A/N: Hii! I'm actually really proud of this chapter. Happy reading!
Response from chapter 15:
Vapor23: I have to say I disagree. I really like The Fortuneteller, it's one of the first episodes I ever watched. I thought it would be right to tell Akira she wasn't ready for romance. She's just a little kid, so it's not the time for her. I'm glad you liked the addition of Meio, I wanted there to be some paralells between Aang, Meng, and Katara with Akira, Meio, and Sokka. The end of Season 2 is going to be absolutely heartbreaking, I agree. Good thing it's a while away, though :) I hope this chapter is more enjoyable for you than the source material. Enjoy!
We were in a forest, just walking around. Aang, seemingly enchanted by the very aura of this place, began speeding ahead of us, laughing as he did.
"Should we go after him?" I asked, turning to Sokka. His facial expression was blank and he seemed lost in thought. I waited for a few moments, taking the true essence of his face. His parted lips that would create the nicest smile when he laughed, the crystal blue eyes I had grown to stare at, his nose that was turned and elongated in the most perfect ways. My heart began to beat faster as blood rushed to my face at an alarming rate, causing my face to be tomato red. I collected myself before speaking again, my voice gentle.
"Sokka?" I asked. He turned his head to face me, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Yeah?" He responded.
"Do you think we should follow Aang?" I repeated.
"Oh, sure," Sokka replied, his mind still obviously elsewhere. I smiled and began to run in the direction that my brother had gone. I slid down an unexpected hill, and saw Aang pull a sword out from the ground.
"Hey, look!" He exclaimed excitedly, "A sword made out of a whale's tooth!" I heard the sound of sliding behind me, and turned around to see that Sokka had arrived.
"Let me see that," He said, taking the sword from Aang's hand. He took a few steps forward, intently staring at it. I watched as he became seemingly lost in thought.
"What is he thinking about?" I wondered in my thoughts. Sokka turned to Aang and I before speaking.
"This is a Water Tribe weapon," He stated firmly, "See if you can find anything else,"The three of us split up and began our search for more Water Tribe weapons. I was rummaging through a bush, my eyes like a scanner. My one and only thought was to find even just one weapon, as I knew how much this seemed to matter to Sokka.
"Did someone lose something?" I heard Katara ask. I turned my head to face her.
"No, we found something,"I stated. I watched as Sokka walked over and picked up an arrow from the ground. He examined it closely, his lips parted in determination as his eyes slightly squinted to really take in the sight. He lightly touched parts of the arrow before speaking, his tone once again firm.
"It's burned," He stated. I watched as he walked toward a tree, putting his hand on the bark. There were two scratches near inches above Sokka's hand.
"There was a battle," He said, rubbing the bark of the tree throughly, "Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders, the firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill," He then began to run downhill, and the rest of us followed closely behind. Sokka hopped on some rocks and made it to a beach, adding to the footprints that were already there. I noticed that he suddenly stopped, hanging his head in sadness.
"So then what happened?" Aang asked, clearly not sensing Sokka's disappointment.
"I don't know," Sokka admitted glumly, "The trail ends here,"
"Wait, look!" Katara exclaimed, pointing to something in the distance. I turned my attention to a boat that was parked on the shore.
"It's one of our boats!" Sokka said, his expression brightening. The Water Tribe siblings quickly began sprinting towards the boat, Aang and I following behind them.
"Is this dad's boat?" Katara asked.
"No, but it's from his fleet," Sokka stated, "Dad was here," I beamed at the sight of my friends' happy faces, glad to see them so joyful.
Many hours later…
"Bato?" I awoke to hearing Sokka ask, his tone full of disbelief.
"Who?" I asked groggily, sitting up.
"Bato!" Katara gasped happily. My attention turned to a guy near us. He looked kind of like Sokka and Katara, but not enough for me to assume it was their dad.
"Sokka, Katara!" Bato exclaimed. I watched as they both ran over and pulled the man into a hug.
