Aang was the first on the ground when they got to the ruins. He turned in a full circle, staring up and around at the impressive ancient structures that were by now just as much moss and ivy as they were stone. "I can't believe I've never been here before. It's right up Kuzon's alley, but…he never even mentioned this place."

"Most Fire Nation school curriculum tends to gloss over the Sun Warriors," Zuko explained as Alfred helped him down from Appa's saddle. "I only know about them because Uncle took charge of my education."

Alfred hummed thoughtfully. "Now that sounds like the classic 'there's-something-shady-and/or-important-here-that-we-want-to-hide-so-we'll-make-it-sound-boring' move. I catch my own government doing it now and then. 'S why I've got an inside man to record every meeting I can't attend. I'm pretty good at picking out the true patriots if I do say so, mysel-"

"Alfred?"

"-f. Yeah?"

"Be quiet. You're talking right next to my ear and it's giving me a headache."

Alfred's immediate expression was obstinate, but then he seemed to realize that he was, in fact, carrying Zuko, and that look subsided. "…Fine."

"And while you're agreeing with me, put me down."

"Nnnope," Alfred grinned, popping the 'p'. "Doctor's orders, buddy."

"'Help Zuko walk' does not, in any language, translate to: 'Carry Zuko everywhere'."

Aang started to drift away from the bantering firebenders, only to trip over a cord he hadn't seen and nearly faceplant into a bed of rusty spikes that'd raised from absolutely nowhere. He airbent himself to safety and spun around. "Guuuuys, this place is booby trapped!"

Zuko's expression turned grim, but Alfred only seemed mildly curious as he craned his neck past Zuko's shoulder to look at the tripwire. "Huh. They painted it the same color as the stone instead of putting suspicious plants around it. Now the real question is, where they being clever or stupid?"

"We were almost short one Avatar," Zuko pointed out. "I think clever. Either way, we should watch out for more traps."

"Heh. Ya don't say."

It was an unspoken agreement that they would head towards the giant ziggurat that dominated the ancient cityscape. As they walked up the wide, dangerous path, Alfred was repeatedly distracted by the carvings on the walls around them.

Zuko himself did not understand what was so fascinating about them. They were ornate to be sure, but time and weather had worn them into barely legible symbols and vague pictures. When he asked, Alfred shrugged.

"Just reminds me of some other places I've been…I'd even swear these were done by the same people, but…it couldn't be."

"You're here," Zuko pointed out. "Maybe they moved between our worlds at some point, too."

"Maybe but-all of them? At once?"

Zuko had no answer to that. He turned his attention ahead to see that Aang was already waiting for them at the base of the ziggurat. Practically vibrating in place with impatience since they'd fallen so far behind.

Alfred jogged to catch up, badly jarring Zuko's leg and making it begin to throb. But the pain wasn't as bad as it might've been before. And he'd be damned if he was going to complain and make Alfred think he needed to get carried for longer.

"If the Sun Warriors had anything important, it'd be up there," Aang supposed confidently, leading them up the steps. "Because it's…closer to the sun?"

For his own mental health, Zuko ignored the airbender and focused on trying to not fall off of Alfred, who had slung him over his back to climb the stairs. Was this Katara's silent revenge for everything he'd done? Supposedly she'd forgiven him, but…he wouldn't put it past her.

They reached the top and found a grand, sealed door ringed with symbols. Behind them was a spire, also covered in symbols, that was topped with an amber-red sunstone the size of a melon. Easily the largest he'd ever seen.

"Because Spirits forbid they make it easy for us," The prince grumbled. But at least he recognized it. Louder he said, "I've seen this mechanism before in the Fire Sages' temples. It only opens on the solstice."

Aang ran a hand down his face exasperatedly. "What is your guys' obsession with solstices?!"

"You're surprised that firebenders worship the big ball of fire hanging in the sky?" Alfred asked slowly, as if to let Aang know how he sounded.

Aang reddened a bit. "Well when you put it that way…"

"Alfred, put me down so I can do something."

