Book 4: Winds from Tomorrow [Action: May 30th-June 1]

[savedtheworld]

[Action: Days 5-7]

[It's odd for Aang, waking up in House 56. What is this, some sort of bunked bed? He can't remember whatever led him to sleep there. Doesn't this violate his decision to maintain some distance from his younger friends? He slips out of the house early in the morning, or tries to. It's possible that anyone else in the household could have caught him before he was able to leave.

Aang spends the rest of the day and the next two days going back to his daily routine. He meditates in the forest near Avatar House. He goes through town, either casually strolling or zipping through on his Air Scooter, to stay social. On Day 5, he also has to set up his tent near his meditation spot again. Where could his old tent have gone?]

[ooc: Aang is aged up (kinda)-canonically to around his 40s. He also remembers Luceti in an alternate way where he was brought here at this age. The shift has also caused some memory fluctuations (who's that Yakone fellow again?), although the possibility always remains that he's actually from a somewhat alternate version of canon (aka my handwave if my few assumptions get jossed)

Replies come from beardofbalance.]

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Day 7

[rockspurt]

[Someone is in the forest watching him.

...You know. With her feet.

She still can't get over the fact that he's here. That he's alive, and old, and...

She moves back slightly, snapping a twig. Whoops. Just gave away her position there. Maybe he won't notice. She doesn't know if she wants him to notice.]

Day 7

[beardofbalance]

[Toph didn't raise a chump. He can hear that snapping twig and tell someone is near. He opens one eye from his meditation.]

Hello? Is someone there?

[rockspurt]

[...Well shoot. She comes out from behind her tree.]

It's me. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

[beardofbalance]

[His face brightens at the sound of her voice. He quickly stands to greet her, his face not registering his confusion at her age. She's older than he remembers her being here, but not more than a few years. Nowhere near his age.]

Toph! You shouldn't be sorry about that. It's not like you. And you're always welcome.

[rockspurt]

[She freezes for a moment when he says her name. This is just...so surreal. Never mind how he got older--there was no mistaking Aang. Even after all the years he'd been gone, she hadn't forgotten.]

Right...thanks.

[Should she go? She's not sure if she's really ready to talk to him yet.]

Hey, can I join you for a minute?

[beardofbalance]

[Having already seen examples of random age changes these past few days (realization of his own included), he simply accepts Toph as she is. It's actually her unusual politeness that concerns him more.]

Of course! As I said, you're always welcome.

[He approaches her and gives a quick yet warm hug.]

[rockspurt]

[She stiffly hugs him back, biting her lip and hoping she doesn't look too anxious. Ugh, she hates feeling anxious. Luceti had a way of bringing that out in her.]

It's been kind of crazy the last few days, huh?

[beardofbalance]

It truly has. I don't even remember what happened to me the first few days, I've spent the past few days at this age. Which I've had to be told is not the age I'm supposed to be here. It's a lot to take in. [And he doesn't even want to talk about what he's been told about the first few days.]

[rockspurt]

[She huffs.] Yeah. I know what you mean. [Everyone expecting her to be different than she is...it's rough, buddy.]

So...you don't remember being different? Younger?

[beardofbalance]

[With a laugh.] I remember being a kid, fondly! Just not here. But consulting with the others has led me to believe that the experiment has temporarily switched me my younger self out for me.

[rockspurt]

[Just not here...]

What about back home? ...Are you this old there, too?

[Why was she the only one who seemed to remember him dying?]

[beardofbalance]

Yes, I am. It's been quite some time for me since we beat the Fire Lord.

[rockspurt]

[She lets that sink in for a moment.]

Beat the Fire Lord...right.

[beardofbalance]

Is something wrong, Toph?

[rockspurt]

[Yeah. You're dead. But here you are. Clearly not.]

Aang, what do you remember happening beneath Ba Sing Se?

[beardofbalance]

[Only the hint of warmth remains his voice, because of the time being discussed and how Toph seemed to be bothered.]

Yeah. You mean the fight with... [Flash of light] Azula? The time she got me?

[rockspurt]

[She nods slowly.]

That's the one.

[beardofbalance]

[He's starting to suspect some sort of timeline difference. The event in question raises some suspicions he doesn't want to face. So he explains slowly and calmly.]

Well... I remember that me and Katara were outnumbered by Azula, Zuko and the Dai Li. As a last resort, I... [gave her up] opened my last chakra to enter the Avatar State, because I was afraid of what could happen to Katara. But Azula took me by surprise and... she got me with lightning right after I entered it. [His face sours and he turns away for a moment at reliving the memory.]

I... I was a goner. I could feel the Avatar cycle slipping away, but... Katara brought me back. I woke up long enough to see her happy, after she was able to heal me with that spirit water. And then, after that... I didn't really wake up for weeks. [A bright smile] So long I grew hair!

[rockspurt]

[She can't make eye contact while he says this. She still thinks about that day all the time--what could have gone differently.

She chooses for focus on the least painful part of what he says.]

You? With hair? Not that I really know what you look like without it, but I bet that was weird for you.

[beardofbalance]

[Aang tries to smile, but her comment already gives a soft pain to his heart. What does this Toph remember instead?]

It was one of the weirdest times. And I had to keep it for some time since we were infiltrating the fire nation. It felt so liberating to finally shave it off before the invasion. ‹small›[That and his kiss with Katara were the only parts of that day he liked to remember. He paused before continuing in a more solemn tone.]‹/small›

But that's not what you remember, is it?

[rockspurt]

[Slowly, she shakes her head, already reliving how the scene had unfolded for her in her memory. It was hard not to, when he was so near. No matter how many times she told herself not to, it always inevitably came up anyway. That was the day everything changed.]

It isn't. For me...how I remember it, things went pretty differently. Very differently. The world isn't at peace now. We're dealing with worse things than before.

[beardofbalance]

[Hope drains from his face. He finds himself instinctively wrapping Toph in a hug.]

I'm so sorry, Toph. I must have failed you all. I was so lucky in my time that Katara was able to give me a second chance at life... but it sounds like you are truly living with the effects of my own failure.

[If Katara hadn't saved him... he was in the Avatar State. No more Avatar, no more hope.]

[rockspurt]

[She hugs him back, weakly at first, and then building. She won't cry. She'd hardened herself against that a long time ago. And she's silently grateful for that now. The last thing she wants to do is cry right here, right now.]

It wasn't your fault. [At first, she'd been angry. Placed all the blame on Katara for not doing enough.] You did everything you could. And it's not your reality anyway, okay? [She attempts a smile.] So don't worry about it.

[beardofbalance]

[He's not letting go of this hug yet.]

I can't help but worry. You must have been through so much.

[rockspurt]

[Tiredly:] Yeah.

But we're gonna make it. I know we will. The conflict can't go on forever.

[Eventually someone's gonna get tired. And it won't be her.]