Chapter 28- Running Away

"I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar. I was playing with some other kids just outside the South Wall. I was trying to teach them how to do the air scooter." Aang started. He then started to explain how they brought him in the meeting room, where he was told he played with four toys out of a million, and those showed the signs of the Avatar.

"So you were upset that you were the Avatar? Why wouldn't you be excited about it?" Katara asked him.
"Well, I didn't know how to feel about it. All I knew was that after I found out, everything began changing." He rubbed his arm.
"That was too much for you, being to young and talking about war, those people are crazy," You stuck your tongue out.

"Yeah..." Aang then started to explain the other kids didn't wanted to play because he was the Avatar. And how Gyatso wanted to keep him as being a kid, while others need him to train.
"Then, just when I was feeling better, something worse happened." He then heard that the other monks wanted him separated from Aang.
"That's awful, Aang. I don't know what to say." Katara said with a sympathetic look.

"How could they do that to me? They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" Aang shouted in anger, his arrows glowing for a moments.
"Whoa! Hot cinders!" Katara yelped, cinders hitting your arm, but it didn't hurt because of your training at as kid.

"I'm sorry I got so mad." He apologized.
"You have the right to be angry after the monks sent you away like that." Katara defended him.
"Yeah, you could beat them up later," You said with making a punching motion.
"Well, that's not exactly what happened. I was afraid and confused. I didn't know what to do." He said while sitting down.

"I never saw Gyatso again. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg, Katara," He finished his story.
"You ran away." You realized.
"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help." Aang sighed.

"You don't know what would have-" You were cut off by him.
"The world needed me and I wasn't there to help." He threw his hands up.
"The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world!" He said as he looked away.
"You're being too hard on yourself, even if you did run away. I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed, you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders." Katara explained.

"You don't know that," He scoffed.
"Well, it won't matter now, the world needs you air boy, and you give people hope," You mumbled to him as you leaned against Katara.
"Thanks guys, I needed this," He thanked you.
"This bandages are itchy," You said while furiously rubbing your head.
"Woah woah, don't do that," Katara said while taking your hands off of your head.

"Help! Oh, please help!" You three turned to see the woman from before in distress.
"It's okay. You're safe." Katara said as you all ran up to her.
"But my husband isn't." She cried.
"What do you mean? Where's Sokka?" She asked worriedly.

"They haven't returned! They should have been back by now! And this storm is becoming a typhoon! They're caught out at sea!" She said in hysterics.
"I'm going to find him!" Aang said standing up.
"I'm going with you!" Katara replied with determination.
"I'm staying here." The woman said sitting down.

"I wanna go too," You said, then swayed a little to lean against the wall.
"It's too dangerous in your condition (Y/N), you need to stay here and keep her company," Aang said as you slid down and crossed your legs.

"Okay, good idea air boy," You said as you felt your head hurting again.
"We'll be back soon. I promise." Aang said as the two hopped onto Appa, and flew off.
"What exactly happened to your head girl?" The woman asked.
"Hmmmnmm, giant crawlers threw me. And uhh, rocks. A lot of rocks," You tried to explain, but laid your head against the ground.

"You're a strange one, aren't ya?" She asked as you closed your eyes, Twig hopping on your stomach to sleep.

"Yeah... wanna see lava?"

"What?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, they're here!" You heard the woman say as you opened your eyes slowly and sat up.
"Awesome," You grinned a dopey grin and stood up to see them. The four of them hopped off of Appa and the woman ran to hug his wife.

"Oh, you're alive! You owe this boy an apology!" The woman sternly said.
"He doesn't have to apologize," Aang smiled.
"What if, instead of an apology, I give him a free fish and we call it even?" The man offered.
"Actually, I don't eat meat." Aang apologized.
"Fish ain't meat!" The man said looking at him.

"Seriously, you're still going to pay me, right?" Sokka asked, and the man threw him a fish. You giggled as Aang walked up to you two.
"Katara, (Y/N), I think you both were right before. I'm done dwelling on the past." Aang smiled.
"Cool," You said.
"I can't make guesses about what would have turned out if I hadn't run away. I'm here now and I'm going to make the most out of it." He explained with determination.

"I don't think you're gonna have those nightmares anymore." Katara said while crossing her arms.
"And if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar." The man said, as Aang smiled at him.
"Do you hear that? It stopped raining." Sokka said as the clear and humid skies were seen. You loved the weather like this, since it felt so nice.

You all then felt water on you, and flinched when it was just Appa shaking his fur.

"Appa!"