tushanshu_logs | Favorite People and Places [Closed]

Entry tags:

† aang

Favorite People and Places [Closed]

Characters: Katara and Aang
Date: Sometime after Katara arrived, but before the world went to crap
Location: The Turtle's Head
Situation: Catching up is hard to do.
Warnings/Rating: Warning: Totes Adorbs

"It's just a little bit further this way," he says as he excitedly waves her across yet another walkway towards...well, he hasn't exactly told her yet. Not specifically anyway. Only that this is his favorite place on the Turtle.

Not the lionturtle. Or the sealturtle. Or even the turtleduck.
Just turtle. Yeah, that's weird for him too, and it shows on his face every single time he says it.

"I'm pretty sure this is the most spiritual place around."
The closer they get to their destination, the more a feeling of calm begins to creep into the very air itself.

"I can feel it."

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She laughs softly to herself as she follows him, shaking her head fondly. There's no telling where they're going, but for now she doesn't really care; it's just nice to be with her friend again, even if it is in a different world, and she's not hesitant to admit she's curious about this location. Given his excitement over the map at the beginning of their travels together and the places they ended up because of it, she's sure it won't disappoint. Aang rarely disappoints.

"How did you find this...?" she asks, looking around her as the feeling begins to seep in. It's nice here... All the stress that has built up within her-- the war they had been fighting in, the fact that she was summoned to an entirely different world immediately after watching a close friend take a lightning strike to the chest in her place, not knowing where her brother or the others were...Aang facing the firelord...-- up to this point is slowly edging away.

"I... I feel it too... Are there spirits here?"

Edited 2014-09-10 21:38 (UTC)

"Toph told me about it when I was still in the hospital, but when I got out it just sort of...called to me."

Just like the Foggy Swamp, only backwards.

Aang makes his way over towards his favorite spot, and doesn't so much sit as he flops onto the ground.

"I don't think so, but Korra says there's water in the palace that's a lot like the water at the Northern Oasis."

"Toph?"

She asks too soon, not thinking about it until it's too late; Korra had already told her that Toph had 'gone back'...

"You were in the hospital too? I know that's how Zuko arrived..."

There. It wasn't an easier topic, but it was better than thinking about friends that had left, and she's still really curious.

She watches as he finds his place and throws himself into it, and smiles. He's still full of that joy she's grown so fond of. Following his lead, she stays close, but continues to look around...

...until he mentions that water.

She turns back to him, something brightening in her eyes. It's clear she would really like to get her hands on some again.

"Really? Wan mentioned something about it, too...I don't know anything about the palace though, except we can't really get there... right?"

"I don't think so, no. But then...I haven't really tried."
There's a lot that Aang hasn't done since he arrived. Learned firebending, spoken to General Iroh more than a handful of times, spoken to either Zuko more than once. It all creeps up on him now, and so he tries to distract himself by flicking at small nearby pebbles.

"That's where we used to come into this world from, the Palace I mean. But I only remember waking up in the hospital with Korra and Toph."

He doesn't mention that he thought she was Katara, though the memory of it causes him to blush slightly.

She headed back to him, taking up a seat at his side as he admitted he hadn't tried. "That's okay... I imagine it would be different here...probably," she assured him, watching closely as he flicked the pebbles away. Her brow furrowed... He only did that when he was uncomfortable with something, and in response, she tilted her head and gave him a gentle but questioning look. She's there, now, and more than willing to listen to him if he wants to talk about something.

She scoffs a little, though, when he explained the workings of the Palace.

"Yeah, I can't say I got the best of welcomes, either," After thinking about it a moment, she felt guilty, and added, "...though I guess it was better than waking up in a hospital..."

Something pricks in her chest, and she wraps her arms loosely across her middle as she looks at him. "So you were brought here after Azula attacked you, too?"

Aang nods slowly, eyes drifting upwards to gaze at the horizon.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you with Azula. Or...I won't be there. Ugh, this is so confusing."

