CHAPTER TWENTY
( A BATTLE'S AFTERMATH )

THE CALM AFTER THE giant koi fish that Aang had become apart of disappeared and subsequently ended the siege almost felt eerie. All around the Spirit Oasis were knocked out Fire Nation soldiers, and there were a few who weren't, yet they now knew better than to against General Iroh. Zhao ran off in the chaos of the fight after striking down the Moon Spirit, so he was no where to be found. Neither was Zuko. Sokka sort of hoped that one or both of them got swallowed by the giant koi fish, or something.

General Iroh kneeled by the pond with Sokka, Katara, and Akiko, the last of whom was sobbing as the old man held her. It was a heartbreaking thing to see and hear, and it made the ache in his chest worse and tears in his own eyes harder to hold back.

Chief Arnook gave him the job of protecting his daughter, and look at how well he did that. Yue was gone and her best friend was heartbroken.

Alongside the guilt of not being able to protect Yue like Chief Arnook wanted, Sokka also began to feel dread form in the pit of his stomach as realization dawned on him.

He knew where all of his friends were – except one.

Flo had stayed to watch over the Spirit Oasis with Akiko.

They came back to find Zhao with the Moon Spirit trapped in a bag held in his hand, and two soldiers holding Akiko captive with others close by. Flo was no where to be seen. At the time, Sokka hoped she was hiding somewhere, somehow. That she would jump out from wherever she was and join the fold. She never did.

And she still wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where is Flo?" he heard himself ask.

No on answered. Not at first.

When he looked at Katara, he wasn't surprised to see such a solemn expression, but it didn't ease away any of the dread in his gut. "Sokka..." she began, and visibly hesitated to say anything else.

"Katara. What do you know that I don't?"

"You're not going to like it," she said.

"I'm not liking it right now!" he exclaimed, voice pitching higher in panic. "What happened?! Where is she?"

Akiko's tears petered out. She pushed herself away from General Iroh as she visibly attempted to reign in her emotions. "We- We got separated when Zhao came. In a fight. I don't... I don't know what happened after that." A new wave of tears filled her eyes. "And Zhao wanted- he said she was some hunter? There's apparently a warrant for her capture, dead or alive. I told her to run, but she didn't and we got separated anyway, and- I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what happened after that." The tears fell, and she wiped at her eyes.

Sokka knew about the warrant for Flo's arrest. But... He shook his head. "What do you mean dead or alive? She isn't- we saw a wanted poster for her, but it didn't say that."

"I am afraid she is telling the truth," General Iroh solemnly informed them. "There is a reward for the Fire Hunter's capture. The reward is even higher for her death."

Beside him, Katara sucked in a sharp breath.

"Did you know this?" Sokka asked her.

She shook her head. "No!"

"Then what is it?"

Katara lowered her head and briefly shut her eyes. "She told me Aunt Wu said she's going to see her family again."

Sokka stared. The words didn't process at first. "That's impossible, her family is dead, and Aunt Wu is a crazy old lady whose fortunes are- are-" Unfortunately accurate.

There was a beat of silence where the two siblings just stared at each other.

Sokka scrambled to his feet and took off running. Katara followed without a word. When he got to the small, circular wooden door of the Spirit Oasis, his foot got caught on the bottom of the frame and he nearly face planted. He caught himself and straightened, ready to run again, but froze. Katara came out and stopped at his side with a gasp.

"Oh, man...." Sokka muttered.

The entire area was a post-battle scene. A few large vases were broken. A few fallen Fire Nation soldiers. Broken weapons. Melted ice structures and snow. And arrows, some singed or burnt and others not, lodged in various places; other than that, there were no signs of Flo.

Katara said, "She must have made a run for it."

Sokka frowned. "Only if she didn't have any other choice. She wanted to stay incase Aang came back before we found him." He turned to her. "I'll search for Flo. You find a healer for when I do."

"Sounds a like plan." She wrapped her arms around him in a quick but comforting hug. He returned it. "We're going to find her. She's going to be okay, Sokka." Then, she ran off, and Sokka was left alone.

Every realistic bone in his body was saying the exact opposite. If Flo had to run, and ended up fighting a large group of soldiers alone... In his mind's eye, he didn't see how that would end up along any of the lines of okay. There was a very, very slim chance she wasn't dead.

But his heart... His heart agreed with Katara, and he chose to think purposefully that way, too, for his own sake. Flo was going to be okay. She's alive. She had to be.