"If I put you down you won't let me pick you up again."

"Hell no I won't. And if you don't put me down we'll be here all day."

Alfred's nose wrinkled with displeasure, but they both knew he could see reason when he wanted to. He put Zuko down.

'Solid land,' the prince rejoiced privately as he wasted no time in drawing his sword. He knelt down, favoring his good leg so that the noon sun's reflection bounced off of his sword. Just like how Azula used to purposefully blind him with her jewelry when they were kids, he directed the beam straight into the sunstone.

The doors opened with a hiss and a cloud of dust.

Apparently Zuko was the only one aware of how ominous this all was, because Aang headed right in, with Alfred not far behind. Zuko limped inside, only to be nearly bowled over by a very startled Aang.

"Geah!" Aang already had his hands up to defend, only to hear Alfred chuckling.

"Dude, they're just statues."

Aang dropped his hands. Zuko steadied himself with a stubbornly disguised wince and looked around.

The room was large, and the sunlight that leaked in from the door and the open grate in the ceiling allowed them to see the low wall that ringed them, topped with impressive stone statues set in various poses.

"This is really well done for hand tools," Alfred remarked, stepping closer to examine. "Or they had some earthbend-"

Scraaape.

Everyone stepped back, prepared for whatever trap they had just sprung. But nothing happened.

Aang sighed with relief. "Must be broken."

Zuko nodded. "Let's look around for clues or something…and also not die."

Agreed, they set to it.

The walls were barren of any carvings.

The inside of the door was a bust.

There was no scroll or tablet of secrets hidden behind the statues.

Thirty minutes later, a bored Aang stared up at the first statue. It glared down at him balefully. Daringly. The airbender mimicked its pose and-

Scraaape.

Another bad trap? Aang looked down at his foot, and the seemingly inactive tile, when a thought must've occurred to him. He stepped into the next statue's pose.

Scraaape.

"Guys, I think I've got it. Someone come dance with me."

"…Dance?" Zuko asked skeptically.

"Yeah, it's the statues!" Aang gestured towards the tiles. "We've gotta copy them and hit all the tiles."

"I thought we were avoiding tiles?" Alfred frowned, his head poking up from behind the statues in the back.

"Avoiding tiles hasn't gotten us anywhere," Zuko said. "I think Aang's onto something here."

At everyone's expectant look, Alfred blinked. "Wait, I have to dance on booby trap tiles?"

Zuko smirked. "Bum leg, remember? Can't strain it."

"Hey, I'm doing it too!" Aang jumped back into the first pose. "Now go to the other side and follow the statues."

With great reluctance, Alfred joined the dance. As they moved in near unision, tiles scraping the entire way, Zuko realized that this wasn't a dance at all. It was a firebending form-one that he'd never seen before.

The final tiles activated. Something beneath them rumbled, slid, and then a pedestal rose into the center of the room, right in front of Zuko. Upon it was…well he wasn't really sure. It looked like a gemstone, but was colored like gold.

"It's…" Zuko reached out and picked it up without really thinking. "It feels…almost alive."

Any other observations he might've made never came. A geyser erupted beneath him, sending him straight up to the ceiling. It left him stuck there, his face sticking up through the ceiling grate. Lucky him.

His leg felt like it was being stabbed with a blunt knife, but there was nothing he could do to alleviate the pain, since he couldn't move. "It's some kind of glue!"

The door shut faster than it had opened with a finalizing boom, sealing them in. Aang dove for his staff and leapt up onto the statue. "Alfred!"

The blond was nowhere in sight, and the room was already almost flooded to the ceiling. He tried to blow it away, but it was too thick. The goop just grabbed his staff, and swallowed it up in the blink of an eye. Aang leapt up to the grate, hoping to maybe pull it off. But all he succeeded in doing is getting stuck next to Zuko.

The goop was still rising, and now it was pressing against them. Just when the pressure was almost too much to bear, it stopped.

"Alfred was still down there!" Aang yelped. "What if…?"

Zuko didn't know how to answer.


