From the darkness, the mask floated forward, and higher like a false sunrise. It was perfect, down to such detail it would look real as life were it not cast in metal. Smooth gold, serene and expressionless, shaped into a face that Raven felt like she knew, but couldn't place. The headdress around it was obscene in its wealth, the long white hairs all painstakingly plucked whiskers from a dozen elder dragons, spilling in a thick mane gilded with ornaments, diamonds and rubies, and too immaculate to be real. Even moreso it looked too heavy to stand upright. Torchlight kissed every edge and turned her into something that demanded kneeling submission.
She stepped right out of the dark. Out of the world of spirits, out of nightmare, and with an oozing wet smack, she was real, leaving a steaming wake of liquid gold.
The dripping sound was magnified on stone, her second not quite smooth step jerked her out of the void like something finally let go, and she by every measure looked to be a puppet held by unseen strings when she moved, only resembling human when still. The gold fluid dripped from under her mask, coating and seamlessly blending in and out of her armor, it oozed from every crack in her thousands of detailed, dragonscale like plates.
Aang's grip on Arzayanagi went numb. He didn't realize he'd stopped breathing until his lungs stabbed him for it, and he did indeed fall to a knee at the mere sight of her.
Raven stood with her palms still braced against the door she'd been trying to close, shoulders tight, jaw clenched so hard the tendons stood out in her neck. She looked like someone trying to hold back a tidal wave with her bare hands, and with one mighty cry she did force the right door shut, but it was too late, the left still almost fully open and Arzaya herself dripping gold to seep into every crack of the temple floor.
Sokka was on his knees beside Katara, one hand shaking at her shoulder, the other hovering uselessly over her chest like he was trying to decide whether he was allowed to touch her there without the universe punishing him.
"Katara," he croaked, voice cracking. "Katara, breathe, come on, please—" A tear in his eye, he shakily called, "Aang, airbend breath into her or something, quick!"
Katara's eyes were half-open. Too glassy. Not seeing or hearing him. Neither was Aang.
The Avatar was pale as a ghost and drowning in awestruck terror at the thing he'd foolishly released upon the world. Arzaya drifted closer, not quite stepping, once again like every movement was mimicry, and he saw she was so unnaturally tall and slender that she'd have to be frail, but... she wasn't. She moved like a conqueror. Like she'd never once in her eternal life failed to seize that which she grasped for.
Looming there above him, he jumped at the sound of that dripping gold, a hair's breath from his knee. He even felt cold—enough to shiver—so rare for his kind. The air itself seemed to obey her without bending, just out of fear.
He already knew what she wanted. Her gold-plated hand, exquisite in detail so fine the human eye could not perceive half of it, was outstretched. She wanted Arzayanagi. He could be free of it. And it was hers... wasn't it? But Aang's will wasn't that easy to crush. He wanted to shout in defiance, but at least he held still, he didn't let her move him, and she was trying.
Raven's lack of impulse control would go down in legend, however, and at the mere sight of Arzaya scaring her new friends to tears, reaching for Aang like a prize... she snapped.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Raven exploded, feet in the air before she realized what she was doing, and the flames seared white hot her righteous fury was so peerless.
But like a puff of winter breath, they vanished. Arzaya's hand lazily wafted them away, easily as lint off her shoulder.
Raven's heart skipped a beat, her breath caught. Arzaya's head turned. Oh fuck. Her scorched dry voice came out again, rattling… but disgustingly calm.
"Heir."
The single word had weight. Not affection. Ownership. Raven's hands trembled as she raised them again to a bending stance. It wasn't fear, it was raw power surging through her like she'd never felt in her life.
"I am eternal. My patience is not," Arzaya stated in an almost disappointed motherly fashion, which snapped them all a little bit out of the paralyzing terror they might be up against a very real god.
It was enough to reignite Raven's hubris. "Don't we help the Avatar?! Those dead sages!" she sharply accused, breathy beyond composure. And she sucked in air, smoke rising for every inch of her, but most of all mixed in her snarl. "Was it all a lie?! Whatever you're doing, I won't let you hurt him!"
Raven forced her breath into another blast—barely practiced and clumsy, but powerful, meant to finish a foe who couldn't dodge anymore, and her incredible surge of power made her feel she could truly do it.
The left door, still about half open, shuddered from the force of the flames as she tried to cook only everything above where Aang was still knelt down low.
But Arzaya's long fingers lifted again, lazy. A gesture you'd use to shoo a fly off your dinner.
Raven's teeth bared, and she seethed breath through them in frustration, clenching her fists at how powerful and weak she felt at the same time.
"My forgiveness has limits, child," Arzaya said, a hot gleam rippling through her armor like unbridled rage, but her parched tone stayed bored and superior, as if addressing a servant who'd taken too long fetching tea. "Even for you."
Aang blinked rapid and realized, suddenly, that he'd dropped to his knees at some point. He was still holding Arzayanagi, the spear's wrapping loose at the bottom of the haft, his bare fingers clenched so tight to the black metal it hurt. He was almost holding it like he was lifting up towards... her.
"GAH! WH-WHAT?! OUTTA MY HEAD!" He blurted in chaotic anger, standing so suddenly even Arzaya reeled back slightly.
But her empty eyes caught his. He couldn't make himself blink. He felt himself wondering what he was shouting about. And he felt a fear, so familiar it felt right to let it in... his grip on the spear loosened as he started to turn it, offer it in on his palms.
"AANG! Back away from her!" Raven screamed in panic.
"NO! DROP THE SPEAR! GET RID OF IT! AANG!" Sokka instead hurled, eclipsing Raven completely.
Aang shuddered again, the spear started to tip in his grip, he faltered, "who a, wha—whoa!" as he batted at the tumbling shaft, trying to remember where he was, and he did indeed stumble back a few steps. It suddenly hit him, his face like he'd found mold. "Get away, stupid thing!" he fussed, sounding almost like there was a wasp in his face, but he awkwardly swat-threw Arzayanagi aside.
The change was instant. His breath was back, his warmth, his mind was clear, and he could bend.
"You're a monster!" Aang declared, and gave it his all. "Back where you CAME FROM!"
A rush of air struck Arzaya like a pent up hurricane. The baubles and ornaments clinked and clattered in a beautiful chaos as she reeled first and then slid back, the golden ooze building up behind her heels.
It was too big. Too fast. Too much for the strange being to handle, and Aang saw with her many silks blown back how old and withered she seemed to be, like everything about her was just hiding her weakness. She was scarcely an inch from falling back into the void.
"ENOUGH!" Arzaya rattled fiercely, and it was so. Something rippled through the air, out from her, and Raven was thrown back. Aang held his footing, but his bending blast would have to be started over. Jerking her gaze back to the darkness, she commanded, "Nagi!" with utter impatience.
Arzaya stepped forward again, confidence and power returned as her silks settled, like she hadn't missed a beat. Aang was happy to let her take the brunt of another blast as he didn't back down, stepping into another unyielding storm to send her back to the pit she crawled out of, but just as it started, Aang saw an outline of gleaming gold teeth in the dark, then that strange and horrible ghost fire like Hei Bai suffered burst forth, and unlike then where it could not touch mortals, it hit him like waves of pure agony.
"Nnngyeeeaaah!" Aang cried out, as he clenched and tensed every part of his body, clawing to escape the intense spike of pain, but then it was gone, and he fell flat on his back, staring bewildered like he'd been utterly reset.
"Stop... that!" Raven gasped to say as she rose again.
Arzaya's head turned slightly, and her voice sharpened just a shade. Not loud. Not quite giving them the satisfaction of making her furious. "Stop what?!"
No one had a word to offer in return for that.
"Why," Arzaya demanded, her deathly dry voice certainly uneven, "are you opposing me? Is this some childish joke?!"
Raven stepped in front of Aang on pure instinct, shoulders squared, still glowing faintly with heat that didn't feel like hers. "Because you're a monster! Why are you attacking the Avatar?!"
