𝖑𝖎𝖆𝖗, 𝖑𝖎𝖆𝖗
liar, liar
volume ii, chapter vi

❄️🦋💦

"PSST... YUE... psst... !"

Six year old Princess Akiara clambered onto Yue's bed. Her sheets were soft and silky, slippery and hard to hold on to and Akiara's chubby little arms grabbed desperately before she hauled herself all the way up and practically on top of Yue. Yue let out a groan, pulling her feathery blankets further over her head and smushing her head into the pillow.

     "Wake up," Akiara whispered into her sisters ear, giggling. "Wake up, Yue! Wake up!"

     "Akiara... " Yue murmured. "Go back to sleep."

"Why?" Akiara asks.

"It's nighttime," said Yue. Her voice was muffled by her pillow. "Everyone is asleep."

"But I'm awake," said Akiara. Her lips jut out as she pondered Yue's words, arms crossing. "And you're awake... "

     "I wish I was sleeping," countered Yue, but she didn't really sound annoyed.

     "The stars are awake," Akiara said and then she looked at her sister slyly. "And the ocean is awake and the moon is awake, too. And if the stars and the ocean and the moon are can be awake, so can we!"

     Yue lifted her head from her pillow. She smiled, now. "Do you want to say hello to the Moon?"

     "Yes!"

     Hand in hand, the sisters dart down the dark and quiet corridors of the icy palace. Akiara was loud and noisy as she bounced down the halls and though Yue did her best to urge her sister to be quiet, she couldn't keep from laughing. When they got outside, snow was falling and Akiara giggled in the quiet, cold air as she reached her arms out towards the heavens, trying desperately to catch them. Yue barely tugged her along, luring her with the promise of saying hello to the Moon.

     And that's how they found themselves in the Spirit Oasis.

     Little Akiara's eyes widened as she touched the grass. "It's so warm in here," she murmured breathlessly. For once, she was speechless. "Is it magic?"

     Yue nodded.

Akiara fell back into the grass. It felt so different from snow! As she did, her head tilted back to look at the sky. And she decided right then and there that she'd never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life.

Violet ink drenched the clouds and the heavens were made from frozen indigoes. Yet everything was awash in silver. Like fragments of shattered ice, the stars of lilac scattered the heavens. But most magnificent of all was the pale crystal that dwarfed them, the white-rock of the full moon that seemed to sing to Akiara. She was bathed in moonbeams and she smiled.

"Hello, Moon," she said and she waved.

"You don't have to look to the sky," Yue told her, pulling Akiara to her feet. She took her sisters hand in hers and led her forwards, towards a pond of moon-lit water. In it, two Koi fish circled each other. One of inky black with a blazing white mark and the second of blazing white with an inky black mark. "He is right here."

Akiara blinked. "Those are fish."

"Not just any fish," Yue told her. "Tui and La. they are the Moon and the Ocean Spirit. They watch over us. Protect us."

"From anything?" Akiara's voice was small. "Even the Fire Nation?"

"Even the Fire Nation."

"Woah... " Akiara whispered and she gazed upon the Koi fish.

Tui's inky scales shimmered with all the azure blue of the deepest ocean, but La shone. Seething, like a blinding white supernova, raging, luminescent with bliss. Radiating peace. Together Tui and La were tethered, ensnared as if they belonged together, trapped in an eternal dance. And yet they did not seem troubled. They only knew each other. Their minds belonged not to the chaos among the stars but only to the eternal peace they found in each other.

She lifted her hand. "Hello, Moon."

❄️🦋💦

AKIARA wakes with a start. There is no moon. Only the blazing sun. All is quiet.

"GOOD MORNING EARTH BENDING STUDENTS!" Toph shouts at the top of her lungs, the earth rumbling beneath her feet. Several birds squawk noisily.

"I'm not an earth bending student," Akiara says.

Toph shrugs. "Then bad morning to you."

"Good morning, sifu Toph," Aang says.

"Hey... " Katara sits up sleepily, entangled in her own sleeping bag. "You never call me sifu Katara."

"Well... if you think I should — "

Sokka grumbles incoherently, glaring at the lot of them. His hair is all over the place.

"Sorry, snoozles," says Toph, but she doesn't really sound sorry. "We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can."

     "Sorry for the rude awakening, Akiara," Aang says to her, and he does really sound sorry. "Did you at least sleep OK?"

     "Yeah."

Akiara notices how it's been getting easier and easier to lie and her guilt sinks over her. She tries to shake it away, just like the dream.

Kiko clambers into her lap. The earth bending lesson starts and Akiara, still addled from her sleep, leans back and gazes at the sky. There is no moon; only the blazing sun.

     Just then, Aang goes flying backwards. He slams into Appa's side and falls on his face.

     Sokka snickers. "Rock beats air-bender."

"Maybe we should train a bit, too," says Akiara, turning to Katara hopefully. "I saw a pond nearby when we landed last night and I could really use the extra practice."

And a distraction.

"Maybe later," says Katara and she's not even looking at Akiara. Instead her anxious eyes are trained on Aang. "I want to watch over Aang's lesson and make sure Toph teaches him right, maybe you could go over by yourself — hey, Toph!" She leaves Akiara begins in the dust, jogging over to the stout earth-bender. "I don't understand what went wrong! He did it exactly the way you did."

Since Akiara doesn't really feel like watching Toph and Aang throw rocks at each other while Katara fawns over Aang, she turns to her koalaotter; "Looks like it's just you 'n me, Kiko."

Kiko barks happily.

     When they get to the pond, Akiara can't help but feel a little disappointed. When she wades into the water, it's warm and murky. Dirt rises from the bottom every time she steps. Kiko seems to love it, though, and starts chasing around a frog at once.

With a sigh, Akiara starts to bend.

Creating a small ball of water, she bounces it back and forth between her palms slowly and steadily, careful not to let it hit her skin. But her heart's not really in her bending. Instead, she thinks of yesterday. How Azula had tricked them and then tried to kill Iroh. Maybe she had killed Iroh... it's not like Akiara has any way of knowing if he's still alive. She bites her lip. He was — is — a good man. She wishes there was something she could have done to convince Zuko that no matter how bad he is, she was willing to help Iroh.

Then she remembers her dream... Yue... The attack of the Fire Nation on her home.... and she wonders if any of them are really good at all.

Iroh had betrayed Zhao only because the Fire Nation needed the Moon Spirit, too. But he'd aided in the invasion. And when he and Zuko had stood against Azula beside Akiara and her friends, that had only been so they could eliminate one more obstacle in their goal of capturing the Avatar and his friends.

Now she wonders if it was wrong to offer help.

     The ball of water splashes back into the pond. Mud freckles her cheeks. Akiara's reflection in the pool wavers.

     This isn't working, she decides. I need to find Sokka.

When she finds him, he's pretty much delirious. Stuck up to his shoulders in a crack in the ground. An apple two feet away from him. A mooselion cub staring at him. He's talking to it, she thinks. Either that or he's completely and utterly lost it.

     "That's all I got!" Sokka's saying. "It's pretty much my whole identity! Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy! But I'm willing to be Sokka the veggies and straight talk fellow! ...Deal?"

     The baby mooselion doesn't answer him. Because it's a baby mooselion.

"Hi, Sokka," Akiara waves at him as he walks over. "How you doin'?"

"Oh, y'know," he says and clearly he's not doing great, but she's a little oblivious to his sarcasm at the moment. "What about you, Akiara? Bet you feel pretty free, right?"How's your life going right now?"

"Peachy."

     "That's great."

     She frowns. "You don't sound so good, Sokka."

     "Yeah," he nods in agreement. "It probably has something to do with the fact that I've been trapped in this stupid hole all day with nothing to eat and only Foo Foo Cuddlypoops for company!"

"Oh, right, sorry," she winces and then, seeing the apple, brightens. "Here, let me just — "

"Akiara, no!"

But it's too late. In her attempt to grab the apple for Sokka, she steps into one of the enormous fissures deep in the dirt. Stumbling, Akiara grits her teeth and tries to pull out her foot but it's no use. She's stuck.

She smiles sheepishly at Sokka. He face palms.

"We're going to die here."

     "No, no!" Akiara hurries to say and then gestures to Kiko. "Kiko can help us! Listen carefully, Kiko. I need you to go find Toph or Aang so that one of them can earth bend us out."

     She gestures furiously while she speaks; motions to her ears for listen, covers her eyes when she mentions Toph, makes an arrow figure over her forehead for Aang, walks her fingers along the dirt to symbolize looking for them, and does her best to do an elaborate earth bending move to symbolize the bending. Obviously.

     Kiko stares at her.

     "Got it?"

     Kiko darts off.

     "See? That's good," says Akiara and then pauses. "I think."

He rolls his eyes.

"So... " says Akiara awkwardly. "Your boomerang's next to the apple... what happened there?"

"I'm waiting for it to come back. It always does."

Privately, Akiara thinks this might be the exception, but OK, whatever.

They get quiet again. Time moves slowly.

Then Akiara hums Secret Tunnel until Sokka tells her to shut up, because she'll like, get it stuck in his head or something. It's stuck in her head and it's literally all she can think about now, so she just sings it in her head instead.

Finally, Kiko returns.

With dead frog.

"Um, thanks," says Akiara delicately as he drops it into her palm even though inside she's thinking EW! "But I said Aang or Toph, not dead frog."

"Yeah, we're dead," says Sokka. "Like, super dead."

     "Don't listen to him," says Akiara. "Just try again. And do your best!"

     His best turns out to be three more dead frogs. Akiara tries not to throw up when Sokka asks her if he'd die from eating them raw.

    Fortunately, by the time the sun is sinking lower and lower into the sky, Aang's shown up and runs towards them. Unfortunately it's not because of Kiko, which sucks. Akiara was rooting for him.

     "Aang! Thank goodness!" Sokka cries out in joy and he looks like he's about to cry. "Have you got any meat?"

     "Don't answer that question!" Akiara exclaims and then frowns at Sokka. "Sokka, I heard you promise that you wouldn't eat meat anymore if you got out of this alive."

"Yeah, well, it was the kind of empty promise you don't intend to keep," says Sokka haughtily.

"Here, let me try to get you guys out of here," says Aang and he starts pulling at Sokka's trapped arms.

"Stop — stop!" Sokka exclaims furiously, his face contorting in pain. "You're going to pull my fingers off and I don't think the rest of me is coming!"

"Well... I bet I can airbend you out of here!"

Aang raises his arms and then slams them down, causing a huge gust of air to erupt from the crevice that sends dust flying. Akiara squeezes her eyes shut. When the dust clears, Sokka is still trapped and his hair has been blown up in a Mohawk. Then his boomerang comes flying down and flattens it.

"Guess it's really does always come back," says Akiara. "Cool."

"Thank you," says Sokka. "Now seriously, Aang. I know you're new at it, but we could really use a little earthbending here. How about it?"

Aang looks at the ground. "I can't... I can't do it."

Sokka doesn't look particularly sympathetic. Understandable, given his situation. "If you can't earthbend us out of here, go get Toph."

"I can't do that either."

"You can't?" Sokka asks. "Why not?"

"It would just be really... uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable?" Sokka echoes. "Well, I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Sokka," says Akiara and she gives him the Sokka, don't be a dick look.

"What?" Sokka demands. "I've been stuck here all day! I'm the uncomfortable one!"

Aang doesn't seem to have heard him.

"Thanks," he says sadly and he sits down on a nearby rock, his head in his hands. "This whole earthbending thing really has me confused. There's so much pressure. Everyone expects me to get it right away. It puts me in a really awkward position."

Sokka is... not good at consoling people. At least, not right now, because he dryly says —

"Awkward position... I think I know the feeling."

"If I try, I fail. But if I don't try, I'm never going to get it," Aang mumbles. "I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place."

Akiara's eyes widen. "I feel the same way!"

Unlike Sokka, she's not being sarcastic.

"A rock and a hard place?" Sokka asks wryly, staring at her. "Hmm... how about that!" It's then that Foo Foo Cuddlypoops makes his appearance again. "Aang, this is my friend Foo Foo Cuddlypoops. Foo Foo Cuddlypoops, Aang."

"Aww," says Aang, scooping the little animal up. "What a cute name for a little baby sabertooth mooselion cub."

"Really?" Sokka asks. "He looks nothing like a sabertooth mooselion."

"Yeah," says Akiara. "He's so... baby."

"It's hard to tell before their giant teeth and horns grow in," Aang explains before cooing at Foo Foo Cuddlypoops. "Whatcha doin' out here, little guy? Did you lose your mama?"

Something roars loudly.

Akiara's stomach drops. There, standing in the bushes behind them, is a fully grown sabertooth mooselion. She tries extra hard to pull her leg out from the rock, but it's really stuck.

She gulps. "Think we found her."

"We found your cub," Aang announces awkwardly, placing Foo Foo Cuddlypoops on the ground. He runs to its mother and then passed her into the bushes, squealing. "See? We have no problem with you! We're friendly."

The sabertooth mooselion roars louder.

"That doesn't sound good," says Akiara.

The sabertooth mooselion charges them. Sokka screams. Aang airbends the stampeding creature over his head, and it barely passes over their heads before hitting the ground and spinning around. The mooselion roars loudly. Akiara's trying really, really, really hard to get her leg out of the dirt, now.

"This is really bad!" Sokka shouts to an increasingly worried Aang. "Please, Aang! You have to earthbend us out, there's no other way!"

Aang does a few really intense earth bending gestures. Nothing happens.

The sabertooth mooselion charges again. This time, it's Akiara who screams. But Aang jumps onto a rock and starts to... dance?

"Woo hoo! Look at me!"

Whatever it is Aang's trying to pull off, it doesn't work. The angry sabertooth mooselion paws at the ground and charges for the third time. This time, Aang leaps off the rock and shoots a gust of air at the sabertooth mooselion that blows it away from Akiara and Sokka. The sabertooth mooselion lands and spins around again.

Sokka whimpers. "Please don't leave us again."

Aang's voice is hard. "I won't."

The mooselion charges toward Aang. He waits for it, taking up a stance and preparing to use his airbending on it. It nears him and he shoves his hands forward, blowing the mooselion backwards with a strong gust of air. The mooselion hits the ground, glances at Aang, and then walks off into the bushes.

When the dust clears, Aang is still standing in his stance. Slow clapping echoes in the post-battle stillness. It's Toph. She is sitting cross-legged on a rock, clapping slowly with her eyes closed.

"What're you doing here?" Sokka demands.

"Just enjoying the show," she responds.

"What?" Aang stares at her. "You were there the whole time?"

"Pretty much."

"Wow, OK," Akiara mutters. "That really tells me how you feel about me."

"Why didn't you do something?" Aang shouts. He looks angry. "Sokka was in trouble! Akiara was in trouble! I was in trouble! You could've gotten them out and helped us get away!"

Toph shrugs. "I guess it just didn't occur to me."

She tosses down a nut and then pulls out what suspiciously looks like Aangs staff to crack it. As she brings it down to strike the nut, Aang catches it. He looks really angry now.

"Enough," he seethes and he snatches his staff away from her. "I want my staff back!"

"Do it now!" Toph shouts suddenly.

"What?"

"Earthbend, twinkletoes," she says with a crooked grin. "You just stood your ground against a crazy beast, and even more impressive, you stood your ground against me. You've got the stuff."

"But — "

"DO IT!"

So Aang does it. Akiara doesn't blame him; Toph is scary when she yells. Aang stomps down and shoves his fist forward, causing a large rock to shoot off and crash into a ridge.

"You did it!" Toph exclaims. "You're an earthbender!"

Aang looks beside himself with joy. "I can't believe it!"

"I can," says Akiara, borderline sarcastically. Being stuck with Sokka all day must really be starting to influence her. "Always knew you could do But, uh, could you please get us out of here now?"

"It's a wonderful, touching moment," Sokka adds and he sounds like, half insane. "So, could you get me out of here so I can give you both a big, snuggly hug?"

Emboldened by his new success, Aang beams. "No problem, Sokka!"

"Actually, you should probably let me do that," says Toph. "You're still a little new to this. You might accidentally crush him."

Sokka smiles loonily. "Yeah, no crushing please."

Toph gets them out of there, no problem. Akiara stretches her trapped leg as she stands. There's dirt marks and it's red but she's OK and she thanks Toph over and over and over again. She also tells Sokka that she'll be watching him, making sure he sticks to his vegetarian promise and he looks like he's starting to resent the rash vow.

By the time they make it back to camp, it's nightfall once more.

Katara hugs her brother, but her eyes are on Aang the whole time as he demonstrates his new tricks. Gathering around the campfire, they all laugh as the flames cackle. Akiara's smiles widest of all. But then, one by one, her friends retreat to their pillows and blankets and rest.

A long time after they doze off, she's still awake, gazing at the moon.

❄️🦋💦

SOKKA IS STARTING TO REMIND AKIARA OF HER FATHER. Mainly because Sokka's got this whole thing with the idea of having fun. He's just so serious sometimes. And like yeah, OK, maybe he does have a point since they're technically supposed to be like, ending the war and defeating the Fire Lord. But also, Akiara's been working so hard and she's faced death so many times since joining them and she just wants a break, OK?

     Apparently, so does everyone else... well, everyone except Sokka. Obviously.

     Hence the mini-vacations. Each person is allowed to pick one destination within the Earth Kingdom.

So far, only Aang's chosen his. He's brought them to a prairie, which is mostly barren save for small shoots of grass which bend in the breeze. It's not a particularly attractive landscape. But it's littered with holes and inside those holes live prairie dogs that can fucking sing.

Yeah, Akiara knows.

Aang plays a long note on his flute. A prairie dog lifts it's head from the ground and sings perfectly in tune. Another one joins it soon after.

Aang grins. "I'm putting an orchestra together!"

"Orchestra, huh?" Sokka grumbles. "Well la dee da."

    Three prairie dogs emerge to sing in tune with his three notes. Sokka looks annoyed. Kiko lunges towards one of them only for it to escape by ducking back beneath the ground and Kiko opens his paws to reveal nothing. Akiara wonders if singing Secret Tunnel would really make him angry, but before she can, Aang starts playing more notes on his flute. Cue half a dozen more prairie dogs. Cue Sokka running up to Aang and plugging his finger into the other end of the flute, muffling the sound and causing Aang's cheeks to swell with air.

     "This is great and all," Sokka snaps and Akiara frowns because it doesn't sound like he thinks it's all that great. "But don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."

     "We did make plans," Toph tells him. "We're all picking mini-vacations."

     "There's no time for vacations!"

"But we're on one right now," says Akiara.

"Not anymore," says Sokka adamantly. "We have to prepare for the war!"

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can," says Aang earnestly. "I practice hard everyday with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrows off."

"Yeah," Katara folds her arms across her chest. "What's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?"

Probably Katara should not have done that. Because then Sokka goes on one of his rants. Which are not fun to be on the receiving end of. Trust Akiara on this one.

"Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the fire nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" Sokka pretends to knock on a door. "Knock, knock! Hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home?" He turns back to Aang, looking fairly satisfied with his demonstration. " I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war."

     "We're intelligent," says Akiara confidently.

     Sokka gives her a pained look.

"I'm intelligent," she says, less confidently.

He shakes his head softly. Her face falls.

Katara rolls her eyes. "Alright, we'll finish our vacations, and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence."

Aang grins, presenting Katara with a map. "Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"

"How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing."

"Oh, yeah!" Aang says enthusiastically. "I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders."

     "Wow," says Akiara eagerly. "Sounds like you picked a great place, Katara! An oasis? Pristine? One of nature's wonders? Must be heavenly."

     Spoiler alert: it's none of the above!

      At least, not anymore.

For one thing, it's sandy. On the edge of a desert, actually, and the buildings all look like they're built from dried mud. The ice spring in the center is more of an ice puddle. It's not much of an oasis, it's hardly pristine, and not at all heavenly. It might be one of nature's wonders though, but not for the right reasons.

Aang laughs nervously. "Must have changed ownership since I was here."

     Akiara swallows. "Well... we're here, aren't we? Might as well check it out... I'm sure there's something worth seeing!"

     An old sign hanging over a building crashes to a ground and shatters into into dozens of pieces. Akiara winces. Sokka snorts. Katara gives her a half grateful, half-miserable look.

     Still. They journey into the town. It's very small and they very quickly find themselves standing in front of the largest building with a large doorway covered by a green cloth. Loitering outside the doorway are men wearing light brown clothing and wrapped in rags. They glance at the kids as Akiara takes a deep breath and leads them inside.

     It's some kind of restaurant, illuminated by dim lamps. The customers are kinda sorta intimidating. Except for the one at the counter. He's wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a backpack that practically dwarfs him, carrying a sleeping bag and a large leather pouch. It looks like he has a smile permanently etched into his features.

"One mango, please," he says pleasantly to the bar tender.

It's a fancy drink. The bar tender rapidly dices up four separate fruits with broadswords — seriously, how is anyone good at using swords? — and then slides them off the blade into a bowl with a bamboo straw and a small, green umbrella.

"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy," Sokka decides. He signals the bar tender. "Excuse me — !"

The man who'd ordered the mango is startled bf Sokka's cry and whirls around, bumping into Aang and spilling his drink all over him.

"No worries," Aang says to him. "I clean up easy."

     He air bends and the man — who turns out to be Professor Zei of Ba Sing Se University — pretty much loses it. It's almost as bad as that time General Fong fan-girled over Aang for being the Avatar. Almost because Zei hasn't pretended to murder any of them... yet.

     Anyway.

    Akiara turns to the bar, Kiko in tow. "One mango and one hot chocolate please."

     "What's that?" The bar tender asks.

     "That funny little fruit drink you made for him?" Akiara points at Zei, whose currently fawning over Aang. "With the fancy swords and the cool stabby movements? I think Kiko would like it." She lifts Kiko up earnestly to show him.

     "No, I mean the hot chocolate."

     Akiara gasps. "You don't know what hot chocolate is? That's terrible!"

     He stares at her.

     "Um... " Akiara tilts her head thoughtfully. "Well... it's like chocolate. But hot. And liquid-y."

"I have a half-melted chocolate bar in the back," he says, unhelpfully.

"OK, no," Akiara shakes her head quickly. "I don't think you get it. Hot chocolate is like, the coolest drink in the whole world — well, not coolest, because it's hot. Anyway — it's a drink. Not a half-melted chocolate bar. That's like, blasphemy or something. I can't believe you don't know what it is. That's like, a tragedy on behalf of the Earth Kingdom's — "

     "OK, c'mon, hot chocolate girl." Suddenly Katara's grabbing Akiara's sleeve, pulling her away. "Time for Sokka's vacation."

"But... hot chocolate... " Akiara says, gazing forlornly at the bar. Then she perks up because hey! Maybe the new place will have hot chocolate! "Where are we going?"

     "A library."

     (Akiara's thinking the library probably won't have hot chocolate. Probably.)

     Still. Akiara's pretty impressed. "A library? Wow, I didn't know Sokka could read!"

OK, not to be like, rude or anything, but Professor Zei is totally a nerd.

Which isn't a bad thing. It's just that during their long journey across the Si Wong Desert to find Wan Shi Tong's library, he's incessantly spouting facts like he's a waterfall of knowledge. At first, it was interesting. Now Akiara's just bored.

     Plus, it's like, super hot. Because they're flying over a desert. Go figure.

     Akiara's not the only one effected by the heat, though.

     "Aw," Toph whines, clutching onto Appa's saddle for dear life. She's never liked flying, and Akiara guesses this long journey through the sweltering air isn't letting her feel the love. "Does this place even exist?"

     "Some say it doesn't," Professor Zei says cheerfully.

     Well, if there's one thing Akiara can appreciate, it's a fellow optimist.

     "Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" Toph demands.

     "I'm excited," says Akiara. "I mean, this desert sucks, but I've never been to a secret library run by foxy knowledge seekers. So."

     "Whatever," Toph grumbles.

Groaning, she hangs her head over Appa's saddle. Zei gazes around furiously — so fast that Akiara's surprised he doesn't get whiplash — and he scribbles notes onto a scroll furiously. Katara examines her nails. Sokka yawns. Akiara fidgets.

"There it is!"

Snapping to attention, Akiara practically leaps to see what Toph's excitedly pointing at.

Which is... sand?

"That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it," says Toph and she waves her hands in front of her eyes.

Sometimes Akiara forgets that Toph is blind.

     "It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant ornate building from the air," Katara says, gazing at the vast desert surrounding them.

     "Down there!" Sokka exclaims suddenly. "What's that?"

     That turns out to be a stone spire jutting out from the sand. Which turns out to be the library. Only it's like, buried.

     That doesn't seem to bother Zei, though, because then he pulls out a shovel and says, "Well, time to start excavating!"

     Again, Akiara loves the optimism.

     "That won't be necessary,"  Toph announces, her palm pressed against the stone spire. " The inside seems to be completely intact, and it's huge."

     "I say we just climb in through the window, then," says Akiara because there's a window at the top of the tower.

     "I say you guys go ahead without me," says Toph.

     "You got something against libraries?" Katara asks.

     "I've held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me."

     Katara turns red. "Oh. Right... sorry."

     Toph shrugs. "Let me know if they have something you can listen to."

     They climb inside. Upon first glance, Akiara doesn't spot anything Toph can listen too and she frowns. But it's unsurprising. Also unsurprising is the enthusiasm Zei has for the library, though it is a little funny to watch. But it's a nice library, Akiara thinks. I mean, she's only ever been to one library and it was made of snow, but still.

     Zei looks like he might pass out from excitement. "My word! The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol — !" He cuts himself off because everyone's staring at him in confusion. He smiles weakly and finishes with, "Erm... nice owl."

Speaking of owls, something that sounds suspiciously like feathers rustles in the background. There's a large pillar nearby and Sokka and Katara duck behind it, Katara yanking Akiara a long while Aang does the same to Zei at a pillar opposite of them. Footsteps echo eerily in the vast library.

"I know you're back there," a guttural voice drawls.

Creepy, Akiara thinks as she peeks out to see who said that and then thinks creepy! again because hello, it's literally a giant owl with its head doing a full on three-sixty to try and spot them. And if that isn't the literal definition of creepy, then she doesn't know what is!

(But, also, she tries to think something nice because hello, Akiara, that's rude!)

Zei clearly doesn't think it's creepy at all because he practically skips out into the open. "Hello! I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."

"You should leave the way you came," says the owl. "Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."

"That owl doesn't mess around," Akiara whispers to Katara. Katara snorts.

There seems to be an unspoken agreement to join Zei to face the owl because then Sokka bravely leads them out of hiding, asking, "Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?"

"Sokka doesn't mess around," Katara whispers to Akiara, who tries not to laugh.

"Indeed," says the owl in that gravelly voice of his. It almost sounds like he isn't used to speaking. "I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things. And you are obviously humans, which by the way are no longer permitted in my study."

He who knows 10,000 things. Akiara's thinking that sounds just a little pretentious, but OK.

"But humans are nice," Akiara protests and then pauses. "Well, most of us, anyway."

"Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans," responds the owl. "Like that fire-bender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So — who are you trying to destroy?"

"Well... I wouldn't say destroy because that sounds way harsh," Akiara says, thinking hard. "But like, we've got this whole thing going on with the fire-benders right now. It's like, a war, y'know? And Sokka wants to — "

"Sokka wants knowledge!" Sokka blurts out, slapping his hand over Akiara's mouth, who goes Mmf! in protest. "Knowledge for knowledge's sake. Right, Akiara?"

"Um, right!" Akiara says hastily as Sokka glares at her. "Knowledge. For knowledge's sake. Knowledge especially for knowledge's sake."

Wan Shi Tong stares at her. "If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it."

OK, just play dumb.

"What's lying?" She asks nervously.

Too dumb!

Wan Shi Tong's eyes narrow. She smiles weakly.

"She's not lying," says Sokka quickly. "We're here with the Avatar. He's the bridge between our world's. He'll vouch for us." He gives Aang a pointed look.

"Uh, yeah, I'll vouch," says Aang. He's not doing much better than Akiara. "We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word."

"Very well," the owl decides.  "I'll let you peruse my vast collection, on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."

And so the gift giving begins.

Zei presents Wan Shi Tong with some thick tome that's allegedly first edition. According to the owl, anyway. Katara parts with a water-bending scroll (the one she stole from pirates) and Aang gives up a Fire Nation wanted poster of himself. Wan Shi Tong accepts that rather reluctantly. Lastly, Sokka gives him a butterfly shaped knot.

Wan Shi Tong blinks. "You're not very bright, are you?"

     Sokka looks offended.

     Then Wan Shi Tong turns his great eyes upon Akiara. "And you?"

     "Uh... " Akiara falters and then goes, "Ooh, I know! D'you have a scroll and some ink? I can give you my favourite hot chocolate recipe!"

      "I suppose it'd be nice to add to the culinary section," decides Wan Shi Tong. "Very well. Come with me, we shall find you something to write on. In the meantime, your friends may enjoy the library."

    Akiara follows the owl. She tries not to think about how weird this is, how she's following an owl through a secret library to give him a hot chocolate recipe. Because it is weird, right? Nobody else seems surprised by this except her, but this definitely isn't normal. It's weird. Right?

     He gives her a scroll and ink. She starts writing down the recipe.

     He starts to speak in that creepy voice of his. "I hope that you and your friends treat my collections with more respect than the Fire Nation."

     "What'd they do?"

"They came and burned down an entire section," says Wan Shi Tong. "Every single book that so much as alluded to the Fire Nation was set on fire by that terrible Zhao — "

Akiara stops writing.

"Zhao?" she echoes quietly.

The owl nods. "He came here hunting for knowledge to destroy his enemy, the Water Tribe."

Akiara's heart is hammering. Zhao. That complete and utter monster of a man was here, in this very library. The man who'd brought war to her icy home, the man who'd attempted a mass genocide of her people, the man who'd almost succeeded. The man who'd been so, so close. He'd gone as far as slaughtering the fucking Moon Spirit, taking away their only defense. Leaving them helpless, at the mercy of the Fire Nation.

Until Yue had died to save them.

At the time, Akiara had wondered how Zhao knew that the Moon Spirit hid as a Koi Fish in the Spirit Oasis.

But now...

Her heart is still hammering. It beats like a war drum in her chest.

This was how he knew. This was how he knew. This was how he knew. This was how he knew.

Wan Shi Tong is oblivious to her dilemma. He examines the recipe. "You enjoy this drink, yes? I must say, drinking chocolate sounds rather nice... "

Akiara can hardly hear him. Blood roars in her ears. That terrible, horrible anger she'd felt after Yue died is coming back. It's white hot and fiery, seething inside of her like it'd never even gone out, demanding action.

This was how he knew. This was how he knew.

Suddenly Wan Shi Tong stiffens. "Your friends are in the planetarium... plotting destruction against the Fire Nation! You've betrayed my trust!"

"How could we not?" Akiara demands. She feels sick. "We're fighting a war!"

"Humans have been fighting for thousands of years," scoffs then owl. His wide eyes are burning with anger. "Again and again I am betrayed. I had thought you were different from Zhao!"

"I am." Akiara can hardly breathe. She barely knows what she's saying. "You are the terrible one! You gave Zhao knowledge that almost destroyed my homeland!"

Wan Shi Tong's expression doesn't change. He looks murderous. But it's Akiara who feels murderous.

"I am different from Zhao," she snaps. "Because I'm — I'm — "

     "You're what?" Wan Shi Tong looms over her. "Going to burn my home just like him? You'll finish the job?"

     She can't speak.

     "Typical," he sneers. "Once again I stand before a human, but I see no humanity. All you are capable of — all any of you are capable of — is destruction."

     "That's not true!" Akiara snaps hotly. "My sister would never condone destruction!"

     "And you would?"

     She freezes. Would she? Could she?

This place is what gave Zhao the knowledge that he wielded to destroy everything she'd ever known. It'd taken the life of her sister. Burning it to the ground would stop something terrible like that from ever happening again.

     But... that's not what Akiara does. She's a healer. Kindness cannot bloom in a girl corrupted with shadow, you could never see the moon if the sky choked on ash. Akiara could never condone senseless violence.

     The anger inside her dies down. She cannot meet Wan Shi Tong's eyes.

     "I don't... " she says weakly, but her voice sounds far away and not her own. "I — I just want to protect what I love... "

    "And now I'm going to protect what I love."

     "Um," Akiara blinks. "Pardon?"

     Wan Shi Tong doesn't answer. Not verbally, anyway. Instead he darts off, in the direction of what Akiara can only assume is her friends.

"Hey!" Akiara cries out. "Where are you going?" She sprints after him.

     When she finally reaches him, he's beating his wings furiously, in a planetarium with Sokka, Katara, Aang, Kiko, Momo, and Professor Zei all watching in terror.

     Akiara grabs Kiko frantically, bracing herself against the wind.

