#roku blinking white light

[shajeerap]

5 DIY troubleshooting tips you can fix the Roku white light blinking issue. Try these methods before visitting to replaceyour device

[newmaniawe]

How You Can Fix Roku Blinking White Light

Streaming devices have become an essential part of our entertainment setup and Roku offers a range of streaming devices to enhance our TV viewing experience.  Roku devices may occasionally encounter issues. One common problem that users may come across is the Roku blinking white light issue.

Causes For Blinking White Light

The Roku streaming stick and other Roku streaming players (Roku Express, Roku Express 4K, Roku Streaming Stick 4K, Roku Ultra, and Roku Streambar) all use their flashing white lights to indicate a range of problems. A white blinking light points to the following issues: Connectivity issue with your home WiFi Broken or Loose HDMI cable. Hardware issues in your device Outdated software Issues in Power cord/ Power switch box SAMSUNG 65-Inch Crystal 4K 3 HDMI Ports, Motion Xcelerator

How To Fix Roku Blinking White Light

Reboot Your Roku To begin, make sure you are on the Home screen of your Roku device. Hold the remote control in your hand, and let's get started. Follow these steps carefully: Press the up button on your remote control. This will navigate you to the setting options. Once you have reached the setting options, press the right button on your remote control to enter the settings menu. Within the settings menu, press the up button again to access the System option.

Moving forward, press the right button to navigate to the menu. Now, press the down button repeatedly until you find the "System Restart" option. Once you have highlighted the "Restart" option, press the OK button on your remote control.

By following these simple steps, your Roku device will initiate the restart process. Allow the device a few moments to complete the restart. Recommended: Can you use Amazon Firestick on Roku TV Check All Your Cords and Cables Inspect your Roku device and locate the HDMI cable ports. Remove the HDMI cable and examine if there is an extension attached, as these extensions often malfunction. Issues with the HDMI cables may cause problems with Toshiba TV. Replace the extension or try connecting the device directly to the TV. Additionally, I consider replacing the HDMI cable with a new one, as they can break internally even without physical movement. Make sure that there are no loose cable connections. We also use a streaming device that gets loose over time. So, check the connection points of these cables as well. I also suggest you connect the HDMI cable to a different HDMI port on the back of your TV.

Check Network Settings Firstly, check if the WIFI is turned on. To do this, go to the settings option on your TV remote and click on the last option, which is the ‘settings’ option. After that, go to the ‘network’ option and then to the ‘WIFI connection.’ If the connection is not available, then you will see a message indicating the issue. After analyzing the issue, I found that this is not just a setting problem, but it is a technical problem with the WIFI chip. Restart Wifi Router You must restart your network router and check that there is no problem with your router. Because sometimes there may arise problems with your router and your TV is working fine. First, turn off your router from the power socket. Now, wait for a few seconds before you plug back your router. Now, you can restart your network router. Check if your LG TV is able to recognize Wifi connection.

Interference in WiFi Connection Sometimes, there is interference from the outside environment which creates issues in the performance of the wireless signals. You must need to check the objects causing the issue. Your Roku TV or device may get distracted by Infrared Interference which is used by other devices like Televisions, Microwave Ovens, and Radios. This is not a usual problem but you may encounter it if you don’t properly place these kinds of devices. Recommended: Can You Use Roku And Firestick On Same TV Adjust Display Resolution of Your Roku Accessing the Settings Menu First, navigate to the left side of your Roku remote and press the left arrow button. This action will open a menu with various options. Scroll all the way down until you reach the "Settings" option. Select it by pressing the OK button on your remote. Adjusting the Display Type Once you're in the Settings menu, continue scrolling down until you locate the "Display Type" setting. Press OK to access this option. Automatic Resolution Detection By default, the Roku is set to "Auto" in terms of resolution detection. This means that it will automatically detect the best resolution based on your TV's capabilities. Sometimes, Roku already detects correct resolution according to my experience, you can proceed to Step 4. However, if you believe that the detected resolution is incorrect, follow the next step to manually change it. Manually Changing the Resolution Suppose you want to manually adjust the resolution to ensure optimal performance. Select the desired resolution from the available options. For instance, if your TV supports full 4K HDR at 60 frames per second, choose "Full 4K HDR 60." After selecting the desired resolution, Roku will verify if it matches your TV's capabilities. If it does, you're all set. However, if the chosen resolution exceeds what your TV can handle, an "X" symbol will appear. In this case, proceed to Step 5 to force the output. Forcing the Output Resolution If the chosen resolution exceeds your TV's capabilities but you believe it can handle higher specifications, you can force the output resolution. Simply select the option to force the resolution and press OK. This will override the automatic detection and apply your preferred resolution settings. Reverting to Automatic Mode If at any point you're not satisfied with the changes you've made, you can easily revert to the automatic resolution detection. Access the Settings menu again and scroll down to "Display Type." Select this option and set it back to "Auto." Confirm your selection and your Roku will return to automatically detecting the optimal resolution. Factory Reset Your Roku - Navigate to the Settings menu on your Roku TV. Locate the settings icon and select it to proceed. - Scroll down and find the "System" option and access the Advanced System Settings. - Look for the "Factory Reset" setting and click on it. - Now, you will be presented with two choices: resetting audio and picture settings or resetting everything. To completely restore your Roku TV to its original factory state, choose the "Reset Everything" option. - To ensure that you genuinely want to reset your Roku TV, a confirmation code is required. The code for this specific reset is 3262. Type in the code using your remote control or TV interface. - Proceed by selecting "OK" A final confirmation message will appear on the screen, informing you about the consequences of the factory reset. - Select "Yes" to confirm. Your TV will then restart, initiating the factory reset procedure. During this process, all accounts, settings, and installed apps will be erased. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjTm_hOn9RI Enjoy Reading Too: How to Watch Roku Channel on LG Smart TV TCL Roku TV Screen Mirroring Not Working Contact Roku Support If you require direct assistance from Roku Support, you can reach out to them via phone or email. On the Roku website, you'll find the official contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses specific to your region. About Author Read the full article

[delinkrouter]

How Do I Fix Roku Blinking White Light?

Please let me know about that how to fix Roku blinking white light. I am facing some difficulties while watching pictures on Roku. It's blinking white light. Help me to fix this problem.

[smarttvguides18]

Roku Blinking White Light | 5 Ways To Fix +1-888-270-6412

If you are looking to quickly fix the Roku Blinking White Light issue? Then call our expert will provide the best easy solutions for your Roku device. Call our toll-free number at +1-888-270-6412 and our technicians are available 24/7 to assist you. We are here to help you and get instant solutions to fix this issue. For more information contact or visit our website www.smarttvguides.com

[gocomrss]

How to solve the Roku low power issue?

Make use of the solutions coming up to solve the Roku low power issue:

At first, verify the USB adapter go.roku.com/lowpower problem.

Make sure that you are using the USB cable that came along with the Roku device at the time of purchase.

Moreover, if using a cable that did not come with your Roku, check that you replace this cable with the one that came with the Roku player.

Secondly, check for the USB Port.

Some USB ports on TVs, home cinema systems, and set-top boxes will have unique power characteristics.

Further, never assume that all USB ports are the same.

And its typical for various USB ports across numerous devices to have different electrical currents.

Try connecting the Roku to a different USB port on the same or another device to check whether this rectifies the roku low power issue.

In most cases, the users must find a device with the perfect power level and solve the problem.

Thirdly, link to the electrical source.

If the above does not work, you are advised to link the Roku device directly to the mains using the power cable provided with the Roku player.

This will make sure that the Roku always has a consistent and stable power source, stopping any strange or unpredictable behavior.

Similarly, its an added advantage of linking to the mains power is that the Roku will no longer require to power up each time and turn on your TV.

Finally, the Roku player will be up and working faster than if powered via a USB source instead.

This fixes the roku low power.

  If you wish to know how to fix roku low power or need some more solutions to fix go.roku.com/lowpower, then contact our professional expert squad by dialing the toll free number +1-866-990-6730.

[lalahbug]

Guidance - Zuko x Reader Chapter 5

Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender Word Count: 3,352

My Masterlist

Warnings/disclaim: General Mentions of sex and some somnophilia, 18+ Minors DNI Angst Author’s Note: under story ___ is a blank for your name/oc/whatever you prefer Written in 3rd person Line/header is to separate paragraphs to indicate time skips, as Tumblr hates my formatting. 

Story under cut, 5 of 8, Guidance Masterlist

         Days had passed, their passion, and Zuko’s hunger calmed as he took her anywhere he could. Finding the thrill of the possibility of being caught, a new high. Quick sessions were welcome, but nothing could compare to love making they would take their time with. But as the days passed his lust and desire dulled to a more normal and more manageable yearning.

Zuko was talking to his uncle about Appa, the Avatar’s lost bison, Iroh was lecturing him about his destiny again. ___ sighed and turned to clean up dishes from lunch. Then Zuko stormed out.

“___?” Iroh called softly.

“Yes,” she turned with a soft smile.

“That dish should be clean now, it’s been in your hands for about 10 minutes.”

“Oh, um,” she laughed and put it down.

“I’m worried about him too. I’ll keep an eye on him and bring him home.” Iroh stood up to leave.

“Please be safe.”

“Even if I have to bend, we’ll come home, okay?” 

“Thank you!” Her eyes watered with gratitude towards the loving uncle.

The front door opened as ___ was reading. “You’re home!” She got up to hug Zuko tightly.

“You did the right thing. Letting the Avatar’s bison go free.”

“I’m so proud of you,” ___ brushed some of his hair away from his face.

“I don’t feel right,” he seemed dizzy.

“You’re burning up,” he then collapsed onto her.

“Zuko!” Both of their voices rang out as she tried to keep him upright.

The next few days, ___ and Iroh watched over Zuko in turns, trying to keep him hydrated and blankets on him, to help him sweat it out. 

“My dear, you should sleep, I can take a turn.” Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder. She nodded solemnly, before lying down next to him and keeping an eye on her love as she started to drift. Iroh made some tea for himself and Zuko.

___ woke up without Zuko next to her. She sat up and looked around for him before going into the main room.

“Good morning, my love,” Zuko smiled at her while eating some jook with his uncle who was eyeing him cautiously.

“Morning,” she leaned down and kissed the top of his head. The fever was gone. “You seem happy,” she said hesitantly before sitting next to him with a bowl of jook for herself.

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a new day. We got a new apartment, new furniture, and today is the grand opening of Uncles’ tea shop. I have a wonderful fiancé. Once we’re settled here with the new shop, we should start planning the wedding.” He took her hand and kissed it with a smile.

She eyed him and glanced over at Iroh, who only shrugged. “We don’t need to rush a wedding; we can just enjoy our time and this peace.”

“We’ll plan it when you’re ready then,” he kissed her cheek and got up with his bowl. “Are you done Uncle?” Zuko gestured to the bowl in front of Iroh.

“Yes,” Iroh handed it to Zuko, who walked away and started washing both of the bowls. “Thank you, Prince Zuko.”

“You can just call me nephew, Lee, or Zuko, no need for the formality, we’re family.”

___ smiled at Iroh, although a very different Zuko, and she was worried but she still loved him. Iroh smiled back, but she could tell he wasn’t quite ready to accept this new Zuko without some wariness.

Iroh was preparing to serve tea for the Earth King, but something about it worried him.

“___, my dear, would you be willing to watch over the shop while we go to the King?”

“Oh,” the small disappointment escaped her before she smiled. “Of course!”

“Uncle, I doubt she wants to be left alone,” Zuko pouted at the thought of her alone running the shop.

“I’ll be fine, remember your manners and best uniforms,” she kissed his cheek.

“Of course, my love,” he rested his forehead against hers. “Don’t over work yourself.”

She sent them off with a loving smile.

“___, come with me!” Iroh burst into the tea shop.

“But the shop!” She yelled as he pulled her away.

“You serve the last of the tea, once out, close the shop!” Iroh shouted at an employee before running off with ___ in tow.

 They were outside a house and Iroh knocked gently. “Glad to see you’re okay,” Toph said with a smile, to Iroh.

“We need your help,” Iroh asked sincerely as he saw the Avatar. 

___ had kept quiet while Aang and Iroh tunneled down.

“Sorry I haven’t introduced myself,” Aang gave her a soft smile.

“I know who you are, Avatar, I’m sorry to meet you like this. I’m ___, I’ve met Avatar Roku before. And if I’m meeting you now,” she trailed off. Iroh and Aang looked at her. “We all need to be very careful.”

“You’ve talked with Roku? How?” Aang looked at her.

“I’ve been to the spirit world. I’m supposed to help you with getting in touch with the spirit world when needed.”

“That would be amazing, after we save the Earth Kingdom, please come with us.”

“I can’t promise anything.”

“Why? If Roku said you were supposed to help me.”

“The angry jerk we’re going to save, is my fiancé,” she touched her necklace in thought of Zuko.

“You’re the waterbender that was healing Iroh in the desert!” Aang finally called out remembering her.

“Yes, I have duties to you both. I love you both. You are my destiny; he is my future. The world needs you, Zuko needs me.”

As they broke into the catacombs, Katara ran into Aang’s arms and ___ ran into Zuko’s.

 Iroh and ___ were kept within crystals as Azula and Zuko talked, ___ only tear up, knowing her future, the one Roku had told her long ago was about to come true.

As Zuko left with one last glance at them, her tears fell.

“Dear, it’ll be okay, we’ll get him back,” Iroh tried to calm her down.

“Iroh, Roku let me know, my future while I was in the spirit world.” She looked up trying to blink back the tears. "Today Aang will fall and my lover will leave me.” Iroh’s eyes went wide.

“Close your eyes, I’m going to get us to the Avatar.”

