A/N; As the muggles say, truth will out!

Sorry, wrong fandom.

(also, on a slightly different note - there is a reference to my favorite video game franchise in here, see if you can spot it :3)

Azami P.o.V.

"Don't try and stop me! I have to do this!"

"I know you do. But I'm not letting you go out there alone."

Lightning flashed, and the sky darkened around them. The three screamed in fear as they fell from the sky, the ocean rising to meet them. She could feel the water around her, her supply of oxygen running out, a sea of darkness surrounding them.

"Why did you abandon us?" a tortured voice called out. "We needed you!"

Then, a flash of light-

Azami gasped as she felt a pressure on her chest, and sat up groaning. Her body still refused to heal back fully, so something jumping on her was not a pleasant way to wake up. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get a bearing on her surroundings, and it appeared Momo had woken up from where he fell asleep on Aang and jumped on the other three kids.

They all seemed just as tired and groggy as she felt, especially Sokka, who picked up both his boomerang and a knife and started swiping at the air. "What's going on?" he muttered sleepily. "Did we get captured again?"

"It's nothing," Aang muttered. "I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Sokka yawned as the two both curled back up.

Azami's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the airbender. So she wasn't the only one having nightmares? She'd definitely have to question Aang about that in the morning. For now though, she agreed with Sokka - the more sleep the better.

Katara seemed less satisfied with that. "Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

"I-I'm okay," he sighed.

"You and Azami both seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately," Katara continued as she stared at Aang. "You wanna tell me about it?"

Azami tensed, really not wanting to have this discussion right now. She'd been avoiding it for weeks at this point, but it had been a long time since she'd been able to have any decent rest. It was only a matter of time before one of them started asking why. Hopefully Aang would just brush it off.

"I think I just need some rest," Aang replied, and Azami sighed softly as she relaxed.

Apparently, no one was interested in getting any sleep, as Sokka suddenly sprung up with a burst of energy. "You guys wanna hear about my dream?"

"Go to sleep," Azami grumbled.

"That's okay," Sokka muttered dejectedly. "I didn't wanna talk about it anyway."

The camp went silent after that, and Azami slowly drifted back to sleep.

Before long the sun had risen on a new day, bringing perfectly clear skies and calm seas. It was something straight out of a painting. "Look at those clear skies, buddy!" Aang yelled excitedly. "Should be some smooth flying."

Azami glanced up at the sight of a flock of birds flying inland, and she felt a pit growing in her stomach. It's probably nothing, she reasoned, trying to calm her nerves. She just had a dream about a storm, no reason to assume one would actually show up, right?

Katara was gathering up their supplies, and she looked worriedly down at their last food bag, seeing as it was empty. "Well, we'd better smoothly fly ourselves to a market, 'cause we're out of food," she sighed.

"Guys, wait," Sokka said suddenly, and Azami glanced over at him as his face took on a paranoid look. "This was in my dream, we shouldn't go to the market."

"What happened in your dream?" she asked, a little concerned.

"Food eats people!" he cried. "Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things."

The lemur just chittered slightly, and Azami and Katara both deadpanned at him. "Remind me to never let you drink cactus juice," Azami muttered. If this was how he was normally, cactus juice would make him intolerable. "How do you even come up with this stuff?"

Sokka's face turned smug. "I guess I'm just special," he said proudly.

They set off on Appa, soon arriving at a market on the waterfront. After arguing with a crabby lady over an overripe watermelon and realizing they were out of money, they found themselves standing on a pier while Sokka rubbed his back from where the lady kicked him.

"Out of food and out of money," he moaned in defeat. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

Katara put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "You could get a job, smart guy." 

"We shouldn't go out there!" a raspy voice yelled from nearby. "Please! The fish can wait! There's going to be a terrible storm." Azami felt her body freeze up. It had to be a coincidence, right?

The four turned in surprise to see an elderly couple bickering. "Ah, you're crazy," the man groaned. "It's a nice day! No clouds, no wind, no nothing, so quit your nagging, woman."

"Maybe we should find some shelter," Aang muttered nervously, Katara and Sokka giving him a look of shock. 

