UPDATED 1/23/2019 (Kimiko being spelled as Kumiko fix.)
Her hair whipped wildly as she fled, her eyes glassy as tears streamed down her cheeks.
A blast of fire barreled into her back, sending her into the wall like a rag doll. Her arms shook weakly as she pushed herself up, only to see the devilish mask of a fire nation soldier.
Her eyes shook in terror, until they caught sight of something. Avatar Roku. She thought, in awe as the man gave her a gentle smile. The fire neared her, causing her to send a blast of air towards the nearest flames.
Avatar Roku watched her as she tried to escape, eyes going soft as her own blue eyes connected with his. She stopped struggling despite the great flames that threatened to overcome her.
Then everything went black
Golden eyes snapped open, a shiver going down her spine as she remembered the terrified faces of the dying nomads.
It was so vivid, she thought her soul had been placed in an air nomad's body. Yet...it felt so real. She rubbed her eyes and stood up, glancing at the moon through the small window in her cell.
The reality of sleeping in a cell was something she would never get used to. It seemed like only yesterday when she badmouthed the banished prince and burned part of his ponytail off. What she did not expect, however, was him dragging her back and throwing her in a cell. Why would he even do that?
She sighed and let her forehead rest on the bars, utterly confused with her life altogether. Maybe wants to see me suffer. Footsteps echoed as someone approached her, causing her to backup a little. To her surprise, it was General Iroh, he insisted on just Iroh, his eyes seemed to be worry-filled as he gazed at her.
"Gen-" He raised his finger and she nodded, "...Iroh. What are you doing down here at such a late hour?" Her head dipped a little in an attempt to show some sort of bow.
"You were screaming. I cannot recall if you said anything, but-" Her head snapped up.
"I was screaming? I've...I've never done that before when I had that dream." She said, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "I'm okay, just go back to bed. Do not worry about me." She put on a fake smile and turned away.
Eventually, footsteps departed from her until they were gone entirely.
She closed her eyes and laid down, before sleep overcame her once more.
"Don't let him escape!" A voice rang out, before a thud sounded.
The woman awoke at the sound and walked over to the bars, curious as to who was escaping. Suddenly a kid, probably only twelve, dropped from the ceiling. The two stared at one another for a good minute before he smiled.
"He captured you too, didn't he?" He asked, ignoring the stunned look on her face.
"Ah...Yes. It was a while ago." She responded, not noticing him spinning a ring of keys on his finger.
"Oh, then I'll help you out!" He exclaimed, surprising her when he unlocked the cage.
She blinked owlishly at him before stepping out, "Now what?"
"Once I find my glider, we can leave!" He explained, that wide smile never fading.
She closed her eyes momentarily, "It would be in Zuko's private quarters. That's where he keeps all of my stuff."
He nodded and the duo took off down the hallway. The boy looked at her, "How did you end up here?"
"I burned Zuko's ponytail." She said simply, punching a fire nation soldier out of the way as they continued down the labyrinth of a ship.
He smiled, "You're a firebender?"
She gave him a swift nod, allowing a few tiny flames to dance on her fingertips. "Top of my class, until I figured out my nations history that is…" The last bit came out quieter than she had thought causing her to shake her head.
Before he could question her, she suddenly kicked a blast of fire down the hallway. Right before it connected with the wall, it instead hit a rather cranky Zuko.
"Did you mean to do that?" The kid asked, as the woman beside him tried to control her giggles.
"N-Not really. At least this time the ponytail isn't off." She joked lightly, not missing the prince scowl at that.
"That took me a year to grow back." He growled, causing the woman to raise an eyebrow.
"Only a year? That's pretty good if you ask me."
The tattooed kid looked at her, "You were here for a year?!"
"It appears that way. Anyway, just need to get past him." She stretched out for a few seconds before smiling.
"Like you can get past me." He muttered, charging the two with a fist encased in flames.
She breathed in before sidestepping him, as she slowly raised her leg she reopened her eyes, glaring at the prince the moment her foot collided with him. His body met the wall and she immediately ran down the hallway, silently noting the kid landing behind her.
