Rainbow's Gift (Avatar The Last Airbender Fanfic)

57. After Ba Sing Se

Third person's POV
Sokka took a plate of food from his sister before walking back into the ship's interior. He passed by his father, who gave him a concerned look. In return, he gave him a small smile and hoped his father would not follow him. He remembered when his father told him yesterday that he shouldn't give up hope. "Taliya will wake up sooner or later. If she's strong as you say she is, she will."

He really wanted to believe that. But two weeks had passed, and there was nothing he could do but not lose hope. Aang wasn't waking up either, and that was putting them all on edge. They had been making a plan with his father and Bato for the day of the black sun, but they all knew it wouldn't work if the Avatar never woke up.

Once he arrived, Sokka opened the door to Taliya's room. He sat down by her bed and watched her while he ate.

For the first time since forever, Taliya looked peaceful while she slept. On the first nights she joined the group, Taliya looked troubled while she slept. He always wondered why a girl as beautiful as her would have nightmares. But when she told him about her brother's death and then later on her father's cruelty, he knew it wasn't easy for her to sleep.

But after some time, she would sleep peacefully, and he was happy about it. The first time he met Taliya, he remembered wondering why Jet had her locked up. She didn't look evil. He immediately got a crush on her. But later on, he realized it just wasn't a crush. She was a good friend. She was the only one who would notice if anything was wrong with him. She would always laugh at his jokes unless she were in a bad mood. And she was the only one who made him feel like he was important to Team Avatar.

It was something that had kept on nagging him every time they fought the Fire Nation scum. His sister was a master waterbender. Toph was a master earthbender, and she was blind! Aang was the Avatar, and Taliya was the rainbow sylph. He hated it when he felt useless, and Taliya could understand it. She always made him feel better.

Don't lose hope.

How could he not lose hope when she looked as sickly as she did? It was like her skin was turning a nasty shade of grey, and he wondered if it had anything to do with her being the rainbow sylph. Her fire lily necklace was turning grey, and Kiki's feathers were also doing the same. Kiki never left Taliya's side, but he didn't think she could fly either. He had made an observation earlier; every time Taliya got angry and turned grey, Kiki would disappear. And now that Taliya wasn't awake, it was like the bird was dying as well.

If Taliya died....he couldn't even imagine it. He never told her how he felt about her and felt stupid for not telling her earlier. He always thought that Taliya never had feelings for him. He thought that she would never like him.  But after being with Yue, it opened his eyes, and he saw how much of a jerk he had been. He realized why she was so angry and cold at the North Pole.

He set his plate down and slowly took her hand, intertwining their fingers. "Please wake up," he said, hoping he would hear her. He kissed the back of her hand and her forehead before standing up and leaving the room.

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Taliya's POV
I had been wandering in a dark forest for hours. It was full of scary spirits and I kept on running away from them. They kept telling me that I had to remember but for some reason I didn't think I needed to remember anything. I didn't even try to remember whatever had happened. I felt better without the memories.

I ended up walking out of the forest to find a sizeable long table that was divided into two colors: black and white. People appeared out of nowhere and started walking to the table and sitting on the chairs like they knew exactly where to sit. I didn't recognize them at first, but Ozai, Azula, Mai, and my father sat on the black side. In the middle were Ty Lee, Zuko, and my brother. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Kuzon and Iroh were on the white side.