#scrolls.

aang sits comfortably atop a rock that rises up from the earth like a spire. the winds are stronger, here. but he remains perfectly still, eyes closed, knuckles pressed together in meditation.

he feels his spirit detach. becoming one with the spirit world. he feels the four wings in the wind, the star-like patterns shimmering against them.

"i do," aang replies, serene, practiced. the energy of @zodiacgcds reminds him of the dragons he had danced and bent fire with, all those years ago.

vayu, or vata, is the spirit of air and winds in air nomad cosmology. it is the primary deity that they worship; the relationship between the air spirit and the air nomads is one of familial, ancestral veneration. vata is considered the god/spirit of air, and an emanation of raava.

the air nomads believed that all life began as air (sound). and then as breath. like air, like the four winds, their souls where everywhere before they were tethered by human bodies; in all directions; from the north, to the south, to the east, to the west of the entire world. air. space. universe. each one are related, each a sibling to the other, coexisting as one with the other elements of reality.

this is what aang believes. that when he dies, his individuated spirit shall be released into the wind, everywhere, everything, all at once. until it is ready to be reborn again.

vata and the air nomads have a unique relationship in which the air spirit taught them the ways of the ascetic life, dedicating themselves to harmony, peace and spiritual cultivation, and crafting masters of air-bending to teach future avatars.

aang was an air-bending master at the age of 12, considered a prodigy among the air nomads and their rich history of air-bending masters. aang is considered one of the best air-benders in history, and the only air-bending master in the world at the time (before he is survived by his children).

headcanons; canon-divergences;

thousands upon thousands of ancient scrolls and manuscripts which recorded the teachings, poetry, and spiritual-philosophical literature of the air nomads, their gurus, and their contemporaries (fire sages, earth priestesses, etc.) were hidden away over the course of the years between roku's death (murder) and aang's childhood. as the fire nation became more and more aggressive upon the world stage, underground libraries were built beneath the air nomad temples, sealed away and hidden. other scrolls were concealed inside meditation caves riddled across the mountains surrounding the western and eastern air temples. after the war, aang takes on the long and arduous task of finding and protecting these hidden treasures. over the course of a decade, he spends thousands of hours at the northern and southern air temples, searching for clues and consulting the spirits for knowledge he could not otherwise access in the manifest world. among the treasures were the complete writings of guru laghima, documentations of avatar yangchen's life, the recorded wisdom of guru pathik, and even avatar sonum's poetry. the air acolytes (including former members of the denied) assisted aang on his mission, and helped maintain the scrolls, art, and statues that were discovered. as the last airbender, the pressure to preserve his culture and way of life became increasingly heavy on him. but it also allowed him to have a goal to focus on that was purely for his indigenous culture. he poured through yards and yards of scrolls pertaining to his people, learning and relearning the ways of being an air nomad. making up for lost time. aang is poignantly aware of his situation. he is the last airbender. he is the last of a people who could bend the wind to their will. he became fixated on perfecting his air-bending, and pushing himself to achieve more than any air nomad before him. he is the first avatar to learn spirit-bending. and he is the first air nomad to learn sound-bending: an ability he used to test his limits and understanding of air, and to find a way to speak to @quvianartuvik (katara) from long distances when their respective duties separated them. the air nomads believe that sound is the source of all creation. that the cosmos was created by a song, much like all of the air nomad's stories begin with a song. and a song is like a breeze; both require air. everything vibrates. everything sings. aang recognizes this, and learns to bend the vibrations of the world to his voice, his frequency. it requires extreme focus (meditation), and an understanding that space, distance, is an illusion. everything is connected. he whispers loving words, and the air carries it like a cloud, searches for katara in everything; finds her. speaks to her. relays his message, as fast as the speed of sound. (he teaches everything he knows to tenzin, knowing that it means more than a mere father teaching his son; it was the epitome of survival, it was the preserving and refining of a culture that was well over five-thousand years old. aang treated tenzin as if he were tenzin's guru, much like monk gyatso was aang's guru).

headcanons / canon-divergences;

Gods, she'd missed this. One thing she'd never stop regretting was letting her massive insecurities get in the way of their friendship all those years ago. Thankfully, the years they'd lost were being regained in the friendship they were starting to build then and there, and she couldn't be more grateful. Enveloping the Yamanaka in a bear hug right back, Sakura couldn't help the bubbly feeling of happiness that resulted even when they withdrew.

If there was one thing Sakura could always rely upon, it was the thoughtfulness of her students that always found new and creative ways to endear themselves to her. Sometimes, it was being touched by the good deeds Obito went out of his way to exact at whomever needed help. In others, it was hearing tale of the valor and dedication Kakashi exhibited as a shinobi, and watching him progress through his therapy by bits and pieces. Or, it was when Rin demonstrated mastery of a new skill as a med-nin that saw her growing by leaps and bounds Sakura knew Tsunade would've been exceedingly proud of to see happen, of her original dream coming true. But, most of all, it was having the privilege of being the sensei of three very bright, very hard-working teens who always strove to do their best no matter what.

So, when the day of her birthday came and with it conspiracies of playing a little hooky to treat her team to a nice dinner at a restaurant in honor of it, Sakura couldn't help but brighten with a little flutter in her chest of excitement that delivering the news would bring and how happy it could make the trio. Yet, what greeted her instead was a very enthusiastically smiling Obito, a flustered Kakashi, and delighted Rin all very pleased with the gift they'd managed to procure together. Utterly moved by the gesture, she freely scooped the three up in her arms in a bear hug, admittedly lifting them off the ground a little bit.

"Shizune-senpai!" Sakura cajoled with a merry laugh, but not before she whirled in the other med-nin's arms and embraced her in a tight bear hug, grinning despite knowing how tight her hugs tended to be.