Idk what I wrote. This definitely could be written better, but I haven't written fanfictions in AGES (it's legit been 3 years) so my skills are rusty.
It would have helped if I knew what Jae, Pavi and Nisha's characters were like, but the teaser gives away nothing lol.
This is also a quick thing with no editing and I just went with the flow, so I didn't plan what to write in advance either. The ending could also be improved.
But eh, I'll stop critizing my own writing for lol lol. I do hope you like it. This just inspired me a lot. Enough to write a fanfiction after 3 years.
The Western Air temple, just like the rest of the world, was a shell if it's former glory, far from how the few remaining books described it to be when it was still inhabited by the air benders and acolytes.
The upside-down structure had cracks in the walls and pillars, moss and ivy covering the weak framework in green. The fountain had stopped releasing water eons ago, the metal around it crumbling as rust ate away at it.
Jae hopped off his hover board, holding it tucked between his arm and side as he scanned the place, before turning to look at Pavi and Nisha, awe in his eyes.
"Welcome to the Western Air Temple," He said, a smile on his face as his grey eyes fleeted around the building again.
How much he had wanted to visit the place where the past air benders used to live in before the apocalypse.
It didn't look like it did in pictures and paintings, but it was the real place, the physical proof that parts of the world still existed beyond the seven havens. It was beautiful.
It also had a high spiritual energy. The air made his skin hum, tugging and beckoning him somewhere deeper.
He turned back towards the twin to tell them so, but stopped when he saw them sit down with their backs pressed against the other, looking tired. His face softened and he walked towards them, sitting down nearby with his back to a moss-covered pillar.
It had been a long journey. They had to fight off too many spirits and humans alike on their journey. He's sure they can wait until the sun rises again before they have to get moving. This temple was hidden from passersby — however rare they may be.
They were safe. It was a luxury they could barely afford. He was willing to let the kids indulge in every second of it.
Reaching into his satchel, he pulled out the little food they had been rationing, handing a little to Pavi and Nisha. It wasn't much, but atleast they won't go to bed on a hungry stomach for another day — though the food was running out and he needs to find a place where he can refill it.
"We'll rest here for today, maybe tomorrow, then we'll continue," He informed them, his tone a touch apologetic.
The constant travel was starting to wear down on all of them.
"Fine," Pavi mumbled, picking at her food, voice tired as she leaned a little more on Nisha subconsciously before straightening up when her twin made a noise of protest at the added weight. "Sorry."
"I'll find something to start a fire," Jae said, standing up and dusting his hands, already finished with his portion of food.
The twins made a noise of agreement, so he left them there and ventured deeper into the temple. The tug was there again, faint and pleasant, calling him somewhere, though he couldn't pin-point where.
He found scraps of wood before he found the source of the tug, so he gathered them and returned back to where the twins were, not wanting to leave them alone for too long, especially when the few times he did so in the past, they got attacked.
The night winded down without event after he started a fire. The three of them huddled near it's warmth and planned their next moves until Nisha yawned, then Pavi, and then he followed, getting a giggle out of the twins, his own lips twitching into a smile.
Sleep came quickly. There was something in the air along with the warmth of the fire which lulled them in a shroud of safety as the blanket of sleep covered them.
Jae opened his eyes to a noise.
The fire had died a while ago, the air around it still warm. It was still night, the temple shrouded in darkness.
He sleepily looked around, his eyes landing on Nisha, still asleep, curling into herself. The space beside her was… empty.
Any residue of sleep left him as he immediately sat up, his voice a little raised as he called out Pavi's name, inevitably waking up her twin too. Nisha noticed the lack of body warmth beside her and immediately stood up as well.
"Pavi!" Jae called again, voice higher now that Nisha was awake. His voice echoed off the empty walls of the temple.
"I'm here!" Pavi's voice came back from somewhere inside the temple, and he breathed out in relief, grabbing his howerboard and following the sound, Nisha hot on his tails.
