Bumi, once he finished cackling, gave Sora a shrewd look, “I, and everyone else, believed the Airbender's to be extinct.”

Sora floated down to the floor and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't deign to answer the implied question. He just cocked an eyebrow and looked back at Bumi placidly. Bumi's lips slowly curled into a smile, “I see that you're a bit more... cunning than your friends. Good! Aang will need that kind of help if he's to bring balance to the nations.”

Sora smiled a little at that. He was honestly going to enjoy every moment of helping Aang out. He couldn't want until he had his first real battle with another bender. Zuko hardly counted as a battle. That was more of a one sided smackdown.

Bumi relaxed in his chair and gestured for Sora to come closer, “Let's discuss how we can make things more... interesting for Aang.”

Sora's grin reached 'shit eating' proportions at the request.

-----Line Break-----

The following morning, Sora was lined up with Katara and Sokka as guards held weapons on them in a threatening manner. Only Sora knew the truth but he put on enough of a convincing act to seem worried. After a few minutes of waiting the wall in front of them sank into the ground showing a room containing Bumi, Aang, and a few guards. After the door dropped, the guards grabbed his, Katara's, and Sokka's hands to push a ring onto their fingers. Bumi was using his best 'evil mastermind' voice as he explained, “Those delightful rings are made of pure jennamite. Also known as creeping crystal.”

As he explained, the rings on their fingers actually shrank until they were a tight fit. Too tight to pull off, as Sokka found out when attempting to do so. Bumi looked over at them with a sadistic grin, “A crystal that grows remarkably fast.” His gaze turned back to Aang, “By nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it.”

His voice softened, almost like he was sympathetic, “Terrible fate really.” Then firmed up again, “I can stop it, but only if you cooperate.”

Naturally, Aang capitulated. After that, things went a lot like they had in the show, from what Sora could remember. It wasn't like he remembered every minor detail of the show, just the major strokes. On top of that, he'd only seen a couple of episodes from The Legend of Korra before deciding he hated it and never watching the rest. He didn't really care about that though, he'd either be dead of old age, or ancient by then.

That assumed Korra even became a thing. Butterfly's and all.

The first test tasked Aang with collecting a key, hanging from a chain, in the middle of a powerful waterfall, surrounded by extremely sharp stalactites and stalagmites. Eventually Aang used one of the stone spikes as a projectile propelled by Airbending to snag the key. The second test was retrieving Bumi's pet Flopsie which Aang assumed was the small rabbit in the pen. Eventually he realised it was the giant Goat Gorilla that had been chasing him the whole time.

During all of the tests, the jennamite rings had grown and had almost completely enclose Sora, Sokka, and Katara. At this point on their heads and feet were still uncovered putting more pressure on Aang. They arrived at a large arena where Bumi issued his final challenge, “Your final test is a duel. And as a special treat, you may choose your opponent.”

As Bumi spoke, two very intimidating guys wearing wicked looking armor and carrying deadly weapons stepped onto the same balcony as Aang and Bumi. They flanked Bumi making for a truly imposing sight in front of the, comparatively, tiny Aang. Bumi grinned wickedly as he said, “Point and choose.”

Aang looked between the two rather intimidating figures. Eventually he asked, “Sooo, you're saying whoever I point to, that's who I get to fight?”

Bumi tilted his head, his mismatched eyes widening slightly before they narrowed and his voice lowered to a creepy tone, “Choose wisely.”

Aang looked between all three people on the balcony. Slowly he raised his arm as he said, “I... choose...” His finger pointed directly at Bumi, “You.”

Bumi snorted as he slowly began to straighten his body out, “Wrong choice.”

Several loud cracks came from his body as Bumi straightened his spine and gripped his fists. He went from a frail looking hunchbacked old man into a towering master of Earthbending with powerful muscles as his ugly purple robes fell to the ground at his feet. The change clearly shocked everyone that didn't know, so just Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Sora had to put on a faked shocked look to it in with his friends.

