Hi! This is just a group of stories I wrote that I thought actually fit into the world of ATLA. That's it. They're not connected in another way.
From Aang's perspective:
People like to ask me if I wish I had never run away. I hate that question. I know the answer they want: "No, actually. I'm sad, of course, at how much I missed, but I'm happy to be here now. I have friends, and I have Katara. If I'd lived back then, I never would've met any of you."
Some of that's true, of course. My life wouldn't be complete without Katara. I would've missed out on a lot if I'd tried to fight with the other airbenders (people friends family). I might've died. The war might've gone on even longer; we don't know.
But it's not all true. How can I say I'm happy I abandoned my people, and they died, huzzah? I know I'm supposed to be good at moving on. I'm an airbender, and it's what we do: avoid, ignore, disappear. But there's part of me that still remembers them.
I think of the games we'd play-sometimes great tournaments, sometimes just silly races. I think of the festivals-sometimes something spiritual, sometimes something for storytelling. We don't have them anymore, obviously. They were always an air-nomad thing, and it doesn't make sense for me to play, race, connect, or tell stories with myself.
But I think about them, and I remember them. And as I've noticed the missing holiday dates, it's been hard. I think part of that is because of the food, and the wind (because it does not feel the same anymore), and the feeling of exhilaration, but a lot of it is just because I miss people.
These holidays were chances for us to bond with old and new friends. They allowed freedom of movement with the guarantee you would meet the people you loved again. Goodbyes weren't that sad, because you knew that in another week-month-year, you'd see whoever it was you wanted to see again again. Relationships could still be permanent, but didn't need to be.
I think that's partly why we were so good at letting attachments go. We never had to worry about something disappearing forever. It's just not part of our culture. We didn't have things that were ours, no touchy, because you could find something else of whatever you needed. There was always plenty, and people didn't get hurt very often.
And I miss that, too. I miss the free way of life that we had. Because we allowed ourselves to take breaks to think, we could. We made a government that worked, and-and I miss it. I miss the constant security we had. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe if we'd had a king or firelord or cheif or whatever we wouldn't be dead right now. But maybe we'd just be dead and sad.
I'm not saying I don't appreciate the way Zuko's ruling, or Hakoda's or Arnook's, or any of the Earth Kings', or whoever rules the Foggy Swamp's. I'm just saying that we had a system too, and it was a good system. I'm saying I had a culture too, and it didn't deserve to be wiped out.
I've made peace with my situation. Katara's amazing, and I could say the same about each and every one of my friends. But I had a home, before all this happened, and it was the whole world. There, I was free. I was happy. I didn't have to worry that one day, I'd wake up to find my everything gone. I would give almost anything to have that back.