(A/R: So I wrote a one shot about this girl name Joy Yang. She lived in the north pole after Aang defeated the firelord. Quite awhile actually. It's based off the oneshot I made awhile back, but now decided to turn it into a chap story. It doesn't matter if you didn't read the prologue, which is that oneshot, it's not completely necessary. But anyways, here it is! R&R Thanks!)

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The Ship

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The North Pole had only fallen once. That was years ago, before I was born. And then, on that horrible day, they took hold of my home again. They took the North Pole and killed hundreds. Then turned the rest to slaves. Some staying behind in the icy lands to work, others being sent to that dreadful place. The one belonging to the fire bender's themselves. The Fire nation.

My name was Joy. I lived in the North Pole. My brother was killed and my parents not long after. I was, at one point, rescued by a fire nation soldier. But I never saw him again. After that I was captured and put aboard a ship, along with others.

This… is my story…

The room was dark. Very dark. The quiet sobbing of a few others could be heard. Friends of mine maybe. I didn't know. I didn't care.

I wanted to cry myself, sob until I could no longer. But I'd already done that. When I was running through the streets, away from my brother's lifeless form.

I first saw my mother, huddled in a small group of woman, who were being boarded to the ship. I was going to call out to her, but someone else did first. My father.

He ran forward, toward the group, water drawing up to his arms. Then… out of nowhere. Before he could even reach her… fire.

He collapsed, in such a way that by watching, I was shaken to the bones.

I watched as he died. The same way my brother had. Then my mother attempted to go to him, but was unable to succeed.

She kept trying, until she collapsed in the arms of the fire nation soldiers who held her back.

They mustn't have known she was a water bender, for they were only bringing non-benders with them on that one particular ship. But when she turned on them with frozen daggers of ice… they, mercilessly, did to her what had been done to my other family members.

I screamed, running from my hiding place across to her. No one restrained me. I bent down next to her, taking her into my arms.

She was still alive. She grabbed the collar of my coat and pulled me down, up to her burnt swollen face. "You… mustn't… let them… know…" she whispered.

"What?" I choked.

Her hand slipped up behind my head. "They mustn't know…" then, her arm went limp and… she died.

Hands grabbed me. Men dragged me away. I was thrown into the group of woman and immediately they surrounded me, having seen what happened to my mother. They tried to comfort me, but I didn't except it.

When it came time to see whether I would board the ship… I was surprised.

They wouldn't bring any men with them. I don't know why. Instead, they had all the girls and woman lined up, then questioned every single one of them.

To see whether we were lying, they brought up the children. Ones younger then I.

They held them before the woman and threatened to… kill them.

Those of the water benders that were among us, gave themselves up. They were brought away to a different ship.

A tall man in black and red armor approached me. "Are you a water bender?" he questioned fiercely.

I didn't answer. "Girl, you better answer truthfully or-" he raised a hand to hit me.

"No!" I almost screamed. "I'm not! I'm not a water bender I swear!"

He stepped back a little bit. Then… for no reason, sent a tiny flame at me.

It was so small, it couldn't have done any harm, but I cowered anyway. Ducking away with a scream.

"She's not a bender." he sneered. "Put her with the others."

Another soldier grabbed me and began to push me toward the ramp. I boarded as slowly as possible. Trying to get as many glances at my city before… everything went dark.

The room I entered was pitch black, though I was aware of the other woman there kneeling or lying on the floor, sobbing.

The man threw me down, then left, bolting the door behind him.

I crawled over to the others, whispering names I knew, to see if anyone was there.

None of my friends or acquaintances answered. They weren't here. Of course, all my friends were benders. They must have been on the other ship. I was still surprised I had been able to trick the soldiers into thinking I wasn't one.

Just like my mother had told me to. With her last choked words.

Now, as I lay waiting in the dark, in a room full of crying, broken woman. I finally was able to sleep.

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The door opened. How many hours had passed? We'd pulled away from the city right before I went to sleep. But how long had I been out?

The three men that came into the room held trays. On them were small cups of cold soup and two loafs of breads.

Among all the woman, consisting of about twenty, four were unable to eat. I was one of them.

The men set the trays down.

"Here Joy," one of the woman whispered. I recognized her as Kai. She was one of my mother's friends. I didn't know her very well though.

She handed me a piece of bread. "This might be all you get."

"No, I'm." I whispered, hugging my legs close to my chest. "Give it to someone else."

"You need it." she replied firmly. I sighed, reaching toward the bread. She gave me a soft, yet sad smile, then turned away.

I set the bread back on the tray for someone else. And if the other woman had seen, they didn't say anything.

