balance → atla, reader insert [HIATUS]

02 | the avatar returns

CHAPTER TWO!
THE AVATAR RETURNS

          [Y/N] STARED INTO THE DISTANCE. The flare that exploded with a loud crack revealed the location of the village—its harsh orange aura contrasted against the cool blue sky while its brightness challenged the Sun's rays. The source was drawn back to the abandoned Fire Navy ship that was prohibited to go near. It caught the attention of everyone in the village, immediately filling each and every person with dread.

     After a quick, mental headcount of the village, she realized that Katara and Aang were the only ones not present. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, but the convenience of a Fire Nation signal appearing at the same time of two missing people put her on edge. A small part of her wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt—Katara knew better than to go near that ship.

     Yet, she didn't know much about Aang. She was beginning to believe Sokka was right after all.

     "Yay! Aang's back!" With an exclamation from one of the kids, two figures approached the village. Aang and Katara neared—they seemed to be slightly shaken—and the tribe crowded to greet them.

     The children excitedly ran up to Aang with large smiles, which made the airbender light up in return. On the other hand, Sokka, at the front of the rest of the tribe, was much less than ecstatic as he expressed to [Y/N] the entire time Katara and Aang were gone. Though now, she knew it was cranked, at least, twenty times higher.

     "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare!" He pointed at Aang. "You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"

     Katara instinctively took a defensive step forward. "Aang didn't do anything," she said. "It was an accident."

      "Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well . . ." Aang trailed off, rubbing his neck to find the right words. "we 'boobied' right into it."

     Gran Gran shook her head disapprovingly. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger."

     "Don't blame Katara! I brought her there." Aang guiltily casted a look to the snow-covered ground. His voice lowered, he admitted, "It's my fault."

     "Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!" Sokka exclaimed. The children reluctantly left Aang to join the rest of the tribe, the smiles fell from their faces. "The foreigner is banned from our village!"

     [Y/N] caught herself slightly flinching at the declaration. She knew that Aang messed up but didn't expect him to end up being banned.

     Fist balled at her sides, Katara insisted, "Sokka, you're making a mistake!"

     "No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad! I'm protecting you from threats like him!"

     "Aang is not our enemy!" She motioned to the airbender. "Don't you see! Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun!"

     Sokka scoffed. "Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun."

     Aang offered an earnest smile. "You should try it sometime."

     Unfortunately, that fueled Sokka's anger. "Get out of our village. Now!"

     Katara desperately looked to the rest of the tribe. "[Y/N]? Grandmother? Please, don't let Sokka do this."

     "I'm sorry, Katara." [Y/N] avoided Katara's eyes. Admittedly, she enjoyed Aang's company and Katara wasn't necessarily wrong. Any other day, she would've taken Katara's side just to get on Sokka's nerves. But this was no joking matter, their lives could be at stake.