Bumi took immediate action, his right foot moving forward and causing the balcony to crack until it reached Aang where it became a stone pillar that launched him into the arena. Bumi, cackling like a madman, leaped from the balcony and landed in front of Aang a good thirty feet from where he'd started. His landing cracked the ground but left him standing tall above Aang, “You thought I was a frail old man, but I am the most powerful Earthbender you'll ever see!”

Aang climbed to his feet and Sora was kind of proud when Aang quipped, “Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?”

Bumi looked amused as he replied, “There are no takebacksies in my kingdom.” He gestured over his shoulder telling a guard to throw down Aang glider staff, “You might need this.”

Aang caught the staff and assumed an Airbending stance with the staff pointed at Bumi. Bumi's response was to slam his foot onto the ground and cause a round boulder to pop out of it. A punch sent the boulder flying at Aang, who dodged. Bumi repeated the process a couple of more times. Aang dodged them all causing Bumi to mock him, “Typical Airbender tactic. Avoid and evade. I'd hoped the Avatar would be less predictable!”

Bumi stomped again and launched another rock at Aang, who jumped into the air, “Don't you have any surprises for me? Sooner or later you'll have to stop running and face me.”

Bumi launched another boulder, this time strikign the ceiling and causing the rubble to fall down on Aang knocking him out of the air. Aangs staff went bouncing away while Aang hit the floor hard. Bumi towered over him while gesturing to the balcony that contained Sora and the others, “Time is running out for your friends while you do nothing but avoid and evade.”

As he spoke, the jennamite around Sora started to grow a little quicker. Sora, doing his part to put some extra pressure on Aang called out in a distressed sounding voice, “Aang! Help me!”

Any further cries were cut off as the crystal grew over Sora's head and seemed to completely encase him from head to toe. From the outside it looked pretty bad but on the inside Sora had plenty of air and wasn't at all distressed. He even stuck his tongue out and licked the jennamite. It really was a very nice tasting rock candy!

Back on the ground, Aang looked up and witnessed one of his companions being completely enclosed by the jennamite, “Nooooooooo!!”

From there the battle continued. Bumi was a true master of his craft dealing with everything that Aang managed to try to pull off. Aang was no slouch though, he wore the tattoos of a Master Airbender for a reason. Things seemed to be in a stalemate, until a part of Katara let out a small scream as her crystal prison grew a bit and drew Aang's eyes to her.

Aang's eyes widened in fear at the sight of Katara almost completely encased by jennamite. That fear quickly morphed into anger aimed directly at Bumi. There was a powerful blast of wind from Aang's body that kicked up a ton of dust and blinded everyone. All they could see was an eerie blue glow coming from where Aang had been standing. Until another blast of wind so strong it sent Bumi skidding back on his feet, cleared the area of dust and revealed a wrathful looking Aang.

Aang floated a few inches off of the ground encased in a swirling globe of visible wind. His eyes and tattoo's glowed bright blue while his gaze focused solely on Bumi. Bumi looked slightly concerned as he stated, “I might've taken this a bit too far...”

That was all he managed to get out before Aang blasted through the air with enough force to rip up the ground beneath him. Aang's right hand lashed out sending a powerful blast of wind at Bumi. Not one to just take a beating, Bumi raised a stone wall to block the blast. Unfortunately for him, Aang could bend all elements in his Avatar state, even if Aang himself had no idea what he was doing. Bumi's stone wall was crushed to rubble by Aang gripping his left hand into a fist.

Without the protection of the wall, Bumi was blasted by the air attack and sent flying across the arena to slam back first into the stone walls. The impact was hard enough for him to crack and partially crater the wall. Only some quick Earthbending on his part prevented him from sustaining injuries worse than a bruise.

The moment gravity returned his feet to the ground, Bumi was moving and bending. Multiple walls sprouted up from the ground to protect himself from the furious winds that Aang was whipping up. It was clear to Bumi that while Aang could clearly Earthbend in his current state, he wasn't all that great at it. Instead, it was more primal and straightforward making it easy to predict and counter. Still, he couldn't help muttering to himself, “Must have pushed a bit too far. Woops.”

