[A/N: Thank you for giving this reimagining a try. I truly love this character and her story; I hope you will too. Please feel free to leave me a review if you have questions about her character, their abilities, or if you just plain liked what you read. Cheers.]

'Since the beginning of the Avatar cycle, there has been a Demitar; a being born with the ability to wield two elements. Sharing pieces of the same soul, they are balance. Without one, the other may never unlock their true potential. It is their charge to maintain balance among both the spirit and human world. So it has always been, and so it shall always be.' – Avatar Tome; Vol. 1 via the library of Wan Shi Tong

"Excellent form, Demitar." Monk Taozo signaled his approval to the young demitar. She bowed deeply, her unnaturally white hair swinging down over her shoulders. She looked so graceful in her air nomad attire that, should someone have been informed that she was actually born to the fire nation, it would have been hard to believe.

"Thank you, Master," Raya said with a gentle smile lighting up her face. "Master, forgive me, but I was hoping I could speak to you about something." Raya bounded up out of the training ring, using small bursts of air to propel herself.

"I am always available for you, Raya. What seems to be troubling your mind?" Monk Taozo was one of the most patient people she had ever encountered in her life. Her years of childhood, and then fire bending training, had been ruthless. She was by no means tortured, but the fire nation had a standard – a way – of ferocity that she felt she could never truly embrace.

Her year and some odd months with the nomads had been some of the truest, fullest months of her life. She embraced every part of their teachings in order to learn the element, but soon found that it was the way she wanted to live her life. Upon earning her sacred tattoos, she felt a greater sense of achievement than she had ever felt, even at mastering firebending.

However, nothing lasts forever, and once it was confirmed that she had mastered air, the fire nation would want their citizen back. She wished some part of her wanted to do so. To go back to the fire nation would mean returning as a fully realized Demitar. She would have to spend years waiting in the fire nation palace, a place she dearly wished to avoid, until the next Avatar turned 16. As far as she knew he was currently only twelve, and an air nomad in the southern temples. Someone she wished to meet sooner rather than later.

As the Demitar, master of only two elements, she was informed of her identity at the age of 14. Firebending came naturally to her, and she had already been learning it for years when she discovered her role as the Demitar. She mastered her firebending at fourteen, and went on to train with the air nomads ever since.

"Well, I – Please forgive me, Master – I heard what you and the counsel were saying a few days ago. . . I didn't mean to eves drop! I was just flying RaiJin, and, well, I'm sorry." She looked up to her Master to see whether or not she should even bother to continue, or just drop to the ground at his feet and begin begging his forgiveness. He looked patient, as though he were content to hear the rest, and so she continued.

"I know that the Avatar's identity has been revealed to him early. . . I don't know why, and you don't have to tell me. I was just wondering. . . I've earned my tattoos, and I'm ready to begin serving the new avatar. Master, please, may I go to the southern air temples?" Raya stopped walking then and bowed deeply to monk Taozo. The silence that followed stretched on until Raya felt her back begin to ache for the depth of her bow.

"I believe the young Avatar could use a steadfast companion now, more than ever," Taozo finally said with a light smile.

A sharp metallic clang sounded through Raya's chamber and she was pulled from her meditation. She glanced up at the door through thick iron bars. The door opened and shut with a grating sound, and soon she was graced with the presence of the fire prince. He wore his usual formal robes and a cloak, which was pulled far over his head to hide his face.

"Fire Prince Zuko, what an honor," Raya said blankly. The prince gave no retort but instead seated himself before her. These visits had occurred a lot since he had returned. He said nothing and the silence stretched endlessly on. He stared hard at the Demitar, and looked as though an eternal struggle lingered behind his eyes. At this point it seemed he would say nothing, and she went back into her meditative trance.

"Are you contacting the Avatar?" he asked suddenly. She opened her amber eyes once more and watched him carefully.

"No," she said simply, and closed her eyes again.

"Don't ignore me! I know the Demitar and Avatar have the ability to contact each other at anytime from anywhere in the world."

"And how might I go about doing such a thing with someone I have never even met. Someone you've supposedly killed," She said, there was a silent rage blossoming behind her stare, and as she spat the last part, a tinge of hurt she hadn't intended to reveal came with it. Zuko put his eyes to the ground then, and looked almost pained himself.

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling himself off the ground and turning away from her. He walked to the door silently and it opened once more, sliding shut following his exit. Raya felt the shock on her face as she looked at the solid metal exit. I'm sorry. The Fire Prince was the first person to ever apologize to her. It was as if something inside of her shifted with his words.

She shifted her legs and straightened her back, and once more began meditating. There was nothing else for her to do in her prison cell, and so she did it as often as she could. Mostly in order to maintain her inner peace, but also because she had been trying to contact Aang. However, she hadn't been untruthful with the Fire Prince; she couldn't contact him, because they had not yet met or made physical contact.

Raya sat up in her bed, rubbing the restlessness from her eyes. She stood and walked over to the large window that overlooked a vast expanse of the mountain range. She could see the Western side of the temple, and the Western garden. All was still in the night, and nothing disturbed the surface of the temple grounds but brilliant moonlight.

Her mind was racing with the possibilities ahead of her. She was more excited to head to the Southern Temples than she thought possible. Monk Tazao had written to Monk Giatso, the Avatars guardian, in order to make the arrangements. As soon as they heard back, Raya could set off. She had also considered the possibility that Monk Giatso would refuse her proposal, and ask her to wait until Aang was of age.

If she had to wait, she knew she would be headed back to the fire nation within months; she couldn't bring herself to use the word home. The word 'home' brought up a thousand resilient memories of the air temple compared to when she tried to think of the fire nation that way. The fire nation only brought memories of a strict and rigid upbringing.

