Impossible Fate (slow updates)

C.3 | The Southern Air Temple

The sun had long since set by the time Appa landed–which Ani now knew was a flying bison. She hadn't ever heard of those before–and the four of them were setting up camp. Ani had offered to grab some wood, which was followed by a series of protests from Sokka. As a result of his protests, Katara volunteered him to go collecting wood with Ani. He hadn't collected nearly as much wood as she had as he "would be watching her every move."

Now, the camp had finished being set up and the fire had been built. Ani reached forward with a small flame in her hand. Sokka made a noise, grimacing at her bending.

"Relax, ponytail," Ani said, lighting the campfire. "I don't plan on lighting you up."

He hadn't found that funny. "It's a warrior's wolftail."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off, igniting the wood.

Everyone else had found a spot to rest on except Ani, who was sitting by the fire with her knees hugged to her chest. She couldn't stop thinking about the look of utter betrayal on her brother's face as she flew up to intercept the blast he'd sent at the Avatar and his friends. She hadn't just committed treason against her nation. She'd committed treason against her family, against her brother and uncle.

Ani furiously wiped the tear away. She refused to cry. She couldn't do it. She sat there as the fire died and the sun rose in the distance. As the sun began to peek over the mountains, she felt her body warm up. She shut her eyes and took the feeling in as the sun slowly grew higher above them. The warmth brought Ani back to the warmth she felt back home at dawn, how she could stand under the sun all day and soak up its heat and energy. It was a feeling she had missed being on that metal ship almost constantly over the past three years. She continued soaking in the sun. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder, leaping to her feet and spinning around to see Aang holding his hands out as if to tell her he meant no harm.

"Sorry, Ani," he said to her. Ani relaxed her body and let out a relieved sigh upon seeing it was just Aang. "I didn't mean to scare you...did you sleep at all last night?"

Ani bit her cheek and nodded. "Yeah, I got a few hours in. I'm an early riser."

Aang nodded, and Ani could tell that he wasn't sure if he believed her or not, but she was grateful that he didn't press the matter further. She ran her fingers through her hair. She had since taken down the topknot and hadn't redone it. She just let her hair flow freely down her back. It wasn't too tangled since she hadn't laid down, so running her fingers through it did the job it needed to do.

Aang fed Appa some fruit he had picked from the surrounding apple bushes and began telling Ani the plan for the day. All the warmth that had filled her when the sun rose quickly grew cold as he rambled on and on about the Southern Air Temple.

"Aang," she said his name while wringing her hands together. There was no easy way to go about what she needed to tell him. "I just think you should understand that what you see when we get there today is not going to be what you saw the last time you were there. My people are ruthless. We have desire and will and, for most in the Fire Nation, nothing will stand in the way of getting what we want. They attacked your people a hundred years ago. I just want you to understand that you may not like what you see when we get up there."

Aang nodded, but she had a feeling that he didn't take what she said as seriously as she had wanted him to. She could feel the pit growing in her stomach as the sun continued to rise, seemingly unable to replace the warm feeling she had lost.

Not too long later, Katara woke up and ran a comb through her hair. Her and Aang started packing up soon after that. Ani helped where she could, but Aang was the only one really speaking to her with a less than venomous tone and Sokka was still snoring away in his sleeping bag on the other side of the makeshift fire pit that had been made the night before. The plus side was that Katara wasn't giving her a hard glare like she had been the day before, so Ani decided to view that as progress.