"How's your pants, Sokka?" Aang inquirs through the bathroom door that Sokka is currently behind.
"Not good...The hole is too big." Sokka responds. "Dumb door..."
While walking back into the house, Sokka was the last to come in so he's the one to close the door behind him. He seemed to have forgotten the damage he did to the door before because the damaged area snagged the back of his pants. While Sokka closed the door and walked deeper into the house, the door ripped his pants.
He's currently changing to a new set of pants.
Which belongs to my father. My father's build is big with a belly and buff with muscles.
"That should be everything!" My mother announces as she gestures to the bags in front of me. There are two bags. One bag has clothes, soap, some food, money...The everyday necessities. The other bag has a sleeping bag, materials for a tent, a rolled up net, and a fishing pole that actually belonged to my father.
He has other fishing poles so it would be fine.
"Are you sure you're okay with your daughter travelling with us? I mean, it's not like I don't want you to come along, Wan but...It's going to be a while before we actually come back here." Katara asks concernedly.
Sokka come out of the bathroom, wearing big, green pants that is held up with a rope that acted as a belt. He prays that no one would point out the obvious bagginess and laugh at him for looking quite ridiculous at the pants that were three times too big for him, and for once, the universe showed mercy.
"Oh, of course I'm fine with it! In fact, if she had rejected this great opportunity of an adventure, I'd worry if she was actually my daughter at all!"
Ouch, that hurts, mother.
My mother proceeds to laugh at her own teasing joke.
I remain bemuse while everyone else laugh politely as they exchange glances, wondering if any of them actually found some amusement from the joke.
Nope.
"Come on, we have to go before we waste anymore day time." Sokka signals everyone to start leaving.
This is it. This is going to be the start of my adventure.
We say our good byes to my mother as we head towards Appa.
"Bring back some souvenirs, Wan! We can put them with my other collections!"
I look over my shoulder and watch my mother wave me goodbye with...so much pride.
Is she...really that proud of me?
I could be mistaking it for joy that I'm finally leaving here and won't be causing her anymore trouble but...The look in her eyes when she looks straight at me and nothing else.
It is a look I have never seen before.
It makes my heart ache with both sadness and joy.
I nod to my mother and wave a signal that I got her message.
Turning back to Appa, Aang notices from beside me that my eyes are watering.
"Are you sure you want to leave, Wan? You can turn back now if you want." Aang offers as we start to climb onto Appa.
"N-no, no. It's not that." I drop my things onto the saddle and position myself comfortably once I sat down. "It's just that..."
I turn to my mother again.
She had taken a few step ahead from where she was. Like she was about to go after me.
My voice broke at the sight. "I'm going to miss my mommy..."
Katara gives me a comforting hug and I lean into it as tears start to flow from my already swollen eyes and down my cheeks, red from the rough rubbing from the sleeves of my previous shirt. I had to change into a new shirt since I refused to start my journey with a dirty shirt.
"B-besides...I wanna learn earthbending. If I'm really am an Earthbender, then maybe when I come home, I won't be such a bother anymore."
"Oh nonsense, Wan. You're not a bother! You were just caught in a bad situation that wasn't your fault." Katara insists as she continues to hold onto me.
Hugs are really nice. I should really do this a lot.
I clench my empty hands, suddenly missing the warmth from my mother's rough hands. Maybe holding hands are good too. These two actions are...very important.
"Hold on, everyone! We're taking off!" Aang alerts us before focusing on Appa. "Appa, yip yip!"
I feel the same sensation of being lifted from the constantly stable ground and into the ever changeable air. My eyes never leaving my mother as she jogs a little closer.
"If you meet any pirates, tell them you're my child. They'll be nice once they know!"
What?
"What?"
If I weren't so choked up right know, I would have asked the same question. My mother just gives us an all-knowing smile before heading back into the house.
Katara is busy sewing the rip in Sokka's pants while Sokka and I watch with little to no interest.
but it's kind of the only interesting thing right now.
I got tired of staring at the ocean after a few minutes.
"So...What did Aisha mean about pirates?" Sokka initiates a conversation.
