Aang awoke to something pushing against his chest. He shoved it away, but, apparently irritated by his lack of movement, it started nudging him all the harder. Aang put his arms over his face just to have them jerked back again.
"What?" He groaned, sitting up to face the sightless eyes that were waiting next to him. The girl instantly leapt away from him, and waited for him to get her food at a safe distance.
Aang had found the girl was very intelligent. She would learn things from just 'watching' him do it once. He wasn't quite too sure what powers she had to be able to see as well as she did when she was blind.
Despite her sharp intelligence she hadn't uttered a word despite all the prompting he'd given her. He had the growing suspicion that she was beginning to understand him, and knew the words to answer his questions, but, yet, she still remained quiet.
Aang pushed himself to his feet, and walked towards the bag of food that the girl could have easily gotten herself. She had this strange territorial view on things. The things that she viewed as his, which was pretty much everything, she wouldn't touch. The things she viewed as hers, which consisted of his blanket, and a spot on Oppa's saddle, were off limits to him.
He pulled out a bundle of dried fruit, and tossed it to her. She caught it without any trouble. She ripped into it, and shoved down the food. Aang couldn't help feel his pockets grow lighter as the girl ate more than a man during each meal.
She wolfed down all, but two pieces of fruit, and with those remaining pieces she trotted over to the groggy flying bison. Oppa raised his head, and gave a fond grunt. The girl grinned, and held out the pieces of fruit in her open palm.
The bison opened his large mouth, and swiped his slimy tongue across her hand. She curled her lip up in disgust, and wiped her, now empty, hand against her pant leg.
Aang rolled his eyes as Oppa widened his big brown eyes in hope of gaining more food out of the girl. Too bad, Aang thought, she's blind. Those big puppy eyes of yours won't work on her. Oppa didn't seem to understand that she was blind.
"Don't spoil him," Aang yelled over to her, and witnessed as she jumped at the sound of his voice, "You'll make him fatter than he already is." Oppa threw his head in protest.
The girl looked thoughtful, and Aang guessed that she was breaking down his sentence, so she could make sense of it.
Deciding that going back to sleep was just a wishful thought, he began to pack up. He was surprised to see a clear attempt to remake the fire. Aang had tried to show her how to start a fire without firebending, but this seemed to be hard for the girl to fathom.
Aang chuckled, and checked to make sure that ashes were cold. The girl seemed to realize that it was time to begin leaving, for she turned to her small bags of randomly collected things. Her pack consisted of some very pretty rocks, a few coins, a knife he'd given her, and the extra clothes he'd dug up for her.
She carefully packed her belongings as she'd 'seen' him do.
Aang threw his bag onto the saddle, and did a small scan of his sleeping place to make sure that he hadn't left anything behind. The girl mimicked him. It was actually quite amusing. Aang had felt, for the last two weeks he'd had her, that he'd required a new pet.
"Make sure you check good," he shouted to her, "We won't come back if you leave anything." She'd left the knife the day he'd given her it, and when she'd realized it, she had stared at him until he went back, so she could get it.
Aang knew an elderly couple that lived in a village that they would reach in today's flight. Aang had helped them track down some of their missing chicken-pigs during a snowstorm. He figured that their kind smiles and patient nature would be perfect for the girl.
She seemed to think about the words. He guessed by the way she went over the ground very carefully that she had understood what he'd said to a certain extent.
After she was sure that she'd gotten everything, she turned, and jumped into Oppa's saddle. She instantly curled up in her spot. It was in the corner of the back of the saddle. She had stolen his blanket, and made a little bed out of it.
Aang followed up after her.
Oppa took to the skies. The flight took on the same pattern that it always followed. Aang would start off on Oppa's head until the girl would move towards the front of the saddle, and make small whimpering noises that meant she was hungry.
Aang would ignore her until she would get right behind him, and the noises turned heartbreaking. He would sigh, and the second she heard that sigh, she would instantly retreat away from him.
He would get her food, and she would wait until he placed it on the ground, and left it before she would take it. She would do this at least twice before they landed.
Aang didn't understand her sometimes. She had been more terrified of Oppa than she had been of him when they'd first met. Now, however, she loved Oppa, but still refused to allow him to lay a hand on her without a struggle.
The farm finally came insight. It was a small building made completely out of thrown together wood, but Aang had seen the building stand up to a blizzard. It had three large pens for the different age groups of the chicken-pigs. One was for the males, one was for the weaning babies, and one was for the females.
There was a pond nestled at the corner of the property which laid right behind the large barn.
Oppa must have remembered this place with good memories, for he suddenly swooped down towards the barn. He landed on the ground, and looked around for the piles of hay that had awaited him during his last visit.
He saw the elderly couple emerge from the house with cheerful smiles. The man, Kazuki, came down the stairs in his awkward gait, for his joints had always caused him problems. He was a short man with grey hair, and kind black eyes.
"If it isn't the avatar," he said with a kind smile, "With a girl?" The smile the man gave made it clear about his misinterpretation of the situation. The girl instantly cleared up the misunderstanding when she leaned over the side of the saddle, and started growling at the new people.
