It was about noon when Jasmine woke up. She looked around her tent with knitted eyebrows, not sure if she had dreamt the whole incident. When she left her tent and looked around the small village, she saw her brother sitting in front of Katara's tent. He still had a grumpy expression on his face as he played with his ice breaker mindlessly. The youngest decided to keep Sokka company and sat down beside him as a yawn escaped her lips.
"Sleep well?" He glanced at her and received a nod in response. With a nod he turned back to his weapon. Until they had arrived at the village, not only was Jasmine asleep but Aang as well. Sokka had carried her to her tent before going back and getting the airbender as well. But only after Katara scolded him for wanting to let Aang sleep on the bison.
Katara more or less barged out of the tent, dragging Aang with her who had some kind of staff in his hand. Jumping in her seat, Jasmine quickly got up as well, Sokka following her lead. So it wasn't a dream.
Katara had called out for their grandmother and the village that the boy finally woke up. Not long after, all of the few villagers gathered at Katara's tent. "Aang this is the entire village," she said and pointed at the few women and children in front of them. "Entire village, this is Aang."
Aang quickly recovered from the bewildered moment and bowed in respect as a greeting. He was glad that Katara and her siblings had taken him in and were so friendly to him. He couldn't wait to tell Monk Gyatso about them.
The villagers stepped back in fear and shock when they saw Aang. After all, he was the very first airbender they had seen. His face dropped and he watched them with sad eyes, not understanding why they reacted that way.
"Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years." The siblings' grandmother explained slowly while eying the boy in front of her.
Jasmine took a step forward and nodded before looking directly at Aang. "We all thought airbenders were extinct until we found you."
Aang's eyes widened and he stumbled back. "Extinct?!" The shock was clear in his voice.
Jasmine's eyebrows shot up before she slightly narrowed her eyes. If he didn't know that his kind was extinct, then there were a few possibilities of what had happened. Either the Fire Nation failed to kill off every single airbender and a few managed to survive. Or, what seemed ironically more logical, he had been frozen in that iceberg for over a hundred years. The Fire Nation would never fail to kill off possible threats.
"Aang, this is my grandmother," Katara continued to introduce him as if nothing happened.
The boy hadn't even processed what he had found out about his kind and therefore couldn't and didn't care who exactly the woman in front of him was.
"Is he holding a stick?" Sokka whispered only for Jasmine to hear.
The youngest shrugged with an amused smile. She crossed her arms and nodded in Aang's direction. "Go ask him." As much as she loved her brother, she loved to see him doing stupid things as well.
Sokka walked up to Aang and snatched the staff out of his hand. Holding it up he eyed it from every angle carefully. "What is this? A weapon?"
"It's not for stabbing, it's for airbending." Aang chuckled before taking his staff and knocking it on the floor slightly. There was a click before the sides opened up, revealing an orange glider.
The children cheered immediately upon seeing it and Katara looked at Aang with big eyes and a smile visible on her face. He explained that he could control the currents around his glider and fly with it.
Jasmine wished she could experience flying herself once in her lifetime. She wanted to feel the wind hitting her face and just the feeling of freedom surrounding her and never letting her go ever again.
"You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly," Sokka pressed his lips together and crossed his arms.
Jasmine chuckled and approached her brother putting a hand on his shoulder. "Then what about Katara your flying sister?" She sent him a teasing smile and he huffed and shook off her hand.
"Check again," Aang said with a smile. He jumped into the air, opening his glider before holding on to the front handles and putting his feet on the back handles. He flew around above the villagers in loopings and slalom.
Sokka clenched his jaw, not happy that the boy could actually fly. Jasmine, who noticed his angry mood, tried to stifle a laugh by putting a hand over her mouth. Sokka shot his youngest sister a side glare that had her shrug with an innocent smile and big eyes. She found it hilarious that the boy infuriated her brother without even doing anything wrong.
Aang's face lit up when he saw the villagers cheering for him and being impressed by him. When he saw Katara's eyes sparkle as she watched him, he smiled at her and couldn't take his eyes off her. He liked the feeling that he got around her. But the warm feeling was replaced with a sudden overwhelming cold around his head and shoulders when he flew head on into the watchtower.
At first the tower stayed intact but as soon as Aang had pulled his head out, it crumbled to a pile of snow. Aang fell on the ground with a thud but was soon surrounded by all the cheering and applauding children.
Jasmine couldn't suppress the snicker and folded her arms over her stomach when the snickering turned into laughing.
Sokka's face fell as he gasped. "My watchtower!" He shrieked and rushed over to his precious tower he had spent days on building. The oldest kneeled in front of the pile of snow and put some in his hands. It immediately melted and dropped out from between his fingers.
Jasmine tilted her head to the side as a sympathetic expression covered her features after having calmed down. She put a hand on her brother's shoulder and sent him a reassuring smile since he had been so proud of his tower. "We'll build it up again, don't worry."
Sokka looked over his shoulder and sent Aang a glare who was already on his feet again. "Great, you're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender. Together you can waste time all day long." He huffed and stood up before stomping away.
Letting out a sigh, Jasmine watched her brother leave before glancing at Katara who was happily chatting with Aang about bending. She shook her head before hurrying after Sokka.
"Hey wait," the youngest called after her brother. He stopped and turned around to face her. "What about training with the kids?" She knew that training and kids would be a great distraction for him after the incident.
Sokka let out a breath and nodded. He had completely forgotten about the weekly training because Aang just pushed him over the edge with the tower incident. "Yes, you're right. Let's go."
A smile grew on her face and she nodded excitedly. The black-haired girl liked spending time with the kids and her brother. Training had always been entertaining for her and she had an excuse not to do any chores.
Gathering the kids, they walked to their usual training place just outside the village's borders which was just a slight circular elevation of ice around it.
