Double Bender

Part 20

When I woke up, we were flying on Appa again. There were bruises all over my arms and legs and my head hurt. "What happened?" I asked. "About time you woke up," said Geo. "What happened last night?" I asked. I looked around It was still pretty dark out, probably after midnight. "Hama bloodbended you and slammed you into a tree...twelve times," "Damn," I groaned. "But why?" Geo shrugged. "Probably because she knew you were part water-bender and could have easily taken her down, like Katara did. So she took you down before you could take her down." "Well, that's wonderful," I said sarcastically.
It was pith black and we were exhausted by the time we made it to a small island off the coast of the Fire-Nation. After we landed Appa, we started roaming through the bushes for a good spot to set up camp, Sokka, of course had the map. We strode through one last bush when we found the perfect spot for camp; a lush clearing, home to several koala-sheep, on a shallow cliff surrounded by trees. Below the cliff was a beach, no doubt where the armies would assemble. "This is the place!" said Sokka, looking at the map. "The official rendezvous point for the invasion force," "How'd you pick this place?" Toph asked. "Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map," Sokka said. "It's uninhabited and the harbor surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect, secluded place," "Nice choice, Sokka," Katara complimented. "And we're here four days ahead of schedule," "FOUR DAYS?!?!?!?!" Asked Aang frantically. "The invasions in four days?!" Sokka yawned and lay down. "Whatever," he said. "That's like...four days from now. Now why don't we all-" He was asleep and snoring before he even finished his sentence. "Sokka has the right idea," said Katara. "I'll say," Geo added. "We're here, we're ready," Katara continued. "So now, the best thing for us to do is get some sleep," "Good plan," I said. "Good night everyone." No reply. So I settled down on my mat and closed my eyes.
"HELP ME!" I screamed. I was in prison, a Fire-Nation prison no doubt, my wrists and ankles shackled to chains on the wall so that my body made an "X". "HELP! SOMEBODY!" I yelled again. The door opened and three people came in. They were all dressed in red. Two boys, one girl. The first, the girl, had her hair tied up in a bun with two locks of hair hanging down by her face. Azula. The second was about the same age, but a boy. His hair hung loosely around his face and hid his amber eyes. I cringed. Zuko. Then there was the third, much older and in the back. Part of his hair was separated into a top bun with the rest of it hanging loosely down his back. Fire Lord Ozai. Even though I knew it was a dream, but I couldn't control it, and even in the dream, Ozai, a man I had never met, was intimidating enough to make me tremble. I struggled to get away but that only seemed to make the chains tighter. Ozai stepped forward and grabbed my face. "Did you really think you could defeat me with that silly invasion?" He asked sadistically. "No," I said. "It hasn't happened yet!" Ozai laughed. Azula and Zuko stayed where they were. "You really are a fool," Ozai said. "All your friends died in that flawed plan of yours." "That plan is brilliant!" I snapped. "We are going to take you down." This time, it was Azula who laughed. "You little fool," She said. "You're even crazier than Zuzu said," "Zuko," I cried. "Help me.." Ozai slapped me. "It's over," he said. "You lost!"
I opened my eyes and shivered. "It was just a dream." It was light out and everyone else was still asleep. Well, almost everyone. There were four other people aside from me. Aang was gone. "Katara!" I whispered. She sat up groggily. "Huh?" she said. "Aang's gone." "Uh oh," she said.
