[NOT a MINOR. MINORS DNI.] I have fanfictions attached to me like an IV...*•°*°•* [ !!!WARNINGS!!! ]: dark content, adult content, but also fluffy fuzzy lovey dovey stuff ahead.
Aang Is the Ultimate “Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t” Character
Aang might genuinely be the most “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” character in Avatar.
If he acts like a twelve-year-old, he’s immature. If he acts like the Avatar, suddenly he’s too powerful and gets accused of having everything handed to him.
If he relies on Katara, he’s supposedly dependent on her. If he protects Katara, suddenly he’s possessive. If he loves her openly, he’s obsessed. If he had backed off completely, people would’ve said he never fought for her.
Even his biggest moral decision gets this treatment. Aang spends the entire series being taught that the Avatar exists to protect the world, only for practically everyone around him—including his past lives—to tell him that protecting the world means killing Ozai. But Aang refuses to throw away the last piece of his Air Nomad identity just because everyone else thinks it would be easier.
So he finds another way.
And somehow that becomes a problem too.
People call energybending a cop-out, but thematically it fits Aang almost perfectly. The Lion Turtle tells him, “Before the elements, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves.” Aang doesn't defeat Ozai by becoming more like Ozai. He wins through an older, more fundamental form of bending that requires his own spirit to remain unbendable.
And the cosmic-energy argument is even funnier.
When Aang unlocks the Avatar State, suddenly it's “cosmic energy did everything for him.” Okay…he's the Avatar. Connecting with cosmic energy is literally part of mastering the Avatar State. That's like complaining that a waterbender won because there happened to be water nearby.
And remember what Aang had to do to reach that point: confront his fear, grief, guilt, attachment, responsibility and eventually the possibility of losing Katara. He didn't stumble into enlightenment while looking for snacks.
That's basically Aang's entire existence in the fandom.
Lose? Fraud.
Win? Plot armor.
Use the Avatar State? Cosmic-energy merchant.
Don't use it? Weak Avatar.
Refuse to kill Ozai? Coward.
Kill Ozai? “So much for Air Nomad values.”
Love Katara? Too attached.
Let her go? “See? He never really loved her.”
At some point you realize the criticism isn't actually asking Aang to make a better choice.
It's asking him to somehow choose every contradictory option simultaneously.
Story type: Angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, sfw, established relationship, romantic relationship.
Summary of the story: Sokka comforts his newlywed wife through diabetic flare up and sudden lack of medicine to keep her alive. Happy ending.
A/N: For all the fellow type 1 diabetes people. I dont know if anyone would relate, but i think some who got it rougher would. It doesnt feel quite like what i wanted it to be, it didn't feel more like pure comfort, but at least i wanted to show how struggle was recognised and support was given. I dunno, nevermind.
Warmings: Angsty, but hurt/comfort and happy ending. Crying Sokka.
As your tired gaze looked up at your newlywed husband, you couldnt help but marvel at his genius combined with silly concentration routine. Tongue sticking out as his free hand sketched something, or maybe wrote down new ideas.
It was hard to tell, truly, with his horrible handwriting. Which wasn't surprising, considering his whole life wired his body as a warrior, not a poet. But, you guessed, what mattered most is that he understood his notes himself at least. For you to retranslate or redraw them to something conscious later on.
He always proudly called you his assistant, his precious helper.
Sokka's other hand, that wasn't occupied by a quill scratching against a rough parchment, softly and absentmindedly scratched over your scalp. Rough fingers carding through locks tenderly as the small space of upgraded hut was warmed by a steady crackling of the hearth.
Enclosed fireplace and the oil lamp only sources of dim light against thick furs littering the walls of your house and most importantly, Sokka's workspace. Already resigned to the fact that he stayed up late way too often, and now just making sure he didnt lost his sight before he hit his thirties.
It was another one of those horrible hard days, when he tried to distract you in the best ways he could. Without going insane from worry himself, while you both waited on the news about sacred spirit pond's water's arrival.
Of the very special kind of water that was only thing that still kept you alive through incurable sickness you was cursed with since childhood.
Surviving on sheer luck alone up to your age, since your homeland's village was graced with said sacred spirit pond without any of your people knowing about it.
It wasnt quite like one on the North Pole, which was nestled at the heart of Northern Water Tribe lands. But clearly powerful enough to postpone a day of your passing and horrible suffering of your deathly sentence.
A fate someone like you never deserved to battle against.
Sokka knew. Swore with his whole being, that he'd do anything to help ease your daily sufferings and let you live as freely and as happy as you could.
And he did what he could, indeed.
Ensuring that the illness was brought to attention across all nations, not without a use of his connections across the world. Having most important world's people as his friends and acquaintances.
Starting search parties across the South Pole to investigate for places where more such spirit ponds might be found. If you had one at your village, it meant more could be possibly found all over the world.
While, most importantly, working hard to ensure you always had stored enough of such miraculous liquid at your shared home. A safe place that rivaled traditional outlooks, perhaps to some of Wolf Cove's elder's opinion, without actually breaking them. Leveled up to a modern progressive ways of living just enough to account for your health's fragility.
But sometimes even he slipped in his judgement or something unpredictable happaned to intervene with, you would think, perfectly secured position of things.
As your flare up of health was dangling dangerously on the peripheral, Sokka started to chew on the tip of the quill very soon. Struggling to hold back the sheer worry at the overstretched patience of the wait that started to feel cruelly prolonged by fate itself.
Warrior's patience wearing thin with each slower blink, with each heavier breath of the woman he loved the most. Of one he oathed his undying love to, for all eternity, just mere weeks ago.
His hands trembled ever so slightly as he pushed the tool down, turned off the oil lamp and nervously smiled down. Hoping the darkness will hide most of his panicked expressions. Edges of his lips twitching in that hectic waves of confidence and helplessness.
Warm fingers moved to your cheeks and neck, rubbing in soothing circles with just the pads over feverishly warm from pain aches skin of your's.
His thumbs dipped into the chubby cheeks as he hummed a soothing tune you both was so used to hear from Katara whenever you got sick and she was there to nurture and sooth. Before she left for Republic City to built her own story.
Sokka was never good at harmonics, but, spirits and the moon above, did he tried for his beloved.
He'd start reciting poetry or singing opera if it took edge off your stress even for a tiny bit.
Rest of man's fingers, that rested more against your neck, started to reverently, but with familiar casualness, fiddle with the marriage necklace he gave to you on the day of his proposal. Willing dangling part of it, with symbols he carved with his own two hands, to click ever so slightly at playful, or more like anxious, nudges of his index finger.
Letting a silence be filled with something other then his picking up breathing and whooshing storm from outside of your little piece of heaven.
It wasn't hard for you to notice as he couldn't bring himself to look you in the eyes anymore as night progressed.
Guilt in them clear as day, which he usually handed you when he worked overtime and forgot important things. Now brought in by his anger at himself for not being able to let your life be more secure.
Even when he tried his best, something always tended to get against his plans.
And it was saying something, considering how meticulous he was about maintaining his stretegic plans and thinking everything through dozen times over.
Sometimes, he cussed in his head, it truly felt like spirits, cosmic forces, fate, whataver was at fault, didnt want you to have peace.
Which made his scientifical mind fume with irritation and confusion on just how to counter something out of simple mortal's grasp. When even magic didnt want to quite cooperate.
