The next night, Sokka and Naia decided it would be best to tell the group of their relationship. Naia decided she didn't want to hide it from them any longer. If it was up to Naia, she would shout it from the top of the mountain that she finally wasn't single anymore. She felt bad about withholding the secret from Katara especially. They sat around a campfire, warming up before they would go to sleep. When the conversation lulled, Naia decided to say something then.
"So...guys. Sokka and I have something to tell you," Naia started. The group all turned to look at her. "I just wanted to say that you guys are really special to me, and I would never do anything to change the dynamics of the group. You guys are basically my family now, and I—"
"Naia and I are dating!" Sokka interrupted. The rest of the group blinked at them, no reactions on their faces. Naia put her head in her hands.
She sighed and looked over at Sokka with an annoyed expression. "I thought I was gonna say it," She pouted.
Sokka shrugged absentmindedly. "You were taking too long."
She looked back at the group, who was still emotionless. Naia frantically looked between their faces, trying to read what little emotion was on them. Katara suddenly started laughing, boisterously. She clamped her hand over her mouth and had a coughing fit. Naia and Sokka exchanged looks.
"You two better get used to doing my laundry for the next month," Katara said between laughs. Toph let out a scoff and Aang crossed his arms over his chest.
Aang groaned. "Seriously? It already took you guys so long enough to tell us, why couldn't you just wait?"
Sokke frowned. "Am I the only one that's confused right now?"
"We placed bets on when you would finally tell us," Toph said.
"I said you would tell us within the next two weeks," Katara said with a cheeky smile.
"I said you guys would tell us after the invasion," Aang said.
"I said you guys would just keep lying to us until one of us caught you two making out and you would be forced to explain," Toph said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Naia and Sokka exchanged looks again, unsure of what to think. "How did you know?" He asked.
The three of them started to laugh. After a while they died down. "You guys did a really bad job at hiding it."
"I thought we did an okay job," Sokka disagreed. Naia nodded her head in agreement. They hardly ever acted like a couple when they were around the rest of the group.
"Really?" Toph asked. "Then why is it that every time you are within six feet of Naia your heart beats twice as fast? I mean seriously, you should probably get that checked out."
"And who do you think you're fooling with those 'private training lessons'," Katara added, using air quotes. "Besides, I always knew Naia had a crush on you."
"All Sokka did was talk about you after he first met you," Aang said, looking at Naia and then back and Sokka. "Anything you did he would find some way to talk about it. It was kind of obvious."
Naia's cheeks heated up. "I guess we didn't do as good of a job as we thought."
"Why did you think I set up that double date for you guys?" Katara asked.
"That's why you did that?" Sokka asked.
"You both were too stubborn to admit you guys were head over heels for each other," Katara said with a cheeky smile. "So...I gave you guys a gentle nudge in the right direction."
"By setting us up to go on dates with other people?" Naia asked.
"Clearly it worked!" Katara said cheerily. "You're welcome, by the way," She said sassily. Naia looked towards Katara who nodded at her. She was just glad to finally have that secret lifted off of her chest.
"Guys look!" Aang suddenly said. They all turned their heads towards the sky and saw a beautiful meteor shower. Naia quickly extinguished the fire to get a better view of it. The group quickly moved to a clearing and laid down against a rock.
"This is beautiful," Katara said.
"Kind of makes you realize how insignificant we are," Sokka mused.
Naia turned her head to stare at Sokka's side profile. "Since when did you become so wise," Naia teased. Sokka playfully rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Naia's small shoulders.
"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times," Toph joked.
One of the metors seemed bigger than the rest. As it approached, it left a tail of blue-green light behind it. The team stood up. "You've never not seen anything like this," Sokka said.
"It's getting a little too close," Naia's eyes widened.
The meteor passed over their heads and collided with the earth about a quarter of a mile away. Suddenly, the ground was engulfed in flames. The team quickly jumped on Appa and flew towards the fire.