"Who is this guy?" I thought, a puzzled look on my face, "And how does he know Sokka and Katara?"
"It is so good to see you two," Bato stated, his voice warm with affection, "Oh, you've grown so much," I watched as Aang stood, and I did so as well. We walked over to the three together.
"Hi, I'm Aang," My brother greeted with a bow.
"I'm Akira," I said. I forgot to bow and waved instead. Apparently, whatever Sokka and Katara needed to catch up with this guy on was more important than introductions, because we were both ignored.
"Where's dad?" Sokka asked eagerly.
"Is he here?" Katara added in the same tone.
"No, he and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now," Bato explained, his voice calm. A large gust of wind blew by, causing Sokka and Katara to shiver. It didn't bother me, though, as this was my natural element.
"This is no place for a reunion," Bato stated with a shudder, "Let's get inside," He led Sokka and Katara forward, still not acknowledging Aang or me. I narrowed my eyes and raised an eyebrow before beginning to walk with them.
"After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey," Bato explained, "The sisters have cared for me ever since," He lad led us to an abbey with a whole bunch of old ladies at it.
"Superior, these are Hakoda's children, they've been traveling with the avatar," He said to a group of old women, "I found them by my boat,"
"Young avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence," One of the old women stated, "Welcome to our abbey,"
"Thank you, it's truly an honor to be here," Aang replied happily, "If there's anything-"
"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka interrupted before sniffing.
"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes," Bato explained.
"Perfume?" Sokka asked, "Maybe we could dump some on Appa, because he stinks so much,"
"Am I right?" He asked. I rolled my eyes at Sokka's attempt at a joke.
"You have your father's wit," Bato stated.
When we got to where Bato was staying, I was immediately hit with the smell of dead animals and sea salt. I almost plugged my nose.
"Bato, it's looks like home!" Katara exclaimed, her tone joyful. I looked around the room, noticing how many animal skins and furs there were.
"Everything's here, even the pelts," Sokka stated. I slowly and nervously walked around, freighted by the animal skins.
"Yeah, nothing's cozier than dead animal skins," Aang said, his tone a mixture of sarcasm and concern.
"It's so cozy, I could just snuggle up and got to sleep," I added in the same tone. We shared a grossed out look before turning our attention to Momo, who was for some reason swatting at a platypus-bear skin. The jaw of it shut, freaking the little lemur out. Suddenly, my nose was hit with the most unpleasant smell ever. I looked over to see that there was some sort of gross-looking stew cooking on the pot.
"No way," Katara gasped in disbelief, "Stewed sea prunes?"
"Help yourself," Bato said.
"Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things," Sokka stated with a soft chuckle. Aang and I were both handed bowls. I resisted the urge to vomit as the putrid smell hit my nostrils once again. I gagged and slowly set the bowl down.
"Bato, is it true you and dad lassoed an arctic hippo?" Katara asked eagerly.
"It was your father's idea," Bato replied, "He just dragged me along,"
"Well, the hippo did the dragging," He corrected.
"Hey, I ride animals too!" Aang said happily, "One time, there was this giant eel, and I-"
"So, who was that came up with the great blubber fiasco?" Sokka interrupted.
I looked over to my brother, who was giving him a dirty look.
"You knew about that?" Bato replied with a laugh.
"Everyone does," Katara stated.
"I don't," I said, "What was it?"
"It's a long one, Akira, some other time," Sokka replied dismissively. I groaned and put my hand on my cheek.
"You and dad had so many hilarious adventures," Katara said.
"Hilarious adventures that you won't tell us about," I thought, a scowl forming on my face.
"Not all of which were hilarious at the time, but everything's funny with hindsight," Bato replied.
"Aang!" He shouted, making me turn my attention to my brother, "Please, put that down, its ceremonial and very fragile," I saw that Aang was wearing some kind of raccoon thing hat, and almost laughed. I tuned out everything anyone was saying as I watched him sadly walk to the corner of the room and sit down. I stood and followed Aang, sitting down next to him.
