Summary: Many people say that opposites attract; all of them seem to forget that water kills fire. An element relationship study of the four Team Avatar benders. Drabble.
Fanfic.Net || Ao3
He is Fire. He is full of life and passion and anger, burning away at anyone who dared step close to him. He is an inferno of light and warmth, always raging, always ready to fight. He is heedless of danger, ready to consume everything in the way of his quest.
She is Water. She is cool and calm, letting her emotions flow freely as she too danced along with her element. She is soothing, healing the aches and burns sustained. She, like the rains that fall, can be gentle and compassionate for the people; she could also become a thunderous storm, sweeping away all who dare stand in her way.
Where fire rages, water cools; where fire burns, water soothes; where fire dances, water flows. They are true opposites, and as the saying goes, "Opposites attract."
But proponents of this saying seemed to forget that water kills fire.
And when she leveled that murderous glare towards him, he knew without a doubt that she would not hesitate to snuff him out.
And he knew, even when the water finally parted to let the flame continue flickering, they were never meant to get close, lest they destroy each other.
Air, on the other hand, is intimately connected with water. Water and air are not so different; after all, air is full of water droplets. Air flows, and water along with it. They are moving elements, and they never cease. When they hit an obstacle, they do not stare it down, nor consume it; they redirect, finding a way around it.
On their best days, they bless the lands with rejuvenating rain; on their worst, they rage as a tempest. And still, no matter what, they always worked in tandem, their fury unleashed together, fitting together like Pai Sho pieces.
Spirits save the poor soul who tries to take one from the other.
Where air and water flow, earth is still. It remains unyielding; it never tries to find another way around, nor does it care. It will stand, silent and impenetrable, until the wind and the rain slowly erodes it to nothing.
He winces as she—the Earth—punches his arm out of affection and wonders how long it took for Air and Water to weather down her tough exterior.
Still, even though Air and Earth are friends, he knows that they can never get any closer than they are now: where air flows, rock stays; where air diverts, rock pummels through. They are forever separated, air to breeze through the skies and earth to lay still on the ground, by an invisible barricade created by the both of them. Though they are opposites, they are far too apart to ever mingle with one another.
Now, fire and earth have an interesting relationship, he mused. Fire lies within the earth, kept in check, and when the right time comes, earth can force it out of itself and let fire unleash its full potential for all to see… even when the earth itself was damaged in the process.
Earth was the first and only to try and welcome him at the time. Even when Fire scorched her (and in more ways than one), Earth still tried to bring out his full potential in him for the team. She wasn't afraid to force him out, nor was she scared of the possibility he would hurt her; she merely saw potential that could be unleashed in their favor.
On the other hand, fire and air have an equally-interesting relationship: fire cannot survive long without air. That was a fundamental aspect of fire: without oxygen, there can be no fire.
For so long, Fire tried to fuel himself on rage and misconstrued honor. He was slowly suffocating, his flames dwindling into ashes; he was starved. And when Air breezed into his life, Fire thought he needed to devour him until there was nothing left except for flames and sparks. To continue being Fire, Air had to be consumed, sacrificed for the greater of the two.
It was a dark realization, he admitted grimly to himself, but at the time, he deemed it a necessary evil.
But Air showed him, in little bits and pieces, of what Fire truly starved for. Air would give him a small taste, a sample, but it was enough. It was what his father deemed to be weak and pitiful in an effort to stamp it out of his children:
Compassion… and true, familial love.
And ever since Fire joined the team, Air had only increased his steady stream of compassion towards Fire, feeding him of what he had been starved of for so long. Gradually, this team, which he had for so long been chasing down, finally became something akin to… family. The realization only served to empower him.
Finally, he could breathe again; finally, he was strong; finally, he was whole.
And as he watches Air and Water together in the distance, he realizes how he truly did need Air, just not in the way he thought he would.
He shook his head, smiling to himself. Air, water, earth, and fire; all were interconnected, parts of the same whole.
Together, they created something beautiful.
They say opposites attract.
They forget that water kills fire,
and earth and air are forever separated.
However, that doesn't mean they cannot be friends,
The day that Jinora was born was both a momentous and saddening occasion for Katara. She was incredibly happy to have her first grandchild (Kya, although married, never had any children. And as for Bumi? He decided to live his life as a bachelor on the high seas), but deep down she was upset that Aang never got to meet the airbending bundle of joy. It's something she still thinks about every time Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan come for a visit.
