When I woke again, it was in a place rather unfamiliar with me. I was inside what appeared to be a warm, well-lit cave. I rubbed my eyes as I sat myself up, peering around the room. I had awoken on a comfy bed, and nearby I had a bedside table. Around the room were some more beds, some occupied, and vases of water were scattered around the room. Though I had never been here for very long, I was able to identify the room as the healing bay. That would explain why my arms were both wrapped in a large amount of bandage, though I had no memory as to why. I had been stripped of my clothing, and I was now simply wearing a bland white shirt and basic trousers. An older lady with grey hair, who had been wandering around the room, approached me. It was Yagoda, the tribe's best healer.
"Oh good, you're awake," she stated, smiling dearly at me.
"How long have I been out for?" I asked her, quick to get straight to the point. I didn't feel tired at all, so I assumed that I had been passed out for a while.
"About twelve hours," she told me. "Your friends were worried sick, though,". I thought of all of my friends and family; had they survived the attack? In fact, had we even won? Before I could ask an onslaught of questions, I saw the familiar figure of Master Pakku walking down the healing bay. When he saw me, he had a proud look on his face.
"(Y/N)!" he exclaimed upon his approach. Questions still on my mind, I blurted out my top priority.
"Is the tribe okay?" I hastily asked the waterbending master, who smiled at me deeply.
"We have a bit of rebuilding to do, but we're fine," he calmly told me, allowing me to relax, before adding "Thanks to you,".
"Thanks to me? What did I do?" I asked him, completely bewildered. The events of the last twenty four hours were all still a blur to me. All I remember was the fire nation attacking, and Zhao getting away. Immediately I felt a tinge of frustration. I can't believe that Zhao had survived and managed to get away unharmed, and worst of all, it was because I let him live.
"I think I'll let your friends tell you," Pakku told me with a grin, and I quickly heard somebody shout my name. Master Pakku moved out of the way, allowing me to see Aang excitedly running down the hall of the healing bay, Katara and Sokka behind him. "I'll let you talk to your friends," Master Pakku told me. "But just know that I'm proud of you,".
By now Aang had swiftly gotten to the side of my bed, and Master Pakku excused himself, telling me he'd visit me later. Aang was quick to start a conversation with me, his friends by his side. Needing clarification of the recent events, I cut whatever statement Aang was making.
"So what the hell happened?" I asked them with a smile. Sokka was quick to answer me energetically.
"It was amazing!" he exclaimed, excitedly throwing his hands about in the air. "Aang went all Avatar state, and you went all spirit mode, and you two totally kicked the fire nation's butts," he described. Despite his excitement, I was totally dumbfounded.
"Spirit mode?" I asked him quizzically with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, spirit mode!" Sokka unhelpfully reaffirmed. I continued to look at the trio in a state of pure confusion.
"What Sokka means to say," Katara started. "Is that the ocean spirits released a huge attack on the fire nation. Aang turned into this blue ocean monster, and you became all weird and powerful. Your eyes were glowing black and white," she explained, and suddenly it all came back to me. The fight at the oasis with Zhao, the death of Tui, my conversation with the two ocean spirits. And then, finally, the power that the spirits had given me, and my assault on the fire nation. But I also remembered something else; something that filled me with great sadness. Yue. I looked at the trio, and noticed a sadness behind Sokka's eyes.
"Yue," I stated at them. "Did she..." I trailed off, not able to finish the sentence. Instantly the trio's demeanour shifted. Katara slowly shook her head, and Sokka looked as if he were on the verge of tears. Though they had not answered me verbally, I already knew. A tear ran town my cheek as it all sunk in. Yue, my spirit sister, my friend, was no longer with us. And yet, I felt her presence, like she was still here. It was a strange feeling, but I felt as if Yue wasn't really gone. Before I could think about it any further, Aang attempted to change the topic of conversation.
"So what happened to your arms?" he asked me. I glanced down at my arms that were covered in bandages. Although they had been scorched, I felt no pain anymore, likely due to the healing treatment I must have been given. I remembered back to my fight with Zhao in detail. It had been my first ever proper fight, and I had lost embarrassingly.
"I tried my best to defend the ocean spirits from Zhao," was all I said. I didn't want to think about it anymore than that. In my brain I kept thinking that, had I been stronger and defeated Zhao, Yue never would have needed to have sacrificed herself. I was certain that the gang knew this as well. Sokka appeared more upset than before, and he quickly excused himself out of the healing bay in a hurry. An eerie silence arose between myself, Katara and Aang for a few minutes. I broke the awkwardness by asking the two a question. "So what's the plan now?" I asked them. "Are you staying here a while longer?".
