Book: Air
Ch. 34 The Route Less Traveled
"Toph, how about a break." Katara huffed out as she sat herself on a boulder under a shady tree. They had been hiking a path out of Ba Sing Sai leading South for two days now.
Toph slapped her forehead, and groaned, "We took a break five minutes ago. We have to keep moving or we won't get to the tip of the Earth Kingdom until next summer." Toph grunted and seated herself in front of Katara, she began to pull grass from the ground.
"I'm sorry Toph, its just difficult from me to even stand. All this walking…" Katara began as she rubbed her swollen stomach.
"Yeah, yeah, its too much for a pregnant woman to handle. If you wanted to get away from Aang, why not hide in a cave or underground. Instead we're traveling all the way to this stupid temple of Aang's childhood you talk about." Toph blew her bangs out of the way of her face. Even if Toph didn't mind breaks, the constant pausing was getting on her nerves. The reason why Toph wanted to go with Katara was to avoid trouble with the Ozai and Azula. But how easy would it be for them if Katara and Toph were moving at a rate of one mile every 5 hours.
"I chose the Southern Air Temple because no one will suspect us there, not even Aang." Katara breathed in the coldness of the shady and tried to find comfort.
"Back in Ba Sing Sai, why didn't you are least say hello to Aang? I know we already talked about this. You always tell me that its because if Aang knew about the children then he would force you to his side. Which would , as you say, 'distract him from his Avatar duty' and could result in getting you and him killed. But what about Sokka and Zuko, we have them as back up for Aang. If Aang can't fight back then they will, while Aang holds you dear in his arms as he waits for his little airbenders to be born. Ozai has no fire power anymore and Azula is too crazy to fight with a clear head. They're easy knock outs. Zuko and Sokka could do some serious damage to them. Aang is almost not needed. I don't see any good points about you leaving him and the rest of your family behind. Doesn't it hurt you?"
Katara lowered her head, "It does. But you're missing a key point Toph. I am the phoenix prophet, I have to find the dragon prophet. And together, we can stop Ozai. Because Ozai plans on doing unspeakable things to this world. He can gain firebending again with the ritual of the fire beasts. If I and the other prophet ended up in Ozai's hands, it will mean destruction and the end of hope of overcoming this ordeal. I can't be with Aang because he will keep me by his side at all times. But he and I have two different jobs to do. I have to find the other prophet, and protect the future of the air nation. Aang has to stop Ozai as much as he can until the end of the summer. By the end of the summer, the ritual of the fire beasts cannot be done until the next summer. Until then, I have to avoid being in that ritual."
"So the end of the summer is when you'll return to Aang again?! That's 4 months away and you'll be due by then!"
"But it makes sense doesn't it." Katara lowered her voice.
Toph slumped and got quiet, "I guess. But 4 months is going to be a long time. How will you deal with being away from Aang? He loves you, he really loves you, and I know that you really love him."
Katara closed her eyes, "It does hurt and it burns, but I have no other way. If Aang and I have to be separated so we can be together in the future so be it. But there is one thing that I would never live with, and that is if only one of us gets through this. I can't live without him. I would rather be alive or dead with him. But death is not an option, I have to live and so must he. All I can do now is believe that he sees it that way too. And then we can live."
Toph sat quietly, she shuttered at Katara's words. Toph could sense that every part of Katara's body hated saying those words. Katara hated being away from Aang, but she did make sense. If she did meet Aang, he would never hesitate to let her go. And Katara believed that if he was captured in Aang's arms again, her heart would never want to let go. Breaking away would be even harder if they met again during these dangerous times.
Katara struggle to stand again as she carried herself up. She walked past Toph and off the trail.
"Where you going?" Toph wondered as she felt her move around.
Katara wanted to stop for another reason. On their way here, Katara had seen a waterfall. It had been awhile since Katara had been in touch with her element. She ventured past some brush to find the waterfall. She didn't have to go far before she heard the crushing sound of water hitting stones and a stream. Toph was following behind her and heard it too.
Katara gleefully came to the shore of the deep slow moving pool of water collected under the waterfall that emptied out into a fast moving river. The pool was more like a small lake that was darkly colored by its depth. Katara kicked off her shoes and removed her black shawl from around her shoulders. Slowly she began walking into the shallows and sighed pleasantly.
Toph seated herself on a huge boulder by Katara's discarded belongings. She tried to see Katara but the deeper she got into the water the less she saw of her.
The water level was now up to Katara's chest. Her clothes felt heavy as she moved, but if she let her feet go from the sandy water floor she felt as light as a cloud. She couldn't even feel the heavy burden of her children. She slowly swam to the waterfall, giggling as she splashed around with every pull and push of water. She lifted herself with a wave so she could land gracefully on the rocks near the waterfall. She edged cautiously on the wet slick rocks to get closer to the beautiful falling water. Carefully Katara walked under the hard falls and received a refreshing shower of white water. Katara danced around it and giggled. She had missed the fun of her element, it was almost enough to distract her from her yearning heart for Aang.
