Avatar: The Last Airbender
Water.
Earth.
Fire.
Air.
It has been six years since the end of the Great War. Since Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai.
The citizens are working hard to reconstruct their battered countries, and there has been great success so far. Fire Lord Zuko had reclaimed his nation's honor; Toph is now a great earthbending trainer; Sokka is chief of the Southern Water Tribe, with Suki at his side; Aang had started up a group called The United People's Society.
Great progress had been made in reuniting the Four Nations. Much is being done to maintain order and peace. But my friends and I know that where there is light, there is shadow.
No matter how far we've come, there is always more work to be done.
Chapter Seven: Saying Goodbye
Neela pressed open the doors to The Jasmine Dragon tea shop, run by former general and Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus, Iroh.
The quaint little tea shop had become a popular hangout for Neela and her friends, the group who had traveled with the Avatar to end the Great War.
"Hey," a call sounded from across the room.
Neela looked up to see Katara waving and beckoning for her.
"Hi," Neela gave her soft greeting, bowing quickly to the group.
"Yo." Toph Bei Fong twitched her hand in a brief wave. Neela scanned the twenty-ish-year-old warriors. She noticed two were missing from the herd.
"Where are Aang and Zuko?" she queried.
Toph gave a vague gesture towards the exit door. "They left about half an hour ago. Something about bringing up criminal charges against Mai."
Neela nodded knowingly. She remembered the conversation she and the group had had the day before. Toph had told her that Mai, former wife of the former Fire Lord Zuko, had attacked Katara. Katara, a waterbender who'd had an affair with the Fire Lord(and is many months pregnant with his child) was struck along the left thigh and hip from Mai's famous daggers. The wound wasn't fatal; however, the gash was deep and long, and required constant observation and redressing. It had given Katara a limp in her steps, but they all were assured that it would only be temporary.
"Hey," Toph said suddenly, as if she could hear Neela's thoughts. She turned to the waterbender, with a cocky grin erupting on her face. "You never thanked me for saving your life."
"What?" Katara looked taken aback. "I did so."
"Uh, no, you didn't."
"Uh, yes, I did!"
Neela could see Katara was starting to grow agitated.
"Katara—" The young earthbender looked squarely at Katara, even though she was blind. "—if there's one thing I never forget, it's what people tell me. You never thanked me. If you had, I'd know about it."
Katara scoffed. "Fine. Thank you for saving my life."
Toph made a motion with her hand, as if to brush away what Katara had just said. "You took too long. Your words mean nothing now."
Neela tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle as the waterbender's face reddened with frustration. Katara opened her mouth to retaliate, but she could only squeak a few unfinished words.
"Hey, hey." Neela reached her hand across the table to rest it comfortingly on the waterbender's arm. "Take it easy. That baby's probably going to come soon...you don't want to add any more stress than what you absolutely can't avoid."
Katara seemed to calm instantly. "Yeah," she murmured. "I'm not even sure how far I am."
Toph suddenly leaned forward, and firmly planted an outstretched hand over the waterbender's growing baby bump. She was silent for a few moments. Finally, Toph withdrew her hand and said, "Seven months."
"Holy crap!" Neela blurted before she could stop herself.
"Seven months?" Katara also looked stunned at the calculation.
Toph felt the baby bump a second time, and then corrected herself. "And a half."
"Are you sure?" Neela found herself asking.
The earthbender nodded. "Positive."
Suddenly Neela heard panicky footsteps, and two men were hastily approaching them.
"Katara!" came Aang's breathless voice. He slammed his hands on the table to steady himself, causing the half-full tea cups to rattle. Aang heaved and panted. Finally, he swallowed, and said in a rush, "We have to get out of here! Now!"
"What?" Katara said, wearing an expression of disbelief and doubt.
"He's right." Zuko sounded equally winded. "We need to leave."
"Why?" Neela asked, her eyes flicking from the Avatar to the former Fire Lord and back.
"Mai," Aang breathed.
"Yeah, what about her?" Toph gave the men a confused shrug.
It was Zuko who replied, "They're not going to retain her."
"What?!" Katara repeated, her voice filled with fright and irritation. "But she tried to kill me!"
Toph leaned in and murmured, "Yeah, but she didn't. That's why she's free to go." Then she snickered.
"Seriously," Neela said. She turned back to Aang. "What happened?"
"Toph's sort of right." The Avatar took a breath, and began, "We went down to the Fire Nation offices, and spoke with the head of the department of law—"
"—and they basically said tough crap," Zuko finished. "Hell, Mai's the Fire Lady. They didn't believe us when we said she tried to commit a murder."
"That's absurd!" Neela yelped furiously, rising to her feet. "Just because she's the big-ass Fire Lady, she gets away with whatever the hell she wants?!?" She quickly closed her mouth as she realized the curses that had slipped her tongue. Neela glanced around, and noticed the other tea shop customers were shooting her dirty looks of annoyance.
