[A/N] I frequently switch between using 'Gran-Gran' and using her actual name, 'Kanna'. I hope it isn't too confusing.
Ayaan stood at the forefront of the villagers who had gathered at the entrance. Katara and Aang could be seen walking up to them. Seeing Aang, the children were elated, running up to him with smiles on their faces. The adults, however, seemed offended by his very presence there. Katara looked up at them, understanding their anger; she was ready to defend Aang. But the moment her eyes met Ayaan's, she flinched.
She had never seen that look in his eyes before; silent rage.
Sokka breaks away from the crowd, standing beside his brother as he points an accusing finger at Aang, "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"
"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident." Katara protested, defending her friend. Katara and Sokka glared at each other as Ayaan watched Aang silently, a hard look in his eyes.
"You 'accidently' set off a signal flare?" Ayaan's voice was hard as stone, cold as ice. Aang could tell immediately that they were in big trouble for this mistake.
Aang spoke up, trying to explain himself. "Yeah... We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well—we booby-ed right into it." At this, it was Gran-Gran who gasped. The other villagers, mainly the elderly of them, were also shocked at this bit of news.
Ayaan was shocked at first too. That quickly transformed into anger as his gaze turned to his sister, who should have known better than to go anywhere near that ship.
"What were you doing on the ship? Or even close to it? Have you lost your mind, Katara?" He was flabbergasted at the amount of thoughtlessness his sister had displayed. What would have convinced her to go on a ship that was explicitly forbidden for any of them to be near? That ship was a bad symbol in their tribe. It was a grim reminder, an omen, and she thought it wise to go on it? Something like that?
She felt unbelievably small beneath his gaze, which was filled with disappointment in not only her, but Aang as well. He had put so much trust in the both of them, had battled all of his instincts to let her leave for a bit to have fun with her new found friend, and this is what he was rewarded with?
Ayaan didn't have the words.
"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!" Their grandmother added, fear and worry in her tone. Katara couldn't deny that. With that flare still lazily drifting in the sky, the Fire Navy was bound to show up. Aang, realizing that Katara was in trouble, spoke up on his mistake.
"Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault."
"You what?" Ayaan spat furiously. "Why would you take her there?! Didn't she tell you that it was forbidden?"
"She asked me to teach her waterbending, and I told her that to be a bender, she had to let go of fear. She didn't want to go on the ship, but I convinced her. Please don't be angry with her." Aang pleaded. "It was one of the first things I was taught as an airbender, to not be afraid of my element. So I figured the same thing could apply to waterbending."
'To not fear your element, huh? A solid concept, understandable. But this...' Ayaan thought. "Rules are put in place for a reason, Aang. No matter how good your intentions were, your actions have put us all at risk." Ayaan added grimly. He closed his eyes, hardening his heart as his mind had came to a conclusion.
Sokka jumped at the confession, using it as his excuse. "Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy." The children that had gathered around them sadly walked away, returning to the embrace of their mothers. Their gazes found Ayaan, hoping he would have mercy and change Sokka's mind, but what he said next crushed their hopes.
"Aang, you can not stay here any longer. Leave." Ayaan had made up his mind, and ignored his heart. The safety of his family came first, and for that safety, this boy could not stay.
Katara clenched her fist, not believing the words coming from her brother's mouth. "You're making a mistake. Ayaan, please—"
"No." He was having none of it. Ayaan said nothing more. With that flare, their family had been put in danger. His scar felt irritable right now, he felt heavy regret in letting Aang into their village. This entire disaster was his fault because of that mistake. He could barely form words to express his inner feelings.
People could end up dying because of this 'accident'.
He was thankful to Sokka, who was much more vocal about his emotions and their standing than he was. "We're keeping our promise to Dad; protecting you from threats like him!"
Katara was angered by this. "Aang is not our enemy!" She calmed down, continuing her plea. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun."