"This is getting us nowhere," Haru growled under his breath.

Matthew heard. "We haven't checked everywhere, yet," he reminded.

"Duke would've heard us by now. He'd have come out and then I'd yell at him and then we'd all go back to camp and have lunch but we're not." Haru exhaled loudly, and shakily. "I don't like it, here."

"I rather guessed that," Matthew began to nod. He saw something bright in his peripheral, but it was gone the moment he turned his head. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"That-" Matthew cut himself off as he began moving towards the spot he'd seen the thing. Something-or someone's shadow was kneeling between two large statues at the end of the hall. "Duke?"

Nothing. The closer Matthew got, the hazier the shadow was. And now that he was within touching distance, it was gone.

It was strange, how the sound of Haru's approaching footsteps didn't actually match his stride.

The wind was sharp here-almost enough to make him shiver.

"Matthew-what did you see?"

The waterbender glanced around warily. Someone was with them, and it probably wasn't The Duke. "I don't know. But we should go back for help-" He had to stop, then, as he felt it. That one feeling that he always dreaded the most.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right…?" Haru watched his companion go stiff, and saw face lose all color. He reached out to put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"My brother," Matthew managed, once the feeling had passed. But the ache still left a cruel echo. He straightened. "Something happened. We need to go back."

They were headed back in a brisk pace when Haru tentatively asked, "So you have the bison whistle, right?"

"No, I think Aang has it. Why?"

Haru stopped walking, a new wave of panic visibly settling over him. "Y-you don't have the whistle."

Matthew stopped as well, eyebrows climbing up his forehead in confusion. "No…?"

"Matthew, Appa flew away. I saw him through a window heading towards the main pagoda."

Suddenly, Matthew understood. He had to resist the urge to curse, since Haru was distressed enough as it was. It was up to him to set the precedent, and panic was not an option. Even as, on top of everything else, his stomach spiraled as though he'd been dropped off a cliff. "We're trapped here."


Nightfall revealed two things to Aang and Zuko:

1: The Sun Warriors were still alive.

2: They were Not Happy to have been found.

"Um," Aang tried, addressing the stern faced contingent of painted men and women before them, "We lost a friend in that goop. But he's a…er…long story. That room drains, right?"

No one answered. If anything, their 'doom' expressions became even grimmer. The silence was taut with tension. The only sound was the distant animal noises of the jungle, and the perverse sound of the aardvark-sloths' tongues cleaning the goop off.

If Zuko had any say in the matter, this absolutely disgusting moment would never be mentioned. Ever.

"Zuko what do we do?" the airbender asked under his breath.

"Wait and see what their game is," Zuko answered, equally quiet. He figured they weren't going to kill them. His leg (which felt fractured again), had been splinted with sticks and wrapped in palm fronds. They would not have bothered with that unless they had something in mind. These people weren't being the most hospitable at the moment, but Zuko could've sworn the tension wasn't directed at himself or Aang, but more like they were…waiting for something.

Or someone, as he could see the feathers of an impressive phoenix-hawk headdress breaking through the small crowd. The man held himself, and his staff, with authority. "You are the thieves that broke into our sacred temple?"

"We're not thieves," Zuko protested immediately. "We were here looking for the ancient origins of firebending."

"Which is why we found you with the Sunstone removed from its pedestal, and you in the trap," one of the pierced warriors sneered. He looked to his chief, continuing as if they were no longer there. "Surely Our Mother will see the inevitable judgement. All of this ceremony for a simple execution?"

"Do not presume to know what Our Mother will advise," the chief chided severely. His expression was especially fierce beneath his red face paint.

"Please, listen to us!" Aang said, ignoring Zuko's elbow to the ribs trying to keep him quiet. "Now I don't know how else to say this but…I'm the Avatar."

Zuko groaned, putting his face in his hands. He wondered how long Aang had been using the 'I'm the Avatar' card. He also wondered how many times it had actually worked.

