Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any of its characters. I own Koima…I wish I owned Sokka or Zuko. LOL.
Where we last left off: Sokka stood there with a red hand mark on his cheek, looking utterly flabbergasted.
I glared at him, "DO I LOOK LIKE A 'HE' TO YOU?"
Chapter 13
Care to tell me…
; Aang;
'Oh spirits,' Aang thought, 'Sokka's in for it now. Who is she?' The girl with abnormal short black hair and flaming amber eyes looked livid and…. In pain?
"Sokka you idiot." Katara shook her head in embarrassment and pushed her brother out of the way, "I'm so sorry about that. My brother is an idiot." Katara apologized to the girl.
"Who are you?" Sokka demanded, his hand to his stinging cheek, "And why were you spying on us!"
The girl glared at him indignantly, "I was not spying on you! And how dare you assume that I am a boy and tackle me to the very dust and start demanding who I am. Who are you and why are you in my village!"
'Her village?' Aang was puzzled.
"Your village?" Sokka cried, looking around him at the crumbling houses and the weed infested roads, "This place is deserted! How can this be your village! We don't have to tell you who we ar-"
"I'm Aang!" Aang introduced himself, grinning cheerfully at the peeved girl.
"I'm Katara."
Sokka whirled on them, "You weren't suppose to do that!"
Katara 'pshed' "It's called manners, Sokka. And she's right; you had no right to start calling her a he and tackle her to the ground. Think before you act and you will get in a lot less trouble."
Sokka looked outraged, "Who's side are you on?"
"Nobody's. Are you alright?" Katara asked, seeing that the girl was in pain, "My idiot brother didn't break anything did he?"
The girls hand went behind her back…Sokka grabbed his knife and held it defensively, "She's got a weapon!" He shouted, grabbing his sister's arm and pulling her away from the girl. The girl looked at Sokka oddly and pulled out something from under her shirt that was tucked in the belt and held it up for them to see: It was a little girls doll, "Does this look like a weapon to you?" She asked, fully amused and a faint smile on her lips. Katara and Aang laughed at Sokka's gaped expression, he closed his mouth and blushed, embarrassed.
Katara went over to the girl and picked up a white bandaged that had fallen to the ground during the scuffle, "Is this yours?" She handed the bandage to the girl, "What wound do you have? Let me see." The girl allowed Katara to lift the back of her shirt up but protested, "It's nothing it-"
"You poor thing!" Katara cried. Aang went over and looked, he was taken aback by the horrible looking wound. There was a large red hand-shaped burn on the girls lower back, the fingers slightly splayed apart. It looked painful, Aang swallowed.
"I'm fine." The girl pressed the bandage against her back, wincing slightly. Katara helped her tie the bandage back on and shook her head, "Who did this? Why?" She asked.
"Prince Zuko—"
Everyone gasped; PRINCE ZUKO? Aang looked at Katara and Sokka, their faces uneasy, was he here? Now? What had happened to the girl. She was Fire nation, why did Prince Zuko hurt her?
"That scum did that to you?" Sokka demanded angrily. The girls eyes flashed with anger, a reaction none of them had expected to see, "He is not scum!" She said, glaring at Sokka, "He did this for me!"
"He burned you! Are you insane!" Sokka was not making the situation any better and Katara smacked him, "Shut up Sokka, let her speak."
Aang tried a more different approach, "What do you mean he did it for you?" Aang said calmly, but still confused. The girl looked uncomfortable, " It's a long story…"
Katara took the girl's arm and guided her to a stone, making her sit down, "Tell us, we have time."
"But I don't." The girl stood up, shaking off Katara's hand, "I have to get back to the ship-"
"Do you mean Zuko is here!" They all said in unison.
The girl nodded, shocked by their reaction, "Yes, he is looking for the avatar that he said had landed here."
'This girl doesn't know that I'm the Avatar.' Aang looked at Katara who looked worriedly back at him. What were they going to do? They needed to rest, Appa wouldn't last much longer without some rest. Sokka was playing with his machete, wondering what they were going to do with the girl.
"What nation are you Aang?" The girl asked him, "I've never seen the likes of you before."
"I'm Air Nation."
The girl paused, awe then fear flickered across her face, "Y-You're the Avatar!" She cried, backing away from then, "But you're just a kid!"
'She is defiantly from Zuko's ship.' Aang nodded, "But that doesn't mean that I'm not Avatar."
Aang noticed that the girl looked troubled, gnawing on her lower lip and her eyes darting from him to Sokka then Katara.
"What is your name?" Katara asked, hoping to change the subject, "We told you ours."
The girl paused, "K-Koima…Koi…" She stuttered, her eyes still fixed on Aang, "I-I gotta go!" She turned and bolted away from the camp. Sokka jumped up and was about to take off after her to bring her back but Aang stopped him, "No Sokka, don't. Let her go."
Sokka blustered, staring at Aang in disbelief, "But she will tell Zuko!"
Aang shook his head, he bent down and picked up the doll that the girl had accidentally dropped in her flight. He looked at it and straightened out the rumpled red dress, "Something's not right with her, "he observed, "Not mentally. But I don't think she will tell. We'll hang onto this and we'll give this back to her when we see her again. I have a feeling that our paths will cross again soon."
