Harry and the others were currently resting on a beach; the group had made camp there the previous night. Right now Appa was eating some grass while Sokka was sleeping in a blue sleeping bag, meanwhile Katara was fiddling through their luggage while Aang was checking the saddle on Appa. While Harry, who had woken up before everyone else, was practising an airbending technique that Aang had taught him before they had went to sleep.
The technique was something that Aang had apparently invented himself, it was called the 'air scooter', a spherical ball of air that can be ridden by balancing on it like a top. The idea was basically create an air ball then shove it under you before jumping on top of it and riding it. It wasn't something that could be maintained for a long time but was useful for short bursts of speed, and it was admittedly quite fun to ride.
"You look like you're having fun." Aang grinned to Harry as he dropped to his feet after his air scooter disappeared.
"I was." Harry smiled back. "I still can't believe you invented that, maybe one day I'll invent a new technique of my own." Harry added with a small shrug. "So, you know where we are heading next?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, we're all heading to the Southern Air Temple." Aang said excitedly. "Wait 'til you both see it! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!" He said, turning back to look at Katara and missing the frown on Harry's face.
"Aang," Katara slowly began speaking as she turned to face him. "I...I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home."
"That's why I'm so excited!"
"Aang," Harry spoke up. "I'm sorry but...is there an actual reason for us going to the air temple? Like...is there an ancient scroll or artefact that we need from there?" He asked.
"Hmm, not really." Aang shrugged. "I just want to go there for a while."
"Ah, well in that case I think it might be better if you don't go there." Harry said in a soft voice.
"Why not?" Aang frowned.
"Well, I'm going to be honest with you, the fire nation..."
"What Harry is trying to say is that you might not recognise everything there." Katara cut Harry off.
"Well...I still want to see it." Aang said before he hopped off Appa and began waking up Sokka. While he was doing that Harry jumped in the air and two jets of fire shot out from under his feet to boost him higher, Harry landed on Appa's saddle and quickly kneeled down in front of Katara.
"What are you doing?" Harry whispered. "He needs to know the truth."
"I...I know but...look at him, the truth would hurt him." Katara argued.
"The pain he suffers now won't be worse than being there and finding out by himself." Harry responded before he turned and looked at Aang who had picked up a stick.
"Sokka! Wake up!" Aang said in an alarmed voice before he moves the stick up and down the sleeping bag, only touching Sokka with the tip of it. "There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" He said, grinning as he did so.
"What?!" Sokka shot up, now fully awake. He hopped around a couple of times before falling face first on the floor. Katara giggled at that while Harry snorted in amusement.
"Great, you're awake now!" Aang said in a happy voice. "Let's go to the air temple." He said before hopping back onto Appa while Sokka - who was still on the floor - grumbled under his breath.
"Aang, I hate to dull your enthusiasm and all that, but I really think we shouldn't go there." Harry replied.
"Why not?" Aang asked.
"Look, you've been gone a hundred years, within that time the fire nation had attacked the air nomads. They knew the Avatar would be born as an air nomad and wanted to wipe you out before you became a threat," Harry told him. "they exterminated every Air Nomad they could get their hands on. If you go there then you'll likely find nothing more than ruins."
"I...that doesn't mean that the airbenders are all gone." Aang argued.
"There hasn't been one seen in hundreds of years." Harry replied.
"That doesn't mean they're all gone." Aang said stubbornly. "We airbenders are smart, they probably escaped and went to hiding."
"Perhaps," Harry conceded that that could have been a possibility, "but I think it's very unlikely. If you absolutely have to go there then I'm not going to stop you, but I'm telling you this now because you need to be prepared just in case. Do you understand me?"
"I...I understand." Aang nodded.
"Good." Harry nodded before sitting back, he wasn't entirely happy about it but had decided to allow Aang to do what he want. The Avatar couldn't exactly be the saviour of the world if Harry had to tell him what to do all the time. Plus there was every chance that Harry was wrong and they could find something or someone that could help them.
"Will there be any food there?" Sokka asked as he climbs up on Appa.
"Is food all you ever think about?" Katara asked in an exasperated voice.
"No, just most of what I think about." Sokka replied.
"Were you by any chance originally born with red hair?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey! Who ate all of my blubbered seal jerky?!" Sokka demanded after he searched through a bag of food while they flew towards the Southern Air Temple.
"Why are you looking at me for?" Harry asked when Sokka glared at him.
"Oh. That was food?" Aang asked in a surprised voice, causing Sokka to look at him. "I used it to start the campfire last night." He added apologetically. "Sorry." He said, though he had a small smile on his face.
"Oh, I had wondered why the fire smelt so good." He said in a saddened voice before he quickly turned to Harry. "Okay, quick question, why didn't you just firebend us a fire?"
