Chapter Text
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They traveled on for several days and didn't come across any trouble
However, both Katara and Aang noticed that Ilvane had been very quiet ever since they had left the safety of Omashu. Sokka hadn't noticed it just yet unkind his sister and friend, but he wasn't always the most aware of things going on around him so it was not really a surprise that he didn't realise it. Aang first thought that she was so quiet because she missed her friends there and hadn't been able to spend much time with them.
He knew he already missed Bumi ever since they left, but when he carefully discussed this possibility with Katara when Sokka and Ilvane were hunting, she wasn't sure. "I actually don't know, Aang. I've been keeping an eye on her ever since I noticed her acting off and it feels like it's something else. Surely, you've noticed how incredibly tense she is even or rather especially when we take a break and that she doesn't sleep much if she sleeps at all?" She asked
He hummed at that as he tried to think of their friend's behaviour since they left Omashu. Now that he really thought about it, he realised she was completely right.. Every time they took a break since leaving the city, Ilvane looked like she was completely ready to immediately fight for her life at a moment's notice every time, even when they settled down for the night. She was usually the last one awake when they went to sleep, looking over the fire and the first one up as she rose with the sun, usually gone to scour the perimeter when the others woke up.
"Maybe, she actually freaked out about the Fire Nation looking for us. She lived there for almost her whole entire life so she honestly should know what they're capable of doing." Aang then suggested instead. "That might actually be a better possibility. Hang on, let me look for the stack of papers that soldier gave her." Katara agreed as she climbed on Appa and found the scrolls Ilvane had gotten when they left Omashu
"Let me see. Yadda-yadda-yadda. "If you have any information about the Avatar or his whereabouts, report to Commander Zhao immediately." Not exactly anything we don't know already." She said as she rolled it back up and put it back where she came from as Aang leaned back against a fallen tree."I'm sure she'll be fine once she remembers we can handle ourselves." He said as Katara folded up her blanket and Sokka and Ilvane returned
Turns out they hadn't managed to find anything but nuts during the hunt, despite having been away for at least and hour already. "Round nuts and some kind of oval-shaped nuts and some rock-shaped nuts." Sokka summed up and Ilvane pinched the bridge of her nose. "I told you, Sokka. Those are rocks!" She growled. "I'm just trying to be helpful, okay?" He asked, feeling a bit insulted as Katara and Aang shared a worried look between each other. Ilvane had also become a bit more short-tempered and blunt towards the three of them in the past few days
Katara assumed that that was because of a rather dangerous mixture of stress and not a lot of sleep because of said stress as she had noticed her going to bed late and getting up early as well and with her being a firebender, that fraying amount of patience could eventually result in quite some dangerous situations. Katara then quickly decided to talk to her about it after dinner, but that plan was soon thrown off when they felt the earth shake.
"What was that?" A panicked Sokka asked, before another boom was heard and felt, scaring poor Momo who thought he was the one doing it. Katara and Aang ran towards it. "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms, not toward them?" Sokka asked before following them and Ilvane sighed "Here we go again. Running into possible danger. No, don't think about self-preservation at all. Why should you?" She asked sarcastically as she followed as well
It turned out to just be an Earthbender using his powers. "Let's go meet him." Aang suggested excitedly. "He looks dangerous so we better approach cautiously. "Sokka said, only for Katara to jump out of their hiding spot and greet him loudly. "Hello there! I'm Katara! What's your name" She called, Ilvane facepalming behind her. For some reason, the man immediately ran away, blocking the way behind him with Earthbending. "Nice meeting you!" Aang sarcastically called after him as the other three quickly joined Katara from their hiding spot.
