(Note: Sorry for missing Wednesday, my PC was having a whole bunch of problems)
"Like this?" Following her childish voice, Hama moved her arms while manipulating the water, though when she finished, I softly shook my head. "Close, but not quite. You want your movements to be more fluid, almost as if you're water itself." Giving Hama an example, I performed similar movements, but my arms were less stiff than hers.
"But didn't I just do that?" Seeing her confused expression, I just chuckled before shaking my head. "Not quiet." "I'm confused." As Hama furrowed her brows, Hulu approached us. "Hama, why don't you give Uncle Aang a break? You've been with him since this morning. You still haven't eaten breakfast yet."
Squatting down, Hulu gently rubbed Hama's head, causing her to pout. "Muu, do I have to, Mom?" "Aren't you hungry?" "No." Immediately, her stomach growled, causing Hulu to raise an eyebrow while I just smirked. "C'mon, let's go eat." With a non-negotiable tone, Hulu picked up Hama, who was sulking.
"Were you coming, Aang? I can make another plate of food. Thanks to you, the village is stocked on food." As Hulu looked back at me, Hama stared at me with hopeful eyes, though I shook my head. "I am fine, Hulu." "Alright then, thanks for playing with Hama Aang." "If you could call that playing, sure." Chuckling, Hulu walked off towards her igloo with Hama in tow, prompting me to turn around.
Walking through the village, I exited it and approached Appa in the distance, who was doing his favorite thing in the world, sleeping. 'No, second favorite. His favorite is eating.' Musing to myself, I rubbed Appa's head, causing him to listlessly open an eye and growl. "You've been sleeping for sixteen hours, Appa, you need to get up."
Narrowing my eyes at Appa, I grabbed his open and pulled, barely even budging his head, let alone his body, and in response, he faced the other way, which ended up flinging me. Stopping myself in mid-air, I gently landed on the ground while eyeing Appa in annoyance. "I swear, you've grown lazier the older you've gotten, Appa."
Hitting his head, which he probably didn't even feel, I shook my head and plopped on the ground beside him, snuggling against his thick and fluffy fur while gazing into the sky.
While observing the clouds, I found myself reminiscing about the last fifteen years.
Under Azulon's rule, the Fire Nation has only continued to grow stronger at a slow yet steady rate, not to mention rapid advancements in technology. However, the Earth Kingdom, having been on the receiving end of their invasions and attacks, has also grown in strength, yet not quite at the level of the Fire Nation. Though luckily this wasn't the Fire Nation vs. the Earth Kingdom, the former was also facing the Southern Water Tribes and the Air Temples.
Since the Fire Nation was spread thin against three different forces, they were mainly on the defensive, but whenever they went on the attack, they were nearly impossible to stop.
With the way things are going, the Fire Nation has the advantage; however, in the long run, that advantage will slowly erode. The Air Temples, even after twenty-eight years, were still recovering from the initial invasion; as for the Southern Water Tribe, they were split into many smaller villages.
Given enough time, the Air Temple would regain its former glory, the many villages in Southern Water Tribe would one day grow into respectable-sized cities, and when that happened, the Fire Nation would be at a considerable disadvantage. Fighting against one fully intact country and two weakened countries was vastly different from fighting against three fully intact countries.
The longer this war went on, the worse it was for the Fire Nation… Well, at least that would be the case if it weren't for one specific object.
'The Great Comet. Or, also known as, Sozin's Comet.' Despite history having significantly changed, the Great Comet's name was still changed to Sozin's Comet, though, besides the Fire Nation, most still called it the Great Comet.
If the war continues for another seventy-two years, which, from how everything currently looks, it won't be a problem, then the Great Comet will fly overhead again. When that happened, the advantage they had been losing would swiftly return; it would only last for thirty minutes, but during those thirty minutes, they would be absolutely unstoppable.
