I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender.
Too Much.
The shock and horror of what he had just discovered were too much, simply far too much for Aang to cope with. He had given in to his emotions, shooting into the air to let out his anger and despair. Aang knew the Fire benders had taken over, but to go the lengths they had… if there was one thing the air-bending monks at the monastery had drummed into his head - whenever he took the time to actually listen to them, he reflected sourly, his mind going back to the moments he was scolded for not paying attention - it was all of the benders in the world needed to be balanced. No single group of benders was to have control over the other.
But Aang wondered if the disappearance of himself, the newest incarnation in the cycle of the Avatar, was one of the reasons why the Fire Nation had succeeded so far…
No, he couldn't think that way. He knew the Fire Nation had been growing more and more militaristic, although safe in the temple, he had been a long way away, and some little bits of news had reached his ears. But he couldn't understand it; the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads had been friends and enjoyed an amicable relationship - the Fire & Air Learning centre was proof of that, since Air Nomad philosophy was so popular to the royalty of the Fire Nation, and it couldn't have been created without some support. Aang grimaced as he thought of the centre. To many, it had been the embodiment of peace despite the increasing ambition for territory and conquest under Fire Lord Sozin. What had happened to the centre? Had it been razed to the ground, or had it been rebuilt and its original purpose long since forgotten? The thought was horrible.
But what had happened to Kuzon, his friend in the Fire Nation? Had he been brainwashed and made into a fire-wielding monster? The thought hurt as much as the others did.
Aang felt as if he had just woken up from a long nightmare, only to discover the nightmare was worse. It had begun when Gyatso, the monk who'd taken guardianship of Aang as a young boy told him of his Avatar destiny, made worse by how his peers had just….left him because they knew he was now different, and left him shocked and horrified when the other monks who were growing increasingly worried by the prospect of war, wanted to separate Aang and Gyatso just to accelerate Aang's training.
Would I have been better off if I hadn't run away? Aang wondered to himself for a moment, weighing the matter in his mind. While I might have been hurt by what the monks had done, at least I would have -
No.
From what he had learnt so far, the Fire Nation had become too powerful by that point as it was inevitable there would have been a war anyway, but Aang was still unsure if his departure was what triggered the whole thing in the first place. It was confusion and uncertainty which sent Aang running away, to begin with. As far as he and everyone knew, Aang was the last Airbender and he would need time to truly think about this, and he would need to take responsibility for the Fire Nation. He had no intention of repeating the same mistake of just running off with Appa the way he had before, and with so many depending on him…. It was just so tempting to run, but the sight of his old friend and guardian's skeleton, just left unceremoniously without any kind of reverence for a master as revered as Gyatso was, centred him.
It was too much, but with some time, Aang was sure he could adapt, even as he went out into the world and saw what kind of horror the Fire Nation had brought about.