Later…
I sighed. I had been staring at the wall for a while, focusing my attention on the animal skins, despite their grossness. Aang had seemed to have fallen asleep somehow, with Momo sitting next to him. Suddenly, Bato said something that made me tune into the long, boring conversation that had gone on for way too long.
"There's something I should tell you kids," He started, "I'm expecting a message from your father,"
"Really?" Katara asked in disbelief.
"When?" Sokka added.
"Any day now," Bato responded, "Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point," I heard something behind me, and turned around to see that Aang was awake, and now sitting up.
"If you wait here until the message arrives, you can come with me and see your father again," I really hoped that Sokka and Katara would say no to this. I knew I was being selfish, but they had brought so much joy to my life ever since I had met them, and I didn't want to have to separate now.
"It's been over two years since we've seen dad," Sokka stated happily, "That would be so incredible, Katara!"
"I do really miss him," Katara said, "It would be great to see dad," I felt hot tears warm my cheeks as realization set in.
"Sokka and Katara are going to leave us," I thought as I held back more tears.
"It's been far too long, hasn't it?" Bato asked. Suddenly, I saw Aang get up and leave the room, and I followed him. I sniffled as tears rolled down my cheeks, my sadness coming in an extremely large wave. Aang and I walked in silence, our footsteps being the only thing either of us could hear. When we got to the boat, Aang broke the piercing silence.
"I can't believe they would leave us," He said, pain evident in his voice.
"Why would they even consider that?" I asked, "After all we've been through?"
"I mean-I know it's their dad and all, but-" I began. I was interrupted by the sound of neighing, and looked up to see a man riding an ostrich horse coming toward us.
"I'm looking for Bato of the Water Tribe," The man said.
"Uh, I know Bato," Aang stated.
"Make sure he gets this," The guy stated, handing my brother a scroll. Aang took it and the guy rode away. I watched as my brother unfurled the scroll, studying it carefully. It was a map, and it was pointing to somewhere far away.
"It's the map to Sokka and Katara's dad," I stated. Aang angrily crumpled the map up and shoved it into his shawl.
"Aang, what are you doing?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed.
"If Katara and Sokka see this, they'll know where their dad is and leave us," Aang stated, his expression hard and his tone cold.
"But it isn't right," I argued, "No matter if they choose to leave or not, they should still get to at least know where their dad is," Aang sighed, his expression a mixture of crestfallenness and anger.
"Just don't tell them I did this, okay?" He asked.
"Fine," I grumbled, frustrated with him.
"Hey, everyone," Aang greeted happily when we got back into the room, "Sorry we were gone for so long," He was acting suspiciously chipper, and I was worried Sokka, Katara, and Bato would catch on.
"Hey Aang, Hey Akira," Katara said, "I didn't notice you guys left,"
"Yep, but now we're back," Aang replied in the suspiciously happy tone.
"Sure could go for some delicious sea prunes," He said, "Right, Kiri?"
"Why are you dragging me into this?" I thought. I hesitantly nodded, still thinking about the horrid smell of that stew. Aang sat down on the ground and I sat next to him. I nervously picked up my bowl of sea prunes and put some into my mouth. The horrible taste touched my taste buds and I immediately began gagging, my nausea hitting me like a wave. I spat out the food, noticing Aang did as well. We both got weird looks from everyone else.
The next day…
Guilty thoughts filled my mind as I remembered how Aang still had the map. We were feeding Appa hay in the courtyard. After Aang gave the bison some hay, the map dropped from his shawl.
"Aha! I caught you," One of the old ladies said, "You should be ashamed of yourself," Sweat dripped down my forehead and I began to bite my nails.
"Littering in the courtyard," She finished. I let out a sigh of relief as I watched her hand the crumpled up map to my brother.
"I'm sorry, I'll take care of this," Aang responded quickly with a bow. The lady walked away and he shoved the map back into his shawl, a blank look on his face. I gave him a glare and walked over.
