Eventually Mai and Zuko stopped talking and went to find Katara and Sokka. They found Katara and Sokka by the kitchen, sitting at a table talking and laughing. Sokka was telling Katara about a time when they were penguin sliding and Sokka ended up sliding and the penguin sliding on him.
"I can't believe that happened!" Katara howled.
"Yeah we had some pretty crazy times." Sokka smiled.
"Hey you two mind if we join you?" Mai asked.
"Sure, you seem, different Mai." Sokka shook his head.
"Yeah, well..." Mai rubbed the back of her neck as a pink tint began to come to her cheeks.
"Are you actually embarrassed? You're actually showing emotion?" Sokka asked.
"Let's just say, I got some closure I needed." Mai smiled at the memory.
"Okay?" Sokka looked confused. Mai waved her hands in the air.
"Forget I mentioned it."
Everyone was silent for a moment, looking to each other, thinking different things. Sokka's mind was on Suki, Katara's on her brother, Zuko, Fire bending, water bending, and the avater, Zuko's was on Katara, and Mai's was on what they should do next.
Sokka: When Mai asked me if I loved Suki, I couldn't answer... I've always thought I loved her. I mean I feel comfortable around her, miss her when I'm not around her and enjoy kissing her, but is that love? I wish Mai had never brought that up...
Katara: Wow, Sokka's kind of an idiot. I mean how on earth do you end up the penguin going penguin sliding? Maybe I used water bending to flip them somehow? Wow me a water bender. Huh, guess you learn something new everday. Ty Lee always did tell me I fought like a water bender. I figured she was being crazy. I'm in shock! I mean me and Zuko? It's a... nice thought. But weird... It was comforting to be in his arms, but I felt like there was someone else I needed to be with, somehow I imagined myself in Aang's arms. Funny that little 12 year old bald boy...
Zuko: Katara brought up a good point last night... If she becomes a water bender again, I might lose her forever... What could I do to stop this? What if I convinced everyone it was better Katara stayed fire nation... no I can't do that. Her destiny is set in place, as is mine. If they never intertwine, then so be it...
Mai: How am I going to word what I say to the Fire Lord. What will we all do once Katara is a water bender again? Should I go with them? What about Ty Lee? Should I tell her about all of this, or keep it strictly between us? I'll talk to the group about it...
All at the same time, they said "I'm going to go. I have thinking to do." Once they realized they had said that simultaneously they burst out laughing. Mai was the first to speak.
"Guys, should we tell Ty Lee?" She looked at Sokka when she asked, she felt like he was a leader. Sokka looked around and noticed all eyes were on him. He figured the little circus freak could help so he said, "All people who say Ty Lee should join the group raise your hands." Zuko was hesitant but raised his hand. Sokka raised his own hand, followed by Mai. Katara was the only one who hadn't raised her hand. They all looked at her pleadingly. "Fine." She raised her hand.
"So who should be the one to tell her?" Mai asked. Again, all eyes went to Sokka.
"Ugh, why me?" Sokka groaned.
"Because, you're kind of like the leader, Katara has to work on her memory, and Zuko needs to help me with what I should say to the Fire Lord." Mai explained.
"Fine, where does she live, I want to get this over with." Sokka mumbled. Mai grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down an address. She told Sokka how to get there and he left.
An hour later he showed up at Ty Lee's front door. He hesitantly knocked. No one answered and he knocked again. He heard Ty Lee's sing songy voice,
"Hold on a minute!" She came rushing to the front door. She looked questioningly at Sokka.
"Yes? May I help you?" She asked.
"Yeah um I'm a friend of Mai's and Zuko's. They wanted me to come talk to you." Sokka mumbled. He didn't know why he felt so shy.
"Wait a minute! I remember you! You're that water benders brother right? Sokka?" She waited.
"Yeah that's me!" Sokka said cheerfully.
"Well come on in, I guess it must be pretty important for you to come all the way here. Ty Lee opened the door a little wider and motioned for Sokka to come in. The house wasn't anything like he expected it to be. There were clothes EVERYWHERE, she had little to no furniture, and she slept on a filthy couch. She motioned for Sokka to sit on the couch, he told her he'd rather stand, and then told the girl everything that had happened. When he was finished she looked blank.
"So wait, Mai, Katara, Zuko and yourself are working together now?" She asked.
"Yeah, I guess you could say we are." Sokka told her.
"Oh, what about the avatar, and your girlfriend" Ty Lee spat out the last word.
"Well Zuko and I didn't tell Aang we were coming and Toph is NOT my girlfriend." Sokka laughed.
"I thought her name was Suki." Ty Lee raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, sorry I thought you were talking about Toph, the blind earth bender." Sokka rubbed his neck nervously.
"What's the matter? Don't you love Suki?" Ty Lee questioned.
"Well, I don't know." Sokka shrugged.
"It sounded like you did." Ty Lee prodded.
"Look, can we stay on topic here? Are you going to help us or not?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah I'll help, what should I do?" She asked.
"You could... no Zuko's doing that. Oh how about you... No that's what I'm doing... I don't know." Sokka shrugged.
