Happy Holidays Everyone! As an present to all the amazing readers of Open Your Mind, here is the very first chapter of the remake, Firestorm! Now just a warning, this story is going to be rather different from it's predecessor (i.e. less novelization of the series and more originality). I was super inspired by Vathara's Embers, so spirits are going to be more heavily featured in Firestorm and so is the Air Nomad culture; some things may seem a bit confusing right now but I promise it will all be explained as the story goes on. Everyone who read Open Your Mind will also probably notice a very big change in my OFC Xia. One change is her name which I shortened to just Xia and another is her physical appearance; we don't 'see' that quite yet since this chapter is mostly told from her POV but if you follow the Official Xiabug Ship on tumblr, you'll see some fanart of her (and others). Now I'm gonna bring this ridiculously long not to a close; I hope ya'll enjoy Firestorm as much you you all liked OYM!
DISCLAIMER FOR THE WHOLE STORY: I own NOTHING you may recognize as belonging to the creators of AtlA, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, nor am I a writer for Nickelodeon. Xia and any other OCs that are mentioned or pop up belong to me unless stated otherwise. Please enjoy and don't sue.
Warning: Rated T+ for some mild language (crap, damn, hell, etc.) and mild descriptions of violence (but that's in later chapters).
Beta'd by the awesome Queen of the Beasties. Cover Art by JAVelvetScale on weasyl.
The storm appeared out of nowhere; one minute the sky was clear and blue and the next thick, ominous clouds sparking with ribbons of lightning cloaked the sky. Rain, icy cold and hard, fell from those clouds in blinding sheets, striking bare skin like small pebbles.
Squinting and trying to blink the water from her eyes, Xia clung to Appa's saddle like a barnacle clings to the side of a ship. The wind, howling and shrieking with potent fury, buffeted her from all sides. Whipped her soaking wet hair around her head, the freezing cold strands lashing her numb face. In front of her, perched on Appa's head, Aang struggled to guide the sky bison through the storm. Xia called out to him, hoping against hope that he would hear her, but the swallowed her cries. Drowned them with its shrieks and howls.
Xia gritted her teeth, cursing inside her head, and clung tightly to the saddle. Inched her way to the front, painstakingly slow. Fruitless as she suspected it was, she still hoped that by being closer to him, Aang would hear her. Of course, what she planned to actually say to him, Xia had no idea. Tell him they needed to get out of the storm? Yeah, she was pretty sure Aang already knew that. Tell him to land?
Xia chanced a peek over the saddle edge and cringed. Yeeah, that wouldn't be possible any time soon. Not when there was nothing but ocean beneath them. Very, very angry ocean. Woof.
Thunder boomed, rattling her teeth in her skull. Xia flinched hard. Lost her grip on the saddle rim for a heart stopping second before she caught herself. Sharp nails accustomed to clinging to stone walls and cliff sides, sank into the sturdy leather like talons. The wind tugged at her viciously and she dug her nails deeper in to the leather. Yeah, no she was just fine where she was, thank you.
Trembling—with fear as much as cold—and a little more than halfway to her intended goal, Xia hunkered down. Held on to the saddle like her life depended on it. Well, considering the way the storm was raging around them, her life very well might. Whee. The deluge sluiced over her, chilled her, and the winds drove that chill straight down into her bones. They screamed at Xia; continued to grab and yank at her. Tried to rip her right out of the saddle and toss her into the frothing ocean below. Or possibly into a stray lightning bolt. She wasn't sure which, nor did she particularly want to find out.
Xia trembled harder, tears mixing with the rain flowing down her face now. She was scared, no terrified, of the wind. Which was wrong, so very, very wrong. The wind had always—always—been her friend; even when she had been lost and alone, Xia always had the wind. To have it turn on her like this, now of all times…to feel fear in the middle of a storm where she'd always felt safest before? Felt at her strongest?
It hurt. Hurt all the way down to her spirit.
Thunder roared again and again, lightning flashing in bright, blinding arcs around Appa. Xia whimpered; she was so scared. And if she was scared, sitting in the—relative—safety of the saddle…up on Appa's head, facing the storm head on, Aang must be terrified. And that made the ache in her spirit all the worse; she was supposed to protect him. From everything, even being afraid. Or stupid.
Spirits, what had she been thinking, letting Aang run away like this? She should have made him wait—should have sat on him if she had to—and convinced him to let Gyatso handle the Elders. But noooo, instead she agreed with him because she was an idiot. What the hell had made her think running away was a good idea? When had doing that ever worked for her?
Lightning split the sky in front of Appa, snapping Xia out of her disparaging thoughts. The sky bison reared back with a bellow even louder than the thunder. Xia clung desperately to the saddle, feeling her legs leave the bottom. Forced them back down and lifted her head to check on Aang. Watched, horrified, as he was tossed from Appa's head. Aang tried to hold on to the reins, mouth open in a scream, but the storm winds ripped the leather straps from his fingers. He fell.
Time seemed to slow as Xia watched Aang fall; stood still as his eyes locked with hers, stark terror in the grey depths. He swung his arms, trying to bend the wind raging around him. Nothing. The wind was too angry, too wild; it belonged to the storm and would not answer his call. Aang, master though he was, didn't know how to fight a storm for control of the wind. Hadn't learned, not yet.
It was a good thing Xia had.
Time sped up again as Xia threw herself from the saddle. Clapped her hands together and spun, parting the storm winds like an arrow. The storm buffeted her, tried to throw her off course but Xia wasn't having it. She'd fight the Storm and Wind Spirit herself in order to protect Aang; his safety, his life was too important.
Ten feet.
Five.
Three.
Two.
Xia parted her hands, grabbed Aang's wrist with her right, and throwing her left arm out and rearing back out of her wild dive, she pulled him towards her with all her might. Aang flew towards her and Xia released his wrist, twisting away in the same instance. Aang flew past her and she twisted under him, back to the rapidly approaching ocean. Flung her arms out then forward, shoving her hands out in front of her.
