Hey guys! I know that most of you hate me for killing Konno, so I decided to write an alternate ending where she survives. I consider this a fanfic for my fanfic lol, but it isn't canon to the story. She is still dead and all, but this is like a what if scenario about if she lived through the storm. I hope you enjoy this alternate ending! And thank you all for reading this and commenting! It means the world to me!
The winds had gotten wilder. They pushed and pulled the water to and fro, away and toward. The boat shuddered against the crashing waves. Frigid water splashed against Konno, biting her skin like a rabid animal. She didn't know when the storm started, but it seemed like it was at its zenith.
Dark storm clouds crowded across the sky, blocking the moonlight from breaking through. Rain sliced down toward Konno. Each droplet felt like a knife against her skin. Her hair whipped around her head, slapping her on the cheeks.
Konno was terrified. She hadn't ever been on a boat during a bad storm. If only she were near land so she could dock and find shelter. But as far as she could see, deep blue water raged around her. A tightness settled into her chest just as a bolt of lightning flashed across the dark sky. She knew something was going to happen that night. However, she didn't think it was going to be good.
She gripped her bag tightly in her hands. She was afraid the wind would take it away from her. Hawky huddled under her seat, his wings quaking in fear. His squawks echoed across the barren ocean.
With a sudden rush, the boat convulsed as the waves crashed against it. For a split second, she thought the boat was going to tip over. However, it settled down again. The wind died down for a minute, allowing her to catch her breath. Nothing about this was right. She should've been close to the Northern Water Tribe. They usually didn't have storms like this.
This storm felt so familiar. So familiar, so strange. And in a flash of lightning, she knew. It was the recurring dream she kept having. The same dream that kept getting harder and harder to wake up from. The same dream that she had almost every night leading up to the Invasion. It meant something, and now she knew.
The wind swirled around her, pushing the boat around. Suddenly, the moonlight broke through the dark clouds, slicing right down toward her. She knew what was to come. But she wasn't ready. She didn't think she would ever be ready. She still had a life ahead of her. She needed to see Katara again. And Aang. And Sokka.
"Hawky!" she shouted. "You have to fly away! I promise that you'll be safe!"
She lifted him up and threw him into the air. He shrieked before flapping his wings. He caught the air and soared up higher and higher. The farther he got, the harsher the winds down here were. The boat creaked as it tried to hold itself together. But Konno knew it wouldn't.
Time seemed to slow down as the boat flipped over. With a gasp, her head submerged under the frigid waves. The moonlight fractured through the water, piercing her gaze. Her body sunk slowly toward the depths, but her arms worked. She didn't want to die. She wasn't ready to die yet. She still had so much more to live for. Didn't Death know that? Bubbles rose above her as she let out a terrified breath. Her body went limp because she wasn't getting any oxygen to her brain and body.
---
Warm sunlight bathed across her shivering body. A small breeze filled her lungs, and they ballooned out as far as they could. Her lungs were starving for oxygen. She couldn't really open her eyes yet because the sun was so blinding. Her limbs felt numb with the frigid cold air and water that dripped off of her body.
She thought that she would have been dead by now, but she survived. She also thought that she would have brain damage for being submerged underwater for a period of time, but her brain seemed to be working well.
Konno could barely move because she was frozen. There was absolutely no heat in her body that would allow her to get warm. Her jaw felt like it was frozen shut, but she worked on it for a few minutes. It finally cracked open and she desperately called out, "Help!"
Her voice carried across the ice walls, bouncing and echoing around. She opened one eye and realized that she was back in her secret cove again. After months of getting farther and farther away from it all, she was finally back. She thought it would have been harder to come back, but it was the easiest thing she had ever done.
Frantic hands suddenly touched her shoulders and hair and body. Konno didn't have the strength to figure out who it was. Her eyes were fluttering shut and her mind was shutting down again to conserve her strength. The last thing she heard was, "Eimi . . . Eimi . . . Eimi."
---
"Eimi, come on, sweetheart, wake up," a voice said, floating through her subconsciousness. It sounded like heaven, the voice did. "Eimi, please wake up."
Konno suddenly sucked in a breath and her eyes flashed open. For some reason, her body wasn't frozen stiff anymore. It was warm and buried under blankets. Her eyes were blinded for a second, but when she could finally see again, tears sprung into them. She didn't think she would ever see her mother again.
"Eimi!"
Her mother threw herself at Konno, wrapping her up in a big hug. A sob escaped from Konno's mouth as the tears started rushing down her cheeks. She buried her head into her mother's neck and whispered, "I missed you so much."
The two of them clung to each other for the longest time. Konno had missed her mother dearly. She had left without even saying goodbye, but there was no way she could have stayed any longer. This place brought back so many memories that Konno couldn't handle it back then. But she had grown, and now she could face this place again without a piece of her heart dying.
"I didn't know whether you were alive or dead," her mother muttered into her neck. "You left right after Yue died and -"
"I know," Konno whispered. "I couldn't stay here, though. But I'm back now. I'm back and I'm safe."
A throat cleared behind the two of them, so Konno pulled away from her mother's hug. Her eyes widened when she saw her father standing in the doorway of the room she was laying in. With a quick glance around her, she realized that she was in Yue's bedroom. Everything was still exactly where it had been when she left. It looked like her parents hadn't touched anything in here after they lost Yue.