"Fun?! We can't fight firebenders with fun!"
Aang answered this happily, perhaps not reading the mood. "You should try it sometime." He suggested. This angered Sokka further.
"Get out of our village! Now!" Sokka demanded at this point.
"Grandmother, please. Don't let them do this!"
"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Ayaan and Sokka are right. I think it best if the airbender leaves." Kanna calmly stated, leaving Katara in a state of shock. As she looked around, she found that only the children were pleading for them to change their minds. The adults all had weary, hard looks on their faces.
All of them had seen raids before, they lost family to them. They experienced the fear, rage, and sadness of those times. The moment any semblance of peace had returned to them, this airbender drops into their lives and ruins it. They had nowhere to go, only two warriors with any fighting experience, and children they had to protect. Katara didn't understand this, or maybe she did and was just too blinded by the thought of protecting her friend to notice.
"We have to prepare for battle. He... is not welcomed here anymore." Ayaan stated coldly. He carefully hid all of his feelings behind a mask of neutrality. Banishing a fun-loving child because of a freak accident like this felt wrong, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He did not dislike Aang, and thought that his presence in the village was a welcome change. He agreed with Katara that he brought fun to them, the likes they hadn't seen in many years.
But this is what War does. It causes one to have to make hard decisions.
Katara, going from shocked to outraged, responds how she felt like responding in that moment. "Fine! Then I'm banished, too! Come on Aang, let's go." She grabs him, leading him in the other direction where Appa was waiting patiently, wondering innocently what was going on.
"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka demanded, taken aback by her action.
"To find a waterbender that can actually teach me. Aang is taking me to the North Pole." She answered angrily. Ayaan's eyes widened, feeling both hurt and betrayal in some way, shape, and form.
He didn't know what to say. She was choosing him over her family to find herself a teacher? He wasn't going to lie to himself and say that her words did not hurt him. In that moment, he felt like a worthless brother. It felt like daggers stabbing at him. He gripped his spear so tightly his knuckles became white, but relaxed them as he took a long, deep breath.
"I am?" Aang was confused, but quickly brightened at the thought of traveling with her. "Great!" She had already gotten halfway to Appa, who was waiting for them when Sokka spoke up.
"Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?"
She stops, not turning around. A look of understanding on flashed across Aang's face. "I don't want to come between you and your family." There are words spoke between them that are too quiet for Ayaan to hear, before he leaps onto Appa's head with his airbending. "It was nice meeting everyone."
"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy."
"Sokka, no." Ayaan reprimanded. Now was not the time for that. Aang was once again unable to get Appa to fly, and before Sokka could mock him Ayaan covers his mouth, preventing him from speaking. They watch Aang walk away. A village girl ran up to them at that moment, pleading with him not to go.
It was a very sad moment.
Gran-Gran saw fit to try and console Katara, as this was most likely a very heartbreaking event for her. "Katara, you'll feel better after you—"
"You happy now?," She gestures in the direction Aang took off, "There goes my one chance at becoming a waterbender!" She storms off, leaving a saddened Gran-Gran in her wake.
"Is that what this is about? Becoming a waterbender?" Ayaan asked, stopping her before she could storm off. She turned back to him with an angry and sorrowful gaze, but was met by his own which made her flinch, the rage leaving her body like a lie.
Disappointment. There was nothing but disappointment in his eyes. Not anger. If there was any, it wasn't directed at her.
It was at himself.
He turned to face Sokka, who was waiting for his order. As the eldest brother, he was the leader. It was an uncomfortable role for Ayaan, who was more of a solo person than anything, but right now he bottled up his discomfort and told Sokka what he needed to do.
"Sokka, prepare the defenses. Firebenders could show at any moment." Sokka nodded, already knowing what Ayaan was most likely about to do. He gathered the children to prepared what he'd trained them for, and the adults gathered what they could getting to the safest part of their small village.
