Koete ↠ Sokka

Chapter 9: The Damned - Part 3

Pushing his way past Sokka, the two Freedom Fighters went to follow until Charlie held out her hand, making them pause and look at her with curiosity. "What's wrong?" Smellerbee asked.

"I can carry his stuff," Charlie offered casually, gesturing to the old man's bag. Seeing the unsure look on her face, she continued. "If we run into another assassin, it's probably better your hands are free instead of mine."

The answer seemed to satisfy the two enough, as Smellerbee handed over the bag and knife without further question. So, the knife was his then.

The Freedom Fighters followed after their leader, leaving Sokka and Charlie behind. She took the moment alone to quickly inspect the knife in her right hand. It was strange—she distinctly remembered in the episode that the knife Jet showed the gang had a hidden poisonous cartridge embedded in the hilt, but there was nothing like that on this one. He must have switched the knives out at some point.

When she glanced up at Sokka, he wore a sympathetic expression, full of regret. Silently, she placed the walking stick she'd picked up on the ground next to the old man and sent a nod of encouragement to Sokka. His frown deepened further when Jet had called out to them once more. "Charlie, Sokka, come on!"

Hesitantly, he turned away from the old man and walked next to her in silence. Charlie clapped her right hand to Sokka's back over his leather boomerang sheath for a few moments in solidarity. When she finally stepped away, she rummaged through the old man's bag, finding nothing important.

Arriving back at the hideout, Jet had taken the bag from her, his jaw locking while that smirk that she hated so, so much spread across his face. She was glad he was finally gone. Charlie didn't like being around him for extended periods of time. Her and Sokka sat with their backs pressed against the tree on the platform outside their treehouse, simultaneously emitting a mixture of regret and anger.

Not long after, Aang had swung past on a zipline with Momo, jumping off with childish glee. "Guys, look what the Duke gave me!" he exclaimed, reaching into the bag hanging from his shoulder. Aang pulled out one small circular pellet and gave Momo a sly grin before tossing it between the lemurs feet. He hissed in shock as it exploded into a cloud of sparks and smoke. Momo leaped onto Aang and dug into his bag, pulling out four more pellets of his own and throwing them at Aang's feet in retribution. "Ow, quit it!"

Just then Katara walked out from their treehouse at the sound of the commotion. "Hey guys." she greeted. Charlie twisted around, balancing one arm out on her raised knee. Katara stood shyly, a hint of blush to her cheeks and her arms hidden coyly behind her back. "Is Jet back yet?"

Charlie rolled her eyes and turned away from the waterbender, thumping the back of her head against the tree. She couldn't wrap her head around Katara's crush on Jet. To put it bluntly—he was a dick, and Charlie wasn't even sure he had enough redeeming qualities to compensate for it. Occasionally she could see through him, finding the remains of a scared child behind his darkened eyes, but he always seemed to shove it away. She didn't like him at all, and she was more than sure the feeling was mutual.

"Yeah, he's back, but we're leaving," Sokka started abruptly. Charlie didn't say anything. She knew that he was only saying what was necessary to follow the plan, and he wouldn't actually be able to convince them to leave.

"What?" Aang asked, stopping his struggle with Momo in confusion.

"But I made him this hat." From Katara's back, she pulled out the most hideous orange and red beanie type of thing Charlie had ever seen. She grimaced at it and looked away again.

"Your boyfriend's a thug," Sokka said darkly, arms crossed over his chest.

The waterbender was taken aback. "What?" she protested, raising an eyebrow at her brother. "No he's not."