Art drawn by me! And let me just say, Hair down Ayaan? 👀👌 I love how that came out. Tell me other styles I can do with his hair down!

Ayaan, Katara, Sokka, and Aang were led through mountain paths and forest trails before they could hear the sounds of commotion getting closer. The female warriors frequently nudged the captives in an attempt to either move them in the right direction or just make them walk faster. It was a very uncomfortable and silent trip. While the younger of the group complained, Ayaan remained silent.

Soon, they were tied to a post. And Sokka had gotten completely fed up. "Show yourselves, cowards!"

"Sokka." Ayaan said curtly. The younger boy ceased his antics hearing the slight anger in his voice, though he knew it was directed at the situation and not him. Soon, the blindfolds were taken off of their heads one by one.

The others had to get used to the light again, but as Ayaan already had his eyes closed, he didn't have that problem. He could hear gasps of surprise when his bag was taken off, but he paid it no mind. He opened his eyes, his face set in a scowl as he glared at the females who captured them.

Before them was a village full of people. And older man was at the forefront of these people, and before him were the five female warriors who attacked them. Now that he was getting a good look at them, he could see the armor, the fans, and the overall detailing of their collective look. One of them was holding his spear, he could see her inspecting it.

He did not like that a single bit. He did not like them a single bit.

Sokka, again, was the one to speak first.

"Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"No way a bunch of girls took us all down." Sokka replied, finding the very thought laughable.

"They did." Ayaan confirmed, making Sokka's eyes widen. The female warriors did not take kindly Sokka's sexist comment, and one of them, who Ayaan assumed was the leader, grabbed the boy by his collar.

"'A bunch of girls', huh? The Unagi's gonna eat well tonight." She threatened, but the moment she did she felt a chill go through the air. Turning to the source, she found a livid Ayaan glaring directly at her.

"Get your hands off of him." He growled. The female warrior took up the challenge in his eyes. She respected this boy a bit from his display against them earlier. He took them seriously, unlike his brother, and fought seriously, not holding any hits back.

She would know, her cheek was still throbbing from the hit of his spear's blunt edge. How had he been that nimble and quick despite his obvious build? If they didn't have leverage over him to make him surrender, she was sure that they would have had a difficult time with this one.

It was Katara that spoke up first, seeing her brother's glare and the warrior's scorn of Sokka because of his thoughtless words. "No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it. My brother is just an idiot sometimes." She pleaded apologetically. The female lets him go, but still looks upon Sokka with distain.

"Think before speaking." Ayaan told Sokka, earning a shaky nod from his brother. Neither of the siblings nor Aang wanted to disobey him at the moment, he looked ready to kill something. They had never seen him so angry before. Well, that is a lie, they had seen him upset before, but never in this sense.

This entire situation seemed to tick Ayaan off. And the siblings had a feeling that they knew why:

It was because they were in a situation where Ayaan could not guarantee their safety.

These warriors were very skilled, much more than those firebenders from back then. They were organized and properly trained, and would not hesitate to end them. While Ayaan could probably put up a fight, as he had, the same could not be said for the others. Their proper training had just started, and while they were better than before and were beginning to use better tactics, they were still novices in comparison.

He was worried for them. As the eldest it was his job to protect the younger, his charges, his siblings, his friends. But in this situation that seemed a bit impossible. He hated it with every fiber of his being.

So, yes, he was considerably upset at the moment. Upset and worried, but he would never let the enemy see that. So he glared them down, not once relaxing his expression.

"It's my fault." Aang speaks up, surprising the trio with his willingness to accept blame. "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Ayaan told Aang, the boy looking at him with the same amount of surprise. Ayaan didn't even look at him, keeping his glare level on the female warriors who seemed uneasy under his gaze.

The old man points at the four of them angrily, "How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!" He spat accusingly. But something in what the man had said lit a lightbulb in Aang's mind.

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"

'Kyoshi? Wasn't she one of the statues in the air temple sanctuary?' Ayaan thought to himself. He remembered seeing her statue in the room, and Aang had supplied him with the name when he asked. Almost immediately, he knew what the airbender was on to.

"Ha! How could you possibly know her?" The old man said, finding whatever joke the boy was trying to sell him not funny in the slightest. He gestures to the enormous statue they have of her. The colors have worn considerably, but one could still see the details and how well maintained it was. "Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."

Aang replies in a level and calm voice. "I know her because I'm the Avatar."

'That literally explains everything when it comes to Aang.' Ayaan thought with a nod.

