Prelude II
The dance party was a great success! Everyone enjoyed themselves, including Aang. And especially Katara. Sokka…may have enjoyed it. Aang couldn't tell, as Sokka refused to take off his Wang Fire beard.
Appa landed once they were far away from the village and everyone quickly got out their sleeping bags. Routine as always, despite the unusual evening.
Aang, as usual, sat on Appa's back. Shuffling through their supplies, he handed Katara her bag, smiling at her, and then he found his usually spot on Appa's saddle, very ready for a good night's sleep.
"Um…Aang?" He heard Katara's voice.
"Yes!" He leapt up, suddenly finding plenty of energy. He always had enough energy for her.
"Is this yours?" Katara handed Aang the aged book he found in the school's library. Aang frowned.
"Uh…yeah. Thanks Katara." He took it from her. Katara smiled and turned away without saying goodbye.
Aang looked at the book. The cover said…
The Last Memoirs of Kuto-Ma, the Shaman of the Sun Warriors during the Era of the Green Hawk.
…and it looked like it was hundreds of years old.
Aang paused. With all the dancing, he had forgotten about his interest in the Sun Warriors. Everything else had happened so quickly that he forgot that he still had the book.
He remember briefly back when he was at the Southern Air Temple, how he used to read every night to help him sleep. Stories of heroes, text books of philosophy, picture scrolls for fun. He hadn't read for fun since before he was frozen.
Aang peaked over the giant saddle and saw each of his friends going to sleep. He made sure they didn't see him.
Then, delicately, he opened to the ancient text. Dust fell off it and the pages themselves creaked as he turned to the first page and began reading…
New chapter tomorrow