If this ended up being like what happened to Mom–

Sokka shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Nope. Not even going to go down that thought trail. He opened his eyes and ignored how they stung from unshed tears, and focused on the wreckage around him.

By the placement of some of the arrows, he figured out she at one point was on top of one of the walls. He went over and climbed, and carefully leaned over the edge. His eyes widened at the drop. It wasn't a deadly height, but it definitely wasn't a safe one. There were signs that someone had been down there at one point, and if it was Flo, he sincerely hoped she jumped safely and didn't fall.

He got down from the wall and left the court area to go down there to see if there was anything that would give him any idea of which way Flo went.

There were signs that there was a fight everywhere. Melted structures, shards of ice, a soldier buried in snow here and there, fallen weapons of the water tribe. It was hard to distinguish which way she might have gone. After a moment's thought, he took off in the most likely direction.

Sokka caught himself instinctively looking for the familiar dark green tunic and cloak, tan pants, and dark brown boots. She wasn't wearing that, though, and worry clawed up his throat as he realized she wasn't going to be easy to find if she was still within the city and not a Fire Nation ship. She currently looked like any other member of the Water Tribe.

Spirits, and even Sleemo wasn't even around. The hawk-cat flew off sometime near the end of all the fighting at the oasis, and he hasn't seen her since.

"Flo!" Sokka called out, not knowing what else to do. "Flo?! Sleemo!"

He sharply turned a corner and nearly fell into the canal. He steadied himself, ready to take off running again. But he faltered.

There was a fallen rhino. Who Sokka assumed to be the rider was close by, still and unmoving with an arrow sticking out of one of the eyes. Even though he was 95% certain that the guy was dead, he still kept a distance as he went by and kept an eye on the soldier. He only looked away once he was almost completely passed by them, and that's because he instinctively glanced down when he foot hit something.

It was wooden. Sokka kicked it again to knock some snow off of it.

It was a bow.

Flo's bow, he realized, when he picked it up. The string was broken and part of it was badly burnt.

He looked around. He noticed a few more fallen soldiers, and the arrows, and a familiar dagger sticking up handle first in the snow ten feet away. He grabbed it. When he stood, something rammed into his chest.

He shouted, ready to shove whatever it was off, but once he saw what, who, it was, he felt some relief. "Sleemo!" The hawk-cat rubbed the top of her head under his chin once, chirped a few times, then flew off. Sokka didn't waste any time to follow.

And just around one more corner, was Flo. Slumped against a wall. Not moving.

"Oh, no," he whispered, faltering at the sight for a split second before running over. He dropped harshly to his knees beside her, and Sleemo moved carefully into her lap. "No... Hey," Sokka gently patted her cheek, "Flo, hey. Open your eyes."

Nothing happened at first. Then, ever so slowly, her brows twitched into a small furrow, and weakly lifted her head. Sokka helped her rest it gently against the wall. "S'kka?"

He teared up with relief and gave her a smile. "Hey. We should really stop meeting up like this," he attempted at a joke. It sounded weak even to him because of the lump in his throat, but she didn't seem to notice.

Flo's lips twitched into a tiny smile. "Yeah..." The smile disappeared, and she closed her eyes again, face twisting into an expression of pain. "It hurts."

Sokka was about to ask what specifically hurt as he took in the rest of her, only for the words to die in his throat. Part of her clothes were singed, she had a bad cut right thigh, her left side was badly burned as well as her right wrist, but less so, her bottom lip had been bleeding at one point, and if she fell from that wall she definitely had bruised ribs at the least. There was also a deep cut on her left bicep. It was staining the parka she wore a dark purple-ish red.

"Katara went to find a healer," he said. "She's probably at the healing hut. Do you think you can walk?"

She didn't answer. Her eyes were shut.

Sokka patted her cheek again, a bit harder than last time. "Hey, Flo, stay awake," he said.

She didn't open her eyes, but she made a sound of protest. "M'tired."

He was really trying not to panic but it was hard.

"I- I know, just stay awake a little longer, okay? Please."

She hummed.

"Flo. Please, come on, just- stay awake for just a little longer," he begged. She needed a healer fast. "Alright... Okay, I'm gonna pick you up."

Sokka placed her arm around his neck and placed her bow and dagger next to Sleemo. He put one arm under her knees and behind her back, and carefully stood. The movement still jostled her injuries, and when she whimpered in pain, he grimaced.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I'm sorry."

Her forehead fell into the side of his neck. "...S'fine."

