Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

a/n: ...I'm actually pleased with this one. There is not enough friendship oneshots out there, and most certainly not enough of them about Appa. Enjoy! This was fun to write.

.x.

"Hey buddy, don't you worry, we're going to be best friends!"

His gleeful words echoed from the towering walls around them, shiny beams of light peeking through the open windows. The boy's smile was so bright, so bitterly bright, but it faded just as fast as the setting sun. Numbly, a bitten apple rolled across the floor beneath their feet."

Do you miss your mom, little guy?"

His question rang with innocence, but it was pinned down by a bellowing silence that caused both of the boys to frown heavily. A weak grunt was his reply. It was squeaky and his eyes blinked and fought against the rays of the sun, his small baby feet fumbling against the new cold floor.

With a stifled sigh, the airbender stroked his hand through the fur of his new friend, their shoulders sulking slightly.

"Me too, Appa. Me too."

.x.

"Don't worry, third time's a charm."

And Appa sighed.

Because every good little flying bison had to pass their flying exam, and such a thing was known to everybody in the temple. But still, the butterflies that swarmed his stomach (it was almost lunchtime, you know) made him sadly look up at his friend, his small black eyes squinting up to see the smile on his best friend's face.

It was such a curious thing for the boy to be so talented in everything he does, but when you look at his companion, it was all the opposite. The little bison with clumsy feet and struggling techniques was nothing, nothing like his owner.

And yet, when the monks suggest the advice of perhaps switching the runt of the litter with someone else so he wouldn't be held back in his ability and learning by his pet, the boy just scoffs and grins and laughs every single time.

"Give up Appa? Never! He's my best friend, you know."

"Let's go!"

Appa leaped into the blue skies, a flash of orange right beside him the entire way.

.x.

"Monk Gyatso said I might become a master airbender pretty soon, if I work real hard."

The others stare at the boy, grimacing frowns quivering. Rolling their large and (not so) innocent eyes, one of the taller boys let out a loud sigh. Only the sound of crunchy leaves being chewed was heard over the awkward silence of small conversation.

"That's great, Aang. Especially since you're so good at everything."

Embarrassed, the boy looked away from the chuckles coming from the other boys at the dinner table. Fumbling with his thumbs, he tugged at his collar that seemed to be choking his airways and blocking the air (wasn't he an airbender?) as he bit his lip. With a frown, he stared at his untouched plate.

"…Unlike your bison who can't do anything right."

They laugh, first small and testy giggles—the flicker to the fire—and then it exploded like wild fire into uncontrollable laughter. They point, and they high five (because their kids, not monks yet) and they nudge at the comment. Aang's frown tightened into a taut line, his gray eyes narrowing into slits. His small pale fists trembled in his lap, white knuckles glowing, as he let their voices roll by. Their laughs continued, and their comments grew deeper and deeper ("He's so pathetic! He's an embarrassment and the dumbest thing ever! He's a stupid runt!") and he suddenly just snapped

"Take it back! Take it back, now!"

His jumped to his feet, his palms slamming against the table. The piece of furniture shook, a cup of water tilting and shaking as it spilled over the edges and crashed to the ground. The octave of his voice was raised (breaking one of the rules). Fists in the air, and his eyes flashing dangerously, he challenged anyone angrily to say anything else.

"Appa is better than all of you! One day, you'll see, he'll be the best bison ever, better than any of you will ever even dream of!"

Without another word he stomped out of the room, leaving his fellow classmates in silence at his sudden explosion, tears clinging to his eyes as he ran to the only friend who would ever understand.

Little did they know, that his words would one day (far away) be true.

.x.

"Hey buddy, calm down!"

Aang jumped between the conflict, a dust of cloud and dirt kicking up as he did. Grunting with force, he bended a gust of wind, creating a barrier and a wall for the suddenly two angry animals. They both snorted, nostrils flaring as they bared their herbivore teeth at each other.

"…Appa! Don't you think you should at least be fair, and pick on someone your own size?"

No, I don't think I should, Appa snorted at him.

Aang looked down at the angry lemur shaking a tiny fist at the arrogant bison.

"Stop playing around with the lemurs, and leave them alone! Come on, buddy, we're going to be late fore dinner."

The runt of the litter, Appa, sulked as he walked over to where Aang was waiting for him. Murmuring a groan that sounded like a complaint of the devious little lemur stealing his food, the bison guiltily looked up at his owner who was laughing at him. Nudging the growing boy in the leg with his nubby horn, he promptly asked what was so funny.