Aang smiled at the man's baffled eyes, "Raised by animals," he turned towards her, "Get down from there!" He turned back towards the man, "She's a stray in need of a home."
"Let's continue this conversation inside." Kazuki chuckled, taking everything in stride. He put a fatherly arm around Aang's shoulders, and pushed him towards the humble home. Aang grinned, and followed the man.
"Hey!" he yelled when he noticed the girl was just staring from her perch on the saddle, "Are you coming or not?" The girl seemed to frown than she jumped down, and followed at a safe distance.
Aang got on the porch to be hugged by the elderly woman named Kusara. She was very short, even shorter than what the wild girl was, and only came to the bottom of his shoulder.
"It's been too long," she said in her hoarse voice, "It can't be only when you need a favor that you come to us." She arched her eyebrow at the distant girl, "She doesn't have the air of your lover, so that must mean she's in need of a place to call home."
Aang smiled. Kusara had been a spy under the Northern Water Tribe before her entire unit was wiped out. She had an uncanny power of observation.
"I believe this should be a conversation should be in the safety of our house. A storm is brewing." Kazuki had a gift as well, but his came from his entire life living in this area. He could tell if storms were coming by the smell of the breeze, and the way his chicken-pigs behaved.
They all sat around the small table that was so small that they had to bring another chair for him to sit in. As Kazuki and Aang were deep in discussion of things irrelevant to the girl, Kusara worked her magic in befriending the girl.
Maybe the girl just had a fear of guys, for she, in two hours, was sitting in front of Kursara, and letting her fix her wildly cut hair. She seemed to like her hair being touched, for she had been still for a solid hour.
Aang ignored the annoyed pang in chest. He felt annoyed that he'd been with her two weeks, and been nothing but nice to her, and, yet, he had only touched her on the first night he'd rescued her. He shrugged it off. It was better that she liked Kusara because then leaving her with them would be easier.
Kazuki looked over at the girl, "So, I think I've held my curiousty in check long enough. This girl has been raised by animals, and she is a pretty good earthbender, but if you wish for us to look after her I must have a little more information on her."
Aang thought of information that would be helpful, "She hasn't shown any meaness since I met her. She doesn't like guys to much. I believe that she understands more then she lets on, and maybe even able to speak a little. She obviously blind, but has an uncanny way of moving about. It's in my guess that she somehow uses sound to 'see' around her."
He nodded, "Do you have any other choices of housing arrangments for her?"
Aang felt his heart drop, "I have a few, but I thought your isolated home would be a good place for her to slowly get used to humans, and since you guys don't have any children, I thought she'd get plenty of attention. Plus, she really seems attached to Kusara."
Kazuki looked over fondly at his wife, "She does have a certain pull." Aang looked over. He was envious of Kazuki for finding someone he loved so truly. Kusara, considering she'd been an icy hearted spy, also loved Kazuki as well.
He chuckled, "Are you sure you don't want to keep her?" Kazuki asked with that playful glint in his old eyes, "She's quite a looker."
Aang turned his eyes to the girl with the dog like expression, "She's not my type."
"I thought your type was just gentle and sweet?" Kazuki asked with a teasing smile, "I believe she fits those requirements."
Aang chuckled, "Will you keep her around or not? She's going to eat me out of house and home."
Kusara looked up as she finished all, but one section of the girl's hair, "I find no fault in taking her in. It's like having another pet." She ruffled the girl's hair, and the girl ducked her head playfully away.
Aang really did feel as if he'd was watching a pet interact with her master.
"Well," Aang said with a stretch of his arms, "If you allow it, I'd like to stay a day, and leave in the morning."
Kazuki got up, "Do you think we'd let you go without saying goodbye to her first? Besides, there are a few hours until night comes, and one of my male chicken-pigs are missing."
Aang smiled, and understood what he was to do. While he left the girl to bond with her new 'mother' he went out in search of this missing chicken-pig. He searched the surrounding woods from the skies, but realized that he couldn't see through the heavy branches, so he had to walk around.
He searched for a few hours only to find nothing. He was about to give up when he realized something. Where would a male go? Aang realized he was searching in the wrong place. Sure enough, he found the male lounging against the female's pen.
Aang wrestled the chicken-pig into its pen. The horrible thing about it was that the second he entered his pen, the chicken-pig seemed to be happy to be back.
Kazuki probably knew that, but he enjoyed teasing the avatar. Aang couldn't lie when he said that he didn't enjoy it. Kazuki was one of the only men that would actually play with him. He was like the father that'd he'd never had.
The old man laughed when Aang walked in with dirt covering his entire body, and a cut on his cheek. "You really should realize that animals aren't much different than people. The males will always be where the females are."
"Oppa isn't like that," Aang said, sitting down near the fire, "But, then again, he is the only one of his kind isn't he?"
Kazuki smiled, "You'll learn that you are more of an animal than Oppa is."