Arzaya's glorious masked head tilted sideways ever so slightly. She looked back at the black void, and ahead again where Aang had sat up, and was scrambling to his feet. Even in her unnatural movement, her posture instantly communicated it, but she still rasped, "you attacked me, you traitorous little sneak!"
Raven just blinked, wondering if she actually just attacked Arzaya for no reason, but Sokka made a noise like a laugh that came out wrong. Too sharp. Too thin.
"Oh, gosh, sorry, did you forget you're killing my sister!?" he said, voice trembling but still somehow sarcastic because that was what he had left.
Arzaya paused. Just long enough that every hair on Sokka's arms stood up, like the room pulled in its breath. Her mask angled down toward Katara. It seemed it was the first time she'd noticed the girl laying there slack, half-lidded eyes and chest rising in shudders, and too shallow.
Arzaya barely lifted a finger, and spoke a single word. "Rise."
Katara lifted, but she wasn't getting up. Like a puppet she drifted into the air, feet dangling for a brief moment as her eyes finally blinked fully awake. And she settled on a cushion of air, making her look as though underwater for one serene moment where she looked oddly at peace.
Sokka lunged to catch her, hands frantic, and she made a small sound, more breath than voice. "Katara?!"
"I… I'm… okay," Katara whispered, and it sounded like she was repeating something she'd been told to say.
Arzaya nodded once, satisfied, as if she'd corrected a lamp that had been flickering. "There," she said, flatly, as if it fixed everything. "Now stop fussing. The solstice nears. Hand me the spear, Avatar. WILLINGLY."
"Hold on!" Raven's gaze darted to Katara, horror mixing with fury. "What did you do to her?"
Arzaya's mask faced Raven again. And even her inhuman rattle had a distinctly disapproving tone like she was very tired of all this juvenile nonsense. "Her waterbending is too weak to survive me. So I lent her some strength—enough to withstand mine. It's inconvenient you brought a waterbender, girl."
Sokka clutched Katara tighter, face twisted, but she just seemed happy to get the genuine affection. "She's not an inconvenience!"
"Silence," Arzaya said, and the word dripped contempt, and she glared back to Aang. "Now give me Arzayanagi! You know I don't lie, Avatar. I will deal with that wretched Fire Lord. Don't you want me to destroy him? Isn't that why you're here?"
Aang's gaze flickered to the spear still rocking slightly where it slid loosely on the temple floor. It did feel like that, like Arzaya was making sense, like they had made some kind of deal he'd forgotten, one where he'd already shaken hands with her over it. He almost remembered the feeling of that gold, withered grasp.
"Heh," Aang breathed out, looking down but a grin betrayed him. "You're good at that... whatever that is you're doing, Arzaya." He stood up straight, glaring her in the eye, facing her down. "But I'm the Avatar. And you pretended to be Kyoshi, you lying liar's big ol' fake god of LIES!"
Arzaya's head snapped slightly, and then she laughed. Not loud. Not warm. A dry, rattling cackle that sounded like old bones tapping together. "I never claimed I was Kyoshi," she said, amused. "Your assumption is not my failing."
Aang's mouth twisted, but he faltered. "You still... kind-of lied. That's still bad. Right?"
"I guided," Arzaya corrected, utterly serene. "You were always going to come here. I merely bid you bring along my greatest masterpiece."
Raven's eyes flashed. "You had Shyu murder the sages. I can't get that awful sight out of my head!"
Arzaya's amusement faded. "I told him to clear the way for the Avatar. He chose how to show me his devotion."
"That's not an answer!" Raven hissed.
Arzaya's voice cooled further. "I did not want them dead either. His lack of imagination could spark war before we're ready."
Katara made a small, sick noise, and Sokka's grip tightened until his knuckles went white. "Wait, she's going to go to war with the Fire Lord?" she peeped, like maybe that was a good thing?
Aang stared at her, breath shaking. "She's not our ally."
Arzaya stepped forward again, and the wet sound made Sokka's stomach flip, and it bothered him no one else seemed to notice she was always trying to gain more ground.
"I am not your enemy," Arzaya said, and the words should have sounded comforting, but they landed like a threat. "I want the same end you do."
Aang swallowed. "Yeah, you want Ozai defeated. But you hate him, you hate him so much it's making me sick, you'd... you don't just want to kill him." He gave a very confident look of disgust, and taunted, "yeah, when you get in my head, I get in yours too, you're not as untouchable as you think you are!"
Arzaya's mask tilted, and for the first time there was something like pleasure in her stillness.
"Why do you care what I do with him?! Fire Lord Ozai must suffer my wrath!" she sharply exhaled, rattling and raspy such that her voice went viciously deep. "He won't be your problem anymore, Avatar."
"I will never work with you! I wish I'd never even MET you!" the Avatar declared, and by his word it was as if it was so. Without any bending, his voice alone caused her to reel back, less in fear and more in unbridled offense, like he'd said the one thing she would never forgive. "Get out of my world, and stay out!"
Arzaya's gaze slid to Arzayanagi on the floor. "I will not leave without it," she intoned, venom dripping from each word. "You know I've been restraining myself, Avatar. Do not make an enemy of me. It's MINE."
Arzaya indeed was suddenly off the ground, the dragon's hair wafting from her headdress, her silks fluttering, and the flow of that strange gold fluid going from a trickle to a pour.
She only held out one gauntleted hand, palm up, patient as a guillotine. Clearly a final offer.
Aang's voice rose, desperate and furious. "You almost killed Omashu! Thousands of people could have died! And the sages downstairs are dead, and Katara—you didn't even care enough to notice you were killing her!"
A light was igniting in the darkness, brighter and brighter. They all had noticed it by then, and could imagine. The wraiths... that's what was burning in the distance.
"Wait, that's it." Sokka's voice came out low, tight. "She can't leave far from that door. Not without spear of doom! But like, it's like her weird rules with your dreams Raven, you have to give it to her!"
Raven's head snapped toward him. "I mean, I kinda was figuring something like that," she started, but Sokka boisterously declared over her:
"It means you can use the spear, Raven! She can't just take it from you! You're the one that can resist her getting in our heads, so freaking blow her back through those doors so far we forget she ever existed!"
There was only the briefest nod from Aang that Raven took as permission. She dove across the room, expecting resistance, but safely reached Arzayanagi, and instantly she was holding it aloft in a pose as if to throw it as she rolled to her feet.
Arzaya's voice stayed calm, but the gold dripping from her seemed to gleam hotter. "Nagi, silence them."
Raven leveled the spear at Arzaya, voice shaking with rage that wasn't entirely her own as she circled in a predatory fashion, like she wanted the perfect angle. It felt violent but it also made her smile somehow. "Hey," she taunted with a worrying glee. "I think I can actually use this."
Arzaya stared at her, seeing the white hot flames of one of her own spears pointed at her. Then she threw her head back and laughed again, truly entertained now.
"Oh, princess," she said, almost fond. "Do you think my own power can touch me?"
Raven smirked. "I think it can touch that."
Arzaya's laughter stopped. "What," her gaze darted to where Raven was actually pointing, which was decidedly not Arzaya. She wasn't that blasphemous.
But she hadn't gone to temple for months, honestly. "DON'T YOU DARE!" Arzaya's rattle shrieked in an inhuman wail, her body twisting unnaturally as if to throw herself in the way of the flying spear of fire.
The horrible ghostly fire surged again, showing those massive gleaming teeth, and from the darkness it nearly bellowed, so much depth to it that it would have filled the whole room, but scarcely a lick of it got through as the still half open left door slammed shut in the face of whatever was back there, and instantly a blinding burst of flame heated their faces, but the bursting spear was thankfully just far enough to spare them.
It missed Arzaya by an inch, who skidded to a stop, motionless almost like her strings had been cut but she wouldn't suffer the indignity of falling. Raven cautiously approached her cruel ancestral goddess, Arzayanagi at the ready, in case she had any fight left.
There was just the slightest jerk as the frozen figured hunched forward a bit.
"You…" Arzaya distantly rasped, voice cracking around the word like rust. "…brat."