Air, ripped right out of the storm's possessive grasp, blasted Aang in the back and sent him straight up. Appa swooped into Xia's line of sight and Aang collided with the sky bison's forehead. Clung to him then scrambled to the top. The storm howled its fury.
Xia exhaled in relief—safe. He was safe—and almost closed her eyes. Remembered that, oh hey, she was still falling. And there was a very angry ocean getting closer! Eep.
Xia yelped and flipped upright, drawing her arms and legs in towards her torso. Twisted then flung her arms wide and forcefully straightened her legs; air whipped and swirled around her, coalescing into a sphere. The ocean surged up, just barely missing her air sphere. The storm shrieked, outraged at losing both prey—if only for a moment for one of them—and battered at her shield. Xia grimaced, sweat beading her hairline. The sphere shrank; her arms trembled with the strain of trying to hold a bloody hurricane at bay.
The air sphere dropped several feet. Shrank. Xia bit her lip and strained. Prayed to any spirits that would listen to please, please don't let her die. The air sphere dropped again. Xia closed her eyes against tears as she felt her hold on the air sphere weakening. I'm going to fall.
Appa crashed into her, shattering her air sphere only moments before she would have been forced to release it. She clung to the sky bison's face, nearly sobbing with relief. She wasn't dead! Yay!
Cold fingers clamped her wrist and heaved. Xia pushed off Appa's nose and sprawled out on his head beside Aang, panting and shaking. Clutched Appa's fur with one hand and reached out blinding for Aang with the other. His fingers slid between hers, icy cold, and gripped tightly.
She heard Appa bellow. Felt him kick at the air, fervently trying to get away from the frothing ocean, to gain some altitude—though higher up wasn't exactly that much safer. Xia lifted her head just as lightning arched from the sky and struck the water nearby. Appa screamed and swerved. Dropped several yards. The ocean surged up, impossibly high, and seemed to grab Appa's hind leg. Appa roared. Xia and Aang screamed and clung to each other and Appa's fur as the ocean dragged the sky bison into its dark depths.
Appa kicked his legs and slapped his tail, desperately struggling to surface. His head broke through water; Xia and Aang sputtered and gasped for air. Thunder boomed and Appa roared back, defiant. Surged out of the water with all his strength. Managed to gain a few feet of air before another wave rose and crashed over them, forcing them back under.
Xia tried to hold on to Aang and Appa but the ocean wasn't having it. It ripped her away, the currents pushing and pulling her. She struggled against the current, tried to swim back to them. Something slammed into her, forcing her back. Xia gasped. Choked as water flooded her mouth and clamped her mouth shut; her throat and lungs burned. She flailed her arms, fighting the current pulling at her, pushing her further from Aang and Appa. Her vision blurred, black creeping along the her limbs begin to grow heavy, her struggles weakening.
I'm going to die. Xia's eyes fluttered with that realization, dread pooling in her belly. Determination welled up inside her. Xia gritted her teeth. Her eyes snapped open. No I'm not.
Xia raised her arms, grabbing at the air she could just vaguely feel in the water, flung her arms back and shoved. She shot through the water towards Aang and Appa. Managed, just barely, to latch onto a handful of Appa's fur near the saddle before her stupid brain tried to force her burning lungs to do their job and breathe, never mind the fact that she was under water.
Xia resisted the urge to inhale, fingers tightening around Appa's fur with the effort. Twisted a bit and saw Aang floating above Appa's head, eyes closed, his fingers tangled in the reins. Against her will, the last of her air escaped her lips in a flurry of bubbles; a wordless cry of anguish. No.
I failed…Gyatso, Sifu Batima, Ishan…Aang…I'm sorry. I failed you all. Xia let her fingers uncurl, releasing Appa' fur. Tears—or perhaps the salt water—stung eyes that never left Aang's form as the blackness swallowed more of her vision. I'm so sorry, Aang.
Blue-white light flashed. Something roared in her ears. Cold swallowed her then Xia knew no more, swept away by the darkness.
You will live.
Xia woke with a strangled cough. Gagged and groaned when her chest and throat spasmed with pain. She blinked blearily, staring at clear blue sky, trying to figure out why exactly her chest hurt. And what the hell was resting between her boobs. Xia narrowed her eyes a little as the blue sky was blotted out by a slightly blurry brown face. She blinked a few more times to bring the face into focus. Realized it was a boy and stared into his ocean blue eyes stupidly for several seconds. Glanced down at her chest.
Why is his hand there!? Her fist shot. "Pervert!"
"Ow!" The boy fell away from her, clutching his nose with mitten-covered hands. "My sniffer!"
"Sokka!" A girl in a blue parka rushed to the boy's side as Xia scrambled away from him, one arm wrapped protectively around her breasts. She pointed an accusing finger at him and opened her mouth, gearing up to unleash a tongue-lashing of epic portions.
"Xia!"
Xia whipped her head around just as sixty some off pounds of worried twelve year old bowled her over. Her body screeched a protest. Ow.
"You're alive! I thought you were dead! I found you and you weren't breathing and Katara," Who the heck was that? "Said you had water in your lungs and she bent it out but you still weren't breathing and –and-!"
Aang's babbling deteriorated into a sob and he clung to her, pressing his face against her neck. "I was so scared I lost you, Xia."
Tears damped the collar of her tunic. Xia's eyes widened; oh crap! She sat up hurriedly—studiously ignoring her body's angry Ow!—and curled her arms around Aang's trembling form.
"Hey, hey! It's okay! I'm totally fine!" Er…sort of but Xia would freak out about almost—okay, not almost, she was pretty sure she did, but she wasn't gonna touch that thought with a ten foot pole—drowning when she didn't have a hysterical twelve year old Avatar cleaved to her person. She patted his back then leaned away slightly. Well, tried to at least. Aang clung to her like a stubborn barnacle. "See? Breathing."
