Song Name: Easy Silence
Singer/Band: Dixie Chicks
Story Title: Your Easy Silence
Rating: T
Pairings: N.A
Disclaimer: I do not own any songs by the Dixie Chicks. Nor do I own any characters from Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender.
A/N: I already miss Appa, one of my favorite characters in the series. Whenever I think of Appa, I think of an easy…what's the word? Not silence, but just a peaceful air. Appa kept Aang calm, and I had made a wallpaper for the feeling, listening to this song when I made it. So, this fanfic is for all of you Appa lovers out there! Don't worry, we'll get our favorite fluffy monster back soon enough!
Any questions on the wallpaper? Send me a PM!
Enjoy it! – Solar Beam
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Your Easy Silence:
'When the calls and conversations
Accidents and accusations
Messages and misperceptions
Paralyze my mind.'
He sat there, alone, sitting at the edge of the trees and looking out at the area around them. In his tight little grasp was the white bison whistle he had used so often to call his best friend to him in the times of trouble. So many times had the beast come flying, calling out to him, as if saying, "I'm here, don't worry, Aang, I'm here." So many times did the young Avatar curl up beside his giant bison and cuddle into the large white fur, loving the feel of the softness against his cheek. He would sit there with his giant bison, whispering his worries and his secrets into the giant ear. He would tell Appa everything that mattered to him, everything that worried him, and Appa would groan softly and the silence would just be enough afterwards, for he knew that the fuzzy beast knew what he was saying and was always there for him. Even when the fights around him, the destruction of the hundred years he was absent, his spirit guide was always there to listen. And now he was gone.
'Busses, cars, and airplanes leaving
Burning fumes of gasoline
And everyone is running
And I come to find a refuge in the…'
Aang curled up into a ball beside the tree, his head hitting backwards against the trunk ever so often, his eyes looking in the skies for his friend. That day had been so terrible, the day that his friend was gone. He had blamed it on everyone, on Toph, on Katara…everyone except Sokka, who was drunk on cactus juice. Aang hadn't smiled sense he had found out about Appa's kidnapping…bison-napping…and he knew he was worrying Katara. She had stayed with him, everyone had stayed with him, despite his fowl mood. Katara had held him so tightly the moment he went into the Avatar Spirit. She held on to him for what seemed like hours, and she cried with him. He knew he had hurt her, not physically, but emotionally. He knew she hated to see him like that, in so much pain. But he couldn't help it. Not this time. They had taken Appa, and even though they had led them out of that wretched desert, Aang still hated the sand-benders. Every time he thought of them, his hand would tighten over the bison whistle and the wind around him stirred.
'Easy silence that you make for me
It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay'
Aang sighed heavily as he listened quietly to the talk behind him at the campfire. Katara was arguing with Sokka who was arguing with Toph, who was siding with Katara about something Sokka had obviously done to Momo who had taken the nuts from the nut bag beside Sokka. Normally, Aang would be over there helping Katara, but he didn't move. He couldn't move. His eyes traced the sky once more before he lifted the white whistle to his mouth and blew hard. There was no sound, but he knew that if Appa had been around he would have heard. He could feel the eyes on the side of his head, but he didn't turn to look at his companions. He couldn't. So he just clutched the whistle tighter and lowered it to his lap with another sigh. He could still remember the day he had been given Appa. Appa had just been a baby, maybe a few months old, and Aang was only about six. He loved Appa instantly, and would carry him around like he was a small puppy. Like he was a baby. And then when Appa got past Aang's height, Appa would carry Aang around everywhere. They were immediate friends, immediate brothers. And Aang loved Appa. He always had, and he always would. "I'll find him," he decided with a nod.
"What, Aang?" Aang turned to look at Katara, who had been the one to speak out to him. Aang tried to smile, but it turned into a crooked grimace and he shrugged. Katara just looked at him when he turned back around. His friends didn't understand the bond he shared with his fuzzy friend.
'Monkeys on the barricades
Are warning us to back away
They form commissions trying to find
The next one they can crucify'
Aang could remember when Monk Gyatsu tried to teach Aang to stay on Appa when he flew. He remembered the numerous times he fell off, only to have Appa let out a worried groan and fly down to catch Aang in mid-fall. Aang would always look down to where he would have fallen, into a big bunch of clouds, and he would gulp and grip his friend's hid tightly. He would hear Monk Gyatsu laugh from the Temple Grounds, and he would call out, "Again!" One day, Aang had asked his Master why the bison would fly only when he called out the two words, 'Yip, Yip!' The monk smiled at his young student and would proclaim, 'It irritates the bison, for some reason. That's why it flies.' It was not the more elaborate answer, but Aang took it and he immediately ran to the beast and hugged its head. "I promise I won't ever say those two words again, Appa!" he had exclaimed. The beast moaned, but he knew that his friend would be saying those two words for as long as they were together.
Aang sighed. Those younger memories were some of his favorites. Appa had been there forever with him. The night he had run away from the Temple, he had been with Appa first. He had cuddled up to his friend and told him all of his worries and all of his woes, and Appa would merely listen on in silence, only the flick of his ears proving that he was still listening. And then that was when Aang decided that he would run away, and that was when Aang had gotten atop of Appa and 'yip, yipped' him. Though Appa had tried to warn him of the storm, he had tried moaning and shaking his head to tell his friend not to go on. Aang wouldn't listen. He couldn't listen. He was too afraid to listen. To afraid of the future.
