With Hina's help, I stood up, if I could even call it such as I was practically leaning all of my weight onto her since I found it nearly impossible to put even half of my weight on my legs given their current state.
"Gentle. Gentle, Aang." Said Hina lightly as she assisted Aang, lifting his legs over the walls of the wheeled chair before softly setting them down.
With one of my legs inside the wheelchair, I ended up nearly falling into it, though Hina caught me in the end, and although a little shameful, I allowed her to practically carry me while she continued to place me into the chair.
"Haa, there, sorry about holding you so tightly; I didn't want you to fall and possibly hit your head. You're already plenty injured enough." Said Hina with a smile as he wiped a bead of sweat while glancing at Aang's ruffled clothes, causing him to shake his head.
"It's fine, though next time, you can just carry me; it'll make it easier on you." Replied Aang softly as he glanced at Hina before shifting his gaze to Hana, who was standing in the distance.
"Does everything feel good? Remember, you'll be stuck in that chair for several weeks, possibly a few months, so you better tell me if you find it uncomfortable now." Asked Hana as she eyed Aang with a raised eyebrow, causing him to furrow his brows while he shimmied about in the wheelchair.
The wheelchair I used was a little primitive, in my opinion; I don't remember much, but oddly enough, I do know what the wheelchairs were like in my last life, and they were nothing quite like this. If anything, this wheelchair was like a long wheelbarrow, with walls on the side to prevent anyone from falling out most likely; where I rested, my back was at an upward angle, though unfortunately, there wasn't a cover to block out the weather.
"Hmm, may I have one of my blankets?" Asked Aang lightly as he gestured to his bed, prompting Hina to toss him his blankets, which had yet to be washed.
'Oh, these need to be cleaned.' Thought Aang as he happened to inhale a whiff of the blankets while he placed them underneath his butt.
Moving around a little bit, I eventually nodded in satisfaction, prompting me to turn and glance at Hana.
"Thank you very much, Hana." "No need, I'm more than happy to help, though seeing how you're in a stable condition, I've got other Air Nomads to help… Some haven't been as lucky as you." Said Aang and Hana, respectively, as she flashed a faint smile, only for it to promptly vanish while deeply sighing.
"Anyway, take care of your ~friend~ Hina." Said Hana in a suggestive tone as she glanced at Hina before exiting the stone room, causing Aang to raise an eyebrow.
"Was she suggesting what I think she was suggesting, Hina?" Asked Aang curiously as he lifted his head and glanced at Hina, who grabbed her face while deeply sighing in shame.
"As embarrassing as it is to admit, yes. Haa, I told you my Mother has been pressing me to find a man; maybe if you were a few years older, but even then, I can't really see you as a romantic partner… If anything, you're like my little brother." Replied Hina with a sigh as she brushed her hair before glancing at Aang, only to squat and playfully pinch his cheeks, causing him to look blankly at her.
"I'm glad we see eye to eye. While you're attractive, I only see you as a good friend." Said Aang lightly as he gently pushed and swatted Hina's hands away, causing her to nod in agreement while proudly raising her head.
"Heh, I appreciate your compliments; they always serve to lift my mood, though I only wish my Mother could see it like you and I." Muttered Hina with a faint smile as she stood behind Aang's wheelchair, grabbing the handle before slowly pushing it to the door.
After Hina's little remark, the silence between us as we approached the door caused the atmosphere to turn heavy since it would be my first time leaving my room since I'd awakened.
"Aang… Are you sure about this?" Asked Hina softly with a complicated expression as she glanced at Aang, who firmly nodded, causing her to softly sigh.
Feeling Hina push me closer, she used the front of my wheelchair to push the door open. Despite expecting a plethora of noises to enter my ear, I was met with silence—an uncomfortable amount of silence.
"So quiet." Muttered Aang softly as he observed his surroundings, noticing faint signs of battle in the distance.
