pendantry | Twelve

[Raven arrives to open Slash'n'Crash at the usual time. It only feels too early, she decides, after a night of briefly interrupted sleep and a morning of dragging her feet around the house. With Kyle's help, she goes through the motions of getting the place ready for the day; she doesn't have any big projects lined up, so unless there are a lot of customers today, she figures she'll just tinker around with things.

She's wiping off her counter when Kyle catches her sleeve with one set of claws, motioning toward the door. Nothing is there for a moment. Then, with increasingly loud cries, Soren lands in front of the open door. Raven is an expert in bird distress, and even if she wasn't, his appearance on her other doorstep like this means there's a problem. Soren has problems in a pretty narrow field.]

Stay here. [To Soren, motioning him toward the ground so he doesn't take off somewhere again, and:] Keep an eye on the place for me. [To Kyle and whatever other employee might show up in the morning on a Friday.

She doesn't think twice about changing form and taking off for house 56. It isn't too far away. Much like the bird that just surprised her, Raven lands and raps hard on Avatar House's front door.]

[When she opens the door, it's a teen monk who answers. One who looks very emotionally fragile at the moment, cheeks streaked by dried tears. His prayer beads, which have emblems representing three out of four elements, are slung over one arm; and in his other hand he is tightly gripping a letter.

He and Ikki had always risen bright and early for airbending practice. So this morning had started with panic and a sinking feeling in his heart when he found no sign of his granddaughter. He searched and searched, but he couldn't find any sign of her. Or any of her belongings that were specifically from home. Just her letters, her treasures from Luceti, and the prayer beads that she never took off. That was when he realized it; he didn't need to try a journal filter, he just knew. She was gone again, and he might never see her again. He knows all too well in her time, he's just a statue and a ghost in Korra's head. But then he gets himself to read her letter, through tears and a severe mix of emotions, and he comes to accept that it is so much more than he ever thought.

So there he stands, facing Raven, looking lost and brave at the same time.]

[Video]

[After talking with Raven, Aang uses her journal to make the announcement. And he looks into the video feed with a sad smile; Raven is visible behind him, not looking at the camera. Aang does his best to keep himself composed throughout the message, with occasional cracks in his voice and welling up in his eyes.]

Hi everyone. It's me, Aang. I'm sorry to come here with sad news... but it's not really sad at the same time. It's Ikki. She's gone back home. If you don't know who she was.... she was about this tall, almost 10 and she ran the art club, and she's an airbender and she had a bird Pokemon named Soren with her all the time. I also called her the Avatar princess. She left some items and treasures for people she knew, s-so I'll come around to hand those out later.

I'm sad for all the friends she made here and all the people whose hearts she won't be able to touch. But... I think I'm happy, too. She gets to be with her family again. She has a mom and dad back home, plus her grangran and aunt and uncle, and an older sister and two little brothers. One of them's a baby that was just born. That family... That's where she belongs. I think I'm lucky that I got to have two years to get to know someone like her. And with all that time, she's still been smiling. She never had to go the war or get hurt badly. So I'm grateful for that.

This place bends time a lot, a-and it makes lots of us know about out futures before we're ready to. A lot of the times, the future can be scary... o-or overwhelming. But it also has people like Ikki. So I know it will be worth it. [He stops for a moment, wiping at his eyes while finding the words to wrap this up with.] Let's all wish her a happy return.

[Raven motions for her journal back; anyone who's grown used to her more-expressive-lately self will see the stone mask back on, today.]

Aang's going to do the art club with me instead. We'll have a meeting...soon. [There is some audible commotion beyond the visible frame and she sighs.] Soren's staying with me.

[[ooc: If you get something from here, Aang will be stopping by at some point to drop it off! JOINT POST so- so Aang is more likely to reply with a lot of words but either or both will answer.]

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[He looks right into her eyes, trying to anchor himself and all of these emotions.]

It's - it's - [And his voice gets weaker.] Ikki's home. ...Home-home.

Oh no.

[And she doesn't need to ask if he's sure because she can see it in his eyes, in the broken way he stands... and a tremor runs through her, because of what this means to him, because of the all-too-familiar ache of missing someone she loves.]

Aang...

[And she reaches out to fold him into a hug.]