"Dunno. First time I heard about it." I end the conversation.
Katara suddenly looks irritated and stares at the area that she had recently pierced with the sewing needle. She reaches for a pair of scissors to cut that string off. Must have made a mistake.
"So..." I initiates a conversation in a much lower volume. "Aang really is the last airbender."
"Yup. I'm sure you've heard the stories." Sokka ends the conversation.
I remember when Katara had to explain to me what they had found at the Southern Air Temple. It wasn't even a long, dramatic, or detailed explanation. It was so short, I could still remember every word of it. Even now.
"He found out about the genocide."
When I heard that one sentence, I flinched. None of us said a thing for a whole minute. Sokka saved the day by leading the conversation onto something else, which were the artifacts that had been scattered all over my dining table.
I never really gave much thought to how Aang felt. I only knew that it hurts.
But after I had to say good bye to my mother, just one person, I wonder how he had felt when he learned about...the genocide. It must be what I felt a million times over. One for each Air Nomad. Probably that much.
My mind drifts to the memory where I had felt a strong wave of rage and all I could see were skeletons. I also never told them about this. Really, how on earth am I gonna explain that I glow and see things that may or may not have anything to do with what they saw at the Air Temple.
Plus, I'm worried how they would react if I happened to glow again. Would they try to get rid of me? Or maybe accidentally like my parents did.
...Now that I think back with a calm mind, I feel...a little bad for how I reacted. I was angry and I lost my temper.
I sigh.
I even hurt them emotionally on purpose. I should have apologized before I left. Now I just have to wait until I get home.
Wow, it's not even a day yet and I already have something to do once I get home.
While I'm busy swimming in my thoughts, Sokka pulls out his map.
"So...Where are we heading?" I ask as I glance the map. All I understand from what I'm seeing is land and water. No idea where we are currently.
"Aang says he wants to find an elephant koi. Not sure where. Wherever it is, we better find some food there. I'm getting hungry."
Sokka focus on the map intensely. I didn't say anything else to him because he looks like he needs his space. I wonder if he's the only here who can read the map.
I get off my butt and onto my knees before crawling to Katara's side. I eye her steady hands as she sew the tear close then I look at her. Focusing intensely just like her brother.
"So...How's the sewing?"
"Great." Katara answers nonchalantly without breaking focus.
I should...also leave her alone.
I move away cautiously like if I were to move too suddenly, I would break her concentration. I sit right in between Sokka and Katara with equal distance, bored out of my mind.
What a wonderful adventure.
I'm just gonna take a nap.
"...Could someone please tell me how we suddenly end up here?"
This is the RUDEST wake up call, ever. I think someone just woke me up by hitting my shoulder with a stick thing!
"And why can't I see?"
"Silence, little girl. If you and your friends answer our questions, we'll be nice." A young woman voices out. It is in a calm but strict tone.
"We won't just-"
Sokka argues but is cut off.
"Okay."
"Wan!"
By me.
"What!? They said they'll be nice!" I yell at the voice that is coming a little further away from my left.
"Ow! Wan! I'm right here!" Aang complaines at my left.
"Oops, sorry."
"Quiet. If I learn that you are stalling for time, I'll feed you to the unagi."
"What's an unagi?" I asks but it is completely overpowered by the volume of Sokka's forceful demand.
"It doesn't matter! Right now you guys are threatening us while we are defenseless. If you have any honour, you'd show yourselves, coward!"
I roll my eyes behind the blindfold before it is ripped off. Really, Sokka? We're tied up to...
I look behind me.
...a pole and the first thing in your mind is to challenge...
I look ahead of me.
...a bunch of girls with thick red and white make up? They are also wearing some kind of dress with armor on them. Soldiers, maybe?
I am bewildered at my current situation. What happened in my nap that we got end up getting captured by soldiers!?
"Aang, what happened? I'm lost." I turn to the airbender and whisper, hoping he would fill me in on what just happened.
"Oh, well. While you were asleep, I finally found the place where I could find the elephant koi. I got to ride it but then things went a little...chaotic. We got ambushed and here we are. I think you, Appa and Katara were caught somewhere else. You might want to ask her about it."