Some of the people were seen to raise eyebrows, or rock back slightly on their heels in disbelief. The chief's face might as well have been carved from stone. Zuko cleared his throat, intent on getting them out of this hole that Aang had so instantly dug for them both with some actual clarification. "I am Zuko, son of Ursa and Firelord Ozai. I am-…I was crowned prince of the Fire Nation.

"I know that Sozin, his court, the Fire Sages…maybe even my people as a whole, distorted firebending. Fueling it with anger and rage. But I know there is a better way. I never could have dreamed that your civilization was secretly alive. We are humbled to be in your presence." Zuko bowed his head, and thankfully Aang did the same. "Please, teach us."

If the chief's beard had been longer, he might've been stroking it thoughtfully. As it was, he tilted his head ever so slightly in consideration. After a long stretch he finally said, "If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, then you must learn from the masters Ran and Cha."

"Ran and Cha?" Aang echoed in askance.

"When you present yourselves to them, they will examine you," the chief continued. "Your hearts, your minds, your souls-and your ancestry." He cut a brief look to Zuko as he said this. "All will be clear to them. And they will judge whether you are worthy. But if you're not…well, let's just say we won't need to waste the manpower to execute you. Or clean up your remains."

'So it's do what we came here to do or be killed either way,' Zuko thought. Aloud he said, "We want to know what happened to our friend before we embark."

The chief glowered briefly before saying, almost begrudgingly. "Your friend's body has been taken to Our Mother's sun tower, above the city, per her request. If you survive, we will release it to you. After."

Aang looked ready to argue, but Zuko elbowed him again, only harder. Aang yelped and subsided. Spirits, this boy did not know when to shut up, did he?


Alfred gasped to life, lurching forward as whatever was still left in his lungs got forcefully ejected and splattered onto the ground. He coughed one more time, painfully, as he tried to remember where he was and how to breathe.

Then it all came back to him. The temple. Zuko picking up the glowing egg like a dumbass. Him drowning in greenish black goop as a result of this uncharacteristic dumbassery. Riiiiiight.

"When I get the chance," Alfred vowed to no one in particular, "I'm gonna make you watch every Indiana Jones movie. Even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Because you should know better."

He looked around. It was nighttime. He'd been out for at least for the rest of the day, then. He couldn't know for sure. He tried to stand up, but his legs were still kinda wobbly from him being…well, dead. That was the thing about death. Yeah it never really stuck around, but the moment a Nation's body was even barely functional, they came back. Even when things like fine motor skills or blood circulation or brain activity or bones hadn't caught up yet.

And so of course he barely missed falling off a ledge that he hadn't seen in the dark and very ungracefully landed flat on his ass again.

So he was in a tower of some kind. The kind without a railing.

"You look like your mother."

Alfred nearly jumped again at the entire other person sitting there that he'd apparently missed since waking up. An old woman in red with gold glinting from her piercings in the moonlight and-

Wait.

"My mother?" Alfred leaned back warily. "I think you have me confused for someone else."

"No I don't." The woman smiled. It looked sad. "Vinland was very far north of me. And existed only briefly. But once, we met."

"You know-wait-who are you?"

"I was known as Maya, once." The woman sighed wistfully. "And a grand people I was. But that name means nothing now. I suppose now my name to most outsiders in this world would be the Ancient Sun Warrior Civilization, or something else just as pretentious and worded. You'd have to ask my son-he probably knows."

"Your son," Alfred repeated slowly. "Would that be the Fire Nation?"

Maya smiled. She patted the ground before her. "Come closer. I'm old. Please don't make me raise my voice."

Alfred did so. He glanced out over the edge again. These ruins were much bigger than he thought they were. "And you're here by…what? That portal that everyone talks about?"

"I've heard of this portal," Maya said, "but I've never seen it. I simply…woke up here."

"You've been stuck here this whole time?" Alfred asked, appalled at the thought. "But-your people! You just-is that why they disappeared too? Left their cities? Because you were gone?"

