Archive of Our Own ^beta

”Hey Twinkletoes, It’s me you’re supposed to knock out! i mean, it won’t happen, but come on. The rock is supposed to fly forward, not in a circle. Stand your ground!” Toph let out a sigh of disappointment. They had been training all day and even though she is the best earthbender, she could feel her back muscles beginning to get sore. And on top of that she could feel her empty stomach growling, in need of substance. preferably food. She needed a reason to leave. Aang had been hit by a rather hard and fast rock, and she wasn’t good at confrontation. Even though he looked hurt, she couldn't bring herself to babysit him. He was probably just fine. Toph could feel his steady heartbeat under her feet. A small concussion wouldn't do anything. He was the avatar after all.

”That’s low Toph, Pestering someone who can’t even respond, I'm disappointed,” The eldest in the group shouted from the rock he was sitting on. Hands gesturing sarcastically. He had been watching the whole thing go down. Watching Aang try to learn earthbending was somewhat interesting, but mostly funny. Way better than watching Aang try to master waterbending with his sister. There was something funky going on between those two and he did not like it. Aang always got all flustered from Katara grabbing his arm and placing it in the right spot. He had to admit, she was good at the art of flirting unknowingly. But it gave him the oogies so no, watching Toph, way better. Although this mishap with Toph was different. He could sense that this was not a normal training accident, even though Toph didn’t let her attitude slip, he could feel she was as anxious as him. Aang looked more hurt than normal.

”Whatever, tell me when he wakes up. I'm getting Katara to make some food,” Toph shouted in response. She looked behind her shoulder at the boy on the ground. It wasn’t her fault that the airbender was a weakling. Sokka could take care of twinkletoes himself, since he didn’t seem to agree with her oustanding way of teaching earthbending. She let her feet sense the way to Katara. She had a better victim to nag and deflect responsibility onto.

”What, no! wait here yourself!”

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The young airbender groaned loudly. When had he rolled onto the ground, and why was his head hurting so bad, pounding away from the inside? His brain feels like it may explode from the pressure. The heat from the sun was burning. What was the last thing he had done? Had they been ambushed? If they were ambushed, why did he not remember it and why was he all alone out in the middle of nowhere? Thoughts raced through his slow and aching brain.

He rolled over to lay on his side. The force of the roll made him inhale with a gasp. This was not looking good. Aang tried desperately to calm down and focus. but to no avail. The world was still black. His eyes shut and burned from the sand that had dug itself in under his eyelids.

Aang tried to pry open his eyes. Focusing was hard. The sand grinding away at his back did not make the whole ordeal any better. He slowly looked around him, eyes darting from spot to spot trying to find evidence of what may have been a fight. Breathing in and out to try and keep calm. Which was a bad idea. Sand from the dust around him filled his dry mouth and he let out a dry cough. Oh, that stinged. The top of his mouth ached for the refreshing effect of water. Shuddering in between his rugged, small breaths, trying not to inhale anymore dust, the Avatar kept on looking around. Nothing, just sand and rocks. Sand… and rocks?

In a split second everything swarmed back to the pupil. The earthbending! Of course! They hadn't been ambushed, they were training. He had been earthbending with Toph, trying to master fighting with his master by throwing rocks with just a flick of his wrist. The rocks respond and collect into small balls of doom. Still, nothing Toph couldn't stop. But that still doesn't match up to why he’s still half asleep in the middle of the day with scratches everywhere and a headache that was getting worse every second he thought about it. Another groan escaped his mouth. His friends had to be around camp somewhere.

After what felt like ages, he heard the scraping of leather shoes against sand.

“Finally! I thought you’d never wake up,” A voice said from behind the shade of a bigger rock. Away from the sun's devastatingly warm rays. Was that Sokka?

”I was just thinking about getting Katara. Even though Toph told me not to. Don’t tell her i said this. But i think she’s a bit afraid of her. Toph thought katara might “freak out” or something after you knocked yourself unconscious with that rock. Good job with that by the way! It was a sight for sore eyes. you really flew a few meters so to say.” Sokka’s hand reached under Aang's back and helped him sit up from the place he had been laying. Whilst keeping on rambling about how mad Katara would be when she found out what had happened under the day’s training lesson. The dry hand hit just the wrong spot and scraped against his bruised back. Aang held back a face of pain.