"Wow…" He mumbled in awe, staring at the woman's long black hair as she landed. There was something familiar about the way she moved, he couldn't figure it out.
She stopped at a door, hands landing near the handle, "Let me get this open."
Her hands heated up and she soon created a hole, allowing her to unlock it from the inside. The kid stopped her before she could put her hand through it, and shockingly cooled it a by blasting air at it. It was only a little cooler, but it didn't burn her like all the other times she had melted metal. That's a story for another time.
She opened the door and held it open for him, "I assume that's your glider?"
He picked it up with a smile, "Yep!"
She walked over to a corner of the room and picked up a long kimono-like robe. It was white with gold embroidery and small crystals at the sleeves. She slipped it on and fixed her hair, revealing very intricate writings on the robes back.
"I just realized something-" She began, a calm smile on her face.
"What's that?" He asked, looking at her in question.
She turned around, "We never introduced ourselves, I'm Kimiko."
He smiled, "Oh...I'm Aang!"
Kimiko yanked him out of the room, "We need to leave, he's probably after us right now."
Aang nodded, "You know the way up?"
She glanced at him over her shoulder, "Yes. While Zuko is quite rude, his uncle would let me have an hour of Pai Sho. He always won, but it was nice to have some fresh air once in awhile."
"He sounds like a nice guy!" Aang commented, smiling at the thought of the woman being allowed out-despite being kept prisoner.
A guard ran into the hallway and was about to shout at them, probably "Stop!" or something, but was quickly knocked out of the way by Kimiko.
"What does that mean? The writing on your back." Aang asked, finally deciding to ask about it.
"You saw that?" She mumbled before biting her lip, "Just...Promise not to tell anyone."
He blinked then nodded with a firm look, "I won't!"
Something about his face told her that he meant it, "Alright," She sighed, "I ran away from home before I became the next High Priestess in my family. I discovered the horrendous things my country had done and I didn't want to serve the ruler of such a disgusting country. Zuko of course didn't recognize me due to my robe being around my waist, so he thought I was just a stupid disobedient firebender."
"Priestess?" He repeated, turning the corner as the woman slowed down.
"My family has always had strong ties with the spirits. Some of us had prophetic dreams, while others had nightmares of past disasters. Some could even channel spirits, but usually the spirits had blessed them. So, when my parents saw him above me one cold night...they knew I was destined to become the next priestess. Not many are blessed by the spirit of an Avatar." She whispered out the last part, her eyes closing as if a memory had surfaced.
Aang looked surprised, but looked away as she continued on down the hallway.
"I can finish that another time, up those stairs is the deck." She pointed at the darkened stairway, prompting a nod from the kid.
The two ascended up the stairs, but were stopped almost abruptly by none other than Zuko. The angry prince himself had the duo surrounded by soldiers while a cocky look settled on his face.
"It's over, Avatar. You two won't be able to make it off here-" His little speech was cut off once Kimiko shot a blast of fire.
She shot herself into the air, her feet propelling her, and her leg, straight into the prince. The impact sent him across the deck while the woman didn't even spare him a glance.
The soldiers were about to charge her, but stopped once they saw the seal on her back. "A High Priestess…" Many of the men backed up as she frowned.
"And people wonder why I ran…" Kimiko murmured, sparing Aang a sad glance.
A roar tore through the air and Aang looked up in excitement, "Appa! My friends can get us off of here."
"I'm a firebender, Aang. Judging by the parkas, they'd much rather die than allow a firebender on board." Kimiko stated, tugging the robe closer to her body.
"They wouldn't do that! You helped me escape!" Aang exclaimed, pulling her to the railing.
She whipped around and blocked a blast of fire with a fire barrier. "Avatar. What I'm about to tell you is for your ears only." Her voice now sounded as if two people were talking as several tattoos began pulsing blue on her skin.
His eyes widened, "W-What is it?" The second voice was incredibly familiar to him and he had the nagging sensation that he had heard it somewhere before.
"No matter what Kimiko says, you must take her with you." The second voice faded as did the pulsing, only for the woman to collapse onto the floor.
Aang jumped a little as he dodged another attack from Zuko. "Sokka, Katara! Down here!"
