Flow [Sokka - Book Two]

⚝Chapter Eight⚝

Appa slowly descends toward the ground, near a small town. They landed in a forest clearing near a trail that probably led to the town. A small building stood nearby.

"What are we doing here?" Katara asked the two boys.

"Stopping for supplies," Aang replied. "Now that we got one more passenger, we need more food."

Konno felt bad again. She was the reason they had to stop here. Of course she was. But, before she could have a pity party, Katara grabbed her hand and said, "Konno and I will get the food."

The two of them climbed off of Appa and approached the small building. A man stood in the window with a nice smile. Konno let Katara do all the talking. She seemed to know what she was doing, and Konno didn't want to get in the way. 

"So, what have you been doing around this part of the world?" Katara asked, leaning against the counter.

"Just traveling," Konno replied with a shrug. "I couldn't stay at home. It was too hard for me."

Katara nodded. "Of course. I totally understand."

Konno nodded, too. She fell silent just as Sokka's voice echoed around them, saying, ". . . or if Katara lost her hair loopies."

He walked over to the stall where Katara hugged him. He glanced over her shoulder at Konno with a smile on his face. She didn't return it. She didn't want to gain feelings for these three people because she didn't want to overstep on them. Her feet were already on their toes.

"Here's your produce, ponytail guy," the merchant said, setting the basket of food on the counter. 

"I used to be boomerang guy," Sokka said dejectedly.

Konno stayed close to Katara as she payed the nice merchant. "Hey, Water Tribe money," the merchant said, surprised.

"I hope that's okay," Katara said.

"So long as it's money." The merchant closed the shop and began to walk away. "Have a nice Avatar Day!"

Aang, his interest piqued, turned around. "Avatar day?" he asked.

"You guys are going to the festival, right?" the merchant asked.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka looked at each other. Aang and Katara smiled, while Sokka still looked very sad. However, Konno stepped away from them suddenly and said, "I think I'm going to go now."

"Where are you going?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"Not to the festival," Konno replied. "Thank you guys for bringing me out of the swamp, but I think this is where we're splitting up. I don't want to overstep any longer than I have to."

She turned around before they could try to stop her. The look on Sokka and Katara's faced made her want to crumble down and stay with them. They both looked sad that she was leaving. She didn't understand how they were already sad since she had hardly been with them at all. However, she was slightly sad, too. They were nice people who had given her the benefit of the doubt.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her to the stop. Konno glanced behind her to see Sokka with his arm outstretched, his hand holding her wrist. Her heart picked up speed slightly at the sight of him. 

"What are you doing?" she asked him. 

"You're coming with us." He jerked his thumb over to Aang and Katara who stood off to the side, chatting to each other. "We've decided it."

"We haven't decided anything," she said, dropping her arm out of his grip. The skin where his fingertips had touched burned. "I have decided to go my own way. Can't you respect that, Sokka?"

His eyebrows twitched at the tone of her voice. She wasn't the girl she used to be. That girl used to hide her true self. This Girl was done with that. The Warrior added to the fury that rose up through her body.

"It's not your life," she continued on. "I can do whatever I want. I can go wherever I want to go. I can do anything I want to do, whether it be alone or with people. I -"

"Konno," he said softly. "I'm not saying that at all. I'm sorry that you thought that. I just don't want you to get hurt out there. This world is way different than the Northern Water Tribe."

The fury that rolled through her body in waves suddenly crashed against shore of her heart. The waves couldn't break through the walls, though. Unfortunately, they were still tall and solid. They were cracked, yes, but slowly she had started to mend the cracks. Seeing Sokka and Katara and Aang again had punctured her work, allowing everything she had pushed down to seep through.

"I know that," she whispered. "I've known since the night I lost Navrek. Since the night I lost Yue."

"Do you want to get as far away from the Northern Water Tribe as you can?" he asked. "To try to get as far away from the pain as you possibly can? Is that why you're so desperate to keep moving?"

Konno wouldn't meet his eyes. How could he see that? She thought she had buried that into the depths of her heart. No one was supposed to know about that. Yet he knew. Was it because he witnessed her breakdown at home? Or was it something else?

"If you come with us, I will promise that we will take care of you," he said. "We won't let anything hurt you."

"I'm not worried about that." No, she was worried about the people around her getting hurt. It seemed like she was the catalyst for other people getting hurt. "I don't care if I get hurt."

"Well, I care," Sokka said, his hand touching her shoulder for a second. "Katara cares. Aang cares."

"That's what I didn't want to happen."

His deep blue eyes reminded her of the water near her secret little cove. It pulled her in, but she pushed away, just like the waves that pushed and pulled her to and from death. His eyes seemed to go on forever and forever, into the depths of his soul. 

Konno glanced away from him just as he asked, "What didn't you want to happen?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Konno pulled her bag closer to her body. Of course he didn't understand. He wouldn't understand. Just like he didn't understand why she needed to travel by herself. She wanted to figure herself out. All her life, she had been the Princess who listened to and obeyed every single rule and tradition. But the Princess fell when she left the Northern Water Tribe. All her life, she had been the Sister. When she was born, she was born a sister. However, her sister and best friend died. She had lost the Sister after that.

Now, she was the Warrior and the Girl. Those two conflicted the most because one wanted to fight while the other wanted to fly. One wanted recognition; the other wanted love. She couldn't do anything while the two of them fought for dominance in her heart. She had thought she had a reason to be alive, that she was destined for something greater. Now she wasn't so sure. 

"Konno, it's up to you to figure out what you want to do," Sokka said, breaking through her inner turmoil. "I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do."

She met his eyes again. Forcing herself to stay afloat in them, she said, "I guess I could come with you guys for a few days. I really don't know where I'm at, anyway."

A smile broke out on his face. "I was hoping to hear you say that. You won't regret coming with us. I promise."

As they headed back to Aang and Katara, Konno touched the broken shards of the turtle seal in her bag. Her fingers brushed against the letter that Yue had written, too, and she allowed herself a soft smile. She truly missed her sister, but at least she wasn't alone anymore. She had a feeling these three wouldn't leave her alone for a long time. And surprisingly, a small part of her was fine with that.