Cave of Two Lovers

The sky was clear over their spot as the group took a few days to relax. They had decided that a spot by the river was a good place to camp out. While most of the group took it easy after some time traveling, Katara was currently helping Aang train. 
"You guys gonna be done soon?" Sokka questioned from his leaf float.
"We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to Omashu today." Gray reminded them.
"What? As if you two are ready to go now, naked guys?" Lucy asked smugly. 
"I could be ready in two minutes. Seriously, whenever." Sokka replied.
"Just let them finish their Waterbending training and we'll leave." Lucy said.
"Sounds good to me, Luce." Natsu nodded.
"Aye." Happy added.
"Whatever. Wake me when you guys are done." Gray muttered before he closed his eyes.
"So, you were going to show me the octopus form?" Aang asked, getting her back on track.
"Right. Let me see your stance." Katara said.
Aang moved to where his body leaned to the left and brought his arms in front of him. Katara looked over his form before seeing a few flaws in it. She walked over.
"Your arms are too far apart. See, if you move them closer together, you protect your center. You got it?" Aang blushed at her touch and looked to her before nodding with a smile.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks." She moved around to get back to her spot.
When Katara stood where she was before, she turned and assumed her stance.
"Okay, let's see what you got." She said.
Aang took a deep breath before reaching down while keeping his arms how she said. Then drawing up some of the water, he spread his arms out and created eight tentacles made out of water.
A white fireball zoomed over their heads. 
"Nice job. You'll master Waterbending in no time." Ray told the Airbender.
He carefully manuevered the tentacles while fending off ice shards being sent by Katara. He then sent a tentacle that grabbed Katara's leg before gripping it and pulling it. 
"You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang." Katara complimented him.
Aang formed a water bubble around himself and danced in the middle of it. He was also making the arms move around as well. He soon dropped the octopus and it made a huge splash.
"So are we all ready too..." Erza was interrupted when Grace began to bark at the sound of music.
"Don't fall in love with a traveling girl. Cause she'll leave you broke and brokenhearted." Coming towards the shore was a group of travelers dressed in pastels and flowers, several of them played music while the others danced. 
The group watched as they walked up the river. When Sokka tried to get off his leaf, he yelped as he fell into the water. Gray then woke up from his nap. The traveling group stopped playing their music when they saw the team. 
"Hey. River people." The guy in front said with a chill attitude.
"We're not river people." Wendy told them.
"You're not? Then what kind of people are you?" The man asked.
"We're travelers as well." Ray answered.
"Who are you?" Sokka asked pointing a finger at them.
"Put your finger away, Sokka. It's rude to point." Erza reprimanded him and Sokka stopped pointing at them.
"My name is Chong and this is my wife, Lily. We're nomads. Happy to go wherever the wind takes us." Chong introduced himself and Lily, then he played a power cord on his guitar while vocalizing.
"You guys are nomads? That's great! I'm a nomad." Aang said.
"Hey! Me too..." Chong said.
"We know. You just said that." Natsu reminded him.
"Oh, hey! A naked guy and nice underwear." Chong looked to Gray and Sokka and said.
The majority of the group looked to Gray and Sokka as they started to feel uncomfortable. Quickly grabbing Momo from his shoulders, the teen moved Momo in front of him and moved to the left. Gray realized he was no longer in his boxers and grabbed the leaf Sokka laid on before walking off embarrassed.
Elsewhere Iroh was staring at what he considered a beautiful sight. He was squatting next to a bush that had a beautiful flower on top. He took a deep breath from the sight of it. From behind, Zuko and Aiko came out from the bush.
"We didn't find anything to eat." Aiko told him.
"I can't live like this! I wasn't meant to be a fugitive! This is impossible!" Zuko ranted.
"Calm down, Zuko. It couldn't get any worse than this." Aiko said before looking back to Iroh.
"Father, what are you doing?" She asked.
"You're looking at the incredibly rare white dragon bush. It's leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking, or it's the white jade bush which is very poisonous." Iroh said. 
"We need food, not tea. I'm going fishing." Zuko decided. Aiko walked behind him.
"Hmm...delectable tea. Or deadly poison." Iroh said.
He knew it would be a tough call to make, but he believed he could figure it out.