She realized in time that her body was just as restless as her mind, and she stepped up and away from the window. Making her way to the door, she peaked out, a small fire ball in her outstretched hand. After a thorough investigation of the hallway, she was satisfied that it was empty and made her way out of the temples. She thought about how beautiful the temples always looked no matter the light in which they were viewed.

She recalled a brief memory of a time she had left her room for a drink as a novice bender. She held a weak fireball in her small hand and tried to find her way to a source of water. She had awoke from a nightmare covered in fire, and it left her mouth hot and dry. The way the fire danced off the walls of the palace was eerie, and intimidating.

That was not the case in the temples. The sandy white stone that encased the air nomads was so tranquil. She breathed a sigh of peace at her thoughts before she stepped out into the open air. The moonlight was bright enough for her to extinguish her flame, and she continued her walk sans firebending.

The wind tousled her white locks into her face, and she tucked it all gently behind her ears, taking in the mountains bathed in moonlight. It was then that she considered the fact that she might like some company to quell her unquiet mind.

Rai Jin was laying amongst the sky bison within the temple stables and she cracked a smile at the odd position the dragon had found himself in. Two baby bison had nestled against him and his head lay across them as though they were two living, flying pillows. She walked carefully through the array of flying creatures and finally rested a gentle hand on Rai Jins muzzle.

His jade eyes flicked open instantly and two tendrils of calm smoke drifted from his nostrils. He blinked at her once in acknowledgement before closing his eyes again. She patted his rough snout gently and leaned against him as she slid down to sit. He readjusted his head to rest against her lap. She sighed at the thought of him becoming fully grown. His head was almost heavier than she could bare to have resting on her lap now, but someday – maybe soon – his head would crush her legs if he tried the same thing.

"Food," someone said unceremoniously, tossing a dingy tray of gray foods at her. She picked up the bowl of gruel and began to place small portions in her mouth. The guard stood over her for a moment longer before shaking his head and walking away. She sat the bowl aside then and folded her hands in her lap.

She knew she shouldn't be turning away from the food she was given – her frame was becoming noticeably thin and she could feel her ribs beginning to reveal themselves one by one beneath her underwraps as time passed. There was just something about being a prisoner of the people you were born to protect that staved off a healthy appetite.

Suddenly there was a metallic clank and Raya looked toward the door expectantly. She knew that sound too well. Someone was entering and as they came forward into the dim light that was cast around her cell, she saw the face of someone she recognized well by now.

"Fire Prince Zuko," she greeted him with a flat tone and just barely inclined her head. He sat before her as usual and pulled his hood back, revealing his scared flesh. Raya, for the first time, did not go back to meditating, but instead maintained eye contact with the Prince as he glared. Surprisingly his gaze softened, and she did her best not to flinch at this sudden change.

"Tell me about the air nomads," he asked, his voice gentle and humble.

"They were an amazing people. The most gentle and fundamentally kind human beings I have ever encountered in my life. They showed me that life was greater than the physical and social trials we face here. And they loved to laugh. I will miss them for the rest of my life," Raya said, breaking her gaze with the Fire Prince to stare at her hands. She could feel the blur of tears beginning in her vision.

This was the first time she had actually talked about her loss and the first time she had forced herself to truly remember the people she had come to love so dearly in such detail.

"My father said they were weak, and that they asked for their own destruction by being that way, but," Zuko paused and waited for Raya to look back at him. He seemed pained suddenly, and lost for his words.

"Strength is not something we display in heated battles, Zuko," Raya said, stripping the formality from her words and looking at the prince with the wisdom of the Demitar. "It's the courage we hold in our hearts. The peace we bring to ourselves and others when it seems like violence is the only option. It's the integrity we present to the world, and our steadfastness of self. That is the true meaning of strength. The nomads were the strongest people I've ever known, and that strength lives on through me, and through the Avatar."

Zuko nodded slowly and she watched as he raised his hands to his face, covering it. He sat like that for a while before he sighed and reached through the bar tentatively as if to touch her hand. Raya didn't move, but prepared herself for anything. But the prince withdrew his hand just as quickly as he had extended it, and stood. He turned from her and left silently.

Brilliant blue light swirled around Raya and RaiJin. The Demitar's limbs snapped into a meditative position – her fist pressed against an open palm – and she lost control of her actions. She felt her mind fading behind a thousand others and her body moved of its own accord. The world before her faded, and she felt Rai Jin wrap tightly around her.

The baby sky bison scattered and the larger ones backed away, roaring their protests at the sudden event.

And the world became dark. She couldn't feel the extent of her limbs anymore, and her mind felt like it was floating; freely detached from her physical body. A panic began to rise inside of her. Before it could, however, another mind reached out to hers. Its voice was like the culmination of a thousand other voices speaking in unison.

'Be calm now, Demitar. You will be safe.' She trusted the voice, and as soon as she relaxed there was nothing. She was nothing and the world around her fell away so fully that for a moment she thought perhaps she had died, and that her spirit was moving on to the next life. There was simply nothing.

"Get up," she heard suddenly, being pulled harshly from her memories. She looked around for the source of the interruption and found that iron bars no longer impeded her view of the door.

"Wh -" she began, but was cut short as she was pulled to her feet, not unkindly by someone fully cloaked. Once she was on her feet she felt fully how much of a toll her imprisonment had taken on her body. She felt tired and weak, her legs had grown unused to carrying her own weight – however little weight that was now – and threatened to give out.

She wobbled and the cloaked individual sent out a steadying hand. The small jostle sent his hood back and she saw the face of Prince Zuko looking seriously into her amber eyes. She gaped a little and he simply looked away and began helping her forward.

"I know you're weak, but we need to hurry." He pressed her to move a little faster and she obliged.

"What are you doing? What's happening?"

"I'm setting you free."