"My people were already falling apart when I came here," Maya confessed. The pain in her voice was deep, and time had clearly not lessened her grief. "I was here, when I felt them leave. When I felt myself dissolving from our world." She looked out towards the temple. From here, they could see a cluster of lights, and the vague shapes of people. That was probably where Aang and Zuko were. "I was given a second chance here. I met dragons. Found fire. People rallied to me, and somehow I survived."

"So you're the Sun Warriors, now." Alfred frowned. "But did you ever figure out why you brought here?"

"Never," the elder Nation answered. "The spirits here are curiously involved in human affairs, but frustratingly vague on important matters. I could only…act. On what I felt was right. When a select group of humans needed a symbol, I was there. My ideal for civilization was there. And so we are here now."

"That's not an option for me," Alfred said. "My world-our world, is very different now. I can't just stay here and adopt stateless humans. I've gotta find that portal. You said you'd heard of it?"

The Sun Warriors simply shook her head. "I don't know where it is. I've never even looked for it."

The little lights in the distance were moving now, most separating and disappearing. The remaining cluster was moving towards another large ziggurat with a huge bonfire burning at the top. The sky was already beginning to lighten into another dawn.

"Your friends are about to go quest for the judgement of Ran and Cha," the Sun Warriors informed. "It will be quite the learning experience for them. I hope they will be successful. I'll show you a shortcut to the Masters' habitat, and you can all reunite when they're done."


The strange footsteps were happening more, now.

They would approach, and retreat. Approach, retreat. Occasionally, they would be alongside.

Haru felt they were being led, and said as much. Matthew had to agree. They were deep into the abandoned pagoda, now, which even being as small as it was compared to the other two, it was still very large.

"What do you know about the spirits and ghosts in this world?" Matthew asked.

"Not much," Haru admitted. "Some are naturally malicious, some are not. Either way all the old stories agree that the best course of action is to avoid them. And to not offend them because that's really easy to do and a really good way to get worse-than-dead."

They both heard it, then. A young woman's voice singing. Eerie and disjointed, it almost sounded like part of the wind.

It was coming from the chamber ahead of them.

Matthew took the lead through the narrow archway. This chamber was high, and well-lit with moonlight through the high windows despite it being so well hidden from the outside.

Despite the architecture, this air was oddly stagnant. There was a fog in here that smelled like something sooty and burned. At the center of the room, was a very large pile of ashes.

Matthew bent down to inspect, quickly recognizing the white and black bits mixed into in the mostly grey pile. He stood up quickly and said to Haru. "We should leave."

"Why?"

Matthew was already walking, ushering Haru towards the exit. "This is where they burned the bodies. This is not fog. We are breathing human ashes."

Haru somehow looked sicker than he already did. "Oma and Shu, preserve us."

They were almost out when that young voice from moments before asked, "You can stay, I don't mind."

Both young men turned around. Standing there, right at the foot of the pile, was a girl. Somewhere between adolescence and adulthood. It was hard to tell. She was sickly pale, and her hair was long, and black. Her robes were air nomad colors, and her eyes were just a shade paler grey than Aang's.

In fact, most of her seemed grey. Even the bright yellow and orange in her clothing was extremely faded. Her bright smile was greatly at odds with her surroundings. "I love company. Don't get much of it anymore, you know?"

"Um," Haru said, eloquently. "Are you a ghost?"

"Not yet," the girl said. She held up her thumb and forefinger in a pinching motion. "I'm thiiiiis close. But there's still one air nomad alive and kicking. And while the Temples are separate physically we are still technically one. Technically. Because there's still four of us but…well there's this council thing and…complicated political stuff…" She waved her hand dismissively. "All that matters is I still have time. As long as I don't let go."

"You're a Nation," Matthew realized. "Western Air Temple?"

"Yup!" She was suddenly really excited. "You know my name! You know me! Now you'll remember too and that's good."

"You're living off of Aang," Matthew realized. "But…that's one person. How are you manifesting?"

"This place," Western Air Temple explained simply. "A political technicality. These bones. It's barely a living, but it is one."

"Are your siblings alive? The other temples?"

