I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The story of the Avatar is well known. He appeared after a hundred years of being gone in a block of ice. He was the last Airbender. He saved the world from the power hungry Fire Lord and ended the Hundred Year War. Yet there's a part of his history that even he doesn't know, and it began when the two of us were first born. My name is Sorami, and I am the Avatar.
Another night was descending upon the Fire Nation palace. The garden was peaceful, the lanterns glimmering on the pond like fireflies. The stable where the Avatar's flying bison resided was the only thing where activity was still occurring. The stable hands were shoveling hay into his enclosure as he looked on lazily from under half closed eyes. I watched silently from my perch on the garden wall, longing to go and bury my face into his long fur, but of course I couldn't. The guards would throw me into prison for trespassing. But I could still watch. That's all I could do until the moment was right for me to reveal myself. Until then, I couldn't see him. Until then, I must remain hidden. Until then, I must be the child never born.
The sun was a pleasant surprise. Somehow I had fallen asleep on the garden wall and no guard attacked me. How often does that happen? Unfortunately this pleasantry didn't last long. The dark sticky trundles of a spirit reached my stomach moments later, causing the world to tilt slightly. Once I had steadied again I heard the panicked voice coming from inside the palace.
"Katara's not waking up! I've tried everything!"
My heart clenched. It was him.
"Are you sure?" The smooth voice of the Fire Lord seemed out of place in this instance. There was something off about it though, almost as if he had a slight cold. Strange, but I didn't have time to dwell on that little detail, because the other voice started talking again.
"Yes I'm sure! Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be?" the Avatar shouted. He was probably animating his words with his arms, seeming to try to fly to the casual observer. "Call a healer!"
Now was my chance. A normal healer wouldn't be able to do anything in this instance, so I would have to for her to survive. Even if I couldn't tell him who I was, I could at least see him for a few moments. I jumped down from the wall, pulling my hood up to cover my bright silver eyes, and went to the main door. Just before I knocked, a runner flung the door wide open and nearly collided with me.
"Oh, the Fire Lord isn't seeing anyone today. There's a slight issue occurring right now," he said hurriedly trying to push past me.
"I can help her. I can help Katara," I said, my voice soft and smooth.
His eyes widened and he straightened, taking on a less flustered posture as he gestured for me to follow, leading me into a large room that appeared to by the main foyer.
"Wait here," he instructed; I nodded once, pulling my cloak tighter. He scurried down a side hall and disappeared around a corner, but I still heard his voice clearly.
"Pardon me, my Lord, but there is someone here to see you," he said timidly.
"Not now! You were supposed to fetch a healer!" the young Fire Lord snapped.
"Yes, sir, but she said she could help the girl," the runner protested tensely.
"Then bring her in!" the Avatar insisted.
"Wait—Aang!"
Footsteps followed the Fire Lord's protest, one pair lighter and swifter than the rest. Then he was in front of me.
After all these years, and he was finally in front of me. Though no emotion showed on my face, my heart rate greatly increased and butterflies danced in my stomach. I've missed him so much!
"You can help Katara?" he demanded, his eyes more intense than I ever remember them being. He must really love this girl.
I nodded, not speaking in fear of my voice wavering. The other two finally caught up, the Fire Lord going up next to him.
"Hang on, Aang. How do you know we can trust this girl?" he questioned in a whisper.
"She can help Katara. That's all that matters right now," Aang responded briskly, trying but failing to brush him off. To me he said, "Come on. She's this way" and dashed back down the hall.
I went to follow, but the young Fire Lord grabbed my arm, a little too tightly for my comfort.
"What are you doing here? You can't honestly believe that we'd let you in just because you claim to be able to help Katara," he hissed.
My shoulders tensed as his hand warmed with the fire that resided inside of him.
"I came to help her, that is all," I replied flatly, only partially lying. I was hoping that now I could finally reveal myself to Aang as well, though I doubted this would happen.
His already tight grip tightened more, beginning to hurt now.
"You're lying. You probably want to use Aang for something. Or you want to rob us. Or maybe you're an assassin. Whatever you are, I'm not going to take any chances."
My own fire desperately wished to respond to his, but I froze it with the ice that also hid within me.
"I am no liar, and I do not like to be accused of being something that I am not. Now please release me, unless you wish for your friend to die."
His hand warmed further, and he yanked me back, grabbing a hold of my cloak now.
"Don't threaten me!"
"I'm not threatening you," I continued in my emotionless voice. "I am just stating a fact. If you don't let me heal her, then she will be dead by nightfall."
This is the first time I've actually typed a story in this format, so please bear with me as I figure it out. Also, this is my first fanfic. I tried to stay with the character personalities as much as I could, but I'm not sure how well I did. Please be gentle with flames. I hope you like it and I will post the next segment soon!