Days went by, tensions were high and Techno grew more distant. He'd been more agitated than usual and only came out to give Tommy some gruff advice about waterbending, but it sounded more like criticism. He'd been disappearing everyday. Tommy was starting to worry that what Zaheer had said had gotten to him. Night had fallen on another day and Tommy had gone up to the roof to be with his thoughts.
"Mind if I join you," Ranboo climbed up to the roof of the house where Tommy lay.
"Sure," Tommy said in a monotone voice, staring up at the stars.
"It's peaceful up here," Ranboo commented, his awkward attempt at conversation. "And quiet."
"Mhm," Tommy said. Now that the two were alone he didn't bother pretending to be friendly with him.
"We can't keep doing this," Ranboo said. "Pretending to be friends. I want to be friends, but only if you want to."
"I don't know," Tommy admitted. He didn't know what he wanted anymore. It felt like his entire life he had been told what to do. And now it still was, even if he was asked what to do it felt as if he had no choice. He had to learn the different elements, he never wanted to, he never asked for this, but it was his reality. It was his responsibility. And as the Avatar it would forever be that way.
"Well I'll make it simple you tell me something about yourself and I'll tell you something about me," Ranboo said.
"My favorite color is red," Tommy said. That was simple enough for him.
Ranboo didn't respond right away, he silently counted on his fingers then smiled. "Today's my birthday. Funny enough it's also Spirit Day."
"Cool, well happy birthday," Tommy said awkwardly, not knowing if he should mention that meant his birthday had been yesterday. He had lost track of time and his birthday wasn't always at the forefront of his mind. "How old are you?"
"17," Ranboo said. "What's Spirit Day like in Republic City? I heard they have a parade."
"I wouldn't know, I've never been," Tommy said. He'd never been allowed to go with Clay and the others. Always told it was too dangerous. "Did you celebrate it in the Northern Water Tribe?"
"Not exactly," Ranboo said. He recounted to Tommy how being a close friend of Technoblade he was allowed to travel to the Southern Water Tribe with him. They had a small dinner, it wasn't a celebration of the next Avatar like everyone else had. Instead they celebrated Avatar Korra's life, and mourned her death.
"That's... sad," Tommy said. Ranboo laughed.
"It was an honor to be included in their little gathering. I was surprised the first time Techno asked me to join them. It was kinda weird celebrating Korra instead of the next Avatar, but that's how it should be. According to Master Jinora she did die on Spirit Day after all."
"So if you were born an Earthbender, you could have been the Avatar!" Tommy said, "And that means my birthday is actually today."
"That's really cool, we share a birthday." Ranboo chuckled, then realized what else Tommy had said. "Hold on, you didn't know when your birthday was?"
"No! I just took a wild guess and somehow was right, well close. I always celebrate the day before Spirit Day." Tommy said. Tubbo promising him that they would go gliding on that day felt years away. "Wow."
"What?"
"A lot can change in a month."
"It sure can."
"The day's not over, we could still do something for your birthday." Tommy said, part of him wanting to do something for himself as well.
"We could do something for yours as well," Ranboo said. "But what would we do?"
"Stay here, I'm going to see if Carter has something we could use," He jumped down from the roof, leaving Ranboo to wonder what he had gone to ask Carter. Moments later Tommy came back up with two gliders. "Phil's been helping me with my airbending. I know enough that we'd be safe to go gliding. It's something I would do with Tubbo."
"Sure," Ranboo smiled, grabbing one of the gliders, "I've never been before."
"We need to get up there," Tommy pointed to one of the taller cliffs lining the gorge. Not waiting for a response he began running towards it. He gripped the rock ledge and began climbing up, small rocks falling down as he scrambled up the ledge and continued up. Ranboo shook his head and followed, it was clear Tommy wasn't going to let go of the idea to get higher. They eventually made it up to a ledge big enough for them to stand on. Wind whipped around them.
"Woah," Ranboo breathed. "This view is incredible."
"Yeah, I suppose it is," Tommy said, "You ready? Just grab onto the glider and jump off, I'll be right behind you."