And she was undone. Like a puff of soot, she was no more. But for her golden masked headdress, which fell unceremoniously to clatter on the floor. As the last of the golden fluid seeped down into the cracks, no other trace of her remained.
They all blinked and stared at it, like it might start rattling around, still haunted, but it just sat there, clearly empty in the decent light.
The sudden peace and silence hit them so hard it almost hurt.
Sokka let out a weak, breathy laugh as he shuffled over to her. "Raven... you just, like... turned on your dark god and saved us!"
Raven stood with Arzayanagi still in her hands, chest heaving, but looking at them like her fingers betrayed her. While others smiled with relief, she looked ready to break down and cry as her voice came out raw, "aw crap..." Then, very softly, very sincerely, almost comically like a normal girl:
"…my dad is going to kill me."
Katara swayed, still dazed, and leaned harder into Sokka's arms. "Hey," she airily stated. "The door's opening again." She informed them like it was no big deal.
Sokka and Aang literally shrieked, flailing incoherently as Raven's skin crawled, but she brought Arzayanagi to bear again. They all froze. A gentle, rather normal light filtered through the crack, and then showed a very fancy but really quite not terrifying room that looked like it actually belonged there. Roku's chamber, Aang recognized.
Except Katara, they let out a combined sigh of relief. She instead politely asked, "Oh um, and... can someone please tell me what the—excuse my language—but what the holy shit fuck just happened?" And she nodded cutely with her hands folded at her waist.
They all recalled instantly that she'd just been out cold for that whole ordeal, so could only nervously laugh, and indeed her language was excused, just this once.
* * *
Outside Roku's chamber, where Aang was meeting with him finally, the temple felt like it was holding its breath. The walls surely demanded a reverent, focused, skin-crawling silence. But instead they would have to make do with fresh trauma, stale incense, and a rambling story of two frantic teenagers talking over each other to catch Katara up.
Sokka finished his explanation in a hoarse rush, waving his hands in a trembling little circle like he could rewind reality if he moved fast enough. "…and then she was like, 'give me the spear,' and Aang was doing the whole wide-eyed noodle thing, and Raven went absolutely feral on the door—"
"I used the spear!" Raven made sure to clarify, getting a stink-eye from Sokka. "I didn't chew on it." she insisted somehow unconvincingly, before giving the same eye back with a sharp, "weirdo."
Sokka just sighed, eyes rolling only mildly. "ANYWAY. She slammed it shut, creepy lady went poof, but like... her mask just… plopped there on the floor like we won a prize." And he just looked down at it and shrugged.
Katara nodded very slowly, like she'd agreed to understand beforehand, but thought she might still want to back out. "Okay," she said, voice gentle and far away. "So... we beat her. Or she didn't win. Right?"
Raven looked like she had to think about it, and started unevenly nodding, but it eventually became a full confident motion, although her expression still said she was utterly lost. "Mmm-hmm, definitely those things," she hummed out, not even trying to sound convincing.
Sokka looked a bit hurt. "Hey, I'd call it a win! Why not? Nobody even die—" and he stopped himself. "Er, nevermind. Keep an eye out for that psycho sage," he corrected to, hoping to squash any offense he may have caused Raven, and the three of them did indeed start being more aware of what was around them all at once.
After an awkward moment, Katara's eyes drifted to Raven. Really looked at her, and she looked oddly well.
"You… look better?" Katara said softly, like she was afraid the words might tear unseen stitches.
Raven blinked, then actually noticed her own body for the first time since mind-blowing terror stopped being the main activity. She flexed her shoulder and didn't feel the sharp protest. She shifted her weight and… no limp. No sting. No bruised ache.
Her face tightened in disbelief. "What the…" She swallowed. "My injuries are gone." And quieter. "Like they never happened..."
Sokka's eyebrows climbed. "See? This is why these big fancy temples are so great, it's the spiritual healing!"
Raven gave him a look that said I will throw you into the volcano, but it landed half-strength, because she was too busy staring at her own hands. There was still warmth in her veins that wasn't hers, like she'd been standing too close to a bonfire that refused to cool down after.
Katara's shoulders eased in visible relief. She didn't try to hide it. "I'm glad," she admitted, and it wasn't just politeness. It was that raw, sincere kind of glad that made Raven's throat feel stupid. But it was obvious she was still biting down on something else to say.
Raven watched as Katara's gaze slid to Arzayanagi. Unwrapped completely now, the spearhead's gold catching every torch like it was greedy for attention. The corner of Katara's mouth said enough already, but she still chose words like they might burn her tongue. "Raven… should you still be holding that?"
Sokka looked between them, then at the spear, then at the floor like maybe the floor had advice. "Yeah. Like. She might… you know. Be mad. Or… regroup. Or… do something creepy with the mask, it's totally gonna be something with the mask, I'm calling it now, if we touch it, we're doomed. So don't."
Raven couldn't hide a slight smile. "I agree, don't touch the mask, but..." Raven's grip didn't loosen. Her shoulders squared a fraction, and her chin lifted like she comfortably pinning fear under her boot heels. "If she was going to take revenge right now," Raven said, voice clipped, "she'd be screaming in my head already."
Katara didn't look convinced. She nodded, but nobody believed her. That nod was a blatant lie. "I hope you're right," Katara further incriminated herself.
They all tried to settle into "waiting" again, and it became a brief contest of who could frown hard enough to make one of the others say something else. Until, of course, there was a sudden noise.
"Watch out, he's gotta knife!" Sokka blurted as he lifted up boomerang and watched frantically for Shyus lurking in ambush.
"Shh!" Katara and Raven agreed. Katara pointed to the headdress. Silence.
The golden mask was propped at an angle like it had been tossed aside in a tantrum. The dragon-whisker mane spilled across the stone in a white-gold fan, absurdly luxurious, absurdly wrong to see lying there like discarded rinds.
And then it clattered. All three of them jerked so hard it looked choreographed. There wasn't even space to share a look of horror. It shifted a couple inches. The whiskers dragged with a soft rasp. Then it clattered again, like it was trying to sit up straight and look at them. They all would have accepted a painless death, for a breath there, if it were offered.
Katara yelped and jumped back as it slightly, suddenly moved again. Sokka made a sound that definitely wasn't heroic. Raven's cry was just as lacking in dignity, but she resolutely snapped Arzayanagi up in a clean motion, spearhead leveled toward the mask like she was about to pin it to the obsidian brickwork.
The mask rotated slightly, away, and they craned their necks as if to follow. Then something blinked inside one of the eye holes. A glossy, enormous lemur eye pressed against the gold. Momo chittered cheerfully from inside, muffled and proud of himself, as if he'd just bought his forever home. There was a collective pause where all three of them had to decide whether to laugh or collapse.
Sokka bent over with his hands on his knees and wheezed, "I… hate… him… so much…"
Katara sagged with sheer relief, one hand over her mouth. "Momo! You can't just— you can't just wear the horrible haunted mask, get ooooout of there, you little rascal!" And her words became more like crying as they went on.
Raven lowered the spear half an inch, still glaring. "Vermin. Get out," she ordered.
Momo only chirped again, delighted, and the mask made a faint scraping sound as he attempted to waddle inside it like it was a turtle shell. Katara approached with cautious diplomacy and a few of Raven's fire flakes pinched between her fingers like bait. Paranoid noble eyes locked on them in instant judgment and sentence.
Raven's head turned slowly. Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Where... did you... get those."
Katara froze mid-step, innocent face snapping into place so fast it was possibly real, Raven wasn't totally sure. "What? These? Oh, I dunno. In a pocket, maybe?"
Raven glared upon her, fingers flexing, like she was receiving an unforgivable confession.
Sokka sensed danger, leaned closer to Raven, voice low and urgent, out of the corner of his mouth like he was in on a scheme. "It was Aang."
Raven didn't move. "What."
"It was Aang," Sokka repeated, completely solemn. "Katara is just… the fall guy?"
Raven was unimpressed.
Sokka winced. "Drop girl? I don't know. Something like that. Anyway, you've got the wrong perp, she's obviously clueless."
Katara straightened up sharply. "Excuse me? I'm WHAT now?"
