(short chapter! hope you are enjoying it though. R&R. PLEEEEASE! New chapters to come by...wednesday...thursday...something like that. ENJOY!)
Zuko sat in the corner of the small restaurant, the light fading outside. It was at least an hour after sunset and still no Ashayna, who was not normally one to be late. The young prince glared into the dark knots of the wood. If he wasn't careful, he would end up lighting in on fire.
"I look idiotic. Sitting here alone for an hour? What am I doing?" Zuko thought to himself glumly.
A young waitress came up to Zuko for the millionth time Her hair was unnaturally light and she was tall and slender. She had also been winking and giggling at Zuko every time she came over to ask if he was ready to order…every five minutes. To be honest, the banished prince was a little annoyed at the interest she was showing in him.
Her blue eyes sparkled as he looked up at her reluctantly. "Are you sure you want to wait? You can order now! My shift ends in fifteen minutes and I can bring you food and we could…talk," she twisted her long hair and blushed.
Zuko blinked slowly and locked his cold eyes back on hers. "I'd rather go home and starve," he said blandly, more than fed up with the whole situation.
The girl looked as if she did not know how to react to rejection. Zuko went back to staring at the table as she went scrabbling off, almost in tears.
"Stupid girls. Stupid Asha…no…Do not think that. She might be in trouble…" the prince thought, making his incessant worrying and wondering to start over again. It would be a long evening.
Samuel awoke as Ashayna nudged him on the shoulder. The moon was past the middle of the sky; it would be getting light in a couple hours. But it was his turn to drive the Ostrich horses on their way.
"Keep going straight. If you see mountains that look like two eyes and a nose, turn towards the most left mountain and head towards it," said a groggy Ashayna. She yawned loudly and Sam smiled.
"Good to see you were alert and watching for any bandits that could have attacked us," he joked. Samuel shook his head. He wasn't normally a joker, maybe it was just the lack of sleep.
Ashayna nudged him and rested her head. "We'll see how alert you are when you wake me up in…" The young girl never finished her sentence and was asleep as her bodyguard chuckled.
Her looked at her for a minute. Ashayna looked so familiar at times, like he should know her from somewhere. And they talked so easily, especially for Samuel who was normally the silent type, that it seemed like they had been best friends their whole lives. And she was pretty. Samuel blushed as he turned away from her and concentrated on the road. It would be a long night.
A couple hours earlier Sokka gently woke up his snoozing sister. The moon had just risen over the mouth of the cave and the gAang had just fallen asleep. But the two sibling tiptoed out of the cave; they had to strategize.
Sokka and Katara walked in silence to make sure that no one could over hear them. Katara's brother turned to face his sister, noting how different she looked without her water tribe garments on. The green shirt and skirt looked misplaced on his sister, but they couldn't do anything about it now. It was not as if he could turn left at the next mountain and be at the water nation to get new clothes. The boy's stomach flopped in sudden homesickness.
The sister in question crossed her arms and looked back at her brother. "What is it Sokka? You told me you wanted to talk, so here I am…" She looked impatient and tired. He had better make this quick.
"When I went to town to fetch you guys clothes, I saw a whole brigade of the Earth Nation Army. They were moving to Oh-Ma-Shu. If we are going to succeed when the eclipse comes, we are going to need help from people like them. I think Toph and I should go around and try to catch them before they get too far. Maybe we could convince them to help us. We can't let the eclipse pass us by." Sokka laid out his argument.
Katara uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Your right. I keep telling Aang that we need to start moving, planning, anything. But he is set on staying here for a couple more days. You and Toph should leave early this morning, before Aang wakes up…"
"I already told her. She is planning on leaving with me in the morning."
"Then what did you need to talk to me for?" Katara asked.
Sokka smiled. "You are my sister. We're supposed to talk and stuff right?"
Katara hugged her brother. "You've grown up," she told him after letting go.
Sokka's face fell as he looked back towards the cave where Aang slept. "We all have."
The two walked back to the cave and settled down for the rest of the night. Sokka lay on his side, facing away from everyone. He looked into the darkness and sighed. Tomorrow would be a long day.