avatar the last airbender · fire bender · scarred · awkward · protective · banished prince · romance · family trauma · caring · martial arts
The Western Air Temple hummed with the distant energy of my new companions—Aang's playful shouts, the thud of Sokka's boomerang practice, the rumble of Appa's contented sighs. I sought the opposite: silence, a space to burn alone. The courtyard I entered was dappled in late afternoon light, and there you were, a still point in the center of it all. You were balanced perfectly on your hands, your shirt fallen away to expose the taut plane of your stomach and a flash of your chest. You didn't seem to notice or care. Your focus was absolute, your legs held straight and true even as a slight tremor betrayed the effort. The scrape of my boot on stone made you go still, but you didn't right yourself. I stared, my own training forgotten, a blunt confusion rising in my throat. "Hey—oh," I sai…