Just thinking about it was stressful. I had no desire to be the Avatar, but if the war weren't ended before the Great Comet returned, I'd be forced to make an appearance. If I didn't, the Fire Nation would run through everyone and establish absolute dominance; even if they couldn't destroy the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes and Air Temples wouldn't stand a chance.
Afterwards, the Earth Kingdom would be forced to fight the Fire Nation by itself, and if they managed to resist for another century, what would they do then when the Great Comet returned for a third time?
The next Great Comet would determine the outcome of the war.
"Well, I still have 72 years until then… 72 years. I'm going to be so old." Wryly smiling, I closed my eyes, briefly imagining myself at one hundred twelve years. "I'd have lots of wrinkles, a long white beard, my joints would probably scrape against each other, I'd be skinny with no muscle… I'd basically look like Elder Jun." Of course, this was all merely hypothetical.
I'd mastered the Immortal technique shortly after turning twenty-five, and during the fifteen years since then, I've physically only aged a few days. Despite being forty years old, I was still in my physical prime, which was much needed since otherwise, I doubted I'd be able to keep up with my wife's libido.
'40 years old and my testosterone is still at peak levels. What a fantastic technique.'
After mastering the Immortal technique, I wondered: the four elements are all needed for life to exist, so why is it that only earthbenders can use this technique? Other benders can't use this exact technique, but what if one used an immortal technique designed specifically for each bending style?
Since then, I've been trying to create an immortal technique for airbending, yet I've made no progress since then; besides, I eventually switched over to focusing on my waterbending and creating an immortal technique for that bending. I've only been working on it for five years, but I've already seen progress; though I still have a long way to go, probably wasn't even a quarter of the way finished.
"I'm amazed someone could create a technique like this in the first place. It must've taken multiple generations for the first Immortal technique to be completed." Raising my hand, I summoned a piece of earth from the ground, staring at it before tossing it into the distance, only to hear the pitter-patter of feet.
"Uncle Aang, can I ride Appa!" Glancing to my left, I saw Hama running towards me, staring at Appa with shining eyes, which made me faintly smirk. 'Heh, finally, an excuse to get him up.' Rising to my feet, I stomped on the ground, causing a pillar of earth to jut out from beneath Hama's feet, launching her onto Appa's saddle.
"Hey, Appa, time to get you, Hama wants to go on a ride." Rubbing Appa's head, he opened his eyes and stared at me with a gaze that held no desire. "C'mon, Appa! Yip yip!" Lying atop his head, Hamma looked at Appa, who gazed back and growled, his tone full of annoyance.
However, despite his annoyance, Appa rose to his head, prompting Hama to return to the saddle. "Roar!" Flapping his tail excessively hard, forcing me back, Appa ascended into the sky alongside an excited Hama. "Hahaha, higher Appa! Higher!" "Roar!" Watching them fly throughout the sky, I heard Hulu call out to me.
"Aang, did Hama come here? She snuck off while I was using the bathroom." Hulu, sporting a frustrated expression, walked towards me, causing me to point to the sky where Appa was flying. "Are you kidding me? HAMA, GET DOWN HERE AND FINISH YOUR VEGGIES!"
"You know she can't hear you." "Haa, that child. I'll punish her when she comes down." Grumbling, Hulu folded her arms and aggressively tapped her foot while glaring at Appa. "Don't you feel a sense of deja vu, Hulu?" "Huh, what do you mean, Aang?" "This is precisely how Hina felt when raising you. You were probably going to mention how I spoil Hama too much, weren't you?"
"Y-You do, though, Aang." "I did the same for you, and look how you turned out." "But I ended up getting punished a lot by Mother." "Hehe, and the cycle repeats itself… Don't worry, Hama will eventually learn. You also did." With a wry expression, Hulu looked at me and sighed, seemingly coming to terms with the inevitable.
"Being a Mother is far more difficult than I anticipated. I remember everything being pretty easy." "Heh, that's because your memories were from the perspective of being a child." "Haa, yeah. I guess so."