Trickle [Sokka - Book One]

⚝Chapter Eighteen⚝

Eimi raced after the boys, tearing away from Yue. She had waited long enough. She thought she couldn't go stop Sokka and Navrek, but she could at least tell them that she knew they would be fine. 

She pushed through the warriors and spotted Navrek's head. She latched onto his arm and forced him to stop. "Eimi? What are you doing?" he asked, facing her.

"Promise me you won't die," she said, staring up into his eyes. 

He smiled at her. "Of course I won't die. Those Fire Nation soldiers won't know what will hit them."

That didn't squelch the bad feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. She knew something would happen during this battle, and she knew it was something terrible. Her heart hammered in her chest as Navrek smiled at her one last time before pulling away. Most of the warriors were already gone, so she didn't have time to talk to Sokka. 

Eimi turned around and saw Katara and Yue heading toward the citadel overlooking the city. She trailed behind them. She was still upset that Yue forgot her birthday, but it weighed less on her mind now. If anything happened to Sokka, Yue had the time they were on the flying bison to remember him by. However, Eimi didn't have much time to remember Sokka by.

She made it to the citadel overlooking the city and gasped. Fire Navy ships were sailing close by. Something orange sailed across the blue sky, and it landed on a section of the city. A plume of smoke rose over that section and she stumbled. Why would the Fire Nation do something so horrible to the rest of the world? 

More bombs flew and it different parts of the cities. Every time, Eimi flinched. She stood next to Yue and gripped her hand. 

"Let's talk," Yue said softly, pulling her away from Katara. 

"You want to talk while our city is being blown up?" Eimi asked.

"Yes." Yue nodded. "It doesn't matter if they tear our city down, Eimi. You're where I feel most at home."

"How could you forget my birthday?" Eimi asked, her voice cracking. "If you feel like you're so at home with me, how could you forget something so important?"

Yue's head dropped. "I'm sorry, Eimi," she whispered. "I didn't forget, though. I stopped by your room, but you were asleep."

"You couldn't wait for me to wake up?" she asked. "You couldn't wake me up?"

Yue met her eyes. "I'm sorry. I was getting your gift ready."

"With Sokka?"

"Well," Yue said, trailing off. "He started helping me when he found me. But then he said that we could ride on Appa and -"

"And you couldn't say no," Eimi concluded. She stared out at the Fire Navy ships. The bombs had slowed to a stop, so she said to both Katara and Yue, "They've stopped firing."

Suddenly, Aang swooped down, landing on the ground. "Aang!" Katara said.

The three of them approached Aang and Appa, the flying bison, who flopped onto his belly. Aang looked dejected and small in the saddle. He slid off, landing on the ground with a soft thud. His legs buckled under him, so he rested next to Appa's paw. 

"I can't do it," he said, shoving his hands against his head. "I can't do it."

"What happened?" Katara asked gently.

"I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them," he said, his voice muffled under his hands. "I can't fight them all."

"But, you have to!" Yue cried. "You're the Avatar!"

"I'm just one kid." He buried his head into his arms, so Katara sat down to comfort him.