As Iroh stood up to help free his nephew from his bindings, I walked over to the side of the deck and hopped off.

I made my way back to Kyoshi village, jogging the entire way along a path of trampled shrubbery. Though I planned to make my way to the Kyoshi dojo to try and find Suki and make sure she was okay, a large crowd in the centre of the village drew my attention.

Making my way over, I noticed that a large section of Avatar Kyoshi's statue had been incinerated, and that a part of her headdress had fallen to the floor. A small part of the crowd looked solemnly up at the statue, but more of them were focused on something that I couldn't quite see. As I approached closer, I was able to look over the crowd and see that they were staring at Aang, who was bowing deeply at them.

"Well, all of that was to say that I'm sorry," he said, apparently reaching the end of a speech of some sort. "Even if I am the Avatar, I haven't been acting like it. I just wanted to enjoy the benefits without thinking about how dangerous it could be for the people around me. If it hadn't been for the Warriors, I probably would've hurt a lot of people by leading the Fire Nation here. I'll make sure to tell Avatar Kyoshi how awesome you guys were the next time I talk to her. I'm sure she'll be proud. But I think we really should be going now."

There was a quiet murmur that travelled across the crowd, seeming to be mostly neutral in tone as the villagers still seemed to generally like Aang's presence in the village, especially since it didn't seem like they hadn't come across any actual harm from the Fire Nation's attack outside of the loss of their statue, but they didn't seem to be eager to experience another attack if he stayed either.

"I also wanted to make another public apology to someone who's been telling me the exact same thing I've been telling you this whole time," Aang said, turning to Katara who stood a few feet behind him. "Katara, you were right. I should've listened to you from the beginning. I've been acting like an absolute whore."

The murmurs immediately stopped, though it was replaced by a few hacking coughs. Oblivious to the reaction, Katara smiled.

"Apology accepted," she said. "Now help me pack a few of our things so we can get out of here."

"Sure thing!" Aang said, with a wide smile as he practically skipped forward to follow her back to their lodgings, leaving behind a stunned and confused crowd behind them.

Though I wanted to follow them, I spotted Suki standing at the edge of the crowd with Sokka, both of them wearing the same dumbstruck expression on their painted faces. Though she seemed fine from this distance, I approached her so I could make sure of it.

She didn't seem to notice me as I got closer, still staring at the place that Aang and Katara had been standing.

"What did he mean by that?" Suki asked. "He's just a kid. Has he even hit puberty yet? Does he have a sex drive?"

"I'll be honest, I have no clue," Sokka said. "I think I'm just gonna ignore it for now. I'm still not sure if I just imagined him saying that. I did get kicked by that Zuko guy while you were tying him up."

"I didn't get kicked and I heard it," Suki said.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that either," Sokka said. "I don't want to deal with any sort of unnecessary drama if I don't have to. I can only imagine how awkward it would be to be stuck on an air bison for hours if I falsely accused him of... Well, I'm not really sure of what exactly I'd be accusing him of, but I'm not gonna do it. We're already running out of ways to pass the time while we travel. There's only so many hours of 'I spy' you can play before it gets stale, especially when the only answers are water and clouds."

"I don't envy you," Suki said.

"It's not all that bad," Sokka said, with a cough. "Appa's actually really comfortable to ride on as long as you're not afraid of heights."

"Well, I don't mean that," Suki said. "I guess I just can't imagine the idea of travelling long hours to be fun, though I guess that's because I haven't left the island at all."

"Actually about that," Sokka said as he turned around to face her, but he jumped back when he saw how close I was.

"Holy shit, Ty Lung," he said.

"Hey," I said, giving him a casual wave, before I looked down at Suki.

She looked up to stare at me.

"You're safe," she said. "I'm glad."

I scanned her body in response. "You are too, though I never really doubted you wouldn't be," I said. "I'm frankly insulted that you were worried about me."

"Well, I do know how much of an idiot you are," Suki said. "Tian and Shani told me you fought the invading force, before challenging a powerful firebender to a one-on-one duel."

"That I did," I said.

"I assume you beat him, then?" she asked.

"Not at all," I said, with a wide smile.

Suki gave me a confused look, before she sighed and shook her head and looked back at Sokka, apparently deciding that she couldn't be bothered to try and understand what I meant.

"Anyways," she said, ignoring my presence completely. "You were about to say something, Sokka?"

Sokka glanced up at me, as if he was wondering if I would be offended if he intruded in the conversation, but I gave him a simple shrug. Taking it as permission, he hesitated a moment before giving Suki a short bow.

"Suki," he said. "Like Aang said, if it hadn't been for you, I'm sure we would've been caught totally unprepared for a Fire Nation attack, no matter how much time we had to plan for it. I can only assume that we'll be getting into more fights, and if I've learned anything during my training with you, it's that I'm weak. We need to help Aang master the elements to end the war, but I'm afraid that Katara and I aren't strong enough to support him. I haven't asked Aang or Katara yet, but I wanted to ask you first if you could come with us when we leave."

Suki stared at Sokka with a completely neutral expression on her face, that might've looked like she was calm to an outsider's perspective, but it was clear to me that she had been completely caught off guard by the question.

She stared at him in silence for a few more seconds, before turning to me, as if to silently ask for help.

Though I had no intention of speaking on her behalf, whether she wanted me to or not, I was more than willing to give her a moment to think. Besides, what Sokka had said was somewhat related to something I had been thinking of as well.