 Running never seemed important until today, she had stamina but adrenaline pushed her worried legs faster. Oxygen didn’t seem necessary until she gasped for air as her legs tried to slow. She pressed on, Iroh not to far behind her 

As her feet hit the opening, she shouted for Zuko, but once she saw Aang ascending and Azula behind him. Her scream turned for Aang, as her heart took over her hearing, the vibrations of her own body moving was foreign. Adrenaline burned out as she stumbled towards Aang. The last thing her mind registered fully was the lighting sticking Aang.  ___ collapsed, her vision blurred, the last thing she saw was Iroh standing in front of her, protecting her and Katara, so Katara could escape with the Avatar. But ___ could hear Zuko’s panicked cry for her. She already exhausted her strength, vision gone, coldness spreading, so she welcomed darkness as it took her. She felt her body move, a warmth beneath her enveloped her. She heard her name and a soft sob, happy to hear his voice one last time. Darkness consumed her; unable to see, feel, or hear. She was gone, mind and soul.

        Brightens of white, hushed voices, stinging pain, ___ opened her eyes, but could only see lights and blurred objects.

“She’s awake, alert Prince Zuko,” someone shouted.

Although she was weak, her adrenaline rushed once again at the sound of her lover's name.

 “Where is she?” She heard his voice, when he didn’t see her in her bed.

“She’s backed herself in a corner, guards are trying to calm her down,” Mai said in a bored tone before walking over to him.

“___?” Zuko’s eyes found hers, but the hurt and confusion in her eyes stopped him in his steps towards her. He had broken his promise, the Avatar is dead.

Zuko took in the situation, her back against a corner. In a defensive stance, 3 guards on the floor, likely chi blocked. 3 others surrounding her.

When his golden eyes met hers again, he saw tears. He followed her gaze to Mai's finger, as she hung off his shoulders. Then to his own hand. Both of them wearing identical rings, as his father had put their arranged marriage back onto course. Now that Zuko was the rightful heir of the throne. 

His heart felt like it was being stabbed as she dropped her stance then removed her betrothal necklace. She let it fall from her neck, not bothering to catch it. The ringing noise it made in the connection to the ground, echoed in his ears. Ringing continued as he realized, she was no longer his. She let the necklace drop because that’s how she felt. That he just dropped her, left her.

Her eyes were glued to her feet as guards and nurses got her back into bed. Zuko got a glimpse of the large open wound on her back. As if she had been the one shot down by Azula. While a nurse changed her bandages.

Eventually he realized a guard was talking to him, asking if she should be moved to a cell. 

"No, she's my friend, let her stay here, until she's healed."

"That will be awhile Prince Zuko," a nurse informed him as she finished changing the women's bandages.

"She is a guest of Prince Zuko," he commanded around him. "She was scared to be in an unfamiliar place, you will forgive her for being defensive."

"Of course, Prince Zuko," they chimed around him in acknowledgment.

He heard ___ scoff a bit at the unison of servants.

"Do you have something to finally say?" Mai spat at the wounded woman. 

She turned her head slightly to give Mai and Zuko an icy glare. Even though Mai didn't really scare easily, she still hid behind Zuko, from the glare. 

As everyone who was unneeded in the infirmary left, Zuko took a moment to go over and scoop up the necklace. Thankfully it wasn't damaged or chipped, he turned to see ___ laying down, staring at the ceiling, with a blank and cold expression. Zuko walked to the side of her bed. 

"You've been unconscious for weeks, I'm glad you're awake." He touched her hand softly, but she pulled her hand away as if he shocked her. 

"How are you feeling?" He asked softly. 

Finally, her eyes moved to his aZbigniewnd he fought the overwhelming urge to comfort the pain he saw in her deep and open eyes; the pain was emotional and physical. 

"She's in a lot of pain, but we can't give her pain medication." A nurse finally answered for her. Her eyes moved back to the ceiling and he could see the open door of her eyes cut off the emotion once again. 

"Why can't you give her pain medication? She's in pain, that makes no sense."

"We did give her some when she arrived, but a blood test showed she's pregnant so we can only give her so much without harming the baby."

Zuko’s head swirled, pregnant, the baby. Her baby, his baby, their baby. His eyes snapped to hers but there was still no emotion. Then his eyes drifted to her flat stomach. 

"She's only a month or so along. She won't show for a while. Could you notify the father? Being her best friend, I would assume you would know the father." 

"I do," Zuko whispered before looking at her face again, she was sullen and unexpressive. "Let me know if there is anything she or the baby needs." With that Zuko left to put in a request to see his father, to end the arranged marriage. Seeing his love close off to him, opened his eyes a bit. He needed to fix this, have her by his side again. But the Fire Lord had no openings until the morning.

As Zuko put on his best clothes to attend the request he'd put in to see his father, a guard knocked on his door.

"What?" Zuko answered the door annoyed as the guard was there too early to escort him to the Fire Lord.

"Your guest is gone," the guard panted out, as he'd run all the way there. "She took down over 38 guards, with the full moon, her chi blocking and waterbending, she was unstoppable.

"She left?"

"Yes, but she also left a note for you." The guard extended the rolled scroll to him.

"I will walk myself to my meeting with my father, you may go." Zuko slammed the door shut and quickly opened the parchment.

My dear Zuko,

I hope you find your way and your destiny. I am going to mine. If your life ever has a need to cross mine, I hope we'll be able to see each other again. 

Don't fret over the baby, we'll be safe and fine without you. Live the life you want.

Your friend,

___

Six simple sentences, no anger, no love, just hope of good life for a friend. It would have hurt less if she left without a note, so he could still have hope. Hope she still loved him, that he wasn't too late, but she ended with friend, his friend.

He sunk down to the floor and put his head in his hands. He had to fix all this. Find her, beg for her forgiveness, he wanted to fix everything. 

___ was in a fire nation town, in proper fire nation clothes, that she stole in her escape. Looking for Aang, Roku said he would be here, that he’s okay.

“Hey pretty lady, you look lost. Can I help you?” Some guy, who looked like high schooler, was hitting on her.

“Thank you, but no. I’m looking for a friend.”

“I can be your friend,” he smiled at her.

“I really appreciate the offers, but I’m not in the mood to pretend to be nice right now. So please leave me alone.”

“Fine,” he spat before heading back to the school.

Her gaze followed him, to make sure he wouldn’t come back, when she saw Aang. With hair? A headband? She quickly walked up to him and grabbed by the arm pulling him away from the crowd.

“___?” Aang blinked and rubbed his eyes.

“Aang,” she sighed happily.

“How did you find me?”

“Roku said you’d be here. I’m ready to help you, with the spirit world and maybe even the Avatar State.”

“That’s awesome!” He pumped his fist in the air. “But what about Zuko?” He asked quietly.

“He,” she trailed off before inhaling and steeling her emotions. “He’s engaged to someone else now. He doesn’t need me. But you do, right?” A bit of her insecure state slipped through the cracks as she looked at Aang’s pitiful eyes. Aang nodded then gave her a cheerful smile.

After school, Sokka was lecturing Aang for even going. But once he deemed it okay, Aang then introduced her to the rest of the Gaang.

“She’s been with Zuko. How can we trust her?” Katara eyed her.

“Zuko left her, for someone else.” Aang said trying to ease the tension Katara had at the mere mention of Zuko.

“I understand you might not trust me. You don’t know me. But I’ve never attacked any of you, and I never would. My destiny is to help the Avatar with connection to the spirit world and the Avatar state. My relationship with Zuko is over, he broke his promise.”

“What promise?”

“That Aang wouldn’t die, although only briefly, he did die, the promise broke.”

“Then what took you so long to come to us, why now? Why before the eclipse?” Sokka was weary, but there as not malice in his tone, unlike his sister 

“I’ve been unconscious for weeks, I guess. I’m still not healed. I’m in a lot of pain. But once I woke up, there was a full moon that night. I used the energy from the moon to mask my pain to come here.”

They all looked at her, Sokka and Katara still judging her, Aang and Toph, looked confused. Old feelings of being unwanted tried to surface, especially with the sting she still felt from Zuko being with another. Her eyes closed tightly, trying to shove it all down, she wasn’t going to cry, not now, not ever. Not over him, not again. She needed time to process more to work through the emotions, before they worked through her.

“If you don’t trust me, there is no reason for me to stay. I’ve heard you broke the stupid traditions in the North Pole. So thank you for that, I might be able to go home now.” She bowed deeply to Katara, a gratitude she wanted out in the open before leaving. The wound on her back however was not forgiving of the motion. She collapsed with a pant of pain. Aang was quick to help her up.

“How did you get the wound on your back?” Toph asked, her voice rougher than ___ thought it’d be since she was so small.

“I’m not sure, when I saw Aang get shot down, I went down too. I remember being in so much pain, and Iroh protecting me as Katara left with Aang. Next time I opened my eyes, I was in the fire nation. Zuko called me a friend, a guest, but I couldn’t stay, knowing he didn’t need me anymore. Doesn’t love me anymore than a friend.” Aang was still supporting her as she looked away from the group, the pain seethed through her spine again. Aang supported her and made sure she stayed up.

“Katara, can you please heal her? If you guys aren’t okay with her here, I understand, but I can’t let her go home like this.”

Katara’s eyes softened at Aang’s plea. Thinking back on ___’s words, they all were true. She never helped Zuko attack them, she was and did collapse in the crystal catacombs. Then she bowed even while in pain to show respect.

“I’ll take a look and then we can talk about her situation.”

Aang smiled as he helped move ___ into the cave so Katara could look at the wound, privately. 

“How is she?” Aang asked as Katara came out.

“She’s asleep, I healed her the best I could, it’s so similar to where Azula struck you, but I treated you immediately. As far as I can tell they only kept it clean, hoping it would heal. It was infected. I don’t even know how she was walking so well.” Katara sat by the fire with the others.

“She’s very sad too,” Toph whispered. “She never lied, but every time Zuko’s name came up, I could almost feel her heart throb and break. She misses him, but I don’t blame her for not showing it. Trying to move on.”

“Well if she’s not lying,” Sokka started. “I think she’d be beneficial to Aang, once she’s better of course.”

“She is hiding one thing,” Toph stated. “She’s pregnant, she has two heartbeats. One always steady and fluttering, hers was the only one changing beat.”

“I didn’t think Zuko was such a monster.” Katara spat. “She’s carrying his child, but still he leaves her for someone else. His actions are disgusting.”

“I think we should let her stay with us, at least for a while.” Sokka stated as he felt bad for her too.

“Yeah, she stays with us,” Katara smiled softly. “She needs someone who wants her, even if just as friends.”

“Well I truly do need her. It would be nice, to have the Avatar State back, or at least to have an easier way to get into the spirit world.” Aang smiled back at Katara and they all nodded in an agreement.

Author’s Note: Sorry if you’re not into the whole pregnancy thing. I fought with myself over and over about having it or not, in the long run, I clearly decided to roll with it. This chapter is so choppy with me trying to explain shit to get where I want this story to be/go.Believe it or not, it was like 3 times worse before I started the revision. I hope you still enjoyed it. Still rewriting the last chapters, but I promise they are better than this chapter aha

[nanaminsonyfans]

Between Worlds; Chapter Six

Previous, Next, Masterlist

A/N: Thank you all for being to patient with me while I took a break. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I am actually very proud about this one. Thank you to my editor @imagine-yourself-happy

Gif is not mine

!!TW!! Swearing, injuries, mentions of blood

The statue’s eyes began to glow a light blue color, then a silhouette formed, stepping out into view. “Roku?” You asked softly upon seeing him. “I-I have a question for you…I understand you brought me here for something else but I’m just so confused. I don’t belong here. Why am I here and not Aang?” You walked forward, trembling slightly with each step. “Y/N, this was always your destiny. No matter how you look at it, this is yours. Aang may have had it first but this is yours.” Roku put his hand on your shoulder, squeezing it softly. “But...I don’t know how to do any of this. I mean, Air comes naturally to me but I can’t control it. I almost hurt Katara and Sokka.” You said as you started to cry.

Roku shook his head and lifted your chin up so you’d look at him. “You are a strong woman. You can do anything you set your mind to. Look how far you have already come. Y/N, you protected two villages even after you were burned, you saved another one.” He spoke in a comforting tone and wiped away your tears. It was the reassurance of an adult that made you feel safe. You sniffled and nodded as you peered up at him. “How do I control my bending? When I get emotional, it just takes over. I don’t want to hurt anyone by being blinded like that.”

“You can control it. It’s okay to have a few slip-ups. I wish I could give you more time and not rush you, but…you have to master all four elements by the end of the summer.” He explained with an even tone. “I know…I’m just scared. What if I can’t do it? What if I’m not strong enough?” Your eyes began to water again, your throat became dry as you tried to hold back a sob. “You are. As I said, you’ve made it this far. You also have the past Avatars to help you.” You looked back behind Roku, seeing the light slowly start to fade. He had noticed as well. “By the end of this summer, another comet will come. It will give the Fire Nation the rest of the power that they need to fully need to take over the rest of the nations. You must stop them.” 

“Y/N? Y/N!” Katara’s voice snapped you out of your trance as you mindlessly were applying a cold cloth to Sokka’s forehead. “Oh…sorry.” You whispered and stood up. “Is Sokka feeling any better?” You asked softly and stood up, looking at him with concern. “Not very well. That storm really did a number on him.”

“Well, I found a map. There’s a herbalist, I’ll go see if they have anything for tea. That might help.” You explained, but turned to Katara when she started coughing. “Oh no, not you too?” You went over to her and laid her down on Appa next to Sokka. “Just rest here and I’ll be back with medicine.” You wrapped her in a blanket and grabbed your glider, running out of the small shelter you had. 

The rain made a small pitter-patter against your skin and gilder. It was soothing, considering everything preoccupying your mind - what Roku had said, your encounter with Zuko, Jet, that horrible storm, and now taking care of the two Water Tribe siblings. You sighed softly as you walked up a trail to a greenhouse or terrarium-looking thing. When you entered, you were greeted with the scent of roses, lavender, and...cats? You looked down and saw a cat rubbing against your ankle. It was a beautiful white cat, fluffy too. You bent down and scratched it’s head softly, the small gesture made you feel ten times better. 