She pushes herself a little at his apparent distress and shakes her head, reaching over and gently laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. I mean... you were a little busy... you know... fighting the Fire Lord and all..."

She pauses, realizing how confused she is herself now. "I mean..." A long moment of silence passes, and she shakes her head slowly. "Yeah... this is really confusing...."

"I wish I could say it gets easier, but it kind of doesn't," he says ruefully. "At least not for me it hasn't."

She sighs a little and brings her hand back to her lap as she looks out at the sky. "At least we have each other, now," she reminds him with a small hopeful smile. "And Zuko... he's really on our side, you know... and there are others from our world, right? It will get better... one way or another, things will start looking up."

It's then that he scoots over close enough so that he can easily rest his temple on the curve of her shoulder.

"They already have."

He's quiet for a moment.

"I didn't believe it at first, about Zuko. And then I didn't want to believe it. But...he said something to me not too long ago that makes me want to try harder."

Her attention swivels back to him entirely when he leans on her, and with a gentle smile, she settles back more comfortably, lightly laying her head against the airbender's. It's odd; she missed him, and they haven't even been apart all that long, though... the aang next to her had been away from all of them much longer than she was aware. Confused, she surmised it was because she could feel that he had missed his friends.

She quiet while he is, enjoying the breeze and his company, until he speaks. Her shoulders shake a little in a soft laugh.

"Oh, no I understand, especially knowing when they pulled you." Not that his earlier pull point makes her any happier; in fact, it still makes her feel sort of off. "Zuko was terrible to us. You actually had to convince me to let him join us when he finally did come around, and even then..." Her gaze falls a little into something more thoughtful. "Even then I didn't trust him. In fact, I didn't want to be anywhere near him. But then he helped Sokka rescue dad, and Suki, and he helped me find the man who killed my mother, and he taught you firebending..." She leans a little and looks down at Aang. "He turned around and became a great friend to all of us because you were willing to give him another chance, even when he didn't deserve one."

A few long seconds pass and she can't help but ask.

"What did he say to you?"

Some of what Katara is saying is new to him, but some he's known about second-hand from Toph. He smiles fondly at how the same information can sound so different depending on the source. Toph and Katara couldn't be more different if they tried, and sometimes Aang thinks they do try, just to keep things interesting.

"He said, 'Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing.' Monk Gyatso taught me that. Hearing his words come out of Zuko was...weird doesn't even come close to covering it."

"...as weird as meeting someone from your future or past?" she offers with a meek smile. Maybe that'll get him talking on a lighter note.

Well played, Katara. Well played.

"Weirder than even meeting Toph's daughter, Lin."

Yeah, you heard that right: Toph's Daughter.

"Toph had a daughter?!"

The words fell from her lips before she could stop herself, and she quickly covered her mouth.

"That's... Wow.... that's..."

Aang's already giggling by the time he sits up so he can get a better look at Katara's face.

"Well she will at some point. I didn't get to talk to Lin all that much, but she's a metalbender just like Toph. And police chief of a city that hasn't been built yet."

She sat, shocked, for a few minutes, then finally allowed herself to laugh, fully.

"Really? That... actually really sounds like someone who could be Toph's daughter..."

She grins, then shifts next to him a little, crossing her legs and pushing her hair over her shoulder with a somewhat knowing look on her face.

"You know, Korra said I grew up to be the best master waterbender and healer..."

It's a long shot that she's not entirely sure she believes, though she wants to. She very, very much wants to, and she's already determined to get there someday.

"I don't need to be from the future to know that that happens," he says as he playfully rolls his eyes at her.

"I'm lucky that I'll get to be trained by you twice."

The smile she returned to him was full and happy as she laughed. "That confident huh? I mean... I am pretty great..." she teased back with a wink, before settling in once more.

"How's that been going, by the way? Your training? Have you been practicing?"

