The Legend of Arin

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT: MIND BLOWING

THEY DECIDED TO REST up and relax in a large lake they found. It was far from any town or village, so they had a lot of privacy.

"Aang, I know swimming is fun and all but do you really think you should be exposing yourself like that?" Toph asked from her spot on the ground. "Cover up."

Arin had been swimming under the water, popping up every few seconds for air. Katara was washing out her hair, Aang soaking in the water, and Sokka was fishing.

"What? I'm wearing trunks." He said jokingly and Arin popped up behind him.

"I think she meant your tattoos, airhead."

"But you have your tattoos out!" Aang countered and Arin rose a brow with crossed arms.

"I'm not the Avatar." Aang rolled his eyes at her and Toph continued.

"What if someone sees you?" She exclaimed.

"There are walls all around us. It's completely safe." Katara assured her. Momo chirped and drew Aang's attention as they neared a hole in the wall, water rushing down. Aang fell through, using it as a slide.

"Where does that even lead?" Arin asked the group, everyone shrugging. She sighed and emerged fully from the water, her undergarments, similar to everyone else, on display. Arin wrung out her hair and used her air bending to jump over to Sokka, sitting next to him.

"So how's the fishing going?"

"Not good. Can barely catch anything at all." He whined and Arin raised a brow as she looked back at the lake.

"Shocking." She said sarcastically and Sokka rolled his eyes with a pout. They sat in silence until he spoke.

"You never did tell us... what kind of relationship you had with Zuko." She turned to him and pursed her lips, turning away. "You don't have to tell me, of course. I just thought maybe you were ready to talk about it."

"I... I didn't want to at first because it stung." She admitted. "But honestly, now... he's barely in my mind at all. It's weird. I spent months with him, getting close to him, becoming his friend, and yet— I barely think about him now." Sokka nodded slowly, understanding. Arin looked in front of them, leaning back on her palms. "He was my boyfriend." She told him, the boy gasping as he turned to her.

"BOYFRIEND?!" He exclaimed, everyone turning to look at them, even Aang who had rejoined them from his water slide escapade.

"You dated Zuko?" Katara questioned with a suspicious look.

"Yeah." Arin sighed and everyone grouped around her. "I thought we had something worthwhile... but I guess not considering... you know." Arin bit her lip and Aang rushed to her side, hugging her loosely.

"He was a jerk anyway. He wasn't trustworthy." Katara crossed her arms, trying to comfort her and show her how bad Zuko was and that she wasn't missing anything.

"But he wasn't like that before. Before Azula found us... he was sweet and kind. He wanted to put everything behind him and live life in Ba Sing Se peacefully. That wasn't enough for him." She slumped. "And apparently, neither was I." Everyone jumped to try and convince her otherwise.

"Hey! Don't say that about yourself. Zuko's an idiot." Sokka scolded.

"Yeah. Dumping a girl like you is crazy. You're like... perfect!" Toph defended.

"And you're crazy beautiful." Katara put a hand on her knee.

"And super smart too." Aang smiled and Arin laughed at all her friends.