That summary of events is too vague for me that it took me a while to connect them. Oh well, I'll ask Katara later for more detail.
"You also missed my marble trick." Aang adds.
In the background, Sokka has angered one of the soldiers as one of them grabs Sokka's collar and pull him closeer to her. Her head piece has more decorations than the rest. But I'm more curious about this trick. "What trick?"
"You wanna see?" Aang beams as he asks this question. I nod twice before Aang mumbles to me about giving him a minute to get out of these ropes.
He draws in a big breath before shooting himself off the ground of out of the ropes, creating a cloud of dust that I accidentally breathe in. I hears people gasping and aweing at Aang's airbending but that's kinda old to hear now. I'm a little busy coughing here.
"Aang!" Katara gasps at Aang's sudden bending, fearing that it would provoke the warriors in front of them.
"Yeah! Show them who's boss, Aang!" Sokka encourages with a grin on his face.
"Was that airbending?" A question sounds from the crowd that have gathered.
After he had landed on the statue above the pole, free from his ropes by using the sharp edge of the fan that is part of the statue, Aang looks puzzled and is not sure where to focus his attention to. He looks at Katara, Sokka, me, then the audience he had gathered.
"You okay?" Aang asks me since he was in a conversation with me first.
"Fine...dandy." I grumble.
"Cool. Look at this!" Aang exclaims as he lands in front of me.
He reach into his robes and took out some of the marbles I gave him. He made to position himself so the audience could see him perform too.
"Ta-daa!"
Two of my marbles spin in a circle in between his hands as he look back and forth between me and the crowd with eager enthusiasm for our reaction. My lips twitch into a smile not because of the marble trick, it's not as impressive as I thought it would be, but instead because of his goofy expression. His eyes are so wide and happy that I end up chuckling while the crowd goes wild at this simple little trick.
"You see that? That's the Avatar! And you shouldn't mess with friends of the-Ow!"
Katara had to stop Sokka's gloating by stomping onto his foot. Hard.
"Please, we're friendly! So could you untie us? We mean no harm." Katara requests politely.
The soldier ladies didn't respond at first, stunned by the spinning marbles, before the one with the prettier hair piece snaps out of it and bring her friends out of their daze to let us go.
"That's..." I nod at the spinning marbles as I pause before I turn to Aang with amusement."...very cool, Aang."I answer with a smirk.
It would be even cooler if you could do more than two marbles but I really can't complain. Two marbles spinning in mid-air is still kinda cool.
"Do you mind getting the marbles a little further away from me? I'm afraid it might suddenly shoot me in the face."
"Oh, sorry."
"Breakfast!" Aang proclaims the first meal of the day.
I'm pretty sure it's lunch time, though...
Aang dives for the desserts for breakfast. I look around first, a habit to look at everyone to see if the elders have eaten yet. My parents taught me some manners that I did keep.
Only some though.
And...Aang is technically the oldest.
Then next is...
"Sokka? Come over the dinning table and eat something." I call out the second oldest.
"Not hungry." The second eldest pouts childishly.
Aang leans back to look past Katara where Sokka is sulking behind in a corner, his hand stretched out a pastry for Katara.
"But you said you were hungry back on Appa!"
Wait, Aang could hear Sokka from all the way back there?
Oops, that means he heard my question back then.
"Oh, he's just butt hurt from getting his but kicked by a bunch of girls." Katara teases as she takes a bite from an orange dessert that she had accepted from Aang's outstretched hand.
Well, that's everyone in the dinning table, minus Sokka. I pick up a pao shaped like a peach from one of the wooden trays. It's also slightly pink like one. I took a bite into the sweet filling and continued to watch them argue.
"They snuck up on me! It doesn't count" Sokka argues as he turns to us.
"It's still a legitimate tactic. It's called a surprise attack" I counter as I finish the small dessert pao and picks up the orange dessert Katara had tried.
That egg tart is next.
And that sago pudding.
"And who are you to say what's a legitimate attack?" Sokka challenges. "You've never fought! Or even know a single thing about battle, I bet!"
