THIS CHAPTER WAS EDITED AS OF 1/21/06
Author Notes
Hey guys! The reason this chapter was delayed was because of my BUSY schedule and because of that I didn't have a lot of time to edit. This is the last "chapter" in a sense, but it is not the end of the story. And I'm sorry that after that longish wait the chapter isn't too terribly long…And remember, the epilogue will take longer (maybe even two weeks) since I have to go back and edit every chapter and then write the preview to my upcoming story. So bring out your pitch forks and torches! And to all of my not-signed-in/anonymous reviewers, thanks for reviewing! Your comments are taken into consideration and are valued!
Enjoy the story! Note: I don't know what the Fire Nation uses on their tips for their arrows so please tell me if you know!
Disclaimer: You must be really stupid if you haven't figured out that I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender by now. --
Chapter Eleven
Escape Part 2
They had to get out the weapons room before they were caught!
"Hurry!" Sokka hissed as he stumbled over to the far wall, the stream of moonlight from the small window lighting his path. Aang used a gust of air to propel himself up enough so that he could grip the edges of the window sill and squeeze through. Sokka stood under the window and put his hands together, creating a small platform for Katara to put her foot in and grab the edge of the window sill.
Katara quickly put a hand on the cool metal wall and placed her foot in Sokka's hands. Sokka lifted her leg and Katara managed to grab the sill before her brother had to let go. Sokka gasped as he dimly heard footsteps closing in. Someone was coming into the room! Turning back Sokka gave Katara a rough shove to send her through.
"Hey! Don't forget me!" Sokka said urgently, holding a hand up. Nodding grimly, Katara grabbed Sokka's hand with both of hers and hauled Sokka up a few inches as the boy pushed off the wall with his feet to help.
"Got it." Sokka said abruptly, teeth grinding together, his arms creaking as he pulled himself up the rest of the way. Taking her upper body out of the window, Katara leaned back against the wall to catch her breath and Sokka immediately shut the window and then motioned for Katara to move away from it.
They sat there for a couple seconds, panting heavily as Aang leaned against the tower wall, waiting for them to catch their breath.
"Aang, call Appa," Sokka said, placing a hand on the side of the tower to get up as the warning bells peeled throughout the still night and men ran around shouting.
"Aang." Sokka repeated impatiently as the air monk stared at the two walls ahead of him with a calculative air. When the Avatar still didn't respond, Sokka sighed irritably and reached a hand out to shake the air bender's shoulder.
"Aang—" Sokka cut himself off as the air bender's head whipped around, his gaze piercing into Sokka's hand. Sokka quickly drew back his hand before it touched the boy, as if stung.
"Aang, call Appa so we can get out of here," Sokka said earnestly, quickly shrugging off his discomfort as he saw all the lights appearing out of nowhere while the sirens wailed. Their hiding place in the shadows behind the statues would be discovered quickly if they didn't hurry! The Avatar simply held his gaze a few seconds before simply turning away. Sokka growled in frustration, and opened his mouth to speak again but he was cut off by a harsh booming voice:
"THERE THEY ARE! GET THEM!"
Sokka froze in horror and looked over his shoulder. What he saw almost made his knees knock in outright terror.
Around forty fire benders were rushing in at the trio in every direction, fists flaming, swords raised high as they opened their mouths and a terrible battle cry erupted from every throat.
Sokka barely heard Katara's strangled cry of panic over the din. So suddenly that Sokka had no idea what was happening, Aang ran forward towards the sprinting mass of bodies and stood still for a millisecond before putting his good arm in a palm-to-palm gesture and then dropped to his knees and slammed his open palm to the ground.
Utter chaos was unleashed.
An attack that today could only be compared to as a sonic boom echoed throughout the courtyard, knocking everything against the walls—fire benders, bushes, statues, rhinos, fence posts, feeding bins, Sokka and Katara; everything—as the Avatar stood in the center, air swirling around him with a ferocious roar.
Sokka screamed as his body slammed against the rough texture of the tower, the hard ridges bruising the entire right hand side of his body, his head meeting the tower with a sharp crack!
The air pushing him against the tower suddenly went away and Sokka dropped four feet to the ground amidst the ruins of the statue he was hiding behind, the world swirling around in a vortex of light as Sokka struggled to stay conscious.
