The Girl He Won't Remember

Chapter 23

I never did enjoy fighting with Zuko. Then again, who does enjoy fighting their best friend? I had no other plans for that day, so I walked purposelessly through the city. Now, of all the luck in the world, I ran into two faces that have done nothing but comfort me. "Katara! Aang!"

Katara turned to me and grinned, running and diving into a hug once again. This time, I was more prepared. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "I thought I'd come help you guys find Appa," I replied with a smile. 

"That's great!" Aang grinned, handing me a small pile of flyers. "You just missed Sokka and Toph, though," he added. 

I told him that it was alright, and that there was a spot in a nearby neighborhood that would be the perfect spot for hanging the posters. Aang opted to cover the area they were already working on, so Katara came with me. As soon as we were alone, she said, "In your letter, you didn't mention anything about Ba Sing Se."

"It was a spur of the moment decision," I said. "I hadn't originally planned on coming here."

"Well, I wish you had stayed," she said with a frown as she pasted a flyer to a wall. "We could've really used your help, and I thought we were finally reunited." She sighed, "but I understand why you left. It's like you said: you wanted to live a life where you weren't depending on someone else — I get it."

I looked at her, giving her a weak smile. "Can we talk about this another time? This seems like a conversation to have in privacy, rather than out in the open."

She nodded and worked in silence for a while, as did I. I wondered if she hated me for leaving, and not having the nerve to tell her in-person. She probably did. I wouldn't blame her. We reached a pillar at the end of the neighborhood, and I handed her a poster to hang. From behind, we heard a voice call out, "Katara?" I knew that voice, and she somehow did too. We turned around to see Jet, innocently smiling. He looked at us both. There was a sudden (and very obvious) tension between the two, more so on Katara's side. Jet sauntered over to me, placing a hand on the small of my back. He smiled down at me and chills traveled down my spine. "I think I can help you." He looked like he was leaning in for a kiss.

Red-faced and unhesitating, Katara bent a gargantuan wave from a creek behind the pillar and pushed it at Jet, separating us. She manipulated the water to force him into an alley. For as long as I have known this girl, I'd never seen such anger from her. I ran after her as she followed her wave to the alley. "Katara, I've changed!" Jet shouted. 

"Tell it to some other girl, Jet," she glared. 

I cut in, though I don't know what compelled me to. "He already has," I said, bending a puddle into ice shards. The shards soared towards him, though he shattered a couple with his hook swords. Maybe I was still upset about what happened at the tea shop. Maybe I was mad at myself for kissing him. Or maybe I was simply standing by my friend's side. Either way, I wanted to hurt him. 

"What do you hate him for?" Katara asked. 

"Long story." 

"Same here," she said with a bitter smirk. "We can talk about that later too." 

"I don't want to fight you!" Jet yelled. "I don't want to fight either of you! I just want to help!" To prove his statement, he crossed his swords and laid them on the ground at his feet. Still unhappy, Katara bent her own icicles from the puddles and pinned Jet to the wall.

"Later," I said, "we really need to talk what he did to you."

Behind us came Sokka, Aang, and Toph. "Katara, what is it?" Her brother asked. Sokka laid eyes on me, having look that portrayed one thousand questions he would ask later, then looked at where his little sister glared.