Hi! I've had this sitting on my computer for a long long time and finally decided to just publish it. The whole thing is focused on OCs more than Aang and the ending, to me at least, felt very rushed since I got tired of writing this at one point. I'm too lazy to edit it now (it's been around two years since I finished this) so I'm sorry if you're a bit disappointed by it. I'll leave a summary for things that happens after it at the bottom.
Avatar: The Not So Last Airbender
Aang was staring at the sunset with a slight smile on his face. The war had ended a little over a month ago and Zuko was now the Fire Lord. He and Katara had gotten together and now lived in the Fire Palace with Sokka and Toph. Their journey had come to a happy ending and he was now a full fledged Avatar. It was a good journey. Full of laughter and adventure mixed with sadness and bittersweet moments. An evening breeze blew by and his upturned lips faltered.
…Not everything was perfect.
He was still the last airbender.
Memories of his mentor's smiling face flashed in the back of his mind and the smile he previously wore fell. He missed the airbenders. He missed having someone like him around. The Last Airbender was a title he hated, reminding him of those he lost, of the people that now didn't exist.
If I hadn't fled, maybe I could have saved them… Maybe I wouldn't be the only one left.
His sorrowful thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Aang?", the sound was music to his ears as he turned to face the girl he loved.
She was smiling softly, tan skin shining in the orange of the lowering sun. Her dark brown hair swayed in the wind as her blue eyes took in his smiling but sad face. Katara's brows drew together in worry.
"What's wrong?", she asked, a slightly more powerful breeze shoving her long hair in the air.
The Avatar turned back to the sun, his expression longing. It took a long while before he responded.
"…I hate being the only airbender to see this war end", his voice was barely above a whisper, sadness tinging his voice.
Katara walked closer and wrapped her arms around him while resting her chin on his bald head. The almost fifteen year old girl sighed, the air tickling Aang's skin.
"I wish my mother would have seen it too", she murmured.
Aang leaned back against her and they both watched the sun disappear behind a mountain. Darkness was going to settle soon and full moon would rise up from the east in minutes. Finally the waterbender shifted.
"Aang, there are some people who would like to meet you. I said you would by sunset", she said more formally.
The Avatar jolted around, "What!? Why didn't you say so! I could have gone sooner"
His girlfriend chuckled as the boy dragged her along towards the Palace at a run, "I thought you'd like the break. You've already seen five groups of people today! These are the most exotic bunch, though…", she mused.
Aang slowed down to long strides and she fell into step beside him. The boy cocked his head at her questioningly.
"Exotic bunch?", he asked.
Katara grinned, "You'll see!"
A pout, "No fair"
The only waterbender from Southern Water Tribe laughed and lead him towards the guest room. She knocked and stepped inside to see the eight mismatched people stand up to greet them. A woman with light brown hair tied into a loose bun smiled warmly.
"Ah, the Avatar. Thank you for seeing us!", she bowed slightly and the other seven followed example.
Aang bowed back in greeting and met her dark and brownish gray eyes, "The pleasure is mine. What can I do for you?"
The eyes flickered to a young girl that had her head covered by a forest green scarf, like she'd come straight from a desert, and back to him, "My name is Arina and I come from a small village, Umimara, in the Earth Nation's West Coast. We've gotten together to give you important news"
xX Three Years Prior Xx
The sun was setting again as a small hooded figure dragged her heavy feet along a dusty road. A heavy looking backpack was hanging from her shoulders as she breathed heavily, sweat rolling down her chin. Pulling herself forward with the aid of a staff the child continued on until she tripped over her feet and fell. Panting heavily she laid there for a moment before trying to push herself up and failing. With an annoyed huff she turned her head to the side and relaxed her body, clearly deciding to rest for a while. Her shadowed face seemed to go lax as her lips parted slightly, breathing slowing. She fell asleep on the side of the road. Hours passed with no one in sight.
Moonlight fell on the prone body as the exhausted girl twitched. Her brows were furrowed and breathing hitched as if troubled. Another minute gone and the child trashed, a quiet cry escaping her lips. She was having a nightmare. Twitching and jerking lasted for as long as five minutes before an owl's hoot pierced the otherwise quiet night air. Light gray eyes flashed open under the hood and heavy breathing hit the silence of the forest only the owl's continuing cries split. The girl inhaled deeply and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her neck cracked as she turned her head back forward and prompted a slight wince. Pale hand reached for the staff and she stood slowly with its help. One step forward, another, third… The lonely figure was on her way again, into the silent darkness of the night.
xXXx
Fresh morning sunlight was just creeping up from the horizon of a twinkling sea as the small hooded child reached a hill. Dry and cracked lips stretched into a slight smile as she saw a settlement at the coast. Perhaps there she would find one… Feet clad in worn leather boots walked ahead with renewed strength.
A village! First village in three days!
It didn't take longer than an hour to reach the edge of the place and the traveler slowed down as she cautiously neared the wooden buildings. It seemed like the Fire Nation hadn't come this far west or just decided this small village wasn't worth their time. She would lean towards the latter but wasn't going to take chances… Or maybe she would. She was tired, hungry and out of water. Soon her body would collapse under her if she couldn't get something to drink.
So, with grim determination the child swallowed dryly and continued on. Cautiously, she peeked around one house's corner and saw a man in green and brown clothing planting something to a small garden. He seemed absorbed in his task. Pressing her lips together in determination the girl stepped fully out of the hiding place and let her staff lean against one shoulder. She watched for a long ten seconds before taking a deep breath.
"Excuse me?", her voice was rough from lack of use and water.
The man turned in surprise and looked at his small visitor. She shuffled her feet a little and peeked at him from under the brown hood.
