Freedom [ATLA Katara x Male Reader]

Chapter 11: [Bato of the Water Tribe]

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked once she was done, securely tying off the end of the wrap. 

"Guess not," you said, shooting her a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Katara."

Suddenly you heard rustling, and the two of you whipped your heads towards the sound. Thankfully, it was Aang and Sokka who emerged, and they seemed to be searching for something. 

"What's going on?" Katara asked curiously. "Did you lose something?"

"No, we found something!" Aang answered cheerfully, rummaging through some bushes. 

You tilted your head. "What is it?"

"A whale-tooth sword," Sokka explained, holding the weapon out for you to see. You studied it, fascinated. "It's the same design as the ones we use back in the Tribe. We're trying to see if we can find anything else."

You nodded in understanding and joined the boys in their hunt. You noticed something on the ground under some fallen leaves. You knelt down and brushed the leaves aside, revealing a spearhead. You picked it up and examined it, calling out to your friends. 

"Sokka! Is this from your Tribe too?" you asked. The boy was by your side in an instant, looking at the broken weapon intently. You ran your fingers along the point of the spearhead, noticing that there was ash on it. "It's burned."

Sokka furrowed his brows. He looked around and saw that scorch marks and sharp cuts scarred the tree bark too. "There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders." He turned away from the tree and looked down the slope of the hill to see a black spot on the ground. "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill."

Sokka jumped to his feet and raced down the hill along a dirt path until he made it to a beach. You, Aang and Katara walked out close behind him. 

"So, then what happened?" Aang prompted, intrigued. 

"I don't know," Sokka said, disappointed. "The trail ends here."

"No, it doesn't," you said, pointing to the left. "The trees in this direction are broken. They must have gone this way."

You started to walk that way, but Sokka stopped you. "Wait... you're wrong. Smell that smoke in the air? They obviously went this way."

He gestured off to the right. 

"Or it's literally right there," Katara said, pointing to something in the distance. You both turned to see a Water Tribe ship, half obscured behind large rocks, sitting idly on the shore.

You and Sokka suddenly looked very embarrassed. 

"Oh..." you said rather awkwardly. "Good, uh... good work."

Sokka squinted, and his flustered expression suddenly morphed into a wide grin. "Hey, it's one of our boats!"

He ran towards it, Katara following closely behind. "Is this dad's boat?"

"No, but it's from his fleet," Sokka replied. He turned to his sister, almost in disbelief. "Dad was here."

. . .

Sokka and Katara wanted to stick around for a while to see if anyone would come back, so you set up camp by the Water Tribe ship. Aang and Momo were fast asleep on Appa's right paw and Katara had drifted off in her sleeping bag nearby. You thought Sokka would try and get some rest, but he just gazed into the fire sadly. You approached him. 

"You okay, Sokka?" you asked, taking a seat on the log beside him. 

"Yeah," he answered, poking the campfire with a stick. "Just thinking."