Groaning, Sokka put a hand to his forehead and blinked several times at the dirt on the ground in front of him. He stayed like that for a couple more moments, waiting for his ears and head to stop ringing before he remembered that they were under attack. Fighting against his urge to just collapse then and there from the pain and fatigue, Sokka struggled to his knees and looked out at Aang, hardly believing his eyes.
To say it was total devastation would be putting it lightly.
All of the fire bender's were laid against the bottom of the first wall, swords bent out of shape and armor smashed. Sokka couldn't see a single one moving.
The rhinos lay stunned and motionless, and a couple lay buried under boulders that had fallen off the top of the first wall.
All of the windows on the tower were shattered; glass was strewn across the ground, and every single statue and the stair case leading into the tower was smashed to bits. And in the center of it all was Aang, a faint blue light encasing his being as he bent over double, trying to catch his breath.
We need to go now, Sokka thought vaguely as he rose unsteadily to his feet, unaware that his nose was bleeding.
He took a couple unsteady steps towards Aang before he remembered Katara.
"Katara!" Sokka coughed, looking through the thick cloud of dust obscuring his vision. He stumbled over to where he saw her last and found her body sprawled prostrate on the ground, a small trickle of blood running down her head.
And she wasn't moving.
Feeling his heart rise in his throat Sokka forgot about his fatigue and scrambled over to her and checked for her pulse. He let loose a shaky breath when he found it strong and steady. Coming back to the moment-at-hand, Sokka quickly scooped Katara into his arms 'bridal style' and groaning heartily, he half-jogged to where Aang was fighting the few soldiers who came around the other side of the tower. The dust had thinned out enough for Sokka to see and he quickly looked around to see what was going on.
What do I do? Sokka asked himself, looking around frantically. His eyes fell on the drain he and Aang had come through, although now the bars on it were shattered and the fence line was demolished. The rhinos were gone and no one stood in between him and the drain.
Could he escape down the drain with Katara and leave Aang behind? Or should he put Katara behind some statue remains and help Aang? Sokka glanced over at the air bender, who was barely able to fight off some of the fire benders and then down at Katara's pale, bleeding face. He couldn't help one and still help the other, Sokka realized grimly. Without another moments hesitation he bolted across the courtyard, his father's words about taking care of his sister ringing through his mind.
Reaching the drain that was half way covered with rocks Sokka stopped and turned around to look back at Aang. He bit his lip, hating himself for deserting his friend, then turned and disappeared down the tunnel. His heart pounding, Sokka ran through the ankle deep black water, hugging Katara close against his chest as he looked ahead, his back stooped over in the tunnel.
His back, already sore from the crash against the tower and the exertion of the fight went numb with pain as he looked ahead for some light in the pitch black tunnel, unable to shove aside his concern for Aang.
Sokka ran down the tunnel for ten long, long minutes, the deep blackness of the drain pressing into him almost as if it were a physical being before he finally saw the pale circular shaft of light. Rushing forward with renewed energy and gasping for breath, Sokka was able to stand up straight and relieve his cramped back. He stared up the ladder slots, the sounds of battle coming to his ears from the bar-covered opening at the top of the ladder.
He was past the first wall and from the closeness of the battle he assumed Aang must be too. Unable to just keep going, Sokka quickly shifted his hold on Katara so that he was holding her waist with one of his arms before climbing up the shaft. When he reached the opening his navy blue eyes widened at what they saw.
Aang was on the top of the wall, knocking down ladders, evading swords, flipping men off the walls, attacking the fire benders with a whirlwind of air attacks that were truly terrifying. But even as the path in front of him cleared, more fire benders and sword masters filled it, keeping the air bender locked in the middle of a mass of bodies.
Suddenly Sokka saw flaming arrows being shot at Aang from windows in the tower; whether some sixth sense told him or he just had good reflexives, Sokka watched Aang knock the arrows to the side and into the men around him at the last second. But the thing that truly worried Sokka was the desperation in the Avatar's movements and attacks, and how sluggish he was starting to move.
He's running out of steam, Sokka thought bitterly. And if he drops down in front of all those guys he's toast.
Sokka's mouth set in a grim line. The only way to save Katara and Aang would be to go get Appa and then fly back to rescue the Avatar. Without wasting another second since time was running out, Sokka jumped down the ladder and landed with a splash in the water. Wincing at the jolt running up his legs, Sokka barely heard Katara's tiny moan.