"Um, C- could I have some water? If you're willing to give, that is", she asked quietly.
The man looked her up and down before smiling warmly and nodding, "Wait here, little one"
The girl let her shoulders relax as she watched the man go get her the liquid of life. She spent the short waiting time looking around the other homes not too far away. It seemed quite peaceful, much more so than the last place she had visited. A shudder went through her at the memory of Fire Nation forcing people to work for them. The gentle looking man returned with a bigger cup than she expected. It was more like a clay jar, really. The girl took it gracefully in her small hands and sipped the wonderful, cool and refreshing substance. It didn't take long for her to gulp down the entire jarful and give it back with a small smile of gratitude.
"Thank you very much, sir", she said politely.
The man with black hair and blue eyes chuckled as he lowered himself to the girl's level. They locked their gazes and stared into the other pair's depths for a moment. The girl found herself liking the honest blue that looked at her curiously.
"What are you doing here all alone, child?", he asked finally.
The gray eyes with a hint of green blinked down as her head filled with memories of fire and shouting. The entire valley burned that day mere months ago. Eyes narrowed as her throat constricted. She wouldn't be able to talk without crying. The man seemed to understand though. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to tell. My name is Yurak. Do you know where you are?"
The girl was thankful and shook her head in answer. Yurak squeezed her thin shoulder gently.
"This is Umimara. A village at Earth Nation's West Coast"
She nodded in understanding, filing the information away.
"I'm Shirane", she whispered, "I'm looking for someone"
xXXx
"Arina, can you help me with this?", shouted a fisherman from his boat as he lifted a rope that should soon be attached to the pier.
The woman fixing nets looked up and nodded with a smile while rising up. The rope flew towards her and she caught it neatly, pulling the boat to the pier in a smooth movement. The fisherman let out a cry of surprise as he stumbled from the quite forceful tug. Both laughed slightly as Arina wrapped it tightly around a post before going to her own work.
"You catch anything, Mekka?", she asked, pulling a fishbone needle through the net once again.
In response he grinned a toothy smile and lifted a big and heavy basket on the wooden platform. Then another. And a third. He looked up to see Arina's shock. A smug smile stretched across his face.
"You want to buy anything, missy?", he teased.
In an instant annoyance crossed her features, "Call me that again and your nets will stay as they are", she threatened.
One look at them told him it wouldn't be good but he knew his friend well enough to know she wouldn't just leave. Arina was a patient soul. He smiled in apology as he pulled a big fish out of one basket.
"Okay, okay! Here", he tossed it beside her folded knees and nets, "That's bonus for the good work"
A raised eyebrow, "Oh, bribing me now, are you?"
Mekka laughed, "I'm just having a good day and feeling generous. Don't think you're special"
Arina joined his laughter before both continued with their work. Neither noticed a child between ages seven and ten sitting on the beach and watching them intently from under her hood. Wind blew by as she pressed her lips together. Inhaling through her nose, sniffing the salty breeze, she began to hope.
Maybe, just maybe, I found one.
xXXx
Arina was in for a surprise.
There was a girl sitting in front of her house, hood over her head. She was young and wasn't from the village, that much was clear. Her brown and forest green attire suggested her to be from somewhere around the middle of Earth Nation. She looked like a traveler. Without warning the child looked up and stood to bow a little.
"Hello. My name is Shirane and I would like to talk with you", her small smile was a little forced and 'talk' clearly meant 'in private'.
Arina was no stranger to reading intentions and was actually quite good at it. That's why it was startling to see someone so young hiding something. She was being honest though and anyone could see it was important for the little girl so the kind hearted woman complied. She smiled.
"You can come in. I'm preparing fish for dinner if you'd like to join me?", it was a hopeful question. Arina loved kids.
You could see the relief as tension left the young child's shoulders. This time the smile was more real.
"I would love that"
Which is how the light brown haired woman got herself a dedicated helper. She had tried to tell that the girl was a guest and didn't have to but she insisted, saying she loved to help. It was kind of sweet. And helpful as they got the job done in half the time it normally would have taken. So, as the fish cooked Arina curiously looked at her little visitor and not for the first time wondered why she didn't take her hood off.
"So, what did you want to talk about?", asked the young woman to pass time.
Light gray and greenish irises looked at her seriously, judging her. To be truthful, it was kind of intimidating.
"Do you know what happened to all the airbenders?", the girl's quiet voice finally asked.
If you looked closely you could see the woman tense, "…What of them?", her tone was carefully on the curious and confused side.
The eyes looked at her for a long second before closing as the young girl put her hands forward. A downing realization hit Arina even as small wisps of wind started circling around her fingers. The hood swayed even as their other clothes did the same.
"No way…!", the woman breathed, "You're… You too! I thought I was the only one…"
The child stopped, eyes shining in the fire, "Me too. You're the first one I've met with a different bending than fire, earth or water. I know because I can feel those from a person. I finally found one! I- I found you", her sentence turned into a sob.
Arina felt near tears herself. Another airbender! Someone like her! Finally someone like her… She fell on her knees and pulled the crying child into a hug.
"You found me", she whispered and put her hand on Shirane's hair.
They sat there for a long minute, Arina running her hand through the hair reaching the child's shoulders and a bit beyond. It took a moment to realize the hood had come off and she couldn't resist a glance. What she saw made her gasp in awe.
"Your hair is red!"
The girl pushed herself away and seemingly felt for her hood that wasn't on. Her partly wet cheeks started burning with the color of her hair, if much lighter, as she pulled the strands to cover her face. The woman was overawed.
"Amazing! I've never seen hair that red before. I didn't even know it existed!", she reached to touch it as Shirane peered at her.
