𝑯𝑰𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑶𝑵, 𝒂: 𝒕𝒍𝒂

➳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨

AFTER LEAVING THE NORTHERN AIR TEMPLE, the group decides to camp out for a night before heading towards the Northern Water Tribe. They figure that it might take a day or two of straight flying to find their destination, so Appa could use some rest.

"And Kida could use another healing session," Katara points out.

Kida nods. While the injury to Kida's ribs improved greatly, any sort of physical activity causes it to flare up again; especially today, given the intense hand-to-hand combat training session she and Sokka had earlier.

After helping to set up camp, Katara and Kida situate themselves a little bit away from the others for some quiet. After a few sessions, the duo had a set routine that assured efficacy. In seemingly no time at all, Katara had worked her waterbending magic trick (Sokka's words) and Kida felt calmer than before, the pain in her side gone.

"That should do it," Katara states proudly.

Kida smiles. She puts her shirt back down and sits up so that she can face Katara. "Thanks," Kida says. "You know, for someone who's never had formal waterbending training, you're pretty good."

This time, Katara smiles and a subtle blush rises to her cheeks. Then, her smile fades into a look of concern as she gazes towards Kida. "Hey, Aang, Sokka and I were talking and....well, it doesn't seem like you've been sleeping, lately. Is everything okay?"

For a moment, Kida is frozen. Even after the past weeks —well, really two or so months — travelling with the team, she's still not used to having people care about her. In truth, it was never her intention to care about them, either.

Your family died because of this stupid prophecy, she reminded herself. The least you can do is honor their memory by fulfilling it and helping the Avatar restore balance. That's why you're here. Anything else would just complicate things and get in the way.

But, it was no use.

The worst part was: the closer Kida got to the team, the more she wanted to tell them the truth about who she really was, and the more she was scared that they would hate her if they ever found out. It was a horrible contradiction, a vicious cycle of internal conflict that Kida tried to hide from the team. And in general, she did, except now she realizes that her sleepless nights had not gone unnoticed. This time, Kida couldn't blame the unbearable pain from her injury.

"Yeah," Kida replies. "I just miss my family sometimes, and it's harder at night to forget, I guess." At least, that isn't a complete lie.

"I get it," Katara whispers. Instinctively, she touches her necklace and looks at the sun setting. "Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed with the reality of this war and the toll it's taken on me and the people I love. Then, when Sokka and I found Aang, it was like a sliver of hope." She turns to Kida. "And I realize that now, we have each other, which makes me even more hopeful. We'll fight together and do whatever we can to finally put an end to this war, because we're more than a team. We're a family."

"That scares me," Kida admits, but she doesn't elaborate.

"Kida, we're your family now," Katara assures, grabbing Kida's hand. "We're here for you, and nothing can ever change that."

Kida almost cries then and there, partly from exhaustion, but also from the feeling of finally starting to feel whole again. Instead of revealing any of this, however, she changes the subject:

"I guess I'm just so used to leaving that it's weird staying with the same people for this long. It's a tough habit to break"

"But you can't leave! Sokka would miss you so much," Katara jokes.