After what had probably gone on record to be the worst day of her life, Charlie spent the next few hours sprawled out silently in the middle of Appa's saddle as they continued their journey north. She stared blankly at the night sky above her, watching the clouds float by, illuminated by the soft glow of moonlight. Her starfish position wasn't exactly heat-conserving, but she absolutely could not be bothered moving. She'd be damned if she saw the ocean right now. After a brief inner-reflection, she concluded her new life sucked to an epic proportion of suckage. Maybe it was a premature assessment considering she'd only been there for 17 days—yes, she kept count—but Charlie wasn't the kind of person to dance around an issue. No, she was sure of it. Now coddled with one near-death-experience after the other, her life seriously sucked.
It also didn't help that Charlie had the worst night of sleep she'd ever had. Actually, that was a lie. Having the worst night of sleep would actually require having slept at all, which was something Charlie had none of. She tried of course, but each time she closed her eyes, she found herself back at the ocean's floor, unable to move, lungs constricting. Usually her dreams were a jumbled mess, nothing needing to look beyond a surface level for—but this one screamed at her. Her lips pursed in annoyance. Needless to say, Charlie spent her night counting an obscene number of proverbial koala-sheep, watching the sky change above her. So now she was sleep deprived, cranky, and freezing. The air only got cooler as they reached further towards the Northern Water Tribe, which was not fun for her heat-preferential constitution.
Daylight had finally come, and she watched as the others all slowly awoke—except for Sokka, which she'd initially pinned down to pure laziness. She prodded and poked him, making faces at his sleeping form, trying to annoy him out of his slumber. Unfortunately, her theory regarding his laziness was proven wrong when he abruptly broke into a fever with a shien of cold sweat lining his rapidly paling skin.
"Woah, what's up with you?" Charlie asked confusedly as he finally stirred awake. She let her arms keep her upright as she crossed her legs, eyeing the way he rubbed his hands frantically against his arms.
He went to answer but was silenced by a string of coughs, sending him doubling over at the waist. Charlie recoiled and scooted to the opposite corner of the saddle.
"He must have caught a cold," Katara supplied, pressing her wrist to his forehead. "Aang, do you think we can land somewhere?"
"Yeah, sure." He softly jumped over to Appa's head, pulling them to the left. Beside them, a vast greenland spanned over a mountain range and beyond, cloaking what looked to be the abandoned ruins of a city. Carved out of light stone, bushy vines crawled up the sides of the crumbling buildings seeming to slowly eat away at the marks of civilisation.
Aang spotted a place that looked stable enough, bringing them to shelter. The opening was lined in consecutive arches leading to a small balcony. Although some columns and parts of the walls had eroded away, the structure itself was sturdy.
Katara was quick to set a small fire to keep Sokka warm as Aang went searching through their bags for medicine. Charlie was tasked with helping Sokka into his sleeping bag—a struggle, considering his lanky body had gone limp, and she didn't particularly want to be close to his germs. Eventually she resorted to dropping him in the nook between two of Appa's legs and forcing his legs in, before jumping on Appa's saddle again and leaning awkwardly over the edge to pull it up his body from the hood.
All that work left her exhausted. She let her upper body hang off the side of the saddle as she caught her breath. Sokka below her tilted his head back to meet her eyes.
"You know what I love the most about—" He doubled over into a coughing fit. Charlie signed and rubbed at her temples. "About Appa?"
"What, Sokka?" she questioned in resignation.
He flopped the side of his hood into Appa's fur. "His sense of humour."
"That's great, I'm sure he appreciates it."
He sent her up a dopey smile as another shiver wrecked through his body. Katara patted a wet cloth to his forehead, frowning at him with mild concern.
"How's Sokka doing?" Aang questioned, pausing his search through their bags.
"I think he's getting worse," she replied. "Being out in that storm yesterday really did a number on him."
The three looked at Sokka, who was currently darting his eyes back and forth suspiciously with a wet snort. Charlie scrunched her nose in disgust and retreated back onto the saddle, arms crossed to elevate her face.
"H–Hey, where'd Charlie go?" Sokka slurred, weakly struggling to turn in his sleeping bag. "Gotta—"
"Calm down buddy, I'm right here." To prove her statement, she dropped her arm over the saddle's lip and waved it lightly, only for him to grab her hand and awkwardly interlock their fingers upside-down.
Charlie froze. Her brain refused to work for a solid five seconds—which doesn't sound like much, but is actually really a long amount of time to hold someone's hand for. After a moment's hesitation, she sharply tugged her hand out of his. "Sokka, you coughed all over that hand!" With a limp wrist, she shook her hand as if it would decontaminate it.
"I couldn't find any ginger root for a tea," Aang began, making his way over while lifting the scroll that was in his hand. "But I did find this map of the area."
As he knelt down and spread the parchment out over the rubble, Charlie narrowed her eyes. "Why do we even have that?" she asked pointedly.
Aang blinked, his expression unsure. "Well… I don't know, we must have picked it up from a store or something."
"Aren't we broke? Why would we buy that?" she pressed, finding everyone felt as confused as her.
"Maybe we stole it?" Katara suggested, just as enraptured about the sudden and convenient appearance of the exact map they needed as they were. The three sat in wonder, staring blankly at the map.
"Oh look." Aang broke the silence, pointing his finger to some brown scribble in the middle of the parchment. "There's a herbalist institution on the top of that mountain," which also happened to be the mountain conveniently located directly in front of them. "I'm sure we could find something there for Sokka."
"He's in no condition to travel. I think he just needs rest," Katara supplied. "I'm sure he'll be better by tomorro—" She cut herself off when she broke into a bout of coughs, which she covered with her elbow.
"Oh my god it's contagious," Charlie muttered, lowering her nose behind the lip of Appa's saddle. "I need a face mask."
"Not you too," Aang breathed out in disbelief, leaning forwards in worry. Charlie jumped up with determination and slid down Appa's tail, stalking over to their bags in search.
"Relax, I just had something in my throat, I'm fi—" A second coughing fit from Katara had Charlie's rummaging intensify.
"Right, because you definitely sounded fine just now," she drawled out, pulling a faded red piece of cloth from one of their bags.
"That's how Sokka started!" Aang exclaimed. "Now look at him—he thinks he's an earthbender!"
True to his words, Sokka threw out a weak punch, looking like he couldn't hold up the weight of his own arms judging by the way they swung in a downwards flail. "Take that, you rock," he slurred.
"That was truly impressive, Sokka. I didn't know you had it in you," Charlie dryly remarked.
"Th—thanks, Charlie."
"Anytime. Now whose thing is this?" She waved the stretch of fabric between her fingers, catching everyone's attention.
"That's mine," Aang piped in lightly, perking up in interest. "Monk Gyatso always told me to carry spare fabric in case a flying spider-monkey ripped a hole in my pants."
"...Was that a common occurrence?"
"Yup! More than you'd think."
"Moving on. Can I borrow it?" Charlie asked, already folding the edges together into a triangle.
"Sure you can."
Charlie pressed it against her nose and mouth, tying the ends in a knot behind her head just in time for another of Sokka's coughing fits—sounding notably more phlegmy than the first.