"…You think so?", the child looked skeptical, "Others who see it only think it's the Fire Nation's color"
Arina frowned, "That's stupid. A shame you have to cover it, really"
She got the most beaming smile from the girl and laughed.
"What do you say to eating the fish now?"
It was the start of a deep friendship between the two airbenders, only ones they knew with the same talent, but by no means the last.
xXXx
"You're really leaving?", asked Mekka from the woman he grew up with, "With Shirane?"
Arina laughed, "Well, I can't really let her go alone, now can I?", her eyes twinkled as she said that, beaming down at the hooded child.
Said child smiled back and continued with slow stitchings to get a hole sewed shut. It would hinder the sail if it wasn't properly done, but Arina had taught her well. Hence, Mekka let her help. The two had become a common sight together as Shirane helped around with the young twenty-year-old woman who had almost adopted the nine-year-old. She was a fast learner and well liked around Umimara and more than a few were caught in a game of try-and-guess-what's-under-the-hood.
Mekka was one of the two people who really knew, but who was he to spoil the fun? He also prided himself to be a loyal man and would take the girls' secrets to his grave. Two airbenders in town had to be a record of some sort. And a dangerous thing, he knew. Fire Nation had actively hunted those down in the last century. To the point they were believed to be extinct.
Well, these two have proved everyone wrong.
Shirane had stayed for a month now. It felt like a forever ago, really. He could have made her a true fisherwoman had she decided to stay…
"I'll miss my helpers, then. Hope you have safe travels", said the fisherman.
He liked the two and it would be sad to see them leave, but… he understood the desire to find more of their own kind. He sincerely hoped they weren't the only ones left… Shirane apparently had traveled months to find only one.
"Oh, hush! We'll say our goodbyes tomorrow. Right now it's time for work", said Arina.
What went unsaid was the fact that it was the last day of her normal, quiet life in the village. She clearly wanted to savor it.
Mekka laughed, understanding, "You're right"
Unnoticed, Shirane's smile grew just a little. She liked the fisherman and his laid-back attitude. A shame he couldn't come with them. The girl paused her stitching in favor of looking at the horizon and shining water.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be sailing those waters, towards north.
xXXx
"Arina, I'm scared!", shouted the nine-year-old who clung to the mast for dear life.
The waves were high and currents uncooperative as expected when they sailed to the North Pole's territory. War wasn't a peaceful time to choose to travel. The woman tugging at ropes of the sail and the rudder secretly agreed with the child. It was amazing the kid seemed to be able to work with her other hand firmly holding to the mast as she actively threw water off their sailboat or adjusted the sail.
"Don't worry! We'll be able to tell them we're not a threat!", the woman replied hoping in her heart that it was true.
They had always said she was overly optimistic.
But for once she was right, when a ship full of the Northern Water Tribe men came to their side.
"State your purpose!", a man seemingly in charge demanded.
Arina almost, almost, sighed in relief.
"We're travelling to find some people! We got a lead that said they might be at North Pole!"
There. Simple and true. She just hoped it would be enough. Shirane looked warily from under her hood. The leader looked them and their ship over with caution.
"Your names?", he finally asked.
Both females relaxed a little.
"Arina and Shirane from Umimara, a village by the sea in Earth Nation"
He nodded, "Ranah from Northern Water Tribe. We'll escort you for the rest of the way"
Arina nodded back respectfully. It was same as 'we'll let you in but don't forget we're watching'. She wouldn't violate their trust in these unstable times. The woman felt more than saw the tension leave her young companion. The 'lead' they had was more of a feeling from Shirane's part but she had found her with it and the awesome bender sensing skill Arina still couldn't figure out. Only that it worked and the almost unconscious moving of the child's lips told her the other boat had seven waterbenders on board. They would be no match on the ocean even with their untrained airbending. Quietly she let the Water Tribe boat show the way and steered their smaller one after it. Step one of North Pole search was completed. Now to find other airbenders.
If there were airbenders.
xXXx
Shirane sat by the table they had a map on. She drew six more 'x' marks on it and concentrated on reading the wind coming through the window. Then she put a few 'o' marks on the Southern side of the North Pole. She stood up with a beaming smile.
"I'm done!"
Arina looked over from their temporary stove and checked. It looked pretty neat, a few 'o's here and there and 'x's almost everywhere.
"Nice! Seems like we'll be exploring the South Coast first", she smiled.
Shirane nodded. This was only their second day here and the search would probably take up to a month. It was only luck she could pinpoint the places airbenders wouldn't be at with her power to feel for them. That said, this far away no accurate pinpoints could be given. But they'd try. She knew there were others out there and could faintly feel the familiar wind signature here, but not as accurately to know it really was real. Either way, it was better than nothing and they would try.
xXXx
Cleo looked like a typical Water Tribe member. Dark skin, brown hair tied up and blue white clothes suited for cold weather. Only thing out of place, and not even too noticeably, were his silvery gray eyes.
Now that Shirane thought about it, gray was a common eye color for airbenders.
The man had hid inside his self made igloo when he noticed the two approaching. His home was well hidden and could easily be mistaken for an iceberg or tall snowpile. He lived alone with only a tame white furred bear with sabertooths and seal friend out at the nearby ocean. Shirane already liked him. But oh how surprised he was when the two had called him out and asked if he was an airbender. The man had denied at first but then the girls had swirled air around themselves for show. Then his expression turned into comical shock. It was another a little bit teary 'reunion' (no matter what he said) and Arina and Shirane were very excited to meet another of their kind.
"How long have you been looking for others?", asked Cleo sometime after he offered food.
