Chapter 7: Can't you smile for the sake of smiling?

"Who do you like Haru?" Aang asked. Haru turned up seven shades of pink and sat down quickly, looking away from the group. Sokka chuckled and patted Haru's back with a nod.

"It's okay. Love gets to us all eventually."

"Yeah, now he's the smart one," Katara whispered to me. We both giggled and Sokka turned to look at us with a glare. Haru looked at me, then looked at Aang.

"I-I-I like someone in this village," he replied, looking back in his lap and fiddling with his fingers. Aww, he's shy. That's adorable, but if I said that to a guy, I'm sure he'd beat me to a pancake. I sweatdropped at that thought.

"Well, then… I guess it's your turn then, Haru," Aang said, a bit disappointed at Haru's reply. Haru's blush quickly subsided and he turned to me.

"Truth or dare, Sammy?"

"Ahh… truth?" I replied with a small shrug. Katara looked from me to Haru and from Haru back to me. If I were her, I'd get a bad feeling too. Something was strange about Haru right now.

"Why do you smile all the time?" he asked me. We had only been together for, what, two-three hours? Sokka must've told him that I smiled all the time. That jerk…

"Well… I guess because I'm always happy," I replied without much of a thought. This was the truth, all the way. I never really knew why I was always happy. If I thought about it, I may end up hurting myself. Haru frowned, as if I had more to tell.

"Can't you just smile for the sake of smiling?" I asked, a bit angry that he wanted more out of me. What more can I give people?

"What do you do when you're sad?"

"I don't really… feel that emotion," I answered, frowning. "I haven't for the longest time anyway."

"Don't you miss your parents?" he asked. Oh, that hurt. A lot. I'd been gone for at least a day now. Were they worried? Did they wonder where I was? Were they crying over my disappearance? Even worse, did they call the cops?

"I'm sure… t-they're fine," I replied, choking out my words. The more it echoed in my head, the more watery my eyes got. The more watery my eyes got, the more I wanted to cry, to feel sad. I hid my face in my knees. "They're probably thinking about my return."

"I-I'm sorry," Haru apologized. He placed his hand on my back. "I didn't know."

I looked up at him, smiling happily. Not one tear had fallen down yet. "What are you talking about? My parents know I'm fine! Now, if you excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom!"

I left abruptly and I could hear Katara scolding Sokka for starting the game. I ran away from the tent. I ran from the village to the water. I'm sure it was an ocean or something. I took a smooth stone from the sand and threw it across the water. It didn't skip once. I could never get those things anyway.

I sighed, feeling better. Turning around, I found myself face-to-face with Haru. I forced my smile. "Oh, hello, Haru! I didn't know you followed me!"

"You throw it like this," he told me, picking up a stone and letting it skip across the water… five times. Wow, that's cool. He looked back at me; I was dumbstruck. Why can't I do stuff like that?

"And you cry by letting your tears fall," he said again.

I stared at him, feeling sad and happy at the same time. What a lecture, huh? I grinned and shook my head. "Nah, I don't feel like crying. What could give you that thought?"

I laughed, unsurely. I continued to laugh. As I did, he looked at me. I got that feeling he saw right through me. I stopped laughing. He held his hand out to me and I fell into his arms, letting the tears fall freely. I clutched his pale green tunic tightly and sobbed for at least five minutes.

"Haru, thank you," I said, backing off. "I have acted very selfishly. Err, and I apologize for that."

I bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for helping me. I'm in your dept."

Haru lifted my chin up. He smiled sweetly and replied, "It was my pleasure, but you don't need to bow."

I smiled, not a forced one though. "Let's get back to the game."

"Yeah, let's go."

We walked back quietly. I was still thinking about my family and my friends now too. Maybe it'll be like in all those other anime… You know, I come back and everyone is crying over me. I'd hate that. I'd probably start crying too. Sighing, I let myself feel emotionless for a few moments. I smiled.

"You know," Haru started right before he entered the hut, "if you feel like you want to cry, I'll be here."

