Reborn In Water || ATLA

Numb

The Storm Cont

"I'm tired of being what you want me to be, feeling so faithless, lost under the surface. I don't know what you're expecting of me, put under the pressure of walking in your shoes. Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow. Every step that I take is another mistake to you. Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow. I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, become so tired, so much more aware. By becoming this all I want to do is be more like me and be less like you." - Linkin Park

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

The rain rolled in quickly, soaking the earth and painting the skies grey. Aelita was drenched to the bone and happy to be a firebender at that moment so she stayed at least semi-warm. Her main concern was Aang. She had seen the pained look on his face before he had taken off, which was so odd to see on the normally happy monk. He had flown away from the docks and towards the rocky mountains, away from everyone and everything. Appa called out and low grumbles and roars of his own as they flew, confused himself as to where his friend could be. Aelita cupped her hand over her eyes to keep the rain out as she scanned the area below them. She noticed a thin path leading up the mountain and into the mouth of a small cave. After all his talk of finding shelter earlier, she hoped Aang had found it there.

Aang was sitting with his eyes closed and his back to the opening of the cave when he heard the sound of Appa landing, not even bothering to get up. He couldn't bear to look Aelita in the face because at this moment she was the last person he wanted to see. Aang just didn't understand her. She had found out she was the Akira and accepted it so easily. He wasn't blind, he saw the hurt in her eyes whenever Zuko's name was said in passing or she was pitted against her people but she still didn't fight her destiny. Not like he had originally fought to be the Avatar every step of the way. But as much as he didn't want to face her here she was looking for him, he at least owed her something.

"I'm sorry I ran away." He finally mustered, feeling her hand on his shoulder behind him.

"It's okay." She assured. "That fisherman was way out of line."

"Actually..." Aang admitted. "He wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." The monk said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"This has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" Aelita asked, now coming around to kneel directly in front of Aang. She knew all too well about haunting dreams. "You can talk to me Aang. As crazy as this whole journey has been, we're a team. Believe me, I've had my share of things that keep me awake, maybe we can help each other."

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

A loud groan from Appa interrupted the two. He walked his massive self into the cave and shook, trying to dry himself. Mushu and Momo darted away from the entrance of the cave and into the laps of their respective owners, both cold and damp themselves. Appa made his way to Aang and nudged against him with his massive nose, earning a small smile from the airbender who turned to pet his friend.

"I'm gonna get a little fire going," Aelita announced as she stood to look for twigs. With this rain, they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Appa took a spot next to the wall of the cave and laid down. Aelita scooted rocks she gathered into a circle and dumped some small but dry pieces of wood into the middle. She sat directly across from Aang and lit a fire between them. Mushu and Momo settled in once more on their laps, content with the newfound heat. Aelita was silent, waiting for Aang to speak.