Here is chapter 10 of my story. Thank you all who have been supporting it since the beginning and anyone who come acrossed and given it a chance. If you're wondering how long this story will be, I'll you...I have no idea. It's not ending anytime soon, that's for sure. Please review so I can incorporate my readers ideas into the story. I may be the one writing it but this is your story too. Hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my thoughts!
Chapter 10: The Departure from Ba Sing Se
Sokka awoke to the blazing sun shining through his window. This immediately got the boy's attention. The Gaang was supposed to leave just after dawn, having a quick breakfast before they left. From the position that the sun was presently located, it was just past noon.
Sokka ran out of bed and ran right for the Jasmine Dragon. He glanced at the stable and noticed it was completely empty. No, they couldn't have left without me! Sokka thought.
As Sokka entered the shop he immediately found Iroh and ran to him. "Where did everyone go? Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Sokka spoke at a hundred miles an hour.
"They tried waking you but you wouldn't budge." Iroh said to Sokka's shock. "They waited all day for you to wake up but decided to leave without you after they had dinner."
Sokka thought he misheard Iroh. "Wait, how long was I asleep?'
"Well, I don't know when you fell asleep, but you slept all the way through yesterday."
Sokka felt his face turn pail white as he fell to his knees and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sokka quickly sat up. He looked around at his surroundings and immediately exhaled. It was the middle of the night. He quietly got out of bed and went to check the stable and sure enough, Appa was there sleeping. Sokka dropped to his knees this time crying softly with joy. It had only been a dream, a very bad dream.
Taking his dream as a warning Sokka decided not to take any chances. He went back to his room and packed up all his stuff. He then proceeded to place all his stuff next in the stable so that it could easily be packed with everything else. Satisfied, Sokka climbed onto Appa's saddle, momentarily waking the bison who fell right back to sleep after giving a soft growl. Sokka unfolded the blanket in his arms and almost instantly went to sleep in the saddle.
Katara open her eyes and stretched her arms. She had gone to sleep before everyone else, planning on waking up early to make breakfast for everyone before they left. She got up and was in the process of changing her clothes when she looked outside her window and lightly shrieked. She had slept in a little longer than she wanted too, as the sun was already rising. She had wanted to have breakfast all ready for the others by this time.
The waterbender hurriedly finished dressing and ran to the tea shop, almost tripping on a few stairs. She opened the kitchen door to see three familiar faces, two of which she didn't expect. Iroh of course was in there like he was every morning cooking breakfast, but helping him with it were Mai and Zuko. Katara didn't know what she wanted to say, so she just started talking.
"I'm so sorry I overslept. Here Mai let me help you with that and Zuko make sure not to use too much of that…"
Iroh stopped the girl in her tracks. "Don't worry Katara, we got everything under control", Iroh said in his normal, cheery voice.
"Yeah, we thought as a thank you, we would cook you breakfast for once", Zuko said with a smile on his face despite looking like he just rolled out of bed five seconds ago.
"Yeah, don't worry about not cooking. You won't have that problem for the next week while travling with a bunch needy mouths", Mai said sarcastically but also sweetly. Katara noticed that Mai had become a more upbeat person since she started dating Zuko. The sarcasm was part of her personality and would never go away, but the sentiment behind her sarcasm had changed drastically. It was not longer cutting but actually benign and caring.
Katara bowed in appreciation and left them to finish their work. She walked over to the big table where they had grown accustomed to always eating at during their return to Ba Sing Se. She sat down and was about to put her head on the table to catch up little more on her sleep when she heard Aang enter the tea shop.
Aang was surprised to see Katara here and not in the kitchen but was happy to see her take a much deserved break. He sat down right next to her and kissed her on the cheek. Katara blushed and returned the favor.
They sat there for a couple of minutes, talking about how they would plan out their route for today when Suki came into the tea shop. She was dressed in her Kyoshi warrior outfit and makeup as she wanted to be prepared for when she arrived home. The sooner she could get her job done, the better.
Suki sat down right next to Katara and gave the Avatar a look. Aang correctly guessed that that was the signal for him to leave as they were about to have a girl-to-girl conversation. Nodding in response he got up and decided to head over to the stable to feed Appa and Momo.
When he got to the stable he decided to also transfer all of his luggage and supplies there as well. That way it would make packing all of their stuff onto Appa's saddle an easier task. He could have put the stuff on the saddle now but he didn't want to put any unnecessary weight on the bison's back if it wasn't needed.