"Just cause I'm a girl?" I question. True, I don't know a single thing about battle but that doesn't mean I'm going to let him win. I don't like being considered weak just because I'm a girl. I prefer to be called weak for better reasons. "And history lessons taught me about sneak attacks and they work and they're real. In a real battle, you would have died." I growl as I force my point. A little bit aggressively.
"Psh, yeah. That's because those were men in those battlegrounds. Not little girls!" Sokka snaps at me before he gets up to took some of the pastries and leave.
I glare at his back as I hear him mumbling in appreciation of the taste before walking out the door.
"Wan, that was too far." Aang notes after a moment of silence. I huff and look the other away from Aang.
"Well, Sokka isn't all that good with his arguments either. What he said was wrong." Katara tuts at her brother's sexist behavior. "For once it's nice to hear someone else argue with Sokka's sexism."
Aang, feeling like he'll be outnumbered if he tries to defend Sokka, remains quiet as silence can be the best answer.
"So, what are you guys gonna do after this?" I asks curiously.
"I'm going to explore. Maybe shop for a few things." Katara answers first.
"Didn't you just shopped at my home island?"
"Yeah but who knows what we could find here."
I guess Katara is right.
"What about you, Aang?" I waited after Aang had swallowed his food first before asking so he wouldn't rush to swallow and risk choking himself if I ask him too early.
"I'm going to spend time with the villagers. They really know how to treat an Avatar and it's great!" He cheers as he toss the last egg tart into the air. His mouth opened, ready to catch it.
Damn, I was going to eat that.
Half way falling into Aang's ready mouth, Momo leaps and snatch the pastry from the air!
"Hey!" Aang exclaims in shock as he turns to Momo with an undignified look because he had lost his tart to Momo.
Momo took a bite of the tart and turns to look at Aang mischievously before chewing right in front of him.
Katara and I laugh as Aang recovers to reach out a sago pudding while he lightly scolded Momo for stealing, leaving the last one. I quickly snatch it.
I swear, It feels like I need to fight for food right now.
"It's nice to finally see you enjoying being the Avatar, Aang. But remember that we're going to leave soon." Katara reminds. She has stopped eating after feeling that her stomach is satisfied.
"Yeah, I know. But I hope it wouldn't be too soon. I mean," Aang stands and head to the window. "I'm making this town happy. They're even re-painting the statue in my honour."
Unexpectedly, screams came from below the window once Aang reaches it. Katara and I exchange questioning glances before we head to the window to peak outside. There is a mob of young girls, screaming Aang's name and throwing compliments to his direction.
Wow.
"Sure, Aang...Just don't let this get into your head, alright?" Katara asks with concern in her eyes and Aang meet hers with eyes of excitement.
"Don't worry, Katara! I'm just a simple monk."
He then focuses his attention back to the crowd of girls and grins at them, causing the screaming to grow louder. Katara rolls her eyes and backs away from the window, making more space for me as I move to Aang's side
"This didn't happen in my village." I note as I compare the differences in my mind.
Aang visibly wince at the memory and laughs sheepishly, "Well, I didn't exactly give my best first impression."
He looks down at the cheering crowd eagerly, "But this time, It's going to be different. I'm going to be different."
I feel like I couldn't understand the full meaning behinds his words but the look in his eyes are one filled with hope. Like it's the beginning of something great.
Well, good for him!
"Okay, Aang. Have fun. I'll be out on the streets, most likely with Katara, so keep an eye out if you want to find us." I say as I walk away from the window.
Aang gives a sound of acknowledgement as he leaves running through the door. I walk up to Katara who is counting the money she has in her money pouch.
"Mind if I join your shopping?" I requests as I move my hand to my pocket, checking if my money pouch is with me too.
"Not at all. The more the merrier." Katara smiles as she tucks her money pouch into her pocket.
Author's note: Ah, and here we are. Well, I finally have a vague idea on where this story is heading. I'm still giving it some thoughts though and it's actually a long way from here.
I would also like to know if anyone has actually read from the beginning until here? Just out of curiosity.