Just Some Water Tribe Ingenuity
Disclaimer: "Avatar: the Last Airbender" is not mine. That is that.
Note: And here you are, everyone, the final chapter. Duly delivered on Valentine's Day. I hope you aren't bored with the smorgasbord of crazy events I detailed here. It took me a while to come up with some of them and I hope at least one of the pranks gives you reason to chuckle. Enjoy. Please read on after the end for all my excited thank you's and announcements.
--
Hakoda of the Water Tribe was a very puzzled man.
Just when everything seemed to go according to his plans, the tables were inadvertently and utterly turned on him and his cohorts. All their hard work seemed to have gone down the drain. Not only had things seemed to go back to normal, no, it was worse than that, much worse. Now circumstances were almost as if Zuko and Katara cared nothing for the other. The previous hostility had not been renewed but it was worse now. Now, it seemed like they were completely indifferent to one another.
Hakoda and the others watched these proceedings with increasing astonishment. The two benders in question treated each other with the necessary civilities and they no longer quarreled as often as they used to. There was nothing to indicate any particular attachment or partiality on either part. And the strange thing was, there was no more tension between the two. They acted as cool and indifferent to each other as mere mutual acquaintances.
There was no more indication of the emotional developments which they had worked so hard to bring about just several days before. And everyone else seemed at a loss to explain such preposterously puzzling circumstances. They merely looked at each other in collective astonishment and shrugged their shoulders in resignation.
It had started on the evening that Katara had arrived late from the woods. She had looked grave and pensive then but assured her worried family and friends that she was quite all right, just slightly tired. She also apologized for having worried them and nonchalantly mentioned that she had been so engrossed in admiring the beauties of nature that she had quite lost track of time. This was slightly out of character for Katara but the others also realized that every now and then, the master waterbender needed some down time.
A little later, an exhausted-looking Zuko arrived from another side of the woods, looking even graver than usual. Again, he too dismissed all the expressions of concern for the others. No one knew what to make of his strange behavior and of the small wound he seemed to have on his hand. The firebender was nonchalant about the injury, saying that it was but a scratch and it would not kill him, anyway.
Katara had not seem the least bit concerned about him and he about her. It was as if the flames Hakoda and the others had been fanning vigorously was suddenly and irrevocable extinguished. There was nothing now, nothing at all.
--
But certain things soon happened which distracted the former conspirators from their inexplicable quandary.
What also added to the growing air of confusion in the Western Air Temple was the series of crazy events that many of the denizens experienced during their stay there. Certain items were getting lost, people were becoming more forgetful, and there were other peculiar things going about which no one could find logical explanations to. (Of course, Sokka would have his "brilliant" theories but none of them seemed to make any real sense, as usual).
At one point, the younger members of the group (and even the older ones though they would never admit it) began to believe that the place was haunted. There were strange echoes in the darkness, things going "bump" at night, dancing shadows, swirling mist, and other seeming evidences of the paranormal.
Being the bridge between the living and Spirit World, Aang was commissioned to further investigate these odd occurrences but try as he might, he could not divine the reason for the spooky things happening in the temple. The best advice the young airbender could give was to simply remain calm and keep the faith.
And yet, the curious incidents persisted. The people in the temple began to look at one another suspiciously and then, they speculated further and wondered if Azula or some other Fire Nation people had finally found them out and were silently, secretly, cruelly torturing them somehow. But they all scanned the perimeter very meticulously and saw no sign of their enemies.
But some of these crazy incidents were more comical than frightening. They were funny, at least if they didn't happen to you. Otherwise, it was simply tragic and very, very frustrating.
"Are the spirits into practical jokes?" Sokka once complained to Aang after going through a weird steam fog as he explored a part of the woods in search of more meat. Appa, in an attempt to be kind, had flapped his tail, to airbend and dry Sokka off. The resulting crazy blown away hairdo that the Water Tribe boy then sported only made him feel more embarrassed and miserable.
The Avatar tried his best to suppress his laughter at the sight of Sokka who looked like a Swamp Bender. The others were not so kind and Sokka was far from pleased.