The girl sat down on the ice, letting her feet dangle down while watching the kids and her brother. The children were seated in front of Sokka and her. While she just sat there, her brother walked up and down, the children following him with their eyes. "Now men, it's important that you show no fear when you face a firebender. In the water tribe we fight to the last man standing."
Jasmine's stomach and chest tightened. She had always wondered if her siblings or the village would despise her if they knew about her bending. The girl would completely understand if they did, after all the whole world hated the Fire Nation. The word fire alone was enough to make people scream and run away in fear. Being part of the hated nation and also the one who killed their mother was by far the most difficult secret she had to carry around.
"For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" Sokka ended his speech and stopped walking up and down, snapping her out of her thoughts. With a determined look on his face he eyed the children who were dumbfoundedly blinking up at him.
"I gotta pee." One of them raised his hand.
Jasmine snorted and jumped off the ice landing softly on the fresh snow. Sokka, however, was not amused by the question and knitted his eyebrows. "Until your fathers return from the war, they're counting on you to be the men. And that means no potty breaks." Sokka looked at his sister and nodded his head in the children's direction, wanting her to help him out and agree with his statement.
Jasmine nodded briefly at Sokka and put on a serious expression before looking at the children and crossing her arms.
The children gulped and some even cowered away in fear. The girl was always nice but unlike her two older siblings she had that effortless intimidating aura that followed her everywhere.
"You should back up my statement and not make them pee their pants right here," Sokka said and clasped his hands over his face.
"Oops, sorry," she laughed awkwardly and shrugged before turning to the children with a small smile. "Okay cuties, no need to be scared of me. So who else has to go?"
All of the children raised their hands which had Jasmine chuckle and nodding. "Come on, off you go." She waved in the village's direction and they quickly got up and rushed away from the two teenagers.
Before Sokka could complain and Jasmine could laugh at him and then comfort him about his misfortune, Katara approached the two. "Have you seen Aang? Gran-gran said he disappeared over an hour ago."
"I thought he's with you," Jasmine said in a teasing tone and smirked at her sister. It was obvious even to a blind person that Aang had a crush on Katara.
Pink dusted her cheeks but before she could tell Jasmine off, Aang came out of the toilet. He chuckled and pointed behind him at it with his thumb. "Wow, everything freezes in there."
Jasmine chuckled while all the children laughed and cheered, immediately running up to him. "Found him," the youngest said in an amused tone.
Sokka, who was already annoyed as hell, got furious. "Katara get him out of here. This is a lesson for warriors only," he snapped and pointed at Aang who was now playing around with the warriors.
Jasmine tried to grab Sokka's arm but she was too slow and he stomped over to Aang. "Stop it right now! What's wrong with you?! We don't have time for fun with a war going on!"
The youngest shook her head and sighed. This was not funny anymore. Teasing Sokka was okay but making him really angry was too much.
Aang knitted his eyebrows and looked between the three siblings. He had no clue what Sokka was talking about and tilted his head to the side. "What war? What are you talking about?"
Jasmine's eyes widened as the knot in her stomach tightened. Aang not knowing about the war was the last puzzle piece. He couldn't be from a surviving airbender family but he must have been in that iceberg for over a hundred years; that was clear now. So, him being the Avatar was the only plausible possibility in this situation. Airbender? Check. Frozen in an iceberg? Check. Has no idea about being the last airbender? Check. Has no idea about what's going on? Check.
Disbelief covered Sokka's face and he raised an eyebrow at the boy. "You're kidding right?"
Aang's face turned from confused to shocked to happy in only a few seconds when he looked over Sokka's shoulders. Turning around, Jasmine saw a certain black and white animal in the distance and slightly smiled.
"Penguin!" Aang shouted, making the siblings flinch at his sudden high tone. He immediately sprinted towards the animal leaving the three confused teenagers behind.
It didn't take Katara long to follow him and Jasmine could only watch how they disappeared from her sight.
Sokka watched the boy leave with narrowed eyes. He couldn't believe that someone didn't know about the 100 year war. Turning to his sister he raised his eyebrows. "He was kidding, right?"
Jasmine, not looking away from the retreating figure of Aang, shook her head. "I have no idea," she mumbled.
The children refused to go back to training, so Jasmin decided to call it a day even though it was only shortly after noon. Sokka went to do whatever Sokka did while Jasmine laid on her bed reading.
Her peace was interrupted by a sudden and loud explosion like sound. Tensing, she put her book down and quickly left her tent to see what was going on. Black smoke rose in the air from the direction of the old Fire Navy ship and her stomach tightened. This would only attract the Fire Navy. Shit, this is bad.
The villagers all gathered at the entrance of the village with tense shoulders and scared expressions. Jasmine's first instinct was to look for her brother and when she spotted him in the small crowd, she quickly walked up to him. As soon as Sokka was in arm's reach, she grabbed his arm and looked at him with big eyes and a quickly beating heart. "We're so dead now."
He turned his head and his serious expression softened a bit. He patted her head briefly and shot her a reassuring smile, though Jasmine knew it was forced. "We'll be alright," Sokka tried to convince Jasmine and himself as well.
The youngest clenched her teeth as her eyes watered. Taking a shaky breath, she looked at the villagers with a heavy heart. Even though they might have their differences, it was still her village and she loved them. The children all still had their whole lives to life. They can't die, we can't die.
A/N - helloooo, i hope you like the chapter! don't forget to vote and comment <3
also, i made an instagram account, its.robosanz, haha. but i'm still not sure what to post on there, i thought aboutmaybe random stuff, updating you guys about how my stories go and when i'll update, or even ask you when i ran out of ideas, etc. if you have any ideas, please don't hesitate to tell me.
stay safe and healthy <3