katara and i were standing at the edge of the ship, looking out to the water.
"hey kazumi.." katara started.
"what's up?" i turned to her.
"i wanted to apologize for being such a brat when we were camping, i guess it was because we were all hungry and i lost my tempter, i'm sorry" she gave me a sad smile.
"oh katara, it's okay, i know that sometimes i'm a pain in the butt, but you're not better" we both laughed. "so everything's fine, i wasn't really mad at you, well i was mad at you but after that i had another little problem" i pointed at my arm "so i forgot about being mad at you"
she smiled, giving me a hug.
"that was such an overwhelming sister-moment" haru came up to us "katara, there's someone i want you to meet. kazumi already knows him, they seem like best friends, i'm pretty sure he likes her more than me" haru laughed.
"that could be true" i just added, making them both laugh.
we walked over to where haru's father, tyro sat. i smiled at him, placing myself next to him.
"katara, this is my father, tyro. dad, this is katara, kazumi's sister." haru introduced them to each other.
"it's an honor to meet you." katara bowed.
"have some dinner, katara." he handed her a bowl.
"yeah, if i would be you, i wouldn't eat that, it's quite disgusting, but go on" i laughed a little.
katara tried some of it and nearly died of disgust.
"..it's still pretty bad though." tyro laughed.
a man came up to me and tyro "tyro, kazumi, the prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around."
"i'll talk to the guards. in the meantime, kazumi, make sure the elderly are taken care of. the rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather." tyro looked at me, i nodded.
"if you don't mind me asking, what's your escape plan?" katara asked curiously.
"excuse me?" tyro just asked.
"you know, the plan to get everyone off the rig?" i added "what is it? mutiny? sabotage?"
"the plan? the plan is to survive - wait out this war. hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened." tyro looked at haru with sad eyes.
"how can you say that? you sound like you've already given up." katara crossed her arms.
"katara and kazumi, i admire your courage and i envy your youth, but people's lives are at stake here, kazumi you saw it yourself. the warden is a ruthless man, and he won't stand for any rebellion. i'm sorry, but we're powerless." tyro started standing up.
"we'll see about that." i said, pulling katara with me.
___
katara and i both walked up on a small plattform on the open area, so everyone could hear us. katara started banging her spoon on her pot to get their attention, but that didn't quite go well.
"let me handle this" i put my hand on her shoulders.
i began to breath in and then i started shouting my lungs out "EARTHBENDERS! LOOK AT US!" and so everyone started to look at us.
"well-" katara laughed, turning to the prisoners "earthbenders! you don't know us, but we know of you. every child of our water tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories of the brave earth kingdom and the courageous earthbenders who guard its borders."
katara looked at me, giving me a hint that i should speak now
"some of you may think that the fire nation has made you powerless. hes, they have taken away your ability to bend, but they can't take away your courage and it is your courage they should truly fear! because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home. it is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are, hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away. the time to fight back is now!" i added, hoping the prisoners will find themselves again
"i can tell you the avatar has returned! so remember your courage, earthbenders, let us fight for our freedom!" katara and i both began to look around, seeing all faces of the prisoners, turning around again, not doing anything. i turned to katara, giving her a sad smile.
"c'mon, let's go get some sleep" i put my arm around her shoulder and we began to walk away.
"wait kazumi, sokka and aang are about to get us but i don't want to leave the earthbenders here all alone, they need our help" she looked into my eyes.
"katara, i know, i was thinking the same thing, okay, listen to me" i started to talk quieter "i will sleep somewhere else, don't tell them that you've found me okay?"
"they're gonne be crushed, u know that" she crossed her arms infront of her chest.
"yes, but the point is, just tell them that you won't leave because, first of all, just tell them about the prisoners and if our lovely brother decides not to stay, tell them about me, that there's a chance i'm still here okay?" i put my hand on her shoulder.
"that's a really good plan! but be safe kazumi" she gave me a hug.
"you too, see you later!" i started to walk away. after a few minutes i bumped into someone, not looking up.
"oh i'm sorry sir" i started to look at his face, making my eyes go wide.
