savedtheworld | Book 3: Fire of Rememory [Action / Accidental Voice]

[Action 1 - for Robin]

[The morning. Aang woke up in bed slowly as every memory he ever had filled his head, feeling fresh and vivid yet as if he had lived through it so long ago. And everything from his other life followed by the past week started trickling away. He remembered Robin, pizza, faint memories of a Batman and a butler. What were their names? He felt like he knew so... less. But some memories from the week stuck out. His friends... his real friends, all worried and hurt. There was one particular face that he kept seeing over and over again, each time accompanied by a twinge of inner pain. Now that he was himself again, viewing his memories of their meetings through his own mind, he could see every instance of pain and anguish in her face.

Katara.

His eyes were open. He quickly examined his surroundings. ...This was not his room at the Avatar House. Not a good start. Was he himself...? Aang grabbed his head for confirmation. He was bald. He was himself. But he was not in his room. Still, he decided to test the waters, or maybe he just felt like saying the name aloud in his own voice.]

Katara!

[Action 2 - for Avatar House (plus Winry?) / Accidental Voice]

[Aang sprinted from the community building towards House 56, enhancing his speed by bending the air behind him despite the relatively short distance. He came to a stop outside the door and steeled himself. His excitement burst through his body in the form of a cry - one which was caught by the journal.]

Guys! It's me, Aang! ...Avatar Aang! I'm back!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

What can I say? We Airbenders have to be like leaves in the wind! [And not dwell too much on the darker half-memories still lurking in his brain.] ...You were a Firebender? Whoa, that sounds great! Why couldn't my experiment be something like that?

[Leaves in the wind... that sounds pretty lame. He always figured 'go against the flow' was the best way to live life. Don't just do things without thinking.]

I dunno, Aang, maybe it's because you can be a firebender all the time?

...Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I meant that... some of these experiments don't change everything about us?

[Uh... okay?]

You know, you weren't really gone...

It was like I was. I wasn't me. It just felt like forever since I saw you all.

[There is no version of Katara which is a morning person. So when Aang come barreling through the door, she is still asleep.

In bed. In her room, behind a shut door.

And though the noise isn't enough to wake her, it does get her to stir a little bit before falling back asleep.]

[Things did eventually quiet down after Aang had reunited with most of the Gaang. He came to the realization that it was too early for Katara to be up. Remembering that waking her early could be criminal, he decided to wait it out. Following a cup of tea and a giggle-filled reunion with Momo, he sat on the floor and started meditating.]

Edited 2012-04-10 19:45 (UTC)

[He knows how that goes.] Welcome back.

Thanks, it's great to be back! Also, do you have time to make me some tea?

... You want tea?

Yes please. I haven't had anything since I've been me again.

[It's not too long before Katara emerges from her room to head towards the bathroom...

...and it's not too hard to spot a meditating monk on the floor.]

Aang?

[She scarcely dares hope.]

[His eyes pop open, and his face lights up.]

Katara!

[He is immediately on his feet and jumping into a hug.]

[Katara (probably quite literally) catches him and hugs him back, despite being just pajama-clad.]

It's you? You're back?!

[Being quite literally caught indeed, he embraces her tightly, noticing little beyond her general presence.]

It's me! And I'm back. I'm sorry... for everything I put you through.

Don't be sorry.

[And here's when she pulls back, still keeping her hands on his shoulders.]

It happens more times than you think, here.

[...and then she has to hug him again, and so she does.]

I'm so glad you're back.

[Aang goes with the flow of the hugs and welcomes that long-missed warmth.]

I'm glad too, Katara. ...Really glad. You all warned me about the Malnosso and everything, but I had no idea what they could do until now. They made me... live that other life. Where I ate meat. And... at least until the very end, it was a life without real hope. Without you.

[Sometime before Aang started talking, Katara had pulled away, though she kept her hand on his shoulder.

Ate meat.]

I'm sorry that you had to experience that, and especially that you have memories of something that violate your principles, but... Aang, you're never without me. I'll always be your friend, even if Luceti finds a way to separate us. No matter where I am, or what they do to us, I will always, always care about you.

[Even a more regular Katara may have said 'love.' But this is a Katara who is in love with someone else, and a Katara whose Aang had disengaged from his affection for her - and is therefore settling on a more neutral word.]

[He could have almost believed that he were back with "Sweetie" Katara if it were not for those last actions. Even though he was fine with it, it still stung a bit to be more distant from Katara than he remembered. Still, the usage of the word "friend" didn't prevent her words from warming his heart.]

I know. You've saved me so many times by now, in so many ways, that I know. Even when I wasn't me. And I can't be thankful enough, Katara. I'll always [l-l-luh] care about you too, no matter what. I don't know if I can make promises anymore, after what they did to me last week. But I want to, I want to be able to be there for you always.

[What if both their memories are erased next time? A mental wind angrily blows that thought away.]

Okay, fine. [He can be nice.] Come in and have a seat. I'll heat up the water.

Yes! Thanks Zuko.

[With the eventual Fire Lord convinced to make him some tea, Aang steps into the house. He had not lived there long before the experiment, but it still had that feel of "home". Probably helps that even in the old world, home was wherever he and his friends were at the time. Aang takes a set at the table and quickly finds an apple to chew into.]

[Katara is both gratified and embarrassed by Aang's words of praise - but she's touched by his offer of friendship most of all.]

There's no one I'd trust more to make that happen.

[Simple affirmation and truth.]

[What do the details of their connection matter? Katara is Katara.]

I'm glad to hear that. For now, I'm glad things are back to normal. [He rubbed the back of his head, glad to feel it was still bald, and then he continued with a smirk.] ...Luceti normal.

[He nods.]

This one was one of the big ones, yeah. Sometimes the other ones are just... annoying more than anything. Like having your thoughts appear above your head or getting phony predictions about stuff that will happen to you.

Okay. So I just started off with a... pretty bad one. [He smirks.] But some are more like having an Aunt Wu in your head? Doesn't sound that bad. I'll take "annoying" over the other type any time.

[As long as I still know who I am.]

Page 2 of 12

Book 3: Fire of Rememory [Action / Accidental Voice]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[Action]

[Action]

[ action ]

[ action ]

[Action]

[Action]