You noticed an old woman tending to her plants and herbs. “Umm…ma’am? I’m very sorry to barge in like this, but my friends are sick and I need medicine for them or even a little ginger for tea?” You spoke fast and with urgency. “Calm down, young lady. Your friends are fine. I’ve been up here for forty years you know, there used to be others but they all left years ago.” The old woman pet the cat that was now on the table, “Now it’s just me and Miyuki.” You stared at her, growing a bit impatient. “Ummm, that’s nice. Could you tell me what I need to do to cure my friends?” You noticed her starting to pick herbs and such. “One moment, I am doing something…” She muttered to herself and walked around the garden.

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Ten, fifteen minutes passed of her trying to find a herb and it still wasn’t even to help you! That was irritating. It was only food for her cat. “Ma’am, could you please tell me what a cure for my friends is?” You asked for maybe, the fifth time. “Oh yes, about that. You must go to the swamp for frozen wood frogs and then have your friends suck on them! They must be frozen though!” She grinned crazily. “You’re insane aren't you?” You snored. “Go on now! You don’t have time to sit around and talk!” The woman ushered you out of her greenhouse.

You rolled up your pants as you stepped into the murky swamp, gagging softly at the smell. Eventually, you found four and stuck them in your pockets. Just as you were about to grab a fifth, three arrows pinned your shirt sleeve to a log. You yelped in surprise and used your Airbending to shield yourself as more arrows were sent your way. “Uh, do you want your arrows back?” You called out as about four people jumped out of the trees. You gulped and looked at them as your heart started to pound. You waterbended an ice wall but it was quickly shattered by an arrow. “Shit-” You mumbled to yourself as your shirt collar was pinned to another log. You winced feeling the sting of the arrowhead grazing your collarbone. You were shot with a tranquilizer then a net, resulting in you losing consciousness. 

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Your eyes opened. Everything became a blur. There was an attempt to move your feet but you quickly realized they were tied together by a rope and your arms were chained behind you. The chains jiggled as you tried to struggle but it was no use. “Well, this is the Avatar? Master of all the elements? I have no idea how you eluded the Fire Nation, but your game of hide and seek is over.” You recognized that voice, Admiral Zhao. “I wasn’t hiding from you, Zhao. Untie me and I’ll fight you right now!” You yelled fighting with the restraints. “Uhh, no. Tell me, how does it feel to be the last Airbender? Do you miss your weak people?” You teared up at the thought, but you were quick to blink back any visible tears. “Don’t worry, you won’t be killed like they were.” You dug your nails into your palms and gritted your teeth. “Shut up.” You growled, glaring up at Zhao. 

He only smirked at you. “If we kill you, the next Avatar will just be reborn again and the Fire Nation will have to search all over again.” He bent over and grabbed your chin, forcing you to look up at him. “I’ll keep you alive, but just barely.” You glared and spat in his face. He backed away in disgust. “You little bit-” You blew a gust of wind at him, knowing him off his feet. “Blow all the wind you want. No one is coming to save you.” He hissed and walked out, his aggressive footsteps fading off in the distance. You screamed in anger and started to thrash around, only giving yourself rope burn and bruises around your wrists. You started to cry softly, from anger and pain. “Fuh-Fuck you Zhao.” You mumbled to yourself through the tears.

After thirty minutes, you gave up trying to break free. You were sweaty and bloody, the palms of your hands were bleeding, ankles burned, and wrists were bruised. You heard a soft ribbit and croak. Oh, no! Frogs started to jump out of your clothes, still half frozen. “No, no, no, no! Get back here! I need you to cure Katara and Sokka!” The frogs obviously didn’t give a shit about your feelings, and honestly, that kinda hurt. “Please, come back.” You cried and leaned forward in defeat, your tears now hitting the metal floor. You were snapped out of your pity party hearing metal and something heavy dropping to the floor. 

You looked up and saw someone dressed in all black, but a blue dragon-like mask. You furrowed your eyebrows and felt a familiarity with the person. “Wh-Who are you?” Your voice cracked. It made sense since you’ve been crying for the past twenty minutes it seemed. “Ar-Are you here to rescue me?” There was a hint of hopefulness in your voice. The person didn’t say anything. They just opened the door after freeing you from the restraints. “I-I’ll take that as a yes.” You mumbled and followed the other out. Then it struck you. The Blue Spirit…Zuko. Joy filled your body as you followed him. You turned your head to croaking, your frogs! You ran to find them, they were thawing out. 

“Please don’t thaw out! I need you!” You tried to grab one but was pulled back by your collar. You winced in pain as the fabric rubbed against the cut you received earlier. The Blue Spirit let out of you immediately after hearing your reaction. “I-I’m fine. Just sensitive, there is all.” You mumbled as you adjusted your clothing. “But, thanks for coming for me, whoever you are.” You smiled softly and kissed the mask. “My hero~” You giggled and was dragged off by the Spirit. 

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“I want a full transcription written down and sent to the Fire Lord. I only want glowing testimonials from the soldiers and generals.” Zhao said as he walked down the dimly lit halls with a scribe. He was snapped out of his trance with ordering when he heard moans and croaks from frogs. “What the-” He turned, seeing guards tied up and gagged. He gritted his teeth and kicked open the door that you were supposed to be held in. “The Avatar has escaped!” He yelled, running down the halls. 

“There, on the wall!” A soldier yelled pointing to where you and the Spirit were climbing. “Shit.” You grumbled, trying to climb the rope on the wall faster. One of the soldiers cut your rope, forcing you and the Spirit to fall to the ground. You screamed in your way down but quickly hopped up. The Spirit unsheathed his swords and started to run. “Stay close to me.” You said and ran in front of him, blasting all the soldiers in your way with wind.

The third gate was close, but then it closed before you got there. “Fuck.” You hissed and turned to the spirit. All the soldiers took aim at the two of you. “Wait! The Avatar must be kept alive!” Zhao yelled, causing the soldiers to step back. The Blue Spirit moved and out his swords to your neck, close to cutting your head off. “What the hell?” You hissed in shock and he started to back away. To avoid being cut you pressed your body against his, you heard his breath hitch slightly as you did that. 

“Open the gates.” Zhao grumbled. “But sir-” A guard interjected before being cut off. “I said, open the gates! He’ll kill her if we don’t.” He hissed, the soldiers nodded and opened it. The Blue Spirit and you backed up slowly, exiting the yard. You shuffled backward, following the Spirits lead. You got halfway down the trail but an arrow was shot, cutting your earlobe and knocking the mask off of your savior. Everything happened in slow motion it seemed, you acted fast. Using your Airbending, you brought the Spirit and yourself to safety in the woods. 

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You chewed on your lip as you sat on the root of a tree. You saw him, now that you knew for sure was Zuko, wake up. “Thank you for saving me…but I know you didn’t do it out of kindness, but rather for your own gain.” You took a deep breath, “I may not remember much but I know I had friends a hundred years ago. Now, I have a family - Sokka and Katara. I wonder, if things were different, do you think we could ever be friends, Zuko?” Your voice was soft and calm as you stood up. He  glared at you and unsheathed his swords in a threatening manner. “I’ll be here...if you ever do decide to make things different.” You sighed and used your glider to take off, leaving Zuko. 

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“Suck on these. You’ll feel better.” You mumbled giving Sokka and Katara a frozen frog. The sister took notice of your distraught and frowned. “How was your trip, Y/N? Did you make any new friends or meet new people?” You tucked a piece of hair behind your ear and sighed.

“No…I don’t think I did.”

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Taglist; @imagine-yourself-happy @toobsessedsstuff @bluecrystals01 @cheyenne-dunn-universe @foolishgang @alrightberries @givemetundies @anxietyriddledcollegekid @gra-hamcrackers @marionette-ghoulette @miracle-rat @bangtanboyswriting123 @wattpadwaterandfire @hopelessly-hopeful-hope @alexander-the-great32105 @mavix @mcartist @furblrwurblr @celamoon @ghost-of-the-oldwest @whatanicepanohthatsjustme @itscomplicateddw @panini-the-bird-killer @yoongnysus @willa-the-bean @so-fuckin-tiredd @utterlyconfused-tm @ctrl-alt-jeon @gabsnac @angxlicwanda @snackgod @gardenofideas @aexonian @chewymoustachio @possumbender @analovesyouverymuch @hopefully-a-decent-person

[debcroft13]

4# Phoenix Queen

He knew everything she had done that night, to save Zuko, to give him power. He off course made her pay the prices of her crime, but never told anyone the price, he knew where she was off course.

Hell he visited her once a month secretly and discreetly. He hid her away on a secret estate where she had the freedom to roam but not leave the place.

She wasn't far away, what he gave her was a life of luxury away from him but close to him at the same time, she had her every want and need in that play and she had him.

She lay on his chest, he told people she had been kidnapped by the same people that had killed his father, it was a good cover story and a believable one. He touched her face now, his precious wife a cunning and vicious woman, so much like him, she killed for him and he couldn't let her waste away but he kept their closeness secret from even his own children.

"Sozin's comet is returning to Ursa, we plan to end the war when it returns, but the Avatar has already proven he wants to try to end my life. After all that stunt he and his group pulled on the day of the black sun." He mused darkly “If I hadn't hidden in another part of our bunker...”

She frowned at his words, she craved to protect him from threats, she was unofficially his Fire Lady the one meant to rule at his side, but of course Ozai saw her frown and laughed.

" Don't worry we tricked the Avatar and his little friends, I was safe the whole time.”

He watched her breathe in relief, he had lied a bit, Zuko had betrayed him that day, but he needed to keep that from her.

" In a war meeting we agreed to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground till they surrender and I want you by my side, as you watch my back." He began coldly

Her eyes widened a bit at his words he held her face gently, he saw her take in his words and she smiled deviously.

" Yes I will join you, can I join you at your side again?" She asked unsure

She wanted to be free again, to be by her side.

" Yes off course you can, after all I plan on giving myself a new title and yourself a new one to which with my new power your crime will mean nothing. I will be able to show you off without any consequences toward us.”

They had both been usurper's in there own way, Azulon's death had been their plan, but Ozai had got through it all and now his wife could return to his side.

" Come to me early in the morning on the day of Sozin's comet, I will tell the nation that I found you and rescued you, but on that day we will accend to greatness together.” Ozai bragged

“Yes my love.”

Sozin's comet would return in hours, the end of the war was coming.

A palanquin was carried toward a grand stage, Ozai had a servant place Ursa in his palanquin secretly before it was carried forward toward the stage.

Ozai had thought of a plan on how to bring Ursa back to the Nation and he would suspire Azula with her reappearance.

Ozai walked up to the stage as Azula joined him bowing slowly to him.

The Fire Lord looked to his daughter a bit annoyed as she apologised for her lateness and asked if everything was ready for them to go.

“There has been a change of plans Azula.” Ozai began coldly

“What?” she replied shocked

“I have decided to bring along a special companion on this mission, you will stay here in the Fire Nation.”

Ozai turned a bit as he looked back at the main palanquin and extended his hand out, again the white sheets were pushed aside. Azula's eyes widened a bit, as Azula took in who came out from the palanquin, the woman walked up past her toward Ozai, she bowed to him as grinned.

“Your mother will be by my side as we burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground.”

Azula's eyes widened as she saw her mother for the first time in years, her mother looked to her with a soft smile.

“What I thought we were doing this together father, why is she even here?” Azula snapped annoyed “I thought you said she had been kidnapped.. Why are you doing this to me?” Azula asked hurt

“Azula clam yourself.” Ozai commanded strongly

Azula bowed her head to her father, but watched as his father tilted her mother's head up to him.

“I lied about your mother, she is a devious creature, she killed Fire Lord Azulon for us all, she did it so I can have my power, therefore it is time for me to replay her for this power for what she did for us all. We will take a new title, but the title Fire Lord will belong to you Azula.”

Azula seemed to settle with the idea of becoming Fire Lord, but then she blinked at them.

“Yes Fire Lord Azula it is fitting, but what about you? What about mother?” Azula asked respectful

“ As I said we shall take new titles, from this day forward Fire Lord Ozai and Fire Lady Ursa are dead and we shall be reborn as Phoenix King Ozai and Phoenix Queen Ursa.

Azula watched as they were decorated in new amour, her father was placed into a gold helmet, as glorious robes were added to him, while Ursa's hair was bound up as a new crown was placed into hair and a gold shoulder armor was added to her kimono.

The two took each other's hand as they left the Fire Nation that day in hopes of bringing the war to end.

…...

Ursa stood behind Ozai as he breathed in the energy of Sozin's comet into him. She could feel the energy but she stood without doing anything for a while, she watched his fire burn from his hand with a grin sprawl other her face , but then the Avatar appeared.

“Hmm I guess he is here to stop us dear, want to join the fight?” He asked with confidence.

Ursa grinned a bit.

“Go dear I will watch your back”

Ozai began to layer down, he took a deep breath and flew from the blimp toward the Avatar using his fire bending to propel him. Ursa sat on the blimp for a bit watching him fight amused, Ozai was winning but something happened that made her take action, the Avatar shifted into the Avatar state and thus she moved into action.

Yes Roku was her grandfather, but she felt no honour in having that blood in her, the only good thing was the power she held from his blood and the marriage that came from it, the children that came from it.

Ursa flew down as the Avatar stopped for a moment of mercy, he never saw her coming, she grounded herself and the lighting flowed through her fingers and into the Avatar's back, Ursa breathed out as the action made her feel numb and tied, this was the only the second time she had used her lighting.

Once to kill Azulon and now to kill the Avatar.

Ozai kicked the Avatar to check if he was truly dead, he looked to his wife as she panted, Ozai knelt toward his wife as she breathed in deeply and he kissed her hand.

“You did it my Queen, you were brilliant, The avatar has falling and we shall rule over all as King and Queen.

(I might turn this into a fill blowing fic.)

[justoceanmyth]

(for the ask meme) I wish you would write a fic where Gyatso tells Aang about his good friend Roku (Bc like you I am ALSO obsessed with the implications of reincarnation in atla; i love all ur fics so much)

Thank you so much for the compliment! 

