I thought it would be interesting concept to do and stories with Ty Lee and Aang as friends or a couple are few in number and usually left unfinished. The beginning might be slow but I hope you will enjoy it. I am happy to receive any criticism that will improve the writing. There are small changes I made to what happens during the Avatar series to either fit the story better or just out of ignorance. Please forgive me for this.
Chapter 1 Is it Truly Over?
Cutting through the ocean near the southern coast of the Earth Kingdom, Aang could only feel the thrill of his newest game. Alongside that however was his nervousness from the risk he was taking. The airbending part by itself would not real difficult, but using the other three in addition might overburden him. "No point in not trying it," Aang confessed with a sigh.
Increasing his speed through the water on his air scooter, the Avatar started by using waterbending to lift four spheres from the ocean and rotating them around him in a clockwise direction. A good part of his concentration focused to maintain the circles' solid form without freezing their contents. Moving on to the next part, Aang, making an almost 90 degree turn, shot to where dozens of medium sized rocks jutted out of the ocean forming a dotted layer almost a mile long around the northern coast of the island, Kyoshi.
The Avatar then halted his air scooter close to one of the largest stones, bending a large portion from it, making a tall, cylinder. The object, directed with impressive control by Aang, swung incredibly fast and accurately between the balls going around him. After several passes, he aimed the stone rock to collide with an incoming sphere as the cylinder revolved outside the rotation.
With an echoing boom, the missile rocketed away, keeping its solid form while in the air. Though the ball was continuing to rise, it would soon plummet back down. Aang had to move fast. He repeated the same trick, the other three soon following the first sphere in the air. Now only needing to keep the spheres solid, the Avatar ended his earthbending by flinging the stone cylinder away and conjured flames from his palms. He grinned with excitement, this was the best part. Aang proceeded to move with his air scooter, catching up to the water spheres before they hit the ocean.
He started with the first projectile, which was falling rapidly and would land in less than a minute. Aang aiming both of the flames at the plummeting object, shooting them with the right speed to catch the sphere. Almost missing, the flaming projectiles hit the edge but nevertheless it worked! They turned the ball of water into a cloud of steam that hung still for several seconds, then dissipating. The Avatar summoned new flames and moved on to the last three, his fireballs closer to the middle of their target with each sphere.
With the dazzling remnants of his water balls mimicking stars in the afternoon sky, Aang could only marvel at the results his feat for a moment before exhaustion slammed into him. Of course, he realized, mentally hitting himself, he should have known this would happen. He had just started using all four elements together in his climactic duel with Ozai and it was done in the Avatar State. Even with a year of training, Aang rarely bended with them together now, the act almost too difficult to attempt. Deciding to cut his losses, Aang speeded back towards his camp on Kyoshi and rest for the remainder of the day.
The sky was turning dark with only the last shades of pink retreating with the sun into the horizon, and Aang had just finished erecting his camp, though he started working a few hours earlier. He had gone through the tasks slow and distracted, unlike his usual self during his travels more than a year ago but now it seemed to be the norm for him.
With the thrill of the Elemental game long gone and his exhaustion from it disappearing, the dark thoughts that haunted him came back, tendrils slithering through his mind, sweeping him into a painful emptiness. Aang was alone and wherever he went, it seemed all of his friends were hundreds of miles away. Though this is not completely true, Appa lay only a few yards away from him, lying on the side of camp closest to the sinking sun so he could absorb its final rays of heat. However, even with his steadfast flying bison at his side, he still felt the voids left by his human companions.
Aang, the last known airbender alive and current Avatar could not help but think of a special day immediately after the war. What happened was almost a year ago and yet it was on his mind every day when he was not distracted by his duties and games. It was after Gaang succeeded in stopping the Fire Nation's plan to burn the Earth Kingdom. All of his closest friends, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, and Suki, were all still alive and came out with few serious injuries.
With the Firelord surrendering after he lost his bending, Team Avatar worked to free the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in the Fire Nation. Princess Azula, who lost her sanity before her father was defeated, had to be placed in the care of the capital's mental hospital. Zuko's coronation brought everyone up in good spirits as family and friends reunited in the palace courtyard.
