tushanshu_logs | Try to see it my way

Entry tags:

Try to see it my way

Characters: Wan, Aang, Zuko
Date: 08.07 just after this
Location: Wood Sector; Mu-Gai
Situation: Wan takes Zuko to see Aang
Warnings/Rating: Awkward Zuko and Tears

[Wan followed the pull on his soul that he figured was most likely Aang. He still couldn't tell Aang and Korra apart from each other - and they both still just felt like him - but Korra didn't live in the Wood Sector like both Aang and Wan did. And the second tug on his soul was further out. The closer to Mu-Gai they got, the stronger that tug felt and he knew he'd chosen the right one to follow.

Wan trotted up to the door and knocked on it while he turned to look back at Zuko.]

He knows we're here... well, he knows I'm here, anyway. He should be down to see us pretty fast.

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Uh uh.

[Aang's voice is distracted. There's too much to think about and he's watching as Zuko. Zuko. Crown-prince of the Fire Nation. As he just...walks away from his doorstep. It's only after Aang loses line of sight of Zuko that he closes the door with a quiet click and turns to follow in Wan's wake towards the kitchen.]

[Wan found a teapot quick enough (ew, metal) and set it up so he could heat the water with his own hand. It was easier to get the temperature right that way, even if he had to hold his hand out a few inches from the pot because of the metal.]

I need to get you a proper clay teapot. This one is terrible. Where do you keep the tea leaves?

[Wan was totally going to make small talk for a little while.]

[Aang's head tilts to one side. After all that's just happened Wan's worried about tea?]

They're in the...here I'll get them.

[He opens the cabinet door and with airbending moves the container of tea from the shelf over to the countertop closest to Wan.

In the process he's instantly reminded of Gyatso, and how the older man would make him tea, or play Pai Sho with him when ever Aang was having a particularly stressful day.

oh.]

[Wan's back was to Aang so he didn't see the realization of his little ploy dawn over the the younger man's face. Instead he took the tea and added it to the now-boiling water as he removed his hand, and with it, the heat. His next task was to search for cups. By the time he found them (and was satisfied with how clean they were), the tea was ready to serve. He poured it expertly - by hand - and finally turned around to offer a steaming cup to Aang.]

Is this your favorite tea?

[Smiles and small talk and an absolutely relaxed attitude. He was trying to do his best to radiate an aura of safe.]

[Aang is careful to stay out of Wan's way as he watches him pour the tea, remembering very vividly how the smell of Gyatso's favorite brew would fill the abbey almost like incense.]

Not really, it's just the stuff we have on hand. If I had a favorite tea I wouldn't know how to make it. It was a special blend my mentor drank and I never paid enough attention to get the recipe right.

Do you remember what it smells like?

[Wan asked as he sat down opposite Aang and let his tea cool just enough that his tongue wouldn't burn when he drank it. But he wasn't going to let his own cool much more than that. He'd drunk enough cold tea before leaving the Lion Turtle to last him a lifetime.]

We could experiment and try to recreate it.

[He nods, pulling his legs up onto the seat so he can wrap his arms around his knees.]

Like home. I...

[Life is messy.
Aang looks towards his own cup. With a flick of the wrist a small whirlwind appears. It scoots over towards the steaming cup of tea and cools it to just the right temperature for drinking.]

I don't know that I'm ready for that. Not yet.

Okay.

[Wan wasn't going to push Aang. This was about getting him to relax and destress, not poke at topics that would make things worse.]

Then we'll just keep trying all the teas in the city together until we find one you like. And a teapot. And I'll show you how to make it properly.

[A ghost of a smile starts to curl at the edge of Aang's mouth.]

That's a lot of tea.

Well, we don't have to try it all at once.

[Wan grinned, laughing a little.]

We could just start making a list and buying a little at a time and trying it. And we can go to Iroh's tea shop to have what he serves. He makes great tea.

[Aang's smile broadened.]

He gives really good advice too.

[He takes a sip from his tea.]

This isn't it. This tea does remind me of Omashu though. Bumi never cared what he drank.

[Wan took a sip of the tea himself and then made a face.]

If Omashu is made of dirt and dead pine needles, then I guess this is a perfect tea for them. It'd be better with more pine needles.

[And that gets Aang to laugh out right.]

It kind of is. It's one of the Earth Kingdoms, so...lots of dirt. And it's in the mountains, so there are lots of trees too.

[Aang had told him a little about the Air Nomads already, but not much about the rest of the nations. So he took the opportunity presented.]

What are the Earth Kingdoms like? And what's Omashu like? Who's Bumi. Will you tell me about them?

Big. All of them are very very big. The Earth Kingdom is the largest of the four nations. Right now there are two kingdoms, Omashu and Ba Sing Se. Three if you count Kyoshi Island. There used to be more, but those were always the biggest.

I met Bumi in Omashu when me and Gyatso traveled there. We were friends from the get-go. Bumi's a Mad Genius. It was his idea to use the gravity slide mail system as a super slide, with air and earthbending to make the sleds go faster.

[Aang's smile serves as punctuation to his story, with it becoming more and more bittersweet towards the end.]

He's king now of the whole city.

King? Wow.

[Wan blinked, his eyes looking off in the distance at his own memories.]

I bet he's a great King if he's your friend. The Chous are the only ruling family I've ever known and they're terrible people.

I'm sure he is, even if he does confuse his people a whole lot. When the Fire Nation attacked his city he surrendered, even though he's one of the best earthbenders in the world. And when me, Katara, and Sokka met him the first time he threw us in a recently refurbished dungeon after throwing us a feast. I...

I didn't recognize him, mostly because I wasn't expecting him to still be around.

He threw you in a dungeon?

[That was less nice than he was thinking of.]

After the feast, yeah. And then the next day he challenged me to a series of tests in order to save my friends from Creeping Crystal. But it only turned out to be rock candy.

I'm not sure I'd like him very much.

[Because wow. Who does that to friends? ~~other than Bumi~~]

I don't think Sokka liked him very much either, but I was really happy to see him once I knew who he was. He's the only familiar face I'd seen that wasn't a past life or a statue.

[Wan's eyes drifted the side and he drank his tea quietly, feeling very guilty all of a sudden. Jaya wasn't exactly a shining pillar of human decency when they met after his banishment, but if he'd survived and Wan had had a chance to see him after Harmonic Convergence, he'd be pretty happy about it.

Wan set his cup down and put on a smile.]

Then that's what matters, isn't it? I'm glad you got to see him again and that someone from your time before the ice was still there to welcome you.

For what it's worth? I think the two of you would get along great. He's all about non-linear thinking and approaching problems from a different point of view.

[Well, that was as good an opening as he was going to get.]

Speaking of different points of view... are you okay?

[Aang examines his own tea for a moment while he chooses his words.]

You brought my second biggest enemy to my front door without any warning. I could be better.

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