Nightfall

Twenty One

"Let's do it," he said, taking his hand away from hers. He gave her a quick smile. "I trust you, Katara."

"Okay," she said, nodding. 

Katara peered out of the tree, looking both ways before easing herself out. She stopped for a second so that Aang could join her before falling into a brisk walk. She knew which way she wanted to go, so she whispered, "We're going to the wintery part of the arena. I'm sure there won't be much people there since it's a harsh climate to survive in."

"What makes you think we can survive there, then?"

"Sokka and I did," she said, shrugging. "We can find a cave and then stay there for a while before moving again."

"Okay." He sounded unsure of her plan, but he didn't say anything else. 

Katara led him through the forest, stopping every once in a while to make sure that there wasn't anyone around. At one point, there was a loud rustling near them, but it was only a bunny hopping through the underbrush. She nearly screamed when she saw the creamy white bunny, but Aang placed a comforting hand on her arm, making her fall silent. In the distance, Katara could see the moonlight glinting off of the metal cornucopia. The last time she had been there, Azula and her friends were there, but she was sure they weren't there now. 

"Do you want to stop by the cornucopia to see if there's anything there we can take?" Katara whispered, stepping out of the forest. She glanced all around, making sure that no one was around, before walking toward the cornucopia without a response from Aang.

"Well, you're already heading that way, so sure," he said, falling into step with her. She looked over at him to see his chest rising and falling quickly, his breath sounding labored. He caught her eye and said, "What are you looking at?"

"You don't look so good," she said, furrowing her eyebrows. She placed a hand on his forehead, sighing when she felt how hot it was. "You're running a fever, Aang."

"I'm fine," he said, rolling his eyes. He plucked her hand off of his head, continuing on forward. She frowned at his back but followed him anyway. "But we can stop for a little bit at the cornucopia."

"Okay." 

Katara stepped onto the grassy area, immediately feeling better. She spotted a small river near the snow, and the water around her was reminding her of her conversation with her mother and grandmother. A smile appeared on her face. This was what she needed: a good reminder of what she was fighting for. Now, she wasn't just fighting for herself and Sokka. She had to fight for the boy next to her as well, no matter what. 

The made it to the cornucopia, and Aang dropped to the ground, leaning against the metal. He took a couple of deep breaths, saying, "You can look around. I'll just sit here."

"Okay," she said. 

She was worried about him and didn't want to leave him alone, but she turned away from him and let her eyes slide across the things in the cornucopia. Most of the things that she had seen on the first day were gone, and there wasn't hardly anything in there. She took a couple of steps forward, squinting hard to see the little amount of things in there. The moonlight didn't shine into the cornucopia, making it hard to see. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness before looking more. 

To Katara's right, there were a couple of open boxes. She bent down and searched through them, feeling disappointed when she didn't see anything in them. Standing back up, she spotted a lone stick on the ground next to the boxes. She picked it up and moved it around, frowning. What was this weird stick thing? 

"That's a staff that can turn into a glider," a voice right next to her said. Katara jumped and brandished the stick. Aang was standing next to her, his hands raised up into the air. "I'm sorry for scaring you."