When Aang finished setting all of his stuff in the stable, he started back to the tea shop before he was interrupted by what sounded like light snoring. Aang brushed it off, thinking it was probably the wind that caused the sound. It was a very cloudy morning and gusts of wind appeared sporadically. It appeared that a storm was approaching, making their early exit a wise decision.
Aang re-entered the tea shop to see that Korra and Toph had arrived along with all of their supplies and luggage. He was in the process of offering to take the bags down to the stable, but was stopped when the sound of opening doors revealed their breakfast was ready. Aang couldn't deny the growling in his stomach as he took his spot to the right side of Katara, who had just finished her conversation with Suki with a big hug.
Either Iroh did all the real cooking himself or he taught Zuko and Mai well, because the Gaang was treated to some of the best breakfast pastries they had ever eaten. Everyone was stuffing their faces and continued to chatter amongst themselves. Aang felt an elbow to his side as he turned to see a very frustrated Katara.
"Tell me if I'm overreacting Aang", Katara whispered to her boyfriend. "Should I be worried that Korra, my student who came all the way from the North Pole, is spending all her time with Toph and not with me?"
Aang turned to look across the table and spotted the two in question. They were eating and laughing together. It looked like they had been friends for years. Aang turned his head back to Katara to see her expression change from one of frustration to now one of sadness.
"This is my fault, isn't it?" Katara asked rhetorically. "I haven't been spending much time to get to know her and now she is spending all of her time with Toph." Katara proceeded to drop her head but felt a hand raise it back up.
"Katara, it wasn't like you were ignoring her, you have been very busy the past couple of days", Aang said with soothing voice. "You're still going to be her teacher so you have plenty of time to get to know her."
Katara smiled at Aang and wondered how he had become so wise for someone his age. She leaned in to kiss him but hesitated as she waited for the inevitable interference of Sokka, but he never came. That's when it came to her.
"Where is Sokka?" Katara asked aloud.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the waterbender. They had completely forgotten about him, thinking that he was already here and was stuffing his face. The absence of the warrior brought panic to the group. Katara quickly got up and ran out of the tea shop to the apartments. She slammed open his door only to see a deserted room. All of his things were gone. "Where is he?" Katara said to herself.
Aang, Toph and Korra went to the stable to drop their stuff off and check to see if Sokka had done the same. When they got there Aang immediately noticed Sokka's bags and gave a sigh of relief, knowing that he was at least not kidnapped. Aang had just placed Toph and Korra's bags next to his when Toph spoke up.
"What's that noise coming from Appa's saddle?"
Aang decided to investigate as he climbed up his bison. He put a hand on the rim of the saddle and felt something very, human skin. Realizing this Aang screamed like a little girl and fell backwards, causing the figure in the saddle to suddenly wake up and fall out of the saddle as well.
From the sound that the mysterious figure's head made when it hit the ground, Toph immediately recognized it to be Sokka. Korra began laughing out loud at both of them, particularly Aang and his girly scream. Aang couldn't help but blush from embarrassment.
Korra's laughing caught the attention of Suki and Katara as both rushed toward the stable. Upon seeing what all the fuss was about, both went and comforted their boyfriends.
Iroh finished putting together a to-go bag for Sokka as the Gaang was now behind schedule. He would have to eat while they were flying. Iroh handed it to Suki to place in the saddle. She averted her gaze from Sokka's puppy dog eyes as he begged to start eating the food now.
The Gaang was now all set to depart as they had one last group hug and many smaller, more personal hugs. Katara thanked Iroh for the cooking lessons while Aang thanked Zuko for all he had done for the Avatar. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Korra, Suki, and Momo got onto Appa's saddle as they waved goodbye to their Fire Nation friends. Who would have thought four months ago they would have any friends from the Fire Nation. Iroh, Zuko and Mai waved back as the bison took off and headed south.
Zuko and Mai didn't stand there for long. Zuko had his own meeting to attend with the Council of Five, which started in little over an hour. Mai had to finish packing her and Zuko's things so they too could leave tomorrow morning.
Iroh on the other hand just stood there. He was deep in thought, thinking about all the things that had transpired within the last year. He went from an accomplished and respected Fire Nation General, to caretaker for his troubled nephew, to runaway, to refugee, to tea shop owner, to prisoner, to leader of the White Lotus, and back to tea shop owner. "Not a bad resume", Iroh chuckled to himself, as he turned around and headed back to the Jasmine Dragon.
Also, check out my oneshot if you are interested. It was my first ever story. Hope you all enjoy it! It's called Katara Is All Aang Needs and it's in the ATLA/LOK crossover section.