Like Her *Hiatus*

6 - Earth Kingdom City

 Q: Do you think the firenation is good or evil?

After we left the caves, we headed back onto Appa to fly to our next destination. Aang said we were going to Omashu, and although everyone looked pretty excited to go, I still had no idea what they were even talking about.

  We were flying for a few hours, with brief air sickness stops in between, (don't blame me, blame Sokka's gross jerky) and everyone let out a sigh of relief when Aang finally announced we were stopping at another lake in the middle of a forest to rest.

  I wasn't used to flying via bison, so when we finally landed I rushed to get off, and in my excitement, I didn't notice my legs had fallen asleep, and I fell off of Appa, landing face first in a pile of mud.

  A quick mental inventory revealed that I had not suffered any broken bones. The only things that hurt were my elbows and knees from their impact with the ground. The glob of mud prettt much softened the blow to my face. Other than being sore though, I was a-okay.

  "I really hope this isn't what I think it is." I said as I spat out a mouthful of --what I hoped was-- mud.

  Katara laughed and slid off of Appa gracefully, and lent a helping hand to pick me up. I wobbled on my feet, but otherwise was okay. Note to self: Katara likes it when I fall.

  Aang flew down--I was still getting used to thinking that. Flew. --from Appa also and winced as he saw me covered in muck.

  "That looked like it hurt."

  "Oh yeah, totally. I'm pretty sure I'll have bruises by tomorrow." I smiled wide and tried not to think about how I felt the gritty texture of the dirt in my mouth.

  "Then why are you smiling?" Sokka asked.

  "Why cry? It's not like I have the healing tears of a pegusus." I shrugged.

  "What?" He asked, confused still.

  "Crying won't make the hurt go away. Sure, sometimes you have to cry to feel better, and I cry a lot," Katara snorted, "but it won't solve my problems."

  "Well, that was enlightening and all, but we really should get back to practicing." Katara waved her hands at us, and everyone started stripping down.

  "ACK! My innocent eyes! What are you doing?!" I shouted at Sokka, who was taking off his pants, shirt and jacket already thrown onto the grass.

  " It's called swimming Skye. We can't get our clothes wet. C'mon in, it's too hot out to not be in the water!" Aang called from the shimmering waters.

  I shook my head and went to sit beneath a shaded tree. I didn't even bring a swimsuit. It was in my luggage, and that had dissapeared with the plane.

  "Maybe next time." I called back.

  Katara and Aang began practicing, and Sokka found a huge leaf and layed on top of it, sunbathing in the water.

  I leaned my head back and relaxed. Soon, I was dozing off into a dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~~~

"You guys are gonna be done soon right? We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to Omashu today." Sokka's voice drifted to me from the in between state of sleep and being awake. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. From the looks of it, only an hour or so had passed.

  A nagging feeling itched at the back of my brain, but I ignored it. What's the point of trying to remember something you've forgotten? It's like trying to come up with a good analogy. Pointless. Also hard.