Chapter 10- The World According to Aang

This is a "day in the life" story. It follows Aang through one day after his surgery, and is written in his point of view…. Enjoy!

-- --

Katara rolled me into my room.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Only if you want to. I don't want you to waste your Sunday helping me. Unless, I mean, if you…. Want to," I replied.

"Of course I want to! I just want to make sure you're not tired or anything," she said, smiling as she sat down next to me. I grinned back.

I cupped her chin and turned her so she was facing me. We kissed, but then were interrupted by some noise coming from the hall. Five people came in and took their seats on the floor or on the beds. It was Toph, Zuko, Mai, Sokka, and Suki.

"Hey Tinkle Toes. How's your leg?" Toph asked, staring at no one in particular.

"It actually doesn't hurt. The doctor said it would hurt later. Right now I'm just kind of dizzy from the anesthesia," I said and put my head on Katara's shoulder, and she put her hand on my back. I smiled but the room started to spin a little.

"Aang, are you okay?" Suki asked.

"You don't look so good," Sokka added.

"Maybe you should lie down," Mai suggested.

"Aang, Aang?" Zuko waved his hand in front of mine.

"Uh, what? Sorry guys. I'm fine, just a little bit out of it, I guess," I said.

Katara gave me a worried look, and rubbed my back. I loved that girl.

"But, I should probably start my homework. Thanks for coming guys," I said as they started to walk out of the room.

"Feel better."

"See you tonight."

"Get well, Aang."

"Drink lots of water."

"Hope your leg gets better soon."

And with that, they all left, leaving just me and Katara.

"Aang, you really don't look well," she said.

"Really, it's just the medicine. I'll be fine," I said, pulling up my backpack.

"Well, I already finished all of homework, so I can help you," she said.

"Thanks. I don't have much. Just geography and history."

"Well, geography is just learning the nine regions of the Earth Kingdom. We need to know what and where they are, because we have a quiz on it. There's the Kyoshi Islands, Si Wong Desert, Si Wong Mountain Range, Ba Sing Se, Omashu, Gaoling, Serpent's Pass, Chameleon Bay, and…. the northern Air Temple. Aang, how can you be the avatar, when there are no more air benders left?"

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. "Well, Gyatso tells me that the spirits knew there had to be an air bender avatar, so the avatar spirit was reincarnated into me. I don't really know how…. Or why they chose me."

"Wow. So, is that why you're so naturally gifted at water bending?"

"I guess," I blushed. "But, you're just as good as me, and you're not the avatar."

She smiled and gave me a hug. I smiled back. We pulled out of our embrace and she ruffled my hair. Then she stopped and gaped.

"What? My dandruff isn't that bad is it?" I asked.

"N-no. Just, you have a blue line on your head," she whispered. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, that's an arrow. I mean, I knew you were an air bender, but…. I guess I never really thought about it. You're a master air bender, aren't you?" she asked. I nodded.

Soon my homework was done and it was nightfall.

"Do you want to go get dinner?" Katara asked.

"Sure! Let's go," I replied.

She got up and stood there waiting for me to get up. I swung my feet around and they landed inches from the floor. Then I hopped up, making the stupid mistake of putting too much pressure on my left leg.

"Ahh!" I said as I fell over. Katara caught me, my head on her knees. She was sitting on her shins and I was lying down on the floor.

"Aang," she whispered. But I didn't really notice. My leg was throbbing. She must have seen a pain expression on my face. She helped me up, and I used her shoulder as a support until I got my crutches.

"Your leg hurts now, doesn't it?" she asked, keeping one hand on mine.

"Yah," I muttered. It was embarrassing having your girlfriend helping you walk. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't my hand be on hers? This surgery was throwing the natural order of things into wack.

"Do you want to go to the nurse's office to get some pain relief medication?" she asked, with a worried tone, and a worried expression on her face.

"No, I-I'm f-fine," I replied, obviously lying.

"I think you should, Aang. It's hard seeing you in this much pain," she added.

"Well, since you put it that way, I guess."

After we got dinner and my medication, we went our separate ways and fell asleep.

