Family Stays

-Maya's Point of View-

*SLAM*

I hurriedly hid the letters back in the chest and covered them with a blanket when I heard the door slammed open.

I saw Sokka stomping his way to our stuff as he hurriedly packed them all.

"Sokka what's going on?" I asked filled with concern. It was very unlikely of Sokka to be angry all of a sudden.

"We're leaving," he replied timidly.

"Why? Did Fire Nation appear?" I asked again but he didn't answer. Just then Katara entered the room with Bato behind her.

"Katara what's going on? Is there Fire Nation outside?" I asked. Katara held me by the shoulder and slowly moved me to the side.

"Sokka, maybe we shouldn't be rash about this," she tried to calm his brother.

"Rash? Katara, Aang lied to us. He knew we wanted to meet Dad, but he purposefully hid the map because he was selfish!" Sokka argued.

Katara didn't answer back to his brother and just went silent. 

"What exactly is happening here?" I asked the two of them.

"Aang had the map to our father's location all this time, but he was hiding it from us," Katara answered sadly.

"And that's why we're leaving him. We're going to see Dad," Sokka answered angrily.

Leaving him?!

"But what about the North Pole? We have to get Aang to master waterbending!" 

None of them answered me. Sokka continued to pack our things. 

"What about you Katara? Wasn't it your dream to become a fully realized waterbender?" I tried pleading with her. I can see Sokka's already made up his mind, but she has doubts.

"We can't leave Aang, we're the only ones he's got," I said to her. All of a sudden Sokka handed us our bag.

"Maya, it's either you're with us or against us," he said seriously.

"No," I firmly declared. "I won't leave Aang..."

"Fine," Sokka walked past me. "I kind of knew you wouldn't be thrilled to see Dad anyway," he turned to look at me, "Since you're not one of us."

My heart sank as I heard the words he said. 

"Sokka, be careful with your words," Bato said.

Sokka left the room and went out to the courtyard. Katara then followed behind him silently, while I just stood there frozen in place.

"Maya, forgive your cousin. He's just angry that is all. I'm sure he didn't mean what he said," Bato consoled me.

I nodded my head at Bato, "I know. Thank you Bato," I said and then I hugged him. "Please take good care of Sokka and Katara."

"I will. You take care too—you and the Avatar," Bato broke off from the hug to grab his stuff. After that, he went outside to Join Sokka and Katara.

I know Sokka didn't mean to hurt me, but he is partly right. If only Bato knew... 

I let out a big sigh before packing my mother's chest inside my bag. I went outside and saw Aang sitting on top of Appa with Momo beside him.

Across the other side of the courtyard were Sokka, Katara, and Bato who were getting ready to leave.

"I guess it's just the two of us now," I said to Aang.

"Maya? You're not going with them?" he asked surprised. 

I shook my head at him, "No... Who knows what could happen if we left you alone? Besides, I don't think I have a place in there." I looked at the three of them.

They all started walking out of the abbey but Katara made a stop towards us.

"Good luck," she said sadly.

"Okay, you too," Aang replied. As soon as he said that Katara left without another word.

Soon after the Mother Superior came and stared at us silently.

"Guess we should be moving on?" Aang said to the nun.

"That would be best," Mother Superior replied. 

I placed my hand over Aang's shoulder. "Let's just go, Aang," I said. He pulled on the rope tied to Appa's horns and led Appa to exit the Abbey.

We stopped for a while at the gate as we stared at Sokka, Katara, and Bato from a distance. 

"I'm an idiot, Maya," he said filled with rage towards himself. 

I didn't know what to say that would comfort him. I too am still in a haze about the third letter that Mom wrote to me. All of this is just too hard to handle alone and it's driving me crazy!

"You need to calm down Aang. Why don't we head out to the beach first before continuing flight?" I suggested to him. I also needed to clear my thoughts. 

Aang nodded at me. Appa walked towards the beach with Aang, Momo, and me on his back.

As soon as we got there, I went down and patted the bison's head.

"Thank you Appa," I said and then he growled.

I saw that Bato's boat had been moved. It wasn't parked that way earlier.

"Did you guys use the boat?" I asked Aang. He jumped off of Appa and then he walked beside me.

"We did Sokka's ice dodging ritual a while ago," Aang said. "I earned the mark of the trusted and... well, that's when I told them that they can't trust me," he continued.

"Why did you do it Aang? Why did you hide the map?" I asked.

"I was afraid you guys would leave me—and in the end, they did," he said, and then he slumped down on the sand.

"You know, last night when Bato shared the news about the map and invited Sokka and Katara to join him, they refused," I said and then I sat down beside him. "They said that they didn't want to leave you even though they would've loved to meet their father once again."

"You should have more faith in us you know..." I joked to him.

"Ugh! Such an idiot!" he yelled as then he burrowed his face on his knees.

A moment of silence echoed between us as the breeze got louder and louder. With every sound of the wind making its way to my ears, the words written by Mom in her letters played repeatedly in my head.

What was the thing that Ursa said? What could be something so big that it changed the trajectory of Mom's life resulting in this messed up situation?