Sorry it took me so long to write— the anticipated word count doubled and then the fic spawned a minor Roku headcanon, lol— but I have some smol-baby!Aang and best-dad!Gyatso for you! (On a side-note, I plan on cross-posting this to ao3, so if you could let me know what your username is so I can gift the fic to you, I’d appreciate it. It’s all good if you don’t have one, I’d just like to make sure you get credit for the prompt 😊) 

I hope you enjoy! (ao3 link)

***********

The world is dark, and Aang is cold. There are twinkling green lights around him, sparkling far off in the distance, blinking and winking slyly. Tiny green emerald stars, caught up in the icy black—but if he looks at them for too long they send a chill down his spine, and then they aren’t stars anymore but eyes, and Aang gasps for air.

  The darkness presses against him, a crushing feeling like he’s been buried under stone— it’s too cold for stone though, so maybe ice? The cold seeps into his pores, and then it feels like it’s settling into his very bones, like he’s being frozen alive. He opens his mouth to scream but Aang can’t move and he can’t breath and he still can’t get any air—

  There is a girl laughing, somewhere out there in the darkness. Her voice echoes, breaking in his ears like glass. It’s high and cruel, feels like sharp nails dragging down his spine, lightly pressing and never breaking the skin. Like she’s toying with him and could flay him open, straight down to the bone with ease. 

  Aang can’t see the girl who owns the voice, no matter how he twists and turns and now his heart is pounding in his chest like a cornered rabaroo and his breath is coming quick and fast but there isn’t any air to breath— 

  His back burns.

  Aang wakes up in a flash of bright white light. Pain radiates from his lower back, scorching and more intense than anything he’s felt in his six years of life. More intense than even the time one of the other boys had accidentally pushed him out of a tree, and he’d broken his arm. Aang gasps and writhes, and barely avoids screaming. He doesn’t want to wake anyone else up again.

  But then pain is gone as suddenly as it started, and all that’s left is the dark room. The drum of the rain outside does little to mask the rolling thunder that shakes the temple. His stomach rolls with the thunder, and the pain has left him more than a little nauseous. Aang draws his knees up tight to his chest, and his arms are shaking as he hugs them tight.

  Despite all the noise, he can still hear the sound of his own sniffling, as he tries to calm the pounding in his chest. He hadn’t noticed that he was crying, but then the fear and terror presses into him again, and now he can’t stop. He swipes at the tears with his shaking hands, but it’s futile— he’s crying too hard for it to matter.

  Sobbing and hiccuping, Aang stumbles to his feet.

  Only to fall onto the floor, when fighting free of the sheets that had knotted around him while he’d flailed in pain. After tumbling to the floor he waits a second, trying to stop the flow of tears, so that he can see what he’s doing. He wipes the tears from his eyes with the back of his wrist, and pushes through the door into the hallway.

  He needs Gyatso. 

  He needs Gyatso right now.

  When he leaves, Aang doesn’t bother closing the door to his dormitory behind him.

  The hallway is long and dark, and the heavy pounding of rain surrounds Aang on all sides. The tile is cold and just a little damp from the humidity, and the soles of his feet stick to it as he tiptoes down the hallway.

  Thunder cracks and rumbles overhead, and Aang flinches every time lightning flickers. The memory of light and pain from his dream hasn’t gone away yet, and halfway down the hall Aang breaks into a sprint.

  He runs as fast as he can, past the tall arched windows empty of any glass, the tall windows that have never bothered him once in his very short life, the tall windows he now hides from when the white lightning streaks across the sky.

  At the end of the hallway, Monk Gyatso’s door is cracked invitingly, quiet laughter and a single stripe of warm golden light beckoning Aang on. He isn’t able to come to a complete stop before sliding into the door, and the door swings open as he falls on his butt.

  The door thuds against the wall. 

  Inside Gyatso’s quarters, the game of Pai Sho comes to a halt. Aang blinks in the bright light spilling from the room, and stumbles to his feet again, launching himself at Gyatso’s legs. The tile falls from Gyatso’s hand, hitting against the table with a clatter, and there’s a warm hand rubbing his shoulder. Aang feels tears in his eyes again, and tries to dash them away with his wrist before anyone sees.

  “Aang?” Gyatso asks, and Aang buries his face further into the fabric of Gyatso’s robes. There’s some concerned murmuring from the other monks in the room—Aang can’t make out their words, or distinguish between their voices, the fabric muffles everything too much— and then he is being lifted up into Gyatso’s arms.

  “Aang, are you alright?” Aang lifts his face from where he’s buried it in the shoulder of Gyatso’s robe, and mutely shakes his head. Gyatso rubs his back and tries again. “What’s wrong?”

  A thunderclap splits the air, and Aang’s grip on Gyatso’s robe tightens.

  “Is it the storm?” asks Gyatso softly, as he continues to rub Aang’s back.

   It’s not the storm, not really, but it’s as good a reason as any and Aang doesn’t want to explain the nightmare. So he nods, and tries to steady his breathing out, attempting to match each breath to the movement of Gyatso’s hand on his back.

  “Not very talkative, is he?” asks one of the other monks in the room. Aang winces, and Gyatso sighs, adjusting Aang in his arms.

  “Not when he’s upset, no, which is understandable. Now, if you’ll excuse me everyone, I have a wayward charge to return to bed.” Gyatso stands up and Aang buries his head against his mentor's neck, counting his breaths. He’s stopped crying, but he’s still shaking.

  The trip back down the hallway is much shorter than the first time.

   Gyatso had taken a candle with them, and the light turns the rain outside to drops of gold against the darkness. Gyatso’s feet are bare, like Aang’s, so there is very little sound in the hallway aside from the ever-present drumming drone of the rain.  

  Aang’s glad that Gyatso hadn’t bothered to put him down for the walk back to his room. His teacher’s heartbeat is comforting, especially when another bolt of lightning crackles across the sky outside.

  Gyatso sets Aang down on his bed, and then bends down to pick up the tangled sheets from the floor. He raises an eyebrow while shaking them straight.

  “Nightmares again, Aang?” he asks gently. Aang shrinks in on himself and nods. 

  “I’ll leave the candle then.” Aang hums gratefully. Gyatso tucks the sheets around him again, and turns to leave, so Aang reaches out and catches Gyatso’s sleeve.

   “Don’t go, please.” 

  It’s the first thing that Aang has said out loud all night, and he bites his lip, not sure that Gyatso even heard him, but not wanting to repeat himself. He relaxes when Gyatso sits down in the chair near the bed instead of continuing out the door.

  “ ‘m sorry that I can’t sleep, Gyatso,” Aang says. Because he is, because it’s not fair to Gyatso that he keeps asking him to stay. He’s six, not a baby, he should be better than this. “It jus’ hurts,” he mumbles, the words feeling thick in his throat. The tears threaten to make a comeback, so Aang quickly sniffs them away.

  “It’s not your fault, Aang. We can’t control what our minds choose to show us at night. All we can do is reach out to the people we love. They will always be willing to help, if we are just brave enough to ask.” Gyatso pauses, and Aang picks at his sheets. There’s a thread coming loose, and he pokes at it, trying to put it back into the weave.

  There’s a heartbeat of silence between them. “Well...since you can’t sleep, and I’m here to stay for a while...why don’t I tell you a story?” Aang looks up in surprise.

  “Yes please!” Aang says, perhaps just a little too quickly. Gyatso’s stories are the best. Aang folds his hands on his chest, and tries to look attentive, but it probably looks a little weird, because Gyatso laughs.

  “Now,” Gyatso hums and taps his chin. “Which story to tell?” he pauses, and Aang is about to request his favorite story, when Gyatso starts talking again. 

  “Ahh...I know which story is best for tonight.” Thunder rumbles outside. “It involves a storm, just like this one, and a pair of foolish young airbenders.” Aang sucks in a big breath of air, and settles in, bright eyed and smiling for the first time since his nightmare, to listen.

  “This is no ordinary story, Aang,” Gyatso starts solemnly. “I can promise to you that every word I tell you will be true. There will be no exaggerations, no distortions of a truth lost to time, none of the ambiguity. After all, this story isn’t quite a story, but something that happened to me and one of my closest friends.” Aang gasps quietly. Gyatso doesn’t tell stories about himself often— his stories mostly take place thousands of years before Aang was even born.

  “Before I start, I suppose I should tell you a little about Roku— he’s the friend that accompanied me on this adventure, and much of the story won’t make sense unless I tell you about him.”

  “Roku and I met when I was fifteen. He was two years older than me, but he wasn’t a particularly good airbender yet, so it had been decided that he would be taught alongside us, instead of his peers. Roku took it well, but then he was easy-going. With an excellent sense of humor too— if you managed to get  it out from behind his shell. We became friends quickly, after an embarrassing incident where we got locked in the bison stables together.” 

  There’s something unusual about the situation with Gyatso’s friend, but Aang can’t quite put his finger on it, and Gyatso moves on before he can figure it out.

  “This story begins on a very clear day. All the students had been told that there was a storm coming though, and the older monks and masters had told us to help prepare, locking down the stables, and securing windows. Roku and I finished with our tasks early— he was taller, but I’d been helping out around the temple for longer, so we were an evenly matched, efficient pair.”

  “We were finished with all of our chores, but there wasn’t anything else to do. So Roku came up with an idea— we could go glider-racing, and be back before anyone else finished. Nobody would know. And, young and foolish as I was, I agreed.”

  “Things were fine, as we snuck our gliders out of our dormitories, and got down to the cliffside. Things were fine, and the winds were good, and we barely had to bend to pick up speed. Things were fine— we stayed low, weaving among the valleys, so close that we could almost touch the grass, and nobody spotted us, as we made our escape. Barely any time had passed at all before we were out of sight of the temple, and could finally rise up into the clouds.”

  “The storm came on quickly, threatening cumulonimbus and dark stratocumulous appearing from wispy cirrus and nebulous nimbostratus. Before we knew it, we were caught in winds stronger than anything we’d tried flying in before. And this time, there was no possible escape— if we lost control of our gliders, we would fall into the ocean, into the merciful hands of the waves, and drown.”

  “Rain followed quickly after the wind. It lashed against anywhere our skin was exposed, cold and stinging. I could barely see Roku, and we were flying as close together as we could without our flight-panels colliding. I had no idea what to do. Neither did Roku. The wind lifted us higher into the sky.” “For the longest time, all we could do was hold on.”

  “That’s when I came up with an idea. It was a crazy idea, and there were no guarantees that it would even work, but what else could we do? So I shouted my plan to Roku, trying to quiet the roaring wind so that he could hear me.” “Now, Aang, before I tell you how we broke free of the storm, I want you to make me a promise.” Aang nods, eager to hear the rest of the story.

  “Promise me that you won’t attempt this maneuver, unless you’re trapped in a life-or-death situation like we were.” Gyatso’s eyes are intent on Aang, and Aang nods again.

  “I promise,” he whispers. Gyatso smiles, and leans back, stroking his mustache contemplatively.

  “Now… where was I? Ah—yes, we were spiraling through the storm, barely able to hold on to our gliders, afraid to let go, lest we drown in the angry waters below.”

  “My plan was to take the two gliders, and fold the panels of one in. With double the weight on one glider, we’d stop being buffeted around by the winds, and be able to at least make progress toward the edge of the cloud.”

  “And just like that, gliders pinned between us, we dove and dove, and then finally burst out of the stormcloud. We were too far away from the temple to attempt to return, and we were losing height quickly. There was only one speck of land on the horizon. A small island, with what looked like a small town on the far side. Roku and I looked at each other, and came to an agreement: we were going to try to land there.”

  “Hang on—I didn’t know there was an island nearby,” Aang says, broken free of the story’s spell.

   Gyatso reaches up and fiddles with the end of his mustache, rolling it between his fingers. His eyes aren’t really focused on anything, and Aang doesn’t understand why he looks so sad.

  “You didn’t know because the island isn’t there anymore, Aang.” Aang frowns. “But it’s an island. How can it not be there anymore? Islands don’t move.” Gyatso laughs. It’s bitter and nothing like his normal laughter. “Islands don’t move, you’re right. But they can sink—”Gyatso answers, before cutting himself off, “-and let’s finish this story before we start another.” “Okay, but promise you’ll tell me what happened to the island after?” Aang asks. “I promise.” 

  Gyatso has that look on his face that some of the other teachers get when they promise something they don’t really want to promise, and are secretly hoping Aang will forget the promise after they make it. 

  He’s never seen that look on Gyatso before. 

  Gyatso clears his throat, and continues the story, but the sad look lingers in his eyes.

  “As I was saying, we didn’t glide so much as crash into the island. The panels on our gliders had been shredded completely by the landing, so we were stranded in a strange place, without any way of getting home. Luckily, neither of us were badly hurt. The worst injury that either of us received was a  large bruise, though the location of it was rather unfortunate. There was only one thing that we could do—start walking.”

  “So we did.”

  “The forest was dark and swampy, full of all sorts of insects that wanted to take a bite out of us. It was handy that Roku was a firebender, as he was able to create a little smokescreen, keeping the worst of the bugs away-”

  “Gyatso-” Aang interrupts. He’d normally never even think about doing that but- “You said Roku was an airbender. He couldn’t have been a firebender too, only the Avatar can bend more than one element.” Gyatso chuckles, and the last of the hollow look on his face from Aang asking about the island fades away.

  “You are right of course, only the Avatar can bend more than one element, “ Aang could have sworn that Gyatso winked at him just then, but he’s not completely sure. Gyatso clears his throat, and keeps going.

  “However we managed to do it, we got through the forest with only a few bites, and before we knew it, we were in front of a town. The town looked as though it had seen better days, but it felt cheery and warm.”

  “Roku and I split up to try to find a way to get our gliders patched up. Neither of us had money or something to barter for the supplies with, so it was going to be difficult. I wasn’t able to find anything. Roku didn’t either, but what he found was more important.”

  “Apparently the island that we’d crash-landed on was very prone to earthquakes, and they’d had one not long before we landed. Perhaps it had even happened while we were still trying to escape the storm, but I can’t say for certain. This island was also a dormant volcano, one that had been so dormant and stable, that people had built right in the caldera, since it was a lovely lake surrounded by rich and fertile soil. When the earthquake had hit, it reawakened the volcano.”