'And anger plays on every station
Answers only make more questions
I need something to believe in
Breathe in sanctuary in the…'
Only here he was in the future, one hundred years into the future, and Appa wasn't with him. He was somewhere near Ba Sing Se, being sold off to some nobleman or something. Appa had always been there for Aang, and Appa was the only thing he could believe in. Now he was gone, and Aang wasn't there to help him. The wind stirred around him when he remembered Toph telling him what was happening when they were in the Library, after he had calmed down. They had muzzled Appa! His tattoos began to glow lightly, and only a touch on the shoulder brought Aang back into reality. He looked up into sad, blue eyes. Katara looked as if she were about to cry as she sat herself down next to him, taking the hand holding the whistle into her own. She held his hand tightly, not looking at him for his sake. She was looking into the sky, her eyes seeming to search the moon for answers. She missed Appa, too. She missed him for Aang's sake. She missed him because she had liked Appa the minute she had met him, just as Aang had. She said nothing, just looked at the sky. For a moment, Aang was captured by silence, her determination. If he wanted to, he could have told Katara everything he wanted to tell Appa. But he wouldn't do that. Appa was his own personal diary, Appa held every secret, every memory, every moment Aang did. He wouldn't put all of that on Katara, not on Katara.
'Easy silence that you make for me
It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay'
Katara sighed silently, and her head looked down to their hands which her clamped together tightly. Her knuckles were turned white from gripping his hand so hard, but then again, Aang was only putting that much force onto her hand as well. Slowly she pried their fingers apart with her other hand, and then pried his own fingers away and she took the whistle in her hand tightly. She looked down at it, sighed, and slowly stood up. She began to move off, but Aang grabbed her by the wrist. He wanted his whistle. She looked down at him sadly. "Momo misses Appa," were the only words she said before he let her go with the whistle. He watched her give Momo the whistle, but instead of keeping the whistle for his own, Momo scampered back over to Aang and sat on his head with the whistle in his hands. Aang frowned sadly. Momo and Appa were great friends, and Momo missed him almost as much as Aang did. After the cactus juice had worn out of the flying lemur, only then did Momo realize that his best friend was missing. Momo had hid in Aang's lap for a long time before he got up to eat. Aang sighed; Aang was like that right now, not eating or sleeping, just waiting.
'Children lose their youth too soon
Watching war made us immune
And I've got all the world to lose
But I just want to hold on to the…'
Aang leaned back slowly and looked up at the sky once more. He took the whistle from Momo a moment and blew into the whistle once more. He felt Momo shuddered; so Momo could hear it as well? He lowered the whistle and the lemur took it back greedily. Aang sighed and buried his face in his hands. "No," he grumbled. He couldn't handle it. Silence just wasn't silence without his silence. The easy silence that he carried! Nothing was the same, and this silence that now covered up Aang's soul wasn't the silence that he used to place into it! It was his easy silence that would make Aang calm! It was his easy silence that would keep Aang in check and happy. Without his spirit guide, Aang was completely lost. Appa completed him in ways his other friends could not. Appa was considered his brother, perhaps more than a brother, perhaps a father! No, Appa wasn't his father. That had been Monk Gyatsu. But now Aang was losing all of his family! First the Temple, then Monk Gyatsu, now Appa. Aang shook his head in his hands. Appa had created such a nice, easy silence for him. Appa had kept the world at bay for him! He wasn't here for that anymore. Aang did feel lost. He was lost! He had to get his friend back. He clenched his hands into fists as he raised his head back up to the sky. He wanted to go to Ba Sing Se now! He needed to go now! He stood up suddenly and spun around to face his friends. They were all getting into bed; Toph had already set up her tent and had disappeared into it.
At the sound of Aang getting up so suddenly, Katara sat up in her sleeping bag with a hopeful smile. Aang sighed. He was tired. They could start out tomorrow again; he and his friends needed the rest. He owed them that much. "Coming to bed?" she asked hopefully, in a hushed whisper. Aang nodded and sat near the fire, curled up in a ball. Frowning, Katara got up with her sleeping bag and moved toward him. She only paused when he tensed up. Then, she lay beside him and wrapped her arm around him like a mother would to a crying baby. Aang turned his head away from her, and began crying, taking up space in her own easy silence. He would get Appa back, and then he could wake up from this lonely nightmare.
'Easy silence that you make for me
It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me'
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Thank you to all of the lovely reviewers thus far into my small drabble series! I love all of your reviews!
Cold Static (2): Of course man-eating-mushrooms has a certain ring. It is one of our oldest insiders, silly-gooser! And for your second review...err...I can only guess you are talking about my bf? Please don't burn him. You are such a good friend. -hugs-
Liselle129: I love your review so much. Thank you so much for the advice and the wonderufl review on how I did that first kiss thing. Your advice is just wonderful, and I just want to thank you so much!
That Bloody Demon: Haha, being crazy with no sleep is fun. However, I like being crazy with boredom better. Otherwise my drabble series would never had began! Thank you for the review!
Andreacrist: Don't worry, another Taang story will be coming very soon! However, it won't be a continuation from the other one. Thank you for the review!
Nori12: -is patted on back- Thank you, Nori!