"You can't just keep that information from them," I grumbled.
"Do you want Sokka and Katara to leave us?" My brother replied snappily.
"No, but I still don't think that keeping their dad's location from them is right," I stated.
Aang looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. I gave him a similar look back.
"Hey, kids," Bato called out, "I want you to come and see something,"
"This ship is sentimental to me," Bato stated, "It was built by my father," I walked closer to the ship, admiring the wooden ridges in a way I couldn't due to the darkness of last night. I brushed my hand over the wood, feeling its roughness.
"Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?" Sokka asked. I made a puzzled face as I wondered what ice dodging was.
"Yep, and it's got the scar to prove it," Bato replied, "How about you, Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging," I watched as a sad look formed on Sokka's face.
"He never got to," Katara replied, "Dad left before he was old enough,"
"Oh, I forgot you were too young," Bato replied, his tone changing to that of sadness.
"What's ice dodging?" I asked.
"It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members," Bato explained, "When you turn fourteen, your dad takes you-" He stopped talking and put a hand on Sokka's shoulder.
"You know what?" Bato asked, "You're about to find out,"
We were on the boat. The clear blue water surrounding us.
"Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery, trust, and loyalty," Bato explained, "In our village, it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs,"
"How are we supposed to ice dodge without ice?" Sokka asked.
"You'll be dodging those," Bato replied, pointing to some large rocks ahead.
"Sokka, you steer and call the shots," Bato said, putting his hands on Sokka's shoulders, "Lead wisely,"
"Katara, you secure the mainsail," He continued, walking up to her, "The winds can be brutal, so be brave,"
"Aang, Akira, you will control the jib," Bato explained, turning to my brother and I, "Without your steady hands, we all go down,"
"Your position is about lotalty and trust," He added. I nodded, accepting the job with honor and pride. Aang, on the other hand, immediately jumped to the defensive side.
"I know that!" He exclaimed defensively, "Why wouldn't I know that? I'm the avatar! I know about trust!"
"I think he knows that, Mr. Obvious," I thought.
"For this to be done right, I cannot help," Bato stated, sitting down, "You pass or fail on your own," Sokka, Katara, Aang and I all exchanged glances before beginning the ice dodging challenge.
"Aang, Akira, ease up on the jib," Sokka commanded, "Katara, steady," I saw two rocks with little space between them in front of us.
"Aang, Akira, less sail," Sokka continued, "Katara, give them room," Aang and I quickly began to pull on the jib, turning the boat. We made it through the rocks successfully, causing me to sigh in relief. My relief was quickly washed away by the sight of even more rocks with even less room in between.
"Aang, Akira helm to Lee, helm to Lee," Sokka commanded.
"What does that even mean?" I asked urgently before pulling on the jib again. We made it through the rocks after a long while of struggling and straining.
"Great job!" Sokka exclaimed. I smiled. Suddenly, even narrower rocks appeared, and I was worried we wouldn't make it through.
"There's no way through!" Katara said.
"We can make it!" Sokka stated, fierce determination in his tone.
"Sokka, you've already proven yourself," Bato said, "Maybe we should-"
"Guys! I'm gonna need air in that sail!" Sokka interrupted loudly, pointing to Aang and I, "Katara, I want you to bend as much water as you can between us and those rocks,"
"Now!" Sokka exclaimed.
The boat rose due to Katara's waterbending, and the boat moved faster due to Aang and I blowing air into the sail. We ended up going over the rocks with our large wave, and Sokka sighed in relief as we made it through. I flashed him a smile, proudness evident on my expression.
"The spirits of water bear witness to these marks," Bato said, taking some sort of paint from a bowl.
"For Sokka, the mark of the wise," He stated, putting a marking on Sokka's forehead, "The same mark your father earned,"
"For Katara, the mark of the brave," Bato continued, marking Katara's forehead, "Your courage inspires us,"
"For Aang, the mark of the trusted," He said, marking my brother's forehead.