Sokka's mouth opened. Closed. He tried to course-correct with the grace of a moose on ice as she tilted her head his way like a lance. "No, I meant, like, you're not— I mean, you're— you're very… not… snack-thief-y?"
Katara marched up like she was about to waterbend his spine into a pretzel, then stopped a foot away and smiled. Warm. Genuine. Bright enough that Sokka flinched anyway because it felt like a long game.
"I'm kidding," Katara said, soft, and then she stepped in and hugged him. "I heard you."
Sokka went rigid like a statue that had never been consulted about hugs before. His hands hovered uselessly, then settled awkwardly on her shoulders as if he was afraid he'd break her. "O... kay?" he tried.
Katara's voice dropped, just for him. It cracked a little. "And I heard you," she whispered. "When you thought I was… when you thought…" Katara sniffed, and Sokka could feel her just melt a bit, really relying on him to hold her up, and he was happy to, but she went on. "Anyway, it meant a lot. To me."
Sokka swallowed hard. His face went tight. "Yeah," he managed, like it was the only word left.
Katara pulled back, eyes glossy but smiling anyway, and then she did something deeply strange. She dropped to her knees in front of Raven, folded her hands, and bowed her head like a condemned criminal. Sokka and Raven both tried to gauge if the other had a glint of understanding.
Finally, Katara confessed solemnly, "I stole some of your fire flakes, Lady Arza. I understand the penalty is death."
Sokka stared.
Raven stared.
Momo chittered inside the mask, a sure sign he needed another flake, which Katara—head still down and ready for judgment—suddenly jutted her hand over to give him. A little lemur paw batted out of the eye hole, and finally got it, giving another moment of silence. Sokka cracked first, laughing in a helpless burst. Raven followed a heartbeat later, a sharp bark that surprised even her that was half way to her asking, "w-what?" But Katara shot up with both fists in the air like she'd won a tournament.
"I did it!" she exclaimed, giddy. "I was actually funny! I really did it!" But she still gave Sokka a quick look to make sure he knew she wasn't joking about the other part. He didn't need it, but he appreciated it.
For exactly three breaths, it was almost normal.
Arzayanagi quivered.
Not a subtle vibration, not a "maybe the floor is uneven" wobble. A living, angry shudder through the haft that crawled into Raven's hands like a warning bite. Raven's smile died so fast it looked snuffed, and she adjusted her grip instinctively, but the spear quivered again, harder. Not to escape, just to be known. Her eyes widened. She took a step back from Katara and Sokka, then another, spearhead angling away from them and toward the wall as if she didn't trust her own arms.
Sokka's laugh faded into a nervous cough. "Whoa. Way too soon for spear pranks, Raven. Let Katara have this one."
Raven didn't answer with anything but a look of dire concern. Her jaw clenched. Her head tilted a fraction, like she was listening to someone standing just behind her shoulder.
Katara's face drained. "Raven…?"
Raven's lips pressed together so tight they went pale, and when she spoke it came out strained, like she was talking over shouting no one else could hear. "I was wrong!" Raven said quickly, like it was hard to get out, her eyes locked on nothing. "She's… super pissed at me, and—"
She flinched, hard. Like a verbal slap.
Raven snapped her head aside and hissed at empty air, "Would you… shout quieter?! I can't understand you!"
Katara's arms rose halfway, then froze, not knowing whether to approach or run. Sokka's eyes widened with horrified recognition. He pointed weakly between Raven and the spear. "Oh, come on... already?! Can't I have lunch before she tries to kill us?"
Raven glanced at Sokka like 'shut up, please!', and her face twisted, fury blooming fast to cover something shakier underneath. "Me?!" she barked at the spear, voice rising. "You were going to hurt the Avatar! Don't even pretend you weren't!"
She stopped, listening again, breathing sharp through her nose.
"Borrow?!" Raven spat, incredulous, and then her voice turned vicious. "You can brand my ass, you ghoul, what do you mean borrow?!"
Katara swallowed, and slowly reached out from a distance. "You should… you should put it down, R-Raven?" she whispered, instantly feeling hopeless it'd help.
"Why does this sound like a stupid family spat..." Sokka hunched over to breathe out, just tired of the stress at that point
Raven snapped her glare toward him for half a heartbeat. "Shh!" was all she offered, then she was back to the spear as if it had stolen all her snacks.
"YOU'LL WHAT?!" Raven shouted, voice cracking with outrage. "He's not going to help you! And I'm the heir! The only one left, now!"
She jolted as if something screamed directly into her skull. Raven's fury actually faltered. Her eyes went wider, confused and listening, then startled. She was shocked in a way that didn't look like anger anymore, but just heartbroken.
"Asha?" Raven echoed, voice going small for a split second, and then she swallowed hard. "Who…?"
She listened again, and her face changed in slow, awful increments, like she kept wanting to get a word in.
"I... I didn't know you cared," Raven finally whispered, and it came out wrong, too raw. "I didn't even know you knew."
Another flinch, followed by a tense, shuddering breath. Raven's eyes flicked away, ashamed and furious at being seen. "I… uh… haven't been speaking to Dad much… lately," she muttered, already mad at herself.
Whatever came next hit her like a tidal wave, or more like several, as it just went on painfully long. Raven's breath stuttered. Her shoulders tightened. Her eyes shone suddenly, not with fire, but with something wet and too human, that she wanted to claw away.
"My Lady Arzaya…" Raven forced out, voice and spear trembling. "I… I'm sorry."
There was a moment almost like peace, so very brief.
Raven listened, then scrunched up and snapped, "oh, come on, I'm trying to apologize! Don't be a bitch!"
Katara and Sokka stood perfectly still, the way you do when a panicked animal is tiring itself out. But then it seemed Raven was listening very intently, like Arzaya had to be very careful or...
A dam blew.
"No," Raven choked, hot tears instantly shot down her cheeks. It was like a word was a warning. Her eyes squeezed shut, and instantly burned. "No, you're right. You're not my mother." She gravely stated, every bit of tension balled up in her chest, which puffed up as her eyes went utterly wild. And she burst out, howling in unbridled rage, "Because SHE died fighting for YOU!"
Fire swelled around her fists in a shimmering aura, not launched, not aimed, just leaking as if her body couldn't contain it. The spear was shaking now because Raven couldn't stay still. "Don't you dare talk to me like that," she snarled through tears, "or I'll throw you in the ocean! Nobody will ever have to listen to your bullshit again!"
She listened one last time, chest heaving. Then she snapped into motion.
"YEAH," Raven screamed, voice shredding, "GREAT FUCKING IDEA!!" and she hurled Arzayanagi.
The spear clattered and skidded, rolling away across the stone with a harsh metallic rasp, each echo possibly like stepping on a mine, Sokka and Katara scrambling away from it. But it sat still, and instead their attention went to Raven. Her hands clenched into fists as her fire surged, and she let out a smoky burst of flame from her mouth like she was exhaling a storm. Katara and Sokka recoiled instinctively, not from heat as they were more than carefully out of range, but from the sheer force of emotion filling the hall.
Raven stood there breathing hard, smoke curling around her like a cloak. She let herself have a croaking wail that made both Katara and Sokka wanted to curl up and cry too. Her tears still streaked down hot cheeks. Her chin trembled. She sucked in a shaky breath, then another, trying to pull herself back together by brute force. Once and twice she glanced at the spear, like she'd rather have it fight back then just... leave her like that. Finally, her voice came out small and broken, aimed at the people watching her fall apart. Guilt panged hard, they could see it make her lurch.
"Sorry, guys," Raven croaked. "I… I'm sorry."
Katara and Sokka both answered in the highest, gentlest voices they could find.
"It's okay!" Katara whispered quickly.
"Yep," Sokka squeaked, nodding too hard. "Totally okay. We're good! Still friends!"
Raven was dangerously close to a pout when, as if on cue, Roku's chamber door opened. Warm, gentle light spilled out, supernaturally calm and, unfortunately, horribly ironic. Aang strode out wearing a relieved but triumphant smile, like the world had finally decided to give him an easy one.