Arina smiled easily, "I started when Shirane found me. That was about two months ago. At North Pole we've looked for one month. Shirane's been looking for a bit over half a year"
Cleo's eyes bugged out at that. He looked terribly saddened about the girl's family's demise by the hand of firebenders. His father had died at a dangerous hunting trip at the ocean and foreign mother from a disease and grief soon after. Only they knew he was an airbender and he had left the Water Tribe a year later at eighteen years of age. Now he was 36.
"Are you going to continue searching?", he asked Arina while Shirane shrieked with laughter on top of Lumi, the polar bear, red hair flying freely.
Arina nodded a bit wistfully as she watched her little companion have fun, "We'd love to stay for a while though. Probably a week. We want to meet what is left of our kind and perhaps find the Avatar", her dark gray eyes flickered to the older man, "Is it okay if we stay for a while?"
Cleo smiled widely, "Okay? I'd love to have younger company around! What do you say to some bending training?"
You could say the twenty year old's eyes sparkled. Shirane stopped laughing abruptly and stared at him from twenty meters away as if he was crazy. Her hair seemed to glow under the orange sunset.
"Are you kidding me? I've wanted to do that for my whole life!", she yelled excitedly.
One perk of airbending was that sound carried farther if wind carried it and for them listening to winds was easy. Cleo chuckled. This would be the best week of his life. He would have to get a promise of letters from them after they left, though. A sea eagle from the Tribe would be easy enough to buy, along with writing materials.
Hmm.
He wasn't quite ready for that yet. Perhaps he'd ask the girls. Yes, that sounded like a good idea, especially if they brought their stuff with them and pretended to leave with their boat. That would work and keep things secret.
He really was having too much fun with this.
xXXx
"Arina, look!", Shirane pointed at the land barely visible at the horizon, "We're here, we're here!"
The woman laughed merrily, "Yeah!"
She made the winds blow a little harder at their sail and the boat almost flew over the waves towards their adventure's next part. They'd left Cleo a week and a half ago and their eagle, Pat, had been back and forth without fail. The airbenders had decided not to tell anything too relevant about their journey for security's sake but that they would keep each party updated of any progress. Only implications about who they were looking for were allowed. And now they were going back on land and could buy better writing supplies! Plus, Arina would have to teach her little charge how to write and read better. She was brilliant, she really was, but the poor child just hadn't had anyone to teach her. Right now, though. Now they were going to get back to searching on land. The twenty year old's smile widened a fraction.
I can't wait!
xXXx
Two months of traveling towards south and no airbenders around. Well, except for the two of course. Arina, to be truthful, was a little disappointed but what do you expect when the whole world thinks them extinct. The two had gotten lucky with finding one airbender so soon. They had gotten mules from the last village they were at and could now travel much faster but it was still slow. What was worse, when she complained about it the nine-year-old Shirane pointed out she had gone on foot the first time for months. She'd felt bad about it after that little comment.
"A-ri-na!", came said little girl's voice as she draped herself across the woman's shoulders, "Is the food ready soon?"
She made a non-committal noise from the back of her throat. The light brown haired woman could feel the girl's pout.
"It looks pretty ready to me", Shirane mumbled next to her ear.
Arina looked up and promptly sprang to action to prevent their dinner from turning into charcoal, "Aah! Little help?"
Shirane didn't reply, only concentrated and pushed air away from their fire so it dimmed. The woman got their food without problems. She smiled.
"Well. Let's dig in. Our journey continues first thing in the morning"
xXXx
"Dear girls,
Thank you again for the par- parch-ment and ink. It's nice to hear from you. As for your question, Lumi is doing better. Old age is getting to her though. She has a little over two months left at most. I'm going to miss her when she's gone. Otherwise it's been quite nice. Winds in-ten-si-fy day by day, though. Hopefully there are no big storms coming. How is training, Shirane? Reading and writing is coming along nicely, I see. What have you been doing this past week? Any interesting sights? Tell me in your next letter. As for Arina, are you still bored? Or did you have that adventure you wanted?
Your friend,
Cleo"
Shirane finished reading and grinned at her mother figure who glared at the letter as if it had offended her. They had had an adventure, alright. Mountain bandits with secret crime boss in a town just wasn't one she expected. She rubbed her shoulder absently, remembering how a club had clipped it when the robbers raided the village the two airbenders had resided in. The bruise was still there. Luckily it had turned out alright with some discreet winds distracting the attackers and village properly informed beforehand courtesy to said two airbenders. It wasn't something she'd like to do again though.
She leaned back and looked at the cloudy sky. They still had no luck finding other airbenders and it had been a year. Shirane was telling her they were going into the right direction but Arina couldn't help but doubt. She turned twenty one last month and Shirane had been ten for almost four.
Perhaps we three really are the last…
xXXx
"Yes, really!", Shirane insisted.
Arina only stared at her surrogate daughter. She couldn't help but feel sceptical about what they'd have to do to get to the fourth airbender they were still tracking down. Apparently her girl had sensed it at the desert. How an airbender had gotten there, Arina had no idea, but she did know the two of them had no idea how to survive in one.
"We're staying here as long as we don't find a desert tribe to take us with them", the 22-year-old decided.
Shirane looked put out but nodded, glancing at the desert looming in the distance. She sighed longingly but left after Arina. They'd get there eventually.
xXXx
Shirane stared straight at one girl in the desert tribe meeting. She and Arina were traveling with the Sunset Tribe and now, three years after finding Cleo, were at the yearly meeting of sand tribes. And an airbender was there. The girl grabbed at Arina's clothes that covered all but her hands and eyes. Shirane had a forest green scarf with a golden band over her hair and a light brown cloth over her nose and mouth, hood long since gotten rid of. She met her surrogate mother's eyes and sent her a much speaking look. With that the girl was off to meet her fellow airbender from the Lizard Tribe.
