Chapter 3: Delays

Zuko watched Toph fall back to her seat in amusement. She was quite funny to watch. Considering the fact that some people may look funny after they got pissed off. He started snickering to himself and shaking his head. The Blind Bandit ignored him. She crossed her arms and turned the other way.

Now it was Sokka's turn to hold the guitar. The fire lord handed his own guitar to the young warrior. He strummed it dramatically and caught a glimpse of the group staring at him.

"Woah," Toph said. "Looks like we've got ourselves a 'rock star'."

Sokka smiled. "Yeah, it's a profession."

The Gaang laughed at his little joke. "Oh really?" Suki asked.

"Yup. I've led tons of campfire-sing-a-longs." He joked. "Okay, now. Who's next?"

Katara and Uncle Iroh both raised their hands but Ty Lee raised hers before anyone had their chance to. She grinned playfully from ear to ear followed by an innocent giggle.

"Oh no, Ty Lee," Katara complained. "That's the third time you're about to sing tonight." Her eyes met with Zuko's who nodded in agreement. "Can you give other's their turn? People who haven't sung yet?"

Ty Lee shrugged pretending she had nothing to do with it.

"She's right Ty Lee," Sokka agreed with Katara. "Others didn't have their turn yet. I mean, Aang didn't get to lead a sing-a-long yet and the night's about to end."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine then. Let the great Avatar lead the next song." Even though she was hesitant, she kept her cool on.

All eyes fell on Aang who started to fidget uncomfortably.

"Look, guys," he confessed. "I don't feel like leading a song right now, k?"

"You sure? I thought you wanted to." Sokka said.

Aang didn't feel like doing anything at all. Which was really awkward and queer. He's been trying to excuse himself out of camp all night. Every time he sought a chance to, he would pull himself back and hesitate. "I can't do it," he told himself. 'Aang, you have to focus! You've been acting like this all night. You've done this with Katara once. You had faith then. You told her everything. And now you need it back…'

He sighed heavily. But only Katara noticed.

What if she'll hate me…Even more?

The water tribe girl glanced at his direction with a much more concerned look. "Aang? Is there something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear a single word.

"Aang?"

He shook the thought off and soon he was back in his self again. "Hmm? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Katara pursed her lips. Sokka shrugged and rubbed his chin looking annoyed as ever. "So, are you going to let Aang delay us or should we just let someone take over?"

"Okay, fine." she sighed. "I'll take over. No prob."

Sokka didn't have time to argue. He strummed his guitar, finding the right chords to start with. Once he found it, he started playing.

Katara sung for the second time of the night. A new song not so many people are familiar with.

"This song is dedicated to everyone single in this circle," she said before she started singing. "May they find true love in a nick of time…"

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