"I could keep Katara company and see if I can help her meditate, maybe I can get her to remember somethings." Ty Lee suggested.
"Yeah that could work. Let's get back it's almost dark and we have an hour walk ahead of us." Ty Lee jumped up and stood beside Sokka.
"Don't you have any clothes or anything you want to bring?" Sokka asked.
"No, I'll be fine." Ty Lee cart wheeled away. They arrived back at Mai's by midnight. Mai was waiting for his return and and when Sokka entered she jumped up.
"How'd it go?" She asked.
"See for yourself." Sokka motioned for Ty Lee to come in.
"Ty!" Mai ran and gave her a hug.
"Hey Mai, you seem different. Since when do you have emotion?" Ty Lee laughed.
"Let's just say I got an awakening." Mai laughed. The two girls linked arms and walked towards Mai's bedroom. Sokka fell backwards onto the couch, and closed his eyes. He had a confusing dream.
He was the ring master of a circus. People were cheering at all the acrobats, and trapeze artists. Sokka looked around proud of his achievements. He created an entire circus and gave the people joy. In the front row sat Katara, Zuko, Toph, Aang, Mai, and Ty Lee. No Suki. Sokka panicked. He searched the crowd for Suki. She was no where to be found. He ran outside the tent. What he saw disturbed him. Suki was outside kissing Azula. When Suki realized Sokka was there she turned around. Her eyes widened.
"Sokka! It's not what it looks like!" Suki yelled.
"Save it Suki." Sokka couldn't even control his own voice.
"I've had enough! I'm done. We're done. Suki there is no more us." Sokka ran back inside to his achievements and could care less if was outside making out with the fire nation princess. All he wanted to do was forget.
Sokka woke up screaming. He was sweating like crazy. His hair was wild all around him. His pony tail had come out. He walked to the kitchen to get some water. He grabbed some water and walked outside to the cool night. He saw a girl staring at the moon, figuring it was Katara he walked over to her.
"Hey." He said. Ty Lee looked up at him. She had no make up on and her hair was out loose.
"Hi Sokka." She replied her voice was cracking.
"Is something wrong?" He sat down next to her.
"It's nothing." She said rubbing her eyes.
"I don't think it's nothing. I don't know a single girl, except my sister, who would walk out into the middle of the night to stare at the moon crying." Sokka told her.
"Okay, maybe there's something." Ty Lee looked at Sokka. Her big brown eyes. Were like pools of melted chocolate. Begging for help.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah. Ok so you saw my house right?"
"Mhm, no offense but it was a mess." Ty Lee laughed at Sokka's comment.
"Well, my boyfriend came over. He was a little drunk, which wasn't unusual. We started making out... and then he went to far. I told him to stop, but he wouldn't. He continued to... do things to me and I finally pressure pointed him. I ran, he grabbed my arm and spun me around and tried to get me to go along with him. I still refused so he went into a tyrant and tore my house to pieces. I finally got him out. Before he left, he told me I was a worthless piece of crap who didn't deserve anything." Ty Lee sobbed. Sokka felt terrible for this girl.
"Ty Lee, what he said wasn't true. You aren't worthless. He was a jerk for doing that to you and then to rip up your house like that. It was wrong. You should have told a guard. I saw plenty of them by your house today." He said. Ty Lee laughed, while crying.
"Except his father is fire nation war general and all of those people work for him. He would have told them to leave if I had said anything." Ty Lee shivered.
"Are you cold?" Sokka asked.
"No, just scared. I don't want to be anywhere near him again." Ty Lee sobbed.
"You shouldn't have to be. You should break up with him." Sokka told her.
"I-I-I can't." Ty Lee sobbed again.
"Why not?"
"Because I'll be alone, I don't have a family to go home to. I'm a disgrace to them. Agni knows what he'll do to me if I break up with him." Ty Lee shivered.
"Right now you are in a house with a water bender, two fire benders, and a girl who is freakishly good with knives, not to mention you are an expert fighter yourself. I think you'll be ok." Sokka told her.
"Wait what? A water bender? Who is the water bender?" Ty Lee asked.
"Me. I am. I probably should have told you that." Sokka gazed at the moon. He felt like he so much wanted to be in water right now.
"Hey Sokka?" Ty Lee asked.
"Hm?"
"Thanks, for letting me talk to you. I think I would've exploded if I hadn't talked to anyone. Sokka looked at her. Her brown eyes were surrounded by pink puffiness, and her hair was messy. She was beautiful in Sokka's mind.
"You're welcome." He replied softly. They both started leaning in, then Sokka realized what he was about to do and pulled back.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have leant in." Ty Lee apologized.
"No! It's not your fault. I just, I'm a little confused. That's all. Right now I think all I can be is your friend. Is that okay?" Sokka asked.
"Uh yeah, I guess." Ty Lee shrugged. Sokka put a comforting arm around her. She leant into his embrace and they sat there watching the moon all night.
The next morning he woke up outside. He was on his back and a girl was sprawled across him. Ty Lee.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wow that was a really long chapter! Thanks to my consistent reviewers. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Even if it's just to say, "Nice job!" or "That sucked!" Please review :) Thanks. I promise to update soon.