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Thanks for the memories (even though they weren't so great)

Summary:

What if Aang was more affected by being a reincarnation than what was shown in the show

Notes:

So, this is based off a post I made on tumblr that people seemed to like. Also I'm a kind of writer that usually lets my ideas run freely through my mind rather than writing them out, so apologies if this isn't the best. But enjoy anyway and let me know what you think ((Edited to actually include Momo))

Chapter 1: chapter 1

Chapter Text

It was a clear aftermoon as the trio flew from the Northern Water tribe. The air was crisp, the clouds white and Aang was almost bouncing as he sat cross legged on Appa’s saddle with Momo sleeping around his neck like a living scarf.

“So, Ruko told me that the spirited I needed to find was Koh, since he was one of the oldest of spirits," said Aang as he retold his adventure on finding the ocean and moon spirits to Katara and Sokka. "But! I had to be super careful because Koh is known as the face stealer, and if I showed any emotion, he would steal my face!”

“Oh, wow Aang,” said Katara who was kneeling in front of Aang, wind whipping her hair loopies around her face, “That’s terrifying.”

Sokka only let out a hum as he leaned his arms on the edge of the saddle and gazed at the sky.

“Yeah! So, I went to find Koh like Ruko told me right,” said Aang to Katara who nodded and Sokka let out another hum.

“Well, I found his lair and as I was going to walk down the entrance, I saw a curly tail Bluenose.”

‘Aww,” said Katara.

“But! When it turned to me,” Aang said and slammed his hands on the saddle, Momo waking up little at the sharp movement and grumbled before going back to sleep. “It. Had. No. Face.”

Katara gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth. However, Sokka only turned his head and looked at Aang, as if the story were finally grabbing his attention.

“Yeah! It was so creepy, its face was just blank skin with fur surrounding it, nothing else.” Aang said shuddering.

“So, what did you do next?” asked Sokka, speaking for the first time since they left the Northern Water Tribe.

“Well, I remembered what Roku said about not showing emotion. So, I controlled myself and walked into the lair, and boy, was it dark!”

“Oh?” said Katara.

“Yeah! I could barely see anything.”

“How did you find Koh then?” asked Katara, leaning a little towards Aang.

“Well I walked down the path I could only just see, and I entered this room with all these roots going through it- Oh! I forget to say that his lair is in a giant dead looking tree- Anyway, I was in the room and without any warning, Koh appeared in front of me! I made sure not to let my surprise show, but it was pretty scary.” Aang looked away and rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

“Could you see what he looked like?” Sokka asked, now sitting cross legged with his hands in his lap and facing Aang.

Aang looked back to the two siblings and nodded “He kinda looked like a giant centipede and his face was set in the middle of the front end of his body. And his face was in an eyelid kind of thing where a lid would cover his face and when it lifted, a new face would be there.”

Sokka and Katara both scrunched up their faces, “Well that’s unnerving,” remarked Sokka.

Aang nodded. “Yep. He showed me a few faces too, one of them he only showed me after telling me that he'd met me before in a past life.”

“Wow, he knew a past life of yours?” asked Katara.

“Yeah, he said it was about 800 or 900 years ago.”

Sokka and Katara both looked surprised.

“He,” Aang bit his lip and looked to his side, “He also told me that my past life tried to kill him then too.”

“What! Why?!” Sokka and Katara said at the same time.

Aang looked back at them and said quietly “He said it was because he took the face of someone they loved, and then showed me a face of this beautiful woman with long brown hair.” Aang then clenched his hands, took a deep breath and shouted, “He didn’t even sound sorry!” Momo flinched awake and tiredly chirped at Aang, slapping a little hand on his face.

“Aang?” said Katara softly, tilting her head to the side and raised a hand out towards him.

“He took her face! He showed me. He even sounded like he thought the memory was funny! But it wasn’t! It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t fair, she didn’t deserve it!”

“Aang?” Said Sokka with an almost puzzled look on his face.

Aang put his hands on his head, looked down and took gasping breaths that sounded as though he was sobbing. Momo now completely awake sitting on Aangs lap, trying to move Aang's hands away chirping hurriedly at him.

“Aang.” Sokka and Katara said at the same again, though Aang gave no impression that he noticed.

The siblings looked at each other. Then, both shuffled closer to the young avatar, each putting a hand on Aang’s shoulders. “Aang?” Katara tried again, this time also shaking Aang a little.

Aang put his arms down on his knees, so as to not hit Momo now patting Aang's face, and looked up. Both siblings gasped as they saw thin wet streams coming from Aang’s eyes.

“Aang, you’re crying.” Katara said softly, with her brows a little drawn.

Aang sniffed and used his arms to wipe his face, knocking off Sokka and Katara’s hands in the process, though leaving Momo be as he decided to curl up between Aang's shoulder and neck. “It hurts,” Aang said and rubbed a hand on his chest, over his heart. “It hurts me right here to know that he stole her face. But I don’t know why. I never even knew her. It was so long ago and it wasn’t even my life. So Why? Why does it hurt so much to know this?” Aang put his hands on his face and burst into tears again, this time stronger and louder.

“Aang,” Sokka said softly, putting his hand back on Aang’s shoulder that Momo was curled up on, “Aang buddy, I’m so sorry.”

Katara put her arm over Aang’s other shoulder, across his shaking back, and gave him a half hug as tears started to fall from her eyes too.

Neither sibling could do anything more, but only hold Aang as he grieved for a love that had long since passed.