We'd travelled a long way since we'd gone after Aang, and had a few stops along the way. After breaking off from Sokka and Katara's father, we had to find new disguises so we'd 'borrowed' some clothes from a fire nation town that were hanging on a washing line. I'd managed to grab a simple red toga shirt that exposed my stomach, and I wore it with my brown leggings and new fire nation boots. I also changed my hair. Instead of wearing it in a permanent plait, it let it flow loose around my shoulders, only putting up the top half so that it didn't get in my way.
Aang had accidentally got enrolled in a fire nation school, however after getting into a brawl with the star pupil, things got a little…awkward, as Aang had to bring in his parents to see the headmaster. So naturally, he came to his big sister for help.
When I met with the stern faced man, wearing fine robes and was grey haired, grey faced and his entire character just seemed grey. Grey and boring, but also serious. "Thank you for coming Mrs…"
"Sakiya Chan-Wu." I stated coldly, sitting upright as Aang squirmed in his seat next to me. At my abrupt and icy tone, the headmaster inclined his head.
"Mrs Chan-Wu. I see you have come alone, I asked to see both of Kuzon's parents." He peered at me a little closer. "Where is his father?" Instantly my eyes narrowed and I sustained my unintimidated expression, speaking fiercely.
"My husband is dead. There was a mining accident, and Kuzon's father suffered for it. We all did." I informed him and the man blinked again in surprise. "Now, I have three other children at home, one of them is blind and they will be getting hungry for their dinner soon, so you had better tell me why you saw fit to have my son act as a messenger boy and order me here." The headmaster gaped slightly and Aang couldn't help but smirk, though he hid it carefully.
"Well Mrs Chan-Wu, your son has been enrolled here for two days, and he's already causing problems. He's argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil." He informed me and I delicately arched my eyebrow, sitting up straighter.
"Oh? Is that so? Tell me headmaster, who's side of the story have you heard?" I questioned innocently and the headmaster frowned at me.
"What do you mean?" I gave him a hard look.
"Only, my Kuzon is famous for always telling the truth. I raise my children to be respectable, honest, strong and honourable people. I have heard my son's side of what happened today in the courtyard. He was talking to a girl whom he was becoming acquainted with, when your so called star pupil decided to teach my son a lesson that he did not need to know." I began, speaking without ever losing a step or stride. "Their brawl was started by your star pupil's arrogance, and in doing so my son only defended himself. If you were at all concerned with the truth and not favouritism of a brute who takes joy in bullying others seemingly weaker than him, then you would know that my son is not to blame! Kuzon never even lay a finger on him, he used that other boy's attacks against him, yet you fail to see that it was not Kuzon who even started the fight." I stood up, making the headmaster sit back in slight alarm as I let my over protective rage take control.
"Ma'am…please sit down…" He tried but I placed my hands on my hips.
"If you were one of my children, I would be giving you a lecture that'll bore your ears off about equality among others and respect, but obviously being a stubborn old fool you would not hear a word I said, even if I wrote it down and drew you little pictures to help! Next time you see fit to cast the blame at my son for simply defending himself, I suggest you look into the situation properly before so much as daring to point the finger of blame. I expect to hear that the bully has been properly dealt with, or I shall be writing a message to my dear friend Admiral Chan of the western fleet of my complaints and I am certain he would be intrigued to know why such a poor quality of teaching is being delivered at this school. I shall see you at the end of semester demonstrations." Reaching out I grabbed Aang's hand and marched him out of the office, however at the door I gave him a wink and turned back around, giving a fire nation bow with my palm pressing against my fist. "Good day to you, headmaster." I said as Aang copied my farewell without a word then let me take him away, leaving a baffled headmaster behind him.
The moment we were out of the village, Aang started to laugh. "That was…awesome! Man, I wish I had gone to school a hundred years ago! If I ever got into trouble, I would have loved to have you and Monk Gyatso take on the headmaster!" Aang laughed again, jumping around excitedly as I rolled my eyes.