”Here, drink up,” the nonbender reached into his pocket and took out a small container of water. Aang quickly grabbed it and hastily emptied it. The quenching liquid was really welcome.

”How long have i been out?” He groaned. The words forming haltingly on his sore and split lips.

”Like maybe 5 minutes or so? Like I said, big rock,” Sokka turned around and began scraping away some dirt from his feet. This little mishap in Toph’s training had been way more scary than he had let on at first. He could already sense the angry looks from Katara when she would find out what happened. She was bound to find out, since Aang looked, so to say, quite horrible. His arms and back were scratched up, the colours red and blue painting his arms in spots of bruises and scratches. Not all of them were from the misfired rock however. Earthbending had been rough today. But that didn't mean that the incident that had just happened didn't make him look way worse. His lips were also all split up in various places from the dry climate. So, overall, he did not look that good.

”Huh? Wait? You said I was hit by my own rock?”

”In quite an extraordinary way if i might say so myself. Toph was not pleased, you should have heard her. Said something about standing your ground yada yada yada. But don’t worry about that!” Sokka quickly added when he saw Aang’s shoulders tense. “You're like super bruised up. Does it hurt?”

”Yeah… A bit.” An understatement, Aang was still confused by the whole situation. His talking was slurred because of the headache. He usually never got a headache. I mean he was in the prime age of twelve. His health couldn’t be better.

”You want to try to stand up? Go make Katara prepare a meal?”

”Sounds good to me,” Aang said as he set his hands under his robes to airbend himself from the ground. Katara was going to kill him for being so clumsy. He can’t let her down. He needs to be in top condition to master all the elements. If he can’t even master earth? Oh goodness he was a mess. A small gust of air propelled him up from the ground.

Monkeyfeathers! He had not thought this through. Aang slowly tried to set his not as bruised feet under his body. His clothes swayed in the air around him as his hands flapped around for balance. His body crumpled and he let out a small noise of shock as pain struck his bruised ribs.

----

”Aang!” Sokka watched as he didn’t try to slowly stand up but instead flew up from the ground. For being the avatar, he could be so fricking stupid sometimes. Sokka instinctively reached out to help the injured boy stand upright and not fold in on himself. He was starting to panic. Seeing Aang in such a state was unusually scary. His breathing was ragged and cold. This wasn’t what Aang was supposed to be like. He was so out of his element, caring for an injured person was a healer's job, Sokka was just a fighter. A sarcastic, meat loving, fighter. He should have gotten Katara directly! And where’s Toph? She was Aang’s sifu, She was supposed to teach him, not hurt him. Okay, maybe this was more Aang’s fault but still. The nonbender rapidly catched him and placed his arm over his shoulder. Supporting the most of Aang’s weight.

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The pain in his ribs was bad. Not the worst thing in the world. However, when combined with a horrible headache, not really a pleasant thing. The monks always told him that pain was just a thing that attached them to the earth. And that detaching from pain was possible with the right meditation. The problem was just that Aang couldn’t focus on meditation, not right now.

“Good job, you're not just a horrible earthbender, but now you can’t even follow the monk's teachings after a concussion?” He mumbled quietly through his teeth while trying to stand upright. Sokka’s arms were definitely a lifesaver in the moment, without them he would surely be lying on the ground. Aang tried once again to just breathe. In, out, in, out, in and out. The pulsating pain slowly weakened the hold of the avatar.

”We’re going to have to start walking,” Sokka explained.

”Mhmm,” He groaned in response. Walking? Should be easy enough.

”Katara should be close enough to hear us if we walk back to camp. She could do some of her floaty blue watermagic and make you all good and back to normal.” Aang couldn't help but stifle a small snort short of a laugh. The pressure on his head shook up a bit. He remembered Katara’s cold water that could hypnotise a person. She was always so happy, She would be so worried when she found him in a state like this. Sokka’s arm against his back reminding him who was primarily walking.

Monkeyfeathers on top of Monkeyfeathers! If getting knocked out by your own rock was embarrassing enough, but not being able to walk. He had to be strong. He had to make the world proud. Or at the very least, Katara.