We found Aang somewhere to the east pounding on a tree. "How long have you been up?" asked Katara. "A couple hours," answered Aang. "How are you still up?" I asked groggily. "No normal human being could stay up this late...uh, early." "It doesn't matter," said Aang. "I still have a lot more skills I need to refine." "You know there is such a thing as over-training, right?" Katara said. "You can say that again." I commented. Aang gave the tree a mega-punch and fell to the ground, along with all the other leaves on the tree. "You don't get it, do you?" he said, standing up. "My form is bad, I'm sloppy, and I still don't know any fire-bending!" Sokka cut in. "That's okay, Aang. The eclipse will block all the fire-bending. You don't need to know any. Plus, it's a stupid element," he added quickly. Aang nodded frantically. Geo put down her book...wait a second, that's my book. Was she snooping through my stuff? Oh never mind. Anyway, she put down my book and said, "Okay, I don't know any actual fire-bending, but I do know some techniques that I saw Uncle teach Zuko when we were traveling on the ship. They might help." "Okay," said Aang, backing up. Geo took a deep breath and extended one arm. She swooped the arm around, then jumped in the air and kicked hard. Then, all of a sudden, something extremely unexpected happened. As she kicked, a small but powerful flame shot out of her foot. She was so shocked that she didn't even land on her feet. We were all silent. "What just happened?" I asked auspiciously. "It... it was...I just... uh....buh...I uh...FIRE!" she stammered. "Geo," Katara said. "Calm down." "I know but...b-but...I just earth and...and and....uh..I... uh...FIRE!" "Okay, okay," Katara said. "I understand, it's fire," "FIRE!" She repeated. "Geo," I said excitedly. "Do you know what this means?" "What?" she asked nervously. "You're a double bender!" I screamed. Geo smiled widely and then screamed as well. She ran over and hugged me and we gleefully jumped up and down, squealing excitedly. This is incredible! I thought. I'm not the only double bender anymore! I'm not the freak. I suddenly stopped myself. That's not the right thing to think. I'm really happy for her. I shouldn't be saying that I'm only happy so I don't have to be the weird one anymore. Oh man, look at her. I smiled. Geo was now jumping up and down like a little girl. She was happily bending fire and earth at the same time. I remembered the first time I found out I could bend two elements instead of just one. I remembered my parents had told me it wasn't normal to bend two elements and that I was the only one. Realizing I was special and that I could do something that nobody else could was so exhilarating. I was special! I could do something no one else could. I remembered screaming happily and running all over the house, a huge grin spreading across my face. Geo was now mirroring what I felt back then. "That's great," said Aang emotionlessly. "Now that you can fire-bend, you can help me spend the whole day training." "I don't think so," she said. "I don't want to barbecue anyone so, I'm gonna practice by myself." "You do that," Toph said. "And I'd better spend the whole day training," said Aang as he bowed quickly to all of us. Then he turned back to clobbering the tree. This is going to be painful, I thought sourly.
Trust me, it was. Aang beat up every tree he could find, and tried (and failed) to do gymnastics because he thought they would somehow improve his bending. I was relieved when it was sundown again and he finally went to sleep. Well, not right away. "Good night, Katara," he said. "Good night, Sokka. Good night, Tatiana. Good night, Geo. Good night, Toph. Good night, Appa. Good night, Momo. Good night Appa and Mo-" "GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!" Toph yelled. I rolled my eyes and then closed them.
We were in the middle of the invasion. And we were losing. I looked all around me and instantly regretted it. Sokka was dead, Katara was bleeding out and close to death. There was nothing I could do to help her. Toph was nowhere in sight and everyone else was being led away in chains. I screamed, revealing my hiding place. A soldier looked towards me and called over the rest of his platoon. The soldiers surrounded me. Suddenly, one of them raised his arms and then...
"Ah!" I screamed. "Oh geez. Just another dream," It was still the middle of the night but once again, Aang was gone. "Katara," I groaned. She stood up groggily. "Again?" she asked. Geo perked up too. I nodded. Geo huffed. "Come on," she said grumpily. We found Aang a little ways away, circling a group of koala-sheep. I don't know why but whatever the reason, he looked like a moron. "Aang," said Katara. "It's the middle of the night." Aang looked at her. He had grey bags under his eyes, which had a crazy look about them. "But I forgot my pants and my math test!" he said frantically. "Pants? Math test?" I asked, even more confused than before. "Aang, look. The Fire-Lord doesn't care about how smart or dumb you are. If that were the case, Sokka would be a goner," "That's the part that bothers you?" said Geo annoyed. "Not the part about him missing his pants, no. It's all about the math test." "Well," I said, "in my defense, math tests are pretty scary." "I'll give you that." Geo said. Aang kept circling the sheep. "Aang," Katara said. "Sleep. Please. For me." Aang looked at the ground and reluctantly nodded.