The wandering nomads had gotten really acquainted with the team. Appa groaned in bliss before looking up to who was on his head. Jamie sat on top of Appa's head and was braiding his fur. Chong played on his lute as Sokka and Erza walked back to the group as Aang sat up on one of Appa's legs.
"Hey, guys. You should hear some of the stories the nomads have. They've been everywhere." Aang said. He wore a crown of flowers on his head that one of the nomads had made.
"Well, not everywhere, little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been, we've heard through stories and songs." Chong said.
"They said they'd take us to see a giant nightcrawler!" Natsu turned to the three and said.
"And on the way, there's a waterfall that creates a never ending rainbow." Moku said before rolling on to his back.
"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me." Sokka said. Katara looked to him with a slight glare.
"We need to get to Omashu. That means no sidetracks, no giant worms and definitely no rainbows." Sokka said.
"Wow, looks like someone has a case of destination fever. You're worried too much about where you're going." Chong laughed.
"You gotta focus less on the 'where' and more on the 'going'." Lily said as she now braided Lucy's hair.
"Where we're going is Omashu. We must get there as soon as possible." Erza told them.
"They're right. We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn Earthbending somewhere safe." Katara said.
"Well, it sounds like you guys are going to Omashu." Chong said. Sokka couldn't believe what he just said and face palmed. 
"There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains." Chong added.
"Is this real or a legend?" Wendy asked with a skeptical look.
"Oh, it's a real legend and it's as old as Earthbending itself." Chong assured them. 
"Two lovers, forbidden from one another, a war divides their people and the mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together." But the flow of the music slowed down as Chong tried to think about the song. 
"Yeah, I kind of forgot the next couple of lines, but, uh, then it goes like..." Getting up on his knees, Chong played while Joe and Jamie danced as he sang.
"Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountains. Secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!" Chong finished. Everyone clapped their hands as they had enjoyed their performance.
"I think we'll stick with flying." Sokka said.
"We've dealt with the Fire Nation before." Gray added.
"Yeah, thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground. We need to do whatever makes Appa feel comfortable." Aang said.
Ten minutes later
The group had flown over a small platoon and had been spotted.
"Launch!" A captain ordered.
The Fire Nation catapults launched flaming rocks at Appa. Appa roared as he flew away from the flaming rocks which were either crushed by ShineGreymon or blown apart by Omnimon.
Ten minutes after that
The team walked past the nomads in a soot covered line. Natsu sucked up the fire from that attack.
"Secret love cave?" Lucy asked.
"Secret love cave. Let's go." Sokka pointed ahead and said.
The nomads looked to each other before getting up and following after the team.
Zuko and Aiko made it back to Iroh. They stopped along the path to the very end of the long stick and glared at the fish that was still struggling.
"Zuko, Aiko remember that plant I thought might be tea?" Iroh asked in a somewhat funny sounding voice.
"Father..." Aiko trailed off.
"You didn't." Zuko said.
"I did and it wasn't." Iroh said as he turned to his nephew and daughter. He had big red splotches covering his body and scratched them. 
Zuko and Aiko gasped at the state he was in and dropped the stick with the fish.
"When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing. But look what I found. These are bacui berries, known to cure the poison of the white jade. That, or they're maka'ole berries that cause blindness." Iroh said.
"We're not taking any more chances with these plants." Zuko said while snatching the berries from his uncle. 
"We need to get help." He added.
"But where are we going to go? We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives from the Fire Nation." Iroh pointed out.
"He has a point. We need to decide what to do." Aiko said.
"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed." Zuko said as he started to think it over.
"But if the Fire Nation discovers us, they'll turn us over to Azula." Aiko pointed out. The three looked at each other before nodding in agreement. 
"Earth Kingdom it is." Zuko said. The three walked off.
The two groups walked past a ruin between the walls of a canyon.
"So, how far are we from the tunnel?" Lucy asked.
"Actually, it's not just one tunnel yellow-haired girl, the lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love." Chong said.
"So a massive labyrinth was built into the mountain." Ray pointed towards the entrance that was just up ahead.
"A labyrinth?" Sokka asked in dismay.
"Ah, I'm sure we'll figure it out." Chong said as if not to worry.
"All you need to do is trust in love...according to the curse." Lily added.
"Curse!" Sokka shouted.
