Heimat | Aang

TWENTY-EIGHT

"There was a robbery yesterday evening," Aang explained at once, "they have isolated the area where they have eluded the robber could be and they are probably going to catch them by the end of this day."

Tapeesa frowned, "Really? They still steal? I thought that after leaving their homes in search of a new future they would at least not steal. After all, this place is new, they can build whatever they want."

"Things aren't that simple," Aang admitted with a sigh, "as compensation for his offer, the Earth King demands taxes from the people for the first three years. Then, he will leave them alone as promised. The taxes are too much, though. Some can't live with that burden and resort to stealing."

Tapeesa's lips curled into a scowl. "Of course he made them pay taxes."

"I need to go back to work," Toph piped in, "I will see you both tomorrow."

"See you, Toph," Aang echoed as Tapeesa hummed in response. "We should get back to the island."

"We should," she agreed, already heading to the exit. Aang followed after her. "Have you written to the King for that issue?"

"I have a couple of times, his answer was the same," he sighed, "apparently, he is certain the people will survive for another year."

Tapeesa scoffed, "Some nobles are useless, truly."

"King Kuei isn't like that," he attempted to defend him, "his advisors and consultants don't let him do what he wants."

"Perhaps he should try being more courageous," she insisted. Aang smiled slightly at the show of irritation, but it was gone as quickly as it came as she turned to face him. "All we can do is attempt to help them."

"You are helping," he assured her, the next moment, turning to wave at a woman who called his title in greeting. Then, he turned back to Tapeesa. "You are contributing to ensuring the area remains safe."

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like enough," she admitted, but as quickly as that moment of vulnerability came, it disappeared, with a shake of her head. She turned to Aang with a tiny smile. "I will cook us lunch today. Like the old times."

He chuckled, "I doubt things are like the old times."

"Why not?" she countered with a raised brow. "It's still you and me, Appa moving us around."

"I am no longer in danger."

"The Avatar could always be in danger," she pointed out in a teasing manner as they reached the docks. Aang only shook his head as he called for Appa.

It only took a couple of seconds before the sky bison appeared. Tapeesa had come upon the conclusion early on that Appa was always near when Aang called him, as if expecting his call. She got on the saddle after patting Appa's side for a moment, receiving a small moan in return. Aang took his position on his neck and reached for the reins.

"Yip yip."

The sky bison rose in the air and headed back to Air Temple Island, as Aang asked. Tapeesa kept quiet as she looked ahead in the distance until they reached the island. Then she was quickly walking away to cook, as she had insisted. Aang followed after her a while later, and when he got inside, he found her by the stove, as he had expected.

"For how long are you planning on staying here?"

"For as long as you want me to," was Tapeesa's instant response. Aang moved a bit closer, mainly to see what she was cooking.

"That's not a proper answer. In how much time are they expecting you back to the Southern Water Tribe?"

"Katara didn't tell me," she admitted as she stirred the food. "When she told me her farewells, though, it felt as if she didn't expect to see me come back."

Aang froze just beside Tapeesa, head right over her shoulder as he had attempted to see what was inside the pot. The breath he let out was rather shaky and at the sound, Tapeesa looked over her shoulder. If she were confused by his proximity, she didn't say so.

"Katara wouldn't have done that if there wasn't reason."

"I think she had realized that no matter how nice and hospitable the people in the Southern Water Tribe were, the place wasn't my home," she admitted as she kept on stirring the pot.

Slowly, Aang moved to the side to give her some more space, although he didn't look away from her. "I think home isn't a place. It's the people around you that make it important."

Tapeesa hummed, "You must have many homes then, depending on the places your friends are."

Aang didn't tell her he was almost lost when she first left to head to the Southern Water Tribe. He didn't tell her how his friends had realized what she meant to him the moment he was on his own again and how they had urged him to take the trip to the Southern Pole too many times to count in the last two years. He didn't tell her how he hadn't stopped thinking about her even after all the time spent apart, how her presence put him in a pleasant mood at once.

He didn't say a word, and so he would not know she had regretted leaving the moment she had done it or that he was in her mind most of the day. Clueless of what he meant to her, he only hummed at her assumption.

"Something like that."

He missed the look she gave him in return, rather surprised he had almost denied her guess. Much like Aang, though, Tapeesa didn't speak her mind when it came to such things. So they both remained quiet, unaware of the other's thoughts even though they were exactly the same.