He made sure he had a good grip on her. Sleemo curled into a ball on her stomach. Then, he headed straight for the healing huts.

+++

No one spoke a word.

After finding a healer, and once Sokka came to the huts with Flo in his arms, Katara hurried off to find Aang as the sun began to rise. She got sidetracked by Master Pakku on the way, but once he got done telling her he decided to take a trip to the Souther Water Tribe with a few others, she finally found Aang.

They hugged, both relieved the other was okay, but then Katara had to tell him about Flo. The near immediate tears caused her own to threaten to return. Now, they each sat against the outside wall of one of the healing huts, none of them allowed inside so they wouldn't get away of anyone.

On her left, Aang sat with his legs bent and his head buried in his arms that rested on his knees. His airbending staff rested on his other side, and Momo stayed perched on his shoulder. On her right, Sokka sat crisscross, whittling away at a piece of wood. His elbows rested on his knees so shavings of the wood fell on the snow rather than onto Sleemo, who had placed herself snuggly in his lap. He disappeared a little bit ago, and when he came back his eyes were rimmed red. Katara decided not to say anything about it.

She sat between the boys, and played with the snow in front of her just to have something to do as they waited.

"You really like her, don't you?" Katara broke the silence, unable to get her brother's heartbroken expression out of her head after she told him about what Aunt Wu said. Up until today, she thought it was only a little crush, an infatuation just because he thought she was pretty. Now she saw that it was more serious than that.

Sokka didn't respond right away.

He stopped whittling. "...I think I'm falling in love with her."

She accidentally froze the blob of water and snapped her eyes to him.

But before Katara could even think of a proper response to that, a middle aged woman stepped out of the hut. All three of them looked up at her.

"You kids should go get some sleep," the woman said.

Aang immediately protested. "What? But Flo is–"

The woman cut him off, but not unkindly. "Your friend is being treated and cared for. But due to her injuries, it will be a while before she wakes up. You should rest as well. These past couple of days have been exhausting for everyone."

"So she's okay?" asked Sokka.

"Do you know when she'll wake up?" Katara questioned right after.

"Yes, she's okay," assured the woman. "Injured but alive. We don't know when she will wake up, but if she does before you come back, someone will come for you." None of them moved. "At least try to rest for a couple hours. She isn't going anywhere."

That reluctantly got them to finally stand.

"Thank you," Aang said, "for taking care of her."

The woman smiled, tired but appreciative. "You're welcome."

"I'm waterbender," Katara spoke up. "I know how to heal a little bit, so if you guys end up needing help, I can probably do some small things."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." The woman turned and went back inside.

Aang sighed. "We should probably listen to her, huh?"

Katara nodded. "Yeah. C'mon."

+++

After nearly dying because of an attack from a group of Fire Nation soldiers for a second time, Flo was immediately on edge when she woke up. When she managed to open her eyes, the familiar interior of the hut she and the others had been staying in wasn't what she saw. Her brows furrowed.

Slowly and carefully, she pushed herself up to one elbow, her other arm going around her torso when it twinged a little in pain. It was then she saw that she wasn't wearing her usual dark green tunic, but rather a pale blue one that was lined with a darker shade. Underneath it, she felt bandages. Under the blankets – and her cloak that someone had laid on top, on which Sleemo was curled up by her feet – she could tell ankle was wrapped, but it hurt far less from earlier from what she remembered.

Wait. Earlier.

The siege!

Flo abruptly sat all the way up, which was a mistake to do because the movement harshly pulled at the injury on her side and her ribs protested. Her teeth ground together and she hissed.

"Careful," someone – a woman – called out as they moved closer. A gentle hand rested on her shoulder. "Be careful, sweetie. You haven't healed completely yet."

Flo took purposefully even breaths, and the middle aged woman aided her in sitting up the rest of the way. Sleemo came over, purring with happiness. "What- the siege," she began, but stopped. She didn't know what to ask. A million and one questions were running through her brain.

"The siege is over. The Avatar defeated the Fire Nation. You don't need to worry about that anymore," she explained calmly and kindly. "My name is Soo-ah. I'm an assistant to the healers. I'm not a waterbender by any means, but I watch over the patients when they can't. How are you feeling?"

Flo frowned. "Like I got ran over by komodo rhinos." Which didn't happen, but being slammed by their tails was similar enough.

Soo-ah chuckled. "I suppose you would be. Is anything in particular hurting?"

She shook her head. "Just my side and chest."