"Are you kidding?" Sokka asked. "Shelter from what?"

"My joints say there's going to be a storm, a bad one!" the old woman yelled.

"Well, it's your joints against my brain," the man reasoned.

The old woman scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Well then, I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, 'cause I ain't coming."

"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get!" he snapped. "How do you like that?"

Sokka ran forward, waving his arm, and Azami felt her stomach drop. "I'll go!" he said cheerfully.

"You're hired," the man responded happily as he pointed at Sokka.

"Sokka, you really shouldn't," Azami protested. "Aang and the old woman are right, there's gonna be a storm."

"You're crazy, look how clear the sky is!" he defended. "Besides, Katara did say I should get a job, and he's paying double!"

The old man twisted to face him as he raised an eyebrow. "Double?" he growled. "Who told you that nonsense?"

Azami just held her head, trying not let her concern show through too much. Hopefully she was wrong and there really wouldn't be a storm, but she just had a gut feeling she wouldn't be so lucky.

Not even a half hour later, she was unfortunately proven right. She stood watching worriedly with Katara as Sokka helped load up the fishing boat while storm clouds were rolling in as far as the eye could see. "Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Aang said nervously as he glanced up at the storm above them. "Look at the sky."

"I said I was gonna do this job," Sokka insisted. "I can't back out just because of some bad weather

Fortunately, the old woman hadn't abandoned them. "The boy with the tattoos has some sense," she pleaded. "You should listen to them."

The old man froze, before standing up suddenly. "Boy with tattoos?" he gasped, spinning around to face Aang. "Airbender tattoos. Well, I'll be a hog monkey's uncle. You're the Avatar ain'tcha?"

Aang nervously smiled at him. "That's right," Katara said cheerfully."

"Well don't be so smiley about it," the man growled, and the three flinched back at his response. "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world." 

He jabbed his finger into Aang's chest, and Katara quickly stepped in. "Don't yell at him!" she snapped. "Aang would never turn his back on anyone!"

Azami shifted on her feet nervously. "Um, Katara..."

"Oh, he wouldn't, huh?" the man drawled. "Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering."

Katara threw herself between the two. "Aang is the bravest person I know!" she yelled at him. "He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him!"

Unbeknownst to her, Aang slowly started to move backwards, guilt written all over his features. Azami wanted to step in and help him, but she had a feeling he was about to leave them, and she needed to let it happen. "It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?" Katara demanded, before she turned to see the Airbender's expression. "Aang? What's wrong?"

Before she could do anything, Aang pulled out his glider and flew off, Azami lowering her head in defeat. Katara just looked up at him, her face sad and confused, while the old man jeered at him. "That's right, keep flying!" he yelled.

"You're a horrible old man!" Katara snapped at him.

"I speak the truth, and he knows it," the man growled. "She clearly knows it too, that's why you're the only one defending him." Katara glanced over at Azami, shock and hurt filling her eyes when she saw Azami's guilty expression.

Azami just shook her head softly before climbing up on Appa's back. Her expression hardening, Katara jumped up onto Appa's head, flicking his reins as she called out the familiar "yip yip".

The flight was silent for a few minutes as they looked for Aang, before Katara finally turned back to face Azami. "Why didn't you say anything back there?" she demanded. "Why did you just stand by and let Aang fly off?"

Azami only slightly glanced up at Katara, her expression somber. "It's not really my place to explain, but I'll say this," she whispered softly. "Katara, there's a reason we ended up in that iceberg, and it's probably not one you want to hear."

Katara's eyes widened, her features falling again as the rain started to pour down around them. The rest of their search was in silence, until they finally spotted a cave in a nearby cliffside. They landed, and raced in to find Aang sitting with his back to the entrance.

"I'm sorry for running away," he muttered, the two girls waiting at the entrance.

"It's okay," Katara insisted. "That fisherman was way out of line."

Aang's body remained stiff as he responded. "Actually, he wasn't."

Katara glanced over at Azami, her eyes wide. She only gave Katara a sad look in response. "What do you mean?" Katara whispered softly.