We all went back to our mats and went instantly to sleep. Though my eyes were closed, thought swirled in my head. Why did my dreams all have the same plot line; us failing? Was the universe trying to tell us something? Was one of us going to die? What was going to happen to us? What was going to happen to me? I thought about it for a very long time and eventually worked myself into a very uncomfortable sleep. Luckily, that time I got away without any nightmares. But, the next morning... "SOKKA GET UP I NEED TO KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS!" Aang yelled. "What?" said Sokka. "Who's talking?" He grabbed his sword and quickly sat up, only to crash right into a large rock. "Relax," said Toph. "It's still two days before the invasion." Aang ignored Toph and tried to get Sokka to stand up. "Sokka, you need to get up and work on your rock climbing exercises," he said. "What?" Sokka repeated. "In my dream," Aang said. "You were running from Fire-Nation soldiers and you had to climb this cliff but you were too slow and they got you!" "I can climb!" Sokka argued. "Then, climb that cliff!" Aang said, pointing to a nearby cliff. "Climb it fast!" Sokka slinked over to the cliff and looked at Aang, who nodded enthusiastically. Sokka started mumbling something as he started to slowly inch his way up the cliff. Aang turned around to face me, Katara, Geo, and Toph before he suddenly screamed, "Don't drink that!" Toph, who had just taken a sip of water, spat her drink out all over Katara,who was now even more annoyed than before. "Why?!" said Toph. "Is it poisoned?!" Katara irritably bended the water off of herself. Aang took a step closer and said, "In one of my dreams, we were right in the middle of the invasion and we had to stop because you had to use the bathroom. We died because of your tiny bladder!" Then he turned to me. "And you need to start wearing shorter clothes!" I looked down at my dress. It was modest but it wasn't too long. "What's wrong with this?" I asked, twirling the ring. "In one of my dreams we were running from soldiers and you tripped on your dress and they got you!" "Aang," I said. "You know I won't be wearing this for the invasion, right?" Aang was still skeptical. "But you're still wearing a dress, right?" "Uh, yeah..." "If you don't want to die, you'll wear pants during the invasion!" "Uh," I said. "You do know that these are the only clothes I own, other than my Earth-Kingdom outfit, right?" "Well, then get pants!" He ordered. Then he turned to Katara. "And you need to start wearing your hair up! In my dream, your hair gets caught in a train and-" Katara cut him off. "Aang, I know you're trying to help. But you need to get a grip. You're unraveling!" Aang thought for a moment and then said, "You're right. I'm losing my mind!"
"I can't take this anymore!" Aang said as he started to pace back and forth and said, "Every time I think about how stressed I am, I become even more stressed! I'm like a growing snowball of nerves!" Sokka, who had just successfully fallen down the cliff, said, "Well that's because you have to fight the Fire Lord, the baddest guy around. And you better win, or we're all done for!" "Sokka!" said Katara. "You're not helping!" "What?" he said. "It's true. That's the deal, he knows it!" Katara pushed Sokka. Aang started nervously shaking back and forth. Katara put her hands on his shoulders and said, "You know what? I have just the thing. Get ready to be de-stress-i-fied,"
We thought it would work. We honestly tried everything. Katara tried yoga with him, Sokka put on that ridiculous beard again and pretended to be a psychiatrist. It didn't work. Toph tried to give him a back pounding but all she gave him was a bunch of bruises. Heck, I even took a shot at it. I tried to relax him by telling him a story, but all he did was put words in my mouth, say "what if?" a whole lot, and put logic in the story so that all the characters died at the end. I gave up after that. After a whole day, we were all just about as stressed as he was. We were all relieved when the sun finally set. "Thanks for everything, guys," Aang said. We all knew that he wasn't feeling any better but we tried to be positive about it. "So," Katara asked. "Do you feel less stressed? Ready for a good night's sleep?" "I kind think I sorta...might be feeling...a little better...?" He said as if it were a question. "Then our work here is done," said Sokka as he yawned. We all laid down and went to sleep.