"Because I was too busy checking the perimeter to make sure we were safe enough to sleep at night without being attacked." Harry replied. "By the time I got back the fire was already lit." Sokka sniffed but didn't say anything.
"The Patola Mountain range! We're almost there!" Aang said in an excited voice as they started flying above some mountains.
"Just...don't get your hopes up." Harry said in a soft voice.
"Aang, I'm sorry, but Harry's right." Katara replied. "The Fire Nation can be ruthless, they killed my mother." She sadly added. "It's possible that they could have done the same to your people."
"I'm...I'm sorry, Katara." Aang replied in a gentle voice.
"I am too, for whatever that's worth." Harry added.
"Thank you." Katara said to the both of them.
"I am still pretty positive that there will be some airbenders left there," Aang said in a confident voice. "the only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison!"
"No, we most certainly do not have any of them." Harry snorted.
"Exactly, Yip-Yip!" Aang said, causing Appa to fly higher until they were able to spot the Air Temple. "There it is!" Aang cheered when he saw the large and beautiful white temple.
"Aang, that's amazing!" Katara blurted out when she saw it.
"We're home, buddy! We're home!" Aang said to Appa.
"So...where do I get something to eat here?" Sokka asked as they followed the excited Aang up a mountain trail to the temple.
"Are you kidding me?" Katara said while Harry groaned. "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbender temple, and all you can think about is food?"
"I'm a simple guy with simple needs." Sokka shrugged.
"At least he's honest about it." Harry said with a roll of his eyes, wondering how he ended up with the Water Tribe version of Ronald Weasley. They kept walking until they got into the temple, by that point Aang began excitedly gesturing to various places and telling the trio about each place and what he knew about it before telling them about how it related to himself. Harry had been really interested when Aang gestured to the group of tall poles and told them how he played a game called 'airball' there. Though part way through it was clear his enthusiasm was dying down. "Are you alright?" Harry asked.
"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds." Aang said in a saddened voice. "I can't believe how much things have changed." He added, earning sympathetic looks from the Water Tribe siblings.
"That's rough, buddy." Harry said as he patted Aang on the shoulder.
"So...this airball game, how do you play?" Sokka asked in a forcibly cheerful voice, clearly trying to make Aang feel happier.
"You want to play?!" Aang asked, his entire mood cheering up almost instantly.
"I'll play as well," Harry said, "it'll be good airbending practise."
"Let's go!" Aang smiled brightly before grabbing Sokka and Harry before dragging them to the airball poles.
Katara smiled as she watched the boys start playing with Aang, Sokka could be a food obsessed idiot but he had his moments. Apparently Harry had some too, or maybe he really was just interested in airbending.
A short while later the game of airball ended with Sokka being shot through a goal for what Harry believed to be the seventh time, it turns out airball was sort of like football where you had to send a ball into a goal, except you did this while on top of poles and instead of just using your feet you had to use airbending. Harry felt like he was quite good at it even if he wasn't as good as Aang, he even managed to score two goals when it had been his turn to play against Aang.
"Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt." Sokka sighed.
"Well, from what I understand it's only the ball that really has to go through the goal post. So either Aang is more sadistic than we first believed, you've misunderstood the point of the game or maybe you just haven't mastered the art of dodging." Harry said with a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Sokka grumbled before he lifted his head off the ground and paused. "Oh."
"What?" Katara asked as she and Harry followed Sokka's gaze and their eyes widened when they saw a Fire Nation helmet resting a short distance away. Sokka crawled forwards and stopped once his face was a couple of inches away.
"Well...that's not good." Harry said in a quiet voice. "Aang," Harry called. "get over here, now."
"Coming!" Aang said in a happy voice as he hopped off the poles and began making their way to the trio, as he got closer Harry suddenly heard a large sound and looked back to see snow land on Sokka while also covering up the helmet, Harry caught Katara lowering her arms.
"Aang, maybe we should go now, we've wasted enough time playing around." Katara suggested.
"You're right," Aang sighed before his smile came back up, Harry was honestly amazed at how happy the boy could be, he wondered what would happen if Harry had put the boy in a room with Luna Lovegood and gave them both some energy drinks. "we've got more to see, let's go!" He cheered before running off while the trio followed after him.
"What are you doing?" Harry whispered as he and Sokka started walking on either side of Katara.
"I'm with fire boy over here, Aang needs to know." Sokka said. "You can't protect him forever."
"As much as it pains me to agree with meat-for-brains, he's right." Harry replied. "Fire Nation were here, he needs to know. You can't keep this a secret."
"I can for Aang." Katara said stubbornly.
"If you care for Aang then we should tell him." Harry said in an irritated voice. "There is a time and place for secrets, I get that you want to spare him but you're going to cause him more problems than if you told him the truth."
"And how would you know?" Katara said, not looking at him.