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered sadly.

Katara sat beside him, Azami still waiting near the entrance to give them some space. "This has to do with your dream, doesn't it," she sighed. "Talk to me."

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Aang confessed.

Azami jumped as she felt Appa enter the cave beside her, and she smiled as the both walked up to the young airbender. Appa nudged Aang's shoulder gently, and he smiled back up at the bison who was absolutely dripping from the rain. "I'll get a fire going," Azami smiled at them.

Pretty soon, they had a cozy fire burning, the three sitting around it as Appa laid down to rest. "I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar," he started.

Azami tuned out slightly as she had heard this from Aang before. She hadn't been there with him at the time, but she did remember how she found out.

She yawned, bored as she was forced to attend her studies. Azami barely got any free time anymore, her parents expecting her to learn as much as possible about the different nations, the proper etiquette for each one, and much more. It wasn't all bad, and there were times she enjoyed learning the stuff, but right now she was reading up on the trade between the Fire Nation and its colonies.

"Your highness?" a voice called out, and she instantly straightened her back and sat up.

"W-what?" she stuttered out, trying to conceal her yawn. "I-I'm awake."

A soft chuckle followed, and she looked over to the doorway to see a servant smiling as he bowed. "Message received from the Air Nomads for you, your highness," he explained as he held out a scroll for her.

Her face brightened instantly, knowing who it must be from. She got up excitedly, racing over to grab the scroll as quickly as possible. "Thank you," she smiled at the servant, who returned the gesture before exiting the room.

It had been over a month since she'd last heard from Aang, and it had really showed. Her life had grown incredibly dull in that time, so she eagerly pulled the scroll open. Her enthusiasm fell slightly, however, when she read the hastily scribbled message.

"Can you come here soon? Something I need to tell you in person,

Aang"

She frowned, unsure of what to make of the request. Usually they'd meet elsewhere, as it wasn't easy to just arrange a trip to the Southern Air temple. The distance alone was substantial, not to mention that the temple was fairly landlocked and unreachable without a bison, so one of the senior nomads would have to come escort her and several guards. She didn't need them, of course, not that she ever felt she had, but her father insisted.

After racing to beg her father for permission, he reluctantly agreed, and she wrote a reply back to him as soon as possible, explaining how she had an upcoming meeting with the Earth Queen planned and that she would leave a week early to go visit him. Her enthusiasm had returned - finally, she got to leave this bloody palace and go do something in the real world again! 

Katara's voice rang out, returning Azami to the present for a moment. "You were upset that you were the Avatar?" she asked, confused. "Why wouldn't you be excited about it?"

"Well, I didn't know how to feel about it," Aang admitted. "All I knew was that after I found out, everything began changing."

Azami remembered as her ship docked a few miles from the air temple, where she saw Monk Gyatso waiting for her. The storm that she had sailed through had been a bit rough, but nothing too serious, and she felt her whole body trembling in excitement. She'd only been to the Southern Air Temple a few times before, and she couldn't wait to see it again.

She raced ahead with her guards rushing to catch up, coming to a halt right before Gyatso, a massive grin on her face. He raised an eyebrow at her appearance, and coughed lightly into his hand. Realizing her mistake, she instantly put on her 'formal serious mode', and bowed to him. "My apologies, Monk Gyatso," she said in a flat tone. "Thank you for welcoming me on such short notice."

She rose, a playful look on her features as the two burst out laughing. She raced forward to give the old man a tight hug, which he gladly reciprocated. "Welcome back, your highness," he laughed.

The tone of their interactions remained lighthearted as they climbed up onto Gyatso's bison together. She'd insisted her guards stay behind this time, given that this was an informal visit, and after some time of objecting they finally agreed. Once airborne, however, Gyatso's mood darkened slightly, though Azami didn't notice as she eagerly sat at the front of his bison's saddle, watching the magnificent view.

Shortly before they landed, Gyatso finally spoke up. "I am glad that you are here," he said softly. Azami gave him a confused look, unsure of why he sounded so... sad? Unhappy, at least. "Aang's life has just gone through a drastic change, and he needs support. Can you do that for him?"