Later on, Haru found that all the earth he tried bending turned into mud. Try as he might, the element kept inadvertently getting moist, soft, and not really fit for a battle, unless it was to dirty one's enemy exceedingly.
Toph simply laughed at him but also found that the earth was not as hard and dry as it used to be. And the Blind Bandit hated not being in control.
Sometimes, these mysterious pranks would happen to many people simultaneously that when they met each other in the hallway, each person looking messier and more in disarray that the next, they no longer laughed at each other's expense. They merely sighed in strange resignation to their curious fates.
No one was spared as the puzzling pranks (which became more and more ridiculous as they went on) continued, leaving chaos in their wakes. One way or another, the Western Air Temple was losing the aura of peace and serenity. The current inhabitants were far too agitated to maintain such a detached atmosphere.
And as Aang would sometimes step back to take a look at the madness around him, he wondered with a slight sense of dejection how he would restore balance to such a wacky world.
"Why does everything have to go wrong just when we're approaching our mos important fight?" Sokka bewailed loudly once, raising his hands to the heavens in vehement protest.
And of course, Sokka's luck being what it is, it began to rain. And he was in full armor.
"Yes," he said saracastically, "the Universe so loves me."
--
"Can't you do something about this humidity, Katara?" Sokka complained to his already annoyed older sister.
"Give me a break, Sokka," Katara retorted, "I'm a waterbender, not a weather-bender. And since when has a little change in temperature made you this jumpy."
"Since the humidity only affects me!" Sokka cried in outrage, stomping away, sticky with sweat, and fuming.
Sometimes the effects of these weird pranks were not physically felt, but nevertheless, still caused much anxiety on all those directly affected.
There were scenes similar to the following:
"Why are you wearing my clothes?" Suki asked, raising her eyebrow skeptically as she looked at the embarrassed figures of Haru and the Duke.
"Sorry, someone stole ours," was all the younger boy could answer. Haru was too ashamed to speak. Suffice to say the Kyoshi Warrior's wardrobe did not suit him.
Several similar instances occurred in which one person thought he or she heard another one tell him to do something, which did not really happen.
"But I am absolutely certain I heard you ask me to put chili powder in your soup!" Teo insisted.
"Did dou dee me day dat?" Sokka managed to protest as he washed his red tongue down.
"No, but," the younger boy tried to argue, however, he was abruptly cut off.
"Den, DOH!" the enraged Water Tribe warrior yelled while the others tried their best to suppress their smiles and giggles. And yet, despite his comic embarrassment, the others still felt both shame and fear. Everyone of them had this nagging feeling that the universe was going to get to them too.
There was another time when Suki found too found herself lost in a strange fog. And as she tried to cut through it with some of her bladed weapons, she realized exactly how thick the fog was.
While such strange conditions were ideal for hiding from the enemies, the fog was also annoyingly inconvenient. As the Kyoshi Warrior slashed her way through, she bumped into Teo on his wheelchair.
The son of the Mechanist was relieved to see her and said that he had been wandering around the fog in the temple for quite some time now.
"I've tried to isolate the source of this mysterious mist," Teo told Suki as they somehow made their way back to the main living quarters of the temple, "and it seems that it isn't exactly a naturally occurring atmospheric condition, not now, at least."
"You mean it's man-made?" Suki asked with interest at the development of the theories about the suspicious events. As much as she was fond of Sokka, she did not always agree with his fantastical and sometimes highly superstitious explanations for all that was going on.
"I think so," the young boy replied, "the appearance of the weather just doesn't seem to jive with the other general atmospheric conditions. It's the heart of summer and we never had fog this thick even up in the Northern Air Temple in autumn. This is definitely someone's doing."
"But maybe the coming of Sozin's comet has upset the natural balance somehow," Suki suggested, although she was not fully convinced of her own argument.
"That's possible," Teo conceded, "but I doubt that these are the real manifestations."
They continued discussing the matter amongst themselves and as soon as they reached the others, they shared their observations. Most agreed that the weird mist was probably man-made.
Katara however declared that she did not know how such a thing could be managed with waterbending. They speculated that only an airbender could affect such change and they all felt pretty certain that Aang was not behind any of this.
"What if the spirits of your ancestors still haunt these halls?" Sokka asked the Avatar with wide-eyed unease.
