Whirlwind [Avatar Aang]

☁Chapter Fourteen☁

"They're going to be so angry with me," Nazadori whispered to Aang, glancing back at the retreating palace. The farther she got away from it, the worse her heart thudded against her chest. Yet she had never felt freer than she did right now. "I fear what they are going to think of me -- what everyone's going to think of me."

After King Bumi Day, Nazadori got told by her advisors that the last candidate she needed to interview was supposed to come to Omashu so she could talk to them there. However, a few hours ago, Gazon told her that the Fire Nation candidate got stuck somewhere in between Omashu and the Fire Nation because their transportation broke down and that Aang was supposed to go get them on Appa.

The thing was, Aang came to her after that and helped her sneak away from them so they could interview this person together outside of the city walls. Even though she knew she shouldn't have done this at all, she couldn't just say no to Aang. There was something in his eyes that told her she needed to do this. And she trusted him. Why wouldn't she trust him?

"Nazadori, you can't worry about what other people think of you," Aang said gently. She could barely hear his voice over the sound of air rushing around her ears. 

"How? I'm going to be queen of Omashu! Everyone's always going to have an opinion about me!" she exploded. Her voice echoed around her, and she hung her head. Shame spiraled through her chest. She tried to not raise her voice, especially to people she cared about. "I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"You can't worry about what people are going to think of you," Aang repeated again. She didn't know why he couldn't get it through his thick skull that she did care about what people thought of her -- especially now that she was getting closer and closer to be crowned queen. "And you need to feel your feelings, not hide them away where they'll simmer and grow and explode on the wrong person."

"And you're not considered the wrong person?"

This time, Aang actually smiled at her, a real smile that lit up his whole face. She didn't know why he was smiling at her, though, especially not like that. Her face heated up slightly as he said, "No, I'm not the wrong person. Actually, I think I'm the best person for you to talk about all this with."

"Oh, yeah, why?"

"Because I know what it's like to not live up to the expectations of the whole entire world." His smile dimmed for just a moment, but he still kept his eyes on hers, holding her gaze and keeping it hostage in those gray worlds. "But I also know how to keep balance between hate and love, anger and happiness. I don't just keep balance in the world, I keep balance within myself."

"You've had a hundred years to figure that out."

His face fell for just a moment, and she knew that her attempt at a joke didn't turn out so well. "I guess so," he said.

"I'm sorry. That was meant to be a joke. It wasn't that funny when it came out of my mouth, though."

"I allow myself to feel whatever is plaguing me when I need to because I can't blow up in front of anyone. I'm the Avatar. I can't just go off the rails sometimes when I'm angry or upset."

"Which is why I need to ignore all the anger and pain inside of me, Aang."

"You can't do that, either, Nazadori."

"Why?" she cried. Against her better judgment, a few tears started trickling down her cheeks. She quickly swiped them away, praying that he didn't notice that moment of weakness. "Why can't I just ignore it? If I don't, I feel like I'm going to drown underneath the weight of my grief. If I don't, I feel like I'm going to burn up from the weight of my anger. I'm going to die if I allow myself to feel any of that."

"What if it sets you free?" he asked her. He didn't seem surprised based on any of the emotions she was currently displaying in front of him. "What if feeling all those horrible emotions will set you free?"

Nazadori didn't know what to say to him, so she just looked away and focused on the ground that flew by them quickly. Appa was doing his best to get them to the small village where the Fire Nation candidate was waiting for them after getting stuck without any transportation to Omashu. Hopefully, they were getting close because she didn't want to have this conversation anymore with Aang.

A few more tears fell down from her eyes. Maybe it was the wind doing that by now, but her heart ached with each tear that fell. She missed Bumi so much, yet she was so angry with him for choosing her to be queen of Omashu. She didn't know which emotion was going to kill her, but it had to be one of those two. It had to be.

"Nazadori, there were so many people angry with me for disappearing for a hundred years," Aang said to her with a shrug. She looked over at him again. That sounded so similar to what he had said to her the other day. "There were so many people angry with how I handled Fire Lord Ozai, too. A lot of people -- even those closest to me -- wanted me to kill him, get rid of him once and for all. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't go against the teachings of my people." He paused for just a moment. "I had to do what's right for me and my beliefs. You have to figure that out for yourself -- whatever is right for you will be right for Omashu."

"I don't know what's right for me anymore," she whispered, her voice getting lost in the wind. 

Still, it seemed like Aang had heard her because he reached out and placed a gentle hand on her own. Slowly but surely, Appa started descending from the sky toward the ground, but Nazadori wasn't really sure if she was ready to face another candidate right now. Her heart felt so heavy underneath all of these emotions, and she wasn't sure that if she opened her mouth to talk, she wouldn't just burst into tears first.

As Appa touched down on the ground, she noticed that they were in front of a small house, one that was all alone. There weren't any other houses in this area, just some low hanging trees. A weird feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. It almost seemed like there was no one here at this house.

Suddenly, the front door opened wide. Her heart fell in her chest when she saw Gazon waiting in the doorway of the house that the Fire Nation candidate should have been in. But she knew that the Fire Nation candidate wouldn't be here. No, this was a trap to catch her in the act of directly disobeying the rules of her advisors. 

"Did you know about this?" Nazadori asked Aang. "Did you know that Gazon would be here, ready for me to break the rules?"

"No!" He shook his head quickly. "I didn't know about any of this. I was kept in the dark just like you."

Nazadori wasn't sure if she should believe him right now, but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was the anger written all over Gazon's face. She was in trouble, she knew that for certain. Whatever they were going to do, she knew that she wouldn't hear the last of this. Maybe they would force her to not be queen anymore. Or maybe they would just kill her right then and there. 

Whatever it was, Nazadori hoped it would end soon.