'i thought you were crazy at first, katara, but this might work. there are ventilation shafts throughout these mines, all aang and y/n have to do is send an air current from that vent to this one right here. the boulder levitates and – tada! fake earthbending.' grinned sokka, as he and katara rolled the boulder onto the vent.
'aang, y/n. did you get all that?'
we were helping out the butterflies and - to be honest - not paying complete attention.
'sure' we chimed in unison.
'do you remember your cue?' asked sokka
'yeah yeah just relax, you're taking all the fun out of this.' said aang, still not paying attention.
'by "this" do you mean intentionally getting captured by an army of ruthless firebenders?' sokka exclaimed.
'its not like its going to be hard.' i added.
the firebenders walked down the path and katara and sokka began their "acting"
they hurled badly executed insults at each other, each in a more exaggerated tone than the previous.
'i'll show you who's boss - earthbending style!' said katara, pausing, waiting for us to bend the rock.
'i said, "earthbending style!"'
we jumped up, throwing air into the grate, allowing the boulder to hover.
we let the rock fall back onto the grate and sokka assumed his position.
'i'll hold her!'
the fire nation soldiers took her away.
she only had 12 hours to get haru and then we'd have to either leave, or break her out and risk exposing ourselves to the prince.
we stayed on the docks to see her leave, and followed their boat on apps to see where they were taking her.
'she'll be fine, aang, katara knows what she's doing.' soothed sokka.
---
'y/n can you please just listen to me?' said sokka for the tenth time.
'and why should i?' i snapped, turning around.
'î didn't know you were ther-' he began.
'what!? so that makes it okay to kiss a girl you had just met after leading me on to believe that maybe JUST MAYBE! we might of had something between us!'
'no, no, no it doesn't im just saying that it wasn't completely my fault!' he defended.
what kind of excuse was that.
'guys come on, please don't fight, im sure we can sort this out peacefully.' said aang.
always the bloody peacekeeper.
'aang get out of this, i don't need your peaceful monk bullshit right now!' î screamed, rashly.
he moved away, going to sit next to momo.
î could tell i had hurt his feelings but î was so full with rage î didn't care.
sokka continued to be defensive 'y/n, she kissed me, î didn't kiss her back - i-it was just her î swear!'
'are you sure?' î asked, sarcastically 'because it sure looked like you didn't mind it!'
î slumped down into the hay, taking a deep breath.
'im really sorry.' said sokka, 'î shouldn't have let her think it was an option.'
i looked up at him as he sat next to me.
'it's fine, i was being stupid and i was really caught up in things.' i let out a small chuckle, 'i guess 100 years of solitude will do that to ya.' sokka smiled.
'i'm sorry for overreacting i just-' i buried my face in hands, 'i really like you sokka.'
he smiled at me 'i like you to y/n.' we embraced and awkwardly released each other, not meeting each others eyes.
i felt warm and fuzzy. thank god we made up.
'guys we need to go get katara.' said aang, picking up his staff, 'her 12 hours is almost up.'
---
we flew by the ship, ducking so as to not be caught by the light, and finally landed on part of the deck.
î hovered over the floor while aang and sokka stayed by appa.
î went into the earthbenders quarters and brought katara out with me, as silently as possible.
'your 12 hours are up, where's haru?' asked sokka, 'we've got to get out of here.'
aang offered his hand to katara, but she hesitated.
'î can't' katara sighed.
'we don't have much time, there are guards everywhere. get on.'
'katara, what's wrong?' asked aang, worried.
'i'm not leaving. i'm not giving up on these people.'
'what do you mean you're not leaving!?' whispered sokka, confused.
'we can't abandon these people. there has to be a way to help them.' she replied.
'it couldn't hurt to try.' î said, going back onto appa.
sokka looked at me, wide eyed, 'of course it could! last chance, we need to leave - now!'
'no.'
sokka shook his head, 'î hate when you get like this. come on, we better hide.'
we turned appa away and scurried over to some boxes to hide.
'we don't have much time. what are we gonna do?' asked sokka
'î wish i knew how to make a hurricane. the warden would run away and we'd steal his keys!' cried aang.
î shook my head
'wouldn't he just take his keys with him?' sokka said, looking at me
'i'm just tossing ideas around.'
'i tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back, but it didn't work. if there was just a way to help them help themselves.'
'the rigs made of metal, so earthbending isn't really an option.' î sighed, touching the rigs platform.
'no, it's not,' said aang, 'look at the smoke. i bet they're burning coal - in other words, earth.'
we looked towards the chimneys and saw some grates that looked almost exactly like the ones at the mine.
so we hatched a plan.
---
'it's almost dawn, we're running out of time! are you sure this is gonna work?' asked katara, once aang had gone under the rig.
'it should. these vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village. we're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale.' said sokka.
'do you think hell be able to do it on his own?' î asked, using my staff to stop myself from trembling.
'î hope so.' said katara - just as some fire nation soldiers surrounded us.
'there's the intruders!'
'stay back, i'm warning you!' said sokka, readying his boomerang.
'katara stop! you can't win this fight!' shouted haru.
they all acted as if î wasn't there.
which, to be honest, was how it was supposed to work. but it never ceased to amaze me how few people knew of my purpose and power.
the warden stood behind us, sneering.
'listen to him well, child. you're one mistake away from dying where you stand.'
suddenly, the coal erupted out of the vent, coating all of us in dust.
aang rose from the vent, also covered in dust, and katara rushed to stand upon the pile.
'here's your chance, earthbenders!' she said, raising some coal, 'take it! your fate is in your own hands!'
the warden laughed, 'hahaha! foolish girl! you thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? look at these blank, hopeless faces. their spirits were broken a long time ago. oh? but you still believe in them? how sweet. they're a waste of your energy, little girl. you've failed.'
katara looked dejectedly into the tired crowd.
but then, just as the warden turned, haru threw a lump of coal at him.
the warden turned around and batted some flames in his direction - which were blocked by a wall of coal, created by harus dad.
'show no mercy!' the warden yelled as his soldiers unleashed a wall of flame upon us, which was easily blocked by a wall of coal from the earthbenders.
'for the earth kingdom, attack!' yelled harus dad.
this began the fight.
we allowed the earth benders to attack the warden and such (fighting their fight), but assisted them when need be as î swatted fire nation soldiers out of the way so they would be crushed by coal.
a sad way to go really.
haru and his dad smashed a boulder shaped hole through the wall, shouting,
'get to the ship! we'll hold them off!'
the warden yelled, 'do not let them escape!'
aang began knocking soldiers out with coal from a tornado he'd made.
this let the earth benders focus on using all of the remaining coal to throw the crew of the ship into the ocean.
'no, please! i can't swim!' the warden cried
'don't worry,' said harus dad, 'i hear cowards float.'
we went back to the shop, glad that the fight was over.
î thanked haru and his father and went with sokka on appa.
'hey im really sorr-' he said
but i kissed him on the cheek before he had time to end his sentence.
and this time he couldn't hide his blushing behind makeup.