Balance | Old Version

Chapter 110

Elua's POV.

I was about to walk into Sokka's tent, but Zuko was about to go in too. So, I stand up straight and motion for him to go first.
"Sorry. Do you need to talk to Sokka too?" Zuko asks.
"No, it's alright. Go ahead," I tell him with a small smile as I turn away from the tent and decide to go find Katara again. I walk over to her tent and peek inside, making Katara turn to me.
"Can I sit with you?" I ask her kindly, she nods. "Want to talk about it?" I ask as I sit in front of her.
"He expects me to just forgive him, but I can't," Katara states. "I just can't," She whispers sadly.
"What the Fire Nation did to my people, to my family...it's unforgivable," She says as she shakes her head. I look over to her sadly, perhaps the question I wanted to ask was to painful.
"Katara, what exactly happened to your mother?" I ask her softly, she looks at me with a pained look.

"The Fire Nation used to do these things called raids. They would come and take people from our tribe, especially waterbenders. One day when Sokka and I were playing, it started snowing, but it wasn't white, it was black," Katara states. I knew what that meant...
"Soot," I state, she nods.
"I told Sokka that I was going to find our mom as they started to attack our tribe. When I got to her there was already a soldier in our house. She told me to go find my dad. I ran as fast as I could, but by the time we got back, we were too late. She was fone" Katara says with tears in her eyes. I look over to with sadness in my eyes as I wrap my arms around her.
"I'm sorry, Katara," I say sadly as she cries. "I'm so sorry."

After a few minutes, she calms down and thanks me for listening. We say our goodnights, and I walk out of her tent. Only to see Zuko sitting outside beside her tent, I frown in confusion.
"What are you doing?" I whisper to him.
"I'm waiting," He says simply. I shake my head and sigh as I walk back over to Sokka's tent. AS I walk into his tent, I see a bunch of candles and roses all around.
"What is all this?" I ask as I look around in confusion with a small smile.
"It was supposed to be romantic, but when Zuko walked in instead of you it was kinda just...awkward," Sokka says in embarrassment, making me giggle. "Hey, don't laugh at me," He says glaring at me playfully, but I just continue to laugh.

"What are you doing?" I ask him as my laughing stops and he looks at me with a playful smirk. He suddenly stands up and begins to walk over to me, making me walk backward. I quickly turn around and run out of the tent, laughing as he chases after me. He chases me up a short hill, the water not far below us before he tackles me.
"Ah!" I shout in fear as we fall off the hill, crashing into the water below. I open my eyes under the water as Sokka swims back up to the surface. I smirk as I stay under, just to freak him out a bit. I see him spin around and call my name frantically. After around 20 seconds my lungs demand air and I swim up beside him. He sighs in relief as he sees me.
"You scared me!" Sokka shouts. "I thought you were drowning!" He shouts again as I silently laugh.

"I can bend water, don't worry," I tell him with a laugh, he glares at me playfully. I give him a silly grin, and he chuckles. He swims over to me and grabs my waist, I put my arms around his neck as we spin around laughing softly.
"I think that's the most fun we've had in months," He states, still holding onto me.
"Probably, because we're always stressed," I state.
"Probably," He says with a smile as we lean into each other and share a kiss. I sigh contentedly as we pull apart and rest our foreheads together.
"We should get back to camp and get some rest," I whisper, he smiles and nods.
"Okay," He whispers back as we swim to the shore and get out of the water. I ring my hair out and then, we begin to walk back to camp, hand in hand.

The Next Day.

I lean down and grab a few handfuls of hay for Appa. I look up as I hear footsteps to see Katara and Zuko walking over to us.
"I need to borrow Appa," Katara tells us in not so nice tone.
"Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko?" Aang asks jokingly.
"Yes, it is," Katara says seriously.
"Oh," Aang says in surprise.
"What's going on?" I ask her in concern.
"We're going to find the man who took my Mother from me," Katara says with a glare.
"Sokka told me the story of what happened," Zuko states. "I know who did it. And I know how to find him," He explains.

"Umm...and what exactly do you think this would accomplish?" Aang asks Katara.
"I knew you wouldn't understand," Katara says as she shakes her head and begins to walk away.
"Wait, stop, I do understand," Aang tells her, making her turn back around. "You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?" He asks.
"She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice," Zuko states.
"I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge," I tell him.

"Fine! Maybe it is. Maybe that's what I need. Maybe that's what he deserves," Katara says angrily.
"Katara, you sound like Jet," Aang tells her, and her face falls for a moment.
"It's not the same. Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster," She says fiercely.
"Katara, she was my mother too. But, I think Aang and Elua might be right," Sokka tells her calmly as he walks over to us.
"Then you didn't love her the way I did," Katara tells him angrily. We all look at her shocked by her words.
"Katara..." Sokka says speechless and hurt by his sister's words.

"The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed ratviper," Aang says, breaking the silence. "While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself," He states.
"That's cute. But this isn't air temple pre-school. It's the real World," Zuko tells him, rolling his eyes at Aang's statement.
"Now that I know he's out there, now that I know we could find him, I feel like I have no choice," Katara says as she looks away from us.
"Katara, you do have a choice. Forgiveness," I tell her calmly.
"That's the same thing as doing nothing," Zuko tells me.
"No, it's not. It's easy to do nothing. But, it's hard to forgive," Aang states.

"It's not just hard, it's impossible."

A/N--> I just wanted to tell everyone that the words on the picture above are not mine. I found the photo with those words already on it, but I do 100% agree with them. I just don't want to take credit for something that isn't mine. We should always give credit where credit is due. -Lucy.