The seventeen-year-old boy looked out of the window at the Northern Air Temple. He didn't know how long he'd been gone, but he knew it was longer than expected. Shivering, he pulled a blanket around his shoulders and looked up at the clouds. Looking at them always reminded him of her, the one he had left.

Nights were always the hardest. He knew that his waterbending was the strongest then, and so was hers. Also, during the day everything was full of life. The animals were awake, villagers were going about their business, children were playing, etc. But at night, everyone was asleep- except Aang. He hadn't properly slept in years. He didn't even remember the last time he had slept the entire night.

Momo, now an old and lazy lemur (not frisky and young like he used to be), was curled up at Aang's feet. Appa was a little ways away, snoring loudly enough to possibly take the avatar's mind off of the world he left. Sighing, he brushed some black hair out of his face. He hadn't cut it in a while, and his hair grew fast. He hadn't really done anything in a while. He had finished up helping the world with his avatar ways a little while ago, but he was always held up because there was some village that needed help, some lost traveler dying of hunger, some trapped animal begging to be set free. They never realized that he was trying to go home, trying to find her.

Looking away from the sky just a moment gave the clouds time to cover up the moon, thus making it so that Aang couldn't see. He lit a torch nearby without getting up, letting the golden orange glow soothe his troubled mind. Screwing his eyes shut, he saw a flash of orange light from beneath his eyelids… and her falling to the ground. It was the first time he'd firebended. He buried his head in his hands. Why did everything remind him of her? He felt a small wet nose on his foot and opened his eyes to see that Momo had woken up. A small glint in the lemur's eyes showed that he was hungry. Aang smiled and pulled some berries out of his sack.

Looking up, he watched the flame dance in the darkness, casting shadows across the stone walls. He sighed again, wondering about her. He tried not to, but he couldn't help thinking that she had moved on. After all, it had been five years. She was nineteen now. She'd probably gone off and gotten married to a man her age. He imagined that she had thrown away his letter long ago, where he still remembered the exact words he wrote. He had wanted so desperately to tell her goodbye, but he knew that his whole team would want to go with him, and he couldn't withhold their futures from them.

And though it pained him to think it, he actually hoped that she had moved on. He couldn't imagine what he'd find if he did come across her one day. He knew he'd have to go back to the South Pole someday. He was the avatar, after all. He had avoided the Fire Nation and all of the remote places in the Earth Kingdom, as well as the South Pole, in case he ran into one or more of his old friends. Groaning, the teen lay down on the cold floor and closed his eyes. However, the cold was too much for him to fall asleep and he sat up again. The torch was fading now, but at the same time going strong. He looked back up at the moon that was now no longer covered by clouds. In fact, the sky was clear now.

Appa opened his giant eyes and yawned, looking over at Aang. Smiling weakly at his bison, Aang yawned. He looked out at the sky. The torchlight was diminishing now, but it didn't matter. A single tear rolled down his face, because the sun was rising. And he still wasn't home.