A sense of great peace and quiet was lifting me. Beyond any sound and or chaos. I felt myself leaving my body, towards a bright white light. It was so bright, I had to close my eyes. And so I did, never to open them again and to float bodiless into the light.
With a gasp I woke up. I coughed loudly, blowing away the shallow puddle water I was lying down in. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a kind of swamp. I pushed myself up, and unbuttoned my dress. There was no wound. I looked around and saw some animals walking around.
I did not feel anything. Not any pain or anger. I tried to fire bend, but nothing happened. Again. Nothing.
"You must wonder why I brought you here." An old-sounding voice said from behind me. I froze and I turned around, slowly. I gasped when I saw who it was.
"At least I ended up here," I said relieved, "thank you. It has always been my dying wish to guide spirits and travelers in the Spirit World."
"You are not dead, Istari," Avatar Roku said, "I brought you here to talk to you."
"Why?" I asked confused.
"Although your mission was valiant and brave it is in vain... Aang is still alive." Avatar Roku said. I sighed out of relief and buried my face in my hands. "How? I saw him fall, he did not breathe." I said quickly, shaking my head.
"Neither did you, and still you are here." Roku replied.
"I have to go back, do I?" I asked him slowly, scared of his answer. "If you want you can stay," Avatar Roku said and sighed, "but I'd appreciate your help."
"Will I return to the Spirit World?" I asked hopeful. "Yes, I think you will." Roku replied.
I smiled, hearing those words of comfort. "I will wake up anyway, right? This is just a dream, you are not real." I said, shaking my head.
Avatar Roku smiled. "If you say so." After he said that, smoke rose up around him, and he disappeared. The bright white light came around me again and I experienced the same out of body feeling.
Well, I wasn't completely bodiless, as my chest was hurting. It was hurting a lot. I slowly became aware of the fact that a great many other things hurt as well, but my chest felt like my ribs were exchanged with red-hot bars. At least my chest was there, so should be the rest of my body. When I cracked my eyes open to look, the haze of pain that floated over my chest seemed almost visible, but it might as well be the result of general fuzziness in my head.
"Thank the spirits, you're awake." Said a relieved-sounding voice near my ear. "No, I'm not." I whispered. My voice emerged as a crusted croak, rusty with the taste of iron. I could feel and taste dried blood in my mouth and with difficulty I swallowed it away. I caught a brief glimpse of the silhouette of a woman, who sitting next to me.
"How are you feeling?" The woman asked. "Horrible." I grunted in reply. I was also beginning to get annoyed at being alive, after all, and being required to witness the events that were about to happen. The woman reached for a jug of water on the floor and gave it to me. I drank from it, but coughed deeply, nearly choking on the lukewarm water.
My eyes finally adjusted to my surroundings. It was very dark and it felt like I was rocking back and forth. "How did I end up here?"
"We heard that the Avatar was in Ba Sing Se. But when we arrived we only found you, barely alive. You've almost bled to death." The woman replied breathlessly.
"Why didn't you just let me die?" I asked, wheezing after I coughed again.
"I couldn't live with myself if I did." The woman replied hoarsely. Tears swelled up in my face, and I turned my head around to look at the woman.
"M-mom?" I asked, my voice shaking. The woman nodded slowly. "Oh, Istari," My mom said and her blue eyes filled themselves with tears as she hugged me carefully, "I am so, so, sorry." She cried. I thought I was dreaming again, until I saw the jade necklace around my mother's neck. "Hey, that's mine." I said slowly, narrowing my eyes to see it better. I felt a sharp pain in my chest and quickly I moved my hand towards it, touching the scar. It was bigger than I imagined.
"Ree, take some rest. I'll tell you everything later. Don't worry, you are safe." She whispered. I nodded slowly and fell into a deep sleep.
I don't know how long I've slept, but when I woke up I felt a lot better than before. I was still in the same dark room. I pushed the sheet off me and sat down on the side of the bed. I touched my chest as it felt tight and sore and I saw that I was taped in a kind of corset. Carefully I stood up and wrapped myself in a robe that was on the chair in the corner. I looked in the mirror and saw that I was very pale and skinny. I looked like a ghost, and honestly I kinda felt like one too. Only my stomach was a little bit bloated and hard, probably because I've missed quite a few meals.
The room rocked again and I almost lost my balance. I was on a boat... I opened the door of my room but I did not see anyone. I did hear voices from the deck, and the light of a fire was flickering though the wooden cracks of the floor. I made my way up the stairs and opened the door of the deck. A few people were sitting around a campfire. I saw my mother sitting next to a water tribe man, and his face looked oddly familiar. He saw me and whispered to my mother My mother gasped and looked at me, quickly sanding up. "Ree! What are you doing? You should be in bed." She said worriedly, trying to support me. "I want to get out," I panted, leaning on my mother, "where are we?"
"Sit down first." My mom said as she helped me to the camp fire. It was already dark and the folks were just finishing dinner. When I looked around the circle I saw many familiar faces.