She took a deep breath for emphasis and didn't even wince when her chest made it clear that it didn't like her doing that. No one bit. Her throat didn't much appreciate all the talking either. Whee.
Aang sniffled. Sat back and rubbed his eyes with the back of his fists. Looked at her with grey eyes still shimmering with tears. "But you weren't. Not until Sokka started pushing on your chest and kissing you-."
"I wasn't kissing her!" The boy she hit—Xia was assuming this was Sokka—exclaimed loudly in exasperation. He glared at Xia when she looked at him. "I was resuscitating you!"
Oooh. Well that explained the earlier boob-touching…er, which had actually been chest compressions and not boob-touching. Xia felt her cheeks hear up. Boy did she feel like a total idiot. She ducked her head. Offered the boy, Sokka, a sheepish, embarrassed smile.
"Sorry?"
"Sor-!" Sokka waved the hovering girl away. Jabbed an angry finger in Xia's direction, expression outraged. You almost broke my nose after I helped save your life! What kind of thanks is that!?"
Er…Xia scratched the back of her head. "The airbender kind?"
"Xia!" The girl made a quiet sound of shock but neither Aang nor Xia heard it as Aang turned a scandalized look on the young woman.
Xia just shrugged; it wasn't like she'd said it was an Air Nomad kind of thank you. Then again…airbender and Air Nomad were synonymous to Aang but that was a whole 'nother basket of worms she didn't want to deal with at the moment. Xia looked around, not really listening to Aang scold her on how the monks—and nuns—taught that violence was never the answer to anything. Blah, blah, blah; it was almost the exact same spiel the Elders always gave her and she didn't listen to them either.
Hmm. Snow, snow, ice—oh hey, that's why my butt's numb—more snow, the ocean, Appa. Xia did a double take then grinned at the sky bison lumbering around a mound of snow. Phew. Thank the spirits he was okay; animal guides were very important to certain people.
"So where are we?" Xia broke in after noticing the boy' and the girl's eyes steadily getting bigger and bigger as Aang went on. Xia assumed it was somewhere near the South Pole; that had been the direction she and Aang had been going in before the storm and the bloody ocean swallowed them.
The memory of being pulled into the ocean; of struggling against the current after being ripped away from Aang and Appa; of salt water burning her throat and filling her lungs, flashed through Xia's mind. She cringed; she had drowned. Not almost, not nearly. She had actually drowned. Had she died? She didn't remember, so she wasn't sure. She did remember a flash of blue-white light and a soul-deep coldness. So maybe she had died but was brought back by Aang's Katara's waterbending and Sokka chest compressions. Maybe a spirit—the source of the deep and melodious voice that ordered her to live—sent her back from the Spirit World? Maybe…maybe it had been Aang? Considering all the scrolls and books she'd read about past Avatars…well, it was totally possible that he was the only reason they were technically alive at the moment. Wait, how were they alive anyway?
Xia grimaced; all this thinking was making her head hurt. Thankfully a spear tip suddenly appearing inches from her nose distracted her. Xia stared at it blankly. Looked down the shaft and pinned the boy at the end of it with an unimpressed look.
"Boy, if you don't get that spear out of my face, I'll make you eatit."
The boy blanched but clenched his jaw and kept the spear pointed at her face, eyes grim. "No way, you could be a spy for the Fire Nation."
"Sokka!" The girl groaned loudly, clapping a hand to her forehead. Gestured at both Xia and Aang exasperatedly; "Did you hear them? They're airbenders, you idiot. They can't be spies for the Fire Navy!"
"You don't know that!" Sokka whipped his head towards her and scowled. Motioned towards Xia's face with the spear tip; "Look at her eyes, Katara! Everyone knows only the Fire Nation has eyes like that! And that flare!"
"Hey, airbenders can have eyes this color too!" But only the airbenders that weren't Temple-born; they usually had grey or brown eyes. What was wrong with being Fire Nation anyway? Sure they could be a little...temperamental, but the way Sokka said it made it sound like they were the evil villain in a spirit tale. Which they weren't. Well, most of them weren't. Some on the other hand…eh.
Xia shoved the thought, and Sokka's spear away and airbended herself to her feet. Dusted snow from her backside and crossed her arms, glowering down at Sokka. "Seriously, point that thing at me again and you will eat it."
"Xia…" Aang groaned. Shook his head and airbended himself to his feet. He smiled at Sokka and Katara earnestly, "Don't listen to her, Sokka. She won't actually make you eat your spear."
Sokka glanced at Aang's earnest smile, Xia's deadpan expression, and swallowed. "Yeah, I don't think I believe you, kid."
"Hey, I'll only do it if you point it at me again." Xia stated mildly. She uncrossed her arms and propped her hands on her hips. "So now that we've established that we," she gestured towards herself then Aang. "Are not spies for the Fire Navy—why you're even worried about that, I don't know. They hate anywhere this cold—can someone tell me if we are in the South Pole?"
"What do you mean you don't-!"
"Yes, you're in the South Pole." Katara said loudly, talking over her brother. She stepped forward, blue eyes wide with awe, and clasped her hands beneath her chin. "Are you really airbenders?"
"Uh…" The reverent, hopeful way the girl said that disconcerted Xia. It was almost as if she had never seen an airbender before which would be just ridiculous because she knew for a fact that many monks and nuns visited both Poles on a semi-regular basis. Mostly for the penguin sledding.
And what had Sokka been about to say? What didn't they know? Unease was starting to form a pit in Xia's stomach; something really wasn't right.
Oblivious as always, Aang rocked towards the girl with a wide grin. "We sure are! Didn't I mention that before?"
