Aang (aangular) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-11-13 20:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: aang |
He wasn’t angry now, but he was frustrated. Everyone was seeing spirits except for him! And he was good at seeing spirits! It was part of his calling!
His sour mood would spill out on his friends if he didn’t get it under control. It’s not like it was anyone’s else fault he couldn’t see—
“You are not being mindful, Aang. You have a funny little crinkle between your eyebrows.”
Aang’s eyes shot open and he nearly fell forward with how hard he turned towards the voice. Gyatso was kneeling beside him, a small smile on his face. He looked just as Aang remembered him and tears immediately pricked at Aang’s eyes.
“Gyatso!” Aang tried to leap at his beloved mentor for a hug but he tumbled through the spirit and landed face first on his bedroom floor. “Owww,” he mumbled.
“Ah, I am sorry, young one.” Gyatso didn’t look that sorry but he’d always been a bit of a prankster. “I think I am only here in spirit. But it is good to see you well. I was...worried for you.”
Guilt flashed sharp and bright in Aang’s heart as he pushed back up and pulled his knees to his chest.
He’d ran from the temple without saying a word; he’d hid from his duty and his monk family, and lost them all to a brutal attack - and a hundred years stuck frozen in ice. He used to hate himself for that fact. But he knew now there was no going back to change it and he’d ultimately needed the friends and teachers he gained when he broke free. Without them, he wouldn’t have become a fully realized Avatar and done what he needed to make things right between the Four Nations.
Still.
“I’m sorry I left you, master.” Aang dropped his chin, appearing smaller for a moment. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help defend the temple.”
“Aang…”
“I didn’t mean to leave forever! I was just so upset and scared--”
“Aang.” Gyatso couldn’t grab Aang by the shoulders, but the way he said his name practically did it for him. “I never blamed you.”
Aang’s lower lip quivered but he got it under control, straightening his shoulders. “I came back and set things right eventually. I ended the war and brought the nations together in peace. With a lot of help. I don’t--I don’t think I could’ve done it in time to save you.”
Gyatso’s gentle smile felt like a balm on a very old wound. He nodded his bald head and clasped his hands together in front of him. “I always knew you were meant for wonderful things, Aang.”
“Because I’m the Avatar.”
“No. Because you have a warm heart that is all your own,” Gyatso corrected. “And you are stronger in spirit than men three times your age.”
Blinking rapidly, Aang got back down on his knees on the meditation mat and bowed his head. Quiet tears slipped down his cheeks. “I...I’ve missed you very much,” he whispered.
“And I you,” Gyatso said as Aang swiped his sleeve across his damp face. “Now come on, get up. Let us go see what there is to see in this strange land. Do you still air scooter?”
“Do I!” Aang leapt to his feet and whipped up an air scooter, zooming around the walls of his bedroom to Gyatso’s laughter.
It was the best sound Aang had heard in a very long time.