"You better not be so careless, Appa. Irony can bite you in the butt when you least expect it. Who knows, maybe you and those lemurs you hate will one day be friends."

Appa snorted again, and added with a disgusted laugh, Me and a lemur? Not in a hundred years.

Letting the discussion drop, they hurriedly began to race for dinner before they got in trouble again.

.x.

Aang grinned.

And he laughed. And danced. And jumped.

He rolled his head back, laughter singing off his lips, as his body shook with the pure emotions rocketing out of him. He slapped his knee, and he held his rib cage before he broke something, and the pain that jabbed his chest and wet his eyes didn't stop. It was so funny, so completely hilarious, and to his everlasting joy, it was also a miracle.

"Appa, you're huge!"

To everybody's surprise, the runt of the litter had grown and was now a fully grown flying bison. He stood tall, six legs and one giant tail, and two giant black eyes blinking happily at him. It wasn't that his friend had grown over night, oh no, he had been for the last couple years. It was just…that Aang just noticed."This is amazing!" He said as his hands clutched his bald head, his gray eyes wide and sparkling with fresh tears of laughter. The morning sun and breeze tickled their skin, as the Avatar through himself on his best friend's head.

Hugging his friend, he nuzzled his head into the soft fur.

"I believed in you, Appa, I always have, always will."

And Appa believed him too.

.x.

"…Are we coming back?"

Aang, no the Avatar, repeated the question that he read from his bison's face. It was almost begging, almost pleading, but he didn't really know what it was. The storm was raging on, and the clouds were rolling in, thunder quickly following and stepping on its heels.

The storm inside Aang raged, too.

"I don't know Appa, we've just got to get outta here, gotta think. All this Avatar stuff is hard…and I just gotta leave. I need you to come with me, Appa. Please. You're my best friend…"

Appa, dripping wet with rain, towered over the tattooed airbender, and once again repeated the question just as a strike of lightning hit.

Are we coming back?

"Yes."

It was the first time he lied.

.x.

Appa is gone.

The desert singed against his back, sand roughly scratching against his tired feet. The sun burned against his bald head, the rays of the sun causing him to blink desperately. And the words repeated in his head, and he felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. It fell rock hard, all the way to the pit of his inner core.

Appa is gone.

And just like long ago, his fists clutched tight as the staff in his hands trembled. Tears poked the back of his eyes, as he stared at never ending desert. It went on and on, just like the skies (that he did not see his bison in). One single question suddenly became the gravity to his world, everything going against his broken heart.

Where is my best friend?

.x.

"Hey buddy, I'm…"

The words were lost, and left hanging on his lips. He frowned, as he shook his head, unable to continue. The tears that always seem to find him, came back, and he's crying (like he used to), and hugging the only friend who knows and understands him from the beginning to the end.

"—I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Appa, I'm so sorry—"

He gasped his apologies between breaths, ("I broke my promise! I'm sorry I got us into this mess and I'm sorry I lost you, and I'm sorry I once stole that apple from you over a hundred and two years ago and—") and sputtered his mashed words into the wet fur of his friend, hugging the bison that he loves so dearly."I missed you so much, buddy. More than you'll ever know."

But Appa does know.

.x.

"Thanks, buddy. Thanks for everything."

A curious look is exchanged between them, and they both laugh. It's a tired groan from one, but a hearty (and bittersweet) one from the other. The sun is setting, the orange and purple pastels screaming loudly their goodbyes in the sky, and they both knew that is was time to go.

"Fly with me, Appa? Just one more time?"

But the bison shook his head, a tired big shake from the shaggy furry monster. His giant heart was beating, and only beating for the anguished boy stroking his soft fur. His heart thumped and thumped in rhythm with each pet of his hand, his eyes fluttering close to the silent lullaby.

"Don't go, Appa, I love you, I love you so much, you're my best friend in the whole wide world, and I love you—"

And Appa smiled a tired old smile, the age of time catching up with the amount of years he skipped with his best friend. When the strokes of his friend's hands began to fade and slow, the human's small arms hugging and clinging to fistfuls of fur, and the tears he had grown to memorize touched him, his heart slowed just as well, and he gave one last and final grunt to the little boy he knows so well.

Goodbye, buddy.