Aya's POV

I shot awake when I felt pressure on my stomach. I gasped with a startled look on my face and saw that Momo had leaped on my stomach along with Katara and Sokka.

Sokka halfheartedly wielded his weapons. "What's going on? Did we get captured again?"

"It's nothing. I just had a bad dream." Aang shook his head with dismay before curling up into a ball next to me. "Go back to sleep."

Sokka curls up. "Don't have to tell me twice?"

Katara and I exchanged worried looks before she lays back down and I turned to Aang concerned.

"Are you alright, Aang?" I asked him.

"I'm okay." Aang responded but I knew something was bothering him I could feel it.

"You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately. You want to tell me about it?" I offered not taking my eyes of his body.

"I think I just need some rest," Aang said but I wasn't buying it.

"You guys want to hear about my dream?" Sokka suddenly asked sitting up. Katara sat up and with both glare at him. Sokka's face drops. "That's okay, I didn't want to talk about it anyway."

Sokka and Katara both lay back down and I give Aang one last look of concern before falling asleep again.

---

Morning came and were about to take off again into the skies. My siblings were packing everything up for our trip and Aang and I sat on Appa waiting.

"Look at those clear skies buddy!" Aang gestured to the sky and petted his head. "Should be some smooth flying."

"Well, we better smoothly fly ourselves to a market," Katara suggested as she and Sokka boarded Appa. "Cause we're out of food."

"Guys, wait. This was in my dream." Sokka stopped us and we turned to him. "We shouldn't go to the market."

"What happened in your dream?" Katara asked out brother.

Sokka's eyes bugged out in terror. "Food eats people!"

I rolled my eyes and turned away from Sokka in annoyance.

"Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things."

----

We found a nearby market and went to check it. They had food stands which were perfect for us.

"Ahh, it's good. It's perfect, I'm telling you!" The Merchant woman scowled my sister who was suspiciously eyeing a watermelon.

Katara shakes the melon which emits an audible slashing sound.

"I don't know if I like the sound of that swishing," Katara told the woman who looked irritated.

"Swishing means it's ripes! It's the ripe juices swishing, eh?" The lady chirped walking around the stand to her.

"I think it's true Katara. Swishing means, it's ripe." Aang agreed.

"I just realized we're out of money anyway," Katara admitted, putting the melon back.

"Awww!" The woman groaned and grabbed the basket Sokka had from his hands in annoyance.

Sokka walked past the woman who indignantly kicked him. Sokka let out a cry of pain and I giggled.

The four of us stood on the docks and we didn't know what to do.

"Out of food and out of money. Now, what are we supposed to do?" Sokka asked downcasted.

"You could get a job, smart guy?" I suggested.

"We shouldn't go out there!" An elderly lady shouted and we turned to find an elderly couple bickering with one another. "Please, the fish can wait. There's going to be a terrible storm."

Storm? It's perfectly clear.

"You're crazy! It's a nice day." The elderly man gestured to the perfect weather in the sky. "No clouds, no winds, no nothing. So quit your nagging, woman."

"Maybe we should find some shelter?" Aang nervously suggested.

"Are you kidding? Shelter from what?" Sokka asked indicating the fair weather at the moment.

"My joints say there's going to be a storm! A bad one!" The elderly lady exclaimed.

"Well, it's your joints against my brain." The elderly man argued.

The woman folded her arms with a frown. "Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, 'cause I ain't comin'."

"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get!" The man countered with a glare. "How do you like that?'

Sokka stepped up. "I'll go."

"You're hired!" The man declared and shot his wife a triumphant look and she scowls back.

"What? You said get a job... and he's paying double." Sokka told us glancing back at us and the three of us share a look.

The man gives my brother a wild expression. "Double? Who told you that nonsense."

Minutes had passed and dark clouds were starting to roll in. I was getting worried because the lady was right, a storm is heading our way.

"Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky." Aang intercepted Sokka with a worried look on his face. I nodded, constantly looking at the clouds.

"Yeah, Sokka, you could get hurt," I added feeling uneasy about this.

"I said I was going to do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather." Sokka protested before he walked inside the fisherman's boat with supplies in his arms.

"The boy with the tattoos and the pretty little girl has some sense. You should listen to them." The elderly lady berated her husband and my brother.

