savedtheworld | Book 13: Sunshine [Video/Action]

[It's another New Feather season, which normally means more busy times at the Welcome Center in setting up to greet the new arrivals. But today, Aang's preoccupied himself with something else: that it's been a whole year since Ikki first appeared here in Luceti, and he had seen the first fellow air nomad since he'd woken from the iceberg. He remembers that light she brought into his life. He knows that she might realize this, too - that aside from the few weeks in which she was briefly sent home, it's been a year since she's been seperated from her home. From her family that raised her and her baby brother who has just been born. So he's intent on making this day as special as possible. In the morning, when she wakes up, he's ready to give her the full royal princess treatment, and others around the house are encouraged to do so as well, even wearing clothes that look like those of a royal retainer.

That morning, he does find some time to himself to address the journals.]

[Video, Filtered from Ikki]

[Aang's wearing a servant-y get-up that looks something like this, with his arrow peeking out from the hat. There's mixed emotions on his face. He's sad at Ikki been trapped here and away from her family for so long - while having to endure all the stresses and traumas that come with Luceti life. But he's also sentimental and grateful for all the time he's been able to spend with Ikki and make her feel better - time that he knows he won't have at home.]

Hi, everyone. It's me, Aang. I just wanted to make sure you all knew that today... It's a very special day. Today it's been one year since Ikki got here in Luceti. Her family was only here for a little bit after she first got here, and she hasn't been able to see them here since then.

So, I just have a favor to ask you. If you see Ikki today, can you do what you can to help treat her like a princess? An Avatar princess! I want her to remember this day as... as a reminder and a celebration of all the good times she's had here and all the friends that she's made here. So that she doesn't have to associate it with... you know, with missing her family. I really want to thank everyone who's looked out for her in this time and made her smile. And I hope we can keep on making her smile for as long as she'll be here.

[Action]

[He does manage to spend some time in the day not entertaining Ikki after school. He spends about a half hour at the Welcome Center to try to greet new arrivals and such, and he also spends some time at the bakery, where he makes some treats for Ikki - while keeping in mind what to prepare for Katara's coming birthday. And he leaves some extra - cookies, cupcakes and the like - for anyone who stops by.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It doesn't seem that long.

I guess it doesn't, once we get used to being here. How long have you been here?

Going to be three years in a few months. I think November? I'd have to check again.

Edited 2013-07-13 00:06 (UTC)

That's a long time. [He says - not pityingly but with some solemn-ness.] You... you must've gotten here not long after Katara did.

Yeah, she's been here a bit longer than me.

[It's easy to realize the contrast; Katara's had Sokka by her side ever since she arrived here, aside from that rough patch they've gone through recently. While Temari... well, Aang remembers from talking to her on the journals before - that she's separated from her own brothers.]

It seems tough. Being here that long.

It's had its moments.

That's good. Moments are good. Ones you can hold onto as times passes by. Evidence that... good things can happen here.

Good things can happen anywhere, I think. Maybe. [Then there's times and places that are just... unhappy all around.]

Edited 2013-07-18 23:32 (UTC)

That's a good philosophy to have, Temari. And... I believe it. I guess Ikki's a good example of that. She's been here a year and... she really would be better off with her family. But she still smiles a lot. Even more than me.

Yeah. [Doesn't mean she actually embraces that particular philosophy.] Of course she'd be better off back home. Most of us would.

Edited 2013-07-22 02:02 (UTC)

That's true. In the end... It's where we all really belong. And Ikki - she needs to be home even more. She's a kid and without her - her mom or her dad, after all. [Aang himself might not have been raised in a traditional family, although the loss of Monk Gyatso was still as painful as he imagined the loss of a parent must be. And he was used to seeing the way it could get to Sokka and Katara, having to live apart from their parents. Ikki was from their future, the world they would shape. A world where she could be with a happy, loving family. So Aang knows that's what would be best for her - to set her back on that road to her family.]

It doesn't matter where she needs to be. [She catches that old grief in his voice; she's not quite sure where it stems from but she can imagine it. Parts of it, at any rate.] What matters is where she is. There's nothing you can do about it but stand in the place of her family for the time being.

[God, Aang. Do you have any idea how much it hurt to say that?]

[He doesn't exactly catch it. But her words are enough to slap him out of dragging himself down with that train of thought. He swallows and nods before he continues slowly.]

Thanks, Temari. You're... you're right. I should focus on what I can control. And that's... being Ikki's family here and now. I'm gonna keep on doing my best for her, as long as I can.

[Damn it, Aang. He just slapped her in return with her own words.] As long as she's here.

[Maybe she should... get in touch with a few people.]

[Just maybe, Temari. But Aang at least wasn't intending for a slap with those words. Still, Temari's words inspire a slight frown. He remembers that brief time that Ikki had gone home and the mixed emotions that it caused. There was relief that she was free of this place and back with her family, but it was buried under the grief of her absence and sticking on what he knew, that she would only be born after he was gone.]

Right. As - as long she's here. ["And I'm here".] It's the least I can do.

Yeah. [The absolute least. Kinda the most, too. She didn't do any of it.] See that you do.

Book 13: Sunshine [Video/Action]

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