collision → atla, reader insert

chapter twenty-one

        She'd found solace in a forming crowd in the main hall. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the spectacle was Aang himself doing airbending tricks for the entertainment of the guests. In an attempt to find the others, she weaved through the crowd until emerging on the other side and sprinting down a now empty corridor. Turning a corner, a hand covered her mouth and her feet left the ground before she could react, the platter falling from her hands.

        She was sat in a chair in a dimly lit library next to her companions. Aang soon walked in, completing the group for the first time that night. A man dressed in expensive Earth Kingdom robes, long hair, and a piercing dark stare sat opposite of them. He introduced himself as Long Feng.

        "Why won't you let us talk to the king?" Sokka demanded. "We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!"

        "The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and day to day minutia of military activities."

        "This could be the most important thing he's ever heard." Aang insisted.

        "What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military."

        "So, the king is just a figurehead." Katara spoke. 

        "He's your pupper." Toph interjected.

        "Oh, no no. His majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war."

        "But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invasion—"

        Long Feng stood, annoyed. "Enough! I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the War not be mentioned within the walls. Constant news of an escalating war will throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic. Our economy would be ruined, our peaceful way of life—our traditions—would disappear. In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia: the last one on Earth."

        "You're deceiving your own citizens," [Y/N] suddenly felt everyone's eyes on her, but continued. "By withholding, you'll put them in even more danger."

        His mouth twitched like he wanted to address her directly, but Aang luckily interjected. "I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows!"

        Unmoving, Long Feng said, "Until now, you've been treated as our honored guest. But from now on, you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the War to anyone, you will be expelled from the city," he turned his back to them at this moment. "I understand you've been looking for your bison. It would be quite a shame if you were not able to complete your quest." He paused. "Now, Joo Dee will show you to your home."

        [Y/N] hadn't forgotten about Joo Dee, the near-emotionless and odd tour guide that welcomed them to the city that gave them all the creeps and refused to answer their questions was hard to forget, However, when Long Feng beckoned her, another woman walked in. The only resemblance was the same, uncanny grin upon her face—and they all noticed it. 

        "What happened to Joo Dee?" Katara asked. 

        "I'm Joo Dee," the woman gave a slight, polite bow. "I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city."

        This "new" Joo Dee escorted the group home, leaving them a house warming gift of pastries and fruit as though they'd just moved in for the first time. [Y/N] had to shake the goosebumps off her arms as the woman seemed to disappear into the night after wishing them a cold goodnight. 

        The group eventually dispersed after coming to the conclusion that their plan had failed and they may have been shoved into a tighter corner than they'd began with. Not too ecstatic to head to bed yet, [Y/N] took a pear from the fruit basket and drifted to the overly decorated backyard of the home. 

        The small tree, numerous plants and flowers, and the tiny pond was beautifully placed however made her wonder if they'd expected them to actually keep the flora and fauna. Depending on how long they'd stayed, she'd like to at least admire it before it gets too out of hand. 

        Though the others still had energy left in them for another hour or two to chat, [Y/N] sat on the very small wooden porch where the Moon was in perfect view and she held her hand in her arms, letting her eyelids drift closed to lightly lay on top of each other.

        However, they're shot open by the sound of her name. She turned to surprisingly see Aang—-who hadn't spoken to her since the library had sank. Aang—-who'd just merely glanced at her occasionally and that was the only acknowledgment she'd got from him.

        He'd stood before her where she finally realized that anger had completely dissipated from him. The young Avatar had carried so much angst with him over the last few days that his expression was fixed on tense. And now, [Y/N] saw him washed over with melancholy instead.

        "Can I talk to you?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

        "Um," she said, "Sure."

        [Y/N] pat the spot next her and he joined her on the ground. The two sat in silence for a few beats, shoulder to shoulder (or wherever Aang's shoulder could reach on her arm.)

        "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have accused you of letting Appa get away."

        She hesitated before responding, "It's fine—"

        "No. It's not fine." Aang was quick to cut her off. "You're our friend and I shouldn't have turned on you like that."

        Friend sent a slight shiver down her spine. It was never anything to cross her mind to address the others as her friends and for them to even see her as such. Though, she'd been looped into conversations where they joke with her nearly as much as they do with each other. If they'd still been bothered, they never showed it.

        And she, embarrassingly, grew to enjoy the company after travelling by herself for months (no one could waterboard this out of her though). Nights before she drifted to sleep she often wondered where she'd be if she hadn't offered an alliance—probably still wandering around Earth territories. She'd probably would've been captured at this point and sent back to the Fire Nation—right back where her past self had started.

        "Your emotions got the best of you," she eventually said, playing with a loose string on her robes. She made a mental note to go into a market to buy some more. "No hard feelings."

        "Are you sure?"

        About five seconds passed before [Y/N] turned to Aang. "Sometimes you're scarily emotionally mature for a twelve-year old, you know?"

        And in that moment, something shifted and a small smile appeared on his face. "I get that a lot."

        A silence fell over them before [Y/N] mentioned how late it was getting even though she still had no intention of heading to bed. Although before Aang left, she almost—just almost—spillled the vision she'd saw the night before. However with the turn of events that just happened, she'd opted to keep it to herself just for that night.

        Alone in the garden once again, she buried her hands into her head with a sigh and gave herself a deadline to get her bearings together before she told them because deep down—no matter how she tried to ignore it—she knew they trusted her because she built herself up to be trusted. And in those same depths, she trusted them, too.