"well well, if that isn't my favourite prisoner here. and with that great speak! i was so impressed with that, that i decide to give you a special cell" he grabbed my arm. "and if you decide to try to escape right now, you know what will happen"
"you've got to be kidding me!" i shouted, making him go mad.
"that's it!" he put something over my mouth, making me pass out.
____
-katara-
i woke up because of someone trying to wake me. I opened my eyes, seeing aang right infront of me. i was about to say something when he put his finger over his mouth, doing a 'shhh' sound. we walked up to the edge of the rig's main plattform where appa and sokka were waiting.
"your 12 hours are up, where's haru? we've got to get out of here." sokka asked.
"and where's kazumi? did you find her?" aang asked excited. oh man, I hate lying to them.
"i can't go"
"we don't have much time, there are guards everywhere. get on." sokka pointed to appa.
"katara, what's wrong?" aang's smile faded.
"i'm not leaving. i'm not giving up on these people" i looked at them, seeing aang being absolutely crushed.
"but you don't know these people! it doesn't make sense, let's just get going" sokka turned around, walking to appa.
"kazumi" i just said, making both turn around.
"what did you say?" aang asked with tears in his eyes.
"she's here, i just know it but i don't know where"
"then let's go, who told you to go and leave these people behind? let's go and safe the day!" sokka pulled us with him, making us both laugh a little
-kazumi-
i woke up because of the pain in my arm and stomach.
"son of a b-" then the door opened.
"let's get you outside, peasant" the warden pulled me outside, grabbing my burned arm. i whined in pain. we walked up on deck, hearing a loud scream from a soldier.
"tell me exactly what you saw." the warden forced the soldier to speak.
"well, sir, it looked like a flying bison." the soldier answered.
"aang" i smiled.
"who allowed you to speak?!" the warden grabbed my arm tighter.
"look! there's it again!" i shouted, making them both distracted. in that moment, i pulled myself out of his grip and i jumped of the plattform, landing infront of 3 soldiers.
"get that girl! she's my. most important prisoner!" the warden shouted.
"aww i feel so special" i laughed sarcastically.
the soldiers began to run at me, but i used my air bending to jump over them, making them crash into each other. while i was jumping, I pulled my handcuffs over a spear of one soldier, making it crash my handcuffs.
"thanks a lot guys, i love you truly" i started to run into the direction i heard voices. then i saw something i didn't except.
"a river of coal" i smiled, beginning to run faster.
"Katara stop it! you can't win this fight!" i heard tyro shout.
"she can and she will" i was now standing next to her, hearing a few gasps.
"kazumi!!" aang, sokka, katara and haru shouted.
"here's your chance, earthbenders!" katara and i grab a lump of coal and raised it with our hands in the air "take it! your fate is in your own hands!"
i saw haru trying to walk forward but tyro stopped him, making me a little mad. all the prisoners are turning around again, not paying attention anymore.
"hahaha! foolish girls! you thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? look at these blank, hopeless faces." katara and i looked at the crowd, seeing them all sad "their spirits were broken a long time ago. oh? but you still believe in them?" katara and i looked at each other with our heads shaking, lowering the coal "how sweet. they're a waste of your energy, girls. you've failed. and you're coming with me" he tried to grab my arm but in this second, someone threw a piece of coal at him, making him lose his grip.
"get away from her" i heard haru say, making me turn around, seeing him with a few coal pieces in his hand. the warden does not look happy, he launched a big fire blast at haru, who looked pretty defeated. but in this moment, someone else pulled a wall of coal in front of the prisoners. it was Tyro. katara and i looked at each other, smiling like crazy. the warden and the soldiers were now standing in a line, ready to release some fire.
"show no mercy!" in that moment, they released a big wave of fire, but the prisoners were smart enough to block it again. the wall came down, with pretty angry looking earth benders.
"for the earth kingdom!! attack!" tyro screamed, slamming his palms on the floor, pushing a wall of coal towards the soldiers.
katara looked around, searching for something. she grabbed my arm, pulling me with her.