"Bato?" I asked when I looked at him. "Hello Istari," he said friendly, "I want to introduce you to someone." I looked at the man next to him. He was a handsome man, also from the water tribe. "I am Hakoda," he said, "nice to meet you."
"Wow, Sokka and Katara's dad! Nice to finally meet you, sir." I said, shaking his hand. I gasped when I saw more of the faces. "Wow you've grown a mustache! You look great, Haru."
"Thanks Istari," he said with a faint smile, "It's good to see you."
"What are you all doing here?" I asked, looking around. "This is water tribe fleet," my mother said "we will meet Sokka, Katara and Aang in Chameleon Bay. From there we will go and attack the Fire Nation, on the day of Black Sun."
"Black Sun?" I asked confused. "Yeah, there'll be a solstice. Fire benders won't be able to bend, it will be perfect to attack."
"Wow okay," I replied, trying to take that information in, "when is it?"
"Tomorrow." My mother replied. "What?" I asked shocked. I shook my head and buried my face in my palms. "Don't worry, we got everything planned out." Hakoda said determined. It just occurred to me that Zuko might be in the palace.
"So how did I get here, huh?"
"Your uncle found you underground in Old Ba Sing Se, with a dagger sticking out of your chest." My mother said breathlessly, as if she didn't want to actually hear those words. "The Fire Nation left you for dead, but your uncle got you out. He got you out of Ba Sing Se to the north where we picked you up. That was several weeks ago. You've been asleep for so long..." my mom said and she took a deep breath, "we were afraid that you wouldn't wake up."
I smiled faintly. "But I did, mom, I am okay."
"Where have you been though? Why didn't come and look for me?" I asked her, staring at the ground. "I have been with Hakoda the last few years, I had no idea whee you were. I searched and searched, but no luck."
"I heard you fall that night, what happened?" I asked, ignoring her answer. "They knocked me out," my mom said, closing her eyes, "I was thrown in jail, but Iroh got me out and helped me escape."
"Okay." I replied blankly, staring into the camp fire.
"Eh, Ree, I need to talk to you in private." My mother said seriously. "What is it?" I asked while taking a sip of water. "Can you stand?" My mother asked as she stood up. "I guess." I replied confused. She helped me up and together we walked away from the campfire. My mother opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her.
"Uncle said you set up dad, is that true?" I asked her, shivering with the thought. "Ree, I-"
"- Did you?" I said angrily. "I had no choice, Istari," my mother said, looking away from me, "his plans.. his visions for the future... It was horrible. His plans for you..."
"For me?"
Mother nodded. "Your fire bending was extraordinary at such young age, he wanted to use you in his plans. To fight and use you as a weapon, I refused."
I shook my head in disbelief. "That's... no, that's not possible."
"It is true Ree... But still his view was different than that of the Fire Lord. Sooner or later he'd have succumbed anyway."
"And that makes it all right, does it?" I asked slowly. "No, Ree, it doesn't. But I just couldn't let it happen, you must understand."
"It's happened, it's done," I said, rubbing my hands together, "we can't change it now." My mother looked to the ground and looked up again, staring at my stomach.
"How are you feeling?" My mother asked seriously. "Apart from horrible chest pain and a sore feeling overall, quite good." I replied, wondering about where she was going with her story. "I know its none of my business, but..."
"But what?" I asked. "Did you date Zuko?" She asked.
"Yes," I replied, "I had been traveling with Zuko and Iroh for a while, and we lived in Ba Sing Se while working in a tea shop. Zuko and I were... romantically involved. Until he broke my heart and left."
"Yes, your uncle told me all about it. Heard from the neighbor you had a teashop."
"So, you're almost eighteen.... I can imagine your relationship with Zuko has quite... evolved?"
"Evolved?" I repeated, raising my eyebrows. "Yeah, like... you know..."
"Mom just ask me, what's the matter?"
"Ree, you're pregnant!" My mom blurted out, angrily. I gaped at her. I took a step back, shaking my head. "No, no, no... That's impossible."
"Is it, Ree?" My mom asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "Yes," I hissed, "we tried but... oh never mind!" I said breathlessly, "Why do you think I'm pregnant?!"
"Because you didn't bleed in the meantime!" My mother hissed, "You've been here for weeks, nothing happened! Plus your stomach is bloated."
"But I don't feel anything! I always had irregular periods, it is just not possible! I am sure it'll come soon - aargh!" I shouted, touching my chest. "Okay, maybe you're not, but there's a big chance that-"
"Shoot!" I hissed, "why are you telling me this now?"
"Because it might influence tomorrow." My mother said seriously. "I don't want your ex boyfriend to be in our way, we need to get them out! Ozai, Azula, Zuko... it's time for a new Fire Lord, a new reign."
"Oh yeah? And who might that be?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
My mom's friendly face disappeared and she suddenly looked dark and evil. "You." She whispered.