  “While Roku and I had been separated, he’d met someone who lived in the caldera who had been coming into the village for help. There was lava pouring from vents that had been sealed for generations, and there was a family trapped on one of the paths. Roku had immediately agreed to help, and doubled back to find me.”

  “And so the two of us set off down the path toward the volcano, hoping that we weren’t too late...” Aang yawns, and blinks tiredly. He’s trying to pay attention to the story, the story is starting to get good… but he’s just so very tired all of a sudden… so sleepy…

    That night Aang has a strange dream. It starts with him closing his eyes, in his own bed, while he watches from across the room like a stranger. Gyatso is still talking, but it sounds garbled, like he’s underwater. Then he looks down at Aang and smiles, before reaching out to take the candle from the side of the bed.

  “Goodnight, Aang,” he says, and smooths the covers down one last time, before turning to leave the room. Aang can hear him clearly this time.

  Then Aang is suddenly no longer floating across the room, but instead looking into blackness, before he opens his eyes. 

  He’s in his bed, and it feels like he’s awake, but at the same time he must still be dreaming, because it feels like there’s someone else in here with him. That never happens while he’s awake.

  Aang opens his mouth to speak.

  “You know, I’m pretty sure the story didn’t go like that.” The words don’t belong to him, and neither does the voice, a deep, rich, and rounded tenor that crackles with age. It’s nothing at all like Aang’s own voice, and he’s not even sure how a voice like that could come out of his body. As he floats there, disconnected from his own body, Aang feels a strange surge of triumph when Gyatso stiffens across the room. ‘

  Aang’s not sure the triumph belongs to him either. 

  His mentor stands frozen in the open arch of the doorway. When he hears the voice he turns, ever so slowly, back towards Aang. His hands are trembling at his sides, and he seems surprised to see Aang, like he’d been expecting someone else.

  “Roku?” Gyatso asks incredulously. 

  Roku— and wasn’t that the name of Gyatso’s friend in his story? Aang doesn’t know what’s going on, and he’s getting a little scared, before a lull of calm washes over him. Roku won’t hurt him— doesn’t answer Gyatso directly. “Nor, if I recall correctly, did the story have that ending. That was quite unconventional, as far as endings go. Much more like the beginning to a new adventure than anything else,” Roku continues. Gyatso swallows, and crosses the room, back to the side of Aang’s bed. He doesn’t look like he notices he’s moving.

  “We’re no strangers to unconventional endings though, are we, Gyatso?”

  Gyatso drops back into the chair with his eyes closed. His head tilts up a little, and it seems like he’s addressing the space above Aang’s head.

  “No, we certainly aren’t.”

  “You didn’t have to do this, you know. Perhaps this is a dead man’s arrogance talking, but I never asked this of you,” Roku says quietly, and his words are tinged with sadness.

  “No you didn’t ask me, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have to. And while there is a part of me that watches over him in your memory, Roku, understand that I do it for Aang himself too. I love the boy for who he is, for himself, Roku. Never doubt that.” Gyatso begins, more than a little anger in his tone.

  “I wasn't trying to imply- I am beyond grateful that it’s you, that you’re here for him while he needs you, Gyatso. The way that you were there for me, when I needed you. I know you will be able to give him the childhood he deserves,” Roku says.

  Gyatso doesn’t respond for a moment.

  “You always said that you wished you’d had a longer childhood, that being at the temple was one of the first times you’d felt free since starting your Avatar training.”

  “I hoped that Aang could have that— he has none of the other pressures you had, and it seemed like I could give him a good childhood. But the Elders don’t think we can afford to let Aang have that— there are angry echoes in the world, and they’ve already started pushing him as far and fast as he can go. They’re afraid for the world. And so am I, but Aang is a part of the world, and I cannot-” Gyatso stops, takes a deep breath and starts again. “I met you after you’d broken under the weight of your duty as Avatar. I can’t let the same thing happen to Aang. I can’t watch the same thing happen to Aang, not when I have this chance to stop it.”

  There’s a pause, and then Gyatso sighs heavily.

  “But even though I have tried to be there as much as I can, I can’t help feeling as though I have already failed,” he says, defeated.

  There’s a swirl of white, and then Aang isn’t in his bed any longer. Neither is his body. Instead an old Fire Nation man, one about Gyatso’s age, floats where his body used to be. 

  The man doesn’t look real. 

  His colors are washed and faded, like a portrait that has been bleached by moonlight. He fades around the edges, when Aang tries to focus on him. Looking at the man for too long hurts Aang’s eyes, like they’re working so hard to fill in gaps, and make the man look like he belongs to their reality.

  Gyatso’s eyes are still closed. If anything, they are closed more tightly than before the old man appeared. The strange man sighs.

“You haven’t failed. Not at all.” Roku stops—because that has to be the identity of the strange old man—having realized something. “Ah. You’re worried about the dreams…”

  “I had never heard of someone waking from a dream screaming in pain before. Not until it started happening to my ward. Forgive me for my concern,” Gyatso replies dryly, and he still hasn’t opened his eyes.

  “We’ve been friends a very long time, Gyatso. You know as well as I, that time means less than nothing to Avatars. And while you weren’t around for this, I can assure you, it did happen to me as well. It terrified my parents at the time, because the idea that there are some things so painful that the body remembers echoes of them, though they haven’t even happened yet, and that those things will be happening to your son— it’s not an easy thing to accept.”

  Gyatso swallows, and there’s a stark look of grief on his face. Aang can’t move again. It’s not as scary as his last dream, but there’s nothing that he wants more in this moment than to give Gyatso a hug, and it’s frustrating that he can’t.

  “I think that perhaps, the harder thing to accept is that I will not be there to protect him from it.”

  There is a moment of silence between the two men. Finally, something in the room changes, like the air-pressure giving way as you travel up into the clouds.

  “We’re out of time again, aren’t we?” Gyatso asks, though it’s clear to everyone in the room— even Aang— that he already knew the answer. Roku doesn’t answer him. He doesn’t need to.

  “Take care, old friend,” Roku says instead, and then the misty white figure fades away, and Aang is relegated once again to simply floating in empty space across the room, watching as his body lies down and closes its eyes once again.

  “You’re right about one thing, old friend,” Gyatso takes a deep breath, finally opening his eyes. Aang notices the glimmer of tears in the corner of his eye. “We were never strangers to unconventional endings. But out of all the unconventional endings in the world, I never could have imagined this one.”

  Then everything fades to mist.

*************

    When the morning comes, the sky is clear and the storm is gone. The dawn light burns away the echoes of terror from the night before. Everything is new and fresh, the smell of ozone and lightning washed away by the rain.

  Aang can’t remember either of his dreams when he wakes up.

[akkeyagentofhelheim]

Singularity

Green silk wrapped around him in protection. Small hooves inspected his face. Dark wings obstructed the sky above. Familiar voices reached his ears, but they were murmured, unclear, inaudible. 

A veil covered all his senses, and no matter how hard he tried, he drifted further into unconsciousness as the final sparks of magic dissipated from the tips of his fallen fingers.

---

The soft white scenery before him was a stark, yet welcome contrast from the heavy darkness he had been in mere moments ago. Hazy shapes of rolling hills stood in the distance, varying amongst different light hues, in pastels and desaturated greys, as a flat surface of water stretched in between like a mirror. Juro stood on top of it, unsinking and alone, his usual layers absent and dressed in simple cotton garb, feet bare and forming small ripples every time he moved.

It was quiet. Comforting.

There was a tiny sound of a droplet into a puddle, then a familiar, ancient, dearly missed voice from behind him, “おかえりなさい, 鶴ちゃん。”

He slowly turned to face the two people that appeared, although he didn’t need to. He knew exactly who they were without even looking. His amber eyes glistened so brightly, a lump in his throat growing as he tried to form his words.

One step. Then another. It was a careful approach that was too afraid to make sudden movements, lest it sent them away when he least wanted it to.

“Jii-jii… Jurou-san…” his voice was tight, feeling somewhat like Yun as his chest was overwhelmed with a multitude of emotions that he couldn’t put any names to. He reached out with a trembling hand, and both Elder and Mentor took it with familiar lopsided grins dancing on their faces.

“I’m sorry we left you alone, Little Crane...” Roku said, his brow knitted slightly with guilt, “You suffered for so long by yourself…”

Juro inhaled sharply, shaking his head, “It… it’s not your fault! I was the one who didn’t listen and trusted the wrong person. I knew how dangerous this magic is, and I couldn’t control myself and it ended up ki--” He gasped, unable to speak the words out loud. His Mentor let his hand go with a sad sigh, and placed it on top of his bowed head, one of the few people who ever towered over his lanky height and made him seem small.

“It was nobody’s fault but your abusers, Jin. They were evil, cruel people who took advantage of you, and you took all of the pain in silence,” Jurou spoke quietly, “We tried our best, but in the end we couldn’t do much for you. Our biggest regret was leaving you behind…”

Roku pulled the anguished man closer to him, coming only up to his chin in his old age, “We had hoped you would find liberty and hope despite our absence, and know your self worth, but…”

“I lost my way…” Juro rasped, knowing.

Jurou tightened his grip on his student’s head, wrapping him in a one handed hug as the Elder also placed a secure arm around the Bookkeeper’s shoulders, “You did, for a while…” They stayed in embrace like that for a moment.

“But now you found it again…” 

A teal thread slowly appeared, floating and twisting around them as a whole, the end of the line trailing away from them and fading into the distance, like a compass, a path to follow home.

Former Bookkeepers carefully let him go, stepping away from him. Juro tried to stay with them, but something pulled him back, gliding serenely on the tensed surface, the distance between them increasing.

“They’re good people, Little Crane. Let yourself live as you want to. Don’t hold yourself back anymore.” Juro called for them, but they were too far now.  Their final words were full of love, and happiness for him.

“Goodbye, Shou Lao Jin.”

---

His hand found wood as the last breaths of their names died on his lips, long slender hands clutched against the ink stained grains of a Bookkeeper table. Juro lifted his head, taking in the new scenery he was in, a familiar underground office that was set within the hills of Hakata, owned and used frequently by an Elder during his mundane bookkeeping days. The edges of the room faded into white, the ground still dipped in the same mirror-like surface, books and scrolls scattered in haphazard piles, reminiscent of his own organizational system.

Juro exhaled shakily, forlorn and bittersweet, yet happy with the encounter. He recognized pen and ink and journal from his childhood, some of which he had used, but mostly not as they belonged to the rest of his family, the Bookkeepers.

He felt a presence behind him again, and he made to turn, but he was stopped by a pale, ink stained hand on the back of his shoulder.

“Stay, Juro.”

His brow creased as he recognized his own voice, then he understood. He pressed his lips together, “You’re me. Your chain broke.”

It was a moment before the quiet reply, “...yes.”

His shoulders sagged with deep regret, “I--”

“Please don’t.” More broken Bookkeepers appeared. They watched the Original, kindness and understanding emanating from them, “It’s unfortunate, but… we have no regrets. We lived and we learned and we wrote, and we are grateful to you.”

They dissolved, fading into white in succession, “Live well.”

Juro whirled around as the last dredges of their forms dissipated. Through the fading light stepped another figure, another Bookkeeper, one hand coming up to tuck a long fringe under his ear as mirrored souls observed each other in their bright surroundings.

It was J who spoke first, brow furrowed moodily, “Why could I not tell Yun that you could control it if you tried?”

The silence was tense for a while, amber warring with amber, before Juro slowly replied, “It was an enchantment.” He leaned against the edge of Roku’s table, fingers woven and clasped before him, “I was unaware that I even did it… but I subconsciously cast it so that we would all forget that it was possible.”

“Why?” J’s voice was even.

“Because…” Juro hesitated, “Because I didn’t want to help myself. I felt that this was the only way for me to exist, and I wasn’t worth any other way. I thrived in the loneliness. It’s what I thought I deserved.”

Quiet fell around them again as Juro avoided his alternate self’s gaze. It was a few moments before J shifted in his spot, “I understand.”

Juro looked up to see his soft, familiar smirk back at him, blonde locks falling loosely over slanted eyes. J tilted his head, a finger placed on his lips in thought, “I would have done the same thing.”

“I’m waking up now. I have something very important to tell someone,” he turned on his heel after a while, and approached the door at the far side that Juro didn’t notice before. He stopped before passing the threshold, adjusting the scarf around his shoulder, “Thank you, to you and Yun, for saving us.” He glanced back with a grateful smile, then left.

Juro wasn’t sure how much time ticked by when Rou appeared before him.

The half-bare Bookkeeper came right up to him, leaning in far too close for comfort as a crane embroidered robe slipped off his shoulders, “I’ve always wondered how it is to get with my clone.”

Juro blinked, then chuckled, unable to help himself. He was slowly coming to understand who he was bound to meet in this dream space, and began to slip back into his charming demeanour, yet now it was more genuine than a facade. Perhaps it was because he was talking to himself, in a sense.

“I do not. At all,” he gently pushed Rou back by the shoulder, widening the gap between them by a little, “Are you waking up soon?”

Lined amber eyes met with his. Rou’s face split into an intoxicating smile, “Yes. I have visitors that I very rudely kicked out. I…” he paused, “I’m going outside to find them. I can now.”

Juro’s mouth opened slightly, before his face split into a wider smirk, “Of course.”

Rou returned the grin, then disappeared.

Seconds and minutes were irrelevant as more of himself appeared in the liminal space.

A hooded Bookkeeper stood very tall and serious, merely announcing his intentions then leaving immediately. One with extremely platinum hair and an unsettling smile asked of Yun’s condition, then disappeared. Next was a blindfolded man, who spoke to him with the prettiest tones, ringing low and clear even in the small confines of the pseudo-Library. Then another who was identical, save for the blindfold, and replaced with heavy circles under his eyes instead--Juro sent him off with some amused concern. A pirate, then a nix, and a very tall, majestic crane half breed. A very enthusiastic, well kept Bookkeeper holding a pastry in his hand as a gift, promising more extensive lists of a bakery menu for the database. He could’ve also sworn he saw one with tears spilling down his cheeks out of the corner of his eye, but that version was gone before he could speak to him.

