52: We have 'found' the Avatar!

"Do we not have to wait for that guy named Zhao?" asked Hakoda, looking at Shisui steadily. 

"No, didn't you see him meditating? And in such a deep state, why interrupt him?" Shisui asked back, shaking his shoulders.

"You don't seem to like him very much, as far as I can tell, you barely interact with him," Hakoda said with a strange smile on his face.

"What can I tell you? He's very rigid and kind of boring, you know, very 'follow my rules' and stuff, kind of annoying," Shisui said back, ignoring the double meaning in Hakoda's words. he wasn't willing to mentally fight with Hakoda, not now.

"Well, it looks like this happened at the right time, just as we were setting out to find the blissful Avatar," Hakoda said, looking around. 

He and several others were on sleds pulled by the Sealdogs, who guided them across the vast frozen wastes of the South Pole. Perhaps because of liability issues, only Hakoda and his son Sokka were beside Shisui, who was accompanied by Zuko. 

"Dad, do you trust this supposed sighting of a Flying Bison?" asked Sokka, with a hint of doubt in his voice. 

Of course, Sokka was faking it. How could he not know that this was a ploy by Aang and Shisui to draw people's attention to the blissful Avatar? By doing so, they brought that figure back into the public eye for the first time in nearly 100 years. 

Perhaps because he had learned a lot from his mother, a brilliant mind in conspiracy, Sokka was able to fake it quite well in front of his father, sure, he wouldn't dare to do it in front of his mother, she would notice it quite easily, but his father wasn't as skilled as his mother, so it was okay, right?

Besides, his question was something he really thought, sure, Sokka wasn't quite clear on the concept of seeing a Flying Bison, a creature that was supposed to be extinct, he just thought his dad had gotten too excited. 

"Boy, you don't get it, maybe only the Avatar would have a Flying Bison. Do you think I could ride it?" asked Hakoda, grinning like a child.

Who doesn't want to fly!? Although airships existed, they were exclusive vehicles of the Fire Nation; even if that nation was open-minded enough to sell some vehicles exclusively to certain nobles of the Earth Kingdom, they would never sell a vehicle with such a strategic payload. 

Therefore, Hakoda had a great desire to fly, like every human. Knowing that the Avatar could have a Flying Bison as a companion, how could he not want to fly on one?

"Oh... I want to, too!" said Sokka, showing the same excitement in his eyes. 

Even though he had already circled over Appa several times, Sokka would not mind flying over that large creature again, so his excitement was as genuine as his father's; on the other hand, Shisui and Zuko were not as excited about it. 

"I prefer airships," Zuko said, causing Hakoda to shake his head. 

"You're a prince! Your people won't look down on you using such a mechanical creation, but I doubt they'll let us," Hakoda pointed out to himself, pointing at his son as well, making Zuko feel a little embarrassed. 

"When there's peace, everyone will be able to fly," Zuko said, causing Hakoda to stare at him for a few seconds before tapping him on the shoulder as he smiled. 

"Boy, I hope you stay as idealistic as you are now and that the weight of responsibility doesn't crush you," Hakoda blessed Zuko, causing Zuko to nod. 

"Let's not get into such depressing topics. Let's just think of something simple so we don't get into conflict with the Avatar," Shisui said, trying to steer the conversation to something less annoying. 

"We know. Who knows if he's an old monster?" Hakoda said humorously. 

"He'd better be young; old people are very stubborn," Sokka said, pointing with his chin to another sled where Lao Ge was standing next to Toph and Petra. 

"Are you still upset about what he said to you?" asked Shisui with a mocking smile on his face. 

"What does that old man know about love?" Sokka complained, causing Shisui to burst out laughing. 

"When you heard he was Avatar Kyoshi's teacher, you asked how to get close to the female warriors she trained," Shisui pointed out as he laughed, even putting his arm around Sokka's neck. 

"Do you really like the leader of those female warriors? Truly a man of culture!" Shisui's words had no clear meaning in this world, but his strange sense of humor and his constant laughter made the others understand that his words had a strong humorous tone. 

"Tell me, did she defeat you? Those women are powerful, I've seen them from afar," Zuko said, causing Sokka to lower his gaze, and though he tried to break free of Shisui's arm, the wise man's strength was too great. 

"Son, losing is normal, you just have to show the girl your determination," Hakoda said as if he understood his son, giving him advice full of strong meaning.

"Don't tell me, were you defeated by Kya?" Shisui asked suddenly and looked at Hakoda with a strong interest in his eyes. 

"What, no! I am a strong and manly man, how could I be defeated by a woman?" asked Hakoda, puffing out his chest, but Sokka looked at his father with a strange smile on his face. 

"I'm going to tell Mom what you said." Sokka's words made the brown-skinned Hakoda turn excessively pale; even Shisui could imagine him as a ghost jumping out of Hakoda's head, fortunately, it was just his imagination. 

"Why so serious, Sokka? It's just a joke," Hakoda tried to explain, but Sokka just turned a deaf ear and ignored his father.

"But the girls from Kyoshi Island are quite strong; you need more training," Shisui said, becoming more serious at this point. 

Shisui had been interested in those girls while he was in the army, especially because he could see them working as security guards, leading refugees to safe places. 

It seemed that Kyoshi had taught them a lot, because the girls' chi control was quite good, and they possessed some martial arts techniques that even interested him. 