”I can walk,” He stated promptly. This may be petty but goodness, if he didn't feel helpless. He folded his fingers into small fists. Making sure that his back was straight. Once again the pain in his ribs returned. For once in his life he was glad that Sokka wasn’t the one to see small details. Otherwise he would have seen Aang biting his lip and curling his toes in restraint.

”Yeah I'm not so sure about that one pal, no offence.”

”I mean it!”

”And so do I, look, you got knocked unconscious, and just a few seconds ago you almost fell over in pain. And you know i can feel how much you're leaning on me at the moment.”

A few seconds of silence forced Aang to talk. He knew what Sokka said was true. But he also knew that he had to be strong. Ugh, this was hopeless, he’s hopeless. The scratches on his back painfully reminded of who was really in charge. Aang was hopelessly defenseless against his own body.

”I feel weak,” Said Aang. Letting go of the short false portrayal of strongness. Letting Sokka handle his own swaying body.

”Yeah no shit,” Sokka said, pushing him upright.

”Not helping.”

”Wasn't supposed to.”

”If i can’t be strong and dodge a stone i sent flying myself. then how will I win against Ozai! Please let me go, this is humiliating.” The petty part of himself returning at his own mention of Ozai.

”Someone's gloomy, how old are you again?” Sokka let out a laugh. Which frustrated the monk.

”Like i said, not helping!”

”Wasn’t finished there. Look, You may be quite weak right now, but that is not a sign of weakness. You are so strong and you push through. If you want to get better, sometimes you just have to fail. Even though I may pester you, we boys have to stick together. Now let's get to camp.” Usually Katara was more of the hopeful and motivating speeches. However Aang had to admit, Sokka was not so bad either.

”Do you really mean that?”

”Every cheesy line that just came out of my mouth, especially the one about walking.” Sokka looked over the horizon and leaned his head forward.

”You know, you will make a great leader someday,” Aang let out with a smile. Looking down at the ground he couldn't see Sokka’s face. But if the stammering mess next to him was something to go by, his face was probably bright red. Ofcourse, Aang had always known that Sokka was great at leading. But hearing the reassuring words reminded him so much of the wisdom of the monks. He had to keep pushing, He may be weak at the moment. But the goal was reachable. The headache, soreness and hurt had to wait. Aang had to walk, but not alone.

Sokka held Aang’s waist tightly, yet not hard enough to hurt Aang too badly. The airbender felt a rush of small yolt go through the inside of his spine, leading up to the persisting throbbing in his head. The sensation of falling, focus. The support was needed. He felt the yellow fabric of his clothing tighten around his waist. Supporting his back to straighten without hurting. His foot lifted and was rapidly set down a small bit forward. His joints did not respond well to the movement, however, progress. As the next steps slowly came more naturally, Sokka set the pace for the team.

A humm of agreement at the pace and the occasional sound of a quick breath between shut teeth was all that came out of Aang for the rest of the walk. He had never missed the taste of water so much since… Actually, he can’t remember when.

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“Katara! Help me out here!” Sokka screamed at his sister, after walking the short distance with a wincing Aang. His breathing sounded ratched and dry after having to carry nearly all of Aang’s weight himself for the past fifteen minutes. everything from the base of his spine to the tip of his collarbones stung and ached. Finally, help was on its way.

-----

She sat on top of the hill a short distance away, out of eyesight. The campsite had stuff thrown around everywhere. The only thing that looked organised was the small portion of land where food was being cooked. The small stream of smoke from the fire beneath the boiling pot of food looking as inviting as ever. Next to it sat a rather grumpy Katara.

”I’m busy! Fix this yourself i'm already cooking dinner and packing for us leaving tomorrow” Katara screamed, frustrated at her own brother's incompetence. She was busy stirring the boiling pot of Vegetarian stew. He could ask Toph for help. They were both just as lazy and lethargic.

”Aang's hurt,” Sokka ‘s voice screamed from off in the distance.

”I- what?” Katara jumped to her feet quicker than an airbison could take off into the sky. She looked to see Sokka standing with Aang hanging at his side.

oh.

oh.