"No, no you didn't." Sokka deadpanned. Shook his head and stomped away from the other three, grumbling loudly; "Giant light beams. Frozen, oblivious airbenders. Giant, fluffy snot monsters. I think I have midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where things make sense."
He skittered around Appa, who was snuffling at the snow curiously, and disappeared around the snow mound. Xia stared in that direction for several seconds, blinking, then whirled towards Aang.
"What did he mean frozen?!"
"Uh…well, you see…" Aang smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. Blurted; "IguesswewerekindafrozeninanicebergI'msorryIdidn'tmeanto!"
Poor Katara looked like someone had slapped her with a fish. Xia could understand the feeling; learning to speak 'Aang' could take a while. Good thing she'd had almost seven years to learn so it only took a few moments to actually figure out what he said; "I guess we were kinda frozen in an iceberg, I'm sorry I didn't mean to."
It was the last bit that made Xia swallow thickly; so the blue-white light hadn't been her spirit heading to the Spirit World but Aang doing his Avatar thing. There were a lot of things that were Not Good about this situation, the least of which being just how long they had been frozen. Xia hoped it was only a few days but knowing what she did about an Avatar's power, what Gyatso had told her…eep.
It took Xia a second to realize that Aang was calling her name. She blinked herself back to the present, focusing on his worried face.
"Xia? Are you-are you okay?" He asked in a really small voice when he saw he had her attention. He smiled brightly, though it looked a little strained. "Don't worry, Xia! Katara got us out with some crazy waterbending and everything's gonna be okay 'cause she promised to go penguin-sledding. Remember the last time we went penguin-sledding? With Huian and Ishan and Kuzon?"'
She remembered getting a concussion after her otter-penguin ran into Ishan's and they knocked heads. Boy had that hurt; her best friend had a hard head. Xia said as much to Aang and he laughed loudly, bouncing on his toes as he turned to Katara with a grin.
"You should have seen it, Katara! It was so funny!"
Katara gave him an indulgent smile; Xia recognized is as the same kind of smile Lady Mazu and Sifu Batima would give Ishan, Kuzon, and her when they brought them something gross and slimy to look at. It was a look a mother, or aunt, or some other kind of female relative/friend gave a child and it was very different from the dreamy smile on Aang's face. Uh-oh.
"Anyway!" Xia said loudly, grabbing Aang's attention. "Penguin-sledding mishaps aside, how long were we in the iceberg, kiddo?"
"Um…" Aang scrunched up his nose and shrugged. "I dunno? A few days?" He grinned suddenly and bounced on his toes again. "But who cares! We're out now and we're in the South Pole just like we planned! So we can go penguin-sledding again!"
Right, back to the penguin-sledding. Oi. Xia bit back a sigh; she loved Aang, she did but his attention span—not to mention his tendency to avoid anything he thought was unpleasant—could grate on her nerves sometimes. Xia shook her head. Turned to Katara.
"So where exactly are we in the South Pole?"
Katara started, apparently having been distracted with staring at Xia and Aang with wonder and amazement. Blushed prettily and gave Xia a shy, embarrassed smile.
"Um, well, I'm not really sure." Katara explained. "My brother and I were out fishing, but we got stuck in some rapids and our canoe got crushed between a couple ice floes." She gave Xia an apologetic look then brightened. "Sokka might know where we are though. We can go ask him."
"As long as he does point the spear at me again." Xia muttered, making a 'lead on' gesture at Katara. The young girl giggled and turned on her heel, hurrying past Appa and around the snow mound Sokka had disappeared around several minutes ago. Aang stared after her dreamily, at least until Xia thumped him on the head.
"No."
"Ow!" He yelped and clutched the top of his head. Shot her a confused, indignant look. "What was that for?"
"No." Xia repeated simply and started walking. Now, normally she was all for relationships between people from different nations—Xia was in love with someone from the Fire Nation for spirits' sake—but Aang was a kid. A very sheltered kid and he had a very limited grasp on cultural differences; and boy, were there some huge cultural differences between the Temple Air Nomads and the other three nations, especially between them and the Water Tribes.
Xia wanted Aang to be just a little older—and he had a firmer grasp on the fact that life outside the Temples was very, very different, especially in the other nations—before he got involved with pretty Water Tribe girls. Perhaps that was rather presumptuous and controlling but eh, better safe than sorry.
She patted Appa's nose as she passed him, walking around the snow mound just in time to see—and hear—Sokka throw his arms in the air.
"I told you if you didn't like my steering you should have just waterbended us away from the ice!"
Katara's cheeks darkened, expression contorting with fury. Uh-oh; angry, not to mention young, waterbender with lots of ammo around? Not good. Xia pushed off the snow, jumping the rest of the distance between her and the two Water Tribe kids with a little airbending assistance.
"So I take it you don't know where we are either, Spear Boy?" Sokka squealed and jumped at least a foot in the air. Xia snickered and rocked back on her heels, clasping her hands behind her back.
"What-how-why did you do that?!" He sputtered. Xia snickered again.
"Sorry, I thought a warrior such as yourself would have heard me coming."
Sokka sputtered some more, his cheeks darkening with embarrassment. "You're insane."
"Most likely." Xia chirped with an easygoing smile. She gestured behind her where Appa, with Aang seated on his head, lumbered into view. "Do you at least know the way back to your village, 'cause we can give you a ride."
"That would be great!" Katara exclaimed excitedly, darting over to Appa before the words had even finished leaving her mouth. Xia gave her back an amused look then looked questioningly at Sokka.
"Oh, no. No, no, no." Sokka shook his head and backed away from her, waving his hands in front of him as if to ward of a blow. "No way am I getting on that fluffy snot monster."
Xia's brows lifted at that little declaration and she glanced between him and Appa, contemplating the distance between them. Oh yeah, she could totally airbend his butt into the saddle if she had to. She smirked, just a little evilly, at the prospect. Aang caught her expression and gave her a stern look which was studiously ignored as Xia continued to scrutinize Sokka critically.
