silver soul | avatar, the last air bender

chapter twenty seven

"Suddenly they heard something down the hall in the dark. It came into the torchlight and they knew the blade of wing fun was haunted!" Sokka concluded, dramatically taking out his sword. The team stayed silent, clearly not the least bit scared from his story.

"I think I liked 'The man with a sword for a hand' better," Aang said softly.

"Water tribe slumber parties must stink," Toph shrugged.

"You guys stink," Sokka retorted.

"I enjoyed it," Naia said with a small smile.

Sokka lit up. "Really?"

Naia nodded. "Yeah," She said. Toph gagged.

"Ooh wait, I've got one," Katara said, cradling her knees to her chest. She began to tell the "true" story of a girl named Nini, who died during a winter storm when her mother was a girl. The story was spooky, but Naia wasn't too freaked out. Sokka, on the other hand, grabbed Naia's hand and squeezed it. At some points of the story, he buried his head in her shoulder. She rubbed his back soothingly.

Toph suddenly gasped. "Wait! Do you guys hear that? There's people screaming underneath the mountain."

That statement spooked Naia a little bit. Since she was the only one who wasn't overtly scared, Aang and Katara rushed over to her and hugged her out of fear. She wrapped her arms protectively around them. "Toph, you're scaring them," Naia said.

As if on cue, someone cleared their throat behind them. "Hello children."

All five of them screamed and ran towards the other side of the fire. Still, everyone clung to Naia. An old woman walked out from the shadows. To Naia, she didn't seem bad. Just a regular old woman with long hair. "Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama. You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?"

The group all exchanged looks. A night at an inn, sleeping in a real bed seemed more ideal then sleeping outside in the woods. They followed her back to the inn, where Hama poured them all a cup of tea. She told stories of how when the moon turns full, people disappear from the woods. Safe to say, the story spooked even Naia a little.

After a night of scary stories, Naia retired to her room. She left on her bralette and put on some silk shorts, taking her hair out of its half up style and running her hands through it. She sat down on the mattress and sighed. It's been a while since she's slept in a real bed.

Of course, she couldn't lull herself to sleep. Naia tried for a couple hours but couldn't seem to finally fall asleep. She sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and stared out of the window. From her position, she could see the almost full moon light up the sky. Her door started to creak, which drew her attention away from the window. A tall figure stood in the doorway. "Are you awake?" A familiar voice asked softly.

"Yes," Naia replied. Sokka entered in her room and shut the door softly behind him. "Is everything okay?"

"This place freaks me out. Do you mind if I stay with you?" Sokka asked.

Naia smiled. "Of course not," She said warmly. It was when the moonlight washed over him that she noticed he didn't have a shirt on. A light blush painted her cheeks. He laid down on the other side of the bed. Naia still sat with her knees tucked to her chest. He turned over and studied her body. She watched as his eyes travelled all around. "What?" She asked shyly.

"You have another tattoo?" Sokka asked.

"Tattoo?" Naia asked.

Sokka took his finger and traced the tattoo on her ribcage. Naia felt chills down her spine at his touch. This moment seemed...intimate. It didn't help that Naia was wearing a minimal amount of clothing. "Oh, yeah," She tried to play it cool.