What had happened to them? The stew could wait. Aang was the most important right now. The sun was setting just where they stood and the black shadows that were cast on the boy’s faces made it impossible to see in what condition they were in.

She couldn't leave them alone for an hour without something like this happening. The last thing she had seen them do was leave with Top for earthbending lessons.

Katara’s eyebrows crossed down in the way they only do when she’s either deeply concentrated or worried out of her mind. This time it was a combination. Making sure that she didn’t trip on her dress while running and keeping track of where she was headed with the sun full on in her eyes, causing her to squint to see even the biggest thing. Aang had been earthbending for hours, if this was Toph’s doing, oh, she would make sure that girl didn't see the light of day again. Speaking of Toph, where was she? For the moment, Katara let that thought slide, focusing on the task in hand.

She sprinted closer to the two boys and could finally see the situation. If it weren't for the hurt monk it would have been cute seeing Sokka look so protective of the airbender. Katara paused, panting for air as she put one hand on Aangs cheek, worryingly and already checking for major injuries. She blinked desperately to be able to see through the sand she had kicked up from sprinting. Her other hand touched frantically around her waist to find her stach of water.

”Hi Katara” Aang said with a fake lopsided smile, looking like he didn't want to really acknowledge the situation.

”Sokka what happened!” Katara snapped at her older brother with concern.

”Training accident” Sokka informed her quietly.

Oh, so this was definitely Toph’s fault.

”Yeah, uh i,” Aang quickly interjected, a grimace of shame spread across the airbenders face. He turned his head away from her. “Kind of knocked myself out with a stone while earthbending.”

”You were unconscious!”

”Just a few minutes!”

”A few minutes! Sokka! Why didn’t you get me faster, I could have helped! wait when did this happen?” Katara screamed in an offended tone.

“Half an hour ago,” Aang placed his hand on his hips for support, his head still turned away.

“Half an hour ago! You're all unbelievable. Aang how are you doing?” She looked at him, seeing his face full of shame. Training mistakes happen, maybe not this big, but nothing to be so ashamed of. She was more worried of the injuries he could have. Oh, goodness, if the leaning against Sokka was anything to go by, he was probably not doing that well. And were those bruises? She let out a quiet sound of worry, that sounded like speeded mumbling.

“M’fine”

“Can you sit down in this spot while a check for injuries?” She said with the voice she always had when she tried to be taken seriously, it was stern, and scary if you knew her well. She could examine Aang better if she could just get him in a good position.

Aang pried his arm away from Sokka’s shoulder, to the nonbender’s frustration. He grabbed his head in pain. His arms shaking for the support that had just vanished from Sokka. Katara’s heart ached when she saw the boy she so deeply cared for in the physique he was in. She grabbed Aang just before he fell completely out of balance. Gently helping him into the shadowy spot with cool rocks.

She leaned Aang’s head against the flat rock and softly slipped her fingers away from under his bald head, making sure to not hit the bruised up part on the lower half, next to his blue tattoo. Aang was laying down at the tips of her knees. He looked so, so tired. But she could help.

“I'm going to have to ask you to take off your shirt.” Her head only catching up to the words she had just spoken after it had happened.

“Yeah, nope, i'm… going to find Toph '' Sokka turned around with his fingers pointing in the directions of the campsite. He was unbelievable. Was she not allowed to platonically heal a friend. Just seconds ago he seemed so concerned for his Aang, and now he was just leaving? This was a medical emergency. Sokka knew better than anyone that Aang needed help.

“Huh, oh, yeah, right. Shirt,” Aang stammered. She saw him tuck at the back of the garment and slowly lift his back from the ground, wincing as he tensed his shoulders to put in enough force to get the shirt in the right position. “I think it’s stuck in the back,” Aang stated after a few hard tucks.

She leaned forward to help him lift the red piece of his ancient piece of clothing from behind the two rocks it had chiseled itself between. She felt him breathe a slow cold breath of relief into her ear when he could finally rest his body again. He was so close, His head was so close.

No this wasn’t weird. Aang was just in need of help. He may not have a shirt on but that’s for strict healing reasons. But then why did this feel so, so different.

“Thanks,” Aang smiled. The heat quickly returned to her cheeks.