"Yes Aang but you have to be more careful. If they so much as get a hint of who you are, then we're all toast." I told him firmly, resting my hand on his shoulder. "I thought the whole point of you entering this school is so you could learn more about the fire nation, not argue with the history teacher about when the non-existent air nomad army got pummelled!" Aang just grinned at me.
"Don't worry, I have it all under control." So he threw a dance party for all the kids. Way to go smart mouth. We escaped from that town the moment it became clear that the headmaster had arrived to crash the party, however I had particularly enjoyed watching Aang and Katara dance. There seemed to be a natural chemistry there, a spark that made me glow warmly with pride.
After that it was liberating a town from a nearby fire nation factory, then we helped clean up the lake after Katara had pretended to be a spirit called the Painted Lady, though Sokka wasn't impressed about our busy schedule having been set back. He was so obsessed with it that in the end, I just took it from him and ripped it up, making everyone else sigh in relief despite his horrified expression.
As a way of recompense, we helped Sokka roll a meteorite up a hill to a sword master's home, where he had been learning the way of the sword. Now that had been a lot of effort, but thank goodness Toph was able to help shift it up that hill with earthbending. The most terrifying experience, however, was when we met Hama.
She was an innocent looking old lady, however when we discovered she was from the southern water tribe and also a bender, Katara had been eager to learn from her. The only thing was…Hama was crazy. She'd been kidnapping people during the full moon and locking them up if they wandered into the woods. It was terrifying, she used a technique called Bloodbending, where she manipulated the water in people's bodies to control them.
What had been even scarier was actually experiencing it. I'd tried to help Aang and Sokka when they were being forced to attack Katara by Hama, using Airbending knock her off her feet and break her concentration, but then just like that, I started to strangle myself.
I had no control over my own body and my hands were tightening more and more around my throat. My heart began to pound, eyes widening in terror as the sickening smirk on Hama's face grew. "Thyra! No!" I heard everyone yell but then they too were being controlled.
"Don't hurt your friends, Katara... and don't let them hurt each other!" She cackled wickedly before forcing Aang and Sokka to shoot towards one another with Sokka's space sword aimed straight for Aang's chest.
"NO!" Both Katara and I yelled and I managed to fling around my foot, sending an arc of air at my brother and I knocked out his feet, landing him on the ground however Sokka suddenly stopped, going lax as he blinked in surprise.
Hama suddenly stood bolt upright, her eyes widening as Katara lowered her head, holding up her hands and controlled Hama by force until Toph returned with guards and Hama was taken under arrest. Katara was quite distressed after that, feeling ashamed at having had to control another person's body by force, but I quietly held her in my arms as she sobbed, rocking gently and stroked her hair as we sat on the ground, the others standing around us.
We arrived at the rendezvous point four days ahead of schedule, much to Sokka's delight. "This is it, the official rendezvous point for the invasion force!" He declared proudly as he held out his hands to gesture to the bay for us.
"How did you pick this place?" Toph questioned as she sensed her surroundings with her feet.
"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited, and the harbour surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place." He explained as I walked to the edge of the crescent moon shaped cliff and looked down into the bay with a smile.
"Great job Sokka." I told him as his sister nodded her head.
"Yeah, and we're here four days ahead of schedule."
"Wait!" Aang suddenly leaped to his feet where he had been relaxing, staring wide eyed at us all. "The invasion's in four days?!" He yelled then gripped his head as we just looked at him, though Sokka was rolling out his bed as he yawned.
"Whatever, that's like…four days from now. Let's just calm down and…" He was sound asleep before he could even finish his sentence, snoring loudly.
"Sokka's got the right idea Aang. We're here, we're ready and the best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest." Katara said wisely as she rolled out her own may and lay down, Toph doing the same as Appa yawned then flopped down to get some rest.
"I guess…" Aang agreed so I walked over and gave him a playful smirk.
