Jinora in the Past

Chapter 3

Jinora woke up and looked around. She didn't know where she was. She was scared and stood up saying, "Dad? Dad, where are you? Kai?" She kept repeating names as she walked through the forest. She came across a small village and everything looked old, even though it was new. The architecture was from the Fire Nation during the 100-year war.

Everywhere she went, she got odd looks. She heard people murmur, "I thought the Avatar was a guy." She's a girl. Jinora thought. She was more confused now than she ever had been before. All she knew was that people were unsettled by her Airbender tattoos and that if she didn't hide them, she might attract more attention than she wanted to.

She bowed her head and walked into a shop, looking for something to hide the tattoos on her head. She came across a cloak that would fit her well and if she pulled the hood up, it would cover her tattoos. She went up to the counter to check out with the cloak on her arm and set a coin down on the counter that she figured would cover the cost. The store owner's eyes widened and he accepted the coin.

After she left, Jinora looked at the price tag and realized that she had paid way too much for the cloak. She didn't care. She put it on and covered her forehead with the hood. It felt strange having to cover her tattoos, but she told herself to get over it.

Jinora went to the woods to see if she could find any spirits that could help her figure out what was going on. Or at least show her that she wasn't alone.

"Hello? Spirits? Is there anyone here?" she asked into the empty woods. The only response was a rat-bird flying through the trees and right towards her face. She yelled and put her arms up, letting out a gust of wind that blew the animal away. It shrieked and flew off. Jinora sighed and sat down against a tree, pulling her knees up and hugging them.

"Daddy, where are you?" she whispered, as tears slipped down her cheeks.

For the rest of the day, she wandered the woods, trying to find answers. She ended up on the beach as sunset neared. She sat down in the sand and stared out at the ocean. I'm on an island, even though I passed out in Republic City. I'm a stranger to these people, none of them could help me anyway. Daddy, Kai, where are you?

She stared at the surf for a long time, watching the golden light reach out for the horizon. The pinks and blues of the clouds comforted her. She smiled to herself. At least some things don't change. she thought. The sun sank below the horizon and she stood up, heading back to the village, hoping she could find a place to stay.

The streets were quiet, save a few people walking home from the theater. She was relieved that no one looked at her. She wandered the streets, looking for any sort of hotel, but didn't see any. She wandered into Townsquare, figuring she would just wait for someone to offer a place for her to stay when the show ended. She sat on the edge of the fountain, realizing before the theater even let out that she wasn't going to find a place to stay, and wandered back to the beach.

Eventually, the rest of the people started coming out of the theater and she noticed a group that was trying not to be noticed, just like her. She stood up and followed them, but as she got closer, she realized who they were.

"Grandpa Aang?" she whispered to herself.

Aang and his friends were walking out of the theater, unsettled by what they had just seen on stage.

"That was the worst play ever," he said. All of his friends murmured in agreement.

"At least the effects were nice," Sokka said. Suki rolled her eyes.

Aang thought he heard someone say his name, but when he looked around for the source, he couldn't find one.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asked.