savedtheworld | Book 1: Fresh Water [Video]

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Book 1: Fresh Water [Video]

[Aang is peering into the journal so his face takes up almost the entire screen. He begins shouting into the book as abruptly as his image appears]

Hey! What am I doing here? I'm Aang! I'm an Airbender. Does anyone know what's going on here? I can't find my friends, my clothes or any of my stuff! I thought I was on my sky bison with everyone else going to see the Earth King. Now I'm here. Have anyone of you book people seen anyone I know?

[Aang has pulled away from the journal but continues talking as he sits in a patch of grass.]

This is a really weird place. But kinda peaceful. Definitely not weird enough to be the Spirit World. What is going on here?? And... have I always had these wings?

[Aang lifts up the book with one hand, squinting and examining it like some foreign object. This results in the picture showing his quizzical face from a skewed angle.]

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[Aang is a bit taken aback by this. Something definitely isn't right. And he has Sokka's words about different times fresh in his mind. He doesn't want to accept what is actually the truth right away, but he is considering the possibility that he's talking to the Katara of the past.]

That'd be great, Katara. I can't wait. I'm... there's a bunch of buildings nearby and I think I see fountain over there.

[Okay, a plan and practical action. She can totally deal with this.

The fact that he started using her name didn't hurt either. In fact, she almost started to feel good about seeing him again.

He's here. He's really here.]

Okay, don't worry. That's the plaza. We'll be there soon!

[But she's not going to stick around and wait for everyone else to get there. She's coming from the Battle Dome, so she might make better time than anyone else.]

[Aang's anxiety is outweighed by the prospect of seeing Katara and co. again soon. He sits himself down by the fountain and begins to lightly kick his legs in the air. It's as patient as he gets.]

[When Katara sees him sitting there, she breaks out into a run.]

Aang!

[She can't help it. It's him, he's really here, and despite the weirdness of his greeting she's smiling because she has missed him so much.]

[Aang immediately leaps to his feet at Katara's approach and runs towards her. She didn't look so different than when he last saw her... maybe his doubts about when she had come from were in vein? In his excitement, he lets one loose again.]

Sweetie!

[-and then he jumps into a hug.]

[Okay, hugs are acceptable, and she hugs him back - is he... taller? - but Sweetie still freaks her out.

Assuming that they developed similarly, the one big difference Aang will immediately be able to pick up with this Katara is that her ears are pierced with tiny silver birds.

She returns his hug eagerly, if briefly.]

[--but then she pulls back, even if her hands linger on his arms (he's here, he's really here, he's really here and she can't quite believe it) and she can't hold back the question which she asks much in the same tone as she once asked "Why are you looking at me like that?" if with a bit more apprehension.]

Why do you keep calling me that?

[Aang basks in the warmth of the hug before it is quickly withdrawn. Her words quickly bend his hopes into nothing. A year's worth of progress fades away, and Aang's face falls. He begins to grip through his memories to wonder how far back they had to be.]

Katara, I'm... sorry.

[He turns away from Katara. But he starts to think- Sokka had lived to the end of the war. Maybe Katara remembers their big kiss at least.]

It's... I made a mistake. Y'know, I thought... Katara. How long has it been since we... beat the Fire Lord?

[Katara sees his face fall and instantly her own concerns drop away. The last thing she wants to do is see him sad, he's already had to deal with so much sadness. It's even worse if she is the one making him feel that way.

She wants to follow and catch his eyes again, but... it's been two years, and she's greeted him by hurting him, does she even have that right anymore?

Katara takes a tentative half-step towards him, seeking his gaze.]

No, Aang, I'm sorry. I just - [She pauses there. She just what? Wanted to make sure that things were as she remembered it? Wanted to make sure he was her Aang? Was completely and totally selfish in her need for clarification?

She drops her gaze, slumping inwards.] The last thing I remember from back home, we were leaving Hama's village.

[...this isn't how she imagined ever seeing him again.

Then again, she'd almost given up on the thought of seeing him again here.]

[Aang's shoulders sink with her last words. The kiss after the war's end and the kiss at Ember Island... oh no, even that kiss from before the Day of Black Sun. All those times that validated his feelings for Katara, gone. He closed his eyes for a moment in silence and swiped his sleeve across his nose.

It wasn't so bad, though, he thought. Katara is still right there, after all. It's the Katara from his past, the Katara who was his dearest friend, and he still loves her too. It's not like those memories were gone for good, anyway... from what he gathered from his exchanges, he would eventually be sent back home, and the Katara who was his sweetie would be back again.]

[Aang turns around to face Katara with his brightest grin.]

