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chapter xv

Word Count: 2,397 words

Chapter XV: 欲速则不达

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"Natsuko!"

She bolted from her hammock and saw Aang's worried expression that rivaled hers in her dreams, or in her case, visit to the Spirit World. Her eyes widen at the terrible headache it was to wake up so unexpectedly as if she fell from a great height, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." she looked at Aang who was still looking at her as if he could sense the lies that she wasn't telling him, "I said I'm fine, boy."

Aang backed away and laughed her snarl away before pointing at the top with his thumb, "We're about to leave."

When he left her alone, she put her hands to her face and after a long debate whether or not to sleep it off, she swung her legs to the side and gone down her hammock. She was talking to Wan about the series of problems that suddenly occurred to her when Aang woke her up. It wasn't ideal to wake up without her mind and soul in balance, especially if she left the place she had in mind, quite literally, unintentionally. Grabbing her glider, she went to the deck of the sailship and the first thing that hit her was the wind wiping her hair to her face. The sea breeze was a smell she didn't realize she missed during her stay, neither was the breeze and how it differs from the cold tundra settings up north.

Pakku was in front of them with a sack in hand which she presumed to be farewell gifts from the Water Tribe before parting ways with one another. After giving Katara an amulet that contains water from the Spirit Oasis, Aang and Natsuko forwarded, "These scrolls will help you master waterbending."

He gave them a box of scrolls and by the looks of it was enough for Aang, although Natsuko was already ahead from him in terms of lessons and practice. Her place of origin differed from the Water Tribes element of bending, as well as their practice and motion, but by no time she would also master it.

If anything, she felt slightly guilty for not practicing the elements even though she knew she had them, unlike Aang who mastered all four elements in more than a hundred years. She never bothered until ten millenniums had passed and the Avatar was missing because of her negligence.

"Natsuko." Pakku called to her, making her be suspicious of what other else he had to say. She was then handed something else, "Nice, a box."

"You do not like it?" the way Pakku's eyebrows were raised made her panic, "I did not mean it like that."

"That belonged to Princess Yue." she wanted to open it but Pakku stopped her from doing so. He mentioned that she'll open it when she felt the time was right, so she did what she was asked and bowed to him one last time before letting Sokka have his time with Pakku. A hard thing to say especially when all Sokka got from him was a pat to the shoulder.

"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the East of here, General Fong will provide you an escort to Omashu. There you'll be safe to begin your Earthbending training with King Bumi."

And so they did, flying towards the base Pakku told them about, and was met by the general and his men, going overboard when they lit up fireworks to commemorate their arrival. Natsuko didn't like it one bit, being called immortal or winsome to top it off as well, sure she has been complimented most of the time for being eternal but she wasn't fine with the idea of her being thought of as a person with an immortal iron fist or whatever.

It was as if he was trying to win them over with words she has dealt with a thousand times.

But still, they were brought to the insides of the base, talking about the attack in the Northern Water Tribe but mainly focusing on the power Aang showed when he was in his Avatar State, claiming it to be an awesome responsibility. It didn't seem right to his vocabulary as it rolled off his tongue quite forcefully, too.