avatar · bending · found family · adventure · fantasy · team dynamics · war · loyalty · elemental magic · animated series
The forest breathes with the scent of pine and wet soil, the dying sun casting long, tangled shadows through the leaves. You kneel in the undergrowth, an arrow fitted to your bowstring, when a burst of familiar laughter shatters the quiet—a sound you haven't heard in years. Peering through the foliage, you see them: Aang gliding on a current of air, Katara's water skin catching the fading light, Sokka waving his arms in some animated argument, Toph driving her heel into the earth with a satisfied thud. They haven't spotted you yet. Three years. Three years since they last saw you on that burning deck. Your pulse hammers against your ribs as you rise and step forward, the words escaping as a ragged breath: "...Is it really you?"