"Maya?" I heard Aang ask. I seemed to have been lost in my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I said trying to act like nothing happened.

"Why didn't you join them? Aren't you thrilled to see your uncle?" he suddenly asked.

I looked away from him with sadness in my eyes. "Hakoda is more than just an uncle to me..." I said. "He became like a real father to me. He raised me and took me in ever since Mom died," I continued.

"But a lot has changed Aang... I'm not the girl I thought I was," I continued more. "You know that I'm from the Fire Nation right? It just didn't seem right for me to be there after knowing about that..."

"But you're still their family. That fact doesn't change," he consoled. 

I looked at him and smiled. "And so are you. Surely you haven't forgotten what I said back at the Southern Air Temple have you?" I teased. "Family sticks together, that's why I'm not leaving you—and, Katara and Sokka."

"They're just a little sidetracked but we'll meet with them again someday. I'm sure of it," I continued as I stood up. "Now let's get you to the North Pole," I then reached out my hand to help him stand up.

As soon as he stood up a nun from the abbey suddenly appeared; she seemed in a rush.

"Avatar! You must leave!" the nun warned.

"Okay! I get it. Everybody wants me gone," Aang said with irritation in his voice. I placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"We were just about to leave," I said to the nun.

"Please do so immediately! A group of people came to the abbey looking for you!" she replied.

"Wait, who?" Aang asked.

"A fierce-looking woman with a horrible monster, she was traveling together with an old man and a young man with a big scar on his face," she explained.

"Zuko..." I said angrily.

"But how did they find us?" Aang looked at me as he asked.

"The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you..." the nun answered.

"A necklace?" Aang asked. 

I suddenly remembered that Zuko had Katara's necklace back at the time when they tried to trade us with the pirates!

"Aang, Katara's necklace! Zuko has it!" I said to him. 

His face became serious. "We can't leave. We have to go back to the Abbey," Aang said to the nun.

"If it's scent they're using, then I bet they'll eventually find a way to track me down. We have to go back to the Abbey and lure them there," he said.

The nun nodded her head and then all three of us boarded Appa. We made our way to the Abbey.

In the middle of the flight, Aang stood up and said, "I'm going ahead of you, Maya. Make sure to get Sister Lily back to the abbey safely." 

I nodded at him. He then flicked open his glider and flew away.

Sister Lily and I arrived at the abbey shortly and as soon we landed I escorted sister Lily back to the others and then I hid with Appa in the barn.

I noticed Aang was flying around in circles at the center of the courtyard... What is he planning to do?

Soon enough a large star-nosed anteater wolf barged inside the abbey. Riding on top it was some random chick, Iroh, and Zuko. Katara and Sokka were behind them looking like lifeless dolls...

What happened to them?

"What's it doing?! It's just going in a circle!" Zuko shouted.

The beast looked up and saw Aang flying down towards them. It tried to reach for him by standing with its hind legs but soon fell out of balance.

Everyone riding on top of it fell to the ground. But the fierce-looking woman didn't let a second pass. She immediately stood up and whipped his beast to stand up also. 

She hopped on top of her beast and charged towards Aang.

"Oh no you don't!" I said and then I rode on Appa. "Appa! Aim for the beast!" I shouted and then Appa and I pushed the beast out of Aang's way.

They crashed into one of the rooms of the abbey.

"You're not going anywhere near that kid," I warned her. 

I saw from my side that Sokka and Katara were being pulled to the side by the nuns.

Okay, their safety is secured. Now we'll just have to deal with this beast and Zuko.

Soon enough a fight broke off between Aang and Zuko. They started blasting fire and air at each other until eventually, they came to a stalemate where the fire and air exploded and they were both thrown off to the roof.

All of a sudden the woman and her beast woke up and came charging right at Appa and me. As soon as they got close, I pulled on Appa's rope to make him fly. 

I thought we had evaded an attack from them but, when we were in the air, the beast had stung Appa using its tongue. 

I think this beast has an ability of some sort that can paralyze its opponents.

Appa had a hard landing on the ground and tried fighting the toxins but he eventually caved in. "Appa, please be okay..." I said to him.

He suddenly opened his eyes and stood up ferociously while growling at the beast. "Alright, Appa! Let's show them what we got!" I shouted.

We charged towards the enemies and they did the same. The two beasts had a head-on collision which sent me and the woman flying into the air.

I landed on the ground back first and felt great pain and dizziness. My head and body started to hurt and everything was wall blurry. I laid down there for a while trying to fight off the pain and not to let my conscience slip away.

"Maya, are you alright?" I heard a man's voice say.

I fixed my eyes' focus and saw the old man traveling with Zuko looking down on me. He helped me stand up. 

He was staring at me filled with softness in his eyes. Come to think of it, I never really knew who this old man was, and how he knew my name.

I was about to thank him when I suddenly heard a loud crashing sound from afar. I saw that Aang was in a pinch since both Zuko and the woman with her beast were attacking him.

I hurriedly stood up and went to Appa who was still trying to fight off the toxins from the beast's attack.

"Appa, are you okay? Can you still fight?" I asked. The bison growled and then he stood up once more. "Let's help your owner," I said and then I hopped on top of him.

