So I think this is gonna be my shortest Avatar chapter yet just because this episode is split so evenly between Zuko and Aang's stories and we're only gonna hear Aang's story. And you guys got two Avatar chapters in like two days as well, I must be on a writing kick at the moment. Anyway, I don't own anything, Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy!
The Storm
Celina sat up in her sleeping bag, carving a piece of wood she'd found earlier into her polar bear dog spirit, the fire providing a good enough light to work. She hoped working on a small task would help with her insomnia, plus she might be able to sell the carved wood for some travel money. Celina was almost done with her carving when Aang sat up in a fright. He disturbed Momo from his sleep who ended up waking up Sokka and Katara. Sokka grabbing his knife and boomerang, thinking that they were under attack.
"Huh? Uh… what's going on? Did we get captured again?" Sokka asked groggily.
"It's nothing, I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep," Aang explained.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Sokka yawned and rolled over back to sleep. Celina and Katara looked at Aang worried, he had moved into a fetal position.
"Are you alright, Aang?" Katara asked.
"I'm okay," he replied, though it was clear the girls didn't believe him.
"You've been having a lot of nightmares lately. You wanna talk to me about it? I'm pretty experienced in the nightmare department," Celina offered.
"I think I just need some rest," Aang tried to brush off.
"You guys want to hear about my dream?" Sokka asked excited. One annoyed look from Katara told him no. "That's okay, I didn't wanna talk about it anyway."
With that Sokka and Katara went back to sleep. Celina stayed up a bit longer to finish her carving, wanting to be there in case Aang wanted to talk. She even used the ashes from the fire to define the details she carved. Once her carving was finished she looked over sadly at Aang and then went to bed herself.
The next morning the Water Tribe siblings set to work packing up camp while Aang sat on top of Appa's head, looking up at the clear sky.
"Look at those clear skies, buddy! Should be smooth flying," Aang said to the bison.
"Well, we better fly ourselves to a market, 'cause we're out of food," Celina told them, examining the food bag only to find it empty.
"Guys, wait, this was in my dream. We shouldn't go to the market," Sokka said alarmed.
"What happened in your dream?" Katara asked.
"Food eats people!" Sokka answered. Celina, Katara, and Aang were not impressed. "Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things."
o
The gang managed to find a marketplace next to a harbor. They landed Appa next to a jetty where he floated happily in the water. Celina gave Katara a few coins, as she was the only one Celina trusted to handle their money. Katara stuck close to the harbor for shopping while Celina walked further into the shops. Celina found a few items and was even able to sell her carved wooden piece for a small profit. She put those earned coins away for another day before heading back to find the others. Celina found her siblings and Aang walking away from a market stand empty handed.
She heard Sokka complaining before they saw her. "Out of food and out of money, now what are we supposed to do?" Sokka asked depressed.
"You could get a job, smart guy," Katara suggested before spotting her sister. "Please tell us you had better luck."
"Well, I've taken care of the food problem," Celina told them. "And I still have a few copper pieces but it won't be enough for next time."
A conversation happening behind them drew the gang's attention. "We shouldn't go out there! Please, the fish can wait. There's going to be a terrible storm," an old woman was warning an old man.
"Ahh, you're crazy! It's a nice day. No clouds, no wind, no nothing, so quit you're naggin' woman," he dismissed.
"Maybe we should find some shelter," Aang suggested. Celina could sense nervousness in his voice.
"Are you kidding? Shelter from what?" Sokka questioned. The argument from the older couple continued and this time the gang turned and watched them. It wasn't like they were being quiet or anything.
"My joints day there's going to be a storm! A bad one," the old woman insisted.
"Well it's your joints over my brain," the old man replied.
"Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, cause I ain't comin!" the old woman told him.
"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get! How do you like that?" the old man threatened.
"I'll go!" Sokka volunteered, running up to the old man.
"You're hired!" the old man agreed.
Sokka turned around to see his sisters and Aang looking at him like he was crazy. "What? You said 'get a job' and he's paying double," Sokka said to them.
"Double? Who told ya that nonsense?" the old man said to Sokka looking like he was from outer space.