The two parka donned siblings landed near the boy, the action causing most of the soldiers to retreat before the creature's tail hit them. The siblings looked happy until they saw him carrying a very skinny woman in a kimono.
He barely got the woman to the furry beast before Zuko shot another wave of fire at him. Aang sent the wave to the side with an air blast before firing another blast at the prince himself.
Katara quickly grabbed the unconscious woman and dragged her up onto the saddle, ignoring Sokka's yells of objection. "She could be a firebender! Katara!"
"She's unconscious! Aang wouldn't have brought her if she was a threat." Katara said, not missing her brother's frown increase.
A massive fireball shot across the deck and Aang spun his glider as he tried to block the attack. His back connected with the railing as another attack plowed towards him.
"Aang!" Katara's eyes widened as he lost his balance and the combined force of the flames sent him over the railing.
"No!" She screamed, looking at the water as despair began seeping into her eyes.
Suddenly, a massive pillar of light shot out from the water, followed by a waterspout that held a very much alive Aang.
The waterspout loomed over the ship allowing Aang to land safely. His arms moved causing the water to form a large ring around him, until his arms shot out and the water threw most of the soldiers overboard.
Zuko growled as he barely stayed on the deck, eyes slightly widening when the kid fell to the floor. The glowing left his body, causing the prince to smirk.
He fired an attack at the boy, but something or someone for that matter, intercepted it and sent it away. The source of the action was Kimiko, but the shadow that loomed behind her was something...something he never thought he would see.
While he wasn't one for history, he knew that shadow.
Iroh, who had been pretty much in the doorway this entire time, looked stunned as Kimiko's body straightened.
"Hitting your opponent while he's on the ground?" Two voices said, the higher pitched one being the woman, while the lower pitched was the spirit she was channeling.
Zuko growled, "How are you here?!"
"You never realized it?" The voices chuckled as the prince glared at her, "We are a Priestess, a living being that is in tune with the Spirit World."
"That doesn't explain anything!" He yelled, angrily firing another wave of fire at the woman.
She made it disappear without a second thought, "You still don't see it...do you, Prince Zuko?"
Kimiko scooped an unconscious Aang into her arms, "I'm sure you will understand soon. Someone is bound to explain this to you…" She glanced at the doorway, "It may be sooner than I thought. Farewell, Prince Zuko."
Two fiery whips formed in her hands, the flames licking her skin harmlessly as the weapons wrapped around his armor. She flung him into an open door before shooting herself into the air, landing effortlessly on the bison. She laid the boy down before slumping against the saddle, the dimmed blue light fading from her.
Aang came to as the two watertribe siblings took to the sky.
"We should throw her off, Katara! She is probably a spy for the fire nation!" Sokka said, pointing at the sleeping woman.
"Wait! Sokka, she's not bad!" Aang exclaimed, standing in front of the woman. "She was a prisoner on Zuko's ship! She even helped me escaped."
Katara looked at her brother, "See? She isn't a threat."
Aang nodded, "She's a Priestess and from what I can tell she's turned against her country." Aang looked down at the woman, "She didn't want to be the High Priestess...so she ran away from home."
"That would explain why she was glowing." Sokka muttered, reluctantly losing a little bit of hatred towards the woman.
"She was glowing?" Aang exclaimed, head whipping towards theirs.
Katara nodded, "It sounded like there were two people talking at once and something was off about her shadow." Katara paused, trying to find the words to explain it, "That Zuko guy seemed to know about the shadow, and the only thing she told him was that she was a priestess."
"Nothing else?" Aang asked, his eyes glancing up at the sky in thought.
Sokka allowed a small smirk, "Besides the fact she was, in a way, calling him stupid, nothing else."
A small groan elicited from the corner of the saddle and the three found themselves staring at a slowly rousing woman. Her eyes blinked open and she quickly looked at them weirdly, "What…?"
"Don't worry Kimiko, they're just on edge because...well…" Aang found himself at lost for words.
"I'm Fire Nation." She finished, bluntly. "Go ahead, fear me."