Laughter rang out in his little room as twin sets of feet pattered on the mirrored floor. They took each of his hands in theirs, their boyish faces wide with excited grins.

“Will Yun come to visit?”

“Will he come see us?”

Juro squeezed their hands in reply, a small smile dancing on his, “I’m sure he would.”

Jin and Ren nodded, satisfied, then went back out the door they came from, each receiving a gentle pat on the head with slender hands swathed in the finest silk robes as they passed. He approached Juro, slow and elegant, long hair tied loosely over his shoulder as he regarded the Original over thin spectacles.

“Lao Jin,” the Emperor smiled.

“Lao Ren,” Juro returned.

“Your Milae is waiting.”

“So is yours.”

A small laugh escaped their lips.

“I will be taking my leave, then,” the Emperor’s voice was tender, as he, too, vanished.

The quiet that remained was present, not heavy, but it was difficult to ignore. He didn’t meet them all, for more than half of the millions were duplicates, offshoots, the same soul with a slightly different path. Still, he was visited by many.

There was one more left.

“You’re the last one.”

Juro’s tone was low, careful, but gentle, and kind, and melancholy. He was staring at his hands as a black combat boot came into his peripheral, and his face twisted into a small smile, lifting his head slowly as amber locked with amber.

They stood across from each other, nearly identical at first glance, although Jin was a touch more slender and a touch less rough. The Original and the Worst, Bookkeepers at opposite ends of the multiverse, yet the most similar to each other amongst any of their alternate selves.

“I’m sor--” Juro attempted to speak, but Jin tilted his head in interruption. The corner of the former’s mouth quirked up, and stopped his thought there. There was no need for any form of apology, from anyone.

It was Jin who broke the silence this time, “How’s Yun?”

“He’s resting.”

The sniper’s shoulders relaxed, crooked grin wide on his face, no longer hiding his fondness for the seidkonur, “Did he kick her ass?”

“...yes.”

“Was he cool?”

Juro nodded, returning the smirk, “Very much so.”

Jin hummed in satisfaction. Then he asked, “Are you waking up soon?”

“Good. I’ll be waiting,” Jin’s voice echoed as their surroundings intensified, brighter and brighter until Juro’s vision went completely, overwhelmingly white, and they all disappeared.

The Original raised a brow. He was the first to ask him, instead of the other way around. Juro lowered his lashes as he spoke, “I don't know if I can..." Faded lines ran up his right side.

"Don't give me that shit." It was curt, "I didn't come here to see you give up on yourself again. Not after the incredible stunt you and Yun just pulled."

Juro silently pressed his lips together as the sniper continued with a stubborn smirk, "I'm not waking up until you do. And you know Yun will be extremely upset if I don't, so you better get your crap together."

He laughed genuinely, his voice clear within the silence of the dreamscape, "Yes sir."

---

He wasn’t quite out of unconsciousness just yet, he could tell. There was a tent, several cots, the touch of borrowed clothes on his skin as he rested, the fatigue in his entire left side laying very heavily on him, while feeling absolutely nothing on his right. His ears picked up on sounds, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what they were.

Save for a single voice, twanging in Wildersouth Caprinae accents.

“Really a fuckin’ mess, ya are. I’ll take care of it. Just say hi to Goat Dude for me.”

Then she was no more.

[shajeerap]

5 DIY troubleshooting tips you can fix the Roku white light blinking issue. Try these methods before visitting to replaceyour device

[zenonaa]

AU

Set in Croatian Rhapsody, AKA an AU where the DR1 cast become Remnants of Despair instead with ‘Clover’ being a brainwashed Naegi.

Kiyotaka lay on his side on a stretcher, curled up and hugging a green hoodie against his chest. Through the window, bloody clouds could be seen dominating the sky, shaded purple in places but predominantly red. These days, the sky was always red. But Kiyotaka wasn’t looking at the window, or at anything, alone in what had been a classroom with a stretcher rescued from a hospital.

The door opened with a creak, yet Kiyotaka didn’t stir. He stayed perfectly still even as whoever had breached his sanctuary walked over.

“Are you asleep, Ishimaru-kun?” the visitor asked.

That voice belonged to Clover: a blond guy around Kiyotaka’s age despite the notably shorter height, with faded blue eyes and a polite tone that never wavered from its airy quality. Kiyotaka tensed. If he had his way, he would have stayed as he was, but the prickling in his skin like cockroaches writhing advised him otherwise so he sat up.

Regardless of how dim the room was, with no artificial lighting, Clover would have seen the dark circles under Kiyotaka’s eyes, as well as the permanent tremor in his face as he verged on collapsing into tears without ever reaching that point. He would have noticed Kiyotaka’s unwashed scent and rumpled uniform of a now defunct academy.

“You’re not going to be of any use here,” chirped Clover. “You’ve been in this room all week. You might as well be cut up and served in a stew if you’re just going to lie in here all the time, or maybe you could donate your skin to Togami-kun’s cape. Come with me.”

Clover gestured at Kiyotaka as he turned away. Kiyotaka wordlessly followed him out of the room, holding the green hoodie under his arm. They emerged into a wooden corridor, with stained plank flooring and large framed windows that let in light, tinting everything in its hue. A slate of black chalkboard hung above the door to the classroom, suspended by metal hooks. His name was written on it in white paint.

The building used to be a regular junior high school until its abrupt shutdown. Junko, who after the tragedy became their class’ unofficial leader, had wanted them to use the old school building at Hope’s Peak as their official base, but the headmaster shut himself in there first with a different class. A high level security system involving machine guns, rocket launchers and landmines prevented anyone from getting close, let alone breaking in, so for the time being, Kiyotaka and the others had stationed themselves in a city across the country.

Roku Junior High, this place had been called. Clover walked ahead of Kiyotaka, his hands behind his back, and Kiyotaka dragged his feet.

They turned into another corridor, then another, before arriving at a door that Clover opened. It seemed like an ordinary classroom at a glance, but on longer inspection, other details seeped in, like the broken desks, upturned chairs and blood splatters everywhere. While Kiyotaka lingered in the doorway, Clover walked to the other side of the room where broken windows took up most of the wall.

“Look outside, Ishimaru-kun,” said Clover without turning back.

Kiyotaka approached in his trance-like state. Beyond the courtyard, bordered with barbed walls, lay a ruined city. Torn up streets greeted Kiyotaka’s dull eyes. Bodies and debris decorated them like sprinkles on a sundae drenched in strawberry sauce.

Clover waved toward the outside world. “What do you think of this?”

“It’s madness,” croaked Kiyotaka.

“Madness? What do you mean by that?”

“Like... chaos,” explained Kiyotaka. His voice rasped.

“You mean like disorderly? Hard to understand? Unpredictable?”

“Yes.”

Clover stared at him for a while. He turned back to the window.

“Ever since the tragedies of Hope’s Peak, the world has fallen deeper into despair,” remarked Clover. “Everywhere you look, there is war. Famine. Death. Conquest.”

Kiyotaka didn’t respond, so Clover elaborated.

“Do you know what they want to do?” Clover asked him. “They want to consume the world in their filth.”

In this case, ‘they’ referred to everyone else. It meant the people who had worshipped Hope’s Peak, who rolled around gleefully in its corruption and who took away Kiyotaka’s precious friend. He could still see the fire that devoured Makoto, surrounded by masked people who could be anyone. Everyone.

Clover reached up to cup Kiyotaka’s cheek. Kiyotaka stiffened and breathed in, but he didn’t breathe out.

“They will triumph if you don’t take a stand against them,” said Clover. He stroked Kiyotaka’s cheek with his thumb. “Ishimaru-kun, you have dedicated your life to enforcing rules, but what if those rules that society has set up don’t apply to everyone? What if some are morally wrong? What if they are poison in society?”

Kiyotaka mouthed something, but even Kiyotaka didn’t know what he was meant to be saying. His chest tightened, and the taste in his mouth was like the black mould growing in the room.

“What use are rules if the people who make them don’t follow them?” asked Clover. His lashes fluttered as he drew out his thin smile wider. “Or... if the people enforcing them don’t follow them? It is said that some people must make the rules, others must enforce them and a third group must deal the punishments. However, what if society all belongs to the same, dirty system?”

Without realising, Kiyotaka had leaned into Clover’s cold hand.

“What can we do?” said Kiyotaka, his heart racing.

“There can’t be order when there is also corruption. We must push back. We must deliver justice. We must punish those who have hurt us and remove them. They have no place in our ideal world. Ishimaru-kun, you have suffered because of society’s corruption. You must restore order.” Colours seemed to swirl in Clover’s eyes, or maybe it was Kiyotaka’s vision that did. Kiyotaka’s legs felt weak but he remained standing. “Ishimaru-kun, you can help shape this world into a just world. You, an honest, hard-working individual with a clear sense of right and wrong. You can teach and inspire the next generation and eliminate all those who threaten us.”

Clover placed his other hand on Kiyotaka’s waist.

“I believe in you, Ishimaru-kun,” he said.

In that moment, Kiyotaka was reminded of someone. Of one of his classmates, with short brown hair and faded hazel eyes. Who didn’t make fun of him for his awkwardness, instead agreeing to help him with his social skills and offering friendship despite Kiyotaka’s family’s shame. Who didn’t care about that. Who taught him to have fun, who encouraged and supported him and loved him and who he loved back.

Kiyotaka’s recollection of Makoto crumbled as he blinked, and Clover stood before him once more in a melancholy classroom. He felt his face warm and turned his head away.

“Sorry. You reminded me of someone,” said Kiyotaka. Clover turned Kiyotaka’s head back and when Clover pulled him into a kiss, Kiyotaka shifted but didn’t back away, and the green hoodie under his arm finally fell to the floor.

[jolivira]

I can’t believe I did it!

The final chapter of my Legend of Korra fanfiction: Sacrifice for a Lost Cause

Chapter 9

COSMIC ENERGY

It was finally time. Korra was as ready as she ever would be.

She had left Naga at the Water Palace. Despite the strong resistance from the polar bear-dog, eventually she gave in and agreed to stay behind. As she was leaving, Korra tried her best not to see or be seen by anyone, in special her parents; she knew that if she encountered them, even for a mere second, she would want to give up on her quest.

A few hours later and she was crossing the spirit portal and heading to the opposite portal. Korra carried nothing but the clothes on her body, everything else had been left with Naga.

Once in the Northern Water Tribe, she followed her gut and headed to the place that had the biggest spiritual presence in their culture, since the very first days of the avatar: the Spirit Oasis, home to probably the strongest and most important spirits for waterbenders in general. Tui and La.

Days ago during their meeting, masters Tenzin and Jinora had refused to give their personal opinion on the last chakra. They offered advice on how to proceed with the meditation itself, explained to her where Aang had failed and, most importantly, why. But they never suggested a place to go like they had with all the other ones.

The crown chakra was special, the hardest type of energy to set free to roam through your body. Some call it the bridge from the human mind to the universe as a whole, she also knew what it would lead to happen.

The world needed it to happen.

Korra walked through the tall temple that marked the entrance to the Oasis. It was the first time she had ever seen it but she could sense a strong familiar pull towards it.

Her breath was immediately taken away by the beauty of the place. Past the circular wooden door was a big lake protecting a small grass patch and the Koi Fish Pond, as it was called. None of the bodies of water here were frozen, in fact the air was miraculously warm and cozy, somehow the open sky there presented brighter stars than in the other parts of the land.

The two bridges that led to the pond were small and looked extremely fragile. Ancient. The waterfall that stood behind the temple had a constant flow of water but Korra couldn’t hear any sound coming from it.

Once she reached the end of the short bridge, Korra took off her boots before stepping on the grass.  As her skin came in contact with the leaves, Korra felt strong energy waves running through her body, she was surrounded by purity of it. She approached the circular pond and observed the structure that stood behind it: a traditional spiritual gate engraved on wood to symbolize the merging overlap between the physical and spiritual worlds.

About 50 years ago, Aang had meditated here to seek the spirits’ help. And on the same day Princess Yue gave up her life to save the Moon Spirit, at this place they became one. Or better, they went back to one being.

Seemed appropriate as a closure to her journey. Whether it would end up to be heroic like Aang’s story or tragic like Yue’s, that was another matter entirely. It was honouring to see everything with her own eyes. Korra respectfully bowed to the Koi Fish; Tui and La were swimming in a perfect circle, their eternal dance where balanced opposite forces pushed and pulled, never touching and never getting further away from each other.

Korra then sat under the wooden spirit gate, she settled in full lotus position and took a deep breath closing her eyes, calming her interior. A second later she opened them and saw it:

They were all there, every single one, she was sure. Across from the pond in front of Korra, floating just centimeters above the lake, light spirit forms of all the avatars were sitting cross-legged in deep meditation. Some were old people, the centuries old masters, but it also surprised her to see two or three very young children there as well. They all stood together in the same glory and sharing of the same will.

She recognized some faces: Aang was right in the front alongside avatar Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk and Yangchen. Korra couldn’t see all of them, but she managed to recognize Yutae and Zei Kan a little farther in the back. Lishiamo and Wan were probably reaching the entrance of the lake as there were about one hundred faded white figures. Looking again, the spirits all seemed to be in a peaceful sleep state.

Seeing them all there, patiently waiting for a reunion with Raava and Korra’s spirit, it all made her head go dizzy and her heart sorrowful. They were so close now… she needed to succeed.

Korra interlaced her fingers with the ring finger pointing up, right thumb on top of the left one. She lifted her hands to the height of her chin to complete the om mudra. Her eyes focused directly on the past avatars, barely blinking. She took a deep breath and meditated on the crown chakra on the very top of her head.

Very few people in the Four Nations’ history had become a Mahatma, that is, a Great Soul. A person that opened the last chakra successfully and lived the rest of their lives as a guru. They all had the same characteristics though: they learned to separate anxiety for the future, from the reality of the present; unanswered questions such as “what is my place?” and “why am I here?” had vanished for them, losing all meaning. By connecting to the Universe, there was no reason to worry or wonder about the impossible. Some isolated themselves looking to find peace while many walked the world to share their wisdom with others. They all had no attachments to their life nor any fear of dying, walking miles barefoot and only carrying water with them.

