_Aang_
For being two years older than me, Tara was surprisingly light. I carried her back into the cave, where I discovered that my bison whistle had also fallen into the cave. After setting her down, I picked up my bison whistle and blew it, and then I sat down next to Tara. There was nothing to look at in the cave, so I just ended up looking at Tara's (shiny) silver hair. Eventually, I sighed in boredom and picked up a chunk of her hair, marveling at how I could actually see my reflection in her hair. It was strange how her hair was exactly the color of silver, and just like silver when you got close enough to it, you could see your reflection in it. I still found her hair fascinating even after several months.
_Tara_
I vaguely remember hearing the whoosh of air from Aang's bison whistle, and the crunch of the thin snow inside the cave when Aang sat down next to me. When I was finally all the way awake again, I felt Aang holding some of my hair and I smirked.
"Checking for zits, Aang?" I asked dryly, "Have you seriously already hit puberty? What has the world come to with eight-year-olds getting zits?"
Aang hastily dropped my hair and replied, "Ha-ha, you are so funny… not!"
I winced when he shouted "not," and then he started apologizing like crazy. I winced again and then smirked, because I had been right; Aang could not keep quiet.
_Zuko_
When the fire hit, Appa jerked and we were thrown off. Katara hit her head on the saddle and was knocked out, so I grabbed her arm and held on tight. Toph and Anya were both doing the same to me (which was surprising, because Anya used to be intent on killing me). The entire way down, Anya was screaming her head off and digging her nails into my arm. I was about ready to punch her by the time we'd landed. But I suppose, as Fire Lord, it might not be diplomatic to punch random citizens of the Fire Nation.
After we landed in the middle of a forest, scratched up but otherwise unharmed, Anya and Toph both helped me take care of Katara, but really they had done most of the work because I didn't really know what I was doing. When we saw Appa flying nearby, Anya went to great lengths to flag him down and then picked up Katara, by herself, and brought her over to the small clearing where Appa was landing.
All in all, Anya had been really helpful, and she hadn't tried to kill me even once. It was probably one of the most peaceful experiences we'd had together.
_Tara_
As soon as Appa was visible over the trees, Aang began jumping up and down excitedly and shouting, "Oh, it's Appa! Appa! Here, boy—"
"No, really, Aang? Because I never would have thought that the flying, six-legged ball of fur would be Appa! I guess you definitely needed to shout it before I understood!" I remarked with vicious sarcasm, moving my hands to hold my head. I winced, wishing my headache would stop.
"Sorry," Aang said like a little kid whose feelings were hurt. Oh, wait! He was a little kid with hurt feelings. I sighed.
"'Sokay," I sighed, turning to face away from him. I shivered, pulling my short-sleeved jacket around me tighter. It didn't help much; the melted snow stained its usual light silvery-blue color darker. The also soaked long-sleeved navy blue shirt underneath it wasn't doing anything to help either. I sighed again, turning around to look up at Appa as he approached. He landed only moments later.
As I approached Appa, I noticed that there was a large patch of charred fur and scarred skin on his side, just below the saddle. Worried, I placed my hands inches away from the burned patch and closed my eyes. I imagined Appa's fur as it had been before the fire hit, and willed time to turn back around that patch of skin. When I opened my eyes, the charred patch was gone and Appa looked as good as new. I smiled, climbing into his saddle with Toph, Anya, Katara, and Zuko. Aang hopped up into the saddle and scurried to the reigns while I leaned back and shut my eyes.
"Hold it!" Anya shouted, "Hold everything!"
I winced, but she didn't notice.
"What, Anya?" Aang asked from his perch on Appa's head.
"We don't even know where we're going!" She pointed out (loudly).
"And what do you suggest we do about that? We don't know where the others are," Zuko pointed out, noticeably more quiet than Anya. I sighed and opened my eyes, leaning forward.
"I got it," I said, annoyance coloring my tone; I'd already timebended more than enough for one day, and I definitely didn't need to do any more. Timebending isn't like waterbending or any other bending. It depletes your energy very quickly; and exhaustion isn't really a good battle strategy when you're in enemy territory. I closed my eyes and focused on freezing everything around us, slowly spreading the frozen area farther and farther. Finally, just when I'd thought I couldn't hold out for much longer, I detected Sokka, An Ming, Sonset, and Dai. With a sigh, I let time continue as normal around us and slumped back in the saddle.
"That way," I said tiredly, my hand shaking as I pointed in the direction they had been in. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew we were landing in another, larger clearing, and the others were all climbing onto Appa's saddle.
| .Press the pretty button!. |
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