Ablaze || Aang x Reader

15: Freedom

I bent the wind to lift myself off Aang and wiped my unfallen tears. I walked over to where Zuko was half buried in snow and I dragged him out.

Katara and Boomerang Guy ran to Aang to help him up. They mounted Appa and were getting ready to leave, but Appa groaned.

"You're right, Appa." I heard Aang mutter.

I wasn't watching but I heard Aang hop off Appa. As I tried to drag Zuko's deadweight back into the cave — that way we would survive trying to wait out the storm — I heard Aang's timid voice behind me.

"Um... the spirits of the ocean and the moon are in trouble. I know you want nothing to do with me but... it sure would be easier to take down Zhao and his army if we had both Avatars against him." Aang explained.

I heard him, but I ignored him, still struggling to drag the prince.

"Please." He pleaded.

I paused. Did I want to wait this blizzard out or was I going to accept the free ride back towards where Iroh was? Neither.

I slung Zuko over my shoulder and I strided right past Aang, and I grabbed his glider right out of his hand. Mine burned to a crisp and I sure as hell wasn't going to ride on Appa with him. When I said I didn't want to speak to him, I meant it. I didn't care how immature it might've made me look.

Aang wasn't exactly gripping his glider with all his might, so it was easy to grab it. He almost objected, but I glared at him and tensed my jaw just enough to prevent myself from yelling at him, which meant my jaw hurt a ton.

I barely managed to adjust Zuko from my shoulder to my back so as to switch him to a piggyback ride since he was so heavy. Then I opened up the glider and positioned it behind both mine and Zuko's back. I had done this only a few times before with much younger and lighter kids, but I knew I'd be fine. With everything ready, I took off.

I wasn't going to keep Aang's glider. It meant just as much to him as mine did to me. I was just borrowing it.

I despised the fact that I was going to the same destination as Aang, but I had to do what I had to do. Zuko needed to get back to Iroh and whether or not I would end up helping the spirits depends on how dire the situation is.

Only a minute or so into flying and I felt faint. Not in the way I felt when Aang was in the Spirit World which just basically felt like I had sprinted a kilometre without any airbending. No, it was more of a lightheaded feeling.

At the same time I felt that faintness, the moon switched to a blood red colour. The moon spirit was definitely in trouble. If waterbenders draw their power from the moon, this was definitely a cruel play made against them by Zhao.

It only made flying with Zuko on my back harder. The amount of back and core strength I needed to use for this was insane.

Another couple minutes later and I could feel Zuko begin to stir. He drowsily observed his surroundings. It took him a few seconds to process his predicament.

"AGH!!" he yelped, immediately squeezing my waist with his legs like a bad corset and nearly choking me by wrapping his arms around my throat.

"Stop... ch— choking me!" I croaked out.

He relaxed his arms enough for me to breathe but not his legs. I was definitely going to wake up the next day with bruises.

"We both die if you kill me right now." I reprimanded him.

"Why are we flying? Where is the Avatar?!" He demanded.

"I'm right here."

"You know what I mean."