"He's getting worse! It's only a matter of time before you do too, Katara. I'm going to find some medicine," Aang insisted, pulling out his glider and walking over to the entry, leaving her defenceless. A clap of lightning had him reconsider, deciding to go on foot instead. "Appa, Momo, keep an eye on everyone."
The two let out a simultaneous chatter and grumble, causing Sokka to burst out in laughter. "Haaaa, you guys are killing me!"
Aang promptly took off, darting down the ruins at inhumane speeds until he was a tiny orange speck propelling himself in the distance. Charlie sighed and turned back to the other two.
Sokka was barely awake, his head falling in a position that couldn't have been comfortable. She tightened the bandana-like fabric around her face before going over to join him. Charlie casually leaned against Appa, one leg crossing the other and her arms folded. "How you doing, buddy?"
Sokka made a sound somewhere between a whine and a cheer.
"Great to see you're holding up," she said with a nod.
"I've gotta lead the troops, Charlie," Sokka muttered with no build up. She blinked in confusion, watching his glazed eyes move slowly.
"The what—"
"The troops! I'm not ready. Earth bending isn't good enough. Yours?" he managed to push out through a gravelly voice. His sentences were becoming choppy, no doubt because talking was irritating his throat.
"My earth bending is limited to how quickly I can throw rocks at people and run," she joked, toeing loose stones on the ground with her shoe.
"I'll teach you!" he cheered, his eyes finding hers.
Charlie's shoulders bounced with a short laugh. "I think you'll find some logistical issues with that. I'll just stick to being psychic."
"F'you're really psychic," Sokka began with a drawl, writhing to pull an arm out of his sleeping bag. "Tell me 'bout Suki."
She blinked in surprise. She noticed that recently, Sokka was bringing up the Kyoshi Warrior more and more—not that she had an issue with it. They were supposed to end up together, so it was only natural. "What about her?"
"She still like me?"
"I think it's safe to say she does," Charlie said slowly after a moment of hesitation.
"Woaahhh," he breathed out in shock. "But, what am I gonna tell her?"
She raised an eyebrow. "About—?"
"What do you think about Suki?" Sokka cut her off.
"...You know I've never actually met her, yeah?" she questioned. His black face told her otherwise. Charlie let out a sigh. "I mean, she's a friggin' badass if that's what you mean."
Momo decided it was time to give his input, chattering loudly while jumping from his perch on Appa's saddle, bouncing off Sokka's head to sit on Charlie's shoulder. She stumbled at the sudden force but raised her arm to pat Momo between the ears.
"Momomo agrees," Sokka mumbled.
"That's one too many Mo's."
"Yeah, Suki's a badass."
Charlie's eyes blew wide open. "Hang on a minute—"
"Super friggin' badass—"
"I don't think you can use those words—"
"But you do all the time," Sokka countered innocently with wide eyes.
She froze, staring blankly at the wall. "Oh my god he's tainted. I've tainted him."
"You're a badass as well."
"I appreciate the sentiment however I'm currently spiralling and need you to stop before my brain implodes." Charlie pushed herself off Appa's side, striding over to Katara.
"Wha—Wait, where're you going?" Sokka whined, struggling to turn his head to follow her behind the fur of his hood.
"To talk to Katara."
"Why do you wanna talk to her?"
"She owes me money," she deadpanned without a beat.
"Ohhhhh. She'll never give it back, trust me."
Charlie snorted and looked over to Katara, who was clearly already spiralling, a sheen of cold sweat dampening the skin over her brows. She let out an involuntary stream of sneezes, convulsing into the crook of her elbow, before letting out an exhausted groan.
"That bad already?" Charlie asked, feeling far more awkward than she should.
Katara looked up in slight surprise, her wide eyes connecting with Charlies. "Yeah, I guess," she replied quietly. There was a small pause that extended way longer than it should have where the two blinked at each other.
Charlie was the first to break, roaming her eyes around the cold ruins and wishing her jeans had deeper pockets to bury her hands into. Instead she was forced to swing them back and forth, clapping them in front of her. Talking with Katara should not have been this awkward, but she'd hardly had a conversation with the girl that didn't revolve around something stupid Sokka said.
"Why have you got that on your face," Katara asked suddenly.
"Personal protection. I don't know how your viruses will react with my immune system, and you guys won't stop coughing. It's gross," she supplied.
"…Right. I'm gonna go lie down for a bit," Katara said, throwing her thumb over her shoulder.
Charlie nodded a few times, bouncing on her heels. "Oh, uh, I'll get you some water," she offered, quickly heading to their bags to pull out their drinking water pouch.
"Oh thanks, Charlie," Katara said, waiting in the middle of the room and twiddling her thumbs. God, was talking to teenage girls supposed to be this awkward? It was almost painful. The age gap between them was only a few years too.
Shaking the pouch around, Charlie realised there wasn't much water left inside. "It's almost empty," she commented. "Take what's left for now, I'll get us some more when it's finished." She passed it over to Katara who kept the cap open, taking sips at intervals.
"I knew I shouldn't have shared that watermelon with Sokka," Katara grumbled to herself, crossing her arms tightly to hide a shiver.
"So did I," Charlie mused, sighing dramatically. Katara shot her a heavy look.
"...You couldn't have warned me!?"
"Hey hey, this isn't my fault," Charlie stressed, bringing her hand over her heart. "The universe requires this of you. I can't interfere with the universe, Katara."
"Stupid universe," she muttered, followed by a highly unattractive snort. "Why aren't you sick? You were next to Sokka the whole time. Actually, you've been spending a lot of time with—
"Well obviously the universe didn't require me to get sick, Katara."
Katara looked at her suspiciously. "Sureee," she nodded with squinted eyes.
"Well, time for me to get that water!" Charlie announced rigidly, snatching the pouch from her hands, and walking away quickly.
"We're—we're gonna talk about this, Charlie!" Katara called out after her, a slight rasp in her tone.
"Nothing to talk about!" she denied.
Sokka had gone back to sleep in the small amount of time she'd left him alone, head flung back and mouth dropped open. A small string of drool ran from the corner of his mouth, dampening the fur of his hood. She scrunched her nose.
"Sokka," Charlie said, nudging his leg with her shoe. "Get up for a second." When he made no response, Charlie kicked him a little harder.
He stirred awake with a sharp intake of air. "Huh wha—Charlie?" he mumbled out through squinted eyes. "Wha's wrong?"
"How're you feeling?" she asked, leaning her side on Appa.
Sokka let out a dramatic groan and flopped his head back, burying it into the fur of his sleeping bag. "Like I'm dying. No—correction—I have died." He sounded better, like a moment of clarity after his rest.
Charlie chuckled lightly and raised an eyebrow. "You're dead?"
"I'm dead," he agreed solemnly with a nod. "Say something nice about me at my funeral. But you'll have to evade the me-never-having-a-girlfriend part of the memorial speech if my dad asks, I can't die with that hanging over my, decaying body."
"Wow, morbid. You're asking me to lie then?" she asked casually, crossing her arms.