The old man seemed shocked by the news, but Ayaan could see that little sliver of hope in his eyes. But it was quickly snuffed out like a lie, and he returned to being doubtful of their identity, probably even more so. The female warrior looks unconvinced of his words. If he had been in her shoes, he probably would be too.

Scratch that, he had been doubtful when the Fire Nation Prince called Aang the Avatar. Enough to look at the firebender like he was crazy.

"That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

"That's me!" Aang says sheepishly.

"Throw the impostor to the Unagi!" The old man yells. The Kyoshi Warriors moving in to do his bidding.

"Don't you dare touch him." Ayaan growled. He had been working on getting out of the ropes, and he was almost free. He was formulating a plan for the moment he got free, though the others were none the wiser.

"Aang... do some Airbending." Katara whispers nervously. Sokka was busy looking at the warriors menacingly approaching while Ayaan glaring even fiercer than before.

Once again a lightbulb was lit in his mind and he proceeded to bend before shooting off into the air, leaving an incredible dust cloud in his wake. The crowd erupts into shocked gasps as he reaches the top, cutting the ropes from his hands on the way, an gracefully lands atop the Kyoshi Statues head.

Seeing the reactions of the residents, Ayaan relaxed a bit. But then, he had a thought that made him frown again. His brows creased in confusion silently as he watched Aang float back down.

'Why didn't he just do that before? We could have long since escaped if he had. It would have been very simple for him to blow them away, literally.'

Within the astonished crowd three individuals seemed a bit different.

"Did you see that?!" A boy said, turning to a girl beside him. They looked very similar, most likely twins.

"Wow!" She responded to his question. "Airbender!" They exclaimed, looking at their third friend who wasn't even looking at the spectacle. It wasn't clear what their gender was, but it was clear that they looked similar to the boy and girl, so most likely they were triplets. The girl was the one to speak up, "Dude, did you not see what he just did?"

Ah, so it was a boy. Two boys and a girl. All the same height with similar features and clothes. The first boy had his brown hair tied up, some curls escaping. The girl wore a similar style, though she had small twin tails instead of one. The third sibling, the androgynous boy, had his hair down, a curly mess atop his head obscuring his face from view. They shared emerald eyes and cute freckles on their lightly colored skin.

"Yo," Their sibling said, not even bothering to look at Aang's spectacle, ""EYE-CANDY, fam. 12-o'clock sharp." he said, a noticeable red tint on their cheeks as they pointed stealthily at Ayaan.

"Oh, damn." The girl said. "Bro," She lightly tapped their elder brother, tearing him away from looking at Aang, "check your 12, we got a looker."

The boy looked, and his eyes shot up.

There was a reason people was gasping when Ayaan's hood was lifted. His silver-white hair glistened in the sunlight like snow, his gray-blue eyes fierce and guarded. The way his parka fit as if it was a bit too small for him made them wonder what kind of muscles be underneath, and he was tall. Really tall.

Wow.

"He be kinda fine though..." The boy nodded, his eyes liking what he was seeing. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked the girl and their sibling.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The girl asked them back, her brows lifting in a suggestive movement.

"I think we can all agree we are thinking the same thing." Their ambiguous triplet nodded to both as they got out their supplies.

"Our model." The ambiguous one says, taking out a brush and palette.

"Our muse." "The girl said, holding up a canvas.

"We have found him fellas." The boy ended, holding his hands up as if taking a picture of Ayaan and searing it into his mind and memory. Each of them grinning at each other, they disappear into the crowd. "Let's get to work!"

"Aye!" The younger two siblings said in unison, their voice matching each other.

Everyone's attention was on Aang despite the three strange ones and the occasional glance. His proof cleared all doubts of their identities and the Kyoshi warriors were told to free them immediately. Aang is busy showing off his airbending trick, skyrocketing his popularity with the locals, while the siblings were being released from their binds.

"Thank you." Katara said politely to the female warrior. "I'm Katara, and these are my older brothers, Sokka," Said boy grunted in response, his pride still wounded, "and Ayaan, our eldest."

'Why would you introduce me to people I obviously do not like, Katara?'

"..." Ayaan said absolutely nothing. His glare lessened as they were no longer enemies, but he still did not like these people at all.

They threatened his family, that isn't something you just brush aside. He understood their viewpoint, heck, his village was wary of Aang for a time too. That, however, did not mean he would suddenly be friendly with them.

Proceeding with his silence, the frown seeming like a permanent fixture on his face, he snatched his weapon back from the girl that was analyzing it with a sparkle in her eyes and went back to his siblings. He could see how the girl at first was dejected that he took the spear, but then looked at him, blushed, then looked away.

