CHAPTER 32: Vying for dominance
"Stop trying to calm the storm. Calm yourself. The storm will pass."
Aang had decided to take a break from his work on the temple library.
As he sat beneath the shade of a towering banyan tree, the gentle rustle of leaves overhead stirred memories within him from the day before.
Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to drift back to that fleeting yet profound instant when he had kissed her.
As he saw the images before his eyes of Nii in his arms, looking up at him from their embrace, her dark and warm eyes locked with his, he was flooded with a kaleidoscope of sensations - the warmth of her touch, the scent of incense that lingered in the air.
The softness of her lips pressed against his own.
It had been a moment suspended in time, a delicate dance of longing and uncertainty, yet filled with an undeniable sense of connection.
Aang could still feel the rush of emotions that had coursed through him in that instant - the exhilaration of taking a leap of faith as he had gently tilted her face up to have her gaze meet with his, the anticipation of what lay beyond the threshold of him leaning closer to her for their first kiss.
He lifted his hand to gently graze over his lips as he recalled the sensation.
At first, it had been just but a tender brush of their lips, soft and gentle, as if testing the waters.
The butterflies in his stomach had fluttered around, excited and wild, as he had felt her lean into his kiss, the pressure between their lips intensifying, as if she was hungry for more.
A surge of electricity had coursed through his body, igniting every nerve ending with a tingling sensation, and he had wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her closer as if a gravitational force just had to draw her in, as if something inside of him was hungry too.
As if his soul reached out to connect even more.
Aang exhaled deeply as he recalled the sound of her whispered moan when their breaths had mingled between the first kiss and the next.
It was as if her breath had licked his eardrums, his skin, every part of him, igniting a waving sense of urgency deep within him, and he remembered how his hands had twitched over the skin of her back, as if they wanted to explore her body in its entirety.
The sensation had been exquisite, blissful, almost overwhelming, as he had lost himself in the sensation of their lips moving together in perfect harmony.
Every connection between them, every spot where their skin touched, had been like a symphony of pleasure to him, sending waves of ecstasy and longing cascading through his body.
She had clawed her fingers over his back, pulling him even closer to her, and he had felt her soft breasts pressing against his chest.
His body had reacted again - intense excitement and arousal rushing through him, earning him to be both hard and soft at the same time.
Aang opened his eyes.
His heart was racing in his chest and he felt dizzy as he once more saw the dappled sunlight filter through the leaves above the banyan tree that he was resting under.
His body trembled slightly as he sat there, and his breathing had quickened too, so before exhaling a deep sigh he rounded his lips a little to make it even longer and slower.
He needed to calm down.
Aang furrowed his brows.
He felt conflicted.
On one hand, there was an undeniable pull of desire within him, a primal longing that coursed through his veins with a fiery intensity. At the mere thought of her, his body reacted in ways that were so unfamiliar to him yet so irresistible.
She was irresistible.
On the other hand, there lived this whisper of doubt inside of him too, a nagging voice that reminded him of his sacred vows as an Air Nomad monk.
He had been taught that he was meant to follow the path of detachment, to rise above the earthly desires that threatened to cloud his judgment and lead him astray.
It was like a constant battle between heart and mind, between passion and duty, and Aang struggled to reconcile his burgeoning feelings with his deeply ingrained sense of spiritual responsibility.
He knew that to indulge in his desires for Nii and her… vital body would be to betray the very principles that he held dear, to forsake the path of enlightenment in favor of fleeting pleasure.
Yet, despite his best efforts to suppress his emotions, they simply continued to bubble to the surface every time he merely looked at her, refusing to be ignored.
It was as if a war was being waged within him, each conflicting emotion vying for dominance.
He longed for guidance, for someone to offer him clarity in the midst of the chaos that swirled within him.
Aang turned his head to gaze at the temple.
He dared not ask for guidance.
He could already imagine the disgust and disappointment in the eyes of Avatar Yangchen, if he came to her for guidance on this matter.
A hormonal teenage boy using his Avatar connection with his past lives only to use it to ask stupid teenage questions about his own immature feelings of desire.
What a useless Avatar.
He shook his head.
Images flashed before his eyes of Yangchen's face in the Spirit World when she had imparted him with the wisdom that the sole duty of the Avatar was to the world and not his own spiritual needs.
"And especially not your physical needs, stupid boy! Have you lost your mind?!" Aang imagined her saying with eyes full of condemnation.
He felt a knot forming in his stomach and he shrugged his shoulders as if to shake it off.
Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a couple of villagers walk along a path that snaked its way around the temple grounds.
His mind was still mostly focused on how he imagined Avatar Yangchen would respond to his inner turmoil, as he saw their bald heads almost shining in the light of the midday sun above.
He casually closed his eyes and calmed himself even further by exhaling another long sigh.
But then, his brows furrowed.
Wait, what?!
What had he just seen?
Aang's eyes flew open only to zoom in on the two villagers again, who were casually strolling further up the garden along the meandering path that soon turned around the temple building, leaving them to escape his sight from his spot down by the banyan tree.
Indeed, it had not been a trick of his mind.
The villagers were bald.
Had they shaved their heads?
Aang quickly left his spot at the tree, also leaving behind the war within himself just for a while, as he twirled himself through the air and soon landed in the temple courtyard around the corner.
In rapid movements, his eyes scanned for the bald villagers but they were nowhere to be seen.
He saw Nii standing by a large bucket of water, seemingly washing apples.
He almost did not notice the butterflies that fluttered in his stomach from seeing her, as he was too caught up with finding the bald villagers.
"Hey Nii," he rushed as he seamlessly stepped off the ball of air that had helped him close the distance between them in mere seconds.
As the air ball dissolved, a gust of wind caused her hair to sprawl around her face, and she looked up in surprise, dropping the apple into the bucket of water with a loud splash.
"Have you…" he started, but he was cut off by a figure that came hurtling toward him.
"Aang!" Katara suddenly chimed loudly. "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere."
Her eyes were alight with a fervent intensity, and before he could utter a word, she reached out her hands, grasping his arms firmly.
"There's something you need to hear," she said, her ears briefly darting to Nii and back to him.
Then, Katara told him everything that she had come to learn from an old lady named Kana about the culture of the villagers.
Why they had placed their village in the jungle south of the temple, how their spiritual understanding and entire society had been formed on the knowledge and teachings of the Air Nomad culture left in the scrolls of the temple halls.
He listened in astonishment.
At first, he could not quite believe what he was hearing.
It seemed too fantastical, too surreal to be true.
Yet, as Katara spoke with earnest sincerity, recounting the things that she had learned from one of the elders of the village, he felt a sense of wonderment wash over him like a gentle breeze.
He marveled at the fact that the legacy left behind by the scrolls of the Air Nomads, the statues and the paintings here had inspired others to carry on some of the traditions of his people.
His heart swelled with emotions that were hard for him to distinguish.
Astonishment. Wonder. Joy. Pride. Surprise.
Honor?
Aang turned his gaze to look at Nii.
She stood with a quiet grace, her expression a mix of nervous anticipation and uncertainty.
Her dark eyes shimmered with unspoken emotions, and her hands fidgeted nervously at her sides.
Her voice sounded small, trembling, seemingly filled with fear almost, like a whisper.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."