Heimat | Aang

ELEVEN

The sun had dipped in the sea, hiding in the horizon, painting the sky a lovely iridescent shade. The light it provided was enough but still, a few torches were lit around the town as slowly, the sun slipped further and further away. In the opposite direction, the moon rose, lovely even though only half of it was making an appearance that night. The town was slowly falling asleep, the citizens returning to their homes for the night. In the port, every person but one had left.

It was a bald man, arrows decorating his body from his toes to his head. He was sitting, his feet tangling from the edge, a bag set on his lap. There was no need to guess who the man was. His appearance was one no one else in the world had. It was the Avatar, no doubt. From the way he sat now, though, shoulders hunched, head lowered, one couldn't help but take a second look to ensure it was indeed him.

Aang looked ahead, at the setting sun moments before it disappeared completely in the horizon, swallowed by the waves. He waited. With his head lowered, eyes downcast, he kept his bag close to him and did nothing but wait. It could have been minutes or hours for all he knew when he heard footsteps heading towards him. He glanced up, perking up just slightly at the sight of the person coming towards him.

Tapeesa appeared tired. Her footsteps were almost soundless, as they usually were—Aang once had thought she had the lightest footsteps after him—her bag swang over her shoulder. There was a discreet drop of her shoulders she usually lacked and her chin wasn't raised as it tended to be. Aang was certain. She was exhausted.

He stood up at once and met her halfway and as she looked up at him, he forced himself to send her a convincing smile. "Hey."

"I lost track of time in the medical centre," the words tumbled out so quickly he almost didn't understand what she was saying. "There were so many people, Aang, I didn't mean to make you wait."

"It's fine," he assured her as he gestured to the vague direction of the hill, where she remembered he had let her know they would be camping at. "You look exhausted."

"I've been healing people all day," she murmured as she followed him to the hill with a small sigh. "I need some time to rest, that's all. You don't look too lively either."

Aang sent her a halfhearted smile. "It's been a long day. We've been on a ship for so long I sometimes still think I can feel the ground moving under my feet."

She didn't smile along at his attempt to brighten the mood. Instead, she only watched him with slightly furrowed eyebrows. "How did your asking around go?"

He cleared his throat. "I bought us some food earlier. Once we find Appa we can eat and get some rest."

She didn't let this go. "And you can tell me what happened."

Aang dragged his eyes away from her with a small sigh but still, he nodded. Tapeesa didn't push him any more.

They reached the hill a while later, never once speaking a word to each other. Appa was there, Tapeesa realised to her mild surprise, and at the sight of him, Aang seemed unable to not smile. He instantly headed to his companion and laid down on one of his legs. She watched them both closely as she announced she was going to gather some wood and walked away. When she returned, Aang had taken out the food and had made space for the wood so they could start the fire. The moment she had deposited the wood at the place he had dug, he lit a fire and started cooking. She watched him as he moved, sitting down on the ground all the while. After a while, as she had expected, he spoke up.

"It was a disaster." She didn't say a word and Aang briefly glanced at her before he continued. "None of them thought separating the people was a good idea. They claimed I wanted the four nations to get back to the way they used to be and that I'm not open to change! They said I don't want peace. How can they say that when that's all I've tried to do since the beginning?"