Toph could see Katara's enjoyment. She could reflect how Katara could feel about a personal connection with her element, but after awhile, she found Katara's enjoyment a little annoying. "Hey waterlog, come on! We should get back on the trail!" Toph shouted.
"What?! I can't hear you over the roar of the falls!!" Katara shouted back with some amusement even if she did hear her.
Toph blew at her bangs again. Suddenly she straightened up when she felt something weird happening nearby. She could feel something big approaching them but it didn't make any sense as to where it was coming from.
"Katara, I sense something coming!!" Toph stood up and got in a fighting stance.
Katara ran out of the waterfall and turned about to face danger, "Where is it…"
A loud horrible screech pierced the girls' ears. It sounded like it was coming from the waterfall itself. Katara slowly walked towards the waterfall and noticed something she hadn't seen earlier. There was a cove behind the waterfall. Katara peered her head in. She was greeted with a rapidly approaching scaly face with large teeth coming at her. Quickly she spun out of the cove, and the beast inside raced out of the cove, through the falls and into the deep lake. Then it reemerged to face its intruder.
Katara stared up at the tremendous monsterly beast of the waterfall. It stood as tall as the waterfall, and looked similar to the serpent they came across at Serpent's pass. In fact this was the same serpent they had encountered twice before. It must be, because the path Katara and Toph were taking was on the edge of the lake that held the serpent. The waterfall's cove must have been its resting place. Now this serpent was staring down at its old enemy, it bared it's teeth at Katara and attacked.
The serpent went in for a bite of Katara, but Katara dove into the lake. The serpent slammed its face into the rock wall.
Katara emerged her head in time to hear Toph shouting, "Katara!! Where is it??!! Get out of there!!!!! It can't follow us on land can it????!!!! Get out!!!!!!!!"
The serpent ignored Toph's cries, it wanted to eat the prey in the water first. It shook its head from the collusion and glanced around for Katara. Katara was using waterbending to hurry herself towards the lake's shore. The serpent came in to stop her, it splashed down in front of her path which sent Katara in the air and into the water. She could see the silhouette of the beast underwater, it was rapidly approaching her. Katara still could hear Toph's confused devastated voice, screaming at her to get on land.
Katara had to get away, she created a twister like stream of water that sent her high in the air. But the serpent leapt out to her, she wasn't able to get high enough that quickly. It's jawbones were about to crush down on top of her in one big mouthful. Thinking quickly, Katara reached out to grab its teeth with her hands and stopped the lower jaw with her feet. The serpent struggled with Katara's strength, so it decided to jump back into the water to drown its victim.
Katara was hoping it would do that. She braced for the pounding hit of the water against her back. It was driving her deeper and deeper into the lake. Katara's ears popped and hurt as she adjusted to the water pressure. Everything was beginning to feel heavier, her clothing, her chest, her limbs, and the serpent's jaw. Katara tried desperately to control her heartbeat and hang on to her breath.
She froze the water around the serpent's mouth and removed herself from its jaw. The serpent thrashed its mouth to be rid of the ice. As it was struggling, Katara began moving her arms with all the strength she had left under the tough water pressure. She quickly froze the water around the serpent. The beast thrashed in fear.
Half way through the freezing process, Katara choked on water, sending air bubbles to the surface high above. Her body was growing weak, and her womb was beginning to twinge in pain. In desperate need for air, Katara began resurfacing. She bended the water around her to swirl up faster to the air above. But that caused her a great deal of pain in her womb.
Katara resurfaced and the breath of air never felt so wonderful. Katara gasped and choked and moaned. Her womb now was cramping in pain, as if all her inside were being suffocating.
"Katara!!! Get on land please!!!!" She heard Toph shouting, she was standing in the shallows. Worry overwhelmed her face.
"I'm ok Toph! I'm coming!" Katara tried to shout back, but her pain prevented her from saying too much.
Katara struggled to paddle her way back, her arms felt like lead and so did her legs. She couldn't waterbend out of fear that she might receive even greater pain. The shore looked too far away, and the water felt thick.
Katara gasped for breath, and exhaled with a groan. Her hair swirling around her. She paddled with one arm, the other clamped around her stomach, wishing for the pain to stop.
Then she heard the worst possible sound she could hear. Something was resurfacing behind her and yelled at her with a loud aggressive screech. Katara turned around and saw the serpent now freed from its icy prison. It was coming in on her for a fatal bite.
At the last second, Katara reacted. She sent a wave of water at the beast. It collided with the wave and sent an aftershock which carried Katara on a new wave back to the shore. She crashed on the rocky beached shallows on her side, pain shocked every bone in her body. Toph came running at her, she grabbed Katara under her arms and pulled her out of the shallows to the dry soft sand.
