Whirlwind [Avatar Aang]

☁Chapter Ten☁

Appa touched down on Fire Nation soil just as the sun started its descent in the orange and red sky. It had taken them all day to fly to the midst of the Fire Nation where their next candidate was waiting for them, and Nazadori was feeling exhausted from the trip. The trip had given her a lot of time to frame better questions and to think about how she wanted this interview to go, but she had no way of knowing if the next candidate would work out or not.

"Ready to go?" Aang asked her, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes."

Aang took her by the hand and helped her off of the tall sky bison. Nazadori's feet hit the ground a little hard, but she didn't fall down. She took in the house in front of her, where a woman just stepped outside to welcome them to the Fire Nation, yet her heart sunk in her chest a little. This interview had better go good because so far Nazadori had seen the worst of the worst in her candidates for her council of Omashu. She needed someone to actually take this seriously and know who she was. 

"You have looked a little discouraged this whole trip," Aang said, gently touching her shoulder for just a moment. He glanced over her shoulder at the Fire Nation candidate behind her, waiting patiently for the two of them to begin the interview. "What's the matter?"

"The people of Omashu don't want me as their queen," Nazadori whispered to him. She couldn't bear to bring her voice above a whisper for fear of bursting into tears. "They are spreading rumors about me that mostly aren't true, and they just are wary about a girl with a bad past coming to rule."

Aang nodded at her like he understood exactly what she was going through. And maybe he did understand. She knew it probably wasn't easy to be the Avatar because all the world's eyes were always watching him, waiting to see if he would mess up or anything like that. Technically, Avatar Aang did mess up a hundred years ago when he froze himself in a block of ice just as Fire Lord Sozin descended on the Air Nomads and massacred them. 

"There are many people who weren't happy to have me back," Aang said to her softly. "They believed that I had deserted them when they needed me most. And I did. I feel horrible for disappearing when I did, and it kills me to know that, because I ran away, all of my people were killed."

His voice cracked at the last word, and he had to pause for a few moments. While he did that, Nazadori reached out and touched his own shoulder like he had just done to her a few minutes ago. Aang offered her a watery smile, one that she returned.

"But I wouldn't have met Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Toph, or Suki -- or even you -- if I hadn't disappeared," he continued, his voice growing stronger with each name. "Sure, there are people in the world who hate me for what I did, and I get it. I do. Yet there are people who I never would have met if that never happened to me." He paused for a moment and looked at her, really looked at her, almost as if he could see right through her skin. "Besides, who cares what the world thinks? Who cares what the people of Omashu thinks? As long as you're happy and satisfied with yourself, then that's all that matters."

"Thank you," Nazadori said automatically. She wasn't sure if she was happy or satisfied with herself right now, but they didn't have time to go into that. They had to get started with the interview before the Fire Nation candidate got tired of waiting for them. "Shall we get started?"

"We shall."

Aang offered Nazadori his arm, and she took it gratefully. The two of them strolled over to the Fire Nation candidate together. "Thank you for waiting for us, Ukira," Nazadori said to the Fire Nation woman, who had a warm smile on her older face. "We just had to finish up our conversation."

"Of course," the woman said, bowing slightly to both of them. When she rose up from the bow, she gestured to the house they were standing in front of. "Do you want to come inside and join me for tea? I always find having a good cup of tea helpful for important conversations."