Nightfall

Thirteen

Katara nearly jumped the railing to save Sokka, but Hama held her back with her claws. "You can't save him now!" Hama yelled at her. "If you jump, you will get hurt or die, too!"

"How could you do that to him?" Katara asked. She shoved Hama away from her and drew water out of the thin air. Quickly, she created a water whip but froze it so he could try to grab on. "Sokka, catch this!" she yelled to him.

His arms were flailing about, but he stopped for a second to grab hold of the ice whip. Hope was fractured in Katara's stomach, though, when it snapped in his hands. He was getting nearer and nearer to the ground. There was nothing Katara could do to help him now. Tears pricked her eyes and she leaned as far as she could over the edge of the railing. 

"Sokka!" she yelled. "I'm sorry for being the worst sister ever! I never should have treated you like you are my enemy because -"

In the middle of Katara's last speech to Sokka, a blast of air shot toward the ground. It turned into a mushroom and caught Sokka just as he made it to the ground. He bounced up and down on the air cloud, his eyes wide. The air in Katara's lungs evaporated when she saw that Sokka was okay. Somehow, he was okay. 

A figure jumped toward Sokka. His arms were wide open and air circulated around him as he fell toward her brother. The guy landed softly on the ground next to Sokka and helped him stand up. 

"Katara, I'm fine!" Sokka yelled up to her. "Can you please step out of the way for a second?"

Katara took a shaky step closer to the doors. The fear that had gripped her still had a hold on her heart. This fear would only intensify because of the Games. She didn't know if she could do it because she didn't want to lose her brother. She didn't want him to get brutally murdered in the arena. How could she live without him? It was hard enough living without her mother.

Sokka and the guy who saved him landed on the balcony, and Katara threw herself at Sokka. He caught her, whispering, "I was so scared, Katara. I didn't want to die."

"I didn't want you to die either," she said, holding onto him as tightly as she could. "You're my brother, even if you are annoying."

Sokka pulled away from the hug, a frown on his face. "Thank you, Katara, for ruining this nice moment between us."

"It's my pleasure." She grinned at Sokka before turning to the boy that saved him. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Aang, the guy who swept her off of her feet at the dance. "Thank you for saving him."

"There was no way I'd let him fall," Aang said, chuckling softly. He leaned in closer to her and whispered, "I know we have to be enemies, but I like you two and I don't want you two to die."

Before her head could tell her any better, Katara pulled him into a hug. He stood there, stiff, until he wrapped his arms around her, too. He blew out a soft breath that tickled her ear and the back of her neck. A tiny breeze blew her dark hair around her back. She wasn't sure if it was him doing that or if it was a real breeze. All she knew was that her heart had suddenly picked up pace.

Aang was the first one to pull away from her. His eyes darted around before settling on Sokka. "Thank you, man," Sokka said with a nod to Aang. "I don't know how to repay you."

"You don't have to repay me," Aang replied with a quick shake of his head. "I did it because I felt like I had to. I couldn't let you die."

And with that, Aang climbed onto the railing and jumped up. He spun in a circle, catching all the air he could, and shot up high into the sky. Katara couldn't take her eyes off of him until he disappeared. 

"All that stuff you were saying to me," Sokka said, tearing her gaze away from the horizon. "Did you really mean it?"

"That I'm an awful sister?" Sokka nodded. "Yeah, I meant it."