Part Three: Speak

"Oy! There you are!"

Why does it feel like someone's carrying me?

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"I found him."

"OH MY GODS IS HE ALIVE!"

"Katara, he's breathing. Give him space."

"Yeah. He's paralyzed by the darts in one of our prickly-bush traps. And, by the looks of it, he's got a really bad case of laryngitis too. Poor kid."

"Yeah, and it was his birthday too."

"Well, that just sucks."

"Yeah..."

"Good thing you came to us, kid."

"And good thing Katara found her way back by herself, so we didn't have to search for her too. Right, Katara?"

"Oh... yeah... sure..."

"Well, you should let him rest. He needs it to get better. It's a nasty poison... but very effective for catching deer-rabbits!"

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"Gnargh!"

My entire body hurts so much.

"He's awake!"

Where the hell am I?

I see my sister.

"Katara, you idiot..."

"He's mumbling something. He's delusional..."

This was coming from the girl who had fallen in love with Zuko. Ouch.

A tall man dressed in a hunting outfit pats my shoulder.

"You'll be alright, kid," he tells me. "Your friend, Aang, found us just in time. And your sister hasn't left your side since we brought you here."

I glare at her.

"Where am I?"

"Well, this is my humble home," he replies, "and I hope you rest up. Your friends tell me you're rather fond of eating and my wife's promised a wonderful meal..."

"Thank you for saving me," I say and he smiles back.

"No problem, kid."

"I was really worried about you," she tells me.

"Were you?"

"We both were," Aang chirps in.

"He's the one who went to the nearest village when we found that you were gone."

"Thanks, Aang." I am sincere about it.

"That's what families do, right? We have to care about each other."

"Of course," I say, not so sincere anymore. Katara looks away for the briefest second and then turns back to me.

"Hey, Aang, I just need to talk to Katara for a bit. Could you give us a few minutes of privacy?"

"Sure!"

He leaves, off to wherever his short attention span leads him. I sigh pointedly and look at Katara.

"I have something for you," she says, and I gulp, half-expecting her to pull out a newborn baby. That would have completed my misery.

But no. She hands me a bowl full of scrumptious-looking stewed sea prunes. I nearly cry in joy.

"Happy belated Birthday," she says quietly. "They had a merchant from the North at the market and I bought them for a bargain price and cooked them myself. I'm not as good as Gran Gran but..."

I stop listening. I'm in Nirvana right now.

I finish the meal quickly while Katara awkwardly stares at the opposite wall.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Ilikesheetalod," I say, still munching on one last prune. And then I swallow. And burp.

Katara winces.

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"So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asks. I tense up a bit.

Sure, I had been planning to yell at her and scream and a whole bunch of others things that I had practiced in my head for the moment.

But then she gave me those delicious stewed sea prunes.

Damn.

I feel a bit guilty.

Maybe...

"I had a dream," I finally tell her.

"Okay," she says, looking a bit confused.

"You were with Zuko."

"What?"

"Yeah, you were fighting him. Beating him too."

She smiles. Sort of.

"And then, suddenly, for no reason, you two kissed. And it turned into a nightmare"-her smile drops from her face-"probably because I was so hungry. It gets to my head. Thanks," I say, giving the bowl back to her.

She grins. She's happy, you know.

Hey, if this means that I have to play the idiot with her for a while about last night's... proceedings, whatever. I'll do it because I care for my sister.

But.

She is never going out by herself again. I'll make sure of that.

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"Such a muddy line between/ The things we want/ And the things we have to do." –Sheryl Crow

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fin