"No, we're planning to leave later today, actually," Katara told me. This did upset me a little bit. Except for Kyana, I had never really had any other friends in the tribe. My strict training schedule had prevented me from meeting new people. For the first time, I felt as if I had a group of friends who truly cared about me, but now they were leaving already.
"We need to find an earthbending teacher," Aang explained. "We're going to go to Omashu to find my old friend Bumi. He's the best earthbender I know," he told me with a smile.
"But you haven't even mastered waterbending!" I chuckled, causing Aang and Katara to also give a small laugh. Then, Aang thought for a moment, before giving me a proposition.
"You should come with us!" he offered ecstatically. "We can find Bumi and I can learn earthbending, while you and Katara also help me master waterbending!". I have to admit, his offer was tempting. Their adventures, though dangerous, sounded like a lot of fun, and I hadn't had a lot of fun in my life. But, at the same time, I had never left the Northern Water Tribe before. I couldn't leave now, only a day after we had been attacked.
"I'd love to, Aang. But the Northern Water Tribe is my home. I can't just leave," I explained to him, and he gave me an understanding look. "Besides, Katara is a perfectly capable waterbender. I'm sure she'll teach you all you need to know".
We talked for a while longer, before it was time for them to leave. I wished them luck on their travels, and told them to come and visit once they had defeated the fire lord. They left soon after; I didn't see Sokka again. After an hour of boredom, I tried to leave the healing bay, but was promptly scolded and returned to bed by Yagoda. Apparently, I had to rest for the day.
It wasn't long soon after until my parents came to visit me. They were relieved to see that I was completely fine, however it annoyed me that they seemed focussed on me going back to training as soon as possible. As I had been training daily for all of my life, and thought that I deserved to have a few days off. Nonetheless, my parents had always expected big things from me, and I didn't want to disappoint them. However, while my parents were here in the healing bay, I had the opportunity to ask a burning question that had been nagging the back of my mind for a whole day.
"Is Admiral Zhao...my uncle?" I asked them nervously. My parents shared a glance as the room seemed to go silent, reaffirming my fears. Finally, my father let out a long sigh.
"Yes, he's my brother," he admitted to me, and I felt as if my entire world had been turned upside down. Admiral Zhao: my enemy, the man who tried to kill me, was my relative? But that couldn't be possible.
"How?" was all that I was able to utter out. My parents continued to look at me uncomfortably.
"My brother is a complicated man," my father explained. "He only cares about himself and his career. Not his family, and certainly not his friends. Years ago, when I was promoted to Admiral instead of him, he tried to kill me in an act of revenge. I managed to escape, and so it was then that we decided to flee the fire nation in order for a better life,". I still couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was related to a monster.
"Well he got what he wanted," I told my father. "He's an Admiral now,".
"But he failed to destroy the moon spirit," my father quickly cut me off. "I have no doubt that he's probably scheming a way to get his revenge right now,".
"He technically did destroy the moon spirit," I truthfully admitted. "I tried to defend them... But I wasn't strong enough," I told them shamefully.
"Well then we'll arrange extra waterbending training sessions with Master Pakku," my mother informed me. "That way, if Zhao does return, you'll be able to defeat him confidently,". My father was quick to encourage the idea, though truthfully I wasn't too fond of it. My life was busy enough as it is, and now I have to take extra training sessions? It greatly upset me that my parents were more focussed on my training than my wellbeing.
"I was hoping to just take things easy for a little while," I told them. "You know, relax for a few weeks at least,". I watched my parents' faces turn into frowns.
"A few weeks?? Absolutely not," my father strictly enforced. "You're a waterbending prodigy, (Y/N). Everyone expects big things from you,". My mood instantly diminished, and I regretted my decision not to leave with team Avatar. My life here wasn't fun, and it didn't look like it was going to improve anytime soon. In fact, the extra hours of training would make things far worse. Due to my packed schedule, I was never able to make many friends or meet anyone new. Now, I might not even have the time to hang out with Kyana anymore. At that moment, a realisation hit me, and I filled with a sudden dread. I had been in the healing bay for almost a full day now, and Kyana hadn't visited once. The worst case scenario instantly filled my head: had she even survived the attack?
"Where is Kyana?" I blurted out to my parents, who gave each other a worried look.