Glancing down, he saw a deep frown on his sister's face. Suddenly, a noise came that made Sokka's head snap up. Someone was running after him in the tunnel, his feet splashing in the water.
A split second later Sokka could be seen bolting down the tunnel as fast as his feet could possibly move.
Jet:
Jet heard pounding footsteps ahead of him and a boy's voice hissing something. Jet's eyes gleamed as he recognized Sokka's voice. If the Water Tribe boy was just ahead of him, the Avatar must be with him! If he was, he could—!
Jet's head throbbed as he jerked it up at the sound of boots and the jingling of armor ahead of him and behind him.
Jet increased his speed and suddenly came upon a hallway to his left. Without hesitating, he turned down it just as a troop came around the corner. Trying to not alert them of his presence in the passage way Jet forced himself to power walk down the hall way even though his fingers twitched wildly at his suppressed urge to run. A door suddenly appeared and due to the sound of pursuing foot steps behind him, Jet wretched it open and stood inside. It was a Fire Nation weapons room with high walls, and a small window that let the moonlight spill into the room was on the wall opposite him.
Still hearing an echo of footsteps (the sound had been grating on his nerves forever it seemed) Jet immediately grabbed a closed crate of helmets and shoved it under the window, groaning tremendously with the effort.
Bringing his hand down, Jet was relieved to see that his gash wasn't bleeding any more. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Jet leapt on top of the crate as the knob jiggled. Jet frantically wretched open the window and for a split second saw the Avatar bring his hand palm down onto the ground before air from the window slammed him in the face so hard that he flew off the crate on onto the metal floor. Groaning, Jet blinked back the tears threatening to run down his face from the pain. I can't take much more of this, He thought bleakly, staying prostrate on the floor. I have to get out of here!
Noticing that the jiggling on the knob stopped, Jet felt closed his eyes and focused to keep breathing deep breaths. He stayed there on the floor for six minutes or so before forcing himself up; Jet climbed back on the crate before he noticed the shattered glass and the total devastation outside. He turned white as he gaze landed on the Avatar in the center of the disaster, a faint blue light encasing his body.
"#$&!" Jet muttered to himself, hauling himself through the window, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain in his hands and thighs as he wiggled through. Once he was out, he tried to get to his feet, but he was trembling so bad from loss of blood and exertion that he simply leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
Through the thinning dust he saw the form of Sokka glance back at the Avatar before disappearing down a tunnel half-way hidden behind a pile of debris. Jet frowned. Why would he go in there? He's trapping himself…unless there's another way out!
Jet got to his feet before new men from inside the tower came out and captured him. Half-heartedly jogging across the courtyard, Jet avoided dizzy, bleeding soldiers easily enough to slip into the tunnel without an incident. Hearing Sokka's running foot steps in the distance, Jet started walking, stooped over and trying to fight down his nausea as he thought of a way to make sure Sokka and his sister never escaped……
Sokka:
Sokka felt ready to collapse with his sister's weight dragging him down. The tunnel seemed to run on endlessly into the dark, and it seemed ages and ages to Sokka before he saw the small half circle that was the other entrance.
Yes, Sokka thought in relief as he neared the opening. Reaching the bars, he glanced over his shoulder as he heard the splashing footsteps about twenty feet behind him.
Sokka quickly sat Katara down in the water and leaned her up against the tunnel wall, wincing as her leggings and long skirt stared to soak up the black water. She won't be too happy when she wakes up, Sokka thought dryly as he squeezed through the bars, groaning and wriggling until he popped through.
By then he heard the sound of heavy breathing and splashing water. Quickly putting his arms through the hole, Sokka grabbed Katara's shoulder's and then tugged her through, sometimes having to shift her body around to fit through.
She would definitely be sore in the morning….
Once Katara's feet were through, Sokka wasted no time in leaving the drain pipe as the cold wind howled down the tunnel, bringing with it the heavy breathing of another person. Sokka gave Katara a piggy pack like he had when they were little kids and with a groan, he rose to his feet and slowly started climbing up the steep mountainside, needing to walk instead of bolting up the incline like he wanted to.
Doubled over from the weight, Sokka looked down at the rock covered ground he was climbing over and slowly but surely made head way over the rocky terrain. Sokka had made it half-way up the hill without being spotted when suddenly he slipped on a loose stone. A guttural groan escaped his lips as he fell onto the thousands of painfully sharp little rocks with Katara's weight on top of him.
