Chapter Text
“I thought I was going to die,” Tiki moaned as they made their way back to the training grounds. “It’s a show for the Avatar after all. I’m surprised no one passed out,” Sakura commented as she adjusted her belt. Her uniform had torn during the first training session so she had changed. She was dressed in a black form fitting top with short green sleeves. Underneath a green skirt with slits at the sides, she wore black tights. The skirt ended just past her knees whereas the tights ended mid thigh. To finish off the attire, she wore a thick yellow belt. She felt and looked every part the earthbender she was. She had been attempting Master Toph’s seismic sensing technique so she was barefoot. She had zero progress to speak of.
“She left us barely alive so that the Avatar can finish us off,” the brunette complained as they arrived.
The training grounds had been cleared. There were metal plates on various angles. Master Toph was talking with their guests. “Hey, who’s that bald guy with the weird tattoos?” Sakura asked as she gestured to the person in question. He was the one she had met the previous night. Or was he? She wasn’t sure. He was dressed in brown pants, an orange sleeveless tunic and brown boots. The tattoos were on his head and his exposed arms. He looked just like she imagined a monk would look, sans the tattoos.
Tiki gave her a baffled expression. “You seriously don’t know who he is?” she said, looking at Sakura as if she has grown an extra head. “No. If I did, I wouldn’t be asking,” she pointed out. Tiki shook her head pitifully. “Of course you wouldn’t know. You’ve been living under a rock your entire life,” she said with an eye roll. “Hey,” Sakura protested. “That ‘bald guy with the weird tattoos’ is Avatar Aang, the last airbender in the whole world,” Tiki told her.
Sakura looked at him in a new light. He didn’t look much. “You take that back,” Tiki snarled. ‘Oops, I thought out loud,’ she smiled sheepishly at her friend. “I was expecting an old guy, not someone so young. He looks barely past sixteen,” she pointed out. “He’s about to turn seventeen,” Tiki defended. “How do you know that?” the pinkette inquired. “He has a dedicated fan club, one which I’m a proud member,” the young woman declared. “Isn’t he a little too young for you?” Sakura said as she checked him out again. “Age is just a number. Besides, he’s technically a hundred and seventeen. That’s a ninety three year age gap,” Tiki replied. “That should be illegal,” Sakura snickered. “You don’t say-“
“Sakura Haruno, for crying out loud!”
Master Toph was giving her a death glare, well, as much as she could in her blind state. “Since you found the guts to ignore me as I called you many times, choosing to gossip instead, why don’t you come here and go first?” she said with a sweet smile. Sakura looked at Tiki in despair. “You should be the one going there,” she whispered. “Face your death with honor,” the brunette spoke, nudging her to move forward. Sakura sighed miserably as she made her way to the training grounds where the ‘Avatar’ was waiting for her. She took a good look at the tattoos. They looked special, for lack of a better term.
“A pleasure to meet you Avatar,” she said with a bow. The ‘Avatar’ closed the distance between them with his hand stretched out for a handshake. Sakura stared at his hand then to his face. He had grey eyes, ones which shone with positivity and all good things. ‘Is it even possible to have happy eyes?’ she thought as she took his hand. “A pleasure to finally meet you too Sakura,” he replied. He didn’t sound like a man but he was not a boy either. “Does Master Toph talk about me?” she asked as she moved to remove her hand. He held firm.
“Yes. Apparently, you’re the only student who can keep up with her. I hope you hold up to your name,” the Avatar said. “I hope you’ll still have your head after I’m done with you,” she smiled at him. An uncomfortable expression crossed over his face as he let her hand go. They created distance between them.
“The match is over when one of you is unable to battle. Begin!”
Sakura wasted no time in summoning earthen spikes from the ground. The Avatar leapt up into the air, sending two blasts of fire at her. A wall rose up from the ground to block before hauling itself at him. He split it in half then sent them back at her. Sakura punched the slabs of stone with some of it attaching to her arms. She closed the distance between them, sending her fists flying at him. He dodged every single one of them. ‘Stand still!’ she snapped internally as he ducked under her kick.
A blast of air at her stomach sent her flying backwards. She summoned a pillar of earth to cushion the impact. When she stood up, he was already upon her with a boulder hovering over him. She jumped away from him as nearby metal plates came from behind him. He ducked under the first one, dodged the second and third then airbent himself away from the remaining projectile. Sakura metal bent the plates back to her, turning them to cubes and hauling them at him. He managed to evade all of them except one which hit his shoulder.