"It's going to destroy the town!" Katara exclaimed.
Appa landed, with Aang, Toph, and Sokka jumping off. "We'll get water from the nearby stream," Naia said quickly before Appa lifted again. She stretched out her arms and accumulated the largest amount of water she possibly could before Appa flew back towards the fire. Katara used her bending to take small parts of that water and spray it on the fire as Appa flew over it. Toph attempted to suffocate the fire by using a large rock and moving it back and forth. Aang finally used his air bending and water bending to fully extinguish the fire by making a small snow storm.
"Good work, Aang," Naia complimented.
☽
The next morning, the gang headed into the nearby town to buy some breakfast. On their walk in, Naia noticed that Sokka was more quiet than usual. She decided against prying and simply assumed it was because he wasn't a morning person and the sun rose only about an hour ago.
Aang sits down at a table with a plate full of food. "These people have no idea how close they were to being toasted last night."
"The worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore," Toph said. "I miss the love."
"Boo-hoo," Sokka grumbled, his back facing the rest of the group. "Poor heroes."
"What's your problem?" Katara asked.
"Nothing!" Sokka snapped at her. Katara rolled her eyes.
Naia stood up from the table and walked over to Sokka. She placed a hand on his arm and sat down next to him. Naia could tell that he softened underneath of her touch. "Why so glum?" She asked. "You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."
"It's just, all of you guys can do this awesome bending stuff," Sokka explained. "You guys fly around and make things move...but I can't fly around like that. I can't do anything."
"That's not true," Katara said. "No one can read a map like you."
"I can't read at all!" Toph chimed in.
"And who else keeps us laughing with our sarcastic comments all the time?" Aang asked. "I mean...look at Katara's hair, right?"
Katara suddenly blushed and fixed her hair. "What's wrong with my hair?" She asked nervously.
"Nothing!" Aang quickly said. Naia shook her head at him. "I was just—"
"Look, I appreciate the effort. But the fact is each of you is so amazing and special and I'm just...not," Sokka said sadly. "I'm just the guy in the group who's regular."
"Sokka, I understand how you're feeling," Naia said softly. "But I hope you know than none of us view you that way."
"I know something that'll cheer you up," Katara smiled.
"You do?" Sokka asked.
Katara led the group to a nearby weaponry shop. Sokka looked around in amazement at all of the knives, swords, and other various weaponry. "Maybe I need a new weapon to reinvigorate my battle skills."
Naia sat down on a bench and watched Sokka play around with almost all of the weapons in the shop. He seemed to not know how to use any of them. Sokka then laid his eyes on a handcrafted sword, which he found out from the shopkeeper was made by a man named Master Piandao. He lived up the road in the castle on the hill. Aang suggested that Sokka should learn from the master.
On the way back to their little camp, Sokka walked by Naia. "Do you have any tips?" He asked.
"Tips? For what?" Naia asked.
"For learning from a master," Sokka said. "It's just, I hope that I can try to be as good as you. Not only are you basically a master at water bending, you also are good with a sword. It's like you're basically perfect. Sometimes I wonder how I pulled you—"
Naia placed her hands on Sokka's cheeks to get him to stop talking. "Sokka, please. I am anything but perfect. You can't compare yourself to anyone else when it comes to being a great warrior. When I learned from Master Jun, he turned me away twice before he agreed to teach me," Naia said. "I knocked on his door twice and demanded he teach me. I'm not saying that yelling at Master Piandao is the way to get him to teach you, but be honest and open with him. Explain why you want to learn the way of the sword at a level that's deeper than simply for fighting. I know you can do it, and that you have great potential. It's time to show the rest of the world the same Sokka that I know and fell for. The same Sokka who is selfless, intelligent, and brave."
Sokka smiled, cupping the side of Naia's face and kissing her on the cheek. "Thank you," He said sincerely.
Naia smiled, placing her hand over Sokka's. "Anytime."