"What about me?" I asked.

"Huh?" Sokka asked, raising his head to stare at me. "What do you mean?"

"I'll go with you," I said, trying to be as clear as possible. "I'll come with you to protect the Avatar."

Suki seemed to be even more stunned than she had been a moment ago, and Sokka still seemed too confused despite my efforts. I sighed in annoyance as I shook my head.

"Okay, what is it you're not getting?" I asked. "Lay it out. I'll answer whatever questions you might have."

"Huh?" Sokka asked.

"That's not exactly a proper question," I said, sighing as I tried to think of what issues he might have with me, to pre-emptively answer any questions he might have before he asked them. "I guess you haven't actually seen me fight, but I am strong. You need me to prove it to you?"

"No, no," Sokka said, shaking his head. "I believe you. Suki talks about you all the time."

"No I don't," Suki said quickly.

"You do," Sokka said, apparently oblivious of how annoyed Suki seemed. "You kept mentioning him while you were training me. Ty Lung learned this move ten times faster than you did. Ty Lung can train for eight hours straight without getting tired. Ty Lung-"

"Okay," I said, not seeing the point in letting him continue. "So you know I'm strong. What's the problem, then?"

"Well," Sokka said, hesitating for a moment. "We don't exactly know you very well."

"Ah," I said. "So it's a character reference you want. Well, you trust Suki, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Sokka said.

"She can vouch for me," I said, turning to her. "I can be trusted to protect the Avatar, right Suki?"

From the expression on her face, I could only imagine that her skin had just turned pale enough that she didn't actually need her face paint.

I quickly stepped in front of her to hide her from view.

"I can be trusted," I said.

Sokka's eyes darted between me and where Suki was standing behind me, before his lips twisted upwards into a strained smile.

"I mean, I'd totally be fine with having you tag along with us," Sokka said, averting his eyes from me. "But you know, I'm also travelling with Aang and Katara, and I can only assume they wouldn't be happy if I just invited someone along without telling them."

"Like you just did with Suki?" I asked.

Sokka winced. "Well, it's not like I was just going to bring her along without their permission," he said. "I would've had to ask them first. Majority vote, and all."

I frowned, not liking the obvious "no" vote that Sokka would put in for me, but he had brought up a solid point. Even if he seemed to oppose the idea of me tagging along with them, for some reason, I didn't actually need to convince him to join the Avatar's travelling group.

"Suki," I said. "Do you plan to go with them?"

I felt Suki shifting behind me, probably surprised that I had called on her. There was a moment of palpable hesitation, before she stepped around me to give Sokka a slight bow.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm honoured that you would trust me enough to ask for my help in escorting the Avatar, but I have too much here that I can't leave behind so easily."

Damn. If Suki was in the Avatar's group, I could've counted on her to vote in my favour, but it seemed like I wouldn't be so lucky.

"Oh," Sokka said, his awkward smile quickly falling as he looked towards her. "That's a shame, but I guess it makes sense. Sorry for dropping this on you so suddenly."

I ignored the two of them while they exchanged polite apologies, as I mentally calculated the odds of convincing each of the members of the Avatar's team.

Katara had been polite enough when we talked, and I could see the possibility that she wouldn't want to decline my offer simply so she wouldn't be rude, but she also had a surprising amount of fire hidden behind her polite exterior, as made evident by her outbursts at Aang.

Aang, I hadn't actually interacted with at all, but he seemed aloof and it didn't seem too difficult to get on his good side. He seemed to respond easily to praise, and though I wasn't about to give it away for free, with how his companions constantly commented on how good of an airbender he was, maybe there actually was something worthwhile hidden behind that pre-teen outer shell of his. While I had dismissed him initially based on his attitude and his lack of water-bending ability, maybe I had judged him too quickly. I could challenge him to a fight, and praise him based on his performance there.

The sky cow was an enigma to me, and though he seemed to understand and tolerate me, I wasn't actually sure if he would want me riding on his back.

And I had barely even seen the fifth member of the Avatar's group. I didn't even know the flying lemur's name, so I had no idea how its vote would swing.

I frowned as I tallied my mental results.

One vote for no from Sokka, and four votes uncertain from the rest.

I grumbled and shook my head, annoyed at the waste of time.

Not any more prepared than I had been a moment ago, I headed over to Aang's lodgings to let them know that I intended to tag along.

I was surprised by the crowd that was gathered around Aang's lodgings, not because it was unusual for the Avatar to be surrounded by a curious crowd, but because this particular crowd was made up entirely of the Kyoshi Warriors. It became clear in a moment, that the Kyoshi Warriors were actively helping the Aang and Katara pack their supplies instead of simply fawning over the Avatar, but the brief pause in my step let Suki and Sokka catch up to me, though the latter seemed to be a little more out of breath than the other.

"Why did you suddenly run off, Ty Lung?" Suki asked hesitantly, as if she were afraid of my answer.

"I didn't run off. I walked," I said, a little distracted as I stared at Aang and Katara, trying to figure out a strategy to get both of them on my side. "My legs are just longer than yours."

"Why do you even want to go with them in the first place?" Suki asked, jogging up and turning around to face me as she walked backwards. "I can't imagine you're actually invested in the idea of protecting the Avatar."

"I'm not," I agreed. "That's just what I'm offering in exchange for them taking me along. I can't imagine they'd give me a free ride for no reason."

"Why do you even want to go?" Suki asked.

