Open Your Mind

Chapter Fifty-Three

Sokka prodded the campfire with a nearby stick, watching the embers float up into the air with a grim expression. Around him, his sister and friends slept peacefully, unperturbed by the discomforting thoughts that had been nagging at him for several days. Sokka glanced over towards where Xiaodan was sleeping against Appa's side with Aang and the Duke across the campfire and started in surprise. Her orange eyes gleamed at him, reflecting the flames of the fire in an eerie way that caused his heartbeat to quicken slightly.

The two older teens stared at each other silently for several moments before Xiaodan began to carefully untangle herself from the Duke, who had begun to consider her an older sister figure in the few days they'd all traveled together. Sokka watched quietly as she walked over to him, nimbly stepping over the slumbering forms of their friends.

"What are you still doing up?" The female dualbender questioned softly as she sat down beside her friend, a concerned expression on her own weary face.

Sokka shrugged one shoulder, "Just thinking."

"About?"

Another shrug followed by a weary sigh, "Everything. How my dad's doing, if the others are okay. If we did the right thing by running away." He hesitated a moment then he turned towards Xiaodan abruptly, startling her slightly, "And then there's what Azula said to you down in the tunnel."

The fire flared sharply at his statement, flashing white for only brief instant before settling down again. Sokka held his breath and waited in expectant silence, watching the girl beside him as she stared blankly into the fire. Cricket-hoppers chirped faintly, their music mingling with the sound of the crackling fire and the deep, even breathing of the other sleeping teens.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Sokka, Xiaodan spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Wha-!?" His jaw dropped and he stared at her incredulously as he sputtered nonsensically for several moments. Xiaodan seemingly ignored him, picking up the stick he'd set on the ground between them and using it to prod the logs in the fire.

"That's a lie and you know it, Xia!" Sokka hissed when he finally regained his ability to speak coherently. When she continued to prod at the logs and ignore him, he snatched the stick from her hand and threw it into the fire.

"Just let it go, Sokka." Xiaodan scowled at him and rose to her feet, stalking away from the camp, "It's none of your business anyway."

"No, no, no," Sokka chanted as he jumped to his feet, running after the speedwalking dualbender. He grasped her right shoulder, intending to turn her around to face him, but he quickly released her when she hissed sharply in pain.

She whirled around to face him with an irritated look, her hand cupping her burned shoulder. Sokka stared back at her apologetically and held his hands up in submission, "Sorry. You know, you really should let Katara heal that."

"It's fine." Xiaodan muttered and she let her hand fall from her shoulder, crossing her arms instead. Unconsciously, she shifted her weight into a defensive stance and frowned, "She fought hard during the invasion and she's still tired from healing Hakoda. It's just a little burn anyway."

Sokka shook his head in equal parts exasperation and amazement at her stubbornness. She'd refused ever attempt his sister had made at healing the burn she'd received from Azula, stating that Katara need to regain her strength. Shaking his head again, Sokka returned his attention to the matter at hand.

"Look, I get you don't want to talk-" He began lowly, but Xiaodan cut him off sharply.

"No, I really, really don't want to talk about it."