Celina, Katara, and Aang stuck around near the old man's boat, watching as Sokka loading things onto the fishing boat. Aang began getting antsy as the sky filled with black storm clouds and the wind picked up. Celina was even beginning to get nervous about Sokka going out when the weather was getting worse.
"Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky," Aang said to him.
"I said I was gonna do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather," Sokka told him, continuing to load supplies onto the boat.
"The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him!" the old woman said to the old man. This caught his attention, causing him to look over at Aang.
"Boy with tattoos? Airbender tattoos… well, I'll be a hogmonkey's uncle! You're the Avatar, ain't ya?" the old man asked.
"That's right," Katara smiled.
"Well don't be so smiley about it. The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world!" the old man accused, poking Aang in the chest.
"Woah, back up there," Celina said.
"Don't yell at him! Aang would never turn his back on anyone!" Katara came to his defense.
"Oh? He wouldn't huh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering," the old man said sarcastically.
Katara stepped in front of Aang, trying to protect him from the man's harsh words. "Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang? Aang? What's wrong?"
Celina turned to see that Aang had been backing up while Katara was telling off the old man. He opened up his glider and then took off towards the mountains. Celina and Katara shot each other worried looked before running off towards Appa to go chase after Aang.
"That's right! Keep flyin!" the old man continued antagonizing Aang.
"You're a horrible old man!" Celina called him before climbing onto Appa's head and taking control of the reigns. "Appa, yip yip!" As they took off the water from Appa ended up drenching the old man. The girls didn't care, they had other important matters to deal with.
o
While Celina and Katara were searching for Aang the sky darkened completely, as rain started pouring down from the sky. Celina handed the reigns over to Katara to drive while she used her waterbending to bend the water away from Appa's head, trying to keep them dry. They were passing a cave when Katara decided that they needed to take shelter, flying off into the cave. Celina and Katara dismounted from Appa and bended the water from their clothes. They walked further into the save only to see Aang farther back into the cave.
"I'm sorry for running away," Aang apologized, not bothering to look back at them.
"It's okay. That fisherman was way out of line," Katara replied as she and Celina walked over to Aang.
"Actually, he wasn't," Aang revealed.
"What do you mean?" Katara asked confused.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Aang said.
"It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" Celina figured out. "Talk to us."
"Well, it's kind of a long story," Aang sighed. Momo and Appa appeared, walking up to Aang and cuddling with him in order to cheer him up. Katara started a fire up, hoping to warm everyone up. Once everyone was around the fire Aang began his story.
"I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar. I was playing with some other kids just outside the south wall. I was trying to teach them how to do the air scooter when Monk Gyatso came and got me. He said that the monks needed to speak with me about something. He took me into the Air Temple where the monks told me that I was the Avatar. I didn't believe them at first but they said they knew that I was the Avatar since I was little. Monk Gyatso told me they would have told me when I was older but they thought a war was coming."
"So you were upset that you were the Avatar? Why wouldn't you be excited about it?" Katara asked.
"Well, I didn't know how to feel about it. All I knew is that after I found out, everything began changing. The other kids wouldn't let me play with them anymore, saying that I had an unfair advantage since I was the Avatar. It was lonely but at least I had Monk Gyatso. He would still play games with me. Then, just when I was starting to feel better, something worse happened. The other monks needed to talk to Gyatso about something and I was curious so I climbed on top of the meeting room and listened in. The monks told Gyatso that we needed to be separated, that I'd be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple."
"That's awful, Aang. I don't know what to say," Katara told him.
"How could they do that to me! They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" Aang exploded. His Avatar State began to activate as his tattoos started to glow. The energy from his Avatar State caused the cinders from the fire to swirl towards the girls.
"Whoa! Hot cinders!" Celina exclaimed.
The glowing stopped as Aang calmed down. "I'm sorry I got so mad," Aang apologized.
"You have a right to be angry after the monks sent you away like that," Katara tried to assure him.
"Well… that's not exactly what happened. I was afraid and confused. I didn't know what to do. I left the Air Temple and never saw Gyatso again. We ended up getting caught in this awful storm and got plunged into the ocean. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg," Aang told him, a guilty expression on his face.
"You ran away," Celina stated.
"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help," Aang pointed out.