"Hello?", she asked shakily from the young woman in light lila and brown.
Dark gray eyes flickered down at her and narrowed slightly at the light colored skin showing around the child's eyes and her hands. Shirane stared up nervously and asked the older girl to lean down so she could whisper something. A bit warily the dark skinned teen complied and the twelve year old stood on the tips of her toes.
"You're an airbender too, right?"
The eyes widened in surprise and the girl stiffened.
"Y- you?", there was undisguised hope and fear in her voice.
Shirane grinned, relieved, "We've been looking for you for three years!"
She turned to her Mom and beckoned her over. Arina complied looking the teen over with curious and happy eyes. The dark skinned girl looked very close to being overwhelmed.
"You too?", she whispered in awe.
Arina smiled behind her mask as her joy shone through from her eyes, and nodded.
"Welcome to the group of found airbenders", the woman told her, "You're the fourth"
With that the teen's excitement couldn't be ignored anymore. She grabbed their hands and ran towards the Lizard Tribe's tent.
"Mom!", she called.
Shirane laughed merrily as the teen, apparently Elinore, showed her to her dark skinned mother, a sandbender who was just as excited as the eighteen year old herself to finally, finally meet other airbenders. At the end of the week long meeting the two said goodbye to the Sunset Tribe and hello to Lizard. They would travel with them to the edge of the desert and then continue on with their journey. The Lizard tribe was a private one that guarded their airbender's secret with the fierce protection of a mama bear so the three airbenders could do whatever with their powers without fear. It was refreshing for the two travelers.
That month was also the time when they heard for the first time about the Avatar's resurfacing. This, of course, led them to redouble their efforts in finding all the other airbenders.
Cleo was going to get an amazing letter the next time Pat came around.
xXXx
Shirane sat atop a tallish rock with her eyes closed and searching the winds for the familiar feeling of a fellow airbender.
Then she found one that was so close she jumped. Only maybe three or four kilometers left. How had she missed that? Then she thought about how often Elinore had practiced her airbending and decided she was like a beacon compared to others who didn't use their gift so often. She could still feel traces of her after two months of traveling away. Perhaps that was why she'd locked on her trace from somewhere close to North Pole.
"Mom! I got a lead! Let's head left!", she called out and jumped to look at a giant mountain where she could feel someone airbending.
They mounted the horse Arina had somehow befriended in the forest (perhaps it had something to do with how they nursed it to health after a disastrous bear attack) and immediately switched to a gallop across forest trails. After perhaps half an hour of riding Shirane asked for her to slow down and dropped from the horse so that she could look over a cliff. She wasn't prepared for the sight that met her eyes. There was a white furred and six legged bison that could probably eat her whole. Plus it had a brown arrow pattern on its head. Across from it was a young man with black hair in a high up ponytail who was practicing airbending with fire. The fire shot up to one and a half meters each time he directed a gust of wind at it. She could've thought it firebending if she hadn't had her sensing ability.
"Wow!", she breathed.
Arina had now crouched beside her and the girl could have sworn she had somewhat airy and lovestruck look in her eyes. Shirane giggled. That, fortunately or unfortunately got the man's attention and he turned around. Immediately his expression turned guarded and manner suggested he expected an attack. The little girl with forest green scarf still over her head and golden band keeping it in place smiled disarmingly.
"Hello?", came the sheepish query from her mouth.
The young man, perhaps only a little bit older than Arina, frowned, "Who are you?"
Shirane's adopted mother blushed a little. The girl herself acted oblivious, though she felt a bit strange seeing her mom get a crush on someone with first glance.
"I'm Shirane and this is Arina, my adopted mother", she introduced dutifully as the woman next to her was busy trying to get her emotions under control. She thought she heard her whisper 'handsome'. The twelve-year-old ignored it in favor of jumping down the seven meters with a gust of well practiced airbending slowing her down. She lifted her eyes up to meet the young man's startled light gray ones.
"You're an airbender too, right?", she smiled warmly just as Arina dropped next to her.
The shocked silence was more than enough to break Arina away from her just discovered feelings' hold. She too smiled lightly.
"We've been looking for a long time. Three years to be exact. You're the fifth, excluding the just found Avatar"
This seemed to be too much. The man fell into a sitting position and openly gaped at them.
"Am I dreaming?", he asked as if fully believing so.
"Nope!", Shirane gladly informed him, sitting beside the fire with Arina following suit.
He shook his head, slowly closing his mouth and turning to the bison behind him, "Yana, are they real?"
The bison let out a low growl that could be taken as a yes or a no. The man in front of the girls seemed to understand though.
"Okay, girl", he slowly turned to the duo and burst out into laughter. The sound of it was a little hysterical but true. Shirane smiled broadly. She liked this man.
"My name is Huang and this is my sky bison, Yana. I've had her for all my life, though she was a bit smaller fifteen years back. As you can see, we're traveling alone and hiding from firebenders. Your turn", he nodded to them.
With that Shirane and Arina launched to the tale of how they met, left on the journey and met Cleo and Elinore. The horse they'd ridden to meet Huang with had wandered away after seeing the big bison. Arina was a bit sad to see him go, but that was life. By the end of it all the three airbenders had shown each other new tricks, swapped what amounted to life stories, gawked at Shirane's hair color and joked about being the new Air Nomads. It was almost next morning when they finally decided to sleep.
"Hey, girls. What do you say to traveling together?", Huang asked from his bedroll.
