Rush [Sokka - Book Three]

⚝Chapter Five⚝

"That's great," Konno said, her voice thick. "I'm glad she helped you. She helped me a lot when she was alive, like with how women were treated in our city."

"I didn't notice anything wrong with the way women were treated in the Northern Water Tribe," he said with a frown. "Besides the time when Pakku wouldn't let Katara practice her water bending."

Konno laughed. "That's because you're a boy, and boys always get treated the same. But women . . . not so much. She helped me fight for us - for women."

"You went against what everyone else was telling you to do?"

"Yes." Konno nodded. "She was there with me, though. It's not that hard if you have someone to back you up. I couldn't stay quiet, and even though I love my father dearly, he was the one I had to go against."

"That's very noble of you, Konno," Aang said. He went silent for a second before blurting out, "She also talked to me." He wouldn't really meet her eyes when he said, "She told me to tell you something."

"Tell me what?"

"She said that she'll see you soon," he said with a frown. "And that she's been watching over you since day one."

"She'll see me soon?" Konno whispered. "What did she mean by that?"

"I asked her that," Aang told her. "She didn't answer."

"Weird," Konno said, her eyes glued to her hands. "Does that mean . . ."

"I don't know." Aang patted her hand, and she looked up at him. "Soon doesn't mean right now. You never know how long time passes for spirits."

"Yeah." She swallowed hard. "You're right. It could take forever for her soon to come to fruition."

Aang agreed with her. Of course it would take forever for it to happen. There was no need for her to worry about anything because she was safe with them.

When they got farther over land, Katara came up with the great idea to bend a cloud around them as they traveled. She didn't want anyone to see Aang, especially because they were flying over the Fire Nation outer islands. 

"I think I see a cave below," Aang said, pointing down toward the ground.

"Shhush . . . keep quiet!" Sokka said quickly. His eyes flicked around the area as the cloud dispersed with a blast of airbending. Appa landed on the ground, so Sokka helped Konno dismount. "Great job with the cloud camo, but next time, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud who knows how to keep its mouth shut."

Konno rolled her eyes. When they crossed into the Fire Nation, Sokka had been extra careful. She knew he was worried about Aang, but he needed to loosen up a little.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in," Toph said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Sokka said. "We're in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds." He pointed upward to four of the "enemy birds" who were perched on a rock just behind him. One of the birds hopped down onto his head and squawked. 

"Yes, those enemy birds are so very dangerous," Konno said, approaching the one on Sokka's head slowly. She reached out and brushed a finger across its head. "And they are so very cute, too!"

Katara and Aang and Toph all laughed while Sokka looked unamused. Konno and Sokka walked behind everyone else. She noticed that his eyes were still darting around, trying to find any sort of danger, so she took his hand in hers and said, "You don't need to worry, Sokka. We're safe here."

"You don't know that."

She pulled him to a stop and made him face her. "Seriously, calm down. Where's the Sokka I know and . . ." Konno trailed off because she didn't know how to finish that sentence. Her face flushed when he noticed what she was going to say.

"Know and what?" Sokka asked quietly. He pulled her closer to him. "What were you trying to say there, Konno?"

Fear rose up in her throat at the thought of what she was about to say. She wasn't sure if she felt that way about him. She couldn't even process the word because it terrified her. It terrified her because she never wanted to let her heart get hurt again, and if she did feel that way about him, she was opening herself up to the worst kind of pain. If they didn't work out later in life, she would be devastated. And devastated was something she never wanted to experience again.

"I wasn't going to say anything," she whispered to him. "It was nothing."

"You don't have to be afraid to open up to me about your feelings," he said softly. "I won't judge you for anything."

"I know." She blew out a breath. "I know, Sokka. I'm just . . . not really used to letting anyone see my emotions. It's still a little hard to open up."

Sokka brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and whispered, "I know that it's hard for you to open up. But you've been doing so well, and I'm so proud of you because of it."

Konno smiled up at him. "Thank you. I've been wanting to get better because I'm tired of living in this depression. It's just taking me so long to get out of it."

"Hey, take all the time you need," he said quickly. "There's not a time-limit on grief. It could take months, years, even decades. It's taken me years to get over my mother's death, and I still think about it to this day. I'm sure it's taken Katara longer because she witnessed the death and saw the destruction." He paused. His eyes had grown unfocused the longer he spoke. "Sometimes you never get over it. You just have to push through it. It'll live with you for the rest of your life and you just have to own it because it's the reason you're still alive."

Konno felt like he had started talking about himself more than about her. She knew that he missed his mother dearly, just like she missed Yue. They shared a sort of grief that no one would ever really understand. They both lost people who they loved so very much, but they had found each other just in time. Just in time to save each other from their worst enemy - themselves.