A/N: (edit : 7/1/07)Mkay, here's chapter 6 for you all! Sorry if that last chapter was a bit...odd for some of you, sorry to make my story take an unexpected turn… but I tried to even things out in this chapter, hopefully you all will like it more Enjoy!
Book Two – Water and Air
Chapter Six - Midnight RushPart One
"You're making a mess of yourself, just look at you!" Katara teased, noticing juices from the orange, Sokka was eating, dribble down his chin. Sokka stopped chewing the fleshy fruit and stared at his sister, he raised one eyebrow before he slowly wiped away the mess on his chin, using his forearm and the back of his hand. At this, Katara shuddered and forced herself to look away.
"Yuck," she uttered as she quickly peered off the side of Appa's saddle, nothing but ocean was what could be seen, the vastness of everything started to make Katara dizzy, the three haven't landed in two days straight.
"You know, as much as I love the ocean, we need to land," Sokka suddenly said loudly, after finishing his messy snack.
"Where? There's nothing out here," Katara said as she quickly gestured her arms outwards towards the crashing waters below, at this, Sokka shrugged and looked about. Katara heaved a long sigh before she looked about Appa's saddle.
She noticed Kaimah and Momo comfortably cuddled with each other, sleeping the calm, sunless morning away. Sokka was at it again, searching for another sloppy food to munch on. Katara smiled softly as she looked about, she suddenly noticed something past the top of Appa's saddle, Aang's head was visible past the light brown material, obviously he was the one steering the giant bison the three rode on.
"I don't know," Sokka suddenly said, referring back to Katara's last statement, his mouth was filled with a big chunk of a banana. At least he's not spitting it everywhere, Katara thought along with a small chuckle as she made her way to Appa's head. Sokka gave her a baffled look before he turned away and pretended to ignore her.
"Hey Aang," Katara chimed happily as she took a seat next to the young airbender on Appa's head. Aang beamed as he gently let the reins he was once holding fall loose of his grip, he turned slightly with a big smile.
"Hi," he said happily, joy written all over his face, Katara eyed him.
"You're in a good mood, aren't you," Katara said with a small laugh as Aang looked about, he shrugged softly.
"Yeah," he breathed, his brilliant eyes scanning the horizon, having seen the same scenery since about last night, nothing but cloudy skies and the dank ocean below, Aang heaved a long sigh before he continued, "I'm just trying to stay in a good mood, being in the air for too long tends to make everyone argue,"
"True," Katara smiled as she slowly peered over her shoulder, noticing Sokka pulling little Kaimah out of the food bag along with a loud groan. At this, Katara just smiled and shook her head before she continued, "When do you think we'll find land?"
"I don't know, sometime--" Aang was rudely interrupted by Appa who suddenly jerked to left, letting out a loud groan in the process. The two teens quickly gripped the leathery reins before them in hopes of keeping still on the frantic bison underneath them. Once Appa settled, there was a loud crackling sound overhead, startling Katara slightly. She peered up to the dim sky to see non other than a lone firework, it exploded across the sky in pretty colors of blues and purples. At this, Katara smiled widely before she tapped Aang's shoulder and pointed up to the sky.
"Look!" Katara hollered, Aang turned and glanced up at the now disappearing light display in the sky.
"Where did THAT come from?" Aang questioned softly before he leaned forward and examined the scenery below him, he then threw his arm out before him and pointed downwards.
"There," he said loudly, Katara quickly glanced down to see a small speck of land along with a larger island beside it.
"Land!" Katara said with an overjoyed smile, Sokka groaned loudly over Appa's saddle, he then quickly glanced at his sister and Aang.
"Finally," Sokka moaned as he quickly prepared his burlap bag with supplies he would need when the three got off of Appa and onto land he'd thought he'd never see again.
After about ten minutes of unloading camping supplies off of Appa in silence, Katara spoke up before she handed Aang her sleeping bag.
"I wonder what the firework was for," Katara pondered as she peered upwards into the foggy sky.
"Or even why there was only one firework," Aang added as he gently set Katara's sleeping bag in the tent he had put up for the three.