The stone he had slipped on crashed down the mountainside and knocking down other loose stones until a rumbling rock slide was crashing down the mountain, causing Sokka's heart to plummet at the loud racket that echoed throughout the night. It was still very noticeable even above the din Aang was making. His worst fears were confirmed when suddenly he heard a shout on the wall.
Stumbling to his feet and falling three times before he finally got his feet under him he was moving so fast, Sokka ran with renewed strength as arrows came whistling from the wall, some of them flying over his head or nicking Katara's sleeves. He yelped as they landed all around his feet; looking around frantically Sokka spotted a large boulder and sprinting towards it, he collapsed behind it to catch his breath as a couple arrows continued to sing over and around his shelter.
Looking up, he saw the belt of small boulders behind which Appa and Momo were waiting; it was about a hundred feet away but with no cover large enough to hide him and Katara, he could very well get shot in-between here and there. Taking a deep breath, Sokka left the shelter of the rock and beginning racing up the face of the mountain for his and his sister's lives.
Jet:
Finally, the end of this blasted tunnel! Jet rushed towards the opening, his back screaming at him as his head swam from the blood rushing to his head. When Jet reached the bars, his eye brows shot up in surprise at the melted bar that created the opening. He stared at the cool pile of melted metal for a few more moments before a clamor reached his ears. Glancing up through the drain hole, Jet saw a small rock slide tumbling down towards the wall, and a blue clad boy with a girl on his back racing up the mountain.
Sokka and Katara.
Jet heard a shout on the wall above him, and shortly after that, a barrage of arrows was set towards the water-boy and his apparently unconscious sister. Jet smirked as the murky water soaked through a hole in one of his boots.
Those iron tipped arrows would take care of Sokka and Katara for him since he was in shape to do so. Jet quickly squeezed through the hole, only being able to fit after taking off his shoulder pads and Twin Tiger Swords.
Straightening in the shadows of the wall, Jet's eyes gleamed as he saw the arrows nicking his enemies. While the tower was preoccupied with Sokka and the Avatar, he could escape unnoticed, his absence not detected until after the fight. And by then, he would be long gone. Jet grinned through the blood and bruises on his face and then walked away, melting into the darkness.
Sokka:
Sokka zig zagged sharply to the left and right irregularly in an effort to throw off the accuracy of the archers. It worked well enough in the fact that none of them pierced him or Katara, but no so well in the respect of getting cut on his ears, arms and legs. After what seemed an eternity of ducking and dodging, Sokka finally reached the boulders and immediately sat down hard behind them, breathing hard.
He closed his eyes as he trembled from the effort of running up a mountain with a teenage girl on his back. He was shocked that for such a slim girl that Katara was so darn heavy. He never wanted to carry her again in his life!
He was jolted out of his thoughts as Momo landed on his head, tugging his pony tail and chirping frantically.
"Ow! MOMO—OW! Get OFF!" Sokka bellowed as the lemur yanked his ponytail and his ears. Reaching his hands up Sokka wretched the overly excited lemur from his head and held him in front of his face. "Don't ever do that again," He said darkly, glaring at Momo. Suddenly his attention left the lemur's face as he heard voices screaming to get out the catapults.
"C'mon," He said to the busy-tailed lemur, setting him on the ground. "We have to get Aang out of there!"
As Sokka picked Katara up again, at the end of his strength, Momo jumped from rock to rock, hissing and chirping so frantically that Sokka wondered if it was possible that the lemur had lost his mind.
Appa gave a small grunt as Sokka approached; the bison's large eyes were dark and worried from the chaos going on around him. Appa actually came forward so that Sokka didn't have to walk far to put Katara in the saddle and Sokka vowed to himself that after this whole mess he would give Appa a whole bushel of moon peaches!
He feebly dragged Katara up into the saddle and gently laid her down before crawling onto Appa's head and grabbing the reins. Momo scrambled onto Appa and then onto Sokka's shoulder, still twittering nervously. Forcing himself to keep going even though all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep, Sokka lifted his chin and set his eyes on the tower that was alive with fire.
"Yip yip."
Katara:
Her head hurt so bad that Katara thought she would just go back to sleep, but the pain all over her body was past numbing and the roar of fire in her ears immediately made her remember that she was in the middle of being rescued.
