Work Text:
It feels almost like a miracle that they were able to escape Zhao without either of them getting caught; the Blue Spirit had all but paused in shock when he hears a command from the Admiral and an arrow shoots towards his head, no doubt going for the kill. Aang whips up a cloud of dust around them, knocking the arrow away and quickly tugging the Blue Spirit back, “C’mon, we gotta get out of here!”
They make their way up to the trees with practiced ease; Blue moves differently to Aang, but not unlike an airbender, which sparks his interest as to who his masked savior actually was, and what he (at least, that’s what Aang had gathered, especially when the Blue Spirit had pulled Aang back with his swords, roughly against his flat but bulky chest) gained from saving Aang.
They jump the branches for who knows how long, until both of their legs are burning from strain and they’re forced to head down to the groan and collapse in a tight heep. They’d lost the Yuyan archers a while ago, evident by the sound of bows shooting and arrows piercing trees having disappeared, and Aang couldn’t be more thankful.
He turns to the Blue Spirit, who’s back first to the dirt, heavily breathing under the mask and obviously doing his best to control it. Aang, without thinking, lifts Blue’s hand and presses it to his chest, palm down. “Here, do it like this; it’s more efficient.”
The other jerks under the touch, obviously not used to it and maybe even offended, but calms down easily enough and copies Aang’s breathing, quickly controlling his oxygen flow and getting a grin from the Avatar. “There you go! Better?”
He stares at Aang, before shaking his head in an almost exasperated manor, turning away and letting out a deep sigh. Aang looks around too; the sun is beginning to rise, and the ground is cold and slightly damp from the moonless night.
Aang moans, “I’m exhausted, and I still have to get back to my- hey, where are you going?!”
The Blue Spirit doesn’t stop walking, making his way with his back to Aang, clearly ready to part ways; the other wasn’t having it, though. He jumps up and grabs his glider, racing over and standing in front of his savior, walking backwards when he doesn’t stop.
“Look, I get you don’t want to show your face, but I have to thank you for saving me
somehow!
Let me- I don’t know, get you something to eat, or whatever?”
Blue stops, cocking his head, as if trying to intimidate the motion of an eyebrow raise. Aang grins sheepishly, shrugging, “I thought I was going to be in big trouble tonight, but you saved me. You put your life on the line, getting in Fire Nation territory; and by the way you act, I bet you’re already sought after, aren’t you.”
Blue looks away, huffing with crossed arms that proves Aang’s point, but doesn’t continue walking, so Aang counts this as a win. “I need to get to- I don’t know how far Zhao took me, um… some ruins, nearby? My friends are sick, and this herbalist on the mountain told me to get wood frogs for them to suck on-”
He hears a gagging sound behind the mask, and Aang doesn’t blame him one bit. However, he watches as Aang flies up to figure out which way to go, and follows him despite it being the opposite direction of where he was going. He doesn’t make any effort to talk back as Aang lets words tumble from his mouth, but he doesn’t seem to really mind the way Aang won’t shut up, jumping from topics on the fly. He’s clearly tired; they both are, but it doesn’t twindle their speed
“The swamp!”
The Blue Spirit refuses to come in, watching as Aang swims around in the water, diving for frogs and shoving them in his robes. Every now and then he looks up as if to check if Blue was still there, and when he sees that striking mask, he smiles with pure glee and dives back in. He’s absolutely filthy by the time he gets up, the sun indicating an early morning, but he doesn’t seem to care, “Thanks. For waiting.”
Blue shrugs, gestures vaguely before pointing the other way; clearly, this was where their paths split, and he inches back carefully, as if unsure about leaving.
Aang however steps forward, “Wait, I…”
He doesn’t know why he does it; Blue’s reflexes are quick, something he found out shortly after they’d met, but he freezes up when Aang reaches for the bottom of the mask. He’s clearly prepared for his identity to be revealed, but Aang only pulls it up far enough to reveal chapped lips and warm skin.
He has to stretch on the tips of his toes, and he’s almost tempted to kick up an airball to balance him out and increase his height, but he manages to slot their lips together for a few monumental seconds. Blue is completely frozen when Aang pulls away, his grey eyes wide with wonder and cheeks flushed, but Blue just shoves his mask back on hastily and rushes off.
Aang waves despite himself, perking up when Blue turns back, far enough that his dark clothes are shrouded in the dense forest and he thinks the airbender can’t see him.
He doesn’t tell Katara and Sokka about his night; he shoves the frogs in their mouths and leaves to sit by Appa and daydream about his personal spirit.