Hope I didn't keep ya'll waiting too long. Next chapter I do might take some time for me to post. If you kept up with the news online, the farmers in India are still protesting and the Indian government are not treating them right. They have been spreading propaganda calling the farmers terrorists. Please continue to show support for the farmers fighting for their livelihoods. Thank you.
Toph kept her word and filtered out girls that were signed up by their mothers. If someone wanted to sign up to go on a date with the avatar then they had to personally come to the Ba Sing Se Chronicles headquarters and apply. While some applicants were taken off the list, there were still plenty of ladies wanting to meet Aang. Unlike Miu, the next few girls Aang met on these dates were interested in him. Some in his opinion, were too interested in him.
Nia was one of those girls. She was also from a noble family that worked in politics. She had tan skin and had short brown hair. On their date, Nia had elected to sit next to Aang instead of across from him. He didn't mind it at first, until she became really touchy with him. In the beginning she had just placed her hand on his bicep and as the date went on, Nia was caressing his bicep with both hands. Aang had flexed his muscles for her which she immediately took a liking to. He blushed when he noticed how enamored this girl was with him. However, Nia took it too far when she started groping the rest of his body from his chest to his thighs. Her hands had almost landed somewhere he really didn't want her touching.
"I wonder if you're a master in bed too" Nia said with a flirtatious tone as she tried to make a grab for him. Aang had a momentary flashback to the last time he was in Omashu being ambushed by the sex workers Bumi had sent to his room. He immediately jumped from his chair and from Nia's grasp.
"I gotta go!" Aang stated before dashing his way out of the Badgermole Diner. He didn't plan on seeing Nia again for a second date.
Others like Nia had kept going into Aang's personal space, making him uncomfortable with their advances. Although his dates were all older than him there were some that were just way too old to be going on a date with him. Even though he was the Avatar and the last surviving air bender, Aang was still a teenager. Grown women in their late twenties had signed up to date him with hopes of being married.
One of them was Rika. The daughter of another noble clan who was desperate to be married. At the beginning of their date, Aang and her conversated well until the topic of marriage came up. Aang stated that he wasn't going to think about getting married until he was older, but Rika didn't take that well. She grabbed his hands and held on to them with a tight grip.
"I can't wait that long! I'm already 29 years old and all my friends are married. I have to get married!" Rika exclaimed. Aang pulled his hands from her grasp, startled at her behavior.
"I'm only thirteen years old! I can't get married so young." Aang responded. Rika wasn't deterred in the slightest.
"You're the avatar and the last air bender so it shouldn't matter how old you are" Rika replied as she stood up from her chair.
"It matters to me." Aang blurted out. Rika climbed over the table between them and placed her hands on his shoulder. Looking into her desperate eyes, Aang could tell that nothing would sway her. Rika looked like a predator, getting ready to jump her prey.
"I'll be a good wife for you! Let me be the mother of your babies Avatar Aang!" Rika pleaded.
Aang tried to move but she kept him down on his seat as she edged closer to his face. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the left. Luckily, before she could do anything to him, Toph used her earth bending to flip the table over and send Rika flying across the restaurant. Apparently Toph and Suki were watching him on his date again. Normally he would have been upset with their spying but was thankful instead since they got Rika away from him.
After that particular date, Toph changed the age requirements. The last thing Aang needed was another woman desperate to get married going after him. Aang did have normal blind dates. Jin was someone Aang had a good time with. In his eyes, she was very pretty and fun to talk to. She had spoken about her last date with Lee, who she later learned was actually Zuko. Aang laughed as she told him of her date with Zuko. He already knew that Zuko was socially awkward at times but hearing about his date with Jin was hilarious. Aang enjoyed his time with Jin but he didn't see her as someone he would want as a romantic partner.
That seemed to be the case with all of his dates. He had never felt a spark with anyone, and it frustrated him. It didn't help that he would find himself constantly comparing the girls he had met with Katara. Aang had begun to worry if he would ever be able to find anyone that would keep her out of his mind. Even after the numerous dates, he wondered if it was even possible for him to get over Katara.
Aang sat at his usual table in the Badgermole diner, waiting on his next date. He gazed out the window, admiring the garden again.
"Avatar Aang", the host called out to him. Aang turned to see him with his date for the night. "I present to you Lady Mira of the Rastree clan."
