Avatar the Last Airbender: Final Destination

Chapter 4: Gaipan

The group had been flying on Appa for three hours when the first sights of a tree line came into view. They were approaching the western edge of the Earth Kingdom. Gaipan was only a few miles inland.
"So what all do we know about this place, Sokka," Haru asked.
"From the letter Chief Chong Lee sent, the town was flooded just months before the war ended. Everyone got out safe but the town was completely demolished during the process. Fire nation spies were trying to wipe out the village completely," Sokka said.
The gang spotted the town or rather an assembly of tents set up in a camp where the ruins of the town were. When they landed, the began to set up their tents away from the others. While they were unloading, Aang and Sokka decided to look for Chief Chong Lee. Sokka stopped one of the men carrying a large pile of firewood.
"Hey, where can we find the Chief around here?" He asked unamused.
"Big tent on the left over there, can't miss it," the man replied and continued carrying his wood to a tent towards the edge of camp.
The two walked in the direction that the man had pointed in and came up on a big tent not too far from the wood line. The two looked at each other preparing for whatever plan the Chief had set up. Sokka pulled back the flap separating the inside of the tent from the outside world.
They looked in and found the man in charge at the back of the tent looking over a map. Aang noticed there was a girl next to him but her back was turned to them. Sokka walked up first. He stuck his hand out, "Sokka of the Water Tribe. You must be Chief Chong Lee." The Chief took Sokka's hand and grinned, "that would be me."
"Avatar Aang," Aang stuck out his hand and the Chief took it also.
"It's nice to finally meet the two of you. I'm ready to get this village put back together. Excuse me, where are my manners? This is my daughter, Maya," he said.
In that instance the girl who had her back turned turned around to face Sokka and Aang. Aang was floored at how beautiful she was. He only knew of one person who outmatched her beauty. Her brown eyes sparkled with flecks of gold in them. He chestnut hair dropped to just above her shoulders. She had a slight gap between her two front teeth but somehow it made her more endearing, Aang thought. She blushed and looked down when she noticed Aang staring at her.
"I'm Aang," he said. He gave her a big smile and stuck out his hand. She took it shyly and looked him in the eyes. "I'm Maya," she said.
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"Hey, Suki, how long have they been gone?" Katara asked.
"A little over an hour, why?" She responded.
"I don't know, I just kind of wish they'd come back and let us know what's going on," Katara said.
The two girls sat alone at their camp. They had gathered wood and food for the night. Toph and Haru were off practicing their earthbending.
"So what's going on between you two?" Suki said breaking the silence.
"What do you mean?" Katara asked.
"It's obviously there's something between you. You're hiding your feelings. You might want to talk to someone so you don't end up depressing yourself," Suki said.
Katara considered her words. She was right but Katara was afraid to open up about her feelings with Aang.
"Alright," Katara said. "The thing is, it's been so long since Aang ended the war. It's been so long since I told Aang we should wait. But the thing is, things haven't settled down like I thought they would. I really want to be with him but I'm scared our chance will be ruined by having so much going on at once. We won't really have the chance to be our true selves together."
Suki watched her carefully, "Katara, Aang is a gentle man. If you're destined to be together then you will be. Things are crazy right now but he'll wait for you. I've seen how he looks when you're not watching. He'll wait."
"Are you sure? What if he finds someone else because I waited too long? " Katara asked.
"He won't," Suki assures her. But something in Katara didn't feel right.
"Hey guys, is everything set up for our stay?" Sokka asked walking up to them.
"Yeah everything's fine, Sokka. Where's Aang?" Katara asked.
"Oh he's hanging with the Chief's daughter, Maya," Sokka said.
Something burned inside of Katara. She didn't know if it was hurt or jealousy. *Stop it * she thought to herself. Aang had a right to be around another girl. After all, it was Katara who kept turning him down.
"That's cool," Katara said trying to act calm.
"Uh huh," Sokka said regarding her. "Anyways so I figured out what really happened to the town and you're not going to believe this."
At this point everyone had gathered around except for Aang.
"What is it Sokka?" Toph asked.
Sokka looked ashamed for not recognizing the location of the town sooner, "This village wasn't destroyed by Fire Nation spies. It was destroyed by the Freedom Fighters. This was the town Jet destroyed."