"Your father and I have been talking, and we think it's time for you to move on from Kyana," my mother softly explained to me, though it did nothing to calm my mood. My father chimed into the conversation.
"Since you two don't really love each other, we think that she'll become a bit of a distraction. We just want to make sure that you fulfil all your goals in life. You're destined to save the Northern Water Tribe, (Y/N),". The dread within me now became coupled with anger.
"So I'm not even allowed to have friends now?!" I burst out, making my parents look very taken aback. I sat up from the healing bay bed and swung my legs over the side in annoyance to look at them. "I'm forced to train hours a day, with little to no rest time, and now you're taking away the only friend I ever made?!". I was overwhelmed with anger. I got off of the bed, onto my feet, and stared them both in the eyes. Slowly and with fury, I asked "Where is Kyana?". I saw the anxious look of their face, and there was silence for a moment.
"She's meeting with the chief and the elders," my mother admitted to me with regret. "They caught her waterbending during the siege,". Instantaneously I felt nauseous and dizzy. I remember seeing Kyana waterbending during the fire nation attack, but was she really in trouble for defending her tribe? Scared and confused, I quickly ran away and out of the healing bay. From behind me I could hear my parents shouting something at me but, whatever it was, I ignored it. I ran the short trek from the healing bay to the ice palace. Despite my raging emotions, I made sure to enter the throne room quietly so as not to make a disturbance.
In the throne room, I saw a wave of people, spectating what I assumed to be a judgement. This did nothing to calm the sick feeling in my stomach, and I forcefully pushed my way to the front of the crowd. Once there, I saw Kyana stood in front of the chief and elders. Her head was looking towards the ground, and I could barely see a few tears silently gliding down her face. In front of her, Chief Arnook sat on the glistening ice throne, with Master Pakku and a number of many other respected elders of the tribe sat nearby on ice benches. I knew that this wasn't going to be good, and my blood ran cold as I watched the scene in front of me.
"Kyana, you were found directly violating the culture of our tribe," Chief Arnook explained. "You used waterbending for combat which, as a woman, is forbidden. Do you have anything you would like to say to defend yourself?" Kyana looked around anxiously before speaking loudly.
"I only had the tribe's best interest in mind," she truthfully asserted, nerves evident in her voice. "We were being attacked, and I wanted to do everything I could to defend our city,".
"Nonetheless, witnesses describe you as waterbending with evident experience," the chief explained. "As a result, we find you guilty," he said, causing a sinking feeling to coarse through my body, though what the chief added next surprised me. "Unless, of course, you wish to admit who it was that taught you waterbending," he said.
There were murmurs from within the crowd, and I saw Kyana deep in thought. My body began to physically shake with nerves. Would Kyana admit that I had been teaching her waterbending? If she did, then I was surely going to get in a lot of trouble; I was already on a warning for being caught teaching Katara. But, after a moment, Kyana looked back up at the chief and kept her lips sealed. She hadn't admitted that it was me who had taught her waterbending, so as to not get me in trouble.
"Very well," the chief announced after the minute of silence. "As you are aware, the punishment for a direct violation of tribe customs is banishment. However, as a democracy, the elders will take a vote on the matter," he told us all. I truly couldn't believe what I was hearing. Kyana couldn't be banished from the tribe; she would have nowhere to go, and I would lose my only friend. Before I could develop my thoughts anymore, Chief Arnook quickly announced the vote.
"All in favour of Miss Kyana being allowed to remain in the Northern Water Tribe," he boomed. If I were an elder, I would have raised my hand faster than anybody else in the room. A surprising amount of elders raised their hands, and I felt a tinge of pride when Master Pakku raised his hand. Evidently, the whole situation with Katara had caused him to change his ways.
"And all in favour of Miss Kyana being expelled from the tribe?" the chief asked. Again, a number of patriotic hands shot up from the elders. I didn't have time to count the votes, but I knew it was close. Finally, the chief announced the results.
"In a close vote, it has been decided that you, Kyana, will be banished from the Northern Water Tribe,".
Word Count: 2826
(A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for reading! The support for this story in the last few days has been insane, so thanks for all the views! An extra thank you for those who have voted; it means a lot that you guys like my writing! The next chapter will be out on either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how much I write over the next few days. I like to write a few chapter ahead of what's been released, so I just need to catch up a little bit. Again, thanks for all the support, and I'll see you all on either Tuesday or Wednesday! Have a great day! :) -JetDragon09)
Edited on 9th March 2024. Original word count: 2600