The Air of a Flame

*Aang’s POV*

When I finally came to, I was disoriented. I could see Katara’s blurry face above me. When everything cleared up, I realized I was on Appa, my head on her lap. I sat up a little, seeing Sokka across from us.

“What happened?” I asked them. I saw them sneak a glance at each other, then look at me. I ignored the glances, the memory of what Roku and I talked about rushing back to me. “Oh boy! I have a lot of things to tell you!”

“Like what?” Katara asked. She sounded relieved that she didn’t have to explain what had happened.

“While I was in the chamber, I talked to Avatar Roku. He told me a story about how 100 years ago, a comet came, and Fire lord Sozin used it to start a war on the other nations.” I explained quickly, my voice serious. “He said that at the end of the summer, the comet will return and I have to master all of the other elements before then. If I don’t then the Fire nation will use its power again, but this time to win the war.”

“But Aang, you haven’t even started mastering water bending yet!” Katara said worriedly. “How can you master all the elements before then?”

“I don’t know.” I told her honestly. “But I have to. Roku believed that I could and everyone is depending on me. I have no other choice.”

“Well, we will be there to help you all along the way.” Sokka said encouragingly. Katara nodded at his statement. I smiled at them.

“Thanks guys.” I said to them. There was a brief moment of silence before I spoke again.

“So what happened to you guys?” I asked them again. They looked uncomfortable for a bit, and neither of them said anything for a while. Then Katara spoke up.

“Well, while you were inside the chamber, a lot of things happened.” Katara said vaguely, as if trying to figure out how to phrase it.

“Like what?” I asked. “What happened to Zuko?”

Katara sighed. “After the doors closed behind you, Zuko was furious. He tried opening the doors again, but it seemed like Avatar Roku didn’t want anyone else inside. He was screaming at everyone, but then all of a sudden…” She trailed off.

“What?” I responded immediately. I didn’t get why Katara would just stop in the middle of the story like that.

“Well, Zhao came in...” She paused, looking at me as if gauging my reaction. I was confused as to why she didn’t want to tell me that. I was about to say something when she continued. “and he was holding Trinity.”

It took me a few seconds for me to register what she had said. And when it did, my mind went blank.

“What!?” That was all I could get out. There were so many thoughts jumbled around in my head at that moment. How could he have had her? How was she even there? She was… then it dawned on me. She was with Zuko. And Zuko was there. How could I not have realized that she would be there too?! “What happened to her!? Is she okay? Did Zhao hurt her? If he hurt her I swear…”

“Aang!” Katara said, breaking me out of my mindless rant. “Trinity is okay…I think.”

“What do you mean I think!?” I said. If she was okay, where was she!?

“After Zhao came in, he ordered his men to tie us up, including Zuko. But he kept his hold on Trinity. We tried as hard as we could to break free from them, but they were too strong. Zhao kept his hand over Trinity’s mouth, so she couldn’t scream for help or talk to us. We could tell she was scared.” By the time she got to this point, I was angry. My hands were clenched into fists, and I had to restrain myself from finding Zhao right then and hurting him. Sokka, who moved to be beside us, put a hand on my shoulder in comfort.

Katara continued talking. “While we were restrained, Zhao started to interrogate her. He asked her what was so special about her, why she was there. She struggled against him with all her might, but she was too weak compared to him. When you came out, she was blasted out of his hands, and she looked like she was unconscious.” Then she paused, and her tone of voice changed. “But here’s the funny thing. While Zhao was questioning her, Zuko got really mad. He screamed at him not to hurt her.”

“It was like he actually cared about her.” Sokka added in. Katara nodded at his statement.

“When the chains around us melted off from the force of the fire you threw at Zhao’s men, the first thing Zuko did was run to Trinity. When he saw that she was unconscious, he picked her up, gently, and ran away.” I was confused. Why would Zuko care? Did he know that she was my sister?

“Why would he do that?” I asked them. “Why would he take her again?”

“We don’t know Aang.” Katara said. “Maybe something happened between them while they were together.”

“No.” I said immediately after she said that, my older brother instincts getting the better of me. “I won’t allow Zuko anywhere near my sister. Why would Trinity even talk to a person who is trying to kill her brother anyways!?”

“I don’t know Aang.” She replied. “But when Trinity was being held captive by Zhao, she didn’t look at us for help. She looked at him.”

“Well maybe it’s because she doesn’t know you guys very well.” I said, not believing that they could be anything other than enemies. He kidnapped her for crying out loud!

“Just watch Katara. When we save her from Zuko, she’ll tell us that she hates him. And you’ll see.” I said. I could only hope that I was right.