Aang was hurting again.
Even after his wound had been healed, there had been many aches and pains in his back. Mostly because many of the nerves that had been damaged were growing back incredibly fast-thanks to Katara's bending.
Too fast.
In fact, it gave him more than just aches. Searing pains in his neck would keep him up for hours into the night. He would have muscle spasms, which while Sokka said made him look like a "dancing hogmonkey", his laughs and smiles were feeble and weak.
Yes, he was hurting.
And he wasn't the only one.
Katara sat at the waters edge, swinging her legs, splashing droplets onto the grass.
She was supposed to be filling the water bucket, but she had long left that thought behind and had settled on different matters.
'And now what?' It was a question that had plagued her for days now.
They were just a few miles outside of Ba Sing Se but they had very little time to waste. It was mid spring and getting to the fire nation would take up to a month.
And besides their lack in food and supplies, they still had to find Aang a firebending teacher.
'Which could've been Zuko's uncle', Katara thought bitterly.
Which brought her to another subject.
Zuko.
This was, in fact, the first time she had thought about him after the battle.
Or more like the first time she hadn't tried to push the thought to the back of her mind again.
It wasn't that she was trying to forget-though it would've been a relief-but she just didn't have the time or strength to regale what had happened.
And she suspected that if she did she would overboil with rage; screaming prophanities
and sending ice daggers flying through the air.
She didn't need that.
No one did.
But she was afraid that if she kept it locked in for too long she would simply explode.
'Just a little longer,' she thought, 'I can keep it in for just a little longer.'
Meanwhile back at camp, Sokka leaned over near the campfire and picked something off the ground.
"Hey, Toph?" he called, looking over his shoulder at the blind girl.
"Yeah?"
"What's Katara supposed to be doing?"
"Um. Getting water I think."
"Water?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Because;" he inquired, looking down at the object in his hands, "she forgot the bucket.
'I can keep it in……just a little bit longer….'