markofthebrave | Backdated to the 7th

Backdated to the 7th

[It happened quickly. One moment she was fourteen, her back aching as the wings stretched across scars, the next she was seventeen and the relief of pain was almost dizzying. The memories sorting in and through her were easily as dizzying.

She fell down to her knees as her two lives collided and when she rose, both sets of memories were confused, but she knew who she was. And she wanted to see her family. She didn't walk. She ran all the way home.

Much later, she made a post to her journal, filtered to her friends.]

Hi, everyone. I know that I don't say this enough and... I know that this month is kind of stressful. But I just wanted to say how glad, how really glad I am to have met all of you. I don't say it enough. You're all people I've come to rely on, and I'm so glad you're in my life.

...and I remember you now, just in case you were wondering. I hope I'll see you all very soon.

((OOC: If you're wondering if you're on her friends filter, you probably are! If you want to run into her resuming her normal routine the 8th-9th, that's OK too!))

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[Aang was on the front lawn, having just finished a meditation session, and he was rising with some quiet dignity. He was dressed in somewhat wintery attire and took a moment to dust himself off while wondering what to do next.

Then his eye caught a unique form that was running towards him. He was almost petrified as the form became clearer - more familiar, in a distinct way. And he looked towards her, his mouth open as if preparing to speak but afraid of being proven wrong.

Could it really be?]

Aang! [She called out, her heart clenching as she saw him. Oh, the things she had said were nothing to the things she'd wanted to say and--] Aang!

[There's no mistaking that voice. The way it calls out to him. And his face brightens up; he lets himself feel hopeful again. Aang's heart pulses with joy as he finds his feet rushing to carry him towards her.]

Katara!

[Aaaaaaaand hug. She was laughing and crying as she held on to him.]

[He grabs her tightly in the hug, tears already forming. He whispers softly in disbelief.]

You're back. You're really back...

[And he finds himself laughing along as well.]

I'm back. I remember you. I remember.

[Just hearing that makes his smile all the wider.]

I'm really glad, Katara. I... I missed you so much.

[And to think that was barely even a fraction of the time Katara and Sokka had spent in this world without him. He didn't know how he could survive that.]

[She pulled away to look at him, eyes searching.]

Are you all right?

[Her other self hadn't been exactly... kind.]

I... I feel a lot better, noow that you're here again. [He pauses, looking into her eyes again. Seeing her again. But here was some struggle in his gaze, as he tried to sort pit the conflicted feelings within him. Her coming back didn't wipe clean the hurt feelings from meeting the other her. From thinking another her who hurt that much could exist.] But... There was a lot of hurt. From the other you. And... There still is some. You - She didn't know me. And... she suffered a lot.

[Katara places her hands on his shoulders.]

What happened to me wasn't your fault, Aang.

[He feels that familiar support and looks on uncertainly. He doesn't know if that's what the other Katara would feel... but this Katara was supposed to be the one who knew what was right, right?]

I tried to remember what you said back home - that I can't know if I could have saved my people if I stayed. But seeing that you still brought those feelings back all over again. I understand letting the world down in a whole different way when I see it reflected in one person.

[Just as he understood saving the world when he saw that belief reflected in the same person.]

Aang, you weren't a fully trained Avatar when the Fire Nation attacked. You wouldn't have even known any waterbending! And if they had started on your training early, then you would have been with one of the Water Tribes when the Fire Nation attacked your people anyway. This war wasn't your fault.

[Despite how easy it would have been to blame him, knowing what she knew about him, about the sequence of events, it didn't matter what her other self had felt. It wasn't true.]

[He takes in her words carefully, and they do make sense. After all, whenever he thinks about it, the only way he thinks he could have really stood a chance was through the Avatar State. And what he could have done in the Avatar State, that was a price he was afraid to consider whether or not he would have paid.

Ultimately, the guilt was something that would never fully go away, no matter how much logic would be applied to it. But it could be submerged beneath the whirlwinds of his mind. He could rise above it once more for now, with the help provided by Katara's words.]

I understand, Katara. Thank you. That helps me feel a lot better. But... [He looks at her, afraid of having focused on his own problems with what she had just endured.] What about you, Katara? How... How do you feel?

I feel a lot better. [She gives him a small smile.] I'll tell you all about it if you really want to know, but - I feel a lot better.

Edited 2013-02-11 01:31 (UTC)

[He smiles at that. It's all settling in nicely. Katara's back and she's feeling better.]

I'm glad. And I'll listen to anything you have to say. But I'll understand if there's things you don't wanna talk about yet.

I'd rather talk about it now then have to go back and revisit it later. [She shrugged a little. A wound won't get a chance to heal if you keep picking at it.] So if you have any questions...

I see. I just... I have to know. [Because of the way she seemed to be aware of everything that happened, it nagged at him.] That - that other life. Do you... remember it?

I remember. [She nodded to herself quietly.] I remember all of it.

Katara...

[This possibility was a much smaller possibility than he'd hoped for; if the other Katara was inside this one instead of back at her "home", that made it less likely that such a world exists. He wouldn't have to worry about a world where he might never wake up from the iceberg to help anyone. But the price for that, that this Katara's memories were inside the one in front of him... it hurt too much for him to feel any relief.

He stepped forward to softly hug her again, because he has no idea what else he can do, now that he knows this.]

[Katara accepts the hug.]

It's okay, Aang. Really. It's not the first time this has happened, and I'm glad that I got to find out how she was doing.

It still must be a lot to take in. [A lot of pain. But the way she speaks, so accepting of it, even if her words challenged his theory, it calmed him enough to pull back. And he continues with some hesitation.] Is... Is she well?

"She's alive. And she's fighting. I have to believe that she'll be all right, somehow. Maybe even find a way back to the South Pole to set you free."

Hearing that brought a little more hope into Aang's heart. He knew so little about the other Katara's life and was afraid to ask for more. Aang liked to believe that any Katara could be capable of changing the world just by herself. Still, when he thought of all the good he was able to do after being freed from the iceberg and only because of having such great people by his side, he couldn't help but feel hopeful about that Katara's chances of finding him.

"You think so?" He pauses slightly. "I like to believe that, too." He knew he'd try his best to help her and to help the world. That Katara definitely looked like someone who needed a smile. But he felt a twinge of fear; doing that wouldn't be so easy for her. What if she didn't want to penguin sledding? "I wonder if - if that us would still get along."

"I think it might be different," she said after a painful pause. "I'd done a lot of things I wasn't proud of and... things were hard. But if you managed to get along with Zuko, I think it could work out all right."

She hoped it would.

"I understand," he said with a thoughtful nod and a slight smile at the Zuko comment. "It's too hard to imagine a me and you who couldn't get along. No matter what you did... It might just take more time." It might be too much to hope for more than that for the hypothetical scenario. But if there were such alternate versions of themselves somewhere out there, it was a small comfort enough that they'd still be able to just know each other and get along.

And he added to the Zuko crack with a slight chuckle, "At least it'd help that you wouldn't start off chasing me around!"

Backdated to the 7th

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