A collective wince sounded from the edge of the training grounds. ‘I hope I didn’t hit him too hard,’ she thought with a frown. “Are you okay?” she called out. “I’m fine,” he replied as he flexed his shoulder a bit. He looked pained. She ought to look at it after the match. The Avatar launched himself at her with a burst of air. Sakura summoned the metal plates again which attached onto her forearms as armour. Several small boulders came flying with him. She locked herself into a stone cave however she was blasted away into the sky.
Before she could right herself, she was floating in the air. “Put me down!” she yelled angrily as the Avatar snickered down below. She stretched her hands towards him and pulled. The ground beneath his feet dislodged, taking him up to where she was. The metal plates on her forearms detached themselves, wrapping around his forearms and snapping them together. The air holding her disappeared completely. She landed on the piece of earth where he was standing. More metal plates came and latched themselves onto his ankles, joining them together. She jumped away just before they reached the ground again.
The mini island crashed into the ground, causing dust to rise. A burst of fire erupted from the cloud of dust. She raised an earth wall but she was still pushed back. The Avatar airbent himself towards her coming to land beside her with rocks jutting out as his feet touched the ground as she earthbent away from him. Small stones attached themselves to the metal casing on his forearms, ripping them away. With his hands free, he bent more rocks onto the metal on his ankles and ripped them away.
Sakura formed a stone pillar before sending small sharp discs towards him. He floated up just as four earth walls erupted around her and latched themselves onto her like a prison. She tried to break free but a gust of air caught her in the face, forcing her hair out of its bun. With the little mobility she had in her fingers, she caused stone casings to wrap around his feet and pulled him towards her. The Avatar slammed into her as she absorbed him into his handmade prison. “Enjoying a taste of your own medicine?” she asked with a smirk as he struggled to break free. It was now a battle of wills with Sakura keeping the prison in a lock and the Avatar trying to break free. There was an arm’s length between them.
Suddenly, the earth gave away underneath their feet. They were trapped under the ground with only their heads visible. “Alright you two! We get it that you’re both talented! Obviously, you were trained by the very best!” Toph called from where she was.
Sakura shook her head, fighting a grin off her face. That was the best thing Master Toph had said to her in weeks. “You’re not bad for someone with only two months of training,” the Avatar spoke. They were facing each other. A sheen of sweet was covering his face. She was probably just as sweaty. “You’re not so bad yourself Avatar. For someone who can apparently bend all four elements,” she shot back, unable to not smile. “Aang,” he corrected. Sakura gave him a confused stare. “Call me Aang. That’s my name, not Avatar,” he explained.
“Well, technically you are the Avatar,” she shot back. Was there anything wrong with addressing him by his title? “My friends call me Aang,” he said, an oddly embarrassed expression on his face. Sakura gave him a long stare. “Right. Friends.” The word felt foreign in her mouth, not because she didn’t have any friends but the Avatar was a mythical person to her and he was telling her that they were friends when they barely knew each other.
“Nice meeting you Aang.”
“Hey, is it possible for a bald guy to be attractive?” Tiki asked as they ate dinner. There was a large dining hall where everyone took meals. The Gaang was on a different table whilst the students were on another one. The Ava- Aang sat beside Master Toph who sat beside Sokka, the Water Tribe man, or boy. They looked too comfortable around each other. “Don’t you think Master Toph looks too at ease around Master Sokka?” Sakura asked. “Can you stop ignoring what I’m saying?” Tiki complained.
“Do you really want me to ogle at the person I’m facing?” the pinkette deadpanned. “Spirits! He’s looking here!” Tiki whisper-squealed. Sakura raised her head and sure enough, he was looking at their table. “He’s probably looking at you,” Sakura said as she ducked her head. “You think so?” Tiki asked. Sakura looked at her friend, the brunette’s eyes shining with hope. She looked back at the Ava- Aang. He was still staring. Specifically at her. “Of course he’s looking at you. You’re very pretty,” Sakura said, turning back to her.
As Tiki started to gush about the Avatar for the umpteenth time, Sakura took a quick peek at him. He was still staring at her. For some reason, it made her face feel warm.
The next day, the Gaang wasn’t at the academy. They had gone on a sight seeing tour with the newly married couple. Since they had the day off, Sakura took that opportunity to visit Aunt Ming’s clinic. The older woman was delighted to have her. It wasn’t every day that Sakura got a chance to actually heal people in Omashu. Her work had been restricted solely to her village.
She wore a plain green robe and went on to start her duties. Her first stop was a man who had broken his leg after he missed a step on stairs. Summoning Chi to her hands, she mended the bones back together. It took a little over half an hour but when she was done, her brow felt heavy with sweat. She explained to the man that the gods had granted her the gift to heal with pure Chi. Passive understanding crossed over his face before he passed out. Most likely from shock that his bones had been stuck back together.
