Chapter Text
Aelwyn sat with her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. Her eyes were closed, but she could feel her parents standing behind her examining the straightness of her back, the cleanliness of her ceremonial robes. They were always there, at her back. Her ankles cut uncomfortably into the stone of the balcony. She did not move. In this remote corner of the air temple, stars provided the only light. Her father squinted up at them, calculating.
“You have about five minutes until the avatar is taken out. You may begin,” he said. There was no need for Aelwyn to signal that she’d heard him. She began to meditate.
Adaine was having a bad dream, as she often did. This one was different though, usually it was more abstract. She was in a house, floating with her back against the ceiling. Unable to sink back to the floor, the airbender began to explore the house. It was endless. Room after room after room, all of them bedrooms of little boys. Weird. The decor was all Fire Nation, lots of red. None of the rooms had windows, and none of the boys were awake, and when she tried to retrace her path she found that the rooms were changing behind her and when she tried to speak she found that she was voiceless. Adaine began to panic. Breathing heavy and heart beating fast, she flipped onto her stomach and pushed downwards from the ceiling with her hands and feet, but just floated right back up, face slamming against the beams. The wood was rough, scratching her cheek. Her throat started closing up and her eyes began to burn. Take deep breaths wake up its just a dream its just a dream and
She was in a different room now, one where the boy inside was awake. Awake, and suffocating. He silently reached out to her, other hand on his tiny throat. Adaine outstretched her hand to him, pushing off the ceiling as hard as she could, but that just made the boy get farther and farther away. Adaine’s breath hitched. She couldn’t breathe. The boy made eye contact with her. Strangers, helpless and dying.