Nightfall

Twenty Two

"I'm - I'm not really sure," she answered truthfully. "For a while there, you looked like you were going to get better. Now, I'm not so sure."

"If I'm dying, leave me here," he said. He took her hands in his like he was pleading with her. "Please leave me. I don't want you to watch me die. I'd rather die alone than you stay here."

"Aang, stop talking like that," Katara said softly. She squeezed his hands reassuringly. Of course she wouldn't leave him. Those thoughts earlier weren't her own; they were the Game Masters' thoughts. They made her lose hope. "I'm not going to leave you, and you're not going to die, okay?"

"Do you anything else about the berries that I ate?"

"Not that much. Only that they're poisonous," Katara said, glad that he changed the subject slightly. "I'm guessing that since you aren't dead yet, you didn't eat that much."

"Correct."

"You may have saved your life by eating only a little." She gave him a soft smile, but she wasn't sure if he could see it in the darkness. His hand reached out for hers and clasped it, making her say, "You know, I'm glad that we got stuck together."

"Me too." He slowly laced his fingers through hers. She was surprised to find her face heating up slightly. "I hope I get better soon so we can get out of this cave."

Katara nodded. She hastily pulled her hand out of his and went over to where their supplies were laying. Aang needed to drink some water. She had water in her little pouch that Sokka had gotten for her. She just didn't know where it was right now. Her hands felt around the ground of the cave, and they accidentally knocked against the staff that she found for Aang. It fell against the floor with a loud crack. Katara winced but stopped moving. The crack echoed around her.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Aang.

"Yeah. You dropped my staff."

"No. Did you hear it echo?"

"Not really."

"I did." Katara grabbed onto his staff and used it to feel around in front of her. She jabbed it at the walls until she nearly fell forward with her force. "There's tunnels, Aang! It isn't just a cave!"

"Are you serious?"

"Completely."

Katara took another step forward, holding his staff out in front of her. She wanted to see how far the tunnels went, but she couldn't see hardly anything the further she went forward. The edge of the staff hit the side of the wall, so she changed her course ever so slightly. 

"Don't go too far," Aang called out. "I don't want you to get lost."

"I know!" she said, continuing her trek. She should be listening to him, but she needed to know where these tunnels went. 

Katara stumbled over a dip in the path. She placed a hand on the wall, stopping her fall. The darkness beat around her body, but she wasn't afraid. Aang was behind her, waiting for her. What was there to be afraid of with him there?

Something hit her shoes, rolling away. Katara blindly reached forward, her hand brushing over the dusty ground. She couldn't feel whatever touched her feet, so she stood back up and continued forward. That was a bad decision. Whatever she had kicked away was right in front of her, and she rolled right over the thing and nearly faceplanted. The staff lodged itself between the two walls, stopping her fall toward the rough ground. With the staff stuck in place, Katara crouched down and reach forward. Her fingers wrapped around another stick. She picked it up; while doing so, it scratched against the wall, lighting the tunnel up with fire light. 

Katara had found a torch!

The fire light slowly filled up the small space she was in. She kicked the staff from out of the wall and picked it up, heading back toward Aang. Before she made it back to him, she noticed random marks in the walls. She peered forward, a frown on her face. Her eyes poured over the story etched in the stone, her mind going back to when she was little. Of course she remembered the people who lived in these same caves!

The fire light bobbed up and down as she ran back toward Aang. He was sitting on the ground, shielding his eyes with the parka. "I see that you found some light," he said, glancing over the top of the park. "Thanks for blinding me."

"Yup," she said, not bothering to get upset with him. She plopped down next to him, holding the torch high up in the air. "I know where we're at."

"What?" His cheeks were redder, which was an amazing sight. His grey eyes were cloudy, though, but it was probably from the confusion. "You know where we're at?"

"Do you remember the Games from when we were little?" she asked, jumping right into the story. Katara was so excited that she forgot all about the need to keep her voice down in case there was anyone near the entrance to the cave. "I don't remember how old I was when it happened, but I remember hearing about Oma and Shu."

Aang frowned, dropping the parka down onto the ground. "Those names are familiar, but I can't place them."

"Oma and Shu were two volunteers from District Seven. They took the place of the two little kids that were called to be in the Games, but the twist was that they were in love. They didn't tell anyone that they were together, but it came out later that they were together. The two of them found this tunnel system and stayed here for a while, until one day when they ran out of food. Shu said that he would go out and find them food and Oma agreed. He never came back to her." Katara could feel the sadness all around her. It passed through the air and was especially bad in the rock itself. "Someone had killed Shu, and Oma was devastated. No one knows if she went insane or if she was in her right mind, but she obliterated everyone else in the Games. She eventually won, but disappeared soon after."

"I remember that," Aang said softly. His face was screwed up and his eyes looked a little misty. "The monks told me that you are never the same after the love of your life dies." His eyes flicked up to hers, sending a slight shiver down her spine. In the soft fire light, Aang looked older than he was, though he wasn't that much younger than she was. He had his own fire in his eyes. "They always told me that when I find the one for me, never let go of them."

"The monks were smart," Katara commented, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The way he was looking at her made her very nervous. "My mom used to tell me that my dad was her happily ever after. There was no one else in the world that loved her like Dad did, and right up until the day she was taken, she loved him back just as much." She cleared her throat, focusing her gaze on the wall behind Aang's head. "I told myself when I was younger that I wanted to find love like that in the future. I'm afraid my future is gone now that I'm here in the Games."

"I don't think so," Aang whispered, the shadows dancing across his face. "You never know what may happen in here, who you may meet." His lips turned up in a grin and he said, "We met in here. If we hadn't been thrust into the Games, we would have never met." 

"I'm glad we met," she softly said, reaching out for his hand. He gladly took hers, drawing her closer to him. The torch clattered to the ground and the light was snuffed out, but she wasn't mad or upset. 

Aang's arms wrapped around her body and she rested her head against his chest. She could hear how fast his heart was racing, and hers matched his. The only good thing about the Games was meeting him, she figured. Otherwise, she wouldn't have known the joy he gave her. Katara remembered what the fortuneteller told her, that she already knew who her true love was. In the darkness, she believed that she had found him for just one second. That way, she could focus on the hope flooding through her veins. She doubted that she would ever find love like what her parents had, but a girl could always dream.