"Ahem," she muttered, and swiftly sat back down.
Aang raised his shoulders in a weary shrug. "Pretty much," he responded in a defeated tone.
"That's ridiculous." Toph was shaking her head in disbelief.
"No one ever said the laws in the Fire Nation were fair," Zuko said grimly.
"Oh my gosh!" Toph wore a fake expression of shock on her face. "Are you accusing Fire Lord Ozai of being cruel and unjust?"
"Oh, shut up," the firebender muttered, but he was chuckling softly.
"We gotta get out of here soon," Katara murmured, absentmindedly running her finger around the edge of her empty teacup. "This is bad, very bad."
"Yeah," Toph chimed in. "Now that the crazy Fire Lady is on the loose, who knows what will happen?"
Suddenly Zuko looked at them with a glassy expression. "I have a hunch."
"What do you mean?" Aang asked him.
"Ty Lee and Azula."
"What?" Katara stared at him with a stunned expression. "What are you talking about?"
"She might try to recruit them to work against us once more."
Toph cocked an eyebrow. "Okay, now that's ridiculous!"
"I don't know." Aang gave a short shrug. "I wouldn't put it past them."
"See?" Zuko nodded.
Toph didn't budge. "Still sounds stupid." She grunted. "But it's possible."
"Crap," Aang muttered.
"Sounds bad," Katara whispered.
Toph started shaking her head in disbelief. "I doubt they'd go along with it."
There was a long moment of silence. The friends flashed each other confused looks.
"Well, think about it." Toph held up her index finger, indicating her idea. "Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi Warriors. She's happy now; she loves fighting alongside them. Why would she give all that up just to help Mai get her revenge?"
"She wouldn't know it's Mai's revenge," Zuko pointed out.
"Maybe not, but if she's anything, Ty Lee's an annoyingly cheery person, and...." Suddenly a baffled look glazed over Toph's green eyes. "Uh, where was I going with this?"
"There's no way Ty Lee would sacrifice the Kyoshi Warriors for something Mai wants," Neela quickly offered. "Especially now that she's their leader."
"Leader?" The confusion cleared from Toph's green gaze. "Ty Lee?"
Neela nodded, smiling. "Yeah. When Suki was pregnant with Chief Sokka's kids, she retired from the Kyoshi Warriors to move to the South Pole with him. She handed the leadership over to Ty Lee because of her unique skills and her determination."
They all gave her looks of shock.
"What?" she said, scanning their stunned faces. "I heard it from the papers." Then she frowned, and asked, "Haven't you?"
"No," came Katara's murmur.
"We didn't hear about the warring within the Fire Nation provinces, either," Aang added.
"Something smells fishy here," Toph muttered.
"What?" Guilt bore heavily through Zuko's amber expression. "So I hadn't showered in a day—"
"No, you bonehead!" Toph snapped. "Not you—!"
"But thanks for bringing that to our attention," Aang chuckled.
"This does sound pretty suspicious," Katara broke in before the former Fire Lord could retort. "Why hadn't we been informed of all this?"
"Yeah, we're the heroes here!" Toph put in.
"Sounds way too shady," Zuko said. "Why is certain news being kept from us?"
Neela's heart thumped as she spoke up. "I think you're being too quick to judge."
The group turned their looks of outrage and confusion on her.
"What the hell are you talking about?" the blind earthbender snapped.
Neela swallowed. "Just because you haven't heard of two news articles does not mean there's anything suspicious going on."
They still stared at her with bewildered gazes.
Finally Toph shrugged. "As much as I hate to admit it, Braidy here might have a point," she muttered.
Neela grinned. "Yeah, I—" She looked at her. "'Braidy'?"
The earthbender released another shrug. "You got braids, don't ya?"
Aang shifted his feet. "Maybe we did jump to conclusions too—"
"No!" Katara suddenly snapped. "I'm with Zuko..."
"Of course," muttered Toph in a voice so low that only Neela caught what she'd said.
Katara was shaking her head. "It all sounds very suspicious. Okay, maybe there isn't anything going on, but I'm not about to take any chances. Yin Lee divulged our secrets. Mai tried to murder me. Now this? You'll never get me to believe it's just a coincidence." She fell silent, and looked away.
"My own nation is turning against me," Zuko murmured.
"Again," Toph added.
"I agree with Katara," Aang said, ignoring the earthbender's comment. "It's too strange. We've got to get out of here, now."
"Yeah." Katara nodded. "We're set to leave tomorrow night."
Aang's eyes flashed for a moment. "We won't be here tomorrow!" he boomed. "Because we're leaving. Tonight!" Then he calmed. "It's too dangerous here for us. It may not seem that bad now..."
"...but it will be soon," Toph finished for him, her blind gaze suddenly growing very intense.