Sokka twitched and suddenly became amusingly defensive. "Don't think of it as a lie. Think of it as...as—"
"Embellishment?" Charlie supplied dryly.
"Embellishment!" he said quickly.
Her generally blank face cracked, surprising her slightly. The joke wasn't even that funny, looking back, but she'd shoved her fist in her mouth to choke the laughter all the same, unable to help the undignified snickers that slipped through. Sokka vocalised his protest , grumbling into the fur of his hood. From Sokka's other side, Katara let out a long groan, flipping the hood of her parka over her head and burrowing further into Appa's back leg, trying to block them out.
"There's no shame in that," Charlie finally commented after controlling her laughing.
"Yeah right. I'm seventeen and have never dated."
"So? I'm older than you and I haven't either."
The look of shock on Sokka's face took her aback.
"What? You haven't? You?" he pressed in disbelief.
"Well yeah. Where I'm from the average marriage age is like, twenty five. Not dating as a teenager is kind of normal," she explained with a shrug. "Or maybe I'm just the oddball of my generation."
"No I don't mean that! It's just… it's you! You haven't gone out with anyone?"
Charlie began to feel a distant tingle of self-consciousness. "Well I'm not exactly the most personable person, you know?" she joked lightly. "People tend to find my reflexive sarcasm and general dryness intimidating."
"Then they're stupid," he muttered with such certainty that Charlie didn't know how to respond.
She opened her mouth, trying to find words, but only a choked "I—" came out. She shut her jaw, feeling something like embarrassment crawl up her neck.
"You know," Sokka began, quickly noticing Charlie's struggle to continue the conversation. "Why am I the only one suffering out of us two? Were we not both on that boat yesterday?"
"Maybe the world just hates you," she suggested, quirking a small smile. "Or maybe I just have better genes. My family has hereditary bones of steel and blood of pure, undiluted acid. Put me in a microwave and I might implode." Her sentences were now working complimentary with her hands, giving visual representations of her fists exploding out into flexed fingers.
"Then what's with your face mask."
"One," she began, holding up a finger. "Germs are gross. That should be reason enough, but two," —a second finger went up— "I'm promoting prosocial public health behaviours. I could be preventing a worldwide outbreak right now."
"That's weirdly specific, is this another premonition?"
"Something like that."
The conversation lulled again for a moment. The conversations weren't coming as easily as usual, with an unspoken tension thickening the air. Charlie rolled a piece of rubble under the sole of her shoe a few times, feeling it poke through the thinning material. She kept her eyes on the ground. "Well you don't sound like you downed a bottle of whiskey anymore, so I'm guessing you're feeling better?"
"I mean aside from my entire body being numb and on fire at the same time, I'd say so," he commented, sarcasm dripping from his mouth.
"Oof," Charlie winced out. "I guess that was a bit of a premature assumption then?"
"You think? Five seconds ago I told you I died. You're speaking to a ghost right now, Charlie."
"What have I done to deserve this?" she teased dryly, glancing back at Sokka. His eyes slowly began closing again, quickly regressing into his previous state of daze.
"Oh hey, I'm gonna get water for you guys, I'll be back in a bit."
"Alright. But… if you're not back soon… I'll come looking."
Charlie's lip quirked upwards. "If you can regain control over those lanky limbs of yours." She pushed herself off Appa, brushing off the strands of fur that stuck to her side. She reached over to her side and grabbed the water skin, slinging the leather strap over her neck.
"I'll come… either way."
She let out a soft breath and looked over her shoulder, finding a sleeping Sokka with a string of drool already leaking from the corner of his mouth. Shaking her head, she headed towards the stairs of the entryway and threw up her hand in a perfunctory wave. "I'm off, see you soon."
The walk down to the base of the mountain was completely boring, and long. Charlie stumbled across moss-covered stones and hopped over missing steps, hoping the path wouldn't give out under her when she landed. When remnants of the previous storm brushed over her face in light raindrops, her spine tingled and sent the hairs on the back of her neck straight up. Charlie shuddered, pulling her arms into her green shirt and wrapping them around her bare waist. It didn't do too much to protect against the elements—the shirt she'd been given back in Omashu had started to tear and thin after all the stress she'd put it through. It had also gathered a dusty colour, far less vibrant than it was just a few weeks ago.
Charlie briefly considered switching her shirt back into that black and white-texted one with that stupid 'I Love Ceilings!' quote she'd arrived in, but was worried about ruining that one too. Then again, did it matter that much anymore? She hadn't thought about her belongings in a while—her shirt and jeans tucked into that draw-string bag she used to be so attached to as a constant reminder of her home. Now, it was somewhere in between her stash of goji berries and Katara's seaweed hand cream.
She pushed her way through damp overgrown grass, following the trickle of running water that grew steadily louder. Her body tensed involuntarily with each step when the foliage parted, revealing how close the bank was. "Come on, Charlie," she muttered sharply under her breath. "It's just a stupid lake. That's totally different to the ocean."
She put her hands on her waist and nodded, gulping down air. The light raindrops spit against the water's surface, causing tiny ripples throughout. "Yeah… Totally different. It's not like I… I came here through a swamp lake or anything. Nope. This isn't terrifying at all."
Charlie inched closer to the river, her shoes squelching in the mud beneath her. She slowly brought her arms out from the shelter of her shirt, her body feeling colder where they previously lay. Reaching around her neck for the water pouch, she lifted it slowly, pulling off the cap without looking away from the river. Her body didn't want to move.
She closed her eyes and took a long shake breath in, holding it. When her eyes opened again, Charlie slowly lowered herself into a squat, bringing the hand holding the water pouch closer to the surface. After a moment's hesitation, she dipped the pouch into the river, the icy cold water brushing against her fingers. She let out the breath she'd beenholding, mentally kicking herself for being so afraid, even still.
The bottle slowly filled up, releasing gulps of air. She carefully placed her other hand into the water, shaking the leather for it to fill faster. The wind whipped through the trees, still strong from the storm of the previous night. It howled through the leaves, flipping her hair into her face. She suddenly felt a lot colder than she had before. Charlie's hands froze in the water, her grip around the pouch tightening. Something was off, and she suddenly felt an eerie sensation akin to being the main character in a horror movie. Charlie slowly closed the lid of the water pouch and strapped it around her body. In the near distance upon some branches, a careful glint caught in her peripherals.
It was incredible how quickly things had shifted, and how much detail she could pick up right before the rush of adrenaline shot through her, inducing her to dive head-first into the lake without hesitation. And thank god she did, because less than a second later, an arrow had pierced the ground where she sat.
The world turned upside-down in the water, causing a disorientating blur as she tried to see where she was. Without thinking, Charlie let out a strangled cry muted by water, losing the air in her lungs. Shit. Here she goes again, somehow finding herself in the worst situations possible. Her mind screamed, begging to get out of the water. Her heart couldn't take this again.
'Come on!' she thought to herself with gritted teeth. 'Come on, this is not how you're gonna die, Charlie!'
