Violent Delights, ATLA

chapter twenty eight, all they see are ashes

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ALL THEY SEE ARE ASHES

SHE DID NOT WAKE IN her mom's arms. She awoke seeing red. Burgundy red, supposedly a metal. What she laid on was soft and comforting with nothing tying her down or hindering her movements. There was a light coming from two sconces hung on the walls if she wasn't mistaken. A groan escaped her lips as she attempted to sit up, elbows on the mattress.

San was alive.

But she was alive on a Fire Nation ship. It all made sense- the scarlet hues, the banner of the nation's emblem on the side, the familiarity of the space. Had she been captured by Azula? Although if she really was a captive, wouldn't they have thrown her into a cell and not let her rest in a cosy room?

Quickly, she stood on her feet and rushed outside the room. There were no soldiers on duty, hallways empty. This was too easy. Until she made it up the foredeck and caught multiple people donning deep sanguine-dyed cloaks, a couple even sporting the Fire Nation soldiers' armour. When they heard her footsteps, they all turned to her and some even appeared familiar.

"Oh, goody! You're awake!" Toph was the first to break the tense silence, clapping her hands together. Bewilderment was etched onto the young woman's face. "We were so worried, we weren't sure when you were gonna wake up."

"Um... what?"

She held the side of her head, her brain a puddle of motley thoughts. There was a faint thumping in her head but she couldn't tell if that was her heart or something else.

"You should lie back down." Katara said, noticing how lost she was. "You're safe now."

'Am I?' She did a once-over of the people staring at her. Katara, Sokka, Toph, but Aang was nowhere to be found. Two older Water Tribe men, perhaps one was Katara's and Sokka's father based on how similar they appeared. Appa blinked when he saw her and Momo waved her hello (so San did the only logical thing she should do — wave back). An older guy with a child on his shoulder, and then others who she simply couldn't recognise at all.

San hadn't realise she began walking back to the room she stayed in until Toph spoke up. "We were riding on Appa when we saw you lying unconscious on a coast."

"A coast? How'd I end up there?"

"We're not sure." Eyebrows furrowed, they stopped in front of a room. "Are you sure you can't remember anything?"

When San drew in her breath, fragments of her memories resurfaced. She could recall Ba Sing Se and the crystal catacombs. Azula summoning the Dai Li Agents. Zuko's... betrayal. Aang's death. Her frail body shook with remorse. She remembered escaping with a twisted ankle. And then...

"I died." Her voice was no quieter than a whisper but Toph could catch onto every word. "I- there was a knife in me. I was stabbed! A Dai Li agent killed me! He had to be one of those anti-sun people! And- and—"

"San, calm down." Toph demanded firmly, able to feel the rate of her heartbeat pick up speed. "Breathe."

Inhale. Exhale.

"Tai Yang... I- I think I saw him. How do I know if he's okay...?"

"Who?"

"The sun spirit!"

"Aren't you the sun spirit?" The confusion evident in her tone of voice was genuine.

"No," a frantic shake of her head, "I'm like a vessel, I hold his heart in me."

"Does what you're freaking about now have anything to do with your appearance?" Toph resumed her list of questions, only wanting to know more about this seeming stranger on the ship but already deducing her to be more friend than foe.