Rainbow's Gift (Avatar The Last Airbender Fanfic)

21. Bato of the Water Tribe

I was done washing my hair. Sokka who had been watching me the whole time stood up and went over to Aang who had called him. When I was at home, I would change my hairstyle everyday but now I had to stay with the ponytail I put with my front hairs still falling on my face since they were shorter than the rest of my hair. Plus, this hairstyle matched the Earth kingdom attire I was wearing. I saw Katara run after Aang and Sokka. Something was up. I followed her.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I found Aang looking for something in the bushes and Sokka examining a charred tree.

"There was a battle. Water tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders. The firebenders fought back but the water tribe warriors drove them down this hill." We followed Sokka as he ran down the hill.

"So then what happened?" Aang asked as we reached the beach.

"I don't know. The trail ends here." Sokka said sadly. I guessed he thought it was his dad. Sokka told me that he hadn't seen his dad in three years.

"Look!" Katara said as she pointed at a boat. A water tribe boat.

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka said as excitedly as him and Katara ran to it. Aang and I followed.

"Is this dad's boat?"  Katara asked.

"No but it's from his fleet. Dad was here." I had never seen Sokka this excited.

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I woke up immediately. Kiki was slightly scratching my face. I wanted to tell her to go away but I turned around to find Sokka was not asleep and he loved sleep. I got up from Appa and headed towards him.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Seeing this boat here just reminds me of the day my dad left me."

"Oh." Then I sat closer to him." What happened that day?"

"I remember carrying my bag which was heavy, I had placed a lot of stuff inside heading towards my dad's boat." He sighed." He stopped me and asked me where I was going and I told him I wanted to help him. He told me I was too young to be in war. I knew that but I didn't want him to leave. No matter how much I begged him, his mind never changed. He told me that being a man is knowing where you're needed the most. That meant I had to stay and take care of Katara. I watched him leave and I've never seen him since." I watched as a tear fell down his face he wiped it quickly.

"Hey, " I told him as I stopped him from kindling the fire. " You will meet him soon enough. I'm sure of it." He looked at me with gratitude and I smiled brightly. "Your father will be proud, helping Aang. I wish mine was." I said gently making Sokka smile. We heard some noises behind us and we both stood up.

"Who's there?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka?" A man asked who was wearing water tribe attire.

"Bato?" Sokka seemed surprised.

"Who the what now?" Aang woke up rubbing his eyes.

"Bato!" Katara said happily as she and Sokka ran to meet him.

"Sokka, Katara, it so good to see you two. You've grown so much." Bato said. Aang came to join me and bowed. I did the same.

"Hi. I'm Aang."

"And I'm Taliya." He didn't seem to acknowledge our greetings.

"Where's Dad?" Sokka asked.

"He and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now." I saw Sokka's smile turn into a frown. A huge gust of wind passed by and it fell like a chill passing through me. I shivered a bit. "This is no place for a reunion. Let's go get inside." He then urged us to follow him. That's when he acknowledged us.