"And for Akira, the mark of the loyal," Bato finished, marking my forehead, "You two are now honorary members of the Water Tribe," I smiled proudly, all thoughts of what Aang had done being erased from my mind.
"I can't," Aang said apprehensively, making me remember his actions the night prior. A deep frown developed on my face as the guilty feeling washed over me again.
"Of course you can" Katara stated, a smile on her face. Aang wiped the marking off of his forehead.
"No, you can't trust me," He said, backing away slowly.
"Aang, what are you talking about?" Katara asked worriedly. Aang pulled out the crumpled map from his shawl.
"A messenger gave this to me for Bato," He stated, holding it out. Katara took the crumpled parchment and unfurled it, concern etched onto her features. I felt butterflies in my stomach as my palms began to sweat uncontrollably.
"You have to understand, I was afraid you wouldn't-" Aang began as Katara looked throughly at the map.
"This is the map to our father!" Sokka exclaimed angrily, "You guys had it the whole time? How could you?"
"And you knew about this!?" He asked, turning to me, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I-I…" I started, tears forming in my eyes.
"This isn't Akira's fault, Sokka!" Aang snapped, anger in his tone. Sokka glared at the two of us, and I felt like I did when we were banished from the Southern Water Tribe.
"Well, you two can go to the North Pole on your own," Sokka stated bitterly, "I'm going to find dad,"
"Now, Sokka, I think you should-" Bato began.
"Katara, are you with me?" Sokka asked, interrupting him. Katara looked back at us, and I looked down so I wouldn't see her hateful glare. Surprisingly, when I looked back up, her eyes weren't filled with hatred, but instead…empathy? The look faded and her eyes dulled quickly before she squeezed them shut.
"I'm with you, Sokka," She stated, her tone harsh. I looked over to my brother, who looked like a dam of tears might burst from his eyes at any second. After they all had walked away, I glared at him, tears running down my cheeks.
"What did you do that for!?" I shouted, "I told you that hiding the map wasn't right, but you didn't listen!"
"I-I'm sorry, I was being an idiot," Aang sighed sadly, tears slowly dropping down his cheeks.
"Yeah, you were!" I yelled, anger and sadness taking over me, "Because you were being so stupid, Katara and Sokka hate us and we're all alone!" Aang looked down sadly, a sullen expression on his face.
"Come on, we'd better leave," He sighed, seemingly ignoring my outburst. I nodded curtly and we began to head over to Appa.
I put my head down, not wanting to make any eye contact with Katara, Sokka, or Bato. I felt horrible. There seemed to be an empty pit inside of me where the joy and distraction from my worries used to be. Suddenly, Katara walked over, her head down.
"Good luck," She said softly.
"This can't be our departure," I thought, a river of tears threatening to burst in my eyes.
"Okay, you too," Aang replied, sadness evident in his voice. Once they had left, one of the perfume ladies walked up to us.
"Guess we should be moving on," Aang stated.
"That would be best," The lady replied.
"I'm sorry," I said quietly, pulling my legs up to my chest. The woman gave me an empathetic smile. Aang guided Appa out of the courtyard, and we right back to where we were a little over two months ago when we had gotten banished from the Southern Water Tribe. I wiped the tears from my cheeks, but they respawned when I saw Sokka, Katara, and Bato walking away.
"Looks like we're going alone, guys," Aang announced to the animals and I sadly.
"Avatar! You must leave!" One of the old ladies exclaimed, urgency in her tone.
"Okay, I get it, everybody wants us gone," My brother replied, annoyance heavy in his voice.
"They have a reason to," I thought.
"A group of people came to the abbey looking for you," The woman stated.
"Who?" I asked.
"A fierce looking woman with a horrible monster and a young man with a scar,"
"Zuko," Aang and I gasped in unison, looking at each other. I couldn't believe that Scarface had really followed us all the way here, as we hadn't seen him since he saved us from that awful prison.
"The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you," The woman explained.
"A necklace?" Aang asked before gasping.
