Freedom [ATLA Katara x Male Reader]

Chapter 26: [The Desert]

"How could you let them take Appa?!" Aang shouted at Toph furiously. "Why didn't you stop them‌?!"

"I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and─" Aang cut off Toph's explanations, taking an angry step towards her. 

"You could've come to get us. I could've saved him!"

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for─"

"You just didn't care!" Aang snapped harshly. "You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!"

Katara put her hand on Aang's shoulder to try and calm him down. "Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could. She saved our lives."

"Who's going to save our lives now?" Sokka asked hopelessly, looking out into the vast desert. "We'll never make it out of here."

Aang irately stormed away from the rest of your group. "That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!"

"That's not true, and you know it," you snapped, glaring at the boy. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't care. We're all worried about Appa. He's our friend too. But that doesn't give you a right to talk to Toph, or Katara, or any of your friends that way."

Aang shook his head. "I'm going after Appa."

The airbender flew off. Katara called after him, running to the place he took off. "Aang, wait!"

But he kept flying without as much as a backwards glance, leaving you all by the large crater created by the disappeared library. You shook your head and turned away, muttering curses under your breath. 

"We'd better start walking," Katara said. "We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se."

Your group started walking in the same direction Aang took off in, with Katara leading the way, followed by you and then Sokka with Toph closing the ranks.

"You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride?" Sokka asked. 

You turned to him with a sarcastic smile. "Sure, and maybe if we wish really hard, the clouds will turn into cotton candy and he'll fly us up to get some!" 

"I'll take that as a 'no' then..." Sokka murmured, and the four of you fell into silence for a long, long, long time.

What felt like hours later, you were still trudging through the desert, all exhausted and dehydrated. Sokka stopped to take Momo off his back and used his wings to create some shade, causing Toph to crash into him.

He turned to her in annoyance. "Can't you watch where you're..."

"No," Toph replied blankly. 

"Right. Sorry."

Katara turned around, trying to encourage the others. "Come on guys, we've got to stick together."

Sokka's clothes stuck to Toph's and he tried to free himself by pushing her away. 

"If I sweat anymore, I don't think 'sticking together' will be a problem," he replied. An irritated Toph placed her hand on Sokka's face and pushed him to the ground, freeing them both.

"Katara, can I have some more water?" Toph asked. 

"Okay, but we've got to try to conserve it." Katara bent four small blobs of water out of her pouch and into the mouths of Sokka, Toph and Momo. You licked your parched lips as the liquid hovered in front of you, but shook your head. 

"Save it for later," you said. "Who knows how long we'll be out here."

"We have enough for you to have a little drink now," Katara insisted.