Being with one of her past lives was weird for the current Avatar. Avani couldn't help but think Aang and his friends had the most crazy adventures ever. They had told her a few stories since they met Aang at the Southern Water Tribe;  -Korra's birth place-, then their trip to the Southern Air temple. A smile played on her lips as she recognized the place near Republic City, she would have liked to tell Aang about it, how he and Fire Lord Zuko - who, surprise surprise was evil at this point - were going to create a place of harmony between the four nations but knew she couldn't do that, she couldn't change things. She actually didn't even know what she was exactly doing in the past, but she liked to hear about their adventures, the ones that weren't in history books.

An Unagi, their trip to Crescent Island to talk to Roku, the Avatar before Aang - three Avatars before Avani-, visiting the King of Omashu, riding their mail system, escaping pirates, rescuing a whole earthbending rig (including her grandfather and great-grandfather), and passing through the Great Divide followed by meeting this guy named Jet and up to the storm where they met and before Aang getting kidnappped by the Fire Nation and rescued by Avani and the 'Blue Spirit' who turned out to be Zuko. She didn't think they had gone through all that, and before the Siege of the North, a pang of uneasy hit her, knowing what happened back there. The moon spirit dying and a princess returning it's life. She didn't think she'd live through it, when her father told her that story, she felt like crying, she didn't know why at first. Maybe she could understand now. She must have been channeling Aang's spirit, how he felt and how sad he was for her death. Maybe she could stop it? Avani shook her head, staring at the sky as they flew atop Appa - she still feared heights, but tried not to think about it and her lack of connection to the earth-. She didn't want to think about the princess. She didn't want to think about what would happen, she didn't know exactly how it did, so she wouldn't be able to stop it.

Avani sighed, looking toward Aang and Katara who were very quiet after their little adventure on that village with the fortune teller. She had seen how accurate the woman was almost at everything so she rejected a reading. She didn't want to risk the woman finding out she wasn't from their time, but she had a feeling the woman knew, gave her a few knowing looks as if she knew something Avani didn't. She didn't want to face her, tried to avoid her - something actually that an earthbender wouldn't do, though-. The moment of realization gave her pause. She had read about Air Nomads recently, how they always avoided conflict. Avani always avoided. Did that mean Air wasn't going to be a challenge for her to master?

"Stop it" Avani murmured to herself. Since arriving to the past, she began thinking about the other elements, how she had seen Aang bend them, began imagining how it would feel for her to do so. But she didn't want to think that, she didn't want to accept the responsibility. Korra must be raging on her grave and the spirit World Avani thought with a grimace.

~8~

Fighting a Shirshu wasn't something Avani had ever liked to think she would face. The paralyzing venom was something chi blockers in her time liked to use to capture benders, she had followed the whole war through her uncle letters, of course without her mom knowing, her uncle wanted her to be aware of everything, knew the girl was strong enough and that's why he kept Avani informed of the war.

After the siblings had found their father's friend, Avani couldn't help but intercept Aang's uneasiness, sadness and worry of his friends leaving him behind, it was something Ava was uncomfortable to feel. When she felt asleep after rescuing Aang from the Fire Nation, she had dreamed on the Spirit world where she met with Korra who explained to her she and Aang were now spiritually connected for both of them being the Avatar, they still had their own spirits of course but being in the same time they were now to be in tune with each other, something that explained why they fought like that side by side, they were one and the same, they were going to be in sync for having Raava connected to them at the same time, almost like Yin and Yang, like Tui and La but yet, different. And that explained why sometimes she could feel what Aang was feeling. She wouldn't be surprised if he felt what she did.

However that didn't stop her from cringing every time he lied, the guilt he felt at hiding a map to find Katara and  Sokka's father. She had politely declined when they made that whole test for Sokka, explaining she was good on earth where she was completely secured. She didn't say anything when Aang confessed having intercepted the map and hidden it but stayed in Aang's side through his sadness, didn't leave his side. It wasn't like she couldn't. The more she was with Aang, the more their connection grew.

And Aang seemed to sense it as well, "Do you know about this?" He had asked when they were about to leave to the North Pole without his friends. "Why sometimes I can feel fear or worry when I know it's not coming from me? Or anxiety right now?" Avani had explained briefly, voicing her confusion out loud, something Aang perceived. "Spirits?" He had asked after she finished. Avani had shrugged, sighing "Well, then we have to be more careful"

The reassurance had helped her not feel so guilty and that was before they faced a Shirshu who was tracking Katara with a necklace she had lost, and like she was always with Aang, they -Zuko, his uncle and the owner of the Shirshu- found Katara and her brother, wanting to use them as bait.

Something that worked because Aang was determined to save his friend, something that drove Avani to do the same, helping her past life, using earthbending to do so. That's where she saw for the first time Zuko's uncle Iroh who looked at her in shock as if he knew something others didn't.

After saving the siblings, adding another adventure to the list, they traveled far away from there, landing near a Fire Nation colony where they celebrated a Fire Day Festival where Aang wanted to go to see Firebending up close without the threat of being burned to a crisp.

The hesitation on Avani wasn't lost to Aang who only had to increase his excitement and hyperactivity to make the Earthbender channel his emotions so her hesitation were to melt away so she'd agreed on going with him, leaving Katara and Sokka no other choice but to follow the excited benders as they skipped toward the Festival

To say Avani regretted ever telling Aang about their connection was an understatement, when Aang felt that regret he just smiled innocently at the grumpy Earth Kingdom girl.