Your hand outstretched weakly to caress his hand placed against your marriage necklace, kissing it tenderly, trying to sooth him back. Brushing your lips on his rough palm sweetly, which always made his breath hitch in attraction and adoration towards you without a fail. And sleepily looked up from under your eyelashes at your husband, hoping to bridge the gap between your lover and the mounting terror in his soul.
"Sokka..Im sure it's going to be fine..And even if it isn't..It would never be your fault. You did so much already. You always do your best, everyone knows it. I know it. You know it."
You couldnt help but let out those sentences, despite realising it might've been most wrong thing to say at the moment. But you just wanted to be open completely, just in case.
It felt sour having to get used to this "just in case" as your reality, no matter how much time have passed. To always be prepared for outcomes that was far from ideal and bright.
And to be completely honest, when your sugar levels dropped, your state of mind turned to quiet drowning melancholy and sense of finality without your will.
Something so deeply chemical, that you struggled to fight off completely on the best days. Not to mention on days that felt as helpless as this one.
Soft murmures of his beloved reached warrior's ears, and his eyes finally snapped towards one's he vowed to gaze at until the day he dies with outmost devotion.
And his nervous smile fell immediately into a firm furrow of brows. Lip giving a betraying quiver that he fought hard to will away.
"Stop it, sweetcheeks."
He had to take a deep breath to remind himself to return to present and that hope was still there. And that you needed him to be strong when you couldn't.
"Just.. stop. Never say that. You are going to be alright, even if shipment wouldn't come in time. I'd get us on the fastest boat to the nearest piece of land with those damn ponds if i had to. We won't gave up like this, got it?"
His face scrunched up in pain, holding back tears. He nuzzled your cheeks tenderly, one by one. Before starting to leave soft pecks all over your face.
Yearning to soothe you as much as himself.
Reminding himself that your warmth was still there, with him.
He fought for your life alongside you for so long, ever since you were just friends.
And he wasn't about to stop when things became so much better and so much more hopeful after years of searching for ways to save you.
As a sound of your hungry stomach rumbled through the room for tenth time within hours, Sokka's shoulders hunched up even more.
He leaned in closer to your body as it rested partly on his lap. Desperately and apologetically running his palms all over your arms and back.
He had to starve you, his precious wife, for a whole, once accident happaned and all your miraculous saving liquid got destroyed.
(Sokka was surprised how he didnt buried that drunkard that somehow slipped in their hut by mistake right then and there.)
Just for the slim chance that it will slow the worst of the flare up of your incurable illness.
Hoping your body would stay strong enough until promised emergency shipment with "medicine" arrived to finally be able to support your body once you've eaten.
He understood, that if he fed you now, without help of spirirticaly induced waters, you might've not survived even up to this point.
But logic wasnt the heart, and his heart was getting torn apart at each heavy sigh, each squirm of your body against the aching all over your system and each distressed whimper of endurance.
Eventually, as more time passed, he gathered you in his arms, and held you close enough to almost fuse your bodies together, rocking you both softly.
Minutes more, and he started to do something he usually didnt do.
He prayed.
To the great waters, to the spirits, to the weather, to the moon, begging silently for things to go well.
To not take you from him when he just got enough courage to propose and have you as his partner for life.
Begging skies, the wind, anything that listened, not to make his beloved suffer any more then you already did.
And as he was sobbing quietly, your eyes closed in bone deep exaustion, lack of energy to go on. Sokka's hands desperately caressed over your hairs once again, as he whispered softly and warmly into your ears praises. Pleaded for you to be strong just a little bit longer.
And as his father burst through the doors of the couple's dwelling, inviting snowstorm from outside inside the small warm sanctuary, at firm and relieved look on man's face, Sokka sobbed out louder. World given him tentative chance to win.
He hastily but still gently laid you on the furs of your bed and ran out to help tug in big crate with a fully filled barrel of spirit pond's water.
Hakoda and his son made a fast work on ensuring the shipment was deliver inside the warm hut safely. Before Chief of the South left to go call in a healer just to be sure his daughter-in-law was completely safe.
Sokka stormed around the hut in a flurry, warming up the sweet tea he prepared earlier. Walked up and jolted you awake just enough to swallow sweetened tea without choking. And once he knew he gave you enough by how practice of similar situations taught him, he wailed out loudly in deep relief. Sligh trepidation still present, over whether or not he fixed your state up in time without big damage to your system to be done.
Your lips meeting so softly as if you were a glass, as he desperately needed to still feel the warmth and presence of your breath. To reaffirm for hundredth time this day.
And after a hour more, as your consciousness returned, it was you who had to comfort him now.
Your happy, albeit dizzy and weary smile felt like a sun breaking through storm clouds.
Aurora borealis and sunbeams dancing in his eyes when he saw it.
And wave of relief and unrivalled happiness filling his chest in an explosion of warmth.
He scooped you up and stood up, twirling your body just for a moment, careful not to provoke nausea, before hurrying you towards the dining area to heat up the light foods for you.
Choking back snot and tears of his as he murmured thanks to everything he knew, without letting you go.
Your light chuckles and small laughs at his sweet, innocently messy looks was a music to his soul, as he fed you small spoonfuls carefully.
While your trembling hands found enough strength to help Sokka blow his nose in a napkin. But he never even had will left to be embarrassed about something so justified terryfying.
Brushing clean yet parts of the cloth to dry his wet puffy cheeks, under his swollen eyes, until he was comfortable enough to breath steadily.
Before fully letting go into his care and support once more.
Life is never easy, but there always would be at least one person to share your burden, lighten your baggage, accept you, and love you strong enough to want to save your life each day, if they had to.
Thankfully, amazing person that he was, taught you that.
Reader needs Zuko to feel safe during horrible thunderstorms. So reader wont have to be scared to die from that awful weather.
Mrs. Reader needs Mr. Lightning Redirecter.
I headcanon that he is scared of thunderstors, after everything in his life that connected to lightnings being terryfying and near death experiences.
So that way reader and him could be scared together and support eachother.
They probably would hide away somewhere in the deepest parts of the palace/whataver settlement they currently reside at/cave.
We all trust him to redirect it but why taking chances and stressing over it.
I also headcanon that for situations like that, when violent thunderstorms hit, that Fire Lord Zuko has specifically prepared a built in secondary living arrangements and spa on lower levels of the palace grounds. Beds, hot spring baths, boardgames and all.
He takes his bestie/lover reader there each time with him.
And if anyone asks why grown man who can redirect the lightning itself and The Fire Lord himself needs it, he conveniently blames it on needing his precious companion feel safe and comfortable.
Reader wouldnt even peep against it, needing his presence even underground not to feel as stressed.
I just imagine Adult!Sokka having a best friend-crush who would prank him after he got way too tipsy or feverishly delirious.
She calls him her husband, like its most natural thing in the world. So sure, that it left him convinced witnin seconds.
Then she tells him with a straight face their 3 kids need their dad to make them a snow castle for a playground.
He falls asleep after that, sleeps on it, gets better at last. But upon waking up the next morning? He still remembers the last things he heard before falling asleep.
So, he actually gets up, dresses up clumsily, confused but happy to show off his mastery, gets outside, makes one(great one, actually). And then his friend feels bad when he is so overly happy, actually waiting for a moment as if kids gonna come running to praise and thank him any moment now. Having to reveal him she was merely joking over his delirious sleepy self.