"I doubt it, Sokka," the Avatar replied, "I haven't sense their presence here at all. Besides, such things as those happening lately are too petty and trivial to be the act of the respected Air Nomads."
"In short, you'd better stop being afraid of ghosts, Sokka," Toph explained wryly.
"Hey," Sokka protested, "I was merely showing concern and respect for the revered departed."
"Suuuuuure," the blind earthbender replied sarcastically as Sokka pouted in response.
--
By far the most ridiculous event that happened was when the floor of the temple acquired an intense heat. It became such that one seemed to be walking on burning coals, and all those who sensed the drastic change in temperature traveled around the temple as if they were dancing very fast, their feet only quickly touching the ground only for them to jump at the sensation of heat.
Of the group, Teo and the element benders were the least affected. The Mechanist's son, at least, was not walking on the ground and though he felt a slight heating, his feet had no contact with the red-hot stones of the temple.
The earthbenders, naturally, soon overcame the problem by bending cool mounds of earth on which they could step with ease and convenience.
Katara was able to help by cooling the ground with her waterbending. And Aang, naturally, only had to create an air ball under him and he no longer needed to tread upon the strangely hot ground.
And as for Zuko and Chit Sang, they were unaffected by the heat and they could bear to stand on the heated ground without so much as flinching. Their nonchalance sometimes frustrated the non-benders.
"How can you stand this heat?" Sokka complained to the two Fire Nation boys once, while the Water Tribe Warrior kept lifting his feet quickly and awkwardly.
Zuko and Chit Sang looked at one another and shrugged.
"We're used to it," they replied.
"But can't you do anything about it?" Suki asked.
"We've tried," Chit Sang replied, "but I never learned any firebending techniques for regulating temperature. Sorry."
Zuko merely nodded in silent agreement.
While jumping up and down (as if in a frenzied dance), Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda glared at the benders who merely shrugged at their predicament. The benders were all being helpful, of course, but this only increased the embarrassment the non-benders felt about their helplessness. For a time, footwear had to be reinforced – a lot.
But fortunately for all of them, the weird heating of the floors soon ceased and all went back to normal.
Even better, the peculiar situations seemed to have stopped altogether and once again, the inhabitants of the Western Air Temple could focus on training and preparing for the arrival of Sozin's Comet. After a while, all these mysteries and their reasons were set aside.
Little did they know, that the instigators of the odd occurrences still had one final trick up their sleeves.
--
The call came during the dead of the night when everyone was sound asleep. The past few days had been serene and uneventful, much to everyone's relief and things were working out quite well.
But they were growing anxious however, since the day of the comet was truly fast approaching. It was curious that up until that time Ozai or Azula had not yet sent any troops to attack them when clearly the Western Air Temple would be one of the places suspected as their hiding place.
They had discussed things amongst themselves and some had hypothesized that perhaps the Fire Lord did not consider the Avatar's being at large as any significant threat to him. All the better if he underestimated Aang.
But they could never be too complacent. They decided to set up watch in shifts during the night, just to be extra careful.
And it was during Zuko's shift that the call came.
The firebender began approaching all the slumbering people in the temple, warning them not to make too much noise as they woke up. But when they saw the grave expression on his face, they immediately were on the alert.
"They're coming," was all he whispered to every one he roused, "move as silently as you can."
So they did, and in a matter of minutes, everyone was in full gear for a battle, and they gathered around Hakoda and Sokka to wait for instructions.
"What exactly are we to expect, Zuko?" Hakoda asked the young firebender.
"Azula's going to try a surprise attack," the Fire Prince replied, "to ambush us in our sleep. I could hear rustling in the surroundings and I could smell the sulphur from some weapons. They're in hiding now, but hopefully they don't know that we know."
"And let's keep it that way," Hakoda commented, "we'll use the element of surprise on them."
"Where do you think we should position ourselves?" Katara asked with concern.
"In the shadows," Sokka answered after some thought, "we'll use our knowledge of the architecture of the Western Air Temple to our advantage."
"Let's allow them to make the first move," Aang then suggested, "they won't be expecting any retaliation anyway."