Mira looked to be in her late teens. Her skin was pale and her eyes green as grass. Mira wore a green and black kimono and had her auburn-colored hair tied up in a bun. What Aang noticed about Mira was the expression she wore on her face. All of his dates when meeting him, looked on to him with admiration in his eyes but Mira looked at him differently. She gazed at Aang with indifference in her eyes. He didn't want her to look at him with admiration, but the way she watched him was unsettling.
Before Aang could greet Mira she took her seat and spoke, "It is an honor to be in your presence Avatar Aang."
"It's nice to meet you Mira. Please, just call me Aang. Constantly saying Avatar Aang can be a mouthful." Aang replied.
"I will not." Mira flatly replied. Her response surprised him.
"But I insist th—"
"You are the Avatar and must be referred to as such with respect." Mira interrupted him without hesitation. Aang didn't want to argue so he decided to move forward with their date.
"Okay. So tell me about yourself"
For a moment, Mira didn't say anything. She only intently stared at Aang before speaking.
"I'm sure you have already been on a few blind dates already so let's just cut to the chase, shall we?" She stated.
"Ummm….Okay." Aang muttered, unsure of where Mira was going with her statement.
"The women of the Rastree clan are very fertile and have been able to produce many children within the family. Since you are the last air bender it is up to you to sire air bending children, so I am offering myself to you. As husband and wife, we would produce many children together."
Aang's eyes widened at Mira's declaration. He waved his hands in front of her, "Whoa! Now hold on a second! It's too early for me to start thinking about having kids."
"I disagree. For anyone else your age it may be too early, but you are not just any person. You are the Avatar." Mira replied, crossing her arms.
"Even if I am the Avatar and the last air bender, it doesn't mean I want to have kids at the age of thirteen." Mira was starting to remind Aang of Rika and he hoped this date wouldn't end like that one did.
"Isn't what you want?", Mira asked as she leaned forward with her crossed arms resting on the table and narrowed her green eyes at Aang, "Then enlighten me Avatar Aang. What is it that you want?"
"I want to be with someone I love."
'To get over Katara.'
"I'm dating to find someone that I can spend the rest of my life with. I do want to have kids but only with someone that I'm in love with." Aang confessed, hoping what he said resonated with Mira. For a moment she didn't say anything. He looked to her and gestured for her to say something. She did.
"Grow up." She said with a stern voice. Her response stunned him.
"Excuse me?" Aang asked as he felt offended by her words.
"Grow up. Love is the last thing you need to worry about. As the avatar you have a duty to keep the world in balance and as the last air bender you must produce children. You don't need love to do that. What you are looking for is just a fantasy." Mira stated.
"It's not a fantasy!" Aang retorted.
"Believe what you may, Avatar. Worrying about such a thing like that will only hinder you. My family have had arranged marriages for centuries and are an elite clan because we don't let such a childish notion hold us back." Mira leaned back on her chair.
"Just because you don't believe in love doesn't make it childish! There are countless people in the world that are in love." Aang growled, clenching his fists.
"And they are all fools." Mira responded. Aang wanted to argue with her but held himself back. It was obvious that Mira was set in her ways and would not change her mind. Aang stood up from his seat, he wasn't going to continue this date.
"There is no point in arguing about this. Neither of us will change the other's mind so its best that we end it here." Aang declared.
Mira looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Do you not realize how big of a mistake you are making? I am easily your best option for a companion. You will not find a more suitable wife than I."
"I'll be the judge of that. Have a nice night Mira." Aang turned and began walking away from the table. Mira, however, was not done with him.
"You will not find what you are looking for." She called out to him. Aang turned his head back to her. Seeing that she still had his attention, Mira continued speaking.
"You really think anyone would fall in love with you? It is only because you are the avatar and the last air bender in the world that people find you interesting. Take that away and you're just a brat with no redeeming qualities. What girl would ever fall for a bald weirdo like you? Even if some girl does tell you that she loves you it will just be a lie. They would want the Avatar…not you…never you."
Aang turned away from her, he didn't want her to see him gritting his teeth. To see that her words had struck a nerve. He wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.
