Mixed Troubles - Sokka x OC

Chapter 21: The Desert

AHHH I LOVE THIS CHAPTER! Won't say much except I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Presenting......

|The Desert|

Safiyah

"Toph, what happened?" I ask gently. The wind picks up around us and sand drifts through the air. 

"I'm sorry. Sand benders sneaked up on me and they captured Appa," she says feebly. 

Aang starts yelling at Toph. "How could you let them take Appa? Why didn't you stop them?"

"Look, the library was sinking and you were all stuck in there, and I can't feel anything out here, and I tried my best, I just couldn't do enough," Toph rambles. 

"You just didn't care! You never even liked Appa!" Aang belts. Toph sinks down, her usual confidence gone. 

"Aang, please, Toph tried everything she could," I say. 

"She saved our lives," Katara adds. She comfortingly puts a hand on Aang but he's still holding a heavy glare on Toph. 

"Who's going to save our lives now?" Sokka asks bleakly. He's staring into the amassing desert as a new sandstorm starts to form. 

That sets Aang off and he jerks away from Katara's touch. "That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care about Appa, ever!" 

"We do care, but we can't afford to fight right now," Katara argues. 

Aang turns around and looks at us with a stiff expression. He says, "I'm going after Appa," and without caring about any of our objections, he glides away. 

Katara sighs dejectedly. "Well, we better get walking. We need to get to Ba Sing Se so we can tell the Earth King about the solar eclipse."

"Wait, what solar eclipse?" I ask. "What did you guys find?"

"Well, I found a paper that's titled The Fire Nations Darkest Day," Sokka starts. "I was trying to find what that means, but everything on the Fire Nation's destroyed. I'm surprised you found your scrolls."

"Really?" I say curiously. "That explains why I only found two shelves on the Fire Nation. The books just talked about bending."

 "Well, anyways. One of the weird foxy animals led us to a planetarium. I entered in the date that was written on the paper and it was the date of a solar eclipse that happened in the past. Basically, the day is the darkest day because the sun is gone and the fire benders lose their bending." 

I couldn't help but think that that's exactly what every fire bender deserved. 

"But there's more," Sokka continues. "There's a solar eclipse coming up in a few months, and we're planning to defeat the Fire Lord then, when the Fire Nation is at its weakest. Then, that owl got mad and that's why he wanted to sink the library." Sokka adds the last part sheepishly. 

"Yes, that's a great discovery," I reply. As much I like how Sokka's willingness to help Aang in defeating the Fire Nation, I can't help feeling torn in between the two sides. I'm from the Fire Nation, and my roots lie there, but how am I supposed to grow past those roots if they keep holding me back? Even though I keep moving past the treacherous person I was, I still do return to that version of me. There's proof of that. Therefore, I can't help but feel that when everyone is talking about bringing down the tyranny of the Fire Nation and all its values, they're also talking about bringing me down as well. 

~~~~~

I fall down to the sand, shaking my shirt to get some air through it. A weak attempt at getting a breeze through me so I can briefly be refreshed. I feel my face and I bring my hand down when I feel how my face is scorching. I retie my hair for the hundredth time so that I have no strands hanging around me.