Sitting up with a gasp, Katara felt the wind on her face and to her astonishment, found she was on Appa. The full moon came out from behind a cloud, and as Katara looked over the edge of the saddle, her heart leapt into her throat as Sokka sent Appa directly over the outer wall of the Fire Nation fortress. Her ocean blue eyes widened in absolute horror as a flaming fire ball half the size of Appa was launched from the catapult straight at them.
Katara gave one long endless scream and out of the corner of her eye saw Momo leap from Sokka's shoulder and run over to her as the bison dodged the fire ball, missing the burning mass of fire by only a couple feet.
Katara looked back down and saw Aang fighting in a mass of fire benders and soldiers, with flaming arrows being sent at him from the tower windows. Katara looked at Sokka in alarm as he sent Appa flying down so low over the wall that when the men turned around as they heard Appa's roar, they screamed and threw themselves on the ground.
Those who didn't got knocked off the wall as the bison zoomed towards Aang, flying so fast that Katara's eyes watered as Momo clung to her waist with all his might while he shrieked in terror.
"AANG!" Sokka shouted over the roar of fire and the zinging of arrows along with the crash of armor meeting metal.
The Avatar cocked his head as he stood with his back to them. With one rough movement of his good arm he pushed away an arrow and a fire attack before shooting himself up into the sky with strands of air spiraling him straight up.
He landed on his feet into the saddle as Appa immediately shot high into the air away from the catapults and flaming arrows that nearly shot the bison.
Appa was going so fast that the wind was blowing Katara's braid around like crazy but she still heard the commander screaming:
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY! SHOOT THAT MONSTER DOWN!"
The tower quickly receded in size as they flew higher and Katara sighed in relief when no fire balls were seen flying up at them.
They were finally safe.
Katara glanced over at Aang, whose tattoos were still glowing even though he was bent almost double, resting his hands on his knees and breathing very hard. "Aang—" Katara started to say, crawling over to him with Momo, but she cut herself off when she smelled the acid smoke that only one thing could possess.
"FIRE BALL!"
Aang's head shot up and he bolted forward, running onto the bison's tail before lifting his foot and hand at the same time; he gave a hoarse shout of effort as wind erupted from him and smashed the fire ball to smoking smithereens.
Katara's sigh of relief was short lived when to her absolute horror Aang's tattoos suddenly went out and he stood there at the edge of Appa's tail, teetering before falling over the edge.
Screaming, Katara launched herself forward so fast that Momo went flying off of her lap as she flew half-way over Appa's tail and managed to catch the unconscious air bender's wrist at the last possible second.
Her eyes caught sight of the land that was over one hundred feet below them as they flew over the Fire Nation tower, the cold night wind biting into Katara's skin as she strained her arm muscles for all they were worth to pull Aang back to safety. Fire balls came raining up at them and Katara screamed in agony and terror as Appa jerked every which way to avoid the fire balls coming from the tower. Aang's body twisted violently each time Appa went a different direction and Katara's arm felt like it was being ripped out of its socket as she struggled to hold onto Aang.
Katara gripped Aang's wrist with both of her hands, tears streaming down her face from the effort of holding the Avatar suspended in the air. Slowly, Aang's sweat-slicked wrist began slipping through her fingers.
"No, no!" Katara choked out, gritting her teeth as she tried to pull him up. Despite her efforts she continued to lose her grip on the air bender. Now only his wrist—fingers—
"SOKKA!" She shrieked, panicking as her grip slid even higher up on Aang's hand and now only held the ends of his fingers that were quickly slipping through her own—
"NO!" Katara screamed as Aang's hand slipped through hers and the air bender plummeted to his death—
Suddenly Sokka was there; leaning over the top of Katara's back his hand shot down and grabbed the air bender's wrist. Sokka's hand turned white at the knuckles as he began pulling the air bender up. Katara, almost giddy with adrenaline, terror, and relief feebly helped Sokka grab Aang's shoulder and then they hauled the boy onto Appa's tail and back into the saddle. Katara watched through tear filled eyes as Sokka leaned the Avatar against the side of the saddle, Aang's face completely expressionless in his unconscious state.
Having stopped crying but still trembling, Katara crossed her arms and gripped herself, so busy telling herself to calm down that she didn't notice the absence of fire balls. Sokka turned to her, and to Katara's utter shock she saw unshed tears swimming in her brother's eyes.
