When The World Needed Him Most

4

(I hope y'all are enjoying the story! Also, take a guess on who Tommy's fire and earthbending masters are going to be!)

The two week trip to the Earth Kingdom went surprisingly well. Using the coat Rona gave Tommy, he and Tubbo were able to practice waterbending without anyone realizing Tommy was an air nomad. By the time they reached Chin, Tommy had almost mastered the basics of waterbending.

"At this rate you'll master the elements faster than avatar Aang." Tubbo jokes as they drilled water whip.

"Yeah." Tommy mumbled.

Tubbo dropped his stance, "is something wrong?"

Tommy sighed, bending the water back into the sea, "all these great Avatars came before me, Kyoshi, Aang, Korra... How can I ever live up to them?”

"Well..." Tubbo leaned against the railing, looking out over the expanse of water, "all the previous Avatars had something in common."

"And what's that?" Tommy asked, joining his friend.

"They always kept fighting." Tubbo told him, "no matter what. When Avatar Yangchen did whatever it took to bring peace to the world, Avatar Kuruk fought dark spirits until he died, Kyoshi separated her warriors from a tyrannical conquer, Roku battled a volcano, Aang ended the hundred year war, Korra lost her bending, and got poisoned by metal, and still kept fighting."

"That's way to many Avatar's." Tommy huffed out a laugh.

"And you're one of them." Tubbo nudged the other boy.

"Yeah, I am." Tommy smiled.

A announcement chimed over the intercom speakers, "Attention passengers, we will be arriving in Chin in five minutes. Please gather your belongings. And have a wonderful Avatar Day!"

"Avatar Day?" Tommy tilted his head.

"No way!" Tubbo bounced on his toes, "They have an entire day for you!"

"Tubbo!” Tommy hissed as he was dragged away, "keep it down!"

The two didn't have much to pack, so Tubbo dragged them down to the loading plank. Just a short ways away, was a bustling dock connected to a cliff face. Stone stairs were carved up the cliff to a village they the boys could barely see over the crest of the hill.

Tubbo suddenly looked less excited, "please don't tell me we have to climb that..."

Tommy shrugged, "I could try flying us up there?"

"I'd rather climb..." Tubbo said, clutching his stomach.

"Well," Tommy said as they lowered the plank, "I guess we better get climbing."

Tubbo groaned loudly, and this time Tommy pulled him off the ship.

Honestly, the stairs weren't that bad. They were low and gently sloped up to the village. At every turn there was a tour guide offering fun tidbits about the history of Chin. Once, Tommy caught an interesting story

"Avatar Aang actually visited here ten thousand years ago! The emperor at the time hated the Avatar! For Avatar Kyoshi killed the man this fine town was named for! Aang was convicted for murder as he was Kyoshi reincarnated. His punishment was-!"

"Tommy!" Tubbo panted as he caught up with the other boy, "please slow down..."

Tommy laughed lightly, "okay tubbo."

"But Avatar Aang saved Chin from the fire nation rinos, and so we changed the day to celebrate the Avatar!"

Tubbo shook his head, "what was that about?"

Tommy shrugged, "just the story about Aang coming here, I guess."

"Oh cool!" Tubbo brightened up again.

"Yeah, come on, were halfway to the top." Tommy smiled.

Tubbo groaned, but trudged after Tommy.

After about twenty more minutes, and a lot of complaining, the two made it into Chin. The festivities were already in full swing, with decorations and food and games. Banners with air nomad arrows and Kyoshi fans hung from almost every building.

"Man, I'm hungry." Tubbo said, "let's get something to eat."

"Agreed." Tommy nodded, steering towards the nearest food stall.

"Good morning boys!" The store keep greeted them, "happy Avatar Day! Can I interest you in some unfried avatar bites?"

"Uh, what?" Tommy asked.

"Here!" He shoved a bowl of what looked like raw dough in Tommy's hands, "on the house!"

"Thanks..." Tommy told him.

"Welp! Enjoy the festival!" The shopkeep grinned, then turned to another customer.

"That... Was weird..." Tubbo muttered as they walked away.

"Not as weird as this..." Tommy held up one of the dough pieces, revealing that it had two little black eyes and a blue air nomad arrow, "I'm not sure my past lives would by happy if I ate this."

"Is it even safe to eat?" Tubbo poked the dough pile.

"I don't want to find out." Tommy set the bowl on a table and walked away.

"Look!" Tubbo pointed to the main street, where giant statues were being rolled down.

The boys ran through the cheering crowd, pushing their way to the front. There sat four Avatar statues. Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, and Korra. Tommy felt something swell in his chest. Not quite pride, but something familiar. These were his past lives after all. It was almost as if he could hear them speaking.

"Tommy? Tommy!"

"Wha-what?" Tommy tore his gaze away from them.

"You zoned out there for a good minute. Are you okay?" Tubbo asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tommy reassured him, "let's just find a place to sleep for the night. Omashu is a long way away."