I almost laughed. That was CORNY, to the max. But, I guess it was a kind thing to say since I just cried in his arms. A small snort came out, however. He stared at me and I waved my hand in apology. "Sorry, umm, I'll remember that."

"Sure, I know you thought it was corny," he replied. We both chuckled. I liked his laugh. It was from the back of his throat, but that was fine. It was cute. We entered the tent and Sokka stared at me with sympathy in his eyes.

"I'm fine, honest!" I replied. I plopped myself onto the carpeted ground and smiled. "Well, my turn, right? Well, I pick Katara!"

Katara seemed a bit shocked, but smiled sweetly after that. She nodded, ready for whatever was coming after her. "How about truth?"

"Umm, who do you like?" I asked. What a typical question. "ERR, wait! Umm, ahh, err… dude, I don't have one."

Everyone fell to the ground anime-ishly while I sweatdropped. I looked away, to figure something out. "I GOT IT! WHAT—"

"FIRE NATION ATTACK!"

We all turned to the door, err, flap, of the tent. Rushing out, we found General Zhao at the head of the army just outside of the border. What were they doing here? And, he's so much uglier in person. Eww…

"Why are they here?" I asked Haru. He frowned; I know he knew why. I shook him. "Telling us why would be nice!"

"The avatar."

"How do they know he's here?"

"I…"

"YOU WHAT?"

"I'll miss you."

"What?"

Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Haru rushed ahead of me. Do they think I can't fight? I started to run after them when Sokka shouted at me. "DON'T COME! YOU'LL GET HURT!"

That was a major insult. And not to mention it made me mad. I stomped my foot on the ground angrily. "I'M NOT USELESS!"

KABOOM! A fairly large explosion went off in the Fire Nation's army. People flew; everyone was surprised. And, worst of all, the group stared at me. Did I do that? I can't do bending.

"You're… you're that girl that she told us about," Katara said. Sokka gulped along with Aang gaping at me. I crossed my arms.

"It wasn't me. I didn't do anything. There was probably some fuel explosion or something," I replied. I shooed them off. "I guess I would get hurt. Now, go save Haru's village, okay? I'll be fine."

They left, Haru taking one look at me. I grinned, and waved, wishing him good luck. I sat in the tent, yeah, not the safest place, but good enough for me. I tried to see if I could actually bend. I know it has to do something with my voice, but maybe I was doing something to actually trigger these "bending" skills. I doubted I had any, but I see what I can do.

"Maybe I have to say something with feeling…?"

I thought of the fire nation and how they killed so many people. I was so angered at their heartless deeds. "THE FIRE NATION SHIP SHOULD JUST BLOW UP SO THEY CAN'T RETREAT!"

My tent sudden torn into shreds, leaving only the stubs of wooden poles that had obviously been blown away into nothing also. I was shocked. So, the cannonball, the bug, the everything KABOOM was me. Great. Okay, let me try something else so, maybe, I could control where it went.

I hummed and thin strands of all colors appeared in a ball shape in my hands. I had to continuously move my hands in circular motions to keep the ball in its shape and to keep it from dispersing into nothing. Aiming, I threw it by forcing it forward, like how you pass a basketball. However, it disappeared before it could hit anything.

"I need something bigger."

I had trouble concentrating. I wanted to help Haru; I wanted to help everyone. But I was just sitting here, trying to figure out my new bending. I hummed louder, trying to drown out the sound of sword against sword and elements colliding. A larger ball of sound, about the size of a fairly large basketball, appeared.

I threw it, aiming for the fire nation. It hit, and there was a fairly large explosion. I can help. I won't be useless anymore.

End of Chapter 7: Can't you smile for the sake of smiling?

Author's note: Well, I know it's been awhile now too, but... just to tell you, the next chapter will be the bonus one, so if you just want to wait until the next chapter, go ahead! A little insider on the bonus chapter, it's a dance off and it's got Jet in it. Fun, eh?