Going On Alone
He wasn't even sure why he had returned to Bato's ship. This was, after all, the place where everything had gone wrong. Aang wished with all his heart to just turn back time and hand over Hakoda's message right away instead of trying to hide it from Katara and Sokka.
Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the disbelief in their faces when he finally told them about the map. The paper had been crinkled so much that for a moment he had hoped it was unreadable, but it wasn't. Sokka had been so angry he never gave Aang a chance to explain, to tell them – well, if he was honest, he couldn't explain why he had thought he was doing the right thing. It had felt wrong from the beginning.
But with everything he would have to face, how could anyone expect him to do it alone?
Appa shifted restlessly. The Bison knew something was wrong, too, but Aang couldn't do anything about it anymore.
Maybe he shouldn't even try to justify hiding the map, Aang thought. He had no right to decide over what his friends should to do. As important as their company was for him, he should've thought about what was best for them. How could he ever expect them to accompany him into whatever danger he happened to stumble upon?
But still, Aang wished he'd never found that water-tribe weapon in the first place. In all the wide world, how small was the chance to just stumble upon someone from his friends' home? If he hadn't followed Momo into the underbrushes, they probably would've missed Bato and all would be well.
With a heavy heart, Aang re-fastened the ropes on Appa's horn.
What was even worse than losing Katara and Sokka was the knowledge that lying to them was against everything he was supposed to stand up for as Avatar.
"Looks like we're going alone, guys", he murmured sullenly.