"...And why was it during the day! Aren't fireworks supposed to be at night, where you can s--" Sokka was cut off by a loud ear piercing scream; evidently one of the villagers had spotted Aang along with Appa.
"It's the Avatar!" She shrieked as she came close slowly, she then suddenly clapped her hands together quickly a couple times, her long black hair flicked about in the dim early noon light, she then continued by quickly grabbing Aang's hand and shaking it harshly, "Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you Mr. Avatar sir!"
"T-thanks," Aang stuttered as he attempted to keep the whole right side of his body still, he quickly pulled his hand away from the frantic girl as quickly as possible, and the ecstatic look in her eyes made Aang flustered, this was the first time in a long time that he had been mauled by lone villagers.
"Nice to meet you too," Aang said politely as he rubbed his arm gently, "I'm Aang, and this is Katara and her brother Sokka,"
"Hi," the girl said as she glanced back and forth between the three teens, after a few seconds, she turned to Aang with a smile, "I'm Jahdi, I was doing chores for my mother when all of the sudden I see a large bison in the air! The only person I could think who owned a flying bison would be the Avatar, so I rushed over to...actually, I don't know why I came over, I just thought it'd be cool to meet the one and only Avatar," Jahdi said with a big smile, she then suddenly fixed her eyes on Katara, at this, the young waterbender grew worried.
"What's the problem?" Katara worried as she inspected herself, before she knew it, Jahdi quickly headed over to her and pointed to her betrothal necklace, she gaped slightly in the process.
"Are you married?" Jahdi asked with a big grin and she stared into Katara's eyes with much enthusiasm, as much as Katara wanted to nod and say yes, she bashfully shook her head 'no' with a small smile.
"No, this is my mothers necklace," Katara sad softly as she gently touched the pendant with her fingertips, Jahdi seemed disappointed.
"Oh well," Jahdi said softly as she looked down.
"You familiar with betrothal necklaces?" Katara questioned eagerly, she was more than excited to see Jahdi nod slowly but surely, at this, Katara's facial expressions lit up before she continued, "Really?"
"Yep, after all, I do live in a watertribe," Jahdi said as she looked about, Katara grew confused.
"Oh you mean the Northern one?" Katara questioned as she stared into Jahdi's beautiful blue eyes, Jahdi let a small laugh escape her lips as she shook her head quickly.
"No silly, this IS a watertribe, just a branch off of the Southern Watertribe," Jahdi said happily, Katara smiled.
"That's odd, I've never heard of branches off of the mainland," Katara said as she looked about, noticing Sokka and Aang had continued to unpack Appa's saddle.
"No matter, would you like me to show you around? I'll show you my mother's betrothal necklace if you'd like," Jahdi said happily as she slowly took a step backwards, Katara nodded with a smile.
"Sure, I'll come," Katara said happily as she turned around to face the two boys behind her, "Hey guys, I'm going with Jahdi to go look around and stuff, I'll be back later okay?" Katara called, at this, Sokka tensed as he hauled a large bag off of Appa's saddle.
"What about unpacking?!" Sokka screeched, Aang shook his head at Sokka quickly.
"Just let her go, we're almost done anyways," Aang said to Sokka quietly, at this Sokka sighed loudly and trudged over to their tent, the large bag in hand.
"Whatever," Sokka mumbled
"Okay," Aang smiled at Katara as he waved goodbye, at that, the two girls waved and stepped away from the camp sight which was a bit away from the village Jahdi lived in.
"Why do you always have to side with Katara?" Sokka said as he took a deep breath, he eyed the young airbender next to him, suddenly noticing a slight blush come across his cheeks.
"I-I just don't see why she needs to help us, we're fine unpacking by ourselves," Aang said quickly with a small shrug as he quickly stepped over to Appa.
"Sure," Sokka said plainly as he strolled back into the large tent Aang had put up a couple minutes before.