"Everyone is mainly at the training grounds since that was the only place big enough and void of destruction to tend to so many people. Would you like to visit?" Remarked Hina lightly as she slowly pushed Aang through the Temple, heading in the direction of the training grounds.
Since the training grounds were towards the bottom of the Temple, we were forced to walk through some areas that had experienced severe damage, with some buildings having been entirely destroyed and turned into pieces of rubble from the intense battle that had taken place.
Walking past our fifth defensive fortification, I glanced at the massive burn mark on the ground, causing me to bite my lip as that was where Monk Tashi ended up protecting my life… Though at the cost of his. Averting my eyes, I looked in another direction, observing the varying degrees of damage different buildings accumulated. Along the way, I spotted a broken piece of armor and a large hole in the ground.
"Hina, can you approach the hole?" Asked Aang softly, causing Hina to nod as she shifted their direction slightly to the right.
Once we reached the hole, I leaned out of the wheelchair and grabbed the piece of broken armor, which still had some blood on it and a strand of white hair.
"Is that?" "Fire Lord Sozin's Armor? Yes. I had- We had broken it off during my final confrontation with him, just a few moments before he ended up retreating." Said Hina and Aang, respectively, as the latter nodded while intently eyeing the piece of armor with a hardened gaze.
"You know, before this, I visited Sozin a few weeks before the invasion… I don't know if I would've succeeded, but do you think I should've killed him?" Asked Aang curiously as he held the piece of armor in his hands while staring, seemingly speaking to no one specifically.
"Um, I-I don't know. To be honest, I don't think that would've solved much anyway." Stated Hina lightly with a thoughtful expression as she glanced at Aang, who merely hummed in response, not bothering to elaborate.
I wasn't really speaking to Hina, mainly to myself, but I didn't disagree with her words; Sozin was a powerful bender, but I still think even with his death, someone else would've taken his spot and done the invasion, either way.
Shaking my head, I blew off Sozins hair and outstretched my other hand, intending to spark a flame and burn it, though when I attempted to do so, I was met with a sharp pain all throughout my body, causing me to grunt in pain.
"Aang, are you okay?" Asked Hina in concern as she looked at Aang, who took a moment to catch his breath before nodding.
"Yes, I'm fine. It just looks like I've damaged my chi pathways." Replied Aang lightly as he glanced at Hina while storing the piece of armor in his pocket, causing her to tilt her head.
"Chi pathways? I think I've heard Mother speak about that before." "Chi pathways are what your chi flows through. Chi is also what is required to bend; though if you damage your chi pathways, it can affect your ability to bend." Remarked Hina and Aang, respectively, as she tapped her chin with a thoughtful expression, only for him to lean back while closing his eyes.
"Oh, well, either way, I should still get my Mother to check your chi pathway." Said Hina lightly as she began walking once more, pushing Aang through the Temple while avoiding the piles of rubble and destroyed buildings.
The closer we got to the training grounds, the worse off the destruction became until it eventually reached a point where it would be a miracle to find a single building that hadn't been severely damaged. However, after a few minutes, I began to hear a faint noise, causing me to lean forward as I looked into the distance, only to see numerous people walking through the training grounds, and for the first time since I woke up, I couldn't help but faintly smile at the sight of so many of my brothers and sisters.
However, my smile didn't last for long when I saw everyone.
"Where is everyone else?" Asked Aang in slight confusion as he lifted his head, seemingly searching for others.
"Besides a few that happened to receive the lightest injuries… This is everyone, Aang." Replied Hina softly as she lowered her head, her words causing Aang to widen his eyes before he slumped into his wheelchair.
"I-I see." Muttered Aang lightly as he looked at the numerous Air Nomads with a saddened gaze.
There were a lot of Air Nomads present, easily over a hundred, but to know this is all that remained after the invasion… Depressing wasn't a strong enough word to explain what I felt.
"Monk Gyatso was correct... We should've just fled." Said Aang weakly as he lowered his head.