"Boy with tattoos?" The fisherman questioned and turned to Aang. "Airbender tattoos. well, I'll be a hog monkey's uncle. You're the Avatar, ain't ya?"

"That's right." Katara nodded and three of us smile.

"Well, don't be so smiley about it." The fisherman glared and our faces drop. "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world."

I stepped in front of Aang with anger. "Don't yell at him! Aang would never turn his back on anyone!"

I never raise my voice but when it comes to this I step up and take action.

"Oh, he wouldn't, huh? Then I guess I just have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering." The fisherman protested and Aang's eyes widened.

I glared angrily at the man.

"Aang is the bravest person we know! He's done nothing but help people and save lives since we met him!" Katara defended stepping forward.

"It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?" I asked Aang and we turned to find him slowly backing away. "Aang? What's wrong?"

Aang opened his glider and flew away, rapidly disappearing in the distance.

My sister and I watched Aang fly away and I turned to the man with anger.

"That's right! Keep flying!" The man called.

"You're a horrible old man!" I spat in the man's face and ran towards Appa. I hopped on the bison and looked at my sister who stood at the edge of the dock. "I'm gonna talk to Aang."

She nodded with a look of panic and distress on her face.

"Appa! Yip yip!" I called and he flies out of the water, splashing the horrible man in the process.

I would like to do a lot more than that to him for what he did to Aang.

The storm had rolled in not too long after I took off. The rain was pouring on Appa and I but I wasn't gonna give up on my search for the Avatar. I scanned the area for Aang and eventually found a cave in the distance and spotted a small figure sitting inside the cave.

I sighed with relief and had Appa fly towards it. Appa landed and I walked inside the cave with my hair and clothes getting soaked in the process. My flower crown was destroyed but I didn't care and tossed it off the side of the mountain.

Aang sat on his knees a few feet in front of me looking upset.

"I'm sorry for running away." Aang apologized quietly.

"It's okay. That fisherman was way out of line." I assured him

"Actually, he wasn't," Aang replied and I became confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked, slowly approaching his sulking body.

"I don't want to talk about it," Aang said with a sad voice.

"It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" I asked and sat down next to him and I rested a hand on his shoulder. "Talk to me."

"Well, it's kind of a long story." Aang began looking at me with his grey eyes.

Appa roared from behind which startled us and Momo leaped past us. Appa nuzzled Aang's head which made him smile which caused me to smile and Aang petted the bison's chin.

I stood up and searched the cave for wood. "I'm gonna try to get a little fire going."

I successfully created a fire and the two of us sat around it. Appa was resting beside us and Momo was in Aang's lap.

"I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar." Aang started. "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's Flashback

"First you got to form the ball, then you got to get on quick," Aang instructed and formed an air scooter with his bending and rode around the area. Aang laughed and cheered as he rode around on his air scooter.

"Okay, here it goes!" One of the other boys formed an airball and tried getting on but spins and falls off it. Aang gentle descends from his scooter.

"You kind of have to balance on it like it's a top," Aang informed the boy who was rubbing his head.

"Man, that's hard." The boy pointed out.

"Where'd you learn that trick, Aang?" A younger boy tugged on Aang's shirt asked.

"I made it up," Aang answered.

"Wow!" The younger boy smiled.

The Council of Elders approaches from the stairs.

"Aang, come with us. We need to speak with you." Gyasto told Aang who followed them into the meeting room.

"How do you know it's me?" Aang asked the monks as he sat before them.

"We have known you were the Avatar for some time," Tashi informed. "Do you remember these?"

Monk Tashi rolled out a wrapped-up mat in front of Aang to reveal four toys.

"Those were some of my favorite toys when I was little," Aang explained and picked up a propeller toy in his hand.

"You chose them from among thousands of toys, Aang. The toys you picked were the four Avatar relics. These items belonged to Avatars past. Your own past lives." Monk Tashi explained to Aang.

"I just chose them because they seemed fun," Aang replies with a shrug and he pulled the cord on the propeller toy, sending the propeller spinning into the air.

"You chose them because they were familiar." Monk Tashi continued.

"Normally, we would have told you of your identity when you turned sixteen, but there are troubling signs," Gyasto added in. "Storm clouds are gathering."

"I fear that war may be upon us, young Avatar," Passang confessed.

