State of Spirits
Hope you can keep up and you don't feel like I'm rushing things! To my one and only "fan" so far: THANK YOU for the big support! I'll keep them coming ;-) Do you think the character of Aang is realistic? Is there something I forget? I tend to mix up my own image of how he is supposed to be with the one from the cartoon…
The two parts of her brain melted into one. She could feel everything around her in the garden. Every little grass, from its root to its tip. Every ant crawling on the damp earth. The air was so clean and fresh from the ocean bringing salt and coolness. She could feel the air, how it circled around every living and nonliving thing, and bringing life to everything. This was real. She could feel her own body too. How her heart beat slowly, her veins, lungs pulling in and out. She thought about what Aang had told her about meditation: Meditation is a form of asking yourself questions, without knowing them. It is the closest we can come to the Spiritworld. This of course is different for me, giving thought that, you know… When you meditate, you may be lucky to be touched by a Spirit. This Spirit will put an answer in your head. But in order to gain such an answer from the other world, you must have absolute control of your mind and body. It is very hard to reach that state but as airbenders we are lucky. Airbenders have a special connection to that world because we see things others don't. We monks and nuns know that it's important to care about the circle of life. Other benders do not see this. They kill all the animals they want, slay all the forest they want, build cities where they think it's good for them and doesn't even give a thought to all the animals which house they just destroyed... As airbenders we keep that to a minimum. Temples have always been built on deserted areas to create life there. When another bender or nonbender tries to live by our norms they normally have hard times connecting with that side of them. To reach that special state, at the temple we called it "state of Spirits" you must give in to the forces of nature. See, that you are only just a small part of a huge painting and you only get paint a little spot. How would you paint it? No monk or nun reaches the state of Spirits without working really hard on it. But even when they just try they still feel a small part of them opening its eye to the spot of the true world. She felt like her heart poured out with a melody to the nature. And she wasn't even truly where she could be yet. This was only her `opening a small part of me´ to see.
Kiri sat there for several hours just startled by how she suddenly could see the world surrounding her. Time wasn't essential; she couldn't feel the sun baking or her stomach grumbling. She thought about Aang. He filled her with such passion and wit. She really wanted to live her life like him. Like a nun. Now that they'd become boyfriend and girlfriend, they needed to be more careful. If they were going to be together, they had to do it right. She thought to herself, hoping the Spirits would hear her prayer: My life is in your hands. My purpose is yours. She opened her eyes to see Siku in front of her. "You will be a good wife for monk Aang. Let me show you something…" She led her to a room Kiri had never been in in the temple. It was a sort of library filled with ancient scrolls from the old airtemples. Siku took out a scroll and gave it to Kiri. "This will give you knowledge." And then she left the room, letting Kiri read to herself. The scroll was very old and short. Its corners were almost crumbling away and the letters were a pale grey. Kiri's hands trembled. She started to read it. It was about a nun from the eastern airtemple named Siryu. She gives her life away. Doing this, she enters the full and right life. Spirits watch over her with their majestic eyes. She cannot turn their eyes away ever again. Always will the follow her, even in the afterlife. All her footsteps she leaves in this world will be blessed by her former serenity. The children she birthes into this realm, she will teach her way. By that they will learn what she accomplishes and with that knowledge they can comprehend even more. Love and life go hand in hand. Kiri turned the scroll over. Was that the end? She didn't fully understand what it tried to tell her. What did Siku want her to get out of it? "You will be a good wife for monk Aang…" She'd said. Kiri blushed once more thinking about it. Was she trying to tell her that she knew they had kissed, that they were together now? Kiri heard the kitchen bell ring and slowly put the scroll back on the shelf. She was going to come back here, and see if there was anything else she could learn of the old airbenders. Her heart and mind was filled with questions that needed to be answered and a pure feeling of love. She knew that this was what she wanted.
"You're quiet Kiri, what's up?" Aang asked her over the table. She was staring into her bowl of rice while chewing really slowly. She suddenly realized that she wasn't alone, in her mind she was still back in the library. "Oh sorry, I…" She was interrupted by Siku: "I found Kiri meditating this morning. I showed her the sacred library and handed her the scroll of nun Siryu." Siku smirked and folded her hands around her cup of green leaved tea. Aang shot his eyes wide open. And then he looked concerned. "Are you sure that that was a good idea Siku?" Kiri felt offended by this. "What do you mean by that Aang? I'm not allowed to read the scrolls of my forefathers?" She folded her arms and looked at him, how his expressions revealed his inner thoughts. He gave her a surprised look. "Well yes, of course, I just… Didn't think you would want to, that's all." They looked at each other for a long time, ending up with a smile. "Later", Kiri mumbled and they finished their meal.
She and Aang sat at the small water fountain near the southern coastline. He held her hand sending a sensation of lightning from her fingertips through her body. "I was very surprised to hear that you were meditating this morning." He said while caressing the palm of her hand. "I didn't think you were into all of that, I mean… Do you believe in the Spirits?" He had a hard time getting the words out of his mouth, she could tell. This was an important question for him. They'd never spoken about it before. Kiri thought about this for a while, she wanted to say it right. "I've always believed in the Spirits, but I've never really tried to get in contact with them. I had nightmares tonight and I just wanted to feel that calmness I could feel when you were meditating. Of course, I didn't want to wake you up so I decided to try myself." She felt tensions in her body. This subject was indeed hard to talk about. Aang sat down on the ground in front of her to look her in the eyes. "I am so happy to hear this Kiri. You can't believe how much I've been thinking about that…" She knew that he'd always been very proud of believing in the Spirits. This was something he couldn't live without. Kiri wanted to get it off of her chest so she said it quickly: "I want to live like you Aang. Like a nun. Even though it will be hard for me, I've decided that that's why the Spirits brought me here. To live with you, like you…" She was interrupted by Aang's sudden arms around her, a hard kiss on her lips. The kiss was very intense, closing their conversation. They wanted the same things. And Kiri had finally let him know what she wanted. They looked at each other. They couldn't help but smile. "Kiri, I do not think it will be hard for you… You practically live by the norms of the old nuns and monks. All you need is the religious part now. But I see that you've already been touched by them. I think I you see me as I see you. You must know that I'm not like the monks that taught me. You shouldn't look up to me in that way. I try…" she silenced him with a kiss. "Aang, none of us are perfect but we do everything we can. So stop making yourself less of a monk than you are. To me, you are perfect." She blushed at her own words. Where did she get all of this? She was floating on a cloud. He'd just told her that he saw her as a nun. How could he see her that way? She was ecstatic.