Avatar the Last Airbender: Forbidden Love

Chapter Two: The Nightmare

~Chapter Two: The Nightmare~

Aang woke with a start.

Sitting bolt upright in his makeshift bed, he looked down at his hands as he saw the glow from being in his Avatar state disappearing. His entire body shook and he could feel sweat making his clothes stick to his body and he quickly pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly. Feeling something nudge against his arm, Aang looked up and saw Momo, his flying Lemar friend, Aang gave him a small smile and reached down, patting Momo's long ears.

"Sorry buddy. Didn't mean to startle you too," he said in a quiet voice, not wanting to wake up the others.

Lying back down with Momo now resting on his chest, Aang sighed and stared up at the canopy of trees above them. Closing his eyes, Aang tried to get back to sleep. It seemed to elude him though, as he just laid there for several hours, his eyes shut and Momo just resting on his chest. Grumbling, Aang opened his eyes and sat up, much to Momo's dislike and he looked around their campsite. Seeing Katara, his friend and fellow traveller, start to stir, Aang looked over as she rolled over and looked at him as she woke up.

"Hey Katara," he said as he raised a hand and waved to her and she gave him a sleepy smile.

"Hey Aang. How long have you been awake?" she asked as she sat up and rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Not long," he lied as he stretched and patted Momo's head to keep him quiet as he grumbled at Aang.

"Alright then. Is Sokka awake? We'll leave after we've all had something to eat," she said as she climbed out of her sleeping bag and began to roll it up.

"I think he's still sleeping," Aang said as he glanced over at Sokka's sleeping form.

Katara sighed and shook her head before she smirked. Glancing over at Sokka, Katara raised her hands and directed it towards the river they were camped near. A small ball of water rose up from the surface of the water and she moved her hand so that it as pointed towards Sokka's face. Making sure that no water dripped from the ball, Katara moved the water over Sokka's face. Watching carefully, Aang bit back a laugh so that he wouldn't wake him up. When she was sure that Sokka wasn't going to wake up, Katara lowered her hand quickly, splashing the water in Sokka's face. Sokka leapt up in a panic, wiping his face before he looked at Katara and Aang as they laughed.

"Oh sure~! Very funny. Pour water over the sleeping guy," he said with a grumble as he crossed his arms before he stumbled back as he caught a cloth that was thrown over to him.

"Dry up, Sokka and then grab something small to eat. We're leaving after we've all eaten and packed up," Katara said to him as she finished rolling up her sleeping bag and began tying the ropes around it to hold it in place.

Grumbling, Sokka began to pack up his things as well and Aang put out the smouldering fire that was in the middle of their small campsite. Looking up as he heard a small rumbling, Aang smiled when he saw Appa, a large, six-legged Bison that could fly, Aang ran over to him and hugged one of Appa's giant fluffy legs.

"Hey buddy. Did you sleep alright?" he asked as he let go of Appa's leg and he watched as the Bison stretched.

Once they had everything packed up and ready to go, they all climbed up onto Appa's back, Katara and Sokka into the saddle on his back and Aang moved to sit on top of Appa's head in between his hors so that he could use the rope bound to each horn to steer Appa in the right direction. Glancing back up at Katara, Aang spoke up.

"Where to now?" he asked as he urge Appa up into the air.

"Well we're going to need some supplies. So I guess the nearest village?" she said as she pulled out a map and looked at it. Aang jumped up into the saddle as well and looked at the map as well as Appa rose up high enough into the air so that they wouldn't be seen by anyone passing by on foot.