The Stone Cold Bender *ATLA Fanfic*

*Chapter 13*Hello again*

I sit on the ground along a river. I'm holding my stomach trying to stop the nausea. 'Great, so not only did I have to get over my seasickness. But now my airsickness.'

"I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible." Aang complains, leaning against a rock.

"I know." Katara says. "That's why I took this." She smugly holds up the waterbending scroll. Aang jumps to his feet. "No way!" He exclaims.

"Isn't it great?!" She asks proudly.

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up. You stole their waterbending scroll." Sokka states, annoyed.

She turns away smugly. "I prefer to think of it as high-risk trading." Aang laughs "Good one, Katara."

I sigh. "Katara, I don't think you should've taken that." 

"Where do you think they got it?" She asks, her arms crossed. "They stole it from a waterbender."

I nod standing up. "I know, but stealing it wasn't right. Two wrongs don't make a right." 

"You put our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid, fancy splashes." Sokka says annoyed. 

"These are real waterbending forms. You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn waterbending!" She argues back. 

Sokka sighs and walks away. "Whatever." 

"Well, what's done is done. We have it." Aang says. "We might as well learn from it." 

Sighing I walk over to a nearby and lay down. I put my arm over my eyes and listen to the wind rustling the leaves of the tree. Feeling something land on my stomach. Lifting my arm, I see Momo sitting on me. "Hey buddy." I say, petting his head. He tilts his head at me questioningly. 

"What's wrong?" I question. He flaps his wings and makes some chipping noises. "Oh, you want to know where Chip is..." The lemur nods furiously. "He's not here right now, but I'll get him back soon." Momo seem to sulk but brightens ups when I hand him a piece of bread from my satchel. I smile at him, petting his head as he eats. 'Sophie would love Momo.' My smile turns sorrowful at the thought of my friend. 'Will I ever be able to go home?'

I am broken out from my little world when something hits me across my face. "Ow!" I shout in pain, holding my face. 

"Sorry!" Katara apologizes from where she stands at the water. "It's fine." I sigh, waving her off. "I've had worse." I cringe slightly, thinking back to how I get here in the first place. 'That damn truck.'

After some time, Katara comes over to the tree I'm under. "I just want to say sorry, again." Once again, I wave her concern off. "Don't worry about it, it wasn't anything bad." I shrug.

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Sat awake, I stare at the night sky, unable to sleep. I dig my fingers into the dirt beneath me. The Gaang didn't have any extra sleeping bags, not that I minded. The cold not bothering me at all. I turn when Katara gets out of her sleeping bag. She walks over to Aangs bag and grabs the waterbending scroll, seemingly not noticing that I am awake. 

She then walks off, probably to practice her bending. Momo flies over to me from a stup he was perched on. He lays on my lap and I pet his head. "Couldn't sleep either, huh buddy?" He coos in response. 

As sleep starts to descend upon me, I am startled by arguing. Sighing, I stand up. "Momo, stay here." I order the lemur before heading in the direction of the arguing, the way Katara had gone earlier. 

"Katara, what's go-" Before I can finish my sentence, a hand is placed over my mouth and an arm wraps around my midriff, trapping my arms to my sides. I struggle, trying to break free. 

"Hello, darling.~" The familiar voice sends a shiver down my spine causing me to freeze. Said voice belongs to Zuko. 'Since when was it him flirting with me?!' I question myself, flustered. 

Slowly, the hand over my mouth is removed. Both my arms are then held behind my back. Zuko starts leading me forward. Once past the trees, I see the pirates along with some of Zuko's crew and Iroh standing along the river. Oh yeah, Katara is also tied to a tree. 

"Hey Katara." I say playfully. She turns to me with a shocked expression. "Funny to see you here."

"Ah, Kim. It's great to see you!" Iroh exclaims upon having seen me. "And to think, I thought we would never get Chip back to you." He smiles, that is when I notice my chickadee sitting on his shoulder. Chip seems to be salty about me having left him, as he turns his back to me. In favor of snuggling into Irohs' neck.

Rolling my eyes, I stick my tongue out at the bird. Before being dragged over to a tree near the one Katara is tied to. And I, like her, am tied to the tree. 

Zuko then walks away. I turn my head to my waterbending friend. "So... I'm guessing they're after Aang?" I ask despite already knowing the answer. 

"Yeah..." She says, seeming to leave something out. 

"And the pirates want the scroll." I say in a 'I told you so' voice. She turns away, ashamed. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll be fineeeee." I say, drawing out the E. 'I probably should've slept.' I think drowsily. 

Yawing, I slide down the tree, so I am sitting on the ground. "I didn't get any sleep. So, I'm just gonna..." I'm unable to finish my thought, as I drift off.

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946 words

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
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Psycho_Innocent out!

10/13/2021