𝑯𝑰𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑶𝑵, 𝒂: 𝒕𝒍𝒂

➳ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳

ABOUT TWO WEEKS LATER, THE TEAM STOPS NEAR A VILLAGE ON THE RIVER TO BUY SOME FOOD. The river in question was too muddy, so neither Kida nor Sokka could catch a fish, meaning that they had to find a market to buy their food instead.

"We're already behind schedule!" he complains to Kida while Aang and the others try to hide Appa. "We've been stopping way too often."

Kida rolls her eyes. "Sokka, we need to eat, okay? That village is our best chance of not starving to death." She moves in closer. "And, uh, maybe we can even sneak in a training session later tonight?"

Sokka tries to keep a straight face, but Kida notices that the ghost of a smile starts to spread across his face and can't help but blush happily. He clears his throat, looks briefly to the rest of the group to make sure they can't hear, and leans closer to Kida. "Fine, but I will point out that the village is in the middle of the river."

"Sure is!" a voice responds. The man standing on a ferry by the edge of the river. "My name's dock. Mind if I ask who you are?"

"We're from the Earth Kingdom colonies," Kida answers without skipping a beat. Aang, Toph, and Katara join the conversation as Dock continues to grin expectantly at all of them.

"You need a ride?" he asks.

»»---------------------►

ONCE IN TOWN, KIDA FEELS SOMETHING PULL AT HER HEART.  Anger, frustration, sadness. Those same feelings that would engulf her back when she was travelling alone, that pushed to want to do something to help these people who are hungry, sick, and tired. The feeling that something needs to be done to change their lives for the better.

And, it turns out, Kida isn't the only one. After they buy some gray looking fish from a guy who looks suspiciously similar to Dock, the group walks back to the ferry dock to ride back across the river.

"Look at this place," Katara sighs, gesturing to a young boy taking care of his mother. "It's so sad. We have to do something to help."

Before Kida can respond and agree wholeheartedly, Sokka jumps in.

"We can't waste our time here," he asserts.

"It wouldn't be wasting our time," Kida scoffs. She looks around before leaning in and whispering: "We can't claim to be saving the world and then turn our back on people who are suffering."

"You said it yourself, Kida. We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on: saving the world. These people are on their own."

Kida stands up straighter and suddenly feels a bit defensive. "That is definitely not what I said ---"

"These people are starving!" Katara interrupts. "How can you be so cold and heartless?"

"I'm not being heartless, Katara," Sokka scoffs. "I'm just being realistic. We can't go around helping every rinky-dink town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord."

"Hey, loud mouths!" Toph interrupts the trio. "Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about," she leans in. "taking out the Fire Lord. Let's just go, okay?"

"Toph's right, and so is Sokka," Aang reluctantly agrees. "I'd love to help these people, but we have to focus on the bigger picture and a schedule to keep. We've got what we need, so let's just go back to camp."

"See?" Sokka grins triumphantly. "Even the Avatar agrees with me!"

"Only because you've brainwashed everyone on the importance of your dumb schedule," Kida grumbles. If there was a place nearby, the least they could do was get some real food and bring it back for the villagers. Maybe some medicine for their sick as well.