IT WAS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DAY. Yuen was brushing her long, dark hair, getting it ready in order to put it into a dutch braid.
Her brush gently went through her freshly washed hair, as Yuen stared down at herself through her mirror. Someone ran into her tent, startling her. "Yuen! You won't believe what just happened to Sokka and I!" Katara immediately began.
Yuen placed her brush down and turned fully around to face her cousin. "What happened?" She gasped. "Are you hurt? Is Sokka hurt?" Yuen worried.
Katara rolled her eyes. "No! Sokka and I got in a small fight, we were stuck on a piece of ice, and I accidentally let go of all my anger and the iceberg behind me broke and we were once again stranded," she took a deep breath.
"And then a bright light appeared in the water and an iceberg emerged. The iceberg exploded and a light beam shot into the sky!" She said in a dramatic way.
"A boy got out of it and fell, but I caught him. He woke up and said that his name was Aang! He's an airbender! Plus, he has this super cute flying bison. He's asleep right now." Katara explained.
The tent was filled with silence. Yuen exhaled. "Um... okay... that's a lot of information to process." She scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, could you go wake him up? He's in my tent right now." Katara asked. "Me? But, wouldn't it make more sense if you went ahead and woke him up—?"
"You can? Awe, thanks, Yuen! You're the best." And Katara skipped out of her tent. Yuen sighed in defeat and quickly put her hair into a simple ponytail. She put her coat on and walked out of her tent.
She headed to Katara's tent, and entered. Her eyes immediately spotted a small boy, shirtless and asleep. Yuen was slightly frightened by the sight of the strange boy but brushed away her fears. She crouched down, and shook the boy awake.
The boy gasped awake. Yuen yelped and fell back. "Ouch." She mumbled. He panted, indicating that he was in a panic-like state.
"Hey, it's alright. You're in the village, now. Katara told me to wake you. She wants you to meet everyone else." Yuen cleared her throat.
"Who are you?" The boy asked with curious eyes. "My name is Yuen. I'm Katara's cousin." She smiled as she answered. "I'm—" "Aang, yes. I know." Yuen chuckled, watching him put his top back on. "Come on, it's going to be just fine."
She pulled him up and out of the tent. There stood the entire village with confused faces. "Okay, Aang... this is the entire village. Entire village... Aang!"
Yuen had a proud smile on her face, but Katara was rather dissatisfied. "That was a pathetic introduction, Yuen," Yuen frowned. "...But it was the best pathetic introduction ever...!" Katara rephrased, laughing nervously. Yuen smiled once again.
Aang bowed to the villagers. They all took a small step back. "Um... why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang asked.
Kanna stepped forward. "Well, no one has seen an Airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my grandchildren found you."
Aang's eyes widened. "Extinct?"
"Aang, this is my grandmother." Katara introduced them. "Call me gran-gran." Kanna ordered. Sokka walked towards them. "What is this, a weapon?" Sokka snatched his staff. "You can't stab anything with this." Sokka told him.
"It's not for stabbing. It's for airbending." Those words sent a wave of shock throughout Yuen's body. Her mind went to the Avatar, but she brushed the thought away. Aang opened the staff to reveal that it wasn't just any staff. It was a glider!
"Magic trick! Do it again!"
"Not magic. Airbending. It lets me control the currents, around my glider, and fly." Aang explained to the little child. "You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly!" Sokka reminded him.
Aang grinned. "Check again!"
He jumped up and began flying. Yuen's jaw dropped. "Woah..." she whispered. But without realising, Aang hit Sokka's watchtower. The three ran to Aang. But each had different intentions.
"My watchtower!"
Yuen grinned down at Aang. "That was amazing!" She held out her hand for him to take. As Sokka was touching around his tower, snow fell down and on top of his body.
"Great. You're an Airbender. Those two are Waterbenders. Together, you three can waste time, all day long." Sokka muttered.
Yuen felt her face heat up. Waterbender. Yuen had almost mastered waterbending.
"You two are Waterbenders!" Aang gasped. "Well, sort of. Yuen is... not me. Yuen is practically already a master." Katara said. Yuen smiled shyly. "Katara is over exaggerating. I'm not that good."
"All right, no more playing. Come on, Katara. You have chores, and so do you, Yuen." Kanna told them. Yuen smiled. "See you later, Aang." She bowed slightly before walking away.
KATARA HAD PLEADED to Yuen that she should be the one to go find Aang after he ran after some random penguin to sled on. After much begging, Yeun agreed and she found herself in a small hill.