"Hello, Eimi," her father said softly. "It's nice to see you again."
Even though she wasn't all that happy with him about the way he treated her and Yue, she still beckoned for him to come to her. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He shook as he whispered, "I am so sorry for everything."
"I know," Konno said to him. "I know you're sorry. And I forgive you. It doesn't mean that I forget, though."
"Completely understood." Her father pulled away from their embrace but still kept his hands on her shoulders. "We have already begun reformations here. One of the reformations that is already underway will allow the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe to rule without the need of a husband."
Konno smiled brightly. "That sounds great." However, her smile slipped off her face as she gazed at her parents. Both of them looked like they had aged years in the few months that she was gone; more wrinkles had appeared on their faces, and gray ran through her mother's dark hair. "I should also apologize," Konno said softly. "I shouldn't have run off when I did. You guys needed me more than I needed to get away."
"You needed to get away from this place," her mother said gently. "You needed to live the life you were meant to have, and, unfortunately, that wasn't here."
"Now it is." Konno nodded. She sat up straighter. This was who she was, the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. And it was time for her to win back her title. "I went on a journey to figure myself out, and I have now. I know who I am, and this is what I am meant to do."
"You sound so much like your sister," her father whispered. His eyes glittered in the sunlight with unshed tears. "I am so proud of who you have become. I have watched you grow up into this beautiful woman, and I am proud to call you my daughter."
Konno smiled softly. She had grown up on that journey she took. She had found true happiness with Sokka and Katara and Aang. They were the catalysts for her realizing that she couldn't stay in her depression forever. They helped her overcome her grief because that was what they all shared. They all knew what it felt like to lose a loved one, and they helped her through it.
Later that day, Konno was wandering around her home for the first time since she left. It all looked the same, but it felt so different. Everywhere she looked, she could see where her sister had been or where Navrek had been. Yet she smiled when she gazed around at the area she was standing in. Of course her feet would take her to the Spirit Oasis.
She stepped through the opening and immediately made her way to the small pool of water. This was where she last saw her sister alive. It was a bittersweet moment standing in the same exact spot where she had been when Yue died. This was the place where Yue had died, yet it was also the place where Konno finally felt truly alive.
Her gaze shifted to the pool of water to her side. The two fish swam in circles together, pushing and pulling the water together. They weren't complete opposites of each other, though. They were very similar; both wanted to take care of the world around them. They were different in the sense that it took one's life to keep this balance while the other didn't.
"Eimi," a warm voice said above the water.
Konno glanced up. She gasped when she realized it was Yue. "Yue?"
"I'm here now," she said gently. "I've always been with you, even if you haven't realized it."
Konno's smile turned watery. She couldn't believe that she was seeing her sister again. She looked the same, just more heavenly than her normal self. "It's so good to see you again. Especially after that scare when my boat capsized."
"I begged the spirits not to kill you," Yue said to Konno. The soft tendrils that surrounded her swirled in the sunlight. "I begged them to keep you safe. And now you're safe."
"What happened to me out there?" Konno asked her.
"For a second, you died," Yue explained. Konno's breath got caught in her throat at that statement. She died? "The Ocean Spirit had to exit your body because it needed to be reunited with the rest of its Spirit. After it exited your body, the other spirits revived you and brought you back here."
"That's . . . a lot to think about," she muttered. "Is that why I wasn't hurt at all when I got brought here?"
"Exactly." Yue nodded. "You would've died with just the hypothermia, but the other Spirits kept you safe." A smile appeared on Yue's ethereal face. "You, of all people, deserve to live."
"I would say the same about you."
"Yes, well, this was what was meant to happen," Yue explained. "It had to happen this way for a reason." Her form began to shimmer in the sunlight. "I have to go now. It's hard for me to project myself in the direct sunlight since I am apart of the Moon Spirit and all."
"I don't want you to leave," Konno whispered. "Please, don't leave me here."
"I won't. I promise." Yue started to disappear. Her voice grew fuzzy, but Konno could hear, "If you ever need me, I'll be right here. Come visit at night. That way we can talk for a much longer time than we have now."
And just like that, Yue disappeared from her view. Tears pricked her eyes, but she knew that Yue would always be there for her when she needed it most. She had always been, and she always will. With the disappearance of Yue, a bracelet rose up in the water. Konno fished it out and realized it was the one she made for Yue for her birthday. She would treasure it forever.
A creak echoed behind her, so Konno glanced around and saw the door to the Spirit Oasis opening. A head stuck through the opening. Their eyes locked, and Konno immediately knew who it was. The rest of Sokka's body made it through the opening, and he started running toward her. She threw herself at him, wrapping her legs and arms around his body. He held her tightly against him and whispered, "You're alive."
"I'm free, Sokka," she whispered to him. "I'm free from my walls."
Konno breathed in his scent and focused on the feeling of his arms around her. This was what love was. She knew what love was now. Somehow, she had always known what love was. She just needed his help to remember what it was.
She let her legs drop to the ground but remained in his embrace. He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and whispered, "I love you, Konno."
"I love you, too."
Konno tugged him closer to her and pressed her lips against his. He slipped his hands around her waist. Everything about this was right. She was forever his, and he was forever hers. Nothing could change that. No one could tear them apart, not even the spirits. Not even Death could tear them apart from each other.