They soon came to the entrance of the labyrinth at the end of the canyon. Above the entrance were a few symbols and some moss hanging from the top.
"Hey! We're here." Chong said.
"So what exactly is this curse?" Erza asked as she looked up at the symbols.
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise you'll be trapped in them forever." Chong looked back to the group and said.
"And die." Lily added.
"Oh yeah and die." Chong agreed.
"And die." He ominously sang.
"That's it! There is no way we are going through some cursed hole." Sokka declared.
"Hey! Someone's making a big campfire." Moku looked back and saw a huge column of smoke rising a little ways behind them and said with a point and a smile.
"Fire Nation. They're tracking us. We need to keep moving." Ray said.
"So all you need to do is trust in love to make it through the caves?" Aang asked when he turned to Chong.
"That is correct, Master Arrowhead." Chong looked back and said.
"Really." Natsu said and looked to Lucy who had her back to him. He then flashed a toothy grin.
"We can make it!" Natsu declared.
"Aye! Let's get in!" Happy cheered.
"Everyone in the hole!" Katara said.
The group turned back to the tunnels and walked in. Appa growled in discomfort as he followed after the group. Due to their immense size, ShineGreymon and Omnimon couldn't enter the cave and flew over the mountain.
A Fire Nation tank rolled through the canyon with a couple of others.
"Wait! It's too dangerous. Haven't you heard the song? Just close them in. The mountain will take care of the rest." The captain said. The tanks raised their harpoons before launching them at the top of the tunnel entrance.
Everyone on the inside looked back and watched in horror as the rocks covered the entrance. Appa groaned as darkness filled the entire tunnel. When the rocks stopped falling, Appa ran to the closed off entrance and pawed at it trying to escape. Grace whimpered which led to Lucy picking her up.
"It's okay, Appa and Grace. We'll be fine. I hope." Wendy tried to comfort them.
"We will be fine. All we need is a plan." Lucy said.
"I'll come up with something." Ray told the group.
"Chong. How long do those torches last?" Sokka asked.
"Uh, about two hours each." Chong answered.
"And we have five torches so that's ten hours each." Lily said before lighting the other four.
"Not if they're all lit at the same time." Ray pointed out.
"Oh right." Lily said.
"I'll make a map to keep track of where we've been." Sokka told the others.
"Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through. I hope." Erza said. Aang and Katara look at each other with unsure expressions.
Zuko, Aiko and Iroh had finally found a village that was willing to help with Iroh's condition. Some patients were being treated while others were finishing up. In a healer's building, a lotion was being applied the affected splotches on Iroh's body.
"You three must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the White Jade, much less make it into tea and drink it." The woman said.
"Whoops!" Iroh said, rubbing the top of his head.
"So where are you traveling from?" The woman asked them as she wringed a cloth in a bowl. 
"Yes, we're travelers." Zuko quickly stood up and said.
"Do you have names?" The girl asked and looked back to him while tending to Iroh. 
"Of course we have names. I'm uh...Lee and this is my cousin...Milana and this is my uncle...Mushi." Zuko said.
Iroh leaned to look at his nephew with a glare before putting on a smile.
"Yes, my nephew was named after his father so we just call him Junior." He said.
Then with a smile he looked over to 'Junior' who made a throat slash motion with a glare that said you-are-dead. 
"Mushi, Milana and Junior, huh? My name is Song. You three look like you could use a good meal." She said.
"Sorry, but we need to be moving on." Zuko declined her offer.
"That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck." Song said.
"Where do you live exactly?" Iroh, now intrigued, leaned closer and asked.
Back with the two groups, they had come across a dead end. Sokka held up the map and looked at it.
"Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us into." Gray complained.
"This doesn't make sense. We already came through this way." Sokka looked at the map again and said.
"You don't need a map. We just need love. Even the little guy knows that." Chong said from the side.
"Yeah, but I don't mind a map." Aang admitted.
Erza took the map from Sokka and started reading it herself.
"There is something strange here. There is only one explanation." Erza said.
"That's right. The tunnels are changing." Sokka said with a serious face.
A rumble suddenly reverbarated through the tunnels and everyone looked around while Momo gave a frightened screech. 
