[Fanfic] (re)incarnate
Title: (re)incarnate
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Fire Nation (Lee), Aang, Air Nomad
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: I'm really not sure about this one, guys, but I decided just to get over myself and post it. Please tell me if it doesn't work. I wanted to give Tseten a happier ending, and I wanted to work out some thoughts I was having about how she would be replaced, and the nature of death and rebirth for Nations (not just in this universe. Prussia's been on my mind a lot lately).
Also Lee is fun to write because he's so over-dramatic.
At first she is just another child among the many who now call the Northern Air Temple their home. Avatar Aang had insisted that the Air Temples be re-opened and new ones built, some of the old chambers remaining sacred to the memory of his people. The resulting communities aren't quite Airbenders, but they live free and peaceful lives and maybe, Aang decides, that is enough. The appearance of the same girl at every temple soon confirms his suspicions that while his people have long since died, perhaps he has started something new in their stead. He has a feeling that the Air Nomads would appreciate that more.
It is more difficult healing the old scar that reopens with her appearance. The Fire Nation feels a return to his old madness when he hears the news, and he only goes to see her when his Firelord orders him to. They finally meet at the Western Air Temple (It has always been a place for ghosts). She dresses like a refugee and she has no tattoos, but her face seems to be an echo of a forgotten dream. Those grey eyes have haunted him for too many nights. He begins to hope that perhaps the Spirits have undone his old crime.
They sit together in the empty courtyard, the girl dangling her feet in the fountain. Neither of them seems to know quite what to say. Lee, formal and stiff, has never been any good with children.
“What-“ his voice breaks the silence first, hoarse and nervous. “What do I call you?”
"I don't have a name,” she replies sulkily, splashing her feet in the water. "Haven’t decided."
"Tseten?" He holds his breath as the girl thinks. This is, perhaps, what he has been waiting for in the fifty years since the war ended.
"No." She seems depressingly definite about that. "I've heard the others talk about her. Her name is nice, but it's not mine."
Lee sags visibly- so obviously depressed that she reaches out to touch him. He jumps at her hand like he's been burned.
"Aang's been teaching me about what Airbenders believed." She says, her voice loud enough to get his attention even through his disappointment. "They don't die, you know? They re... reincarnate."
"I know-" Lee starts angrily but she holds up a finger. He has to remind himself that this child is nearly thirty years old.
"But when you come back from the Spirit World you're not the same person. It doesn't even work that way for Avatars. So I'm not a second chance and I'm not here to make you feel better about killing her. I'm here because despite what you did, the Airbenders survived. Because they came back. New."
The Fire Nation blinks. It has been a long time since any other Nation has argued with him- they all give him a wide berth these days, as if the habit of war is catching.
"I never meant..." he starts an apology, but the girl looks at him with eyes like a thunderstorm and the words choke in his throat. Lee thinks for a second, and then looks down at the flowers floating in the fountain.
"Pema." he says eventually. "It means lotus. Nothing else."
“I like it.” The Air Nomad smiles, swift and sudden like a breeze. “It’ll do for now.”
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Fire Nation (Lee), Aang, Air Nomad
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: I'm really not sure about this one, guys, but I decided just to get over myself and post it. Please tell me if it doesn't work. I wanted to give Tseten a happier ending, and I wanted to work out some thoughts I was having about how she would be replaced, and the nature of death and rebirth for Nations (not just in this universe. Prussia's been on my mind a lot lately).
Also Lee is fun to write because he's so over-dramatic.
At first she is just another child among the many who now call the Northern Air Temple their home. Avatar Aang had insisted that the Air Temples be re-opened and new ones built, some of the old chambers remaining sacred to the memory of his people. The resulting communities aren't quite Airbenders, but they live free and peaceful lives and maybe, Aang decides, that is enough. The appearance of the same girl at every temple soon confirms his suspicions that while his people have long since died, perhaps he has started something new in their stead. He has a feeling that the Air Nomads would appreciate that more.
It is more difficult healing the old scar that reopens with her appearance. The Fire Nation feels a return to his old madness when he hears the news, and he only goes to see her when his Firelord orders him to. They finally meet at the Western Air Temple (It has always been a place for ghosts). She dresses like a refugee and she has no tattoos, but her face seems to be an echo of a forgotten dream. Those grey eyes have haunted him for too many nights. He begins to hope that perhaps the Spirits have undone his old crime.
They sit together in the empty courtyard, the girl dangling her feet in the fountain. Neither of them seems to know quite what to say. Lee, formal and stiff, has never been any good with children.
“What-“ his voice breaks the silence first, hoarse and nervous. “What do I call you?”
"I don't have a name,” she replies sulkily, splashing her feet in the water. "Haven’t decided."
"Tseten?" He holds his breath as the girl thinks. This is, perhaps, what he has been waiting for in the fifty years since the war ended.
"No." She seems depressingly definite about that. "I've heard the others talk about her. Her name is nice, but it's not mine."
Lee sags visibly- so obviously depressed that she reaches out to touch him. He jumps at her hand like he's been burned.
"Aang's been teaching me about what Airbenders believed." She says, her voice loud enough to get his attention even through his disappointment. "They don't die, you know? They re... reincarnate."
"I know-" Lee starts angrily but she holds up a finger. He has to remind himself that this child is nearly thirty years old.
"But when you come back from the Spirit World you're not the same person. It doesn't even work that way for Avatars. So I'm not a second chance and I'm not here to make you feel better about killing her. I'm here because despite what you did, the Airbenders survived. Because they came back. New."
The Fire Nation blinks. It has been a long time since any other Nation has argued with him- they all give him a wide berth these days, as if the habit of war is catching.
"I never meant..." he starts an apology, but the girl looks at him with eyes like a thunderstorm and the words choke in his throat. Lee thinks for a second, and then looks down at the flowers floating in the fountain.
"Pema." he says eventually. "It means lotus. Nothing else."
“I like it.” The Air Nomad smiles, swift and sudden like a breeze. “It’ll do for now.”