"Mostly dead," she answered, her smile still in place. "Have been for years. South is still around. Because the Avatar is alive and he's from the Southern Temple. Even has a physical form all the time, the lucky bastard."

"You're weirdly cheerful," Haru said bluntly, "considering…all this."

"There's no point in moping when it doesn't change anything," Western Air Temple pointed out. "Besides, this is all about to change."

Matthew heard something in that that made him uneasy for some reason. But he couldn't back out of the room, yet. "How so?"

The ghostly Nation leaned forward in a conspiring manner. "There is a little boy in my temple. Young, orphaned, transient, and ripe for the picking. Practically stateless. So I took him. Now he'll stay here with me. I will teach him my ways and I will live a real life again."

"You've kidnapped The Duke," Haru realized. "But…he's got Pipsqueak. And besides, he can't live here! No food, no warmth, no civilization? Bones and ashes and holes everywhere?"

"I'll admit there will be a bit of an adjustment period," Western Air Temple sniffed. "Especially since he doesn't seem to want to stay here…yet. But I'll change his mind."

"Where is the child?" Matthew asked.

That permanent smile faltered. "You're trying to take him away from me."

"He can't stay here," Matthew said. "Even you must realize that if you think critically. It's going to take a lot more than one child to bring you back completely when you're already having trouble manifesting. Logistically, this is a difficult waste of time and effort. Not to mention cruel to the child."

Haru was getting angry at this back-and-forth. "Give. Him. Back."

"He will be happy here," Western Air Temple promised. "If I can smile here, so can he."

"You can smile here because you're going mad," Matthew stated flatly. "You're standing here, in the ashes of your own people, and you are smiling. That is madness. A human child cannot be raised by a Nation who's half ghost. Thinking otherwise is also madness."

The smile was gone, now. She sunk to her knees, staring out into the middle distance with unfocused eyes. "No…no, I'm not mad. I couldn't be. Mad people are unhappy."

Matthew closed the distance between them, knelt down to her level and asked very carefully, "How long has it been since you met another Nation?"

Western Air Temple was a while in answering. Faintly, she said, "A long time."

"You know what that can mean for a Nation," Matthew said.

"…I know."

The blond reached out tentatively, touching a hand to her frighteningly skinny shoulder. "I am sorry that this happened to you. But you know you're on borrowed time as it is. We are not made to represent bones."

She suddenly collapsed into him. "It all happened so suddenly. It hurt so much. I didn't want to die."

"Your people are waiting for you in the Spirit World," Matthew said quietly. "We promise not to forget you."

Her final smile was a real one. Sweet and grateful. "Thank you."

The Western Air Temple disintegrated in his arms, blending with the ashes of her people.

Haru took a heavy breath. "Wow, that…" he trailed off as Matthew stood up, taking off his glasses to rub at his eyes.

"She is at peace, now."

Footsteps again, echoing from behind them. "Hellooooo? Someoooooone? Any-gegh, Haru!" The Duke gasped when Haru rushed him and scooped him up.

"We were so worried about you!" Haru scolded. "Why did you wander away? How did you get over here?"

"I heard a girl singing," the Duke said. "But I never found her. Guess it was my imagination. Been calling out for an hour, though. Didn't you hear me?" Then he pointed vaguely at the exit. "We can just go back the way I came in. It's a weird little tunnel thing that runs through the cliff ceiling. You'll probably have to crawl 'cause you're so big. And also watch out-there's holes everywhere."


HI YES I'M ALIVE. And apparently I can only update at three in the morning. Do you know how long this chapter has been sitting on my desktop, barely more than an outline? A long ass time. Way too long and I'm so sorry.

Totally didn't intend to have two Avatar world Nations in one chapter, at least not yet, but that's totally what happened. This story just does things without my permission.

Thank you all so much for faving, following, reviewing! And continuing to do so despite the fact that my updates take waaaaaaaaay longer than they used to. Almost makes me miss high school if only for the sheer amount of free time. So Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Happy Regular Day in case I don't get another chapter out soon enough.

Later dudes. ^J^