She gripped at the sodded lake floor and bounded off it with her feet as quickly as she could to move forwards, narrowly missing another stream of arrows cracking through the surface. It wasn't the clearest lake by any means—the murky water stung her eyes, its icy temperature pricking her skin like needles. But it was the only reason she hadn't been impaled yet.
She kicked her legs through the force of the water, trying to stay below the surface for as long as she could on empty lungs. Finally she'd decided it was enough, breaching the water and gasping for air. Charlie pushed the bandana from her face, now soaked and difficult to breath through, pulling it to sit like a headband while dragging her sodded body up the mud bank. Immediately she broke into another sprint, hearing the sharp twang of arrows hitting the trees beside her.
She grabbed onto the trunks as she ran past, using the momentum to speed up in her attempts to escape. She stumbled backwards just in time for an arrow to cross past her nose, eyes widening in fear. Whatever streak of luck she'd seemed to have until this point suddenly ended when a strong force slammed into the back of her head, dropping Charlie immediately to the floor.
Dazed, she rolled her head, only seeing blurs of brown and dark red. She weakly waved a finger in the direction of one of the blobs—distantly hoping it wasn't a tree—and slurred out, "You just made my shit list," before her vision dissipated into darkness.
It was kind of funny how quickly things went to shit. Charlie's hearing was the first thing to return, coupled with a constant ring. There wasn't much to listen to—water dripping, the small crackle of fire and a rattle of chains. When the feeling came back to her body, she realised the drip was coming from her, clearly still soaked in muddy water, and maybe a bit of blood if the intense throbbing on the back of her skull said anything important. Then when she finally had the strength to crack her eyes open, she fought the urge to goan in dismay. She was almost kneeling on a stone slab with her arms above her head, each tied by metal shackles on her wrists. She tried to stand, but had difficulty working out how to move her legs under her. They didn't seem to be tied down, but they were heavy all the same. Charlie pulled at the chains, using the slack to pull herself into a weak standing position with a heavy grunt. Her arms felt numb from holding her weight, shoulders sharp with pain.
A sudden wave of nausea passed through her, and Charlie had to bite back the bile. She closed her eyes again to block out the glow that shone too brightly in her eyes.
If her intensive WebMD addiction as a bored kid taught her anything, she probably had a concussion. Taking a deep breath in attempts to ease the nausea and growing migraine, she tried to get a hold of her surroundings.
The room holding her captive was no doubt built by the Fire Nation—judging by the red and black flag bearing the emblem in front of her eyes. All four walls were reinforced with tall metal panels that seemed to glow a deep auburn, reflecting the two lit fires high on either side of her. They burnt proud upon their own horned columns, owning demonic faces. The chains around her wrists pulled tightly in either direction, giving just not enough slack for her to kneel comfortably. Charlie knew if she stood, she'd have more leeway in turning her body, but her legs would never be allowed to fully rest unless she put all the pressure on her shoulders. There was only one door in the room directly ahead of her, being the only exit. There didn't seem to be any ventilation systems on the walls or roof either—no way for the smoke to dissipate, and no cracks for any cool air to enter from. She could feel the heat of the room already, a bead of sweat dripping down the back of her neck under, and her brows and upper lip slick.
Her bandana laid loosely around her neck.
Charlie didn't know how to get out of this one. Realistically, Aang would have been captured at the same time as her, if not earlier. It was more likely he didn't know she'd been taken as well. Aang would soon be saved by Zuko—if he hadn't been already, given she had no concept of time in the dark room after reawakening. The only indication was that she was feeling thirsty, and the last time she'd drank water was that morning while flying on Appa. Given she was in a hot room as well, probably speeding up the dehydration process, she'd been unconscious for at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half.
She looked at the shackles around her wrists, trying to tug at them. It did nothing but echo the sound of metal clanging. She tried curling her thumb into her palm, hoping to slip the shackles over it, but to no avail. If she had her other hand free, she probably could have eventually pulled it off—bruising expected.
When she heard a shake on the other side of the door, Charlie immediately loosened her body and let herself drop into the position she'd woken in. The door slammed open less than a second later, and heavy footsteps sent vibrations through her legs.
A deep, arrogant chuckle had Charlie fighting a glare through closed eyes, knowing exactly who it was. "Two in one day. The Fire Lord will be pleased," Zhao spoke, the smirk evident in his tone. A beat passed when Charlie didn't respond, remaining unmoving. "Stand up," he ordered, sending a rush of anger through her system. Her fingers dug into her palms, stinging, but still she stayed silent. "Oh come now, don't be like that. Whatever happened to all that spunk of yours?"
"I tend not to be so chatty when I'm kidnapped." Charlie looked up at him through her eyebrows, clenching her jaw. "My bad," she stressed with an air of nonchalance, throwing her eyes purposefully away from him.
"What was it that you said back at the Fire Temple? Ahh, that's right—The amount of confidence you're showing is…" his smirk turned into something like a snarl. "Truly inspiring."
Charlie's eyes met with Zhao's blackened ones, both eyeing each other carefully and full of distrust. She bluntly asked, "What do you want."
"For you to rot, preferably," he jested, striding forwards to stand above her.
"Can't handle your ego being burst?"
"It's amusing you think you have a grasp on me."
"Right back at you. What's with the chains?" Charlie stood slowly, shaking the metal attached to her wrists pointedly.
"These are state-of-the-art. Have fun trying to escape."
"State-of-the-art and you couldn't find anything better to tie my feet down with?"
As Zhao's eyes flicked down, she slipped her foot out of her shoe, held down by a thick leather strap, and twisted sharply on her supporting leg. A heavy kick landed on the centre of his chest, forcing him to cough and stumble back.
"You belligerent maggot," he growled through a locked jaw, setting burning eyes on her. "The Avatar needs to be left alive, however, you—" He was quick to gather his composure, taking a threatening step closer while ensuring his distance was kept. "You can be marked off as collateral damage," he smiled. "I do wonder how long the human body can be deprived before it begins to shut down."
He turned dramatically on his heel, storming through the door and slamming it behind him. Charlie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, bouncing on the balls of her feet to use up excess adrenaline. Under her breath, she let out a string of insults and swears.
His intentions were clear—he'd let her starve to death. That meant at most, she had about a week if she really pushed hard to stay alive. Of course, she doubted it would get to that stage—even if Aang didn't know she had been kidnapped too and escaped without her, he'd be sure to realise she was missing as soon as he returned to the ruins. He had common sense, and would realise it was Zhao again. Or if not that, once Sokka recovered, he'd come after her as soon as he noticed she was gone. From then it would only be the process of elimination to work out where she was. For that, Charlie didn't worry too hard.
Maybe kicking him was a bit much. Not that she regretted it at all—it was actually pretty fun and good stress relief. But a part of her thought she should have saved it for later, made it more dramatic. And now, she couldn't get her foot back in her shoe without her hands to untie the laces, which was a massive bummer. Charlie sighed and pursed her lips, wondering what to do next.
For the next few silent minutes, she attempted to wiggle her foot back into her shoe. It was a painstaking task, and the closest she got to putting it on was with her heel squishing the back of the shoe. She supposed it was good enough.
