Carved In Rock || ATLA

In Too Deep

The Avatar State Continued

"Maybe we're just trying too hard when really it's closer than it is too far." - Sun 41

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

"You did what?" Aelita glowered at Aang. The moon was high in the sky and the entire base had settled in for the night. The girls had left the boys in their room to head for the bathhouse thinking they couldn't possibly get into any trouble but they thought wrong. Aang had gone to Fong.

"I told the General I'd help him by going into the spirit state," Aang said as he sat back on his bed next to Sokka's. "I agreed to fight the Fire Lord now." He hadn't been able to get the General's words out of his head all night. Fong had been thrilled when the boy came to find him.

"And you didn't think to consult me about it first?" Aelita felt her annoyance rising. "We're a team Aang."

"I knew you'd be against it which is why I didn't agree for you." The monk defended himself while his friend continued to pace the room. "We're running out of time."

"So you suggest we just go in all cannons blazing?" The Akira scoffed.

"This isn't the right way," Katara argued in a calmer voice. She was just as annoyed as Aelita but she was trying to keep the peace the best she could.

"Why not?" Sokka asked while he plopped down onto his back. "Remember when they took out the Fire Navy? They were incredible."

"There's a right way to do this. Practice, study, and discipline." Aelita countered. "Believe me I wanna end this war as much as anyone else but we have to be smart about it."

"Or you just glow it up and take out the Fire Lord." Sokka objected. He was normally the man with the plan but losing someone could cloud anyone's judgment, he couldn't see how rash this was.

"If you two meatheads wanna throw away everything we've worked for, fine, go ahead and glow it up," Aelita barked, steam pouring from her clenched fists, "But you can count me out!"

"Aelita please, I'm just being realistic." Aang pleaded as he watched his friend head for the door. "We don't have time to do this the right way."

"Yeah." Aelita chuckled but she sounded far from amused. She gripped the door handle without bothering to look back at her friends. "Well, I don't have time to bury anyone else along the way." The door slammed as the grey-haired girl stormed out, leaving Aang unsure of what to do next.

"I'll go talk to her," Katara said as she reached for her shoes.

"No." Sokka interrupted. "I'll go." He pushed himself off the bed much to the surprise of the other two. Conversations between the oldest members of the team had been pleasant but short and few and far between since the siege. "Come on Mushu." He said as he scooped up the fire ferret and headed out the door. "Let's go get her."

The relationship between Aelita and Sokka was complicated. When she first joined their ragtag team it was Sokka who took the longest to come around to her, Aang and Katara accepted the firebender much faster than he had. Their friendship was sealed after they were pitted together against a 'Freedom Fighter' that turned out to be more thug than anything. In the treetops of the Earth Kingdom, Sokka and Aelita had opened up to one another, discovering they were far more similar than they would've ever thought. From then on there were no secrets between them, the two fighters leaning on each other whenever they needed a friend. Navigating the halls of the base to find her Sokka could still remember the exact moment he realized just how special that girl was. Somewhere between the late-night conversations and light-hearted banter the lines between friendship and something more had gotten blurry. At the time Sokka had been so confident in the way he felt but Aelita wasn't so sure, something was holding her back.