Ayaan let go of Katara's arm, standing at his full height not as her older brother, but as acting chief of their village. "Get to the back of the village with the others. You have no combat skill whatsoever, waterbending or not." He bluntly and coldly stated, causing her to look at him with wide eyes.
It was a hard blow. But Ayaan was not one to mince facts. At this point in time, Katara would be no help to them. Even though his own skills in waterbending were also lacking, he was a fighter first. He'd battled beasts and men alike with his spear and with his fists. His instincts were sharp thanks to his trained experience.
His body grew tall and muscular, but was still lean which optimized speed along with strength. Sokka wasn't jealous of Ayaan's physique for nothing. Since they were children, he always grew bigger and stronger than his peers, his strength now could rival the fully realized men of their tribe.
Even if his waterbending skills were not great, he utilized them more practically than Katara did. Katara concentrated on the more magic-like aspect of the water, while Ayaan focused on how he could use it in battle.
Hardening the water around the legs of his prey when he hunted; making traps with icy spikes in the snow; when alone, he would practice these types of skills for hours on end. See, there was one major difference between Katara's and Ayaan's method of waterbending: Ayaan was much more vicious than his sister.
When he was alone, he thought about all of the different ways he could utilize his waterbending in a battle. That horrible day when their mother was killed was his motivation. In what way could he have fought differently? What could he have used that would have lead to a different outcome? Over and over, he trained with his bending with those thoughts. Freezing the ground he walked on, the saliva in his mouth, the sweat on his brow. Any and everything he could use, he trained himself to use it.
It was in no way perfected, but his instincts helped, where as Katara had not developed such things. She did not go out everyday to fish, to fight bears, tigers, and territorial seals. She did not stay up hours on end to train, only to return to sleep a few hours before repeating the cycle. She was not plagued by nightmares of a failure she had no power to stop. She didn't have a constant reminder of it on her skin.
He hoped that she never would.
He turned away, beginning to walk off before stopping once more. Katara heard his footsteps stop in the snow, and also stopped. But they did not turn to face each other.
Even though he trained so hard to be able to protect them, maybe he had neglected them too much? If he had just spent more time with Katara, trained himself less to spend more time with her, would she still want to leave? He felt so inadequate as a brother towards her, he felt like he failed her. What she needed was simply something he could not give her, despite his many talents.
What is the point of gaining strength if the cost of it is the family your trying to protect with it?
Ayaan took a breathe before saying anything again. It was nothing but a whisper, but the quiet brought by the tribe preparing for the inevitable attack made that whisper clear for her to hear.
"For being a worthless teacher and an even more worthless brother, I hope you can forgive me. Everything I've ever done has been to protect you and Sokka. Everything." For the first time in a long while, she heard his voice crack slightly. With that, he left. His swift footsteps almost silent even on the soft, snow covered ground.
Katara's eyes widened, tears falling as she heard her brother begin to leave. She wanted apologize to Ayaan, to explain to him that she hadn't meant her words in that way. There was no way that she didn't know he always did his best for them. As the eldest son of the chief, there was so much weight on his shoulders. She and Sokka had wanted to lessen his load, even a small bit.
But what had she just done? All because of her want to be an actual waterbender. When she turned, she found that he was already gone. Her eyes fell to his lonely footsteps in the snow.
He was gone to prepare for battle. A battle that, if she had simply followed her village's rule, would not have come to pass. She should have been more stern with Aang about not going on that ship. Her impulsive and insensitive words and actions hurt her brothers, her grandmother, and the rest of her village. When it sunk in, she felt terrible for having the audacity to be upset at their decision.
She did as she was told, her own resolve solidifying. Even if she didn't have any combat skills, she still had her limited waterbending. With whatever skill she could muster, she would protect her village too.
...
..
.
Ayaan and Sokka prepared as best as they could. Ayaan readied his spear and his other weapons. Sokka prepared his boomerang. They each helped each other with their war paint and battle attire. Ayaan's war paint was a bit different than Sokka's but similar. He had more stripes than Sokka, being a more accomplished warrior than him.