When the door opened again, Charlie didn't have enough time to play dead before a familiar silhouette stepped through, masked behind a blue face—only to freeze when it presumably found something—or someone—it was definitely not looking for.
"Hi—Wait don't go!"
He was already half out the door when she saw the way he hesitated for a split second, shoulders tensing. Whether that was from fear her voice had echoed through the hall, or awkwardness, she didn't know. He tried to continue, but she called out after him again before he could.
"Come on, Zuko, I thought we'd bonded."
He shot his head towards her sharply, the mask coming fully into view lit up by the red glow of the wall torches. His fingers tightened around the handles of his swords. For a moment, she really thought she'd made a mistake—maybe he didn't have the capacity to help others yet. Aang was different—helping the Avatar escape would directly help Zuko regain his honour. But there was no benefit to him whether Charlie escaped or not.
She wasn't sure if it was her growing expression of fear with every second of his hesitation that did it, or if something clicked inside Zuko for him to sympathise with her, but Charlie sighed in relief when he gently shut the door behind him. She noticed the way his fists clenched and unclenched in contemplation, and took the opportunity to relax her own stand, trying to look as casual as possible with both arms spread out and missing a shoe.
"How… did you know?" he finally grunted out, keeping distanced from her, as if one wrong word from her and he'd bolt.
"I don't know if this has been established with you yet, but I'm actually psychic."
A beat passed where Charlie assumed Zuko was trying to comprehend her response, debating to himself whether she was being serious or not.
"Don't lie to me," he finally demanded, sheathing his swords, but still taking a threatening step forwards.
"Lighten up, man. I don't always lie—I'm not your sister," she cracked out with an audacious smile. Zuko's shoulders immediately tensed, and half a second later, Charlie hurried out—"No don't leave it was a joke!"
"I'm not laughing," he growled over his shoulder, hand hovering over the door handle.
"Well yeah, but stoicism is your default emotion. But I just proved I am psychic 'cause you were thinking about it, right? So take it or leave it. But preferably take."
Zuko stalked towards her, unsheathing his dual swords. The determination he walked with made her heart jump for a split second, until he brought the blades down on the chains on her wrists. Her arms dropped, the metal clattered to the ground, and the leather straps around her feet were sliced off with precision.
Charlie rubbed at her wrist, circling her shoulders with a wince. "Thanks man, I didn't doubt you for a second."
He pointed the tip of his right sword between her eyes. "Take me to the Avatar."
"I'm psychic, not a compas," she deadpanned. When Zuko didn't flinch, Charlie let out a dramatic sigh and pushed the blade with the tips of her fingers away from her face. "You could have found him without me. What door was your second option? My psychicness tells me your intuition is correct."
Zuko let out an angry huff, making a beeline to the door, which Charlie took as her que to follow. She quickly stuck her finger in her shoe while hopping towards the door and pulled the back of it over her heel, then sped after him, tugging the bandana sitting around her neck back over her face. It had since dried, probably from the heat of the room. Even though she wasn't around Sokka or Katara anymore, Charlie felt more incognito with it around her face, as if it translated to sneaking around better.
"Oh hey, you got any idea why they took me too?" Charlie asked curiously, keeping her voice low.
"The Avatar's wanted poster. The fine print states an extra reward for the girl with fire-hair."
Charlie's face dropped, eyes widening as she turned to face Zuko. "Are you serious? It says that? This is really bad… has no one heard of orange hair before? I'd even take red at this stage!"
She could practically feel his eyes narrow from behind the mask. "That's what you're worried about?" he asked.
"Well yeah. I've already worked out why I'm on there—Zhao has tiny balls and a fragile masculinity—" Zuko spluttered in shock, but Charlie continued without a pause, "—that can't handle when someone talks shit about him. Then he obviously knew if the Avatar was around, I wouldn't be much further behind, so he stuck his little archery nerds on me too."
"You knew the Avatar was going to be captured?" he questioned.
"Duh." Charlie held two fingers to her temple, waving the fingers on her other hand. The word psychic was unnecessary. "I wasn't planning on being involved cause I was betting on a certain Blue Spirit helping him out." She snapped into a finger gun position, pointing at him. "But of course I always get roped into the dangerous shit."
Zuko sped up his pace down the hall, clearly sick of her already. She ran her fingers through her hair when she reached Zuko who'd paused at a corner, listening for any sounds down the adjacent hall. Her hair was a mess, and she didn't need a mirror to figure that out. With the bandana secured around her face, she had nothing to hold her hair back with. She fiddled with it for a minute, trying desperately to tame it. "God, I'd kill for a hair tie right now," she mumbled to herself absentmindedly.
Before she knew it, a familiar thick strap of dark blue elastic was held in front of her face. Zuko was offering her the same hair tie she'd swapped out Katara's necklace for. "My saviour," she drawled out, pinching it between her fingers and throwing her hair into a short ponytail. "It's kinda funny you keep this on you though. You totally think Katara was the one that left it on that sea prison, don't you?"
He shot his head to her with a finger over the snarling mouth of his mask. "Quiet. There are more guards," Zuko whispered. "Can you fight?"
"Psh, can I fight," she repeated easily, waving her hand nonchalantly. "No."
She could feel the anger radiate off Zuko in heat waves. He let out something like a cross between a sigh and a groan. "You stay here. Don't move," he ordered, darting around the corner.
Charlie watched from afar as he appeared behind one of the three guards, sweeping his foot while he stepped and causing him to trip to the floor. The other guards turned immediately with their palms up, pumping out balls of fire. Zuko dodged them easily with a roll, sliding along the ground, then pulling his swords defensively in front of him. One of the guards stepped forwards, but Zuko caught his metal-gloved arm between both swords, spinning him to knock into the other. Charlie raised her brows and nodded, impressed.
While the two fell to the ground, Zuko stood back up and poked his head around the next corner, checking if it was clear, not noticing the first guard who he'd tripped had stumbled back up, making a quiet attempt for Zuko from behind.
Charlie crept from her position, staying low to avoid detection, sneaking up behind the guy before he could reach Zuko. When she was close enough, she lifted her leg, bringing her foot down hard and connecting it with the back of the guy's knee. He immediately crumbled to the floor with a surprised cry, giving Charlie the time to slam her elbow down into his shoulder before shoving him to the ground.
He fell beside the other two, helmet rolling off his head, for it to be picked up by Zuko.
"You said you didn't know how to fight," he commented, displaying the helmet on his hand as contradictory evidence.
"Sneak attacks hardly count as fighting. This guy just sucks."
Zuko examined the helmet for a moment longer, the small jump in his shoulders making it seem like he'd come to some kind of realisation. He tucked it under his arm and sped down the hall, Charlie jogging lightly on her toes to catch up.
"Hey, how do you even know where you're going?" Charlie questioned, noticing they'd passed a number of doors already.
"There are only guards where something needs protection," he stated bluntly, not bothering to look at her.
"Oh. Well I guess that makes sense."
