Sound Bender (Avatar: The Last Airbender) #Wattys2017

||Chapter 34 - Regret||

Himoko's POV

I ran my fingers through my hair, untangling the knots that formed overnight. It was morning- I think anyway. My sleeping schedule is currently nonexistent and all I wanted to do right now is sleep for a good week. But with the life I now led, that wasn't going to happen surely.

The volcano was no longer a threat thanks to Aang and Sokka, Aang with his incredible display of airbending and Sokka using his smarts to get us out of the situation with no one getting hurt.

The other three were over by Aunt Wu, speaking to the woman about what they did in order to achieve this outcome. I felt sort of useless during the plan, everyone else had a vital part in it. All I could do was grab a shovel and strain myself to dig into the earth.

I was reminded of the throbbing pain in my arm, the doctor from the clinic had wrapped a small sling to my arm to keep it from moving. There was a torn muscle or two in my arm from digging, no doubt about that.

I stared at Sokka, watching him get aggravated by the old man that greeted us when we were dragged into this situation. It was amusing but- I had to figure myself out. It felt like bile was rising up in my throat at the mere thought of what Sokka told me, and what I told him in return. He confessed his feelings to me, something I didn't expect from a guy like him. Did I really leave such an impression on him? You never expect someone to like you until it is said right to your face.

I chewed on my bottom lip, not caring about the small pieces of skin I was pulling from the tender skin. I felt... Horrible about it. Sokka looked so dejected but his eyes told me that he was apparently expecting it. As if he knew it was going to happen.

With a small sigh, I walked over to the four, messing with the end of my sleeve as I walked.

"Oh Your Highness, how is your arm doing?" Aunt Wu questioned, noticing my presence.

"It will be fine. It will just have to rest plenty."

"With those eye bags of yours, looks like you will need to too." Katana remarked from beside me, a small smile playing on her lips. I let out a small laugh, poking her cheek. "You have some too, Katara."

"Woah, really?!" Katara touched her face, her fingers going over her slight eye bags from not sleeping. She was actually trying to see if she could feel them.

"Um yeah." I shrugged, watching her do it a few more times before puffing out her cheeks.

"We all need sleep." She looked to Sokka, seeing him arguing with some more villagers with his voice crankier than usual.

"Most definitely." I agreed, turning my attention back to Aunt Wu.

"Oh Aunt Wu, before I forget. I wanted to ask you something."

"Hmm?"

"Why did you say you were a traveling fortune teller when clearly you had a home to stay at?" I asked her, her eyes going slightly wide before softening.

"Princess Himoko, during the time of my travels between Ba Sing Se and Omashu, I was generally a helper in the war and if the Fire Nation found out where I lived, this place would not be standing." She informed me and I blinked. Yeah, I could see that being a possibility. But to lie to two Kings? That was gutsy.

"That's why you weren't concerned about leaving Omashu?"

"That was on different terms. More political propaganda than war. I gave advice when your grandfather did not wish it." This peaked my interest, along with Katara's who suddenly became engrossed in our talk.