After that, she treated a few burn wounds from children who had run into a pot of hot water which had been boiling over the fire. It took close to an hour to replace the skin on all three of them. After that, she put some salve and bandaged the new pink skin with a firm warning to be not so reckless.
She was doing a medical scan when she heard several voices approaching the room.
“She’s such a dear, always wanting to help people free of charge.”
The door opened and Aunt Ming came in followed by the Gaang.
“Sakura?”
It was Master Toph who spoke first. “The moment I heard the word ‘free’, I knew she was talking about you,” the earthbender scoffed. “You didn’t tell me she was a healer,” Master Katara remarked. “That’s because I didn’t know. Do you really think I would’ve forgotten to mention that small but very important piece of information?” Master Toph defended herself. “Any more secrets I should know about?” she turned to Sakura who had stopped the scan, a guilty expression on her face. “Well, I’m not sure if I’m actually twenty years old. I only started counting my age about ten years ago,” she said. “Why don’t you know?” Master Toph asked. “I grew up in an orphanage. They let us go when we turned six. They didn’t know my age but I was taller than most girls so they just assumed. We were too many and they had to let some of us go.”
An awkward tension settled in the room. “I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. That’s how it is,” she said with a crooked grin, trying to make the moment a little lighter. “From what I’m seeing, you looking to be around sixteen years old,” Master Sokka spoke wisely. “She looks eighteen at most,” Master Katara piped up. “My senses are telling me she’s twelve years old,” Master Toph huffed in a matter of fact tone. “She looks around your age and you’re sixteen,” Fire Lord Zuko spoke. “That’s only a difference of three yesrs. I’m close,” the earthbender snapped. “It’s actually four but whatever makes you sleep at night,” Sokka snickered.
Sakura cleared her throat. “Can we stop talking about my age like I’m not there?” she spoke, sounding as polite as possible. There was a beat of awkward silence. “I apologize for the disturbance dear. I wanted you to meet them but it seems you are already acquainted with each other. I’ll leave you to it,” Aunt Ming spoke with a kind smile. Turning to her guests, she said,” Let us proceed with the tour.”
Sakura focused her attention back to her patient, whom she had sedated for the scan. There was a noise at the door and she raised her head to find the Avatar standing at the door. She hadn’t even noticed. “Uh hie,” she said with a pathetic attempt at a smile. “Hey. I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said as he took an unsure step forward. He looked at her, waiting for her permission. “You can come inside. I don’t mind as long as you’re just watching,” she stated. At least he had the decency to ask.
“Mrs Ming spoke very highly of you,” he remarked. “I guess I’m pretty good at what I do,” she said humbly. She summoned Chi to her hands which began to emit a green light. “Is that what Chi looks like?” he asked as he moved closer to her. Sakura wanted to point out that she hadn’t given him permission to speak but thou better of it when she caught the genuinely curious and amazed look in his eyes. “Chi is naturally blue. Healing Chi however is green. You have to be careful not to burn the patient or yourself. You could even end up crippling yourself,” she explained as her hands moved over her unconscious patient.
“You’re amazing,” he breathed out, unmuted wonder on his face. “I’m not amazing. Chi healing is amazing. I’m just lucky enough to be capable of doing it,” she corrected him. “Still, Mrs Ming said you’ve been doing this for a very long time without asking for anything in return. You chose to use your gift better than what anyone would’ve done. I think that’s amazing,” he said, a soft smile playing on his lips.
“Are you flirting with me?” she blurted out. Her face turned red and she fought the urge to earthbend herself under the ground. “I don’t know. Is that wrong?” he asked, scratching the back of his neck. Her Chi flickered uncertainly before dimming out. “You were staring at me during dinner yesterday,” she pointed out, avoiding to look at him. “It’s hard not to. Pink hair and all,” Aang replied. She gave him an unamused glare. “Plus you’re nice to look at,” he added. “Is this for lack of a better term?” she said with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe?”
“You do know I’m older than you? I’m twenty years old,” Sakura pointed out. “I could be arrested for potential grooming and pedophilia,” she added, looking at him dead in the eye. “One, no one is sure if you’re actually twenty years old. Two, I’m technically a hundred and seventeen years old so that’s ninety three year age gap. You would not be arrested since I’m the one advancing,” he explained in a voice that bordered on lecturing. “Are you advancing though?” she asked him. “If you’d allow me, I would,” he spoke firmly. A beat of silence passed.
Sakura looked back to her unconscious patient. She should really finish up with him before he wakes up. “I have to get back to work,” she spoke, a hard edge in her tone. “Right,” the Avatar spoke as Chi lit her hands up. She gave him one last look before he exited. His eyebrows were drawn together in rejection.