Aang POV
"What. What did you want me to do, Aang?" As her soft voice escaped her mouth, I frowned and sat upright while staring at her. "Do you not want to be with me anymore?" Korra clenched her fists at my words as she finally raised her head, glaring at me. "H-How could you say that, Aang!? O-Of course I want to be with you! I freaking love you!" After practically yelling, she calmed down somewhat and deeply sighed.
"Then why? We could stay here together, live our lives, have children, and become grandparents." Sitting opposite of her, I leaned forward and grabbed her hand, a faint smile graced her face, only for her to bite her lip. "Is that really the right thing for us to do?" "No, it's not, but who cares? We get to dictate how we live our lives." "We're the Avatar; we can't just give up on our worlds and act selfishly." Korra's expression was solemn, her gaze resolute as she stared into my eyes.
Korra took pride in being the Avatar, so while I knew she wouldn't change her thoughts, I wouldn't give up. "So what if we're the Avatar? We didn't ask for this position. It was thrust upon us from birth! We had no choice in the matter! So why should we be forced to follow in the footsteps of our predecessors?" This was how I always thought of it when it came to being the Avatar; I never asked for it or wanted it, so why should I be forced to accept my role?
It's true, I love bending, and while I probably wouldn't give up the avatar position, that didn't mean I liked it; thanks to our predecessors, the Avatar was seen as some kind of savior, and I just wished to live a normal life with my wife and child. I couldn't do that in my last life, and I will not give up on my second life.
"E-Even so, can you really just ignore everyone? Could you forget the world you came from just to engage in selfish desires?" "If it's for you, yes. Yes, I can, Korra." My words took Korra aback as she stared at me for a while before averting her gaze. "I-I'm sorry, Aang, b-but I can't." She might as well have stabbed me in the heart with that response. "K-Korra…"
"I-I have friends, family, and people I-I want to protect, Amon and the Equalists to stop; I want to grow further as the Avatar. S-So I'm sorry, Aang, b-but I can't ignore them. I-I can't forget where I came from." Korra's voice was shaky, and tears streamed down her cheek; seeing her like this hurt me more than if she'd been cold or indifferent.
At least, if she was cold, it meant her feelings for me were never that deep to begin with, but that clearly wasn't the case; she loved me just as much as I loved her. Even then, her love for me didn't outweigh the world she came from, which really hurt me; Korra was the most important thing to me, but it seemed I wasn't to her… I wasn't upset with her; I couldn't be, nor was I depressed. I-I was just heartbroken, immensely so.
"I-I see." I could feel some of my strength leave me as my arms went limp, though Korra quickly grabbed them. "A-Aang, I love you, okay? I love you more than anyone! I'll never love another like you, I-I don't even know if I'll be able to love another–" Despite her frantic words, I couldn't bring myself to listen to her right now. "Korra, could you please leave? I'd like to be alone right now." Interrupting her, she stopped talking, freezing before slowly releasing my arms.
"Y-Yeah, o-of course, y-you're head probably still hurts." Wiping her tears, Korra stood up and began walking towards the door. "I-If you need me, I-I'll be nearby." Korra just stood there, silently staring at me for several seconds before she finally opened the door and left.
As she left, I plopped onto the bed and covered my body with my sheets, desiring nothing but sleep so I could forget all this.
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3rd POV
Standing further down the hallway, Roku and Kyoshi were leaning against the wall, patiently waiting for Korra to exit her room, which she did a few minutes later. Seeing her, the Avatars reacted and stood upright as they tried to talk to her, though she was far from in a talking mood.
"Korra-" Roku could barely say her name before she forcefully pushed past them while continuously wiping her flowing tears. "What did they talk about?" Muttering under his breath, Roku glanced at Korra's trembling figure, which leaned against the wall far in the distance, before shifting his focus to the room she'd just exited.
"What do you say? I have a feeling we should postpone talking to Aang for longer." As a wave of uncertainty washes through Roku, he turns to glance at Kyoshi, who stares at the door before slowly nodding in agreement. "Let's wait until tomorrow."
Deciding it was best to leave Aang alone, the duo turned around and approached Korra. "Korra?" Roku, the more empathetic of the two, stepped forward, his voice soft as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to glance at him while wiping her eyes. "W-What?" "Well, we were hoping you could tend our wounds; we hadn't come out unscathed after facing Aang."
Glancing between the two of them, Korra faintly nodded. "Y-Yeah, sure." While sniffling, Korra pushed herself off the wall and headed to the dining room, where she tended to both Kyoshi and Roku while snaking; during that time, no one mentioned Aang.
Eventually, night arrived, and with her room being used, Korra slept in Aang's room.
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Aang POV
Sitting in the dining room, I ate breakfast, bread, and fruit, though, while doing so, Korra entered a few minutes later. "G-Good morning, Aang." Hearing her shaky voice, I responded by softly nodding at her as I continued to eat while she sat opposite me, grabbing her own food. "H-How does your head feel?" As I glanced up at her, she instantly looked away. "Better." "G-Good."
As we descended into silence, the tension and awkward atmosphere had grown incredibly thick, so much so that I thought I could visibly feel it sticking to my skin. However, thankfully, the atmosphere faded away when Roku entered, and while he was slightly taken aback, he quickly regained his composure, sitting down to my left and Korra's right. "Good morning." "Morning." Nodding again, the three of us remained silent; only the sound of our chewing could be heard.
Several minutes later, the final person, Kyoshi, entered, sitting opposite Roku; she grabbed her food without a word and ate. With all four of us present, it was a bit awkward, though no one bothered to mention it, so it wasn't terrible, but when I finally finished eating, I drank a glass of water and broke the silence.
"I'll stay behind and protect Jathr." Setting down the empty cup, I raised my head and looked at everyone while Kyoshi nodded. "Good." "Excuse me, but is that the plan you and Kyoshi were referring to yesterday?" Although I'm sure Roku would've liked for one of us to further elaborate, I merely nodded.
"C-Can you handle it by yourself?" Even after what happened yesterday, our love still remained, so of course, she'd be worried for me. "Yes." With my reply, she faintly nodded. "We attack tomorrow. It's better to strike now than later." Although the thought still hurt, I and everyone else nodded in agreement.
Having finished my breakfast, I returned to my room and lay in the bed, though shortly later, someone knocked on the door and didn't even need to sense the air to know who it was. "Come in." With the door opening, Korra entered, her expression a forced smile as she closed the door behind her. "I-I've come to check on your head."
Nodding, I rolled onto my stomach and faced my bed while Korra used her healing arts to tend to my injured head; we remained silent throughout the whole thing. When Korra finished, she retracted her watery hands, prompting me to sit upright and look at her. "You look mostly healed to me." Smiling, Korra stood up. "I-I'll take my leave then. I'll return and check with you tonight."
As Korra approached the door, I thought about tomorrow, the day we'd attack Father Glowworm; It meant our time together was limited. When we returned to our world, I didn't want our memory to be like it is now; I could already imagine the immense regret.
So, I stood up and neared Korra, grabbing her hand as she opened the door. "Stay with me." She froze in place before closing the door and facing me, her smile a genuine one this time as she nodded. "Of course, Aang."
Leading me back to the bed, she lay in it and pulled me down beside her, prompting me to wrap an arm around her waist from behind, pulling her deep into my embrace; silently enjoying our presence.