the wind in my sails | aang x oc

four

a knock was heard on liara's doorframe as she was staring at the sunset from her window. her room was lit with five candles,  illuminating it with a slight orange glow.

her hair was down, hanging gracefully on her shoulders and she was dressed in the yellow and orange robes that she usually wore in the day. it was just a few minutes after the encounter she had with katara.

"you can come in, aang," she told the tattooed boy, and he entered her cozy room and sat down on her bamboo bed.

"my room is right next to yours," the boy said. liara knew the walls were paper thin, anything could be heard, even the sound of a scroll being opened gently.

she sighed and sat down next to him on her bed. "so you heard it, then? mine and katara's exchange?" she asked with a sigh. the boy merely nodded at his old friend. "I did. and I'm sorry about her." he said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

after a moment of silence, liara spoke up again. "I never saw you as the type to go for angsty ones. you two are cute together."

"what?" aang looked at liara strangely, as if she spoke about taboo. "what? isn't katara your girlfriend?"

laughter filled liara's bedroom, "no, I don't like katara like that. she's my waterbending teacher."

"oh," liara hummed, something inside of her relaxing. "sorry. I just assumed.."

"monk Nora taught you better than to assume," aang countered gently and liara agreed with a nod. "she did."

another silence passed, "I missed you, you know." the airbender girl said to the avatar. "but I knew that our paths would cross. yao told me they would."

aang looked at her, his grey eyes appearing to be a deep shade of amber in the candlelight. they darted to her lips for a split second, but she didn't notice.

"I'm sorry I didn't come any sooner," he said. "you're here now." she replied.

aang took liara in his arms and hugged her tightly, "I'll always be," he mumbled into her soft brown hair. she hummed and sighed, taking in his warmth.

she was glad he was here. she was glad she found him, and even a hundred years ago, she was glad whenever they visited each other at their respective temples.

there was always this strange feeling bubbling in her chest whenever she was with him, and now it was stronger than ever. it was the feeling of safety. she felt safe and sound with him. always.

smiling gently, liara let go of aang, "alright, I'm gonna do some meditating," she told. the boy, getting up from her position next to him.

she sat down on the mat and he was soon to join her, "I'll meditate with you."

with a soft grin, they both crossed their legs and pressed their tattooed fisths together.

within a few minutes, liara was in the familiar leaf forest.

"smoochie smoochie, someone's in love~" yao teased with a smug smirk on his baffoony baboon face. "you could stop listening to my conversations from here, yao." liara shot back, slightly irritated.

"no thanks, I'll continue. I enjoy watching humans fall in love." the baboon said, standing up and liara followed suit.

"I'm not in love." liara retorted, following yao to a table with tea and scones. "of course not. you're obviously in denial." the monkey teased. a man with grey hair and brown eyes sat at the table, enjoying some ginseng tea.

he didn't look like a spirit, but liara sat across from him and poured herself a cup of rose tea.

" what a rare sight, were you an airbender?" the man asked liara. the tattooed girl looked at him, he wore dark blue and white robes and had a signature firenation topknot in his long hair.

"were?" she questioned, looking at the man with her head cocked to the side. the man faltered, "considering what happened to the air nomads..."

she let out a nervous laugh, "no, no, im not dead. i am an airbender. in the present tense."

the man nodded, "I didn't know that there were any airbenders besides the avatar."

liara smiled, "I'm liara of the western air temple."

"iroh of the fire nation."

~

"good morning," liara muttered. her hair was tied into a half-up ponytail and she looked as if she were ready for the day, yet here eyes were still puffy from the sleep.

"nice of you to finally wake up." katara muttered passive-aggressively as toph ast next to her, eating an apple.

it was just past eight, judging from where the sun hung in the sky. still rather early. liara recalled the pervious night that she spent talking with iroh and yao in the spirit world.

"I was up late meditating." she countered nonchalantly, biting into an apple that she picked up from the near empty fruit bowl.

katara merely scoffed in response.

"where's sokka?" she asked, looking around. she had wanted the boy's help in getting some fruits for the group from some nearby orchids and watermelon patches.

"he's watching aang and zuko firebend." toph replied, her burnt feet sitting in a waterbowl. "okay. thanks."

"what do you want my brother for?"

"i needed his help in getting some fruit and stuff. aang's busy with zuko and you don't like me so here I am." the airbender shrugged at the waterbender, throwing the apple core away.

"why? can't you do it yourself."

"it would take me hours, and diki and appa are hungry."

the girl petted her bison and earned a growl from the beast.

"fine. I'll come to keep an eye on you."

katara hopped into diki's saddle and liara hopped into her head, the two girls flew up and out of the raveen, heading southwest.

as diki flew, liara walked into the saddle and stood by katara, who was looking at the carvings on her staff.

"you know, I was there when my temple was attacked with the comet." the tattooed girl told the waterbender. "what you said about my murder eyes... was true."

katara looked up at liara with a harsh glare. "you're a killer."

"I am."

a deafening silence filled the space between the two girls.

"what I did that day haunts me. a lot. but I did it for survival. that firebender... he killed at least a dozen of my people."

katara's eyes softened slightly. "a firebender?"

"he was a killer before me. I did what I needed to. a life for a life. i survived."

katara touched her necklace, "my mother was murdered by a firebender when I was eight."

"I'm sorry."

"I thought you killed in cold blood your eyes... held so much numbness about it." katara said to liara, her face now saddened more than it was angry. "I did. I bended the air right out of his lungs without a single thought in my mind. it was only after that it resonated that I committed taboo."

"I still remember the sheer power I felt when I sensed that his lungs collapsed. it makes me sick."

katara stayed silent as diki landed in an apple orchid. "to take someone's life. that's something you can't shake, even if it was out of self defense."

"I'm sorry about what I said to you."

liara smiled at the waterbender, her pale skin seeming to glow in the sun. "I forgive you, just... please don't tell aang about me killing someone."