Haru arrived over a densely forested region several miles away from the camp they were at. He sensed Jeong Jeong and the others there but not Chey. Poor man must've gotten left behind.
He jumped from Nimbus and landed with a thud behind the group of travelers.
Startled, they all got on the defensive but relaxed when they realized who it was.
"Haru," Jeong Jeong was surprised to see his pupil pop in unexpectedly.
"Master Jeong Jeong." Haru bowed the correct way." I left with the others but I'd like to know why you asked me to," he said.
"You are my best pupil, Son Haru. A true Firebending prodigy. But there are things I can not teach you. That is why I sent you to travel the world with the Avatar," Jeong Jeong told him.
Haru nodded in understanding. "But why didn't you let me fight with you?"
"A fish does not help another when under attack from a predator. It survives by fleeing," Jeong Jeong said.
Nice analogy. Haru thought sarcastically.
"We will set up camp for the night later down this path," Jeong Jeong said as they continued forward.
Haru nodded and continued with them.
The next day, they woke up early and continued to walk for several more miles before taking a ten minute break where they ate and rested.
Haru ate some fruit that had been given to him and closed his eyes as he extended his senses to find out where Zhao was.
Wow, he sure does give up easily. He's going the opposite direction, he thought.
"We leave now." Jeong Jeong said.
Haru walked over to the Firebending master to walk side by side. "Master Jeong Jeong, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to train me," he said.
"You are welcome," Jeong Jeong replied with a smile as Haru bowed.
"But, I'll travel this day with you before going back," Haru said.
And that's what he did, he left before sunset and he arrived with Nimbus next to Appa and the others. They were at some old ruined temple.
"Alright, Nimbus, I'll call you when I need you," He said as he jumped from the cloud and did a series of flips before landing with a TOCK next to Appa.
Attracted by the noise, Sokka, Katara, and Aang rushed to the side where he landed.
"You're back," Katara said.
"What, you didn't believe me?" he questioned.
"I did." She assured him." It was just hard to," she said.
"Well, Jeong Jeong and the others are safe and I'm here with you guys for good. I'm officially joining this team," he said.
"Good, we were just about to leave," Aang said with a forced smile.
"To the Northern Water Tribe?" Haru questioned.
"Yes," Sokka answered. "Let's go before it gets late," he suggested as they mounted the beast.
Aang hopped onto Appa's head. "Yip Yip," he said and the bison took to the air.
Two days later, Haru, Sokka, Katara and Aang were tired from flying for two days straight and Appa was slowly reaching ocean level from his tiredness.
Haru was on his back staring up at the sky with Katara prone to his left looking far out into the ocean and Sokka to his right in the back facing both of them from his seated position. Aang was on Appa's head steering the flying animal.
"I'm not one to complain," Sokka started. "But, can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka questioned.
"I have an idea;" Aang snapped. "Why don't we all get on your back and you take us to the North Pole?" he questioned, irritated, while pointing directly at the Water Tribe warrior.
Yeah, because he wants two males, his sister, and a bison on his back. Haru mentally said sarcastically. Then he sat up. Where did that come from?
"I'd love to," Sokka said sarcastically while bending over the saddle. "Hop on everyone; Sokka is ready for takeoff," he said sarcastically.
"Look," Katara started, trying to ease the tension. "We're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight." Katara said.
"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here," Sokka told them.
"Actually," Haru started. "There's a group of people coming our way," he said as Aang had to sharply maneuver Appa to avoid a spike of ice that stuck out of the water.
It would've been a kill blow if the Avatar wasn't ready. He tried to move Appa out of the way of another ice attack and nearly succeeded but it caught Appa on his middle right paw, causing the Bison to spin out of control.
Appa landed in the water but was rendered immobile when the water turned to ice and trapped him.
Haru and Sokka jumped to their feet. The former with his Power Pole in hand while the latter reached for his boomerang.
"Their Waterbenders," Katara pointed out when their attackers revealed himself. "We found the Northern Tribe," she smiled.
It was a misunderstanding and the warriors understood that when they saw three people wearing Water Tribe clothing and the Avatar.
So now they were being escorted to the tribe by the warriors.
The half-Saiyan was a little disappointed that they had to stay for who knows how long. But it was ok because he was dressed in the Water Tribe clothing Sokka gave him many months back.
Aang and Katara were excited about being able to find a master to teach them Waterbending.
Sokka was glad that they finally made it to the Northern Water Tribe.
