Chapter Twenty one

    Arriving in the South, Sokka and Katara were met with a wide dock filled with water tribe ships. While Katara was rather taken aback by the new construction, Sokka was unfazed. They looked out at the scenery that hadn't changed much since they left. The landscape was snowy and seemed to stretch on for miles without end. The two siblings smiled to themselves. Home sweet home.

    Making their way towards their village, they were met with a group of kids penguin sledding, reminding Katara of Aang.

    "Want to have a go? For old times sake?" Katara smiled at her brother, gesturing to the sledders.

     "Sure..." Sokka grinned.

    They slid down the snowy hill, Katara having a much better time than her brother.

    "I've never been a fan of this." Sokka uttered, squeezing his eyes shut.

    Suddenly he hit something hard, a sharp pain filling his head. He winced, looking up at what looked like a construction site.

    "Are you ok?!" Katara cried, rushing to help him.

    "Yeah, I'm fine..."

    "Looks like a construction site...," Katara cast a glance at the groups of kids playing around in the site. "I wonder what they're building..."

    "Well whatever it is, it's going to be the biggest building in the South pole," Sokka turned to a little boy who was building a snowman. "Hey, kid, what are they building here?"

    "My mama told me not to talk to strangers." The boy replied snarkily.

    "I'm not a stranger! I live here! I'm Sokka of the southern water tribe!"

     "So you're a friend?" The boy turned to look at him.

    "Yeah! I am!"

    The little boy threw a snowball at him, hitting his face. With a giggle, he ran away from the now slightly wet Sokka.

    "Hey! What do you brats think you're doing?" A deep voice shouted just as Sokka got hold of the little boy.

    They turned to see three men approaching them. All three looking equally pissed off. Two of them were water tribe and the tallest was an earth kingdom citizen.

    "Didn't you see the sign? No trespassing." The guy on the right frowned.

    "What sign?" Sokka asked, letting go of the boy.

     "I think Tomi used it for our snowman's shield..." The boy replied.

    "You're right, sir. Kids shouldn't be playing on a construction site, my brother and I will make sure they leave right away." Katara nodded.

    "You really think it'll be that easy? This ain't the first time we've had these brats running around on our site. I'm gonna have to teach them a lesson." The guy retorted, taking a stance before bending a wave of snow towards Sokka and the boy.

    "Woah! Look out!" Sokka shouted, yanking the kid out of the way.

    The snow flooded on towards Katara who quickly broke the flow and separated it.

    "Three grown men, attacking a group of little kids? Really?!" She took a stance. "Get out of here kids."

    Bending some snowballs, she fired all of them towards the two water tribe men who'd taken their stances. They bent them upwards, freezing them in the air for a moment before moving them back and forming a large ball of snow. With one combined movement, they threw it towards Katara. Meanwhile, Sokka watched the battle with excitement, protecting the kids behind him who were also in awe.

    Finally, the young waterbender stopped the ball midair, pulling sharp snow spikes out she sent it back towards the now terrified trio of men.

    "Alright! You win!" The three men cowered back and Katara dropped the spiked snowball on the ground. "We weren't gonna hurt the kids! Just scare em' a little!"

    "If you want them to keep off, how about building a fence?' Katara snapped.

    The men ran off without answering her. With an angry sigh, she turned back to walk over to the kids.

    "You guys really shouldn't be playing here though." She mentioned.

    One of the kids nodded at her while Sokka boasted to the others, bragging about his sister's waterbending abilities. She smiled at him, before he noticed she was there and stopped boasting.

    "Ok, we'll walk you guys home. Where do you live?" He asked.

    "That way." The kid he'd grabbed before directed, pointing in the direction of the village.

    "Wait, you're from the village? Who are your parents?"

    "What village?"

    Katara sped up, running over a hill of snow with Sokka not far behind, reading his map.

    "Sokka... This isn't...?" She uttered.

     "It is."

    Approaching the huge ice wall, the two siblings gasped at the humungous ice and snow buildings. It was an ice city, closely resembling the north. Sokka was incredibly enthusiastic about the new look, but Katara didn't look too happy about it.

    "Our village... Is gone..."

_

    Back in the fire Nation, Zuko, Aang, Mei, and Kei Lo walked up the steps of the fire Sage's temple. Zuko led the way, an unreadable expression plastered on his face.

    "What is this place?" Kei Lo asked, looking to Mei.

    "The fire Sage's capital temple." She answered promptly.

    "You've been here before?"

    "Yeah. An ex of mine thought it would be romantic to share a meal among his dead ancestors." She frowned, looking at Zuko who'd just reached the top.

    "I thought it was romantic..." The Firelord mumbled to himself.

    He made a mental note to not bring Sokka here for any romantic occasions.

    "So, um... What exactly did we come here to do?" Aang asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

    "Great sage Shyu!" Zuko greeted a sage, sweeping the courtyard.

    "Firelord! Avatar! What a nice surprise!" He smiled back.

    "Good to see you again." Aang bowed his head, giving him the fire Nation greeting.

    "Sorry it's been a while since my last visit," Zuko bowed as well. "We need to get into the Dragon catacombs."

    "Of course." Shyu nodded.

    The sage marched into the center of the courtyard, bending some flamed into the center, it opened up, revealing a spiral staircase that descended into darkness.

    Aang and Zuko both ignited small flames in their hands and the Firelord lead the way. They descended down the stone steps, going around about three times before reaching the bottom where the crypt was.