"Of course," she replied instantly. She was unsure of the situation, but she was sure she would help her friend through whatever this change was.

When they landed, Aang was nowhere in sight. They made their way to his room, where Azami saw him watching a group of young airbenders playing from his window. She was shocked at how down he looked - she had never known the airbender to be upset. Never once had she seen a downcast look on his face, he was always cheerful and optimistic about everything.

"Aang?" she called out to him, her concern leaking through into her voice. His head snapped up, and he looked over at her in relief before racing across the room to give her a hug. She hesitantly hugged him back, before questioningly looking up at Gyatso. "I'll leave you two alone," he said softly before walking off.

"Thank you for coming," Aang whispered as he continued to hold onto her.

She glanced down at him, feeling a pit growing in her stomach. "Aang... what's going on? What happened?"

He sighed, glancing down at his hands. "Azami... I'm the Avatar."

Aang P.o.V.

"Everything just... came spilling out," Aang explained. "I felt like I had lost all my friends, so when I told Azami... it was honestly just a massive relief. Despite being the Avatar, I still had at least one friend who would support me."

He and Katara both glanced over at the firebender, who seemed far too lost in her thoughts to be paying any attention to them. "It's nice to know you weren't alone," Katara said softly.

"Well, at that point, things started to look up again," Aang continued. "I felt like I might be able to get through this, I still had Gyatso and Azami. She had asked me to promise her not to do anything rash, and I agreed, but just when I was starting to feel better, something worse happened."

He continued his story to Katara as his memories continued to flow through. He needed to get this all out.

Aang had followed Gyatso to a secret meeting with the other monks, a gut feeling telling him that it was important. He found a spot where he could peek in and hear what they were saying, and he instantly froze when he heard his name.

"Aang needs to have freedom and fun," Gyatso demanded. "He needs to grow up as a normal boy."

The other monk standing beside him scoffed. "You cannot keep protecting him from his destiny."

The head monk sighed, before he too spoke up. "Gyatso, I know you mean well, but you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment."

"All I want is what is best for him," Gyatso insisted.

"But what we need is what's best for the world," the head monk replied. "You and Aang must be separated. The same goes for the Fire Nation princess as well. The Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training, and they are to no longer have any contact with each other."

Aang felt his heart shatter, and he raced off.

"That's awful, Aang," Katara gasped. "I don't know what to say."

She reached a hand out to comfort him, but he turned away from her, rage building in his chest. "How could they do that to me?" he yelled, and he felt the air moving around him. "They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!"

He nearly gave into his rage, the world darkening around him for a moment, before he heard a voice that called him back. "Whoa! Aang, calm down, you almost burned us!"

He calmed down, turning to see Azami had snapped out of her stupor to stop the hot cinders from hitting her or Katara. "I'm sorry I got so mad," he apologized.

"You have a right to be angry after the monks sent you away like that," Katara insisted as she crossed her arms.

Azami and Aang both sighed. "Well, that's not exactly what happened," he admitted. 

Aang looked down at the scroll in his hands. He still couldn't believe he was about to do this, but he had no other choice. He placed the scroll on his bed and headed straight for the window, throwing out his staff as it turned into his glider. Catching onto it, he flew over to where Appa and the other bison slept.

He sighed, lowering his gaze. "Come on, buddy, let's get out of here."

Appa walked over to him, giving him a quick lick on the face, and he jumped up onto the bison's head where he crashed into another person. He fell back down to the floor, rubbing his now throbbing temple.

"Going somewhere?" Azami's voice accused him.

He raised his head to look at her, seeing the disappointed look on her face. "I can't stay here if they're gonna take me away from Gyatso," he admitted to her. "I can't lose either of you. You're all I have left."

"Aang-"

"Don't try and stop me!" he suddenly yelled, tears streaking down his face. "I have to do this!"

"I know you do," her voice came back to him, filled with sadness. He glanced up at her in surprise, seeing the small smile she had on her face. "But I'm not letting you go out there alone."

