A soft sound peaks over the noise that encompasses the town. This large town that is the center of all trade in the world. This town that the hopes of so many that are lost and so many that are broken come. A town where there is a chance for renewal. Since the fall of Ba Sing Se, this may be the last place like this on earth.
There in the distance a small ship comes closer and closer to the port. There is a girl, about the age of sixteen, sitting there on the boat. A look of loss is the only expression that she can give. She nods to the captain of the boat, tips the man, and walks onto the dock. She solemnly looks around at the people and the hustle and bustle of this port community. She sighs and walks along the well fit stone streets that connect the town with itself and with the rest of the world.
She is not happy with the situation that had unfolded, but life is cruel sometimes and she knows that she has to deal with it. Never thinking that she would be back in an Earth Kingdom town. There is a cool breeze that swarms around the mild air that leaves a mixed feeling of comfort and uncertainty. The comfort in being in a place that is relatively safe, and that uneasiness of what the future may hold.
She knows that everyone has to go through times like
this, but after what has happened it seems much harder now. So many
things have changed over the past couple months and they changed so
fast. She arrives at the
place where she was asked to go and she knocks on the wooden door.
She waits for a minute and then knocks again. The door slowly
opens and there is a woman there and she looks back at the girl
standing there.
The girl holds up the scroll and
asks if she is in the right place. The woman nods in approval
and the girl follows her inside. She shows the girl her room
and she plops her bag on the bed and opens the scroll once again
thinking that this is a bad dream. There in the stillness of
the shelter she understands the words, but she is afraid and happy at
the same time. Happy that he is doing what he decided to do,
but sad of the possible impending consequences.
She
opens the scroll and reads the words that were written.
She sits there and reads the scroll one more time wondering if there is something that she had missed. She feels the paper in her hands as she rolls the paper back up, ties the ribbon back on, and places it in her bag. Some small things are worth so much. The glamour, the fame, the greatness do not pale in comparison with this. It is only a few words, but they mean so much. Never one to open herself up, she sits and for the first time in her life she feels one single tear escape from her eye. She catches the tear on her finger and stares at it like mother stares at her newborn child.
There is a knock at the door and the woman asks if she is okay. The girl gives approval for her to come in and the woman sees that things are not okay. She asks the girl what is wrong and there is no reply. Just silence. Neither know how much time passes, but the woman places her hand on the girl's right shoulder and looks on. The girl says to the woman that she was sent here to be safe, but that is not all. She loved this person that sent her here and that she wanted to be with him.
The woman tells the girl about some of her past experiences. How her husband was in the war and how each and every day she worried about him so much, not knowing what she would do if he were killed. In the end he did come home and the feeling is nothing that words can describe.
Day after day the girl waited. Looking on at the horizon, but not seeing what she wanted. There is only one person that she wants to see. Months pass and she hears news of the progress of the war, but no news of him. She confides in the woman and eventually even tells her where she is from and who she is and who she is waiting for.
Then one day she is awaken by a loud noise. She gets up and hears the people cheering. There she sees him. After all the time apart she looks sort of frozen in her spot. He sees her and for the first time a genuine smile of happiness that she has never seen before. Zuko she calls. Mai he calls back as the two of them embrace. Both have taken things for granted and for the first time regardless of how everything was here they are. The woman looks on and smiles a motherly smile.