Okay guys. Guys I really could've/should've written more of this story. So. Ba Sing Se is a dystopian place, and the Fire Nation has taken over the majority of the world. Zuko's job is to kill all the airbenders, except Aang, because he's the Avatar. The war just started, like, maybe 20 years ago. Aang's friends are all dead, so he got into Ba Sing Se where they literally DON'T KNOW THE WAR EXISTS, and Zuko snuck in, too (and he's kinda a bad guy in this one), and anyway. In the end I have them (meaning Team Avatar who's all been in Ba Sing Se) escape and defeat the Fire Nation yay. And also there was one spin-off where his friends Lehn and Ara weren't actually dead, just captured, but he thought they were, and he freed them, too. Yay!
It's beautiful. The sun is setting, and there are oranges, and reds, and yellows, and even a little bit of pink. All he can think about is how beautiful it is. He's sat with Ara before, and looked up at the sky, and they've talked about the stars. She usually agrees with him, that it's beautiful, but she almost always is excited for the stars. They just light up the world, you know? Even more than the sun. Each one is so small and insignificant, but together, they create a masterpiece.
Usually, then, he tells her that she's right, but that they lack the color the sun allows. If the stars were always out, it'd be so dark, and the darkness blocks the color. We couldn't see the golden mountains, or the way the snow reflects on our path. Isn't that beaty? And she agrees, and takes his hand, and it feels like a guilty-electric shock because he can see the way Lehn looks at her but he loves it and anyway - anyway. They sit together and look at the sunset, usually.
But she's not here, today. He doesn't think about why; he thinks about the sun, as it sets, beyond those great walls. He wants to share it with her, but she's not here, and he realizes he's okay with that. He just wants to share it with someone. Yet, as he thinks about who to invite out to sit there with him, he realizes that he just… can't.
Who would come? And if they came, would it feel the same? He's almost sure it wouldn't. They'd look at him, and say, sure, okay, pretty, so what, we're busy doing our CHORES, and he'd apologize and let them back in. Yet - it's so, so beautiful. There are clouds, and he can see the walls of the city, and beyond them, the mountains that he's traveled over. He's in a city, and some of the buildings - just like the wall - go up into the sunset to give it more color.
He wants to share it. He wants them to see it, just like he sees it, and just like Ara saw it. He wants to say that it's here, and that he sees it, and that it's beautiful. Yet, he knows they won't be able to see it the way he does. It's as if a dark cloth hides their eyes, and it makes things hard, because he wants to share it. He does, and it might not be for them.
Yes, they'd be happy to see it, or at least he hopes they would, and if they could see it, he wouldn't have to be alone anymore, looking towards a sun that is setting more quickly every minute. He doesn't want to feel the wind pushing him and begging him to play without anyone to play with. He can remember one time, when he was feeling depressed - and really, it wasn't good - and Lehn came to him.
Hey, he'd said. The wind won't leave me alone. We should, I don't know, stop making it feel so lonely. We could spar, or play, or whatever you want. This is how he feels now, but there's no one to ask to spar, or play, or whatever-they-want. So, he doesn't. And he doesn't want to ruin this light, either. So, he doesn't invite them to come and bask in the beauty.
Maybe this makes him bad, he thinks, as the sun finally does disappear and the stars become more visible. Maybe he should want them to see the beauty, even though they wouldn't get it, and couldn't appreciate it. But he worries that if they came, it wouldn't make him feel like he was sharing a special moment. No, he thinks, as he sighs and prepares to go inside. It would just make me feel… lonely.