"where are we going?! we need to help!" i tried to get out of her grip.
"we will, just come with me" she ran faster, and in that moment i saw-
"aang! sokka!" i began to run towards them, giving them a fat hug. sokka got out of our hug, leaving me and aang alone.
"i missed you so much, i thought you were d- dea-" aang began to stutter.
"dead?" i laughed
"yeah, i was so afraid to lose you" he looked really defeated. i gave him a peck on his cheek, making his cheeks go red. then i whispered in his ear
"i missed you too, dork"
"okay could you please stop with this lovey-dovey stuff, you're giving me oogies" sokka made a 'urghhh' sound "and we need to help, so get your butts up and let's get going"
we ran to the middle of the deck, a soldier came towards us but sokka cut him off with his boomerang. momo grabbed the spear of the soldier, letting it fall on some other soldiers.
"get off the ship! we'll hold them off!" tyro shouted
right after it, the warden shouted "do not let them escape! and especially not the airbender-girl!"
"airbender-girl? kazumi?" aang looked at me, hopeful. God dammit.
"they probably meant you, aang" i laughed a little, still being nervous about how he found out.
"hey!"
the guards and the warden began to block the exit with their flames. we tried to ran towards it but the flames were getting bigger. i turned to Aang, seeing him bending a small tornado, aimed at the firebenders.
"guys, throw me some coal!" with that being said, we threw some coal in his tornado, knocking all soldiers, even the Warden, out. tyro and two other earthbenders bended the entire coal dump, with the warden and all his man on it, out of the open water.
"no, please! i can't swim!" the warden cried.
"don't worry, i heard cowards float!" tyro dropped them all into the water.
aang, sokka and i got onto appa, swimming next to the ships. aang and i were sitting alone in his saddle, sokka at the front.
"why are you wearing bandages..?" aang asked me whike eyeing my arm and my stomach.
i began to breath in and out "when i was captured, you know i could easily escape, right?" he nodded his head "but they did something, making me stop." ipulled the bandages off my arm.
aang gasped "who did this to you?"
"it's not important, okay? just calm down and let the past be the past" i put my hands on his shoulders.
"i'm gonna kill them" he said calmly.
"aang!"
"i was kidding, the monks would never allow me to kill, so no killing for us, okay?" he hold his pinky finger in front of me. i smiled, linking our pinky fingers together. "pinky-promise!" i giggled. he smiled and tackled me with a hug. "oogies!" i heard sokka shout but i didn't care in this moment.
-meanwhile (katara and haru)-
"i want to thank you and kazumi, but mostly you for saving me. for saving us." haru told katara.
katara blushed a little, being embarrassed "all it took was a little coal"
"it wasn't the coal, katara, it was you." haru gave her a smile.
"thank you and your sister for helping me find my courage, katara, of the water tribe. my family and everyone here owes you two much." he put a hand on her shoulder.
"so, i guess you're going home now?" katara asked.
"yes, to take back my village!" he raised his left hand and so do the other earthbenders "to take back ALL of our villages! the fire nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!" the eartbenders shouted something like 'woooo' and 'yeahhh'.
"come with us." haru told katara, making her heart skip a little faster.
"i can't. your mission is to take back your home. ours is to get aang to the north pole." she told him, making them both look at aang and kazumi, hugging each other.
"that's him, isn't it? the avatar. and kazumi? are they like, a couple?" katara and haru laughed.
"they will be, they are made for each other but kazumi is too oblivious " katara chuckled.
"katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me, and tell your sister the same, please. i never thought i'd see him again. i only wish there was some way..." katara knew exactly what he meant, she grabbed her throat, wanting to grab her necklace.
"my mother's necklace! it's gone!"
____
we were all back on appa, flying over water. katara looked like she was crying.
"katara, what's wrong?" i came up to her.
"mom's necklace, it's gone! i lost the last thing i had from her!" she began to speak louder, breaking out in tears. i hugged her tightly.
"oh katara, everything is gonna be okay, we will find it, i promise you" i wiped her tears off.
"you promise?"
"pinky-promise!"