Meanwhile, as Aang continued to blast air attacks at Bumi and try to tear down the old king's defenses while countering the occasional attack, Katara stumbled her way to the edge of the balcony she was on. It took a bit but the moment she got there, she started shouting at the top of her lungs to get Aang's attention, “Aang! Calm down! I'm okay!”

Sora called out loud enough to be heard through the crystals surrounding himself, “Speak for yourself!”

Yes, he was aware of what was happening and though he couldn't see, he had a pretty good guess about how things were going.

Katara shot the crystal covered boy a glare but promptly ignored him and continued to shout at Aang to try and get him to calm down. Judging by the sounds of combat, Sora didn't think she was succeeding very well. Letting out a sigh, Sora gathered power around his body before flexing it as hard as he could. There was an explosion of air from his body that shattered the jennamite crystals around his body and sent them flying everywhere.

He calmly walked to the edge of the balcony and smirked a little when he saw Bumi and Aang fighting. Aang really was a powerful kid, but he was still just that, a kid. Bumi, on the other hand, was an ancient and very powerful Airbender. Despite starting at a disadvantage against Aang's Avatar State, the old fossil was now holding his own and fighting back while cackling like the crazed loom he was.

Sora dropped into a horse stance and released a strong punch that sent a powerful blast of air into the ground right in front of Aang. Sora would never admit it aloud, but when Aang's head snapped around to look at him and he got his first look at his angry glowing blue eyes, he felt a shiver of fear. There was some truly terrifying power behind those eyes.

Thankfully, the anger slowly bled out of the gaze as it registered Sora standing on the balcony perfectly fine and no longer covered from head to toe in jennamite. It probably didn't hurt that Katara was standing next to Sora and still calling out for Aang to calm down.

When the power of the Avatar state faded, Aang sagged, only managing to hold himself up with his glider staff. Bumi's head popped out from behind a veritable fortress of stone to ask, “All done throwing your temper tantrum?!”

It took everything he had for Sora to not burst out laughing. Sure, the situation was somewhat serious, but not nearly as bad as it probably looked to Katara and Sokka. If a fully realised full powered Avatar Aang couldn't bring himself to kill the Fire Lord, there's no way the current Aang could do more than hurt Bumi a bit, if that. It's not like Bumi was a pushover who would just sit still and take a beating.

Aang glared at Bumi over the question, but Bumi just gave a crazed smile and slammed his foot into the ground to withdraw his fortifications, “We're not finished yet Avatar.”

“But!”

Was as far as Aang got before a large boulder was launched directly at him by Bumi. The fight didn't last much longer after that initial bombardment. Aang, exhausted from using the Avatar state, was forced to charge in to end the fight. Interestingly enough, the duel ended the same way it had in the show. Aang had gotten in close and had Bumi at the end of his staff while Bumi had a massive boulder hovering above both of them.

When they returned to the balcony, Aang glared at Bumi, “I passed all your stupid tests! Release my friends!”

Bumi cackled, “Just one more thing.”

“That's not what we agreed on!”

“What's the point of tests if you don't learn anything? Just answer one simple question.” He had everyone's attention focused on him while he let the silence drag, “What... is my name?”

There was another squeak from Katara as he jennamite prison grew again. Bumi looked her and Sokka over, “I'd say they've got about five more minutes.”

Aang turned to his friends, looking at Sora he asked, “How did you get free?”

Seeing that Aang clearly hoped he could free Katara and Sokka, Sora answered honestly, “I just released a powerful blast or air and used the pressure to shatter the jennamite.”

It wasn't something the siblings could replicate so that idea was tossed aside. Instead, Aang asked for advice, “Any idea's on his name guys?”

“Rocky! Because of all the rocks.”

Every gave Sokka a bland look, though Katara promised to keep the name in reserve. She focused on Aang, “Think about the tests. Maybe there's a clue there.”

From there it was just a bit of thinking for Aang to come to a realization. Together the party approached the king with Aang at the front, “I know your name.”

