A/N: Hi friends, sorry it took a while but as always, midterms/all-nighters, and life get in the way of what I enjoy. Anyway, A HUGE THANK YOU to all the lovely reviewers – keep them coming because it really touches my heart and really helps keep me going on this. This next chapter is inspired by asiastana's suggestion – I've taken some artistic liberty with it so I hope you like how it turned out. Also, if any of you guys have a suggestion for one of Katara's topics, let me know in a review – I'd love to see if I can work it in Without further ado, here it is!


CHAPTER 7: IF BEING THE LAST AIRBENDER SUCKS

Aang stared at the middle-aged woman in front of him. He couldn't quite believe what she'd said. He looked at her, looked back at Zuko (who looked very confused) and then looked back.

"Um, can you repeat what you said?"

The woman gave him a contemptuous look, rolled her eyes and said, "I've heard that the Air Nomads used to 'get around,' if you know what I mean. I wanted to know if that was why you're on this so-called 'Victory Tour.'"

Aang gaped. How the hell am I supposed to respond to that? He took a few breaths, trying to control his anger before responding.

"I'm sorry madam, I've never heard that insinuation before in regards to the Air Nation and I'm honestly a little offended that you would question my motivations in that way."

So saying, Aang turned and stormed back towards the chariot, pushing his way through the crowd. Zuko followed at his heels.


A few hours later…

They were back at their host's teahouse and Aang was fuming to Zuko about what had happened. "I can't believe that woman dared to say that! Do you really think that's what people think of Air Nomads?! How the hell am I supposed to do this tour if people keep saying things like that?"

Zuko stayed silent, allowing Aang to keep talking and let out steam. After about twenty minutes of Aang's ranting, he intervened.

"Listen Aang, I know that what the woman said was incredibly offensive but seriously, the Air Nomads haven't been around for 100 years! Even some scholars couldn't tell you details about your culture so there's no way the average person would know much about you. What is left is basically folklore that's been passed down by word of mouth for decades and obviously that doesn't lend to a very accurate picture. I know it's hard but you have to understand that there will be a lot of misperceptions that you're gonna have to deal with now and for the rest of your life."

Aang sighed, thinking about Zuko's words. "I guess you're right Zuko…I just never thought about it that way. What if I'm destined to be the last of my people?"

Zuko frowned at him. "Aang, that won't happen. I know it's scary but you're not gonna be alone forever, and the longer you're around, the better people will understand what your true customs are. You just have to make a lot of babies."

Aang sent a blast of air at him, rolling his eyes, as Zuko finished with a grin.

"I wonder if there's any other way to make people understand…" pondered Aang. Maybe I'll see if Katara has anything to say about it…

"Hey Zuko, I'm gonna go see if Katara's written anything about it. Maybe she'll have some ideas…at the very least I feel like reading one of her letters will help me feel better."

Zuko nodded and let Aang go on his way.

Aang hurried down the hallway to his room, still feeling a little down. Picking up the package of letters from where he kept it under his pillow, Aang began to sift through until he found it – Open: If Being the Last Airbender Sucks. Aang ran his fingers lightly over Katara's writing, drawing comfort from the familiarity.

Already feeling a lot brighter, he decided to go hang out with Appa as he read the letter – since the trip started, Aang hadn't had a lot of time to spend with Appa and the two never got to go on flights as much as either had wanted.


A few minutes later…
Aang ran up to Appa, letter in hand, and gave him a huge hug. Appa groaned happily, nuzzling Aang all over and thumping his tail with happiness.

"How're you doing buddy? I miss you …we haven't had nearly enough time alone since this Victory Tour started."

"RRRRRRR" Appa replied, butting Aang lightly with his head.

"Wanna go for a ride? I need some privacy and I miss flying with you buddy."

"RRRRRRR" Appa roared happily, as Aang jumped onto his back.

The friends soared away from the village and Aang lay back in the saddle, relaxing. "Hey buddy, just take us wherever you want as long as we can be back in an hour or two."
So saying, Aang settled in to read the letter.


Dear Aang,

How're you doing? I hope everything's going well and that you haven't encountered any fire nation ex-soldiers trying to kill you or anything.

I'm actually really curious how long it's taken for you to open this letter, and in what context you're opening this. I know that since you came out of the iceberg, being the 'last airbender' has meant that you've been faced with a lot of curiosity and a lot of interest. My guess is that there's probably going to be a lot of ignorance about your culture as well. I'd also bet that you probably are worrying a lot about your people, and what happened to them. Hopefully this letter will you a little bit, or at least give you a few ideas.