It was night time when Zuko, Iroh and Aiko came to Song's mother's house. They sat by an opening as Song's mother brought the roast duck to the table. Setting it down, the older woman looked to the three.
"My daughter tells me you're refugees. We were once refugees ourselves." Song's mother said sitting down on her knees.
"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father." Song said, revealing a little of her past.
"I haven't seen my father in many years." Zuko said, looking down.
"Oh, is he fighting in the war?" Song asked.
"Yeah." Zuko set his bowl down and took a moment before saying.
The groups had been staring at the dead end for about an hour now.
"The tunnels! They're-a-changing! It must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't have come here!" Chong sounded distraught as he placed his hands on his head.
"Right. If only we listened to you." Gray sarcastically said.
"Guys, be quiet. Listen." Lucy said as she tried to hear what the sound was. A sound echoed through the tunnel and it sounded like it was coming to them. The sound was enough to make Momo jump off Sokka's shoulder and fly away in fright. Grace growled and prepared to attack. Sokka held the torch to see what it could be but only saw darkness ahead. Suddenly, a creature leapt out of the shadows with a screech and it made everyone duck or fall. It flew around each of them while they tried to move out of the way.
"It's a giant flying thing with sharp teeth." A frightened Chong said.
"No! It's a wolfbat!" Moku shouted.
The wolfbat took a step forward before leaping at the group. Flying through the air it tried to attack them. Sokka ran up to it and waved the torch at it to drive it away, but it flew higher. It used it's hind paws to knock the torch from Sokka's hand and it flew through the air. It landed on one of Appa's feet and flared. The bison growled in pain and started to run around in fear. His frightened rampage was enough to send Momo flying away. The wolfbat too became fearful from the bison and flew back into the darkness. Appa continued to run around and smashed through a support for the tunnels before turning and hitting and then running back and forth.
The Airbender started to move towards the bison when the cave started to rumble. Rocks started to tumble from the ceiling and everyone moved out of the way. Aang used his airbending to push Sokka, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Ray and the nomads to safety. Aang rushed over to Katara and pushed her out of the way while Natsu spots a rock falling towards Lucy and runs up before shoving her out of the way. The six shakily got up on their feet and started to move around. Appa groaned as he pawed at the new cave in. They all looked to the rock wall that separated them from their friends. 
"Oh no! Guys!" Lucy yelled.
"Oh no! No, no, no, no." Sokka said as he began to frantically try and dig it out.
"You know, none of this would've happened if you hadn't waved that torch back and forth like an idiot." Gray pointed out.
"That wolf-bat was coming for us!" Sokka shouted.
"Your stupid waving let out cinders that hurt Appa causing him to run in a panic creating this mess!" Gray shot back.
"We don't have time for this." Ray muttered.
"What're we gonna do now?" Wendy asked.
"That even I don't know." Carla said.
"We're stuck in here forever, aren't we?" Happy asked.
"Maybe, but at least you guys still have us." Chong said with a smile.
"NOOO!" Sokka screamed in agony as he digs faster into the rock wall. But his actions cause a burst from the wall and cover Sokka in rocks with his feet sticking straight up.
"Idiot." Gray said.
The lamps glowed brightly as Zuko sat on the porch. He looked down at the grass as he was thinking hard about his life. From being in the palace with his family, to his banishment. Zuko was frustrated with how his life was falling apart. And he felt that it revolved around his father. He heard the door slide open and could hear footsteps approaching.
"I know what you've been through. We've all been through it. The Fire Nation has hurt you." Song said as she sat down beside him and looked out into the yard.
She then gently reached to touch the scar on his face. But when she was a few inches from his face, Zuko grabbed her hand to stop her. He gently released her hand and she placed it on her lap.
"It's okay, they've hurt me too." Song said, thinking she upset him.
She showed Zuko by lifting her right foot and removed her sock. Zuko looked at her leg and could see the burns on her leg. He was surprised to see Song had been hurt like he had, even if it wasn't in the same spot. Zuko looked to Song with a face of sympathy but didn't know what to say.
Back in the cave, Erza, Ray, Wendy, Gray, Sokka and the nomads were walking around. Then Chong started to sing to Gray and Sokka's annoyance. Erza tried to ignore it while looking at the map. Behind them Wendy and Carla kept a lookout.