"I just wanted to say hi." Katara quite muttered in confusion before Aang realised there might be a village nearby and they followed that man's trail and indeed found a small village that actually had a market where they could buy food. Katara noticed the boy from before walking into one shop and immediately went to get an explanation from him with Aang and Sokka while Ilvane stayed in the doorway to keep an eye on things outside
She was suddenly pulled inside and the door was slammed shut behind her by the boy's mother when Aang revealed they saw him Earthbending. Apparently, it was dangerous and as if proving her point, Fire Nation soldiers banged on the door. "Act natural." Sokka hissed as the soldiers were let in and four out of five had the most unnatural poses ever. Only Ilvane seemed normal as she was cutting some vegetables behind the counter
She kept her face down to make sure they didn't see her face. She wasn't sure if she was still wanted in the Fire Nation, but considering the formerly famous Jeong Jeong was still being searched for after having left the army many years ago, she had a sneaking suspicion that she was. Not to mention how much her father would probably love to have her found for the slight against him She was glad that she was still wearing Water Tribe clothing. The captain announced that the tax was doubled, even with the mother having paid the week before.
"We wouldn't want an accident, now would we?" He asked with a smirk as he called up a flame, the threat clear with them in a wooden shop. "Fire is sometimes so hard to control." He said, before the flame suddenly went out. He tried again, only to have the same result. "This usually works." He muttered, Ilvane grinning. "Oh, performance issues. Not uncommon. One out of five..." Sokka began before having to duck as fire was shot towards him.
Seeing this, the mother gave the captain his money, but he gave her the copper ones back. Ilvane sighed in relief once he was gone, going to check if Sokka was okay. "How long has the Fire Nation been here?" The boy asked we he waved her off. The woman explained that they had been here for five years, that Ozai used their coal mines to fuel his ships and how Earthbending was forbidden. The boy, Haru, was apparently the only one left
Katara immediately protested that Haru could help with his Earthbending, but the woman refused to listen and Ilvane honestly could understand that as there probably had been other Earthbenders and it clearly did not end well for them. This was immediately confirmed when it was revealed the Fire Nation took Haru's father away with all the other Earthbenders who once lived there in the village " I honestly wish that someone would come and take my father away." Ilvane muttered darkly. "You don't mean that." Haru said in horror, having heard her.
"Yes, I do." She immediately confirmed, rolling up her sleeve to show them her scar and silence fell as the horrifying answer about who had given her that ugly scar hung in the air Taking pity on her after that, they were allowed to stay the night in the family's barn. "I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay." Aang promised, the bison already having his big mouth full with hay as he stopped eating for a second, before continuing on.
Chuckling at the silly animal as he continued eating, Ilvane went to lie down in some of the remaining hay to take a nap, falling asleep almost instantly as she was way more tired than she had expected She had only meant to sleep an hour or two, only to wake up the next day by Katara storming into the barn after finding out Haru had been taken. "What did i miss?" She muttered as she rubbed her eyes to get rid of any lingering sleep
"Apparently, Haru saved an old man who got stuck under a sudden cave in at the mine using Earthbending last night and now, the old man had ratted him out to the Fire Nation. "Aang quickly caught her up to speed with what she had missed, all three of her friends having decided to let her sleep through the entire night. "Wow. Talk about "No good deed goes unpunched." "Well, he's gone." She muttered as she lied back against the hay. "How can you say that, Ilvane?!" Katara demanded to know of her friend, appalled that she gave up so soon.
"You forget that I'm actually from there, Katara. I have already heard about this prison before I left the Fire Nation. I just didn't connect the dots just yet. The warden is a pretty good friend of my father, so he'll recognise me if we try to break in. And even then, it's pretty much impossible to get in there and get him out." She explained with a frustrated sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose in utter frustration
They constantly seemed to forget she knew the Fire Nation and what they were capable of. They seemed to have so much fun that they apparently about the real danger they were in, apart from Sokka at times. "No, it's not impossible. The Fire Nation will bring me straight to Haru." Katara decided as she looked out over the village. When Aang asked why, she gave the craziest answer ever. "Because they're going to arrest me for Earthbending." She said.
"You're insane." Ilvane commented in a deadpan tone