"Are you alright?" I asked Aang when he looked restlessly around him. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm supposed to master all four elements before Sozin's comet arrives." I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah, that is a lot to take in," I said, "but you Katara and you have me. We only need to find you an earthbender."
"I thought you didn't want to teach me firebending." Aang replied quietly. I smiled at him. "I don't, but," I chuckled, "teaching the Avatar himself would be such an honor. And I actually kinda like it again." I shrugged. Aang smiled. "That is great. I am glad. It's a part of you after all." Aang replied.
"Don't overreact it. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer." Sokka said easily.
"How can you say that, Sokka?! I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North pole!" Aang yelled, "what am I gonna do?!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him down.
"Calm down, it is going to be okay!" I smiled, "You are the Avatar, you will master all four elements, I am so sure of it. And we are going to help you." Katara nodded heavily.
After a while, we stopped at a waterfall, with a small lake. Katara started to practice waterbending with Aang while Sokka was removing things out of the gaps between Appa's toes. I was swimming around enjoying the warm water. I floated on my back and stared up to the sky. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on my face. I smiled and happy thoughts went through my head. I felt very calm and content.
"Istari are you coming?" Katara asked irritated, "we are going to the market."
I frowned and looked at her. "Why?" I asked annoyed. "Aang, he just did some moves that took me my whole life to learn." Katara replied confused. "Of course, he is the Avatar." I said indifferently.
"Yeah, yeah..." Katara said and waved with her hand, "so are you coming?"
"Uhm yeah, if we all go." I replied. We headed towards the market. It was very... weird. There were a lot of scary looking guys, who were most likely criminals. I put my collar up to hide my jade necklace and kept a firm hand on my bag. "We got exactly three copper pieces left of the money that King Bumi gave us. Let's spend it wisely." Sokka said.
"Only three?" I asked indignantly.
"Uhm, make that two copper pieces Sokka, I couldn't say no to this whistle." Aang said and he held up a whistle that looked like a bison. He blew on it, and there was faint hissing coming out. "It doesn't even work." Sokka said. "No offense Aang, but i'll hold the money from now on." Katara said. Aang gave her the money and the four of us walked on.
"Is it okay if I meet you guys back at camp? I'll try find some food along the way, I saw some bushes with berries." I said when I thought about that and swimming in the lake. "Yeah, sure." They said. I nodded and walked away from the market, leaving them behind.
I walked outside of the market towards the forest. I saw the berries and quickly started to pluck them. I heard some rustling behind me and quickly turned around. "Who is there?" I asked shakily, thinking about the scary men I saw down at the market. I turned back to my bush of berries when I suddenly saw a figure in front of me.
I shocked and took a step back, losing my balance. With a loud thud I fell on my bum. I angrily looked up to see who it was, and I could not believe it. A hand reached out to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me up into the warmest embrace I've had in years.
"I never thought I'd see you again. You have no idea how much this means to me. To see you alive and well." I let go of the embrace and shook my head in disbelief. I took a step back and bowed. I was still cautious, but I knew he had no intention of hurting me. "You have grown, you look different, yet still the same," Iroh said when he looked at me. "I only miss your hair, but it looks very nice nonetheless."
"It is easier to brush out." I shrugged shily. "How have you been?" Iroh asked as he sat down. "How did you know it was me?" I asked. "Blue-eyed firebenders are most uncommon." Iroh replied with a smile, "Yet you have the same spark in your eyes as all firebenders." I looked at him, still not believing it.
"Don't worry, there are no soldiers around." Iroh said with a smile. "I just wanted to talk to you." Iroh said and tapped on the ground, text to him.
I slowly sat down and smiled shily. "Well, I ..." I started and I told him everything. From the moment the guards entered our chamber, up to when I arrived at the South Pole. "And then Katara and Sokka found him and brought him back to the village. From that moment on, we knew we had to help him. Katara to teach him waterbending and me to teach him firebending. I was hesitant at first, but, now I think I should." I said and sighed.
