MAYA [Book 1 - Water]

Chapter 48 - Anika and Ozai

-Maya's Point of View-

"Hey Maya, are you perhaps wearing your mother's necklace under your shirt?"

I was tying up my hair when Sokka suddenly dropped the question. He must've noticed the golden chain around my neck. 

I glared at him and panned my gaze at Bato who was folding the sheets.

"Yes, Sokka. I am," I said emphasizing word per word trying to point out that Bato does not know about Mom's affiliation with the Fire Nation.

"Well, I'm not gonna tell you to stop wearing it but you should be careful around people, considering that it's a Fi—"

Katara hurriedly covered his mouth. "Finely carved necklace!" She used her head to point at Bato while looking at Sokka.

Good thing her sister knows how to read the room.

"Oh yeah, Finely carved! It's so finely carved that people—people might try to steal them! That's why you should be careful," Sokka tried to smoothly recover from what he said.

"Anika left you a necklace?" Bato suddenly joined in on the conversation.

"Uh... yes, she left it with Gran-Gran and then Gran-Gran handed it over to me," I answered.

"If you wouldn't mind, may I look at the necklace?" he suddenly asked.

"NO!" All three of us shouted at once. Bato seemed surprised and was too stunned to speak. He stared at us three with eyes wide open.

"I mean... The necklace had faded due to being stored for so long, so there's nothing much to see..." I reasoned out.

"Yeah, and it's made out of gold so there's some rust around the edges," Katara added.

"I see..." Bato said with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "So it's a different necklace," he continued.

I suddenly got curious about what he said. "Is there another necklace that Mom owned?" I asked him.

"It's kind of an embarrassing story but, I used to admire your mother back then—well, I still do apparently. I never really stopped." His eyes glistened as he was playing back the memories inside his head.

"I was so sure I'd be betrothed to her someday, so I carved her a necklace. It was made out of mother-of-pearl shell," he continued. "But of course, I got rejected. She said that she had already given her heart to someone. That someone being your father, I presume," he said while looking at me.

"I never really knew who it was she loved so much, but I guess that person must've been great enough to receive her love."

Believe me Bato, that person you're talking about does not deserve any love at all.

"So what happened to the necklace?" Katara asked.

"I gave it to her still, but I never really knew what she did with it. She never wore it of course." Bato answered.

Bato suddenly frowned. "If only I was able to save her that day," he said gritting his teeth.

"It wasn't your fault Bato. It was a raid we weren't prepared for, you and Dad did so much to protect the village at that time. If there was anyone to blame, it should've been the Fire Nation troops who ambushed us," Sokka consoled.

"You're right," Bato said with grit. "That is why we joined forces with the Earth Kingdom, in hopes of bringing justice against the Fire Nation," he continued.