Katara snapped out of it when she laid eyes on his bare chest. Right under on his lower left rib cage was a huge blue mark. It looked like a real nasty one. She reached out to the water she had placed next to her and rapidly got to work. Streaming the water out of the bottle, being careful not to let any water evaporate in the warm climate, keeping it cold. She lowered the ball of now shimmering water towards the spot. Aang shivered under the cold water. Katara concentrated on slowly but precisely healing the Avatar without hurting him too badly. They both sat in silence, except for the occasional hiss on Aang's part.

Luckily for Aang, she could only find one broken bone. Feeling the result of a big stone on one particular rib was scary. The water made her sense through the crack. She focused on the spot. She had to make sure that it healed correctly.

“is that good?”

Aang mumbled back in agreement. Letting Katara’s hand move up from his chest with the water floating towards his head. She saw him letting out a sigh, his tight fists relaxing to open hands. She continued to work on the concussion, taking away the throbbing headache and replacing it with the vibration of the healing water.

“What happened… More than you knocking yourself out?” Katara asked, trying to regain the attention of the now exhausted, however, less hurt, Aang.

“Not much, I was training with Toph, she was teaching me how to throw stones with just the flick of my wrist. I moved my wrist the wrong way and the stone flew the wrong way. I just failed Katara” She had hit a rough spot. Aang sounded so upset, it scared her.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” She gripped his hand.”It sounds like you just had a… small accident, so to say.” Aang forced himself to sit upright, reaching Katara’s eye level.

“How am I supposed to defeat Ozai if I can’t even do this correctly” He blurted out.

“Don’t be stupid, you ar-” Katara was cut of by the whimpering sound of Aangs voice.

“How will I make them proud.” A single tear left his eye and slowly rolled down his cheek. Aang stared intensely into her eyes, his lips trembling. “How will I honor them, if I fail?”

If he wasn’t injured, Katara would have given him a big hug right then and there. She resorted to caressing his cheek. Soothing the airbender by slowly drying his tears with the stroke of her thumb.

“Failure is not a sign of weakness.”

“I know, Sokka told me.” Aang spoke to her gently “But that doesn't mean I'm not still scared.” He continued to look deeply into her eyes and slowly lifted his arm to hold her hand. Holding back what looked like a clump in his throat. She found herself filled with sorrow, aching to hold him.

“And that’s also okay”

The sun set in the distance.

“Let’s get to camp, Sokka will probably start to get worried soon, how about you cuddle up with Appa as I continue with the healing” Katara sighed, wishing to stay at the spot with Aang for at least a while longer. But she knew better. Hoping to get at least a humm of agreement from the usually so happy airbender

He let go of her hand.“That doesn't sound too bad.” The happy look on his face, assured her that he was finally getting better.

She stood up and slowly helped Aang stand up too by grabbing ahold of his hand again. After the healing, Aang already looked so much better. The red and blue bruises fading into his skin that reflected the orange burning of the setting sun. With a bit of help extra on Katara’s side, walking wasn't that hard.

------

As they reached camp, Aang heard the bubbling off food in an iron pot. He was hit with the smell of, not so surprisingly, burned food. Whatever Katara had been cooking was definitely not edible anymore. A bit of a disappointment, He was definitely hungry.

“My food! I worked hard on that.” Katara whined as she ran to the fire, quickly putting it out with the emergency bucket of water.

“Your food? I earned the cash for that delicious meal, and now it’s gone. Also our firewood is wet, how will we eat now?“ Sokka groaned while angrily flailing his arms around. He had just been sitting down, looking rather content with letting the fire do it’s own thing. Aang wondered why he hadn't taken care of the food earlier.

“You earned the money? Aang got the money after helping out that poor man, remember?” Katara stated as she pulled the water out of the wood, making it as dry as before.

“He only got it because I suggested that the man give us a penny for our help” Sokka retorted.

“Aang’s help”

“Oh so now it’s Aang’s food?”

“I guess it is!”

As the siblings continued their bickering, Aang sat, a stupid grin on his face as he looked at the people that so deeply cared about him, his new family. They gave up everything for him. They were here for him. He couldn't care less who's food it was, he was just hungry. He continued to smile.

