savedtheworld | Book 16: Drained [Voice/Action]

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Book 16: Drained [Voice/Action]

[Voice]

[It had been easy enough to assume that Sokka had still been kidnapped - that he'd be back any day. It was worrying, but there was still the assurance of his eventual return. Except that eventually, his room was checked. And found empty. There wasn't even a sign of Foo Foo Cuddlypoops. It was hard to believe - when Aang had first gotten to Luceti, he had gotten used to Sokka being the man with the answers. And also a beard. He was like a big figure of the town. And now he was gone. Katara wasn't in a state to announce it herself, so Aang eventually did it. Making it quick and to the point.]

Hi everyone. This is Aang. I'm sorry to tell you all this, but Sokka has gone back home. I know we're all gonna miss him. I already do. But at least at home... the last time I saw him there, he was happy.

[Action]

[Aang spends some time over by the statue of Sokka's head located House 56, studying the image of his best friend. He tries to meditate and tries to imagine the inspiring words that Sokka would usually say. Because he's still afraid of being around other people. And right now, the people dear to him may need him more than ever.]

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I'm afraid that things'll be like that anywhere you go. There's always good and bad in things. But wherever you go, there's always still hope. There's hope that things can get better and that people can live at peace with each other.

But people don't die here, right? So it's better than going back home.

People can die, Arietta. Just because they come back doesn't make it mean any less.

[He says that in a harsher tone than he intended. That's particularly because of how Sokka himself had died earlier this very year.

And because he himself knows what it's like - he was even temporarily dead at home, and even though Katara was able to restore him, he knows that there were a few moments there where she had experienced what it was like for him to be dead.]

I can't say which is better or which is worse. But I do know, and I believe... that even when a person doesn't come back, death isn't really the end.

[ She physically shrinks back when she hears his reply, and it takes a while before she can manage to respond to him, though she sounds a good deal more timid than she did before. ]

Then you don't get to see them anymore... that's why it hurts so much. You're alone now.

I know it hurts, a lot. I know I lost a lot of people back home. But I also know that... no matter how much death happens, life always continues.

And sometimes, people's lives can be reborn... in new and different ways. It's still sad, because it's not the same, but it's what happens. And... it reminds me of something a wise man told me once. He told me that love... is a form of energy that swirls around us. When people leave us, their love stays behind. It stays within your heart, and it can get reborn in the form of new love.

... You're really strong, Aang. I don't think I could be that strong. I get really, really hurt when I have to leave people I like.

Arietta... I think that you can be that strong. Maybe you already are. It's natural to be hurt a lot... when you leave the people you like. But strength's about keeping on going with your life. It's not forgetting them, but being happy for them, because they're not there to be happy themselves. For me... I don't think I would've been this strong if it weren't for my friends. So the more good people you surrounded yourself with - the more strength you can get from their support.

I don't like people. People can be mean, and do really bad things. Some people are nice, but most of them aren't. I don't want to need more people.

Arietta... It's true that people can be mean and do bad things. But I don't thin that's a reason to stop trying. It helps to have hope... and to reach out to people. Sometimes, even people who seem mean can have good in them. They... they can change, for the better.

I don't want them to change. I want them to just go away. If a bad person makes someone good go away, then the bad person should go, too.

Edited 2013-12-09 04:16 (UTC)

If people are really, really bad... they can get locked away. But there's still people who are like they're bad but they still got good in them. There's still hope for them. Sometimes things just get... complicated, and confusing. But I still always wanna believe in hope, and in people.

... I can't do that.

[ Sorry Aang, this is totally not the conversation you wanted in this post ]

[It's certainly not helping to lift his spirits. He still wants to try to help Arietta. But it's proving to be difficult.]

I'm sorry. I understand it must be hard for you, Arietta. It can be hard to change what you believe when you're used to living a certain way. [He remembers Zuko and how hard it was to get him to join them, to be their friend. It's an example of the kind of thing Aang was trying to tell Arietta about, but now he also thinks it's an example of how far Arietta may have to go to truly see things his way.]

I know I'm not gonna make you change your beliefs. But... Can you at least try to think about all the things I've said? Just... just keep them in your head, even if you don't believe them?

Um... I think I can try. But it's a lot... and a lot of it hurts to think about. It's complicated, and sad.

I know. Lots of things in life are like that. Lots of lessons are - are tough. But if you just try to think about some of the lessons that can help... maybe things can get easier. And better.

I still don't think things can get better. He won't come back.

But whoever he is... He won't leave your heart, either. Maybe it's wrong to say things can get better. But it's possible for life to still go on and to still have good times. It's about living for that person who's still in your heart. Isn't that... what he would want? [He's sure it's what Monk Gyatso would want.]

I don't know. I don't... think so. I was supposed to protect him. If I couldn't protect him, I was useless. Now all I can do for him is avenge him...

[ tales of the abyss is the happiest story with the healthiest relationships ]

[oh it totally is.]

I don't think that makes you useless. And... I'm sorry... but I don't think revenge is the right way.

It does! It's... it's the only thing I ever wanted to do. Without him, I... [ She sounds like she's about to cry. ]

[He's not sure how to tackle that. Not when she sounds so fragile.]

A-Arietta...

You sound like you need a hug.

[His current fear shift is just a bit of a detriment against delivering on that.]

I don't think so... I just want to be able to go home with him.

[He pauses for a moment - taking a few difficult, ragged breaths.

It's becoming harder to think that this could be referring to anyone other than Ion.]

I... I understand that feeling. [He feels somewhat similar regarding a different sort of conflict. He knows his granddaughter, Ikki, will be safer at home. But he also knows he'll have passed on by the time she's born. He may never get to meet her at home.] I wish it were possible for things like that to happen peacefully.

But... Have you thought about what he wants?

He told me to be by his side. I was supposed to protect him forever...

[ She's conflating the two Ions again but it's really hard not to when she's upset. ]

He - he did, huh? And this... Are you sure this is what he still wants? [He's not sure. If he knew that his end was near, wouldn't he try to change things? Aang wonders.]

Book 16: Drained [Voice/Action]

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