The thing is, if it is a Spirit as they are understood here, I might be able to communicate with them, and just ask.

As one does.

Because, convenience.

And, why not?

...

So, because I'm an idiot and didn't think of this in the almost eighteen years of my time in this world, I will have to either return to the North Pole and try to access the Spirit World somehow through Tui and La (which seems a more likely option than any other spiritual dwelling) or I have to talk to Aang about this and ask if he can mediate (which I will only do once all that saving the world business is done and over with) or I have to find someone who can communicate or can teach me how to communicate, preferably without ingesting any kind of dubious substances.

Don't get me wrong, I like to indulge, but purely for recreational purposes.

Anything worth doing is worth doing sober. Not, that you have to.

Now, such an individual might well be the madman looking at me curiously from across the tiny model of Omashu and the map of underground tunnels that lead to the city bended from the ground.

And, if I want to have him treat me seriously, I figure I should afford him the same courtesy.

So, here goes.

"In how much of a hurry are you?", I ask him and it's as much for finding out how in touch he is with social cues as well as how much he prioritises taking back his city – and not to be pessimistic or anything, but either of us could die soon in which case I would never get to have this conversation at all. Or, in my case, it would become irrelevant, probably. But I really don't want my thoughts to go off in that direction, since I'm not too keen on deliberating how likely it is that I'll land in another cartoon-universe or really, you know, end.

"Some, but not too much", helpful, that. "And then, not at all. There is an order to things. Most of the time, anyway."

"Good to know", I murmur, and wonder what he thinks of me. It occurs to me to ask. Then, if I ask after having asked all my other questions, I might have a sort of accurate before-after picture – courtesy of Bumi.

He chuckles, an off-key sound with hitches in his breath that is by itself rather unappealing and surprisingly similar to the way my first-ever girlfriend laughed. "Yes, I imagine it is."

Okay then. Careful phrasing or I'll be here forever. "What do you know of the Spirit World?"

"Oh, that place", he says it half disgusted, half admiring. "Very strange."

"Good strange or bad strange?", ah, damn it, time-efficiency, think of how much sooner you can get rid of the brat.

"Why, both, of course!"

Of course. A place like the Spirit World wouldn't be one that doesn't have more than one facet. Why would it? Nothing but a facet itself only has one facet. (If even that.)

"Have you been there yourself?", good, clear, efficient this time.

"No! Only the Avatar can go there!", he laughs.

Ah. Well, at least now I have one more account of that theory. "So, who do you know whether it's strange or not?"

"All the Spirits are strange, so", he takes a deep, needlessly suspensive breath, "Why wouldn't their world be?"

Quite logical, that. Also, entirely un-

"Have you interacted with any?"

"Of course!", so many 'of course's. I'm almost surprised he still manages to open his eyes this widely without them hurting. Or maybe he doesn't notice it anymore. It's possible.

"Where, when and how?"

He laughs, probably at my attentive expression. I refuse to wipe it off in the face of that laugh.

"Why, many places, when I was young, younger and just a week ago! They come to me to talk, these Spirits!"

'Just a week ago' is oddly specific in that string of vagueness. Either he wants me to ask after it, or he recalls it best. Part of me wants to ask after the first, or if that instance was the last, but I think I'll get further with why they come to talk to him. "Do they come to enjoy conversation with you?"

He snorts out a handful of those awful laughs, "No! Ahahahah", a few grunts are mixed in for variation, I think.

"Do they not enjoy it? Or do they talk to you without having a conversation with you?"

"Both!"

Right. I see why he frustrates everyone when you're not with him to play.

"So, why do they come if they don't enjoy not having conversations with you?"

"I'm the only one who sees them", he chuckles. So, madman or not.

"Is there any way you could teach me to see them, too?"

At that, he pauses. And eyes me creepily. I think, after getting weird looks from this man, I can take them from anyone. Really, he has a gift.

I am so uncomfortable.

And I am watching myself feel uncomfortable.

Which is slightly odd. But it doesn't go as far as being uncomfortable itself.

