Thank you all for the lovely reviews. :)

Chapter Twenty Four

Like a Dream

I felt a new pair of arms pull me away from him, and a tiny gasp escaped my lips as I stumbled backwards. Katara smiled sheepishly, mouthing 'sorry', before turning to Aang, who looked about as startled as I. She knelt down next to him while I stood by Sokka, feeling like I was in a daze. My eyes drifted from Aang, who was still on the ground, then to the sky. It had stopped raining.

I bit my lower lip, hugging my arms to my chest, reliving the embrace. It felt so nice, and no words could describe how happy I was to have him back. I was literally jumping with joy.

I let out a inaudible, fatigue fueled sigh which turned into a yawn. Katara was talking quietly to Aang, and he was nodding slowly, his eyes half shut.

Then, he murmured, "This…feels like…" His eyes wandered to me, and they narrowed, "Like a…dream." The last word dropped as his gray eyes suddenly closed, and he fell backwards. Katara jumped forwards, catching him in her arms. He had passed out.

I felt my heart drop tremendously, and closed my eyes tightly. My fists clutched the sides of my shirt, feeling an ultimate wave of sadness wash over me. Not again.

Katara cleared her throat, and I opened my eyes to see that Sokka was leaving. Katara motioned for me to come over.

"I'm going to move him back to his room." She said, puckering her lips slightly as she looked at his unconscious face. I frowned. Seeing my discomfort, she added lightly, "He will wake up soon."

I nodded solemnly.

Katara stared at me a moment longer. "I thought you'd be happy that he is awake."

I looked at her, surprised. "I am. It feels good to have him back."

"It looked like you were crying." She commented, then smiled, "Tears of joy?" She teased.

I grinned, "Yeah."

There was a pause, and then Katara nodded towards the unconscious Aang, "So, what do you think of his hair?" She giggled.

I titled my head. Aang had a full head of hair, now. It was black, or some might say a really dark brown. It covered up the top of his arrow, only exposing the point. It was a couple inches thick. "Hmm…." I said thoughtfully, "It's different. I like it." I giggled as well.

Suddenly, Aang stirred, a soft sigh escaping him. Katara and I immediately turned to him, eagerly. His eyes opened and he squinted for a second, adjusting to the light.

"Ugh…" Was all he said, rubbing his eyes as he scooted into a sitting position. He stopped, glancing at us. "Uhum…Hi." He said sheepishly, grinning widely.

"How are you feeling?" Katara inquired, her hands gently placing a red silk robe on him.

"Fine." Aang said. His voice was quiet and raspy. He swallowed loudly before falling tiredly back onto his back. He let out a startled yelp and sprung back into a sitting position. "What happened?" He asked, wincing.

I turned away, hugging my knees to my chest.

Katara shot me a questioning look before interlocking her hands together. "Well, after you went down, we escaped on Appa. Then, we found my father on this stolen Fire Nation ship. And…we've been here ever since."

Aang rubbed the back of his neck, then suddenly an alarmed look crossed his face. His hands flew to his head, and his eyes widened, "I have hair?" Katara and I giggled, and Aang only looked at us in surprise and shock. "How long have I been out?"

"Thirty days."

Aang suddenly looked dizzy, and his eyes flickered upwards. I turned to see Sokka kneeling down beside me.

"See, there's a good thing to this!" The water tribe warrior exclaimed, throwing his hands up excitedly, "The whole world thinks you're dead!"

Now Aang really looked like he was going to pass out. Instead, he leaped to his feet, clenching his teeth in pain as he staggered onto his glider. Katara jumped nimbly up, steady him with a worried look on her face. "The whole world?"He yelled, his head turning from side to side, "This isn't good!"

"Aang, calm down." Katara said gently, helping him to a seat on a nearby barrel.

Sokka examined the confused Avatar, "I don't know why you don't think this is good, Aang." He commented, and Aang only shot him a wide-eyed look of desperation. "We have the element of surprise! We can easily-"

"The whole world thinks I'm dead." Aang repeated slowly, clutching his newly discovered hair. "That means…" He bit his lower lip, a groan escaping his throat, "Ba Sing Se. I've failed them. I've failed the world."

Katara cleared her throat softly, touching Aang's shoulder. "Not the whole world. We don't think you're dead."

"Yeah, Twinkles!" Toph chided cheerfully. She had just made her way over a few moments ago.

He only gritted his teeth, shoving off Katara's hand. He grasped his staff, staggering back to his room without saying a word.

Sokka's eyebrows rose, "That went well."

Toph only grunted and punched him hard in the arm.

"You have to talk to him, Vinca."

"What makes you think he'll listen to her?"

"I agree with Sokka…."

"He will listen! And stay out of this, Sokka!"

"You're not my boss Katara!"

"Vinca, come on. You know he will!"

"W-What am I supposed to say?"

"He won't listen to her!"

"Sokka!"

"What? Even Vinca thinks he won't listen to her. Right Vinca?"

"Um…"

"You are so annoying, Sokka! You know very well that Aang will listen to Vinca. Right Vinca?"

"Uh…guys…"

"Vinca!"

"But his door is locked! How am I supposed to talk to him if he locked himself inside?"

"See? At least Vinca is reasonable! I'm beginning to like you!"

"Um…thanks…I guess?"

"Vinca, I thought you were on my side!"

"There are sides?"

"Vinca is obviously on my side!"

"Wait-"

"Vinca, stay out of this!"

"But-"

"JUST GO TALK TO HIM!"

"He won't listen! He's in his own little Avatar world with magic and hair!"

"Sokka!"

"Why don't you talk to him, Katara?"

"I thought I told you to stay out of this!"

"U-Uh-"

"She has a point, Katara. Why don't you?"

"Sokka, you know I have already tried! And so have you. And Toph. And Dad! Pretty much everyone on this ship-minus Vinca-has tried!"

"Katara, you are so bossy, maybe you should go take a nap or something."

"SHUT UP, SOKKA!"

"See my point? You see my point, right Vinca?"

"I think I'm going to leave-"

"No, you have to go try and talk to him!"

"I told you, Katara! He's in his Avatar place or what not!"

"I highly doubt that, Mr. Know It All! And don't you mean Avatar State? I'm pretty sure we would know if he went into the Avatar State! You've seen how it is!"

"Yeah, well he's probably in the peaceful side of it! You know, meditating? Yeaaaah!"

"SOKKA!"

"KATARA!"

Never get into an argument, or even go near Katara and Sokka when they are arguing.

AN: Sorry how dull this chappie was. I just threw in Katara and Sokka's little sibling arguement at the end because, why not! It wasn't a space filler or anything. I will most likely post the next chapter tomorrow, but no promises.

Annnd, I just wanted to make this clear. You know how Vinca's mother's name is Nya? That was not based/copied off of Katara's mother's name, Kya. I chose Nya because I wanted something short and sweet. Plus, it had to fit on a small heart shaped locket. Secondly, Olin, Vinca's brother's name, was not copied from 'Bolin', a character in the new series, "Legend of Korra". I simply thought of these names before I actually knew the characters in the new series. I just wanted to clear all this up, because its been bugging me a lot lately.

Happy Easter. :)