Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender. All characters, places, and themes of Atla belong to Michael DiMartino and Brian Konietzko.
"If we were meant to stay in one place, we'd have roots instead of feet. - Rachel Wolchin/em/p
Aang's POV
I sighed as I stared out my fogged up window at the wooded landscape surrounding me. I had never seen trees this big. Growing up in Miami, Florida meant lot's of big buildings, crowded beaches, and very little greenery. But it was my home. So when my Uncle Gyatso told me that we were moving to Silver Springs, Oregon, I wasn't exactly jumping for joy. Then again, I consider myself to be an optimist, so I tried to look at the bright side. I would get a chance to meet new people and see a new part of the country.
I wonder what Silver Springs is like? Is it big, small, lively, boring. I have no idea, but I know it's gonna be a hell of a lot different from Miami. And while that might be a good thing, I'm going to miss my friends. I didn't have very many, but we were very close. There was Bumi, he and I had been friends since the 1st grade; Kuzon, he moved to my apartment building when I was 10; and Onji, I've known her my entire life, I even lived with her for a short while.
"Aang?" Gyatso snapped me out of my thoughts. "Yeah", I responded. "I know that you will miss Miami, and your friends, but I think this move will be good, I only want the best for you." "Yeah, I know, thanks Uncle." I knew that no matter where I was, Gyatso would always be there for me, ever since my parents died, he was the only family I had left. I stared out at the scenery for a little while longer before drifting off to sleep.
When I woke up the car was stopped in front of a reasonably sized, 2 story house. "Oh good, you're up", Gyatso said as he opened my car door. He was already unloading boxes from the U-Haul trailer we had rented. "How long have I been asleep for?", I asked groggily. "About two hours", he replied "but we only pulled into town an hour ago." I got out of the car and started helping him unload boxes.
The house was much bigger than our apartment in Miami, but that's because real estate is cheaper here. The front door opened up into a short entry way. Directly to the left of the door was an office, and a little ways past the office on the right side was a dining room. At the end of the entry way was a spacious living room. Attached to that was the kitchen, it had a large fridge, lots of cabinet space, and an island. Downstairs was a basement that could easily be converted into some sort of home theatre (though we don't have the money for that), or perhaps just a place to hang out. The stairs leading to the top floor were near the end of the hallway that lead from the living room to the master bedroom, Gyatso would be sleeping there. Upstairs there were 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 1 bonus room. I chose the biggest bedroom. After exploring the house, I continued to help Gyatso unload
By the time we got all done, it was around 8 pm. Gyatso and I ate a simple dinner, then went to bed early, it had been a tiring day.
When I woke up this morning, I went downstairs and got myself some cereal. I then showered and got dressed for the day. I decided that it would be a good thing to get to know my way around the town. It was the start of spring break so we didn't have school for 2 weeks. I was thankful for that, with all the stress that the move has put me under, I think I just need a break from school.
I went outside and hopped on my bike. I biked around for awhile, figuring out where the school was, where I could get coffee, stuff like that. I was biking through the park and I stopped and sat down on a bench. I was about to go home when a guy ran over to the fountain, his hair was dark brown and pulled into a short pony tail on the back of his head, and he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with khaki shorts. He started talking loudly so that everyone could hear him, "Hey guys, so I'm gonna be playing my own song, it's called change-up". He pulled out an electric guitar and plugged it into an amp he had brought along. I sat and listened to him play, he was incredible, I could see why he called it change-up. So many different tempos and beats. After the song was over everyone cheered and a few people dropped some money into his guitar case.
He looked down, reached into the case, and started counting up the money, as he counted I saw the smile fade from his face. I felt bad for him so I quickly dug into my pocket and pulled all the money I had with me out. Jogging over to him I dropped three 10 bills in his guitar case. He stared at me wide eyed before saying, "uh, dude, that's 30 bucks", "I know" I replied, "that song was awesome". "Thanks, you play?", "I play drums and a little bit of base". "Nice, I'm Sokka by the way", "Aang", "I haven't seen you around, you new?", "Yeah, my uncle and I just moved here from Miami". We talked for awhile before Sokka said, "Hey, my Uncle Bato owns a music shop near here, my sister and I work there sometimes, wanna go hang out there?". "Sure", I replied.
I grabbed my bike and then we walked over to the shop, it had a sign across the top that read "Bato's Music Shop", not the most creative name, I thought to myself. We walked in and there was a taller man, probably in his 30's or 40's standing behind the desk, he had long hair that was the same color as Sokka's. "Hey Sokka, how's it going?", called, "Great, I ran into Aang at the park, he's new, is it alright if we take some of the instruments and use one of the back rooms to play". "Yeah, that's fine, just don't break any strings this time". Sokka gave Bato a sheapish grin and said, "No promises", before sprinting off into one of the back rooms, guitars in hand.
After a few hours, I heard a female voice shout from the front of the store, "Sokka, we gotta go!". "Just a minute", he responded, "That's my sister, I gotta go, but do you wanna hang out tomorrow?" "Sure" "Ok, I'll meet you at the park tomorrow afternoon" "Sounds good", I replied. With that Sokka got up and walked out the door, I followed him and saw a flash of blue dash out the door with Sokka in tow.
I picked up my bike and rode back to my house. Maybe it won't be so bad here.
Here is the first chapter, this story is also available on Wattpad. Please comment what you would like to see in this story, also tell me what I can do better. Thanks to all who read this and once again, please review.