Zutara - Scars Chapter 7

I turned around and saw Aang. His eyes were sleepy like he just woke up. "Oh, hi, Aang," I said as I stood up and faced him. "What are you doing awake?"

"I always check on Appa in the middle of the night." I raised my eyebrow questioningly. "I don't like him being out here all alone at night," he defended. That was understandable I guess. His eyes narrowed then, "Why are you up?"

I sighed, "Couldn't sleep. I had a nightmare."

His eyes were worried then. He hugged me quickly and said, "I'm sorry. Wanna tell me about it?"

I backed away quickly and stammered, "Um, well, I… not really."

His face was shocked, he obviously didn't expect me to decline his offer. "Oh…" he looked away confusion written on his face. "Well…. Why?"

I played with my hair awkwardly and felt uncomfortable. He still liked me, and I didn't want what I said to hurt him. "It's not your business, Aang. And you don't need to know, and I don't want to tell you."

His face was more confused, "Why not? I thought…. You'd at least want to talk about it. I don't want you worried or anything… Or in pain."

"I'm not in pain; I just want to be alone." I turned back to the sun and looked at the horizon.

"Katara," I sighed and waited for him to go on. "Are you… mad at me?"

I frowned and looked back at him, "No."

"Then why..." he sighed and looked down sadly, "Why are you avoiding me?"

I felt bad then, I had hurt him. I could tell. Dang-it, what do I say. "Aang, I…" I realized I had a lot to say, yet I couldn't say it.

"What?" I looked at me waiting for me to speak.

"It's just…" I tried again. GRR!!! I was angry that I couldn't get my feelings out. I didn't want to hurt him. I really didn't! Finally I sighed defeated. "It's because I feel awkward around you. I don't like you anymore, not the way I did. I know you still want to be together after the war, it's just… I don't want to." His eyes fell to the ground and didn't move. He didn't make a sound or movement. So I went on, "I was going to tell you after the war because I didn't want to discourage you. I really don't want to hurt you."

His head stayed down as he said, "Too late." After that he turned and walked away.

"Aang, wait." I walked after him.

"No, Katara," I stopped and stood behind his rugged form. "It's okay," he said then continued walking as I stared after him.

I turned around and grunted at myself. I felt terrible, I didn't want him to hurt, and to see his face… hurt me. I hated myself for being so… heartless. UGH!! I sat where I did earlier and crossed my arms. I took a deep breath and tried to cool down. I convinced myself that Aang would be okay. He would forgive me. He needed to know anyway.

I tried to go back to my train of thought before. Where was I? Then I realized that I was thinking about how I didn't like Aang anymore. I sighed and stood up. "Alright, new subject," I told myself.

I turned and walked back to my room even though the sun was slowly getting higher. In an hour or so the others would wake, but I decided to go back to my room and lay down some more. I doubted I would sleep, but I decided I could at least stay there until the others were awake.

The hall was still dark for the temple wasn't quite lit by the sun. I walked with a hand on the wall to keep my step and turned at the first corner into my room. My room was brighter than the hallway so I could see my bed easily. I lay down and stared at the ceiling. I tried to keep my mind blank as I stared at the plain stone. It was a brown-gray color and very dull. I rolled over and lay on my side and stared at my wall. It did not help at all.

My mind strayed back to Aang. I recalled his face. I wondered what he did when he went back to his room. Or did he go see Appa? Would he be okay? I got frustrated with my mind and tried to think of something else. ANYTHING else.

Then I thought about Sokka and Zuko. Where were they. They said they would be gone for a few days. How long? And a part of me wondered if they were truly only fishing. Suddenly my stomach growled. I sure hope they were fishing. We were so low on food.

Suddenly I got an idea. I could go hunting! Quickly I grabbed my water-skin and ran out of my room. I strode to where Appa lay asleep. "Hey, Appa." Appa raised his head as I approached and let out a moan.

I smiled and climbed on him. "Yip Yip!" We flew around to the woods and I found a good clearing for Appa to land. There was tall grass he could munch on as I hunted. We landed and I jumped off him in a hurry.

"Alright Appa," he looked at me, "Stay here, I'll be back soon." And with that I silently ran into the thick woods.

In an hour I had three small rabbit-moles tied by the feet. I through them onto Appa's saddle then climbed up myself. With another "Yip yip" we were on our way back to the Air Temple.

The others were just waking when I already had the rabbit-moles in a stew. Everyone enjoyed the filling breakfast as a change from the limited meals the day before.

"Hopefully Sokka and Zuko have a successful trip though," I said to Toph.

"Yea." She said plainly and devoured her stew.

Aang didn't come to breakfast at all. I hoped he would be okay. Toph offered to bring his breakfast to him, but I said I should. I grabbed one of the empty bowls and filled it with the thick stew. Then I walked toward Aang's room. The halls did not seem as long as they were and before I was ready, I stood before his room. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.