ATER Book 2: Air

Chapter 10: Q & A

The entire time Zenith ran to the zoo, I kept one hand on the reins and the other on Khanu. He gave an occasional moan or groan, but halfway there, he just passed out cold.

"So your mom really is the Queen?" I'd decided to tell Salwa. I needed someone to talk to about this new reveal.

"Yeah, but it's nothing special."

"'Nothing special'?! Are you kidding, that's awesome! You're like royalty!" I groaned. That's right, I'm royalty. Big whoop.

"So technically you're a princess. Oh, that is so cool! I wonder if you have your own crown or even a scepter or-"

"Could you not," I said angrily. I was still mad at the fact that she had neglected to tell me, Chen, or our father.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" I waved away her apology.

"It's okay. I'm just mad that I hadn't found our sooner."

"Oh, I would, too. I mean, seriously. If I were an heir to a throne, I would be mad, too. I mean, they don't..." I tuned her out, wondering who would be meeting us.

The only reason why I knew where the zoo was was because on our day off, we'd decided to look for it. There were so many exotic and extinct animals. Giselle-rabbits, elephant-flies, spider-pigs, even more than we thought.

We rounded the corner of the zoo and I saw a sky-bison napping on the concrete. Katara sat, tense, on top of Og's head. When she saw us, she slid off and ran toward us, wrapping us in a tight embrace.

"I was so worried," she whispered. I could feel Khanu slipping off of Zenith and I made a weird grasp for him. Katara let go of us and grabbed Khanu as well. She held him bridal style and carried him to Og.

"Zenith is too heavy to go on top of Og's back," Katara said once she came back. "One of you is going to have to ride and swim with him back to the Air Temple." Salwa turned to me.

"I know you want to stay with Khanu, but Zenith only rides well with you. I would do it myself, but frankly, he just doesn't really like me." I nodded. Salwa slipped off of his back and climbed onto Og.

"We'll see when we see you!" Salwa shouted as Og lifted into the air and carried them off. I nudged Zenith forward. We had a long way to go.

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"You rode on the fastest animal on land and in water, and we still beat you here," Salwa said as Zenith and I exited the stairwell. Rolling my eyes, I slipped Zenith's saddle off and set it on a hook inside the stables for the Sky-Bison and Zenith.

"So how's Khanu?" I asked. Salwa took a sharp breath in.

"He started hyperventilating on the way here, so Katara immediately took him inside to heal him."

"I should probably go and help."

"I'm pretty sure you don't know how to heal, Luna."

"I can learn!" With that, I turned around and walked over to the healing room. I was about to knock on the door when Jinora opened up it up.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. She closed the door behind her. "Oh, how are you, Luna? We were very worried." I shrugged.

"Fine, I guess."

"I can see that you're more weary than you're letting on."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just, well, while I was riding Zenith, I had a lot of time to think, and-"

"And you thought a lot about Khanu."

"Oh, Jinora, I just don't know what to do! I feel like I should be helping but I don't know how!" Jinora looked at my face, like she was searching for something before she said, "You're not just talking about Khanu, are you?"