Vulnerability
Sometimes, in the darkness of night while everyone was asleep and when he found himself wide awake, he wandered far away from campsite to be alone. In this particular night, the wind was blowing particularly harshly. Odd, considering nights were when the wind settled and yesterday had been a perfect sunny day.
Aang didn't notice this as he walked stiffly to a cliff his eyes had found. His jaw was clenched tightly, his hands balled into fists as one thought after another surfaced in his mind.
Where was I when the Air Nomads were being struck down? He thought, tears prickling his eyes. Where was I when they fought and defended our home?
He arrived at the cliff, staring at the vast blue waves of the ocean below. He thought about the one hundred years when the world was at war and everything that he had caused by simply running away. How many deaths had he unwillingly caused? He had been weak and afraid, but the world did not deserve to pay for his mistakes.
Where was I when they all needed my help?
"Gone," he whispered to himself, dropping to the ground on his knees. "I'm sorry..." his voice cracked and his vision blurred. "I'm so sorry, everyone. It's all my fault..." he said to the howling wind.
The wind picked up, swirling around him furiously. Aang couldn't even feel it. The ocean waves crashed loudly with the cliff he was on and the sky appeared to darken as clouds suddenly covered the bright stars.
The sadness, the anger, the guilt, the shame – he couldn´t simply let it go this time. It was all too much.
So he let himself cry.
And the sky, the ocean, the moon and the wind cried with him.