To Save a Warrior | A:TLA

❀ seven ❀

CHAPTER SEVEN: 
THE TRILL OF THE CHASE

The journey back to the Earth Kingdom was mostly quiet. Well, Katara did want to talk about Nami's actions—from tackling the Fire Nation Prince down a flight of stairs to biting and then headbutting a Commander—but throughout their journey the older teen remained with Aang, complying with his silent request to not be alone.

Nami and Aang didn't exchange any words, just some hums or smiles. Aang managed Appa's reins while Nami kept Momo busy with plenty of scratches and cuddles. She could never pretend to understand or empathize with the predicament Aang found himself in; she'd barely managed to gain control of her first element let alone her second, and a boy five years her junior had to learn three more by next summer.

It all seemed really outrageous and improbable, but Nami would be damned if she didn't try her hardest to help Aang succeed.

So she offered to teach Aang waterbending. Granted, she was pretty reluctant to do so given her grievances about being a student herself at one time or another, but they could both use the practice. And with teaching Aang, came teaching Katara—not that Nami minded teaching her now good friend and only other girl in the group, but the entire idea of teaching anyone anything made her toes curl.

Sokka had noticed that reluctance and teased her—"Maybe we can find a puddle for you all to splash in!"

After searching over what seemed like a never-ending forest, Nami spotted a large river with the help of Aang and Katara's excited pointing and alerting, pulling Appa's reins to begin their descent. Nami held tightly onto them as he willingly crash-landed into the water. She managed to throw one of her hands up to keep the large waves from splashing her, a shield of bending over her form as the others were left to get soaked.

"Nice puddle," Sokka commented, spitting water out of his mouth. Nami glanced over her shoulder at the trio, particularly at Aang's excitement—well, he was stripping out of his clothes with a vigor she'd never seen. Just down to his undergarments, the Avatar jumped into the river head first. Nami shook her head, urging Appa to shore so that they could remove his saddle and put Sokka back on dry land.

The bison stopped in the shallow waters. Nami slid down the side of his head, giving him a nice pat in gratitude for the ride, grinning at his groan in response. After bending the water out of her clothing with a proud smile, Katara began passing down their supplies to Nami while Sokka unfastened the saddle. They made quick work of it all while Aang splashed around, at one point running on the water like he had first done on Kyoshi Island, the memory bringing a sad smile to Nami's face.

Katara passed Nami her pack, her newly-repaired tunic folded neatly on top. Nami gave the younger girl a nod in gratitude, for she had never learned how to properly hem clothes. Momo flew around happily as Appa eagerly swam into the deeper waters, spinning to float on his back with a contented groan. Aang laughed loudly,

"That's the spirit, buddy!" He encouraged, receiving a roar of happiness from Appa. Nami tucked her tunic back into her pack, removing her leather boots and cotton socks to expose her bare feet. She rolled the hem of her black pants to reach her knees, wading up to her ankles into the cool water. She let out a content sigh before beckoning Aang over,

"Come on, Aang! Remember the reason we're here." He sullenly nodded,

"Right, waterbending." He returned to shore, airbending the excess water off of his body before dressing back into his clothes. Nami led him and Katara to a small section of the sandy shore uncovered by water, folding herself into a neat sitting position and encouraging them to do the same.