That he completely surprised her would be an understatement as Sokka suddenly grabbed her in a painful bear hug. After the initial shock of the first three seconds Katara hugged him back, burying her face in his shoulder, barely noticing how bad he smelled.
If she wasn't so emotional she would have gagged.
Sokka pulled away after a minute, his face grave as he looked at her face wounds. Katara drew a shaky breath, gripping Sokka's hand to steady herself.
"Is it over?" She asked softly as they flew through the night air on Appa.
Sokka's face broke out into a small smile. "Yeah. We made it." He replied quietly.
They smiled at each other for another moment before Katara turned to the duffels tied on Appa's saddle, retrieving a water skin from under the bundles.
Unscrewing the cap, she turned back to Sokka who was looking at her expectantly. Katara took a quick drink to satisfy her thirst and then handed it to Sokka. He took a quick swig before handing it back to her as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Take off your shirt," Katara ordered him as Momo nuzzled Aang's face in efforts to wake him up.
"You need to rest before you heal anybody," Sokka protested, his face flushing slightly. "So get some sleep."
"I can rest after knowing that my brother and my best friend don't have festering burns and cuts on their bodies, thank you very much," Katara said crisply, starting to feel a lot better. "Now take off your shirt."
Scowling, Sokka took off his shirt and Katara's eyes widened at the damage down to Sokka's developed torso. "Ouch," She said sympathetically.
Sokka merely grunted and looked away as she poured water onto her hand and it glowed a bright transparent blue. Sokka shivered from the cold night air as Katara took her hand off the newly healed patch of dark skin. Telling herself that she could finish him tomorrow, Katara only took care of the more damaging wounds, such as the burn on Sokka's cheek and the deep cuts on his arms and sword slashes on his upper body.
"There," She said after three minutes of healing. "I'll finish healing you tomorrow."
"Thanks Katara," Sokka said gratefully, quickly putting his torn shirt back on. Katara still had water left, but her hand was trembling from the effort of healing. Sokka saw it before she could turn away.
"Katara, you need to stop before you hurt yourself." Sokka said sternly, frowning at her as she sat next to Aang.
"No," She said firmly, avoiding Sokka's gaze as she decided to see what was wrong with Aang's arm before she asked Sokka to help her remove Aang's torn and burned shirt. Peeling back the makeshift bandage, Katara gasped as she saw part of Aang's arm. It was covered in dried blood, a frightening swollen purple and the burn on his arm was every shade of blood red in between dark midnight black.
Katara glanced up at Sokka, her horrified face asking her question for her. Sokka's grim expression didn't help as he met her gaze; swallowing hard, Katara turned back to Aang, pouring water onto her hand and began healing his entire arm. It took a lot of concentration and by the time Katara stopped she was exhausted, breathing hard and had a slight sweat on her brow.
"Katara…." Sokka said meaningfully as he dug out blankets.
"Let me heal his major cuts Sokka," Katara said quietly. It's my fault that he got these in the first place, she added to herself. Katara quickly healed the bleeding slash across his chest through his torn shirt. After healing the cut on his head, Katara healed her throbbing cheek and raw throat before she quit. But that nasty bruise on Aang's wrist from when Sokka pulled him over Appa didn't look very comfortable—
"Katara," Sokka said angrily, as he saw her reach for the water flask again. "That's enough! You can finish tomorrow!"
Sighing, Katara nodded and glanced back at Aang before she crawled underneath the blankets Sokka had laid out for her. Aang's face remained blank, his body unmoving as his chest barely rose with each breath. Katara glanced behind her shoulder over at Sokka, who was leaning against the saddle with his arms folded and his eyes half-way open as he watched her.
"Is he going to be alright?" Katara asked in concern. "He's never used his Avatar spirit for so long before." Sokka gave a half-hearted shrug.
"It took a lot out of him Katara. He'll be out of it for a while."
Katara nodded and looked thoughtfully behind them at the quickly disappearing mountains.
"Thanks," She said after a long pause. When Sokka didn't respond she glanced back at him and then grinned at Sokka's sleeping face. He was so tired he wasn't even snoring!
Deciding it was her bed time too, Katara yawned and laid down, pulling the blankets over her. Momo crawled over to her and under her blanket, settling down against her stomach, a purring bundle of fur. A small smile graced Katara's lips before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
To Be Concluded