Naia woke up early the next morning and couldn't lull herself back to sleep. Aang has always been an early riser, so he started to wake up as well. It seemed to be a pleasant morning, until a large metal like object catapulted in their direction.
Naia instantly jumped up and used all of the water from the fountain to create a large wave and sweep whatever the metal thing was as far away as she could. That "metal thing" ended up being a bomb that exploded, causing the entire air temple to rumble.
By now, everyone woke up startled. Four large Fire Nation blimps rose from the morning fog, shooting more bombs towards the air temple. Toph used her earthbending to create a tunnel in the opposite direction. "Come on, we can get out through here!" She shouted.
Everyone started to run through the tunnel, but Zuko walked forwards. "What are you doing?" Aang called out.
"I'll hold them off," Zuko said. "I think this is a family visit."
"No!" Aang shouted after him.
Sokka ran towards Aang. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" He said.
As hard as they tried to pull Appa's reigns, he wouldn't budge. He seemed to be scared of the tunnel. "Appa hates tunnels! We have to fly out of here."
"We have to split up!" Sokka said. "You guys need to take the tunnel and find the stolen airship. The rest of us will fly out on Appa."
"The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!" Katara exclaimed.
"It's okay, it will only be for a little bit," Hakoda comforted her. The two children hugged their father before running to get on Appa's saddle. Naia waved at Koa and Suki to come as well. After nearly missing a ball of fire (courtesy of Azula), Appa flew away. He circled back once more to catch Zuko when he fell off the side of the airship.
"She's not gonna make it," Zuko said sadly. Azula looked to be falling to her death, but she used a knife to anchor herself to the side of the cliff. "Of course she did."
☽
The group found an uninhabited island to camp on for the night. Everyone was able to set up their tents and sleeping bags before sundown. Koa approached Naia, who was sitting and sharpening her sword.
"Since when did you carry around a katana?" Koa asked.
"Since I learned from a master," Naia said.
"So you're an expert sword fighter and water bending master?" Koa asked.
"I guess," Naia chuckled.
"Tell me what I've missed," Koa said.
"I stole a ship from home and sailed the earth kingdom coast for about a month. I stopped in a small town called Gaoling, where I learned how to sword fight. That's when I met up with Aang, Katara, and Sokka. We met Toph, a blind earth bender. Don't be fooled though, she's a badass. I learned how to master water bending with scrolls from Master Pakku and Katara. We went to a spirit library, where we almost got trapped but we made it out alive. Appa was stolen for a little while so we had to walk on foot through the desert to Ba Sing Se. We convinced the Earth King to plan an invasion with us, but it all went South when Azula and the military overthrew the government. Then we traveled to the Fire Nation in disguises. The invasion plan failed, so now we are working on a new plan."
"Wow, that's a lot," Koa nodded, taking in all the information Naia spilled.
"Also, Sokka and I are together," Naia said. She was slightly afraid of what Koa would say, since he proposed to her only a matter of months ago.
"I'm happy for you," Koa said. Naia smiled softly. "I always saw the way you looked at him, like there was nobody else in the entire world but you two."
"Yeah," Naia agreed. "Sokka has been there for me since the day we met. I'm so thankful that I was able to meet him."
"You've really come a long way," Koa said earnestly. Naia looked up from the ground and into Koa's eyes. "But...I always knew you had it in you. I'm proud of you, Naia."
Naia smiled. "If it wasn't for your advice, I don't know what I would be doing right now. I would probably still be in the Norther Water Tribe. Nothing would have changed and I would have been miserable without Yue. I miss her so much."
"I miss her too," Koa said. "You and your sister inspired me to lead by example. That's why I left as well. We were able to free a few Earth Kingdom villages from Fire Nation rule. I know...it's small. But it's something."
"It's not small," Naia disagreed. "You left home and tried to do your part in ending the war. That in itself is a huge accomplishment."
"Thank you," Koa said.
"I have a question," Naia said tentatively. Koa nodded. "What was it like when I left home?"
Koa hesitated. "Your parents were devastated."
Naia felt her heart sink to her stomach. She completely convinced herself that her parents didn't really miss her at all. They only missed her because they had no other daughter to control anymore. For some reason, she had trouble imagining her parents being depressed about her disappearance until that moment. But was it true that her leaving hurt them as much as it hurt her? "Really?" She asked, her throat tight.
