Summary: Sometimes, life gives you a little more than you bargained for. You don't need the extra to survive, nor is it critical to your success… But it sure makes life a lot more fun.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar:The Last Airbender. All I own is my OC, Akari.
Extra: I Want to be Stronger
[by Caramel Day]
He was dead.
They were all dead.
Sister Ashanti, Miyatsu… She hadn't been strong enough to protect them. She hadn't been brave enough to try.
Stupid enough, her conscience argued. If you had tried to fight them, there's no doubt you would be dead, too.
Instead, she had taken her Flying Bison and flown to the Southern Air Temple, hoping to bring back reinforcements.
Akari hadn't counted on the Fire Nation thinking of it beforehand, and taking them out, as well.
She hadn't even arrived in time to help them fight.
When she got there, all she saw were the bodies left on the floor, scorched by the battles their owners had been through.
She couldn't find the body of Aang, her twin brother. Aang, the Avatar.
Under normal circumstances, that would be a good thing.
But these weren't normal circumstances, and her brother was the Avatar, and he was dead.
She could feel it; his heart had stopped, his energy had stopped breathing. She had always been able to sense him…
But she couldn't now.
And all because she hadn't been strong enough.
Because the Airbenders hadn't been strong enough.
The Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, the North and South Water Tribes… All of them had armies. All of them trained warriors, fighters, people to protect civilians from the terrors of war.
The terrors she alone had survived tonight.
It was all too clear for Akari. The reason the Air Nomads had been defeated so easily was because Air, itself, was a defensive element; it was not easily used in combat, or if it was, the Nomads hadn't thought to use it that way.
They weren't strong enough… They hadn't been able to use their Airbending to protect them.
Which was why she had to learn how to… To protect herself, to defend herself.
[TiMeSkIp]
It had been nearly a year since that night. Oddly, it didn't seem half that long to Akari; time flew by too quickly when she spent it studying, learning, searching for anything to help her in her quest.
She was still determined to find a way for Airbenders to protect themselves using their element, and she had nearly found it.
She had spent her time in the Ba Sing Se Royal Library. She had taken refuge there with one of her best childhood friends, the Princess Sela.
Her days at the Library taught her about Air: the basic necessity for all life to, well, live.
Air was something you took for granted, something you forgot about until it disappeared. Something that didn't seem important until much later, when you really needed it.
And Akira was hell bent on making it disappear, for those who had made the Air Nomads disappear.
But how to do it?
If she attacked now, a year after the Massacre, she would surely be apprehended by the Fire Nation.
People were still scared, still worried that it would happen to them… Help would be a scarce commodity.
No, she could not do it now.
Do it now, and she would appear lucky. An accident, someone they overlooked.
Do it later, and she would be Legend. They would laugh her off as rumors, but lock their windows at night in fear of her.
She made up her mind.
[tImEsKiP]
"Thank you, Kara," Akari said sincerely. "Really, I hope you know how much I appreciate this. Not many Waterbenders would agree to freezing the last Airbender and throwing her into the ocean."
Kara shook her head, braided loops of black hair falling into her eyes. "I won't pretend I understand, exactly, but you're my friend, and I'd do anything for a friend. Especially when said friend would be hunted down and killed if I didn't."
"Now," she said briskly, "Do you have everything you need with you?"
"Water, check. Food, check. Clothes, check. Blankets, check."
Kara laughed. "You have to find me when you thaw, alright? Though I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing you, young and energetic, while I'm old and wrinkly…"
"Of course. You'll be the first person I look for," Akari promised.
"Now, let's see how long your Granny's Dried Meat really lasts."