"Come on little brother, you need me to tuck you in?" I asked and he gave a forced smile before lying down on the ground and exhaling, closing his eyes to try and get some sleep. I looked out over all my friends and couldn't help but smile affectionately at them all. I kissed Aang's head then moved over to Katara, where she too had already fallen asleep so I pulled her hair out of her face then lifted her arm to tuck it under her blanket. Next I moved over to Sokka and I simply pushed his mouth shut, minimising the sound of his snoring then finally, I stopped by Toph.
"You don't need to tuck me in." She told me defensively and I chuckled quietly at her abrasive tone as she curled up into a smaller ball as I knelt down beside her.
"I know, but I want to." I told her quietly as not to wake the others, taking my blanket and placed it over her, making her blink slightly and she softened up a little. "It'll get colder in the night." I informed her as an excuse, still smiling as I rested my hand on her head. "I know you don't want me to mother you tough-stuff, you like being independent, but you don't always have to be so tough, you can just be a kid from time to time." I told her and she sighed before turning over, her sightless eyes gazing up at the sky.
"You're more like my annoying big sister." She informed me and I smirked, tucking her in so that she would stay warm.
"I wouldn't want it any other way." I informed her before placing a tender and light kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight tough-stuff." She gave a little giggle.
"By the way, I like my nickname." Although she couldn't see it, I gave her a wink.
"Thanks kid." Chuckling to myself I stood up and left her to sleep, patting Appa's head as I walked towards the edge of the cliff then sat down into a meditation position. I inhaled deeply then let it all go, closing my eyes to listen to the rustling waves as they rocked against the solid rock of the cliff, bringing a salty taste to the air as a gentle breeze made my hair cascade behind me.
I heard Aang wake up with a sharp yell in the middle of the night and I opened my eyes from my meditation to hear him exhale and talk to Momo, who'd woken up at his start. "It's okay Momo, it was just a dream. I still have my pants." Arching an eyebrow at the strange remark, I assumed he had had a nightmare. "Well, I better keep training." He said and as he got up and walked towards a tree, I got to my feet and snuck up on him.
Without a word I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed firmly, making him yelp before going limp, sinking into a deep sleep and I caught him before he could drop to the ground. "Nice try Aang, but you need to rest." I whispered to him as I carried him back to his bed. "Just relax, there's nothing to be afraid of." Laying him back down I then stroked Momo on his large ears as he scampered up to my shoulder. "Don't worry Momo, he'll be alright." I told him assuredly but when I looked back down at Aang, my face fell. I knew he was scared, but there was nothing I could do. He had to face the Fire Lord.
Sighing wearily I finally felt tired enough to sleep, so I lay down against one of Appa's legs and found some rest, though my personal turmoil still raged within me like a wildfire meeting a hurricane. Aang didn't sleep for very long after I'd knocked him out, just another couple of hours before he was back on his feet and started to punch a tree without any signs of slowing down.
"Uh…how long have you been up?" Katara questioned him slowly, arching an eyebrow in confusion.
"A couple hours. I got a lot more skills to refine if I'm going to fight Ozai." He explained, not breaking concentration as he began to shift his feet, throwing several different punches despite being out of breath.
"You know there is such a thing as over training." She told him as I got up and straightened myself out. Aang threw a final punch at the tree, striking it so hard that both he and the tree shuddered in a ripple effect before he collapsed to the ground and the branches collapsed on top of him. Toph, Sokka and I all approached, looking down at the ground where Aang then leaped up, deep bags under his eyes.
"You don't get it, do you?" He questioned as he started to circle Katara in a defensive stance. "My form is bad, I'm sloppy, and I still don't know any firebending, not even the basics." He said and I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose with a shake of my head.
"That's okay Aang. The eclipse will block all firebending anyway, you don't need to know any." Sokka told him dismissively and insensitively. "Plus it's a stupid element." He added, so I shot him a look. "What?! It is."