Though Aang did not completely forgive himself for his mistakes in the distant and recent past, he was filled with confidence for the promise his generation held for the changed world. Days after the coronation, the group traveled to the recently liberated Ba Sing Se, celebrating their victory at Iroh's tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon. Zuko, much to all of their displeasure, stayed in the Fire Nation to reorganize the government and military.
For Aang, the team's party at the Jasmine Dragon was a warm, bright star that then turned into a black, heavy weight on his mind in a matter of seconds. The day itself was not dreadful entirely; most of the day was actually one of the best that he had ever had. While Iroh and Aang were making what the older man called his best batch of tea, Toph sat leaning on the wall, bored, causing a small green pebble to slide across the floor. Momo, who she evidently was trying to entice, scrambled after it for several minutes, infuriated. As the lemur continued to catch the stone, he noticed two mice nibbling on bread crumbles in a corner and went after them instead.
Sokka and Suki were sitting down at one of the tables, both concentrated on the Pai Sho game between them. Surprisingly, Sokka was able to stay toe to toe with her and several times it seemed he had outmaneuvered Suki and would win. Though when it appeared Sokka's strategy would make him triumphant, the Kyoshi warrior won the game with one unexpected move. Sokka stared at the board with a baffled expression before hitting his head repeatedly against it. Suki then lifted his head from the board and softened his glare with a long kiss, which he happily sunk into.
Meanwhile Katara sat alone; immersed into writing what she called the records of their adventures and quest to save the world. In between tasks, Aang had sneaked glances to appreciate how beautiful she was now. Though he crushed on her even when she wore ragged clothes and grime covered her skin, Katara cleaned up very nicely and Aang remembered how attractive she was in the fashion of Ba Sing Se's elite women. Worst of all were the two times he had kissed her, the first before the invasion and the second after that horrible play before the war ended. Even though Aang wanted to think fondly of those moments, he instead felt regret.
"She is a very pretty girl young Avatar," Iroh commented in a voice only Aang could hear as the older man passed by him, interrupting his thoughts.
He had blushed, knowing it was pointless pretending he had not looked; instead he decided to open up. "I like her, it's just..., I don't think the time's right and what if she still doesn't have the same feelings for me"?
Iroh paused from stirring the tea in the kettle, and then continued with a small, knowing smile. "You could say the time was not right during the war, but now it is over and peace has returned, you have the opportunity to focus on love now. I advise you to seize it, because wait too long, someone else will take it from you. At your age, it is normal to have these insecurities and uncertainties, but one of the steps to growing up is being decisive."
Aang felt the tension that weighed on him disappear and he looked over at Iroh with gratitude. "Thanks Iroh, Zuko is lucky to have an uncle like you." Aang frowned, realizing what he said.
"You must miss him greatly. Will you be okay here alone"?
Iroh did not respond, instead going over to the tea kettle and taking it off the fire pit. "Our batch is ready, now the real party will begin. Don't worry about an old man such as me, I am happy and content. You go make sure you do the same with yours."
When Iroh and Aang came out of the kitchen and set the kettle onto a circular table that could allow all of them to sit together, though Iroh excused himself to his quarters upstairs. He wanted to give the teenage friends their space. Hours flew by as they recalled past adventures and each individual stated what they would do in the future.
Suki was returning to Kyoshi Island with her Kyoshi warriors, Sokka coming along to spend time with her and to assist her village in planning out their next expansion. Toph talked excitedly about how she would start teaching metalbending to other advanced Earthbenders. It became her ambition to pass on the skill after she learned it during their misadventures in Ba Sing Se months ago.
Aang admitted he was unsure of what his position required of him in peacetime except to keep the separate nations from disrupting the balance once again and improving himself in the three elements he had not yet mastered. When Katara's turn came, she hesitated, pain weighing down on her. She revealed her decision to return with her father the South Pole to start rebuilding their former settlement. With this everyone sobered and turned away, the friends faced the truth. They were going to be separated after a year of working together.