With myself suitably distracted, he manages to press our noses together in order to look deeply into my eyes from a very, very small distance. If we both made really strange kissy-faces with our mouths, we would have a very weird lip-barely-touching session. Which is a very strange thought to have. But better than finding out exactly which shade of icy blue his eyes are. (Pale-pale turquoise.)

In the background, I can hear someone whisper: "How is he keeping a straight face?"

And another voice answers: "Waterbenders, man. They can do anything with straight faces."

A pause. "Anything?"

"Anything."

"Like", they're probably gesturing.

"Yes."

"And-"

"Yup."

"You're shitting me."

"No, they can! Try it!"

"Okay, now I know you're full of shit."

"Fine, I'll try it", this is beginning to sound very ominous for me.

"You do that."

"If you lend me your", and here the voice lowers so much that I can't understand them anymore.

With how long Bumi's been pressing his nose to mine, I wish they'd speak up.

...

He speaks in such low tones that were he an inch further away, I would hardly have caught a word that came out of his mouth. As it is, a louder volume would have been out of place and I would have thought he wouldn't lower his voice at all, if that were his only objective. After all, he seems intent on making this as weird as possible, while I try to figure out whether I should finally let this bother me or not.

It could be his way of determining the level of weirdness that I will accept from him before I run away. Or something. But maybe it goes further than that. I'm just not sure that I want to find out where exactly.

"Where is the end?", right. It's that kind of simple, is it?

Um… The end is only the ending of something. So long as whatever was ceases to exist, that is. Otherwise, 'end' is another word for 'change'. In which case, we move into the territory of infinite possibility. Which is to say, no end. Ever. (I certainly hope if it is so, I will forget all about it.)

"Anything is possible. That's what possibility is. The question should be whether it is likely enough, probable enough to be relevant", now, that we have been in this position for almost five minutes it almost feels normal and I imagine I might feel the lack of pressure against my nose once he moves away. I'm not sure I like the thought. (When I have thoughts I don't like I usually see how quickly I might be able to see the bottom of a bottle.)

"What is relevance?", is he bouncing thoughts off of me for a paper?

"It's… Well, I figure that mostly my thoughts should be of use to me, when I do have them. To me, my thoughts aren't being thought for their own sake. And, most of the time, I manage just fine. But when it comes to thoughts about something bordering on absolute abstraction, concepts that I can't grasp without even miniscule understanding of them, my only way to understanding is through relevance to myself. As in, I need a point of reference, which is me. Therefore, relevance is what I can reasonably connect to myself and harness into usage."

Abruptly, Bumi removes his nose from mine. He cackles. "They'll visit you on your own! Ha!"

I don't see how that's as funny as he thinks it is, but then I'll still have the problem of not being able to see them, won't I? "Will they make themselves known to me? Will I be able to speak with them? Will they answer?"

His only answer is to propel himself from the ground with some bending and leave me sitting there, by the miniature model of Omashu and its tunnel system.

And, dear Whatever being put me here, do I feel like I've been let down.

I take a deep breath, fill the entirety of my lungs and sigh.

It's only a disappointment if I don't take something from this.

So, in short, it's not within my own power to communicate with Spirits of this world, or their world, which might be somehow connected to my own, be it because someone grasped an idea and made it into a cartoon show that I now undoubtedly ruined. Possibility. Well, I won't regret the changes I made. I do regret…

Hahn. Yue. Even Hiraku.

I can blame myself for them. And I do, in some parts. But it just isn't practical to wonder about 'what if's. And why should I? As far as I know, which in its entirety isn't all that much, time travel isn't a thing I can achieve on my own. And whatever can time travel or send other things or people or spirits through time, I probably won't meet. I won't discard the possibility, but really, thinking about it, even if it is possible, I don't think I would stand more of this… loneliness.

I am alone in this world, so long as I don't meet anyone who shares my experience.

That's what life's about: the sharing of experiences.

And I have no one to share mine with because no one could ever understand.

Understanding and feeling understood is an integral part of sharing. It's why I will always feel set apart from the other humans in this world. Because in a substantial way, I am separate. By choice or not, I am not one of them. I never will be.

...

Don't forget to throw some power stones :)

...

If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.

you can join my p atreon :

[email protected]/Numera