‘ oh thank god you’re alive! ’ / @masteredelements
it's nice to be needed , it really is. but spirits curse it , it's exhausting. she was only gone for an hour ; they needed food , and she just . . . needed a break. she LOVES all of them , loves that they can come to her for help or to talk or because they need a hug. hell , sometimes she's even happy to do their laundry , just so their stench doesn't make them easier to track. but the constant call of her name grates on her ears like sandpaper. katara was starting to nurse a nonstop headache. so she went out to the marketplace. they needed food anyway.
a basket of fruit and grain cling off her hip , suddenly lighter in front of aang and his big gray eyes and his puppy dog pout. lighter because guilt is so heavy. she told suki she was going out — but she also didn't tell her where. only that if she was gone for more than three hours , to send backup. she should have said something MORE , should have at least invited aang along. he worries about her. was the silence really worth his anxiety ?
they're in the middle of WAR. worse , they're camped out in the enemy's vacation home , practically sitting ducks. of course aang worried. maybe she should have told them where she was going , at least. but then aang would have wanted to come along , and . . .
fucking hell. that headache's back again. and the guilt is worse.
“ i went shopping , ” she says easily. her hip pops , adjusting her grip on the basket. “ i got your favorite. ” it's almost an apology , the way she tosses a fruit at him and smiles.
outlast.