Especially after seeing his face fell upon fully waking up and getting out of the work mode with saddest puppy eyes. Poor man actually cries suddenly feeling so empty.
(Maybe now reader would have to marry him just so he would forgive her. Wink Wink.)
This is for all the short girlies like myself who stand at around 5'0''-5'4''.
"Guys, I have a question." you murmur during one outing as you watch Aang looking to purchase a couple of moon peaches from a vendor.
"What's up?" Sokka asks from his spot lounging on Suki's lap.
"You can always ask us anything and we'll be happy to help." Katara says, always supportive as she lets water swirl around her fingers, entertaining a small group of kids.
You hum, nervous. You often wonder how you ended up as part of the world’s loudest friend group, and on top of that, dating an airbender who was as open as the sky. Sokka had teased you mercilessly about how Aang could get even a hermitclam to open up. Initially, you had rolled your eyes so hard Sokka screamed like a girl at seeing just the white of your eyes. But the more you spent time around his friends, the more you understood their quirks. Aaaand got used to their antics.
"Well," you draw the word out. "It's just." you shrug. "You all know how tall Aang is-"
"Yeah kinda hard not to notice. The kid had the growth spurt of the century." Sokka groused playfully. "Ow!" he yelped when Suki lightly smacked his forehead with the tip of her fan. "It's true! Even Katara was taller than him! Now he practically towers over all of us...." he glances sideways at you. "Ohhhh!" he cackles. "Having trouble with the height difference are we?" Suki lightly flicks his forehead again. "Ow! Why are you hitting me? I'm right!" Suki rolls her eyes good naturedly.
You blush. "We don’t have THAT much of a height difference!"
Toph shrugged from her spot on the stairs, absently warping her comet armband. "C'mon sparkles, you're not fooling anyone. You're shorter than even me, and even I can barely reach Twinkletoes' chest. Spit it out already-what's your question?"
You drag your hands down your face groaning. "Okay, okay. How can I kiss him easily given the fact that I'm...vertically challenged?"
Sokka snorts. "Short."
"I'm not short!" you state indignantly. Sokka grins crookedly back at you. Entirely unapologetic.
Toph shrugs. "Punch him in the stomach and when he doubles over there you go."
Katara held back a laugh. "Maybe something less violent? A little jump hug would work."
Suki ponders for a moment, giving you a thoughtful look. "Y’know, you could just ask him to lean down." She very pointedly ignores Sokka’s quiet drawn out “Lame!”
Everyone looks at Zuko who very conveniently now has a few Flaming Fire Flakes treats in his mouth. “Can’t talk with my mouth full,” he mutters, chewing.
Sokka pushes himself off Suki with a grunt, leaning his forearms on his knees as he sits fully on the stairs, still remaining close to his girlfriend. You don't like the look in his eyes. "Jump him." he says gravely.
You blink, wondering if Suki had tapped him too hard with her fan. "I'm sorry?"
Sokka grins. "You heard me. You see him over there? You get a good running start, jump him from behind, and before he even knows what's happened, bam. Oogies."
Katara groans, "I still can't believe you can't just say 'kiss'."
You sputter as you attempt to say, "I-I can't. What? Just run up in the middle of the street and jump the Avatar from behind?"
"Nooooooo," Sokka corrects with his pointer finger in the air as if he's teaching a very important lesson. "You run in the middle of the busy street from behind and jump Aang. Big difference."
Now it’s your turn to raise an eyebrow. “Last I checked, Aang was still the Avatar. I can’t just DO that in the middle of a crowded street! What would he-”
Katara is the one to interrupt, though her voice was gentler than Sokka’s teasing. “He’s still Aang. I actually think he’d find it kinda cute.”
Sokka nodded, looking smug. “Thanks for the backup little sister.”
Hearing all too familiar laughter, you quickly turn to glance at Aang. But from where he was across the street, Aang was laughing at something the vendor said. With the peaches now in hand, you wouldn’t have much time left before he turned back towards the group.
You gasp as you’re suddenly shoved lightly forward. When you turn to glare at who pushed you, Sokka is right there behind you. The grin on his face was downright devious as he whispered conspiratorially, “Do it, do it, do it, DO IT YOU COWARD!” giving you another light shove.
You sighed, braced yourself, and took off running through the street. You duck and weave through people, trying your best to ignore Sokka’s cheers in the distance. Just as you’re about to coil your body and spring up on Aang’s back, he turns on you, a smile on his face and in his moonstone eyes.
You had completely forgotten about Aang's seismic sense. Or was it his airbending that allowed him to know what you'd been about to do? Could he sense even the slightest changes of movement in the air around him?
But you had already committed. You couldn’t very well stop your momentum now that you were in the air. Aang stepped back to brace himself as he grabbed you with one arm. He wrapped it around your waist, securing you to his chest, using his airbending to keep the moon peaches from hitting the ground. “Gotcha!” he states, a smile in his voice.
You let out a little “oof!” as you hit his chest. Your chin brushes the top of his chest as you look up at him. You can’t help but smile as you see those moonstone gray eyes shining down at you. “Uhh…Hi?”
Aang chuckles, “Hi there.” he hoists you up a bit so you can wrap your legs around his waist. With a last word of farewell to the vendor, he heads back to the group. Entirely okay with holding you to him in a public setting, as if you were both at Air Temple Island. You really did have to stop overthinking how he’d react about certain affectionate displays you might want to show. “Any particular reason you decided to become a flying koala otter?” he teased, lightly dancing his fingers along your side, causing you to squeal and squirm.
You pretend to think. “I just wanted to do this.” You stretch your neck up and kiss him lightly on the lips. Before Aang can react, you jump down, and snag one of the moon peaches that his airbending juggles in the other palm. You quickly make your way back to your friends, taking a bite.
"Well, Pebble, what's next on the list?"
"Cookies and Firecracker Buns, Chief!"
"Really now? Well, can't argue with what the list says now can we Lil' Bandit?"
"Yay!"
The Beifongs have me in a chokehold ;A;
Hi! Idk if you are taking requests, publicly haze me if you arent.
But I was wondering what the gaang would do with a s/o thats not the biggest fan of touch? For example, slight freak out and sudden itchyness? Like in the beginning of the relationship being iffy, but when they are further on- being more comfortable?
GAANG WITH A TOUCH AVOIDANT LOVER
Masterlist
Includes: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Zuko
A/N: Hiya!! Don’t worry, I am taking requests, thank you for sending one!! This was interesting to think about :) I’d actually encourage them for multi-character posts, I’ve been struggling with ideas lol
AANG:
• Aang would understand it with the upmost seriousness.
• Even growing up, his love never existed within small displays or subtle touches. It showed through his bright enthusiasm, his protectiveness, the way he lights up with laughter and happiness around those he loves. His love is always unforgivingly clear through how the presence of his loved ones motivates him, makes him stronger, shows how human he can be while being a powerful Avatar, all the same.
• You’d see it when he’s crushing on you–how he blushes and flusters when you simply look cute, how he’d jump to please you, the way he not-so-subtly compliments you. It’d be so blatantly obvious, even if you’re shy or if you try to brush it off.
• So, when your relationship first begins, he reaches for you so happily that it only makes you feel more guilty when you jump with panic at the brush of his skin against yours.