'That's strange.' He thought. But then realized he at the moment did not care and didn't bother with it.

Katara looked at the girl and then her brother, only shaking her head as she noticed how he paid it zero attention.

She gave her brothers a look. It seemed she was the only one of the siblings not on her guard anymore. Sokka was obviously not to be worried about since it was just his stupid pride that was hurt, but Ayaan was upset for a genuine reason. Having been around him her entire life, it didn't take her long to pinpoint why he was being so distant. But she wanted them to be friends with these potentially powerful allies, so she tried her best to smooth out the edges.

"Ayaan." Her face when she glanced at him seemed to plead for him to play nice with these women. "Please?" She gave him those eyes, and Ayaan contemplated letting his guard down just a bit for her, but then the female warrior spoke up.

"My name is Suki, it's nice to meet you." She said, no longer being hostile towards them.

"If I said the same, I would be lying, Suki." Was his immediate response to that greeting. He wasn't going to lie about how he was feeling at the moment. He did not trust them, at all.

They all sweat-dropped. Sokka snickered a little bit, his wounded pride finding some solace in his brother's cold response. It was petty to feel better that his brother was being cold, but it felt good all the same to him.

Ayaan, either not seeing it or not caring, most likely the latter, briefly looked towards Suki's swollen cheek. It was a bit puffy now, the redness and swelling showing through her makeup. He could clearly see her grimace, it must be throbbing now that everything has settled down.

The siblings and Suki knew exactly where he was looking. They wondered what he was going to say.

If they were expecting him to apologize, they would be sorely disappointed.

"You might want to put ice on that." He said curtly. They all sweat-dropped once again.

"Y-yeah. I will." Suki said, taking in that Ayaan wanted nothing to do with her. Like, at all. He probably hated her and her warrior sisters guts. He surely came off that way. And while the thought of one of the Avatar's party hating her stung, she could actually understand why he was so distant towards them.

They did ambush them, tie them up, used the hostage trick on Ayaan (she felt bad about that), threatened to feed them to the Unagi, and were actually going to do that had they not known they were with the Avatar.

So, yeah, she understood why at least one of them would not be very friendly with them.

"I promise he isn't always like this." Katara said nervously. Ayaan gave her a glance, but still said nothing. If she wanted to befriend them, he would not stop her. He would want for her to make friends, it was nice seeing her happy and talking with others closer to her age.

He, however, was not here to do that.

He left them to go after the elder and ask him necessary questions. A place to stay, supplies, information on routes and fire-navy activity in the area, basic things like this. The old man who lead the village, Oyaji, happily complied. He told Ayaan everything that he knew and offered whatever he could.

Their willingness to help them after that misunderstanding was cleared lessened his dislike of them. These people were not all that bad.

...

..

.

A fish sold by a fisherman travels from person to person, carrying along with it information that was only gossip to some, but crucial information to another. That fish passed, from that fisherman to a fishmonger, from the fishmonger to a servant, and that servant delivered it to a certain banished fire nation prince, freshly cooked.

"The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" Zuko's mind lit up at the piece of great news. Finally, after weeks of searching, they finally have a solid lead. One that he wouldn't let slip away like all of the others. "Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time."

'And maybe that water tribe warrior is with him? I'll get my rematch.'

The beloved tea man himself casually points to the delicious smoking fish in front of him. It was well seasoned and fresh, almost begging to be eaten. "Are you going to finish that?"

Zuko, seeing his uncle eyeing his food with hungry eyes, snatches it off the table before he could touch it. "I was going to save it for later!" He told Iroh aggressively.

Iroh watches him leave the room with the perfectly seasoned fish, and promptly sulks when he is beyond his view. He really wanted that fish, he knew it would be delicious. But now, he has to work. He gets up, sighs, and goes to prepare the rhinos and men to head to Kyoshi Island.

While he did that, he had a feeling that the Avatar being there wasn't the only reason his nephew was eager to leave. The servant also mentioned that he was told a strange young man was with them. One who was young but had white hair.

He saw the way Zuko's eyes widened and then set with determination at that piece of the info. After their failure to capture the Avatar the first time, Zuko had confided in him about his encounter with the warrior.

He himself saw him briefly. He was a handsome young lad who indeed had striking silver-white hair. There was also a burn scar which saddened the old man greatly. It reminded him of Zuko. No child should have to suffer such wounds. When he saw the young man glance at him warily, he gave him a warm smile.

'He truly was blessed by the Moon or Ocean Spirit.' He remember that slight look of confusion on his face before he flew away on that magical beast. 'An interesting young man.'