- - -
"--And that's where the village has our monthly water duels!" Jahdi said happily as she pointed across the way, Katara followed Jahdi's arm to where she was pointing with a smile, "They're so much fun to watch, I wish I was a waterbender, my mother is a waterbender but my dad isn't...I just HAD to take after my father in that way," Jahdi said with a frown, Katara figured it wasn't the best time to mention she was a waterbender to Jahdi, seeing as that topic put Jahdi in a sad mood, but in no time, she perked up and continued showing Katara around.
After about an hour of touring the small watertribe village, the two teens reached Jahdi's house, it was about a couple yards away from the beach, creating a beautiful scenery from her house. After being introduced to Jahdi's mother, father and younger brother, Malik, the two girls headed into Jahdi's room.
"This is my get away," Jahdi said with a small giggle as she quickly plopped down on her bed, she stared up at the ceiling, "Mother says that Malik isn't allowed in my room," Jahdi said with much pride as she sat up. Katara smiled at Jahdi and made herself comfortable next to Jahdi on her soft bed.
"That's cool," Katara said happily before Jahdi spoke up.
"So what about you, how do you get away from you're brother while you're in the air? I would think it'd be impossible to live with MY brother on a flying bison, sheesh," Jahdi said with a small laugh, Katara joined in on her laughter.
"My brother's a pain but not all the time...we get along okay I guess," Katara smiled as she looked about Jahdi's room, noticing a few waterbending scrolls on her desk which sat a few feet away. Katara stood and slowly strolled over to the scrolls that lay delicately on the beautiful dark wood of the piece of furniture.
"Are these your waterbending scrolls?" Katara questioned softly as she gently picked one of the parchments up and unraveled it, she looked at it with much enthusiasm, familiar forms drawn in beautiful ink along with some calligraphy on the side, Katara continued after a few moments, "They're amazing,"
"Actually, they're my mothers...I-I just like to look at them," Jahdi said softly as she fingered the fine quilt she sat on, Katara averted her gaze from the scrolls to Jahdi.
"Oh," Katara said softly as she put the scroll back in its place, she began to explore Jahdi's room, feeling curious at what other watertribe villagers, that weren't from the mainland, were like. There were all sorts of delicate trinkets and collectables all around, every single one beautiful and polished; they glistened in the dim light of Jahdi's room.
Katara's eye wandered further until she spotted something hanging on the far wall and at that, she instantly grew curious, her feet forcing her to go in that direction. Katara gradually got closer to the little something until she figured out what it was. It was a dried up flower, hanging upside down from a rusted nail, with that, Katara got confused.
"What's this?" Katara questioned as she pointed to the once beautiful flower hanging on the wall, Jahdi's face instantly lit up.
"Oh, my father gave my mother that flower a long time ago... my mom likes to hand things down to me," Jahdi said with a small laugh, Katara pondered.
"Oh, that's nice," Katara smiled as she inspected the large flower, Jahdi suddenly spoke up.
"You know, it's a good thing you pointed that out, I forgot to mention to you that our village is having a benders festival tonight," Jahdi said with a smile.
"Really? What's that?" Katara questioned softly.
"Well, it's a festival where all the benders of our tribe get together and have a bunch of duels and stuff; it's a lot of fun! Although the festival isn't held on this island anymore," Jahdi said with a small frown.
"Oh, why not?" Katara asked softly as she ever so carefully fingered the dry and crusted flower petals of the beautiful black and white flower.
"Well, I don't know...I think it's because the island across the way is larger, more people can come without the town being too crowded," Jahdi smiled.
"Oh, that's cool," Katara smiled, she then glanced at the dried leafage on the wall next to her, "So what does this flower have to do with anything about that festival?"
"Oh, you see, it's tradition that if someone loves y--" Jahdi was cut off by her annoying brother, Malik who quickly began to skip around the room.
"I bet someone's going to give YOU a rare flower this year Jahdi, so who is it... Seta from next door?" Malik teased as he continued to skip about, he seemed to be around seven or eights years old.
"NO!" Jahdi suddenly protested, "We're just friends," she said as a slight blush appeared across her face, she looked down bashfully as her brother continued his annoying banter.
"Jahdi loves Seta! Jahdi loves Seta!" Malik hollered in sing song.
