Katara explained to Aunt Wu why they were leaving. They wanted to get the three Fire Nation girls away from the village before more destruction came upon it. She understood, telling them that if they needed to, they should take as much food as they could. Katara offered to pay, but Aunt Wu shook her head.
"No, dear, you need the food. The trip to the North Pole is a hard one," Aunt Wu laughed nervously. "Now, hurry and gather that food, then take off. I don't want you four to get hurt. Aang, take care of these girls. They'll need it. You too, Sokka. I know you'll do anything to protect your sister."
Aang nodded, running out to help Katara with all the food. Many of the vendors protested against Aunt Wu's suggestions, but she told them that it was the Avatar, that they had to respect that. Finally, saddle full of food, Appa was ready to go. Toph was sitting in the saddle as well, looking a bit irked. She didn't want to leave such a wonderful town. She said she was going to come back here and teach the Earthbending kids.
"Although that one guy, he's pretty much at the point of uselessness."
"Toph! That was so mean!" Katara complained.
Katara shook her head. Aang gave a laugh, knowing Toph didn't really mean it. She was really just messing around with all of them, not really meaning anything at all. Toph reached for an apple, but Katara smacked her hand away, yelling that all the food had to be saved. There was no sense in eating something while in flight, because that would just make Appa hungry and they would have to land.
"We want to get to the North Pole soon," she explained. "I'm sure they want to know how to defeat the Fire Nation. Although they were brought down before, they'll be stronger during a solar eclipse. I know I will be."
Katara gave a proud smile. She loved the fact that during any full moon she was at her strongest. Aang was also at his strongest, but that was only with his Waterbending. His other gifts didn't really have a point where they were strong, except when he was in the Avatar State. Sokka snored, taking Katara out of her train of thought. She looked at him, shaking her head in disgust. He was so gross. Why couldn't he be more like Aang? Sensible, polite, and not the least bit disgusting. She rolled her eyes, knowing that would never happen. She turned to Aang, who had floated to the back of the saddle to sit with Toph and chat away with her. Toph didn't seem like she wanted to talk at the moment, so Aang went to sit next to Katara, who was hidden by large, woven baskets. He smiled at her, holding out something that was wrapped. She gave him a quizzical look, taking it out of his hands.
"Happy Birthday!"
Katara's eyes widened when he said that. She had completely forgotten that her fifteenth birthday was in three days! She gave him a kiss on the cheek, opening her gift. She gave a gasp when she saw that it was a hair ornament. She put it right above her braid, where everyone would be able to see it. She asked Aang how it looked, and he said that it was lovely, mixing with her eyes perfectly.
"Aang, this is so wonderful! This is the best gift I have ever gotten for my birthday!" Katara kissed him passionately on the lips.
Aang fell into the kiss, closing his eyes slowly. Sokka snorted in his sleep, but they didn't pull apart. Toph somehow knew what was going on, and coughed. That was what pulled the two apart. Katara gave Toph such an evil glare. Could she not accept the fact that she loved Aang and wanted to be left alone with him without having anyone interrupt them? Sokka shot up from his sleep, asking what was going on. Toph gave a tiny laugh, then closed her eyes. She focused on trying to get to sleep, since the day had been full of action. Sokka looked at his sister with the strange blue flower-like thing in her hair. He took it out, studying it even further.
"Hey!" Katara snatched it back from him, holding it out to Aang so he could help her put it back in her hair. "Aang made this for my birthday. At least he is more considerate and remembers things!"
"I forgot it was your birthday because I was too busy trying to get out of that town alive!"
"I've been talking about my birthday for weeks on end now! I told you I wanted something special!"
"Katara, I didn't truly mean to forget it! I've been busy trying to keep all of us alive!" Sokka said.
"No, you've been too busy ignoring the rest of us! I can't believe you totally forgot my fifteenth birthday!"
Sokka put his face in his hands. He had really messed up this time around. He had forgotten his sister's past four birthdays. Ever since the war hit the Southern War Tribe when he was twelve, he had completely forgotten about his sister's birthdays. He looked at his sister one more time, and pleaded with her that he would get her something truly special this time.
"No, forget it! I'm sure you will anyways!" Katara turned her back to him, and looked at Aang, taking his hands in hers. "Thank you so much, Aang. This means the world to me. I haven't gotten a present for my birthday since I was nine. Since my mother was alive."
Aang smiled. He was glad he made Katara's special day extremely special. He had made her highly excited about getting to the North Pole to truly celebrate her birthday. But it would be awhile before they could even get the chance to have a party for Katara. They would have to talk to the Northern Water Tribe about the solar eclipse, about the secret of Bai Sing Se, and so many other things. They would have more important things to do than Katara's fifteenth birthday. But Aang would make sure that she had a birthday party, just for her. He was going to get her another gift. This time it would be even better than the hair ornament he had made. It was going to be a bracelet from the Northern Water Tribe, handcrafted. He was going to make sure that she was going to have the greatest time on one of her most important days.
"Aang, Appa seems tired," Toph muttered.
"What? No, he isn't tired, Toph. He's fine," Aang went to check Appa, who roared in liveliness. He was perfectly fine. "See, I told you!"
"Then who's tired?"
"Probably Sokka," Katara muttered. "Oh, look, I was right. He's sleeping."
Everyone turned to Sokka, who was curled up in his parka. He hadn't taken that out in ages. Neither he nor Katara had. She looked for hers. She found it and put it on, realizing it was too small for her. She gave a mumble, thinking about hemming it to make it wider, but Aang told her that once they reached the North Pole they would get her a new one.
"Thanks, Aang. We'll have to buy Toph one as well. I doubt she's used to the cold weather of the North Pole."
"Nope, I'm not. So I guess I'll need shoes as well, huh?"
"Oh yeah, the whole city is made of ice."
"Great…" Toph muttered sarcastically.