Blazing Crystal (Revised Version)

Chapter 33: A Hopeful Journey

Chapter 33: A Hopeful Journey

"Stop squirming!"

My sister snapped at me as she used Sokka's knife to slice the long strands of hair that were uneven. She had been appalled when she saw what I had done to my hair during our ride on the sand surfer. She whined about it constantly during the last twenty-four hours, and finally having had it with her complaints I told her to just fix it if she was so upset about it.

"You still haven't given me an explanation to why you did this to yourself."

We had spent the night at Sha-Mo's home at the edge of the desert. They were part of the Kumul tribe and had a small settlement about a week's walk from Ba Sing Se. Sha-Mo's son was forced to buy us supplies in punishment for stealing Appa from us. While he was off to the nearest town about twenty miles away, Sha-Mo's wife fixed us all up a wonderful meal of mixed veggies and meat. Thankfully she gave us water instead of cactus juice. We then spent the night in Sha-Mo's home, and set out the next morning with the supplies that Gashuin had gathered for us.

"I needed a change," I simply stated with a shrug.

Currently we were taking a lunch break after walking a few hours that morning. Sokka was looking over some maps he had stolen from the library that had sunk beneath the desert floor. As he did so, Aang and Momo were napping in the grass; Toph was trying to motivate Aang to practice his earthbending.

"Can you imagine what Gran-Gran would say? Or dad for that matter! You shouldn't be so rash!"

In the Southern Water Tribe, cutting hair was not an acceptable practice for women. Long hair was usually a symbol of beauty and femininity in our tribe. However, I saw it as something else entirely. My long hair had been a tie to my past... By cutting half of it off, I was freeing myself from the power my people had on me.

I was in charge of my own destiny now.

"It's just hair, Katara." I felt her pull another strand and heard the slice of the knife. "It's not the end of the world."

"Crys! Your hair was so long and pretty!"

Sokka sighed. "Stop being ridiculous, Katara. Her hair's still long. Suki's hair is half the length of hers."

I smiled. "Thanks, Sokka."

Katara huffed. "You're just saying that to make me shut up."

He glanced up from his maps. "Well it's not working."

Taking Katara's momentary distraction, I stood from where I was seated cross-legged in front of her. She protested from behind, but I waved her off.

"It's fine, Katara. A few strands aren't going to kill me. Who's going to judge? We're practically wanderers anyway. No one is going to pay us half a mind."

Sokka spoke up. "She's right. Her hair will grow back anyway. Stop fussing and help me figure out these maps."

She placed Sokka's knife back in his shoulder bag. "No thanks. I need to go refill my water moccasin." She turned her gaze towards me. "Please don't cut off your toes while I'm gone."

I saluted her to let her know I wouldn't. She rolled her eyes and walked off towards the stream nearby.

Walking over to Sokka, I knelt down in front of him. "Thanks... She was going to pester me for hours..."

He rolled up the map he was gazing at, and then met my eyes. "Explain."

I was surprised by his one word. "What?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You know what I mean, Crys. Don't make me ask the same question Katara's been pestering you with."

I grimaced. Looking down at my knees, I smiled weakly. "I didn't just cut it for fun, okay... Is that what you want to hear?"