There were many penguins. "Hm... Aang?" She called out. She heard Aang's sweet laughter ringing in her ears. "Hey, come on, little guy. Wanna go sledding?" He followed after some penguins. Yuen giggled as she walked to his presence.
"I have a way with animals." He laughed before mimicking the penguins. Yuen laughed at his humour. "Okay, Aang, Katara asked me to ask you that if I help you catch a penguin, you'll teach her waterbending." Yeun said with a grin.
"You got a deal! Just one little problem. I'm an Airbender, not a Waterbender. And... why don't you just teach her?"
"Well, I tried... she's just a hard student. You seem more compatible with her as a teacher than I." She responded. "Well, isn't there someone else in your tribe to teach her?" He asked.
"No, actually... you're looking at one of the last Waterbender in the whole South Pole." She told him awkwardly. "This isn't right. A Waterbender needs to master water..." he thought. "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe, they have Waterbenders who can teach her."
"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, Aang." Yuen explained in depth.
"But you forget, I have a flying bison! Appa and I can personally fly you and Katara to the North Pole!" Aang optimistically reminded her. "Yuen, we're going to find her a master." Yuen grinned wide. "Wow, seriously? Thank you, Aang! That is so kind of you." Yuen quickly pulled Aang into a hug.
Aang slightly blushed at the random contact but did not make any noise to indicate that he didn't enjoy their little interaction.
"Well, um..." He cleared his throat. "Can you teach me how to catch these penguins, now?" He pleaded. Yuen smiled and nodded.
"Of course, now listen with big ears, my young pupil. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art. Now, observe."
Yuen handed Aang a fish and the penguins waddled towards him. He laughed and giggled, making Yuen do the same. And soon enough, the two were sledding on penguins off a cliff.
The two laughed and cheered. Yuen had never felt more free and comfortable. "I haven't had this much fun, since I was a kid." She shouted. "You still are a kid!" Aang reminded her. Yuen came to that realisation pretty drastically.
Her face dropped but she continued. Her sadness faded away, and they kept giggling and laughing. Soon, they came to a stop.
And they approached a Fire Nation ship. "What is that?" Aang asked. "It's a Fire Navy ship... and a very sad memory for me and my people." Yuen mumbled. Aang began walking. "Aang, stop! We're not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby-trapped."
"If you want to be a master, you have to let go of fear." Aang told her. Yuen sighed, and hesitantly followed him into the ship.
They climbed into the ship and began walking around. Their footsteps echoed. Shivers ran down Yuen's spine. She felt her breathing get worse.
After a little walk, the two kids walked into a weapons room. Yuen thought that she should clear the tension in the air by talking.
"This ship has haunted my tribe, since gran-gran was a little girl," Aang turned around to face Yuen. "It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks." She explained. "Okay, backup," Aang started.
"I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I've never seen any war." Aang told Yuen. Yuen tilted her head. "Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?" She questioned in a soft tone. She hoped that her voice would calm him down. She could sense his worry in his aura.
"I-I don't know. A few days, possibly?" Aang replied with a crack in his voice. "I think, it was more like a century. A hundred years." Yuen said.
"What? That's impossible," Aang scoffed. "Do I look like a 112 year old man to you?" He asked Yuen with sass in his voice. "Think about it, Aang. The war is a century old. You don't know about it because... somehow, you were stuck in that iceberg this whole time." Yuen told him. "It makes total sense."
Aang slowly sat down. "A hundred years. I can't believe it."
Yuen frowned and crouched down to comfort her new friend. She was an affectionate person. So it was no shock when she pulled him into a ever so slightly hug. "I'm so sorry, Aang. But, maybe... this doesn't have only a dark side to it."
Aang smiled. "I did get to meet you." Yuen chuckled, feeling herself blush once again. "C-come on, let's get out of here." She shook the jittery feeling in her stomach away, grabbing Aang's hand so the two of them could get off the floor.
After a small walk, Yuen began to feel super uncomfortable and weird. "Aang, could we please head back, now? This place is super creepy." She pleaded as they entered a room.
Aang accidentally stepped on something very gooey on the floor and the door behind them shut. They ran to the door. "What's that you said about booby traps?"
Suddenly, the ship began going crazy. Something flew into the sky, startling Yuen. A hole was made into the ceiling. "Hold on tight, Yuen." Aang said. He grabbed ahold of her, bridal style and jumped out.
He continued to jump, making his way off the boat. He put her down, and they began running.
AUTHOR SPEAKING !
Thank you so much for reading this chapter.
I am so glad you made it this far, and I hope you will enjoy any other further chapters!