Freedom

Chapter 13: The Misgivings of Others

Katara made her way back to camp, surprised to find she was the first one to return, but silently hoping that meant anybody had some useful information.

"Appa! Come out buddy" she shouted out. Appa growled and came out from under his moss blanket. Katara smiled and petted his soft fur. She sighed, "You think we should save Zuko right?" she asked the large sky bison.

Appa yelled out once more in response, as if shouting his agreement. Katara smiled and nodded, "Good because we're going to need your help"

Aang and Toph returned first. When they walked up, Katara looked at them with hopeful eyes, but Toph quietly shook her head, her eyes darting to the boy who slumped down next to Appa, leaning against his side.

Katara sighed, "We just have to wait for Sokka... hopefully he found something"

"Yeah yeah then we can risk our lives for a guy whose tried to kill us" Aang stood up and stormed off, not looking back as he walked away.

Katara looked down, then over at Toph, "I should go after him huh..."

Toph shrugged nonchalantly, "I think Mr. Sensitive needs to grow a pair and man up but that's up to you" she kicked her foot, forming herself a chair out of the ground and plopped herself down, "I'll just be here taking a well deserved nap" she leaned back and closed her eyes.

Katara sighed once more and followed after the direction the young boy went. She looked around the trees for a glimpse of his red tunic. She turned a corner to a small field, the grass had grown tall, having not been trimmed in a very long time.

Most of it didn't look disturbed but there was a small path where the grass parted, showing someone recently climbed through. Katara weaved her way through the foliage, the grass tickling her knees as she walked past

She parted the grass as she walked and stopped when she saw a glimpse of red hiding in the green earth.

Aang looked up from where he was laying, staring into the blue sky above. He sighed, when he saw who followed him.

"I'm not really in the mood to talk right now..." Aang told her. She ignored him, laying down opposite from him with her head next to his. She didn't say anything, just looked up at the sky and the white clouds that scattered across.

Aang was quiet. When she first sat down, his eyes focused in a face of concentration, of anguish. But the longer they sat in silence, the more relaxed his face came to be.

It wasn't until his eyes closed and his face showed peace that Katara finally spoke, "I know this isn't ideal..." she told him, "I am the first to admit that Zuko has made a lot of mistakes that will take a long time to be wiped away"

Aang opened and narrowed his eyes again, his fingers playing with the grass underneath them.

"But you and I both know you can't defeat Ozai without firebending..." Katara told him.

She opened her mouth to continue but he cut her off, "Not every person in the Fire Nation is bad... Not every firebender stands with Ozai..."

Katara sighed, his youth was showing but she choose not to comment to preserve their friendship, "It goes deeper then that Aang... This isn't just not liking Fire Lord Ozai's policies, this is actively contributing to his demise..."