"Okay…well, I still have to work on everything else. I'd better spend the whole day training." He said then before we knew it, he'd airbended a sphere of air and he rode it away to go and train alone. Everyone just stared after him before looking at me.
"Should we go after him?" Katara questioned but I shook my head.
"No, let him tire himself out for today. Maybe he'll come back so exhausted he'll sleep like a baby." I answered whilst walking over to Appa. "I'm going to go find us some more food, okay? Our supplies are a little low. I should be back by tomorrow night." Jumping up onto Appa's neck, I gave everyone a smile. "No fighting now, and make sure you remember to take a bath!" I called as I turned Appa around. "And try get Aang to relax a little!" Yelling as we took off into the air, I started to airbend, bringing a clouded fog to wrap around us so that we would have some cover.
Appa and I flew back towards an island we'd passed where I hid him in the forest before heading into town. It had taken us all day to get there, so once I'd bought all the supplies we needed, we rested there for the night.
My hand went to reach behind me, but then I stopped and looked down sadly. I'd forgotten, I'd lost the flute my parents had given me. It must have dropped out of my air nomad clothes after Azula had shot me. What I wouldn't give to have it back. That was my last connection to them both, apart from Aang. I'd lost so much in my life, and it only seems to keep getting worse. "What should I do Appa?" I questioned softly, laying down on his head to stretch out and look up at the moon. "All I want to do is protect him, but he's the Avatar. He has to protect an entire world. Everyone else depends on him so much and look up to him, they see him as this great master of all four elements and a bringer of peace…but to me he's just my little brother." Appa groaned in answer, stretching his mouth in a yawn.
I could feel all my negative emotions rising up inside me, causing tears to prick at my eyes but I pressed my eyes shut and shook my head, refusing to seem weak. "I can't keep this up Appa, I'm hurting. I'm hurting real bad. It's like I'm useless to help Aang and helpless to save myself. I blame Zuko. It's all his fault. He should have left me to rot under that building then I wouldn't feel so guilty about how I feel about him now." Again Appa simply groaned so I rolled over and patted his head. "Thanks buddy, you're a great help." I told him softly but then I heard the sound of a twig snapping. "Stay hidden." I instantly ordered, leaping down then with an airbending motion, covered him in foliage and branches before sliding behind a rock, keeping a sharp eye on my surroundings.
There was a rustle nearby and instantly my eyes were drawn towards it, but then I heard snivelling and a little whimper. "Mommy? Mommy I'm scared." Blinking in surprise, I saw a little girl step out from some bushes. She was filthy and covered in leaves and twigs, but she was also crying. "Mommy? Mommy!" She yelled out but no one answered her. Her face crumbling, she fell down to her knees and started to sob, her little voice quavering and I felt my heartstrings pull me towards her. Quietly I stepped out from behind my rock and approached her.
"Are you lost little one?" I questioned as the moonlight appeared from behind the clouds to shine down on our little clearing, the wind picking up and my hair started to waft around my face gently. The girl looked up and gasped, staring at me as I looked down at her with concern.
"Are you a spirit?" She asked me in a whisper and I chuckled, crouching down before her.
"No, I'm human. You look like you should be at home tucked up in bed." I said as I lifted the skirt wrap I wore and used it to dry her face, thankful that it was clean.
"I lost my mommy when we were walking home." She told me with teary eyes. "I saw a pretty bird and tried to catch it, but when I turned around, my mommy had gone." Sniffing she wiped her eyes again so I started to pick out the leaves and twigs that seemed to cling to her body. Her hair was raven, however her eyes were a startling electric blue, reminding me of my own.
"Well then, let's find her again, shall we? Do you live in the village near here? The one with the market that sells pearls and oysters." I said and instantly she brightened.
