Heimat | Aang

TWENTY-SIX

Tapeesa hadn't flown on a sky bison's back ever since she had left Aang two years ago but somehow, it felt as if not even a day had passed. Getting used to flying on Appa's back came easy, as if she had done it before, and soon it felt as if nothing had changed. Aang was holding the reins, she was sitting right behind him, watching the city get closer and closer. Both of them were quiet. There was no need to talk as they flew to the dock of Republic City. The moment they had landed and unmounted Appa, he flew off.

"Won't that be a problem?" Tapeesa couldn't help but ask as the sky bison's form got smaller and smaller the farther he flew.

"No," Aang replied at once, "I can call him back whenever." Tapeesa hummed, slightly reassured, and once confident she no longer worried about anything, Aang kept on talking. "This is the dock, as you can see. There's a number of houses here, mainly families of fishermen since they wanted to be close to the sea. This area is more developed than the rest of the city."

Tapeesa nodded. Wordlessly, Aang started walking deeper in the city. She followed after him. He didn't say a word until they got across a half-built statue of what appeared to be a man standing, only his legs built.

"This is supposed to be Zuko," Aang admitted, and now he had pointed it out, Tapeesa could recognize the distinct boots all soldiers or noble people from the Fire Nation wore. "When it is finished, he will be holding a flame in his hand."

"Impressive," she commented, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the statue, as if attempting to bring it to life in her mind. After a while, her expression returned to its usual tranquility, the creases between her brows no longer existing. "Even though I don't know the Fire Lord, I imagine it took some time convincing him to build this statue."

"You have no idea," Aang chuckled, "his statue was supposed to be built at the same time as Toph's and mine's but he was so against the idea at first it took us more time to convince him than we thought it would so the construction started later."

Tapeesa smiled at the thought as she turned to face him. "Toph has a statue?"

"In front of the Police Department," he beamed, "I will show you."

She didn't attempt to stop him. A while later, she found herself in front of the Police Department, the clear indicator being Toph's statue right in front of it. Toph appeared rather intimidating, with her hands on her hips, her face blank.

"It's quite like her, don't you think?" Aang asked as he noticed her examining the statue. "She was rather looking forward to making this. I hardly managed to stop her from raising a whole statue made of metal in favour of creating what you see now."

"Why stop her?" she argued, a smile curling in the corners of her lips. "I happen to think she would do a great job."

"Details are important so the rest of the people can tell this is Toph, though," Aang chuckled, "come on, then. Let's get inside."

Tapeesa followed his lead. The interior of the Police Department was a lot less humble than the exterior for sure—nothing could compare to a statue like the one at the front door, of course—but she barely had the chance to notice the few cells around her before her gaze was drawn to the front desk, where people she knew were standing.

Sokka and Suki were standing next to each other, talking in hushed tones, a toddler in Sokka's arms, a little girl that was just laying her head against his shoulder, remaining quiet. Even if she had wanted to, Tapeesa wouldn't have been able to keep herself from smiling at the sight.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she spoke before Aang could, bringing Suki and Sokka to look her way at once. Their eyes widened. "It is rather convenient I will get to see all of you at the same time, though."