thecapitol | The Binding of Isaac

He knows he can't tell him not to go. As much as Bucky has taken on a certain roll with Aang he is not in fact the kids guardian, not his parent, he has no authority over him but that Aang allows. So all he intends to say before they set out is to tell Aang to be careful, to mind his back, to let others be the frontline. He's going to tell Aang to make sure he comes back safe and whole.

"At this point I'm starting to think I'll believe anything you say." Bucky says, only half-joking about it. He acknowledges the thank you with a simple nod. "You come from a strange place, kid." just the name's of the animals Aang told him about were enough to communicate that, let alone the more irritating fact that his world was happy to sit on its backside and let the responsibility of saving it sit on a child's shoulders.

No, he's not still bitter about that.

"You going to tell me about it?"

To be frank, Aang gives Bucky far more authority than he gives most people because he respects him so much, but he does so knowing that Bucky will always want to protect him first and foremost. Aang has different priorities, and he'll put the good of the world before himself every time.

"So do you." Aang grins at Bucky, because it's true. All their worlds are really weird.

As for the story, he crosses his arms in his lap and takes a deep breath. "This one time, I passed through a town that was pretty mad about one of my past lives killing a leader of theirs centuries ago, so they arrested me and tried me for the crime. I'd never kill someone in cold blood, so my friends tried to prove that I didn't do it, but then it turned out that the town wouldn't let me call up any witnesses or evidence or lawyers in court, so I dressed up in Avatar Kyoshi's old clothes and face paint because maybe I’d be able to remember the things she remembered, but she was over seven feet tall so I couldn't really fit in any of her clothes and I kept tripping up in it, but then she did show up and I turned into a giant woman and she said that she actually killed the leader because he was trying to take over the continent and he was marching on a peninsula, so she decided to break the peninsula off the continent and blow it away so it could be an island instead and he was too proud to step back from the big cliff she just made so he fell down from the earthquakes splitting the land caused into the lava and ocean water she left." That was all said in one breath. Now he breathes. "I don't count that as actually killing him, but the town did, so they sentenced me to death by being fried in oil. But then they were attacked by a bunch of Fire Nation mercenaries and they commuted my sentence so I'd agree to help them, so it turned out okay."

What were you saying about him coming from a weird world, Bucky?

"I thiiiiiink Kyoshi might have said she was sorry about incriminating me later." He doesn't exactly remember her doing it, but he has the sense that she did at some point.

Well Bucky's opinion of Aang's world just dropped a couple more notches.

"They blamed you for something you didn't even do?" they arrested and tried a twelve-year old kid for a crime a woman did hundreds of years before. They sentenced him to death. Yep, it says something regarding Bucky's priorities with Aang that that's the part he gets hung up on. "What the hell was wrong with them?" he growls.

If you asked Bucky he'd say that Aang should have left the people of the town to the mercenaries. "They didn't deserve your help."

Bucky, seriously. He tells you he transformed into a giant woman who made an island out of a peninsula, and you get hung up on the bit where a small child gets sentenced to death for a centuries-old murder.

"Well, I did do it. I just did it in another life." It's complicated. Aang gives a smile to Bucky, nudging him gently with his elbow to soothe him. "They blamed the Avatar for the state of their town. They were poor and weak and stuck in this big war, and I'm the one who's supposed to take care of things like that, so they were angry that I stopped them from becoming their own great nation that might have made their lives better. People sometimes do bad things when they feel hopeless."

Only Aang would sympathize with people who wanted to boil him in oil. "Besides, it's not like they could have actually done it. None of their shackles were small enough to fit me and their prison was open-air. I could have left if I really wanted." He's not sure if he would have gone through with their sentence if the mercenaries hadn't come along. In retrospect, probably not. He had given his word that he would, but Katara and Sokka would need only point out that he had also given his word to save the world. He could have escaped, dealt with the Fire Lord, and then come back, he supposes.

He has priorities, Aang, priorities regarding your safety. He may get to the rest later.

Bucky makes a softly frustrated noise when Aang says that, "It's not..." he searches for the words to describe what he's thinking. Sometimes it's so hard to express himself, especially over things that really matter. "It would be like punishing a child for its parents crimes."

Maybe not exactly the same as Bucky can't relate to the experience of being born over and over. He doesn't know the ins and outs of it the way Aang does. All he see's is a young boy who he can't imagine ever murdering anyone and who certainly be punished for a crime that a woman who he used to be committed.

"Then why did you let them imprison you at all?"

Aang could try to explain that it's not quite like punishing a person for a relative's crime. He could try to explain that the spirit in each Avatar is the same, and that the only difference between them are the upbringings and time periods, but it would be hard considering he's not entirely sure how to say it. So he just shrugs. "Everything she ever was is inside of me now." The person known as Avatar Kyoshi is preserved in his memory and spirit. The only way to punish Kyoshi so many centuries after the fact would be to punish him.

"I guess... I wanted to know if she killed someone or not."

He wanted to know if he himself would be capable of killing a person. He wanted to know if his abhorrence for killing was consistent across all lifetimes. It wasn't. Maybe that was okay. The Avatar was always going to do what it believed was right for the world--and maybe what's right for his lifetime isn't always what is right.

But now isn't the time to contemplate morality. Aang looks up at Bucky's face with a wry smile. "I think you would have liked her. She's pretty tough, but usually only when she thinks she has to be." He doesn't know how he knows that. Every time he's ever seen her, she has been dignified and frightening in her indomitable will, but he just... knows.

"They should've accepted they missed their chance." It doesn't matter how Aang tries to explain it, Bucky's never going to agree that these people were in the right for what they did. Especially when they were okay with sentencing a kid to death, which Bucky is fairly sure back in most countries of the world he comes from is not okay.