"We need you, Aang," Gyasto said. Aang lowers his head, his responsibility crushing him.

Flashback Pauses

I stared at Aang who had hung his head in dismay and I spoke out.

"So, you were upset that you were the Avatar?" I asked Aang. "Why wouldn't you be excited about it?"

"Well, I didn't know how to feel about it. All I knew was that after I found out, everything began changing." Aang explained.

Flashback Continues

Aang entered the South Wall to find the other kids were riding on Air Scooters.

"Hey, not bad! You guys have been practicing!" Aang praised the kids.

"Not only that! We made up a game you can play with the air scooters!" The younger boy smiled, riding up to the Avatar.

Aang formed a scooter and hopped on. "Great!" All the boys hopped off their scooters and made them vanish. "What's going on?"

"Now that you're the Avatar, it's kind of an unfair advantage for whichever team you're on." The older boy explained with a disdained voice.

"But I'm still the same! Nothing's changed." Aang told them but no one responded. "So, what? I can't play?"

"That's the only fair way." The older boy shrugged and Aang made his scooter vanish.

"Oh okay." Aang hung his head with sadness and walked away.

"Sorry, Aang." The younger boy called.

"Okay. Now, who wants Jinju on their team?" The older boy asked pointing to a boy who had gas floating around his boy.

The scene changed and Aang and Gyasto were playing Pai Sho. Aang looked upset and lost in thought and moved a piece forward.

"Very interesting move, young one," Gyasto mentioned.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked and Gyasto formed an air spiral behind his back. He used it to make a part of Aang's clothing fly in his face and moved two pieces around.

Aang flipped his clothing back into place and noticed the change Gyasto made.

"Hey!" Aang chuckled and Gyasto joined in.

The door swung open and Monk Tashi appeared.

"You're playing games with him? The Avatar should be training." Tashi berated Gyasto.

"Aang has already trained enough for today." Gyasto protested.

"Time is short," Tashi replied before turning to Aang. "Come with me. I must test you on some high-level techniques."

"No." Gyasto stopped Aang from leaving. "As long as I'm his guardian, I will decide when he trains... and when he gets his butt kicked at Pai Sho."

Tashi glared. "Hmph!"

Flashback Pauses

Aang was staring into the fire with unseeing eyes and continued his story.

"Then when I was just starting to feel better, something worse happened," Aang said.

Flashback Continues

Monk Tashi and Monk Gyasto were talking to Monk Pasang in the meeting room.

"Aang needs to have freedom and fun. He needs to grow up as a normal boy." Gyasto told Pasang.

"You cannot keep protecting him from his destiny." Tashi protested.

"Gyasto, I know you mean well, but you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment," Pasang explained to Gyasto

"All I want is what's best for him," Gyasto admitted.

"But what we need is what's best for the world." Pasang continued and glanced down with a sad look. "You and Aang must be separated! The Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training." Pasang ordered and Gyasto was shocked but sadly understood.

In the distance, Aang is shown to be looking through a hole in the ceiling, shocked by the news he heard from the monks.

Flashback Pauses

I was shocked by what happened to him and gave him a sad look.

"That's awful, Aang. I don't know what to say." I told him, sincerely and tried to reach out to him but Aang stood up with anger.

"How could they do that to me? They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" Aang shouted and his Avatar state activates, causing air to blow everywhere and cinders flew at me.

I gasped and swatted away the cinders. "Whoa! Hot Cinders!"

Aang calmed down and sat down next to me again. "I'm sorry I got so mad."

"You have a right to be angry after the monks sent you away like that," I assured him my eyebrows narrowing in anger.

"Well, that's not exactly what happened," Aang told me.

Flashback Continues

Aang sat in his bedroom looking out the window and watched the rest of the air nomads play.

"I was afraid and confused. I didn't know what to do." Aang spoke in present time. Aang laid flat on his bed and covered his face in his pillow.

During that time, Monk Gyasto walked to Aang's bedroom.

"Aang, I'm not going to let them take you away from me." Gyasto declared and knocked on his door but he notices Aang is missing. "Aang?"

Gyasto sees a scroll on Aang's bed and opens it. He skims it and gasps before turning to the window to see a storm had begun.

"I never saw Gyasto again," Aang spoke in present time.