"I'm not done with the Dragon of the West," I said simply. "And the Avatar is the perfect bait for him."

Suki stopped in her tracks, her expression of confusion slipping quickly into a blank look of exasperation. I considered stepping around her to continue walking towards Aang, but something told me that it was a bad idea.

"That's the whole reason you want to go with them?" Suki asked, in a deadpan voice. "That's the whole reason why you want to leave?"

"Well, not entirely. It's not just the Dragon of the West," I admitted, slowly realizing that even if the Avatar hadn't arrived, I probably wouldn't have stayed much longer on the island anyways.

I looked down to see a sad frown on Suki's face, hidden behind an angry glare.

The sight of it summoned a mysterious chest pain once more, and I increased the importance of the mental note that I'd made before to see a healer at the first opportunity I got, but with more important matters at hand, I filed it away.

"This Island is too small for me," I said, looking away, unable to hold my gaze against Suki's for some reason. "I was never going to stay long. Even if the Avatar doesn't agree to take me along, I'm probably going to leave today to follow them."

"They have a sky bison," Suki said.

"I'll find a way," I said.

Suki stared at me for a few long seconds before sighing and hanging her head down. She was close enough to me that her forehead bumped lightly against my chest.

"I guess I can't stop you, huh?" she asked.

"No," I answered.

"Very well, then," she said, lifting her head and giving me an exasperated smile before she scanned my body. "Are you planning on leaving without a shirt?" she asked.

I looked down to look at my own bare chest. "I suppose I could wear one," I said. "But my clothes are at the dojo."

"I'll get them for you," Suki said. "Don't you dare leave without saying goodbye first, okay?"

Before I could give a response, she jogged past me and didn't turn back. I silently watched her go, feeling the increasing need to see a doctor for my chest pains, before I noticed Sokka glancing awkwardly between the two of us.

"So are you and her..." Sokka said, before trailing off.

I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Given that he was still wearing the uniform, I couldn't help but wonder if he had been privy to the Kyoshi Warriors' rumour mill.

"We're not married, if that's what you're wondering," I said.

"Married?" Sokka asked. He stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nevermind."

I waited for him, in case he wanted to change his mind, but he turned around and started to walk towards the place where the Kyoshi Warriors were milling around Aang and Katara, packing Appa with enough supplies that they could fit on him without over encumbering him.

Katara noticed Sokka more than she did me, and waved him over.

"Oh good. You're here," Katara said. "We're almost ready to leave. Are you done with everything you need to deal with here?"

"Yeah, more or less," Sokka said, scratching the back of his head. Though he was standing in front of me, so I couldn't see where his eyes were pointed, he must've looked in my direction since Katara spontaneously seemed to notice my presence.

"Oh, Ty Lung," she said. "Are you here to see us off too?"

"Well..." Sokka said on my behalf. "Not exactly..."

Katara glanced between me and her brother, and when it became clear that Sokka wouldn't answer her, I spoke up.

"If you take me with you on your journey, I'll protect the Avatar," I said.

Katara's smile didn't fall from her face, but her eyes glazed over in confusion. She continued to smile at me, as if she were waiting for me to continue, but since I had no idea how I could be any clearer, I stayed silent. Giving up on me, she turned to Sokka, who only shrugged.

"What he said," he said.

Katara didn't seem satisfied in the slightest by her brother's lack of explanation, but she did seem to snap out of the stunned state that she was in.

"Excuse us for a second," she said, before grabbing Sokka and pulling him into a quick huddle.

I don't know if she meant for me to hear, but if she was trying to make it so I wouldn't be able to listen in on their conversation, she was doing an incredibly poor job of it. Though their voices were low enough that I couldn't make out the exact wording of the conversation, I heard enough that I could understand the general gist of what they were talking about.

Katara was confused, suspicious, and sceptical of both my ability to protect Aang and my reasons for doing so. Though Sokka was quick to suggest that I was probably capable of fighting, given how Suki had vouched for my skills, and how I had held back "that short old guy, who's apparently some big shot firebender by the way", Katara didn't seem satisfied by his explanation of why I wanted to tag along in the first place.

I frowned at her reaction, and conceded that it would probably be difficult to convince her to take me on board given that I didn't have much time. The Kyoshi Warriors seemed to be nearly done packing. It seemed that with two out of the five votes being clearly in the negatives, my fate would come down to my ability to convince Aang, the sky cow, and the flying lemur to take me along.

With the sky cow clearly being busy, I searched around the clearing for any signs of Aang. It wasn't a difficult search, since he was walking towards Sokka and Katara with a curious expression on his face.

"Hey guys," he said. "What's going on? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, Aang!" Katara said, raising her head from the huddle, giving me an awkward smile before she turned to face him. "We were just talking about Ty Lung."

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Who?" he asked. He glanced at me, probably since I was the only person standing around, but didn't seem confident enough in my identity to assume that they were talking about me.

Katara's eyes followed Aang's and she nodded. "You remember Ty Lung, right?" she asked. "He was the first person we met on the island."

Aang squinted at me, before he widened his eyes in realization, smiling and snapping his fingers.

"You're the tall guy that Appa tried to eat," he said, before he frowned. "Why don't you have a shirt on?"

"Is that a problem?" I asked. Though I didn't know enough about air nomads to assume they had anything against nudity, given the fact that the first time I had seen Aang was after he had stripped down to his underwear to take a swim, I would've been surprised by the hypocrisy.

