Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA
I am a fan of Avatar the Last Airbender, but to be suddenly taken from your world and to enter the Avatar Verse, it's just like some classic Fan Fiction Self intrest. It's creepy to think about, but that's all I've been thinking about lately, because that's exactly what happened to me. Sure I am excited to be wearing some air nomad clothes, and being able to airbend is pretty cool, but why me? The spirits had taken me from my world and trained me in the arts of air bending until they were satisfied that I had mastered my element. They said the reason they picked me was because my soul was that of an airbender, when I thought about I noticed they were right. I thought that all life was sacred, I love nature, and I do have a feeling that if all the air nomads where alive I would have fit right in.
The spirits of the wind have thought me a lot and I liked them, I didn't even hold a grudge that they had taken me away from my family … I seriously have a naïve mind. I face palmed myself.
"Rin why did you hurt yourself all of a sudden?" asked the spirit wind Mahi.
"Oh nothing Mahi I'm fine I'm just drifting off into space, you know me, humans are strange we do strange things," I assure her with a wide smile.
"That sure is true your kind is very strange the humans from your world even stranger, talking to nothing but air having their nose stuck in a flat like rock, driving in those machine's instead of walking and-"
"Mahi please don't continue," I begged. I have tried to explain to her modern electronics but that was impossible it was just too much of a hassle.
"Well I guess that's enough for today," Mahi said as we stood up and I bowed to her, and then left the spirit world. My eyes open from my meditating position and I stretch and my hands reach up at the sky and then my eyes move to the deserted Southern Air Temple.
Flashback
It was night when I found myself scared and alone. I walked around the empty temple calling out for someone to answer me, but there was no one. The moon was up and it gave me some light, so it calmed me down slightly, but then I saw a shadow and I was jumpy. I stood my ground as the shadow moved and it seemed to be coming my way and as the shadow moved and grew bigger and the suspense was just killing me when the entity then showed itself and it was…. Momo.
"Hey buddy," I say as Momo then appears in my shoulder eating some fruit, I giggle at his messy eating and cooing, I pet him and then we head to the temple, so I can practice my air bending. Though Mahi has acknowledged me as mastery of air bending to have the tattoos, I still practice.
"Hello Appa," I greet and continue walking and then I pause and back petal. "Appa!" Yup that's right Aang's Flying Bison was here! That meant that they were here, people where here in this temple. I ran all over the temple looking, searching. I have been alone, only with Momo for company, I needed to see humans, and I suddenly noticed how long it has been without human contact. I've just been so concentrated in air bending. It has been one long month and more than half of that was in the spirit world, learning air bending katas that came so naturally. Mahi had said I was a prodigy and it felt good to be acknowledged by her. And she helped so much in transferring me into this world, but human contact…
I had reached the Avatar Shrine, and I nervously walked up to the open doors. I had never dared open them in my stay here so to see them open made my heart flutter, they were here.
"The Fire Nation," I hear them whisper as I notice them hiding behind the Avatar statues. Aang then poke his head out from behind the statue of Avatar Roku and when he saw me his eyes widen and he dashed to me. His staff fell as his body tackled me, my staff slipped from my hand and fell on the floor following his. Aang's small arms hugged my waist, and I hugged him back. He no longer was the last airbender.
"I thought I was the last one," he said and then pushed away to look at me with a wide grin, "Are there more? Are we hiding?" he asked and then my heart broke and I whispered "No it is just you and I," I said sadly. Aang's smile fell and his hope shatters. I put my arm at his shoulder and get down on my knees to be in his height and I pull him in to my body and hug him, and he hugs me back.
"I guess we're the last ones?" he whispers into my ear and I hug him a little tighter.
"Yeah," I said as we both comfort each other, and then Momo cuddles into Aang and coos.
"A flying lemur," Aang said with a smile and Momo then gets on Aang shoulder and Aang feels much better with Momo cheering him up, I smile down at him.
"My name is Rin what is yours young airbender?" I ask even though I know the answer.
"Aang," Aang smiles back and then turns around to introduce his friends. "Rin this is Katara and Sokka they're from the Southern Water Tribe," Aang says.
"Nice to meet you," I say and Katara offer her hands and I grab it and pull her in a big hug.
"I've been alone for quite some time, with no human contact," I tell them as I then push away from Katara as I noticed her discomfort and then grab Sokka and give him a hug as well. He was blushing under me and then his stomach growled and he turned even redder.
"You must be all really hungry, there is some melons and berries in the back of the temple, they have grown wild but they have been able to sustain me and Momo for a while," I explain as I release him to guide him to the food.