"Do you think we'll have very long to wait?" Suki asked, as she prepared her weapons.
Zuko shook his head.
"I don't know," he replied with some regret, "what can be so scary about Azula is that she can be so unpredictable in battle, so cunning and wily. Our best course is would be to simply be ready for whatever comes."
"This is bound to be a relatively minor attack," Katara added, "because Azula thinks she's taking us by surprise. And she hopes to destroy us before Aang has a chance to face the Fire Lord."
"But we won't let that happen, will we?" Sokka asked them. They all nodded at him.
"Well then, let's go to our positions, and everyone, get ready for whatever comes," Hakoda told the group, after which they split up and found strategic positions behind pillars, statues, or near sources of their element.
Each fighter had his or her eyes narrowed and weapons at the ready. Teo and the Duke were in another part of the temple, ready to operate some weapon machines that they had invented for long-range fighting.
The surroundings of the Western Air Temple was still in the darkness, no other sound aside from the rustling of leaves to a light, chilly breeze and the occasional chirping of crickets. The only faint source of light was from the moon which was even obscured slightly by thick clouds.
The Avatar and his allies were as alert as they could be, the adrenalin of anticipation banishing any sleepiness or exhaustion. They only cared about defending themselves properly against whatever came for them that night.
--
After about two hours of lying in wait, their limbs were getting stiff and their eyes began to droop. The younger ones were struggling to keep awake and alert while the others began to do all sorts of things to distract themselves from the sleep which threatened to take over them.
And yet there had been no sign of their enemies. All was still. In a few hours, the sun would rise and they would have been on their guard for almost an entire night.
Sokka groaned.
"This was just like the time when Azula and those two other girls were chasing us," the Water Tribe Warrior complained.
"Shh, Sokka," Toph warned him, "your whining isn't helping."
"We've been resting a lot for the past few days, anyway," Aang reasoned calmly, "unlike that time. We can take them, don't worry."
"Yeah," Toph agreed with a smirk, "after all, now we're not only stronger, but this time, it's more than just three-on-three plus Sokka!"
Sokka bristled at this statement and glared resentfully at the grinning earthbender. He raised his sword, the one forged from space earth, and tried to show how much he had improved as a fighter. Chit Sang, from where he hid, snickered softly while Hakoda shook his head in amusement.
"Guys, let's try and be more serious," Haru suggested, getting slightly nervous.
"I agree," Suki added, "we're here to fight Azula and her cronies, not to fight amongst ourselves."
Toph raised her hands with an innocent smile. The short banter had temporarily woken everyone up and they were thankful for it.
But once again, they turned their attention back to the outside.
Hours passed, but nothing happened. And in spite of all their efforts to keep awake, sleep was bearing down on them.
One by one, the Avatar and his friends began to succumb to their exhaustion and drowsiness. Hard as they tried to stay awake, they did not succeed and the continuing silence and stillness of their surroundings seemed to convince them that there was no real danger.
Their situation wasn't helped by the natural noises of the night, the symphony of crickets and cicadas which seemed to be playing a lullaby to all of them.
"Maybe Zuko was just being paranoid," Sokka muttered to himself with a yawn.
"That guy has to relax sometimes," Haru agreed, yawning as well, and stretching his arms.
Yawning being a contagious action, soon everyone was doing it, while stretching their arms and sighing deeply. The air was so cool and soothing. Even the hard, stone floors of the Western Air Temple seemed as enticing as the softest cushions. Sleep was quite welcome, quite welcome, indeed.
So when the last of them had finally dropped off to a peaceful slumber, a contented smile on his face (this was Hakoda, of course, since Sokka had long been snoring and drooling, beyond waking up anytime soon), the shadows of three figures appeared.
And as they watched the sleeping figures of all those in the temple, these three people grinned with satisfaction.
--
"GOOD MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!! WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEADS!!!!"
The greeting was loud, high-pitched and annoying, the best Katara could manage.
"Huh? What? Huh?" were the sounds heard from the surprised sleepers.
The others' eyes snapped open and instantly (but not very fluidly) they jumped up and went into fighting position.
Sokka got up so suddenly that he was quite disoriented and as he jumped to a defensive stance, he grabbed his long sword so fast that he hit himself on the head with the hilt.