The group got back to the camp and sat around for the rest of the day while Sokka was being trained. Naia had already read through her books from the library and was almost done reading through another one for the second time. She soaked up some of the sun's rays, reading through the lines again. Katara and Aang laid in the grass and stared up at the sky.
"What do we do now?" He asked.
"I don't know," Katara shrugged. "Sokka was always the one who made plans."
"I've already picked my toes twice," Toph said, laying down in the grass as well.
"Twice?" Naia asked.
Toph nodded. "Once for just cleaning, and the second time for the sweet picking sensation."
"You're silly," Naia joked.
"Sokka always makes the schedule so I don't know what we should be doing today," Katara said.
"It's also super hot today," Toph complained.
Katara sat upright. "It's so hot that Momo is shedding like Appa!" Katara exclaimed with a smile on her face. Clearly, that was her attempt at making a joke but it fell flat as nobody laughed. "You guys suck," She grumbled, laying back down on the ground.
"I guess the jokes don't run in the family," Aang said.
"Lighten up," Naia said. She stood up and walked towards "Katara and I already practiced our water bending for a few hours," Naia said. "Then I swam for about a half hour in the ocean."
"Are you a mermaid or something?" Toph asked. "You're always off swimming somewhere."
Naia chuckled. "I've always been drawn to the ocean. It probably has something to do with me being touched by the ocean spirit. It's been a place where I can ground myself. Feeling the push and pull of the tide is makes me remember that I can't be in control of everything in my life, and that's okay."
"Since when did you get all philosophical?" Aang asked. "You're starting to sound like me."
"Maybe your old man wisdom is rubbing off on me," Naia said.
Katara spread out a map of the Fire Nation and was examining it with Aang. "So where are we going next?" She asked. "We're starting from here."
"No, we're over on this island," Aang corrected her, pointing towards the far left of the map.
"You two noodle brains have no idea where we are," Toph sighed.
Naia walked over and examined it. "Guys, we're over here," She said, pointing to a completely different spot on the map. "I miss Sokka. Thank the spirits he was here to guide you guys around for so long."
Katara straightened up. "Ooh, I got one," She smiled. "If you miss him so much, why don't you marry him?"
Naia blinked at Katara. A few seconds of silence pass before Naia sighed and said, "Katara, I love you. But your jokes need some work."
Katara rolled her eyes. Toph laid on the ground and Aang sat with his knees tucked to his chest. A fly buzzed by his face so he used his air bending to blow it away. Eventually, the three of them fell asleep. Naia stayed awake, deciding to keep an eye out for them.
About an hour later Naia heard footsteps coming up the mountain. Toph sat upright and smiled. "Sokka's coming!" She exclaimed. Aang and Katara sit up as well.
Sure enough, Sokka finally came into view. The group ran up to him and attacked him with a hug. "Hey guys," He said. Once the group pulled away he placed his arm around Naia's waist.
"Say something funny!" Aang demanded.
Sokka frowned. "Funny how?"
Aang and Katara burst out laughing, which Naia simple chuckled from their craziness. Sokka looked towards Toph. "What's their deal?"
Toph shrugged. "No reason. They missed you or something. I didn't care," She said, punching Sokka in the arm. Naia could see the slight blush appear over Toph's cheeks.
"Anyways, I need your guys's help," Sokka said.
"With what?" Naia asked.
"Follow me," Sokka said. He led the group back to where the meteor crashed. "This is what my sword is going to be made of."
Naia, Sokka, Aang, and Katara all held the huge chunk of meteor upright as Toph used her earth bending to propel it up the hill, all the way to Piandao's mansion. Sokka obnoxiously knocked on the double doors, to which an older gentleman with brown hair and brown eyes opened the door. "Who's this?" He asked.
"My friends!" Sokka said. "Just other good Fire Nation folks."