She was shushed again, Zuko holding his hand out to stop her approaching the corner anymore. A sudden ribbet caught her ear, echoing from down the hall. It must have caused some distraction, as Zuko took it as his chance to launch the helmet in the direction of what she presumed to be more guards before ducking back behind the wall for cover. The metal-on-metal clang quieted to a stop, then soft footsteps quickly approached. Again, Zuko ushered Charlie further backwards, to which she wordlessly complied. He was quick to jump from a bar on the wall to hold himself on the ceiling where a chain hung. She didn't know why that was there, but it sure was convenient.
The guard rounded the corner and immediately spotted Charlie. "Hey!" the guard shouted, readying his stance. She threw her hand up in a wave with a grimace smile, despite it not being visible behind her bandana. As soon as he took a step closer, Zuko had flung the chains around the guard's wrists and pulled him to hang from the ceiling.
Seconds later he was joined by another two guards who'd ended up having the same fate as the first. Zuko grabbed one of their knives, launching it down the adjacent hall before taking care of the last guard, sending him flying to the ground with a stab wound to the shoulder.
Charlie casually stepped through the carnage, plucking the forgotten Fire Nation knife from the downed guard and keeping it in her hand. It's not like he'd need it.
Wordlessly, Zuko pushed open the heavy door to where Aang was being kept, making his entrance in a similar fashion to earlier, his swords in hand. Charlie stood by the door for a moment, looking left and right to ensure they weren't interrupted. When a scream echoed from inside, her eyes widened, and she pushed her way into the room.
Aang stood in the centre looking at his wrists in shock, the chains now hanging limply from the columns either side of him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Charlie demanded Zuko in a hushed tone, shutting the door behind her. "You're gonna get us caught."
Zuko ignored her in favour of slicing through the metal braces around his wrists and ankles.
"Charlie?" Aang asked, eyes wide. He turned to Zuko, asking, "Who's this other guy?"
Zuko froze, turning his head slightly towards Charlie, the mask fixing her with a weirdly intense stare.
Charlie laughed awkwardly, waving her hand lightly. "Don't worry about it. Let's go!"
Zuko didn't hesitate before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room with a wave over his shoulder, ordering them to follow. Aang understood, ushered by Charlie to stay close.
The guards now all passed out across the floor caught Aang's attention briefly before being taken away by half-thawed red and white frogs, crawling desperately across the red tiled floor. "My frogs!" Aang gasped. "Come back—and stop thawing out!" He dropped to his knees, trying to stuff them back into his shirt, only for them to jump out again. Zuko turned back and grabbed Aang by the shawl. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!" he argued while being dragged away. "Charlie—grab them!"
"And put them where exactly?" Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow. "Those things aren't going down my top. We'll get new ones on the way back."
Zuko crouched low to the floor, peeking around the corner. Charlie, unable to resist, squatted behind him and veered over his head, finding another empty hallway. It was kind of strange how little guards they'd passed.
Sensing said lack-of-presence, Aang walked into a clear view of the hallway, snapping both Charlie and Zuko's attention.
"Do you two know each other or something?" Aang asked, scratching his head. She felt Zuko tense next to her.
"Nope! We just met," she lied easily. "Isn't that right, buddy?" Charlie clapped a hand against his back. Zuko immediately stood up and shoved Charlie back with his shoulder. He flipped around, and she could feel the burn of his glare through the black eyes of his mask. Charlie clicked her tongue in disapproval and looked away. A long second later, and he'd left her behind in favour of speeding down the hall, peering around the other corner. Charlie cleared her throat and covered her mouth with her hand, speaking from the corner of her lips, "He's a little touchy today."
Zuko led them to a wall with a barred cutout, big enough to squeeze through to reach the sewers. He slid with ease down the curvature of the wall to avoid a splash. Aang used airbending to float down softer, touching down on the water with just a ripple. Charlie could only sigh, lowering herself with her hands gripped on the bars for as long as possible before having to drop, water splashing up her jeans. "Aw, man!"
They walked through the murky sewer water with the backs pressed to the metal walls to avoid detection from above as they bypassed the outdoor area. When they got far enough, Zuko instructed them to jump out of the sewers to an opening at the backside of the building. Charlie had to do a pull-up to get out, but after a moment of struggle, Aang helped propel her with his airbending to the ground.
They quickly ran to one of the tall walls where Zuko had a rope dropped. Charlie signed again. Of course there was a rope climb. This was like gym class all over again. She carefully tucked the knife into one of the belt loops on her pants, praying it wouldn't stab her.
Aang went first, followed by Zuko. Fortunately for Charlie, an alarm bell rang before she could start climbing. Unfortunately for the other two, the rope was promptly severed by guards at the top of the wall. Charlie backed up as they fell from above, but Aang softened the blow with a swirl of air, also puffing up the dirt below to create a cloud. When they landed steadily, Zuko pointed a sword to another exit. Charlie took the hint and dashed towards it under the cover of the cloud.
"Stay close to me," Aang ordered, taking the lead when their vision cleared to reveal a line of at least a dozen armed guards, blocking the quickly-closing gates. Aang threw his arms forwards, blowing all of them to the side.
When two guards tried to cut Charlie off, Zuko sliced right through the wood of their spears and shoved her to keep running. Charlie stumbled forwards in Aang's direction, but hesitated when another group of guards surrounded Zuko, causing him to fling his swords with precision all around him.
She became more aware of the weight of the stolen knife hanging from her hip. "Hey!" she called out, getting one guard's attention. As he turned, Charlie lunged forwards with a downwards slice, catching the fabric on the guard's arm. He stumbled back with a growl and lifted his spear, but before he could counter, Aang blew him and the other guards away with a make-shift staff—really just a spear with the metal tip broken off.
Once again, with a grunt, Aang propelled both Zuko and Charlie upwards where they flew to the top of the battlement. Zuko landed on his feet, but Charlie wasn't so fortunate, tumbling to the front of the stone wall and hitting her side against the ledge, crumbling over the parapets. Before she could recover, guards bearing swords began pouring out through a hidden door, taking sharp swipes at Zuko. Swinging her legs around, Charlie managed to catch the ankle of one guard with her own, slamming him into another and struggling to regain their footing. Zuko took the opportunity to toss them both off the side of the battlement.
Aang quickly rejoined them, blowing the remaining guards off the ledge. "That's not very pacifist of you," Charlie commented, slightly breathless from the adrenaline pumping through her body. She shoved her knife back through her belt loop.
"Uhh, I'm sure they're fine!" Aang said with a sheepish smile.
"Oh yeah I'm sure if I fell from here I'd be fine too."
Then, the guards started walking vertically up to the battlement with bamboo ladders. Zuko slashed at them as they came, shoving them to the ground one by one, and Aang blew them straight down. Grabbing the top of one of the ladders, Charlie tipped it back with one hand and waved with the other, making the whole structure tip backwards while baring a smug grin. The warbled screams of the guards paired with their bugged eyes gave her satisfaction. Aang called for their attention, handing Charlie and Zuko a bamboo pole.
"Take this!" he ordered.
Charlie's knees almost buckled under the weight, struggling to balance the ladder and coordinate with Zuko to spin it around and hang over the nearest crenel.