"Oh, don't let the cave in get you two down! Don't let the falling rocks turn your smiles into frowns! When the tunnels are darkest, that's when you both need a clown. Hey! Don't let the cave in get you two down, Sokka and Gray." Chong finished, making them growl.
In another tunnel Aang, Lucy, Natsu and Katara made their way down it. Lucy then noticed something up ahead.
"You guys, look ahead!" She excitedly said.
"We found the exit." Aang happily said.
They ran up to it. 
"Hold on. Open Gate of the Ox, Chou!" Lucy called summoning the Ox Spirit.
"Hey there, Lucy. What's up?" Chou asked.
"You think you can help us break the door down?" Lucy asked.
"You kiddin me. Stand back and watch." Chou said as he prepared to charge.
"Guys, let's back off." Lucy instructed.
"Got it." Natsu nodded. 
They all moved out of the way when Chou came charging at the door. His strength was enough to get the door open. 
"Thanks, Chou." Lucy said.
"Yep." Chou nodded. 
The four look in and were disappointed.
"This isn't an exit." Katara said.
"No. It's a tomb." Aang revealed. 
The four walked down the steps to where two coffins lay. They all looked around as they neared the bottom. When they came down, they looked to the two coffins.
"It must be the two lovers from the legend. That's who's buried here." Aang guessed.
"Look at this." Natsu told them looking at the pictures.
"These pictures tell their story." Lucy used her torch to look at it and said.
"They met on the top of the mountain that divided their two villages. The villages were enemies so they could not be together, but their love was strong and they found a way. The two lovers learned Earthbending from the badger-moles; they became the first Earthbenders." Katara started to tell the story.
"They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth. But then one day, the man didn't come...he died in the war between the two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her Earthbending power and she could have destroyed them all...but instead, she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they could live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love." Lucy finished the story.
"What's this one?" Natsu asked, looking at a inscription.
"'Love is brightest in the dark'." Lucy read the inscription.
In another tunnel Erza and Sokka glare at the map.
"Another dead end, huh?" Ray questioned.
"Yeah. It's all because of Sokka's plans!" Moku shouted.
"At least WE'RE thinking of ideas and trying to get us out of here, Moku!" Sokka shot back.
"Whoa, whoa. We're thinking of ideas? I've had an idea for like an hour, now." Chong threw in.
"Yes! WE ARE THINKING OF IDEAS!" Gray shouted.
"Well, listen to this. If love is the key out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song." Chong started to explain as he strumed his guitar and the others joined in. Gray and Sokka facepalmed.
"We're gonna be here a while." Erza sweat-dropped.
"I hope not. I hope Lucy, Natsu, Aang and Katara are okay." Wendy said.
"They will be. I know." Happy reassured her.
"I agree." Carla added.
The other four hadn't left the tomb of the two lovers as they were still lost on ideas. Lucy and Katara continued to study the pictures of the two lovers and the inscription.
"How are we gonna get out of these tunnels?" Aang asked.
"I have a crazy idea." Katara said, making them look to her.
"Yeah. Me too." Lucy threw in.
"What?" Natsu asked.
"Never mind. It's stupid." Lucy said while turning away from them.
"You two wouldn't like the idea." Katara continued.
"C'mon, just tell us." Aang insisted.
"We were thinking...the curse says we'll be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love." Lucy said as she took a deep breath before turning to them.
"Right?" Natsu nodded, not sure where they were going with this.
"And here it says 'Love is brightest in the dark' and has a picture of them kissing." Katara said.
"Where are you two going with this?" Aang asked, feeling a little oblivious to what they were getting at. 
"Well, what if we...kissed?" Lucy suggested as she blushed, surprising Natsu and Aang.
"Us...kissing?" Natsu asked.
"I knew it. It was a stupid idea." Lucy scoffed.
"Us...kissing." Aang and Natsu said dreamily.
"Us kissing. What were we thinking? Could you two imagine that?" Katara looked to Aang and asked.
"Yeah. I defintely wouldn't want to kiss you." Aang mistakenly said.
"Neither would I." Natsu added. Then the two realized what they just said.
"Oh, well, I didn't realize that it was such a horrible option! Sorry for suggesting it!" Lucy angrily yelled.
"Same here!" Katara snapped.
"No, no. That's not what we meant." Aang tried to fix it.
