Heimat | Aang

THREE

"I thought there was no one on my side."

The corner of her lips lifted in a cryptic smile and his eyes jumped from her eyes to her lips and back at the small motion. She showed no sign of acknowledgement at the movement, even though he was certain she had caught it. It was then another thought came to mind.

"You saved my life," he breathed, his eyes widening as she nodded her head. "Thank you. But - but why? And how?"

"I manipulated the water to get us out of the storm. I followed the flow, felt the currents and the way they parted and found this island."

"What happened to me?"

"You were knocked unconscious by a wave," she explained simply. "I got us away from the storm and on land. I know the island is a small one, even though I haven't left this beach since we arrived. I did my part. Now it's your turn to call for help."

"But how-"

"You're the Avatar," she cut him off with a raised eyebrow, "I'm certain you can find a way to get us out of here. In the meantime, I gathered some fruit."

Aang followed her gaze to the few fruit placed on the side. He reached for an apple as he turned to face her.

"You can eat it," she urged with an almost not visible smirk, "it's not poisoned."

"That's not what I was thinking," he murmured. He looked at her for a while before he raised a hand to the back of his head. "Shouldn't I have been hurt?"

"I healed you."

"Thank you," he breathed, "thank you. What's your name?"

"Tapeesa."

He nodded to himself, muttered her name under his breath a couple of times before he sent her a smile. "Thank you, Tapeesa. I promise you, I'll get us out of here. But first, I'm going to take a look around the island in case there's anyone who can help us nearby."

Tapeesa nodded as he stood up, the apple still at hand. He sent her one last smile before he walked off, in search of any people.

Tapeesa watched him as he left, her eyes taking in the stiffness of his shoulders before he disappeared from sight. The moment he was gone, she reached for an apple. She moved to the sea, washed it as best as she could and started eating, her eyes glued on the horizon.

There hadn't been a sight of a ship ever since they had gotten out in the beach. For hours, she had kept an eye out in case anyone was coming, not badging from her spot as the moon disappeared and the sun rose in the sky. Tapeesa doubted anyone would come, but part of her still hoped there was someone out there who would be looking for the Avatar or even the ship. It was one of the fastest ships in the Fire Nation, after all. The fleet would certainly miss it.

She ate her apple as she moved to a rock and leaned against it, throwing any remnants of the fruit in the sea for the fish to devour. She leaned her head back, and it was then she fully realised how exhausted she was.

She hadn't had the chance to sleep last night with the storm and the need to get herself and the Avatar to safety and she hadn't slept much the previous day either. Her attempt to survive the storm had drained her and she was certain, she had used the full extent of her bending last night to get them to the island. She was surprised she hadn't passed out yet.

With the comforting thought she always heard people's footsteps when they came her way, so she would be able to hear when the Avatar came back, she closed her eyes, just for a moment, not to sleep, but to rest. She told herself she'd open her eyes again the moment she heard him coming back.

Tapeesa was startled awake—she hadn't even realised when she had started sleeping—by the sound of metal hitting a rock and a yelp. She looked around, her eyes wide, her arms raised in case she needed to defend herself, only to catch sight of Aang standing nearby, his face scrunched up in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry," he spoke at once as he reached down and retrieved her helmet, and she realised he had accidentally kicked it and it had hit a rock. He placed it back where she had left it as he spoke up without looking at her. "I didn't mean to wake you up, you must be exhausted."

Tapeesa briefly looked over him, her eyes falling on the bag he was holding. "What have you brought?"

Aang seemed relieved she hadn't mentioned the accident as he rushed forward and opened the bag, letting her see a loaf of bread. "The good news is that there were a few nice people who were kind enough to share this loaf of bread with us and I know we are at some apparently uncharted islands in the middle of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. The bad news is no one can help us."

He sat down beside her with a deep frown, not paying attention to the way she looked between the lack of space between them. His deep sigh brought her out of her scrutiny.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know how I can help us. I'll think of a way, though."

Tapeesa studied the side of his face briefly before she reached for the loaf of bread and cut a piece, her gaze moving to the ocean. "They'll start looking, sooner or later. This was one of the fastest ships in the Fire Nation fleet and you're the Avatar. The Fire Lord will look for you."

"I know he will, I just hoped I'd find a way to reach him sooner and tell him exactly where to look," he sighed as he turned to face her. "What happened to the crew?"

"They most probably drowned," she replied with no hint of remorse as she ate her bread. "I saw the ship get lost in the waves."

He frowned, "I'm sorry."

She turned to face him, a glint of curiosity in her eyes. "They tried to kill you."

"I still don't think they deserved to drown," he frowned as he looked at the sand. "I should have done something. If I hadn't been hit I could have taken us all to safety."

Tapeesa watched him for a while longer, not quite sure what she was supposed to reply to that. She had heard people claim the Avatar was a curious person, and at the moment, she couldn't help but share their opinion. She couldn't understand the reason someone would have for not holding the people who attempted to kill him accountable for their actions. Slowly, she turned back to the water once more.

"I thought you travel with a sky bison. Why were you supposed to take a ship to the Earth Kingdom?"

"My friend Sokka is going to become a father, if he hasn't already, he needed to go to Kyoshi island as soon as possible so I gave him Appa."

"So you didn't get your sky bison and almost got murdered," she mused as she leaned her head back on the rock and closed her eyes. "I don't think you should travel without your sky bison, Avatar Aang."

"You can just call me Aang," he spoke up as he turned to face her. As he noticed her eyes were closed, he couldn't help but smile. "You must be exhausted. You can go to sleep, Tapeesa. I'll make sure we are safe."

"I didn't hear your footsteps earlier," she muttered, her eyes remaining closed. "I should have heard you coming."

"I'm not easily heard, you're right," he chuckled as he looked away in the ocean. "You can sleep. When you wake up, you can tell me about the way you got in the Fire Nation fleet, if you want. I doubt Zuko lets waterbenders in his army. Of course, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but we'll spend a while here, I suspect, so we could get to know each other. I always like making new friends. What about you?"

There was no reply. Aang turned to her, a smile breaking on his face as he realised her breaths were even. He turned to the ocean.

"Fine, then. I'll leave you to sleep."