The Dragon (Avatar the last airbender story)

Chapter 26: Crossed Paths

I yawned as I followed Rin towards the apartments that hopefully Zuko and Uncle Iroh were staying. We stood in front of an old lady who seemed to be in charge of the apartments. "Yes. Lee and Mushy they're stay in apartment 4. It's just up the stairs, I'm not sure if they're home right now though." The old Lady at the front counter told me. I thanked her before walking away with Rin. "Rin, I can't thank you enough. I owe you." He smiled before bowing. "I'll leave you to it, I have to get back to the palace anyways. If you need anything else though, you can always come to me." I hugged him tightly before running up the stairs. I finally stood in front of a door with the number 4 painted on it. For some reason I suddenly felt scared, afraid of what they would say. I took a deep breath before knocking on the door. I heard someone opening the door, I waited nervously as it opened to show my older brother. "Kaida!" My eyes watered as Zuko hugged me tightly. "Uncle! It's Kaida!" He shouted into the apartment and suddenly I was embraced by my uncle also. "I found you. I can't believe I actually found you both." I cried as I hugged them tightly. "Kaida. Kaida wake up. Kaida!"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes to see Mira staring at me. "It was dream?" I asked sadly as she stared at me. "I'm so sorry Kaida. I promise we'll find them." She reassured me as I cried before she left me alone in my room. 'It's been almost a month that we've been here and I still haven't found either of them.' I thought to myself as I stood and got dressed. "Mori and I are going to get some food at the market, do you want anything?" Mira asked as I walked out of the bedroom and into the main room. "No I'm okay, I think I'm gonna just go fly around of Mushu for a bit." I explained heading out the door. Mushu climbed down from his perch and stood beside me. "Was it another bad dream?" I nodded. "I don't know if I'll ever see them again Mushu. What if something happened to them and they're not here? What if they got captured or worse?" Mushu stayed silent as we walked to an abandoned ally. "I'm sure they're alright. Now come on, let's go before anyone sees." I looked around before climbing onto Mushu's back. "Are you sure this is the best place to-" I got cut off as he launched into the air. "Mushu! I've told you not to do that!" "Relax. Nobody even noticed." "You're gonna end up getting us caught one day." I mumbled as we flew above the city. "I still can't believe how big the city is. It kind of makes the fire nation capital feel small." I thought out loud. "I remember when this city was nothing but a small village. A lot has changed. I-" I looked at him as he stopped talking and stopped moving. "Mushu? What's wro-Mushu!" He took off in the direction of the outer circle. "Mushu!" He wasn't listening as he flew towards the wall. "Mushu! We're gonna crash into the wall! Mushu!!" I screamed as he went up the wall and over it. He stopped and hovered above what looks like a zoo. "Mushu? Where are we?" "Huh? What? It's the stupid whistle again! Where is it?!" He muttered as he looked around. I saw people started to notice us, "Mushu..." He landed as people started to crowd around us. "Look mom! It's a flying lizard!" Mushu went to speak, but decided against it. "Kaida?" I got off and looked behind me. "Aang?" He grinned before running over and hugging me. "You're okay! After that fight with Azula we thought you...I'm so happy to see you." He stated smiling at me before he looked at Mushu, "It's good to see you too Mushu. How did you guys end up here?" He asked, "Well after the fight I was pretty injured so Zuko and my uncle took me somewhere safe, but then my friends and I got separated from them. I had heard they might have been heading here, but I haven't found them yet. What are you doing here? Where are Katara and the others? Where's Appa?" I asked although he seemed sad when I mentioned Appa. "Aang? What happened?" I asked placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked at me, "Appa was taken." My eyes widened before I hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry Aang." He hugged me back, "It's okay. That's actually why we're here. The others I mean. Hey! Why don't you come with me? I'm heading back to where we're staying." He asked grabbing my hands after we parted. I blushed slightly, "Sure. But why don't we ride Mushu? It might be faster than walking. Besides I think the kids think he's one of the zoo animals." I stated as various kids were playing with Mushu who didn't look very amused. Aang laughed and nodded, "Alright Mushu. Time to go." I stated climbing on to his back before Aang airbended his way up. "Great now there's two of you." He mumbled before taking off into the sky. "So what happened since I last saw you? How did Appa get captured?" I asked as we flew. "We found an ancient library in the middle of the desert. It was under ground so Toph stayed with Appa above ground while Katara, Sonja, and I searched it. While we were there sandbenders attack and kidnapped Appa, Toph tried to save him but she couldn't." "I'm sorry Aang. This must be really hard for you. I don't know what I would do if something like that happened to Mushu." "It's okay. I know I'll find him, he's here somewhere. I can feel it." 'I know the feeling.' I thought to myself as I thought about Zuko and Uncle Iroh. I knew they were here, just not where they were exactly. "There!" He pointed to one of the buildings in the inner circle. Mushu landed and we both got off, "Do you think you can find somewhere safe to hide?" I asked and he nodded going off to hide so no more people would see him. "Kaida. There's something I need to tell you." I looked at Aang confused, "What's wrong?" He looked at me concerned, "It's about what we found at the library. I found....We found out about a solar eclipse that will take away firebenders bending. We're planning on telling the earth king so we can plan an invasion." I stopped and looked at him. "You're going to invade the Fire Nation?" He nodded. "I want to help." He looked surprised, "You do? But it's your home." "I know, but if we can end this war then I'm ready to help you no matter what. Besides who better to help you than the fire nation's very own banished princess." He smiled for a few minutes before frowning. "Kaida, there's something else you need to know. It's-it's about you...well about one of your past lives..." I looked at Aang confused. "What do you mean? Is it about Agni or Mulan?" "No it's about Naru. The Second Dragon." "Naru? The dragon after Agni? What about him? Mushu mentioned him once, but never again." "Kaida, there's a reason Mushu never mentioned Naru. He almost ended the avatar cycle and sent the world into an era of darkness."