Chapter Four
--
Losing You Again—Part 2
--
--
"What's wrong with him?" Aang and Toph asked. They had spent the night at Gran Gran's and had just learned the next morning what had happened while they slept.
"We're not sure. It could be any number of things, and it may very well be a combination of all of them." Hakoda spoke slowly and matter-of-factly. He knew from years of captainship how to convey troubling news to near-frantic warriors and crew. A good captain knew how and when to stay in control of himself, and by doing so he bolstered his authority and the men's confidence in him, which in turn influenced the men to stay as cool and collected as their captain.
Hakoda was pleased to see he still had this skill. Aang and Toph listened attentively as he explained the situation to them. "The concussion has affected him, of course, and it 's jostled his head quite a bit. He has periods of confusion, though he seems lucid even then. For the time being he isn't upset about the news I conveyed to all of you last night. He seems to be focusing more on things from our not-so-recent past. Last night he was fighting the Fire Nation and screaming for'—here Hakoda briefly hesitated, but quickly move on—'screaming some troubling things, and from the sounds and looks of it, he still has some war demons to wrestle with, which is completely natural for any warrior to go through after witnessing such violent and horrible things."
Hakoda stopped. He figured he did not have to explain this to Aang and Toph. He could tell by their silence that they both knew through their own experiences the kind of nightmares Sokka was fighting.
"Anyway," Hakoda continued, "I've already considered taking him to a hospital, but taking last night into account, I do not want him to travel. The boy has strength of mind and body, and he would be unruly on Appa or on boat. For now I want him to stay here and rest. Katara, Mazane, and I will take turns watching him and taking care of him, so you two are free to—"
"NO!" Aang and Toph shouted.
"—go," he finished, "even though I figured that would be your response." He chuckled. "Sokka is lucky to have such good friends. I'm sure it will make his recovery much easier on him with you two here. In fact—"
"I'll watch him for now," Toph interrupted. She clearly had no plans to hear a lecture, so Hakoda sent her into his home to see Sokka, in effect leaving Aang alone to learn what followed "in fact."
--
Afternoon arrived before Aang had a chance to speak with Katara. After Toph's time with Sokka, Katara had taken a turn, and following hers, Aang took one as well. Gran-Gran had prepared for and given her grandson a special tea with medicine to help him rest; and Sokka's body, taking the excuse to avoid stress from Sokka's disconnected and crazed thoughts, succumbed to the drugs and rested, which allowed everyone else a chance to rest as well.
"Aang, I'll watch him now," Mazane said as she quietly entered the room.
Aang smiled and nodded. He stood to leave, offering his seat beside Sokka's bed.
Before he closed the door on his way out, she turned to him, troubled. "Aang…"
"Yes?" Aang asked.
"Do you…do you think Sokka will be upset if…if he wakes up and sees me here?" She looked away in shame. "I couldn't ask Hakoda…"
Aang had wondered the same thing himself, but he smiled sincerely for her. "Even if he is, he won't stay mad. It'll mean something to him that you care." And with that he left.
--
After a quick chat with Toph, he found Katara fishing over the next hill. She'd made a hole in the ice and was Waterbending out large globules of water with fish still swimming circles in them.
"That looks fun!" Aang said. "I want to try!"
Katara blushed, but nodded and stepped back.
Aang bent over the hole in the ice and put his hands to the surface of the water. He used his new Waterbending technique to feel what was in the water.
"Water is alive," Aang murmured. "It's always moving. I can feel every current and every animal and fish. There are tons of fish down there, and a walrus and some penguins, too. And if I really concentrate…'—he said nothing for a few moments—'I can feel things too small to see with human eyes."
"That's amazing, Aang," Katara breathed. "I never thought that kind of Waterbending was possible."
Aang did not respond. As Katara had done, he began to Waterbend out a big balloon of cold, salty liquid; but unlike hers, his teemed with large thrashing fish.
"Woah, feisty!" he cried, leaping back from the hole. As Aang tried to keep the fish under control, the balloon swelled uncontrollably, bringing more fish with it.