"I mean, I guess not," he said. "But aren't you cold?"

"A little," I said. "But I'm used to it. I used to live in the mountains."

"I see..." Aang said, falling into an awkward pause before he sidled up to Katara and whispered into her ear at a volume that I could easily hear from where I stood.

"Katara, this guy's weird," he said. "What does he want?"

Katara winced at the volume of Aang's whisper, and given that she obviously knew that I could hear him, I didn't see any reason to keep up a pretense that they were having a private conversation.

"I want to leave the island with you," I said. "I'll provide you with protection and I expect no payment outside of the opportunity to fight your pursuers. If there is anything that I can do to convince you that taking me along will be worthwhile, I will do anything I can to prove myself to you."

From the pained expression on Katara's face, and the confused one on Aang's, I wasn't sure if I my plan to tag along with them would be successful, but before I could start to brainstorm on ways that I could pursue a sky bison on foot, I heard a dull thud. I glanced up at the source of the noise to see that one of the Kyoshi Warriors had dropped a small sack of potatoes on the ground, but instead of moving to pick it up, all of the Kyoshi Warriors were staring directly at me.

Though they didn't seem like they had even noticed the sound of the potatoes dropping, the trio seemed to notice the dead silence that spontaneously appeared. Following the direction of my eyes, they turned to look at the Kyoshi Warriors.

It was a strange scene to behold, and with a mysterious tension hanging in the air as our two groups stared intently at each other, it almost felt like we were squaring up for a fight. Me and the avatar's group, versus the entirety of the Kyoshi Warriors. The thought was an interesting one, and it would certainly help me prove my worth if the Kyoshi Warriors spontaneously decided to attack us, but I doubted that that was what was going on here.

Which I was grateful for. As much of a challenge it would be, the thought of beating down the entirety of the Kyoshi Warriors didn't excite me as much as I might've expected it to.

But putting my strange lack of excitement aside, I raised an eyebrow at the Kyoshi Warriors, still not understanding why they were staring at me so intensely.

"What?" I asked.

The simple question pierced the veil of silence that hung over us, but it took a few seconds before I heard a reply.

"You're leaving, Ty Lung?" a quiet voice squeaked out. Though the Kyoshi Warriors were too far for me to identify which one of them had spoken, from the wave of murmurs that travelled across the entirety of their group, it seemed like every one of them had wanted to ask the same question.

"Yeah," I said.

The effect of the single word was instantaneous, as the Kyoshi Warriors all dropped what they were doing and rushed towards me as the avatar trio moved out of the way to avoid being stampeded over. Though there were too many of them to understand what they were saying, it seemed that a majority of them didn't want me to leave, or were understanding but still sad to see me go.

I raised my hands, in a silent request for an opportunity to speak, and eventually the noise died down enough that I could talk.

"I'm leaving the island," I said, speaking loudly to be heard over the few grumbles that came out of the warriors. "I've never planned to stay here for long, and though I'm flattered that you enjoyed my presence here so much, you can't do anything to stop me. You've all been great, but it's time for me to go."

"Will you come back to visit us?" a voice shouted out.

"I'm not sure," I said, with a shrug. "Can't say either way."

"Can we at least say goodbye?" one of the Kyoshi Warriors asked from the front of the group.

I smiled at the Warrior that had spoken up. "Of course you can, Lan," I said. "You've always been good to me. Thanks for sneaking me extra food whenever you were on kitchen duty."

Lan smiled at me, nodding at me for a moment before she seemed to hesitate. I said nothing for a moment to give her the opportunity to speak, but was surprised when she walked up and gave me a quick hug.

"Don't hurt yourself too badly," she said.

"You know I can't promise that," I said with a laugh. She laughed in response and stepped to the side, surrendering her position to the next Warrior.

Saying goodbye to each of them individually was a tiring process, but I felt like I would regret it if I didn't do it, so I made sure to give each of them the thanks that they deserved for the hospitality that they provided me during my time on the Island.

Throughout the individual goodbyes I gave out, I did make sure to keep an eye on the avatar's group, to make sure that they didn't use the opportunity to run off without me, not wanting to give them too big of a head start if they managed to sneak away without me being able to note which direction they flew off at the very least. Thankfully, they seemed to be content with staying until I was done, watching me say goodbye to all of the Kyoshi Warriors, each of them holding varied reactions to the sight.

Katara stared at the scene with a warm look in her eyes and a melancholic smile, while Sokka seemed both amused and annoyed by the sight. Aang stared at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, for some reason, and his shock only seemed to grow when I felt something soft touching my cheek.

I blinked in confusion and looked down at Nana, who looked to the side with a bashful expression on her face, trying to ignore the scandalized expressions that the other Kyoshi Warriors were giving her.

"It's very rude to look at other people while you're talking to a girl, you know," Nana muttered as she touched her lips with her fingers.

I blinked a few more times, before I chuckled and shook my head in amusement once I realized what she had done.

"I'm sorry for that," I said. "Be well, Nana."

I made sure to pay attention to each goodbye after that, trusting that the avatar group wouldn't leave during my moment of distraction, but some of the Warriors still felt the need to give me a quick peck on the cheek, emboldened by Nana's actions. I didn't mind it at all, but as I reached the last person in the queue, I stared down at Suki, who gave me a flat unamused look.

Stolen story; please report.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked, her voice deadpan.

"I am," I said.

