"So, I think I get it, but just in case; explain it all to me one more time." Raiko says with a smirk, leaning back onto his hands as Zulu crawls onto his lap.  Asha groans in front of him, frustration written all over her face.  

"This is the fourth time!" She yells, falling back onto Gumi, who lets out a chortle.  The group had decided they all deserved a break; a mini vacation if you will. Currently they were flying to Aang's location. The other four flew on Appa as Raiko and Asha flew on Gumi. They were side by side so any conversation could be heard by both parties. 

"Yeah, understandable, but I don't get it either. What's the point of it?" Sokka pipes in, leaning over Appa's saddle.  

"It's a way for me and Aang to stay in contact, no matter the circumstance. We'll be able to tell if the other's scared, in danger, hurt or anything else. If one of us goes missing, we'll be able to keep in touch and lead the other to our location." Asha explains, once more, exasperated. 

"And that makes it like marriage how?" Raiko rolls his eyes as he asks. 

"It's bonding our souls. After this, we'll never be apart. We become one. We can't undo it though, so I suppose that's where it's not like marriage."  Aang steps it, looking to Asha with a smile; the girl returning it. 

"And your both sure you want to do this?" Katara speaks up, giving a glance to the two air benders.

"Couldn't be more sure." Asha reassures. 

"Wouldn't want it with anyone else." Aang smiles as well. Taking a look to both air benders once more, Katara smiles at both. 

"Am I the only one feeling like a proud mom?" Raiko laughs out, the rest joining. 

"What makes you the mom? For all we know, Nova wants a cool Earth bending mom." Toph teases, sticking her tongue out.

 "How about, I'm older than both of you and I don't need a mom." Asha giggles. Raiko looks aghast. "You are not older than me."

"Technically I am. I'm over a hundred and sixteen-"

"We're here!" Aang breaks the laughing, landing Appa; Gumi following. 

Jumping off of Appa, Aang runs over to a bunch of holes in the ground; digging through his satchel all the while. Pulling out a wooden flute, Aang falls into a meditative pose as the others gather around him. 

"What's out here?" Sokka speaks first, watching as Toph kneels and places a hand on the ground. 

"A lot actually, there's hundreds of little-" 

Quickly turning, Aang shushes the girl before she can ruin the surprise. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch."  Aang blows into his flute, watching in amusement as a prairie dog emerges, singing the same note. 

Falling to her knees beside Aang, holding onto Zulu tightly, Asha gapes in amazement. "Do it again!"  

Complying with the girl, partly because he finds it fun, partly because he loves her smile, Aang plays another note, a different prairie dog raising his head and singing. 

"I'm putting an orchestra together." Aang nudges the smiling girl beside him, getting a laugh in return; causing his own laughter to spill out. 

"Orchestra, huh? Well, la dee da." Sokka says, disinterested. 

Aang plays three more notes, three prairie dogs appearing, each singing a note in descending order. However, they each descend as Momo leaps down into one of the holes, reappearing from a different one then the one he jumped into.  Looking to Asha, said girl beaming with excitement, her eyes glimmering with a certain shine, Aang plays several more notes.  Again, more prairie dogs appear, singing. Momo chasing each one; causing laughs to escape from not only Asha, but Katara as well. Rolling his eyes, Sokka plugs the end of Aang's flute causing the boys cheeks to swell with air. 

"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans." Sokka says, unplugging his finger.

"We did make plans. We're all picking mini-vacations." Toph cuts in, smirking at the boy. 

"There's no time for vacations." Sokka sounds exasperated.

"Asha and I are learning the elements as fast as we can. We practice hard everyday. I mean, we've been training our arrows off."  Aang looks up to Sokka. 

"Yeah. What's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?" Katara steps forward, offering some backup to Asha and Aang.

"Even if you two 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? Knock, knock! Hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home?"  Sokka knocks the air, leaning down to Aang and Asha's level. "I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war." 

Ignoring everything Sokka just said, Aang plays one more note causing another rodent to pop out right under Sokka, causing the warrior to jump in surprise, the girls laughing at the action. Using a gust of wind, Aang jumps to his feet; leaning down to help Asha to her feet. 

"Alright, we'll finish our vacations, and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence." Asha laughs out, stretching her back until a satisfying pop is heard, her joke earning laughs from both Katara and Aang.   Opening the map from his satchel, Aang hold it towards Katara. 

"Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"

"How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing?"  Katara leans towards the map, 

"Oh yeah, we've been there," Aang looks to Asha with a smile as he speaks. The two went together right before Aang was told he was the Avatar, Monk Gyatso's own way of giving them one last great adventure, they supposed (If only he could see them now). "It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders." 

___

It takes everything in Aang's power not to laugh as he pulls Asha away from an impending fight, both parties glaring angrily at each other as they got further and further away from the other. They had gotten to the Oasis without problem, the only issue being a stranger  at the entrance  of a mud house. Well, that being the only fixable problem; the overlying issue of the poor condition of the oasis being overlooked temporarily. 

Leading his counterpart into the mud house, that had dim lights hanging from poles to illuminate the room, Aang feels his defenses rise. People litter the room, some asleep, others sipping from glass like containers, all looking dangerous. A bartender is set up to the left of them, however, currently preparing a drink and looking a little friendlier.

"I mean, I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." Sokka grins, already pushing his way to the bar, the others following him shortly after. 

Waving down the bartender, Sokka places his order as the man before them turns, bumping into Aang. 

"No worries. I clean up easy." Aang looks up to the man, placing his knuckles together; drying himself. The man gasps at the action, looking to Aang in awe. 

"You're a living relic!" He gapes at Aang; the air bender reaching for his Onsra's hand. 

"Thanks. I try."  Aang smiles, the other three approaching them.  The man places a hand on his chin. 

"An Air Nomad-" He begins, Sokka cutting him off. 

"Actually, Asha's an air bender too." Sokka points out, receiving an icy cold glare from Asha. 

"Two Nomads?! Right in front of me." The man looks to Asha next, wonder in his eyes. "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University. Tell me, which of the Air Temples do you two hail from?" The professor introduces himself, grabbing Asha's hand gingerly, tracing the arrow up until the cuff bracelet; Aang growling at the action.  

"Northern Temple." Asha answers first.  

"The Southern Temple." Aang answers next,  watching as the Professor measures his skull with a pair of calipers; releasing Asha's hand. 

"Oh, splendid! Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?" 

"Uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product?" Aang nervously looks to Asha, who shrugs looking just as nervous. The North was too cold for producing things like fruit and veggies, but used the natural gas supply to...mine things, she thinks? Honestly, she didn't know. She knew that had cool fire breathing dragons and other miscellaneous reptiles and that was all.

"Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal." Professor Zei places a hand on each of their shoulders before pulling out a note pad from his back pack, writing in it.  

"So professor, you're obviously a well traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated." Sokka  peeps up, saving the two from further interrogation. 

"Certainly." The man stops writing, handing a map to Sokka who unravels it. As he does, Toph takes a seat on the other side of the table, handing Asha a  soft yellow drink of her own.  She takes a sip, letting out a hum of satisfaction at the banana flavor as Aang re-approaches; a green drink in his hand. Wrapping his free arm around Asha's waist, Aang watches as Sokka tracings a finger over the map. He pauses before offering a sip of his drink to Asha, who takes it while offering him one of hers, both laughing at each other and their silent communication.

"What? No Fire Nation? Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?"  Sokka grunts in frustration. 

"Most likely, no." Raiko turns to him, his own eyes darting over the map, noting some places of interest while altering their own map to include them with a small pencil.

"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." Katara looks over as well. 

"All in vain, I'm afraid. I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel...Wan Shi Tong's library."  He's cut off by Asha coughing, Aang quickly patting her back as she chokes.

"I'm so sorry, but did you say Wan Shi Tong? As in the mystic spirit?" She looks to him hopeful, face red from her coughing fit.  Asha only gets a nod, letting a smile break out onto her face. 

"You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" Toph asks, her feet perched on the table.  

"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge... is priceless." Professor Zei holds raises his palm as he talks. 

"Mm, sounds like good times." Toph sarcastically comments.

"Oh it is. According to legend, it was built by the great knowledge spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers." 

As the two siblings break out into an argument, Asha pulls Aang closer to herself. 

"Aang, this is the library with the scroll in it. If we want to go through with the ceremony we need the scroll." Asha whispers, her blue eyes looking to Aang's grey ones. 

"So, it's worth a shot to go?" He asks, the girl before him nodding. They look back to the conversation as Sokka looks to the professor. 

"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation? A map maybe? "  Sokka looks to the map on the table once more. 

"I wouldn't know, but if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's Library." The professor offers, rolling up the map. 