Iroh had encountered many in his life, but only a few had such a blessing. To be loved by spirits was rare to the point of it almost being unthinkable. To be blessed meant that the spirits had a role for you to play in this world, something that only that person could do.

It was the mark of someone with a destiny to fulfil.

'I wonder what yours is, young man.'

He sipped on his ginseng tea. Ah, it was just the way he liked it, piping hot.

...

..

.

They went from being criminals to being celebrities in the span of a day. They were given temporary housing, a buffet of food, and any supplies they asked for. The people came by to greet them courteously, and Ayaan no longer had any ill feelings towards them.

Not even The Kyoshi Warriors, though they made no effort to speak to him and he did the same. Though he would see one of them lingering around him, he made no effort to engage with her in any way. The one time he did look her way, she ran off with her face almost completely red.

'Strange.'

And then it was the triplets that seemed to follow him as well. They always had some sort of canvas in hand so he figured they were painters of some sort. What they were painting, he had no clue. But it seemed that the villagers around him seemed eager to view their works.

But he paid them no mind either, though they also disappeared from sight when he looked in their direction.

'Really strange.'

All he thought was that it was weird. If they wanted to say something to him, they could just say it. He would not bite. They were not enemies anymore, and while he would not actively seek them out, that didn't mean that he hated them.

Looking around, he spotted the Kyoshi girl again. She seemed to be mustering up the courage to talk to him, and when he looked her way, all of that courage vanished. She was a red tomato and ran away.

Ayaan simply raised an eyebrow before he went back to doing what he was doing, completely oblivious to what that reaction meant. He went to see what his family was up to. Mind you, Aang is included with he says anything about family and siblings because he is also one of them.

On his way there he saw the people cleaning up the statue of Kyoshi. They were repainting her and clearing all of the dirt away, making her look brand new. It was an amazing artwork in his opinion, Aang seemed to have been very pretty in his last life.

He got to where they were taking care of Appa. He was lying on his side in a lazy fashion while some villagers were grooming him and feeding him hay. Appa seemed to be in pure bliss when he finally spotted the silver haired boy coming his way. He growled in delight.

Ayaan ran his hands through Appa's now perfectly groom fluff. It was thick and warm, like a blanket to his hands as they glided through it seamlessly. "I am happy to see you too, Appa." Ayaan let himself smile just a bit at his large friend's obvious joy. It was then that he heard a few gasps, and the smile disappeared instantly.

'...I forgot they were there.'

He nodded towards them in acknowledgement before going into the house to see his family. The moment he was out of sight the two villagers let out a squeal of delight.

"Did you hear his voice?!"

"Did you see that smile?!"

"...You think I have a chance?"

"Oh? None whatsoever."

The other deflates.

"Neither do I so we in the same boat. Let us simply admire from afar."

"Yeah, let's do that."

They were taken out of them thoughts when Appa growled, telling them to get back to work grooming him to perfection.

Ayaan, not hearing any of that, got into the house only to be met with an odd atmosphere. Some of the villagers were serving them, putting plate full of desserts on the already full table.

Aang seemed to eye a certain tart with sparkling eyes. Egg Custard Tart. Seems like Aang liked that dessert quite a bit. It was obvious that he was extremely happy with this over treatment.

Momo was obviously happy seeing the food. He snuck piece after piece from the table as stealthily as he could, Ayaan shaking his head at the gluttonous lemur.

It was the other two in the room that made the atmosphere a bit odd.

Katara seemed uneasy and Sokka was moping in the corner while Aang was practically shining; the two very different energies clashed within the room, making it completely awkward.

'What did I walk in to?'

"These people sure know," He stuffs his face with the desserts, his voice becoming a muffled mess, "how to treat an Avatar!" From Aang's reaction the food was delicious, but Katara seemed unconvinced. She was being wary, more than she usually is.

Katara was someone who would run up to a glowing iceberg, be the first to ride a magical beast, and trust first before ever being suspicious. Ayaan could immediately tell that something else was bothering his little sister, not the food. But he wasn't able to pinpoint it from just this, as it was only his hunch that something else was going on.

"Mmm..." Aang, oblivious to Ayaan's calculating gaze, offers one of the desserts to her. "Katara, you've got to try these!"

Seeing Aang's enthusiasm, she puts the dessert she had in her hand down and takes the one he offered. "Well, maybe just a bite." She takes a bite, and immediately her face eases up. It was indeed good.

Momo, being the little food thief that he was, snatched the dessert Aang had in his hand and fled to the underside of the table to eat it. Aang laughs a bit, unbothered by the action and reaches for another dessert. Momo is seen taking more and more of different desserts, making himself an impressive stash of food.

