The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 1: Air, Chapter 6: The Eastern Air Temple

(Originally posted January 10, 2023 on AO3)

At long last, after a little over two weeks of careful zigzagging across the southeastern Earth Kingdom to ensure they kept Zhao off their trail, the trio had arrived at Chameleon Bay. They were going to camp there for the night, and Aang had assured Zuko and Iroh that they should be able to make the flight to the Eastern Air Temple before sunset the following day.

The incident that had occurred on Kyoshi Island had been quite the wake-up call for Aang, and he had not been able to stop thinking about it since the day they had left. He hoped that his trick with the unagi last-minute had been enough to save the village from completely being destroyed.

No more goofing off, he thought to himself with a huff as they descended towards the beach. He had to stay focused on what was important, even if the process was painful: finding evidence that his people were still out there.

While Iroh and Zuko were scoping out the cave that they had picked out to be their camping spot, Aang took off on his glider to survey the area one last time, Momo gliding along beside him. He spotted a few Earth Kingdom ships, but thankfully saw no sign of any Fire Nation ships.

When he landed back in front of the mouth of the cave, he snapped his glider closed and made his way over to where Appa was laying. He gave the beast a few scratches on his muzzle, while Momo hopped off his shoulder and curled up onto Appa's head. "We're almost to the Eastern Air Temple, buddy. That's where we first met, remember?" The bison grunted affectionately in response.

"How are you feeling, Aang?"

He turned to see that Iroh was standing behind him. "Honestly, I'm not sure," he replied. "I'm still hopeful, despite what we found at the Southern Air Temple..." He furrowed his brows and closed his eyes. "I promise I won't let what happened then happen again. I'll make sure to keep my emotions under control, and I'll stay focused this time."

Iroh nodded. "I believe you. And I sincerely hope you find what you're looking for."

Aang smiled at these kind words. For whatever reason, Iroh had continued to be unwavering in his support of him this past month, despite how frequently this seemed to irk his nephew. He still didn't know a lot about the old man, and Iroh did not appear keen to reveal his secrets anytime soon. While he wasn't going to complain about having an ally in his current situation, he often couldn't help but wonder why Iroh was clearly so different from his Fire Lord brother, and from Zuko. Aang also couldn't shake the feeling that, if he wanted to, the former general could very easily incapacitate him and find a way for himself and Zuko to easily return to the Fire Nation with their prize in tow, Zhao or no Zhao. Because of this, Aang decided it was probably best not to question Iroh's support too much. He didn't want to push his luck.

"Thanks, Iroh. I'm glad you believe me. I'm still not sure if Zuko does, though," Aang replied. He looked back into the cave at the Fire Prince, who was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest, staring intently at the dancing flames of the small campfire in front of him.

His relationship with Zuko, surprisingly, had actually improved somewhat since leaving Kyoshi Island. The Fire Prince had not been quite as grumpy as usual, and Aang was pretty sure that he had even managed to make him smile once or twice this past week, though he always did his best to hide it. Unfortunately, he could tell that Zuko was overall still distrustful of him, and some days he refused to lighten up no matter how hard Aang tried to get through to him. Today had been one of those days.

Iroh sighed. "My nephew... he has a complicated past. He's truly not an angry person at heart. In fact, I'd say he's quite the opposite. He has just been through so much for a child his age." He paused, seeming unsure of what he wanted to say next. "I will not relay the details to you now, as it is not my story to tell. But I do believe that, with time, Zuko will heal. When, I do not know, but I have seen glimpses of the kind, shining young Prince I once knew. He is still there, just buried."