THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(XXIX) Water

"It's my fault," I say staring at the koi fish swimming in the pond before me.

Katara kneels beside me and puts her hand on my shoulder gently. "No. It's not your fault. I couldn't protect him, either."

"You did everything you could, and now we need to do everything we can to get him back," Sokka says, but the tears still threaten to leave my eyes. "Zuko couldn't have gotten far. We'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine."

I feel like a failure as both an airbender and Aang's friend. How am I supposed to help him defeat the Fire Lord when I can't even protect him from his banished son? I suddenly realize that, instead of being an asset to the team, I'm a burden.

"Hey, you care about him, don't you?" Yue asks, taking my hand and smiling gently. I nod. "Well, then I'm sure he appreciates everything you did to protect him."

"And he'll understand it even better when we rescue him," Katara says, taking my other hand as they both pull me onto Appa's saddle. For once, I'm actually grateful that it's Sokka doing the riding.

"Yip-yip!"

"I'm sorry, Katara," I say, making her widen her eyes in surprise.

"For what?"

"Well... I should've been stronger. I let you do all the fighting on your own, and that's not right," I say, bowing my head to her.

"Alya... We're a team. I'm always going to have your back, okay?" Katara says, lifting my chin gently.

"I'm such a coward."

"Are you kidding me?" Yue says, making me give her a surprised look. "The first thing you did after coming here was fight off a dozen Fire Nation fleet on your own. Sokka told me all about how you managed to ride Appa through a blockade a while ago, and how you defended the Northern Air Temple from the invaders. That sounds like some pretty by-the-book bravery to me."

"Yue..."

"You've inspired me, Alya. Maybe after all of this is over... I'll talk to my father and tell him that I don't want to marry."

That makes me feel infinitely better, but there's still the issue with Aang. Besides, the raging blizzard around us isn't making the search any easier.

"Besides, Zuko can't get too far in this weather," Katara notes.

"That's what worries me. They won't last very long in this blizzard," I say, shivering.

"They're not going to die in this blizzard. If we know anything, it's that Zuko never gives up. They'll survive, and we'll find them," Sokka reassures me, as we keep flying through the strong winds and heavy snowfall.

Suddenly, in the dark sky, I see a bright light fly over our heads like a shooting star, and I immediately know that it has to be him. No one else seems to have seen it, though.

"SOKKA! OVER THERE!" I say, pointing in the direction where the light traveled.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Just do it!" I tell him and he finally gives him, taking Appa in that direction.

We finally land once Sokka spots Zuko and Aang, while the Fire Prince angrily holds on to Aang. I immediately jump off from Appa's back and airbend Zuko away from Aang, my eyes narrowing at the Fire Prince intently.

"Alya!" Aang says excitedly.

"Here for a rematch?" Zuko teases me.

"I don't do rematches," I snap back, hitting him with all the air I can muster. For some reason, it comes out a lot hotter than I anticipated, creating a slight explosion that almost gets Zuko.