Korra’s focus now was to think like them, aspire to become one of them. The avatar must put the world’s needs before their own personal beliefs, and that meant Korra had to leave it all behind. Without the knowledge of the past, the future would most certainly lead to chaos, as true balance demanded sacrifices.

She thought of what attached her to this world, what mattered most to her, what would make Korra give up everything for?

From the high stars above, Korra saw specs of light shooting down like meteors. Their glow was significantly different from the avatars’, these were sharper and had a silver aura to them. The shiny lights danced in the air and moved freely around.

The more the lights moved, the more definition they gained to their shapes and forms. One of the flashes reached the pond and circled the water following Tui and La’s rhythm. A few seconds passed by quickly and four figures shot from the water.

Standing in front of her, Korra saw Toph and Lin and right behind them were Bolin and Mako. Each one had influenced her life in a unique way, they all had shared their own strength with her. Korra loved and admired them deeply.

She stayed still as they walked past her, crossing her physical body with their silver essence. Each one that passed she could feel a pull at her heart and stomach. Korra fought the urge of looking back to see them go once the four of them had crossed. She couldn’t look back, it would be the proof that she wasn’t ready, that she wasn’t able to go through with it.

Korra took a deep breath and watched as another light shape sprint through the skies as it circled the pond. First, three spirits merged from it, then later another two. She saw Katara’s old figure, her hunched back and her braided hair; beside her were Tenzin and Pema. The three of them symbolized her past with Aang, but they were also her support, her reinforcement and encouragement to keep going and to keep fighting. They had taught her how to protect herself and how to love others. It hurt even more to imagine them leaving.

The three of them passed through her at the same time, she felt every inch as they got closer, every step they took towards her. And then they were gone.

Korra had no time to think or regret her choice once the next two spirit forms in front of her started marching as well. Her parents.

Senna and Tonraq were smiling, they looked proud of their humble beginnings and proud of Korra’s many achievements. They were at the core of her origins and the ones she needed to show the outermost respect and gratitude for their consistent care.

Instead of walking though, the image of her parents’ memories reached down and engulfed Korra’s body in a hug. She felt their spirits fading through her as the hug melted away from her grasp. Her heart beat faster and her breathing stopped for a second. She couldn’t see, but she had to feel the intense pain as they went. It finally made the tears start forming in Korra’s eyes, both from the physical and psychological pain she was feeling in that moment.

Korra was now breathing harder, her eyes stung. She pushed past, ignoring all of it, focusing on the avatars in front of her: Zei Kan’s willpower reached her along with Lishiamo’s strength, reminding her of the purpose of this quest.

Although she had the thoughts clear in her mind, it didn’t stop the wet tears from rolling down her cheeks. Korra did not dare moving even an inch from the mudra and, regardless of her body begging her to stop, she kept going.

One more light descended to circle the pond and four more ghostly images, four pairs of feet gracelly touched the grass. Korra watched nostalgically as Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Rohan calmly paced around in her direction. Differently from the visions back at Makapu Village, the four of them were now grown up. They all had blue master tattoos except for Rohan, of course, who was still fifteen years old. Their expressions were soft, they wore the clothes Korra had last seen them on.

The air kids represented for Korra the bright future ahead, it was the safety of a nation she had fought tooth and nail to guarantee. She was their safeguard and their protector, looking out both for their physical and personal wellbeing. And thanks to their close relationship, the Air Nation was more prosperous now than it had been in the last 200 years. All thanks to these kids; kids that she would soon need to start referring to as adults.

When they passed through her body, it was like being tickled by a feather. Korra had never felt such gentle and light energy going through her before, and it only worsened the stinging pain on her stomach.

But again, refused to turn around and look back.

Then, the last one of the cosmic lights shot down to the pond, stronger and brighter than any of the previous ones. Korra observed as the light pulsated every other second until two spirits emanated from it, dissipating all of the light that was previously in the pond.

Naga and Asami were standing right in front of her. More tears started to roll down korra’s eyes as she was reminded of every good memory she ever had with them, and all of that she had learned to love and appreciate most in her life. Naga’s tail wagged from one side to another, Asami had her hand on the polar bear-dog’s head as she gently caressed it.

They slowly walked together in her direction. Naga went ahead running, she barked at Korra, which only made the woman chuckle and smile sadly at her companion. Once she jumped through Korra’s body, she saw all of their past together. The little pup she had saved from the freezing snow back in the South, she saw as Naga grew up and followed her everywhere she went. And she saw herself, not more than the day before, leaving her behind to finish the task.

Naga’s loyalty and unshaken love would still be there for her, forever.

Lastly, Asami walked silently in a slower pace than all of the others. Her spirit kneeled down as Korra felt a gentle hand on her cheek, wiping away some of the tears. A smile spread across her features and she reached up to lay a kiss on korra’s forehead.

Asami moved past Korra’s body, forcing her to say goodbye, to let go of all that she found beautiful and pure in the world. Naga’s and Asami’s spirits continued their walk, Korra could sense their breathing and their own sadness as it expanded and intensified, absorbing all of the Spirit Oasis in the sentiment. Korra closed her eyes for a second time, reminiscing all of their seconds spent together, all of that she had learned. She gave herself a few seconds to recompose, to regain her courage.

With one last deep breath, Korra let all of those attachments go, all of these people that would make her give everything up, disappearing and flowing far away from her.

Korra sensed her eyes glowing as she entered the avatar state, her spirit was transported to a different world, to a different spectrum made of ethereal matter and cosmic dust. All her tears and emotions were gone as she saw herself on a perfect rounded path made of light. At the end of the line there was a bigger Korra, a higher spirit of herself, shining in celestial pink and purple tones.

She started to walk in that direction, then she found herself sprinting down the line, running to reach her pure energy and to finally be connected. Korra extended her right arm towards it. Almost there. So so close.

Everything went white. Suddenly, all around her, everything was too bright.

Korra reopened her eyes. The avatars were still all there, and now they all had their eyes open as well. They weren’t floating in the distance anymore, they were close, becoming a part of her again.

Aang was the first to stand up, he stared directly at her eyes as he approached and kneeled just like Asami had. But instead of dissipating through her body, Aang spirit materialized inside of her, fusing with her and Raava’s. After that she felt them all, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen. One by one, she felt their minds merge, their lives becoming hers again. She was relieving each second and breathing in each one’s life.

It felt like an eternity. Wan was the last one, his spirit embraced her, sealing their souls together for eternity.

It all came at the same time:

Names, fears, stories, memories, lovers, enemies, villages, identities and so much more. Hundreds and hundreds of years of living, dying and being reborn. Death and doubt and hope and love. It came to a point where it was unbearable to Korra, she felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside, her mind was imploding. All at the same time. Her body and mind screamed together.

The figures and spirits now vanished. Korra was left to the shiny stars and the swimming of Tui and La. Alone. But not quite.

It was with that revelation that Korra’s weeping begun, her chest convulsed and her muscles ached on her skin. Every cell and every organ. Her limbs were weak and her mind was an unstoppable mess.

She did it. She had them back, reconnected by Raava’s light and Wan’s will. All of it, inside her again.

The cycle was finally, finally whole.

Korra’s sobbing could be heard through the rest of the night from that point. the avatar cried for everything that she had leaned with her past lives, cried for her fears and guilt that were finally lifted from her. She cried for those she lost today, and all of the infinite lives she received today.

For hours and hours, sobs and whimpers so strong no one had ever before thought possible.  

[sabraeal]

Do Not Go (Where I Cannot Follow): Part 3

It’s too bright here.

The light burns, it sears, and he cannot escape it. He has no body with which to shutter his eyes, with which to turn away. He is lighter than flesh, lighter than air, in a place where none of it matters because it is only him and the light. Whatever bonds tether him to the earth cannot touch him here.

He hates it.

Even without a body he struggles, he shakes, he strives. He doesn’t know this place, doesn’t want it. He needs to be with Miss, needs to keep her safe --

You’re all right.

That voice shakes him down to his bones, thrumming in his blood. He knows it, knows it in a deeper way than just simple recognition. This voice has unmade and then made him anew. It fills the cracks in him where shadows hide.

He has to reach it, has to find it, has to let it make him again. He surges against what binds him, fighting with whatever momentum he can make. He is an arrow in flight, he cannot be stopped.

Without coming any closer, the presence touches him, a cool hand to flesh that is no longer, and it --

It is thunder rolling through him; he is the world anew after a storm when it is finished, when it has filled him.

You are safe, Obi.

Ah. Ah, he should have know. It all makes sense now.

He is dead, finally.

All his struggles cease.

The pain is what wakes him, the second time.

A breath expands the cage of his ribs, and, ah, it is like death by a thousand cuts how every part of him tears. There can’t be this much pain in death.

So he’s alive. Good to know.

Obi peels his eyes open; like cloth left to dry over a wound, it hurts with every inch.

Ah, gods, but it’s bright in here. The blinds to every window are thrown open, letting in the rare Lyrias sun. He should be grateful -- he’s missed the damn thing, this past winter -- but all he can do now is blink away the afterimages burned onto his eyes, cussing softly. This is Miss’s doing, he can just tell.

Closing his eyes, he tilts his head away from the windows. When they open again, it’s Miss who fills his vision, body contorted awkwardly on her chair. Her knees are dragged up to her chest, one arm wrapped around her shins as she leans into the wooden arm. Her head rests against the nightstand, crimson strands spilling over the white cloth. Her other arm is outstretched, fingers tangled loosely in his.

He only feels them now, now that he’s looked down and reminded himself he’s got a body to keep track of. Her hand is so tiny in his, so pale. Her arm’s got to be numb by now, if she’s been sitting like that all night.

The light of morning gives her face a golden flush, and he should wake her, but -- but it’s like this where she most matches the portrait of her that he keeps in his heart; something earthly and strong, wise but not hardened. If only he could see her as Master does, as something ethereal and above reproach. It’s easy not to touch a woman on a pedestal, but when she stands beside him on solid ground --

It’s up to him to remember how far above him she is. And his miss makes it so easy to forget.

Her eyelashes flutter against her cheek, deep in dream. He could watch her forever like this, listening to the steady ebb and flow of her breath, seeing how the sunlight dapples her skin -- but there is a furrow in her brow, a tight set to her mouth. The night must have been rougher than he remembers. She’ll be eager to see her hands did good work.

His fingers are stiff, but it’s nothing to squeeze her hand, to rub a thumb over the slender bones that lie under the smooth silk of her skin. She snorts softly, startling awake. Her eyes immediately trace the line of her arm to his, and then up his chest to his face.

“Obi.” His name is little more than a breath, wrapped in the bleariness of sleep. “Am I dreaming?”

He perks up at that, eyebrows nudging his hairline. “Why, Miss, do you dream of me often? And shirtless, no less.”

A weak laugh bursts out from her, and she blinks the sleep from her eyes, . “You’re all right.”

He lifts his hand, gesturing to the mess of bandages that litters his chest. “Well, I’m not dead.”

What humor is in her face pulls flat. “It’s certainly not from trying.”

There’s a story in those words, a long night hiding behind the blankness of her mask, and he wants to reach out to her, wants to assure her he is here with her but --

But everything hurts. He’ll probably scream when he has to get up to piss. “What happened?”

Her mouth bears down in a grimace. Ah, perhaps he doesn’t want to know. “What do you remember?”

It’s more effort to recall the night before than he expects. The blade in his gut -- that’s vivid -- and so is laying in the clearing, Miss’s hands pressed tight to his wound. It gets fuzzy there, like the words they spoke together are packed with cotton. The sick room is familiar too, her hand threaded through his --

“Did you say you’d have Ryuu help poison me?” He shakes his head. “No, that’s can’t be right. You’d never tell me first. Too sloppy.”

A laugh huffs out of her. “So you remember after your surgery?”

“Barely.”

She nods, as if she expected it. “You were tired. I thought it was the sedative, but I should have noticed...”

There’s dark circles under her eyes, and a sickly pallor to her skin, and -- and this all happened in a night. “Miss --”

“Infection set in not long after that.” She recites the events as if they happened to someone else, as if she were giving Shidan her report. “Some of the flesh must have been...”

Her hand tightens around his. Her other is bone-pale where it clutches her skirt. “We lost you for a moment, in the middle of the night. It was --” Her voice breaks now, finally, and it is a deluge the way both words and tears come now. “It was only Ryuu who – we tried compressions, but nothing would start your heart, and he – he had isolated a compound –”

She bows her head, hair falling like a curtain around her face. He doesn’t miss the way her breath comes in staccato bursts, the wet spots that appear on her skirt.

“Ah, Miss, it’s all fine now.” He squeezes her hand. “It will take more than a little death to kill me. You should know that.”

Her laugh is real now, even if it’s a little watery, and she looks up at him with grateful eyes. “I should.”

“That makes sense, though,” he continues. “I dreamed about you in bed with me.”

He expects her to laugh at that too, to confirm that the memory her warmth against his side is nothing more than a wish of a dying mind but --

Her cheeks flush. “Ah, that would be…the other time you woke up.” She clears her throat, “Before you rudely tried to die in the middle of a conversation.”

His grins at that. “I must have been about to give up my secrets.”

She falls curiously quiet. “You already did…” she murmurs, voice strangely lilted. “…Kage.”

His hands seize on the blankets. He couldn’t have – he wouldn’t –

“It was a phase,” he groans, “I was ten. It sounded…intimidating.”

“I’ve known dogs named Kage,” she supplies helpfully. The corners of her mouth twitch tellingly.

He moans; if it wouldn’t risk ripping a few dozen stitches, he’d bury himself in the pillows. Now he understands why Master hates Sir giving away even an inkling of his childhood. He wishes he could go back and slap himself for being so embarrassing.

“I looked for you for weeks.” Her jaw sets sternly, as if she -- as if she really cared about the little boy that gobbled down her snacks. As if she wondered what happened to him after he left her sight.

He snorts. Of course she did. She wouldn’t be his miss if she didn’t.

