silver soul | avatar, the last air bender

chapter thirty two

"I'm happy for you," Koa said. Naia smiled softly. "I always saw the way you looked at him, like there was nobody else in the entire world but you two."

"Yeah," Naia agreed. "Sokka has been there for me since the day we met. I'm so thankful that I was able to meet him."

"You've really come a long way," Koa said earnestly. Naia looked up from the ground and into Koa's eyes. "But...I always knew you had it in you. I'm proud of you, Naia."

Naia smiled. "If it wasn't for your advice, I don't know what I would be doing right now. I would probably still be in the Norther Water Tribe. Nothing would have changed and I would have been miserable without Yue. I miss her so much."

"I miss her too," Koa said. "You and your sister inspired me to lead by example. That's why I left as well. We were able to free a few Earth Kingdom villages from Fire Nation rule. I know...it's small. But it's something."

"It's not small," Naia disagreed. "You left home and tried to do your part in ending the war. That in itself is a huge accomplishment."

"Thank you," Koa said.

"I have a question," Naia said tentatively. Koa nodded. "What was it like when I left home?"

Koa hesitated. "Your parents were devastated."

Naia felt her heart sink to her stomach. She completely convinced herself that her parents didn't really miss her at all. They only missed her because they had no other daughter to control anymore. For some reason, she had trouble imagining her parents being depressed about her disappearance until that moment. But was it true that her leaving hurt them as much as it hurt her? "Really?" She asked, her throat tight.

"Your father sent a few search parties to look for you in the Earth Kingdom, but nobody could track you," Koa said. "They don't know if you're alive or not, since it's been so long since they've heard from you. Your father doesn't show a lot of emotion, but he looked...broken."

Naia felt tears well up in her eyes. "In Ba Sing Se, my parents sent a strongly worded letter demanding for me to come home. But...I didn't respond. Maybe they weren't mad at me, they were just pleading for me to come home and didn't know how to properly communicate that," She said. The tears began to blur her vision. She realized that her parents didn't just lose one daughter, they lost two. "Am I a horrible person for leaving?"

"Not at all," Koa said. "At the time, you would have been miserable if you stayed home. Your parents wouldn't have understood if you tried to share your feelings. Maybe this was the only way to get your parents to listen to you. You don't have to be sorry about leaving and growing up."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "What if my parents hate me now?" She asked. The thought of her parents hating her felt like a thousand knives stabbing her chest.

"They don't hate you," Koa reassured her. "Once this is all over and done, it might be a good idea to return home and reconcile with them."

"I don't know if I'm strong enough to go home," Naia said. "The last time I was home was when Yue was alive. I couldn't bear to see the places we used to go and the life I used to live. How can I handle that now?"

Koa placed his arm around her shoulders. "You've made it so far. I know you're strong enough."

"Thank you, Koa," Naia said, wiping away her tears with her hands.