A/N: Title from The New Colossus.
I sigh, looking over the long-deserted temple. Fifty thousand airbenders died here, or so they say.
Everything has changed. I feel as though I've aged decades, this month.
Life now is pretending not to be in pain so that I won't earn the pitying looks Uncle doesn't know I see.
It's seeing the world through one eye alone. It's discovering what it feels like to scratch an itch and find your skin peeling away in your hand. It's wondering if anyone will ever be able to look at me again without flinching.
And yet… It's a kind of freedom, too.