#also you can’t convince me Aang doesn’t drool in his sleep

[roseride01-blog]

Appa hated it, at first. Fire was the element of the enemy, and Appa’s time away from his family only solidified that notion. Fire destroys, fire is an agent of chaos. Fire has no master. Fire burns.

Appa had thought it was over, that his weeks of flying the Earth Kingdom alone trying to find Aang would be cut short when he didn’t have the strength to fight his way out the his chains underneath Lake Laogi. He was smarter than most other animals, and knew his death was approaching much quicker than he ever thought.

He thought he would die by fire, not by earth.

Even with the Blue Spirit mask on, Appa still knew who had come to see him in chains. He reared up an anger and fear, but the metal links clanked taut, and he could not even get close to the figure.

Then, Prince Zuko has let him go.

It would sometimes get cold being so high in the mountains, the wind whistling through the odd structure of the Western Air Temple. Sometimes, Aang and his friends would curl around the Fire Prince, Aang’s claimed space always with his head pillowed against his firebending teacher’s belly, his cheek turned into the fabric of Zuko’s shirt. Sometimes the Avatar would drool a little, but Zuko would just give a gentle smile, and not bother to wake him.

When is was raining and the temperature dropped even farther, Zuko would sometimes breathe a small breath of fire above them, warming the air around them.

Aang’s arms would unconsciously wrap tighter around Zuko’s waist, humming in approval at the additional warmth.

Appa wasn’t afraid of Zuko’s fire.

Not when he was teaching Aang how to do the same thing, not when he was the one who freed him, not when it was his breathing that kept them warm on chilly nights.

Sometimes, when they were all asleep, including Zuko, Appa would snuggle against the Fire Prince’s head, (as well as he could, anyway) and did his best to keep him warm, too.

Fire was no longer an enemy, fire was his family.