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"Our paths crossed for a moment,

but that was enough."

- Avijeet Das

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KIDA ISN'T CERTAIN HOW MUCH TIME PASSES. She walks until her feet are sore, and then walks some more.

The days blend together and Kida falls into a vicious pattern of overthinking and insomnia, over and over again to the point that infinite hours of sleep wouldn't be enough to balance out her exhaustion. Kida feels tired in a way that seeps into her bones, but she treads on.

One day, while crossing through a forest, Kida trips over a trail of jagged rocks. She doesn't remember seeing it before, then again her mind might be playing tricks on her. More likely though, it's karma for all the bad things she's done. She seems to be haunted by that lately, and the worse part is that she isn't the one who bears the consequences.

Whatever it is, Kida loses her balance and falls to the ground. Groaning, she allows herself to lay down before getting up. While she's brushing the dirt off her clothes, Kida notices someone standing in the bushes. It's a girl, no more than twelve years old.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Kida scoffs. She looks up to the sky and throws her hands up in frustration. "Another one?" Even though her throat is dry from not drinking water all day, Kida yells with every ounce of frustration she has.

"Whoa, Hot-Head, you okay?" the girl asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine! Just peachy!" Kida exclaims hysterically. She shouts at the sky as though someone is listening, but only the birds chirp back, and even they seem confused by Kida's sudden outburst. It's like all the thoughts racing through Kida's mind these past few days have accumulated, and the dam she had built up is finally broken. "The Spirits must be having a blast fucking with my life. Sending me people they know I can't protect. I'm not good with children! Isn't that crystal clear by now?"

"I don't need protection," the girl states. She crosses her arms. "I'm perfectly fine taking care of myself."

"And it's not just children! I mean I'm just not a people person!"

"Look I'm just gonna go —"

"Oh well, usually I'm the one who leaves, so that's a nice change of pace!" Kida interrupts. She continues to yell and ramble on, even as the girl walks away. " I left the Freedom Fighters, I left Suki — wait! I've got it now! Either I leave, or someone gets killed because of my stupid mistakes. That's just the way it's gonna be, huh? So I guess it's good that I left the team! Sokka was right, they're better off without me."

"Wait." the girl stops, but doesn't turn back. "Did you just say Sokka?"

"Yeah," Kida grumbles, stopping her tangent. She stares at the girl, head tilted in intrigue. "Why?"

The girl turns around slowly. "You wouldn't happen to be a firebender pretending to be an archer would you? Because Captain Boomerang can pretend to hate you all he wants, but I can tell he's lying."

"How?"

"Same way I know that your heart rate got faster when I asked about him." The girl smirks.

"Okay," Kida states slowly. "Who are you?"

»»---------------------►

"SO YOU RAN AWAY FROM HOME?" Kida asks. Toph nods, chewing on a piece of bread she had in her bag. She offered some to Kida earlier, which she took gratefully, but Kida has been so invested in Toph's story that she hasn't taken one bite. Kida sits cross legged next to Toph, both of them leaning back against a mini rock wall Toph bended in a clearing of the forest so they'd be comfortable. "But then you ran away from the reason you ran away from home because...of what, exactly?"

Toph swallows. "Because everyone thinks that I'm some helpless little girl, but I can take care of myself, by myself."

"Look, I doubt that the team thinks you're helpless. Frankly, we literally just met, and your whole 'Blind Bandit' thing is proof enough that you're a complete badass with or without anyone's help," Kida admits. "But you're part of a team now, kid. Taking care of each other kind of comes with the territory, whether you like it or not. Trust me, I would know. Before you know it, you'll all love each other and the reality of having to face an entire Imperial Army doesn't seem so scary as long as you're together."

"You know, they still love you," Toph says. "I can tell by the way they mention you, from time to time. Sokka always pretends to be all angry, but it's painfully obvious that he's lying and still loves you."

Kida isn't sure what to make of what Toph just said, so she finally takes a bite of her bread and allows a few moments of silence to pass as she eats.

"Would you ever come back?" Toph suddenly asks.

Kida sighs. She pops the final bit of bread into her mouth and chews thoughtfully. "No." Kida swallows; she remembers something and a plan starts to form in her mind. "There's...I have something else I have to do now. Somewhere else I need to be."

"But you could teach Aang firebending," Toph points out.

"I can barely firebend, I doubt I can teach the Avatar."

"Still, we could use your archery skills."

"I burned my bow the other day."

"Spirits, Hot-Head, I'm trying to tell you that you should rejoin the team!" Toph exclaims in frustration.

"There's no point," Kida counters. She gets up to leave, but pauses before doing so. Before Toph can argue, she continues: "You need to rejoin the team, though. What Aang needs is an earthbending teacher and you're the best one he's gonna get. Just, don't be too hard on him, okay?"

"I won't make any promises," Toph states. "Where are you going, anyways?"

Kida ignores the question. "And try to remember that Katara means well. She really cares about keeping the team together."

"Whatever you say."

"Oh, and Appa loves moon-peaches and apples, so be sure to give him some from time to time to show him you care. Now, Momo will eat anything including your food, so watch out for that."

"Is that it?" Toph sighs, uninterested.

"Yeah," Kida replies. "Good luck with everything." She starts to walk away, but turns around again. "Wait, actually, one last thing."

"Really," Toph grumbles.

"Sokka is kind of a jerk sometimes, but laugh at his jokes once in a while, okay?"

Toph smirks. "Your heart rate just got faster."

Kida rolls her eyes, even if Toph can't see. "Whatever. See you around, kid."

Toph says goodbye, but adds: "If you suddenly become a firebending master, you should join us."

"Maybe," Kida muses. "But I doubt I'd be able to find my own firebending teacher where I'm going."

»»---------------------►

author's note !

i'm sorry for not updating sooner; i've sort of been in an emotional funk and it's really been affecting my writing. i'm trying to get back on track though!

also, i have been thinking a lot about the college au idea i had (though, no writing has happened but it will soon, fingers crossed)

anyways, here's how i imagine ~modern~ kida:

credit to artist
(djarn on picrew)