• Though, he apologises faster than you can, immediately placating your guilt with soft words and reassurances that speak deeper than mere comfort. You’re instantly reassured that there is no pressure from him, no expectation, you don’t even have to explain yourself.
• Instead, he seamlessly re-directs his optimism to other types of affection.
• He’d so openly and loudly compliment you, making it known to everyone that he’s entirely awed by you. He’d show you private things, using his airbending to take you places usually reserved for only him, Momo and Appa, but now opened up to you because you’re so special to him. He’d be vulnerable with you, expressing his deepest struggles and hopes, letting you in where no else has been.
• It’d be more loving than anything else. Even without touch, you love him on a deeper level than anyone, you see what no one else does, you become the center of Aang’s world.
• It only makes it more special when you finally get comfortable to initiate touch. Every touch shows how far you’ve both come, each hug a show of your deep trust, everytime you hold hands it feels as though he’s proving how much you mean to him.
• And to a man who’s constantly faced with the worst of his world, it means more to him than anything.
KATARA:
• Out of everyone, Katara understands the most.
• For her, she’s never been an heavily affectionate person and her healing abilities only exacerbated that. She gradually became used to the ghostly cold skin of people on the brink of death, the slight tremble of someone who’s hurt, the feeling of pain under her fingers.
• It made touch something that walked a thin tightrope in her mind, something that could go from comforting to a reminder of every single anguished face she’s ever seen.
• So, when she first brushes against you and you instantly pull away with a panicked look in your eyes, she immediately backs away. Her eyes wouldn’t be confused nor judgemental, just soft and acknowledging in a way that speaks no expectation.
• She doesn’t push you to touch, doesn’t even pry for an explanation as to why you avoid it unless if you want to explain. Rather, she kindly lets you know that it’s okay and continues on normally, as if to affirm that it is.
• After all, she doesn’t see any reason to question you when it’s your feelings. She understands full well how it feels to be brushed off, she would never do it to you.
• Instead, her love speaks through her loving words, the time you spend together, the way you take care of one another. It exists in the smiles you both share when no one’s looking, how you in-tune you become without realising it, the times you notice things about the other that no one else does. She loves your smile, how you dress, how you simply exist in the world, no strings attached.
• Katara’s love lives as openly and free as the water she controls, entirely accepting of your boundaries as though it were just something that was, not something to navigate.
• Though, when you get more comfortable with affections, she melts into you as if it were there the whole time because, for Katara, the unphysical love meant all the same. She’d come to treasure every brush of your hand against hers, your hugs, the simply affections that mean so much more because it means there’s palpable trust attached to it.
SOKKA:
• As opposed to what might be an easy assumption of him, Sokka would instantly be so accommodating of you.
• While many people may overlook it in favour of his goofy comedy, Sokka has grown up taking care of people. He raised Katara as much as she raised him, together they fished to provide for their tribe, he’s always been motivated by making the world better for people, regardless of if he knows them or not.
• Hence, before he’s ever even tried to initiate touch, he’s checking in with you while you’re both hanging out for the first time.
• “So… what do you like, pretty person?”
• Perhaps you’re thrown off guard initially, maybe you only briefly mention your aversion to touch, but he’s taking in every word as seriously as he can.
• Instead, he’d indulge in your interests as much as possible, encouraging you in every other way he can and only attempting touch if it were something as easy as a high five or bumping his shoulder against yours. In no way does he push your boundaries.
• You quickly realise that he holds no expectations of you. There is no pressure to be affectionate with him, no attempts to speed the process up, if anything, he merely seems to need your presence, your approval and your laughter to please him.
• And when you begin to reach for him, he eagerly meets you halfway. It’d be exciting to him, a relieving sign that he’d done right by you for you to trust him now.
• So, if anyone tried to judge you? He’d give them a very stern talking to and send them walking the other way, because, for Sokka, his love doesn’t thrive by pushing for what might be expected, it thrives alongside your happiness and wellbeing. That’s the most important thing to him.
SUKI:
• Suki understands so easily that it’s almost disconcerting.
• For her, a true connection with another person is something that goes beyond the physical world. It’s a respect that embeds in your heart, puts you on the same wavelength, is what makes you understand another person, better than they understand themself. It’s a love that brings her so close to her Kiyoshi sisters, Avatar Kiyoshi herself and, now, you as well.
• It’s that kind of love that isn’t something that needs to be proved to mean something to her, it just needs to exist for what it is as purely as it can. And that’s what makes understanding your aversion to touch so easy.
• The first time she’d try to initiate touch, it’d be something casual, the only meaning being in the newness of your relationship where there is little expectation, only hope. So, when your breath audibly catches at her touch and a disturbed look catches in your eye, the only emotion that crosses her mind is guilt.
• She’d back away, a frown on her lips at the sheer thought of discomforting you, even unintentionally, even when you’re looking at her as if you need to apologise. Then, she’d reassure you and affirm that this doesn’t change anything to her, she just wants to make sure you feel safe and she wants to understand how you feel.
• From that, your relationship would feel stronger than it had before. Her voice would soften merely at the sight of you, her whole, poised demeanour being able to relax in your presence. She’d love what you love, your motivations, your hopes, what you miss, what you want. It’d be written through her every action: how she cares for you, subtly protects your image, puts your feelings above her own.
• Even without any physical affection, Suki’s connection with you would be so entirely warm that it’s unmistakable to everyone around you.
• So when you begin to hold onto her and reach for her affections, it’d only affirm that, making your trust so whole that it becomes she could never lose, an integral part to her being. She’d ease into your touches in return, holding you so gently that you can’t help but relax into it, the comfort of your love for her easing the discomforts of before.
TOPH:
• Initially, Toph is thrown off her game.
• As embarrassing as some people may think it is, she has a habit of clinging to the people she’s attracted to–her arms around their biceps, leaning her head against them, any excuse to get close. For her, it’s an innocent way to see someone past their voice and the silhouette conjured by her senses; perhaps to affirm or deny her delusion by how they feel.
• And if anyone pried, would she blame it on her blindness? Hell yeah.
• But, when you first jolt at her touch, it immediately throws her off. She hears how your heart jumps in your chest, hears the tinge of discomfort in your voice, even when you’re apologising. Her senses pick up on every single micro-reaction immediately and she quickly deciphers that she can’t brush this off as much as you’re trying to.
• So, she won’t point it out or announce it, she just stops initiating physical touch, a silent accommodation to how you feel.
• Instead, her love for you blooms through other means. She’d go on walks with you, pick up flowers for you while hoping they aren’t ugly, talk to you about everything and anything. Your relationship begins to grow, not because of appearances nor affection, but through everything that makes you, you.
• Toph comes to love your voice, how it lilts when you smile, how it darkens when you’re sad. She comes to love your small mannerisms, if you stutter, if you speak quickly or slowly, what you gasp at or when you stay quiet. Toph sees you through your interests, what you love, what you hate, how your interpretation of the world differs to her own.
• Some people may define it as ‘love from afar’, but, even without sight, Toph feels closer to you than she has with anyone else.
• And when you finally get more comfortable and begin to initiate touch, she takes it entirely at your pace. She doesn’t shy away when you reach for her at all, won’t comment on it unless if you ask her to, she even flusters at your affections even though you’d been together for months by that point.
• Toph may perceive the world through touch, but her love for you manages to grow beyond that because her love doesn’t exist within the confines of what she feels, it lives deeper inside of her.