That night was even worse than before! I didn't dream about the invasion...I dreamt about the comet! It started with me and Zuko sitting in a field...almost all of my dreams involved Zuko...I think the universe is trying to tell me something. Anyway, we were sitting in the field laughing our heads off. There are trees all around, a light breeze is blowing, the sky is a perfect blue. Apparently, we were laughing because Zuko had just told the worst joke ever. "Alright," he said. "What do you get when you cross a sparrowkeet with an armadillo-bear?" I shrugged. "Beats me," "I don't know either," he said. "I thought you knew the answer." I rolled my eyes. "You should be arrested for that one." I teased. We both started laughing again. Suddenly, the sky turned blood red. Then, a huge ball of fire started to slowly fly over my head and everything it passed caught on fire. "Zuko!" I screamed. "What's going on?!" A grin passed over Zuko's face. I honestly didn't recognize him when he grinned like that. He didn't look like the Zuko I fell in love with. He looked like a monster...he looked like his father. "What's happening?" he asked mockingly. "We're finishing the war. Once we're done, there will be nothing left of your world. All there will be is the ashes of your shame and out of those ashes will come the greatest empire in the world!" "Zuko, stop!" I cried. "This isn't you!" "Isn't it?" he asked. "No! It's not!" I screamed. "This is not how it's supposed to end!" "I see," he said. "Quite a shame. You would have made an excellent queen." My eyes, now filled with tears, widened. "No," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I have to do this," he said, raising his hand.
I woke up before I saw the end. I looked around. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The sky was still dark, the trees were swaying, and the koala-sheep were grazing. But the dream left me in a pure state of dread that I couldn't stop shivering. I felt utterly alone even though I was surrounded by people. I was so confused that I barely knew what was going on. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming, because everyone else was still asleep. Well, almost everyone. "Are you alright?" Geo asked as she sat up. "Fine," I lied. She gave me a look. It was the kind of look that said, I know you're lying and I know that something's up. "Okay," I admitted. "I had a nightmare. So what?" I pretended like it was nothing. "Oh," she said. "So that's what's been up for the past couple of nights?" "How did you-" "You talk in your sleep," she said smugly. I rolled my eyes. "So what have they been about?" she asked, her expression softening. The funny thing about Geo was that she could change her expression is less than a second and actually look sincere. If she was angry at one point, she could calm down in a heartbeat, unlike some people who take a half hour to calm down. I looked at her and said, "Well, the first one, I was in a prison. Then, Ozai, Azula, and..." I sighed, "Zuko came in. Ozai called me a fool for trying to overthrow him. I insisted that the invasion hadn't happened yet and he called me crazy. And then he killed me. The second dream was a lot shorter. We were right in the middle of the invasion and everyone was either dead or dying. Except for me. I couldn't take it anymore and I screamed. A soldier saw me and called over the rest of his platoon. Then they-" "Killed you?" Geo cut me off. I nodded sheepishly. "And tonight?" I sighed again. "I was sitting in a field with Zuko and he told the worst joke ever. Then, the sky turned red and the comet passed over and set everything on fire. I asked Zuko what was happening and he grinned and said that they were finishing the war. I told him to stop it and he said 'Shame, you would have made and excellent queen."' "You really are Mrs. Zuko!"she joked. "You even dream about him!" "Shut up!" I yelled. "Sorry," she said, shaking off the laugh. "So how did it end?" "The same way the rest did. He killed me." "Wow," said Geo. "That's...dark." "I died in all the rest of them. How is this one dark?" "Well, in the first one, Ozai killed you. That's expected. In the second one, a soldier you didn't know killed you. That's also expected. He was a soldier and you were a survivor and they obviously weren't taking prisoners. So they killed you." "But how is the last one dark?" "I was just getting to that," she said sternly. "In the last one, you were with Zuko, the person who loved you-" "Then he burned me. So then he killed me because he had unfinished work to do," "No," she said. "You're putting words in my mouth. Zuko used to love you and even though he burned you, he wouldn't kill you. I've traveled with Zuko far longer than you have and he used to be a real jerk. But even back then, he wouldn't kill anyone. Especially you. He loved you." My expression softened. "That's why it's dark. He wouldn't do anything like that." I hugged Geo. "I don't know what's wrong with me," I said. "Neither do I," she joked. I looked at her and then I started laughing my head off. I normally would have been offended but I wasn't. I was laughing and I didn't even know why. Heck! The joke wasn't even all that funny. I was just laughing, and it felt good.