"Hah! Like I'd fear a tiny woman who looks like she can be blown away by the wind!" Sokka exclaimed, puffing out his chest as he missed the death glares the two women directed at him.
"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed, folding her arms.
She crept over to him and lit her fist on fire, "How about now, Mr. Puffer-Chest?"
He glanced at her and screamed upon seeing how close the flame was as it almost touched his hair. "Get away!"
He scooted to the opposite end while Katara and Kimiko laughed, "That's not funny, you could've-!"
"-Burned off your ponytail? I've done it once and I'm sure everyone here wouldn't mind seeing me reenact the first time." Kimiko commented, allowing the flames to dance on her fingers.
Aang joined in on the laughter on that remark as he remembered what she had said, "Oh, right! I forgot to tell you…" He paused to catch his breath, "She burned off Zuko's ponytail! That's why she was there for a year!"
Both siblings looked at her incredulously, "Really?"
"He was in the Earth Kingdom one day when he happened to notice me firebending. For some reason, never figured this one out, he randomly attacked me. Maybe I looked familiar, I don't know, but I had no choice other than attacking him back. Mid-battle I ended up launching a fire wave that cut his ponytail clean off his head. He was so infuriated he locked me up underneath his ship, probably to watch me suffer." She ended her explanation with a groan.
"Is that the reason why he's bald?" Sokka asked, a smirk on his face as he looked at her.
She waved her hands, "No, he was bald before I burned the ponytail off. Even after a year, he only has enough for a man bun." She laughed, causing him to laugh with her.
The air suddenly became tense when she frowned.
Kimiko tilted her head back ever-so slightly, laughter completely gone now, "Aang." The boy looked at her in confusion as she closed her eyes, "You should tell them."
"How did you…?" He murmured, not noticing the the two siblings look at him.
She reopened her eyes, revealing tired grey orbs in their place, but only for a second as they shifted back to liquid gold, "Remember what I told you? Took me a little bit to realize it, but I know now."
Kimiko fell on her back, looking straight up at the sky as its colors shifted, "You are the avatar, I feel it and Roku did not deny it."
Aang was speechless and continued staring at her. Katara and Sokka's eyes were widened, "Wait, Roku? As in Avatar Roku?" Katara asked, snapping out of her disbelief.
Kimiko nodded, "Yes. He blessed me the night of my birth and fused with my soul. He speaks with me, and when needed, through me. What you saw earlier, that was him stepping in."
"Avatar Roku, Aang being the Avatar, channeling-how do we know you're telling the truth?!" Sokka asked loudly, pointing at the graceful priestess.
Aang looked solemnly at his hands, "No, she's telling the truth." He said quietly.
"Aang?" Katara whispered, looking at the boy.
"I...am the Avatar."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Katara asked, causing Aang to look away.
"I never wanted to be." He admitted with sadness, glancing at the all too quiet priestess.
Kimiko's eyes widened ever-so slightly at that, "We're more alike than I thought, eh, Aang?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka interrupted with his ever loud voice.
She looked at him, "I will tell you later." She looked at Aang, "You have a chance to do something here Aang, I will help you when it comes to it."
Aang smiled at her, but frowned in thought, "But, where would I even start?"
Katara raised her finger, "Well, according to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?"
Aang nodded, "That's what the monks told me."
"We could go to the North Pole, there you can master your waterbending!" Katara exclaimed, a little bit happier than before.
Aang turned around, "We could learn together!"
Kimiko giggled upon noticing Sokka's frown, "Don't worry Sokka, there'll be a few other firebenders for you to knock around."
"That would be nice, reeally nice." He mumbled to himself, seeming to be in content with that.
Katara smiled, "Then we're in this together!"
Aang pulled out a rolled up scroll, "Alright, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to."
Kimiko raised an eyebrow, "Business?"
He opened it and pointed to three locations, "Here, here and here."
"What's there?" Katara asked, pointing at one of the spots.
"Here," He pointed to the eastern Earth Kingdom, "we'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here," He was now pointing to a spot on the southern Air Nomad islands, "we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" He exclaimed, smiling widely as everyone smiled at his enthusiasm.
Kimiko turned to look at setting sun, Thank you, Aang.