"Jump on!" Aang instructed, standing his own upright ladder. Zuko jumped on Aang's back, while Charlie grabbed onto the handle slightly below, wrapping her legs around the ladder as they were propelled over the party of guards below. "Hand me the next one!"
It was a struggle for Charlie to switch her grip between the ladders, but with determination she succeeded. They fell towards the floor, slowed by Aang's airbending, and made a sprint for the last gate which was seconds from closing fully.
It locked as they were just steps away, leaving them surrounded by guards. In seconds, they were surrounded by blasts of fire, negated by a whip of air.
"Hold your fire!" a gravelly voice demanded. The guards halted when Zhao made his entrance from behind the guards. "The Avatar must be captured alive."
Zuko immediately held both swords to Aang's neck. He tilted his head at Charlie, who took the hint to get behind them.
An intense stare between Zhao and Zuko ensued for a long moment before he finally growled out an order. "Open the gate. Let them out. Now!"
The gates reopened from behind them. Zuko didn't take his eyes off Zhao as he backed out with Aang, Charlie just a step behind him. The gates reshut in front of their faces. The three were yet to let their guards down, Charlie peering through narrowed eyes at the battle towers on either end of the hellhole they'd just emerged from. She could see shadows moving in the illuminated openings. Zuko briefly peered back at her.
"They're gonna attack again," she whispered. "They're aiming for you." Zuko didn't falter, but gave a single nod.
But something didn't seem quite right. Call it a gut feeling, a lingering sense that her words were wrong. The hairs on the back of her neck standing up in anticipatory fear. Her eyes widened—she knew.
Charlie immediately leaped out of the way just as an arrow clipped her arm, just below her sleeve, rolling as she landed to stand up quicker and dart off into a sprint. Zhao must have reevaluated his options, and found killing the Blue Spirit would be redundant—he couldn't know if Aang would stop for the random guy who was currently holding dual swords to his neck, seemingly betraying him. On the other hand, Charlie—a person with a known connection to Aang—dying? Clearly it was the more rational option to get the Avatar to return on his own accord.
If she had put two and two together even a second later, she'd be dead on the spot.Aang seemed to realise this too, throwing up a cloud of dust to shield the three as they made their break into the forest under the shade of night. Charlie wiped at her cheek with the back of her hand, finding a smear of thick red liquid. She ignored the branches scratching her skin as she broke through thick bushes, unresponsive to the blood slowly dripping from her arm. Charlie didn't know how long they ran for, but by the rays of golden light starting to creep through the trees, it had to be quite a while. Her throat was dry and scratchy, and she could hear her voice wheeze with every breath in and out. Her legs were dead, practically unable to move by how heavy they were. Charlie was dragging her feet towards the end, not caring about the sticks scratching at her ankles.
"I think—" Charlie had to pause to take a deep gasp in, "—that's far enough." She was clearly the most exhausted out of the three. Aang seemed pretty much fine, Zuko was breathing heavily but otherwise still standing. Charlie was collapsing against a tree trunk thinking her heart was going to burst from her throat. She ripped the bandana she forgot she was wearing off her face, immediately tying it around her wound to stop the bleeding. Now the adrenaline was wearing off, she was becoming more aware of the pain she was in.
This was a slight diverge from canon, she thought as she pulled the knot of her bandana together. The Blue Spirit's identity hadn't been revealed to Aang like it was supposed to. She didn't really know if it would affect anything though—did Zuko being the Blue Spirit even come up again in the series? Obviously there were a few times in season two, but beyond that she wasn't sure. She supposed it was important for Aang to see that Zuko's not such a bad guy, but there would be other opportunities, right?
"So," Charlie began, breaking the silence. "What's your plan now, Mr Blue Spirit?" Her words were implicit, asking Zuko if he planned to capture Aang now that they were out of Zhao's grasp. If anything, it was a better opportunity than he had in the series because he hadn't been knocked out this time.
Even if he were just keeping up the guise of a silent spirit, Zuko refused to answer, just staring at Charlie with the intimidating eyes of his mask.
"Hey, you're a spirit?" Aang piped in excitedly, bounding over to Zuko. "That's great! My name's Aang, I'm the Avatar!" He pointed to the arrow tattoo on his head, before gesturing to Charlie, who'd finally recovered from exhaustion. "And this is Charlie! She's a psychic."
Charlie held up her non-injured hand in a wave.
"You're not like any spirit I've met before," Aang continued, taking a step towards Zuko, who instinctively took a step back. "Not that I've met a whole lot, but Heibai was kind of ugly and Roku is reeaaally old. You seem kind of…" Aang cocked his head in thought. "Normal?"
Zuko didn't respond, but Charlie could imagine his blank gaze behind the mask and chucked.
"Thanks for saving us, we owe you one," Aang smiled, bowing his head slightly.
More awkward silence ensued when Zuko refused to speak, so Charlie stepped up, clapping a hand to her friend's shoulder. "Sure is honourable, saving the Avatar. You could totally use it as bragging rights to your spirit friends. You have those, right?" She leaned closer with a teasing smile. "Friend?"
The sound of metal slicing through air was all she heard before one half of Zuko's dual swords was pointed at her throat. Charlie, unthreatened and unphased, only smiled. "Maybe not then."
Aang didn't read the mood, cheering out, "We'll be your friends!"
Charlie snickered as Zuko flinched noticeably.
"I was born over a hundred years ago, and all of my old friends…" Aang trailed off slightly, a pang of sadness flashing on his face. "Well, I miss having a bunch of friends. They were from all over the world, too! There was this one kid I used to visit all the time—his name was Kuzon, and the two of us would get in and out of so much trouble together."
Charlie wasn't even sure if Zuko was still listening or searching for a way to escape Aang's endless ramble.
"He's one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation." At that, Zuko slowly began lowering his sword. "Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like now if there was no war. If I wasn't the Avatar. I bet a lot of people would be happier."
As Aang grew reminiscent, Charlie could see Zuko getting more impatient by the second, tapping his pointer fingers on the handles of his swords.
She cleared her throat. "Hey Aang, maybe you should scout the area from the treetops, make sure we haven't been followed or anything," she suggested casually.
Aang nodded eagerly. "Good idea!" With a twist of air, he bounded up the branches of the nearest tree and disappeared into the foliage, leaving Charlie with Zuko—who looked less than a second from bolting away.
"If you've got something to say, say it now," Charlie said.
"You didn't tell him," he rasped without hesitation. Straight to the point—Zuko wasn't messing around right now.
"I didn't," she replied, equally fast.
"Why."
"Because you're gonna tell him yourself. Maybe not today, but one day."
Zuko ripped off his mask and narrowed his eyes immediately. Unnecessary, but she liked to think he did it because he couldn't intimidate her any other way. "You don't know me."
"You don't even know yourself," she quipped back with more haste than she'd originally intended. "Don't forget I'm psychic, Zuko. I know everything I need to know about you. If I wasn't here, it'd be you that was shot. Aang would have figured out who you are already, and you know what? He would still want to be your friend."
She almost didn't realise the way her nails dug into her palms, almost drawing blood. Charlie took a breath and pulled her gaze away from Zuko's intense one, biting down on her tongue. "Wow, I sound so serious right now," she tried to joke. "Probably because I've had like, four near-death experiences in the last two days."