Katara, halfway up Appa's side, paused and glanced over at her brother with a sardonic smirk. "I'm sorry, are you hoping some other monster is gonna give you a ride? Before you, y'know, freeze to death?"
She continued climbing up Appa's side, accepting the hand Aang's offered. Sokka pointed at his sister in preparation to retaliate and opened his mouth, but instead of what would have no doubt been a witty retort, a high pitched shriek came out of his mouth as he was lifted right off his feet. Swirling her hands, Xia turned on her toes. Sokka flailed as he 'flew' over to Appa, squealing protests and curses the entire way. Xia giggled.
When he was floating above the saddle, Xia brought her hands in and down, palms facing the ground and fingertips just barely touching. Sokka landed in the saddle with a loud oof! Katara giggled loudly and Aang gave her a chiding look from Appa's head, knowing exactly why she did what she just did. Xia smiled innocently and jumped. Air burst from her feet and she cleared the distance between herself and Appa easily. Flipped once and landed gracefully in the saddle at Sokka's feet and beside Katara.
"Look at that, you're on the fluffy snot monster." Lying flat on his back, Sokka groaned and cracked his eyes open to glare mutinously at her in response. Xia smiled mildly and tilted backwards, grabbing the saddle rim behind her. Flipped her legs up in a handstand.
"There is something really wrong with you." Sokka muttered as he sat up, scooching to the very back of the saddle.
Xia laughed under her breath and shifted into an upright position. Flipped her hair back out of her face and easily walked along the saddle rim as if it were two feet wide inside of mere inches. She reached the front of the saddle and dropped into a crouch on the edge.
"Almost ready, kiddo?" She was eager to get a move on; there was no telling how long it would take to find Sokka and Katara's village or how long Aang would want to stay there. Which wouldn't be long at all if Xia had a say in the matter; she was seriously thinking about dragging his butt back to the Southern Air Temple after dropping the two Water Tribe kids off at their village.
"Yup!" Aang chirped, completely unaware of Xia's thoughts. He gave the reins one last tug then jumped to his customary seat between Appa's horns. Xia shifted out to the left as he turned slightly to look at the two Water Tribe kids in the saddle. "Okay, first time flyers. Hold on tight!"
He flicked the reins, "Appa, yip-yip!"
Appa let out a deep, rumbling growl. Moved his tail up and down, bent all six of his legs, and leapt high into the air. He soared for about a handful of seconds…and promptly belly-flopped into the water with a splash. Okay, that wasn't what Xia had been expecting the sky bison to do so it was understandable why she went tumbling from her perch on the saddle edge. Her yelp of surprise was cut off when she landed face first on Appa's neck, earning a mouthful of sky bison fur. Yuck.
Aang laughed at his sister before flicking Appa's reins again in an attempt to get the sky bison to fly. "C'mon, Appa. Yip-yip!"
Appa just grumbled and continued trudging through the ice water slowly. Sokka rolled his eyes and drawled out sarcastically. "Wow…that was truly amazing." He smirked as Xia's head appeared above the saddle as she stood up on the bison's neck, "And graceful. Really, I'm impressed."
Katara shot her brother an annoyed look and crawled to the front of the saddle to lean against the rim, looking at Xia in concern. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, fine." Xia waved her concern away with an easy smile; she'd done far more embarrassing things in front of people she actually knew. "Nothing bruised but my pride."
She grabbed the saddle rim and propelled herself up and over Katara's head in a graceful arch. Landed in the middle of the saddle, purposefully sending a small but chill wind into Sokka's face—he sputtered and cough—and dropped into the lotus position in front of him.
"Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky." Aang explained, smiling good-naturedly at over his shoulder, and he made a "soaring through the sky" motion with his hand. He nodded his head decisively. "You'll see."
Xia stared contemplatively at Sokka, listening to Aang make goo-goo eyes at Katara with half an ear; she really was gonna have to deal with that but later when she didn't have something more pressing to worry about. Like being accused of spying for the Fire Nation and why he would even be concerned about Fire Nation spies all the way in the South Pole.
Sokka tried to ignore her, but that lasted all of ten seconds of being under her intense scrutiny. He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest defensively, giving her a challenging look. "What?"
Xia blinked once, unperturbed by his brusque tone. "Why'd you think we were Fire Nation spies? You know they hate the cold right?"
Which was a huge understatement; the Poles were colder than the La's britches and really, Fire Nation people—especially firebenders—mixed with arctic temperatures about as well as volcanoes and blasting jelly. Now if they were in, say, the Earth Kingdom, Xia would understand Sokka's hostility a little more. Earth Kingdom folks still weren't too happy about those colonies Fire Lord Sozin had started setting up...especially the ones that showed up after Avatar Roku's death.
"Uh maybe because they've been raiding the South Pole for years?" Sokka snapped, clearly exasperated. He threw his hands up in the air and scowled at her. "They've destroyed our village—and all the other villages—hundreds of times!"
Oh. Oh that wasn't good. Not at all. Xia furrowed her brow and leaned away from him a bit. "Why would they do that?"
"Because they're evil!"
"What are you talking about? That's crazy!" Aang exclaimed after hearing that last bit. Scrambled from Appa's head to hang over the saddle rim. He stared at Sokka with wide eyes. "I mean, sure, guys in the Fire Nation can be a little grumpy, but they're not evil. And they wouldn't raid anyone."
Ah-ha and here's a prime example of Aang's lack of understanding when it comes to cultural differences. Xia thought dryly as Sokka and Katara stared at Aang in disbelief. Gyatso had always been very, very careful about where he took Aang, so he never knew about the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. When she saw that old man again, Xia was going to throw a pie right in his face.