Sokka looks like he's thinking for a few seconds; his hand on his chin. 

"Then it's settled. Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation at the library!" Sokka yells out, his finger raising to the air. 

"Uh, hey? What about me? When do I get to pick?" Toph objects. 

"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time; besides Asha's not complaining." He gestures over to the girl. 

"Actually, I was planning on doing the same thing. Think of it as killing two birds with one stone." Asha shrugs, a smile playing on her features. 

___

"The library is buried!" Professor Zei shouts, falling to his hands and knees. "My life's ambition is now full of sand.  Well, time to start excavating."  The man smiles, revealing a small shovel.  He's stopped as Toph places her palm against the visible part of the library.

"Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact, and it's huge." She looks over to the others, not that she could see them. Grabbing Zulu, Asha steps over to Toph, looking up to the window above her. 

"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look." Sokka walks to where Asha is, looking to the same window. 

"I say you guys go ahead without me."  Toph crosses her arms. 

"You got something against libraries?" Raiko speaks up, for the first time in a while, Asha biting her lip to stifle a laugh. 

"I've held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me." Toph smirks, Raiko letting out a nervous chuckle, apologizing as the irony hits him. 

Turning towards her larger reptile, the smaller one squeaking in the saddle, Asha allows Gumi to connect their foreheads. She lets out a gentle hum at the contact, smiling as he separates with a pat to his cheek. Walking over to Zulu, Asha places a sash like peice of fabric around her shoulders, placing the small raptor in between the folds at her back. It holds Zulu in place and allows Asha to move freely; so overall a win-win. She also takes her staff, placing it beside Zulu, who uses her body to keep it in place.

"Stay here with Appa and Toph. Don't cause trouble." Asha whispers to her dragon, her hand on his cheek.  Separating, Asha walks back over to the window, a rope now hanging from the window. 

"Ladies first." Sokka mockingly bows to Asha, the girl rolling her eyes as she grips the rope; pushing her feet to the wall, almost walking up it.  As she approaches the ledge of the window, she jumps to the rope on the other side; sliding down it with ease.   

As she slides, her and Zulu both squawk in awe at the sheer size of it. 

"Oh, it's breath taking. The spirits spared no expense designing this place. Look at those beautiful buttresses!"  Professor Zei slides down in awe as well. Giggles and chuckles escaping from not only Sokka and Aang, but Asha and Raiko as well. 

"What's funny?" He looks down, then up again; eyeballing the kids. 

"Nothing. We just like architecture." Aang snorts out, struggling to hide another set of giggles.  

"As do I." The professor smiles. 

As they reach the bottom, Asha steps out of the way (being the first to reach the bottom), her eyes widening as she continues to gape.  

"My word!" The professor gapes as well, pushing his hat backwards. 

"Dude. It's a library."  Raiko deadpans, walking over to Katara, even if he himself stood agape at the sheer size of the place.

"So this is where we find our scroll?" Aang approaches Asha, Momo on his shoulder as Zulu squeaks.  

"Supposedly." Asha answers, her head quickly spinning around as the sound of feathers is heard. Asha holds in a squeak of her own as Aang pulls her behind a pillar; holding her close. Professor Zei hides beside them. 

"I know you're back there..." A deep voice calls out, Asha burrowing herself closer to Aang.  She watches as Zei smiles, walking to the bridge.

"Hello! I'm Professor Zei, head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."  Zei bows to the owl. 

"You should leave the way you came, unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."   Before Aang can stop her, Asha's already walking onto the bridge. 

"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" She asks, firm and solid, despite her shaking stance. 

"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10 000 things. And you are obviously humans, which by the are no longer permitted in my study." The owl almost seethes.  

"What do you have against humans?" Aang stands next to Asha, looking to the spirit. 

"Hmm, humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans, 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?" The spirit closes in on Sokka, startling the poor boy. 

"What? Oh, no, no, no destroying. We're not into that."  Sokka waves his hands, trying to lie. 

"Then why have you come here?" 

"Uh, knowledge, for, knowledge's sake." Sokka stutters. 

"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it." Wan Shi Tong grunts, sitting back up.  "I'm not lying! I'm here with the Avatar, and his Onsra. Their the bridge between our worlds, they'll vouch!" Sokka pulls Aang in front of him, in turn Aang grabs Asha.  Nudging the two in the back, Sokka stands behind them. 

"Ow. Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word." Aang spits out, nervously shifting his weight. 

