Author's note: Bah! Forget making 'Children' a word in the title of every chapter! It's too hard!
"So, Katara, Aang told me that you, Appa, and I were caught together. What happened?" I ask her as we head towards the street.
The village is not really that big compared to my home village so it wont be long before we finish our little shopping trip.
"Oh, yeah! You were asleep throughout the whole thing! How did you even do that?" Katara responds with a new question as she turns to me curiously.
"Do what?"
"Sleep so deeply that you didn't wake up even after being carried around and tied up."
I can only stare at Katara as if I am waiting for a 'psyche!' like I did to her before but it seems she is serious.
"Seriously? I'm a heavy sleeper?" I ask again to confirm. My eyes squinting as if I'm trying to scrutinize myself.
"Yeah. We even tried to call you up but you just kept on snoring."
"Wait, I snore!?" My jaws hang, shocked by this news. "Why didn't anyone tell me-Oh wait. I sleep alone in my room. Then again, my mother would have known about this. But she also wakes me up for school and she doesn't have that much trouble waking me up."
...
"Sometimes" I add, remembering the times where I woke up with my mother yelling at me for not waking up the first time she woke me.
I didn't even knew I had even woken up at all during the first time. I stared at her like she was crazy the first time she yelled at me for this.
Katara really didn't have much to say as she watches me be deep in thought.
Finally reaching my conclusion, "I guess there were times I sleep like a rock. But only sometimes!"
Katara only shrugs as she didn't have an opinion about that and we continue to walk in silence.
But I don't want to walk in silence. She still has not answered my first question.
"About the capture...?" I trail off as I wait for Katara to pick up where I left off.
"Oh, right. The capture."
Is she okay?
"Well, when you fell asleep, we found Kyoshi Island. Aang went to swim to find the elephant koi while Sokka and I stayed on the beach. I brought Momo off Appa with me so he wouldn't disturb you. We left you on Appa because we thought you needed some rest from being emotionally drained. You looked like you really needed your rest. Your eyes look better now by the way."
My hands instinctively reach for my eyes to check on them. It doesn't feel swollen anymore.
"So while Aang rode the elephant koi,"
Wait, what?
"Appa ended up wondering off. I couldn't really let Appa walk around with you sleeping on his back so I chased after him. It seemed that Appa was lured by some food. I tried to tell him not to eat it but he went after it anyway. He didn't get really far so I caught up to him quickly. Then we were suddenly ambushed from above and around us. Appa and I tried to fight back but one of the Kyoshi warriors held you hostage. Said that they would hurt you if I don't surrender and calm Appa down. I convinced them to leave you on Appa alone because Appa didn't look to happy having an enemy on his back."
I look down in disappointment. Katara didn't see my reaction as her eyes are scanning through the shop's wares.
I am not disappointed in them, if anyone is to think that. It is at myself obviously. Of all the time to go into deep sleep, it had to be then...
"Appa seemed really reluctant. Even when they tried to get you off Appa once we reached the village, he tried to shake them off to protect you. I had to calm him down. Then we both got tied up while Appa was held somewhere else."
Once Katara had finishes her story, she turns to me and is surprised by the look of disbelief on my face. "What's wrong, Wan? Are you okay?"
It took a while for the information to process but slowly I start to nod my head, "Yeah...It's just...Appa tried...to protect me?" I point my finger to myself, making sure there is no mistake.
"Well, yeah. I guess so. We're all friends, aren't we?" Katara asks with a gentle smile as she continues walking onward.
I'm slightly stunned by the question, "...Yeah...Yeah! We are!" Jogging up to Katara with a grin, I change my pace to a slow walk once I reach her side.
This is so cool. I have friends! They're all my friends and they even tried to protect me.
Sure it's not something to boast about but really, it just feels...nice.
Actually, no. It is something to boast about!
One day, I'll pay them back! I'll protect them too! One way or another.
Throughout most of time during our walk, we could hear ecstatic screaming. I found it amusing while Katara advised us to not get too close. I didn't understand why at first but every time I asked why she would look at the position of the sun. It's just a guess but I think she's really serious about leaving soon. I just hope I get to bathe first before leaving.
I'm currently carrying a giant pot. The kind that looks like it is meant to hold water and a bunch of big flowers. Not for groceries.
"Are you sure you can hold this, Wan? It looks kinda heavy." Katara places another pear-apple into the pot gingerly, as if expecting me to drop the pot anytime soon.
"Yup!" I chirp, "I'm quite strong, you know. No need to worry."
"Well, if you say so. But if it starts to get heavy, give it to me alright?" Katara didn't feel right letting a younger and smaller girl like me hold the big pot. It is big enough that when I carry it in my arms, I can't see where I'm going. Katara has to lead me around with a hand on my shoulder.