"You don't know what would've…" Celina went to reassure him but Aang wasn't having it.
"The world needed me and I wasn't there to help. The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world," Aang sulked.
"You're being too hard on yourself. Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders," Katara told him.
"You don't know that," Aang said.
"I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope," Katara smiled. Her smile was contagious as it reached Celina and then Aang. An expression of hope spread across Aang's face, finding some of his confidence.
"Help! Oh, please help!"
Celina, Katara, and Aang's head snapped towards the entrance of the cave. The old woman from earlier entered the cave. Celina and Katara rushed to her side, helping her towards the fire.
"It's okay, you're safe," Katara assured her.
"But my husband isn't," the old woman told them.
"What do you mean? Where's Sokka?" Katara asked worried.
"They haven't returned. They should've been back by now, and the storm is becoming a typhoon. They're caught out at sea," she explained.
"I'm going to find them," Aang declared.
"We're going with you," Celina told him.
"I'm staying here!" the old woman said, sitting down by the fire. Celina, Katara, and Aang ran over to Appa and climbed aboard before taking off into the storm to find Sokka and the old man.
o
"Where are they?" Katara asked Aang as they flew through the storm.
"Come on, Appa," Aang urged the bison further into the storm. Suddenly a massive wall of water appeared up ahead, towering above Appa. Appa wasn't able to pull up and fly over it in time but Aang used his staff to part the water along with help from Celina. As lighting struck the three noticed the silhouette of a small boat. "The boat! It's there!"
The boat was struggling against the harsh waves. As they reached the boat Aang handed Appa's reigns off to Celina as he jumped down onto the boat. Everyone gasped when lightning struck the mast, causing it to break off and fall towards Aang. He was able to dodge it by splitting it in half and having the halves fall on either side of him.
Aang grabbed the rope that Sokka had in his hands. "Hang on to the rope!" Aang instructed them to do. With Sokka and the old man holding onto the rope, Aang airbended himself up onto Appa, bringing Sokka and the old man with him. With Aang back, Celina handed him back the reigns to go and hug her brother along with Katara. A large shadow appeared behind them with the sound of water rushing. Everyone looked around to see a wave, even larger than the last approaching them. Before they had any time to react the wave crashed upon them, submerging everyone.
Aang floated away from Appa and his friends, watching as they struggled to stay awake and alive. He saw Celina attempt to create an air bubble for at least herself but was failing. Aang's Avatar State took over as his tattoos lit up. Instead of creating an iceberg to freeze everyone in he took control back of the reigns and raised them out of the water and into the sky. As soon as they were out of the water Aang's Avatar State went away. Celina's top half was hanging off Appa's saddle as she coughed up water. She glanced over to see Aang and Zuko from his ship below sharing a look. When Aang looked away it was hard to tell but she swore Zuko glanced at her. Celina sighed before dragging herself back into Appa's saddle.
o
The weather lightened up to a drizzle as they made their way back to the cave. Celina got off Appa and ran her fingers through his fur, thanking him for getting them through the storm. Sure Aang got them out of the ocean but Appa did fly them through a nasty storm. She walked into the cave, bending all the water from her and tossing it outside. Celina turned around to see the reunion between the old man and woman.
"Oh, you're alive! You owe this boy an apology," she scolded her husband to do.
"He doesn't have to apologize," Aang told her.
"Mmm, uh, what if instead of an apology I give him free fish and we call it even?" the old man offered.
"That sounds alright, you might not eat it Aang but I'm sure that we will," Celina interjected, referring to her and her siblings. Aang might be vegetarian but they were raised as meat eaters and that wasn't changing.
"You're still gonna pay me right?" Sokka asked the old man. He responded by dropping a fish into Sokka's outstretched hand. Aang walked over to Celina and Katara smiling.
"Katara, I think you were right before. I'm done dwelling on the past," Aang told them. "I can't make guesses about how things would have turned out if I hadn't run away. I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it."
"I don't think you're gonna have those nightmares anymore," Celina smiled.
The old man walked over to Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "Uh, if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar," he thanked.
"Do you hear that? It's stopped raining," Sokka informed everyone.
Everyone walked outside and just looked at the sky, taking in the calm after the storm.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer.
"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.