"You know that's much scarier than you make it out to be," Ranboo said, grabbing onto the handles of the glider he held.
"I'm going to push you off if you decide to back out now," Tommy said, completely deadpan. Ranboo couldn't tell if he was being serious or not, He didn't want to find out either. He let out a quick breath and jumped. The wings of the glider caught the wind running through the gorge and lifted him in the air. He looked back to see Tommy running off the ledge, hands gripped onto the glider. Ranboo looked on in panic as he dived down the cliff dangerously fast before the wind caught his glider and he rose in the air.
"You gave me a heart attack," Ranboo yelled, Tommy just laughed.
"So did Tubbo when he did the same thing," He called, wearing a huge grin, but it faltered for a second at the mention of Tubbo. "It's fun right?"
"Yeah!" Ranboo's glider caught another gust of wind and went higher. He laughed, as adrenaline rushed through him. "This is incredible. Don't you get scared?"
Tommy fell silent as he gazed down at the river below. Worried that he had hit a nerve, Ranboo didn't say anything else, laughing as they eventually came down to the riverbank. "I'm so glad you got me to do that. You'd go gliding with Tubbo right?"
"Yeah," Tommy said. "We would do that. Can, can I talk to you about something? I haven't been able to tell Phil or Techno about it."
"Sure," Ranboo said, "Lay it on me."
"I had a dream a few nights ago, and Tubbo was mad at me for leaving and I'm worried something may be happening in Republic City and maybe we should go back," Tommy rambled, his voice wavering a few times.
"You know Tubbo wouldn't do that," Ranboo said, "I know we didn't tell him what was going on, but he'll understand that Republic City wasn't safe for you anymore and you needed to train without distraction. Tubbo isn't the person to hold a grudge against friends. And I know he considers you his best friend. And Republic City should be fine, it must have been a nightmare."
"Yeah, I mean the fact Clay was in it makes it pretty telling that it was a nightmare," He chuckled weakly, but still deep down he felt bad for talking about Clay in that way. Ranboo shifted from foot to foot, trying to figure out what to say.
"I...met him," Ranboo said, "Tubbo and I visited him while looking for you. He's very...confusing."
"Of course he is, he may have messed up my life but I still get confused when thinking about him," Tommy said, "I can't do anything when he's just constantly in my head making me question what I'm doing and if it's really what I should be doing. Sorry, I just, I don't know how to feel about him."
"I understand that," Ranboo said, "I won't be much for advice, but is anything else bothering you?"
"I- yeah there is something else," Tommy said, "Do you sleep walk or something? I saw you one night, an-and when Zaheer...you were gone that morning."
"Oh no," Ranboo groaned, "Why didn't Techno tell me?"
"What? Di-did you have something to do with Zaheer's escape," Tommy said.
"I don't know, maybe," Ranboo gripped his hair, a panicked look on their face, "I know they said they found who did it, but Techno could have been lying to cover up for me. I should have known, I've been hearing the voice again."
"What are you talking about," Tommy said, unconsciously taking a few steps away from the firebender.
"No, no, no no no," Ranboo said, "If I'm the one who freed Zaheer, then I'll be the reason Techno gets in trouble for bloodbending."
"Wait, he's not supposed to be bloodbending," Tommy said, "I thought since he was chief he had exceptions to that rule."
"No, he's the last person who should be bloodbending, especially with Tenzin coming," Ranboo began to pace, "First he blocked your earthbending, that might have not been noticed, but Zaheer getting his bending blocked is definitely going to be noticed and Techno's going to be blamed cause he's going to know there was no way you could have taken his bending. Oh everything is going to fall apart."
"I'll fix it then," Tommy said, "I know I can, I have to be able to. Don't worry, Ranboo. I forgive you. I know you didn't know what you were doing. But I won't let Technoblade take the fall for your actions." He took the gliders and started up the path. "I know how to fix this, I promise."
Yes! Another chapter! And thank you everyone for 4,000 reads, this is insane. I still can't believe that my stories reach that point.
Thank you all for reading, please vote and comment. Peace out benders and Minecrafters from around the world!