"Uh! Malik get out! Mother said my room is off limits to you, now leave!" Jahdi hollered as she basically shoved her little brother out of her room, she then quickly shut the door and locked it; she then glanced at Katara apologetically.
"Sorry about Malik, he's such a pest," Jahdi said, that light blush deepening by the second, Katara beamed.
"So...This Seta person, do you like him?" Katara asked eagerly, Jahdi pondered for a moment before she bashfully nodded, she then grew tense.
"Oh but don't tell anyone," Jahdi begged, Katara shook her head.
"I won't, I don't know anyone around here," Katara said with a small laugh, Jahdi relaxed some before Katara continued, "So, you want him to give you a flower or something?" Katara questioned.
"Yeah, it's tradition that if a certain boy of the village has his eye on a certain girl, he's supposed to give her a rare panda lily to show his love and affection to her...They don't HAVE to do this but it seems the benders festival is slowly turning into the lovers festival," Jahdi said with a small laugh, "At least that's what my mother thinks,"
"Oh," Katara said softly, suddenly, the young airbender she knew so well flashed across her mind, and at that, Katara could feel her heart flutter madly at the thought of Aang giving her such a rare flower. Oh who am I kidding, we'll probably be away from this village long before the festival starts... Katara thought, doubt filling her thoughts.
"So, who do you want to give you a panda lily, are you going to stay for the festival?" Jahdi said with pleading eyes before she continued, "oh, it'd be so much fun we could go together!"
"Sounds like fun, Jahdi, but I don't know what Aang and Sokka are going to say..."
---
"Psh, lover's festival? Pa-lease," Sokka said loudly as he waved one hand in the air, the man behind the food stand gave Sokka a baffled look.
"Oh, that's a shame you feel that way, the lovers festival is such a nice time to show your love and affection for the girl you love, if you'd like, I'll sell you a panda lily or two and--" the nice man was cut off by Sokka.
"Nah, the one I love is MILES away from here," Sokka said loudly as he slowly averted his gaze from the elderly man behind the counter to the flustered airbender next to him, "Hey! but I'm pretty sure that this guy right here would want a flower to give to someone HE loves," Sokka said as he quickly nudged Aang's shoulder, "Like maybe oh...Katara?" at this, a deep blush suddenly appeared across Aang's face, Sokka chuckled.
"O-oh... I-no it's okay, maybe I'll...I don't k-know if I--" Aang was cut off from his nervous ramblings.
"Eh, whatever, we'll probably be long gone before this so called lovers festival," Sokka said with a small laugh, "You wouldn't want to go anyways, right Aang?" Sokka said as he started to walk away, Aang tensed.
"No!" Aang suddenly yelled, Sokka stopped and turned around, he gave Aang a baffled look before Aang nervously continued, "I-I mean no...I don't want to go," Aang said with a small frown, at this, Sokka smiled and shrugged before he turned and continued walking back to their campsite.
"Okay then, come on, we've gotta get this food to Appa," Sokka said loudly over his shoulder, Aang nodded and took a deep breath before he followed close behind Sokka. As the two walked, Aang slowly glanced over his shoulder, remembering where that stand was, the stand that sold panda lilies. I hope I can remember my way back to that stand from Appa, Aang thought with a small smile.
Aang continued to stare at the stand, as if in a trance, he daydreamed, imagining the look on Katara's face when he gives her such a rare flower, she'd be so excited, so happy, feel so loved, ever so--
"OUCH! Aang, watch where you're going!" Sokka suddenly yelled as Aang stumbled to the side slightly after tripping over his and Sokka's feet. Aang regained balance and gently rubbed the back of his head.
"S-sorry," Aang said with a sheepish smile, Sokka rolled his eyes as he continued to walk, in no time, the two reached Appa who was lying on the soft grass through a small clearing of leafage. Appa let out a soft groan as the two boys stepped closer.