"Hey guys!" he said, bright as the fucking sun. "Roku's super proud of us all for kicking Arzaya's butt!"
He stopped. Raven looked like she'd just been told her turtle duck died and he'd ask her to apologize for it.
Aang's smile faltered. "what... happened?"
* * *
Crescent Island wasn't looking any friendlier back outside. The trickling lava had begun to sludge out in surges, possibly a response to Arzaya's mere presence briefly affecting the land, everyone thought but didn't say. But it couldn't bring too much worry, as the sea below was glittering so happily in the sunlight—a pleasant reward for their deeds. But the southern breeze carried carried a tang of coal smoke, and it kept a hop the steps of Aang, Katara, Sokka and Raven.
But someone else lurked in the shadows. Silently waiting. Every exhalation a choice.
The group's boot steps scraped close to the dark, secret passage leading back to the temple. There were dozens of them, all over the island, but it would take a new observer years to root them all out. Aang's voice was obvious from just a sigh, unraveled a bit and young, but resolute.
"We have to go. Like, right now."
Sokka's voice overlapped it, harsher. "Nooo argument from me."
Katara, breathy and tense, sounded like she was arguing while running, a bit hurt. "Raven, we can't just stay here with you so you can fight him! There's so much at stake!"
"Then go!" Raven snapped back, and there was the edge of a smile in it that did not belong in a place like this. "My little Yaoru is on the way, I'll be fine.
"No you won't! You're still limping!" Katara shot back, then immediately corrected herself, but finally noticed Raven's unnatural convalescence, having been indisposed at the time. "Wait... you WERE limping. Actually, I had bruises and stuff..." she trailed off. "Gone. All gone." She uttered with disbelief as she patted her thigh, pulled up her sleeve, and found everything in working order. Katara even sounded downright accusatory as she insisted, "what happened while I was out?"
Sokka, puffing like a man who'd recently carried an angry noble girl up multiple flights of stairs, wedged himself into the conversation anyway. "Weird magic nonsense with Raven's drippy monster god," he rapidly interjected, but then opened a fresh batch of condescension: "Hey, ya know that fleet? The one with the fireballs? The one that almost roasted Appa?" And he gestured in an unbridled flail southwards.
There was a beat of silence where even Raven's stubbornness visibly hit a wall.
"Oh," Raven said, actually facepalming. "Right. Duh."
Katara's relief came out as a sharp breath that almost turned into a laugh, dismissively waving and stating, "I forgot too, what is wrong with us."
It was so nice that Raven just laughed back.
They burst off the walkway, sunlight slamming into them out of the mountain's shade like an extra push. Appa was already crouched behind jagged rock, grumbling at the obvious increase in lava. His tail raised up, but lowered calmly at the sight of Aang.
"Hey, buddy, sorry for the wait," Aang offered with genuine affection as he ushered Appa out of the shadows.
Aang flipping into the air, gracefully settling down, and darting his eyes south in a trembling. "Leaving, we're leaving, leaving-leaving-leeeeaving, guys."
Katara wasn't actually slowing down, scrambling onto the saddle, and lowering a hand that wasn't necessary as Raven gingerly hopped up in an enviably proficient fit of athletics. "Oh, right, you're fine now," Katara quickly said, a bit flustered. "But what are we doing with the... uh... Arzayanagi?"
Aang cringed in place at Appa's reins. "I don't think ANYONE should have it," he said with quiet certainty.
Raven made a soft, humorless sound. "Can everyone stop discussing what 'I' do with 'my' family's heirloom like you have anything to do with it?" She was holding it, wrapped up again in black cloth, but it felt so wrong to everyone to still just... have it.
Katara blinked. "What...?" She wished she hadn't uttered it with such offense.
"You can't seriously want to keep it, Raven," Aang moaned like he was just done with it all. "Your family's spooky closet goblin is a real drag."
"Yeah. I think I'm finally certain it belongs in a hole somewhere," Sokka said, hand on his chin and nodding sagely—at least that was what he was going for, but his free hand was still stuffing down bags on the saddle, at least. Then he snickered, "haha, Aang? Did you just call her a closet goblin? That is amazing. Everyone is so funny today."
Katara tried to keep things serious. "Please, Raven, just—" with a 'yip-yip!' Appa bucked. Katara insisted, "—just get rid of it?"
Raven held Arzayanagi for a moment as Appa climb over the sea, as if weighing the meaning as much as the metal. She knew the stories. She felt herself what it was capable of. The Arzayans would be guided by its fire to an eternal age of dominion over the world, should it be carried by a worthy leader. She could be that leader. She was absolutely certain. Raven's shoulders loosened, just slightly, and she gave a crooked smile that made Katara's stomach drop.
"This is pointless," Raven flippantly said. "I'm not keeping it."
Aang's eyes widened with delight. "Raven—!"
Katara just sighed with relief.
"Hmm, but what do to with—" Sokka began to deduce, far too late.
Raven didn't answer them. Instead she limply flung her arms aside, off the saddle. "Whoops, butter fingers!" she said like it was just a silly little accident. Everyone rushed to the side of the saddle. Arzayanagi tumbled hundreds of fleet, glinting in the sun. It DEFINITELY blazed with flames, very briefly, before making a sizzling splash in the calm blue waters, and it was gone, thousands of feet off the coast of the island. They all looked to Raven in a mixture of awe, delight and horror. She just shrugged, "had to be sudden, or she'd have started shit." And she leaned far over the edge, giving the rudest gesture she had in her repertoire as hard as she could. "Get fucked, biiiiiitch!" she shouted in a taunt.
But another caught that glint. That thin, cruel line of gold and flames catching sunlight.
A line of ships was pushing into view. Many, many warships. Columns of smoke in rows across the horizon. The sound carried like a rumble to rival the island's volcano as a whole moving city of iron and fire bore down.
From the hidden tunnel mouth, the watcher flinched at the sound and pressed tighter into shadow. Anxiously waiting for the speck of Appa to vanish, Sage Shyu finally stepped out. His hands shook so badly he had to curl them into fists inside his sleeves as he stiffly strode forward, tensing at the sound of shuffling feet behind him.
He stared at the ocean for a long moment, eyes fixed on the spot where the spear had fallen, as if he could command the water itself to give it back, but only had a tired sigh to offer. He turned, but not far enough to look, into the dark tunnel behind him.
"Retrieve it," he softly commanded, and again he skittishly ducked out of sight.
* * *
Zhao grinned like he won a bet as he played chicken with Prince Zuko on the way in to the tiny and soon to be very cramped harbor, gunning to take up too much space for him to properly land, just to make the boy squirm.
Zuko didn't back down. Glaring at Zhao. Daring him to actually collide. Sure, it would probably sink Zuko's cruiser, but the hole in Zhao's battleship would be no help in hunting the Avatar. The Prince grinned as he turned away, knowing he called the irritating man's bluff, getting things heated before they even had boots on solid ground.
Zhao's Elite Fire Nation soldiers poured onto black rock, boots finding grip cautiously until they found the polished walkway. Firebenders moved more confidently. Advancing in practiced wedges, heat shimmering at their fists even without flame under the auspicious temple and roiling volcano. The air filled with barked orders and the steady thrum of disciplined marching.
Prince Zuko jumped from the prow of his own landing craft, unwilling to wait for his old cruiser's slow ramp. He hit stone, turned straight for Admiral Zhao already striding smugly down the gangplank of his larger vessel, hands behind his back like he thought he was a real gentleman.
"Zhao! This is a whole army!" Zuko snapped, marching straight up as if rank didn't matter. "It's one kid. You're just trying to take all the credit!"
Zhao didn't stop walking. He didn't even look at Zuko at first. "Prince Zuko," he said, voice rich with amusement, "I would think you'd be grateful I'm devoting so many forces to... 'your' mission."