Many minutes of silence followed her ominous words.
Finally, Zuko slid out of the booth. He stood, and took Katara's hand as she too got to her feet. "Well, we're going to get the rest of our stuff packed."
"Meet me outside here tonight," Aang instructed them. "We leave at sunset."
Zuko and Katara nodded their responses, and with a wave to the rest of the group, they left The Jasmine Dragon tea shop.
Another chunk of time passed, and the Avatar stirred in his seat. "I have to go pack Appa."
"Didn't you pack him yesterday?" Toph asked.
"Yeah, but we're not done yet." He chuckled as he added, "It takes a while for a giant flying bison to get ready, you know."
Neela gave a polite giggle, and smiled at him. He returned the smile, and she blushed.
"Um," Toph interrupted, "you might want to get a move on if it takes a while to get Appa ready."
The Avatar flashed her a glare, and turned back to Neela. "I have to go."
He slid out of the booth and straightened his robes. Then Aang bent down and gave Neela a quick kiss to the cheek.
She chuckled softly and grinned, but said nothing. He held her gaze for a minute, and then made his way out the door.
She gazed towards the door, her eyes never leaving the spot where Aang was standing just a moment earlier.
"He's something, isn't he?" Toph's voice sliced through her thoughts.
"Yeah..." Neela sighed. Her gaze was still fixed on the front door.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toph start pushing her way to the end of the booth. She rose to her feet and, looking down at Neela with sightless green eyes, said, "I gotta get going, too. Lot of stuff to pack."
Before she took off towards the exit, Toph bent and hissed in Neela's ear, "Back off. The Avatar's mine."
She stood straight, and flashed a warm smile filled with innocence, as if nothing had just happened. Then with a wave, she left the tea shop.
The eerie words echoed softly in Neela's mind. Was that supposed to be her claim on Aang? she thought to herself. Then she blushed again as she thought of the kiss Aang had given her. She brushed away the wave of uneasiness that the strange quote had brought about.
Neela downed the rest of her tea, paid her check, and left.
Neela walked up the stone pathway that led to her front door. She dug around in her handbag for her house keys. Finally finding them, she unlocked the door to her house, and let herself in.
"Nee-lee!" cried a little voice.
She turned to see a small boy charging towards her.
"Hey-hey, Kosa!" She knelt, and scooped her younger brother up in her arms. "How's my big boy?"
"Lookie what I can do!" the boy squeaked, and thrust his fists outward.
Suddenly short billows of flame erupted into the air.
Neela yelped and, still holding the boy, leapt backwards. She grabbed Kosa's small arms and shoved them back to his sides.
"Was that good?" Kosa asked her with a big toothy grin.
Neela sighed, trying to calm her thumping heart. "Uh, yeah, it was great. But—" She stared into the boy's eyes. "Don't do that again, you hear? Playing with fire is very, very dangerous."
His green eyes grew huge. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking away.
"It's okay," Neela soothed her brother, and kissed him on the cheek. "Just don't do it again, okay?"
"Okay," little Kosa murmured, and put his arms around her neck in an apologetic hug.
"Well, look who's home."
Neela turned to see her mother standing in the entryway to their living room. Her voice had sounded harsh, but she had a warm smile on her face.
"Hello, Mama," Neela greeted, releasing her younger brother onto the ground.
"Kosa," her mother spoke, "why don't you go see what Taku is up to?" She was referring to Neela's other younger brother.
"Yay! Taku!" he cried, taking off into the other room.
"And no firebending!" both Neela and her mother called after him.
When her brother was out of the room, Neela's mother narrowed her eyes at her.
"Where were you?" she asked.
Neela shrugged. "I'm sorry I was late, Mama. I met up with some friends at The Jasmine Dragon."
"What friends?" Her mother studied her carefully. "Who are they?"
"Mama, relax. I'm—"
"Who are they?" the older woman repeated.
The earthbender gave a weak shrug. "Just the Avatar and his group—"
Her mother cut her off with a brisk laugh. "And you expect me to believe that?"
"Yeah." Neela stepped closer to her. "Mama, I'm supposed to meet with Aang later."
"No you're not!" her mother snapped. "You will not be going anywhere tonight."
"But, Mama," Neela protested. "I'm 19 years old. I have my own life, and I will go where I please!"
"You will not," the woman insisted with an icy edge to her voice. "You have chores to do, and while you live under my roof, you will do them, damn it!"
Neela flinched at her mother's bitter words. After many silent moments, she sighed deeply, and lowered her head. "Fine," she spat, and stomped off.
Neela angrily made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her, and threw herself onto her bed.
She huffed and seethed with rage. She was practically an adult! Why wouldn't her mother let her have her freedom?
Suddenly Neela sat up on her bed. She leaned over and dug around her nightstand drawer. Finally, she found what she was looking for. Neela withdrew a framed illustration of Aang and his group from when the war had ended. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Toph were hailed as heroes all over the world.