Then, all of a sudden, Aang screamed and woke up abruptly. "What happened?" I asked. "It's the nightmares!" he yelled. "They just keep getting worse!" "I see," said Sokka, stroking his chin. "Looks like it's time for another-" He turned around once and then again, this time wearing the darn beard. "-therapy session." "Lose. The. Damn. Beard." I said, very peeved. "Not gonna happen," he chimed. "No!" said Aang. "That won't help! Nothing helps! There's only one thing for me to do...I'm going to stay awake all the way to the invasion!" He turned away from us and started twitching. Sokka's beard fell off.
The next day, we were all trying to relax a little before the invasion. Well, almost all of us. Aang was getting unbearable! He was always pacing back and forth and he even had a ridiculous daydream...right in front of Katara. He said that it was about living underwater but I knew better. It was a lovey-dovey kind of daydream. "Aang?" said Katara. "I was just saying you should take a nap?" Aang, who was just in a very weird position (like he was dipping a girl like he was going to kiss her), straightened up and said, "I guess I was having a daydream," "What about?" asked Katara. "Uhhh....L-living underwater?" He said it as a last resort. "Sounds neat!" Katara said. Then she walked away. "Phew," said Aang. The universe gave me the opportunity, so I took it. "Sooo," I said, walking a little closer. "Living underwater, huh?" "Y-yeah," Aang stammered. "You know that I'm not buying that load of crap." Aang sighed and said, "Okay. I daydreamed that I...kissed Katara," "I KNEW IT!" I yelled. "Not so loud!" Aang hissed. "I knew it!" I said, a little more quietly. "I knew it! You have the hots for Katara!" "I do not!" he protested. I raised an eyebrow and gave him my "look." "Maybe I like her a little bit..." I gave him my look even harder. "Okay!" He admitted. "I'm head-over-heels in love with her! I've liked her ever since I met her! You don't know how hard it is to be in love!" "Actually, I do," I said. "I've been in love before. And you're right. It's not easy. It's probably one of the hardest things you'll go through." Aang sat down in the grass. I sat down next to him. "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it from her." "Then you should tell her how you feel." "NO!" he said. "That's the last thing I want to do! What if she hates me? What if...she laughs at me?" "Aang, one, you know Katara better than I do. She won't laugh at you. Two, I'm pretty sure she hates at least five people and you're not one of them. Three, who would refuse you? You're the freaking Avatar. Any girl would be nuts to refuse you. And four, I'm pretty sure she likes you too." Aang looked at the ground. "What's it like?" he asked. "Being in love and...actually knowing that they love you back?" I didn't answer right away. I had to think about it. All my memories of Zuko came flooding back. All the good things and even some of the bad things, but for some reason, those little quirks just made me miss him more. When he found me, when he ran off to find lightening, the time we met Jet and stole food, every argument we had...our first kiss. Those memories came back like rain to a swamp. And I didn't want to let them go, not really. Those memories were some of the happiest times of my life, they were just about all I had. Then I smiled, looked at Aang, and gave him his answer. It was the exact same answer Uncle gave me a long time ago, for a situation almost exactly like this one. "It's like a river," I said. "Always moving, constantly changing. You always have to trust each other, even if you get stuck on the way. And even when you think your troubles are over, there will be something else to slow you down. But, if you truly love each other, you'll make it through. But you have to help it most of the way in order for it to work. You have to work for it in order for your love to survive. And if you truly love each other, you'll make it out alright. You understand?" "Not at all," he said. I face palmed. "Look," I said. "Just tell her that you have the frickin' hots for her and you'll be fine." I could tell that my answer scared Aang, so I rephrased it. "Okay. You like her, she likes you. So just be honest and you're fine," I said. "Thanks," he said. "Now go sleep!" I said. "You know why I can't," he said. "I just think you're being ridiculous," I said as I walked away.
