Aang

20 Days ago -

Ah, The Frozen Tundra of the magnificent Northern Water Tribe, I could list at least a thousand places i'd rather be..

The Avatar was walking through the streets of the icy city, making his way to the Chief's Icy Palace, He wondered if there is anything here that isn't made out of ice,

Aang never had a problem with cold weather, he's an airbender after all, he can adapt to any weather, but he never liked the northern water tribe, he wasn't even sure why..

Maybe it's their stupid traditions and customs. He thought groaning inwardly as he remembered the first time he came here to learn Water bending from Master Pakku, Water bending was an art that was only reserved for Men, and that wasn't how Aang was taught as an air nomad,

or he was an Air Nomad anyway..

he doesn't consider himself as an air nomad anymore, he let go of the teachings and their ways of life a long time ago, When he killed his first man..

He sighed, he still remembers that day as if it were yesterday, even though he did all he could to forget it, The Avatar kept himself locked up from the world for a very long time after that, dedicating his life to drinking, Not only has he stopped considering himself an air nomad,

he's also stopped considering himself The Avatar since that day..

for a very long time,

If it wasn't for his friends Zuko and Toph, and a bit of advice from the man he considered his father, Iroh, He'd have never resumed his life as the avatar, He kept walking lost in his train of thought about what if and what was until he saw a person laying flat on his back in front of him, apparently he just bumped into that person..

"Watch where you're going, Arrow head!"

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" He rushed to the person's side and got of a full view of her, She was a brown skinned girl in blue dress that didn't belong to the northern water tribe, with the most endearing ocean blue eyes, and caramel brown hair, Aang caught himself staring at the girl mentally scolding himself, he extended a hand to help her up, but she just pushed the hand away and helped herself up..

"Next time look ahead when you're going forward, Arrow Head!" she said angrily and stormed away, never once looking back, Aang kept staring at her departing figure, considering the possibilities..

If her voice is that musical when she's angry, i can only imagine what it will sound like when she's laying in my bed.. What the bloody hell ?! He mentally scolded himself again when he thought of that, he had a job to do, and all he was thinking about was getting that girl to his bed, Aang groaned inwardly and made his way to the palace, still thinking about the blue angel he just bumped into..

6 hours later, after the avatar rested in one of the palace rooms reserved to him courtesy of the chief, it was Night already, and he was sitting in the great hall of the Northern water tribe palace awaiting the chief's arrival, a few minutes later, the chief arrived and immediately greeted the avatar.

"Avatar Aang, it's a pleasure to meet you again." he said in his gruff yet endearing voice, The Avatar stood up to greet the chief,

"The Pleasure is mine, Cheif Arnook." The Avatar said in a soft voice while shaking the chief's hand, The Man has always been nice to him, Out of all the world leaders, Chief Arnook was probably the most respected by Avatar Aang, he had always been a great leader of his people, they never complained about him, and Aang doesn't think they will for a very long time..

"I trust you had a pleasant journey, i hope the winds weren't too rough." The Chief said still smiling.

"Well, the winds were kinder to me than Appa, if it weren't for my kind words and a big sack of hay, you might have been thinking of sending an expedition searching for the new avatar by now." The Avatar remarked jokingly.

The Chief laughed loudly, still looking at the young air bender,

"Still as witty as ever, Avatar." Aang smiled a bit, and the chief motioned for him to sit, The Chief ordered tea for both men, after a couple of minutes,
the tea arrived and the avatar thanked him for it, taking a sip from his cup..

"Do you like the tea, Avatar? we made it special for you." The Chief asked endearingly.

"It's alright, i'd have considered it extraordinary had i not tasted the tea of Master Iroh, you know it's difficult to find any drink extraordinary after that." The Avatar quipped truthfully.

The chief chuckled. "I'm sure it has remarkable qualities." he said.

"Yeah, it has. but i'm sure i wasn't summoned all this way from my comfort zone at the southern air temple to talk about tea.." The Avatar said calmly putting his cup on the table with a smile on his face indicating that he meant no offense for the Chief or the tea, and the chief understood that completely..