"Aang, put it out! Put it out!" Katara cried, scrambling away from the sprays of freezing arctic water.
"I'm trying, Katara! I'm—wah!" A particularly big fish lunged furiously against the barrier of water and came flying out of it toward the Avatar. It hit the ground flailing, and sharp fins and tail danced dangerously in front of Aang's eyes as he tried to keep Katara and himself safe, and the other fish from escaping.
"Katara, get back!" he shouted. This Waterbending exercise took his full concentration, and he still needed more practice with it—the current situation was overwhelming. He needed to break his concentration; and with a quick inhale of breath, he disconnected himself from all the water and life within it. A split second later he used Airbending to blow the water and all the fish away from both him and Katara. With the blast of wind, the water and fish froze instantly to the side of the hill opposite Aang, and the Avatar breathed a sigh of relief to have the problem resolved, near-disastrously or not.
"Aang! Look what you've done!" Katara yelled at him.
Aang blushed in embarrassment, but felt better when he heard Katara break up into laughter. He laughed, too, and followed her when she said, "Come on, we can take those fish back to the village. That's more than enough to feed everyone twice."
They worked together to unfreeze the fish, setting free a great many of them for fear of excessive fishing, and then Aang used Airbending to pick the rest up to take back to the tribe. Even though it would freeze over soon, Katara closed the ice hole securely, just in case.
"You always know how to make me laugh, Aang," Katara said as they climbed the hill.
"And you always know how to make me feel better when I've messed up," Aang returned. "So why do you have doubts about us?"
"Aang," she sighed. "You know I care about you. So much. But I can't say you're the one and only for me if I haven't known anyone else."
"You know plenty of people," Aang protested.
"That's not what I mean, and you know it," she said sharply. "I need some space, Aang, and I need you to understand that."
"Katara, you said you wanted to have a break from us. I didn't understand that, but I accepted it. It really hurt, but I went along with it out for three months and let you do whatever it was you needed to do. Now I want to know: why are we still not together?" They had stopped walking, and Aang stared fiercely into her eyes.
"Because, Aang…" She hated to hurt him. God, she could barely breathe. "I just…I need more time."
"Why do you need more time?" he shouted. "Why are you always doing this? Running away from me? You've always been there for me as a friend, but you keep giving me your heart and then taking it away! I'm not going to wait around forever for you to make up your damn mind!"
"Then don't," she said.
"What?" He hadn't expected her to say that.
"Fine, Aang, I'll end our break."
She was angry with him and miserable with herself at the same time, but she was resolute now. Her tone terrified him, and he waited with bated breath for her to continue.
"Aang, I have to break up with you."
--
To be continued…
--
--
A/N:
Aaaww, heartbroken Aang. ( ; . ; ) It's sad, but dramatic, which kind of makes it fun.
/ducks the icicle fish Aang flings at her/
All in the name of advancing the plot along. Sheesh.
But, yeah, more Tokka goodness to come. I just figured Sokka needed a bit of a rest after the previous chapter. ; ) Please leave a review!
--
P.S.
Avatar is not mine, blah yada blah.
--
--
R/R/R (Reader Review Responses)!!
Tokka Fun: Thank you so much for your enthusiasm! Something tells me you squee at the same Tokka moments throughout Avatar that I do! ; )
lulu and Smitti: Thank you so much for your "in character" comments! Honestly, half the time it takes me to write each chapter is spent trying to figure out how the characters should/would act and what they should/would say, so I'm so pleased you noticed and commented! Oh, and Smitti, if you break Sokka's other leg and claim it as your own, then you would have joint ownership! Ownership of a joint! Get it? Ownership of a leg joint! Hahaha! Heh heh Yeah, it was bad, huh?
Stormic09: I went on! Twice! :D
Winnie Beatles: Long Live Tokka Week!! For Forever!! (That might interfere with the official Aug. 7th deadline, but it will live on in our hearts, though!)
Demonking101: I sent you an FF message, but to say it again, yes, this is a Tokka heavy story. ; )
Picture: Are you a Hakoda fan? I wasn't a huge one when I started, but I'm kinda likin' him better and better as I continue using him. ; )