Aang had had the talk with Kazuki when he was twelve, and freshly unfrozen, and he wasn't looking forward to doing it again. Actually he was quite scarred from it, and had had a fear of woman since then.
"Yes," Aang agreed, "But I am an airbender, and I was taught by the monks to act differently to the influences of women." Kazuki rolled his eyes. Aang looked around, and realized that a familiar presence was missing, "Where's the girl?"
The playful glint returned to Kazuki's eyes, but this time he kept his sick humor to himself, "She's in 'her' room. Kusara is trying to trick her into talking. She thinks you're right. She reacts to certain words. She waited until the girl tried to grab an apple, and she said, 'That's bad. It makes you sick." The girl put the apple down, and wouldn't touch any apples that appeared like the first one."
Aang grinned, "That doesn't surprise me."
Kusara walked out with frustration written over her face, "That girl is welcomed to stay. It's been a long time that I've met someone more stubborn and crafty than me."
"Tell me about it." Kazuki said with a grin.
Kusara glared at him with mock anger, "Oh, keep your thoughts to yourself, you stupid old man." She then turned to Aang, "I apologize, but our house is quite small. I figured you wouldn't mind sharing a room with 'the girl'," she had clarified that the girl should have been named, "You've been sleeping in close proximity for two weeks now."
Aang gave a shrug, "I'm the one intruding upon your hospitality. I would sleep with the chicken-pigs if that would make anything easier."
Aang found the room he was sleeping in on the other side of the house. It was a small room. The girl had already claimed the small bed area, and bared her teeth when he came near it. He held his hands up, and she laid back down.
She didn't seem to care that he was in her room, though. He laid down his blanket which she acted like she wanted to take it from him, but she restrained herself. Aang laid down on his back, and stared up at the ceiling.
He heard as the girl started whining. Aang smiled in the darkness. His nights were going to become quiet without her.
Aang tried to fall asleep, but something kept him awake. At first he thought it was the adrenaline of fighting the male chicken-pig, but after three hours, he realized that it was something else. He felt a little guilty.
He was leaving her without asking her. She wouldn't answer if he asked, but he felt like he wasn't respecting her right as a human. He then shrugged it off deciding that when she became more independent than she could make her own decision
Finally he realized that he wasn't going to get any sleep, so he decided that getting ready for his journey a little earlier wouldn't be a bad idea. The girl stirred. She must have been so exhausted from the interaction with the new humans, for she didn't even wake when he bumped into the door.
Aang slipped out of the rooms, and left his blanket behind as a goodbye present. He had another one hidden safely away from the girl.
Aang entered into the living room to meet Kusara who was sitting near the door.
"I'm not surprised you're leaving early," she commented as she sipped from the tea she was drinking, "An indecisive heart doesn't sleep well at night."
Aang jumped in surprise, and turned to stare at her, "You're lucky I didn't accidentally shoot a bolt of lightning through you." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair that had grown shortly after he'd mastered firebending.
She arched an eyebrow, "Were you not planning on saying goodbye?"
He shook himself of his surprise, and walked over to her to give her a hug, "I will pass by again, and I will check in on her. I'll bring you a nice male chicken-pig as thanks." He released his hug, "Where is Kazuki?"
Kusara yawned, "He knows Oppa is scared of storms, so he has made Oppa something to help keep him calm. It's a tool we use on the chicken-pigs, but it had to be enlarged for Oppa. He's out giving it to Oppa now."
Aang lowered his head, "Thank you," he whispered, "I'm forever grateful to you."
Kusara waved her hands, "You are the son we always wanted." She smiled as he looked away in order to try to hide how pleased he was, "I think, Kazuki being the old sentimental fool he is, would enjoy it if you tried to call him dad."
Aang had the strange feeling that Kazuki may not be the sentimental one.
"I'll remember that," Aang said as he slowly opened the door with his shoulder, "By the way," he said glancing back, "You're the best mother I could have hoped for." The old woman put the cup up to her lips to hide her smile.
The uneasy feeling of leaving the girl behind was replaced with a warm one. He went to the barn to find Kazuki trying to tie something over Oppa's horn. Oppa was ticklish on his horns, so he was almost throwing Kazki off.
"Watch out," Aang chuckled, "He won't mean it, but he will really hurt you." Kazuki looked up, and pushed some of his grey hair from his eyes.
"He's such a sweetheart, I'm sure that he couldn't hurt me even if he tried." Kazuki slid off, and admired his handywork, "You're leaving early."
"Couldn't sleep," Aang said with a yawn, "The monks said, 'One shall not squander time in restless sleep when things need to be done.'"
Kazuki nodded, "Wise monks," Kazuki sighed, "Well, if you are getting ready to leave than I should not waste your time." The older man started to make his way towards the house, "Come by and visit sometime!"
Aang nodded, "Thanks, pops!" He saw that man freeze, but continue to walk towards the house without saying anything. Aang grinned, and turned towards Oppa, "Ready to go, buddy?"
Oppa grunted, and looked around for the girl.
"She's not coming with us this time." Aang swung onto Oppa, and they soared towards the sky.