ZUKO:
• At first, it makes Zuko nervous.
• With the way he grew up, love has never been a solid concept to him. It was never tied to a specific place, action or any particular thing. It was shown through his mother, though he’d lost her too early for him to fully grasp it. It was then shown through Uncle Iroh, yet Zuko had only realised it too late.
• He has never had the chance to gain a full understanding of what it means to love and be loved with no strings attached, and that extends to his understanding of affection.
• So, when you first pull away from his touch to itch at where he’d been reaching for you, his mind can only jump to conclusions. Was it a coincidence or a fault? Did he do something? What did he do?
• He’d tentatively try to initiate touch on a few more occasions following, not out of ignorance but purely because he isn’t sure of himself nor how to make sure your relationship right. It’d be small, gentle actions–tentatively reaching for your hand, subtly brushing against you–but it’s when your discomfort only grows with each action that he begins to realise what’s going on.
• Though, I think he’d only properly ask you about it on a quiet occasion. Perhaps when the moon is high in the sky and the only noises around you both were the rustling of trees and the sound of the other’s breathing. He’d be tentative, nervous, unsure if he’s doing right by bringing it up. Yet, once you explain your preferences, everything all falls into place for him.
• He doesn’t question your aversion to touch, no longer spirals over why it is, but cares for you with it.
• He’d try to improve on confessing his feelings, if only to be sure that you still feel how strong his adoration is for you. He’d compliment you constantly, smile softly much more in your presence in a way that catches others off guard, even melts whenever you subtly take care of him–all reactions that affirm to everyone around you both, just how much he loves you.
• If anyone got too handsy, which is perhaps, most likely in his presence–perhaps an enthusiastic councillor or an excited Fire Nation civilian–he’d always carefully direct them away from you, wordlessly checking in with you through his gaze as he protects your boundaries.
• And when you finally ease enough to touch him, he finds that it doesn’t feel new or shy, just comforting as warm as though it were nothing new.
• For, it was never the lack of affection that made Zuko nervous, it was always making sure that you were happy, safe and loved well by him.
summary: some headcanons/ scenarios about the atla boys and their love language!
words:376
warnings: gn!reader
Aang⸝⸝-quality time-
You and Aang would quietly meditate together, soaking in each others precence. He would sit and wait as you train bending your own element.
When you woke up early in the morning to get the best deals at the food market he would be walking at your side, hands laced together as you point at the bright and leafy cabbages with sparkling eyes.
His head would rest on your stomach, his arms hang around your hips as you read a thick book. He would inhale your scent, sighing quitetly and looking up at you with his kind eyes.
Sokka⸝⸝-words of affirmation-
Sokka would be the all-time praiser. When he is bragging to kids in his tribe about all the epic adventures he went on along side the avatar, how could he not mention his awsome bender partner? How they move swiftly around enemies and deliver potent blow? The compliments just write themselves.
He would cheer you up when you are feeling sad. Highlighting every single one of your strenght instead of making you focus on the insecurities.
"You are calling yourself ugly now?" He puts his hands under his chin as he studies your sad eyes. You nod. "Do you think The Great Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe would settle for an ugly partner?" He cups your face.
He would cheer you on while you train. Clapping and shouting praise. "Yeah! That's right" "Ouch! Go easy on that dummy!"
Zuko⸝⸝-acts of service-
Being served and pampered by the Fire Lord is quite odd.
He would kneel in front of you as you sit on the bed, take your ankle in his hands and finish tying up your sandals, handling the leather straps with care.
He would help you tuck in stray hairs that would fall from the hair do you were trying to do for a morning meeting.
He would reach over the long dinner table and pluck a piece of food that you were eyeing between his chopsticks and holds it over your mouth. "Eat, my dear." You smile and take the food between your teeth. "I could have just had the servant bring it closer." He shakes his head and picks up another piece. "No, i like feeding you, my love."
a/n: yeah that's pretty much it. thx for reading and byeee <3
tags: @d3advessel
SUMMARY: You were born a non-bender, but Aang tries to make you feel included.
WARNING(S): fluff, angst
WORD COUNT: 5,197
PAIRING: Adult!Aang x reader
A/N: Hope you like it! Comments and feedback are always welcome.
MASTERLIST
The first time Aang got you out of the house to teach you, he was all smiles.
Bright and hopeful, excited to share something that mattered to him. You don’t think you’d ever seen him look that happy, especially by the fourth attempt.
Airbending.
The others thought you might pick something up eventually. Water, earth, maybe even fire, but nothing ever came of it. And deep down, you knew nothing ever would.
You weren’t a bender.
You weren’t going to wake up one day and move the ground beneath your feet, or shift water with your hands, or throw fire. It wasn’t something you could learn. It wasn’t something anyone could promise you. You weren't born to be able to bend.
But Aang didn’t let it go.
And you didn’t have the heart to take that from him, no matter how much it pained you.
So you let him pull you out of the tower you’d been calling home for years now and take you to the Southern Air Temple.
You’d been there before, back when it was you, Katara, and Sokka, following him around while he showed you around. You’d seen far greater things, but the temple in ruins always settled heavily in your heart. It felt different now. More overgrown. Quieter.
Still beautiful though.
And you knew how much it meant to him.
You ran your hand along one of the columns as you walked, the stone cool under your fingers. You wondered if he ever thought about what this place used to be. If being here made it harder or easier.
“Okay,” Aang says, clapping his hands together as he turns to you. “Airbending. My area of expertise.”
His grin widens. And just like that, he looks like himself again.
You cross your arms loosely, raising a brow at him. “Confident?”
He moves past you, then circles back, positioning himself a few feet away. His posture shifts without him thinking about it. He looks lighter on his feet, shoulders relaxed, arms loose at his sides.
“I have to be,” Aang says easily. “I’ve only been doing this my whole life.” He steps back a little, giving you space. “Besides, you've made it through three trials. You haven't given up.”
“Three failures,” you correct.
“Three attempts,” he says, like it matters.
You sigh, finding your sandals more interesting, the dirt beneath them crunching with every press-down you make. You're pulled out of the hole you begin making up in your mind when Aang claps loudly again. The crack had made you flinch.
“Okay! Airbending isn’t about forcing anything,” he starts. “That’s why it’s hard to explain. You don’t grab it like the earth beneath your feet, or push it like fire. You… move with it.”
You nod, even if you don’t fully get it.
He gestures for you to stand straighter. “Feet apart. Don't stand too stiffly. You don’t want to lock yourself in place.”
You adjust, trying to copy him.
“Good,” he says. “Now, don’t think about making something happen. Just focus on what’s already there.”
“The air,” you say.
“Yeah.” He gives a small nod. “It’s everywhere. You don’t need to have a source like water or earth. You just… connect to it.”
You take a breath, slower this time.
Behind him, the wind moves through the open temple, brushing past the columns, slipping through broken archways. You can feel it on your skin, faint but constant.
“Okay,” he says. “Follow me.”
He steps into motion, slow and controlled. His arms move in a wide circle, like he’s tracing something invisible.
You mirror him. At least, you try to. Your movements feel heavier. Less natural. Like you’re thinking about every step instead of letting it happen.
“Loosen up,” he says gently. “You’re resisting it.”
“I’m not trying to,” you mutter.
“I know...”