"Wan Shi Tong, as you may of guessed, Aang and I are the Avatar and Onsra of this generation. We've come here to acquire the scroll to achieve our connection." Asha explains, much more convincing then either of the guys. 

"Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection, on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge. " The bird glares at them, Zei going first, kneeling with a book. 

Wan Shi Tong seems to accept everything they offer (Whether it a scroll, wanted posters, books from the Earth kingdom or  even a measly knot) and leaves them to their own devices.   They set off in search for different things, Asha finding herself alone in a whole section about the Avatar. 

"Still no scroll, huh? What about the Onsra, man." She huffs, Zulu looking up to her.  Asha's surprised as she hears a whine, immediately looking back to Zulu, who shakes her head. Asha then looks to her left, seeing one of the knowledge seeking foxes staring up at her with beady eyes.

"You wanna help little guy?" Asha asks with a certain humor, knowing fully well the creature couldn't understand her. She once again, is shocked as the creature nods before turning; the girl following.  This game of cat and mouse goes on for a while until they reach a large, gold door; bright blue arrows decorating the door.  The fox runs into a small hole, opening the door for the girl who once again gapes. 

"You just want this war to end, don't ya?" Asha giggles to herself as the fox starts wagging it's tail, tongue flopping out.

As she walks into the room, Asha is faced with a large pedestal, perched on top is a worn looking scroll. Taking a closer look, she's able to read the title: Incantation of Shougani. Smiling, Asha runs up to it.  Looking back to the fox, now face to face with the scroll, the creature nods it's head; watching as Asha rolls up the scroll, stuffing it into her satchel.  

Finally looking to her surroundings, she notices shelves upon shelves, all titles having to do with the Onsra. Plucking one from the shelf, The Onsra's entity; the story and myths of the legendary being, Asha plops into a meditative pose, the fox coming to lay next to her as Zulu squeaks.  Opening the cover, she looks to the table of contents. Deciding on a section dubbed the Avatar state Asha flips to the starter page, reading the words that decorate the page. 

'The Avatar State is known as this power that both Onsra and Avatar can enter, yet the most unknown fact about the power is that there are two types of Avatar State. One type, is loud and noticeable. Meant to be a visible threat. The other- which most Onsra happen to be- is a stealth state. It takes after an assassin like method of attack rather then the 'out in the open' type the Avatar uses. However, as useful as this type is, it has a major downfall. If the Avatar is hurt in any way, shape or form while both Onsra and Avatar are in this state, the state will become dangerous and lethal to the Onsra. What little control they have over the state will now be diminished, creating an entity that will taint and corrupt the Onsra's being. It will slowly drain all sanity from the Onsra; creating an empty shell. The only way for this to be broken is by allowing the Onsra to fight this battle on their own -in the spirit world. After this is done, many Onsra will have a large scar on the back of their neck; showing the take back of control over the Chakra.' 

"That's deep." Asha's eyes widen, flipping to another section; the fear sinking in. She continues flipping until she lands on another section that catches her eye.  

'The Air Nomad Onsra; the angels that walk the Earth.' 

Just as she's about to continue reading, the fox raises it's head, letting out a whine.  Asha soon understands why as the library begins shaking. Jumping to her feet, Asha grabs another random book on the ground and stuffs both the new one and the one she was reading into her side satchel.  As she runs out of the room, she watches as sand begins to fall in, filling the library as it sinks. Looking to the level below her, she can spot Aang and Raiko taking the lead, running from Wan Shi Tong, who looks not only taller but has horns sprouting out of his head.  The spirit turns his head to Asha, catching the girl off guard.  

He launches his head towards the girl, who dodges by jumping up, sliding down his neck. Finally, with a graceful flip, she's running right beside Aang and Raiko.  

"What did you guys do!?" Asha yells, turning to the now recovered spirit, who resumes the chase. 

"We found out how to defeat the fire lord!" Raiko is the one to answer, narrowly dodging as a peice of rock flies past them. 

As the group runs across a bridge as Zei falls behind them, pleading with the spirit.  Asha turns to help but Aang stops her.  

"Go find Katara and Sokka! I got this!"  He looks to her, the girl nodding as she runs off (Raiko following)  She does find them, just as Zei is thrown across the floor to them.  

The group watches as Aang uses a wave of air bending to knock the spirit to a lower level. 

"We've gotta get back to the surface." Raiko yells, watching as the bird tries regaining flight. 

