A Different Destiny

Chapter 23

After walking with Gua for only a few minutes she realized that they had arrived on the north western side of the island. They were currently headed east, which made sense. Katara and Zuko seemed to have luck on their side when they had arrived on the narrow beach, most of Chenbao's northwestern shore was made up of jagged bluffs. This made it impossible for ships to get close enough to shore. If ships approached from that side they would have to anchor some ways out then use much smaller, 1-2 person vessels to get ashore.This made the entire process tedious.

As a result, most of the town's activity happened on its northeastern shores. Katara didn't know if she should say anything else to Gua, maybe make small talk? Gua seemed at ease in their silence, and despite his long legs, matched his stride with hers.

Despite herself she couldn't help but notice him, he didn't look like the others she had met on her travels. Katara and the rest of the Gaang had been all over the world and met plenty of impoverished villagers. While they were all different people, they were the same in the sad look in their eye, knowing that they were essentially doomed to a life of more of the same. Maybe it was his youth but Gua had a different air about him. While he had a tall thin build, his bones didn't stick out in concerning ways and he held himself with a confidence that other villagers didn't have.

They walked for another five minutes down the beaten path. Before long Katara could hear a sound she never knew she could miss so much. The sound of the ocean. The sound of the waves breaking against the shore.

When she lived at the South Pole she hadn't had the appreciation for the noise of the sea like she did now. Growing up it was like the snow all around here, so interwoven with the world around her that her mind no longer recognized it as something separate.

It wasn't until she and Sokka had taken off on Appa to save Aang that she had noticed the silence. It hadn't been immediate, but one of the nights after fleeing with Aang from Zuko's ship Katara found her face wet with tears as she realized no matter how hard she tried, the sounds of the ocean were gone. Just out of reach.

Katara had always dreamed of traveling the world, she spent almost her entire life tucked away at the corner of the world. She wanted to know the freedom of being unbound to a particular place, she wanted the ability to carouse the four nations at her leisure.

In another life, one without nations at war, Katara traveled to the ends of the earth taking time to learn of each culture. She would wear the latest Earth Kingdom fashions, study the highest level of bending theory in the Fire Nation, or share a meal with her northern brethren.

While she was able to do many of these things, just in ways she never imagined. And no one ever told Katara about the pain that came with freedom.

She was freer than she had ever been. While Aang's life still hung in the balance, there was no solid direction forward. Right now she didn't owe anyone anything.

Though it would be cruel, if she wanted to right now she could get on the next boat and sail far away from Zuko leaving him to figure out his feelings on his own. Remembering with a twinge of embarrassment, his hug from earlier. She would never do that to him, while she didn't feel like she "owed" him anything she couldn't bring herself to be needlessly cruel to someone.

"Uhh hello, Katara?" Gua was waving a hand in front of her face and she realized that she had completely spaced out.

"Sorry not much sleep last night." she offered.

A small smirk pulled at the edges of Gua's mouth. "I thought maybe I insulted you." She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. "I asked how good of a waterbender you are."

Before she could stop herself, Katara smirked at Gua thinking of the Earth Kingdom boys that had given Aang a hard time. "Oh don't you worry about that."

Gua shrugged, "Not necessarily my business, but as a heads up, the Boss is a busy man, he doesn't waste time paying amateurs."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Just take me to this Boss man."

"As you command." Gua said, with a playful bow.

There was only one dock which might seem like a problem but seemed to work out exceedingly well for Chenbao seeing that there was also only one ship in the vast harbor. A midsized vessel made entirely of wood.

A great deal of commotion was going on in the shipyard, merchants seemed to have constructed makeshift stands selling everything from a hot meal to hand woven baskets. It seems that this area had taken on the life that Katara had been looking for in the town square.

As if reading her mind, "We don't have too many shipments that come in seeing that the Boss is the only one with a ship in town but when we do it's one of the town's few excitements. Everyone lines up for hours for the chance to purchase a little sugar, salt, or tea from Ba Sing Se. If we're really lucky there may be a few extra hunting knives for the men or a few extra yards of fabric for the women."

Katara nodded in response, taking it all in. From what she could see she was correct in saying the town wasn't too large. While it was crowded, it was crowded because the area was small as well. There were likely only a handful of sailors strolling around the yard, that left about 20 stall workers.

"Here let's walk around the chaos." Gua said, pointing to Katara's left. She turned and skirted around most of the crowd, heading towards the dock.

She was feet away from the floating wood when there was an explosion of noise and a dark shadow fell over her. Katara froze, not understanding where the threat was coming from. What could have blown up?

Katara turned to see a huge boulder, at least as tall as she was hurtling towards her. She screamed but didn't run, knowing it was too late. She clamped her eyes shut and threw her hands up. Logically she knew it wouldn't make a difference but it was an instinctual reaction. She braced for what she knew was going to be a painful impact but instead of rock hitting her, she was knocked off feet and flung backwards by another person's body.

Someone had stepped between her and the boulder. She silently prayed to Yang Chen that Zuko hadn't idiotically followed her to this point.

She tried to catch herself but only ended up scrapping her hands on the rocky dirt. She finally came to a stop, her back hitting the ground with a deep thud, knocking the air from her.

For a moment she only saw stars, the edges of her vision blurred with darkness, threatening her with unconsciousness. "Oh no no." She felt gentle hands weave their way behind her head, holding her up. "Katara? Katara, can you hear me?"

She blinked hard and the stars started to fade. In their place was Gua, concern written across his face. He had landed just above her, using his hands and knees to avoid crushing her. While she knew that was the logical reason for their current position, she was embarrassingly aware of exactly each point where they were touching. It felt like the heat from his body was radiating through him to her. It sent an odd sensation through her, in a way she wasn't quite sure she liked or understood. She started to get up, trying to push her way past him. "I think I'm fi-." but she didn't get to finish her sentence as the darkness returned with a vengeance.