Right. Sorry. [She leans into his hand just a bit, soothed by the contact.] It started because Sozin wanted to bring the entire world under Fire Nation control. He called it "sharing the prosperity." [Her tone makes it quite clear what she thinks of that.] Roku told him that the Four Nations were meant to be independent and unique. He said that if Sozin tried to take over any of the other nations, he would stop him.
One day, a volcano erupted on the island that Roku lived on. Sozin helped Roku save the villagers... but when he realized that he could begin his conquest if Roku died... Sozin left him there. They had been best friends growing up, and he let him die. [Let her die, in a way, which is a disconcerting thought, even for someone comfortable with reincarnation.]
After that, he destroyed the Air Nomads so that he could kill the next Avatar. And that's how the war began. [The war ended 70 years before she was even born...in many ways, it's very distant from her. She doesn't have the hatred of the Fire Nation that her grandparents had, or the mistrust of all firebenders. The Southern Water Tribe had grown and flourished in those 70 years. But some scars still remained, deep in the psyche of her entire tribe. It's hard not to feel anger and resentment thinking about the eradication of the Air Nomads, and Ozai's attempt to eliminate the entire Southern Water Tribe.]
no subject
One day, a volcano erupted on the island that Roku lived on. Sozin helped Roku save the villagers... but when he realized that he could begin his conquest if Roku died... Sozin left him there. They had been best friends growing up, and he let him die. [Let her die, in a way, which is a disconcerting thought, even for someone comfortable with reincarnation.]
After that, he destroyed the Air Nomads so that he could kill the next Avatar. And that's how the war began. [The war ended 70 years before she was even born...in many ways, it's very distant from her. She doesn't have the hatred of the Fire Nation that her grandparents had, or the mistrust of all firebenders. The Southern Water Tribe had grown and flourished in those 70 years. But some scars still remained, deep in the psyche of her entire tribe. It's hard not to feel anger and resentment thinking about the eradication of the Air Nomads, and Ozai's attempt to eliminate the entire Southern Water Tribe.]