"I'm going to pray for the unfortunate soul that ends up having you for a wife, Mira." Aang said to Mira and walked out of the restaurant. He hopped into his carriage and told the driver to take him back to the house. As the carriage moved, Aang looked out his window. He saw adults, teenagers and children still out and about. Mira's last words to him rang in his head as he saw couples walking around, holding hands, hugging, or kissing. He looked away from the window, growing sick and jealous of seeing all the happy couples.
Aang held his emotions together by focusing on his breathing until the carriage finally stopped at the house. He eagerly stepped out of the carriage, running into the house and to his bedroom. Aang didn't see Toph nor Suki in the house but was thankful since he didn't want to deal with their questions about his latest date. After closing his door, he walked up to his bed and crawled under his blanket.
Suki walked into the house after her nightly training session and found Toph waiting for her on the couch. Toph turned to her after sensing her vibrations.
"Something is up with Twinkle toes. As soon as I came, I heard him sniffing in his room." She stated.
"Oh dear, any idea what's wrong?" Suki wondered as she took her seat on the couch.
"No idea", Toph shrugged, "But…he did have a date tonight. It could be likely that something went wrong."
Suki looked towards the hallway where Aang's room was and back at Toph, "Did you try to talk to him?"
"No", Toph shook her head, "Figured that you should be the one to talk to him about it."
"Why me?" Suki raised an eyebrow.
"Honey, I'm barely in touch with my own emotions. It's usually up to Katara to talk to Aang about stuff like this but she isn't here, and I doubt he would want to talk to her about it even if she was. You are the only other person here that can get him to talk." Toph explained. Suki had to admit that she had a point.
"Fine" she said as she got up and walked towards Aang's room. Standing in front of his bedroom door, Suki could hear faint sniffling from the other side. She tapped on the door gently, "Can I come in Aang?"
For a moment she didn't hear anything then the door opened to reveal the air bender. From what Suki could see, Aang's eyes were red. He wore his usual robes and looked tired. He stepped aside to let her in and closed a door. The room was dark, so he lit a few candles for light. The two of them sat on the edge of his bed, Suki watched him as he stared at the floor.
"Have you been crying Aang?"
"…Yeah…" Aang sighed. He recounted what had happened on his date with Mira, not leaving out a single detail. Suki listened patiently as her emotions ranged between anger and sadness. She wished that she had been at the badgermole diner because at least then she could have put Mira in her place. After Aang finished telling her everything Suki put her hand on his chin, making him look up from the floor and at her.
"That girl doesn't know what she was talking about" said Suki.
"But…what if she was right? That no one would ever love me" Aang mumbled.
"Mira wasn't right Aang. I know that you can find someone that will love you for you, not for the Avatar. You can't let one bad date bring you down like this!"
"It's not even just Mira…almost all of my dates were girls that just wanted me because I'm the Avatar. They barely cared about me. What's also worst is that I don't feel anything when I'm with them. Not like I ever did with Katara…"
"Oh Aang…"
Aang jumped from the bed and stood in front of Suki, "Every time I see how happy you and Sokka are…I just wish I could have that. I thought I could have had that with her but…"
"She's still holding you back." Suki observed. Even after being away from Katara for months Aang wasn't completely free from her. Leaving had only kept Aang's love and pain at bay and returned with double the amount of force when he saw Katara again. "It's clear to me that we need to address your feelings regarding Katara."
"What do you mean?" Aang asked.
"I mean we need to talk about you and Katara. How you felt when you saw her and Zuko that night. You've repressed your emotions so much that it's practically eating at you. You need to let them out" Suki explained. Aang sighed and nodded his head, indicating that he understood what she meant. He took a moment to gather himself before speaking.
"I was…heart broken. I felt my whole being just shattering…I was sad and I'm ashamed to say that I was angry too."
"Who were you angry at?" Suki inquired.
"Katara, Zuko, and then myself."
"Why were you angry?"
Aang turned and started pacing around his room. "I was…angry at Katara for choosing Zuko who she had only JUST recently decided to forgive at the time. She pushed me aside for him. I was angry at Zuko for taking her from me. Finally, I was angry at myself for being angry with them…I didn't have the right to be angry with them then and I still don't even now. I couldn't force them not to fall for each other…even if I couldn't understand why. So I just pushed that feeling away."
"Do you still feel angry?"