Getting up again, he tried to grab the weapon properly, but unfortunately, pulled it up the wrong way.
After this hilarious episode of frenzied getting up, the others began to be more aware of their surroundings. The sun was shining brightly now and there were no enemies to be seen. It was just another beautiful day in the Western Air Temple.
The roused warriors looked at each other in puzzlement. Chit Sang yawned and scratched his head in confusion.
"Where's Azula? What happened to the ambush?" Suki voiced what everyone else was already thinking.
But there was no sign of their enemies, anywhere and the ineffable sense of dread has been washed away by the sound sleep they had all had.
"Had the call last night only been a dream?" each one of them thought. But as they looked at their companions who were in similar quandaries, they realized that the possibility of an identical and collective dream was very, very slim.
So what had really happened? Was there really no attack? Or had they all experienced some sort of mass hallucination?
It took them all a while to be properly oriented to their situation. But when they realized that they were out of danger, they also realized that they had been deceived somehow. And when they looked at the grinning, unconcerned figure of Zuko who, for once, seemed the least bit perturbed about the situation, accusatory glances were shot at him. But he smiled nevertheless.
"Azula was never near here, was she?" Suki asked, recovering first from the shock.
Zuko shook his head nonchalantly. And this response only enraged the others further. All at once, shouts and complaints bombarded the solitary firebender as even the peace-loving Avatar was showing his annoyance at being worked up for nothing. And yet, even after every accusation, Zuko remained surprisingly calm and unaffected.
And only when the yelling had finally stopped did Zuko speak.
"Are you finished talking now?" he asked the furious people calmly. They all glared at him fiercely but were too tired and shocked to add more insult to injury.
"Well then, we've learned a important lesson now, haven't we?" the firebender said in an annoyingly patronizing manner.
"What are you talking about?" Sokka protested.
"Let me see," Katara answered instead, and all eyes turned to the grinning waterbender, "I think I know."
They had not noticed that she did not seem the least bit angry about what had happened. In fact, she had been observing the proceedings with great amusement.
The others watched wide-eyed as the waterbending master walked up to Zuko with a smile and took his hand gingerly. She stood beside him and the firebender put an arm around her shoulder. The pair grinned at their astonished friends and family. Sokka's jaw had just reached the floor.
"You….," was all the dumbfounded brother managed to mutter.
"Now you know what it's like to have your feelings manipulated," Katara said accusingly and when the conspirators realized that they had just had a taste of their own medicine, they all began to laugh heartily.
Hakoda laughed the hardest and Chit Sang slapped his forehead in realization. The whole temple broke into hysterics.
When some of the laughter died down, Hakoda smiled. Despite the strange act of vengeance done by Zuko and Katara, Hakoda was still happy to see that he had gotten his desired result anyway. He gave significant glances at the others who smiled back.
Never mind that they had been dealt with pranks. Zuko and Katara had apparently already reached an understanding. And seeing the way the two benders now looked at each other, with no more doubt and hesitation, Hakoda was more than content.
"Wait a minute," Suki said after laughing, "this wasn't the only prank you pulled, was it?"
Katara and Zuko shook their heads.
"Last night was simply the biggest one," Zuko admitted.
"You mean," Sokka asked in horrified realization, pointing a trembling figure accusingly at the happy pair, "all the weird things that had been going on, the hot floor, the fog, .."
Katara and Zuko nodded guiltily.
"Yes, I can heat the floor," Zuko admitted, making Chit Sang laugh in surprise (and causing Sokka to glower at him.)
"And yes, I can make fog," Katara similarly conceded with a guilty smile.
"I knew it!" Teo was heard to exclaim after hearing this revelation.
"And you'd be surprised at how much better than me Katara is at impersonations," Zuko added with some pride.
Again, Sokka's jaw dropped to the ground and the Suki laid a hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic smile. The others simply began to shake their heads while smiling at the strange but satisfying turn of events.
"But Toph," Hakoda asked the blind earthbender, "you would have known they were lying right?"
The blind earthbender grinned mischievously.
"I did know," she replied matter-of-factly and Sokka's incredulous face turned to her.