You exhale, forcing yourself to relax your shoulders. Your arms follow his again, slower this time, less rigid. You shift, trying to follow what he’s doing again.
“Better?”
“Yeah. That’s good,” he says. “Now just…move your arms. Slow at first.”
You copy him, lifting your hands and pushing them forward in the same motion he just showed you.
Nothing happens.
You try again.
Still nothing.
Aang doesn’t say anything right away. He just watches on, further heightening the fact that you were aware he was observing your every move.
“Try not to think about it too much,” he says after a second.
You let out a small breath. “That’s kind of hard not to, especially when I’m trying to make something happen.”
“I know,” he says. “But if you focus on making it happen, it won’t.”
You glance at him. “That doesn’t sound very helpful.”
He laughs. “It’s true, though. Don’t think on it too much.”
You shake your head a little, but you try again anyway. This time slower.
Less stiff, more loose.
Going with the flow.
For a second, it almost feels right.
Almost.
“Now shift your weight,” he adds. “Don’t stay rooted. Airbenders don’t stand still if they can help it.”
You step lightly to the side, copying the way he moves. He’s already adjusted, already onto the next move before you've barely finished the previous action.
You’re a step behind. Always a step behind. Never able to keep up with the rest of them.
“Okay,” he says. “Now guide it.”
Your arms move through the air, and for a second, you almost think you feel something pulse within your palms.
But it’s gone before you can figure out what it might be.
Probably nothing to be honest.
You drop your hands with a huff. “Yeah. Still nothing.”
Aang steps closer, not an ounce of discouragement on his face. “That’s okay. It takes time. With more practice, you're bound to get something out of it. It gets easier. Trust me.”
“For you maybe,” you say. “You’ve been doing this since you were a kid.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from it.”
You give him a look. “Aang, I can’t move a leaf, I couldn't shift the water from the stream, I couldn't move the stupid pebble that Toph had me attempt to move. Zuko even tried having me light the fire for the camp we set up. We almost froze. I can't move anything!”
“Not yet,” he corrects. Oh, how you wonder where he gets his patience and his calm from? Something you were surely running out of.
You sigh, but there’s no real frustration behind it. Yet, anyway.
He hesitates for a second, then moves behind you. “Can I?” he asks.
You nod. His hands hover near yours before settling lightly over them. Gentle, warm to the touch.
“Let me guide you,” he says.
You feel him push your arms through the same motions as before. Slower this time. More steady.
“Breathe,” he adds quietly. The warmth of his words tickles your ear.
You try to match his pace, his breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
The air moves around you, brushing past your arms, your face. You can feel the wind, how it responds to him. The subtle breeze he lets swim in and out through your hair.
“Feel that?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
You almost laugh at the sensation, but you keep going. Letting your hands move with his instead of trying to lead on your own.
For a second, the motions feel easier. Like you’re not working as hard to exert them, act them out.
There's barely anything happening. Most of which is done by Aang. But the air in front of your hands stirs.
You pause.
“Did you—”
“I saw it,” Aang says quickly, a little quieter now. “Keep going.”
Your focus breaks.
And just like that, it’s gone. You let your arms fall.
“Of course.” You huff in defeat.
Aang doesn’t move away right away. “You felt it, though, right?” he asks.
“Barely.”
“It’s still something.”
You turn your head slightly, glancing back at him. “It only worked because you were helping. I’m not even sure that was me just now.”
“Maybe,” he says. “Or maybe you just needed to stop trying so hard.”
You don’t answer that.
After a second, his hands drop away from yours. You miss the warmth of them in an instant. The lack of his touch makes you want to pull him close again.
“Do you want to try again?” he asks. Chin dipping to try and get your eyes to meet his own. They don't. He looks down at the ground before waiting for your response.
You look at your hands, then back at him.
“Maybe later, if that’s okay.”
"It's okay. We can take a break."
-
The hill you found and settled on feels nice and cool underneath your touch as the sun dips.
Long shadows stretch across the mountains, swallowing the land around them, making it quieter. Emptier. At peace.
You and Aang sit side by side, and you disturb a patch of grass by pulling grass stems from the ground. You'd guess your anxiety was to blame for impulsively messing with perfectly good grass. Aang had lain back, eyes darting up at the sky. His thoughts wandering, you'd guess as much, seeing as his fingers stopped tapping against his stomach.
For a while, neither of you speaks.
The wind moves gently through the open air, brushing past softly, reminding you of the reason for being there in the first place. You figured Aang could've been reminded of home. Of everything he lost, but who were you to speak for him?
Aang exhales slowly.
“It’s weird,” he says.
You glance at him. “What is?”
He doesn’t look at you. Just out.
“The sky. The temple, all the antiques we keep finding. Everything.”
His fingers curl slightly against the grass as he sits up.
“I used to think the temples would always feel full,” he admits. “Like, no matter what happened… I could come back, and it’d still feel like home. Still… alive.” There’s a pause. “But it only reminds me of how everyone I've ever known...is gone.”
That lands heavier than anything he’s said all day.
You don’t interrupt. You just listen.
“They’re gone,” he continues, voice quieter now. “The monks. My friends. Gyatso. The stories they all used to tell, the way we used to celebrate, the food we would eat… even the stupid games we played.” A soft, broken laugh slips out of him. “I’m the only one left who remembers any of it.”
Your chest tightens.
“I don’t even know if I remember it right anymore.” He finally looks down at his hands. "I keep thinking that if I die, my culture dies with me. What if I forget something important?” he whispers. “What if it all just… disappears with me? No one but me can carry on my past. My whole life rests in my hands.”
There it is. His fear. It hits you harder than you expected. Because for once, this isn’t about being the Avatar.
This is just a boy, a man now, sitting in the ruins of his home, terrified of being the last voice of his people.
You don’t think. You don’t weigh your next words. You just… say it.
“Then I’ll carry it with you.”
Aang freezes.
You don’t stop.
“I’ll learn it,” you add quickly, heart racing now. “All of it. The stories, the traditions... Whatever you remember, I’ll remember too. I won’t let it disappear.”
He’s staring at you now.
Completely still. Like he’s not sure he heard you right.
“And if you’re worried about it ending…” You hesitate, then push through it anyway, the words tumbling out before you can stop them.
“I’ll give you a legacy.”
The silence falls heavily on you both. You look out into the valley, feeling the wind settle.
And the second it leaves your mouth, you second-guess your words.
Oh.
Oh no.
Your breath catches. “I-I didn’t mean—”
Aang’s expression changes.
“You’d… What?” he asks softly.
You shake your head quickly, heat rushing to your face. “I didn’t mean it like that, I just mean, I mean I did, but not—” you let out a nervous breath, stumbling over yourself. “I just meant I’d help. However you needed, I—”
“You’d give me children?” he interrupts.
That stops you. Your mouth opens agape, then shuts.
His voice is so quiet you almost miss it. You look at him properly now. Really take in the man before you. Give him children? You'd be stupid not to want a family with him.
Something in your chest settles warmly.
“Yeah,” you say, softer this time. “If you wanted me to. The only thing I could really give back.” You release a nervous laugh.
Aang’s eyes search yours, like he’s trying to find any sign of hesitation. Doubt. Anything that screamed that you were just trying to make up for what you lacked in, but you weren't
There isn’t any. Because you meant it. Even if you didn’t take into account how much you did until just now.