Suki glared at me, and sent a glare to the Kyoshi Warriors around me, before the harsh expression fell from her face with a sigh.

She reached up and pushed my Kyoshi Warrior uniform against my chest.

"Here," she said. "Put on a damn shirt."

"Where'd my other shirt go?" I asked.

"It's a literal pile of rags," Suki replied. "Hopefully you'll treat this uniform with a little more respect. Unless you've got a problem with wearing it?"

Suki quirked an eyebrow up at me, as if to challenge me. Though it might've been funny to accept the challenge, I recognized that it wasn't the time for that.

"Of course not," I said. "I'm proud to wear this uniform, just as I am proud to say that I was once a member of the Kyoshi Warriors."

I took a few steps backwards and gave her a deep bow once I was sure I was far enough that I wouldn't headbutt her.

Suki sighed in response.

"You idiot," she said. "There is no 'once was'. Don't think that just because you leave the island, you're no longer a Warrior. You're ours forever."

A few of the Kyoshi Warriors laughed at that, and even more let out short cheers of agreement. I lifted my head and laughed along with them.

"I suppose you're right," I said. "I'm honoured to have been taught by you, Suki. Thank you for everything you've done for me so far. I'll promise to pay you back one day."

Suki smiled up at me, but her expression twitched as she seemed to notice something out of the corner of her eye. With how close the other Kyoshi Warriors were surrounding us, I didn't have to even follow her eyes to notice how the Warriors were looking at Suki almost expectantly, with their eyes darting from her lips to my cheek.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the expression of calm annoyance that fell over Suki's face, and wondered if anyone else had realized that this was just her default reaction to moments of panic, to preserve her dignity as a leader. I doubted it though. The other Warriors respected her too much to want to poke holes in the ironclad persona that their leader kept up.

But even though I respected her as my teacher, she had never been my leader. She had always just been Suki to me.

I leaned in close, and though she pretended to look up at me with an unamused look of annoyance, I could see the utter panic that flashed behind her eyes. I heard a few groans of disappointment when I just leaned down to hug her, but when I chuckled into her ear I felt her shiver in my arms.

I felt Suki tense up as I put my mouth closer to her ear and whispered into it with a quiet laugh.

"Coward."

Immediately, I felt Suki's body go lax. Though I had her arms pinned to her side, she used the small space that she had made by relaxing her body to snake her arms upwards and strike me right in my armpits. As I withdrew my arms reflexively, Suki shifted her hands inwards to grab the back of my neck and pull me in to bash her forehead into mine.

"You're the most frustrating person I have ever met in my entire life," she growled, before she kissed me on the lips.

Before I could even recover from her headbutt, she pulled her lips away from me and yanked my neck down further while kicking my ankles and throwing me to the ground.

I let out a loud laugh as I stared up at the sky, still reeling from my impact with the ground, before Suki threw my clothes at my face. By the time I got up, she had already stormed off.

The Kyoshi Warriors followed the path of their leader, but once she was gone from sight, the majority of them chuckled to themselves before they returned to packing supplies onto the sky cow's back, as if nothing had happened. Once I stopped reeling from Suki's attack, I hopped up to my feet and walked over to the avatar's group, who all seemed like they had no idea what was going on.

"Anyways," I said. "Like I was saying, before our conversation was interrupted, I'm willing to do anything to prove that taking me along will be worthwhile."

"Umm," Katara said, her eyes darting between me and the direction that Suki had just stormed off towards. "Are you just not going to acknowledge that?"

"Acknowledge what exactly?" I asked, the question being too vague for me to answer immediately.

Katara stared at me for a few seconds, before she looked to the side at her brother, who gave her a slight but very obvious shake of the head.

"Well," Katara said hesitantly, slowly turning her head back towards me, but doing her best to avoid meeting my eyes. "I mean, you seem like such a nice guy, but-"

"We'll take you!" Aang shouted suddenly, interrupting Katara before she could decline me.

"What?!" Katara and Sokka said simultaneously.

Though my reaction wasn't so severe, I couldn't help but be surprised by Aang's sudden change of heart as well. I quirked my eyebrow up at the small pre-teen, who smiled wide at me.

"Really?" I asked, a little hesitant to take the sudden change of heart at face value.

"Yeah!" Aang said excitedly. "You seem like a nice guy."

"I do?" I asked, my confusion too strong to accept his acceptance so easily.

"Yeah! All those girls seemed to like you a lot. No way you wouldn't be that popular if you weren't nice, right?"

"Aang," Katara said, keeping an eye on me even though she was talking to him. "Our journey is going to be dangerous. We shouldn't take someone along with us just because they seem... nice."

"I mean he's strong too, isn't he?" Aang asked. "I mean he took that attack like it was nothing."

"I fought off a bunch of the firebenders too," I said, a little hesitantly. "And the Dragon of the West."

"Yeah, the Dragon of the West," Aang parrotted, in a way that made it obvious that he had no idea what I was talking about.

"Aang, this guy's clearly a lunatic," Sokka said, giving up the pretence of subtlety completely, not that I disagreed with him in particular. "Why in the world would you want him to tag along with us when he looks like he'll probably kill us in our sleep."

"That's a pretty rude thing to say, Sokka," Aang said, with a frown, though it lightened up somewhat when Katara slapped Sokka in the back of the head. "You're not crazy, right Ty Lung?"

"I don't think I'm crazy," I replied, still too confused to do anything but follow along with the conversation.