"Katara!" He exclaimed. I gasped as I remembered that Katara had lost her mother's necklace while we were at the earthbender prison. I pondered on how Cyclops had managed to obtain it.
"We've gotta go help Sokka and Katara!" I exclaimed. Aang nodded and unfurled his glider, and I did so as well. When we made it back to the courtyard, I saw a giant weird looking animal that was trying to hit us with its tongue. The animal started to go crazy over Aang, following him whoever he went using its nose. This caused a woman, Zuko, the old man Zuko had been traveling with, Katara and Sokka to all fall off of the creature. I watched as the animal dropped to the ground in exhaustion.
"Aang, Akira!" Katara exclaimed happily.
"Up!" The woman commanded, whipping the animal. I grimaced as I watched the scene play out, feeling bad for the creature. It quickly got up, and the woman hopped onto it. Aang turned his glider back into a staff and dropped down, I did the same. The woman and her creature were racing toward us, but Appa quickly barged in, knocking into the pair with full force. They knocked into a wall, and I watched the bison in pure shock. I smiled I realized that Appa was dealing with the pair, but gasped when I saw Zuko coming toward Aang and I, fire ignited in his hands. He blasted fire at us, to which I jumped above and landed behind him. Aang deflected the blast using his staff and I knocked Zuko away from us using mine. He quickly got up and started aiming his fire at the both of us. I noticed how he managed to dodge our direct air blasts, and narrowed my eyes in determination. Once we had gotten close enough, Aang and I began to weave through Zuko's limbs, striking attacks at any time possible. When Aang and Zuko started to get a little too close, I backed away, focusing my attention on the lady and her creature. I sighed in relief when I saw that they were both still against the wall after being dealt with by Appa. I suddenly got blasted toward a wall by an explosion, only stopping because I had put an air bubble around myself. I heard a groan behind me, and looked to see that whipper lady had gotten up, and her creature had hurt Appa on his leg.
"Appa!" I exclaimed, shock evident in my tone. I narrowed my eyes at the woman, anger searing inside of me. When I saw the sly smirk on her face, it only enraged me more. I used my staff to blast the woman and her creature into another wall. I sprinted over to them, my eyes fixed on her.
"If you ever let your creature hurt my bison again, that thing and you are gone," I said coldly, standing over the woman. I didn't know what I was thinking, I didn't even think. Threatening a person with their own demise? I knew that in Air Nomad culture, our main belief was that all life was sacred. So why did I allow this thing hurting Appa to affect me so much?
"I'm not scared of you, little girl," The woman replied cockily, seeming almost amused at my threat. I gritted my teeth, not wanting to do something outrageous in my fit of anger. The woman then stood up and whipped her animal again. It attempted to hit me with its tongue, but I quickly dodged its attack. The woman hopped onto the creature and they rode off. Realizing I shouldn't work myself up dealing with them, I turned my focus to Sokka and Katara.
"How are you guys doing?" I asked, walking up to them.
"I'm starting to get some feeling back," Sokka replied, slightly moving his arm. I smiled when I noticed there were no traces of anger in his tone. Suddenly, debris began to fall down, and I protected us with an air bubble. As we were collecting ourselves, I felt drops of water on my face, and looked over to see that Aang had come out of a well, Zuko falling from mid air close behind. When Scarface attempted to chase after my brother, Appa quickly came in and scared him off. The lady whipped her creature many times, causing it to hit Appa with its tongue until he fell into the ground. I watched in pure disgust as I contemplated going against my morals or not. I was about to run up to them when I felt a hand on my arm.
"Akira, stop," Sokka said, "Appa will be fine, it's not worth it," I sighed, still mad but slightly calmer. I realized that Sokka and Katara were up and well, and a puzzled look came to my face.
"I used the perfume to help them up," The lady next to the pair explained.
"That thing sees with its nose, let's give him something to look at," Sokka stated.