[Aang steps right into the fold, holding onto her tightly, and taking what comfort he could from the embrace. He had already had his share of tears, but he still sniffs slightly as he holds her. So many people have come and gone from the enclosure... it's odd to think that now, Katara's the only person who's been here longer than he has.

He speaks quietly.]

But... it's okay, right? She's where she belongs. [He's trying to convince himself as much as anyone. But he does know that it can only be good for her to be back home with her parents. Aang was never sure if he could come close to matching them as a parent.]

She'll be safer there.

[It's whispered. She holds on to Aang tightly, like at any moment he too will disappear.]

[She's been an anchor, a capstone ever since he got pulled into this world. So he holds on just as firmly, resting his chin on her shoulder.]

They'll take good care of her. I know it. [After all, one of those people there in the future is Katara, even if it's not exactly the same one who's holding him right now.]

I miss her.

I know.

[There are some tears in her own eyes. It was hard to fully absorb what had happened, she was feeling the first phases of shock and grief.

Oh, Ikki...]

I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry too. [He utters softly, trying to keep the tears from welling up in his eyes once more.]

But I guess I feel lucky, too. That... that I had this much time to get to know her.

[She gives him a wobbly smile.]

You don't have to feel lucky yet. I know it's hard.

[How hard it must be... to feel alone again.]

[Even when Ikki left the first time, Jinora had still been there. Now, for the first time since she popped into their lives, Aang really was the last Airbender again. It felt particularly cold this time to have that title - now that the little airbenders had come and gone from his life.]

It is. It's a lot of things. [And he gives his own weak smile, as he pulls back.] She left letters. An-and presents. For just about everyone she knows. Like you.

[Katara pulls away, but reaches to take Aang's hand. To hold on. Her hand is warm and calloused from practicing the new skills she's learned at Luceti.]

Did you take a look at them already?

[He takes her hand. It's a relatively rougher feel than he was used to at home. But it's what he's used to now.

He softly nods.]

Yeah. I'm sorry. I had to make sure that they really were her... her goodbye things. And she left me a letter for how to organize everything. I didn't look at the actual letters, though...

I don't think you have to be sorry for looking at those things. That's why people leave them behind. [She squeezed his hand lightly.] Let's... go take a look at them together. Okay?

[He offers her a soft smile. They had worked hard to take care pf Ikki together. Now they could say goodbye together.]

Thanks. You're right, Katara. Let's do that. [And so he walks with her into Ikki's room. where he's organized all of the letters and presents as neatly as he could manage.]

[Katara picks up Ikki's treasure box with a small sound of pain.

Oh.

And then--]

What about Soren?

[He glances towards the box as he picks it up, and so many memories play in his mind of Ikki placing her treasures inside and out of it. Now that everything's been set to be given away, it looks so empty.

So it hurts just a bit more. Even Soren is gone; Aang finds himself looking towards the window.]

He flew off to be with Raven. Y-you know... that friend Ikki and me made who helped her with the art club, and works at the smithy. She and Soren stopped by before you woke up.

[She reaches out to take Aang's hand, a subconscious gesture for comfort.]

As long as he has someone to take care of him.

[And Aang accepts her hand once more in a similarly subconcious, a weak smile tugging at her lips. He's still a little shakey with his words.]

Y-yeah. Raven's really nice, and she's taking care of Hiccup's old Pokemon too. So... I know she'll do good. Soren should be happy with her. And... that'd make Ikki happy.

Yeah. [She squeezes his hand.

...and then speaks softly.] ...I know it's hard. I know it hurts. I'm sorry, Aang.

Thank you, Katara. [He mutters very softly as he glances at her, not quite smiling but with a bit of a warmth in his expression.] I- I'm gonna do my best. [For Ikki. She wouldn't be happy to see him like this.]

Would you like to look at her letter for you?

...do you have it here?

Yeah. I laid out all the letters on her desk. Yours should be right there... [Surrounded by the treasures designated for her.]

If you wanna be alone to read it... just let me know.

[Katara walks over and carefully picks up the letter.]

...I don't think I want to read it just yet. [She folds it carefully and places it in the fold of her tunic, by her heart.]

I understand. [He whispers softly, with something like a crackle in his voice. He almost made the decision with his own letter, but he ultimately read it. He had to make sure that the letter wasn't actually just a note that she was off on some unexplained trip. He feels it all over again, now, just the absence of that little airbender.

So Aang gently wraps her in a hug.]

Twelve

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