"Really?!" Asha snaps at the water bender, Aang quickly dragging her away as he leads the rest of the gang down a hallway. Everyone, but Sokka following.  

"Sokka, let's go!" His sister skids to a stop, everyone else following.  

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

"Don't be stupid, we'll find out later!" Katara urges, their impending doom becoming far too real. 

"No we won't! If we leave this place we'll never get the information. Aang, Raiko, come with me to the planetarium, I need cover. " Sokka looks to the two boys, both nodding. 

"Wait-" Asha begins, Aang stopping her. 

"You stay with Katara and Momo. Get out of here. We'll be fine. I promise." He looks to the girl who gives him an unconvinced look before turning to Katara. 

"But-" Katara steps only to be cut off by a large crash, Wan Shi Tong reappearing. 

"Go you two!" Sokka yells before him and the other two run off. 

Huffing, Asha grabs Katara running; Zei following them. The two girls don't realize the professor cut in between two bookshelves; the two more concerned with escaping. 

Zulu squeaks, causing both girls to looks over, Wan Shi Tong swooping towards them with a screech. With an orb of air, Asha acts quickly, flipping her legs over to get momentum she hurls the orb toward the bird, disorienting him; causing him to crash.  Taking a quick turn, Asha and Katara hide behind a bookshelf; the spirit poking his head between the previous shelves. They don't realize Momo's tail sticking out, exposing their hiding place. 

"At least I'll have one specimen to add to my collection."  He sneers, lunging towards the girls; who let out a scream before running once again. Momo falling behind them, causing Katara to turn and scoop up Momo while Asha covers her with another air slice.

They eventually round a corner, spotting a familiar rope. They approach it before turning to face the spirit.  Opening her water flask, Katara bends a good portion to Asha who smiles gratefully; handing Zulu to Katara. 

"Your water bending won't do you much good here. I've studied Northern water style, southern water style, even foggy Swamp style." He sneers as Asha lets out a laugh. 

"That's good, because I've studied none of those." She smirks before jumping into the air with air bending. She gets sizable height before turning her body, creating two whip like streams from her arms. Shooting them towards the bird, she smirks again as he defends; just like she planned.  

As he defends he forgets about the falling girl who lands on his head. Using his back as a slide, Asha pulls back the water whips before forcing them to fly towards the birds feet.  Katara watches in amazement at Asha; noticing the girls arm glowing (the parts that peek out of her long sleeves.  Asha doesn't notice it as she yanks the water back once more, causing the bird to stumble.  With a final attack, the air bender takes a breath before staring at her target.  Pulling her arms backwards then launching them forward, she creates a jet stream that flies toward the bird; making a successful hit that no amount of defending could've counteracted.  

The boys round around them, looking to the defeated bird as Asha pants; still in her last attacking stance.  She returns the water to Katara, taking a knee shortly after. 

"That's called Asha style!" Sokka cheers, wrapping an arm around the smiling girl as he does. "Learn it!" 

He then helps the girl to her feet; Asha quickly remembering her dragon.  She dashes to the rope, using air bending once more to get higher, she takes out her own glider when she gets to a desirable height (Mindful of Zulu and Aang soaring behind her).  The two look down as the owl shakes the rope, dislodging it.  Asha has to lean back, catching the rope as she continues gliding with ease.  She can hear Zulu squeak and Sokka yelp, but pays no mind as they approach the window. 

As they exit, Asha drops the rope before her and Aang land gracefully; the girl quickly scanning for her dragon or Appa. She hears the slam of the tower, but doesn't look as she walks around a little, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of her head- screaming the inevitable at her.

"We got it! There's a solar eclipse coming. The Fire Nation's in trouble, now!" Sokka cheers again, both air benders now looking around them. 

"Where's Gumi?" Asha looks to Toph, tears already in her eyes at the facts before her.  The Earth bender sits on the ground, head in her hands as Asha walks closer.  As big as a creature as Gumi is, he was a gentle soul deep down, only using his fire when his rider was in danger. He didn't like hurting people, even if they deserved it.

"Toph?"  Asha's voice cracks, looking to Aang she realizes his eyes are watering too; the disappearance of their animals hitting them.   Finally looking back to Toph, Asha breaks finally. 

The sad shake of Toph's head cements the suspicions from earlier.  She hears a gasp from Aang but doesn't do anything about it as tears flow down her cheek freely. Asha collapses in the sand with an angry yell.  

The world just loved to take things away from her, doesn't it?