She nodded, as if she were expecting that answer. "Yagoda was able to heal your broken ribs some, but not completely. Our healers are spread thin right now. A lot of men were injured. They were only able to heal you enough to ensure your life and safety before moving on to others in more critical conditions.

"I believe Yagoda said they are merely bruised now. As for the burn on your side..." Flo involuntarily winced. That was a pain she never wanted to feel ever again. "It will heal, but it may scar. The one on your wrist will, as well, but that one is more likely to go away over time."

"Oh." Flo nodded, taking in all of that information. Her eyes fell to her wrist; the area where Zhao burned her was healed, and now looked like a very fresh scar. She pulled the sleeve of her tunic down and looked at Soo-ah. "Um, thanks, Soo-ah. For saving me."

She smiled. "You're welcome. But you should be sure to thank your boyfriend. He's the one who carried you here."

Flo's brain went blank. She felt her face heat up. "My who?" She was embarrassed at herself that she already knew who she was talking about. In her defense, she had a very faint memory of Sokka finding her and then picking her up, and plus, Soo-ah wasn't the first person to assume that. "I- Sokka? No, he's not my, uh, boyfriend."

Soo-ah smiled like she knew something Flo didn't. "My apologies for assuming, then." That smile didn't go away. Flo eyed her suspiciously, confused and a bit embarrassed. "If it's all right with you, I want to check on the burn on your side."

Flo told her it was, and Soo-ah did as she said. She ended up changing the bandages just to be safe, and Flo made the mistake of looking down. The burn went from her hip to just a few inches below her armpit, and stretched an inch or two on her stomach and back in some places. The worst spot was in the area at the bottom of her ribs.

She swallowed over a lump in her throat.

It was terrifying, being attacked and chased after to be arrested and possibly killed by Zhao's soldiers. She had been all by herself, alone, with no real knowledge of where in the city she was. It was scary. She didn't know how she was going to get out of that fight alive. She didn't know if the others were okay, either.

"Where are my friends?" Flo asked as Soo-ah helped her slip the light blue tunic back on. It came out a bit desperate. "Are they okay?"

"Yes, they are. I sent them to get some rest a few hours ago," she said. "I imagine they will be back soon, though. I can send someone to go get them."

"Yeah." Flo nodded. "Please," she belatedly added.

"I'll go do that. I have to check on other patients, though, but I will be back soon. Will you be okay here by yourself while I do that?"

She nodded again, and Soo-ah left the room.

It felt both like time dragged on and sped by while she impatiently waited. She needed to seen them to know for herself they were okay. By the time she heard running footsteps, she was standing, ready to leave and find them herself.

Aang appeared in the doorway with Momo. His face brightened. "Flo!" He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her in a firm but gentle hug.

For once, she didn't try to push him away. She hugged him back the best she could without agitating the burn and bruised ribs. The lump in her throat was back, and tears stung her eyes.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said, voice muffled by her shoulder. He sounded on the verge of tears, too.

A gasp came from the door, and then two pairs of feet were rushing over. Flo didn't even get a chance to look up before Katara and Sokka were squishing them into a group hug.

There was a reason why she didn't like hugs – or, more accurately, why she physically pushed people away or avoided them at all costs. Because she did like them, but...

When Suki hugged her on Kyoshi Island, Flo literally ran off because that was the first time in months someone had really hugged her, and it caused her to break down into tears. Even with the Freedom Fighters, she only felt comfortable hugging Jet, the Duke, and, weirdly enough, Pipsqueak. And those instances were still few.

When she was younger, her family always hugged her and picked her up, and she always happily returned those hugs. She even actively sought them out when she was upset. Being able to seek comfort in the arms of her parents, brothers, and sisters was something she was never going to have again, so once she ran away she avoided it at all cost.

Over the years she grew used to it. Now, close physical contact either made her skin crawl and body to become tense, or caused the water works to come to life.

The latter was the result of the current group hug.

She tried to keep the tears at bay. It didn't work out too well.

For the first time in a long time, she wanted the comfort of hugs. It scared her, nearly dying. Paired with the flood of relief that everyone was okay? Really, the attempt to not cry was futile.

"Gosh, you have no idea how worried we were," said Katara.

When they all pulled apart, Flo wiped at her eyes and sniffled. The others were doing the same. It made her less embarrassed about crying. She looked at Aang. "Are you okay?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "You're the one who almost died, and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

She frowned. "Zuko kidnapped you."

He shrugged. "He didn't do anything."