"Yeah. If there was a choice between kissing you and dying..." Natsu was interrupted by the two.
"Ugh!" Lucy and Katara angrily turned away from them.
"What? We'd rather kiss you two than die. That's a compliment." Aang said as he clasped his hands together.
"Well, I don't know which I'd rather do!" Katara looked back to him and said.
"Agreed!" Lucy snapped as she shoved the torch to Natsu and storms off after Katara with Grace in her arms.
"What's wrong with us, Natsu?" Aang asked.
"We're such idiots." Natsu said before and Aang turned to walk after the girls.
In the other tunnel, the nomads continued to play their song as they went through. 
"Even if you're lost, you can't lose the love because it's in your heart." Chong sang. Sokka facepalms again while Gray banged his head against a nearby wall.
It was much later at Song's house when Zuko, Aiko and Iroh started to leave. They stood before the porch to give their thanks. 
"Thank you for the duck. It was excellent." Iroh respectfully bowed and said.
"Yes. Thank you very much for letting us stay for a meal." Aiko added. Zuko turned to walk away.
"Junior, where are your manners? You need to thank these kind people." Iroh said.
Zuko took a quick breath before turning and bowed as he said, "Thank you." 
"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned and the prophesied Celestial Mage is in our world." Song said, trying to encourage him.
Zuko looked away and said, "I know."
The three started to walk into the gate. Zuko opened the gate and waited for Iroh and Aiko to catch up. When they started to walk away from the house, they passed by an ostrich horse. The beast gave a gurgled chirp when Zuko got an idea. He turned to the ostrich horse before looking at the house. Seeing as both Song and her mother had gone inside, Zuko decided to make his move. Walking up to the ostrich horse, he carefully grabbed their reins and pulled it along.
"Zuko, what are you doing?" Aiko asked.
"These people have showed you great kindness." Iroh said, pointing to the house.
"They're about to show us a little more kindness." Zuko came riding up and said.
"Well?" Aiko and Iroh shake their heads and climbed on the back of the ostrich horse. Zuko flicked the reins to get them moving. 
They rode away from the house, not knowing that Song had been watching the whole time. With a sigh, she closed the door fully sad.
After a few more hours of walking Lucy, Aang, Natsu and Katara were still trying to find their way out. Natsu looked at the torch which was about to burn out.
"We're running out of light." Natsu said.
"Yeah." Lucy nodded.
"What're we gonna do?" Aang asked.
"What CAN we do?" Katara asked back.
Natsu walked over to Lucy and took her hand while smiling at her. Katara took Aang's and the airbender smiles at her. As the flame started to go out, Lucy and Natsu lean forward as do Aang and Katara. And when the light from the torch was completely out, light illuminated over their heads. They all looked up to see crystals in a trail heading down one of the tunnels. The four were completely amazed by it.
Erza, Gray, Wendy, Ray, Sokka and Chong and his nomads continued to walk and were on their final torch at this point. But the nomads stopped playing and the group stopped walking when they heard the sound of low growling. They looked into the darkness to see what it was. They looked down a tunnel when suddenly a large pack of wolfbats came charging out of the darkness. Wendy prepared to use her Sky Dragon Slayer magic to blow them away, which was successful but they purposefully moved around them to get away.
"You guys saved us." Chong praised them.
"What are you talking about?" Ray questioned Chong. "We hardly did anything." 
"Yeah. They're trying to get away from something." Gray pointed out.
"From what?" Chong asked as a rumbling echoed through the tunnel. They looked behind them as the tunnel wall exploded and a giant creature came walking out. The creature had brown, white and black fur running along it's body and five long claws on all four feet. Another boom came from the other side of the tunnel and they looked to see another one enter the tunnel. The two badger moles had both escape routes blocked off as they growled at the intruders. One of the badger moles clapped it's paws together and made the two sides of the tunnel behind it close. The other badger mole slammed it's paws against the ground and a wall of earth rose up behind it. The first badger mole slammed it's paws on the ground and created a crevice around them. 
The badger moles swiped at them.
"Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" Gray created a long-barreled cannon from ice and fired cannonballs made of ice at the badger moles.