--

I woke up at four in the morning with a horrible feeling in my leg. It felt like someone had thrust a knife in my calf and kept sticking me with it and then pulling it out, over and over and over. Thank the spirits I had my free period with Katara this morning. I don't think I could stand math with Zhao. I just had to wait a while until I could go anywhere. After all, it would be a little bit strange to see a boy on crutches roaming the campus alone at four in the morning. Instead, I had to stay in bed, not being able to fall asleep.

I twisted and I turned for four and a half hours, when finally, the alarm clock went off. Zuko and Sokka got ready, and then left to eat breakfast. I hopped out of bed (carefully this time) and walked over to Katara's dorm. I hoped she was awake. I knocked and she answered, still in her pajamas. She must have seen my glazed eyes, because she rushed over to hug me, and helped me down on her bed.

"Leg?" she asked.

"Y-yah. I've been up since four. I-I couldn't sl-sleep," I answered shakily.

"Poor thing. You should lie down," she said. I complied. She lay down next to me, and I wrapped my arm around her waist. She rested her head on my shoulder and smiled. We stayed like that until it was time to get breakfast. She helped me get up, and we took the elevator down to the ground floor. We went over to the cafeteria and sat down with our food. My leg was still aching terribly, but I tried my best to conceal it. But, it was like she could see right through me. Katara put down her fork and put her hand on mine.

"It'll be okay. It should only hurt for a week. Then it'll be normal, and soon, you'll get the stupid cast off, and you'll be all better," she said.

"I know. Thanks, Katara."

Soon, we were off to our classes. I had earth bending. But, really it was just sitting down watching people doing their forms, while I was off sitting on the side, twiddling my thumbs. Yup, that was me. The mighty avatar sitting with a ruptured blood vessel, twiddling his thumbs while watching a catbird fly by.

But, my peaceful composure was interrupted by a powerful shock that erupted from my foot up my leg. It kept surging for a few minutes, as I tried my very best to keep from crying. Eventually, I went up to Bumi and told him about my foot. He said I could leave. I made my way back to my dorm, stumbling a few times on the way. Finally, I was on my bed. But, it didn't relieve the pain at all. I just laid there, slowly letting tears escape. I couldn't do anything. The tears kept rolling down my cheek, and the medication wouldn't help. My fingers dug into my mattress as if I were holding on for life itself. I bit the covers and my leg shook uncontrollably. I took deep breaths as I thought of Katara. It slowed my mind down a little bit.

Soon I heard the lunch time bell. My stomach growled. I was pretty hungry, but I dared not venture out of my dorm room. I hoped Katara would come up. And bring me lunch. Soon I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I choked on my words.

Katara flung open the door and ran to my bed side, her knees on the ground. She brushed away the tears on my face.

"Does your leg still hurt? Toph told me your heartbeat went through the roof during earth bending. Does it still hurt that badly?" I nodded.

"You should skip school the rest of the day. I'll bring your homework to you after school. Oh, and I have your lunch. They didn't have many vegetarian meals, so the only thing I could get you was a salad. Sorry," she said as she pulled out a salad and a bag of candy. "And I thought candy would be good to get some energy," she smiled faintly.

"Thanks! I love salads, so don't worry. That's my favorite type of candy, too."

"Good," she smiled. Then she frowned. "You don't look so good. Is it your leg or something else?" she asked.

"Just my- ahh, leg," I muttered, embarrassed by my small outbreak.

She frowned and shook her head. "Does the medication help?"

"No, not really," I replied.

"Well, is there anything I could do to help?" she asked.

I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. The throbbing pain was back. "Close your eyes," I said.

"Um, okay," she said as she covered her eyes with her hands. I let out a few tears, and then wiped them away.

"Okay, you can open them now," I said.

"Aang, I don't care if you cry. I know you're feeling intense pain, and if I were you, I would probably be yelling and screaming in pain," she noted.

My mouth dropped a little. How did she know everything? "Thanks," I whispered.

"It's okay. Well, I should probably get going to class. I'll be back after school to help you with your homework," she said as she planted a kiss on my cheek. I returned it, and then she got up and left the room.

Good? Bad? Review!! hey! So, yah, that was Aang. How did you like the POV. I thought I'd try it. So, my next chapter is going to jump a couple weeks, so it will be one week before he gets his cast off. Will he spill the beans about being the avatar? Anyways, review this chapter and tell me what you think. REVIEW!! thanks. Over and out.