Chapter 2: Just another day

-Meanwhile, about a day's ride away from Omashu, a bison was flying towards the city, on his back four passengers in varying states of concern.

-Leading the list in that regard was Katara, constantly either thinking about ways she could have put it gentler, or ways of making it up to Aang, or simply scolding herself for being an irresponsible idiot.

-Next was Suki, being her usual sympathetic self, and worrying in equal parts about Katara's anxiety and about Aang, of whom she only had an idea how he must be feeling.

-Toph lay relaxed in the saddle (though everybody on board knew that at least part of that was fake, since she had never been fully at home up in the air), being slightly angry at Katara, yet at the same time not really understanding what all the fuss was about, so she just waited for them to arrive and the situation to resolve itself.

-Lastly, there was Sokka, sitting on Appa's head, his eyes closing occasionally, since he had spent the last two days steering the bison. He didn't really know what exactly had happened between his friend and his sister, and he was not particularly worried about it either. Disagreements in their group were bound to happen - hell, they did happen more often than not - but they had always resolved them, why should this time be any different?

-They had made it remarkably far this day already - two whole hours of flight - before the inevitable question came from the back: "Are we there yet?"

-Sokka sighed, not even bothering to turn around: "Yes, Toph I can see the city already. Right now we are just circling for the fun of it, because I just really wanted to spent some more time with my big furry friend here." His sarcasm was somewhat dulled by the fact that he managed to yawn twice throughout that statement.

-A short silence, then: "Is it just me, or is he even more annoying than usual today?"

-"Nope, that's still his classic sarcasm state. I think. If he was feeling like being annoying, he would have already asked you to look for yourself."

-"Good point."

-Sokka, increasingly weary of this conversation, had to fight the urge to turn to his girlfriend and ask whose side she thought she was on. But in his state, Suki would almost certainly win whatever argument broke out after that, and he really didn't have the energy for this now.

-There was a suspiously long moment of peace and quiet, before: "How do you put up with that on a daily basis anyway?"

-Sokka could feel Suki's smirk without needing to see it (so could Toph, probably, a tired thought crossed his mind).

-"I manage. Not gonna tell you how though, I think I would miss your little quibs.", she said, still adressing Toph. "Although...I think he is getting old. He doesn't even tease me about my fans twice a week nowadays."

-Screw it. Turning around, Sokka shot an accusing look at his girlfriend: " Hey, my sarcasm has never been healthier! Neither have my ears for that matter, so could you please not make remarks about me while I'm right here?!"

-" 'fraid not.", both girls answered simultaniously.

-Katara cracked a small smile at hearing this exchange, but her anxiety quickly returned, no matter how much she tried to shake it off. What if Aang just didn't want to see them (her, a treacherous part of her mind insisted)? What if they wouldn't be able to be friends after this? She didn't think that she could bear that. She did want him in her life, just...not so sudden. That's what it was, too sudden.

-She voiced only part of her concerns: "What if Aang doesn't want to see us?". She was genuinely afraid of that.

-Suki put an arm around her. "Hey, of course he's going to see us! It's not like we did something horrible to him. He's a kind kid, he's gonna understand", she said with conviction.

-"Yeah, Twinkles is unable to hold a grudge long, even if he wanted to.", Toph added. She stopped for a moment. "Maybe that's why it's so frustratingly hard to be cross with him", she said, more to herself.

-Suki looked at her curiously, but Katara smiled at both of them gratefully. She admitted to herself that she probably wouldn't be able to do this without them.

-But of course, there was also Sokka.

-Oblivious to the change in attitude behind him, he broke the moment by throwing another round of sarcasm over his shoulder: "Yeah, yeah, we'll see good old airhead soon enough. Then Katara can hug him to death, Toph can hug her sweet earth and Suki can twirl around with her fans in front of my face when i pass out from exhaustion. Oh, but don't mind me I'm just the driver!"

-He didn't see Katara's glare, directed at his back, pondering why exactly she had a brother like that.

-He didn't see Toph rolling her green eyes, not bothering to answer.

-He didn't see Suki's little grin as she mumbled to herself: "Third time. He's still got it."