The scene changed and Aang was flying gon Appa in a dangerous storm. He yelled in fear and crashed into the water and tried to resurface but had no avail. The wave devoured them and Aang formed the iceberg around himself and Appa.

"Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg." Aang finished.

Flashback Ends

"You ran away?" I asked.

"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help." Aang added, lowering his head in sorrow.

"You don't know what would have-"

"The world needed me and I wasn't there to help." Aang cut me off raising his arms in the air.

"Aang..." I trailed off.

"The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world." Aang continued with regret in his voice.

"You're being too hard on yourself, even if you did run away. I think it was meant to be." I explained to Aang who's eyes wandered to me with wonder. "If you had stayed, you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders."

"You don't know that." Aang dismissed.

"I know it was meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope." I continued, playing with the tip of my braid and Aang gives me a faint smile.

It was silent for a few moments. I'm really glad Aang and I had this conversation, I really got to know him better and it makes me feel much closer to him on a personal level.

"Help!" A feminine voice cried and we turned to find two figures standing in the rain. "Oh, please help!"

It was the Fisherman's wife and my sister.

"Aya! Aang!" Katara shouted and I ran up to them with Aang behind me.

"It's okay! You're safe!" I assure them and I lead both of them near the fire.

"But my husband isn't." The lady told us.

"What do you mean? Where's Sokka?" I asked specifically to Katara who was deeply worried.

"They haven't returned!" Katara said with panic. "They should have been back by now."

"And the storm is becoming a typhoon! They're caught out at sea!" The lady continued.

"I'm going to find them." Aang declared rising to his feet.

"I'm going with you," Katara said.

"Me too." I added.

"I'm staying here." The lady sat down with his arms folded.

We got Appa ready to take off towards Sokka and the fisherman and turned to the lady.

"We'll be back soon." Aaang assured the lady. "I promise."

The three of us fly out on Appa in the pouring rain in search of the my brother and the fisherman.

We flew out into the dangerous part of the storm searching for the two boys.

"Where are they?" I asked ove the thunder and rain.

Right then, a hugr wave was coming our way. I gasped and Katara took me in her arms.

As we reached the wave Aang shouted.

"Come on, Appa!"

Aang used his airbending to create a path through the wave we we successfully made it through the wave without any harm done.

Katara lets me go and I sigh with relief.

"The boat!" Aang pointed towards a boat in the distance and we flew right towards it. Appa paused right above the ship and Aang hopped off Appa onto the ship. Right on cue, a pole fell down and aang brings up four sprouts of water, splitting it in half.

Aang gives the fisherman and Sokka and rope and he hops back onto the Appa who starts to fly again. Successfully, the two of them land on the saddle and the both of them grin with pink cheeks.

From behind them, a massive wave hits us and devours us up. I gasped and blacked out from the impact.

I woke up moments later and I was in a huge air bubble. I realized what was happening and calmed down. Aang saved us all from drowning.

Aang emerged from the ocean and we flew right passed Zuko's ship. Zuko and I made eye contact for a second and I got this strange feeling in my chest when I looked at him. I averted my eyes shook the feeling off.

We flew back to the cave where Aang and I were. The storm on passed and there was only light rain at the moment.

The fisherman's wife ran up and hugged her husband.

"Oh, you're alive! You owe this boy an apology!" The wife frowned at her husband.

"He doesn't have to apologize." Aang dismissed.

"What if, instead of an apology, I give him a free fish and we call it even?" The man negotiated.

"Actually, I don't eat meat." Aang intercepted.

"Fish ain't meat!" The man said.

"Seriously, you're still going to pay me, right?" Sokka asked, stepping towards the couple.

The man hands Sokka a disgusting looking fish and I giggled at this.

"Aya." I turned to Aang. "I think you were right before. I'm done dwelling on the past."

"Really?" I smiled with hope.

"I can't makes 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." Aang smiled proudly.

I gave him a soft smile. "I don't think you're gonna have those nightmares anymore."

The fisherman stepped in. "And if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar."

I saw Aang smile faintly at this and I let out a small sigh of happiness.

"Do you hear that? It stopped raining." Sokka told us, looking outside. The sky was still cloudy, but the rain had stopped.

All of us stepped outside to enjoy the view and Appa decided to shake the raindrops off himself, splashing all of us in the process

"Appa!