The group bowed at Master Piandao. He eyed each one of them, which caused Naia to gulp from nervousness. His eyes particularly lingered on her, which made her even more nervous.
"Do you think we can make a sword out of meteorite?" Sokka asked.
Piandao smiled. "We will make a sword unlike any other in the world."
Naia, Aang, and Katara all watched Sokka construct his own sword. The entire process was cool to watch. Naia watched closely as they broke the meteorite into pieces, melted it down, and poured it into the mold. After the sword was done, Sokka freshened up and met Master Piandao in his large house again.
The rest of the group sat behind Sokka, who was sitting in front of Master Piandao. "Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. It wasn't your skills that impressed me, but it was your creativity, versatility, and intelligence. These are the traits that define a great swordsmen, and these are the traits that define you. You told me you didn't know if you were worthy. But I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have even trained," Master Piandao finished his speech, handing Sokka his brand new sword, which had a sleek black color.
Sokka hesitated. "I'm sorry, master. You're wrong. I am not worthy. I'm not from the Fire Nation, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe," Sokka revealed. Naia's jaw just about dropped to the floor. Katara grimaced. "I lied so I can learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry."
Master Piandao turned around. "I'm sorry too," He mumbled. Suddenly, Piandao whipped out his sword and swung it towards Sokka, who scrambled backwards. Naia just about jumped upwards and reached behind her to grab her katana out of its sheath.
Sokka held his hand out to stop her. "No! This is my fight," He said.
Sokka and Master Piandao walked outside and started to fight. Naia nervously chewed on her nails. Any wrong step and Sokka could end up sliced open. She screwed open the cap to her waterskin, ready to intervene at any second. Although Piandao was accurate, Sokka was quick. He used his critical thinking and superior agility to get Piandao off balance. The two fought, basically destroying Piandao's bamboo garden. Sokka fell down once, but kicked dirt into Piandao's eyes. Even though Piandao couldn't see, he knocked Sokka's sword out of his hand. Naia ran over to the scene, ready to fight Piandao. But suddenly, Piandao lowered his sword. "Great work, Sokka," He said, wiping the dirt from his eyes with a towel. "I think I'm a little too old to be fighting the avatar and the princess of the Northern Water Tribe.
Naia and Aang exchanged looks. "H-How did you know?" Aang asked.
"Oh, I've been around a while. You tend to pick things up," Piandao said. "Of course I knew Sokka was water tribe from the beginning. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try Lee! There's a million Lee's."
"With all due respect Master Piandao, why did you agree to teach Sokka if you knew he was Water Tribe?" Naia asked.
"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation," Piandao stated. He walked over to where Sokka's sword was laying and brought it to him. "Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know you will become and even greater master than I am."
Sokka looked back towards Naia. She beamed at him, feeling proud of him. Sokka has always been a strong, intelligent warrior to her. She was simply glad to see others recognize that as well. If was part of the reason she fell so hard for him.
Sokka and Piandao bowed to each other one last time before the rest of the group exited Piandao's mansion with Sokka. One of Piandao's servants chased after them and gave Sokka a small token of remembrance from Master Piandao.
"Open it!" Aang said.
Sokka opened the small drawstring bag held open his hand. "It's a Pai Sho tile."
"The White Lotus," Aang said pensively.
Naia rubbed her chin. "Master Jun gave me the exact same one before I left Gaoling."
"What does it mean?" Katara asked.
"I have no idea," Naia frowned. She snaked her arm around Sokka's waist. "Maybe it means that you joined the trainer warrior club! Congratulations."
"That reminds me," Sokka said, rustling through his pockets. "Toph, I thought you might like this. Since you've probably never had the chance to bend space earth before."
"Sweet!" Toph cheered, playing with the rock in her hands.
The group started walking again. "You know, I don't think there's such a thing as 'space earth'. If it's from space then it's not really earth, right?" Katara asked.
"Must you ruin everything?" Sokka asked.
"I can't believe I missed you," Katara shook her head.