Later that day, Aang tried practicing again, much to Katara's dismay. Sokka and Geo were busy working on building Appa some armor and I was reaching an exciting part in my book. All of a sudden, we were all hit by a blast of air that knocked over Sokka and Geo and made my book fly out of my hand. "Aang," I muttered irritably. Sokka stood up and yelled, "Watch it! We're trying to build Appa some armor so he doesn't have to go into the invasion naked!" Geo stood up and added, "He's your bison, Aang," I picked up my book and went to the source of the air blast. Aang was standing in a little clearing with trees all around. Momo was sitting on a stump behind him. In front of him was a hollowed tree stump with the picture of Ozai that Aang made out of noodles and a target fastened to it. Aang was circling it like a sick lion-dog in search of food. "Ozai's defense is impeccable," Aang said. "I'll have to try a different approach," "Aang?" I said. "Are you alright?" He didn't answer. He simply jumped into the air and shot four balls of air at his target, each one poorly shot. All four of them missed. Aang hit the ground again and then crawled up to the noodle picture and looked at it eye to eye. "You think you're untouchable, don't you, mister Fire Lord?" Okay, I thought. This is just getting crazy! Maybe the others might help. I ran back to our camp and found Sokka and Geo arguing about the shape or design or something about Appa's helmet and Katara and Toph were practicing and prepping: Practicing their bending and prepping for tomorrow. "Guys," I said. "We need to do something about Aang," "You know we've tried everything, right?" "Um, well...you guys should probably come see this..." They followed me back to the clearing, everything was the same, the target was still in order, but Aang was face to face with Momo and he was...talking to him. Not like how we normally talked to him. Aang was talking to him and made it seem like Momo was answering him back. Momo chittered and Aang said, "That's more like it," He pet him again and said, "I'm so tired I almost thought I heard you talking." Momo chittered again and turned his head to one side. "Oh, Momo," said Aang. "Let me explain." I honestly don't know what happened next. I think Aang might have been trying to speak Momo's language, but to me it just sounded like he was saying, "Baroom broom broom broom broom broom," Over and over again. We all looked at each other before Katara said, "Aang, we're all starting to get a little worried about you." Aang turned his head towards us. "You've been awake for too long," said Sokka. Aang fully turned toward us. "You're acting downright weird," Toph said. Then I stepped up and said, "Aang, you can't stay awake like this. You're going crazy!" "And you're starting to smell," said Geo, crossing her arms. For some reason, Aang rubbed his eyes and looked confused. "Uh," he said. He looked at the ground and then looked up and said, "I appreciate what you guys are saying. But the stress and the nightmares, they're just too much. Staying awake it the best way for me to deal with it." Then, all of a sudden, Aang flinched and looked at Momo. Then he looked behind me, where Appa had now appeared, he'd apparently followed us. He backed away into a tree and said, "Guys, come on." Then he continued to look between Appa and Momo. "Sokka!" said Aang, grabbing Sokka's collar. "Do something!" "About what?" Sokka said. "About that!" Aang yelled. I looked to where he was pointing, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Well, Momo was chasing a bug, but that was expected. Aang stayed where he was and started swaying back and forth, grabbing his head, and muttering things I couldn't hear. Then, all of a sudden, he stood up straight and yelled, "I JUST NEED TO JUMP IN A COLD WATERFALL!" Then he ran off screaming into the woods. Appa nudged me from behind. I turned around and started to pet his head. "Don't worry, boy," I said. "We'll see to it that he's back to normal in no time." Appa licked me with his giant tongue. I wasn't completely sure how on earth we were going to do it.
Later, while we were waiting for Aang to get back, we were sitting around a campfire, talking about how we could help Aang more than we already tried to do. "Maybe we could try encouraging him," Katara suggested. "You know, ease him into it. Tell him that everything'll be fine, tomorrow," "You know he won't listen," said Sokka. "I say we slap him," Geo said. We glared at her. "What?" she said. "Not helping," Katara groaned. Then, an idea struck me. "Guys," I said. "We're looking at this the wrong way. We're trying to help Aang while he's awake. What he really needs is help for when he's asleep," "What are you saying?" Katara asked. "He's most vulnerable to nightmares when he's asleep," I said "So all we have to do is help him get to sleep." "I think I see your plan," said Katara.