"Hey buddy, we've got your food," Aang said with a smile as he gently pet the large bison's nose. Just as Sokka was about to pull out the supply of food for Appa, loud voices were heard form the thin shrubbery to the right of the three. Aang quickly turned to see a group of about four or five older boys walking over, two of which were pointing and saying things along the line of 'Avatar' and 'flying bison'.
The group of teens slowly strolled over to Aang, Sokka and Appa, in a cocky manner, saying loud things and pointing and what not. Aang tensed slightly and stood close to Appa, Sokka on the other hand was first to introduce himself to the older boys. They all talked for quite some time, Aang listened in, he didn't bother including himself in the group, he figured they'd come over sooner or later and he was right, in a matter of minutes, everyone was crowded around Aang.
"Is that YOUR bison?" one boy said loudly as he pointed, Aang nodded bashfully as Appa continued to eat and whatnot.
"Sure is," Sokka said with much pride, although Appa wasn't his, Aang figured he was trying to impress the older teens.
"Hey, you two going to the lovers festival tonight?" another boy asked anxiously, all at once, the group of boys began to chatter about who they're going to give a flower to, at this, Aang grew flustered.
"What is the deal with this lover's festival?" Sokka suddenly asked loudly, a few of the boys stopped bickering and glanced at Sokka.
"It's the perfect time of year to confess your affections to a girl you love, but it isn't complete without one of those panda flowers," one boy said as he crossed his arms.
"Panda lilies," another corrected.
"Oh whatever," the other replied, "Hey Seta! Aren't you going to give one to that... Jahdi person, is that her name?" the boy he was talking to, Seta, grew tense and nervous, he fiddled his fingers slightly and stammered a few words around, he seemed to be one of the younger boys from the group and with that, the older boys were more intimidating.
"Yeah Seta, you should! I heard from someone that Jahdi really likes you," one boy said as he nudged Seta's arm, the other boys joined in with other encouraging words, Seta's smiles only grew as did that redness across his face.
"Hey what about you two, you going to the lovers festival?" one asked, Aang smiled and just as he was about to get up the courage to agree to go, another boy cut him off.
"No, airbenders aren't supposed to love girls, it's against their religion...or something," he said, causing Aang's heart to shatter, he instantly frowned, that is until he felt Sokka's hand fall upon his shoulder.
"That's not true, Aang's the only airbender left, there's no one to tell him who he can or can't love, he's got his eye on someone," Sokka smiled causing the boys to fall silent, that is until Seta spoke up.
"Who?" Seta asked softly.
"K-Katara," Aang said softly, all the boys remained silent, in a matter of seconds, they all smiled and laughed in an encouraging manner.
About ten minutes had gone by, the pack of boys, including Sokka, had moved to the back of Appa, evidently Sokka was showing the group Aang's glider along with his own boomerang.
Aang was in no mood to be discussing the techniques of using his glider to fly, or patiently waiting for Sokka to stop rambling about how slick his boomerang was. He sat in front of Appa's nose, he sat face to face to the giant bison, contemplating on whether or not he should go to the lover's festival, whether or not he should give Katara the rare, romantic panda lily, whether or not he should re-confess his love to her, he figured tonight would be a good night to do all of those things.
With his good thoughts he slowly stood and peered up to the sky, noticing it was getting dark, he figured the festival would start sometime soon but he didn't know when, and he didn't want to go to the festival without Katara, that would be pointless. Aang sighed impatiently and glanced about, wondering where Katara even was, he hadn't seen her pretty face all day long.
Just as he thought his night was slowly sinking, he noticed none other than Katara and Jahdi casually strolling over to Aang, and at that, Aang grew tense and flustered all over again as his love stepped closer to him.
"Hey Aang," Katara said happily, her pretty voice made Aang's ears prick, it gave him shivers, chills from head to toe, in a good sense, although, her voice hid a tinge of nervousment.
"H-hi," was all Aang could utter, he felt as if his lips couldn't move, he felt as if he was doing this all over again, from the very beginning, although he loved the strange sensation Katara's very presence gave his stomach and head.
"Jahdi and I are going to the Lov--benders festival," Katara said softly with a bashful smile, "Do you wanna come with, Aang?"