"...That's too many."
"Tell me about it."
Zuko didn't stay on the subject much longer, clearly wanting this conversation to be over before Aang returned.
"That hair tie. You left it on the prison rig, where I would see it. You knew I'd think it belonged to the Water Tribe girl," Zuko stated.
"Katara, but yeah," she affirmed.
"Why."
She wanted to make a joke about how demanding he seemed, but it didn't feel right. Charlie silently pulled the elastic from her hair, striding over to Zuko and reaching for his arm. He pulled back, handing going straight to his sword.
"Oh calm down, I'm giving it back."
"Why?" he repeated again as she shoved the band into his chest.
"Because you'll need it. You'll know when." Zuko's eyes narrowed more than she thought they possibly could. "Stop being so suspicious. This helps you more than it helps me, but I've got a long term plan going and you're a part of it, whether you like it or not."
Zuko roughly turned his shoulder, backing away from her.
"Aang will be back any minute now," she commented, looking at the trees for any sign of rustling. "So I'll ask you again. What's your plan now, Mr Blue Spirit? You really think you can go on like this knowing the Avatar you're destined to capture is just a kid?"
She had a feeling she knew the answer before she even asked the question. It was too early for him. There was still so much he hadn't learnt about himself, and he couldn't process what she was saying as right. Maybe she'd made a mistake lecturing him on such an important topic so early.
When Aang returned, Charlie was standing alone.
"Hey, where'd the spirit go?" he asked innocently.
"Not sure," she shrugged. "I turned and he'd disappeared."
"Awh. Maybe we'll run into him again?" he wondered hopefully.
"I think we will." At that thought, Aang gave a bright smile. "Let's head off, yeah? We need to get more frogs."
"Oh yeah, I was supposed to bring back water," Charlie remembered, hand unconsciously touching the water pouch she'd forgotten was slung around her torso. "Hope they're okay."
By the time they got back to the ruins, Charlie was extremely sleep deprived and wanted to nap immediately. That hope was pushed aside when she saw the state the place was in. Junk that was certainly not there before she left inexplicably covered every inch of the floor, from vases to blankets, and other random goods. "What's all this stuff—Oh, there's a dagger here."
She looked around, finding no one's eyes on her except for Momo's, with Katara and Sokka both still delirious and Aang attending to the two with the help of frozen frogs. She quickly plucked the dagger and shoved it into her nearest bag, along with the stolen Fire Nation one. "And now I have two," she said to herself proudly.
The next thing she noticed was the position Sokka was in. It seemed that when they returned, he was in the middle of ever-so-slowly—but with all his effort—inching towards the exit like a caterpillar while huddled in his sleeping bag.
"What are you doing over there?" Charlie asked, raising a brow.
"You're back," Sokka slurred out, attempting to roll onto his back. Charlie helped him out with a little shove of her foot and he hit the floor with an 'oof'.
"…too long," he muttered quietly. Charlie missed half the sentence, but she didn't have time to ask before Aang stepped between them, frog in hand.
"Suck on these, they'll make you feel better," he said, shoving the frog into Sokka's mouth.
"Hey Aang. Did you make a friend?" he slurred out, frog half out of his mouth.
Aang laid down on Appa's back, staring at the ceiling with a soft smile. "I think I did."
"Mmmm! This is tasty!" Sokka said, colour already starting to come back to his face.
And it quickly redrained once he the frog croaked, to which he spat it out in disgust, rubbing his tongue on Appa's fur. Katara had also come to the same realisation, coughing and spitting to get the taste out of her mouth.
"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked once he'd calmed down.
"Like I had a frog on my throat," Sokka whined, frowning at the memory.
"Oooh I totally get why it's frogs now. I didn't catch that before."
"Catch what?"
"Ahh forget it. So you're feeling good then?" She changed the subject.
"That's debatable. But I do feel like I'm forgetting something…"
"Uhh…" Charlie tried not to think about it. "No idea."
"…Does Katara owe you money?" he asked.
"What!?" Katara called out immediately.
"Yes. Yes she does," Charlie said with a smirk.
"No I don't!" she countered.
"No, I'm pretty sure you do." Charlie pointed to Sokka. "Sokka agrees."
"Sokka doesn't know what he's talking about," Katara retorted, crossing her arms and upturning her nose.
Charlie laughed obnoxiously, holding out her hand and wiggling her fingers. "If you don't pay up now, you're gonna owe me later!"
"As if!" Katara stood up abruptly, darting over to her belongings. "I'm hiding my money right now."
"You think hiding something from a psychic is gonna work?" she teased.
Katara only spluttered, digging through her bag more frantically. Charlie couldn't help but laugh, glad that the air was lighter now. The original episode ending was darker, and yeah, maybe it moved the plot along faster, but she couldn't condemn herself after seeing how happy everyone had become with just a few small changes—nothing likely to spiral into a catastrophe, she assumed. Distantly, she wondered if Zuko was feeling the same. Then again, he'd left on a sour note. Maybe it was a bad sign, but Charlie chose to push any feelings of worry away for now.
Despite the way her body ached from the gashes on her arms, scabbed-over head wound, fresh slice just above her elbow and raw palms, later that day she fell into the best sleep she'd had in a while.
Ehehe so it's been a while! I have no excuse, but this is an 11k+ chapter so there's that. Is it ironic that i had a cold while writing this chapter or what? And THREE TIMES! Because this chapter took so long, I caught and recovered from three colds.
Original draft had charlie stealing a bow and arrow and following Aang, with some references to brave (its jus me booohhhh). But that was lame so i scrapped it. It was gonna be sokka-centric, but i couldnt come up with enough content so i tried both ideas together. You also get more Charlie and Zuko bonding! (But really, it's more her annoying him and him being annoyed).
I hope this was entertaining, i try to make it funny where i can (it is technically a crack-fic after all)
Let me know what you think! Also friendly reminder that you should totally try reading with the soundtrack
SOUNDTRACK
I Can't Believe It by The Animals || Charlie can't sleep and they land in the ruins, she helps Sokka into his sleeping bag. This one was fitting to show how bad her current streak of luck is, even though the original lyrics are about being broken up with.
Shut Eye by Stealing Sheep || Charlie gets to the river and is kidnapped.
If I Had A Heart by Fever Ray || Charlie wakes up in the Fire Nation stronghold and chats with Zhao
New Shape by Moss || Zuko and Charlie find Aang and escape with him
REFERENCES (Starting this because i reference a lot of materials but i'm worried about plagiarism accusations. Any other references are unintentional)
'I love ceilings!' shirt is a reference to Scorpion where Toby's halloween costume is a sign that says such, because he's a ceiling fan. Guy's got my type of humor. But this is a new addition so i may have to go back to make sure the story flows
The shit list is a reference to Code Ment.
"This is really bad… has no one heard of red hair before?" is a loose reference to Tangled with Flynn Rider's nose on his poster
"Aw, man!" is a catchphrase by Jake Long (American Dragon) voiced by Dante Basco