“You don’t have to do that,” he says, but there’s no strength behind it. No real push. No malice. Just a hint of genuineness.
“I know,” you reply. A beat. “I want to, though.”
That hits him harder than anything else.
You see it in the way his breath stutters slightly, the way his shoulders drop just a fraction, like something inside him is loosening up for the first time all day.
“You’d really…” he starts, then stops, swallowing. “…you’d learn everything?”
You nod. “Everything you’re willing to teach me.”
For a moment, he doesn’t say anything. Then his hand reaches for yours. Slowly, hesitant. Like he’s still asking permission to touch you, when he has every right to. When you don’t pull away, his fingers tighten slightly around yours.
“That means a lot to me, Y/n,” he admits, voice barely above a whisper. "I never even considered the idea of having children right now.
You smile, just a little. “I figured. It looked like your heart stopped for a second there.”
A soft huff of breath leaves him. almost a laugh, but not quite.
The wind returns, gentle once more, curling around the two of you as if it felt the heaviness settle between you. Like it had listened in.
Aang glances down at your joined hands, then back up at you.
For once, he doesn’t try to turn it into a joke right away. He just looks at you.
Like he’s still catching up to what you said and what it means. Not just the words, but the fact that you meant them. That you said them so easily, like it wasn’t something huge you placed in his lap.
It was.
You can tell by the way he keeps holding your hand, squeezing every now and then, like letting go would break up the moment too fast.
“I don’t know what to say,” he admits after a while.
You let out a small breath through your nose. “You don’t have to say anything.”
“I feel like I should.”
“You don’t have to.”
His mouth twitches a little at that, but it fades just as quickly.
“I just…” He looks away for a second, out at the valley below, at the fading light and shadows. “I’ve spent so much time thinking about what I lost that I never really thought about what could still happen. What I could still have.”
Your thumb brushes lightly over his knuckles before you can think better of it. Aang notices. His shoulders loosen again, but not enough.
“You make it sound simple,” he says.
“It’s not simple.”
This turns his attention back on you.
“It’s just not impossible either,” you say quietly. “There’s a difference.”
He studies your face for a second, and you can almost see the thoughts moving behind his eyes. Aang was never very good at hiding what he felt, but this is different. He's less open. More careful. Like he’s afraid of letting this conversation go in the wrong direction. Of making you angry.
“You'd really give me children?” he asks again.
Not because he didn’t hear you the first time. Because he needs to.
You nod once. “Yeah.”
“And learn all of it?”
“Yes.”
“The stories, the customs, the food, the prayers, the weird games—”
You smile a little. “You’re really trying to sell it now.”
That earns a breath of a laugh. Then he goes quiet again.
“Even if you can’t bend?”
There it is. You had a feeling it would come back to that.
You look down at your lap for a second before answering.
“Especially then.”
Aang frowns. You take a breath.
“I can’t give back from the lack of bending,” you say. “I know that. I know I’ll never be part of your culture in the same way you were born into it.” You pause, picking at a blade of grass near your knee. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t love it because it matters to you. It doesn’t mean I can’t help keep it alive. This could be one of the only things I can give back.”
His face changes at that. Softens. Something about those words gets through to him in a way the other words of the gang couldn't. Maybe it's because he knows you’re not saying it to make him feel better.
You’re saying it because you’ve already decided.
“I don’t want you to think this is all you’re good for,” he says after a moment.
You look at him, caught a little off guard.
“What?”
He turns toward you more fully now, his hand tightening around yours.
“The only thing you could really give back?” he repeats softly, using your own words. “Don’t say it like that.”
Heat crawls up your neck in half embarrassment, and half of something else.
“I just meant—”
“I know what you meant.” His voice stays gentle, but there’s something firmer in it now. “But you make it sound like you have to make up for something.”
You open your mouth, then close it. Because there isn’t a clean lie waiting to spill past your lips. Aang notices that too.
“You don’t owe me a legacy,” he says. “And you don’t owe me children just because you can’t bend.”
Your throat tightens a little.
“I know,” you say, but it comes out softer than you intended.
He watches you for another second, then shifts closer, close enough that your heads are leaning against each other.
“You don’t have to try and even the score for what you think you're lacking in,” he says. “Not for me.”
His words land hard. Too hard.
Because some part of you had thought exactly that, even if you didn’t want to say it out loud. That if you could never stand beside the others in the way they did, through bending, through power, through something useful, then maybe you could still give him something that mattered.
Something lasting.
You stare down at your lap for a second, blinking against the sting behind your eyes.
“I didn’t mean for it to sound like that,” you say quietly. “I’m not trying to make up with children for my lack of bending with you.”
“I know.” He says it immediately. Reassurance following his understanding. “I know you’re not.”
It helps. His words. A little.
You breathe out slowly.
“I just hate that I can’t help out sometimes,” you admit. "Heck, even Sokka is out there being a hero... But what can I do?"
Aang goes still. Because he finally understands what’s underneath all of the hurt you've bottled up inside of yourself.
The discouragement after every attempt. The way you'd look away from everyone's eyes after every attempt. The way you'd say it’s fine, when it clearly wasn't.
He shifts again, this time dipping his head enough that he can see your face better.
“What can you do?” he repeats quietly. And it's just him, sitting with the question instead of brushing it off.
You don’t answer right away because you’ve already answered it a hundred times in your head. Nothing, was always your response. He frowns as though the crease in your forehead gave you away.
“You think being a hero is just about bending?” he asks.
You give a small shrug. “It helps.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
You glance at him, a little caught. He doesn’t look away.
“You think Sokka is a hero, but he can't bend?” Aang presses.
You hesitate. “Yes, but—”
“But what?”
You sigh, frustrated now. “But he still does things, Aang. He fights. He plans. He actually contributes when something goes wrong.” You shake your head a little. “When things get bad, I’m just… there.”
The words come out flatter than you meant them to. Like you’ve said them before. To yourself. Too many times.
Aang’s expression tightens.
“You’re not ‘just there,’” he says.
You don’t argue. You don’t agree either. You just look away again.
“Do you remember the canyon?” he asks suddenly.
You frown slightly. “What about it?”
“You were the one who figured out how to settle the feud between the Gan Jin and the Zhang tribes,” he says. “You made them work together to get us out of being eaten by those canyon crawlers.”
“Wasn't that you—”
“And the village near the volcano?” he continues. “You were the one who convinced the villagers that they needed to evacuate.”
You shake your head. “That’s not—”
“And when Appa got hurt,” he adds, quieter now, “you stayed with him the whole night. You looked over him, you lost sleep over it too.”
You go still because you do remember that memory.
You remember thinking it didn’t count. That it wasn’t enough.
“That’s not fighting, though,” you say, softer now.
“No,” Aang agrees. “It’s not.”
He leans in just slightly, not crowding you, just enough that you can’t ignore him.
“But it’s helping.”
You swallow.
“It’s paying attention,” he continues. “It’s seeing things the rest of us miss because we’re too busy trying to win something.”
His voice softens. “And it matters.”
You look at him again because he’s not trying to make you feel better.
He’s not reaching just to say something nice. He means it.
“But when something actually happens—” you start.
“You’re there,” he says, cutting in gently this time. “You don’t run. You don’t hide. You stay.”
Your chest tightens.
“That’s not nothing.”
The wind shifts around you again. You look down at your interlocked hands.