Aang all but deflates.

"It...it goes. It's going. It's a thing that goes."

She can't stop the knowing grin from staying on her face.

"And your earthbending? What about that?"

"Earthbending? It's...it's my strongest element. Toph even said so."

Aang has never been a great liar.
It's part of his charm. Truly.

"...stronger than airbending?"

Edited 2014-09-25 17:27 (UTC)

"That's what she said. I'd say you could ask her yourself, but she went home a while ago."

Convenient, that.

".....Aang."

"What?! That's what she said! Or...at very least she implied, this one time. Maybe."

"...uh-huh..."

She can't believe it at all, but she's at least amused that he's trying to so hard. Her next question is slightly more serious though.

"What about your firebending? You know... now that Zuko's here, you could start working on that again..."

This trip to the Turtle's Head is not turning out the way he'd hoped. At all.
Aang takes a big breath and sighs almost all of it out, flopping backwards on the ground as he does so.

"Can we not talk about firebending, please?"

Edited 2014-09-25 17:57 (UTC)

She blinks and looks over at him properly as he flops backward onto the ground.

"What? Why not? You turned out to be a great firebender."

"Maybe where you're from, but where I'm from firebending is still really scary and I haven't tried it since..."

He goes quiet, throwing one arm over his face to cover it.

"...the last time."

When he burned you. Yeah, someone is still afraid of letting go to that degree. Even after the whole chakra clearing.

"I understand..." She softens and reaches over for his free hand. "I know it's scary, and that what happened last time was out of your control. But it was your first try; I promise, it will be okay... when you're ready to try again."

She smiles reassuringly; Katara has every bit of confidence in his abilities. "I know it's going to take some courage to try again, but you really are good at it with some training..."

She pauses and shrugs a little. "And besides, I'm a full fledged healer now. I'm not afraid of getting a little singed. ...Which won't happen." Or at least, it didn't back home.

Edited 2014-09-25 18:44 (UTC)

"But it wasn't, Katara. I was in control, I was just...goofing off. And if that can happen when I'm goofing off, what'll happen when I really can't control myself."

He moves his arm a little to look up at her.

"What will happen when I can reach the Avatar State again?"

There's more than a bit of fear behind his eyes.

"I don't want to be responsible for hurting people like that ever again."

"Aang..."

She hesitates, then sighs, resolved and her gentle smile still in place.

"I'm not saying you've got to learn it right now. But I know you well enough to know you won't hurt anyone when you're ready to try again. Even in the avatar state. You just need to be careful in your training, is all. And you will be. I've...seen it."

His eyes search her face, looking for signs of insincerity or falsehoods...but there are none. When he smiles next, it's tight-lipped and still apprehensive, but it's undeniably a step in the right direction.

"Okay. Thank you, Katara. Even...even Wan was pressuring me. It's been really tiring, is all."

Well... at least she's able to get that much. Satisfied for now, she softens her smile and tips her head. "It's going to be okay, Aang... I promise."

After a moment's pause, she attempts to lighten the mood a little and asks, "So... this Wan guy...Who is he, exactly? I mean, we met, but only for a little bit before he brought me to you and Zuko..." If he was pressuring Aang toward learning the elements, he had to be someone close enough to understand the young avatar's hesitations.

"I hope so," he says with a sigh.

"Wan? He's another Avatar. The first Avatar, from ten thousand years before Korra."

Her response is swift, much like her reaction to the knowledge that Toph had a daughter.

"What!?"

"That was my first reaction too, but...he is. I can feel it. Even with my chi blocked, I can feel it."

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Favorite People and Places [Closed]

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</insert beginnings of trademark hopeful speech>

Hopeful optimism?

Yes. And adorable moments.

Totes. Totes adorable moments.

Re: Totes. Totes adorable moments.

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TAGGING HAPPY THINGS D:

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OH MAN I FOUND A LOST THREAD

HAI!

Re: HAI!

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