Hama, that weirdo? That was a long time ago! That explains everything! I'm from the future... over a year after we kicked the fire lord's ugly butt! And that explains why you don't know what I mean by "sweetie"! It's...

[Aang feels some sweat accumulating on his forehead, matched with a small drum in his chest.]

...it's something we say to... make fun of Sokka! It was something really funny, trust me, you had to be there!

[Weirdo was the least of what she'd call Hama. But - he was from a year after? And oh.

Oh. Oh Aang.

He's protecting her? He's not... making a claim about what it was that he experienced? He's willing to meet her where she is?

Katara blinks away a sudden rush of tears.

She doesn't want to take it. She wants to sit down and talk things out and make things better and he shouldn't have to -- but. It's been two years. And she doesn't have anything to offer him that's less painful.

There maybe isn't anyone else in the world that she'd let slide by with something like this. But it's Aang and - for now, she makes a promise to herself that it's only for now - she'll go along with it.

It's not hard. It's a relief. She's so grateful that she doesn't have to hurt him more, she speaks without thinking, shaking her head a little.]

I've missed you so much.

[Aang's fake smile slides into a real one. Things were gonna be okay.]

I know it's only been like a day for me since I last saw you, but I missed you too. I miss everyone already. Do you know if Toph or Appa or Momo are here?

[Katara's smile falters at that a little.]

Momo's here! Toph... went home about a month ago. And I haven't seen Appa since the last time I saw you - but now that you're here, he might show up too! He's not in any danger back home, time just stops. So even if it takes a while, when you leave here, you'll go right back to where everything was.

[With Appa and with me.]

[Aang nods along with what Katara says, and even though it's not exactly happy news, he feels relieved to be moving from the intensity of the former subject. He's a bit dismayed about the absence of Toph and Appa, but his conversations with some of the others have prepared him for that possibility.]

Good old Momo! That's a relief. I'm not too worried about the others. It just it would have been cool if we were all in the same place. [He pauses for a moment in thought] I hope Appa shows up. All my stuff is probably still on him too. And Toph's already gone back... how long have you been here, Katara?

[She shifts a little uncomfortably, trying to hide how uncomfortable this answer makes her.]

It was two years last month.

[There's... nothing really to add to that. Nothing that's good, anyway.]

...Wow.

[He wasn't sure what to say. That was longer than he expected, even though it wasn't that different from what Sokka had said... twice the length of their relationship. She didn't seem to be all that different... but it was hard to imagine Katara had gone a whole two years separated from him and their world.]

You and Sokka have really been here a long time. I can't imagine going even half as long without you guys.

[He takes a moment to think of a way to bend this subject into a lighter one.]

Are there any fun animals to ride?

[She laughs a little at his diversion, but can't quite let that go without comment.] I hope that you never have to find out.

[The thought of him returning to and being alone, without her and Sokka, had kept her up nights before she'd learned to accept the strange time imbalance of this place.]

And - no. No fun animals to ride. [She is NOT telling him about the giant wolf god in the forest.] But there is soda!

[This is about when Sokka finally catches up with them. He would've been there sooner, but one doesn't leave molten metal just lying around in the smithy! At least they're easy to spot. Sokka catches the last thing Katara says though.]

Ex-nay on the oda-say. [Oh wait, nobody taught pig latin to Katara.] Remember that tea that the general- [Actually why is he even going into that, it's Aang!] Hey Aang! I think you're taller now. [Is he taller? It's hard to say. He wants to measure him against Katara.]

[Aang feels differing levels of dismay from both of Katara's statements, but the arrival of Sokka quickly cheers him up.]

Sokka!

[A quick hug is launched at Sokka as he finishes his statements.]

I think I am taller! Things have been looking more and more lower in the last year. And what's an odasay?

[Katara just silently watches and approves of this reunion.

It's... still... strange, but it feels so good to see her most precious people together again.]

[Sokka is so used to hugs by now you have no idea, so he TAKES IT LIKE A MAN.]

I've been having a similar experience. Like everything is becoming vertically challenged. And don't worry about the odasay. It's overrated.

[He doesn't exactly follow what Sokka is saying but laughs regardless.]

It's so great seeing both of you again. The three of us, back together!

[She's confused. Hadn't he just said that - they hadn't been apart? She wants to ask but bites it back. It's better. Not to ask about that just now.]

We should see about getting you your clothes and your staff back. They're probably in the shops.

[Sokka's thought process is similar, but he figures Aang is just overly sentimental. Kind of like his sister.]

Yeah, hate to break it to you, Aang, but white isn't really your color.

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