No longer Alone || Aang ||
A/nn: I've been writing waay too much future stuff with Aang and Airbender!reader 🤣, so here's a third part of the Reader actually finding out they're an airbender.
Tagging: @nahhoz , @straylovingwhore , @mattsunchist , @sylveonfx98 , @sweetheartlizzie07
The circus had finally settled down, your friends and family were helping take down the ropes or anything else that wasn't nailed down as you stood clinging to the Sky bison,barefoot in the dirt, while Momo was still perched on your shoulder.
“Okay,” you said, clapping once finally letting go off Appa as you then turned to face your animals. “We’re not doing chaos tonight. We’re doing discipline.”
Your fire ferret immediately tried to climb your leg as you sighed. “This is why we can’t have nice things.”
Aang sat cross-legged a few feet away, chin in his hands, watching you like you were the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. Not Appa. Not the circus. Not even the tricks.
Sokka noticed first. “…oh no,” he muttered.
Katara followed his gaze, then slowly blinked. “…oh no.”
Toph tilted her head, smirking. “Oh, this is hilarious.”
Zuko, arms crossed, glanced between them.“What?”
Sokka pointed subtly. “Look at him.”
Zuko looked, blinked then slowly nodded his head. “…oh.”
Because Aang wasn’t even pretending anymore.
You moved through your animals with easy confidence, ducking under a swinging rope without looking, stepping sideways just as a bird swooped past your head, catching a tossed ball midair without breaking your rhythm.
Effortless.Fluid.Beautiful.
Like everything around you bent just slightly to accommodate you.
You snapped your fingers, and a small gust of wind lifted the ribbon in your hand, sending it spiraling upward before you caught it again.
You didn’t even notice but the others sure did and it made Aang catch his breath.
“…did you see that?” he whispered.
Toph’s grin widened. “Oh, I felt it.”
Katara frowned slightly, eyes narrowing as she watched closer. “She didn’t even… try.”
Zuko straightened a little, attention sharpening.
Meanwhile, you were still talking to your animals like nothing had happened.
“Focus,” you told the turtle seal, who was aggressively not focusing. “If you do the trick, you get fish. If you don’t…no fish. These are the rules. We live in a society…a normal….society.”
The turtle seal barked like it disagreed, his head bumping your leg while Momo chirped in support of the chaos.
You pointed at him. “You are not helping.”
Aang stood slowly, eyes fixed on you now, because it wasn’t just the ribbon.
It was everything now. The way your steps barely disturbed the dust beneath your feet.The way a loose tarp behind you lifted just enough to keep from hitting your head without you ever touching it.
“Aang?” Katara said quietly.
He didn’t answer, not with how loud his heart was pounding in his chest. Instead he jusy walker towards you.
You noticed him when he got close enough to enter your orbit, glancing over your shoulder. “You good?”
He nodded, a little dazed. “Yeah. I just…can I ask you something?”
You shrugged. “You just did.”
Toph snorted in the background.
Aang smiled faintly, then gestured gently. “That thing you did with the ribbon… can you do it again?”
You looked at the ribbon in your hand. "....like this?” you said, flicking your wrist.The air caught it, lifted it as it spun in a controlled spiral before it floated back down into your palm.You blinked. “…huh.”
Sokka pointed. “That’s not normal.”
You frowned, shaking your head still looking at the ribbon in your hand. “It’s a trick.”
“No,” Katara said slowly, stepping forward. “It’s not.”
Zuko’s voice was quieter, more certain. “That’s airbending.”
You blinked, shook your head still looking at the ribbon until you finally looked back up at the group. “…no it’s not.”
Toph tilted her head, grin sharp. “Sweetheart, the air’s literally listening to you.”
“It does that,” you said immediately, defensivly.
Aang’s voice was soft. “Not for everyone.”
You opened your mouth then quickly closed it as you tried to prove them wrong.
You turned around, grabbing a nearby hoop and tossing it upward and of course the air caught it and held it.
Your hand shook, your eyes went wide as it then perfectly glided back into your hands. “…okay that’s new.”
Sokka threw his hands up. “NEW?!”
Katara stepped closer, eyes wide but gentle. “You really didn’t know?”
You shook your head slowly, staring at your hands like they’d betrayed you. “I thought I was just… good at this.”
Toph laughed. “Oh, you are. Just not in the way you thought.”
Zuko watched you carefully, something thoughtful in his expression. “You’ve been bending this whole time.”
Aang stepped even closer now, his voice softer than before, careful, like he didn’t want to scare you off. “You’re an airbender.”
You looked at him, your head tilted finally taking him all in. “…you’re serious.”
He nodded, and something in his expression, something warm, something hopeful, made your chest feel strangely light.
“I’ve never met another one before….after what happened,” he admitted quietly.
