***

Omashu was quite the grand sight and I could see how such a city survived a hundred years of Fire Nation attacks.

Aang, Katara, and I landed on the ground and got off of Appa. The ten-ton bison went off to do his own thing while we gazed at the gigantic gates of the city.

"Guys! You won't believe just how amazing this city is! I used to have a friend here who would have us ride down the delivery system slides!" Aang excitedly explained how he and Bumi used to get into all kinds of mischievous activities.

But the original story would have Aang enter here disguised as an old man. But did he even need to do that now? Sure, we could go through all that trouble, but there was another thing we needed. And that was the actual support to try and fight against the Fire Nation.

King Bumi had an army of extremely well-trained earthbenders that could crush anyone who came in contact with them. Well, that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but should I follow along the same storyline?

No, the answer was simple, the reason Aang won against Ozai was because of a jagged rock that awakened his Avatar powers again. Trusting that will happen again was a hollow hope. Because the chances of that happening were so small that it couldn't be attributed to anything other than luck that Aang won that fight.

Honestly, it was better to win this fight on something like the Solar Eclipse. Or at least that would be better than the other options.

"Hehehe~ Sokka, don't I look more my age now?" Asked Aang, having used some of Appa's fur to make a long white mustache and hair for himself.

I immediately pulled all of that off him.

"Hey -Hey! What are you doing?" Aang questioned me after I took off his wig and mustache.

"We are in Omashu, you don't need to hide here. Instead, I think you should just go in as the Avatar and greet the King. Maybe even request an army, one that will help us defeat the Fire Nation." I advised him, trying to instill in him the mindset that humans should take care of their shit.

Everyone had been waiting for the Avatar for a hundred years that they forgot they could band together and take out the Fire Nation.

By now it was too late, but as soon as the first Air Nomad massacre happened, then gathered the remaining Monks, waterbenders from both the Northern and Southern tribes, adding that with the earthbenders. Then it wouldn't matter where the allied forces fought, they would win every single time.

It was nothing short of idiocy to wait for the Avatar who they assumed ran away at the time and was still in hiding.

Then again, the people in this world never solved anything by themselves. The Avatar was always there to keep balance, which was a useless thing. Balance doesn't work with the human race.

It was impossible like trying to burn water. There were countries where people were starving and ones who threw away over 40% of their food. That, sadly, was the reality of the situation.

The Avatar will eventually get killed permanently. I don't know when it will happen, it could even be with Aang if I changed something drastically or it could be a hundred thousand years from now. But one thing was for sure, the Avatar would fall and humans would go to their natural state of mind.

The chaos that will arise from the Avatar's death will be like a ladder, allowing them to climb like never before. Unlike spirits who live long, and can gain yearly wisdom, trying to find satisfaction with themselves. Humans were different, we lived shortly, but our existence was like that of a firework.

Then again, these were just my thoughts on the matter, who knew how this world would develop. Basing my knowledge of humanity and how it developed in my past world would be foolish and naive. We didn't have any bending, spirits, or anything supernatural back there. But here, it was a whole different world, though humanity still showed very similar prospects.

*

I shook my head, dismissing such thoughts and stopping my mind from going into dark places. Like always, I put a smile on my face and slapped Aang on the back, pushing him forward. "Now go, Avatar, do your duty."

He walked forward confidently and stood in front of the guards. Who had, for the record, just destroyed the cabbage guy's cart of cabbages. Wasn't he someone who became very successful in the future? I only half-heartedly watched the Korra series, but I knew the general gist of things and some interesting facts about it.

"Who are you pipsqueak?!" Asked the guard aggressively, it seemed like he was out for blood.

Aang took a deep breath, he seemed intimidated at first and his Airbender instincts took over. Avoid and evade, dodge problems and not confront them directly. That was the Monk way, at least from my limited point of view. Them getting eliminated was inevitable in the course of human history, a society so peaceful and unwilling to fight or kill won't survive long.

"Sir!" Aang suddenly replied. He had straightened his back and looked the earthbender straight in the eyes. "My name is Avatar Aang, and I am here to meet the King of Omashu!"

Hearing Aang's speech, the guard's gaze intensified a hundred times. "What did you just say?"

"Ummm… I am here to meet the King of Omashu?" This time Aang came to his senses and seemed even more unsure of what to say.