It is heavy but wasn't that hard to carry. The pot has a curve that widens up from the bottom of the pot and shrinks to form the neck. My arms just have to grab onto each other beneath the curve that is about to form the neck. My arms are pretty much around the bottom half of the pot. I then use my right leg to give support from the bottom. So while I walk, my right leg would give some support so I'm not holding it up all the time and it even hits it forward so I can move forward easily as well. I also get to rest a little because all I have to do is hold onto the pot so it doesn't fall over and my right leg keeps it from falling down.
Totally easy.
"Don't worry, I wont!" I grin cockily as Katara lands a hand on my shoulder, ready to lead the way.
"Oh hey, Aang!" I hear Katara call out. I turn to the direction she iss calling out to and sees Aang jogging his way towards us from the fangirls. "Good. Think you could help carry this pot for us? The pot is really heavy and I'm worried that Wan might not be able to hold it much longer."
I turn to her and whine, "But I thought I said that I could already?"
Aang wave a hand at me with a shrug, "Yeah, she looks fine. Plus, I really can't right now."
Katara raises an irritated eyebrow. Damn, can everyone do that? "You can't?"
Oh no, she has the tone of a mother on the verge of whipping out a punishment.
I stiffen at the familiar tone out of habit but Aang seems to be completely unaffected by it. "Yeah, I promised to give the girls a ride on Appa. How about you two come with us? It'll be fun!" He offers while smiling expectantly.
"Watching you show off-"
"Eeeeeyyy!" I but in while grinning akwardly, my eyes shifting back and forth between Katara and Aang. "As nice as that sounds, Aang, we don't really want to. I mean, look at the bunch of girls you have! I mean, it looks like it's going to be a packed ride so there's no need for us to come. I mean, Katara must have rode on Appa a bunch of times and I already got my fill back at home sooooooo how about you just focus on them? I'm sure they'll love it! The more space the better."
Katara has an eyebrow raise at my oddly enthusiastic answer, her arms folded as she supports her weight on one of her legs but makes no move to continue where she left off. Aang blankly stares at me, as if processing what I have said into something easier to understand. Soon, his slumps shoulders rise up to shrug.
"We could always squeeze you two in. Come on and you'll see!" Aang tries to persuade but I shake my head.
"Maybe next time."
"...Okay, see you later!"
And with that, he runs back to the girls while waving goodbye to us with a grin on his face.
Once his back is turned to me, I let out the breath I was holding and turn to Katara. She didn't look too happy.
"Aha...Hi?"
"You really shouldn't have done that. If you keep encouraging him, we'll end up staying the night." Katara says as she lays both of her hands on my shoulders and lead me away.
"What's wrong with one night?" I ask curiously. "I mean, you stayed one night with me."
"I know but we couldn't exactly leave at the time. We had a reason to stay and it was more than just 'because we want to'." Katara lets go of my shoulders and scan the stall's merchandise. "This bracelet looks like a nice souvenir."
It is a bracelet of jade green with yellow designs engraved by hand. Yellow and red flowers were painted on the bracelet and they were very small and there were a lot of it. It must have taken a lot of time to just make one bracelet.
"No thanks. My mom already has one of those." I answer while I continuing to eye the bracelet. It's still really pretty.
"Oh? Okay then." Katara put the bracelet back and slightly bows apologetically to the merchant and lead me away some more.
"Anyway, we couldn't leave because Aang was determined to stay. He wouldn't, or couldn't, tell us why. Just said it was important. And when we finally found you, he was...well...not fit to leave. I'm still not 100% sure why he broke down like that. I...never really got around to ask."
Katara pauses and I remain silent, waiting for her to continue.
"Do...you know why?"
The question makes my heart stop and my feet stunned from the surprise. Katara is forced to stop as my stiff body wouldn't allow her to push me forward anymore. Turning around, I ask, "What?"
Katara retracts her hands from my shoulders and hold one of her arm while the other is on her thoughtful face.
"Well, you also chased us. Chased Aang, probably. Although your mother said you were screaming so loudly she swore the whole village heard you, we didn't hear you at all. All of a sudden, Aang turned around, telling us to just trust him and..we found you. Crying like Aang did before. It sounds like both of you know why. Do you mind explaining it to me? I..just don't really understand."
I put the pot down.
I feel like this is going to be a long conversation. I lay an arm on the pot while I look down at the earth, remembering and thinking on what I could tell her.