Aang could feel his heart stop, he could bet money that his smile couldn't get any bigger and at that, Katara giggled softly and bit her bottom lip.
"Sure, I-I'll come," Aang said happily as he slowly turned to the large mob of older boys a bit a ways, he continued, "Sokka mentioned something about not wanting to come, though, so I guess it's just the three of us," Aang suddenly frowned, the THREE of us? What am I going to do about Jahdi? We can't just leave her out, make her the third wheel, although I WAS planning on spending this night with Katara...and ONLY Katara Aang grew frustrated, although he didn't show it, his mind continued to reel, Oh well, Jahdi's nice and I'm sure her and Katara are good friends...I'll work around it,
"Typical," Katara said with a small laugh, referring back to Aang's last statement, Aang perked up slightly with a smile as Katara continued, "Okay, should we go? The boat that is going over to the other island leaves sometime soon,"
"About ten minutes," Jahdi said softly as she peered up to the sky, "We'd better hurry; we don't want to be left behind,"
"Okay, let's go," Aang smiled, the three began to walk away, not bothering to interrupt Sokka in his moments of trying to show off.
The three slowly walked through the small town, knowing it wouldn't take more that ten minutes to reach the docks where the boat was. Aang walked close to Katara, loving her presence, there were even times where he'd glance at her, loving the way her hair gently flicked in the cool night air, the way she'd giggle and smile whenever Jahdi said something funny, the way she'd ever so gently touch Aang's shoulder or hand when she talked to him. Aang was so enraptured, he felt as if he were head over heels and with that, he wanted to get to the festival faster. All was calm until Aang grew anxious.
"So... what is there to do at the bender's festival?" Aang questioned with a smile as he glanced between Katara and Jahdi, Jahdi was first to speak.
"Oh lots of stuff! There are waterbending competitions, lots of food," Jahdi was interrupted.
"Too bad Sokka isn't coming," Katara teased, Aang laughed softly with a smile, he then nodded in agreement before Katara turned to Jahdi, "What else?"
"Well, like I was saying before, maybe we'll get lucky and maybe someone special will give us a flower tonight!" Jahdi smiled, Katara could instantly feel her face heat up, she attempted not to look at Aang, she felt as if she basically glued her eyes stuck to Jahdi, she continued, "I've been waiting for a long time but...no one seems to want to give me a flower, it seems every year I come home from the benders festival flowerless...but no worries, I have high hopes this year, what about you, Katara?" Jahdi questioned, evidently she wasn't familiar with the idea of Aang and Katara loving each other.
"I hope so too, I've never received a flower from anybody before," Katara said, hoping Aang heard her every word, little did she know, he already had everything planned out.
"Maybe this year we'll get lucky!" Jahdi exclaimed, the two girls giggled before Jahdi averted her gaze to Aang.
"Hey Aang, see any girl in the village to who you're going to give a flower to?" Jahdi questioned, Katara blushed and looked down as Aang looked around, pretending to be clueless.
"Uhm, nope, not yet," Aang smiled sheepishly, Jahdi shrugged as the three continued to walk, Katara instantly frowned.
The least he could've said was a simple 'yes' or something...I mean, I'm standing right here, what more signs does he need? Katara thought with a frown as she averted her gaze to her feet which steadily kept a good pace next to Jahdi and Aang.
"Guess we're all in the same situation, huh," Jahdi said softly, "That's okay, maybe next year or something,"
After a few moments of awkward silence between the three, they had reached the boat that was going to take everyone to the island across the way for the festival. The three boarded the boat in silence, debating on what would happen later tonight. Aang ran over in his mind on how he was going to present the flower to Katara.
J-just hand her the flower, tell her she looks nice and maybe a hug or something, Aang thought nervously as the three continued to walk up the long ramp that led to the large boat, his mind continued, She'll be satisfied, right? I mean after all, panda lilies ARE one of the most romantic fl-oh no... the flower! I forgot to get one! Aang grew nervous with his thoughts, pent up emotions running a mile a minute through that bald head of his,I can't just tell her 'I forgot the flower but hey, I thought of you,' I must get that flowerAang basically screamed in his mind. But we're almost on the ship! Maybe if I run real fast...