"He tied you up!" Katara exclaimed.

"But he didn't actually hurt me. Just kidnapped me."

Flo rolled her eyes. "Oh, okay. Just kidnapped you. Do we need to reward him with a bronze medal?"

Katara laughed, and Aang pouted a little.

"Aang does have a point, though. I think we should be the ones asking if you're okay," said Katara once her laughter died down.

"I'm...alright," Flo said. They each gave her similar looks of disbelief. She sighed. "Look, I'm alive. You guys are okay. No one died. I'm okay, really."

All three of their expressions shifted. Sokka's brows lowered and he looked to the ground. Aang's eyes turned solemn. Katara wore a look that had Flo anticipating nothing good.

"Zhao got into the Spirit Oasis. He killed the Moon Spirit, and because Tui gave Yue life as a baby... She gave it back," Katara quietly explained.

"...Oh."

Right. Of course someone died. Because this world sucked and the war took away the ones who didn't deserve it. Tears threatened to fall again, and she pursed her lips, eyes lowering as she did her best to keep them from falling.

She should've went back there after falling to try and stop Zhao, even if he did want to arrest and/or kill her. Instead she ran.

Sokka stuffed his hands into his pockets. He didn't look up as he said, "Then we almost lost you, too. I- We thought..."

She blinked away the tears and glanced at him, then at the other two.

Aang's eyes were glassy. "Why didn't you tell us about what Aunt Wu told you?" he asked.

"I didn't want you guys to know," she admitted quietly. "I didn't want you to worry. And at the time, I didn't think I was going to stay with you guys long enough for it to matter."

"Seeing as you're our friend," said Katara, "we're going to worry about you anyway. That's just what you do when you have people you care about."

The lump was back in her throat. She didn't look at any of them. "Yeah," she hoarsely whispered. "Guess you do..." She cleared her throat wiped her eyes. "Um. Can you find me a parka? And gloves? I don't want to freeze when I walk out of here."

Katara quickly nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'll get my other one, and we can get you a new one later."

"Thanks."

She smiled, then pulled Flo into a quick hug. Aang did the same and sped after Katara with a shout of, "I'll find you some gloves!" Sokka was quickly the only one left, and neither of them said anything for a moment.

After a moment's thought, Flo stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Um," Sokka said. "This is new."

"Just hug me back before I change my mind."

He did. His arms settled around her shoulders, and she was little surprised to feel him relax into the hug. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"Are you really okay?" he asked.

"No. I feel like shit," she bluntly admitted.

"Then you should probably sit back down."

Flo sighed. "Not right now." She said, "Thanks for coming back and finding me."

"Of course I came back," he said. He leaned back, but didn't completely move out of the hug, keeping his arms over his shoulders. It caused Flo to have to lift her head, and she opened her eyes. With a smirk he said, "I'm the boomerang guy."

Flo tried and failed to suppress a smile as she rolled her eyes. She went to speak, but stilled when she noticed how close their faces were. Sokka noticed, too, because his cheeks started to turn red.

There was a moment there where they both just stared at each other, unmoving. Then, his eyes flickered down.

He tilted his head forward.

Flo's stomach growled.

Sokka jerked away and Flo stepped backwards, both blushing. She crossed her arms and looked anywhere but him.

Whatever the atmosphere was before, awkwardness replaced it.

"Uh." Sokka let out a laugh that sounded somewhat forced, and cleared his throat. "So, um, you want food?"

Flo quickly nodded. "Sure."

He nodded once. "Right. Okay." She glanced at him when he didn't leave. His cheeks immediately darkened some more. "Bye." And he sped out of the room.

He passed Soo-ah as he did, and the woman watched him leave until he was gone, then looked to Flo. "I figured your friends would have stayed with how worried they were," she said.

It took a moment for Flo to really process what she said, mind stuck on what almost just happened. Maybe she was just imagining things? "What? Oh, um... Yeah they went to get me a parka and stuff so I can leave."

Soo-ah fondly smiled. "That's sweet of them. You really do have some wonderful friends."

"Yeah," Flo agreed without even thinking about it. She looked to the door where they all left. "Yeah, I do."

***

A/N— And this concludes Part 1!! I'm iffy on the last scene but if I stare and read over this chapter any more than I already have, I might lose my mind lol so here y'all go :)

I don't know when Part 2 will start but I am currently working on The Avatar State episode. I'm trying to decide if I want to pre-write some before I update again, but idk just yet

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! xx