Tears of Hope: Chapter 2

"Uh, oh, um…sorry Katara." said Aang blushing furiously trying to cover his crimson face by turning away.

Oh, no Aang, it's okay." She said getting out of her sleeping bag and rubbing her azure eyes.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's just that I had been up all night and….

But before he could say anything else Katara put her finger over his mouth and repeated, "Aang it's okay." before taking it off.

Katara slid off of Appa onto the soft, pale sand to join Sokka at the campfire where he was cooking chicken. Aang soon followed after and sat down next to her.

"Sokka, where did you get all of this food?" Katara asked picking up some chicken and nibbling on it. Aang looked at Sokka for a reply.

"'Ell, when you two 'ovebirds were still sleeping, I found an earth kin'dom town and decided to get somet'ing to eat. Sokka answered casually while his mouth was still full.

"WE ARE NOT LOVEBIRDS!"Katara shouted fuming as her face turned cherry colored right down to her neck. Aang looked down to the sand, depressed and hurt as she said this.

"Yeah, right Katara…..what ever you say." Said Sokka finishing off the chicken bone he was on, and going to the next one on the pan.

Katara thought to herself, "Pig."

"So Aang, do you want to go to the village and get some fruit?" she asked getting up, wanting to get away from her frustrating brother.

"Sure! I thought you'd never ask! The smell of this chicken is making me sick!" he said while holding his nose and moving away from what he thought was 'disgusting.'

As Katara and Aang strolled around to locate this city that Sokka was talking about, Aang asked worriedly,

"So Katara, did you have a bad dream or something last night because I heard you talk in your sleep about someone dying?"

"Huh?" "Isn't Sokka the one who does that?" she said giggling.

"Yeah, but I heard you."

Katara thought back to her dream the previous night. It was a very unpleasant one compared to others she has had. But she couldn't remember the every little detail that happened.

XX Dream Sequence XX

She, Sokka, and Aang were beside a red door with a huge fire nation symbol carved apon it. Where supposedly, the firelord was located.

"Katara, Sokka, you guys stay here. I can't risk your lives by helping me defeat Ozai. I would never forgive myself if that happened." Aang said nudging them to stay where they were.

"Aang! We didn't come with you just so you could tell us to wait here!" she said pulling his arm back.

"We're coming with you!" Sokka agreed.

"NO I can't lose you Katara!" shouted Aang taking her hands in his.

"You won't lose us Aang." She said looking intensely in his eyes. "We have conquered obstacles as bad as this." Aang stared at her with his eyebrow raised.

"Okay, maybe not this bad, but we will look out for each other. We just don't want you to be alone."

"Okay." Said Aang finally giving in but still held onto her hands with all of his might.

Five minutes after she said this Aang was lying on the marble floor badly wounded. Sokka was slammed into a wall, making him unconscious. And the Firelord was put into unconsciousness by Aangs

powerful fire blast before Aang got hit himself. Katara rushed to her brother and slapped water across his face to wake him up. Sokka's eyes popped open.

"I WILL KILL HIM!" Sokka yelled kicking and ripping his boomerang through the air, as if it were Ozai.

"SOKKA, AANG'S HURT!" Katara said desperately, her eyes filling with liquid streaming down her face as she ran to Aang.

"NO! DON'T DIE, PLEASE PLEASE DON'T DIE! I CARE ABOUT YOU TOO MUCH!" she said gasping for breath, not believing what she was seeing.

XX End of Dream Sequence XX

"Katara? Yoo hooo…" Aang said waving his hand in front of her face. She had a blank expression on her face and wasn't blinking at all. Suddenly the vision of her dream stopped as she shook her head.

"Huh?" said Katara puzzled by why they weren't moving anymore.

"You okay?" questioned Aang.

"Huh, oh yeah, I'm fine." She said not sounding too persuasive.

"Katara…" he said not sounding convinced.

"It's nothing Aang. I just had a bad dream, that's all." She said beginning to walk again, trying to not gaze at him. Katara's nightmare made her consider how she felt about him. She couldn't say there wasn't a piece of her heart that burned for him. Because there was. From traveling with him she warmed up to him after each day. Eventually producing a slight crush on him. Which she would never reveal to Aang. Never.