Obligatory Disclaimer: Avatar isn't mine, and to an extent, Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Yeah.
Like the first oneshot, Imma gonna add a coat of edit here in a day. I just wanted to post this now.
Kuei heard the screams of indiscriminate joy issuing from tens of thousands of mouths before he heard the news, so he already knew what the exhausted messenger had to say when he arrived tired, breathless, and in dire need of a good shower. In a grave travesty to tradition, Kuei himself took the scroll off the poor man's hands, and granted him the shower he sorely needed. One look at the scroll, and he began barking commands to his wide-eyed advisors. They had three days to prepare for the largest and grandest celebration in over a hundred years.
Of course, in three days, the Avatar arrived. The main road that stretched from the outer wall to the Palace itself was packed with people waiting with anticipation the arrival of the Avatar and his group, who will be carried by a covered carriage all the way to the palace, preceded by soldiers and heralds and boar-q-pines (nothing says get the hell out of my way than a pair of trained boar-q-pines, Kuei explained), where they will be presented to Kuei and his advisors in the presence of all of Ba Sing Se. An orchestra started playing when the carriage stopped, and the cheers grew louder and louder.
And amid the chaos, Kuei approached the carriage and threw open its doors at the crescendo of the trumpets. The cheers reached a climax, and the crowds bustled with activity, each one determined to see the Avatar in all his glory.
But nothing was inside. Except a winged lemur that climbed up Kuei's head.
The crowds went silent, completely stunned by the fact that their heroes, their saviors, were simply not there. The band faded a few moments later on a very flat note, and the slightest noise carried over the entire assembly. A baby cried in the uncomfortable silence. An old man cleared his throat. A kid wanted the lemur as a pet.
The lemur had a small note in its hand, hastily scrawled in the Avatar's familiar hand, that stunned Kuei even more than the mere fact that they were not there. He recovered badly, and shakily read the note to the expectant public.
Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us.
Putting the letter down, Kuei had to laugh, and he did. Rather, it was less than a laugh and more of a guffaw, for the next moment he realized his subjects were staring blankly at him. He tried to think a way out of his predicament, but found that he couldn't.
For some reason that made him feel a whole lot better than before.
Much farther away, somewhere more south, more lush, and definitely more quiet, and quite in the middle of nowhere in fact, the missing Avatar was underneath a tree. Not just any tree, but a tree on a hill, where the Avatar could be found staring at the skies with a wistful expression on his face. He drank slowly and lazily a cup of hot ginseng tea, but still he felt a restless poke in his seat that made it uncomfortable to relax. It turned out to be a rock that he bended away like a small bullet into the the distance.
"It's finally over." He whispered, but more to himself than to anyone else. Toph had already fallen asleep beside him moments ago. He could barely hearing her light snoring over the rustling of leaves.
Aang felt tired, exhausted even. But it was a marvelous form of exhaustion, as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Indeed it was, though he still found it hard to believe. They actually managed it, against all odds, to defeat Ozai and Azula. It seemed almost surreal.
"You still talking about that?" Toph mumbled in reply. She was still awake, but barely. Aang smiled, and poked her playfully. Toph grumbled and batted his hand away.
"Hey Toph."
"What now Twinkletoes?"
"You think Kuei will be mad at us?"
"We'll just tell him you had Avatar stuff to do. Now let me sleep."
"...good idea."
They lapsed into a relaxed silence, and in a few moments, Toph finally did fall asleep on his shoulder. The scent of soft jasmine and the long ebony locks almost overwhelmed his already drowsy senses, and Aang had to sigh contently. With a soft smile, he placed the half-filled cup of tea down to the ground, and allowed himself the smallest luxury of a moment's sleep.
He had a good dream that day.
A/N: This came to me in a dream and a book, Stardust (preparing for the movie), and yeah. I think I'll use this as part of the ending of Destiny's Edge.
Speaking of which, Destiny's Edge will have to stop until the midterm season is over, but I might squeeze in enough scenes that could be a chapter to post. Otherwise, don't expect anything from there. There's also the problem with the White Lotus. I might have to retcon some stuff to nerf them down. Eh.
Review. Come on...the big CW (creative writing) pass-or-you-drop exam is in a week or so. Gah. Haha. I'll just post this now, since I'm leaving in five minutes. Oh well.
Review!