Bumi just arched an eyebrow as Aang explained, “It's like you told me a long time ago. I just had to open my brain to the possibilities. Bumi, you're a mad genius.”

Everyone looked touched at the pair hugged, friends reunited.

-----Line Break-----

Unknown to Sora and Bumi, their clever plan had backfired on them. Around the world the news was going out, the Avatar had returned! Aang's use of the Avatar state for so long had sent out a worldwide signal causing the eyes of various Avatar statues to glow. The world over sects such as the Fire Sages now knew the Avatar was once more among them.

The secret was now out.

-----Line Break-----

The group spent another couple of days within Omashu, though Sora was still getting the stink-eye for his hand in helping Bumi mess with Aang. Mostly from Katara though. Sokka got over it pretty quickly.

Before leaving, Bumi pulled Sora aside and handed him a large sack filled with Earth Kingdom coins, “You seem reasonable enough, take this and use it wisely on the journey to the North Pole. Try not to let Aang get too distracted, he really does need to master the elements. Our world is depending on him.”

Sora accepted the bag on money, impressed to see several gold coins in amongst the copper and silver. Though he was struck by his lack of greed toward the money. Aside from the necessities, he actually hadn't wanted for much since his arrival in this world. Oh sure, he missed things like television and good books to read, but he hadn't felt that need to possess things that he'd had in his last life. Back then if he was given money like this, he would have already been thinking about what to buy with it, like a newer and better computer orsomething.

Now though? Just the things he really needed, like food and camping supplies. He smiled a bit at that, though he glanced at Aang and then back to Bumi, “Don't worry. I won't let the airhead spend it all in one place.”

Bumi chuckled and slapped Sora on the back then walked over to give his final goodbye, for now, to Aang. Sora walked over to Appa and climbed into the saddle to stash the money with his other belongings. He wasn't feeling greedy but he was aware that the other three had issues with not wasting it. At least, that's the impression he remembered having from the show. Best to be on the safe side.

Once everyone was packed and ready, they took off on Appa. Sora couldn't help smiling and wondering what the next adventure might be.

-----Line Break-----
AN:

By the way, anyone who doesn't think Gyatso, and other Airbending Masters, should be feared. Go rewatch episode 3, the Southern Air Temple. Count the Firebender corpses near Monk Gyatso. Realize Gyatso killed them all. Then remember that the attack happened while Sozin's Comet was high in the sky. Never forget what an absolute MONSTER Gyatso would have to be to pull that off.

No, seriously think about it. Before getting back his Avatar State, Aang was getting beaten, badly, by Ozai. Ozai would have killed him if not for the miracle that reconnected Aang to the Avatar State. Then Aang used all four elements AND the Avatar State to take Ozai down before Energybending his Firebending away.

Now imagine a DOZEN Firebenders with that kind of power. Gyatso killed many of them with just Airbending alone.

Certified. BADASS.

Glassbending, literally came to me as I was writing. I mean, glass is essentially the same as metal as in it's just purified earth. So, theoretically, it should be possible to bend it. I also think it could be seriously deadly. Imagine creating near invisible sharpened blades of glass and launching them at unsuspecting opponents. Scary as hell! Of course, it's defensive ability would likely be pretty shit making it best at offense. It would definitely be beautiful though!

Also, I had another thought. Lightning Bending. From everything I've read and remember from the show... shouldn't any bender technically be able to Lightning Bend? Before you jump in and scream NO! Think about it. Lightning generation has NOTHING to do with Firebending. It's all about a lack of emotion, peace of mind, and then separating Chi into yin and yang (positive and negative), and when the two collide back together you get lightning. What part of that CAN'T be done by any well trained bender? It's literally just about control of Chi, which all benders have. Just food for thought.

Lastly, I'm sorry for the delay in my writing. Due to Leah's appointments for radiation treatements and other things related to her brush with cancer, things have been thrown completely out of whack. It'll likely be a few more weeks to two months before things get back to normal and I can spend more time writing. It's not going to stop me, just delay.