The rest of the night had been pretty eventful for the group of four. When Katara and Konno went back into the arena, they found Aang on the stage, trying to talk to the young girl he was fighting against. However, he accidentally won the match, and he made the young girl storm away.
Now, the four of them had no idea what to do. Aang had said that that was the girl he saw at the swamp, but he obviously ruined his chances for her to become his teacher. They had no more leads to find earthbending teachers.
Konno trailed behind the three of them. She couldn't believe she broke down last night. She thought she had it under control, that she wouldn't break down like that ever again. With a slight shiver, she remembered the last time she truly broke down. That last time, she tried to take her life. Somehow, whenever she broke down, someone appeared to take care of her. Konno didn't think that was a coincidence.
"I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag," Sokka said, his voice breaking through the buzz in her mind. "It matches the belt perfectly."
A small smile formed on her face. Katara replied to him with a sarcastic statement, but Konno was glad that he liked the bag. It looked good on him. She thought blue was his color, but green accentuated his eyes. It made them turn a slightly different color of blue, more of an algae green than the color of water.
Sokka caught her looking at him, his lips rising into a smile. Heat flooded across her cheeks, and she turned away from him. Why had she done that? She wasn't supposed to be feeling those things about him. The betrothal necklace around her neck felt like it was suffocating her, telling her that she was taken already. Even if he left this world without her, she still had an obligation to him. Besides, it had been a few weeks since he died. She shouldn't move on that quickly.
"Konno, are you coming?" Sokka asked, his voice sounding very close to her.
She turned around and was surprised to find him a breath away from her. Her eyes met his and she whispered, "Yes. Sorry. I was distracted."
He nodded in understanding. A certain glow surrounded him - his smile and bright eyes gave him an angelic look. The sun stood behind his head, creating a halo that surrounded his dark hair.
The two of them didn't move an inch. His eyes were pulling her to him, but her heart was pushing away from him. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to allow him to pull her in, but her heart was stronger. The walls stood tall and imposing over her desires. Over every single desire. Even the desire to have friends and to be loved by more people than just Yue and Navrek. Even the desire to love herself.
Aang and Katara walked back out of the academy just as she was about to walk in. They were chatting to each other very animatedly. Aang looked very excited, and he said, "We have to go there right now!"
"What'd you guys find out about this Blind Bandit?" Sokka asked them, turning away from Konno.
"We know where she lives," Katara told him with a nod. She cut her eyes toward Konno questioningly. "We're going to go to her house now."
Sokka and Aang walked on ahead, and Katara walked next to Konno. "Are you doing okay?" she asked, lowering her voice.
Konno nodded. "Yeah. I just got distracted. That's why we didn't follow you guys inside."
"Distracted by what?" Katara asked, one eyebrow raised.
Konno wouldn't meet her eyes. "I don't remember."
She was thankful that Katara didn't push her to tell her what really distracted her. It would've been embarrassing to tell the sister of the guy she sort of liked that she thought he was cute. It was bad enough admitting it to herself. She hadn't told Yue that she sort of liked Sokka because Yue also had feelings for him. She wouldn't tell anyone now because she didn't think it would last. Her feelings for Navrek disappeared once she kissed him. That had to be it with Sokka, too.
For some reason, the boys stopped walking, so Konno ran right into Sokka. She stumbled right into his arms. His arms circled around her waist, steadying her. Somehow, her hands landed on his chest, right on top of his heart. His heartbeat thudded against her palms, matching her own.
"I got you," he whispered. "I will never let you get hurt again."
She knew that he didn't just mean physically. She knew that he would protect her from all harm. She just wasn't sure she was ready to let herself be open to that. The Warrior hated how she couldn't protect herself. However, the Girl wanted to stay there forever.
"That's the flying boar from my vision," Aang said, interrupting their moment. "Come on."
Konno threw herself out of Sokka's tight embrace and hurried after Aang. Why had she allowed herself to do that? She thought she was done with her feelings for him. Done and over. Nothing more. That was a lie.
Aang airbending himself over the high wall and disappeared on the other side. Sokka climbed up while Katara waited below. "Do you need help?" she asked Konno.
"Probably. I'm a weak person."
Weak on the outside, weak on the inside. Her heart couldn't handle how Sokka held her. It thudded against her rib cage like she had just run for hours. It reminded her of when he held her after she tried to kill herself. He held her like she was a fragile creature that he was terrified of hurting. She was a fragile creature, though. Fragile and hollow and ready to break into a thousand pieces. The glue that held her together was growing more brittle the longer she stayed with them.
By the time Konno and Katara made it over to the other side, Aang and Sokka were peering around a large bush. The grounds to this estate were beautiful. Trees dotted the landscape. The branches swayed in the small breeze. Bushes rose out of the ground, too. A lot of green spread across her line of sight, contrasting with the beautiful blue sky.
Suddenly, a huge surge of earth threw them all into the air. Konno let out a small scream before landing in a bush. Many of the branches poked her in the back and head and legs. At least it broke her fall. She just didn't know how to climb out of the bush. A hand appeared above her head and she took it gratefully. The person helped her out of the bush.
"Thanks," Konno said to Katara.
Katara reached up and pulled a twig out of Konno's dark hair. "Of course."
"What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?" the young girl asked.
The Blind Bandit now wore a fancy gown. It was strange seeing her in that. She looked so much younger wearing that. The night before, she looked like a fighter. Now, she looked like a little girl who let her disability run her life.
"How did you know it was me?" Aang asked with a soft sigh.
"Don't answer to Twinkle Toes!" Sokka whined. "It's not manly!"
Konno rolled her eyes. He wouldn't know what manly was if it hit him in the head. And besides, who cared if it was manly? There were more important things in the world than what was manly or unmanly.
"How did you find me?" the Blind Bandit asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth," Aang said in a rush. "And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and . . ."
"What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar, and if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord," Katara finished with much more eloquence than Aang had.
The Blind Bandit stuck her open hand in Katara's face and said, "Not my problem. Now get out of here or I'll call the guards."
Sokka stepped forward. "Look, we all have to do our part to win this war. And yours is to teach Aang earthbending."
The Blind Bandit looked distraught. "Guards! Guards, help!"
The four of them all looked at each other in fear. Aang airbended all of them to the other side of the wall. They landed on the ground with a soft thud.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" Sokka asked with a sigh. "She won't let us come close to her."
A smile spread across Aang's face. "We'll make her talk to us."
"How do you plan to do that?" Katara asked.
"Watch me."
Konno didn't know what Aang had planned, but she wasn't sure she would like it. She didn't know whether she liked the Blind Bandit or not. On the one hand, she was a phenomenal earthbender. On the other hand, she cared only about herself. She just hoped that the Blind Bandit would help Aang because that was what mattered the most. Konno's personal feelings didn't matter as much as that.