"I suppose you're right, Avatar. we should start talking business.." The chief said putting his cup away as well, looking down sadly all of a sudden which made Aang more nervous about the topic they're about to talk about..

The Chief started. "As you know Avatar, Winter is drawing near, we had to store supplies for the upcoming season, and while storing all the supplies we could we realized we have a shortage of wood.. "

the chief looked to be hesitating so the avatar encouraged him to continue by nodding his head so the chief continued. "So, we had no choice but to send men to the old forest.."

The Avatar knew what forest the chief was talking about but he was still looking quizzically at the chief, not fully grasping what's wrong, the chief saw that and continued..

"When the men arrived at the forest, they cut as much as they could, but before they were done getting the amount of wood we sent them to get.. they were attacked.. By Spirits."

The chief stopped talking and sighed a bit as he remembered the look on the men's faces when some of them returned..

The Avatar was so shocked from the news that he couldn't talk for a couple of minutes..

Spirits in the old forest ? Does that mean.. The Portal.. ? He thought not realizing that he mouthed his thoughts loud enough for the chief to hear them..

"We don't know, Avatar, that's why we summoned you here, to help us in the investigations, No one knows about Spirits as much as you do, Please, Help us." The chief begged looking at the avatar with sad eyes, making the avatar believe that one of the workers that died was dear to him..

The Avatar Sighed a bit and finally composed himself saying. "Of Course, Chief. if what you're saying is true, then my help is indeed a necessity, I'll depart for the old forest first thing in the morning."

"But, What about the peace ceremony ? it's in 20 days, i don't know much about the spirit world, but i know that the timing in that world isn't like ours, do you think you can make it in time ?" The chief asked concerned.

"I don't know, Chief, but this has to be dealt with, the sooner the better, i will depart for the forrest first thing in the morning no matter the cost." the avatar said shutting down any farther arguments about the topic.

The Chief nodded and said. "Very well, Avatar, i believe you're still in need of a place to rest till dawn, the room i reserved for you is still yours till your departure." The chief said.

The Avatar thanked him and left the hall, he made it to the balcony that overlooked the city, He decided to spend some time here to help him think about the upcoming mission in peace, he thought about visiting the pole Tui and La, but he decided against it..

I don't think they'd want to see the most flawed Avatar of all time. He smiled bitterly at the thought, but brushed it away and kept focusing on the task at hand before his train of thought was interrupted..

"Looking as troubled as always, Avatar." Said a soft voice from behind him, The Avatar turned around and his fell on a white-haired girl with light blue eyes, he could only think of one person in mind with such traits..

"Yue." The Avatar Said walking to her and taking her in his arms, The Princess wrapped her arms around him and they hugged for a couple of seconds before they parted and released their grips on each other,

"It's so good to see you again, Aang, how long has it been ? 4 years ?" The Princess said sounding excited to meet her friend again..

"Approximately, but apparently not enough for you to get a better hair style." The Avatar remarked sarcastically.

The Princess pouted that sweet pout of hers and punched his arms, Aang would have flinched from the act had he not been getting ones with stronger force from some blind earth bender..

"So, the rumors were true about you, you've become so rude as of late." The Princess said still pouting at him.

"Yeah, guess i've changed, not for the better.. but anyway it's good to see you again, Yue." The Avatar looked sad for a bit when he finished his first sentence which troubled Yue..

"Hey, Are you okay ?" The Princess asked concerned.

"Of course, why wouldn't i be ?" The Avatar asked as if nothing was wrong with him, but Yue knew better than that.

"Maybe because of that sad look on your face that i know very well ever since we were children ?" The Princess asked Sarcastically.

"Yeah, how could i break free from someone like that ? you'd swallow me whole if i didn't talk." The Avatar remarked.

"Well, i wouldn't say swallowing you whole wouldn't taste good." The princess quipped, It took the avatar some seconds before he understood her remark, he burst into a fit of laughter, she immediately joined him..

and together they laughed their concerns and insecurities away, it just felt like old times for both of them, ever since he arrived at the northern water tribe when he was no more than 12 years old, he didn't warm up to anyone but Yue, he confided in her, and loved her as a sister, sometimes he'd travel all the way north just to see her, but that all changed ever since that infamous day, The laughing stopped, both of them were clutching their stomachs in pain..