"There you have it," Aang said. "He's a nice guy, he's strong, and I think he could teach me a lot of things!"

Sokka paused in his complaints as Katara continued to slap the back of his head to narrow his eyes at Aang.

"And what would he teach you, exactly?" he asked suspiciously.

Aang flinched, and though he tried to act nonchalant, he was horrible at it. I followed his eyes as it darted around between my cheek, the Kyoshi Warriors, and Katara.

"Just life things," he said, a little too quickly. "Life's not all about bending, you know, and Ty Lung's old. He's probably got a lot of experience in life."

My lips flattened into an unamused line, not knowing how I should react in the realization of why Aang wanted me around, but at the same time, I wasn't about to turn down a gift-wrapped opportunity like this.

"I do have a lot of life experience," I said, with a deep bow. "I'll admit that I've never actually tried to be a teacher before, but I'll try my best."

"See? Earnest too. This guy just keeps getting better and better. What do you say? Can we take him? Please?"

Katara glanced sideways at Sokka, as if to seek his opinion, but Sokka just gave Aang an exasperated stare.

"You and I are going to have to have a man-to-man talk one day," he said, before shaking his head and turning around, climbing on top of the sky cow and sitting at the reins with a deep frown.

"I think that means he's okay with it," Aang said. "How about it Katara? Can he come with us?"

Katara raised an eyebrow and glanced between me, Aang, and her brother with a confused expression on her face before her shoulders sagged down in defeat.

"I mean, I would be outvoted either way," she said. "And I guess it would be reassuring to have another fighter on the team. Watching how skilled the Kyoshi Warriors were at taking down the firebenders did make me realize that we're a little underprepared for any fights we might get into."

"Yes!" Aang said, hopping several feet into the air in excitement. "You're coming with us, Ty Lung. Hurry and grab your stuff! We're leaving soon."

"I'm already packed," I said. "This is all I own."

"How nomadic of you," Aang said, giving me a thumbs up. "I like it."

"Thanks," I said.

"I do have one request though," I said. "I want to say goodbye to one more person on the island."

Immediately, Aang gave me a sly smile. "Oh really? Is it another lady?" he asked, gently prodding me with his elbow.

"Technically yes," I said. "She lives about an hour's walk away, and a lot less than that if I run."

"That's fine, that's fine," Aang said. "We've already stayed on the island for a couple days. What's a few more hours?"

"Aang," Katara said, cutting into the conversation. "Do I need to remind you that we just got attacked less than half an hour ago? The Fire Nation soldiers could still be on the island."

"It'll be fine," Aang said, casually waving away Katara's worries. "With how much that Zuko guy was crying about his honor and pride while the Kyoshi Warriors tied him up, I'd be surprised if he didn't just leave because of how embarrassed he was."

"Wait," I said, feeling a grin rise on my lips. "You're telling me that the prince was actually crying?"

"Well, not exactly," Aang said. "But it was close."

"Ah," I said, laughing at the mental image that popped up in my head.

Katara frowned, apparently not satisfied with Aang's response.

"Don't you think that might have just made him angrier?" she asked. "What if he comes back while we're unprepared and we're not ready for him this time around?"

"I can only assume that the Kyoshi Warriors have a few scouts that are keeping an eye on him until they leave," I said. "It would be pretty strange for them to let a small militia of hostile forces go unchecked in their territory. If they were coming back to attack us again, we would know."

Katara's eyes widened slightly, though Aang's smile only grew wider.

"Wow, I didn't even think of that," he said. "See, Katara? This is why we need someone like Ty Lung on our team. You saw the Kyoshi Warriors. If he knows how to do stuff like that, then we'll be much safer while we travel to the North Pole."

"I guess," Katara finally conceded. "Well, if you really think it's fine, then I guess we can wait for a bit longer."

"Yes!" Aang shouted, before I could confirm that it really was fine. "Come on then, Ty Lung. We've got no time to waste!"

I raised an eyebrow when he sped off, not realizing that he had intended to come with me in the first place. I glanced at Katara, who only offered me a shrug, but I quickly decided that I didn't care either way.

"Wrong way, Aang," I called out, before jogging in the direction of the old lady's house.

It didn't take long for Aang to catch up to me despite my head start, and with the strong gust of wind that was hitting my back, I wondered how much of his speed was due to his airbending, and how much was due to natural athleticism.

Before I could figure it out, Aang gave me a sheepish smile.

"I hope you don't mind me tagging along," he said, without a hint of exertion in his voice. "I just thought we could use the opportunity to get to know each other a bit before we took off. You know, get a little time to talk away from the ladies."

"I don't mind," I said. "And by ladies, I can only assume you mean Katara."

Aang stumbled in his step, nearly tripping and having to take a moment to catch himself so he wouldn't tumble to the ground. When he recovered, he was quick to catch up to me again.

"Yeah," he said, not quite looking in my direction.

"What did you want to talk about that you don't want to say in front of her?" I asked.

There was a moment of quiet as Aang took his time to respond, filled with nothing but the sound of my heavy footfalls as I realized that Aang's footsteps were nearly silent.

"I want to know how to get Katara to like me," he said.

"And you thought I could teach you how," I said.

"The Kyoshi Warriors all seemed to really like you," Aang muttered, his voice quiet enough that it was difficult to hear. "Especially that one girl, Suki."

"That is true," I mused. "Well, like I already said. I've never actually tried to teach anyone anything before, but I'm willing to try my best."