"Your father sent a few search parties to look for you in the Earth Kingdom, but nobody could track you," Koa said. "They don't know if you're alive or not, since it's been so long since they've heard from you. Your father doesn't show a lot of emotion, but he looked...broken."
Naia felt tears well up in her eyes. "In Ba Sing Se, my parents sent a strongly worded letter demanding for me to come home. But...I didn't respond. Maybe they weren't mad at me, they were just pleading for me to come home and didn't know how to properly communicate that," She said. The tears began to blur her vision. She realized that her parents didn't just lose one daughter, they lost two. "Am I a horrible person for leaving?"
"Not at all," Koa said. "At the time, you would have been miserable if you stayed home. Your parents wouldn't have understood if you tried to share your feelings. Maybe this was the only way to get your parents to listen to you. You don't have to be sorry about leaving and growing up."
A tear rolled down her cheek. "What if my parents hate me now?" She asked. The thought of her parents hating her felt like a thousand knives stabbing her chest.
"They don't hate you," Koa reassured her. "Once this is all over and done, it might be a good idea to return home and reconcile with them."
"I don't know if I'm strong enough to go home," Naia said. "The last time I was home was when Yue was alive. I couldn't bear to see the places we used to go and the life I used to live. How can I handle that now?"
Koa placed his arm around her shoulders. "You've made it so far. I know you're strong enough."
"Thank you, Koa," Naia said, wiping away her tears with her hands.
☽
It was clear that Katara really disliked Zuko. Naia felt the same way, but learned to overcome her differences. The speech she gave to him wasn't out of hate, it was to warn him of the consequences of messing up one more time. But Katara seemed to have a snide comment for everything Zuko said. Even if Naia wasn't the biggest fan of Zuko, she still didn't degrade him as much as Katara did.
That night after dinner, Naia was brushing out her hair with a comb outside of her tent before getting ready for bed. She felt a pair of arms softly graze her lower hips and upper thighs. "Meet me at my tent an hour," She heard the familiar voice of Sokka say, his breath fanning her ear.
Naia's stomach erupted in butterflies. "Okay," Was all she managed to say. Sokka placed a kiss on her neck and walked away, leaving Naia with her pounding heartbeat.
She started to internally freak out. A million questions raced through her mind, but she then started to freak out because she only had an hour to get ready. What she decided to do first was to bathe in a small stream. After basically applying lotion to her entire body, she dug through her bag of clothes for any kind of matching underwear. She pulled out a unlined lacy light pink bra and matching underwear and held it up. Well, I guess this is useful for something she thought. She decided on wearing a different outfit, which consisted of a low cut cropped tank top, a wrap skirt with a high slit up the side, and gold hoop earrings. She made sure to spray on extra perfume. Her stomach was in complete knots. Naia tried to convince herself that she didn't look ridiculous as she looked in a small travel mirror.
"I can do this," She talked to herself, taking a deep breath. "I can—ah!" She screamed as someone came into her tent.
"Woah! I'm sorry," She heard Suki say. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just going to ask you if you had an extra hair tie."
"It's okay," Naia said sheepishly, adjusting her shirt so her bra straps would show. She walked over to her bag and grabbed a small black ribbon for her.
"You look great," Suki complimented, sitting on Naia's sleeping bag. "Where are you going?"
"Uh...Sokka's tent," Naia answered honestly.
Suki chucked. "Haha, nice," She said with a nod. "I mean, where else would you be going? It's literally almost midnight."
"I'm kind of freaking out," Naia said, sitting down on her sleeping bag next to Suki.
"Why?" Suki asked. Before Naia could respond, Suki sighed. "Oh...I get it."
"Yeah..." Naia responded.
"You don't need to be nervous," Suki said, somehow immediately catching on to what Naia was thinking without her having to say it. "You're hot. Like, super hot. You don't have anything to worry about, seriously. Besides, if you're not comfortable, just communicate that."
"Thanks Suki," Naia said with a small smile. It was nice to have a girl her age to talk to. Katara was Sokka's sister so naturally, Naia did not want to confide in her for anything involving him. And Toph was, well...Toph. She was still too young.
Suki stood up. Before leaving Naia's tent, she turned around. "Good luck," She said with a small wink. Naia playfully rolled her eyes at her and waited a couple minutes after she left.