The tug was stronger as he reached a door he hadn't seen before, gently pushing it open, "Pavi, you can't roam around without telling us. You scared us for a moment—"
The words died in his mouth as he took the place he was in.
This section was nothing like the rest of the air temple. The air was cleaner than he had ever breathed, the moss in the other parts of the temple replaced with actual plants and creepers. There was even a tree which still grew apples, big and fresh and red.
It was beautiful, it was fascinating.
But what drew his attention more was the huge statue in front of which Pavi was standing, head tilted up to gaze at it, green eyes focused on it with an intensity he had started to associate with the young Avatar.
His breath caught in his throat.
It was a statue of a man and a woman, hand in hand, facing eachother. Creepers clung to the old stone, white flowers blooming, though the statue itself was left without damage.
Beneath the green, he could see the woman's attire was the one of the former water tribes which he saw in books as he got closer, hair twisted in a braid which looked soft to touch even if carved out of stone. The man beside her had arrow tattoos he could recognize anywhere — air nomad.
He approached closer and Pavi looked up at him, "I felt this pull… I had to see what it was."
"I felt it too." He admitted, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the statue to look down at her.
"Something's written here," Nisha said, having wandered to the wall beside the statue.
Jae looked at the wall. The script was old, not something he was fluent in, and the only source of light was the full moon, but he could make out the words after a little struggle, "Aang and Katara."
The names were familiar like a distant memory. Like books he skimmed past while searching for something particular.
"The lovers who defied death."
Pavi had walked towards the wall as well, gently pushing the creepers aside to stare at the words, even if she couldn't understand what they were saying.
Jae looked between the words and the statue a few times, "Hah! I remember! Pavi, this is your past life Avatar Aang and the waterbending Master Katara."
"My past life," Pavi echoed, turning to look at Jae who nodded with a awe-full smile.
"They're legends." He moved closer to the wall, touching the carved words with fascinated fingers, "I heard this story when I was younger. Younger than you two."
"Can you tell us?" Nisha asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet, a curious and excited glint in her eyes.
"Aang was the Avatar before Avatar Korra," He turned to look at the twins, reminiscing the story, "The one who stopped the hundred year war which the books talk about. Katara was his lover, the one who brought him back to life not once, but twice."
Pavi blinked, looking at the statue. They were facing eachother in the sculpture, smiles carved on the stone which somehow managed to show the love they once shared, "You can do that?"
"If you're Katara, you can," Jae said, staring at the carved words, reading them out loud as he deciphered them, "Katara brought her lover back to life two times. The two stand as the proof that love can defy the laws of the universe. This statue is here to honor the love they had for eachother, in the place where they once seeked shelter along with their friends during the last few days of the hundred year war."
"Does it say how she brought him back to life?" Nisha asked.
"The first time was when he was hit by lightning during a confrontation with the former fire nation's princess. Azula, I think her name was." Jae turned to her, "Katara flooded the cave they were in just to get to him and healed him using spirit water."
"And the second time?" This time it was Pavi who asked.
"The details of that are less known," Jae admitted, "But the legend says he died while confronting an airbender who was sealed away for five thousand years, and she brought him back again."
"That sounds amazing," Nisha breathed.
"Yeah," Jae looked around the place, the apple tree, the plants, the statues, "This place is also filled with spiritual energy. I've never felt energy this strong anywhere."
"I feel it too." Pavi reached out, gently brushing her fingers over the cool stone the statues were carved out of, "It's like this whole place is… alive. Like the two are still here."
"Can we stay here for the rest of the night," Nisha asked, looking at Jae, tilting her head in a way which was adorable, "It's peaceful here, and it also feels safer than outside."
He smiled, looking at the statue then back to the twins, "Sure."
He placed his howerboard on the ground, hopping on it, "But first, who wants some apples?"
Two hands shot up at once, giggles filling the quiet as he smiled and flew towards the top of the tree, grabbing as many fruits as his hands and satchel would fit.
Guess he didn't have to worry about running out of food. Not when the legends still managed to take care of the people they left behind long ago.
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