Sokka stood up, and watched as his brother sharpened his favorite spear. He didn't realize it, but his hands were trembling slightly. He knew he was nowhere near as strong as Ayaan, nowhere near as skilled. A million what-ifs were running through his mind when he felt a reassuring pat on his shoulders.
It was Ayaan, looking into his eyes with a warm, determined gaze. "Nothing will happen to you." He said. Squeezing his shoulders. "I will not let anything happen to you." He assured, pulling him in to a hug. "I will protect both you and Katara. I promise."
He pushed him back gently, greeting Sokka with the widest smile he'd seen from him in years.
'I promise.'
Sokka's mind flashed back to when they were kids, playing in the snow without a care in the world. Ayaan never made a promise lightly. If he promised it, he made sure he fulfilled it. He didn't make promises on things he wasn't sure of, he didn't make promises for things that were out of his control. He made promises when he was certain.
"What do I always say when I make a promise, Sokka?"
His mind flashed to the sight of a 12 year old Ayaan, who was smiling just as the 17 year old Ayaan was smiling at him right now. They both said it at the same time.
"I never make promises I can't keep."
Sokka's mind calmed once again. He gave Ayaan a grateful smile of his own, and they left the tent together. It was nice having an older brother. When Sokka stared at his back, he felt assured. For as long as he could remember, this person had always been by his side.
The silver that was his hair as he was blessed by the Moon Spirit; his skill with a spear and the strength of his body; his perseverance through all of the hardships he's ever faced; and his constant, unwavering support and care. No one had ever said it out loud, but they all thought the same thing.
If all around them was darkness, Ayaan was their ray of light. He was their hope.
As the sun began to set, their village became eerily silent, and they waited at the top of their small ice wall by Sokka's watchtower, on the look out for the Fire Navy ships they knew would be coming.
All they could do now was wait.
...
..
.
Aang was sad. He missed the village already. Playing with the kids with Appa, teasing Sokka... Katara... Yeah, he missed her a lot. And then there was their elder brother, Ayaan. Compared to the other siblings, he seemed different. Although he had features similar to Sokka's, he felt different.
But then again, a lot of things were different. Like the fact that he isn't twelve, but one hundred and twelve give or take a few months. And the day had started so great, too...
-Flashback, just a few hours earlier-
"Aang?" Katara had come up to him, the scene being him trying, and failing to catch a penguin for sledding.
"Hey, come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?" He jumps at a penguin, but is evaded easily and belly flops into the snow. He quickly rights himself with his airbending, embarrassed as he now realized Katara saw all of that. "Heh heh. I have a way with animals." He proceeds to act like a penguin, which elicits a laugh from the girl.
He found that he loved her laugh.
Katara, still amused, makes a proposition to the air nomad. "Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending."
"You got a deal!" Aang was more than willing to accept, just to spend more time with her, but, "Just one little problem... I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you? What about your brother, he seemed really skilled at it!"
Katara demeanor saddened a bit, but she had a smile on her face. "He has tried to teach me, whenever he had the spare time, he would spend it all with either me or Sokka. His skill in bending is purely instinctual, even he isn't sure how to word what he does. He tried, believe me, but Ayaan is more about feeling what he needs to do rather than explaining how he does it. It's the same result with Sokka when he tries to asks him to teach him the spear."
"So... He's talented, but can't teach?"
"He's talented, but can't teach." She confirmed. "At least, not something he hasn't been taught himself. It was our father that taught him how to wield different weapons, Ayaan taught himself waterbending and how to use his spear after that initial teaching. He leaves the village to train everyday, but he isn't a muscle head like Sokka." She mused, still remembering him making muscles at his reflection in the water.