"How can you say that?" The young girl demanded and the waves around Appa suddenly surged. Uh-oh. Xia waved her hands, motioning for Aang to keep quiet, to let her handle this but as usually the boy blundered on, oblivious. Sigh.
"Um, because I've been there? I know they'd never do something that horrible." Aang said it like it should have been obvious. "Are you sure it wasn't pirates? Kuzon and Ishan would complain about pirates sometimes…"
"Pirates didn't kill my mother! The Fire Nation did!"
Xia surged to her feet. Swirled her arms, brought them in close, and flung them out. The wave of icy water crashed against her air shield, sleuthing off like rain from glass. Xia breathed out slowly, swung her arms up and down, palms facing the ground. The air shield whispered away, rejoining the light breeze tugging playfully at her hair.
Xia turned slowly, carefully on her heel and pinned the three young teens in place with her gaze. Katara's hands were clasped to her mouth, blue eyes horrified. Sokka was in a crouch, spear ready—but not, thank the spirits, pointed at her— with a wary expression. And Aang…Aang was looking at Katara with such a hurt expression it belonged on a poodle-monkey puppy after it was told no.
Xia sighed. Pointed at Aang. "Reins, Aang."
"But-"
"Now!" Aang turned that hurt expression on her but Xia gave him an unimpressed look until he sulked his way back to Appa's head. Then she looked at Katara and Sokka. Katara stepped forward, holding her hands out.
"I didn't mean to…" Xia waved her words away with a soft, slightly strained but understanding smile. The girl was untrained, that much was glaring obvious now to her; a trained waterbender would have had much more control.
"It's okay, Katara…er, okay, it's not okay. You need to learn some control but things like that can happen when a bender gets angry." Xia widened her smile and moved to sit by Sokka at the back of the saddle, patting the space next to her. Katara sat down on Sokka's other side. Xia gave her an encouraging grin.
"I was just surprised it happened. Someone should have taught you control by now…" She trailed off at the heartbroken look that appeared on Katara's face and the way Sokka was glaring down at his hands. Worry and wariness turned her stomach in knots. "Alright, I'm sensing that I'm seriously missing something. Something very important, so one of you spill it."
"No one taught me." Katara whispered. "You're looking at the last waterbender in the whole South Pole."
"Yeah, 'cause the Fire Nation took them all." Sokka spat caustically.
They took them all? Why would the Fire Nation do something like that? Xia was starting to get a bad feeling, one that was starting to make her question just how long she and Aang had really been in that iceberg.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to you and your tribe." Xia looked at both of them earnestly. "And I can't tell you how sorry I am about your mother. Losing your mom or dad is…it's the worst thing ever." She knew from personal experience which was why this was really going to suck.
"And I'm sorry if Aang offended you; he was, er…very sheltered growing up-" Thank you for that Gyatso; she was gonna make sure that pie was nasty. "And he doesn't always think before speaking but…" Xia gentled her voice. "He's sort of right. The Fire Nation is, well they aren't exactly nice all the time, but they aren't evil."
"But they are." Katara said lowly and her fists clenched, blue eyes flashing angrily. "They're horrible and cruel and…"
"Katara." Sokka cut in, touching his sister's clenched fist. He looked at Xia seriously. "I don't think she knows."
"How can she not know?!" Katara burst out. Water surged for a second before Katara got a hold of herself. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The War's been going on for a hundred years and Aang said they were only in the iceberg for a few…"
Katara trailed off and her eyes got really big when Sokka nodded grimly. "Oh…"
Oh was not exactly the word Xia wanted to use, but giving her present company she certainly wasn't gonna use the ones that wanted to trip off her tongue. She settled for giving the two kids a thin smile. "Guess we were in that iceberg a lot longer than a few days, huh?"
Xia could see the instinct to mother rear up in Katara like a wave and she held her hands up quickly to ward that off. She was seventeen, at least three years older than this girl, and she hadn't needed to be mothered since she was eight.
"Whoa, it's fine. I'm fine. This isn't even the craziest thing that's happened to me." Liar, this is way crazier than meeting Ishan's grandmother and she was—had been? Was Izanami even alive anymore?—a dragon. Xia pushed thoughts of whether Izanami—and everyone else she and Aang had known for that matter—were alive anymore, telling the little voice calling her a liar to shut up. Smiled brightly at the Water Tribe kids.
"Just, uh, give me a moment."
Katara, half out of her sitting position, landed back in her spot. Sokka just watched her, grim but curious, as she took her moment. Honestly, Xia was thinking she was going to need more than just a moment to work through just exactly what being frozen for a hundred years implied. But that was all she was giving herself. Aang still didn't know and…oh boy, she was going to have to tell him before Katara or Sokka let it slip. She just knew he would tell them that that was impossible—they didn't exactly look a hundred years older than they were, now did they?—and it had to be a mistake. Which would probably go about as well as it did a few minutes earlier. Woof.
Okay, so, she and Aang and Appa had been frozen for a hundred years which was totally in the realm of possibility if Aang used the Avatar State to freeze them; the bearer of the World Spirit had a lot of power, Xia knew that to be fact. Because there was no way in the hell the Ocean and Moon Spirits had decided to do them a favor and save them from drowning. Could Tui and La even do that? Were they powerful enough? There were all sorts of spirit-tales about what sort of crazy powerful things the Great Spirits could do when they teamed up with each other.
Annnnd she was getting sidetracked. Oi.
Xia shook her head and forced herself to focus; Aang in the Avatar State, frozen for a hundred years—and boy did thinking about that make her heart hurt—Fire Nation starting a war with apparently the rest of the world, getting unfrozen…Xia bit her lip. Katara had seemed so surprised and amazed that she and Aang were airbenders. Xia had wondered why that was since monks and nuns visited pretty frequently. Well, at least they did a hundred years ago but Xia seriously doubted that was something that would have changed in a century. Unless something had happened to make the Temples stop trading and visiting the Southern Water Tribes…something like Fire Nation raids.