Although he never interacted with them, he and those girls had met several times, each party keeping a respectful distance. Shisui used his special vision to examine them and noticed that these women were unusually pure, not because they were 'virgins' or anything like that, but because their virtuous actions were reflected in the aura of each of them. 

This kind of result helped Shisui better understand the external influences on one's aura. It made him more attentive to this particular point, making sure that his aura and the auras of those around him were not tainted with anything negative. 

Even though Mai was an 'Assassin', she didn't have the cold and ruthless temperament that this profession usually brought. Even he could notice a certain 'darkness' in Lao Ge, although it was the normal darkness that every human possessed. 

"The girls of Kyoshi Island taste well... I mean, yes, they're strong," Hakoda coughed, but the strange look Sokka gave him indicated that maybe he shouldn't reminisce too much about his past adventures, because he might blurt out information that would make his wife angry. 

He didn't want to upset his wife! So he began to chat with the young men, trying to change the subject and make the quest trip more enjoyable. 

Just when the quest seemed to be dragging on for too long, a gust of wind caught everyone's attention and gradually slowed the sleds down because the Sealdogs didn't want to keep running. 

Not when a large, white-haired creature descended from the clouds and landed only a few feet above the ground. Then everyone could see a figure leap off the back of the creature, which was identified as an extinct Flying Bison. 

In front of the group of sleds, the figure of a man dressed in classic red and yellow Airbender monk robes slowly descended, the wind wrapping around his legs to slow his fall. 

His bald head, along with a blue arrow tattoo running the length of his body and the strange staff in his hand, revealed his origin: he was an Air Nomad. But how could they confirm that this was the Avatar, and not just another Airbender who might have survived the massacre? 

No one knew yet, but the mere appearance of a supposedly extinct Flying Bison and an equally extinct Airbender suggested much. Although he was younger than many expected, perhaps this man was the Avatar?

Lao Ge sensed that familiar spiritual energy in this young man, and the old man even sensed that he was standing in front of his former apprentice, Kyoshi, so he was the first to get off the sled and walk toward the Airbender who had touched the frozen ground. 

"Boy... I don't need any more confirmation, you feel just like Kyoshi," Lao Ge said with excitement in his eyes. 

Aang, recognizing Lao Ge as the mighty Earthbender who had fought Shisui, nodded. Then the worthy Avatar reached into his pocket and pulled out some pebbles. 

"Want to see a trick?" Seeing the people approaching, Aang put his hands together slightly, creating a small whirlwind inside them, then the pebbles began to rotate in an orderly fashion, simulating the orbit of the planets around the sun.

Then Aang smiled at the perplexed audience, who didn't understand why this guy was doing something so strange, but seeing the first Airbending demonstration in so many years, many looked at this strange trick with interest.

'By Tu and La...' Shisui slapped his face with his hand, watching as Aang took all the seriousness and solemnity out of the first meeting between the world and the Avatar. 

"Yes... Well, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation." Zuko, noticing the strange atmosphere that had settled in, stepped ahead of the others and drew everyone's attention to himself. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Aang, the Avatar," Aang replied easily, though he hadn't liked that identity before. With time and his learning in the spirit world, he had accepted that part of himself, so he was able to say those words naturally. 

"What can tell us that you are the Avatar? Where have you been all this time?" asked Hakoda curiously, because to him, being a simple Airbender did not make one the Avatar, unless the boy proved that he could bend another element, he would only take him as an Air Nomad. 

"Hmm... I'm not that good with Waterbending for now, I know very basic stuff, so let me demonstrate it to you in a more impressive way, how about it?" said Aang with a big smile on his face, but soon this expression disappeared from his face. 

A blue light appeared on his tattoos, which slowly and deliberately lit up. When the arrow on his head lit up, his eyes lit up as well, and his whole body rose under the effect of a strong wind. 

The wind caused the others to cover themselves because of the snow and ice that flew out due to Aang's actions. A strong spiritual pressure came out of his body, which spread not only in this place, but all over the South Pole, and gradually spread all over the world. 

The snow around Aang melted and floated around him, constantly spinning around him. In the Avatar state, his gaze focused on Lao Ge, and a strange smile appeared on his face. 

"Master," Aang's voice was mixed with a woman's voice, causing Lao Ge to nod. 

"Silly girl, I still miss you," Lao Ge said, feeling a little lighter from this interaction with the spirit of his former apprentice. 

"I guess this proves who I am, doesn't it?" This time, the voice that appeared next to Aang's was that of a man, full of exhaustion and with many vicissitudes in life. 

Though no one present except Lao Ge had interacted with this Avatar, everyone instinctively knew that the speaker was the last Avatar of the Water Tribe, Kuruk. 

"Besides, they seem to have grown up a lot, Zuko, Azula." This time, the voice coming from Aang's mouth was that of an old man, making both Zuko and Azula recognize him. 

It was the voice of their great-grandfather, Roku. 

Even though they already knew that Aang was the Avatar, what could be better than this? Hearing Roku's voice not only thrilled them but also gave the Fire Nation members accompanying them proof that the man before them was indeed the true Avatar. 

Seeing the young Airbender glow and manipulate two elements was proof enough, but for the avoidance of doubt, both Aang and the Avatars decided to put on this little show. 

Now all they have to do next is talk with the Avatar!