Zuko and Katara shrugged their shoulders.
"We couldn't hide our intentions from Toph," Katara explained, "so we had to let her in on it."
"And you don't know just how much fun I had," Toph declared with a widening grin.
"Traitor," Sokka muttered but the others just laughed at him.
It had been a very interesting and funny adventure now that they looked back at all the pranks they had played on each other. The battle of wits that had now come to an end though, and they were ready for the more serious battle. Nevertheless, it had been fun and not boring at all. At least they had had some big laughs before all the serious work would begin.
And upon seeing the success of the matchmaking venture, everyone was convinced that as soon as Aang defeated the Fire Lord, many more celebrations would be in order. That was one sure thing and this thought gave them all more to look forward to.
"I have to say, Katara," Hakoda praised his daughter, "I feel quite proud of you right now. You two really had me fooled back then. Very impressive."
"Thanks, Dad, but you have to remember," Katara replied with a sweet smile, and raising her finger as if to point out a painfully obvious truth, "that you and Sokka aren't the only Water Tribe geniuses in our family."
-FIN-
And now, the story is officially concluded. A huge thank you to all those who read, reviewed, faved, and alerted this humble piece of work, especially after the canon finale. Thank you for your continued support (and faith) in Zutara and in the Avatar fandom in general. Let us keep the interest and love for Avatar (regardless of shipping) alive for as long as we can! I am proud to be a true-blue, unrelenting, unflinching Avatard!
Here goes. (To those who have read my other completed, multi-chapter stories before, you know what's coming.) Let me just warn you that I have a weird fondness for really long author's notes at the end of my long stories. I am not forcing you to read through the whole thing, though. But I have a tendency of being profuse in expressing my gratitude and appreciation. So please bear with me.
This story started out as a one-shot entry for Zutara Week (back in July 2008!) which grew and grew into a wacky story/tribute to "Much Ado about Nothing" and slightly to "Pride and Prejudice" with my own weird twist. I'm just glad that it didn't take a whole year for me to conclude this story. I'm sorry for leaving some of you hanging for several months! And thank you for your patience!
And the response from all of you has just been overwhelming and I didn't know you guys would like the story this much. Any criticism is more than welcome, as well, just try and be polite about expressing your opinion, please.
I am not so boastful of my own skills that I believe that I make no mistakes. I simply try my best but you can all still give me advice and help me improve.
This has been one of my shortest multi-chapter fan fiction stories ever and yet I am so glad that so many people enjoyed it. And thank you, thank you so much to all those who gave me wonderful feedback on the story. I hope it gave you some laughs or even some soft chuckles.
I always like to give due and proper acknowledgment to all those who support me so here goes.
(Sorry if I misspelled anyone's user name. It was not done intentionally.)
Thanks to all those who reviewed: Vercir, CuriousBabyVamp, hj, PhoenixWingz, AvatarAiris, no one knows, NorthernLights25, pink princess 16, Liooness, sway in the moonlight, lazyguy90, HarlequinJade, Luiz4200, xladykittx, Saucebender, ElfishScallywag, Fire-of-the-Sun, charizardag, gred18850, Lodur, Zuzu Fangirl, Dragon Jadefire, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1, ViolotQ, Allyon Everstone, Kitkat, hoeoverbros, KikioHatake, blondegal, wickedsugarrush, Meep-la, LoveFaithHope, Brittany, merlyn1382, Twilarose, Ammy ShadowHowl, FredWeasleysGryffindor, BurningIce, Charmer1234, AngstyAcy, MoonClaimed, StarHarp, NaRuToGirl1327, xyzisme, Flashfight, tfobmv18, sokkantylee, quimbaya, lianneharmony, Neko4, Botan 3000, , Joseph Winchester-Haliwell, Mikee David, settingsunrisingmoon, ra, Shadow 1248, Xia Bubble Queen, gaspard-is-edward, and Desinere.
And thank you in advance to all those who review this story later on. I will still greatly appreciate any feedback you have to give me in the future. I may not be able to include you in these lists but be assured that I am just as thankful to you as I am to these other wonderful readers.
