A/N: Ok so this is probably the randomest thing I've ever written. But I had to read Macbeth for English and there was this really cute quote that I liked. It goes:
Lady Macduff: Sirrah, your father's dead. And what will you do now? How will you live?
Son: As birds do, mother.
I absolutely LOVED the son's line and that was the inspiration for this story. (I just put in the mother's line so you get the context.) And this is set 100 years ago, before Aang was in the iceberg. So ya, I hope u enjoy!
As the Birds Do "What's it like?" The young firebender looked at his friend intently."What?" Aang asked, a bit taken aback by the question.
"Being an airbender," Kuzon replied. He'd known Aang for most of his life, and they were the best of friends, but he never quite understood him. Kuzon had been raised in the Fire Nation, where honor and power were everything. He did not understand the carefree lives of the airbenders.
"Well, it's fun, I guess," Aang said, scratching his head. He'd never really thought about it before.
"But what's it like?" Kuzon insisted. Aang thought for a moment.
"Will it's kind of like being a bird," he said with a smile. "It's like flying through the air, feeling the wind rush around you. It's like … freedom."
"But you don't have a family or a king. Who do you follow? Who do you obey? How do you know what to do?" Kuzon had been raised to believe in loyalty and responsibility. He could not let his family or his nation down.
Aang seemed confused.
"I have a family," he insisted. "I have all the monks and the airbenders. And we don't need a king. We don't need to follow anyone, just the air." He laughed whipping the air around him as he jumped and spun around. But when he landed, Kuzon's face remained troubled.
"We're so different," he said sadly. Aang took a long look at him.
"I don't think so," he responded simply, with a characteristic grin. Kuzon paused a moment, then smile back.
"You're it!" he said, tapping Aang on the arm. He dashed away laughing.
"No fair!" Aang cried. "That was a time out!" He whipped up an air scooter and chased after his Fire Nation friend, a smile on his face.
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Many years later, when the Fire Nation was entrenched in a bitter war against the rest of the world, Kuzon remembered his conversation with his airbender friend.
"What's it like being an airbender?" he'd asked.
"It's kind of like beign a bird," Aang had responded with a smile.
Kuzon often wondered what had happened to Aang. The airbenders had long since been decimated, but the young Avatar was never found. He had disappeared long ago.
The destruction of the airbenders weighed heavily on Kuzon's heart. Aang had truly been his best friend. But he had a duty to the Fire Nation. Honor, power, and loyalty were everything. What could he do?
Kuzon looked mournfully at the sky. He wished that he too could live like a bird, and simply fly away.
A/N: Review! Please!