Rina had noticed that Katara was in low spirits after she and Sokka recovered. That was why she'd stolen Sokka's fishing line and was weaving it into a necklace. To cheer up her friend. Friend, because Katara would never be anything more.
"Look!" Katara yelled all of a sudden. Rina looked over and saw a fish leap out of the water.
"He's taunting us!" Sokka ran back to his tent and returned with the fishing pole. "He's so going to be dinner. Hey, who stole my fishing line?"
"Oh. I didn't think you would need it."
"Ah! It's all tangled!"
"Not tangled," Rina corrected. "Woven." She held up the woven necklace and stuck a small pink flower in the middle and airbended herself into a standing position. "I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your old one..."
Katara smiled as she took the necklace. "Thanks, Rina. I love it."
"Great," Sokka called as he stood in the water and tried to catch the fish with his bare hands. "Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry business."
"Why can't I do both?" Rina challenged. Katara laughed as she fastened the necklace around her neck.
The fish leapt out of the water again. Sokka threw his pole like a spear, but it missed by a fraction of an inch. "Stop taunting me!" He pulled out his knife.
"So how do I look?" Katara asked, bringing Rina's attention back to her crush. Friend. She meant friend.
"Y-you mean all of you? Or just the neck? I mean, uh, both look great." Rina knew she was blushing and buried her face in her hands.
"Thank you, Rina," Katara said and hugged Rina. "Seriously. Thank you. I needed this."
"If you don't mind me asking, why have you been so down lately? Are you alright?"
"She's heartsick!" Sokka called.
Katara sputtered angrily. "Heartsick?"
"Smoochy smoochy, someone's in love." The fish smacked him in the face and flopped into the lake.
Rina scowled at the ground. "Stop teasing her, Sokka. Who would she fall in love with, anyway? Zuko?"
Katara winced. "I did run into him, actually."
"What?" Rina shot to attention.
"Did you kiss him?" Sokka made another dive at the fish.
An ominous roar cut off their discussion. Tikaani howled and turned visible, gesturing with his head to the origin of the noise. Katara gasped. "Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"
The platypus bear roared again, standing tall on its hind legs as it loomed over a man dressed in blue. The man was completely calm as he sidestepped the platypus bear's blow, his hands clasped behind his back. "Why hello there," he called to the trio as they crested the hill. "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Make noise!" Rina yelled. "It'll run off!"
"No!" Sokka argued. "Play dead! It'll lose interest!"
"Run down the hill and climb a tree," Katara suggested.
"Punch him in the bill!"
"Then run in zigzags!"
"No need," the man assured. "It'll be fine."
The platypus bear roared as it struck the man again. He ducked just in time. Rina leapt in front of the man and bent a wall of air in front of the platypus bear. Then Sang came up behind it and roared, shocking the platypus bear so much it dropped an egg before running off.
YOU ARE READING
Avatar Katara
أدب الهواةEarth Fire. Air. Water. My great-grandmother tells me stories about the old days, a time of peace, when the Avatar kept balance between the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Air Nomads, and Water Tribes. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attac...