"Yes!", came the quick and excited answer from Arina as she shot up, eyes shining. Then she promptly blushed, "I mean, yes. If you want to"
Shirane giggled from next to her, "I'm all for it! Go, team Find the Wind!"
They shared a laugh and the 25-year-old man across from them seemed thoughtful as he stared at Arina. The red haired girl looked between them and smiled knowingly. They would end up together. She just knew it. She was halfway to sleep when she realized what that meant. A sleepy but very happy smile spread across her slightly tanned face.
I'm going to get a dad.
Yana turned around with a low rumble and the rest of the night was spent sleeping soundly.
xXXx
Rising to the skies on Yana was a novel experience.
Shirane could barely contain her excitement as she practically vibrated in her seat on Yana's saddle. It was almost funny how easily everything they had fit on the sky bison. They had had an amusing conversation just after waking because Huang had thought the night before was an especially good dream. The rest of noon he'd been on cloud nine. But right now he was talking animatedly from the top of Yana's head and telling them how amazing it was to fly. Which was exactly why Shirane was so excited. Then Huang said the command for flight, an easy 'Up, up' and Yana took off.
"We're flying! We're flying! We're flying!", was Shirane's eager and happy reaction.
"Oh, goodness! This is amazing!", was Arina's more reserved one.
Huang blushed happily and laughed, "Isn't it? Very easy to avoid fire soldiers too"
Shirane and Arina considered this before jumping and hugging each other.
"No more hiding in the bushes!", Arina said.
"No more running away!", said Shirane.
"No more trying to get around big roads!"
"No more constant lookout!"
"Awesome!", came as if from one mouth.
Huang just laughed harder, "You're welcome! Now then, Miss Compass, where shall we go?"
Shirane grinned from her mother's arms and concentrated for a minute. There were traces of firebenders up north and loads of earthbenders towards northwest.
"Southeast!", she told him, not feeling any inkling of an airbender, other than Elinore somewhere far away.
"You've got it, Shirane", saluted Huang and turned Yana to the aforementioned direction. Then they took off higher, into the clouds.
Shirane had a feeling she was going to love these flights.
xXXx
"Are you kidding me!? The one time Yana's seen and they say we're the Avatar?", Huang groaned as he eyed a fleet of warships below them.
"Less talking, more dodging!", shouted Arina from the sky bison's tail end.
Shirane was unconsciously biting her bottom lip as they narrowly avoided a stream of fiery and flaming projectiles. She looked around desperately and almost sighed in relief at the clouds just above them.
"Let's hide!", she yelled over the roaring wind and flying fire.
Huang did as was told and dove into the massive cloud. They'd done it once or twice before but the shivery cold and wet feeling was just as surprising as before. One glowing red ball of hot flames came straight for them but the two non-occupied airbenders managed to blast it off course. It was only luck the others missed. Then Yana came out of the other end. Shirane slumped in the saddle, energy drained after the excitement was over.
"Haah… I don't want to do that more often than I have to", she said, clinging to the now steady bison as her heart raced.
She got hums of agreement from her fellow airbenders. Maybe going over the fire country wasn't such a good idea. Well, too late now. They were over half way through. Plus, Shirane could feel airbending somewhere around there. It had been a good idea to tell Cleo and Elinore to wait for a month before sending their messenger birds back to them. Arina had again befriended animals who could cope with any weather and trained them to fly between the airbenders. She was amazing like that, at least Shirane and Huang thought so. Arina herself was very modest about it.
Huh. Who knew thinking random things was so calming? Shirane slowly sat up and grinned at her two dating travel companions.
"Well, now we're slightly off course, I think. A little towards north, please"
Huang too had calmed down a bit and raised one hand, "Aye, aye, Captain", he breathed, "Just let me get myself back together. We did just almost get impaled by fireballs"
"I second that", mumbled his girlfriend from the other side of the saddle, "I can't believe that just happened"
Shirane, ever the optimist, laughed, "Well, look at the bright side: Now they think the Avatar's somewhere he's not"
xXXx
It had only been two months when the trio (plus Yana) stumbled across the sixth airbender. This one lived near a village and used tremendous amounts of airbending. Which had lead to the belief that a wind spirit lived in the forest. The bending also explained why Shirane could pinpoint his location from a country away.
"Ooh! You're good!", said girl smiled from a tree branch as she watched the boy driving a bear away.
This had the upside of getting his attention and the downside of a hurricane coming straight at her. With a yelp the little girl slashed downwards to make a wind blade and cutting the thing apart. She shivered when the wind almost yanked her away and the tree she was sitting on bent backwards.
The boy hadn't waited to converse and Huang went into pursuit as Arina checked her daughter for injuries.
Shirane looked thoughtful. The black haired boy was amazing. With how rare airbenders were, no one should have been able to teach him. And he was powerful. None of the airbenders she had met could produce such a force to their wind. She could have thought him the Avatar with that power, if her senses hadn't proclaimed otherwise. He probably had a harsh past and looked like he'd been living, surviving, alone in the forest. Shirane winced. That was the training she didn't want to try for more than a week, perhaps a month. It reminded her too much of the day her family had burned and the half year after it.
"Can he catch up?", Arina wondered as she stared after her boyfriend.
Shirane reached ahead with her senses, "Yeah. The boy is strong but Huang is fast. Very fast. Did you forget our game of tag?"
Her mom snorted, "How could I forget? We almost destroyed that beach!"
Shirane felt a smile tugging her lips at the memory. It looked more like a dog's playground than a beach after. Holes and dunes everywhere. She was still wondering what the fire soldiers made of it after they left.
But now was time to convince an airbender to talk to them. She jumped down, leaves fluttering away from her landing spot, and started running towards the village to get ingredients.
