A sharp pain shot through her side, and Orzala jolted awake. Her tired, pissed gaze landed on Momo, and she glared at the lemur as he hopped onto Katara and Sokka as well. The siblings shot up in their sleeping bags, and Sokka immediately drew his boomerang. He waved it around sleepily, and Orzala couldn't help but giggle.
"What's going on? Did we get captured again?" The princess's eyes drifted to Aang. The airbender was breathing rapidly, but he shook his head at her concerned look.
"It's nothing, I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep." Orzala frowned as he turned away from her, curling up in a ball on the ground. She forced herself out of the warm cocoon that was her sleeping bag, taking quick strides to the boy.
"Don't have to tell me twice," she heard Sokka mumble, and he cuddled back into his sleeping bag as Orzala knelt beside Aang. She touched the avatar's shoulder gently, but the boy refused to meet her gaze.
"Are you alright, Aang?" Her voice was soft as she spoke, but the avatar shook his head.
"I'm ok."
"Are you sure? You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately."
"She's right, Aang," Orzala jumped as Katara spoke up beside her, and she sent the waterbender a subtle glare. "Do you want to tell us about it?" His head whiffled once more, and Orzala felt her shoulders slump.
"I think I just need some rest."
"You guys wanna hear about my dream?" Orzala was quick to send Sokka an irritated look, and the boy deflated. "Ok. I didn't want to talk about it anyway." With a sigh, the princess focused on her friend, but quickly discovered Aang was less than willing to speak. She rose, and with one last glance at the boy, she retreated to her own sleeping bag.
When the sun had risen, they packed their belongings, and Orzala couldn't help but smile as she observed the morning sky. It was the clearest she had ever seen- and beautiful, too. It was decorated with an assortment of colors- light pink here, yellow and orange there, and then the tell-tale blue of day.
"Look at those clear skies!" Aang exclaimed atop Appa, and she turned her attention toward him. "Should be some smooth flying today!" Katara frowned as she rummaged through their food supply. She tilted the bag, her frown deepening when all that fell out was crumbs.
"Well, we'd better smoothly fly ourselves to a market, because we're out of food." Sokka shot up as his sister passed, eyes widening.
"Guys, wait! This was in my dream! We shouldn't go to the market." The other three snapped to him, interest peeked.
"Why, what happened in your dream?"
"Food eats people!" Katara cocked an eyebrow, and Orzala flashed the boy a deadpanned look. "Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things," he accused the lemur, and Orzala shook her head as the creature chittered back.
"If I was Momo, I'd probably say unkind things to you, too. Didn't you try to eat him? On multiple occasions? Like last week! In the great divide!" Sokka waved her off, turning back to the lemur and crossing his arms.
"I expect an apology."
"Sokka, he's a lemur."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They had found a market nearby, and Orzala had quickly rushed to the fruit on display. "Guys! Look!" The three couldn't help but smile. Orzala had never gotten used to the market life, and it was refreshing. There always seemed to be something new to excite her.
Katara began examined some melons as Sokka manuvered through the aisles, collecting different items in a basket. Orzala followed close behind, adding things as they went along. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that swishing." The shopkeep's eye twitched at Katara's words.
"The swishing means it's ripe! It's the ripe juices swishing around!"
"Or, it could mean that its hollow, and that's why the juices are swishing around." The old woman glared at Orzala, and the girl quickly bit her tongue.
"I think it's true, Katara. Swishing means it's ripe." Katara glared at her friend before setting the melon back down. She flashed the shopkeep a shy smile, pulling out her empty pockets for the woman to see.
"I just realized we're out of money anyway." The woman grunted, walking to Sokka and ripping the full basket from his hands. The boy let out a surprised noise, frowning at her before walking away. Orzala held in her laughter, but she lost it when the shopkeep kicked Sokka's behind as he walked past.
He shot her a frustrated glare, attempting to rub the pain away. "Out of food and out of money. Now what are we supposed to do?" Orzala flashed him a sickly sweet smile.
"Well, oh big strong one, you could always get a job."
Before he could retort back, a loud shout interrupted them."You shouldn't go out there!" The group whirled to see a man and a woman fighting, and Orzala cocked a brow. "Please, the fish can wait! There's going to be a terrible storm."
"Aw, you're crazy! It's a nice day. No clouds, no wind, no nothing! So quit your nagging woman." The man shoved a finger into the woman's face, and Orzala set her jaw.
"Maybe we should find some shelter?" Aang's shaky voice reached her ears, and she looked to him with a slight frown.
"Are you kidding? Shelter from what?"
"My joints say there's going to be a storm, and a bad one at that!"
"Well, it's your joints against my brain!" The old woman looked flabbergasted, but she quickly recovered and crossed her arms.
"Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, because I'm not going!"
"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get! How do you like that?" Sokka's face lit up, and Orzala shook her head, reaching out for the boy. He had already moved toward the fisher, however, with a hand raised.
"I'll go!"
"You're hired!" Orzala facepalmed.
"What? You just told me to get a job, and he's paying double!" The old man turned to him, eyes wide and angry.
"Double? Who told you that nonsense?"
Sokka's face fell, and he sighed. His eyes flitted toward his friends and his sister. The princess gave him a reassuring smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know you don't have to do this, right?" The boy reached up, grasping her hand in his own as he observed her features.
"Yeah, I do. I'm the oldest, and we need money. It's my job to take care of all of you." Orzala scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Ok, wise guy."
Sokka and the old man began loading up ship, and the raven-haired girl took it upon herself to help them. As they hefted the billions of boxes and bags onto the ship, the sky started to darken, and Orzala felt her chest grow heavy with worry. Luckily, she didn't have to say anything.
"Sokka, maybe this isn't a good idea. Look at the sky." Orzala thanked the spirits for the avatar, but her hope was quickly put out when Sokka flashed him an irritated look.
"I said I was going to do this job. I can't just back out because of some bad weather." She and Aang shared a look, but they didn't push the matter further. The princess followed him down, helping to arrange some boxes as they went. "Do you guys not believe in me or something?"
Orzala started at the question, green eyes darting to Sokka as she shook her head. "That's not it at all, Sokka. We're worried for you. That's all. That storm looks like it's going to be pretty bad." He ran a hand down his face, and the girl sighed, taking his hand into her own. "We just want you to be safe. Promise me you will be?"
Sokka lifted his eyes to hers, and she found herself captured in the sea they held. Her breath caught as he nodded, and she felt her cheeks redden as he pulled her into his chest. Katara's voice sliced through the moment, and Orzala pulled away quickly, hiding her flushed face.
"I'm going to go check on them." Her voice was a squeak as she shot up the stairs, leaving the boy dumbfounded behind her. She found Katara yelling at the old fisherman and her eyes shot up at the flash of orange above them. "Aang?!" The princess whirled on theman, eyes narrowed and deadly as she approached him. "What the hell did you do?"
"You're a horrible old man!" Katara told him, grabbing Orzala's arm and running to mount Appa. "Appa, yip yip!" As the bison rose to the air, he splashed the old man, earning an angry grunt. Orzala looked down at him through a curtain of dark hair, and he felt a shiver shake his spine as he met her jade gaze. He almost didn't notice the Water Tribe boy come up beside him.
"Hey! They left without saying goodbye!" The man turned to him scowling.
"Your friends ain't too polite, are they? And your girlfriend..." he paused as another shiver racked his body, "she's a bit terrifying."
"Yeah, she is."
A beat passed.
"Wait, no! She's not my girlfriend!"