As she made her way to Sokka's tent, Naia was deep in thought. Naia gasped when she collided into someone else. She looked up and it was Zuko. "Oops! Wrong tent," She said nervously, playing with her hands. Naia tried to make a quick escape, but Zuko stopped her.
"Sorry, did you need to talk to Sokka too?" Zuko asked.
"Nope!" She denied a little too vehemently. "Not me. I'm—uh—gonna go to my tent now. So...bye?"
Naia quickly turned around on her heel and briskly walked away. Once she heard Zuko climb into Sokka's tent, she hid behind a rock and hit herself in the forehead. Seriously? She thought. Could I have made it any more obvious? Naia waited until Zuko left Sokka's tent. The second he emerged from it, Sokka stuck out his head and whispered, "Naia," to which Zuko turned around and shot him a look. Sokka whistled and went back inside of the tent.
Once Zuko was far enough away. Naia walked over to the tent and climbed through. Before she could even speak, she was attacked with a kiss. Naia instantly closed her eyes and crawled forward, not breaking the kiss. Sokka pulled away and whispered, "Hi."
"Hi," She whispered back with a soft smile. Naia took a look around and saw a dozen lit candles, with rose petals on top of the blanket on the ground. Sokka was wearing his hair down as well. She blushed. "Did you do all of this for me?"
Sokka tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Of course," He said.
Their lips collided. Naia snaked her arms around Sokka's shoulders and his arms held her waist tightly. The two kissed passionately for a while. Sokka readjusted so Naia could straddle his waist. Naia tried being flirty by playing with his hair and kissing his neck and behind his ear. As it started getting more heated, Sokka pulled off Naia's top and his own, leaving the two in only their undergarments. Sokka laid down and pushed on Naia's lower back to get her to come closer. He returned the favor and trailed kisses down Naia's neck and chest.
Sokka seemed to be really enjoying himself and Naia was too, but something was holding her back. She started to feel her nervousness build up. "I just wanted to say...I've never done this before," She blurted out. Sokka pulled away and looked at her. Naia sat up straight and placed her hand on her forehead.
"I mean...neither have I," Sokka said honestly. "We can stop if you want to. I can wait," He offered nicely.
Naia sighed, instantly feeling more calm. She knew that she trusted Sokka more than anyone, and he was the one she wanted to take this next step with. After all, they were pretty close to doing something that one time before and were interrupted. But now, they were finally alone.
"We can figure it out together," She whispered with a smile. Naia seductively pulled her long wavy hair over to one side and gave him and innocent look. He smiled and their lips collided once again.
☽
The next morning, Naia snuck out of Sokka's tent early and went back to hers to make it look less conspicuous. When she freshened up and emerged from her tent again, she saw Katara sitting outside. Katara looked pensive, like something was really weighing on her. "Hey," Naia said in a hesitant tone.
"I have a question," Katara said.
Naia went and sat next to her. "Uh...sure," Naia asked, feeling her stomach drop. She prayed to every spirit she knew of that Katara wouldn't ask the question Naia thought she was going to ask.
"Back in the North Pole, would you have killed Zhao given the chance?" Katara asked.
Naia frowned. It was definitely not the question that she was expecting, which made her feel relieved. "I would like to say the answer is 'no', but I think it would be a lie. After Yue's death, I wanted revenge. The ocean spirit ended up taking Zhao's life. But if Sokka hadn't found me and I was given the chance...I think I might have."
"Do you think you would be more at peace, knowing that you were the one to kill your sister's murderer?" Katara asked.
Naia's stomach churned. She was happy that she finally got laid, but this conversation with Katara was really bumming her out. "I think so. If Zhao was still alive, I think I would have wanted to be the one to avenge Yue's death," Naia said. Katara looked really deep in thought. She looked...down. Naia placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why are you asking all of this?"
"Zuko told me we might be able to find the man that killed my mother," Katara said darkly. "I've been thinking about it, but my answer is leaning towards 'yes'. I was wondering if you wanted to accompany us on this mission."
Naia pondered for a few seconds. "I fully support you and I will help you in what ever you choose to do with this information," Naia said. "As someone who felt the same way, I think you should do whatever makes you feel more at peace."
"Thank you, Naia," Katara said with a half smile before getting up to leave.
a/n: HEYYY i didn't think i was gonna update again but look at me on a roll. this chapter makes me lol bc there's so many emotions lmao. anyways i hope you enjoyed! this chapter was a little short but it was super fun to write. more coming soon so stay tuned! <3