"You don't happen to have meat have you?" Sokka asked. I then look at Aang and give him "Is he serious look?" he just smiles back.
"I am a vegetarian," I tell Sokka.
"Aww common are all airbenders vegetarian?" asked Sokka.
"Yes we are Sokka," Aang says, I smile at them and then gesture for them to follow.
"To the food, meat guy," I say cheerfully as we start walking.
"So how did you survive?" Katara said.
"Well actually the spirits say I have the spirit of an air bender and that they awakened my air bending, they brought me here to this temple and they've been teaching me, learning the art in the spirit world and practicing it here. It has been fun, but lonely," I tell them.
"Don't worry Rita you have us now," Aang said and I smiled back at him. I could see that Aang was confused about my answer, but even so either way I was still an Airbender. I guess Aang didn't feel that alone anymore.
"You're so sweet Aang," I tell him, "You should meet Mahi she's gets a little irritated about humans at first, but she then starts warming up at you."
"You're spiritually aware?" asks Aang.
"Of course I have been touched by the spirits, they're pretty friendly once you get to know them and they do gossip awful lot," I tell them.
"They do?" asks Katara and I nod.
"For example," I say as I turn to face them and then point at Aang, "You're the Avatar."
"You knew?" he asked as he seemed to shy away.
"Yup I knew," I say cheerfully but then slide back to Aang and put my arm around him. "Just to warn you I know a lot of stuff, so don't freak out okay?"
"No that's okay, I won't freak out," Aang said as he tried to assure me, but the things I knew. I was sure I wouldn't be able to explain, as far as it being really far-fetched the spirits also won't let me tell them the fact about the multiverse and that I was from a world where they were only a fictional story. I couldn't interfere that much. I was in a tight leash, things can change and for the better or worse.
"The way you said you knew a lot of stuff-"
"Sokka don't push it," Katara jabbed at her brother and I just smiled at his suffering, it was fun to see sibling bickering at each other.
"Well we have arrived," I said as the wild garden extends to the end of the cliff, which was pretty big. Sokka's tummy growled more and he happily jumped to the garden to satisfy his appetite.
"Sokka don't eat too fast," Katara said as she went to aid her starving brother, I giggled and Momo flew off to join them.
"Rin," called Aang I immediately turned to him.
"Did the Fire Nation really kill all our people?" he asked. "I haven't seen any trace of them here," Aang said.
"You're in denial?" I tell him as I then look back at him.
"Yeah I am I mean, it's just," Aang paused took a very sad sigh, he was sulking.
"For you it was just yesterday that they were here, your life has been flipped completely upside down," I help him come up with the words that explained what he was feeling.
"Yeah that's right. How did you know?" Aang asked confused. He gave me that look like he was wary, 'Was Rin a mind reader?'
"I have a strong feelings of empathy and also know the feeling of life flipping upside down so suddenly, it's happened to me, and it says it all in your face" I answer.
"But they're still gone," he adds sadly.
"Yeah," the kid was still in denial, I wanted to assure him that one day they'll be back, but I couldn't tell him.
"Are you hungry?" I asked with as much enthusiasm, still trying to cheer him up in some way, we were airbenders nothing can get us down, and we weren't going to brood like some emo Uchiha.
At the mention of food Aang's tummy growled and Aang blushed and scratched his head nervously. He nodded at me and we then headed toward Sokka, Katara's and Momo.
...
"So the spirits gave you airbending how does that work?" Sokka asked as we have all gathered food in the back steps, lying down feeling the sun in our faces even though there was some snow around.
"Gather around everyone I guess I feel like telling you the origin of bending," I say with cheeky smile. "You have to first hear about this story to understand mine," I pause as they look at me interested as they snacked on some berries, nodding on me to go on. Man they were like children, my smile fell, and they are children. They looked surprised at my sudden change.
"Long ago when humans where not benders, the spirits roamed the land, and humans lived in giant lion turtles," I began.
"Are you serious, Giant Lion Turtle?" puffed Sokka in disbelief.
"Giant Lion turtles kept humans on their shell, a whole city stood tall and humans lived safely," I continued.
Aang whistled, "They must have been huge to carry an entire city," Aang noted as he imagined the turtle.
"This story doesn't sound believable," Sokka scoffed.
I smiled noting that Sokka was thinking logically, didn't feel all that annoyed that he kept interrupting, Sokka just had too much of a reality set of mind.
Katara jabbed at Sokka's gut and gave him a look to behave and then waved her hand for me to continue.
"This story isn't just the origin in bending this is the story of a revolution and of the first Avatar," this being said caught Aang's attention the most.
"The story begins with Wan…" I grin and then recall his story to them.