CH14- The Fourteenth Chapter

After what seemed like forever everyone else, except for Lucy, finally woke up.

"Hey, Sarah," Aang said. "Why don't you wake Lucy up?"

"Why?" I asked, taking a small sip of my tea. "She deserves her rest."

"Whatever," he said, taking his position as pilot on Flight 10T Appa. Once everyone had himself or herself occupied with something I sat by Aang.

"Could you fly a little lower?" I asked casually.

"No," he said. "But you can."

"Okay," I said gripping the ropes. Let's see...'yip yip' makes him go up. "Appa! Uhh...not yip."

"Not yip?" Katara asked as Aang laughed. I shrugged.

"Watch," Sokka said as he gripped the ropes. He gave them a small tug and Appa slowly lowered.

"Thanks," I said as I grabbed the cloth. Without really thinking I shoved my hand down into the dark water.

"COLD!" I yelled pulling it out. "Perfect." Still gripping the cloth tightly, I held it under water for a while and slowly lifted it out. I got up and shook Lucy.

"Get up!" I said. She moaned and turned over. "Come on! Get up!" I sat there for a while, pretending to be out of ideas of how to wake her up. I gave the cloth one last quick dip and threw it on her face. She shot up and pulled it off.

"What are you trying to do to me?" She yelled.

"Wake you up," I said honestly. "And now you're up, so my work is done." She glared at me and sat down by Laura.

"What are you drinking?" She asked.

"Black tea," Laura said as she took a sip.

"Darn. Is there any coffee here?" Laura shook her head.

"Doubt it," she said. Lucy folded her arms across her chest and sat back against the saddle. I got up and sat down by Sokka, who was still driving Appa. I finished the rest of my tea and put the cup to the side. I reached over and stroked the side of Appa's head.

"He must be tired," I said. "Flying all day and all night."

"Yeah," Sokka said.

"It's just what he does, though," I said. "He's used to it." A strong breeze whipped my hair over the sides of my face. I pulled the small cup to my mouth and after I realized that it was empty (since I had finished the tea in the previous paragraph), I threw it over my shoulder and it hit Lucy on the head. She was grumpy enough already and yelled at me. Let's just say I learned some new words today.

"Sorry!" I called out over my shoulder. "I didn't know that it would hit you that hard!"

Laura laughed and took another sip of her black tea. I heard Lucy mutter something about coffee and crackers. I think there was something about me in there too, but it couldn't be good.

"Great view up here," I said softly.

"Yeah," Sokka mumbled. I went back to talk with Laura and when that got boring, I decided to go back.

"Can I drive?" I asked as I sat down.

"Appa, not yip," Sokka said, moving aside.

"You live and learn," I said as I grabbed the ropes. "Look, since I'm the one driving, I'm in control which means that you can let go now."

"I know. It's just that you're just starting and-"

"I'm a fast learner sometimes," I said, jerking the ropes to the side. "Yip yip!"

Appa rose higher into the air. I decided to try and go lower even after the whole not yip thing. I gave the ropes a small tug, just as I had watched Sokka, and sure enough, he lowered just as he had done earlier. Lucy still looked pissed so I decided to cheer her up with a joy ride. "Yip yip!" I shouted and as soon as Appa was up, he was down. I tugged the ropes and he went down. I pulled the ropes in all directions with different forces and shouted "Yip yip!" at random. This resulted in Appa going up, down, left, right, and directions that I didn't even know existed. Lucy was smiling, Laura was laughing, and Katara looked as if she was about to throw up. Aang gripped her shoulder, and Lucy's smile hardened.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked.

"Having fun," I replied. "Yip yip!"

"Stop!" He shouted. I resumed the normal speed.

"Party pooper," I said. Appa was currently close enough to the water for anyone to reach out and wet his or her hand.

AN- sorry for the constant his/her him/her thing...the English teacher is drilling it into everyone's heads...YYAAAAAAHHHHH! okay I'm done...hhm...

"What?" He asked when he noticed the expression on my face.

"You have to take the fun out of everything don't you?" I asked. He was silent. I smiled. "I never get to have fun like this back home."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I could never steer a 10-ton flying buffalo, much less ride one."

"Bison," Aang called out.

"Whatever," I said nonchalantly.

I saw a small disc in the distance, and I began to wonder why objects get bigger when they get closer. Then it hit me.

"What the-"

The disc wasn't the only thing riding boarding Appa with us.

"Miss me?" A voice asked as a cold hand gripped me by the throat. I gasped for air in the tight grip, and everything went black.