Nightfall

Twenty Five

"Are you sure that you'll be fine?" Aang asked for the hundredth time that morning. She didn't mind that he was worried about her, though. It warmed her cold, dead heart. He held her hands in his, making her keep eye contact with him so he could be sure of her decision. One of the last torches burned softly behind him, casting his face into darkness. "I won't go if you aren't fine."

Katara offered him a slightly watery smile. After spending a few days in a crying coma, Katara was done feeling like that. It was a little embarrassing sobbing like a little baby in front of Toph, who would give her exasperated looks every few minutes. Apparently, Toph did not enjoy when a person cried about killing someone else; she had prided herself on taking out a large chunk of the tributes, which Katara did not understand in the slightest. 

"Yes," Katara lied. "I'll be fine. I should be more worried about you than you about me."

Aang squeezed her hands. "Yes, well, it's hard not to worry about you right now because of -"

"Yeah. Because of what happened."

"Can you two just hurry it up?" Toph said suddenly. Her tone sounded very annoyed, like she couldn't stand how they were acting. She was leaning against the wall of the cave with her foot kicked up; her fingers were digging through her toes on the foot that was kicked up. She flung a piece of dirt toward the two of them, and Aang blasted it back toward her with airbending. It landed with a splat on her arm. She didn't seem to notice. "I don't want to wait here forever. We need to find more torches, and we need more food."

Aang let Katara's hands drop with a soft sigh. He stood up, grabbing his staff. Still, he was using it as more of a walking stick than an airbending staff. The berries must have been out of his system by now, but the affects of them were probably still running through his veins. He looked much better now, but Katara was still worried about him. For a second there, she almost jumped up to follow them; she didn't need to stay here alone, she needed to make sure Aang was fine. But she didn't move as Toph and Aang exited the cave.

Katara laid back, staring up at the dusty ceiling. When she first found this cave, she never looked at the ceiling. Now that she had looked up, she noticed that stars had decorated the earthy ceiling. Since so many years had passed, dust had settled up there, but she could see the stars anyway. They blinked at her, winking and shining at her with love. Oma and Shu had probably put it up there to remind them of the world outside their little cave. What they made the stars out of, Katara wasn't sure, but they were beautiful nonetheless. She wished they would light up so they wouldn't have to use those torches anymore.

The love that circulated around her made her feel more at peace with herself than ever before. The ghosts from before were making their appearances now, showing up to her when she was alone. She could almost feel them brush up against her but not quite. They kept their distance from her, but she knew that they were there, around her somewhere. 

Katara got to thinking about Oma and Shu. They loved each other so much that they sacrificed anything just to stay together. But when one of them died, the other went crazy. Was that what love was like? Would she go crazy when she fell in love and lose her mind when he died? With a frown, she pictured her parents. Her father did not go crazy when her mom got taken. He withdrew himself from their lives, yes, but he didn't lose his mind after she disappeared. Did that mean that he didn't love her? Or did he just put on a strong face in front of Sokka and Katara to keep them happy? She wasn't sure. Katara knew that her mother loved her father dearly, so wouldn't he love her mother a lot, too? Yes, she was sure of it. 

But Oma and Shu were in the Games. And being in the Games made people do things they never would have done if they hadn't came here. Is that the reason why Oma went crazy? Because of this wretched place? Or because she lost the love of her life to the horrific nature of the Games? Katara hated not knowing, and she sure hated not being with Aang right now. Thinking about Oma and Shu made her want to remain with Aang, to make sure that he was safe.