Thanks a lot to all those who made this their favorite story: Aipom4, Allyon Everstone, Anyminutenow, Aralys, CuriousBaby Vamp, HalfWit24, Hawkeye116, Joseph Winchester-Halliwell, KeNzEr24213, Knut Case, LINACK, Little Weasel Girl, Lodur, LoveFaithHope, Mikee David, NaRuToGiRl1327, NaomiAskikaga07, NaruSasuNaruLover, Neko4, NovaWolf, Rosalind Penderwick, Sailor Millenia, Saucebender, Soggy Muffins, Suseh, UNTensaZangetsu, charidazarg, cherryblossom1500, dearharuki, Dracula-key, hoeoverbros, kurokinshiro, mkabalt, quimbaya, rooch24, serrenna, , sokkantylee, tfobmv18, and, zukoxluver.
Thank you so much to all those who put this on alert: Akierin, Allyon Everstone, Ammy ShadowHowl, AnimeOtakuBara, Aralys, Awapuhi, BlueGreenGrey, BobsRules, BornofFire, CastleAnthrax, Charmer1234, Child-of-Hell, CuriousBabyVamp, Desinere, Dragon Jadefire, ElfishScallywag, EvelynRose, Forsaken Angel 13, FredWeasleysGryffindor, GoldenVixen, HalfWit24, Hana Kiri, Handerra, IndianGoddessGirl, Joseph Winchester-Halliwell, KikioHatake, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1, Lady Jayde Une, LasFay, Lucrezia6565, Luiz4200, MidnightWolfy, Mikee David, Mizz Grace Amazing, Mystical Moonstar, NaomiAskikaga07, NarutoXHinata, Neko4, Sabaku no Kitsune-chan, Saucebender, Sayuri-Jen, SoggyMuffins, Spellarated, SurvivalHorror, Tears of the Sky, Timeless Traveler, Trinix216, UNTensaZangetsu, XiaBubbleQueen, blonde-gal, cdfalcon, charizardag, chibi-Momiji724, , garythecat2, gred18850, jessicajason, lalaland81985, margaritanightly, merlyn1382,mkabalt, nightdrive23, phantompha0, pink princess 16, selene-v, sesshys1love, settingsunrisingmoon, , sweetgal983, tfobmv18,the black kitty, thexgreatxtriplexc, true self writer, twilight boyz are HOTT, vkikay, whatsername911, xyzisme, Kristoshi Warrior, and, zabani-chan. Fortunately for you, you won't be needing to wait for updates anymore. This story is officially concluded.
And thanks for adding this to a C2 community for good stories in the Avatar fandom. I really appreciate that you think the story belongs there.
And just to be perfectly clear, this story will definitely NOT have a sequel. I am thoroughly convinced that it is finished and the future of the characters may just as well be obvious. I have absolutely no intention of making any continuation of this story. After all, it was meant to be a one-shot and now it turned out quite long. But again, this is as far as I am going to go with the story. I really appreciate it if you like my writing but there is a danger of me becoming repetitive or unoriginal with the plot if I extend this story further. That is that. Thank you for understanding.
Special thanks to all those (you know who you are) who have been reviewing my stories even long before this one and to those who "discovered" my other stories because they read this one. Thank you for your reviews to my other works and for showing such kind and generous appreciation for my efforts!
I might be taking a break from writing fan fiction because school work is strangling me at present and I would also like to focus on some original fiction writing. But I would be interested to know if you guys want to read specific things from me.
I still have several Avatar fan fic stories planned (to see more specifics, please check my profile) and if you'd like to read more about one or two of them, please do not hesitate to let me know. The right amount of interest and encouragement might just prompt me to squeeze another story into my schedule.
I can also take requests if I have the time or creative ideas for them but I suppose you'll all have to be patient. Every update will take a long time in coming. College is a most time-consuming affair. And to a certain extent, fan fiction writing also takes as much effort because I don't like to short-change you guys. I also want to avoid merging my writing styles in such a way that my fan fiction entries might seem like term papers or something. But I have a tendency to do that so feel free to check me if that happens.
I'm afraid I've bored you with my long rants and raves. So I'm going to stop now. Nothing more remains to be said but thank you again to everyone for your support. Until the next story.