"Yes! My daddy catches the fish and mommy makes special sauces to go with the oysters." So I offered the girl my hand with a warm smile and she took it, her head coming to my hip as I stood up and together we made our way back. "So if you're not a spirit, then how come you're so pretty? I thought only spirits could look so pretty like that." She questioned and I chuckled.
"Thank you, that's very nice of you to say." I told her. "But spirits can take all kinds of forms. In fact, they're all around us, as well as inside us. Spirits are like energy and they live in everything we see, from every flower to every wave that rolls upon the beach." Her eyes widened as she stared up at me, intrigued. "Which is why all life is sacred, even a tiny little flower. It is our duty to take care of the world around us and the people in it."
"Wow…you sound like my grandmother. She's a know it all too." This made me laugh. "My name is Toki, what's yours?"
"Sakiya." I said without even thinking about it, and the pang of bittersweet hurt made me turn my head away to hide my turmoil.
"Sakiya, I like that name." Toki decided, dragging her feet along as we walked hand in hand. "Thank you for helping me. I thought I'd be trapped in those woods forever." She told me then stopped, making me halt and look down at her a she yawned and rubbed her eyes the way Aang does when he's tired, making me smile.
"Here, hold on." I murmured gently then lifted Toki up into my arms easily, where she flopped against me, head resting against my neck and I carried her back towards the village. As I entered the streets, I noticed one house still lit with a woman standing at the door, tears in her eyes as she searched with worry, however when she saw me carrying Toki, she instantly smiled with relief.
"Toki! Toki is that you?" She quickly ran down the steps and hurried towards us and I gave her a soft smile.
"I found her wandering in the woods. She's okay, just a little tired from her adventure." I informed, handing over the child as Toki's mother cradled the sleeping girl in her arms, tears streaking down her face.
"I was so worried, thank you." She told me and I pressed a hand to my fist to bow in the practised fire nation way, making her nod her head in return before speaking.
"My husband is out searching, she just disappeared as I was walking home and I didn't notice for some time. She talks so much that I've become quite used to zoning out, so it took a while for me to realise she wasn't beside me anymore." The woman explained as she stood up, blushing at her cheeks. "What a careless mother I am, losing their own child."
"Well, no harm done. It happens all the time, so don't worry. My brother is famous for disappearing. Once I lost him five times in one day." The woman chuckled, rubbing her cheek to her daughter's head as Toki yawned and snuggled into her.
"Toki!" A man's voice called and I assumed the father came running towards them. "Thank goodness, I searched the entire market but it seems we had no need to worry." He said, holding his wife and child in their arms. "Were you the one to find her?" He asked so I bowed again.
"It was my pleasure to be of assistance." I said before taking a step back. "And also an honour to meet you. I hope Toki sleeps well. Goodnight." I turned and started to walk away, but the mother then called out to me.
"Wait!" I stopped and looked back. The woman whispered to her husband quickly and he nodded his head before hurrying inside. "Please, accept this small gift in thanks for bringing Toki safely home to us. You see, we thought we would never be able to have children, but when Toki came along, we knew that we were greatly blessed. She is our only child, and likely the only child we shall ever have." The husband returned and knelt down before me, making me blink in surprise as he held out a pearl and seashell hair comb, the simple yet beautiful design making me stare at it. "Please, take it."
"I couldn't…it's too much…" I said but the father pressed it into our hands.
"To show our gratitude. My wife doesn't care for hair adornments." He said with a wink and I smiled modestly as she chuckled.
"Besides, it'll look far better on you. Goodnight young one, you'd better hurry home." She said, looking up at the sky. "It's getting very late." And with that, they returned to their own home, still holding the hairpiece. It was very beautiful, I'll admit, but I still felt guilty.
However they seemed insistent that I take it, so with a small smile I slipped it into my hair before returning to Appa. We flew back early the next morning, where I found everyone trying to help relieve Aang's stress. "Alright, what you need is a good old fashioned back pounding to relieve your stress." Toph declared, having made a bed of earth poles which Aang lay upon.