Understanding what he meant, he immediately scrambled back up onto Appa's head, hugging her close to him as he cried. "Th-thank you," he stuttered out.

After comforting him for a few minutes, she moved back onto the saddle to let Aang take the reins. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her.

She smiled softly back at him. "Right now, you need me a lot more than anyone else," she replied, her voice firm. "I'll head back eventually, the others can wait."

The three headed out into the night, unaware of the storm building. Aang had no clue where to go, he just knew he had to get away. Soon after reaching open water, though, a massive storm had set in. The two kids and the bison all screamed in fear as lightning flashed around them and they fell into the sea. Darkness enveloped Aang, and the next thing he knew...

"...I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg," Aang finished.

Katara just gazed at him sadly, and Azami's expression was unreadable. "You ran away."

"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temples," Aang frowned as he looked up. Azami's face may have been unreadable, but he could tell exactly what she was thinking about as her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "My people needed me and I wasn't there to help," he continued bitterly.

"You don't know what would've-"

Aang couldn't stand to hear Katara defending him. "The world needed me and I wasn't there to help!" he insisted. "That fisherman was right, I did turn my back on the world."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Katara assured him. "Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed, you would have been killed along with the other airbenders."

"You don't know that," Aang muttered. Now he understood where Azami had been coming from at that burned forest - having laid everything out, it was obvious to him how she must have felt. He'd tried to assure her before that she couldn't have changed anything, but she was right - if they hadn't left, they both could've made a difference. 

If he hadn't left, maybe some airbenders would still be alive.

"I know it's meant to be this way," Katara continued. "The world needs you now. You give people hope."

He smiled back at her, thankful she was here with them. 

Katara P.o.V.

The waterbender smiled back at Aang, grateful he had opened up to her and that she had been able to comfort him. It had taken some effort, but she hoped she had gotten through to him that this wasn't his fault. Glancing over at the firebender beside her, Katara could tell that getting that same message through to her was going to be a little more challenging.

It seemed that was going to have to wait, however.

"Help! Oh please, help!" a voice cried from the entrance to the cave, and they all looked over to see the old woman from the market standing there. 

Katara raced over to pull her gently into the cave. "It's okay, you're safe," she tried to calm the woman, but it seemed her focus was elsewhere.

"But my husband isn't!" she wheezed.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, her eyes widening in fear. "Where's Sokka?"

"They still haven't returned!" the old woman cried. "They should have been back by now, and this storm is becoming a typhoon! They're caught out at sea!"

Aang suddenly stood. "I'm going to find them," he claimed, his voice firm.

"I'm going with you," Katara instantly offered.

"I'm staying here," the old woman snapped as she sat down next to the fire.

The two went to get on Appa, but Katara paused before she climbed on. "What about you, Azami?"

The firebender glanced up at her. "You mean you guys aren't going to stop me?" she questioned, sounding surprised. "I kind of assumed that I'd hear the same old 'you're too weak' or 'you need to stay and heal'."

Her tone was incredibly bitter, and it wasn't hard for Katara to figure out why. Ever since the Solstice, Azami had been dealing with one injury or the other, and she'd basically been coddled by the gaang as a result. Katara knew she'd be at the very least irritated or annoyed by now.

She sighed, before giving Azami a soft smile. "No, we aren't. If you want to come, you can."

"But-"

"Finally!" Azami exclaimed as she got up. Katara sent a slight glare over at Aang, who had tried to object, and his protests seemed to whither at the look she gave him. The three got up onto Appa as fast as they could, and they raced off into the storm.

Azami P.o.V.

The storm continued pounding away at them, feeling extremely reminiscent of the storm she and Aang had flown into a hundred years ago. Unlike earlier, however, Azami refused to let that faze her at all. Over fifteen minutes had passed now out in the open sea, and there was still no sign of the fishing boat. "Where are they?" Katara cried.

They all looked around desperately, before they all looked up in fear at a giant wave climbing above them. "Come on, Appa!" Aang yelled, flicking the reins as Appa groaned and climbed up as fast as possible. It looked like the wave was going to swallow them, but at the last second Aang leapt forward and blasted a hole in the wave, allowing them to pass through. Azami sighed in relief - she didn't want to spend another century at the bottom of the ocean.

