Path Ahead

Confessions

The days passed, and the newly enlarged group settled into a routine. They would travel for a few hours, stop so that Aang could train for most of the day, then rest. While Aang trained, anyone who wasn't teaching him would often hunt, fish, or gather food. There were more mouths to feed but also more hands to help with the work. They also took turns with things like washing the clothes, and occasionally, one or two of them would go to a settlement to purchase supplies. Katara had started picking up new clothing for the Kyoshi Warriors this way, so that they could go on later expeditions without looking too much like escaped prisoners.

Katara was actually pretty happy. They were keeping hidden most of the time, so there were no attacks. If anyone was chasing them after the prison break, they'd either given up or had been left far enough behind that it wasn't a concern. It sort of reminded her of the first few weeks after joining Aang, when he'd been taking them to his favorite places in a haphazard manner. Even better, the full moon had passed, and Katara hadn't wanted to use bloodbending even once.

The only thing that marred her good mood was that she was hardly getting any time alone with Aang. The downside of spending most of your time in caves with a dozen people was that privacy was really hard to come by. When he was outside, he was usually in a firebending or earthbending lesson. Katara enjoyed watching these, as she was right now, but she was beginning to grow impatient. Despite the epic situation in which she found herself, a part of her was just a teenage girl feeling neglected by her boyfriend.

So you're running a close second to saving the world, she chided herself. Do you know how many girls would love to be in your shoes right now? When she put it that way, it did seem silly. Besides, she was ashamed to recall all of the times she'd shoved her feelings for him aside because she felt there were more important things to do. If they didn't have much time together now, it was her fault more than his.

Waterbending, she decided. In a few days, we'll have to refill our water containers again. I'll say that he needs to practice some waterbending. That will give us an excuse to be alone together. One distinct advantage to having Suki with them now was that Sokka was far too interested in sneaking off with her to pay too much attention to what Katara was doing, and this little sister was planning to take advantage of that as much as possible.

"Katara?" Suki's voice interrupted Katara's thoughts. As Katara turned her head, it was odd to see Suki without Sokka. The two had been practically inseparable since the rescue.

"Hi, Suki," Katara responded. "Where's Sokka?"

"Fishing." Suki sat cross-legged and lowered her gaze for a moment, twisting her hands in her lap. Katara shifted her position until she was facing the older girl.

"Is something wrong?" she asked with concern.

"No...yes...I'm not sure." Suki met Katara's eyes. "Katara, who did Sokka lose at the North Pole?"

"Who...he didn't tell you?" Katara knew instantly that she must mean Yue.

"When we crossed Serpent's Pass, he told me that he lost someone and didn't want that to happen again, but that's all. It was a girl, wasn't it?"

Katara sighed heavily. She could understand why Sokka didn't want to talk about that, but really, Suki had a right to know, especially if the secret was preventing them from getting closer. Katara opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again.