Bucky shakes his head at that. His hand coming up and resting briefly on Aang's shoulder in reassurance. He doesn't exactly know what else to say. It's an alien concept to relate to, especially for someone like him.

"Yeah? Maybe I would've." he smiled a little, "If she was anything like you."

Aang won't argue about it. Bucky's priority is his safety, and it makes sense that he wouldn't like threats to that. It's nice, really. It's nice to have someone who cares about him enough to want to keep him safe, even if sometimes it's not the best for the world. He leans into Bucky's touch and accepts the care for what it is.

"They're all like me. Sometimes it's just not so obvious at first." There are core traits that are always universal to each Avatar, even if demeanors and mannerisms and beliefs change over time and culture. A mischievous sense of humor, a deep belief in the ultimate goodness of humankind, a forgiving heart, and an incredible amount of compassion all run through each lifetime, among other things. Those are the traits that are most important.

He looks up at Bucky, resisting the urge to bite his lip (which would be unpleasant, since it has makeup on it). He has a feeling he's breaking some kind of script, but he's technically the oldest, so he's going to say that makes it okay for him to say, "Please try to come back safe." He doesn't want to come back without Bucky.

"I'll take your word for it."

Bucky looks surprised at first that he was beaten to it and that Aang was saying it to him, "I was going to say the same to you." he let his hand sit on Aang's shoulder then instead of dropping it away, intending to be reassuring in the face of what they were about to do. "I don't intend to let anything happen to me, or to you, Aang."

"I'm older. I get to say it first."

Aang gives him a small, cheeky smile. It's easier when Bucky touches him. It's rare, but it's more meaningful because it's rare. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm quick." He reaches up and touches the hand on his shoulder. "We'll both be okay." He knows he can't know that for sure. He knows he can't promise that. He also knows that saying it makes them both feel better, and right now, that's what's important.

"Still can't believe you're older than me." he shakes his head, disbelief edging his tones. Of course Bucky doesn't look his age, neither does Steve, but for a kid like Aang to actually be older than him? It doesn't seem right.

"I know you are." he agrees, letting the touch continue to linger, even squeezing his fingers in reassurance. "You need to stay out of reach and leave as soon as possible."

"Yeah, neither can anyone else, but that's what I get for being frozen a whole hundred years." Seniority rights in exchange for missing the lives of everyone he ever knew and loved and being left alone after a vicious genocide. Clearly, they are very even terms.

There it is: the protectiveness. Aang finds he really doesn't mind. It means that Bucky cares. Not that Aang ever doubts that Bucky cares, but it still feels nice to have someone watching your back. "I'm going to stay for as long as I'm needed." He won't run from a fight if no one else is. He's not above tactical retreats, but he is above leaving comrades behind to keep himself safe. "But I promise to be careful." No unnecessary risks, no showing off, nothing like that.

Bucky can empathise. He just never thought anyone would beat him in terms of being frozen, especially with his natural age on top.

"I'm serious, Aang." Bucky says, "If things start to go south you need to retreat immediately. These people won't hesitate to hurt you in the worst ways." The existence of the Games they had been pulled into in the first place said all that needed to be said on their lack of mercy towards children. The thought of Aang going through even a fraction of the torture Bucky was put through before makes him feel ill with dread.

"I know they won't. It's not the first time I've done something like this." He puts his hands on his knees and stares forward, his smile beginning to fade. "One time, we launched an attack directly on the Fire Nation capital. It was supposed to end the war, but someone tipped off the Fire Nation and I couldn't do what I came there to do. We were surrounded, and I was the one with the flying bison, so we put all the kids on Appa to fly away while the adults were captured."

Kids participated in the attack, and they were a very big part of it. The youngest kid involved was eight years old.

"I had to last long enough to stop the Fire Lord. I was too important to be captured. That's why I retreated with them after leading everyone into a trap." Aang looks at his lap, taking a deep breath. "That's not true here. I'm not any more important than anyone else. I'm not going to run away if I'm needed." Please understand. He can't face himself knowing he preserved his safety over others for no reason. He can leave when the rest of the fighters leave.

"I don't want you to get hurt." he tells Aang, emotion colouring his voice. "You don't need to put yourself at unnecessary risk. Getting caught will be worse for our cause than fighting a losing battle."

Maybe it's inevitable that some of them will be caught, he'll be damned if he lets Aang be one of them though. "I don't doubt your skill or your commitment, you know that."

It's hard to hear the worry in his voice. It's hard because Bucky so rarely expresses too much emotion, and it just reminds Aang that someone cares about him and would be hurt if he's hurt.

Impulsively, Aang scoots closer and nestles his head against Bucky. It's not a full-on snuggle like he'd like, but he tries to be conservative with affection for Bucky's sake. "I know." It's a struggle with himself. The adults here treat children like they're far less capable than they Aang's used to, and that make him feel like he has to prove himself in a way he doesn't usually have to.

Aang doesn't like the idea of being coddled or protected in a fight, but Bucky's not trying to coddle anyone, he's just trying to protect something precious to him. There's nothing patronizing about that.

"If things go wrong and there's nothing I can do to help, I'll run." He can compromise.

Bucky doesn't push him away, doesn't even stiffen. With what they're about to do he can't turn his back on Aang that way. It's not too much, not when they're both probably needing the reassurance that they'll come back from this.

"Okay. I'll hold you to that." Bucky knows that's the best he can hope to get out of Aang and it's going to have to be enough. It's still a struggle to merge his expectations of what a child like Aang should and shouldn't have to do, with the vastly different world view that the kid had thanks to the situations he'd grown up in. "And we'll see each other back here afterwards."

The Binding of Isaac

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