The Lunar Warrior [ATLA FF]

Book One: Water | 4 | The Foreigner

The fact that he was going with his gut to trust in this kid despite everything he'd just seen was bothering him, so he didn't want to interact with him more than he already was. That did not mean that Aang wasn't a good kid. Helping them get home, his overall attitude, all of this was pointing to him being a good kid. He was just hoping that he wouldn't regret this decision later.

He touched his scar slightly; light, phantom pain coursed through it for a moment.

"Appa's just a little tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see." Katara smiles at Aang's positive attitude. Seeing this, he smiles back at her. When she goes back, however, he's still smiling at her, and she becomes a bit uncomfortable.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Oh, I was smiling?" Katara seemed flattered by this, and smiles at him again.

Sokka groaned loudly in disgust, and Ayaan narrowed his eyes even more than he already was. Katara glares at Sokka, but when her gaze met her eldest brothers she became a bit embarrassed. What was this discomfort he was feeling at that reaction? His grip on his spear tightened.

He was really hoping he wasn't going to regret this later.

A few more hours passed, the siblings giving the air nomad directions on where their home was. It would take a few hours more to get home, but the fact that they were closer put the siblings minds at ease. Sokka had already been lulled to sleep by the comfort of the ride, and Ayaan found himself absentmindedly petting Appa's soft fur, much to the large bison's delight. Katara was studying Aang, finally mustering up the courage to ask a question she'd been thinking about for a while.

"Hey."

"Hey. What'cha thinkin' about?"

"I guess I was wondering, your being an airbender and all, if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar?" Ayaan's ears twitched, stealthily peering over to view the kid as he answered.

"Oh, no. I didn't know him. I mean, I knew people that knew him, but I didn't. Sorry." He gave her a weak smile, and Ayaan's eyes narrowed.

"Okay. Just curious." Her eyes show her disappointment, but she quickly dismisses it. "Goodnight."

"Sleep tight." With that, Katara joins her brother in the comforts of sleep. It had been a long day for both of them. Seeing as both of them were asleep, Ayaan took that as his chance to investigate. He went towards the front of the saddle, Aang had a guilty look on his face before it twisted into a startled one, not seeing the eldest of the siblings now staring at him.

"You lied. Why?"

"Eh? Um..." Aang was caught off guard. Out of the siblings, the one he couldn't place was Ayaan. Even with Sokka he openly showed he didn't trust him, but Ayaan was a mystery. How did he know he wasn't telling the whole truth? They only just met! He could feel the sweat rolling off of his brow, weren't they in the south pole surrounded by ice? How was he sweating? "But I really did know people that knew him!"

That wasn't a lie. Ayaan could see that Aang's gray didn't waver when he said that. His tone was confident and his body was steady. But something felt off, and Ayaan couldn't place it. When Ayaan's eyes narrowed, Aang shrunk beneath them.

"...It's really complicated." He relented just a bit under the discomfort of his gaze. But he just couldn't tell him the truth. He wasn't ready to tell anyone, himself or otherwise, the truth. Knowing that his small lie had been caught by the mysterious eldest brother, he could only brace himself for what was to come.

Ayaan's gaze softened just a bit at the obviously nervous air nomad. He didn't have all of the facts, but he was more willing to trust that with time, the kid would reveal what he was hiding from them. It wasn't like he never had a secret before, and he'd already decided to trust Aang this much. "Okay."