Four years before Avatar Roku died and Avatar Aang was born, a princess was born. But not just any princess, she is the dragon princess Akiko and she would soon be announced as the dragons chosen one also known as The Dragon Warrior! The Dragon Warr...
She replaced her humming with a giggle as she answered, "After all these years, I thought you would remember my voice, little rose." That nickname was enough for me to recognize who I was talking to. "Mom," I asked in shock as she turned around to face me. Sure enough, I come face to face with my mother, who I never thought to see again, smiling happily at me. She looked exactly as I remembered her to be 100 years ago. I was in so much shock that I started to doubt my own sanity as I asked her in a desperate tone, "Is this real or am I hallucinating? Y-You-you can't be real! Y-y-you're supposed to b-be--" ; "Dead? What was it your father and I always told you, Akiko? Things are not always what they seem," said the calm dragon queen.
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"Now, are you going to continue staring at me like I'm a ghost or are you going to give your mother a hug," Mayumi asked with a small smile while holding her arms out, waiting for her daughter's embrace. Tears started to well up in my eyes as I wrapped my arms around my mom's waist while she hugged back. "Oh mom, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I've missed you so much," I said while crying happy tears. My entire body was trembling as I cried into my mother's shoulder. She gently stroked my hair, something she did that always calmed me down, and said in a soft tone of voice, " I've missed you too, my little rose. But, I'm afraid we won't have a lot of time to talk at the moment."
She gently pushed me out of her embrace but kept her hands on my shoulders. I look at her face again and she has tears in the corner of her eyes, clearly happy to see me as well. "Mom, what are you talking about? Where are we? What do you mean we don't have a lot time? Where's dad and Ryuji? Why aren't they here with you," I rambled questions to her, hoping to see the rest of my family. My mother's right hand moved from my shoulder to my face as she answered me," My dear Akiko, you're in the spirit world. You're body is healing in the world of the living, but I summoned your spirit here to help you heal a bit faster. As I have already told you back then, dreamshade is something no one can heal easily from."
When she said 'dreamshade', I immediately remembered what happened before I fell unconscious. Anger started to flow threw my body as I groaned in frustration from my carelessness. "You should not blame yourself, dear. Even the greatest warriors can make a mistake," Mayumi said trying to comfort her daughter. Akiko just bit her bottom lip and looked down at her reflection in the water, seeing herself as a weak little child, a failure. "What am I going to do, mom? Everytime I'm reunited with Aang and the others, somehow I always end up injured then we get separated. How am I, the dragon warrior, supposed to protect the avatar, who I see as my little brother, if I can't even protect myself?! I even took in two dragon kids and I don't know if I can keep the promise I made to them to end this war," my voice cracked from crying out in anger and frustration at myself.
My mom frowned at how I was putting myself down at the moment. She tried to cheer me up with a random question," My little rose, do you know how you got that nickname?" ; "Dad said that I was born with rosey cheeks and everyone just started calling me that," I said with a deadpan face. She chuckled at my answer while shaking her head side to side, "Yes, but also because every rose has its thorns, my dear. They are beautiful to look at, but dangerous if you touch them. That's what you are, Akiko, a rose. A beautiful warrior, who can handle anything the world throws at her and give it back ten fold. After all, you're not just the dragon warrior. You are half dragon, a princess, a priestess and just like your family, you're a force to be reckoned with." I rubbed my eyes while sniffling as I looked back up at my mother's face and nodded with determination.