“It doesn’t feel like enough sometimes,” you admit.
Aang nods. “I know.”
That catches you off guard.
“I get that, trust me,” he adds. “I’ve felt that too.”
You blink at him. “You?”
“Yeah.” A small, almost self-conscious smile tugs at his mouth. “Being the Avatar doesn’t automatically make you feel invincible.”
You let out a quiet breath. That… comforts you more than you expected it to.
Aang studies your face for another second, then reaches out again. This time, slower, more deliberate, as he nudges your right cheek with his left hand, before pressing a gentle kiss on it. You don’t pull away.
“I'm sorry if we made you feel that way. You don’t have to be like the rest of us to matter,” he says.
You let that sit. It doesn’t fix everything. But it settles the war that was waged inside you anyway.
“You really believe that?” you ask.
He nods.
“I wouldn’t be sitting here with you if I didn’t.”
That makes you look at him again. A small, uneven smile pulls at your lips.
“You’re really bad at letting people wallow in their self-pity,” you mutter.
He smiles back, softer now. “Yeah,” he says. “I’ve been told that.”
You huff out a quiet laugh, shaking your head.
"Why do you keep talking like bending is the only part worth carrying on?”
That shuts you up again.
He’s not angry. If anything, he sounds a little sad. A little frustrated that you still can’t see what he’s trying to tell you.
“My people weren’t just airbenders,” he says. “They were monks, teachers, healers. They made toys for kids and baked fruit pies and played games and told stories they’d told a hundred times before.” A small smile pulls at his mouth. “They were annoying sometimes. And stubborn. And really nosy.”
A laugh slips out of you before you can stop it. Aang smiles a little wider when he hears it.
“My culture didn’t live in bending alone,” he says. “It lived in how we treated people. What we believed. How we lived.”
He looks down at your joined hands. “And you’ve been trying to understand that part of me since the day we met.”
Your heart settles.
“So no,” he says softly. “You wouldn’t be giving me the only thing you could offer.”
You swallow.
“Aang…”
“You’d just be giving me more of you.”
His words are so simple they almost hurt. You don’t know what to do with them. So for a second, you do nothing. Then your hand tightens around his. His eyes flick down to it, then back to your face.
You shake your head a little, a laugh leaving you, thin and shaky. “You always know how to make me feel stupid in the nicest way possible.”
That finally gets a real laugh out of him.
“You’re not stupid.”
“Mm.”
“You’re not.” He presses firmly, gently.
You look over at him. “I heard you the first time.”
“Good.”
The breeze picks up around the two of you, cooler now that the sun has dropped. It lifts a few strands of your hair and brushes the fabric on his sleeves.
Aang leans back on one hand, still facing you.
“I think I’d like that,” he says after a while.
You blink. “What part?”
He smiles, small and careful. A beat. “All of it.”
Something in you eases. Not all the way, but enough to let you breathe easier.
“Even if I can't bend?”
He tilts his head, brows furrowing in feigned shock. “You can't bend!”
You let out an offended noise and shove at his shoulder.
He laughs, catching your wrist before you can do it again.
“I’m kidding,” he says.
“You’re not.”
“Okay, maybe a little.”
You roll your eyes, but you’re smiling a lot brighter now, and he is too, and the heaviness from a minute ago doesn’t feel quite so sharp in your chest.
He keeps hold of your wrist for a second longer than he needs to. Long enough for the mood to shift again. Just slightly.
His smile fades first, not into sadness, but something more aware. Serious. You felt it too. The tension.
The way he raised his hand and his thumb brushed once, almost absentmindedly, over the side of your face.
“Aang,” you say softly.
His eyes avert from your lips, falling on your softening gaze.
You lost your train of thought, the words you wanted to say falling off the tip of your tongue. Maybe it was nothing. His name just felt easier than everything else sitting between you.
His eyes search your face anyway.
“Yeah?”
You shake your head, but not because you want to take it back.
“Nothing.”
His mouth curves faintly. “You sure?”
“No.”
He studies you for another moment, then glances out at the valley again.
“You want to stay here tonight,” he says. “If you want, of course.”
You lift a brow. “You mean avoid going back and getting interrogated by Katara?”
“That too.”
You smile. “Tempting.”
“Very. It’s quiet here.”
You look around. The grass. The temple in the far distance, worn down but still standing strong, like Aang.
“It is.”
Aang nods, then looks back at you. Letting the quiet air take over as he took in his favorite view. You. Who went back to pulling at the patch of grass you disrupted, he can't help but let his smile grow.
“I love you.”
There it is again. His plain honesty. It always got the best of you. You feel your face heat up, but there’s no point in pretending you didn't hear him.
“I love you too,” you say, expression timid, but still facing the ground.
His heart beats faster. This was it for him. You were it. All he'd ever want, so long as the universe allowed you and him to last. To be.
His shoulders drop. His mouth softens. He looks younger for a second, and older too. Like the boy and the man he’s still becoming are both sitting right here beside you. Making your head spin and your heart full.
The wind curls between you again. Gentle. Familiar.
And this time, when the silence returns, it doesn’t feel empty.
It feels full.
Aang glances at your joined hands once more, then back at you, his expression almost shy despite everything you’ve just said.
"So you really want children with me?"
"Yes, Aang." Your grin grows as you stifle a laugh.
“Do you want to start...on our legacy?” he asks.
You smile.
“Right now?” you ask.
Aang freezes. “Right now?”
You shrug, biting back another laugh. “You’re the one who asked.”
His brain immediately starts short-circuiting.
“Okay, wait, hold on—” he lets go of your hand just to gesture wildly, before stopping again. “I didn’t mean like right now, right now, I meant like, someday right now. Future right now. Not, this exact moment on a hill—”
You’re fully laughing now.
“Aang—”
“No, because there’s—there’s steps!” he insists, pointing at the ground like the steps might appear if he believes hard enough. “There are definitely steps. We skipped all of them.”
“You asked!”
“I didn’t think you’d say yes that fast!”
You tilt your head. “You wanted me to say no?”
“No!” he says immediately. “No, definitely not that either, just, maybe a warning? A little preparation time?”
You grin. “You’re panicking.”
“I am not panicking,” he says, voice an octave higher than usual. “I am calmly evaluating a very big, important, life thing—”
He stops. Looks at you. You’re still smiling at him like this is the best thing that’s ever happened.
“You’re serious, though,” he says, quieter now.
You nod. “Yeah.”
That does it. He exhales, shoulders dropping, all that frantic energy softening just a little.
“Okay.”
A beat.
“Okay,” he repeats, like he’s trying to convince himself he’s got this.
Then.
“Not right now, though,” he adds quickly.
You laugh. “Not right now.”
“Good,” he says, relieved. “Because I think I’d pass out.”
“You’d pass out?”
“Immediately.”
You bump his shoulder. “Avatar, master of all four elements… defeated by the talk of children.”
He points at you. “You’re the one who started it!”
“You asked!”
“And I regret nothing,” he says quickly, then pauses.
You laugh again, leaning your head against him. He relaxes this time, letting your head rest against his shoulder, still a little flustered but smiling anyway.
“We can start with the easy stuff,” he mutters.
“Like what?”
“Like… teaching you those games I used to play here,” he says. “Much safer.”
I just know his ahh was clingy during her pregnancies, esp the first one
I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang I love Kataang