; Koima;
I realized too late that I had left Mona at the village, half way back to the ship. Tears prickled my lashed and fell down my cheeks at the realization of my error. 'Stupid!' I scolded myself angrily as I locked myself in my room. I covered my face with my pillow and cried. I didn't speak with anyone when I ran onto the deck, I rushed past Uncle Iroh before he could see me.
Would I tell Zuko that I had found the Avatar? Aang? I shook my head, something in me told me not to tell. Disastrous consequences would occur if I did. I groaned aloud, this was too confusing!
There was a knock on my door and I kindly voice that I recognized as Uncle Iroh spoke, "Miss Koi? Are you alright?" He had seen me run to my room apparently.
"I'm fine." I called back, uncovering my face with the pillow hoping that he didn't ask to come in… however, that's exactly what he asked.
"May I come in?"
Knowing that it would be rude not to, I relented. I wiped my eyes and opened the door to Uncle's jolly figure. He frowned when he saw my red eyes and brushed the hair out of my eyes, speaking calmly to me, "Why are you crying, Koi? Did something happen out there?" He sat me down on the bed and brought me out a cup of tea that seemed to materialize out of his big sleeves. He looked worried and it made me feel loved that this old man cared so much for me.
"I'm fine, Uncle." I lied.
He however, caught the lie, "No you are not missy. What happened when you were out there." His face told me that he would not leave until I tell him. I looked out the window towards land. I sighed, Uncle, I use to live here. I visited my old village."
Iroh paused, surprised, "Did you meet any of your old friends or family? You can go back if you want to live with them—"
I held up my hand, shaking my head, "No, there was no one there. Everyone in my village is dead except me." I said sadly, "No one was there, the homes were crumpled and everything in my house was destroyed, except one thing: My doll, Mona, which my father had made for me when I was young. She was hidden inside a box in the wall where I kept her as buried treasure-"
"Where is she now?" Uncle asked, "Didn't you bring her with you?" I thought quickly for a logical explanation, "Um…A wild platypus bear scared me. It was hiding in one of the houses and I dropped Mona in my hurry to get away."
Uncle Iroh stood up, "Then we should go get her—"
"NO!" I was shocked by the tone of my own voice. Was I protecting the Avatar? What am I doing? Iroh also looked taken aback by my outburst.
"—Its late." I said quickly, "And plus, she's not that important anyway….just a piece of wood and cloth." It hurt to say those words, that doll meant more to me since my parents were gone… I was the only thing left from my parents now. Uncle looked at me, oddly, no doubt trying to figure out what I was hiding. Then he nodded, giving up, "As you wish, Koima."
There was another knock on the door, disturbing me and Iroh.
"Yes?" I asked, relief filling me since we had gotten off that subject. Zuko came in, looking irritable and tired.
"Avatar hunting go well?" Zuko glared at his uncle, "We found him in a village, with the two Water tribe peasants, but he got away."
Iroh's eyebrows went up and he glanced atr me from the corner of his eye. He knew.
; Zuko & Iroh;
Zuko was still confused by what took place at the village. One of the Water tribe peasants, the boy, kept shouting angrily at the Avatar, "She told on us!" He had shouted. But the Avatar shook his head, "She went the other way, Sokka!"
What were they talking about? Who?
Uncle Iroh knew Koima was at the same village that the Avatar was found in. He gave Koima a look that said, 'We need to talk.'
Zuko noticed that Koima was fidgeting anxiously, must be the burn he concluded.
Uncle Iroh took Zuko's shoulder leading him out of Koi's room, "Come Prince Zuko, let's go to they galley and get some noodles. You must be hungry-"
"No Uncle." Zuko brushed his hand away and walked down the hall, "I'm not hungry. I'm going to bed." He went to his room and shut the door with a slam.
Iroh turned to Koima and closed the door behind him, "Care to tell me what happened at the village?"
I was feeling generous and decided to give y'all another chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it! The next chapter takes place on the same night. Thank you all so much for the reviews. They mean a lot and I love y'all comments. I do not know if or when I will start back on the Holy Sugar Honeyed Iced Tea story again…..I thing I lost the feeling for that one. I want to finish this story so I can go on with more stories… I'm trying to write a Jet story right now and I'm collecting material and ideas for that one. I even posted this story on my 'Deviant art' account. My name is TheBlackEnigma. It was going to be TheEvilYingYang but I like Enigma better
Ihave a bone to pick with Nickelodeon. The new episode 'The swamp' How in GODS NAME DID ZUKO MANAGE TO KEEP THAT MASK! It would have been destroyed in the blast when the pirates blew up the ship! Does he keep it in his back pocket or something! I mean seriously! They had no baggage in the second episode 'Cave of two lovers' So how can he still have that Mask! I have to rewrite my story because they HAD TO BRING THAT MASK BACK IN! AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEE! (pant) (pant) Okay, now I feel a little better….. (growls) I'll get you Nickelodeon!
Please review.