"Ah, I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time.." The Avatar said wiping a tear from his eyes.

They both finally composed themselves and the princess looked at him growing more serious now.

"Seriously, Aang, What's wrong ?" She asked curiously.

"You really wanna know ?" The Avatar asked looking at the princess with sad eyes, When she nodded he started confiding in her as he used to..

"3 Years ago.. I killed a man." The Avatar said with a sad distant voice, but enough for the princess to hear, Her eyes widened like two plates, she was so shocked that she couldn't even form a reply..

The Avatar continued. "We were chasing the rebels that used to support Azulon in his conquest.." The Avatar seemed to be hesitating but Yue encouraged him to continue by covering his hand with hers, the avatar felt a little bit secure by the gesture and continued..

"It was Me, Iroh, Azula and Zuko, they were too many.. they surrounded us, i did what i could, i warned them that if they ever hurt us, i might go into the avatar state, and then i wouldn't be in control of my actions..."

The Avatar's eyes were now glassy with tears, he tried to compose himself but failed miserably, and that only made Yue squeeze his hand a little tighter as he continued..

"they never listened, and they started attacking us again, too many fire balls, a lot of lightening bolts, until one of them hit Master Iroh in the chest.. i was so shocked that i couldn't control myself.. So, i went into the avatar state.."

A tear tricked down his cheeks as he kept on..

"I never realized what happened until i came out from it, Zuko was on his knees beside uncle Iroh, Azula was standing staring at the wreckage i just caused.. and when i looked around i found that the rebels scattered from around us.. except for one man..." The Avatar broke into a fit of sobs, Yue and she wrapped her arms around Aang tightly, realizing that some of her own tears tricked down her cheeks..

Aang was still sobbing when he continued. "I killed the man, Yue, i did it."

They kept holding onto each other for a long time, before they broke apart and Yue looked into his eyes and said, "I'm still proud of you, Aang."

"Yue, Are you deaf ?!" The Avatar said in a high pitched tone "I just told you, i killed a man, i ended a life, do you know what that means ?"

Yue flinched a little from his sharp tone but that didn't prevent her from saying..

"It means you did what you had to do !" she said in a high voice as well, "You are the Avatar, Aang, you're supposed to protect people no matter the cost, these monsters wanted to kill thousands of innocent people to get what they want, had you kept that man alive, and they resumed their act of terror, would you have forgiven yourself for the innocent lives that would have been taken ?" She asked in a calmer tone.

The Avatar thought about it, but eventually he shook his head..

"Of course you wouldn't, Aang, you have a gentle heart, no matter how many times you try to hide it, no matter how much you drink, how long have you kept yourself away from the world, you still have a gentle heart, you love the people, and the people love you, that's why you're one of the best avatars to ever exist, you don't give yourself credit, you don't make a great deal about yourself, you are just Aang, plain simple Aang, no matter how hard you try to hide him inside that facade of yours, For me You are and will always be Aang." Yue said in that soft endearing voice of hers.

even after all these years she knew what to say to him, and Aang loved her for that.

He looked at her eyes again to see the genuineness in them, and he just found it there, he smiled a bit and hugged her again..

"Thank you, Yue, i wouldn't ask for a better friend." Yue smiled brightly at him as he made his statement..

"Don't mention it, Air Head, i owe you one for uplifting my spirit and making me the princess i am today, so that was kind of returning the favor." The princess said with a faint blush on her soft cheeks.

After some small talk about their lives they bid each other Good Night and the avatar made it to his room..

He never realized before today how much he missed Yue, they used to be so close, but after that night they were even closer as he just confided in her and told her one of his darkest secrets..

The Avatar felt attached to that young woman, and he wouldn't trade her for the world, he had layed flat on his bed to catch some sleep before dawn, his mind reeled back to the beautiful caramel haired girl he bumped into earlier this morning..