silver soul | avatar, the last air bender

chapter thirty three

"I'm so sorry. What she said was completely uncalled for," Naia said sincerely. "Katara is having a really hard time with her emotions right now. Ever since Zuko gave her the idea that she can find your mother's murderer, she hasn't been able to think of anything else."

"I know," Sokka said. Naia started to see tears well up in his eyes. "It's just...sad sometimes. People often forget that she was my mother too. Everyone is always so focused on Katara's grief because she's more vocal about it. Just because we grieve differently doesn't mean that I didn't love her any less than Katara did. The difference between us is that I've learned to let my anger go."

Naia smiled and tightly hugged Sokka. "I will have a talk with her. What she said was wrong. But, I want to be here to support her during this difficult time. She reached out to me to accompany her, and I'm going to honor that."

"I understand," Sokka said.

The day passed by and night had fallen, and Naia changed into an all black outfit. It would be better if she blended into the night rather than stand out with her blue water tribe clothing. Katara and Zuko were already by Appa, gearing up for the journey ahead of them. Aang and Sokka quickly followed.

Once Katara saw Aang out of the corner of her eye, she quickly turned away. "Don't try to stop us," She said coldly.

"I wasn't planning to," Aang said. "This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man. But when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out, and then let it go. Forgive him."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Okay, we'll be sure to do that guru goody-goody."

Naia placed her hand on Sokka's cheek and gave him a kiss. "I'll be back before you know it," She said.

"Be safe," Sokka said back. Naia smiled at him, giving him one last hug before hopping onto Appa's saddle.

"Thanks for understanding, Aang," Katara said before Appa lifted off the ground.

"We need to find a Fire Navy communication tower. All the navy's movements are coordinated by messenger hawk, and every tower has to be up to date on where everyone is deployed," Zuko explained.

"So when we find a communication tower, we bust in and take the information we need," Katara said.

"Not exactly. We need to be stealthy and make sure no one spots us, otherwise they're warn the Southern Raiders long before we reach them," Zuko explained. 

☽

Once the three broke into the communication tower, they found out that the Southern Raiders would be near Whale Tail Island. It was close to dawn, but still not quite. Katara sat silently on Appa's head, holding his reigns tightly. Naia awoke from her sleep and sat up.

"Hey," Naia said.

"Hi," Katara said back.

"How are you feeling?" Naia asked.

"Angry," Katara said. "Angrier than ever."

"I completely understand," Naia said. "Grief comes in waves. And it's not the same for every person. You can feel sad, then feel nothing at all, and then feel angry. Whatever you're feeling is valid."

"I wanted to thank you for coming on this journey with me," Katara said.

"Of course," Naia replied.