"I found him, he's mine!" Zuko growled, but then raged, "Father—the Fire Lord ordered ME to capture the Avatar. This ISN'T your DECISION—"
Zhao stopped then, finally turning. His smile was thin. His eyes were colder. But he put his palm to his chest, rocking back in a sudden burst of laughter. "Your father, hmm-hmm heh-heh, would demote me to scrubbing pipes if I, ha ha ha, just LET the Avatar just GET AWAY, ha ha ha, just to satisfy the ego of his, ha ha, BANISHED son!" Zhao was moist in the eyes from amusement as he snapped to order one of his officers with a quick gesture, and he took a breath to almost curiously say, "your bizarre expectations never cease to amaze me."
Zuko's scar looked darker in the bright sun. His fists clenched hard enough his knuckles went pale. Even in the wind, Iroh heard the creasing of his nephew's gloves, and caught up to place a hand on his shoulder.
"Nephew, the admiral is correct. You know how... unforgiving your father is," Iroh hurried to insist.
Zuko gave his uncle a sudden glare like he'd been betrayed, but it faltered. The riled up boy breathed out a sigh, ruffling his now very short black hair. "Damn it!" he seethed through his teeth.
Iroh did not hesitate to encourage, "but as Admiral Zhao said," he offered warmly, as if greeting an old friend instead of a hungry shark, "there is no need for hostility. Simply work together, and share the glory."
Zhao's face soured. "Maybe," he sneered. "If the boy stops nipping like a dog at my heels."
Zuko took a step forward, and two elite soldiers moved like they'd been waiting for it, angling subtly to cut him off. "If you want to face me in Agni Kai, quit needling me like a little girl, and just ASK for it. I'll burn that smug smile off your face, like you seem to want!"
Zhao's voice remained conversational. "I'd be delighted," he said, oozing with forced politeness. "First I'll have you detained for the duration of the search, though. Once I have the Avatar, I'd be happy to give you a little... symmetry."
Zuko's breath went sharp. His eyes flashed to the soldiers, then to how close they were to Zhao, then to the temple above them like he could already see the Avatar slipping away again.
"I'll fight you right HERE if you try it," he said, low.
Iroh was raising his hands to block whatever was about to happen, with Zhao beaming with delight as he fell into a combat stance, and Zuko furious out of his mind bit down on all sense and did the same, but a commotion near the edge of the landing line drew their attention: two elite firebenders flanking a rather haggard and put upon older man in fancy red robes.
His ceremonial headpiece sat crooked. His robes were stained with ash and something darker at the hem. His hands clutched a long bundle wrapped in black cloth so tightly his fingers trembled. Zuko's eyes narrowed on sight. Zhao gawked like his eel curry just sat up and spoke to him, but he snapped out of it.
"Who is this." Zhao demanded.
Shyu dropped to a knee so fast it looked like his bones might crack. "Admiral Zhao," he rasped, voice shaken and hoarse with sincerity, "thank the spirits you have come!"
Zhao's gaze sharpened. "And what of the Avatar? Speak!"
Shyu swallowed hard and lifted his eyes just enough to be seen properly afraid. "I am Sage Shyu," he said, as if they might doubt it. "I… I am the last Fire Sage of the temple."
Zhao's lips parted with mild surprise, which swiftly became irritation. "Last."
Shyu nodded, miserable. "The Avatar arrived," he said, and his voice broke in exactly the right place. "He... he and his companions… they killed the others. Executed them when they would not betray the Fire Lord."
Zuko's fists clenched so hard his hands shook. "But where is the Avatar, then?! Is he still here?!"
Shyu flinched at the sound of Zuko's voice, then forced himself to continue, darting a glance toward Iroh as if clinging to the presence of someone he instinctively respected. "The chamber," Shyu said quickly. "Ah, I mean, Roku's chamber. He is inside, with his allies. Trapped!" And he gave a delighted little giggle to sell it. "Hee hee!"
Zhao's brows lifted. "Trapped inside?" He gestured sharply toward the temple. "What are we waiting for?"
Shyu lifted the cloth-wrapped bundle a fraction like it was a confession. "Well, um," he said, breath hitching, "we sabotaged the door's lock. We broke the mechanism while it was sealed, so he could not reach Roku even if he forced us to open the door somehow..."
Iroh's eyes narrowed slightly. Not disbelieving. Just… attentive.
Zhao's voice went flat. "And yet."
Shyu swallowed. "And yet he opened it anyway," Shyu whispered in disbelief, like the words themselves offended him. He shrugged and held up Arzayanagi, golden spearhead slipping from the cloth. "With… with this? Somehow he knew the way."
The air seemed to tighten around it. Zhao's expression changed instantly, professional and hungry. "Arzayanagi. Confirms that... feeling. That heat, hehe. Almost had us," he gave a quick glance to Zuko, like he'd rather blame the spear than any person over nearly coming to blows.
Shyu shook his head quickly, eager to appear ignorant, eager to appear merely terrified. "I don't understand it," he said, breathless. "He used it like a key, touching it to a gem I thought was just decorative. But, pop! The door opened. The others tried to stop him and... and were killed, and I… I thought I would die too."
Zhao stared down at him. "But you didn't."
Shyu's eyes flickered. He gathered himself into shame. "I'm a coward..." he admitted, voice cracking like a confession. "I did fight, but I was knocked over. I... pretended to be dead among them. I waited. I could do nothing. The Avatar was merciless and too powerful. But he and all his allies entered the chamber! I saw my chance!"
Zuko's patience snapped. "What'd you do?" like he was actually a bit worried.
Shyu's hands tightened around the bundle. "To trap them!" he said quickly. "I covered the spear and took it away while the door was open, and it shut! They are still inside with the lock broken." And with delight he presented it to anyone and everyone. "And only this can open it!"
Zhao went still, savoring the image of victory. "You are telling me," he said with unhidden mirth. "that the Avatar is trapped in a room. Waiting. Helpless. And I can just... move my whole army in, ha ha ha ha!"
Shyu nodded hard, pleading, and almost urgently trying to get anyone to take Arzayanagi. "Yes, Admiral. Please. Before he finds another way. Before he—"
Zuko stepped in, eyes blazing. "Was Raven, ah, Lady Arza with the Avatar?"
The name landed like a dropped dagger. But Shyu just blinked innocently. His face settled into confusion so gentle it was almost insulting. "Lady... Raven?" he repeated, as if the concept didn't belong in his world. "No, Prince Zuko. I… I saw no one of that station aiding him. His allies had the look of... hmm, water tribe?"
Zuko's stare didn't soften.
Shyu hurried on, eager to give Zuko something. "Oh! But there was a girl," he said, voice small, "very injured. Restrained or drugged, I think? It looked like they had taken her prisoner, but perhaps not?" He went on like he really didn't think that was perhaps possible at all.
"Can be hard to tell with her." Zhao sharply interjected, to everyone's bewilderment. "Nevermind," he backed out, and shot to Zuko. "If you do something stupid to rescue your damsel in distress, don't expect my forces to hold back, Prince Zuko."
Zuko's jaw barely moved. "Shut up."
Zhao just scowled. "As much as you're tempting me to toss you back on your ship and leave you out entirely..." Zhao said, tone turning wry with irritation, "I cannot open the door." And he held up his hand to refuse Shyu's continuing vague offer of spear ownership.
Shyu lowered his gaze obediently. "Yes... it will burn, ah, pretenders," he murmured, as if ashamed for even lugging it around with his common hands.
Zhao's eyes flicked to Iroh. "General," Zhao said, almost lazily, "you are of royal blood. You can wield it."
Iroh's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I cannot," he agreed pleasantly. "And would not."
Zhao's brows lifted. "The Dragon of the West. Afraid of Arzayanagi?"
"No, haha. Although anyone SHOULD be afraid," Iroh went on genially. But couldn't avoid sounding darker as he went on, "my brother wished to wield it, and could not. He was furious! He demanded I hold it too, to prove it was just a myth that the royal bloodline can use its power, and I too was rejected—most painfully—by the cursed thing."
Zhao and Zuko just stared at them in confusion, and Shyu seemed to just be pleasantly waiting for story time to continue.
Iroh cleared his throat. "Hmm, well, the Fire Lord was only briefly saved from the indignity of being singled out. Because... without asking or knowing its importance, I must add—the Fire Lady picked up the spear, both hands wielding it. We expected a tragedy! But... and she is not even a bender, but it allowed her."
