Story Arc: New Allies

Part: One- The Lutdeo

Chapter: Twenty Seven- The Second Good-Bye

Author: Fritters-4-Psi

Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Kashi, Risha, the concept of the grith coin, Vioniza, Raven's Watch, Kali, the Nai, Shian-Nai the Nai, Kaza the Koi Fish, and the Red Sand Gulf. Other possible things to come in later chapters.

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It hadn't been long since Zuko, Iroh, and the soldiers had left. Probably close to fifteen minutes. Katara was having mixed emotions. On one hand, she was sad that Zuko had left so suddenly. He hadn't been planning to leave until three-thirty that afternoon, but he ended up leaving at around two. There was defanitly a connection between her and the Prince. On the other hand, she was worried. More Fire Nation soldiers were more than three days away. Luckily, they had been spotted before coming too much closer. Now there was time to prepare to leave.

Katara gathered everyone together. They had to talk. "Okay, as we were informed, there are Fire Nation soldiers about three days away," she stated, "That means we have to leave. We should probably go today so they don't get even closer. We don't have much stuff to get together, so we could be ready in an hour. What do you think?"

There was silence for a short while. The past few days had been nice. Almost like a vacation. For a short amount of time, Aang, Sokka, and Katara hadn't been very worried about the Fire Nation. Aang was the first to speak, "I think you're right, Katara. Staying here would endanger Risha and the animals living in the forest. We should leave as soon as possible."

Risha was undecided on where she stood on this matter. She knew they had to leave. Aang had to go save the world. Sokka and Katara had promised him they would help. They were the only company she had in a long time, though. Before they came, she had forgotten how much she missed people. Once they left, she would be alone again. Then there was Sokka. In a few days, they had become quite close. She couldn't stand to say good-bye. "You should go as soon as you're ready. It would be dangerous to do otherwise," Risha said, "I have something to go do. There's no need to wait until I return to leave. I may be a while."

Quickly, Risha turned and strode off into the forest before anyone said any thing to her. Sokka began to go after her, but was stopped by his sister. "Let her go, Sokka," Katara said, "We've got to get ready. We can't wait and she told us not to. Besides, she may come back before we leave."

Sokka looked dejected, but gave a slow nod. The three went inside to gather the few things they had brought. That took all of fourty-five minutes. Together, the trio exited the house with packed bags. In front of the barn, patiently waiting, was Appa. Aang, Katara, and Sokka went into the barn and got the giant saddle to put on the bison. After it was secured around Appa's girth, Aang attached the leather reins to the flying bison's horns. Katara threw their bags up to Aang, who tied them down.

There still were no signs of Risha when Sokka looked to the forest. They never said good-bye. Whatever that caused her to go off into the forest without saying good-bye must have been important. Still, he wanted to say farewell and thank her for her hospitality. While Aang and Katara were busy loading their things onto Appa's saddle, he started to sneak away. To his dislike, Aang noticed. "Where are you going, Sokka?" he asked.

The warrior from the Water Tribe stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Uh, no where," Sokka stammered, "I wasn't going anywhere."

Katara looked at her brother. She felt bad that they didn't to say good-bye to Risha, but they had to leave. "If that's the case, then we're leaving now," she said, "You can take the reins. Maybe it will help keep your mind off of other things."

The two siblings climbed up the bison's side and joined Aang in the saddle. Sokka went to the front and grabbed the reins. "Yip, yip," he commanded.

Appa took to the sky and flew in the general direction of Omashu. There were yawns behind Sokka, coming from Katara and Aang. He turned around and saw them using their sleeping bags as pillows. Slowly, the two fell asleep. Sokka turned back around to see where they were going. Ahead, there was a giant clearing in the forest. As they passed over it, Sokka looked below. In the clearing there was a massive white shape. It looked suspiciously like a flying bison. Next to it was a small, human-like shape. It had to be Kashi and Risha.

He turned the reins so that Appa would land. The bison set himself down on the ground in the clearing. Sokka jumped off Appa. Indeed, like he had thought, it was Risha and Kashi. Aang and Katara were still asleep. He was sure they wouldn't mind if he said good-bye to Risha, who apparently hadn't noticed him yet. He walked over to her. "Risha, is everything, okay?" he asked.

She turned around and wipped the tears from her face. Sokka was shocked. He hadn't expect to find her crying. He put his arms around her in a hug. "What's wrong?" he questioned.

Risha looked into Sokka's eyes and said, "I don't want you to go, but I know you promised Aang you would help him. I'm horrible at good-byes, so I came out here so I wouldn't have to. I've never felt so close to any one outside of my family. I'm going to miss you."

In Appa's saddle, Aang and Katara woke up. They were unsure why they landed, so they walked to the edge of the saddle. They saw Sokka and Risha talking, and Risha looked very upset. They knew that it was best if they didn't interfere. "You could come with us," Sokka suggested to Risha.

"I can't. I have to stay here and look after the forest. That's my job," she said, "I have to take care of the animals here. I have some money for you. Take it. You'll need it more than I will. I get money regulary from the Earth Nation to watch over the forest. You should go now."

Sokka took the bag and put it in his pocket. "I'm going to miss you," he said.

After a long kiss and a final hug, Risha said, "So am I. Good-bye, Sokka. I hope we'll get to see each other again."

Sokka grabbed he hands. "I know we'll see each other again," he said, "If you can't come with us now, maybe, later you can. By the end of this summer, we'll be going to the Fire Nation to defeat the Fire Lord. We'll need all the help we can get. Find us before the end of them summer and we can deafeat the Fire Lord, together."

The two kissed once more. Sokka climbed back up onto Appa's saddle, grabbed the reins, and the bison took to the air. While ascending to the sky, the warrior from the Water Tribe waved to the Fauna Bender. He hoped that he was right, that they would see each other again. Appa flew so high that, from the ground, Risha could no longer see the giant flying bison.

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I watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night. I loved it! It was weird, but so funny. I think one of my sheep is going to lamb soon. Does anyone have any ideas what I could name the lamb(s)? I can't wait for there to be babies! They're so cute!

Reviews

27, SovereignxXxBrunette: I'm glad you liked the Zutara fluff. I thought it might come out really bad. Were you going to sing the Pirate Song? Like, Yo, ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me?