"Well, I'm not really sure what to say. I just...felt horrible. I just felt like I was dying inside when you guys left." Needed to emphasized that. "The further I saw you guys go, the more lost I felt inside. I felt so afraid, I just jumped out of my window and started running. I felt so afraid that I just...cried, you know?" I take a moment to gather myself. Just remembering the whole emotional thing is making me a little uncomfortable. "And when you guys came back...I felt safe. I just felt like I was home. More so then when I am in my own house. After that, I just...couldn't let you guys go. I mean, I just couldn't bear the thought of losing my friends that I just kinda end up..."
I gesture my hand around us, "Here."
Katara takes a moment to replay what I had said in her mind, slowly processing the information carefully. The look on her face while she is doing so just says that she wasn't getting it.
"It was just instincts." I add. Hoping it would help piece up an answer for her.
It seems to have helped as she did some small nodding. "Okay. But that still doesn't explain how Aang suddenly chased you and how he suddenly turned back, knowing you were after us."
I shrug. That question is also one of my own questions. "I don't know. All I can say it that I felt a pull. Like, 'Don't just stand there, stupid. Run.'. Kinda like how there's a wolf-bear nearby and something inside of you tells you to run away even though it was far away from you? Just switch that into the opposite."
...
"And switch out the wolf-bear to something unknown."
"So..it's a calling?" Katara guess to try and make some sense from this conversation.
"Yeah! That's it! A calling!" I agree with her energetically. That word feels right so it must be the answer! A calling!
Katara scratches her head and then shrugs, "Eh, it's kind of weird but we're kind of weird ourselves."
"Heh." I breathe as I smile at the ground.
Yeah. And airbender frozen for a hundred years with his flying bison.
A waterbender from the south traveling with the avatar to the other side of the world.
A water tribe warrior attempts to make sure we stay on course and who's favourite weapon is a boomerang of all things.
A treat-loving flying lemur.
And an earthbender who doesn't know how to earthbend.
It's perfection.
"So...about that 'girl of my dreams'..." Katara trails off as she avoids eye contact with me when I snap my head towards her at the mention of my mistake.
"I meant 'girl FROM my dreams'! Not 'of!" I attempt to correct her but she isn't completely convinced. "Look, I just fell asleep in school and just dreamed up a bunch of blurry colours and saw a lot of blue and they were the same shade as your eyes. It was an honest mistake!"
"But how could a bunch of blurry colours end up making you call me the girl of your dreams!?" Katara exclaims as she toss her frustrated hands into the air.
Holy crap, was that what the conversation before was for? To get to this that seems to be bothering her!? Really!?
"I just saw a lot of blue!" I scream as I stress with both of my hands in front of me, attempting to show her how much I'm stressing this.
"...So it was just all a mistake?" Katara asks for confirmation but with some suspicion in her eyes.,
"Yes!" I stretch the word and emphasize it as much as I could. It is such an obvious answer!
Sure, she's pretty but I don't like girls that way!
Stupid 'Girl of my dreams' mistake! I'm never dreaming again!
Katara releases her tense shoulders and finally let out the breath she had been holding. She really was stressed about this!
She looks up at me and smile, "Good. Thank goodness we got that out of the way."
I feel my body weaken from this ridiculous conversation and lean against the pot. "Oh thank God. May we never have this conversation again." I say exasperatedly.
Fuck that mistake. Just...fuck that mistake.
"Alright! Let's pick up that pot and continue on with our way." Katara says cheerfully and it shows in her walk as she moves forward. I quickly pick up the pot and call for her to wait for me as I can't see past the pot's neck.
"By the way, you say 'I mean' a lot."
"That's actually just a nervous habit I have. Ignore that."
Author's story time: The method I described when Wan was carrying the heavy pot was a method I used back in school. We had plastic chairs stacked up really high and it's really heavy to move. My teacher took my class to carry those chairs and help sort it in the assembly hall. The boys did much of the heavy lifting.
The thing was that there were also a bunch of chairs already arranged in the assembly hall but they teachers wanted to change it? Don't know why. Oh well. Probably didn't like the colour.
So we had to stack up the unwanted chairs, move them to the back of the assembly hall, get the chairs stacked up really, really high down to the ground and sort them at the assembly hall.
This is a fond memory of mine because I figured out that method and managed to carry more chairs than any of the boys. I could carry a stack of chair pretty much twice my height easily. I'm 170cm tall. I was also the second tallest girl in my class.
So yeah, this is pretty much me showing off ahahahah!
I loved it and kept carrying stacks and stacks and stacks of chairs for one hour. After one hour, we had to be sent back to class for our next lesson but we were already almost done. I was sweating a lot but I felt great because I felt like I helped a lot. The method uses more technique than it does strength, so I could go for one hour and still be eager to do more.
Try it out sometime if you want to!
I even had some bruised lines on my right leg because I used it to kick around the chairs a lot while carrying them to move them around easily.
You were warned!
And also, one more thing.
Thank you for reading~!