"What does that even mean," Zuko grumbled, annoyed automatically at the sudden mention of his mother.
"It was determined, Prince Zuko, that it was because she was pregnant with YOU," Iroh said with finality. But he broke down again to silly old man to smile and say, "anyway, it means you CAN use it, Prince Zuko, and I don't have to touch it ever again."
Shyu was wobbling the dang legendary thing right in front of Zuko's face. Iroh and Zhao leaned in, sensing a sort of intense gravitas to the action of someone claiming the spear.
"Fine. Whatever," Zuko said, already bored as he lazily snatched the exposed black shaft of Arzayanagi and started unceremoniously strutting off towards the temple without delay. He briefly turned back to see everyone cringing like he was about to explode, Iroh reaching out with his breath held. Nothing happened. Until Zuko barked, "it's a WEAPON! You people are as CRAZY as the ARZAYANS! Come ON!"
Katara, Sokka and Raven all sat rigid, silent for a moment, as the island disappeared from sight. Sokka kept peering over the saddle like he expected a Arzaya to crawl up and grab him. Raven was scowling at the quiet. She did not like to have time to think. But Aang was off in his own little world, grinning like he had a fresh bowl of ice cream in his hands and not Appa's reins.
He stared at the bright glittering water ahead another full minute, then finally exhaled so hard his cheeks puffed. "Ahhhhh," he let out, like he was announcing himself. "It's soooo good just to feel normal again."
Appa grumbled approvingly, which Aang took as agreement, giving him a quick pat.
Sokka shifted closer, voice lowered. "Normal huh, what's that?"
Katara didn't laugh, but her shoulders softened a fraction. "Oh, come on, Sokka, it's obviously... much better now," she confirmed, still sounding a bit like she was convincing herself.
Raven's eyes stayed forward, chin slightly lifted. "If you say so," she smirked.
Aang glanced at her. Then glanced away. Then glanced back, like he couldn't decide whether he was allowed to say the thing in his head without getting thrown off the saddle.
He tried anyway.
"I…" Aang started, then winced and restarted, because if he didn't do it now he would never do it. "I'm really glad you threw it."
Raven's brows rose. "Yeah," she offered without looking.
A pause, and Aang kept going, cheeks pinking. "I was… worried you wouldn't. Because it's yours and you're… you know… Arzayan."
Raven turned her head slowly, raised an eyebrow. "Thought I'd side with my closet goblin?"
Aang immediately flailed both hands like he was trying to airbend the words back into his mouth. "No! Not like that! Not like, 'oh you're evil,' I just mean you've been dealing with this your whole life and you're… you're used to it. And I'm not used to it. And I thought maybe you'd think it was normal to keep it around, like, I dunno!"
Raven's stare sharpened. "Uhhh..." she trailed off, possibly more offended than before.
Aang's panic escalated into full-body sincerity. "B-but! What I mean, is... you threw it away way faster than I would have! Like, right away, like it wasn't hard. I know she gets in your head, its not easy."
"Eh," Raven just rolled a shoulder, leaning back and looking away like she wasn't quite used to direct praise. "I just didn't think about it. I just did it." And she quietly laughed. "I don't think she's good at handling that."
Katara wound up with a poorly stifled smile. "Wait... you resisted Arzaya just by being impulsive?"
Raven just gave a "whoops" kind of shrug.
Sokka wasn't bothered. "Whatever works!" he cheered.
Katara's gaze dropped to Raven's surcoat, where a tear ran along the seam like a bite mark from the temple. And then Katara noticed her own tunic, too, the ugly rip where she'd hit the temple stone floor hard enough to drop two tiers in style ranking.
She huffed in dismay. "My tunic could fit an extra Katara." And she stuck a hand back around and through to prove it was feasible, at least.
"You could make her do the sewing too," Sokka leaned over, like he was letting her in on a clever secret. "Original Katara gets priority over the clones."
Katara gave him a look.
He immediately argued, "I could have said 'one is enough', and I didn't, that's almost violating sibling code."
"I can get that cut in your coat too, Raven," Katara breathed out, like she wanted to stay professional, and she was already tugging it up and off over her head. Her plain sleeveless top underneath was thankfully undamaged, so she quickly snatched up her kit and leaned over her mangled tunic. Just after it seemed she meant to simply ignore him, Katara eyed Sokka and said, "sibling code is rarely enforced anymore, anyway." Most miraculously, she managed not to crack a smile.
It took him a moment, but Sokka almost passed out he was so delighted at Katara actually playing along with his shenanigans. He made a weird strangled noise that would have to be interpreted as a laugh, more just out of appreciation. She wouldn't usually, but she still had that warm feeling he'd left her with in the temple, so at least for the rest of the day... he could have some wins.
"Ya know, I didn't want to be the one to say it, but I think you're right," Sokka chuckled along, smiling like a complete doofus at his sister.
Aang nearly flipped upside down to gather up his hammiest smug know-it-all face to condescend, "uhhh... guys, I think you're forgetting that sibling code is STRICTLY enforced in the Northern Water Tribe, so brush up on your handbooks."
Raven didn't even blink as the others laughed. She wasn't sure what she was feeling among the others being silly and goofing around, and felt almost trapped sitting there, like if she moved an inch it might shatter and fade away.
The laughter did fade, though, and there was a careful, "Raven...?" from Katara. She bit her lower lip.
Raven could guess why. Sibling jokes. Murdered sister... but...
The momentarily quiet noble girl let out a slightly trembling, hurt sigh, breathy and long, and oh-so clearly meant to be seen by the others. They all reeled, slightly, the 'catching on' spreading to Sokka, then Aang, who both gave non-committal "oohs" and "ohs". Finally, Raven looked up, brow furrowed and with the most convincing fake pout—she had a lot of practice—and she pleaded. "How come you guys didn't tell me about sibling code? I... I never even got a handbook!" And she held it for a solid five seconds.
Katara's concern instantly faded away, and she just shook her head in amused disbelief, but Aang and Sokka respectively burst out laughing and burst out with an "eyyyyy!" that on its own communicated 'hey, she gets it!'.
And Sokka went on to dismissively wave, over enunciating every word as he blathered, "Oh, don't even WORRY, we've been sharin' the same ratty ol' handbook between us this WHOOOLE time."
"Ow!" Katara suddenedly chirped. The corner of her mouth fled for her cheek. "See, this is why I don't usually mess around," she sighed as she held up her poked fingertip. It gleamed slightly in the sunlight before she sucked on it. "Hmm, doesn't hurt, at least." She went on as Sokka leaned in for an unnecessary inspection. "Oh, it's nothing," she shrugged, and looked up to Raven. "Hey, can I get your coat?"
Raven wasted no time escaping her surcoat—deep black with golden embroidery, and that same now even less fun to see spearhead as big as her head on the back. "Thanks, I have no idea how to sew."
"Lotsa servants and stuff, huh?" Sokka asked instantly, already getting a look from Katara like she might end his free win day early.
"Sure," Raven said, obviously not bothered. Sokka was instantly impressed, not by the servants, but by how little she cared. She mistook it for him not believing her. "I'm betrothed—whether I like it or not—to a prince. I don't just have servants, Sokka," she grinned and more than a little smugly asserted.
Sokka raised his hands. "Whoa, whoa! I believe you, your highness!"
"She's not literally a princess," Katara added in like Sokka ought to know better, but then glanced to Raven. "Wait, you're not literally a princess, are you?"
"No, haha," Raven scoffed. "Even if my family's closet goblin wants me to be, to restore her glorious dominion, or whatever."
"I am SO glad closet goblin is a thing now!" Sokka declared. "Aang you KILLED it with that."
"You're too kind, Sokka, too kind!" Aang said in cartoonish, gentlemanly fashion.
"But like, seriously, back home," Raven said, making sure to gather their attention again. And like it made her the new cool kid on the block, she got a bit of her haughty tone to say, "I can raise a fleet, command an army, order officers around, have people punished in hilarious waaaays—that sort of thing." But she faltered slightly. "Er... usually."
