Hey guys!
This popped into my head from a one-liner, and I decided to try and turn it into a one-shot!
DISCLAIMER - I know who own avatar! Mike and Brian. I think. YAY! TAKE THAT LAWYERS!
Read on, my brave warriors!
If you asked anyone whether they had ever met the young fifteen-year-old Avatar, you would normally get the same answer: Yes, I have met him.
Aang had been everywhere with his friends since he'd been unfrozen – he'd visited the Southern Water Tribe, the Northern Water Tribe, he'd been to Ba Sing Se, the Fire Nation, Kyoshi Island…even the little village in the middle of the 'secret river' had been stamped with his presence. And Aang had met many people along the way.
His fight with the Firelord on the shores of the Earth Kingdom hadn't gone unnoticed either. Little had he known it, but many thousands of Earth Kingdom people, fleeing the raging fires had stopped and turned as they saw Aang appear. They'd stood and watched in wonder as Aang and the Firelord fought, each of them for a different future of the world.
So, naturally, many people had met the Avatar.
But if you asked them what he was like, you would get thousands of different answers. It all depended on who you asked.
If you asked a noble of either the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, or the Northern Water tribe, and you would probably be told he was powerful, strong plus some nonsense about how important he was. No one who'd met Aang in a peace meeting ever knew him well at all.
Go down a level, to the citizens of each of the country's capitals, and they would say: "He's a hero."
Go down even further, to the people you find in villages and towns, in the icy huts of the Southern Water tribe, and you might find they know a little more of his character, "A nice boy," someone like Aunt Wu would say, "but his destiny is great…he has a lot to live up to. A lot of expectations."
Expectations. That's what it is. Thousands and thousands of people living in the world depending on Aang to do what hasn't been done for the past one hundred years. Make peace.
And all these people have different expectations of what he'll do, when he'll do it, and what he'll be like WHEN he does it.
None of these people actually know Aang. Sure, they know the Avatar…but none of them know AANG.
Only seven people in the world could actually and truthfully say they knew him. Only seven were on proper first name terms with the young Avatar.
Only four of them knew who he really was. And only one of them knew him completely.
Ask Toph, the greatest Earthbender in the world, a legend in her own right, and she would say: "Twinkletoes?" she would say seriously, crossing her arms and glaring blindly at whoever was asking, "He doesn't like fighting, he doesn't like conflict…Aang is a great bender, but I like him despite that."
Another person you could ask was the Firelord himself. The relationship between the Avatar and the Firelord was certainly a strange one. Many people didn't understand how they could be friends, but they certainly were.
Ask Firelord Zuko, and he would say, a thoughtful expression on his scarred face, "Aang? Well, he's more than the Avatar…I never thought he would be, but he's a great person too."
The last two you could ask – if you could get to them – were two Southern Water 'peasants' (as they were called by many). Sokka and Katara; son and daughter of Hakoda, Chief of the Southern Water tribe.
Stories and tales circulated about these two; they were less well known than Aang, but nevertheless, people knew who they were. One was a master waterbender, fierce and loyal, beautiful and, some would say, slightly frightening. The other was a master swordsman, just as loyal and fierce as his sister (they both possessed the same fire of spirit) yet extremely sarcastic, humorous (or so he thought) and, if you asked some of the girls he'd met, not that bad looking either.
These were the two who'd been with him since the beginning.
Ask Sokka and you would probably get one serious answer out of him before he started out on the jokes. "Aang? He's a good kid." That one sentence spoke more about Aang than the endless raptures from poets and songwriters.
Then there was Katara.
You rarely saw Katara without Aang. Or Aang without Katara.
The two were inseparable, and were quickly becoming one of the world's most glorified couples. Aang and Katara was a name spoken at many of the parties thrown by various kings, Firelord, nobles…they were invited to each and every one, and they came to each and every one, though not because they had to. They came because they enjoyed it, and because they loved to dance.
Whispers would circulate around the room when they were announced. All eyes would turn as the Avatar and his seventeen-year-old partner entered the room, arm in arm. Everyone would mutter to their neighbour, commenting on how beautiful Katara was, or how handsome Aang was.
They certainly were quite the couple. Katara had gained herself quite a reputation too. Once, supporters of the old Firelord Ozai, who had slipped through the net Zuko had cast out through the firenation, devised a plot to kill the Avatar, and had ambushed Aang and Katara on their way home to the Southern Air Temple from the monthly peace meeting in Firelord Zuko's palace. Needless to say, all thirty of the firebender assassins had been found frozen to the floor outside Zuko's front door.
When Zuko asked Aang about it, Aang had laughed and said, "I had nothing to do with it. It was all Katara."
Katara was the one who knew Aang better than anyone. And if you asked her, "Lady Katara, what's Aang like?" she would reply, smiling:
"Aang? He's just…Aang," she would shrug and add, "He's my Aang."
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TTFN folks!
Love, ATO xxxx