The Other Airbender

6

My heart beat was fast and my cheeks were flushed. I felt like I was dreaming, I had to be. I could fly. I could fly, I could fly, I could fly. I had done it. I woke up early because I could barely sleep through the excitement, and I decided I would go see Haru and his Mum because I had already finished my chores just before the sun came up. Today was a good day.

As I reached the top of the field-covered hill, I spotted Haru's Mother, standing and looking out at the ocean below. Strange.

"Hi, do you need any help wi-" I stopped abruptly when I saw her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed in pain and confusion, and her wrinkles were pulled into a look of despair. And her eyes, the same jade-green eyes that Haru had, were welling with glistening tears. My breath hitched in my throat. I had never seen her look this upset before.

"What... what happened?" I managed to croak out, fear beginning to rise in my chest at the words that would come out of her mouth. 

"H-Haru," she managed to mumble out, "Fire Nation... t-they took him away..." What? How did they kno- oh. I could feel my chest rise in anger, my eyes beginning to prick with tears. Any happiness I had just been feeling fell away. Damn it, do I still care? I rushed towards Haru's Mother and flung my arms arond her delicate body, feeling her shoulders shaking with the weight of her sadness. I frowned into her shoulder. It's all her fault, Katara. Maybe if she hadn't made him earthbend then everything woud be the same. Everything would be normal. How could she manage to change everything in less than a day? I hate her. I hate her, I hate her, I hate her. 

.

I flung open the barn door to find Katara on the other side, about to open the door too. The other two were packing up, not that I paid much attention. 

"You. This is all your fault." I yelled at her, the tears glistening in my eyes again. She just stared at me, perplexed.

"What are you-" she started.

"If you had just left that stupid old man to die then-"

"Excuse me?" She stared at me, horrified, "how can you say something like that?"

"How can I say something like that? How can I say something like that? Oh, I don't know, maybe because you have barely been here a day and you've already ruined everything. Why don't you just waltz up to the Fire Nation soldiers and get arrested too. It won't fix anything but at least it would make me feel better." 

"W-what are you saying?" Her eyes were widening as her hands began to shake in panic.

"I'm saying if you had just left that old bastard to die then he wouldn't have turned in Haru and everything would be fine." A tear rolled down my cheek as I shook, fuming. 

"She was just trying to help." The airbender wannabe stood in front of Katara protectively. His eyes were narrowed, as if he was trying to appear threatening.

"Aang, it's ok," She looked at the floor, trying desperately not to meet my eyes. I just glared at her. Aang glared back but moved away slightly.

"Um, Miko? It was Miko, right? I- I'm so sorry, I didn't know, a-and if what your saying is true then..." Katara trailed off, her face filled with worry. 

"Why on earth would I not be telling the truth? Do you think I would lie about something like this? Haru was my best friend- is my best friend, and now he's gone." I dropped my gaze, not wanting her to see more tears streaming down my face. Aang's glare became a sullen expression, and Katara was shaking slightly. 

"It's all my fault. I forced him into it, I forced him and now the Fire Nation has him." She responded sadly. She brought a hand up to her neck and clutched a Water Tribe necklace, lost in thought. The ponytail boy came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders, eyeing me almost warily.

"When did this happen?" He asked me, squeezing Katara's shoulder protectively. 

"Midnight." I answered curtly. I could have saved him instead of doing some stupid chores. 

"Then it's too late to track him. He's long gone." 

"Thanks for stating the obvious, ponytail boy." I spat, frowning at the floor. 

"Calm down, we're just trying to help." Aang butted in defensively. Ponytail boy just glared at me as I continued frowning at the floor, knowing Aang was right. I just wanted someone to be angry at, and they were all pretty easy to be angry at. 

"We don't need to track him." I looked at her in confusion, but bit back another remark when I saw her face. She was worried about him and she was working out a plan. "The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru." Ok, never mind she's nuts. 

"And why would they do that?" Aang asked, just as confused as I was. 

"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending." She confirmed. 

"Aren't you a waterbender?" I looked around to see if Aang and ponytail boy were understanding any of this, but by the looks on their faces they weren't following along with this either. "You're crazy," I sighed, laughing dryly as tears welled in my eyes yet again. Any hope that somehow they had a way to help was long gone. I turned and ran back down the hill. I know the ponytail boy said there was no way to track him, but if I could fly then maybe I could find him quite easily. I knew the general direction that the Fire Nation soldiers took prisoners, so maybe I could start there. 

I rushed to the sea cliffs until I was back at my usual airbending spot, secluded from everyone. Except Haru. My jaw clenched, but strangely, I wasn't as upset as I thought I would be. Yes, I was sad that he was gone, but I hadn't been as sad as I expected, and it was more that he was a big part of my life and I would have no one to talk to without him. It scared me that I hadn't felt as upset as I should have been. Maybe it was because I had let him go. But strangely, when I had let him go I hadn't really felt any better. I just felt empty. I couldn't say that I particularly enjoyed the emptiness, but the feelings I had felt for Haru had just made my life difficult, so I decided I didn't like those either.

I shouted at Katara because I was angry at the Fire Nation, for taking everything away from me, like they always do. I just wanted someone to shout at, and it's not like she didn't have any involvement in his arrest. And I still hated her.