That was six years ago, when the world was relishing in its newfound peace. Now it seemed that peace was falling apart at the seams. The lives of Team Avatar were falling apart individually, but they continued to stick together, and were set on traveling to the Southern Water Tribe in hopes of escaping the ridicule they were now receiving from the Fire Nation.
Neela studied the picture, which also included Momo and Appa, animal friends of the Avatar. A thought was drifting around in her mind. Stay here with her stressed mother and feel miserable...or run away with the group of heroes and the man she had feelings for? Neela sighed, and set the picture upright on her nightstand. She relaxed back on her bed, and let herself drift off to sleep.
An unknown amount of time later, Neela gave a gasping breath, and her eyes flung open. Frantically, she glanced towards her window, and realized that it was nearing sunset—the set time for Team Avatar's departure.
Hastily Neela checked herself in her mirror, reapplied a little makeup, and fixed her clothes. She grabbed her handbag and started to make her way out the door. Suddenly she froze in her tracks. Her mother had made it plain and simple that she was not to leave the house that night. Neela smiled as she reminded herself, I'm an earthbender! Escaping a house made of stone shouldn't be hard to do. She set down her handbag, and placed her hands on the wall of her room that faced outside. She closed her eyes, studying each grain of earth and stone. Taking a breath, Neela withdrew her hands, and threw her fists and feet against the stone wall. Within seconds, the wall was reduced to rubble.
"Sorry, Ma," Neela muttered, "but this is something I have to do." Clutching her handbag, she began to climb out of the hole in her wall.
Neela gripped the wall on the outside of her house as she made her way downwards. She glanced down to gauge the distance between her and the ground. Finding it to her liking, Neela released her grip from the wall and tumbled onto the grass below. She grunted with the impact, and got to her feet. Brushing herself off, Neela grabbed her handbag and continued on towards The Jasmine Dragon.
"Hey," Aang greeted her warmly as she neared her friends. "I knew you'd come."
"Um, Aang—"
"Wait." Toph stopped packing her luggage onto Appa. "Braidy's coming with us to the Southern Water Tribe?"
The Avatar grinned. "Yeah, of course she—"
"No." Neela held her hand up to stop his words. "I'm not."
His face fell solemn. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not going with you," Neela said, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Katara stopped what she was doing and approached her.
She sighed. "I can't. I mean—as much as I want to, I just can't leave my family." She studied Aang's sad expression "They need me."
Katara nodded, and murmured, "I know what you mean. That's why I'm going back." She gave a small smile.
Neela glanced over Katara's shoulder. Zuko had continued to pack the giant flying bison.
"Are you sure?" Aang's voice tore into the silence.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm sure."
"Okey-dokes," Toph said suddenly, sweeping her arm towards Appa and their packed luggage. "Let's go, gang." She climbed into the bison's saddle and sat beside Zuko.
Neela turned back to the Avatar.
"Are you sure?" he asked again.
Neela giggled lightly, and tried to smile away the tears that threatened to flow. "I'm positive. Aang, you go ahead. I have to stay here."
He gave her a pleading stare.
She shrugged. "I have to," Neela insisted. "This is where I belong." With another soft chuckle, she added, "And I've been to the South Pole before. It's too cold for me." She gave a brief shudder for emphasis.
Katara had left their side and limped over to join the others atop Appa.
"Let's go!" Toph called sharply from the saddle. "The day's not getting any younger!"
"Well," Aang began, turning back to Neela. "I suppose we should go."
"Yeah," Neela replied with a warm smile. "You should." She sniffled, and wiped away a falling tear.
Many moments of saddened silence passed. Toph called again for him to hurry, and he called his reply.
Aang locked his warm brown gaze with Neela's. Then, he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. This startled her at first, but she soon relaxed into his embrace. She lightly grabbed his head and pulled him closer. Then they released each other.
Another cry came from atop Appa. This time it was Zuko.
"Aang! Move your ass!"
The Avatar took a step toward them, but gave Neela another quick kiss.
"I'll never forget you," he murmured to her. Aang sped away and leapt onto the giant bison.
Tears flowed down Neela's face as she watched him get situated atop Appa's head and grip the reins. He didn't spare her another glance. Katara waved her farewell, and Zuko followed suit. Finally, Aang flashed her a teary look, smiled, and turned back to Appa. With a snap of the reins and a cry of "yip, yip!" the great bison launched himself into the air. A flying lemur, Momo, suddenly appeared alongside the gang. He chittered, and followed the bison in flight.
Neela was heaving quivering breaths and desperately trying to hold back her sobs as her eyes never left the bison. The group soared farther away into the orange depths of the sky. Moments later, the sun had sunk completely below the horizon, and the flying bison could no longer be seen.
End of Chapter Seven.