     "So this is where all the Firelords are buried?" Kei Lo looked around hesitantly.

    "Yes."

    "Reserve a place for yourself yet?" Mai piped up dimly.

    "What's that supposed to mean?" Zuko arched an eyebrow.

    "It's just a question." She shrugged.

    "So, how exactly is walking among dead people and... Dragons? Going to help us, Zuko?" Aang spoke up, breaking the growing tension.

    "Look over here at this mural," He gestured to a stone wall that was painted with images. "It tells the Fire Nation history and it's myths and lore."

    "Cool!" Aang beamed, looking at the pictures of dragons and firebenders.

    The group followed the wall until they reached a door with four dragon heads sticking out. Aang looked to Zuko, giving him a questioning glance.

    "Sozin closed this off after he came to power," Zuko explained. "He wanted to make it seem like the Fire Nation history began with him."

    "So...?" Aang trailed off, turning back to the door. "The Kemurikage stuff is behind here?"

    With a nod, Zuko turned his attention to the heads. Aang seemed to have noticed something too. He reached out and touched one of them before looking at Zuko again.

     "These look like the dragon heads that kept Roku's room closed on crescent island," He noted. "So maybe if you and I shoot fire blasts into the mouths, it'll open."

    "Worth a try." Zuko shrugged, blocking out the memory of what happened in that temple all that time ago.

    "Ready when you are." Aang nodded, taking a stance.

    With another nod, the two shot their fire blasts simultaneously. Once the fire diminished, the door remained shut. Without a second thought they blasted it again.

    "Why isn't it working?" Aang grumbled after the 4th try.

    "Let's try again."

        "Ok, no," Kei Lo spoke up. "My turn."

    "You can firebend?" Aang asked him, stepping out of the way.

    "No," The brunette shook his head before turning to Mai. "Can I borrow four of your knives?"

    After handing them over, he took them in each hand and stuck them in the dragon head nostrils.

    "What are you..?" Aang uttered.

    "After a quick observation, I noticed that the locking mechanism is in their nostrils, not their mouths." Kei Lo explained.

    "So... You're gonna pick them? Isn't that kind of disrespectful? And gross?" Aang grimaced.

    "Babe, can you help me out here?" Kei Lo turned to Mai, handing her two knives.

    She nodded while Aang stood beside Zuko, giving him a look at the nickname.

    "You're not really one to talk, Aang." Zuko chuckled.

     There was a short silence between them as Kei Lo directed Mai on how to do it. Zuko bit his lip, his thoughts flitting to Sokka. He had gone all this time while only mentioning him once to Aang.

    "So... Aang," He mumbled. "How's Sokka doing?"

    "Oh! He's doing good. He misses you, I know that much. But he's still good old Sokka." The airbender beamed.

     Zuko smiled, he missed the water tribe boy as well, but he was happy to hear that his presence was also missed by Sokka too. He was about to ask something else when the doors opened, breaking his train of thought.

    "Wow! Look at that!" Aang gasped excitedly, igniting the fire in his hand again. "It does continue through here..."

     "I'm impressed," Mai noted to her boyfriend, holding onto his arm. "Are there any other criminal talents I should know about?"

    "Stick around, maybe you'll find out." He winked back.

    They continued through the passage, Mai commented on Zuko's cranky looking ancestors while Aang just seemed to admire everything.

    "Guys! I think I found what we're looking for!" Kei Lo called, pointing to a painting of cloaked figures with masks.

    "The Kemurikage." Mai mumbled.

    Mai walked over to what looked like a shrine and pulled out a scroll.

     "This must be their story... Can I get a light, Aang?"

    "I got it." Zuko spoke, already next to her.

    She gave him a look. He shot back a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

    As Mai read out the scroll, he took glances at her. How strange. He still felt friendliness towards her, but all of his romantic feelings had completely diminished as if they'd never existed in the first place. Looking at her didn't make his heart race. He didn't want anything more than friendship towards her, at most.

    He thought back to the glare she'd given him a minute ago. She must think otherwise... Then again, she didn't know about Sokka...

    "... Toz had all the children kidnapped. They were never seen again and all their mothers died of sadness." Mai read.

    "That's horrible! Where was my past life when all of this happened?" Aang cried, looking at the scroll.

    "Maybe this was before the first Avatar?" Zuko reasoned.

    "I'm not done," Mai hushed. "Soon after the mothers' deaths, dark spirits began to haunt Toz and his men. Every so often, they'd come to his camp and the next morning, a child would be gone." "All his men abandoned him out of fear and his regime collapsed."

    "However, the Kemurikage still appear to this day, their sadness insatiable." Mai finished.

    "Yeesh, maybe Sozin closed off the rest of the Fire Nation history because it's so depressing." Kei Lo commented.

    "Mai, I think you summoned something by reading that. Look!" Aang gasped.

    A thin trail of smoke seeped out of the wall where the spirits were painted. Billowing up to the ceiling before flowing to wrap around Aang's wrists and then glow a bright blue. It flowed down the hall, lighting the old passage with an ominous blue glow.

    "Neat!" Aang grinned, following the trail.

    "Aang! That could be dangerous!" Zuko called after him.

    "But I think it wants me to follow it!" The avatar exclaimed.

    "This happen often?" Kei Lo raised his eyebrows.

    "With the avatar?" Zuko sighed, starting off after Aang. "All the time."