"You know," said Aang. "Maybe Aya was right."
"No, it's okay. We have plenty of other times to talk with this Prince," I told him, shaking my head. "You wanted to get out of there, so we did."
"Oh, how considerate of you," said Sokka, sarcasm lacing his voice.
"And Sokka, I get that you don't like me, or whatever," I said, turning to him. "But please stop commenting on everything I say. That's all I'm asking of you."
He stared at me, bewildered, but regained his composure.
"What? Nothing funny to say?"
"Well, this is a very serious matter," I replied, a bit harshly.
"If you have nothing funny to say, then... shut up," he said, smiling at me.
"Sokka," warned Katara. "This is getting way out of hand."
"Yeah, thanks, Mom," Sokka told her, looking like he regretted it almost immediately.
Katara looked at him, blinked a few times, and then her face scrunched up in anger.
"Take that back!" she said, and then suddenly water exploded in front of Sokka.
"I take it back, but not what I said to Aya!" he squealed, soaking wet.
"ENOUGH!" cried Aang. "If you guys can't get along, then maybe it's best if I don't learn earthbending at all. Aya is the first Earthbender we've encountered where she seems to understand what it's actually about, and I need someone like that. So please, Sokka, I know you couldn't sleep well last night, but you don't need to make comments to either Katara or Aya. And Katara, I know what happened to your mom, and I am so, so sorry, but you don't need to not protest at a trivial conversation like that."
"Isn't Aya doing anything wrong, though?" Sokka asked lightly, looking at me. He looked genuinely curious.
"All she asked was if you could be a little more considerate, Sokka, and I have to agree with that," replied Aang.
Sokka nodded.
"Fair enough, I guess," he said, smiling at him. "But she still doesn't get any of my meat."
Aang rolled his eyes and turned back to steering the bison.
"Do I really cause this much anguish for you, Sokka?" I asked him quietly.
He looked at me.
"I guess I felt intimidated, that's all," he said, shrugging. "But please don't talk to me right now, I'm kinda tired."
I nodded and leaned back, staring at the clouds going past. It was pleasant now, after the little outburst before, and I sighed. I took out a little rock from my pocket and swirled around my finger, watching as it went around and around. Okay, now I was thoroughly bored.
"Have we lost him yet?" I asked them. "I'm dying to earthbend or something. Maybe teach Aang a few tricks?"
Aang looked back and grinned, nodding.
"Please, Katara?" he asked her, pouting a little.
She huffed, looking below us.
"We might have some time."
"WHOOPIE!" cried Aang, his grin returning to his face and leaning forward to have Appa land.
I laughed a little, looking at Katara and Sokka.
Sokka was looking away, his boomerang in hand, staring at the ground. He looked... agitated about something, but I shouldn't prod him about it.
"Hey, Sokka, you okay with landing?" Katara asked him.
Sokka looked at her, blinked, and then nodded vigorously.
"Oh, yeah, yeah," he told her. "That'll be fine. I was just thinking of a survival plan if we need one, that's all."
Katara nodded, smiling at her brother. Man, I felt so left out right now. I didn't get inside jokes – if they had any, of course – or the secret looks they gave to each other that either meant danger or something amusing. It felt okay, I guess, but I still wanted to know what was going on. All in due time, I guess.
As Aang lowered the sky bison, I looked around where we were. It was a bit cold with plenty of earth to bend, but not much cover.
"Should we land here or somewhere in those woods over there? I mean, it's kinda hard to hide a flying bison, but we would have a better chance to hide over there."
Katara and Aang nodded, and Sokka just looked at me.
"You really enjoy stealing my thunder don't you?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't trying to..."
"Okay. Whatever."
I blinked a few times and then leaned back against the saddle, taking a piece of my hair and twisting it around my finger a few times.
"Is right here good?" asked Aang.
We were flying over a tree canopy.
"Right here is perfect," I said, nodding.
We lowered down into the trees, and birds were chirping happily, feeding their families with the seeds they gathered that afternoon. I hopped down from the sky bison before we landed completely, and the earth practically caught me.
"Alright, Aang," I said, looking up at him, watching him as he glided down to the ground. "You're going to need to put the glider away. Not too far, but just put it away from you for right now."
He nodded, setting it down on a rock.
"Okay, good," I said, a bit nervously, as I had never trained anyone before. "Now, you want to take a stance."
He took one, and I studied him, strengthening his arms and legs to make sure he would at least be able to catch a rock. If he didn't right away, I wouldn't get irritated at him though.
"You're all set. Now, I'm going to send a small boulder your way," I said, nodding once, and he nodded back at me.
"I'm ready."
Nodding once more, I took my stance, and ripped a small piece of earth away from the crust of the planet. As I exhaled, I sent it half-speed at Aang, and it didn't stop. I watched carefully, knowing Aang didn't realize the importance of keeping a strong center of gravity. But he didn't fall over, so that was a good sign.
"Okay," I said, stroking my chin a little bit. "I saw that you weren't facing the rock head-on. You need to have a strong center of gravity, be nimble, but you also want to have the attitude like 'Bring it on, rock. I got this.' Okay?"
He nodded, smiling.
"Let's do this."
He seemed very determined and I nodded back at him, smiling as well.
As soon as I set my center of gravity, I sent a rock towards him, and he didn't slide back as much. I turned that rock to dust, whistled, and sent another rock his way.
"You doing okay?" I yelled, and heard a faint positive response.
One more rock. That should be it.
I sent one more his way, and it stopped completely when Aang willed himself to think about the center of gravity. As a finishing touch, the rock ripped in half, and behind it was a beaming Aang.
"I did it! I'm earthbending!" he said excitedly, leaping up into the air.
"You have a long way to go, though, kid," I told him, smiling.
My smiled vanished a moment later, and I felt vibrations coming through the ground again.
"We've got-" I started.
I couldn't even finish my sentence before Prince Zuko and a companion crashed through the trees.
"-company."
Zuko's eyes landed on Aang.
"We need to talk."