THE VILLAGE | And Avatar the last Airbender fan fiction.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The avatar's bison flew majestically through the sky. Everyone that was aboard attempted to keep their hair behind them, due to the winds as they watched Katara from atop Appa's back. She carefully laid Aang onto Appa's neck creak, supporting his singed back. All of them were teary-eyed, Adeline with burnt and singed robes, Bosco the bear, dressed in the finest linen, The earth king who's glasses kept flying back every few seconds, Sokka who wearily watched Aang and Katara, just hoping he was alright, Toph who was down in moral but couldn't see and bowed her head hoping for land to come soon.

Katara removed her necklace slowly and opened up the cap with ease. Using her bending, she removed a small amount of water out of the tube and swirled it around in her hand until the motion became so fast the liquid began to glow. Katara leaned Aang forward with one hand and supported him with it by the shoulders so she could get the swirling light to his burnt side. It spun incredibly fast and when it hit the skin, shone like the moon and tides before shrinking and drying into his burns. Katara hugged him tightly as the arrow above his head went white briefly. Aang began to grown and Katara gasped at the boy's sudden breath. He smiled weakly at her face as she lay his head back in its original position beside Appa's rolls before hugging him once more.

As the bison flew further and further away, the earth king turned his long face in the direction of Ba Sing Se. "the earth kingdom... Has fallen"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The wind was strong and happiness was scarce. Adeline clenched Appa's warm fur as butterflies flew around her stomach from the unfamiliarity. In the last hour, her world had blown up to unforeseen proportions and it was all so much to take in. The world thought the avatar was dead, that much was clear and that notion made the lump in her throat tighten. But on the other hand, he was alright and she was finally with him after years and years of hope and waiting. She pushed her head further into her knees as tears fell down her face like small minuscule waterfalls. She hadn't spent much time with Zuko or Iroh but she was still distraught over his betrayal.

It was an awful experience, learning he was fire nation and had lied to her. But in the end, she probably would have understood, she could have given him a chance but he chose wrong and she chose right. She knew that there were to be encounters with him in the near future but she pushed almost every thought out. Appa flew low, brushing the surface of a vast lake, the moon reflecting elegantly changing the deep black of the water to a shimmering white. Adeline lifted her head in awe.

The others around them were less than cheerful, exactly like the girl and who would be? It felt like the end of the world and quite frankly, it was. Without hesitation, Adeline would have allowed herself to carelessly fall to the side, just a little tip. The water looked more comforting than the constant silence that encapsulated the journey.

The teen's hair flew wildly out behind her and she tucked the askew pieces tightly around her ears. She felt lucky to be up there but was also wary of the sideways glances, shot by those she was travelling with. They didn't know her. Adeline didn't really know why Katara had trusted her enough to accompany them. Hell, she didn't even know the girl's name.

She bit her nails and rubbed her temples as the water beneath them came to an abrupt stop and land began to stretch out in front of them. Below was a vast forest but the trees weren't very close to together, in fact, it left just enough room for the Bison to land without trouble. Katara held the reigns attached to the animal's horns and directed his head down, landing softly. They'd been flying for quite a while and were well away from Ba Sing Se at that point. Aang slept lightly where Katara had laid him after their hug. He looked rough and not well at all but he was alive and right then that was as good as it was going to get.

katara was the first to hop off and before anyone had even swung their legs over the saddle, she'd made her way over to one side and stared right up at Adeline. She didn't even have to look, but the girl felt the harsh gaze and she shivered expecting an attack. It wasn't necessarily an attack but she hadn't been wrong. The waterbender swung open a pouch from her side and using her skills,.slid the liquid around Adeline's wrist, pulling her to the ground.

She yelpt, hitting the harsh earth and falling flat on her face. Lifting her head to look at a fuming Katara and wondering what had changed in the last hour or so to make her so angry, she frowned. She supposed, letting out her rage near the kingdom would have put everyone in danger but then why did she allow her to escape with them?

The waterbender's face still shone with hot wet tears. She used the water wrapped around Adeline's wrist to pull the girl up and she pushed her back into Appa aggressively. Sokka hopped of the giant beast and raced to his sister's side. "Katara what are you doing?" He questioned wearily.

The girl held a guarded stance, with one hand in front-facing Adeline as if she were about it high five the girl and the other positioned off to the side, ground facing and ready to strike at any moment. Adeline couldn't move and she feared that maybe Katara thought her fire nation. Had she spotted the girl air bending? If so, it probably made no sense to her at all. But the answer to Adeline's eternal questions was no, she had not seen her air bending.

Katara shot a narrow-eyed look. "She was with Zuko, she was with him in the tea shop, she knew him. I want to know why." Katara explained, her voice straining. The way she stood and the way she talked was two different things. For one, by appearance alone, Adeline wouldn't have doubted the girl to break her neck right then and there but her voice... It broke with each syllable and filtered all hatred out. She just wanted answers.

"Please," Adeline told her, using her free hand to guard her face. "If I'd known he was fire nation I wouldn't have stayed with them, they were so kind to me at first"

"Stayed with them?!" Katara exclaimed, tightening the water around Adeline's wrist.

She winced holding back tears as Sokka put a hand on his sister's shoulder seeing the pain in Adeline's groan. The earth king and Bosco watched anxiously from atop Appa and Toph couldn't have cared less. Instead, she took In the earth under her feet with a smile.

"I didn't know! Lee- Zuko I mean helped me-twice actually. They knew things and I was intrigued but I just didn't know!" She yelled, regretting everything. "I thought he was good, I thought he was different but he wasn't" Katara loosened the hold as Adeline explained further. "He found me, under lake Laogai and Mushi.."

"You mean Iroh?" Sokka offered

"I-yes, they offered me hospitality and I worked for them in the tea shop for a short while, only a day and a bit actually. We were invited by the king to serve tea or so we thought and it was all a trap. I swear if I had known... if I had.."

Katara let go of her wrist and bent the water back into her pouch neatly. Katara bowed her head as Adeline sighed. She'd been tricked by Zuko just like her and she felt the eternal strife seeping through the cracks in Adeline's words. She turned away after a quick nod with no more questions. "We'll set up camp for tonight but tomorrow we find my father and we plan the invasion."

-AUTHORS NOTE

So that's the end of part 1! Hope you enjoyed it, part two will be posted shortly. Have a wonderful day. (also sorry for those mistakes, heavy editing will come soon!)

WORD COUNT: 1412