But if the Temples had put a ban on visits because of raids then why were Sokka and Katara so friendly to them? The Water Tribes had certain expectations when it came to people they considered allies and well…the Temple Air Nomads would have blown those expectations out of the water. Stick around when there was a fight? Protect or defend trade partners? Yeah, you'd have better luck convincing an Elder to eat blubbered seal jerky. But they were friendly, so…
"You guys have never actually seen an Air Nomad before, have you?"
Katara and Sokka glanced at each and looked back at her with sad, grim expressions. Dread twisted Xia's insides and she swallowed thickly.
"Gran-Gran used to tell us stories." Katara explained and she fidgeted with her gloves nervously. "But they were always just stories. No one's actually seen an airbender for a hundred years."
"Gran-Gran said they were extinct." Sokka added bluntly then yelped when Katara leaned around Xia to smack him. He rubbed his shoulder and glared at her. "What? It's true!"
"You could have been more sensitive about it!"
"I'm a warrior, warriors aren't sensitive, Katara. That's a woman thing!"
I should introduce him to Izumi; she's the most insensitive woman I've ever met. Xia thought absently. But the thought was just a flicker, there one second and gone the next. She felt like she had just gotten hit by sudden updraft while gliding and ended up slamming into a cliff before she could correct herself. She'd done that when Batima had started teaching her how to glide. It had hurt. This hurt worse.
Extinct. Xia hadn't liked living in the Temple, she downright hated it at times—the Elders wouldn't know what really freedom was if it yanked on their whiskers and bit them in the butt—but they were still her people. Her friends, Huian, Aasa, Tengfei…Her teacher Batima, Gyatso, Nasim…Gone. Extinct.
Xia wanted to double over and cradle that hard knot of pain throbbing in her chest. But she couldn't. She couldn't because Aang was shooting furtive glances over his shoulder at them, looking sullen and annoyed and the very definition of "this isn't fair."
Xia took a deep breath and steeled herself against the pain. Looked at Sokka and Katara with an obviously forced expression of neutrality. "Thank you for telling me this. I…I need to go talk to Aang now."
She stood, graceful movements now stiff. Katara grabbed her hand.
"Wait!" Xia paused and looked down at her. Katara bit her lip, glanced at her brother who shrugged, then looked back up at Xia. "I'm sorry about your people, Xia. But…do you-do you know what happened to the Avatar?"
The Avatar. Of course; if she and Aang had been frozen for a century then that had been a century without the Avatar. Suddenly the reason the Fire Nation raided the South Pole made a little sense; if they believed the Air Nomad Avatar was gone then the next Avatar would be born in one of the Water Tribes—or possibly the Foggy Swamp, but no one ever wanted to go there, not really. Which meant the Northern Water Tribe had probably been raided too…oh boy.
Xia kept herself from glancing at Aang by sheer will. The day he found out—four years before he was supposed to know, dammit!—had been…devastating for him. Aang didn't want to be the Avatar. He didn't want the responsibility the Elders foisted on him too earlier; what twelve year old would? But Xia had always known; she'd been trained—against the Elders wishes—to protect him by Batima and Nasim until he could protect himself. They must have known. Gyatso, Batima, Nasim…they must have known something awful was going to happen. And didn't that just make her sick to her stomach?
Katara eyes were full of so much hope it was almost painful to look at it. And looking into those pretty blue eyes, Xia knew Aang wouldn't want her to know he was the Avatar. Not after his age-peers, his friends, had started treating him differently after the Elders had told everyone at the Temples who he was. Xia sighed; this was going to be the stupidest thing she'd ever done.
"I'm…" The lie got caught in her throat. Xia forced it out and tried not to grimace. Spirits she hated lying. "No, I don't know what happened."
"Oh…" Katara let her hand go and dropped her eyes. Lifted them back up, hope still shining in the ocean blue depths. "Does Aang know?"
"No." Xia shook her head hurriedly. She definitely didn't want Katara asking him about anything having to do with the Avatar. That would be…bad for him. "Aang's from the Southern Air Temple, the Avatar was from the Western."
Technically not a lie. Aang had been born at the Western Air Temple, he just wasn't raised there. A fine line, a very fine line.
"Oh, okay." Katara sighed in disappointment then smiled weakly at Xia. "That's too bad. I hoped…well, I guess it doesn't matter."
It matters. Xia bit the words back, smiled an entirely forced smile at the siblings, and crossed the saddle before any more uncomfortable questions and realizations could come out into the open. She wished the day couldn't possibly get any worse, but as she dropped into a sitting position beside Aang on Appa's head, she knew it was about to. Whee.
"Oh are you done talking without me now?" Aang sniffed.
Xia rolled her eyes and rapped him on the arrow with her knuckles. "Don't be a brat, kid. Gyatso never actually took you to visit the Water Tribes, just the surrounding areas for penguin-sledding. You were being offensive."
Now Aang looked offended. "I was not!"
"Yes, you were." Xia retorted and took a deep breath, reminding herself to be patient with him. Gyatso was a great teacher, but the man had made sure to keep Aang sheltered from just how ugly the world could be.
Unfortunately that had fostered Aang's tendency to think that if something didn't fit with the way he believed—or had been taught to believe by the Elders—the world was supposed to be then it was wrong. Case in point, Aang had highly disapproved of Ishan teaching her how to use swords because an Air Nomad, especially an Air Nun, was supposed to be peaceful and nonviolent. And swords were wrong.
Ishan had told him to stuff it and Aang hadn't spoken to either of them—or Kuzon for that matter—for three days. Then he just decided to ignore it because it he pretended it didn't exist then it didn't. Xia scratched her head, realizing she was going to have to break him of that habit. Quick. Whee.
And he was sulking, arms crossed over his chest and a stubborn pout twisting his mouth. Joy.