After they all quickly ate, the soldiers took the cups and trays and left us again in the dark.

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I grew extremely hungry. They didn't come back. It must at least have been a day since we'd left.

I hadn't thought much in the time. Just slept and shivered. But then, when I heard voices outside, and was hopeful they'd open the door, but didn't. I began to sob.

Kai tried to comfort me, but I refused.

So many pictures and thoughts rushed back inside my head. Memories. Horrible, horrible memories.

Atin, my brother, dying before me. My father and mother. My home… my everything.

My friends from school weren't here. The boy I'd secretly liked was most likely… among the men who fought… and didn't return.

So many scenes. I cried myself to sleep after that.

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On the second day, I was forced to eat. Kai had suspected I'd put the bread back, so she made me eat in front of her, to where she could see.

It wasn't just the fact I wanted to give it to someone else… it was because I didn't want to eat. It was because, secretly, I wanted to die.

I prayed to the water spirits and others to let me die. To take me to the spirit world to see my family. Maybe even friends.

"Joy," Kai whispered to me after the men had left and it was dark again. She took my hand in hers and scooted closer. "You know… where they're bringing us. Correct?"

I nodded, though she couldn't see. "The… Fire nation?"

"Y…yes." she shivered, not just to the cold, but to the thought. "I… might not be able to be with you the whole time. I want you to… do what they tell you and don't give any trouble. If you do so, they won't hurt you. Trust me, they may seem evil in every way, but if you treat them with respect, some might do the same to you."

"What… will they make us do?" I questioned a stupid question.

"They'll make us work. As slaves or… I don't know. Just please, promise me you won't try to… runaway."

There was a long pause.

"Promise me." she ordered more firmly.

"I promise."

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I learned in the days that passed of Kai's life. Starting from when she first met my mother, up until the raid.

"What happened to your family?" I questioned.

"My husband was among those who fell. Along… with my three sons." she whispered.

"Oh Kai…" I reached out, touching her cheek through the darkness.

She embraced me and sobbed. For the first time I heard her cry.

I just patted her on the back and whispered: "Shh…"

When she wouldn't stop. I began to sing.

It was my favorite song my mother always sung to me.

"Leaves from the vine…" I whispered. Some of the voices among the woman fell silent. "Falling so slow." I continued, causing Kai to quiet a bit. "Like fragile tiny shells," I began to cry.

"Drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy…" I stopped when two more voices joined in. then I continued. "Comes marching home…"

Many of the woman started singing in soft voices. Kai joined in as well. "Brave soldier boy…" Sobs broke through the singing. "Comes marching home."

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Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. I could never tell when it was day or night. Just woke whenever and slept when I grew tired.

Kai slept next to me, my hand in hers most the time. I heard her almost every night, whispering a lullaby to herself. She never got past the first like before she slept, but I still enjoyed her voice.

One day… or night. When I was drifting off to sleep… the door opened.

Many of the woman's heads poked up, along with some of the younger girl's, my age or older.

A few men came in, ordering us to stand. One grabbed my arm when I wasn't quick enough getting up.

"Don't touch her-!" Kai jumped to her feet, throwing her arms around me.

The man shoved her back and struck her, pulling me back. It was a horrible noise when she hit the floor. Her cry, muffled by the sudden lack of air as the wind was knocked out of her.

"Don't harm them," another man said, one I recognized as a soldier who brought our food. "They're no used to the palace hurt."

The one who held me glared at me, then let me go. I helped Kai back up and together we left the room with the rest of the woman.

The lights that hung on the wall in the corridor of the ship were hard to adjust to, making me skeptical about being able to see in the daylight.

I waited for the sudden burst of light. The horrible blinding light.

But when the opened the door to the outside world… no light came. I was pushed out onto the deck, where I only got a second to look around.

It was in fact night. But the moon hung high in the sky, and I could see my surroundings quiet clearly.

We were at the Fire nation island of course. The one I'd learned about in school, with it's huge volcano, where the palace sat at the top.

The group of woman were brought off the ramp and onto the docks, where I felt like collapsed as I walked.

When we reached land, the ground was covered in dark, soft grass.

I bent down and touched it. I'd never seen grass. A man pulled me back up and shoved on.

We walked up a dirt path, lit my the moonlight and torches. It went uphill, about half a mile.

Then, as we were growing tired, we reached it. The first building I'd seen. It was made of stone and had no windows. A prison I was sure.

Instead of going in it, we walked past. I could hear though, the cries that came from that building. The horrible pleading cries of men and woman.

Waterbenders.

Kai knew this as well, and nervously glanced at me.

I would never forget those cries.

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(A/R: So? How did you like it? Review please.)