- Third POV -
(Mizuki just turned twelve)
"Mimi, wake up" Mizuki slowly opens her eyes and sees her parents standing next to her bed.
"Goodmorning" Grins Yua while Mizuki yawns.
"Morning mom" Replies Mizuki as she gets out of bed. She looks to her right and notices a box on top of her drawer.
"What's that?" Asks Mizuki as she examines the small box. That box wasn't there when I went to sleep.
"It's a little present" Says Mizuki's father, Akio, while patting Mizuki's head.
"We bought you some gloves, you can use them to protect your hands while training" States Yua while Mizuki opens the box and sees a black pair of gloves inside.
"Do you like them?" Asks Akio as he watches Mizuki put the gloves on.
"I love them!" Beams Mizuki happily.
"But, uhm...why did you guys buy this for me?" Asks Mizuki. Upon hearing this, Mizuki's parents begin to chuckle.
"It's your birthday Mimi!" Exclaims Yua while hugging her daughter.
"Happy birthday" Smiles Akio as he joins the hug.
❀❀❀
- Fire Nation soldier's POV -
"I told you, I saw someone airbending at the Western air temple yesterday"
"Are you sure? Because if you're not right there will be consequences"
"I'm sure. They where wearing air nomad clothing, It's suspicious"
"Alright then, send as many soldiers as possible"
❀❀❀
- Third POV -
Mizuki's laying on the floor, sweating. She brushes her bangs aside as she looks up at her mother.
"Are you sure you don't wanna take break?" Chuckles Yua.
"Fine, give me like five minutes" Replies Mizuki as she dramatically spreads her arms on the floor and sighs. Mizuki was exhausted from training with her mother. After a few seconds, she sits up and starts to tie her hair. Mizuki notices how her parents are whispering about something. Mizuki's parents turn around and look at their daughter, their eyes filled with sadness and worry. Mizuki gulps nervously, what's going on?
"Mizuki, do you remember what we've told you about the Fire nation?" Says Akio as he struggles to hold his tears back. Mizuki starts to panic, something's definitly wrong!
"What's going on?" Asks Mizuki anxiously while her parents embrace her tightly.
"Listen, we want you to know that we love you. You have to leave right now, don't come back looking for us" States Yua as tears start running down her face. Suddenly, Mizuki realizes what's happening and starts to cry.
"Mom, dad. I love you both. Please don't go" Sobs Mizuki as she looks up at her parents. Yua takes off her necklace and gives it to her daughter.
"Listen Mizuki, you have-" Yua stops talking the moment she hears the sound of footsteps running through the temple. The Fire Nation soldiers have arrived. Akio grabs his glider and turns around to face the entrance while Yua takes on a defensive stance as she opens her water pouch. Mizuki looks at her parents, not wanting to leave them.
"Mizuki, go! Please!" Exclaims Akio as he begins to tear up. Suddenly, the whole temple is lit on fire. Mizuki begins to run away. She runs towards the exit of the temple as fast as she can. However, after a minute, Mizuki stops running to catch her breath. She had inhaled a certain amount of smoke, which was causing shortness in her breath. Mizuki frantically gasps for air as she looks at the fire around her. The air around the flames looks like it's moving. Mizuki starts to cough as she runs down the stairs.
The flames only kept on getting bigger and after a few minutes Mizuki was surrounded by thousands of flames. She felt the hot air burn on her skin as she covered her nose to avoid inhaling the smoke. After a while, Mizuki realizes that the entire Western Air Temple is lit on fire. There is no safe exit. I'm trapped. There was only one option: run through the fire and hope to land safely in the river underneath the temple. Suddenly, Mizuki hears footsteps and hides behind a pillar. She holds her breath while sweating. Please go away...Mizuki starts to cough and quickly covers her mouth. However, the soldier already had heard her. It was too late. Mizuki anxiously holds her breath while tears run down her face.
"Who's there?!" Shouts the soldier as he approaches the pillar. Mizuki can feel the adrenaline running through her veins. This is it. It's now or never. Mizuki quickly bends the last bit of air and creates a bubble of air to protect her head. She rapidly runs towards a pair of stairs as the soldier begins to chase her. As soon as Mizuki reaches the end of the stairs, she looks down at the fall. She hesitates for a second before jumping down. The soldier looks at the young girl who was falling down in shock. Mizuki looks up at the figure, having trouble seeing. Her vision is blurry due her tears. She felt her body burning, it hurt so badly, Mizuki bit her lip which started to bleed.
After a few seconds of falling, Mizuki lands in the river and quickly swims to the surface. She had trouble getting onto the shore as her burn wounds stinged whenever they touched something. As soon as Mizuki is sitting on the shore, she looks at her arms and legs, which are covered in burns. Her eyes widen out of horror at the gruesome sight. Mizuki quickly closes her eyes and starts to heal her wounds with the river's water. After doing so, she stands up and looks up at the Western Air Temple, only to see her parents fighting against a whole Fire Nation military. I can't leave them alone like this, I have to do something! Mizuki starts walking towards a hill that leads to the temple. However, after taking three steps, she falls down. Mizuki starts to cry out of frustration.
She didn't know what hurt more; losing her parents or her injuries. Mizuki stands up again and begins to slowly walk towards the forest on top of the hill. She clutches her stomach in pain as she coughs. I probably inhaled too much smoke. Mizuki struggles to walk forwards, holding onto each tree she passes by, her legs trembling. After a few minutes of trying to walk, Mizuki passes out.
❀❀❀
Meanwhile, Akio and Yua are surrounded by hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers.
"Behind you!" Shouts Yua as a Fire Nation soldier sends a fire blast towards Akio, who is quick to redirect the attack with the use of airbending. There were multiple soldier's bodies laying on the ground, which Yua used to her advantage. She bloodbended the dead soldier's bodies and used them to attack the Fire Nation soldiers approaching. It was a terrifying experience, the Fire Nation army had never seen something like this. The temple's walls were covered in blood stains while the air turned grey due the fire's smoke.
Suddenly, the soldiers start to synchronize their attacks. The soldiers count to three before sending a huge fire wave towards the couple. Akio bends an air shield to protect his wife and himself, however, the attacks don't stop. Yua begins to bloodbend multiple soldiers and uses them as shields while Akio uses his airbending to keep a distance between the flames and himself. This went on for hours, just as they defeated an army of soldiers, a new one would arrive. Each minute passing by, the couple started to lose energy, but most importantly: hope. When will this fight end? The flames surrounding the couple started to get closer and closer, leaving Akio and Yua cornered. They were fighting for their lives. Actually, they were fighting for three lives. Considering the fact that Yua is pregnant.
The distance between the Fire Nation soldiers and the couple started to decrease each second. Yua was using the dead bodies of soldiers to fight against the living soldiers, but her stamina was running out. Yua's vision was getting blurry as she continued to fight. The woman looked to her left, only to realize the sun was already setting. For how long have we been fighting? I honestly can't remember. How long has the air been this dry? Yua begins to cough and stops bloodbending, causing the dead bodies to all fall down.
"Yua?" Exclaims Akio worriedly as he notices his wife fainting. He rushes towards Yua and catches her before she can hit the ground. Yua slowly opens her eyes and looks up at Akio.
"Akio, my beloved. Go on without me"
To be continued
Word count: 1.416