Avatar: The Fifth Element

27. Wrath

"Is that seriously it?" Sokka asked, confused.

"It has to be, right?" Aang answered, though it was more of a question.

The group stared at the address the ransom note directed them too: an old, run down house. No one had lived there in forever, and it looked to be falling apart.

"You'd think Kaito would've picked a place harder to infiltrate," Rumi pointed out.

"This is just proof that this is a trap, guys. I don't know about this," Katara said, taking a small step back.

"No, even if it is, we can take 'em. Come on," Rumi walked up to the door and pressed on it lightly. The door easily swung open as a creaking sound echoed throughout the house. She took a weary step inside to find that the main floor was vacant. Rumi turned to her friends and gestured for them to follow.

"They're in the basement, follow me," Toph said. Everyone was as quiet as possible as Toph guided them to the staircase. A dim light was emanating from the bottom.

As the group proceeded down, Zuko instinctively grabbed onto Rumi's arm, giving her an awkward smile when she looked at him in surprise.

They had almost made it all the way down without a sound when a loud crack was heard from the group. Everyone turned to the sound to see Zuko, who's foot was lodged into one of the steps, which had broken. Granted, it was an old staircase and one of them was bound to break. Zuko winced as they heard Kaito's menacing voice grow louder as he approached them.

"Great timing, I was starting to get tired of waiting around."

"Where are my parents?!" Rumi lunged at Kaito, gripping onto his shirt.

"Calm down, sweetheart. They're right this way," Kaito said as he stalked away.

Rumi's jaw dropped when she saw how her parents had been tied up.

"Mom! Dad!" she couldn't believe her eyes, but she quickly turned back to Kaito. "Why? Why the hell would you do this?! You bastard!"

At her harsh tone, Rumi noticed her parents flinch in fear. They were scared of her. Of course they are...

Rumi could feel the energy building in her, but this time, she calmed it. She cleared her mind and allowed the energy to flow within her, ready to use it if she needed to.

"You left me no choice, Rumi. How else was I supposed to get you back?" Kaito shouted.

Rumi shook her head in confusion, "Not that, I mean all of this. Everything from when you decided to train me. You used me! What could you possibly have hoped to gain?!"

"Are you seriously asking that?" Kaito's voice heightened at the end. "I had everything taken away from me when the Fire Nation attacked! I don't care if the war is over, they all deserve to die! No one has ever taken the fight to them, I thought with your power I could finally have my revenge! I want to take everything away from them just like they did to me! Don't you understand, Rumi? With you, that's possible! But then he had to corrupt you!" Kaito motioned to Zuko with a disgusted look on his face.

"Leave him out of this!" Rumi shoved herself in front of Zuko. "Whatever you want, tell me! Just promise to let my parents go!"

"Oh Rumi," Kaito placed his hand on her cheek. "Do you really want them to be free? They didn't love you. They hurt you. Look at that hideous scar on your neck," he gestured to the large scar that was spread from Rumi's neck to her chest. "You remember who did that? Your father!"

A pounding sensation overwhelmed Rumi's head and she felt herself grow dizzy.

"Don't listen to him, Rumi!" her father shouted from the corner of the room. "He's trying to corrupt you!"

"Is he?!" Rumi screeched as she yanked herself away from Kaito, turning to face her father. "It's the truth though! You hurt me, your own daughter! What if I bled out and died?! You'd be a murderer."

"You have to understand!" Rumi's mother spoke up, "We were only trying to protect everyone, your father didn't mean to harm you!"

On the sidelines, Kaito grimaced, "See, Rumi? I was right, I've always been right."

He took a step towards Rumi, but she aggressively shoved him away and planted her feet in the middle of the dingy room.

"You're just as bad, if not worse! You used me, Kaito!" she then turned to her parents. "And you feared me! No one ever thinks about what I want! You're all terrible!"

"Rumi! That's not true!" Zuko tried to run to her but Toph and Sokka held him back.

"She's not stable right now," Sokka whispered. "Just stay still."

Rumi ran her fingers across her skull so hard it hurt. Her head pounded more and her ears started ringing.

"Calm down, Rumi, it'll be okay..." her mother spoke wearily, her voice was shaky and weak.

"How could you say that?! You two never even loved me!" By now, tears were streaming down Rumi's face and the air around them started rushing.

"Of course we loved you, we still love you! We were terrified of you, of what you could become. It nearly killed your father to do what we did to you, but we still tried to keep you hidden from the world and when you lashed out, we acted out of anxiety!" her mother's voice was uneven and her breath rapid as she spoke, praying that her child would come to her senses.

"No! You don't get to justify what you did! Everyone who's wronged me deserves to suffer!" Rumi's eyes were sealed shut as the wind grew harsher and harsher. The old weak house couldn't hold together and the upper floor was destroyed, revealing the blazing sun.

Aang ran up to Rumi to try and stop her, but with a flick of her arm, Rumi sent him crashing into the basement wall.

"I thought you could control this!" Katara screamed over the sound of the howling wind.

Rumi turned to Katara and the others with an odd sense of calmness, "Oh, I'm in complete control."

-

A/N ~ holy crap! everything's finally coming to a head! i'm surprised at how far this story has come, and i know it's not a lot, but i'm almost at 3k reads and i think that's amazing! thank you guys for everything, it really means a lot.
as usual, don't forget to vote/comment/share!
—Blaise⚡️