A/N: There will be three separate stories for this like there are Books in the Avatar series. This first one is starting with Water and it will take place in the same order also…or that's my plan for now.
Note: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I only own Kida Yokuna.
Chapter One Peaceful Days and Restless Nights
Kida was playing in her mother's garden with some of her best friends. They were all Fire Nation children so it was only natural. Azula tugged on Kida's hand, pulling her towards the slide. "Come on, Kida! Let's go slide down it again!" The younger girl giggled and nodded, running to the back of the slide and awaiting Azula's squeal.
Her grey eyes landed on Zuko, who sat with his Uncle Iroh. "Aren't you going to let Zuko play too, Mister Iroh?" she called as she climbed the slide, standing on the top. "Zuko's training is almost finished, dear Kida." His uncle replied with a patient smile. The girl slid down the slide, giggling happily as Azula began to chase after a butterfly, its flapping wings moving a bit faster just to stay one step ahead.
Kida had moved over to Zuko, her head tilted as she stared at his seemingly calm and serene face. His eyes were closed and he was meditating, trying to find a center for his firebending. She herself was naturally gifted in firebending, waterbending a little bit too. Her father often joked that she might just be the Avatar. Iroh's hand moved down to rest on Zuko's shoulder as his eyes opened, only to fall back out of surprise. Kida must have frightened him, but it didn't matter much as she fell onto her bum laughing at him. Iroh and Azula laughed too, Zuko's face flushed from embarrassment.
"What's wrong, Zuko? Afraid she was going to kiss you?" Azula said chidingly as the young prince's face filled with disgust. "Euw, no! Girls have cooties and I don't want those!" He said, moving away from the still laughing girls. "Aww, I'm sorry Zuko." Kida said, offering a kind smile to him. Azula smirked at them before deciding to join Kida into the joke. "Kida and ZuZu sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" She screamed as a light blush painted Kida's tan cheeks. "Azula!" The young girl cried out as she ran after the girl, pretending to be angry with her. Truth be told, she could never be mad at them…they were her best friends.
Kida jolted up, her hand moving up to wipe the cold sweat from her brow. 'Another childhood memory…' she thought, running a hand through her snow white hair. She had been having a lot of those lately. "Kida, are you okay?" Aang asked softly, looking back from where he sat on Appa's reins. "Y-Yeah. Just another dream. That's all." She said, smiling at him. Katara and Sokka were still asleep as she crawled carefully over them to sit next to Aang. "So where are we headed, mighty Avatar?" She whispered, a playful smile on her lips. "Kyoshi Island, of course! Did you know they have giant koi! I can't wait to ride one!" His eyes lit up with excitement as he spoke. "How far is this? It sounds awesome!" She asked, only fueling his excitement. "If I stay up all night, it'll only take a few hours." He said, a yawn escaping him. "Aang, you need your sleep. I'm fully rested. So I'll watch Appa, alright?" "You sure, Kida?" He asked, another yawn escaping the bald monk. She smiled and nodded, watching as he crawled back with Sokka and Katara, falling into an easy sleep.
Zuko continued to stare at the necklace in his hand. He couldn't remember where he'd seen it before but he knew he had seen it. Iroh sighed as he watched Zuko. "Y'know...perhaps it would be best if you took a break from hunting the Avatar. Maybe a game or two could relax you?" He suggested, waiting for the prince's reply. "No, Uncle. I can't stop now. I just beat Commander Zhao to earn the right to hunt him, so hunt him I will. I don't have time for games!" The banished prince's hand slammed into the table.
Iroh jumped a little, scolding his nephew. "It's not good to bottle all that anger and frustration, Prince Zuko." He said, wisdom marring his voice as it so often did. Zuko looked at him before he looked away. "I'm sorry, Uncle. I just...I want to know who that cloaked figure was. It seemed so…familiar." Iroh nodded, having caught a small glimpse of what he thought was white hair and yellow eyes, but he couldn't be sure. His mind had been too preoccupied with the fight. "Well, nephew, I am going to retire for the night. You should think to do so soon also." He said as he rose from the chair and made his way back up the stairs headed to the sleeping quarters.
Zuko knew where they were headed with the Avatar, he just didn't know why. He was alone now, his uncle having left him to go rest. He hated these moments, hated them with all the heart he had left. "Kida…" He said softly. Memories of his childhood friend often came to him in these quiet moments, moments he wasted reminiscing. It had been so long since he had seen her that he could hardly remember what she looked like. He wondered if she'd moved on, found someone better to hang out with…maybe she even had a boyfriend or possibly she was married. He had never thought of himself as much in the possibility of deserving to be with her. As the thud of a few of the shipmate's feet could be heard, his mind turned back to the task at hand and he moved silently up the stairs. It was time to retire to restless and usually sleepless nights.
Zuko looked at the young girl, his best friend and firebending partner Kida. She was talking to her father, begging him. "No, Kida. And that's final." Her father said until she dramatically teared up. "How could you be so cruel to me, father." She said as she turned her back to him. "Why do you want to take the Fire Lord's son with you just for firebending practice?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's my friend and it's fun to practice with him. I like being around him! Why can't you see that? And Azula is going to be busy away for the next couple of months." Kida exclaimed through her tears. "The Fire Lord is training his son. He would never let him come with a girl." Her eyes widened before she broke into a run, anger surging through her as tears continued to stream her face. Zuko ran after her, his hand reaching out to grab her wrist. "Kida, what's wrong?" He had asked as he wiped at her tears. "My father is leading the attack on the Southern Pole…and I wanted you to come too. That way it wouldn't be so horridly boring." She sniffled, her bottom lip quivering still. "The Southern Water tribes, right? Well, it's okay. I can always see you when you get back." Kida nodded and sighed softly before her hand touched his cheek. "ZuZu...what if we don't make it back? What if we never see each other again?" She saw the hurt flare in his eyes and braced herself as he yelled at her, tears surfacing again. "Don't say that! How could you say that? You're supposed to be the one with the happy thoughts, not the bad ones…." She whimpered at his yelling before he pulled her into a hug and buried her face against his chest, sniffling. "I'm s-sorry…" she said through her tears. He rubbed her back gently, oddly enough enjoying the warmth of her body to his. 'I curse teenage hormones...' he thought, not noticing she had pulled back. "Are you okay, Kida?" He asked, genuine worry in his voice. The girl wiped at her eyes, nodding again. "I really am sorry though, Zuko. I guess it's just that since Mom's been gone for the past couple years...I think bad things before I do the good now." Zuko smiled at her before hugging her tightly again. "Hold your head up high, young Kida and we shall meet again!" He said, his voice taking on a fantasy warrior accent to make him seem tough. She stared at him blankly before giggling, making even him chuckle a little. At least he had gotten a smile…
The night continued on as Kida watched the moon which threatened to set soon. In the distance, she could see a small island. "We'll be there soon, Appa." She whispered quietly to the flying bison as she continued to play with the water in her canteen. She could waterbend quite well now, the water looping and curling before her eyes flickered white. Each time, the water would freeze and drop before melting back to a liquid state.
The moon slid under the darkened horizon, a light pink invading the mixtures of blues and purples in the sky. 'The sun will be rising soon.' She thought as she pulled the hood of her white cloak over her head. She let her eyes close halfway as her mind wandered away to daydreams and memories, both future and already past.
