Chapter Text
The night was serene. Only the murmur of the waves breaking on the shore and the beautiful silver reflection of the moon upon the sea disturbed the silence. However, something made Aang uneasy. No matter how intensely he examined the small island in the middle of the ocean, or how many times he used his earthbending to detect a threat, he found nothing. There was only the pungent, metallic scent of blood permeating the soft breeze from the horizon—a breeze stained with echoes of screams of pain and anguish that were slowly fading away.
Fear and restlessness paralyzed him, preventing any reaction. His legs refused to respond, and despite his attempts, no cry could escape his throat. No matter how much he summoned the elements, none answered his call. Desperate, he searched his surroundings for a solution until he felt something climbing up his legs. With horror, he realized that the beautiful sea had transformed into an ocean of blood that was rapidly absorbing him. Just before being swallowed completely, he closed his eyes, but in that instant, everything seemed to stop, plunging him into a deep silence. Darkness invaded every corner of his mind until he felt hands touching his chest with tenderness.
"Aang... Aang..." A light voice called to him, as if trying to catch his attention. "Aang, open your eyes... Everything will be alright," she affirmed affectionately. So, he slowly opened his eyes, meeting a gaze full of love. "I finally found you..."
No matter how hard he tried to focus his eyes and distinguish the face behind that voice—which, inexplicably, instilled calm in him—the image remained blurred. However, in the darkness of the night, those beautiful emerald eyes glowed. "I will always be there to protect you, just as I know you will protect me..." With a tone full of devotion, that delicate voice uttered those words while her hands cradled the Avatar's face.
Aang let out a small laugh as he placed his hand on the mysterious girl's cheek. "No one will hurt you, I promise..." He paused to lose himself in her eyes, but the rawness of his own blood-stained hands forced him to look away. It was only for a second; ignoring the horror of the scene, he returned his attention to her as if nothing else mattered. "No matter what I have to do, I will protect you..."
"Even if it is necessary for you to murder someone for me?"
Those words rang deeply in Aang's mind as he tried to process such a request, but something deep within him did not hesitate to respond. "I will kill anyone who tries to touch you."
With his heart racing, the Avatar woke up from that strange dream that left an unusual sweet taste in his mouth. "Not again..." Letting out a sigh of resignation, he stood up and walked toward the common room he shared with the others in Republic City. Upon entering, the group received him with warm smiles, but Toph, who felt his distress through the vibrations of the ground, was the only one who perceived her friend's true discomfort.
"What's on your mind, Twinkletoes? Did you have a nightmare?" she asked, placing very little importance on her words while she continued eating an apple. All eyes turned toward him with concern, particularly Katara's. Aware of the constant nightmares that tormented her friend regarding the massacre of his people, she spoke to him with a voice heavy with worry. "Is everything okay, Aang? If you need to talk about it, we're here for you."
He only shook his head gently with a small smile decorating his face as he sat down next to Zuko. "It's nothing, just a rather peculiar dream I've been having lately."
"And... do you want to talk about it or...?" Sokka asked, trying to keep the mood light. "Although if the dream is about Katara, no thanks," he added with an expression of disgust, feigning a shiver of repulsion. Katara blushed slightly and, with a gesture of anger, took a pillow and threw it at her brother, hitting him in the face. "Don't talk nonsense, Sokka!"
"Sorry, sorry, I had to specify; I didn't want to know how Aang was kissing my sister in his dreams, you know?" He joked again, but had no time to laugh at his own joke before another pillow landed on his face. Aang enjoyed the moment, watching with affection as Katara grew exasperated by Sokka's jokes and the laughter of the others. But suddenly, the warmth dissipated when the memory of that emerald gaze assaulted him again. It was a fascinating yet unsettling gaze, charged with the predatory elegance of a snake about to strike; however, the voice of Fire Lord Zuko pulled him out of that trance.
"I have a feeling it wasn't a good dream."
Aang returned his gaze and, sketching a smile laden with bitterness, shook his head. "It's nothing," he murmured, "just a strange dream about a girl with emerald eyes." He kept the details and the strong words that came out of his mouth in the dream to himself. Why worry them? He decided it wasn't worth disturbing the group's peace for something so insignificant.
As expected, his words sowed amazement among his friends. It was the first time Aang had mentioned a girl other than Katara; even though they were not a couple, the connection between them was so deep that it was unthinkable to imagine him thinking of anyone else. "A girl?" they asked in unison.
"Yes... but it's really nothing. It's not like I know her either, because I've never been able to see her face. Anyway, I'll be outside." Aang stood up, determined not to touch on the subject further, and left the room without looking back, heading to the balcony. The rest of the group remained in their seats, processing the surprise of what they had just heard.
Finally alone, the night chill helped him release the tension in a long sigh. The dream pursued him, leaving him with a mixture of warmth and restlessness he couldn't shake. The softness of her touch and that gaze full of devotion that made him feel loved were etched into his mind. Tortured by doubt, he tossed a question into the air: "Why do you appear like this, if your face remains a mystery?" His eyes scanned the illuminated horizon of the city, hoping the glow of the lights would clear his mind.
But Aang was not the only one trying to understand all those unanswered questions. In a distant corner of the Earth Kingdom, a young woman with raven hair contemplated the firmament, lost in the brightness of the stars, until the echo of heavy boots broke her thoughts. "Naja, it's time to leave; we must hurry if we want to be before the Avatar by tomorrow night," they indicated to her in an exhausted tone. Without a word, she left her post and headed toward the caravan.
Miles away, Aang felt a sudden chill, foreign to the city breeze. He looked one last time toward the stars of the Earth Kingdom, the same ones Naja had just abandoned. Without knowing it, both shared the same air and the same uncertainty. Destiny, like a puzzle finally finding its edges, had begun to close in on them. Tomorrow, the Avatar would cease to be a dream and become her objective. With the gaze of a predator toward its prey, she had already begun her hunt.