Balance | Old Version

Chapter 104 (The Boiling Rock, Part 1)

Third Person POV.

It was dark in the Western Air Temple and everyone was sitting around the campfire as Zuko pours tea into several mugs
"No one can make tea like Uncle. But hopefully, I learned a thing or two," Zuko says as he stands up with the tray of mugs in hand. "Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?" He asks.
"Sure," Elua says as she takes one of the cups from his hand.
"I like jokes," Aang states.
"Bring it," Toph says.
"Okay," Zuko says. "Well, I can't remember how it starts but the punch line is, 'Leaf me alone, I'm bushed'," He says, but everyone stays silent.

 "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it," Zuko states as he shrugs.
"Right. Maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing," Katara says and everyone laughs.
"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little. It hardly ever happens," Toph states, taking a sip of tea.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Sokka asks Zuko, who nods, and Sokka stands up. Elua grabs his hand before he walks away, a concerned look on her face.
"Is everything okay?" She asks in worry.
"Yeah, I just want to ask Zuko something," Sokka tells her with a small smile, she lets him go and they walk off, leaving Elua to wonder to herself.

That Night.

Elua's POV.

I wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of Sokka get up and packing a few things into a bag. I keep my eyes closed and steadying my breathing, pretending to still be asleep. I feel him kiss my forehead and then hear footsteps walking away from me. I roll over and see him walk around a corner, making me frown in confusion. I quietly get up and follow him, only to see him and Zuko readying Zuko's war balloon
"What do you two think you're doing?" I ask as I step out from behind the wall, making them jump in surprise.
"Nothing!" They both say as they turn around.
"Uh-huh, so you're getting in a war balloon for nothing?" I ask them as I cross my arms.

"We're...Uh...going fishing," Zuko says unconvincingly.
"In a war balloon?" I ask again.
"Yes?" Sokka says, well more like asks. I stare at them with my eyes squinted, before I put on a fake smile.
"Okay, I'll come with," I tell them. They look at each other, obviously trying to come up with something to tell me.
"Why would you want to go fishing?" Zuko asks me.
"Yeah, you are a girl-" Sokka begins to say, but I cut him off.

"If anything sexist comes out of your mouth, I will personly throw you over the cliffside," I threaten them. "Got it?" I ask as I glare. They both stare at me with a look of shock, but they quickly nod.
"I wasn't referring to you being a girl, I was referring to you being a vegetarian," Zuko states.
"Now, where are you really going?" I ask them, Sokka sighs.
"Okay fine, we're going to rescue my dad," Sokka answers unwillingly.
"And you didn't think to tell me that?" I question him.
"I didn't want to tell you because then, you would want to go, and it's dangerous," He states.
"Well, now I'm going," I tell him as I go to walk towards the War balloon, but Sokka grabs my arm.

"No, Elua," Sokka tells me.
"Yes, Sokka," I say as I cross my arms.
"No," Sokka says stubbornly.
"Yes," I say again.
"No," He repeats.
"I don't remember asking for permission," I tell him.
"I don't want you to get hurt," He tells me seriously.
"If I could get hurt, then you could get hurt," I state. "So, if you go, I go," I tell him as I turn away from him and get into the balloon. Sokka sighs in defeat, knowing that I won't listen.

Morning.

We stand in silence as Zuko stands in the middle of the war balloon, sending flames into the burner so the balloon stays up in the air.
"Pretty clouds," Sokka says randomly as he looks at the cloud-filled sky.
"Yeah, fluffy," Zuko says awkwardly.
"They're made of water," I inform Zuko, he nods. "Well, this isn't awkward," I say and then more silence follows. The silence is broken as Sokka begins to whistle.
"What?" Zuko asks Sokka.
"What? Oh, I didn't say anything," Sokka says. What do you know, more silence. "You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons," Sokka states.
"No kidding," Zuko says.