"Look, I know you didn't mean to be." Xia soothed, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and tucking him against her side. "But things aren't like we thought. Things have changed. A lot. We were gone a lot longer than a few days, Aang."
Aang shifted under her and looked at her with confusion. "What, you mean like a week? 'Cause that would be terrible but not really bad…Xia?"
"Aang we were stuck in that iceberg for a hundred years."
"What?!" Aang squawked and tumbled away from her, grey eyes wide as the moon. "Are you crazy? Do I look like a hundred and twelve to you? 'Cause you don't look a hundred and seventeen to me!"
Xia sighed and knuckled her brow. "Aang, kiddo, Sokka and Katara told me the Fire Nation has been at war with the rest of the world for almost a century."
"They have to be wrong! The Fire Nation wouldn't do that!"
Xia shot a quick look at Sokka and Katara, but they were studiously trying to pretend they didn't hear anything. Though Sokka's face looked very pinched; like he'd sucked on a raw limon. Heh.
Xia blew out a heavy breath and gave Aang a stern look.
"Keep your voice down." She gentled her tone because she knew thing she said was going to hurt. "And yes they would. Aang, Gyatso never told you because he thought you were too young—and you were —but there were Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom."
I've been to them. I watched my father, my clan, die in one but you don't know that. You can't know that. Not yet.
"Some were there even before I was born."
Before even you were born, Aang, when Roku was the Avatar. Xia thought, watching Aang's expression crumble. She opened her arms and he lurched into them, hugging her waist tightly.
"Why didn't Gyatso tell me?"
Xia rested her chin on his head and sighed. "Because you were—are—just a kid. He thought you were too young to know."
"Why didn't anyone stop the Fire Nation from doing that?" He sniffed. Xia winced. Oh boy, this was going to suck.
"Someone did, at first." Please don't ask, please don't ask who.
"Who?"
Darn it. "When he found out, Avatar Roku confronted Fire Lord Sozin." And destroyed half the Fire Nation palace in the process. Xia refrained from rolling her eyes; Nasim had always complained—quietly and out of Gyatso's earshot—that Roku had been such a drama-llama.
Aang reared back, stricken. "Avatar-"
Xia clapped a hand over his mouth. "I know what you're thinking, kiddo, so stop thinking it. Yes, Roku told Sozin to get the hell out of the Earth Kingdom and he did. For a little while. But then Roku died and Sozin did whatever the hell he wanted after that."
Aang started to mumble something that sounded suspiciously like a "but" and Xia poked him in the arrow with her free hand. Gave him a stern look.
"You couldn't have stopped him, Aang. You were three when the Elders did their tests and discovered you were the Avatar. You were a kid which is exactly why Gyatso never told you about the colonies." Among other things. "There was nothing you could have done."
That obviously didn't make him feel better, but he nodded and Xia pulled her hand away from his mouth. Gathered him back in her arms and hugged him fiercely.
"I'm serious, Aang. Fire Lord Sozin was a master firebender. He was the master of all masters. You remember Lady Mazu? How powerful she is…er, was?" Xia wondered if Lady Mazu was still alive and she once again pushed that thought away before it overwhelmed her. Waited until she felt Aang nod against her shoulder and continued. "The Fire Lord is a ten, maybe more, times stronger than her."
"Eep." Aang squeaked. Eep was right; Lady Mazu's firebending had been nothing to sneeze at after all.
"Exactly. So there wasn't anything you could have done then, not when you just barely became a master yourself." And not even a master who'd fully mastered all thirty-six tiers of airbending, but a master because he invented a new technique. There were things about airbending he didn't even know yet.
Xia rubbed his back and sighed quietly. "I know it hurts to think about; a hundred years is a long, long time. A lot of the people we knew are probably gone now."
We thought airbenders were extinct. Xia flinched and tried to cover it as a shiver. She wasn't sure she could tell Aang that. Not yet, not when everything else was still so fresh for her. Later, she promised herself, I'll tell him later. Besides just because no one's seen had airbender doesn't mean they're completely gone. We are very, very good at hiding after all.
And if she was proof of that herself; she'd hidden from an angry town in a forest for an entire year after her clan…after…okay, that was totally off topic. Xia cleared her throat.
"But I'm here. You're not alone, Aang."
Aang sniffled once and leaned back, swiping his hand under his nose. Gave her a watery smile. "Yeah, you're here. And I got to meet Katara. She's great. Really great."
Oi. Xia almost sighed at the dopey, dreamy look that stole over his face as he thought about the pretty Water Tribe girl; if it wasn't the same dopey look Kuzon had gotten whenever Azumi visited Zhulong or the same look Ishan gave her when he thought she wasn't looking…well,Xia would eat her boot.
Maybe, maybe letting him crush—just a little—on Katara wouldn't be such a bad thing. Everything they knew—everyone they knew—was probably gone now. If nothing else, Katara could prove to be an invaluable friend to him and he was gonna need all the friends he could get when Xia finally told him about their people.
Plus the collective apoplexy the Elders—even if it was just their spirits—would have over Aang crushing on a waterbender…heh. Worth it. Just a little bit.
Gyatso would have laughed. Hard.
"Sokka's pretty cool too." Xia commented mildly and snickered as Aang started, wistful expression vanishing.
"Uh, yeah, yeah. He's alright too." Pink tinged Aang's cheeks and he rubbed the back of his head then his expression became sly. He nudged her with his elbow playfully. "But not as cool as Ishan."
Pain speared her heart, but Xia quickly covered it with a mock scowl and shoved Aang shoulder. "Oh shut up you."
Aang giggled, gleeful at getting a one up her. Xia rolled her eyes affectionately, rubbing his bald head, and tried not to think about Ishan. Tried not to wonder if he had waited for her. She hoped not, even though it hurt to do so; after all a hundred years was a long time to wait…