"But now you can't 'cause your dad grounded you." Sokka casually offered it, like everyone was on the same page.
"Yeah, that's—" Raven started, crinkled her nose, and sharply said. "Shut the fuck up." And she was unreadable.
Katara pursed her lips as she quickly pulled threads tight, handing the fancy coat back to her spicy majesty, and used it as a springboard to dare ask, "so, Aang? Did Avatar Roku say anything else, other than the comet? We sort of left in a weird hurry back there."
It seemed everyone was happy to just drop it.
Convinced Raven wasn't fuming, Aang offered, "Roku said we should prioritize Ozai," he announced, because he'd been vibrating with that information since he left the chamber. "Like deal with him, the comet. He said not to trust Arzaya, like don't help her, but just stay away I guess..." he trailed off, obviously not wildly enthusiastic about it.
Katara didn't look up from her sewing, but her voice was gentle. "He probably sees a bigger picture, right? Avatar Roku?"
Obviously conflicted, Aang mulled it over out loud. "He said… not to provoke her. Not to get in her way, and like, sure I don't want to have anything to do with her, but I don't know."
Sokka made a disappointed face. "Well, just don't open the goblin closet. Problem solved."
"Fucking... goblin closet...?" Raven, who was now curled up around her snack pack, whispered in high pitch as she tried not to laugh and spit her fire flakes all over the saddle.
Aang lolled his head aside miserably, weakly wobbling to keep looking back at everyone. "But she's sooooo going to be uuuuup to stuuuuff, like come oooon, closet goblins gonna closet goblin, right? She's been messing with things before even OPENING the goblin closet!"
Raven snorted and squealed.
Katara's needle flashed. Her work done, she smoothly slid it away in her little leatherbound kit. "I'm with Roku," she tersely said. "Let's stay far, far away from her."
Aang looked like he was struggling not to argue with Katara about it, so Raven recovered from goblin closet well enough to say, "she's definitely still scheming, sure, but I think she gave up on the whole 'borrow Aang' plan."
Aang's shoulders rose like the word borrow had poked him in the spine. "Good, I'm not for rent, I'm the Avatar..." he drawled out as he fell a bit limp, frustrated that even a closet goblin needed to have that made clear to her.
Sokka made a strangled sound. "So like, 'borrow' as you said before, like... his body."
"Pretty much." Aang murmured and grumbled. "She kinda did it before, I just... let her. AGH! Makes my SKIN crawl."
"Look, I'm just saying it out loud because if I keep it to myself my head will explode, or melt, or both!" Sokka said, then looked at Raven with real horror. "So you think she really wanted to… take him over?"
Raven's eyes flicked to Aang, then away. "I don't know for sure, seemed like it, but just to kill Ozai, if you actually believe her," she admitted. "Whatever it was, she failed. I think she knows now that Aang's never going to let her in."
Aang let out a long shuddering moan of discontent. "I sure hope you're right."
"Ah!" Katara hissed, jerking her hand up. "Ow!"
Sokka's head snapped around. "What happened?"
"Why?!" Katara glared at the needle like it had personally betrayed her. "I poked my finger again..."
"Didn't you put that away?" Raven blinked, genuinely confused.
Katara tilted a bit sideways, defeated. "I started fiddling with it again," she admitted like she knew that was it for her.
Sokka watched in disbelief as Katara twirled the needle a bit again between her fingers. "Just put it away," he flatly said.
"I know! Ahh!" Katara threw up her hands, causing Sokka to scoot back from the needle's tip, and she fussed and fumbled to put her sewing kit away for real this time. And she sat up straight on her knees, holding a finger up to Sokka's face when it looked like he wasn't going to drop it, and she smiled cutely to say, "so, Raven. We met your friend Mai?"
Raven's head snapped toward her. "You what. Fucking WHEN?"
"At Omashu. Crazy, right?" Katara clarified quickly. "She was there with… your dad." She hesitated, choosing the words carefully. "She seemed genuinely worried about you, is all I wanted, um, to say."
Raven's expression flickered. Something complicated and old. Then she puffed it away with a breath, before croaking, "that's so weird." Eyes darted to Katara's. "That you met her."
Katara smiled a little. "It was really strange. But… it's nice to think of someone thinking about me like that."
"You are too precious," Raven leaned across the saddle with a hurt expression to give Katara's shoulder a quick shake, all while the waterbender just turned a bit red in the face and tolerated it. But she smirked a she sat back. "And I miss Mai. Wish we could have stayed close..."
Sokka nodded like this was deeply logical. "But she seemed so easy to talk to," he said with zero confidence.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Mai's very chill, we were close. But... ugh," she admitted, but something soured. "She got obsessed with getting some high up particular job, royal spymaster or whatever, but for torchface's bitch sister, who sucks almost as much as him."
Katara frowned. "Like, the princess?"
"Yes," Raven said with feeling. "Azula. She's insufferable. I kinda just... dropped Mai, to avoid her." She rattled off, slowing down, and finally muttering with emotion. "Great, now I feel like an asshole again." And she shrank with her knees held up against her chest.
There was a painful pause, but Katara's eyes softened. "That sounds lonely. I kinda thought just I was isolated, like, between us."
Raven shrugged hard enough to lift back out of her shrunken pose. "I still have my friend Ty Lee," she said, then immediately added, like she regretted saying it, "unfortunately, maybe..."
Sokka blinked. "Who?"
Raven waved a hand like the explanation wasn't worth the oxygen. "She's like... I can't tell if she's an evil genius or a lucky idiot, and I don't know which is worse."
"You sound exhausted by her already," Katara started to laugh.
"She started doing this thing with my dad, so embarrassing, I could just die—wha?!" Raven began, almost like she regretted her words before saying them but then suddenly jerked to look behind them, rising to her feet to see clearly.
Aang was right there with her, airbending to stand right beside her.
"Uhh..." Sokka tried.
Aang and Raven went stiff at the exact same time, then gazed intently at each other.
"Oh, come ON!" Aang bellowed at the wind.
Raven's jaw dropped at the same time. "Already?!"
"There's no mistake, right?" Aang urged.
"Nooo... it's real," Raven's face drained of color that she didn't have to spare. "You have GOT to be KIDDING me."
"Uhhhh?" Katara gave it a shot, adding a smile for encouragement.
Aang slumped forward, limply flailing his hand behind them, to wear he and Raven saw an orange glow pulsing. "Someone's using Arzayanagi."
It was Katara's turn. "Already?!" She clicked her dropped jaw shut. "Noooo..." she childishly whined. Justified. It was so unfair.
"Hoooow did they even geeeet it?!" Raven growled, just utterly done.
"I'm NOT going back, we're banning travel to the goblin closet!" Aang declared rancorously, raising his fist in the air like anyone was going to challenge him.
Sokka stared between them, landing on Aang. "Uhh... yeah, sure."
Aang faltered, his fist easing at the silence. "Raven? Katara?" he tested.
Katara pointed at herself. "What? Oh, screw that! I don't wanna go back there! We have stuff to do. Avatar Roku said so! Right?"
Everyone looked at Raven, who looked very guilty. They instantly drained of all spirit, before she said a word.
"I want to agree, but my poor dumb crew are going to blunder right into whatever is happening." Raven's shoulders clenched as she said it. "I know we were going to just come back for them when the fleet left, but... they're not cut out for closet goblin problems." She saw the looks of despair on everyone's faces, and deflated a bit. "Uhh, I mean, they're adults. We can... just go?" she weakly tried.
Aang trudged over to Appa, and everyone's hearts stopped as he sat down in place, then suddenly yanked on the reins. Everyone knew what that meant.
"It's the curse of the closet goblin," Sokka moaned, tearfully.
"Are you sure?" Katara hung over the saddle by Aang's ear to damn near beg.
"I don't wanna go baaaack, Katara," Aang wailed like his life was over, and like he was fit only for suffering, he admitted, "but I'm the Avatar, I can't just let the closet goblin eat people..."