"The perfume?" The lady asked. Sokka nodded, a determined expression on his face. We all began to dump the perfume from the large tubs it was in, and Katara bent it toward the creature. It began going crazy, hitting Zuko and the woman with its tongue. I smirked in amusement at the sight of the animal running rampant, and watched as it ran off into the woods. Aang picked up his dropped staff. Sokka and Katara came up behind him, and Katara put a hand on his shoulder.
Later…
"So…where do we go?" Aang asked. We had been flying on Appa for a little while. I was in the saddle with Katara and Sokka.
"We're getting you to the North Pole," Katara replied.
"Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is," Sokka added.
"Don't you want to see your dad?" I asked, a puzzled look on my face.
"Of course we do, Akira, but you and Aang are our family, too, and right now you guys need us more," Sokka replied.
"And we need you," Katara added. A warm smile came to my face.
"I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara, something to remind you-" Aang began, sitting up to face those of us in the saddle.
"I'll be okay," Katara said reassuringly.
"Still, just a little trinket," Aang replied, "Maybe something like…this?" He pulled out Katara's necklace, and she gasped in surprise upon seeing it.
"Aang! How'd you get that?" She asked, her tone a mix of joy and disbelief as she put the necklace on.
"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you," Aang replied jokingly.
"Oh, that's so sweet of Zuko," Katara said in the same joking manner, "Would you give him a kiss for me the next time you see him?"
"Sure," Aang replied. Just then, Katara kissed him on the cheek, making a deep blush form on his cheeks as he twiddled his thumbs.
Many hours later…
Our group had set up camp for the night near a river. Sokka and Katara were sleeping peacefully in their sleeping bags, and Aang was asleep on Appa's tail. I sighed and turned over, guilty thoughts about my actions during the day causing me to not be able to sleep. Every time I would almost drift off, images of me standing over the woman menacingly filled my mind. I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to face the reality that I had almost killed someone that day. After a few more minutes of struggling to sleep, I opened my eyes and decided there was only one thing I could do. I sat up slowly and made my way from Appa's saddle to tail. I lightly tapped on Aang's shoulder, and watched as my brother stirred awake.
"Kiri?" He asked groggily, opening his eyes.
"Hey," I replied, "I'm sorry to wake you, but there's something I need to get off my chest," Aang sat up and rubbed his eyes, and I felt bad when I saw faint dark circles beneath them. I took a deep breath before speaking.
"First of all, I wanted to apologize for the way I was acting after Sokka, Katara, and Bato left us," I began, "I was really stressed and sad, but I shouldn't have treated you that way," Aang nodded.
"You're forgiven," He replied, "I can completely understand the way you felt," I smiled.
"Secondly, I need to talk to you about something that happened while you were fighting Zuko," I continued, "You know that lady with the weird tongue creature?"
"Mhm," My brother replied with a tired nod.
"Well, while you were fighting, her animal hit Appa with its tongue," I explained, "I got super mad, and I-I threatened to kill her and the animal," I watched Aang's tired expression shift to that of shock.
"I'm so, so, sorry, Aang," I said, tears filling in my eyes, "I can't believe I was so stupid to let my emotions get the better of me, I understand if you're mad at-" Suddenly, I was cut off by Aang pulling me into a hug.
"It's okay, Kiri," He whispered softly and reassuringly.
"B-but I-I'm a bad p-person, I-I threatened to k-kill someone!" I protested, tears bursting from my eyes like a dam.
"You are not a bad person, Akira," Aang said, lifting up my head so I could face him, "You hear me?" I nodded, the guilt of keeping things in slowly washing away.
"S-so you don't h-hate me?" I asked, choked sobs still interrupting my speech.
"I could never hate you, Kiri," Aang replied, "You're the world to me," I began to sob and Aang hugged me tighter. I didn't know how long I was there, crying into my brother's shoulder. But what I did know was that when I woke up the next morning, I was next to Aang, and he was still holding me close. I smiled to myself, knowing that even if everyone else in the world was against me, I would always have him.