“You should have told me – I don’t even –” Her hands wave in frustration, trying to get the words out. “When did you know?”

“Tanbarun.” There’s no use in lying, not now. “I suspected in the greenhouse, with the roku berries, but I didn’t know – not until the mountains. When we went to the village.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

“I tried,” he protests, “but Master and Sir…”

There’s no use throwing blame around. Even if he hadn’t then, he’d had ample time since. He was just...a chicken about it. “I should have.”

“Yes.” She leans forward, and he raises his head to make it easier for her to feel his forehead --

Heat flood him as her fingers sink into the thick bristle of hair, nails scraping just over his scalp. It must be an accident, she can’t possibly --

Her palm flattens against his skull, brushing soothing circles through his hair. It isn’t a mistake, not at all. “You should have. I worried.”

He can’t help himself; he leans into her touch, content as a cat. “Even now?”

Her smile is soft. “Always.”

A comfortable silence lapses between them, and he is content to let her touch him like this, to let her soothe him with the gentle brush of her hand through his hair. But this is not for him. Not his.

“So,” he coughs, fixing his gaze out the window. “Any other awful confessions I made at death’s door.”

The silence becomes heavy, and – ah, gods, he knows himself too well. Please, don’t let him have said something about his cock –

“You told me that you loved me.”

He balks. There are some things he knows he wouldn’t even admit under a torturer’s knife, but -- but --

She will not look at him, and his miss would never lie, not about this.

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “You were never supposed to know.”

Her body goes absolutely rigid, hand dropping to the mattress.

“There’s no reason for it to change anything,” he assures her, gripping her hand harder. “This is -- is my problem, not yours, and –”

“It’s fine.”

“And there’s no reason for you to –”

His lips are stopped by three fingers laying atop them. The mattress dips, and she is beside him, up on her knees, looking at him with the with the intensity she’s always saved for her books.

“Obi, it’s fine.” Her gaze drops, suddenly shy. “It’s fine because I…uh…”

Her jaw works, wrangling with the words, at a loss. He smiles, more fond than he should, and he want to put her out of her misery --

But he can’t. Now when her fingers are replaced by lips, slotted softly between his own.

He’s frozen, paralyzed. He should push her away, he knows he should, but – but –

But he’s never been very good at doing what he should. His fingers twine in her hair, pulling her closer instead. Her breasts brush his bare chest, and he -- he’s only human. It’s just a small grunt, barely noticeable.

She pulls away with a gasp. He shouldn’t be so proud of how flushed she is, how swollen her lips, but -- well, he is.

“I don’t know what I feel,” she says, so softly against his lips. “Besides that I’ve been wanting to do that since you started breathing again. Maybe –” her brow furrows. “Maybe longer.”

Obi doesn’t have words. He wants to kiss her again, wants to see if he can leave her without breath to speak, but -- but now is not the time for that.

“I don’t know what will come of it,” she admits, and his traitorous rabbit heart pounds inside his chest. “But it’s not nothing.” She’s sure he’s looking at her when she says, “And I think it might be something.”

She sighs, sitting back, gingerly resting her head over his heart. “I need time.”

His hand brushes through her hair, pushing back the wisps at her forehead so his lips can brush the soft skin there.

“You have all the time in the world,” he tells her, heart so full he’s afraid it will burst like a damn in spring. “I’m in no rush.”

Her breath hitches, and she lifts her head to meet his gaze. “Thank you.”

She’s so close he can feel her breath rush over his lips, feel the heat of her against his cheek, and, well --

What harm is there to overflow?

Miss is silent for a long while.

“Don’t do something so reckless again,” she says, words muffled by his chest.

“I can’t promise that,” he tells her, and she looks up. “Surely you understand now, Miss.” He presses his forehead to hers. “I couldn’t let you come to harm.”

Her hand wraps around his. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. Something I could stop.”

Her breath rushes out of her, resigned. “I suppose we’ll both have to be more careful.”

He grins, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “Now, now, Miss. Let’s not make a habit of making promises we can’t keep.”

[supersportsnewsblog]

Amazon Deals | Walmart Deals | Apple Deals | TV Deals | Gaming Deals | Laptop Deals | iPhone Deals With the smorgasbord of spring sales to be had this month, now's a great time to shop for gadgets. Bargain hunters who want to get an early start on buying the perfect gifts for mom or grads can score some solid deals on everything from laptops to game consoles.  If you're shopping for a new 4K TV on a budget, Walmart currently has the Vizio 65-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart LED TV on sale for $649.99. Normally priced at $1,000, that's a whopping $350 off its regular selling price. It's the lowest price we've ever seen for this smart TV and is also $170 cheaper than Vizio's direct sale price.  It features a stunning 2160p resolution display, Dolby Vision HDR and Google Chromecast built-in. Moreover, it's Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatible, so you can find and stream content using just your voice. Whether you're upgrading to a 4K Smart TV or purchasing your first smart device, here are the best tech deals in April. Amazon Hardware DealsAmazon is currently offering many of its branded devices at discounted pricing. * Echo Dot 3rd (2-Pack) for $80 ($20 off) * Echo Show (2nd Gen) w/ Free Smart Bulb for $230 ($15 off)  * Echo Dot Kids Edition + Fire HD 8 Kids Edition for $150 ($50 off) * Echo Dot Kids Edition + Fire 7 Kids Edition for $130 ($40 off) * Echo Show 2nd Gen (2-Pack) for $360 ($100 off)  * Echo 2nd Generation (2-Pack) for $170 ($30 off) * Echo Plus 2nd Gen w/ Hue Bulb for $150 ($15 off)  * All-new Kindle Essentials Bundle for $125 ($45 off)  * All-new Kindle Paperwhite Essentials Bundle for $170 ($20 off) * All-New Fire HD 8 Tablet w/ Show Mode Dock for $105 ($15 off) * Ring Video Doorbell 2 w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $199 ($50 off) * Ring Spotlight Wireless Cam w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $199 ($50 off)  * Ring Spotlight Wired Cam Wired w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $199 ($50 off) * Ring Stick-Up Wireless Cam w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $180 ($50 off)  * Ring Stick-Up Wired Cam w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $180 ($80 off)  * Ring Alarm 5-Piece Kit w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $199 ($50 off) * Ring Floodlight Cam w/ Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for $249 ($50 off)  * Ring Smart Lighting Spotlights (2-pack) for $100 ($30 off)  * 20 Percent off AmazonBasics Computer Accessories  Top Tech Deals Right Now * Asus TUF 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop for $694 ($305 off, via coupon, "EMCTYVW25")  * LG 27-inch FHD IPS Gaming Monitor for $130 ($99 off via coupon, "SYNC") * Apple MacBook 12-inch (2017, Gold) for $999 ($600 off)  * Acer Aspire 3 Laptop for $399 ($100 off, Core i5/4GB/1TB)  * Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 64GB for $530 ($120 off)  * Apple iPad Air 2019 (Wi-Fi, 64GB) for $479 ($20 off)  * Apple iPad 9.7-inch (Wi-Fi, 32GB) for $280 ($49 off)  * Apple AirPods Earbuds (1st Gen) for $147 ($12 off) TV Deals * Insignia 55-inch 4K UHD Fire Edition Smart TV for $250 ($180 off) [NEW] * TCL 65-Inch 4K UHD Roku Smart for $819 ($181 off) also at Walmart  * RCA 55-inch 4K UHD Roku Smart TV w/ HDR for $320 ($480 off) * Vizio 50-inch 4K UHD Smart TV w/ HDR for $298 ($200 off)  * Sharp 65-inch 4K Smart TV for $500 ($300 off)  * Samsung 43-inch Q60 Series 4K QLED Smart TV (2019) for $698 ($102 off) * Samsung 49-inch Q60 Series 4K QLED Smart TV (2019) for $898 ($102 off)  * Samsung 55-inch Q60 Series 4K QLED Smart TV (2019) for $1,098 ($100 off)  * Samsung 65-inch Q60 Series 4K QLED Smart TV (2019) for $1,598 ($200 off) * Samsung 75-inch Q60 Series 4K QLED Smart TV (2019) for $2,798 ($202 off)  Tech Under $50 * Redragon K552 LED Gaming Keyboard for $35 ($25 off) [NEW] * Razer DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse for $40 ($40 off)  * Anker 5-in-1 USB C Hub for $27 ($19 off)  * MS Xbox Wireless Controller (White) for $44 ($16 off) * SanDisk 128GB Extreme microSD Card for $22 ($47 off) * SanDisk Ultra Flair 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive for $7 ($8 off) * SanDisk Cruzer 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive for $9 ($31 off) * Netgear WiFi Range Extender for $25 ($22 off) Smartwatch Deals * Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS, 38mm) for $199 ($80 off)  * Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS, 42mm) for $229 ($80 off)  * Fitbit Ionic GPS Smartwatch for $218 ($52 off)  * Samsung Gear S2 Smartwatch for $130 ($120 off)  * Garmin Approach X40 Activity Tracker for $173 ($77 off)  * Garmin Vivofit 3 Activity Tracker for $58 ($45 off)  Phones * Samsung Galaxy S9 Unlocked 64GB for $519 ($81 off) * Google Pixel 3 64GB (Verizon) for $499.92 ($300 off)  * Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Unlocked for $709 ($291 off)  * Apple iPhone SE Unlocked for $249 ($100 off) Cameras * Panasonic Lumix 4K Point-and-Shoot Camera for $250 ($150 off)  * Canon PowerShot SX530 Digital Camera for $249 ($130 off) * Blink XT Home Security 2 Camera System for $140 ($90 off)  * Blink XT Home Security Camera System for $80 ($50 off)  * Arlo Wireless 4-Camera Home Security System for $250 ($200 off)  Games and Consoles * MS Xbox One S 1TB Battlefield V Bundle for $230 ($70 off) [NEW] * MS Xbox One S 1TB Minecraft Creators Bundle for $200 ($100 off) * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch for $50 ($10 off) * Call of Duty: Black Ops for PS4 for $28 ($32 off)  * Kingdom Hearts 3 for PS4 for $37 ($23 off)  * Kingdom Heart 3 for Xbox One for $40 ($20 off)  * Red Dead Redemption 2 for PS4 for $38 ($22 off) also at Amazon * Far Cry New Dawn for Xbox One for $24 ($16 off)  * Up to $50 off Xbox One Games at Microsoft

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8260727 https://yhoo.it/2uRxI0u

[auslanderkawszwajcarii]

Anna Rossinelli urodziła się 20 kwietnia 1987 w Bazylei. Jest szwajcarską piosenkarką i autorką piosenek. Reprezentowała Szwajcarię na Konkursie Piosenki Eurowizji 2011 w Dusseldorfie.

Pierwsze swoje doświadczenia estradowe zebrała już w wieku 13 lat. Rok później założyła swój pierwszy zespół A-Capella-Band, a następnie pojawiała się z różnymi innymi zespołami. Pobierała lekcje w Jazz School w Bazylei (Music School Basel), gdzie oprócz śpiewu, teorii muzyki i treningu słuchu, miała lekcje gry na fortepianie. Obecnie  jest wokalistką popowo soulowej grupy Anna Rossinelli (do 2010 roku Anne Claire). Oprócz wykształcenia muzycznego Rossinelli ukończyła również staż jako opiekunka specjalistyczna osób niepełnosprawnych. Ponadto pracowała jako modelka bielizny marki Tarzan i jako kelnerka.

Do wstępnej selekcji szwajcarskiej telewizji w Konkursie Piosenki Eurowizji 2011 w Dusseldorfie Rossinelli zgłosiła się z  balladą “In Love for a While” (tekst i muzyka: David Klein). 11 grudnia 2010 roku w Kreuzlingen, “pobiła” 11 innych kandydatów. Przed występem została uznana przez ekspertów za outsidera. Podczas transmisji otrzymała jednak najlepsze recenzje jury.

10 maja 2011 roku wystąpiła na Konkursie Piosenki w Dusseldorfie w pierwszych półfinałach. Po raz pierwszy od 2006 roku do finału konkursu weszła osoba ze Szwajcarii. Tam Rossinelli, która występowała razem ze swoim zespołem, otrzymała 25 i ostatnie miejsce. Piosenka otrzymała tylko 19 punktów: z Wielkiej Brytanii (10), Serbii (5) i Słowacji (4).

Albumy

Bon voyage (2011)

Marylou (2013)

Marylou Two (2014)

Takes Two To Tango (2015)

White Garden (2019)

Single

In Love for a While (2011)

Let It Go (2013)

Shine in the Light (2014)

Bang Bang Bang (2015)

Hold Your Head Up (2018)

Nominacje do nagrody Swiss Music Awards omijają tą panią skutecznie. Ma jednak swój wkład w Show. W tym roku The Gardener & the Tree otrzymali nagrodę z jej rąk za Best Act Live. Dała również krótki koncert w Luzerner Saal.

foto: SMA2019

Na Aftershow Party miałam okazję do krótkiej rozmowy z nią:

– Dlaczego w połowie przedstawienia uciekłaś do garderoby, by zamienić tą swoją piękną “blink-blink” sukienkę na żakiecik?

– “Mam na pieńku z moim dizajnerem. Gdy tańczę na scenie i mam coś długiego na sobie- haczę obcasami i powstają dziury. Powiedział, że już mi nie będzie cerował sukienek…”

Annę ubiera młody wschodzący projektant z Basel, którego nazwisko Anna zdradziła, aja…zapomniałam. No cóż. Lepiej pozostanę przy gwiazdach muzyki, bo nawet jeśli nie zapamiętasz ich nazwiska, to zawsze skojarzysz z jakąś piosenką 😉

Wszystkie nadchodzące koncerty znajdziecie na oficjalnej stronie grupy: https://www.annarossinellimusic.com/live.html

A na koniec oczyfiście selfik:

rpt

  Anna Rossinelli Anna Rossinelli urodziła się 20 kwietnia 1987 w Bazylei. Jest szwajcarską piosenkarką i autorką piosenek. Reprezentowała Szwajcarię na Konkursie Piosenki Eurowizji 2011 w Dusseldorfie. 415 more words