Once they cleared the wave, the boat was finally in view off in the distance. They raced towards it, Azami barely noticing a large dark shadow in the water nearby. She paid it no mind, focusing only on rescuing Sokka and the fisherman.

Or mostly Sokka. She didn't care that much for the grouchy old man.

After what had felt like an agonizing wait, they finally got close enough for Aang to jump off of Appa and race to catch the mast of the boat as it fell. With a few quick slices of water, he cut the mast in half and it clattered to the deck on either side of Sokka and the fisherman, who were hugging each other. Aang tied a rope around the two, and quickly jumped back on Appa, yanking the rope and the two boys up with him.

They both landed awkwardly at the back of the saddle, grinning stupidly before a wave even larger than the last rose behind them. Everyone on Appa gasped in fear - there was no avoiding this wave. Appa tried to get them out of there, but Azami closed her eyes in defeat as she felt the ocean consume her once again.

She didn't bother to look around this time, even though she was still holding onto her last breath. She already knew what she would see, and her confidence in yet another miracle iceberg was very low. This time, she would just accept what came.

Fortunately, only a few seconds passed before she felt a rush of air and she collapsed onto Appa's saddle, gasping for breath. She looked up in surprise to see Aang once again in the Avatar state, once again surrounding them in an air bubble. The others were still spluttering and gasping for breath as she crawled up Appa's saddle to speak to Aang.

"Please don't freeze us in another iceberg," she begged, although she couldn't tell if he heard her or not. Thankfully, it seemed the Avatar State had the same idea, as they raced through the water and burst back to the surface.

Everyone glanced down in surprise at the sight of Zuko's ship below them, but it appeared he wasn't after them today. He just stood there watching them fly off, and they flew up the eye of the storm to safety.

Azami just sighed in relief, leaning her back against Appa's saddle. She watched as Katara and Sokka had what seemed to be an intense discussion at the back of the saddle, the old man just brooding in another corner. She smiled softly at the sight, knowing they would all be okay.

"Hey, Azami?" Aang asked nervously. She looked over in surprise to see him giving her a guilty look. "I'm sorry about... well, everything, really. I mean... I kinda took you from your family."

She gave him a grin, and gently rubbed the top of his head. He laughed, trying to shove her hand off. "Don't be," she insisted to him. "I chose to come with you, and even knowing what happened, I'd still make that same choice."

He gave her an appreciative look. "Also," she continued, "thank you for not freezing us in another iceberg." He just chuckled nervously in response, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

They soon arrived back at the cave, the old woman rushing to embrace the fisherman. After a... 'heartwarming' conversation between them, Aang and Sokka, Azami stood beside Katara as Aang approached them. "Katara, I think you were right before," he confessed. "I'm done dwelling on the past."

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

He glanced over at Azami, a knowing look on his face. "I can't make guesses about how things would've turned out if I hadn't run away," he continued. "I'm here now, and I'm going to make the most of it."

"I don't think you're going to have those nightmares anymore," Katara smiled at him. Azami was happy for the young Avatar, but she knew hers weren't over. Were it so easy, she thought wistfully.

"You know," the old man admitted as he walked over to them. "If you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar."

"Do you hear that?" Sokka's voice called over to them. Azami listened closely, and she perked up slightly at the sound of birds chirping. "It stopped raining."

They all walked out excitedly to see the sun peeking through the storm, and for the first time in a hundred years, Azami felt hopeful for what the future held in store.

A/N; Yay another long and pretty important chapter done. Like I said at the beginning, I was looking forward to reaching the parts where I can actually do interesting stuff, and it feels so nice to have reached that point. Probably would've gotten this done a day or two sooner, but I kinda ran through like a half dozen different versions of how the backstory on Aang and Azami was going to go, until I finally landed on this one. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it - hopefully you guys are as well.

Oh yeah btw did you spot the video game reference I mentioned? Free cookies for anyone who does :)

(please don't actually hold me to that I don't have any money ;-;)