He munches on it happily without a care, until his eyes met Ayaan's. Momo knew that look.

'Uh oh.' The lemur thought, pulling his food in closer.

"You will exercise to get rid of that excess food, Momo. Okay? It isn't healthy for you to eat too much." Ayaan said, making his presence known to the trio in the room.

The lemur shivered even if he didn't understand what the human was saying. That look screamed 'exercise', and he hated exercise with all of his lemur being.

"Hey Ayaan!" Aang said gleefully. He took a dessert and offered it. "Try these, it's really good!"

Ayaan eyed the dessert before taking it. "Okay..." He said, watching as the boy lit up at the acceptance. He eagerly waited for the older male to take a bite, and hesitantly, Ayaan did.

"It's sweet." He said after taking the bite. Ayaan's knowledge of sweets was very limited. He did not eat them often, if at all. Living in the South Pole, one did not simply have sweet pastries readily available. That thought made him think of home again.

'I'm sure the children would love this.' Ayaan thought, a warm feeling in his chest as he thought of the children smiling while eating something like this. At the thought of eating, his sights went to Sokka.

He wasn't eating.

"Why aren't you eating, Sokka?"

"Yeah! Come eat!" Aang added. But the boy just grumbled with his arms crossed, sitting alone in the corner of the room.

"Not hungry."

"That is nonsense." Ayaan said immediately.

"You're always hungry!" Aang supplied, looking to Ayaan and Katara to answer his confusion at Sokka's attitude.

Katara glanced at Aang and her brothers, amusement dancing in her eyes. "He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday."

"They snuck up on me!"

"Right. And then they kicked your butt." She teased further.

Ayaan wasn't exactly sure how that situation was in any way funny.

"They defeated all of us, Katara," Ayaan stated, not exactly finding the memory humorous. "You three were taken off guard while they used you as hostages to capture me. In a way, all of us got our 'Butt Kicked' as you called it."

"Sneak Attacks don't count!"

"I do believe you used to yell 'sneak attack' during our training, Sokka." Ayaan told him bluntly, causing the boy to blush in embarrassment.

"T-that didn't count, either!" He replies, getting up from the corner. He was back to being upset fairly quickly, mumbling to himself. "Tie me up with ropes, I'll show them a thing or two." He comes back to the table, and Momo hides his snacks from him. "I'm not scared of any girls."

He continues to grumble as he grabs snack after snack, putting one into his mouth almost immediately. Ayaan was sure that this was just his instinct and not him actually thinking about what he was doing. "Mmm... this is tasty." He mumbled to himself, eating and grumbling still.

Classic Sokka. Ayaan could only shake his head.

"What's he so angry about? It's great here!" Aang says, the excitement clear in his tone. "They're giving us the royal treatment! Ayaan even has a fan club forming!"

"A what now?" Ayaan was confused but the airbender did not seem to hear his question and continued on about how wonderful their time had been on the island so far.

"Hey, don't get too comfortable." Katara said, breaking him away from his thoughts. "It's risky for us to stay in one place for too long."

"She is correct. We must move on soon. We already have everything we need." Ayaan added. He'd taken care of that early, so they were ready to leave at any moment. He only stayed because Aang seemed to be so happy, and Katara seemed to like speaking with the Kyoshi Warriors every so often.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Aang dismisses, giving his pastry to Momo who was already grabbing for it.

That statement, for some reason, made his scar ache just a bit. It was like a weird sixth sense like when older people feel it in their knees when it was about to rain. That statement just made Ayaan feel older, and thought about how his hair matched the description.

"Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town? They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor!"

For some reason, this statement concerned Ayaan greatly as well.

"Well, it's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar." Katara said.

"You once hated that fact." Ayaan said, still trying to pinpoint why this situation concerned him.

"I just hope it doesn't all go to your head." Katara said, and Ayaan's eye's widened.

'I think it's too late for that.'

He'd figured it out. A child was being praised as the soon to be savior and treated like royalty just for being the Avatar. Aang was forgetting the responsibility that came with that title because he was being showered with the benefits.

"Come on, you know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk."

'Yes, a simple monk that loves having fun and showing off.' Ayaan thought. He remembered when he was home, how Aang was eager to show off his airbending to see the reactions of the children. How Aang said he had many friends before the war happened.

Aang was popular, he liked being popular. Yes, he was the Avatar, but this fact about him hadn't changed and it was being put in the forefront right now.

'I have a bad feeling about this.'