     What are you doing?" shouts Aang above the roar of the wind. 

     "I'm taking my knowledge back!" Wan Shi Tong cries out. "No one will ever abuse it again!"

     Sand seeps through the ceiling.

     "He's sinking the building!" Katara shouts. "We've gotta get out of here!"

     Wan Shi Tong grows several feet larger, his neck extending from the rest of his body as he gnashes his beak furiously. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. You already know too much." 

     He lunges for them.

     Akiara takes that as her cue to run. A split second later, she feels a little cowardly and then another second passes and that feeling is gone, mainly because all her friends are right behind her. And she just so happens to know for a fact that none of them are cowards. So.      

     The floor beneath her feet quakes dramatically, threatening to send her falling over the edge of the catwalk she's suddenly on and send her spiralling to the lower floors. Akiara dights to keep her balance while also staying ahead of the psychotic owl spirit thingy that is currently trying to like, kill her. And — just in case you've never been chased through a sinking library by a psychotic owl spirit thingy trying to kill you — Akiara would just like to send out a little PSA stating: it's not easy!      

     Zei, whose holding a stack of books, is also freaking out, but for a different reason; "Great knowledge spirit, I beg you. Do not destroy your vast collection of priceless tomes!"     

     Of course, Wan Shi Tong doesn't listen. He tries to kill Zei. Who is barely saved by Aang's gust of air that slams into Wan Shi Tong, sending him falling over the edge of the catwalk.      

     "We've gotta get back to the surface!" Aang shouts, dragging Zei along as they all sprint for the spire they entered through.       

     Sokka pauses.      

     "Sokka!" Akiara shouts. "It's time to go!"     

     "But we still don't know when the next eclipse is gonna happen!"       

     "Don't be stupid," Katara says. "We'll find out later!"      

     "No, we won't!" Sokka argues. "If we leave this place we'll never get the information — Aang, come with me to the planetarium, I need cover."      

     "Sokka!" Akiara cries out in protest.     

     "I'll be fine," he calls out as Aang sprints towards him. "Just get out of here!"      

     "But — !"      

     A bookshelf crashes. Wan Shi Tong is back.      

     Katara grabs Akiara, pulling her along while shouting, "Hurry, Sokka!"      

     Akiara doesn't need much encouragement to keep running. Her feet pound against the ground in time with Katara's as the pair sprint desperately away from the crazed owl. Akiara wonders briefly if this is something all best friends do together. Then the library sinks further and she almost slips and Wan Shi Tong's beak almost gets her and she decides to stop thinking. Kiko falls from her arms, slamming into the stone ground.      

     "Kiko!"      

     Wan Shi Tong's eyes glitter. "At least I'll have one specimen to add to my collection!"      

     Akiara skids to a halt, rushing towards Kiko's aid. There's nowhere to run anymore because now Wan Shi Tong is upon her. Her fists clench.       

     "Your waterbending won't do you much good here," Wan Shi Tong utters. "I've studied Northern Water Style, Southern Water Style, even Foggy Swamp Style."      

     That's when Sokka falls from the ceiling, slamming a book onto his head.

     "That's called Sokka style! Learn it!"      

     Wan Shi Tong stumbles and then collapses against the ground.

   Akiara barely avoids getting crushed by his great neck as she scoops Kiko up, smiling gratefully at Sokka. There's no time for thanks, though. The library is sinking faster than ever and sand pours down from the ceiling like rain.      

     "Professor!" Sokka calls out. "Let's go!"      

     Zei sits between shelves, surrounded by piles of books.

     "I'm not leaving," he says. "I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on Earth! I could spend an eternity in here."       

     You're about to, thinks Akiara, but only in her head because she's not sure if it's rude or not and she doesn't really have time to figure it out.      

     "Just go!" Katara yells to Sokka.

     They hurry out the same way that they came, this time without Professor Zei, bursting into the sticky, dry air of the desert.

     Akiara's doesn't know what to think, watching the library sink beneath the sands. Guilt creeps in on her. She'd told Wan Shi Tong that she wouldn't destroy his library. Then again, in the end it had been his decision. Not to mention the fact that now not only would no one ever invade his home again, but no one would ever be able to misuse the knowledge again too...

     And she can't help but feel relieved when they're finally back in the open air. It's suffocatingly hot and the seething sand burns at her skin, but she's grateful to see the cerulean blue sky and Toph all the same. It's nicer than being in the library of death with a murderous owl.

     At least it is, until Aang lifts his head slowly and really takes a good look at the sand dunes and Toph.

     "Where's Appa?"
    
     Uh oh.

❄️🦋💦

how i felt writing this chapter: 🤡🤡🤡

i served clown shit but like,,, enjoy 😚

also ive been unable to stop watching the dumpster fire that the YouTube beauty community has turned into... shit is going DOWN. im like lowkey kinda living for it because some of those assholes don't deserve their platforms