"Hey Aang..?"
"Yeah (Y/n)? Is everything ok?"
"I need to talk to you, about something very important."
"Of course. What is it?"
Aang and I sat on Appa's head as Aang steered us toward our next destination. Sokka and Katara were sleeping so I didn't have to worry about them hearing. I explained to him my issue in detail. "So now, I don't know if I should go back with Zuko to a place I never called home, go with my siblings to their home, or go to my old home and be alone." He took his time to think about all the things I'd told him.
"Well, for starters, I think you should listen to your heart more. You seem to be stuck in your head second guessing all the things you have going on. If your heart doesn't know what it wants right now, it will in time."
He smiled at me before looking back at the sky to keep Appa on course. "Yeah, you're right.. thank you Aang, you're a really smart kid." I returned his smile, this compliment made him smile even bigger even though he wasn't looking at me. "I do have one more thing to talk about, is that alright with you?" I questioned.
"Of course, it is my duty as a nomad and the avatar to help people no matter how big or small the problem may be."
Him saying that made me feel better already, he always knew what to say and the best part was that he meant his words. "So.. you know how I've been teaching you very small simple fire bending?" I started. "Yeah, and I appreciate it." He smiled again.
"Well, after that incident with Katara, I kinda blame myself for it. If I didn't look away from you, I would've been able to catch you in time. So now I feel like I can't teach you because I'm scared of being a bad teacher again and someone getting hurt."
"(Y/n), it wasn't your fault. You told me not to do anything while you helped Sokka. It was completely my fault, and I learned my lesson."
"Well, I was thinking about it anyway. How would you like a different fire teacher? Someone, who's determined to get the job done, to be the best, that doesn't turn away from failure?"
"Really? Who?"
"Zuko.." I mumbled.
"But he's been trying to capture me!"
"I know that. But, haven't you noticed? He stopped tracking us a while ago, it's only been Azula now. What if he changed for the better? Would you give him a chance?"
"I don't know... he tried killing us a lot."
"I'm aware. But, isn't the avatar supposed to believe in second chances and that people can change?"
"Well, yeah.."
"So why is he any different? What if you guys end up becoming friends?"
"I'll think about it, but how are we going to tell Sokka and Katara?"
꧁𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚙꧂
We made it to our next destination, to find an earth-bending teacher in a tournament. Aang and Katara overheard it and thought it'd be worth a try. Sokka and I eagerly ran to the food stand and bought snacks for us to share. We made it to our seats in time and watched as the narrators introduced the first two fighters. Sokka and I were pumped to see this. I turned and looked at him with a smirk, he groaned knowing the face by now.
"What now?"
"Wanna bet on who wins? The loser has to do whatever the winner says."
He thought about it before shaking my hand and agreeing to the bet. The two earth benders came out and were introduced. The narrator counted down and the fight began, the first person to be knocked out loses. They fought and Sokka and I placed our bets. He bet that the Boulder would win, I bet otherwise. They fought and went back and forth knocking each other down then the Boulder knocked out his competition.
"No way!" I yelled.
"Hah! You lost and I won because I'm so smart and awesome and you're lame!"
I glared at him and he immediately took back what he said and quickly apologized. I rolled my eyes at him and watched as the Boulder's next opponent came on stage, the blind bandit. The blind bandit ended up winning fairly quickly which shocked Aang. He mentioned how that was who he saw in the swamp and that she has to be his teacher. After the tournament ended he tried talking to her but she left.
So we tracked her down since he was so determined to ask for her help. It was now night time and we knocked on the door of her home. We all sat down at the dinner table since her parents invited us to eat.
꧁𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚙꧂
We were about to leave in the defeat of not finding Aang an earth-bending teacher but then Toph, the blind bandit, came running up to us. "My parents changed their minds." She said as she eagerly handed us a small bag. I helped her up on Appa and Sokka threw her bag on. We then left for our next destination, Ba Sing Se, but that's after we take a little break and have fun. We took a break in a forest near a nice waterfall. Appa was bathing in the water and it was my turn to clean him.
"Ok Appa, it's my turn to clean you."
I grimaced as I held up a broom-like tool to brush him. I secured my ponytail and pulled my pants up to my knees. I then started to clean him off. He was shedding so much hair which made sense, summer was just around the corner. "Hey Aang, do we have anything to de-shed him?" I asked as I scrubbed Appa's toes. "No, is he shedding?" Aang asked as he walked up to Appa and scratched his head.
I continued cleaning Appa as I heard loud voices firing at one another. I stopped my work and looked over. Katara and Toph were fighting. I dropped my tool and quickly broke up the fight. "What is going on?" I asked sternly. "Toph is refusing to help out." Katara complained. "I already told you! I carry my own weight!" Toph fired back. I looked over at Aang and Sokka confused, they both just shrugged.
"Ok look, guys, I don't know how this started or the details of the fight but I will say this... both of you need to stop. Toph I love that you can carry your own weight, that's great, but out of respect and kindness for others, help us whether you like it or not. Katara you know better, you need to help the new person adjust easily, show her the kindness you showed me. I'm going back to cleaning Appa."
I let out an annoyed huff and walked back to Appa now finishing up cleaning him to the best of my ability. "Ok Appa, all clean." I smiled and gave him a treat. Momo flew by and swiped the treat so I pulled another one out of my pocket and rolled my eyes. "Sorry buddy, you know how Momo is." I tossed the treat in his mouth. He made his happy noise and licked me. I looked at my clothes in disgust and water bent the spit off my clothing making my clothes clean and fully dry.
I smiled to myself noticing my skill in water bending had significantly increased. "The joys of being an embraced prodigy." I mumbled to myself as I walked back to the group. I was about to sit next to our fire that I kindly made but Sokka stopped me. "What do you think you're doing?" I looked at him confused. "Sitting?" I questioned. "We're about to leave, it's time for our mini vacation." I stood up remembering why I had to clean Appa and helped load everything up.
"Ok, where to?" I asked looking around.
"No idea.." Aang sweatdropped.
I looked around the land trying to see anything interesting nearby. But then I noticed smoke that was moving, and that only meant one thing. "Guys..mini vacation is going to have to be on hold, Azula is on our trail." Everyone groaned as we tried to lose her. After a bit of flying at full speed and staying above the clouds, we lost her. "Maybe we should stay above the clouds." Katara suggested.
Aang agreed and we stayed above the clouds as Katara picked her vacation spot. "Oooh, how about this place? The Oasis Springs seems refreshing." She pointed at the map, Aang nodded and said we'll go there once we lose Azula. Whenever that may be...
Dear Zuko,
I hope things have been well for you. Tell Iroh I said hello and hopefully I'll see you guys soon. I started talking with Aang today about the possibility of you joining us and teaching him fire-bending. (I tried but it led to an incident, you'd be a better teacher.)
Anyway, he's not too sure about it. He said he'll think about it but he doesn't know if he can trust you considering you did try killing them every time we crossed paths. I don't blame them, but hopefully, we can see your change soon.
From, (Y/n)
25 May
Dear Journal,
Azula has been hot on our trail lately, we've barely been able to sleep since she keeps finding us. Appa hasn't been able to sleep much causing him to fall asleep in the sky a couple of times. The rest of the group, as for myself, have been put into cranky moods due to the lack of sleep.
On the bright side, Zuko has stopped chasing us and has supposedly changed for the better. Now I just need to get the group convinced to let him help us...
On another bright note, I came up with a sleeping arrangement so we can get some sleep while someone watches guard all while another tries to de-shed Appa while we make stops.