"Nobody told me that learning another element would be so complicated," Aang complained as he collapsed onto the cold ground of the training field, ignoring the look Shisui was giving him from his spot beside him.
Since it was nighttime, only the two of them were there, illuminated by the torches, moon, and stars. Because Aang was the Avatar, his training was much more arduous than that of the other apprentices. That was why Shisui was with him instead of being with his fiancée.
"You've only been training for a week, and you've made more progress than some old men have in decades. What are you complaining about?" Shisui asked, tempted to kick the Avatar but restraining himself. After all, he was an adult about to become a father, and he shouldn't act so childishly.
"Yes, I know, and I'm fascinated by the water element. It's very similar to air. I can extrapolate many things from my mastery of airbending to improve my waterbending. But I don't know. I feel like I'm missing something," Aang commented. This caused Shisui to put a hand on his chin as he tried to reach a conclusion.
"By the way, what did you and Mai teach Katara? She's become a little scary!" From Aang's tone, it was clear that he was afraid. However, Shisui simply smiled and didn't answer, making the Avatar uncomfortable.
"Okay, I'll stand up and keep training. But despite everything, I still can't figure out what's wrong. It's as if that would make everything a thousand times simpler," Aang added. Before he could finish, the ice on the ground molded itself, allowing him to stand up without having to intervene too much except for the necessary Waterbending movements for such a feat.
"How about asking the Waterbenders about their experiences with Waterbending? Ask Zuko and the others how this art has served them in their own elements.
Also, ask the non-benders how they feel about water. After all, aren't you a monk? I'm entrusting you with this little pilgrimage. Remember, you transformed into a giant spiritual fish. Many realizations must have remained in your spirit.
Perhaps those are the things that make you feel that way. But, since you don't understand them or know how to express them, you can't use them. As you know, I have experience with and a philosophy on waterbending. Now it's time for you to learn from others so you can learn from yourself." Shisui patted Aang on the shoulder before slowly turning away.
At that moment, snow began to fall on the sage's body, making him look imposing yet desolate, as if he were the center of attention, alone at the top and invincible.
"Damn it, Shisui! Create your own interesting atmosphere!" Aang exclaimed, pointing to a cloud moving at the same pace as the sage.
'People don't let you be cool anymore,' Shisui complained mentally before dispersing the cloud he had created. Then, he walked toward the palace.
After Yue ascended to power, Shisui and his friends, including the Avatar, were accepted into the palace. Rooms were made available to them, which was much better than paying for a hotel.
Even Appa got a special place in the palace courtyard! There, he could rest comfortably without attracting too much attention, as the last known flying bison was very popular.
A businessman from the Fire Nation approached the Avatar intending to buy the rights to produce stuffed animals based on Appa. Following Shisui's advice, the Avatar agreed but instead of selling the rights, he leased them and was to receive royalties.
Shisui never told Aang that after making a deal with the businessman, he ordered several dozen stuffed animals for his future daughter and perhaps himself.
After all, who could resist an Appa stuffed animal?
...
After confirming that Shisui had left him alone, Aang sighed, feeling a bit bored. He knew his friend was doing his best to teach him waterbending, and he was making fast progress. Still, he couldn't stop thinking that his abilities in this element were incomplete.
"Is it really like Shisui says? It looks like I'll have to do what he says. But will it work?" the Avatar wondered aloud as he began performing waterbending movements that evoked his airbending style, making them more dynamic.
Water was calm and slow with sudden bursts, while air gradually increased in intensity. Having earned the tattoos that marked him as a master of airbending, the gestures he used to manipulate air had long since broken free from a rigid framework.
His goal was to take references from one element and apply them to another, achieving such a perfect blend that he could use all of them without transitioning between them.
'Aang, why didn't you convince Shisui to stay a little longer? I've wanted to talk to him for a long time,' Raava's soft voice said in his mind. He was not distracted, though, and continued with his movements.
The water around him constantly transformed, from ice to mist, liquid to vapor, and hail to snow. He made it take on different forms, even replicating his air skateboard with water. However, he fell abruptly to the ground because he didn't control the rotations of the sphere he was sitting on properly.
"Ouch! Why does it just keep spinning? Why is water so unruly when it rotates? In that sense, all elements should behave the same!" Aang muttered. Again, Raava's voice rang in his mind:
'Aang, stop ignoring me and asking yourself silly questions.' She was annoyed that he hadn't answered her earlier. Aang scratched the back of his neck.
"Raava! I'm already taking up too much of Shisui's time. Haven't you noticed how Azula looks at me every morning? She doesn't like Shisui coming home late at night!" Aang muttered his reply, causing Raava to let out an exasperated sigh.
'Fine, but you must take a moment. I really want to talk to the Sage.' After that statement, Raava fell silent again, leaving Aang alone.
"Raava said my question was silly, but why?" The Avatar thought about it but couldn't find the answer. Realizing it was late, he decided to return to his room.
Within minutes, he was sitting alone on the bed. Katara was sitting next to him, listening. When he asked her the same question he had asked himself a moment ago, she burst out laughing.
"At least tell me why you're laughing," he said. Aang rolled his eyes, finally calming the brunette down. She then put her arm around her partner's shoulder.