As far as being the last airbender, well… when you read my "Open When: You Think About Our Future" letter, I think you'll feel a little better… if you haven't read it yet, then just put the thought aside for a bit and I promise you'll feel better when you read it.

Aang smiled. I guess she's right. I definitely won't be the last airbender if I have anything to do about it… He continued reading.

I'm not worried about you being the last airbender so much but there IS someone I'm worried about. What about Appa? Do you think there's a chance that there are more sky bison left in the world? I know they were all supposed to be destroyed but what are the chances? I've been thinking about this a lot recently and I'm thinking that maybe we should go look for them when you get back from your tour. I know the world needs us and all that but I think this is something that's really important to airbender culture. If we want we want to restore balance to the world, we need to restore the airbenders and their way of life and the sky bison are a big part of that. It's up to you, obviously, but I think this is something that might need to be done sometime soon.

Aang looked away from the letter, petting Appa and frowning. Appa's situation was a lot more dire than his own – Aang at least could bring his people back (in fact, he was quite looking forward to the process of bringing them back) but for Appa, it wasn't so easy. I wonder if there are any sky bison herds that we might have missed…they can't all have been wiped out, can they?
So thinking, he looked at Appa.

"Hey buddy, wanna go look for some sky bison with Katara? It won't be until this tour is over but I promise we'll start looking as soon as we can!"

"RRRR" Appa roared happily.

Smiling, Aang turned back to the letter.

I know it's lonely for you and I'm sure it's lonely for Appa but you should also know that your friends are always here for you. If you get lonely, you and Appa have each other but you also have us.

As far as people not knowing about your culture, think about it this way. I've known you for a few years (and I'm dating you!) but there's still things that every now and then take me by surprise. Remember that time a few weeks before you left when you told me airbenders didn't use money and I was so shocked? When Sokka and I first met you there were even more things I didn't know – I didn't even know that airbenders are vegetarian!

I guess my point is that even people who know and love you still don't know everything about your culture. Since airbenders were gone for so long, there's a lot that the rest of the world has to relearn. And there's also a lot that's been twisted or exaggerated in the stories that people have passed down across generations. This isn't something that you can expect people to get over in just a few years. In fact, it'll probably take generations to 1) regain the knowledge of your people and bring it back to life and 2) have people get re-used to the presence of airbenders in the world.

If you don't mind me giving you another suggestion, consider this. What if you had a question and answer session in each town you visit? That way people can satisfy all their curiosities about airbenders but you could also set the record straight. You teach people about your culture first-hand and by doing it on the Victory Tour, you would cover a lot of ground at once. Then, hopefully, everyone who was there could also spread the knowledge.

I know it's not a great long-term solution, and it doesn't solve everything, but it might help in the time being and it would definitely help you deal with the people and situations you'll encounter while you're still on your tour.

Anyway, I hope this helps a little. I miss you more than you can imagine Aang.

Love from,

Katara

PS: When you get back, I hope you can teach me more about your culture too. I've learned a lot just hanging out with you but I also feel like there's still so much for me to learn.

PPS: It's a little embarrassing…in fact I'm not even sure if it's appropriate to ask this but it's kind of related to this letter... I guess I'll just ask since it's less embarrassing to ask on paper than in-person. I've always wondered…where do your arrows end on your body…if at all?


Aang put down the letter, his face turning bright red. I wonder…how much time does Katara spend thinking about that? …Then again I guess I would wonder too… An image of Katara's body painted with his tattoos flitted across Aang's mind and his stomach did a few backflips.

Trying to get his mind back in its 'proper' place, Aang considered Katara's suggestion. It's actually a really good idea – I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I wonder if it would add any extra time to our schedule? I feel like it wouldn't …we could just include a Q&A section after Zuko gives his speech in every town and I say my spiel and say 'hi' to people…I think we should do it.

So deciding, Aang folded up the letter. "C'mon Appa, let's go back."

"RRRR" Appa replied and Aang could tell he was frustrated to have to head back but he turned around and flew back in the direction they came.

XXX


A/N: What do you think? I don't know about you but I feel like Katara's final question is something most of us have wondered about - I know I have :P I know Aang ends up rediscovering the sky bison at some point but it's been a while since I read the comics and I can't exactly remember the situation around that so I decided not to follow that plotline exactly and write it as if they haven't been discovered yet.

Also, I ended up deciding to make this a two-part chapter. It ended up writing itself but took a lot longer than I thought and I wasn't able to get in what I wanted without taking forever to accomplish. SO – the next chapter will include the first 'Q&A' session as well as Aang's response to Katara's letter. Thanks again for reading, please let me know what you think/give me any suggestions/critique me by reviewing! XOXO, Em