"Oh great," Aang said loudly as he slowed his pace down, Katara turned to him warily.
"What's wrong, Aang?" Katara questioned as Jahdi slowed down also.
"I-I forgot something, be right back," Aang said nervously as he all at once whirled around, he tore through crowds of people, as he ran.
"What?! Aang come back the boat'll leave without you!" Katara hollered, Aang could hear Katara's voice yell out something more, like 'hurry back' or something along those lines, he didn't have time to decipher what she said, all he knew is that he needed to run, time was scarce.
After about a couple minutes of running, Aang gradually came to the lone flower stand he had remembered earlier on during the day. He quickly stormed up to it, frantic as ever, beads of sweat now forming from the crown of his head.
"I-I need a panda lily, how much are they?" Aang asked the old man all at once.
"Twenty gold pieces, you're lucky! You got the last one!" the man said kindly as he handed Aang the beautiful black and white flower. Aang ever so quickly paid the elderly man only to find that he was about six gold pieces short.
"o-oh...I only have fourteen gold pieces," Aang said warily, what else could go wrong? Aang thought before he continued, "I-I'm sorry, maybe if I check this pocket, I-"
"No no no! Stop looking, it's just six gold pieces, it's on me," the man said with a kind smile, Aang let out breath he felt he had been holding in for awhile now.
"Thank you so much," Aang said before he waved and quickly began to run towards the docks.
---
"Where is he? The boat is going to leave without him," Katara worried to Jahdi, the two girls peered off of the railing of the large boat, Aang was nowhere to be found.
"Uh oh," Jahdi said softly, Katara glanced at the girl next to her before she quickly followed Jahdi's line of vision, only to see a couple men on the docks untie the large boat from the wooden posts holding it in place.
"No!" Katara hollered softly as her grip tightened around the railing of the ship, she stood on tip-toes and quickly flailed her arms in the air, "No! Stop! There's someone coming! He's..." Katara stopped her desperate attempt as the three or four men down below began to walk away; the ship slowly creaked its way into deeper water.
"He's too late!" Jahdi said loudly as the two girls peered off of the back of the ship, where they were, noticing the main land slowly drift away into the soft mist. Katara quickly cupped her hands over her mouth and took a deep breath.
"Aang!" she hollered into the cool late afternoon air, Katara could feel her heart shatter at the thought of leaving Aang behind. No flower, no love...no tonight… Katara thought with a small frown, she could only imagine what made Aang suddenly turn around and run off like that, miss the ship, let the night slip away from him so easily. Katara felt overwhelmed and could almost picture Aang standing on those docks, watching the ship disappear into the night.
---
Aang ran as fast as his feet could take him, along with the help of some airbending. He quickly darted around lone buildings, trees, elderly people and other things until he reached the docks only to find it completely deserted. Everyone was gone, even the ship.
Aang held his breath and stared off into the far mist, he noticed the ship he was supposed to board minutes before, far off in the distance now, headed over to the island across the way, over to the lover's festival. Aang heaved a long, weary sigh and let the delicate panda lily he was holding fall loose from his strong and now sweaty grip. It hit the cold boarded docks underneath him as he stared off into the vastness, he panted slightly, letting his hot breath before him fog ever so slightly in the cool night air.
He watched his opportunities slip away from him so easily, so quickly, his mind was in an utter whirl of confusion, sadness, disappointment, he felt as if he let himself down, let alone Katara. He began to shake as he stared off into the distance, eyes scanning the horizon, now desperately searching for the boat in the thin fog from afar. He felt alone, helpless, and above all, useless as he slowly fell to his knees.
"Just my luck..."
A/N: Aw, I felt so bad for Aang when I wrote this… Sorry if this chapter put a damper on some of you reading this… The next chapter should lighten things up for ya I will try my best to get chapter 7 up sometime soon... man; I really hate school, but who doesn't? lol, Please R&R! No flames
-Katara-
Mohalo ;)