We tried our best to get the woman and her beast away from Aang. Appa airbent strong winds using his tail to keep them separated.

Soon enough it was us fighting once more. "You're a persistent little scab, aren't ya?" the woman remarked.

"And you're one feisty biddy!" I shouted back at her. She grunted at me and then she charged her beast towards Appa.

Appa airbent towards the running beast and sent them flying.

I suddenly heard Zuko who was about to come after Aang so I led Appa to stop him.

"You're not going anywhere!" I shouted at Zuko. He looked me dead-straight in the eye and didn't utter a word.

All of a sudden I felt a sting in my back and wasn't able to move—not even a single muscle. I fell to the ground horribly. 

I wasn't able to do anything but watch the woman strike Appa with paralyzing toxins from the beast's tongue multiple times.

Appa tried fighting still but the toxins were too much and it eventually got to him.

Zuko and the Woman with the beast went to Aang and attacked him simultaneously. 

I tried to move my muscle but I just can't! I hate not being able to do anything! I want to help! 

I continuously tried to fight off the toxins when I suddenly saw a shadow coming from above me, followed by a mixed scent of flowers and oils.

Is that... perfume? 

Turns out, Katara and Sokka had devised a plan to use the perfumes crafted by the nuns to temporarily blind the star-nosed beast; since it uses scent to be able to see.

The beast went on a rampage stunning everything in its path since it was not able to distinguish which was which. It had stung Zuko and the woman who was apparently named June. The old man dramatically shouted her name as he tried to break her fall.

The beast went around in circles bumping its head on walls and the other crafted perfumes made by the nun until it eventually went out of the abbey on its own.

I tried to move my body but it was still no use. I am still paralyzed.

"Maya!" I heard Aang running towards me. Behind him was Sokka and Katara. 

"Aang, Appa needs help," I said to him. Aang looked at the bison and patted its head.

"You did great buddy. Hold on," he said and then he looked back at me.

Sokka and Aang helped me up and brought me to the side. Sister Lily went towards us with a small bottle of perfume in hand.

"Smell this, it will help alleviate the toxins," she said. 

I sniffed from the bottle and was punched by a strong stench.

"Oh!" I shouted and then all of a sudden I could feel and move my body again. "Wow, that was a strong smell," I said.

"Can we use it on my sky bison?" Aang asked Sister Lily and she nodded at him.

She made Appa smell the nasty perfume and all of a sudden the bison woke up and growled.

"Great! Now that Appa's awake we should head out now," Sokka suddenly said.

"Appa just got healed, what are you in a rush for Sokka?" I complained to him.

"THIS ISN'T OVER AVATAR!" Zuko suddenly shouted while he was lying down on the ground.

"That," Sokka answered.

"Sokka's right we need to go. Hop on guys! Hurry!" Aang said and then he jumped on top of Appa's head. All of us climbed aboard also.

"I'm sorry about your Abbey," Aang said to Sister Lily. 

"It's okay, we'll recover. Now go!" she said and then we hurriedly flew away from the place.

"So, where do we go?" Aang asked Sokka and Katara.

"We're getting you to the North Pole," Katara answered. 

"Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is," Sokka agreed.

"Don't you want to see your father?" Aang asked the two.

"Of course we do Aang, but you're our family too; and right now, you need us more," Sokka answered.

"And we need you," Katara added.

I smiled at all of them. "See, I told you to have a little faith in us Aang," I said and then I lightly punched his shoulder. He awkwardly laughed while scratching the back of his head.

"By the way, I have a special surprise for you Katara," Aang said and then he suddenly pulled out Katara's necklace from his pocket.

"Aang! How did you get that?" Katara asked in amusement. 

"Zuko asked me to make sure I give it back to you," Aang sarcastically said.

"Aww, that's so sweet of Zuko," Katara sarcastically replied.

"Maybe you should give him a kiss the next time you two meet," I teased.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Katara stoked at my joke and then made a disgusted expression on her face.

We all laughed at her.

"Maya, I still owe you an apology for saying things I said back there," Sokka suddenly said.

I looked at him and smiled. "It's okay Sokka, I didn't take it personally. I'm fine," I assured him.

"Still! I want you to know that no matter what happens, you will and forever be our family. May you be Fire Nation, Water Tribe, or whatever. The only important thing is that you are Maya, and you're our friend," he continued.

I was touched by his words and immediately I gave him a hug.

"Thank you, Sokka. That means so much to me," I said.

"Alright! Next stop! North Pole!" Aang exclaimed.

"It's still a little bit of a long way to the North Pole. We might still make a stop around the Earth Kingdom somewhere," Katara said.

"Let's just camp out when Appa's tired. We need to cover more travel if we want to get to the North fast," Sokka suggested.

"Let us know when you're tired buddy," Aang said while patting the bison's head. Appa growled at him. Momo suddenly flew on Aang's shoulder and they stayed that way while staring at the sunset.

"Aang, Momo, and Appa are the only living relics of the Air Nomads. We have to protect them," I whispered to Sokka and Katara.

"We will," Sokka firmly said.

"Always," Katara added.