Bella [AANGXOC]

Chapter 116: The Uneasy

We left the theater and settled down outside the doors, waiting to be called in for the final act.

Aang still hadn't come back.

A part of myself knew that his disappearance was my fault; it's hard for him to see what could've been. If I had just done what the play thought I did, we'd have one less problem. Looking back now, I feel so stupid. But I knew at the time telling anyone felt impossible. Time is an odd thing.

I had to find him.

I interrupted Sokka and Suki's conversation, "Does anyone know where Aang is?"

"He left to get me fire gummies, like, ten minutes ago. And I'm still waiting!"

Sokka was , evidently, no help so I decided to go looking for him myself.

If I missed some of the play I'd be totally okay with that.

I went down the main stairwell and searched the two main rooms I remembered to keep my head down and not make eye contact, the scar was pretty incriminating to my identity.

It was when I went outside that I found him. He was leaning over the railing and watching the ocean.

I went over and stood next to him.

I'm going to feel this guilt forever no matter how many conversations we have. And he will feel the hurt forever.

There's nothing to be done but apologize once more.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. I hate this play." He took his hat and threw it on the ground, revealing his arrows.

We were silent for a bit, letting the only sounds be the ones of the ocean before he spoke again.

"Did you really mean what you said in there?"

What?

"What do you mean?"

He avoided my eyes, "On stage, when you said I was just like... a brother to you. And you didn't have feelings for me."

All thoughts halted in my head for a small second.

That's what he's angry about right now? He's upset the actress version of myself rejected him? And here I thought it was because the actress version of myself didn't keep secrets and the real me did.

I struggled, now, to find the direction of the conversation.

"I didn't say that. An actor said that."

He turned away from the beach, "But it's true, isn't it? We kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we're not."

There's too much happening right now, too many things being said. This is harder than the conversation I was expecting we were going to have.