Nightfall

Twenty Seven

Katara couldn't find her way back to their tree. She was absolutely lost in the forest. Every single tree looked the same as the one that she needed to find, and she was getting very nervous that she couldn't find her way back. She was still holding the sword that she took from Zuko, but there would be absolutely no way she could have used it against anyone. She had no idea how to use it, and it was very heavy in her hand. 

A frown made its way onto her face as she thought about Zuko. He had said something about his mother disappearing, just like hers had. Was that why she saw him in District Four? By now, she knew that the person she saw in District Four was him, and she vaguely remembered seeing that the president's estranged wife had disappeared right after the previous president passed away. Was Zuko looking for his mother under that disguise he had wore when she saw him? She wasn't sure. 

She sighed and collapsed onto the ground next to a random tree. She wouldn't be able to find her way back to Aang. She would probably die here, but did she really care? No, not really. She was ready to join her mother and grandmother in the afterlife. That way, she would be able to finally get rid of the pain that had plagued her for her whole life. 

But, would it really be better if she were dead? She would miss out on so many things, but the Games already made that happen. She missed out on her childhood, and now she was missing out on her teenage years. She would forever be mad at the Gamemasters. They stole lives from so many people, and for what? Just for silly little Games? They were deranged, and she wanted to be alive to put them through the things she and so many others had gone through. 

Voices suddenly rose up around her. Her heart picked up pace, but she soon recognized those voices. They weren't from people who would kill her; no, they were from the ones she was trying to find. The voices sounded concerned, so she stood up and began following them. Hope spiraled through her veins as she got closer to the voices. 

Her feet tripped on something, and she steadied herself before seeing what she tripped on. A scream pierced the air when she saw the dead person crumpled on the ground. The worse part about seeing this dead body was seeing it with no face. There was absolutely no face on this person whatsoever, but it didn't look like a person sliced it off. It looked like the face just vanished off of the body.

Click, click, click. Katara's chest heaved up and down at the sound of the bugs flying and crawling swelling up around her. Something big was coming for her, and she had to get away before it got her, too. No doubt that whatever that creature was had been the death of the person she just found.

She began to run in a random direction. Her body crashed through the forest, but she didn't care if she was making any sounds right now. She had to get away from that demonic creature before it got to her.

"Katara!"

That voice cut through the panic in her mind like the sword in her hand. Her feet faltered, and before she knew it, she had fallen down to the forest floor. Thankfully, she didn't land on the sword she was holding; that would have been terrible if she did that. Someone touched her arm, and she jerked away from them.

"It's okay, Katara," the soft voice said. "It's me. It's Aang. You're safe now."

Katara looked up and saw the worried face of Aang staring down at her. Her eyes really couldn't register anything else besides him. She threw her arms around his shoulders and whispered, "I couldn't find my way back to the tree."

He held her gently. "I figured."

His embrace was warm and soft and so very gentle. She wished she could stay in it forever, but more voices rose up behind him. Pulling away from his hug, she was surprised to see Sokka and Toph and Suki standing behind Aang.