
Chapter 30: Daze
Getting on Appa and flying away was one of the hardest things Y/N had done in awhile.
Despite her best interests, she couldn't help but lean on the side of the saddle and stare at the receding figure below her until he was out of sight. She could still feel his beautiful amber gaze, even when the ground disappeared below the thick layer of clouds
"Y/N, we need to talk." Katara said softly, and Y/N turned around to face the group, leaning on the rail of the saddle.
"I couldn't see, but I'm pretty sure I know what happened." Toph snickered, surprisingly cutting off when Katara put a hand on her shoulder.
"And I'm pretty sure I know what Katara is going to say, and I regrettably agree." Y/N sighed, crossing her arms and fidgeting with her sleeve.
"I'm sorry, Y/N, even though I have no idea what you see in him." Katara continued. "It's not good for either of you. Losing sight of priorities, which side you're on... both of you are going to get hurt, and the war- it just can't work out."
"We can help you find an earthbending guy or something! All the waterbender guys at the North Pole were jerks." Sokka offered, and Y/N smiled widely at him. He wasn't the best at figuring out girls, or these kind of problems, but he really did care, so did Katara, and she loved them both.
"Who said they had to be a bender?" Y/N let out a chuckle, barely audible through her tight throat, crawling over to her siblings and giving them both a hug.
"Are you hoping to get over him just like that?" Toph asked, confused. "That's a really quick turnaround, don't you think?" She still stayed close to Y/N when she hugged her siblings, clinging to her arm.
"Oh, Toph." Y/N pulled away from her siblings with another laugh. "I doubt I'll ever get over him. None of you have seen in him what I have, and that's okay, I get that none of you understand." She sat back, staring at the floor. "My hope is he will find a nice Fire Nation girl to take care of him, help him."
"And you'd be okay with that?" Sokka asked, a concerned look on his face. Y/N shook her head, gripping the fabric of her pants tightly in her fists.
"Of course not, I'll be devastated, but at least he'll be happy, and it might make it easier to move on, you know?" She linked her arm with Toph's so the earthbender girl wouldn't have to keep readjusting to stay in physical contact. "Plus, we have a lot of other things to worry about, like saving the world."
"Keep talking to us, okay, Y/N?" Toph asked, her voice quiet for the first time since Y/N had met her.
—|➖◾️➖|—
"STEADIER ON YOUR FEET, TWINKLETOES!" Sentimental and concerned Toph was gone extremely quickly. The next morning it was straight to earthbending. She was obviously enjoying yelling at the Avatar, and it was funny to watch, but also concerning, as Aang was having a lot of trouble with earthbending.
Y/N and Katara originally planned to train together, but Katara soon ditched, trying to tell Toph to be more careful and not kill the Avatar.
Y/N practiced her throwing skills, and tricks to guide her icicles mid-air, as well as her octopus trick, which she hadn't quite perfected.
She tried incorporating some of Ty Lee's smooth and confusing dodging tactics, but soon decided it wasn't for her, sticking to blocking and staying proactive.
It was a long day, not that much happening. Aang kept airbending when he was supposed to be stopping rocks, Sokka got stuck in a hole and attacked by wildlife, Y/N almost getting gored in the process of trying to save him.
Okay, so a lot happened, but it was still dull, and lifeless to Y/N. Her siblings were right, but she didn't want them to be.
Y/N and Zuko couldn't be together in this stupid war. She doubted they could even after Aang defeated the Fire Lord, if he could even pull that off, with his air nomad not killing people complex thing. The Fire Nation would be bitter after the defeat, and probably not very accepting of a water tribe girl.
She was sure that Zuko knew this too, but he already had too much to worry about.
What if I really have to kill him? Y/N asked herself.
It was now night again, and everyone was sleeping except for her. She stood in a pool, coming to the conclusion that if she couldn't sleep, she might as well be productive.
Her aim was getting better, and stronger. She was able to stick her icicles in the solid rocks around the small canyon they camped in. Overall, she was seeing improvement in her bending skills, a very satisfying feeling after her time training at home, and seeing no progress.
Knives would still be better and more precise when it came to pinning people down, but using Mai's unique fighting style to create for herself a long range attack was good to add and hone for her arsenal.
She kept working, breathing heavy as she tried new moves, larger amounts of water, trying to focus on her training rather than the problems at hand.
He won't betray me. She thought, waterbending the pool around her to boil, practicing her defense against hot and cold. I won't have to do it. The bubbles and steam broiled around her as she kept cool and untouched, breathing slowly to generate cold air.
Right?
—|➖◾️➖|—
Y/N's dreary spirit was revived a few days later, after flying over the desert in search of a supposed Knowledge Spirit's Library. She never expected to actually find the place the professor they had blabbered about, and there were several false alarms.
"Wait. No." Toph realized as they were about to leave the small tower they had spotted. "The entire library is still here, intact, under the ground. It's enormous."
"What?" Y/N couldn't help but snap from her daze at the thought of all those scrolls and books, coming over to the tower.
"Let's check it out, then." Sokka lowered a rope inside, but Y/N jumped in without hesitation, freefalling.
"Good Lord!" The professor exclaimed as everyone screamed her name. "Did she just jump several hundred feet??"
Y/N couldn't hear anything after that, the whistling wind filling her ears as she whooped at the sudden adrenaline coursing through her.
She had become a bit of a junky in the past few days, trying new and more dangerous stunts to train, eventually jumping off the sides of canyons when Aang and the others were training below.
Y/N whipped the water from the containers strapped her her hips, catching the wall to slow herself until she landed lightly on the floor.
The noise did not go unnoticed, and soon a terrifyingly tall, dark owl-like spirit was towering over her.
"You shouldn't be here." It stated in a warning tone.
"Please don't kill me. I'm Y/N." Y/N smiled awkwardly, raising her hands above her head.
"And your name is supposed to make me not kill you?" The owl spirit asked, cocking its head to one side.
"I don't know. I was told if you tell your kidnappers your name and have a conversation, they might at least feel bad about killing you." Y/N shrugged, but then saw the shelves behind the spirit. Hundreds of books and scrolls, more on one shelf than she had seen in her entire life.
"You're an interesting mortal." The owl commented. "Very well. I am Wan Shi Tong, the Knowledge spirit. I guard this library." Y/N resisted the urge to run past him.
"Mind if you share some knowledge?" She asked eagerly, scanning the shelves. Wan Shi Tong seemed to notice, looking conflicted.
"I cannot let humans into the library anymore, they only use the information as leverage against other humans." He said, but Y/N was having a hard time listening. All the maps she could find here...
"I have some friends coming down as well, and I don't know what they're looking for, but I beg you, let me see the library." She pleaded, and Wan Shi Tong considered, studying her.
"Very well, but you must first offer some knowledge of your own to donate to this great place." He complied, and Y/N frowned, slinging her bag off her back to dig around.
"Thanks for just taking my word, I know it can be hard. Uhh... sorry. I only have a few outdated maps, and some sketches and descriptions of spirits I've seen." Wan Shi Tong came closer for a look, studying the drawings and passages Y/N had written about her visions of La.
"Perfect. They are beautiful." The spirit said kindly, taking the papers when Y/N offered them. "I believe I can trust someone touched by the ocean spirit, Y/N. You may explore the library. I will wait for your 'friends'."
Y/N quickly thanked him, and was gone, getting pleasantly lost in the winding passages and endless shelves.
(A heads up: I have started collecting the comics that continue the Avatar The Last Airbender story after the end of the show. This book will likely extend into those, or I will make a second book to continue.)
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