~Celestial Bodies~

2.1

[2.1]

Guardians

"Who are you," asked Rae, looking at the familiar figure with a frown. His white hair, the exact same colour as hers, was falling into his eyes, masking his scarred face. The young Guardian recognized his air-nomad attire, but her interest sparked up when she saw the absence of the traditional tattoos.

"I'm you," he replied calmly. He didn't move from his spot, not even when the dragon spirit flew towards Rae.

"I've known myself for a long time," chuckled awkwardly the woman, stepping back when the spirit jumped at her feet, "and I can guarantee I've never wore air nomad clothes... and I've never had short hair... nor was I this tall... nor was I a man..."

She looked around, embarrassed by the awkward situation. However, the man didn't look at her anymore. Instead, he was looking at the small dragon spirit who was walking in circles around Rae's feet. He looked up from the spirit at the woman.

"He likes you," he said calmly, "He doesn't like most of us."

Rae looked down at the creature and raised an eyebrow. "Well, he doesn't seem to hate me...," she muttered when the spirit sat down on the grass in front of her and looked at her with big eyes.

"What is he again," she asked pointing at the spirit.

"he's a dragon spirit," the man said calmly, "they are quite a lot around here, but they don't interact with most human spirits."

"So, I'm in the spirit world," Rae muttered, looking around her again. Turning to the man once again, she said, "I'd like to know why a spirit called me here..."

The man frowned, "I didn't call you here," he said, "you called me..."

Rae froze in her spot. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at the familiar figure of the man. For a moment, she was silence. Different questions swam in her mind. I couldn't have called him here.... Couldn't I? Who is he really? How did I end up in the spirit world?

The man let out a heartfelt laugh. "Your thoughts are awfully loud," he said with a smile. With a sigh, he slowly sat on the ground, ignoring the woman's stares.

"I supposed we could start off with who I am," he whispered as patted the spot on the soft grass in front of him. Rae looked at him with a frow. Still, she slowly walked to him and sat where he patted, flinching slightly when the dragon spirit jumped on her lap.

"My name is Akeno and like I said before," he started, "I am you... from another time."

They both stared at each other in silence. Rae's eyes widened slightly when she recognized the name.

"You are me," she whispered... "From another life... You were Aang's Guardian!"

Akeno nodded and looked away from her. Rae didn't say anything else, only remained silent and stared at her former life.

"I died young," he started, "one night, I caught Aang trying to sneak out of the Air Temple. I knew something bad was to happen the next day, I had this feeling in my gut for the whole week. So, I let him go. I let him run away. The next morning, before the sun had even completely risen, the Fire Nation was there. I bought the boy time. They attacked and killed everyone. When their commander realized Aang wasn't there, he wanted to send word to the other troops. That didn't happen."

Rae looked at him with a frown as he spoke. She never knew that story for the mere reason that not even Aang himself knew it. "What happened then?" Rae asked, but immediately regretted when she saw the angered look on Akeno's face and the colour of his eyes fade.

"None of the troops managed to step foot out of the temple, I made sure of it. But unfortunately, neither did it."

The woman looked down, understanding his words.

"I will teach you about your role," the man said after a tight silence, "I was not taught many things when I was still alive, but I can share the knowledge that I've earned as a spirit."

~

When the ship docked into the South Pole, Iroh stood tall next to Bumi. The former Commander had all the time of his life now that he retired and most of it, he used it to tease the general. Apparently, Lin Beifong couldn't shut her mouth around him and spilled everything that happened six months prior.

As he walked off the ship, Iroh stood behind Bumi and the airbending family. They greeted Katara and Kya, but the fire bender seemed lost. His eyes would dart around the crowd, like he was waiting for someone.

Katara, seeing behind his stone-cold expression, signed, and looked down. Rae had yet to return, and the Waterbending master started getting very worried. The journey to the South Pole was a long one, but Rae had promised to be back before Korra's delegation arrived. That was not the case.

Before she could walk to the general, Asami and Bolin appeared to his right.

"Where's Rae?" asked Asami loudly, making the young earth ender nod. "She should be here, right?" She turned her head to look at Iroh, waiting for an answer. The man only frowned.

Asami turned around and caught Katara's stare. As their eyes met, the elderly woman turned away as fast as she could, but Asami had already seen the worry in her eyes.

"Oh no..." whispered the woman... "something must have happened."

~