"Pound away." He said as Appa and I landed, frowning as Aang started to cry out in pain. "Toph! I…think…this…is…bruising…me!" He yelled and Toph stopped, rubbing the back of her head as Aang was flung to the ground.
"Sorry, I forgot you have baby skin." He said and I giggled humorously as I dismounted. Suddenly I had Sokka streaking towards me, drooling in hunger.
"Did you bring meat? Please tell me you brought meat!" He begged, falling to his knees and gripping at my robes so I quickly stepped back.
"Down Sokka, don't worry. I brought plenty of food." I assured him and handed him the bag as Toph threatened Aang with acupressure, holding a porcupine out to him but he ran away screaming. Shaking my head I looked up as Katara walked over to me.
"Thank goodness you're back. Aang's going crazy!" She told me, touching her head with worry. "He just can't stop stressing out about his battle with the Fire Lord, I think it's really starting to affect him." I looked up to see Aang cowering up a tree, Toph trying to persuade him to come down so she can stick a few needles in him.
"Well, I think Aang will just have to try and calm down himself." I said worriedly, placing my hands on my hips. "If he can't sleep, I'll just knock him out. The important thing is that he rests." However that night, as I sat up in meditation facing the moon, Aang woke up once more with a loud yell, causing me to flinch and exhale.
"What happened Aang?" Katara asked with concern as everyone else sat bolt upright, startled by Aang's sudden scream.
"It's the nightmares. They just keep on getting worse." Sokka got up, a smirk on his face.
"Looks like it's time for…another therapy session!" Suddenly he was wearing a beard, and out the corner of my eye I could see him stroking it rather proudly. Scary.
"No, that won't help. Nothing helps. There's only one thing I can do. I'm going to stay awake straight through to the invasion." He declared and there was a moment of silence where the other three glanced between each other.
"Hey what's up with Thyra?" Sokka asked, pointing at me as I continued to meditate, my back turned to them. "Has she been awake all this time?"
"You know, I'm pretty sure she's been staying up late every night since Ba-Sing Se, meditating just like that." Katara whispered as they all looked at me. "I think she's meditating to try and stabilise herself on the inside." Sokka frowned.
"What, she got indigestion or something?" Toph punched him hard in the arm. "Ow!"
"No you idiot, even I can see that she's suffering from a broken heart. And I'm blind!" I pretended not to hear them, as they were trying to whisper so I gave them the liberty of thinking that I didn't know what they were talking about.
"Broken heart? What are you guys talking about?" Aang questioned so Katara explained everything.
"When Thyra was being taken care of by Iroh and Zuko, she kinda fell in love with him." Aang's jaw dropped wide open in shock.
"She fell in love with that crazy old man?!" I rolled my eyes inwardly as everyone quickly clamped their hands over Aang's mouth and hushed him.
"Quiet twinkle toes!" Toph told him. "We're talking about Zuko. Your sister is in love with the Fire Lord's son." As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. I'd spent all this time trying to teach myself to hate Zuko, to not love him at all but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't forget about the different side of him I'd seen, but then I was reminded of how he'd switched sides to join his sister again without even blinking.
"No. No way. That's not possible! There's no way my sister would fall in love with that guy. He tried to capture me and his sister tried to kill me!" Aang defended however I knew it was time to come clean, so I stood up and turned my head to look at them.
"They're right, Aang." He spun around and stared at me, wide eyed. "I did fall in love with Zuko, and I still am in love with him." Looking at the ground I watched as the grass flickered and quivered in the breeze. "I didn't intend to, it just happened because I didn't know who he was then, but now that I do, no matter how hard I try I just can't force my heart to stop caring." The gang all looked at me with sad eyes, listening to my confession. "I stay awake every night, meditating to try and control my own emotions, but I can't ease the war that's inside of me. I can't give up how I feel about him, but I refuse to allow those feelings to rule me." Turning fully to face my brother, his shoulders sagged.