"It really is a silly question! Especially when you already have the answer. All the elements have things in common, but you can't treat water like air. When water rotates, it can drag ships down and destroy them.
Air can too, but the speeds and densities of rotation are different. Even though everything rotates, you can't compare the intensity of rotations using the same framework. Everything has its own way of being measured.
Sometimes I think you understand a lot, but not everything. For example, fire can rotate, but it certainly can't support your body like air, water, or earth can.
Aang, not every answer needs to be a long philosophical discourse about the spirit and the world. Sometimes it's just a short sentence like, "You didn't know how to do it. Keep trying." So, will you keep trying?" Katara asked the Avatar, who nodded.
At that moment, Aang realized that he had fallen into a mental trap. Shisui had noticed this and, instead of giving him the answer directly, had tasked him with asking others.
Shisui didn't want him to learn from others' knowledge, but from how they lived. As an airbender, Aang grew up in a closed society. Although they were called 'Nomads,' they lived in settlements almost their entire lives.
Except for a few trips, one of which was when he met Bumi and Kuzon, Aang had had very little contact with people from other cultures. This meant that sometimes he couldn't understand what others did or said.
Yes, he had traveled to the South Pole and the North Pole, but comparing weeks to years, especially considering the hundred years he was trapped, along with the indefinite time he spent in the spirit world, was undoubtedly foolish.
Aang clearly had the bearing of a severely isolated person, unaware of common sense or modernity. Even though Shishu taught him many things, and he had seen a lot in recent weeks, he had missed out on a lot.
He was accustomed to viewing things from a higher, more spiritual perspective than a mundane one. Since realizing he was the Avatar, he had felt disconnected from others because of his status.
"Thank you, Katara. Now I understand where I'm going wrong," Aang replied calmly. Although he still felt that something was missing from his mastery of waterbending, he was no longer anxious.
"It's good that you understand. I learned a trick that women healers often use in special situations. Shall I show you?" Katara asked, gently exposing her bare shoulder and winking at Aang.
The Avatar wasn't thinking about complicated matters at that moment, especially with the beautiful woman he had strong feelings for standing in front of him with that expression on her face!
...
The next morning and for several days after, Aang traveled throughout Agna Qel'a. He talked about water with anyone he met, regardless of their status or whether or not they were Waterbenders.
He spoke with elderly people, children, guards, healers, hunters, people of high status, fishermen, Waterbenders, Firebenders, and Earthbenders. It was always the same question: What is your most important memory about water?
He heard many stories about abundance and scarcity, life and death, pain and relief. As he listened, he learned things that he couldn't simply study: how to live with humanity 100 years later.
A kind lady taught him how to haggle at a cabbage stand run by a friendly but strange old man. A fisherman showed him how to find and prepare fish. Of course, he didn't taste anything because he didn't eat meat.
He made snow sculptures with a group of children, using only his hands, not Waterbending. He saw a couple enjoying a date by a fountain. He went to the hospital, where midwives helped women give birth and assisted in some deliveries.
He didn't train in Waterbending because he already had the knowledge he needed. What he was looking for was something else. Then, three days after deciding to follow Shisui's advice, he saw a child using his hands to feed a baby. At that moment, for no apparent reason, he understood.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Now I understand why Shisui likes to laugh so hard!" Aang's body trembled with excitement because he had finally found what was missing. It was so common that he wanted to bang his head against a wall when he realized the answer had been in front of him all along.
"No wonder he told me it was already inside me. It all comes down to such a simple answer, connection. I'm forcing things; I'm not forming a genuine connection. Oh, that's why..." A strange thought came to the Avatar's mind, and he blushed because it came with special memories that embarrassed him.
'You've experienced it so many times and in so many ways that you ignored that concept. Now that you've solved your problem, would you allow me to introduce you to the Sage?' Raava asked Aang, who nodded.
"Okay, I'll introduce you to Shisui," the Avatar replied, feeling refreshed as if he had put on clean underwear after New Year's.
------------
AN: There's a huracan around my country :'0.
Okay, for me, Aang is a person who is a little disconnected from things. Yes, we understand his appreciation for his culture, especially given his situation, but he ended up neglecting his first two children because they weren't Airbenders and couldn't continue the legacy of the Air Nomads.
In the series, he often acts a little out of place, and we can understand that he is a child, a free spirit, but we must also consider that he was torn from his era, woke up 100 years later, and had no trace of his people, of what he knew, of his comfort zone. However, throughout the series, he begins to understand and learn, and we even see him break out of the mold of his culture, expressing emotions such as anger, something we rarely associate with a monk. It was the connections he made along the way that grounded him, haha.
On the other hand, the concept of connection has a lot to do with the elements, energy bending, and spiritual things. For anyone else, it might have been a simple answer, but not for him, until he realized it. Both Aang and Korra are almost divine beings who depend on the connections they form, emotional and spiritual, to be in tune with both worlds.
Avatar Pavi... we don't know much about her, but perhaps we will see the first twin Avatar, with both sisters able to access the Avatar state and... What greater connection than that of twins!
While the sky is falling outside my house, I remind you to appreciate the connections you have, the good ones, of course. That's all.
Oh yes! *Shisui decides not to kick Aang, because he has to be serious, he's going to be a father* *Shisui too, farming aura*