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Memories from Western Airtemple	By : DarthAnimus Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality > Slash - Male/Male Views: 16187 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: the Last Airbender" or the characters. I don't make any profit out of writing this.

Chapter List
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Memories from Western Air Temple
Chapter 33
Lost And Found

When Jun’s Shirshu Nyla had led them to the ruined outer wall of Ba Sing Se, Aang had at first thought it to be a mistake. Why would Zuko’s uncle come here of all places? But Zuko had seemed confident that the young woman was on the right track and started to lead the way through a crack they found in the wall. They were more likely to find anything that had been hidden away if they searched on ground level.

“Get a move on, lady”, Sokka called back to Jun, who was currently occupied with cooing to Nyla, who would not fit through the narrow crack and would have to stay behind with Appa. Aang did not want to leave his bison either, so he could relate to Jun’s unease and the woman probably separated from her beast very rarely.

Jun murmured something more to the animal before turning to Sokka and speaking out: “If I’m a lady, then you shouldn’t rush me.” The woman smirked. “It’s not good manners.”

Sokka’s only response to the woman’s words was a huff before the boy started to lead the way into the dark terrain spreading out before them. It would be difficult to find anything during the night, but none of them wanted to waste any more time. Aang knew that their small group would not be enough to take out an entire fleet of warballoons. They needed more people if they were to stop the Fire Nation’s upcoming attack.

Aang had been absolutely certain that they would be spending hours searching the area in vain before finding as much as a hint of life. That was why the airbender was so utterly startled when a tall wall of stone rose up from the ground to surround them.

Toph was the fastest to react. As soon as the wall had risen up the girl steadied herself and sent the rock formation falling down with a few quick movements of her hands. The dry earth lifted up a cloud of dirt when the rocks fells down and Aang tried to concentrate on any sounds that might indicate another attack.

The tension caused Aang to gasp sharply when he felt a weight settle against his back and a moment later the boy realized that there was no need to panic. It was simply Zuko, who had pressed himself against Aang for the sole purpose of watching the Avatar’s back for him. The gesture brought a wave of nostalgia along with it, as Aang was reminded of a dark and cold night and a daring escape from a fortress built like a prison. They had been enemies back then, but even then they had been able to work together like they had been doing it for years, or like it had been meant to be.

When Aang laid eyes on a person beyond the settling dust, he realized that he and Zuko would not need to test their teamwork once more, because he recognized the person and knew that he was not an enemy to them.

“Bumi!” Aang called before rushing over to the ancient king. “What are you doing here?”

A cackle came from Bumi, followed by the man speaking out: “I could ask you the same thing, Aang. What are you doing all the way out here in the wilderness?” Even in the darkness Aang could see the wicked grin on Bumi’s face. Whatever was hidden in shadows Aang could easily construct from his memories of that mischievous expression.

“Last time I checked, you were trapped in a metal coffin in Omashu”, Aang pressed on even as he shared a quick hug with his oldest friend. “How did you escape?”

“Well, as I advised you to do as well, I waited”, Bumi replied with a snarky chuckle. “In time an eclipse came along, quite effectively rendering all the firebenders in the city powerless.” The man cracked his knuckles briefly. “They were easy to chase out of my city.” The king then grinned widely again and his voice turned cheerful as he questioned from Aang: “So, did you do anything exciting on the day of the eclipse?”

“Ah”, Aang started awkwardly. “Well, how should I put this?” The take of their failed invasion was not something Aang considered a good topic for discussion.

“Nothing worth mentioning went on”, Zuko’s voice offered and Aang nodded his head eagerly in agreement.

“Right!” the boy said quickly. “It was just a regular, boring day for us!”

Bumi frowned suspiciously and leaned towards Aang and the Avatar was certain that the matter was not going to be dropped yet. But then the man reached past Aang and the boy turned to see the king poke Zuko’s cheek.

“Kuzon, what in the spirits’ name have you done to yourself?” Bumi spoke in a scolding tone and Aang saw Zuko’s brow furrow. “Your hair is a mess!” Aang could not fight back a snort at those words.

“Excuse me?!” Zuko blurted out in confusion and Aang reached out to grasp his arm. Immediately the prince’s head turned and a golden gaze fell on Aang.

“It’s fine, Zuko”, Aang reassured the other. “Let it slide. Bumi’s just really eccentric.”

“Eccentric or senile?” Zuko hissed out as Bumi glanced to the side, distracted by the gleeful squeal Katara had let out. Aang also directed his attention to the direction of the sound to see Katara with her arms wrapped around the shoulders of who looked like Pakku.

“Katara?” Aang questioned, but was instead answered by Sokka, who bounded over with a wide grin on his face.

“Pakku is our new grampgramp”, the boy said cheerfully, ignoring the elderly man’s protests at the nickname. “Isn’t that great?”

“Um, yeah?” Aang replied, his tone slightly less certain that he would have wanted it to be. He was happy that things had gotten sorted out between Pakku and Kana and he was happy that Sokka and Katara were happy. He just had not seen that coming, not so suddenly.

“So what’s with the gathering of old folks?” Jun commented then and Aang suddenly realized that Bumi and Pakku were not the only familiar people there. He recognized Piandao as well as Jeong-Jeong.

“They belong to the Order of the White Lotus”, Zuko spoke out in a low tone that was still audible to the group. “Their ideology isn’t limited by the borders between the nations.”

“You know of us?” Jeong-Jeong queried with a hostile tone and Aang was immediately reminded of just how suspicious the man could be. The firebender came closer to Aang’s position, to Zuko’s, and spoke in a manner that demanded acknowledgement: “Who are you, boy?”

“He’s Kuzon”, Bumi cut in, loudly and cheerfully. “He’s buddies with Aang and I.” With that the old king whirled around and started to make his way into the night while humming a cheerful tune. Aang made to follow him a moment before the man stopped and turned back to them. “You might want to bring your furred companions along or they’ll get lonely.”

“Uh, right”, Aang agreed before turning to Toph. Between the two of them they could get the hole in the wall wide enough to allow passage now that they did not have to worry about the people the caused racket might attract. They had already found the people in question and they were on their side.

To be continued...
- 32
- 33
- 34
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Memories from Western Airtemple