"He has trouble freely moving the water like I can, though. But he can make it freeze, remove it from clothes, and even make small traps with it in the snow. Even though he says I'm better than him, I think the opposite. Ayaan, he's amazing." She had a fond smile on her face when she spoke of her brother. Aang could tell just how much she loved him.
"Speaking of Ayaan, how come he looks different compared to you and Sokka?" He asked, quickly backpedaling. "Not a bad different! It isn't just his hair. Um, he just... has a different air around him? I'm not sure how to word it." Aang scratches the back of his head, a bit embarrassed by his fumbling. Katara's a bit surprised at first, but smiles as it was a normal question for someone like Aang to ask after first meeting her brother.
"He's blessed by the Moon Spirit, or at least that's what the elders said." Katara answered, not too sure herself. "They said that his hair was proof of its blessing; it's seen as one of the many prides of our little village."
Aang's eyes widened. Aang was a more spiritually adept person, being an air nomad and all. Ayaan had seemed different to anyone he'd ever met before. It wasn't his hair, though. It was his aura. This seemed to explain a lot. He'd never seen anyone that had been blessed by a spirit before. He'd never encountered a spirit before.
Well, if he really was what the monks thought he was, then he was going to eventually, right?
"He himself doesn't like it though, he thinks it makes him look old."
"But it's so cool!" Aang protested. Ayaan's hair was really shiny, and looked really soft.
"I know, right?" Katara agreed. "He should boast more, but he's so humble it makes no sense! He's so skilled in waterbending even without a master, makes me jealous sometimes." She said, not actually upset at that fact, but acknowledging it all the same. "He may not be a master, but he's more of one than I am, that's for sure."
Aang pauses, thinking about her words. "This isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water." He ponders a bit, trying to find a solution to their problem, "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you both."
Katara thought a bit. "Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly "turn right at the second glacier". It's on the other side of the world." She said, not having much hope in that idea.
Aang points to himself with pride. "But you forget, I have a flying bison. Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're going to find you and your brother a master!" He was sure of it.
Katara, however, was not. "That's... I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before. And Ayaan was left in charge of the village after our father left, so I don't know if he'll want to leave." She answered.
He didn't want to push it, he wanted her to be comfortable with whatever decision she decided to make. "Well, you think about it, and when we get back, I'll ask Ayaan if he wants to, too! But in the meantime, can you teach me catch one of these penguins?"
This led to Katara imitating a teacher, tossing him a fish resulting in him being swarmed by eager penguins. They were easily able to procure one for sledding, and had a wonderful fun-filled time sliding down the icy slopes of the south pole.
They slid through a tunnel, ending up on an snowy plain. But, dominating it was an ominous and massive black metal ship, seemingly caught and raised above the ground by protruding ice. This ends with them going on the ship despite better judgement. While exploring, Katara said something that seemed off to him.
"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl. It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks."
"Okay, back up. I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I've never seen any war."
Katara seemed to be shocked, bit and pieces of a theory floating into her mind. "Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?"
"I don't know. A few days, maybe?"
"I think it was more like a hundred years!"
"What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred-twelve-year-old man to you?" Aang said, not believing a word she was saying.
"Think about it. The War is a century old. You don't know about it because, somehow, you were in there the whole time!" His expression changes from one of disbelief to comprehension, one he didn't want to have. "It's the only explanation."
To say he was shocked as an understatement. He slumped to the floor as it sunk in. "A hundred years! I can't believe it." He was greatly saddened.
"I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this..."
"I did get to meet you." Katara replied with a warm smile. And they decided then was the perfect time to leave. But then they booby-ed into the booby trap, and the flare went off.
-End Flashback-
Aang was lost in his thoughts, missing the new friends he'd made greatly. It was then that he spots the lone fire nation ship heading towards the village. "Gasp! The village! Appa, wait here." He jumps down from the snowy platform he was laying on, Appa lazily grunting as if to answer his command.
A certain banished prince was finally about to make an appearance.