"I've been told that I'm a great student," Aang said, though his smile quickly dropped as his eyes furrowed in concentration. "Actually, I'm not sure if anyone's ever told me that. Monk Gyatzo did have to make up a bunch of games to get me to focus on airbending training."

I shrugged. "As someone who only realized a few years ago how fun learning could be, a good or bad teacher can make or break your whole experience," I said. "Sounds like this Monk Gyatzo guy was a good one."

Aang's smile turned soft, as he stared forwards at something I couldn't see.

"Yeah," he said. "He really was."

I let him have his moment of reminiscence before I spoke again.

"So," I said. "What exactly do you want me to teach you?"

"What do you mean?" Aang asked. "I already said I wanted to get Katara to like me, didn't I?"

"That's too vague," I said, shaking my head. "I can't help you if you don't tell me exactly what you want. Do you want to fuck her?"

"Fuck?" Aang asked, furrowing his eyebrows as if struggling to recall the word. "Do you mean sex?"

"Yeah," I said, quickly realizing that I might've made the wrong assumption. I suddenly realized how young he was, and had to wonder if I was still subconsciously thinking of him as the old wizened airbender that the Fire Nation propaganda liked to paint him as. "You know what that is?"

"The monks teach all the younger kids about it," Aang said. "But I don't see how that's relevant. I'm too young to have kids, and Katara and I aren't even married yet."

"Got it," I said, quickly recalibrating my teaching goals. "I noticed that you said that you weren't married, yet. Is that your endgoal?"

"No," Aang said, a little too quickly. He winced as he seemed to struggle to think about it. "Maybe? Yes. I'm not sure. I mean I like her, and she's really pretty and nice, but maybe I'm a little too young to think about marriage."

"Lots of people get engaged at your age," I said. "Don't use it as an excuse."

"Then what?" Aang asked. "Should I want to marry Katara? Is that what you're saying?"

"How the hell should I know?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "That's your decision, not mine."

"You just said a lot of people get engaged at my age," Aang said.

"That wasn't me telling you that you should be okay with it," I said. "You're not most people. You're you. Only you can decide what's good for you. So decide."

"Now?" Aang asked.

"Why not?" I asked back.

"Are you always so direct?"

"Usually."

"Is that why so many girls like you?"

"That's probably a part of the reason."

"What's the rest of the reason, then?"

"The rest of the reason is everything else."

"Everything else of what?"

"Everything else that makes me me."

Aang groaned.

"You're a lousy teacher," he said. "You're just saying what everyone else is always saying about talking to girls. Just be yourself. Well, what if girls don't usually like who I am?"

"Then lie about who you are," I said, with a shrug.

"See? Now that's a life lesson!" Aang said, giving me a wide grin. "How exactly should I lie, then? What can I tell Katara to get her to like me?"

"Well, if you just want Katara to like you, you can just tell her anything she wants to hear," I said, with a shrug. "Of course, her liking you would just be temporary, but if you're not looking for a long term thing, then it might suit your goals just fine. Not that I know what your goals are."

"Temporary?" Aang asked, frowning. "What if I don't want it to just be temporary?"

"Then don't lie," I said, a little confused by Aang's confusion. "Be yourself."

"But I already told you," he whined. "That might work for you, but it doesn't work for me. I've been myself this whole time and Katara barely pays any attention to me!"

"Then be a better version of yourself," I said, getting a little frustrated by the cyclical nature of the conversation. "I can tell this is getting nowhere, so I'll have to put a stop to our first lesson and assign you some homework. Figure out what the hell you want to ask me for. I'm not going to try and teach you about something you're not even sure you want. Got it?"

Aang frowned, though his intense gaze didn't seem to be directed at me, so much as it was directed inwards.

"I guess," he said.

The rest of the run towards the old lady's place passed by in relative silence, as Aang didn't seem to have any other questions for me, too deep in his own thoughts to give them voice.

As we got closer to the old lady's house, I noticed a plume of distant smoke in the horizon, trailing shamefully away from the island. I made the mental note to say goodbye to the four Kyoshi Warriors that I hadn't already seen off in the village if I had the chance, but I didn't want to waste time looking for them in the port town. Pushing my way into the old lady's shop, I was surprised to see that the shop was busy during lunch hours, though I quickly remembered that the entire island had just been in lockdown.

"What do you want, brat?" the old lady asked, making Aang jump behind me in surprise.

"I'm leaving the island," I said. "Just thought I'd let you know before I left."

"Who am I, your mother?" the old lady scoffed. "You don't need to let me know every time you wipe your ass."

"Jealous that I'm not so old that I can't wipe my ass myself?" I asked.

"I'll kill myself before I become that infirm," she said.

"You old bitch," I said. "I already said I'd fulfil my promise to you. You don't need to rush me."

"Umm," Aang said, as he seemed to realize that my goodbye to the old lady wasn't what he might've been expecting. "I'll just wait outside, if that's okay with you."

"You don't need my permission," I grunted. "Wait outside if you want."

"Okay, cool," Aang said, waving awkwardly towards the old lady. "Well it was nice to meet you. You've got a lovely shop. Don't be too long, Ty Lung."

Before I could respond, Aang darted out of the shop, quick as the wind.

There was a moment of silence before the old lady grunted.

"That was the avatar?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Looks like a wimp," she said.

"He's a kid."

"That's no excuse."

"I wasn't disagreeing with you," I said, with a shrug. "But still harsh. Are you comparing him to the last avatar or something?"