The serpent in the water yelled. Its meal was getting away, but if it went too close to the shallows it could runner ground. There was nothing it could but yell at its prey to come back.
Toph stared down at Katara. Katara gasped and coughed. Pain circulated in every molecule of her being. That last waterbending move did the trick to bring on excruciating pain. Katara's exhales became little screams and her intakes of oxygen were shaky.
"Katara, where are you wounded? We need to get you help now! This isn't worth it, we have to go back to Ba Sing Sai! Please, you nearly killed yourself just for taking a swim!!" Toph yelled down on her.
Katara grabbed Toph's arm, "Please…no…I can't….go back there…… I'll be fine…..Its only the babies…I'm fine Toph….give me a…. moments rest."
Toph monitored Katara's heartbeat and breathing. Her heart was skyrocketing and her breaths were deep and fast. Toph dared placed a hand on Katara's stomach to check if her children were ok. She could feel two heartbeats going way too fast than they usually were.
"They're still alive in there, but you're not in labor now are you?" Toph cried.
"No…arggh….if I work too hard….this is what happens…..you need to train me….. Toph."
"Train you for what?"
"I might need to…..to defend myself…. I need to learn….to control my pain….. to learn my limitation…..and expand it." Katara huffed out, the amount of pain was not ceasing.
"Do you really need that? You sure we can't go for help?"
"No……. the pain will pass." Katara took hold of Toph's hand, "Trust me."
"Ok, I trust you. Let's get you in the shade." Toph lifted Katara to her feet. Katara leaned against Toph since her legs felt like gelatin. She drew in a sharp breath of pain with each step.
Toph led Katara to a clearing and set her down gently on soft grass. Toph ran back for the supplies she left behind that she received from Iroh and Katara's belongings. Toph grabbed some sticks and logs in the woods and clanked two rocks together to make a fire.
"I guess we can camp here for the night, its already getting cold from the lack of sun." Toph seated herself next to Katara. She placed a blanket over Katara. She was surprised at how thoughtful Toph was being. Come to think of it, Katara never heard Toph's voice sound so desperate and upset back when she was fighting the serpent. She had really frightened Toph.
"Toph," Katara huffed, her pain was still consuming her strength.
"Yay,"
"Can you please….say something…….to get my mind off of…..this pain…….please." Katara demanded.
"Um, ok. I um, what do you want me to say?"
"Anything…..Tell me about your……relationship with The Duke……heard you guys……are working together." Katara tried to giggle, but it was painful for her. Katara had heard little news about Toph back at home.
"Um, The Duke and I have organized a fight club and training center. I handle the earthbenders and he handles the warriors who want to learn about explosives and weapons. So far we allow only kids are age to enter. And we compete against each other. So far we are working on the constructing of our arena, which he destroyed during our last battle together."
Katara giggled again, "You say 'we' as if you were in a serious relationship with him, are you?"
"No." Toph became defensive, "He is just someone I work with. We came up with this idea together, as friends during an arm wrestling contest. But I barely see him because he's always going back to the Treehouse. I don't care what he does in that tree, as long as he comes back when he's says he is."
Katara giggled again, "You do like him."
"I do not."
"Do so."
"Do not."
"Ok…….stop arguing……. now its just giving me…….. a headache."
A long silence laid before them. The sun was beginning to set on another day of their travels. Sometimes their nights were often quiet. This was the first time Katara and Toph had a conversation during the evening. Toph grabbed out of her bag two loaves of bread.
Katara struggled to sit up. She laid up against a tree trunk and accept the extra loaf.
"Maybe I'm just being stubborn." Toph said after swallowing.
Katara looked at her strangely.
"About my friendship with The Duke. I do feel something when I'm with him. But sometimes I feel like I'm not right for him. Like I'm not pretty enough, or girly enough for him. Like I'm more of a guy in his eyes, a friend and nothing more."
Katara stopped eating to think hard about how to respond to that, "If The Duke… likes you for who you are…then you need to go for it…..You maybe different…from other girls…..but that's what makes you special……he's lucky to have you…..And I'll say this again……even if I know it doesn't matter…..but you're really pretty…..Don't think you need to change for him……..I bet he likes you just the way.....you are."
Katara continued eating while Toph stared blankly, and unmoving. Obviously she was deep in thought.
"Was it the same for you, with Aang?"
That question caught Katara off guard, "What do you mean?"
"To me, all love seems the same. Where you have to be yourself and you're suppose to magically find the right guy who will like you for who you are. Well what if you never meet that right guy, or you meet the wrong guy? Love seemed far-fetched to me."
Katara set down her bread and placed a gentle hand on Toph's shoulder, "True love….always finds a way….for everyone……You just have to be patient…..which you're good at……Wait and listen to your heart…….. for the right guy to find you."
Toph let another silence interrupt them. This moment of silence lasted even longer.
"So training starts tomorrow right?" Toph broke off the stillness of the evening.