*Sigh*

It will be hard for him to learn all the elements with such an overly concentrated mindset. We didn't have a lot of time to do it either. So, taking a deep breath, I walked forward and the guards looked at me. Immediately their fists clenched, readying to earthbend as soon as a conflict arose between us.

"My friend here," I pointed at Aang nonchalantly. "Is the Avatar, we can prove that to your King if you let us in."

"How about you prove it to us right now?" The guard asked with a rough face. "Have your friend earthbend for us."

I sighed. "Sir, everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people abuse this privilege."

"Huh?" He was confused by my words, but the other guard got the joke and chuckled.

"Hey, hey, Pan Li, how about you let these guys go?" Said one of the bodyguards, the one who had found my joke funny.

"Thank you, sir, bodyguard that laughed at my joke," I greeted him politely, and then sent a pointed look at Katara. "The same joke that my DEAR sister didn't even chuckle at."

"What?" Katara was confused at first and then frowned. "Why are you bringing this on me? There are more drastic things to be worried about."

Honestly… She was right, but this was the perfect chance to be extra petty. "Yeah, so there is something more important than my feelings Katara? Do you even care how I feel?"

I then put a hand over the guard's shoulder. "This man laughed at my jokes," I muttered while looking at my sister sadly. "Right now, I feel more connected to this man than my sister. When did our relationship get so bad?"

"What the hell?! This is coming out of nowhere! What are you even talking about?!" Katara was fuming and angry at me.

I just shrugged nonchalantly and shook my head in disbelief, looking at the ground sadly.

"Hahaha, you guys are hilarious," the guard was entertained and then stared at his fellow guard jokingly. "Also, don't mind that guy, he just has an intimidating face and aura around him. But he is a gentleman at heart."

The man looked intently at us and smiled as if he was about to skin us. "Yes, you are right."

When he said that, at first it felt like a threat. But suddenly I had a realization. "Wait… that's actually the truth?"

"Yep, everything he says sounds like a threat, the King saw his talents of seeming very threatening and decided to make him a guard. Pan Li's face has solved many problems before they even started."

***

Aang, Katara, and even Momo stared at Sokka strangely, it seemed like he had made friends with the guards already.

**

In the end, they were escorted to the palace without Aang having to even prove anything. Sokka somehow ended up getting dinner invitations to a bar with the rest of the guards.

When they were in front of the door to the throne room, Aang suddenly spoke. "I just realized, but Sokka is very charismatic."

"Yeah…" Katara was even more shocked. The ease at which he seemed to move through a conversation was astonishing.

Sokka, who was in front of them, had his arms crossed and a smug look on his face as he turned around and smirked at them. "If you are gonna talk good about me, please do it in front of my face so I can feel good about myself."

Katara was about to send him a snide remark, but the doors opened and suddenly they caught sight of the King.

He was a crazy-looking old man with a purple cloak around himself and a… feather hat?...Or something that looked similar to a feather hat.

Even Sokka seemed a little confused by what the King was wearing. But unlike Katara and Aang who decided not to say anything, Sokka was the only one who spoke his mind. "Purple really doesn't suit you. I think you would look better in green."

"You think so?" The King asked curiously, casually looking at his outfit and shrugging. "We should talk more about that during dinner. No one tells me I look bad while wearing something anymore. I guess it's one of the downsides of being a King."

"Well… I didn't say you looked bad in purple," Sokka now tried to backtrack.

"No, no, you said it now," Bumi seemed very insistent on it. "I appreciate your honesty."

Katara and Aang were once again shocked by just how calm the conversation between Kong and Sokka appeared to be. Both of them kind of expected the King to be snobby or offended by Sokka's words, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Anyway, you are all going to prison," the King said suddenly.

"What?! Why?!" Asked Aang, confused.

"I like the color purple."

'Oh, so he is snobbish after all.' - concluded Katara as a dozen or so earthbenders came out of the walls, to escort them away… and do so forcefully if they resist.

Looking at her brother, Sokka seemed strangely okay with the whole situation. But as they were about to leave, he turned towards the King one last time and asked. "By the way, how old are you?"

"Older than most of you. Kekekekeke~ *snort*" The King somehow found the question hilarious as he laughed and even snorted while doing so.

"I always wanted to know what Earth Kingdom prisons looked like," wondered Sokka out loud.

Once she heard that, Katara started fuming and had never wanted to punch her brother more than she did now. But she was able to control herself… barely.