Forbidden | Avatar the Last Air Bender

Chapter 20: An Unexpected Reunion

"Okay. One thing at a time." Katara clenched her teeth angrily, staring daggers at Jet. 

Just what happened between the both of them that made Katara this angry? Oh... don't tell me they were once-

"Katara, I've changed. I want to help you find Appa." Jet pleaded, his eyes showing an unmistakable desperation.

Wait, what? Their sky bison, Appa... is missing?

"What makes you so sure you're not lying to us? I can't trust you! Not after what you did!" Katara folded her arms defiantly and snapped at Jet.

"Believe me, I've changed. My gang, the freedom fighters, disbanded and I moved over to Ba Sing Se so that I can start anew. I know I've done some things in the past, and I truly regret them. I'm really, really sorry to have betrayed you, Katara." Jet apologised with sincerity.

Katara continued to look really unhappy and disdainful. "What makes you so sure that you're not lying?" She spat, looking away.

"He's telling the truth." The blind girl spoke up, and I widened my eyes in surprise. How could she tell?

"His heartbeats and pulse are regular, I can feel it. He's not lying. When a person lies, he starts to get nervous and jittery, resulting in an irregular and extraordinarily fast heartbeat."

Upon hearing Toph's explanation, Katara's face softened a little, and she took a step back. 

"Fine." She finally said, bending ice away from Jet's wrist.

Jet dropped to the ground in a huff, and he recovered quickly.

"But if you ever betray my trust again, don't ever think about forgiveness. Ever." Katara scowled, folding her arms.

"Okay. One matter has been resolved." Aang tried to chuckle, but the atmosphere was too tense for us to even feel amused. 

"Now, Tasha." He turned to look at me.

"What exactly is going on?" Aang looked at me with genuine interest.

"I-I'm here with Zuko." I finally confessed, after a long pause. I looked down to my feet, not wanting to look at everyone.

I heard a few gasps coming from the team in front of me.

"What?! What are you doing here with him?!" Katara asked, surprised.

"Who's Zuko?" Jet asked.

"Oh just some crazy fire nation guy with a ponytail. He's been chasing us all around the world just to capture Aang." Sokka replied nonchalantly. I snickered in response. Crazy fire nation guy with a ponytail? Ouch.

"Fire nation?" Jet scowled, staring at me as if I was a monster. He raised his sword in the air, as if he wanted to attack me.

"Jet! She's not fire nation." Aang tried to calm him down. "She's Katara's old friend. She's a water bender too."

"I can't trust you. You're a traitor!" Jet hissed through his teeth.

Traitor, huh?

I looked down, feeling upset over the whole thing. How can I ever to prove to them that I was on their side and completely against my boyfriend's idea of capturing the Avatar?

I glanced to my right and looked into Aang's eyes genuinely.

"I'm against Zuko wanting to capture you, Aang." I said, swallowing my words. "And I'm not a traitor. I was abducted from my tribe."

"Please believe me," I hung my head low, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I'll never betray my own morales and my own bloodline."

"What makes you so sure you aren't lying?" Jet shot me an evil glare. I grimaced at his statement.

"She isn't." The blind girl snapped. The rest of us stared at her, surprised by her sudden interruption.

"Hello? I can tell." She waved her hands in front of her eyes, probably wanting to remind us that she couldn't see, but feel. Now I get it. She's an earthbender with seismic sense. She could feel the vibrations in the ground and from people, and that's why she can tell if I was lying or not.

A demeaning silence soon followed, no one daring to speak up. I guess, they didn't want trust me at all. Or perhaps, they couldn't. Not after what I did back then at the North Pole.

"I trust you."

Aang's voice broke the silence. I looked at him, slightly surprised that he chose to trust me when everyone else doesn't seem to.

"B-But Aang! She's with that crazy fire nation jerk who keeps wanting to capture you!" Sokka retorted and glared at me. I shrank back in response.

"Can't we at least give her a chance? We all know that she's unwilling to be with that guy, more or less fight for him just to capture me!" Aang jumped up and stood in front of me, trying to defend me. "Didn't she helped us take on Azula previously? Without her, I would have been captured already!"

"Aang! What's wrong with you?" Katara snapped, placing her hands on her hips. "She just helped because Zuko was in the fight as well!"

"Stop!" I shouted, causing all of them to stop their endless bickering. They turned to fix their gaze on me.

I sighed remorsefully. 

"Look, I don't really care whether you guys trust me or not. I know I did some things that I truly regret in the past, and it's not easy to forgive me for that. It's perfectly understandable that none of you would even trust me, anyway."

I took in a deep breath and stared at the group of people in front of me.

"Thanks, Aang. I'm glad you're the first person to trust me." I placed my hand on Aang's shoulder and half smiled. He nodded his head in response.

"It's was nice meeting everyone again. But now, I really have to go." I looked down immediately and spun around. I ran away from the scene, endless thoughts running through my mind.

I must not tell Zuko about this meet-up, I told myself repeatedly. If I did, Zuko would probably just search for him and capture him, and it would be my fault that Aang got captured.

I can't just betray the only person who trusted me.

When everybody else didn't.