'Ello everyone! I'm back again, sorry it took so long. I come up with this idea…. Sometime yesterday I think. Five quotes on a certain subject, this one being life and age, and then five stories about them. And what better than AtLA fan fiction? 8D Oh, and just so you know, the last quote I'm going to try to write myself. You guys are welcome to try this too, whether it is for Avatar or not I don't care, you can do this for anything if you want -
Disclaimer: Yep! I own Avatar! That's why I'm writing fan fiction! -holds up sarcasm sign-
"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A five year-old Katara sat, smiling, on the frosty bank. Hakoda sat down beside her. "What are you so happy about Katara?" He asked, noting her large smile. She turned to him. "Because the moon is happy, so why should I not be happy?" Hakoda, more than a little confused, asked her why. In response she rolled her eyes, "If the moon was not happy, it would not come out of its home in the clouds to watch over us. If you're happy, you want to spread your happiness. And the moon brings happiness, does it not?" Hakoda smiled, pulling his daughter into his arms.
A twenty year-old Katara sat, smiling, on the bank of the turtle duck pond. Zuko sat down beside her. "What are you so happy about Katara?" He asked, noting her large smile. She turned to him. "I don't know. It's something about the moon, but I can't put words to it." Zuko smiled, pulling his wife into his arms.
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"The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want."
-Ben Stein
The group of children sat under a large tree, enjoying the view. It had been a long day for all of them, each taking turns training the Avatar. In the morning Zuko had taught him firebending, then Toph had trained him for earthbending, then Sokka with non-bending, and when the moon rose he had practiced waterbending with Katara.
For a while now they had sat in silence, enjoying the small breeze and the star speckled sky. Toph decided to break the silence. "What is it that you guys want most? I mean we all want the war to be over, I know that, but once it's over, what then?" Toph knew they had all heard her, but the silence continued. The truth was that they had been so focused on the upcoming battle that none of them had stopped to think about themselves, or what would happen after the war. That no one knew what they really wanted.
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"The purpose of life is to fight maturity."
-Dick Werthimer
Aang rolled around in the green grass. Toph watch from Appa's head, sighing at his immaturity. What other eighteen year old boy would you find playing in the grass? Not many. She climbed down from the large bison's head and made her way over to Aang and Momo. She stopped and crossed her arms, kicking him lightly in the ribs. He stopped. "What was that for?" She sighed, "For being so immature." He smirked.
"Who said I wanna' be mature."
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"You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing."
-Michael Pritchard
Even now, at the age of seventy, Aang felt as young as ever. He still did everything he did as a kid, so why pretend he was an old man already. He still learned new things everyday, only now about different topics. He still loved life, and lived it to the best of his ability. And most important, he still laughed. He still laughed when Momo Jr. ate Sokka's food. He still laughed when Toph beat the crap out of someone for stepping on her foot. And he laughed when he watched all of his grandkids playing.
It seemed to him that as long as he kept laughing, life would go on.
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"Humans are not the only animals to grieve, but they are the only animals who can't seem to move on."
It had been years sense Avatar Aang's death, but to Toph, it still seemed so unreal. Every morning she would get up and expect to find him in the kitchen, or sitting in the garden with Appa. Every afternoon the small lemurs would come scuttling up to her for their lunch, not him. And every night before bed, she would look into the eyes of the elderly sky bison, still imagining flying atop his head and traveling the world. It was amazing, as it seemed like yesterday that they were both flying on Appa's head and he had proposed. But that was over fifty-six years ago, and so much had changed. They no longer traveled the world; she was stuck in this little house. This little old house that felt so empty without him, even though it was hardly empty at all. Many creatures, from flying lemurs to polar dogs, inhabited their home. Aang had once told her that it was unfair for any living creature to live without a home, so they had taken in all the stray animals they had found.
But what amazed Toph about the animals was how little they grieved. Their newest additions had looked for him for about a day, but after that they acted as though he had never existed. Animals they had for a while, such as Momo Jr., had searched for him for about a week, before seeming to understand he wasn't coming back. Appa, who had known Aang since the age of seven, had grieved for two long months. He had barely eaten and had gotten very ill. He had even rejected Toph completely for a little while, refusing to even acknowledge her. Then one day, he had given Toph 'the look' as she called it. The look that said he had moved on, and that she should too. And now? He still looks when she says Aang's name, he still knows who he was, but… he's just… not sad. Toph had always been able to tell the large bison's feeling easily, heck, his heart was enormous! But, now, he never felt sad. She never felt his heart faulter, or pick up its speed. He never seemed to let it bother him.
And now, on this night, as Toph lies in her bed, she feels envious of the old bison.
That he could move on and she couldn't.