Something ‘bout the way you looked at me
Feb. 8th, 2008 12:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kolTitle: Something ‘bout the way you looked at me
Day/Theme: Day 8; accursed be he that first invented war
Series: Avatar
Character/Pairing: Aang (and Zuko)
Words: 285
——————-
A year ago, in Aang’s reckoning, the hardest decision he’d made was picking his team for an air ball match. Choosing teams was a lesson in caution, maneuvering for the best players, but always remaining careful not to injure the feelings of the less talented players. Sometimes you picked one of the worst early, taking a chance that the early pick would boost their self esteem, help them play better than they ever had before.
A lot of times it worked— Aang’s teams rarely lost.
But everything had changed when the monks had told Aang his destiny. No one wanted to play air ball with the Avatar— you never knew when he’d start cheating.
Aang wished war was as simple as picking teams. That the fate of whole nations didn’t ride on him making the right decision. That if he picked the wrong person for the task at hand, people wouldn’t suffer or even die.
Across the fire, the last person Aang would ever have picked was waiting for a response. Zuko’s good eye gleamed with half-hearted hope, fear keeping that hope from burning too brightly. It was a look Aang was familiar with— identical to those always picked last for air ball.
Zuko thought he was going to be burned yet again.
“You’re with me, Sifu Hotman,” Aang said evenly, letting a wide smile stretch his face. Zuko wasn’t his original pick— but the boy didn’t have to know that. “I want the best we have, fighting right at my side.”
The smile on the Prince’s face was small, unbelieving, and every bit identical to the long dead airbenders who Aang had risked the whole game to pick— and rarely regretted his choice.
---------------
Ug, probably going to edit this into oblivion in the morning, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head.
Day/Theme: Day 8; accursed be he that first invented war
Series: Avatar
Character/Pairing: Aang (and Zuko)
Words: 285
——————-
A year ago, in Aang’s reckoning, the hardest decision he’d made was picking his team for an air ball match. Choosing teams was a lesson in caution, maneuvering for the best players, but always remaining careful not to injure the feelings of the less talented players. Sometimes you picked one of the worst early, taking a chance that the early pick would boost their self esteem, help them play better than they ever had before.
A lot of times it worked— Aang’s teams rarely lost.
But everything had changed when the monks had told Aang his destiny. No one wanted to play air ball with the Avatar— you never knew when he’d start cheating.
Aang wished war was as simple as picking teams. That the fate of whole nations didn’t ride on him making the right decision. That if he picked the wrong person for the task at hand, people wouldn’t suffer or even die.
Across the fire, the last person Aang would ever have picked was waiting for a response. Zuko’s good eye gleamed with half-hearted hope, fear keeping that hope from burning too brightly. It was a look Aang was familiar with— identical to those always picked last for air ball.
Zuko thought he was going to be burned yet again.
“You’re with me, Sifu Hotman,” Aang said evenly, letting a wide smile stretch his face. Zuko wasn’t his original pick— but the boy didn’t have to know that. “I want the best we have, fighting right at my side.”
The smile on the Prince’s face was small, unbelieving, and every bit identical to the long dead airbenders who Aang had risked the whole game to pick— and rarely regretted his choice.
---------------
Ug, probably going to edit this into oblivion in the morning, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head.