"Well, you are a very talented firebender. Passionate and true." Iroh said. "Well, I learned from the best." I replied with a smile, nudging him with my elbow.
"Where are you headed now?" Iroh asked curiously. I smiled. "I am not going to tell you, I know you are after us...But why?" I asked curiously and confused. Iroh sighed and shook his head. He looked very sad. "Zuko spoke before his turn during a war meeting. The Fire Lord was not pleased and challenged him to an Agni Kai. Zuko did not want to fight his father..." he took a break and swallowed, "...and so the Fire Lord gave him a permanent punishment." Iroh said when he touched his face.
"To restore his honor, Zuko has been sent to capture the Avatar. We have been traveling the world in order to do so. It was hopeless, until we sailing around the South Pole." Iroh said.
I scoffed. "I can't believe it." I said, slowly shaking my head. "I am sure, you don't agree on hunting the Avatar down. Surely the Fire Nation has done enough damage as it is?" I asked him carefully.
"I am here to protect my nephew. I hope when the time comes he'll make the right decision and do good." Iroh said. "Me too," I said and smiled, "I miss him terribly. But I can't turn my back on Aang."
"He missed you too. He talks about you a lot." Iroh said. I smiled and looked down to the ground. We talked for a few more minutes. It was great to catch up and see someone who was very dear to me. One of the very few people I have left. I looked up to the sky and saw beautiful orange streaks into the blue sky, signs of the sunset.
I looked at Iroh and he nodded. We both stood up and grabbed our stuff. "It was good to see you, Istari. I am proud of you. Goodluck with the Avatar. I am sure you will guide him well." Iroh said. "Thank you, Sifu Iroh," I said and I bowed, "I am sure our paths will cross again." Iroh smiled. "That it will." He replied. I gave him a hug and walked away from him.
We walked back into opposite directions. I smiled all the way back from the forest. They don't hate me... they missed me, they still think about me. When I arrived at the camp, the rest was already there. "Istari! Where have you been?" Sokka asked indignantly. "Plucking berries, like I said." I replied sheepishly. "You were gone for over two hours!" He replied worriedly.
"I am sorry, I fell asleep." I lied and smiled at him. "What?" He asked. "I like caring Sokka." I replied with a smile and gave him a hug. I walked over to Katara who was holding a fancy scroll of paper. "What is that?" I asked curiously. "It is a waterbending scroll." Katara replied and folded it out. I studied the movements and smiled. "It's beautiful. How could you afford it?" I asked.
"Well, I..." Katara stuttered, "uhmm."
"She stole it. From pirates!" Sokka said angrily. "They chased us, but we managed to lose them."
I looked with disbelief to Katara. "You stole something? Huh." I said with raised eyebrows. "I also got you something. Well, for both of us." Katara said and she showed me a hand mirror. I grabbed it out of her hand and took it.
For the last few years I have only seen myself in a water reflection, but never in a clear mirror. I held it in front of me and looked into it. I had big, blue eyes, with streaks of gold running through them, like flames. My face had a few break outs and my nose was covered with small freckles. My hair was curly, and hovered just above my collar bones. I had indeed grown up. I was 16 now, a young woman.
We had some dinner, and when the night fell, we went to sleep. I was feeling very tired, but content. I was wondering if I could take to Zuko the same way I talked with Iroh, as if things had never changed. As if nothing had happened. With that thought, I fell into a deep sleep.
~
I woke up, getting pushed back and forth. "What?" I asked sleepily. "Katara is gone! She took the scroll, she is obsessed with that thing." Sokka said. "Thats why you had to wake me up? Seriously? Why-" Before I could finish my sentence, my hands got bound by a rope and my head got covered with a sack. I started to panic, kicking around and trying to hit something. "Let me go!" I yelled. "Sokka? Aang?"
