Chapter 8 – The Drawing




    In the morning, they packed everything up and went back to flying on Appa again. All they had to do now to reach the Earth Kingdom is to cross hours of ocean. Appa didn’t need any flying direction for they were headed straight. Zuko decided to sit with the rest of the group in the saddle. Katara was glad to have her good friend beside her.
    “So, what are we going to do now once we reach the Earth Kingdom, Zuko?” Katara asked.
    “I’m not sure,” he answered. “It’s not like we can go to June. I don’t have anything that my mom touched that she can sniff out.”
    They thought for a moment.
    “I have an idea,” Aang said. “When we were looking for Appa, we got a good drawing of him and made loads of posters with it. We can do the same for Zuko’s mom.”
“Yeah…” Sokka said thoughtfully. “And I can draw Zuko’s mom!”
They all looked at him like if he was crazy.
    “What?” Sokka snapped defensively.
    “Sokka, you know we all love you, but maybe you should let us do that,” Suki told him.
    “What is that supposed to mean?!” Sokka yelled, looking insulted.
Katara put her hand on his shoulder. “Let it go, Sokka…let it go…”
    Sokka breathed in deep and breathed out slow.
    “So, the next town we go to we’ll just make tons of copies,” Suki concluded.
    Katara looked at Zuko. She saw that he was looking off into the ocean.
    “Did you hear that?” She asked him. “We’ll find your mother Zuko. We will.”
    “I hope so,” Zuko replied, still looking at the ocean.
    Katara frowned. She wanted Zuko to stop worrying, even though she was herself.

    “We’re finally here,” Toph said as her feet touched the grassy ground.
    “Yes. Now let’s see if this town has an inn,” Katara told her. “We need a place to plan.”
    They walked into the town and looked for an inn. It was a simple town with dirt roads and outdoor markets. The houses were small but still nice to look at.
    Once they found an inn to stay in, they all got busy doing their own job. It was Zuko’s job to draw his mom and Aang helped him out. Sokka still wanted to help but they wouldn’t let him. Instead, Sokka went out with Suki and Toph to find a copy center. Katara stayed in the motel with Aang and Zuko. She sewed anything that needed sewing; she started to prepare lunch, and did anything else that needed to be done.
After a while, she checked with Aang and Zuko to see how everything was turning out. They were at a table in the living room with bottles of paint, brushes and paper all over the table. She sat down with them.
    “What do you have so far?” She asked them.
    Zuko looked up from the drawing and handed Katara the paper. Katara’s eyes grew wide as she stared at the drawing.
    “We tried our best,” Aang said nervously.
    “You know, I haven’t seen my mother in years,” Zuko admitted. “I can understand why you don’t like it.”
    “No…no, that’s not it.” Katara breathed out happily and a huge smile spread across her face. “That’s not it at all. Zuko—”
    Katara looked at the drawing some more.
    “You’re mother’s beautiful,” She told him. “You drew her…so well.”
    “Thanks,” Aang said. “We tried.”
Katara smiled at Aang. Then she looked at Zuko, and was amazed with how he looked at her. This was the first time she noticed how he really looked at her. It was hard to describe. If she didn’t know any better, she would say he was in —
    “Ooookkaaay,” Aang said awkwardly. “Now all we have to is the last finishing touch and wait until Toph, Sokka, and Suki come back.”
    Feeling uncomfortably warm from Zuko’s unexpected stare, Katara yelled, “Good idea!”
She got to her feet fast. “I’ll just do something else over here!”
Katara took a step too quickly and stepped on a piece of paper that was on the floor.
“Whoa!” She cried out as she slipped and fell on the floor. “Ugh.”
“Katara!”
Zuko and Aang ran up to her. They tried to help her up, but she refused.
Aang said, “I’m so sorry! Zuko and I must’ve let a paper slip and—”
“It’s okay. I’m fine,” Katara assured him. “I just need some fresh air. It’s really hot in this inn.”
She ran to the door right when Toph pushed it open hard. It slammed into Katara’s forehead.
“We found a copy place!” Toph announced.
“Great,” Katara grumbled. She could feel her face turning red from pain and embarrassment. This was not her day. “Forget about me going outside, I’m taking a nap.”
As she walked to the bedroom where the girls will sleep that night, she felt dizzy and puzzled. Then that awful picture of Aang laughing at her in her servant’s outfit came into her mind. She felt even sicker. She couldn’t make it to her bed. Katara passed out right there on the floor.
“Katara!” was the last voice she heard before she completely blacked out. That wonderful voice was Zuko’s.