THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(XXVIII) Air

"Yeah, Appa and I go waaaay back," Sokka says, as he and Yue join me and Appa while I feed him. He attempts to pat him on the nose, but Appa responds by knocking him over and licking him all over. "Ah, ah, easy! Down boy! Agh! No, up!"

"Looks like you haven't been giving Appa enough attention!" Yue says, laughing. I smirk, but roll my eyes.

"Sokka, I'm sorry to interrupt your showing off, but I really have to finish feeding him," I reply turning to Yue. "If Appa doesn't eat a proper breakfast, he gets all grumpy."

"We just want to take him for a ride," Sokka says, ignoring me as he climbs on Appa's neck, helping Yue do the same.

I sigh heavily, already knowing that there's no changing his mind. "Alright, just bring him back soon."

"So, how does this work?" Yue asks curiously.

"You holding on tight?" Sokka asks, before giving her a confident grin. "Yip... yip."

I watch as Appa takes off with both of them and roll my eyes once again. I'm glad to see that they're both having such a wonderful time together, but I can't help but worry about the fact that Yue's supposed to be marrying someone else. All I can do is hope that things work out for the better and that nobody gets hurt.

"Hey. Where's Appa?" Aang asks, startling me slightly.

"Sokka decided to take him for a ride to impress his new girlfriend," I reply with a smirk.

"Yeah, I've heard that bison-riding is a real killer with the ladies," Aang replies, nudging my arm slightly and making me laugh. "Anyway, I'm glad I found you here. I was meaning to ask you about something."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I know you haven't been sleeping very well lately. Care to tell me what's up?"

I suddenly feel my smile disappearing as I lower my head. The flashes of the dragon attacking the small fish still haunts me. For some reason, this dream feels like it means something, but I have no idea of what it is.

"It's... Nothing."

"Alya... You can tell me. If you want, I won't say anything, just listen."

"It doesn't matter, Aang."

"It does matter, because it's clearly upsetting you," Aang replies with a frown. "Why don't you try talking it out?"

"Aren't you supposed to be training with Pakku?" I immediately change the subject.

Aang sighs. "Fine, don't tell me. But I'll be here if you feel like talking, okay?"

Suddenly, it starts to snow over us, but this isn't normal snow. I frown, as I watch the black flakes fall over the white snow, making it turn completely dark below our feet. There's also a strange smell of smoke coming from the distance, and this combination can only mean one thing.

"The Fire Nation. They're here," I tell Aang, as we exchange worried looks.

***

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe, but they will never vanish from our hearts," Chief Arnook addresses the entire city, after we all had been summoned to an emergency assembly. "Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission."

"Count me in!" Sokka says, immediately standing up.

"Sokka! What do you think you're doing?" I ask him. Has he finally gone insane?