"Come on, Mom! We gotta cook for the two!"
"Ah! Wait, you little whirlwind! I'm the one with money!"
xXXx
"'Doing well. -Terren'", Shirane read aloud from the slip of paper one of their messenger birds had given them and raised an eyebrow, "... Seriously? Nothing else?"
Terren was the airbender they had found living in a forest. The poor child had isolated himself because of his abilities and only during the month they had been with him had he worked up the courage to go live with his Aunt. He was sixteen so Shirane wasn't expecting much from his first letter but even she had written more when she'd started writing. It was… a little disappointing. Terren was, after all, the airbender closest to her age.
Arina just laughed. Shirane pouted at her. Arina cooed at the cuteness.
A sniff from the youngest on Yana's back, "Hmph. And I have to be stuck with people who don't appreciate my struggles", fake tears, "Mom is too old to understand youth!"
She got a splutter in answer, "Hey!"
Huang chuckled at them and then pointed at something at a mountain slope, "If we're old then what is she?"
Curious, and act forgotten, Shirane leaned over the saddle's edge and saw a cottage with a white haired old woman watching the orange sunset.
"Ancient", she deadpanned, "But she's also the airbender we're looking for"
"Eh?", that got their attention and after making a slow circle on Yana Huang took her to the ground, right in front of the old lady.
The group stared at the woman and she stared back.
And stared.
And stared some more.
Shirane broke the silence, "Do you have goats?", she blurted out.
Silence. And then a nod.
"Oh. Okay then"
Another long silence as no one bothered to move. Arina shifted. Awkward.
Then an excited squeal shot through the evening air, "Granny Sasha! It's a sky bison~! Can I pet it, can I, can I?"
Looking to the cottage they saw a boy no more than seven jumping up and down while pointing at Yana rather rudely. The old lady, Sasha, smiled, "If our guests give permission, my boy"
She looked up at the travelers questioningly and Huang nodded numbly, not so sure what to make of the situation. Shirane was smiling. They knew about sky bisons! Absolutely an airbender.
"You're the seventh we found! Wanna join our letter circle?", she asked the old lady.
"Hm? Ah! Pardon me, are you all airbenders?", there was curiosity in her voice now.
Three nods. A wide smile from the newly revealed bender, "As am I. Would you like to join me for tea? It is quite rare to get visitors in these parts"
The trio shared a look and shrugged. It wouldn't hurt. And they were really lucky to find another one so soon. Perhaps they could take a little break from searching? But no. The Avatar was back and doing his job. It would fall on to them to get the last of their kind to support him.
"We'd love to", answered Arina, a warm smile on her face.
It didn't take long for them to adopt Sasha as their friendly grandmother and a new location was added to the letter circle. They would need to buy a new bird…
Or Arina could tame one.
xXXx
Shirane fiddled with the red scarf hiding her hair. She understood the need for disguises but wasn't particularly fond of it. The trio was posing as a young family of three with an adopted child… which was basically what they were. Arina and Huang were holding hands and giving each other lovey dovey eyes. Shirane smiled fondly. They really were good together. But right now they were looking for one airbender who lived in the city.
Ducking to an alley she led her surrogate parents towards a building clearly made for a smith. She smiled as she saw the man selling metal items, horseshoes and hoes and cooking knives… almost anything you could think of except weapons. And he had the feeling around him. Airbender.
Now then, how to confront him…?
He looked busy at the moment. Very busy. Maybe they could come later? Yeah. They could come in the evening.
"Could we go to the inn first and say hello in the evening?", she proposed and got an agreeing reply. They would come in the evening.
xXXx
"If you're not here to buy something, get lost"
Shirane recoiled from the airbender and grabbed Huang's hand for support. She wasn't used to being yelled at. Arina's hand was reassuring on her shoulder.
"We just- ", she tried but was interrupted by an angry yell.
"Get lost spies!"
The trio of airbenders walked out and watched as the door was slammed to their faces. Shirane stared sadly at the door. The blacksmith was hurt inside. She wanted to help. Arina shifted beside her.
"Hmph! Fine. Be like that!", and she left, fuming, her boyfriend jogging after her with a bit of worry.
Neither noticed Shirane contemplating opening the door again.
xXXx
"Um, mister? Can I help?"
Puhal the blacksmith looked to his side in surprise before scowling at the child he'd thrown out of his shop yesterday. How she got into his forge he didn't know. And didn't care.
"Tsk. Go away, kiddo"
But no matter what he said or did the child wouldn't leave, only watched him work and asked if he needed help at some tough places. Puhal felt irritation rising. This would work that much faster if he had his airbending at his disposal but the stupid kid was watching.
And then he looked on in disbelief as said kid made a small gust of wind to get the fire going smoother again.
"Wha- ", he didn't get to finish the sentence.
"No time! The metal needs the heat", said the greenish eyed child.
Puhal nodded and continued his job. Maybe it wasn't so bad to have her around.
xXXx
"Wait, you're all airbenders!?"
The small family smiled at him warmly, "Yes! There's a letter circle too! We were wondering if you'd like to join"
Puhal would forever deny the tears that sprang into his eyes. After the fire nation killed his parents he'd been so empty and alone… Now there was seven like him. His kin. And the Avatar was on the move too.
"...Fine", he replied gruffly.
And the four airbenders said their goodbyes about a week after the not-so-warm first meeting. But well, cold meetings were to be expected in Fire Nation's borders.
…Doesn't that seem kind of sad?
xXXx
"That's the mountain… of darkness", Shirane completed her scary story with an ominous whisper, leaving the family's two other occupants clinging to each other.
