Double Bender

Part 50

By the time we flew over the Fire-Nation border, it had gotten dark and everyone else had fallen asleep, except for me and except for Zuko, who was flying Appa. He was completely silent and very solemn. I crawled out of the saddle and slid down Appa's head next to him. "You alright?" I asked. "Hanging in there." He sighed. He seemed a little sad and disappointed in himself. "What's the matter?" I asked. He sighed. "I feel like it's my fault." He whispered. "What is? The fact that Aang's missing, the war, what?" He rolled his eyes. "I should have told you sooner. If I had, we would've had more time. We would've been able to figure out a way to fix this. Now, Aang's gone and-" "Nope." I cut him off. "No what?" he asked. "You're not doing this. We have enough trouble as it is. Saying 'if only' won't help. It'll only make things worse." He sighed and looked out at the empty, cloudless sky. "Cheer up." I said as I nudged him. "Things'll get better..." It was a pitiful response, I know. But he really needed it. He was under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress. We were all counting on him to be the leader and he was giving it his all. But I knew that he was just as scared as we were, maybe even more. He needed someone he could be himself around, not the fearless leader that had no emotion and was never afraid. I know he didn't want to admit it, but he was very afraid. He sighed sadly. I brushed the hair out of his eyes and looked at him. "We're counting on you." I said. "You're our leader and you have to make sure we make it out alright." He drew back a second and flinched. I realized that I just put more unneeded pressure on him and accidentally frightened him. I silently cursed and said, "Look, you'll be alright. You're a great leader and a wonderful friend. We're going to get out of this alright and you're going to be the one leading us." "How?" he murmured. "We're just a bunch of kids? My dad...he has an entire army and experience that none of us have. And...and...I'm no leader." He hung his head. "I'm just a scared kid." I held up a hand and cut him off. "I know you're scared." I said. "I am too. More than you can even imagine. But I know that I have to stay strong for the rest of us or else they'll give up. You need to do that too. They're counting on you. I'm counting on you. You can do this, you have to." He looked down at the reigns in his hands. I looked at him and said, "You won't be alone. You have us. We're your friends and we'll help you get out this, no matter what." He looked up at me and smiled longingly. "How are you so good at making those stupid speeches?" he asked jokingly. "Practice." I said, equally joking. "But it's true. You're going to be great. I know it." I took his hand. "I'll be with you, every step of the way."
By the time we landed (in front of a tavern, in the middle of the woods), it was pitch black out. Katara was skeptical. "So, the reason you brought us to a seedy Earth-Kingdom tavern is...?" "June." Zuko replied as he helped me down from the saddle. "Who?" I asked. "Some chick who tracks people down." Geo finished. Zuko led us inside and right into the middle of a fight between a tall, muscular man and a thin girl, about twenty or twenty-one. Nineteen at the very least. The guy was giving it his all, trying to get in a good hit. The girl, however, looked like she couldn't care less. She was sitting at a table, sipping a drink, throwing a hit every now and then. Suddenly, the guy threw in a sharp punch. She dodged quickly, drink still in hand, threw in another punch and nailed the guy right in the jaw. Okay, this girl was a badass. "Oh yeah." Sokka remembered. "That weird bounty hunter with the giant mole." I looked at the girl. Her hair was long and dark, with some of it covering one eye, giving her a very savvy edge. Her skin was pale and clear. No sign of a mole or a wart anyone. "What do you mean 'mole'?" Suki asked. "Her skin is flawless." "No no no." Sokka replied. "She has this giant mole creature that she rides around on." I nodded and turned my attention back to the fight. The guy threw another punch. June dodged and her teacup flew in the air. She looked angrily at the guy as he lunged at her. She hit the floor and he flew over her head and crashed into a table,out cold. June stood up, caught her drink, and took a sip. The crowd went nuts! Toph whistled. "I don't know who this June lady is, but I like her."
"Hey," Sokka said. "I remember now. She helped you attack us!" "Yup." Zuko said. "Those were the good old days." We walked up to her and she looked at us. "Oh great," she said. "It's Prince Pouty. Glad to see you made up with your girlfriend." She looked at Katara. She and Zuko moved away from each other irritably. "She's not my girlfriend!" "I'm not his girlfriend!" They insisted simultaneously. "Alright already. Sheesh!" June chided. "I was only teasing. So what do you want?" "I need your help finding the Avatar." Zuko demanded. "Doesn't sound too fun." June said casually. "Well, does the end of the world sound 'fun'?!" Zuko blurted. June sighed. "Come on." She groaned as she led us outside.
Sitting out in the darkness was a large, furry thing with a frilly, orange snout. There was hair covering its eyes which gave it a rather intimidating look. June held up a large piece of meat to the sleeping creature. "Nyla," she coaxed. Nyla lifted up her head and looked at us. June tossed the piece of meat and Nyla caught it and chewed it tediously. "Who's my little snuffly wuffly?" she sweet-talked. Nyla suddenly stuck out her very long tongue as June, who ducked out of the way. Zuko pulled me aside before the tongue could strike me. "You alright?" he whispered. I nodded, still in a little bit of shock. June turned to face us and said, "Have anything belonging to the Avatar?" "I have Aang's staff." Katara said. June took the staff and held it up the Nyla's nose. Nyla took a good long sniff and started crawling around, sniffing the air as she went. She sniffed in a circle around us, came back up to the front, lowered herself to the ground, and covered her snout with her paws. "Well, what does that mean?" Zuko asked. June thought for a moment and shrugged. "It means your friend's gone." "We know he's gone," Toph said crossing her arms. "That's why we're trying to find him." "No." June corrected. "I mean gone gone. He doesn't exist."

Cliffhangers. Cliffhangers everywhere.
What is up, wafflebunnies?
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so you know what that means...
Yep, everybody is forgetting about Thanksgiving and focussing on Christmas until the day before Thanksgiving.
Poor Thanksgiving, nobody remembers it.
And since it's almost a break, that means the teachers are being extra generous and giving us extra homework >:(
Oh well, Happy Thanksgiving, Wafflebunnies.
~Maeve
(P.S.) AWWWWW LOOK AT THE CUTE LITTLE MOLE!!!! :D