The Girl He Won't Remember

Chapter 8

I coughed as the dust settled but refused to leave my lungs, and my head was throbbing. I was beginning to worry that I should have let when Katara heal me when she had tried to. I looked up to find yet another barricade in front of us. Sokka was furiously digging at the rocks. I looked around and finally understood why he was in such a frenzy: Katara and Aang were on the other side.

"Yeah, it's no use," Chung sighed. "We're separated."

"It'll be okay," I said as I stood onto my wobbly legs, walking like a newborn sabretooth moose lion to join Sokkka's side. I rested my hand on Sokka's shoulder, mostly to support and balance myself. "They're together. They'll protect each other and find a way out. We need to do the same."

"And, besides, you still have us!" Chung said gleefully.

Feeling Sokka cringe, I said quietly, "On the bright side, you still have me, so you don't have to suffer through them alone." He exhaled, placing his hand over mine and whispering, "Thank you."

We had only been walking for ten minutes when Chung and his gang decided that it was time to sing again:

"Oh! Don't let the cave-in get you down!
Don't let the falling rocks turn your smile into a frown.
Through the tunnels and it's dark,
That's when you need a clown, hey!"

Leaning over to his, Chung gave a toothy grin as he concluded his song. "Don't let the cave-in get you down, Sokka - and girl who's name I still don't know!"

Sokka's eyebrows furrowed across his forehead, his hand clenching tye torch. "If I have to hear one more song..." he muttered.

"Hey," I whispered back. "We'll get out of here soon enough. In the meantime, just focus on guiding and trying to find our exit." He nodded, and we trudged on.

Chung initiated an encore, but to no avail. Before he'd a chance to play more than one note, I snatched the instrument from his hands. "Hey!" he protested, reaching for it like a toddler.

I held the instrument up near the torch, not breaking eye contact. "There will be no more singing; There will be no more music. By the Spirits, you can either help us or find your own way out! Do I make myself clear?" When he nodded silently, I handed it back to him, and we continued our search.

About five minutes passed before we had reached yet another dead end, which Moku was not hesitant to complain about. "Oh, great! Your plans have led us to another dead end!" He whined.

"At least I'm coming up with ideas and trying to get us out of here, Moku," Sokka replied, exasperated.

"Wait a minute," Chung cut in. "We're coming up with ideas? I've had an idea for, like, an hour now."

Sokka threw his hands up in frustration, his voice rising to a prepubescent-like crack. "Yes!! We are all coming up with ideas!"

"Well, listen to this," Chung said. In that moment, I'd begun to think that this man may have been smarter than I gave him credit for. "If love is the key out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song!"

And just like that, he'd ruined the hope I'd had in him. I looked at Sokka, whose eye twitched slightly. I then wished that I had just burned the damned instrument when I had it in my hands. Sokka clearly thought the same thing as he slapped his palm against his forehead.

The singing group of nomads had already began their parade through the tunnels. As much as we wanted them to leave us, Sokka and I knew that we had to remain with them. Mainly because they were carrying the rest of the torches. Their music bounced off of the walls, Chung's voice echoing through the dark tunnels: