The Awakening (SpawnofSatan)

Lost

~Na li~

I honestly thought Aang was just about the stupidest person in the world right then, but I really didn't care. If he was gonna be reckless, then gosh darn it he's bringing me along, baby or no baby!

Aang and I opened our gliders and took off, hoping no one saw us. We flew side by side, glancing behind us every now and then to make sure we weren't being followed. It was around sunset when we left, and by the time the dark clouds had rolled in, the stolen ship was far behind us.

It wasn't long after the rain started that I saw Aang's glider start falling towards the ocean. I screamed Aang's name, and just before he hit the water, I saw him put his left hand back on the glider handle. I couldn't help but smirk. "Two hands, genius!" I called down to him.

"Hey back off, okay!" Aang called back. "You have wings, you don't need to use your glider!"

"Good point!" I closed my glider and spread my wings. Bad idea. I had barely even flapped once before pain shot up my spine and I yelped, dropping down in the air. I opened my glider again before I hit the water, now at Aang's level. "Note to self: don't do that."

Aang snickered and I rolled my eyes at him.

We stayed close to the water after that, which was either a great idea or a terrible one. Both of us were struggling to stay airborne due to the growing discomfort from our injury, and the fac that we could feel the other's pain only made things worse. Every now and then, the tips of our gliders would skim the top of the water, but somehow we never fell in. Soon, we reached Fire Nation waters, and were met with...

"A blockade," Aang and I said in sync. We had a habit of doing that, and I kind of liked it. We nodded to each other, then both of us used Airbending to suck in a big enough breath to sustain us before closing our gliders and diving underwater, swimming under the blockade, using Waterbending to propel us forward. We swam at an angle, making a bowl shape beneath the blockade to ensure we wouldn't be seen.

Right as we were heading up to surface, pain rocketed up my spine and I yelped, sending bubbles of air chasing Aang to the surface. My whole body jerked in the water, and that combined with the pressure of the water caused my glider to snap in half, sending the two sticks sinking down to the ocean floor. Before I could even think of swimming after them, I felt Aang grab my arm and pull me to the surface. He dragged me over to a large piece of driftwood and we flopped over it, catching our breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aang smirk.

"Don't," I said. "I know what you're thinking, and it's a bad idea."

Of course, he didn't listen. It wasn't long before the storm picked up, and by then, Aang and I were windsurfing on the rolling waves, using Aang's glider as a sail. The driftwood was just big enough that we could stand side by side on it and use it as a surfboard. Aang was in front, myself behind him. My left arm was crossed over his right as we held on, and both of us were tense.

"Aang this is a bad idea!" I yelled over the wind. "Any other time it would be okay, but right now, when we're hurt, during a storm with massive tidal waves and one of us has a baby on the way? Not a good idea!"

"You're the one who insisted on coming with me!" Aang tossed over his shoulder at me. "I never asked--" He was cut off when we crashed into a wave. Both of us yelped as we were forced underwater and Aang's glider was ripped from our grasp.

When we surfaced, we clung to the driftwood like it was our lifeline, which in a way, it was. Aang tried to reach for his glider that was floating a few feet ahead of us, but it was swept away by the waves. Aang and I screamed as a massive wave came up behind us and forced us under the water. We stayed underwater for so long we felt our lungs would burst, then finally surfaced and held tight to the driftwood. The sea seemed like it was finally done tormenting us, for the waves were definitely not as massive as they were before. I dropped my head onto the driftwood, trying to hide my pained expression from Aang.

"We're not gonna make it," I heard his say softly from the other side of the driftwood. His voice was scratchy, like he was fighting pain himself. "We failed."

Lightning flashed in front of us, looking like it was about to strike the water, but it didn't, and in its place stood the huge, glowing blue spirit form of Avatar Roku. "You haven't failed, Aang," he said.

"But everyone thinks we're dead again," Aang said. "They think we've abandoned them."

"And we're losing this war," I spoke up, looking up at Roku. I silently hoped Aang wouldn't be able to see my tears through the saltwater and rain that soaked my face. "We're letting the whole world down."

"If anyone is to blame for the state of the world, it is me," Roku said. "I should have seen this war coming, and prevented it. You both inherited my problems, and my mistakes. And I believe the two of you are destined to redeem me, and save the world."

"I don't know," Aang said, looking away from Roku and closing his eyes.

"I'm not sure," I said at the same time as Aang, performing the same action.

Suddenly, the rain stopped and everything went still. Moonlight shone down on us as Roku's spirit disappeared and Yue came down to us, hovering above us. "You already saved the world," she said. "And you'll save the world again. But you can't give up."

"You're right," Aang said after a short pause. "We won't give up."

Aang swung his arm in a circle, and a large wave came rushing towards us. It pushed the driftwood away from the spotlight of moonlight, Yue using her powers over the tides to make it bigger and stronger. Aang stood up on the driftwood and used his bending to control the wave while I stayed in a squatting position, perched on my toes as I controlled the winds around us to keep us from falling off.

The last thing I remember before blacking out was seeing Crescent Island ahead of us and the wave dropping us on the rocky shore.