Toph shifted, her grin fading just slightly into something more aware.
Katara glanced at Aang, then back at you while Sokka, for once, didn’t have a joke as Zuko looked at the ground briefly, then back up.
Aang smiled, small but real. “Airbenders are… rare.”
You stared at him. "But I'm….no one in my family is a bender,” you whisper. "How is this even possible."
Momo chirped, nuzzling against your head like this explained everything.
You reached up automatically, scratching under his chin. “…okay,” you whisper. “That’s… a thing.”
Toph snorted. “That’s a thing? You just found out you can control air and that’s your reaction?”
You shrugged weakly, smiling briefly. “I’ve had weirder days.”
Aang laughed softly, but there was something else there now too. It Something deeper, it wasn’t just that you were an airbender.
It was that you’d been one all along.He looked at you like he’d just found something he didn’t even realize he was missing, he was finally no longer alone.
The circus had quieted to a low, humming heartbeat by the time you slipped away.
Lantern light flickered softer now, most of the crowds drifting toward the main tent while the animal enclosures settled into a calm, sleepy rhythm. Somewhere behind you, one of your birds rustled its feathers, and a turtle seal gave a lazy, contented huff before going still again.
Out here, it was just you… and him.
Aang sat on a low crate, knees drawn up slightly, fingers loosely laced together as he stared out at the open stretch of dark sky beyond the tents.
You lingered a second before stepping closer, quieter than usual. “…so,” you said, folding your arms loosely, “you gonna explain, or am I just supposed to accept that I’ve apparently been… accidentally controlling the air like it’s no big deal?”
Aang huffed a small laugh, glancing over at you. “I mean… you are doing it really well for someone who didn’t know.”
“Sorry,” he said, smile softening.
You shifted your weight, looking down at your hands again, flexing your fingers slightly like maybe something would happen if you stared hard enough. “I heard they were all wiped out,” you said after a moment, quieter now. “Airbenders.”
Aang’s smile faded then his eyes dropped for a moment. “Yeah,” he said gently.
You let out a slow breath, eyes drifting toward the ground. “Gosh… I really should’ve paid attention to my parents more.”
That got a faint, surprised laugh out of him but of course it didn’t last long.
“…so you’re…” you hesitated, glancing up at him again, something uncertain slipping through your usual confidence. “…we’re really the last airbenders?”
Aang held your gaze then slowly nodded his head. “…yeah.”
The word settled between you, it was heavy, different from everything else tonight.
You swallowed slightly, looking away again, the weight of it pressing in now that it was real. “…how am I one?”
Your voice was soft, a little confused, hoping for some answers.
Aang watched you carefully, like he didn’t want to overwhelm you but also didn’t want to hide anything either. “There used to be air temples,” he said softly. “People lived there…airbenders. It wasn’t just bending, it was… a way of life.”
You glanced back at him, listening now, your hands clasped in front of you. “They believed in freedom,” he continued. “Letting go of things that weighed you down. Moving with the world instead of against it.”
You huffed quietly. “That sounds… very philosophical."
He smiled a little. “It is…You don’t fight it,” he added gently, nodding toward you. “The air, I mean. Most people try to control things. Force them.”
You tilted your head slightly. “And I don’t?”
He shook his head. “You move with it,” he said. “Even before you knew what it was.”
Your brow furrowed. “…I just thought I was good at not getting hit by things.”
Aang laughed softly. “That’s part of it.”
You looked down again, thoughtful now, quieter than he’d seen you all day. “…so what,” you muttered. “One of my ancestors was just out here… airbending, and I got stuck with it later?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Airbenders used to travel a lot. Help people. Live freely….nomads."
You snorted faintly. “Yeah, that tracks. That sounds like something my family would’ve done before ending up in a circus.”
Aang’s smile came back at that."circus….very true to the nomads routes…." he then paused. "you don’t seem upset,” he said after a moment.
You blinked, glancing at him. “…should I be?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Some people are when they find out something big about themselves.”
“I mean… it’s weird,” you said. “But I’ve always been weird.”
Aang let out another laugh, softer this time.“That’s true.”
You nudged his shoulder lightly with yours. “Hey.”
“If this is some big destiny thing,” you added, squinting at him slightly, “I’m gonna need a warning label.”
He grinned. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“Great. Love that for me.” You looked out at the sky again, quieter now as your gaze then shifted to Aang. “…you’ve been alone,” you said suddenly.
It wasn’t a question and Aang didn’t answer right away. “…yeah,” he said eventually.
You nodded slowly, like you understood more than you let on. Then, without making a big deal out of it, you stepped a little closer with your shoulder brushing his again.
“Well,” you muttered, eyes still on the sky, “you’re not alone anymore.”
Aang blinked then smiled and something in his chest felt a little less empty.