I heard Sokka and Aang grunting. I felt that I was being dragged away. The man put me down on my feet and removed the bag. I blinked heavily, trying to adjust to the light. I shook my head and narrowed my eyes to see better. I saw so many alarming things. I saw various pirates and Fire Nation soldiers standing next to me, Katara bound to a tree with Iroh standing next to her, and Zuko holding the waterbending scroll. "Nice work." He said.
"Aang, this is all my fault." Katara said.
"No, Katara, it isn't." Aang replied with a little smile.
"Yeah, it kinda is." Iroh said indifferently.
"Give me the boy." Zuko said threatening to the pirate captain. "You give us the scroll." The captain replied. "You are really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?!" Sokka asked confused. "Don't listen to him!" Zuko said quickly, "he's trying to turn us against each other."
"Your friend is the Avatar?" The captain asked and he looked at Aang.
"Yep. So I guess he will fetch you more on the back market than your stupid scroll." Sokka said with a huge smile.
"Keep the scroll!" The captain yelled and he walked away. "You will regret breaking a deal with me" Zuko said and he started to firebend. I reacted fast and burned the rope that tied my hands. I managed to block the fire and quickly went to untie Sokka and Aang. The pirates threw some kind of bombs that caused a lot of smoke. I couldn't see anything, but the fight kept going.
I was firebending my way out of the smoke, knocking a few pirates and soldiers down. Strangely enough, it actually felt great. I was good at it. When I made my way out of the smoke, I saw Katara, Aang and Sokka trying to push a ship into the water. "Use your waterbending!" I said indignantly while keeping an eye on the fight between the firebenders and the pirates. After a few moments, Aang and Katara managed to get the ship in the water, floating on top of the waves.
"On board everybody!" Katara said and we climbed on board.
"Do you know where we are going?" I asked Sokka when he was steering it.
"If you'd speak to me with 'captain', I might." Sokka replied.
"Idiot." I grunted. But Sokka did not reply. "Do you know where we are going CAPTAIN?!" I asked irritated.
"Aye, cadet!" Sokka replied with a very acted, strong manly voice, "we will follow this river while we try to get rid of your hot-headed boyfriend and his pirate-friends." He replied.
"Sokka, can you make this ship go faster? Aang yelled. "I don't know," Sokka stuttered, " this ship isn't made by the watertribe!" I walked to the back of the ship, seeing the pirates following us in Zuko's boat. The boat was starting to catch up on us and the pirates climbed on board. I managed to knock a few of them off and Aang made a huge wave to get the rest out.
"Aang!" Katara yelled panicky. I looked ahead of the ship and saw that we were nearing a waterfall. I suddenly heard a shrinking sound and I covered my ears. "Aang! There's no time for flute-practicing now!" Sokka yelled. "We can stop the boat! Push and pull the water!" Katara yelled to Aang and they started to do that. It worked, but then we got another problem: Zuko's boat was ready to crush on our boat. It did, and Aang yelled: "Jump!" I jumped out of the boat, ready to drop into the water. I closed my eyes and prayed for survival, until I fell with a big thud onto something hard. I opened my eyes and I saw sitting in Appa's saddle, along with Katara, Aang, Sokka and Momo. "I knew this wasn't a waste of money!" Aang said when he held up the flute.
"I am so sorry for grabbing that scroll," Katara started, "I put us all in danger."
"It's okay." Aang replied.
"Yeah.. it is all Katara's fault anyway." Sokka said.
"Well, who needs that scroll anyway." Katara sad and shrugged.
"Is that really how you feel about it?" Sokka said and he held the scroll in his hands. Katara reached to it, but Sokka held it away.
"Katara... what did we learn?" Sokka asked, with a big brother attitude.
"Stealing is bad?" Katara replied carefully and she grabbed the scroll, "unless it's from pirates!" She laughed. We started laughing and flew away from the pirates, and from Zuko.