"Y-yeah I do." Aang stopped pacing and gazed down at his feet, tears threatening to fall "W-w-why him? What did Zuko have that I didn't?! After all that me and her have been through…"
Suki said nothing. She just watched as Aang let his feelings out. He pressed his palms against his eyes to rub his tears away.
"I hate that even after finding her and Zuko together, I still loved her. I avoided her to dull the pain and that only worked as long as I didn't see her, but I couldn't do that forever. Seeing her again in the fire nation, I realized that I still love her."
He looked back to Suki, his tears falling, "Why am I like this Suki?"
Suki jumped to Aang and held him in her arms. Her own heart breaking after seeing him so vulnerable. Aang's head fell to her shoulder as he cried, his body trembling in her arms.
"I-I-I hate it Suki…and I hate myself for feeling like this. It's just so f-frustrating" Aang stammered. Suki blinked her eyes to keep her tears from falling.
"Sometimes I wish I could forget her…it would be so easy for me if I just forgot her completely, but I can't do it. Katara is too important to me…I h-hate that I still love her Suki. Every time I think of her with Zuko, my chest feels like it's splitting. It's just h-hurts me so much."
She tightened her grip on him, feeling afraid that he would fall apart if she didn't hold him together.
"I wish I never fell in love with Katara!" Aang sobbed, his tears drenching Suki's top. Images of him and Katara flooded his mind. From when they first met until the last time he saw her. Aang held on to Suki as he wailed. Nothing could stop his tears.
"Keep letting it out Aang. Don't hold anything back." Suki insisted. It hurt her to see Aang like this. He didn't do anything to deserve this pain.
"I never wanted to hurt her. I didn't think my absence would effect Katara like it did." Aang sniffled.
"I know you didn't. You only did what you thought was best and we don't blame you for it. But I think we can both agree that it didn't help you." Suki responded. His body was still shaking so she led him back to his bed and sat him down. She still held on to him and kept his head on her shoulder.
"It didn't. I was just running away again."
"Aang…love is complicated. It can make you happy, but it also can make you sad. Love can make you strong or weak, there is no in-between with love. However, you can heal from this…You just need to move forward and keep going. I know it won't be easy but I promise you that you will be better in time."
"But what if I can't?" Aang murmured.
"Don't think like that. You saved the world Aang…after everything you have been through…you still beat Ozai on your own terms and ended the war. I know you can move forward from this." Suki encouraged, giving him soft pats on his back.
"I think I'd rather fight Ozai again instead of this." Aang remarked.
"I'm sure you would" Suki chuckled.
"I'm scared Suki…" Aang muffled as he pushed his face closer to her shoulder.
"What are you scared of?" Suki asked, resting her hand on the back of Aang's head.
"That I'll never find love. What if I can't find that special connection with someone? What if I can't find someone to love me for me? I want what you and Sokka have, but I'm scared that I'll never have that with someone. I'm scared that Mira could be right…"
"You're an amazing guy Aang. Any girl would be lucky to have you as a husband. Even if you weren't the Avatar I'm sure that you could find someone to love you for you. There is someone out there for everyone." Suki assured. Aang took her words in and his resolve came back.
"I'm going to keep trying with the dates." Aang stated.
"Good." Suki nodded. Aang pulled his head back from her shoulder and looked to her.
"Thanks for being here with me. Sokka's lucky to have you" Aang smiled.
"Be sure to remind him when we see him again" Suki giggled.
"I don't know if I need to. Sokka is always happy when he sees you."
The two of them laughed together. After their laughter died out Suki pressed her hand against his cheek.
"Anytime you need to vent then just come to me. I'm your family too. You can think of me as your big sister." She pecked his other cheek. Aang wrapped his arms around her again, tears threatening to fall again.
"I always wanted an older sister…thank you Suki."
Suki held on to him tight, "You don't need to thank me. Remember that you're not alone. You can always count on me."
Aang nodded his head. He was glad he made that stop on Kyoshi island to ride the Koi fish, otherwise he would have never met her.
"Will you stay until I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone right now…" Aang requested.
"Of course." Suki smiled and helped Aang settle into bed. She laid by his side and held him until he slept. Soon her need for sleep came, but Suki didn't have the strength to leave the comfortable bed she was in. Before she closed her eyes, Suki looked to Aang's sleeping face and made a vow. She would protect her brother no matter what.
Hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you think of it.