"...Why didn't you say she was so terrifying when telling scary stories?", Huang whispered to his girlfriend.
Arina was crying anime tears, "I didn't remember them being that scary"
An owl hooted behind them, making both yelp in fright and put their small campfire at their backs. Shirane giggled, making them even more creeped out. She took out a piece of parchment and started a thank you letter for Puhal. He had amazingly spooky ideas.
If she also wrote three more letters for Terren, ("It's to get him to write longer letters!", she complained, which might be true, at least for now) no one said anything. Though that might have been the terror talking.
xXXx
"Wow! Elinore created her first giant sandstorm!", Arina gushed, "The tips we gave from our time with Terren must have helped"
Shirane nodded absentmindedly, half asleep, "I'd like to find someone to teach us more airbending", she mumbled and yawned, "More to west, Cap'n"
Huang said something like 'roger' but she was halfway to sleep land. Thus, she was blissfully unaware of the shudder that went down his spine as he saw what was towards west.
"A- Arina, dear", he said weakly, "That's not our destination, is it?"
His girl looked over and gulped audibly. It was a tall mountain. With dark clouds surrounding the top. And very, very dark green spruce trees at the bottom. She thought she saw some c-c-caves too. One particular story a few weeks ago came to mind and biting her lip was all she could do to keep from curling into a ball.
"Please say no", her boyfriend pleaded.
Arina turned to him with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry…"
He started crying anime tears, "Why us…?"
Shirane, the lucky girl, was sleeping soundly as the adults panicked and started preparing themselves for dark wyvern attacks and vampire spirits.
xXXx
Huang let Yana fly down slowly, still very creeped out. It was eerily quiet. No birds, no animals, no wind. More than a little scary with the misty darkness and caves looking like empty black holes. As if it was watching them. Arina swallowed, shoulders tense as she looked for any signs of life.
Shirane was very much asleep.
Suddenly there was a loud, metallic crashing sound and everyone yelped. Shirane sprang to a sitting position and her eyes lit up.
"There!", she said excitedly, pointing towards a cave.
"Do we have to go in there?", Arina asked, resigned.
They did. And a gust of wind that carried a roar with it almost scared them all away. Well, until Shirane started countering the wind clumsily. Then it was revealed to be an old airbender called Ogen. He was close to seventy and almost couldn't believe he wasn't alone. The airbender had been from one of the Temples, a runaway who had heard of the Fire Nation's attack too little too late to help.
He'd been hiding ever since and might have created the legends surrounding the island mountain. Ogen's only friends were the animals and now that he knew there were others… He wanted to see them.
So the traveling band of airbenders settled on the mountain for a while to get taught by Ogen and sending letters to the others before leaving, taking the old man with them.
And then they got news of the Avatar defeating the Fire Lord.
They started gathering the others. The wait was over. Now they just had to inform the last of their kin he wasn't the only one.
xX Present Xx
"-and so, here we are! Terrence opted to stay with his Aunt. Sasha too stayed behind, though she sends her best wishes", Arina explained, Huang by her side and Shirane having taken off her scarf.
Aang was in shock, Katara not much better from the amazing and unbelievable story they had just been told. The young Avatar reached towards them with something akin to a fragile hope.
"Can- Can I see?", he asked with a slightly shaking voice.
The airbenders exchanged glances before slipping into different stances to create a ball of swirling air together. Everyone in the room watched in awe at the proof they really were airbenders. Shirane and Elinore stepped forward and bowed, everyone else following suit.
"Thank you, Avatar Aang. If you hadn't defeated the Fire Lord we would still have to hide", Elinore said unwaveringly.
"Really, thank you!", Shirane joined in and straightened with the brightest smile.
Aang looked to her with amazement and excitement bubbling inside him, "You're the one who got this all started? You can feel benders?"
She nodded hesitantly, glancing at her new parents for advice. They didn't have anything else but an encouraging look.
"Then I should be thanking you. Because of your efforts…", he turned to the group as a whole with a wide grin, "We're not alone anymore!"
And everyone cheered, future seemingly the brightest it had ever been. Much brighter than any of them had dared to hope a few years ago.
Thus the Last Airbender wasn't so last anymore.
xXXx
So. That's that. If you're wondering what happens next, well, I had a few ideas that I've mostly forgotten by now. I'll still write them here and refine them. Hopefully you like it!
- The Airbenders are invited to live with Aang and most of them accept. Sasha still wants to stay at her mountain and Terren doesn't want to leave his Aunt or be around so many people. They take Yana and Appa to visit the two pretty often, though. And the letter circle is still a thing. Terren writes longer letters now.
- Sokka, Toph, and Zuko take things very well and especially the Aribender family who gathered them all together seem to get on with them. Toph and Elinore become kind of rivals and kind of best friends.
- Elinore alternates between living in the desert to dragging her mother to live at the palace for a time. Cleo is adapting to the warmer climate but deems it worth it to have someplace to really belong to. Puhal opens his shop near the palace and doesn't have to worry about using airbending in the open anymore. It makes him quite popular. Sokka really likes to visit it and by extension Puhal.
- Aang and Shirane become kind of besties because they're so close to each other in age and their abilities are so very unique to everyone else. Katara might have a misunderstanding at some point but it's soon resolved and she becomes Shirane's female bestie.
- Appa and Yana become a couple.
- Arina opens an aviary for messenger birds. Huang and her sometimes go on rides with Yana and drag Shirane along.
- Aang teaches them all more airbending and the ways of old. They recreate the Air Nomad traditions and adapt them to their lives in a more modern way.
I think that's that. Most loose ends covered, at least! Thanks for reading and for every favorite, follow, and review!