After that, we set to work. Toph and Geo made a huge, flat mound of earth for a base. That was the easy part. What happened next was a lot of wrestling sheep and trying to get them to hold still. And shearing them wasn't easy either. We probably wrestled at least ten sheep. By the time we got enough wool, the sun was setting and Aang would be back any second. We spread the wool out over the mound with a little extra at the top. Then, as a final touch, Geo made the tiniest flame you could imagine an held on the tip of her finger and ran it over the bed, carefully making sure she didn't send our whole plan up in smoke, literally. After she was done, we looked over out creation: A warm, firm, yet soft, comfy bed. By that time, Aang was coming back from his jump in a waterfall, or something, when he saw the bed. He came closer and closer, looking more confused with each step. He looked at the bed, he crawled onto the bed, he stood on it, jumped on it, and pressed his face to it saying, "Oh look, another hallucination. An imaginary bed made out of clouds," "Hey," said Toph. "It's real. We spent hours working on it." "We made it for you," Sokka said. "We think a good night's sleep will take away the crazy...at least we hope." "Look," said Aang. "You guys keep telling me that I need to sleep. But I can't! The invasion's tomorrow!" "Aang," Katara tried to say. "No, Katara!" Aang protested. "I don't need sleep! What I need is practice. Quick! Hit me!" He started wobbling back and forth which only complemented how tired he was and how much he needed sleep. "I'm not going to hit you," said Katara. "You want me to do it?" Toph said eagerly. Katara glared at her. "Listen to me," She said, turning back to Aang. "You've been training for this since the day we met. I've seen your progress. You're definitely smart, brave, and strong enough," "You really think so?" Aang asked timidly. "We all do," said Sokka. "You can do this. You're ready," "You're going to be fantastic," I said. "Kick his ass!" said Geo. "You're the man, Twinkletoes," Toph added. "Thanks guys," Aang said, yawning. Katara hugged him and helped him the sheep bed. "You know what?" he mumbled. "I think I am ready," In no time, he was asleep. "Phew," said Geo. "Glad that's over,"
Everyone else had fallen asleep but I was still awake. Thinking. What's wrong with me? I thought. Why am I afraid? I'm ready for this? I think. Yes. I'm sure I'm ready...No I'm not! Okay, calm down. No matter what, you'll make it out alive. You'll be fine. What if Zuko's there? Okay, clam down. I told myself I'd forgive him and that's what I'll do. But what if I can't? I took a breath and thought, I'll be fine. We all will. You know what? We're going to win this battle, once and for all. Then, I drifted off to sleep.
I was back in the prison. The same prison as before, my wrists and ankles shackled to form and "X". Then, as if on cue, Ozai, Azula, and Zuko came in. Ozai came up to me again. "Did you really think you could defeat me with that silly invasion?" he asked. I grinned. "No," I said. "I don't think we can defeat you...I know we can. You're not as strong as you think you are. In fact, you're weak. So you terrify the innocent just to prove your authority. But you're wrong. We as a whole are stronger than you and there's nothing you could do to stop us!" Ozai stepped back in terror. Then, the most incredible thing happened: The chains dissolved. I was free. What was more was that I freed myself! I did that! Not Zuko, not Ozai, not Azula, me. This newfound courage spread through my body like a wildfire. I rose on a pillar of earth, looking down on them. "Boo," I said comedically. Then, Ozai and Azula ran out screaming like the cowards they were. But Zuko didn't run. I brought down the pillar to face him. He looked at me and said, with the wisdom f a thousand Uncles, "I can't choose your fate for you, you have to do that yourself. But I'll be somewhere down the road when you do." I smiled. "I'll see you then." With that, he walked out the now broken down door and out into the mist. Waiting for me to find him again.


I know this one is really deep but also kinda goofy. If you can make your way past the goofy you can find something awesome. Rate, comment, vote, subscribe, do something good. Luv u!