"How old do you think I am, you little shit?" she said, with a scowl.

"Old enough that I wouldn't have been surprised if you said yes," I said casually, though I kept an eye out for anything she might start to throw my way.

Fortunately, the only thing she threw at me was a harsh glare. I grinned back in response.

"I haven't forgotten my promise," I said.

"You already mentioned that," she replied. "Are you following the avatar around like a dog in hopes that he'll kill the fire lord for you?"

"No," I said. "You really think that kid is capable of killing someone?"

"Some people say that it's the Avatar's duty to bring peace to the world," the old lady said.

"Well, people are stupid," I said. "There are tons of people that are much stronger than him. Maybe he could toughen up to the point where he could kill the fire lord, given enough time, but by the time that happens, I'll have already killed him."

"Then why follow the avatar around if you don't intend him to do your job for you?" the old lady asked.

"Because I'm not putting my whole life on pause just because you taught me one thing?" I said, a little offended by the idea. "I mean, killing the fire lord is on my list of things to do, but don't think you're so damn important that I'll just drop all my shit to cater to your every need."

The old lady let out a rough bark of laughter.

"I should've seen that answer coming," she said. "You really are a selfish brat, you know that?"

"Of course I do," I said.

"Get out of my fucking sight, you brat," she said.

"Yes, yes," I said, rolling my eyes before getting on my knees and giving her a deep bow.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?" the old lady asked.

"Showing my appreciation, you senile hag," I said. "You've treated me well during my entire stay. I'm not stupid enough that I can't appreciate that."

"Could've fooled me," the old lady said, with a scoff. "Damn freeloader wasting my money and time. The next time you come back here, I expect you to bring cash and pay for your food like a functioning member of human society."

"Asking a lot of me there, Taki," I said, with a laugh, standing up.

I laughed again at the way that the old lady's face twisted up in a grimace.

"Get the fuck out of my sight," she said.

"Fine, fine," I said. "I'm leaving, you old bitch. I'll see you around."

"Don't drop dead before I have the chance to kill you, brat," the old lady said, as she shooed me away.

I waved behind me as I left.

Outside, I saw Aang leaning against the wall of the shop, staring blankly up at the sky. I waited for him to notice me on his own, but when a few seconds passed in silence, I patted his shoulder.

"Let's go," I said.

"You're done already?" Aang asked.

"I didn't have much to say," I said, with a shrug.

The run back to Kyoshi village wasn't nearly as silent as the run had been away from it, with Aang seeming to have found his voice again. Though he didn't bring up the topic of Katara or anything else I could teach him about again, he filled the silence by telling me about his own life, about how he'd been frozen in an iceberg for the past hundred years along with the sky cow, how Katara and Sokka had found him buried in the South Pole, and how they fought off the prince before leaving.

He also briefly mentioned visiting the Southern Air Temple and adopting Momo there, which I assumed was the name of the sky lemur, but didn't have much to say about it further than that, before launching into a list of rankings on what sort of animals that he'd ridden on, and what sort of animals he planned to ride on during his future journeys.

Though I didn't have much input on his list, he didn't seem to mind dominating the conversation, especially since he seemed to have a lot to say. By the time we got back to Kyoshi Village, I had a comprehensive knowledge on how to ride otter penguins, elephant koi, and catgators, though he heavily advised against trying to ride the last one.

He was in the middle of telling me about the last time he'd snuck out to the swamplands to try and find a catgator to ride on with his Earth Kingdom friend, as we arrived at Kyoshi Village. It seemed that the Kyoshi Warriors had finished packing the last of the supplies onto the sky cow's back, and were waiting in single file, with their hands folded behind their backs, though a few of them broke their posture to smile and wave in our direction.

I waved back, and laughed when Suki barked at them in annoyance, but even though the Kyoshi Warriors went back to their positions, they did so with a smile on their faces.

"I blame you for this," Suki said, once I got close enough. "They were more disciplined before you came to this island."

"I won't apologize for being me," I said with a shrug.

Suki sighed, but stepped forward to give me a quick hug, though I grabbed her before she could make it too quick. Sighing and accepting her fate, she let me squeeze her tight as she hugged me back in return.

"I can't breathe," she said, her words muffled by my chest.

"Not my fault you're so small," I said, as I let her go.

"Are you going to define anyone that's shorter than you as 'small'?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'll see you around, Suki. Stay safe."

"Don't die," she said, in response.

I nodded and turned to follow Aang onto the sky cow's back, though the sky cow turned to me in disdained offence when I tried to step up onto his back. Though he eventually let me climb on, after a few calming words and promises of bribes from Aang, he did so begrudgingly, shifting his body to make my climb more difficult, only stopping when Sokka poked him in the forehead. The sky cow gave me exasperated glare, but with two other people who couldn't fly if he decided to do a barrel roll mid-air, I didn't think I would be thrown off of his back any time soon.

Sokka looked between me and Aang a few times, as if to silently ask Aang if he wanted to change his mind about me, but when Aang either ignored or failed to pick up on Sokka's silent signals, he sighed and took his place at the reins.

"Yip, yip," Sokka said.

As the sky cow took off, the Kyoshi Warriors simultaneously broke formation to wave us goodbye, but despite the annoyance that was clear on Suki's face, she joined in with them.

I waved them goodbye, along with the rest of the Avatar's group, as we headed to our next destination, wherever that was.