Aang had felt a whole lot of weight lift from his shoulders after the talk with Katara. He hadn't meant to tell her about his fears. He meant to be strong, but he just broke. Katara’s soft words did that to him. She had been so soothing. It felt good to have someone else understand. He rolled his shoulders, relaxing his just healed back.

“Actually, it’s my food losers!” Aang jumped as a loud and shrill voice shouted from behind him. His sifu was somehow standing right behind without him noticing a thing. Toph laughed as everyone turned around, shocked at her presence.

“Geez, you’re easy to scare” Toph laughed. She violently threw a big brown bag in front of her. Something rolled out of it. Was that… Apples? The gang looked up at the grinning twelve year old in schock. Sokka was the first to, without saying anything, reach and take a few apples. Aang looked at the happy yet disappointed meat lover.

“Where did you get all this food?” Katara asked, eyebrows raised, preparing to be disappointed in the way Toph had handled the finding of food.

“Scammed some old traveller” Toph said nonchalantly and squatted down, resting her arms on her legs. “Figured you wouldn't mind”

Aang grabbed a particularly red apple and rapidly took a bite. It was good. He wasn't too fond of the whole scamming thing, but it would have been a lie if he said he wasn't happy that she did it. Good food was a rarity when travelling in this manner, fresh fruit, now that was a whole luxury. He grabbed another pair of apples and slowly stood up to go feed Appa, who had been grunting hungirly ever since Toph showed them the food. This time he noticed when his sifu slowly approached him from behind.

“Hi, Toph,” Aang said as he threw another apple into Appa’s open mouth.

“Hi Aang.” It looked like she had something on her mind. She was fidgeting with her hands and Aang couldn't help but sit down, gesturing for her to do the same.

She’s blind! She can’t see that, he reminded himself. Aang began to stand up to help her sit down when he realised that Toph was already sitting down.

“Whait, how did yo-”

“It’s solid ground, I can feel your movements,” Toph with an annoyed tone, muttering about how they could never remember how her earthbending works.

“Oh, I forgot, sorry.” Aang could feel the heat blossoming on his cheeks.

Silence fell as the conversation ended.

“Are you doing okay, after you know?” Toph asked after petting Appa’s tail for a while. Softly asking the question.

“After Katara healed me a bit, yeah,” Aang replied, he really was feeling a whole lot better. The headache was gone and he could walk on his own. He was practically fully healed, just a bit sore and tired. He wouldn't know what he would do without Katara.

Aang looked as Toph turned her head his way, even though she didn't need to do it to see, it was always easier to focus on what she was saying that way while looking at her face.

“And uh Twinkletoes, sorry for not,” She took a slow breath “Protecting you better.”

This shocked Aang. Was Toph, apologizing… To him? For what? He was the screwup here.

“No, Toph this was entirely my fault” Aang proclaimed. Was she completely out of her mind! This was in no way her fault. The technique she had taught him was helpful and he had been succeeding for the most part during the lesson. She really had been a good teacher.

“Yeah, I know!” Toph exclaimed with a laugh. “But still, i should have stayed with you when you failed.” She keeped on holding her head low while drawing circles with a finger in the sand. He knew Toph, and he knew what these kind words meant. For being an earthbender, she had always been rather good at deflecting or even ignoring emotional confrontation. This emotional vulnerability was new. The words filled Aang with a sense of understanding and happiness. Toph should have been there for him, they both knew that. Aang had been badly hurt, and without Sokka and Katara’s help, He would have been totally helpless in the warm rays of the sun. Even though Toph may not have been the one to cause this, she was also at fault in this situation.

As the apology settled, Aang saw the perfect moment to get back at his sifu for the endless hard work and training. This was a moment that had to be taken advantage of, the sad aura of the day was getting to him, it was definitely time to lighten up the mood.

“You really care about me, don’t you” Aang said in a slow and annoying tone of voice that made Toph flicker a hard pebble on his newly healed arm.

“Hey!” Aang exclaimed at the sting in his arm, laughter bubbling it’s way up his throat.

“And that” She filled her hand with a bunch of small pebbles, bending her knees into a menacing earthbending pose. “Is how I show affection.”

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