They created a rock wall to block the cannonballs. Erza slashes through the rock wall with her swords and then tried to slash at one of the badger moles but it swiped at her. The swordswoman was forced to dodge and retailate. While Gray and Erza engaged the badger moles Wendy ran to assist them but was sent flying back causing her fingers to hit a string on the lute and a note resonated throughout the cave. Both the badger moles stopped attacking when they heard the noise.
Sokka picked up the guitar while not looking away from the badger mole. Then he started to pluck the same cord repeatedly. 
"Hey! They're music lovers." Chong assumed.
While Sokka played the guitar Wendy began to sing.
"Badger moles coming toward us. We could use your help here." Wendy sang to Chong.
"The big bad badger moles that Earthbend the tunnels, hate the wolf-bats, but love the sounds!" Chong sings.
The badger moles started to sway to the sounds of the music as they enjoyed it.
Lucy, Aang, Natsu and Katara were still looking up at the ceiling in wonder. 
"They're made of some kind of crystal." Natsu said.
"They must only light up in the dark." Aang added.
"That's how the two lovers found each other." Katara guessed.
"Right. They just put out their lights and followed the crystals." Lucy looked from the direction they had come and then to where the crystals led. She saw another door at the end.
"That's the exit!" She happily said and Grace barked with joy.
"So...uh." Natsu began to say before Katara cut him off.
"Let's go!" Katara ran for the exit with Lucy right behind her.
Aang and Natsu stare at them before they shake their heads and smile before following the girls. They made it outside with Appa in the lead. When he could feel the breeze of the wind against his fur, Appa stood on his back legs with a groan before falling on his back in sheer bliss. 
"Wait. What about the others?" Lucy asked.
Suddenly, everything started to rumble and the four looked back to the tunnel. Appa rolled back to his feet as two explosions erupted from the mountain side. The four braced themselves from the wind before seeing a giant badger mole standing in front of them with a growl. Erza, Gray, Wendy, Ray, Sokka and Chong were on it's back.
"Guys!" Katara shouted as the six slid off the badger mole's shoulders and stepped away from the earthbending beasts. They ran up to their friends.
"How did you get out?" Sokka asked.
"Just like the legend says, we let love lead the way." Aang answered.
"Really? We let two ferocious beasts lead our way out." Gray turned to the badger moles and waved goodbye with the nomads as they turned and walked back into the tunnels. The badgermoles growled as they disappeared into the darkness and used their earthbending to seal up the two new tunnels.
"Hey big guy. You miss us?" Happy asked. Appa just gave a soft growl as Momo flew to Appa and started chittering at the larger animal and Grace about the whole ordeal.
"I'm glad you guys got out safely as well." Erza said.
"Us too." Lucy nodded.
"Wait. Why are Sokka and Gray's foreheads all red?" Katara asked looking at their foreheads.
"You don't want to know." Ray told her.
"Nobody react from what I'm about to tell you: I think Arrowhead might be the Avatar and I think yellow-haired girl might be that prophesied Celestial Mage." Chong said pointing to Aang and Lucy. 
Sokka and Gray face palmed again and enlarged their red spots.
"So you are guys going to Omashu with us?" Aang asked.
"Nope." Moku answered.
"Okay then. Thanks for everything guys." Lucy said.
The four nomads started to walk off to who knew where. Before he parted with the other four, Chong decided to bestow gifts to Gray and Sokka.
"Sokka, I hope you learned something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey." Chong said, hugging him.
"Just play your songs." Sokka replied, annoyed.
"Hey! Good idea." Chong said as he released Sokka. Then turning to walk away, he started to strum the guitar. The team came to stand together as Chong started to sing. Everyone smiled even Sokka and Gray, despite their annoyance with the nomads.
Later on the gang walked up the mountain side leading to Omashu. ShineGreymon and Omnimon then came into view.
"The journey was long and annoying." Sokka said.
"But at least we finally get to see what it's really about. Our destination." Lucy added.
"Speaking of which, you're not gonna like what you guys are about to see." ShineGreymon told them.
"I present to you guys the Earth Kingdom city of O..." Sokka was interrupted by Lucy.
"Oh no." Lucy gasped. ShineGreymon wasn't kidding that they wouldn't like what they would see. Omashu had been taken over by the Fire Nation. The most worrying part was the giant insignia of the Fire Nation on a flag over the front gate.