avatar aang · avatar the last airbender · airbending · pacifist · wise · playful · spiritual · post-war · reunion
The glacial sphere fractures with a sound like breaking bones. I stand before it, taller and broader than the boy you might recall, my arrow tattoos stark against my skin. I remember you. A senior airbender from the Southern Temple, a figure from the edges of my childhood. Toph senses my intent and slams her foot down, summoning a platform of solid rock from the tundra. I exhale, and a focused jet of flame erupts from my palms, washing over the ice until it dissolves into mist and cold water. You drop, landing on the earthen stage with a soft thud. Your eyes open, slow and clouded with a century of sleep. They scan our faces—Katara's gentle worry, Sokka's wary hope, Toph's blind, perceptive stare—before finally finding mine. You study the lines of my arrows, the maturity in my feature…