The Gaang tried to regain their former vigor and celebratory spirit but soon slowly parted, except for Aang and Katara. The latter went outside and stared at the night sky as if she was hopelessly searching for answers in the stars. Aang, slumped in his chair, gazing at Katara through the open door, glued down by indecisiveness that has appeared more and more lately in his life. Then, without fully realizing what he was doing, the Avatar rose from his seat and strode over to join her.
The two friends stood together on the front porch of the Dragon, silent as both of them were now stuck in a very awkward situation. Aang tried with all of his will to say something that was at not stupid and embarrassing, but his mind was left blank. Thankfully Katara saved him by speaking first.
"It's nice to see the city being rebuilt after what happened."
Aang smiled at the observation and a thought came to him, glad for the distraction.
"If Ba Sing Se can be rebuilt, then maybe we will be able to do the same for the rest of the world."
"You could even restore the Air Nomad civilization," she added, catching his optimistic mood.
Aang frowned and look down at his feet. A whole culture lost for a century, with him as the only airbender left?
"I don't think it can be done, not by myself."
Katara gently pushed his head up and wrapped her arms around him.
"You have us, you're not alone in this, and I'll personally help when I can. We all will."
"Thank you Katara, I could have never saved the world alone without you guys, especially you."
She tensed at that and tried to brush it off as she let go of Aang, but noticing her body language, confusion appeared on his face.
"Is something wrong"? he inquired with his trademark innocence.
"No, but..., I hope you don't mean that you..., have any special feelings for me."
Aang stooped, he had made a stupid mistake, again! Why did he have to be reckless about these kind of things?!
"Oh, I see, you already like someone else," the Avatar said quietly.
"No, I don't like anyone that way, but..."
"But, what"? Aang said rashly, impatience slowly joining the tidal pool of emotions in his mind.
"Aang, you have to make sure the world's transition to harmony is peaceful, and I'm going to go back to my tribe, we can't have that kind of relationship so far away from each other. It would hurt both of us too much."
"That's not the whole truth, is it"? Aang replied calmly, though he felt anger creep into him.
"Only partly," Katara admitted, she paused, as if it were a physical struggle to push the words out, "Aang, you are one the closest people to me and I love you deeply, but only as family, I'm sorry."
He felt all the anger suddenly disappear. His body sunk to the ground, folding onto the stairs, hands resting on his knees for support.
"I'm the one who should be sorry. I tried to ruin our friendship for something that didn't exist in the first place; you just prevented me from doing it."
Katara did not reply, unknown to Aang she was just barely able to keep herself upright and saying the words that would crush both of them.
"I think I should leave early, it would be best for everyone."
Before Aang could stop her, she walked away quickly into the city, leaving him on the steps of the Jasmine Dragon.
The memory came and passed over him like a dark wave during a storm. He did not want to stay in the empty camp lost in his thoughts, so Aang abruptly stood up and carrying his staff he marched along the coastline, lost in the sounds of nature that surrounded him. The area around the cliffside is pocketed with shrubs, small boulders, and thin trees swaying with in coordination with the wind. Stopping to lean on a boulder giving him a good view of the churning ocean, the Avatar once more delved into his mind. Though Aang had been to Kyoshi Island before during his travels the past year, he had only stayed for a couple of days and spent little time with Sokka and Suki. Now the Avatar was free from his obligations for several months, and he desperately wanted to see his friends again.
With these thoughts going through his head, Aang sensed the vibrations coming from the ground just in time to evade. He jumped off the boulder and leaps into the air as his attacker passes under him. He flipped in midair and perched on the rock facing his opponent, ready with his staff. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see it was Ty Lee, wearing her unique pink robes and sash. The unexpected and eccentric visitor, her slender yet subtly muscular resting on her curved hips as she grinned gleefully at him, suddenly charged towards him again.
It will take more time to post the second chapter because my house's interior is being remodeled so I will have limited to no access to the internet. I would very much appreciate help with upcoming action scenes because I am mediocre at planning and describing them. About Katara…, though this is a Ty Lee/Aang fanfic, she will not be sidelined in the story and I promise to make her a major part of the series, with no love triangles! Review and follow if you want to catch the next chapter when it comes out. Bye Everyone!
-Welly of the Grunts