"You've been in pain this whole time…and I never knew." I gave a little shrug.
"You had other things on your mind." There was a long silence where neither of us knew what to say, however after that pause Toph then walked forwards, coming to stand in front of me. I looked down at her expressionless face, wondering what she was going to say, but then she took me by surprise.
She fixed her arms around my waist in a tight hug, her head resting against my stomach and she held on securely, trying to comfort me in a way she'd never done before. Usually she just punches people, but instantly I was grateful as tears filled my eyes and I wrapped my arms around her.
Katara stepped forwards next, placing her head on my shoulder and I drew her in as Sokka, also joined the hug. Finally Aang stood there, facing me, still in disbelief at my confession however he eventually exhaled. "Guess you can't help who you fall in love with." I smiled through my tears.
"No. Little brother. Love is its own destiny." So he gave me a little smile and stepped forwards, joining the hug too and as we all held onto one another, I felt my tears of pain turn to tears of peace, the storm within me finally settling and my lips curved into a tiny smile.
Aang tried to escape going back to sleep after that, however I simply used various pressure points to knock him out and he was out like a light, though he still had the nightmares. The next night, everyone tried to devise a plan to help Aang sleep, before finally Katara turned to me. "You know, I think this may be one of the times when all Aang needs is his big sister." She said and I nodded my head, standing up.
"Alright. Leave this to me." As Aang paced back in forth, weakly chopping his arms whilst muttering nonsense, I grabbed him by the scruff of his clothes and pulled him towards the edge of the cliff where we could hear the water down below.
"Agh! Don't throw me over, please don't throw me over!" He yelled as I let go.
"Relax." I told him and he wobbled on his feet, though still firmly on the ground so I sat down and crossed my legs, sitting in a meditation position. "Now sit." Aang obeyed, dropping down to the ground and peered at me as I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Now, take a deep breath and close your eyes Aang. You and I are going to have a deep cleansing session." I informed him so he did as he was told, lowering his head slightly to relax with his shoulders pulled back, meditating with me. "Now, about these nightmares you've been having. They're nothing but things in your imagination, and they can't hurt you Aang." I began as the waves hummed below us, turning gold with the setting sun. "You're afraid about fighting the Fire Lord, and you're afraid that you'll let the world down again."
"That's right. I am." He agreed, keeping his eyes closed. "If I can't defeat him then the war will continue and more people will get hurt. What if I'm not ready? What if I'm just not strong enough? I don't want to be a disappointment, I don't want to let everyone down."
"I can understand that Aang, it's a lot of pressure to put on a twelve year old boy, but you are strong enough to do this. You may feel that you have to take on the Fire Lord alone, but you don't have to. We'll all be there too and we'll help you in whatever way we can." Aang exhaled.
"You can't defeat him for me. I have to do this by myself. It's the only way to end the war peacefully." I paused a moment then opened my eyes, seeing that Aang had slumped over, looking depressed and frightened.
"Aang…" I started and he looked up at me. "You may be the Avatar, but you're also my brother." I told him with a calm fierceness. "And there is nothing I won't do for you." His silvery grey eyes gazed up into mine as my face remained perfectly serious, making sure he knew that every word I said was true. "I've seen you grow up from a tiny baby. I raised you for the first few years of your life then remained at your side all the way up to this point, even when you thought I was gone. You're smart, kind, compassionate, courageous and strong. If there is anyone in this world who can set things right, it's you." The others all approached and stood behind me as Aang looked at us all.
"You really think so?" He questioned and Sokka nodded his head, for once being serious.
"We all do. You can do this Aang. You're ready." Toph gave a smirk and pointed at him.
"You're the man twinkle toes."
"We have faith in you Aang, you've brought us all hope." Katara finished and Aang smiled, gazing at us all as tears rose to his eyes before he brushed them away and stood up, me rising with him.
"Thanks guys." He said, giving a firm nod of his head. "You know what? I think I am ready."