"Fine," Harry growled. "you want to keep this a secret then go ahead, I won't say anything. But don't blame me when we've got an emotional twelve year old Avatar to deal with." Harry said before he quickened his pace and walked past the two siblings.
"Great, now I'm agreeing with the fire jerk." Sokka sighed.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Aang said when they arrived in front of a statue of an older monk.
"Should we know who that is?" Harry asked as he and the other two stopped in front of him.
"Monk Gyatso! The greatest airbender in the taught me everything I know." Aang said before he bowed to the statue. "Come on." He said after a lengthy pause. Aang was rushing off again and the other three followed after him.
"You miss him, don't you?" Katara asked.
"A little." Aang admitted in a quiet voice.
"What is this place?" Harry asked when they arrived in a room that was filled with statues, they were lined up in a circular pattern and were spread all across the floor and proceeded to go all the way up the very large room, there were so many of them that Harry was positive that there were some beyond what he could see.
"Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?" Sokka asked in a disappointed voice.
"You know if you focused on your brain as much as you would focus on your stomach then you'd be the smartest man alive." Harry said as they all walked inside.
"Hey!" Sokka said in an offended voice.
"Who are all of these people?" Katara asked.
"I'm not sure," Aang replied, "but I feel like I know them. Like this one, he's an airbender, the next one's a waterbender, then earth and..."
"Then fire," Harry said. "that's the Avatar cycle. Air, water, earth and then fire. These people..."
"They're your past lives!" Katara gasped as she finally understood.
"Wow, there are so many!" Aang replied.
"Past lives?" Sokka said disbelievingly. "You two believe that?"
"I believe anything can be possible, and in this case I truly do believe it's true. There has been plenty of evidence to prove that the Avatar is always born into the next nation in the cycle. The last Avatar was a firebender after all." Harry said just as Aang stopped in front of one statue of an old man with long hair, a long beard and fire nation clothing. "That would be him, Avatar Roku." Harry said, gesturing to the Avatar statue. "He's an important figure in Fire Nation history."
"You were a firebender?" Sokka asked in a surprised voice as they all stopped next to Aang. "No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."
"I'm a firebender." Harry reminded him.
"And I don't trust you." Sokka shrugged.
"..."
"..."
"Fair enough." Harry nodded.
"It's weird," Aang said as he looked around. "I feel like I already knew his name." He said as he gestured to Roku's statue. "I feel like I already know all of their names."
"Well, they are supposedly your past lives." Katara said in a thoughtful voice. "So it's not totally surprising." She said just before a noise startled the four, they all quickly jumped behind the nearest statues. Aang and Katara hid behind one while Harry and Sokka hid behind another.
"Firebender, nobody make a sound." Sokka whispered, Harry had to restrain himself from commenting on Sokka's belief that it was obviously a firebender.
"You're making a sound." Katara pointed out, only to get shushed by all three boys.
"Look, on three." Harry whispered before he counted down from three fingers. "Now!" He said, they all popped out from the statues with Sokka holding his weapons while Harry had a small ball of fire in his hands, meanwhile Katara and Aang had simply popped their heads out to see who it was. "That's not a firebender." Harry dryly commented as he looked at the small creature with white and black fur, a long tail, large ears and large membrane-like wings attached to its arms.
"LEMUR!" Aang said excitedly.
"Dinner!" Sokka drooled.
"Don't listen to him!" Aang quickly said. "You're going to be my new pet!"
"Not if I get him first!" Sokka said before he leaped towards the lemur, the lemur escaped his grasp and began running out of the room with Sokka and Aang chasing him.
"I..." Harry paused before shook his head. "...he's the saviour of the world." Harry sighed before he began walking after them. "The saviour of the bloody world."
A few minutes later Harry was able to find the pair, Harry walked into some damaged drapes that appeared to have previously been a tent. Once inside he saw Aang's back as the boy was kneeling on the floor and crying while Sokka was stood next to where Harry had entered.
"Hey!" Sokka cried out when Harry slapped the back of his head.
"What did you do to him?" Harry asked.
"I didn't do anything!" Sokka protested before he glanced at Aang and started speaking in a quieter voice. "I just found him like this; maybe the lemur thing upset him." Sokka said before he began walking towards Aang.
Harry took a step forward as well but stopped when he saw the skeleton corpse a short distance in front of Aang, Harry appeared to have only noticed it a few seconds before Sokka who had begun trying to comfort Aang. Harry recognised the clothes, they were the same that Monk Gyatso wore, his airbending necklace was there as well. Harry's gaze was pulled off of the skeleton when the air in the room began picking up and violently slapping against his face.
Harry looked at Aang and saw Sokka stepping away from him as Aang's tattoos began glowing, at that point there was only one thought in Harry's head.
"Shit."