"There it is," Aang said as the outer wall of the tribe came into view.
"The Northern Water Tribe," Katara sounded astonished.
"We're final here." Sokka said.
Haru just watched as they made their entrance into the city. The Waterbender's bending ability was amazing.
"I can't believe how many Waterbenders live up here," Katara said, looking around at all the men that bent the water easily.
"Yeah, we'll find a master to teach us no problem," Aang said as they entered the outer wall. There was another ahead of them that they had to pass to enter the city.
They entered it and Appa followed a little sail boat that was leading them to the heart of the city.
Along the way, a small canoe, traveling in the opposite direction as them.
Sokka, like the others, was gazing around the city when he noticed the canoe's passengers. A man paddling it while the most beautiful girl he had ever seen sat enjoying the scenery of the city.
He smiled lopsidedly as he hopped off the saddle and slid down the length of Appa's tail to get a better look at her retreating form.
Haru also noticed her and stared at her; but not to the extent or as long as Sokka did. She was pretty.
"This place is beautiful," Katara commented.
"Yeah, she is," Sokka said in a half trance, staring at the girl.
They were welcomed with open arms by the chief and invited to a feast to be held for them.
That's where they were now. The order of which they were sitting from right to left went: Haru, Sokka, Katara, Aang, the Chief and other important people.
"Today we celebrate the arrival of our brothers and sister of the Southern Water Tribe. And with them, they brought someone very special. Someone we believed disappeared from the world until now; the Avatar." He gestured to Aang.
There was a loud applause as Aang waved to the crowd. It went unnoticed by many that he thought Haru was a member of the Southern Water Tribe when he said. "brothers".
"We also celebrate my daughters sixteenth birthday; Princess Yue is now of marrying age," Chief Arnook announced as he stepped aside to allow the gathering to view his approaching daughter.
"Thank you, father." Yue nodded to him before turning to address the people." May the spirits watch over us during these troubled times."
"Now, master Paku and his students will perform," Arnook said.
Haru wasn't really interested in watching the display as he began eating; it wasn't fast and messy like he did back in his world because he didn't feel like he'd literally die if he didn't eat as fast as he could.
Sokka also began eating until he noticed the Princess coming over to sit… next to Haru!
However, Haru slid over so she could sit between them.
Sokka sighed in relief before stuffing pieces of meat in his mouth and swallowing them before turning on the charm and propping his left elbow on the table before turning to Yue." Hi there, Sokka; Southern Water Tribe," he told her.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Yue told him.
An awkward silence filled the air for a brief moment.
"I'm, Haru," the half-Saiyan greeted her before returning to his food.
"So," Sokka said in length." You're a Princess," he stated the obvious. "You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself," he told her.
"Ha!" Katara couldn't help but laugh. "Prince of what?" she asked.
"A lot of things," Sokka told her. "Do you mind; I'm trying to have a conversation here," he said.
"My apologies, Prince Sokka." She bowed mockingly.
"Haru, are you a bender?" Yue asked, slightly interested in the younger boy.
"I'm a Firebender," he answered, earning a gasp from the snow-haired girl.
"But don't worry, he's not like the others," Sokka assured her, drawing her attention.
"He's not with the Fire Nation?" Yue asked, astonished.
"Yeah, and since I'm going to be in town for a while, I was wondering if we could do an activity together?" he suggested nervously.
"An activity?" she chuckled.
Sokka's expression went blank as he gobbled down two more pieces of meat. He coughed a little because some of the food went down the air pipe.
"Yeah, real smooth," Katara mocked. He frowned at her.
"Well, this has been nice, I think I'll be going to sleep now," Haru said as he stood and started walking away, waving "goodbye" over his shoulder.
He went to their apartment where all his stuff was. He entered and went straight to his room.
He saw the technique book that Tien and Choutzu gave him before he left. It's a little odd that I got this gift before this all happened. As a matter of fact, it's odd that I got any of these gifts before this happened. Well, it was the first time I had a party since… I guess they were just expressing gratitude. He summed as he picked the book up and began to read the first pages.
They showed the basic stances for the Crane School that Tien used. He flipped the page and examined the more advanced stances. He flipped the page again and examined the techniques.
All of these techniques require control of your Ki to use. And I can't even form a weak Ki blast, he thought sadly as he flipped another page.
An over-exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he put the books down and set up his sleeping bag. He'd read the rest of it the next day. He was fast asleep.