Hola! I won't say much up here! So enjoy the next chapter! R&R!
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Memory Loss
Chapter 1
"I can't remember…"
She awoke to see three silhouettes hovering over her. It took a few moments for her vision to clear but when it did she could see a woman and two men staring over her with worried looks on their faces. "Where am I?" she groaned. The three's faces relaxed as she awoke. The woman came and helped her sit up in the little cot while the larger man reached to get her a cup of water.
"Poor thing. You must be so tired," the woman cooed quietly.
"Where am I?" the little girl demanded again.
The other man sighed and answered. "You are on the rebel ship of the ex-princess Azula. She sent her men to capture and plunder the citizens of Ba Sing Se. When they returned they had brought you. But alas, we are only servants and we do not know who your parents are, young one."
The little girl slowly started shaking her head in disbelief. Slowly it became more frantic before she broke down in hysterical sobs. The woman comforted her, trying to hush her wails. "Please, please don't cry! Do not worry. We will protect and take care of you. Hush hush, little one," She rocked the little girl in her arms, a motion that seemed so familiar the little girl that she stopped and tried to remember. She was shaken from her thoughts when a soft voice offered her a glass of water. She turned to see the larger man. Although in his appearance he seemed tough and solid, his voice was as gentle as a summer breeze. She took the glass into both of her little hands and drank realizing how thirsty she was.
"You must call me Aunt Yang Mu," the woman said after a moment. "These are my friends Joco…" she continued gesturing to the large man, "…and Bo," she said gesturing to the other man. "What is your name, dear?"
The three looked at her. She opened her mouth, as she was about to speak, but then closed it. She thought. How could she forget her own name? She couldn't understand it. She tried so hard to remember. The name wouldn't surface in her mind at all. A small tear slid down her cheek as she lowered her head in defeat. If not for the complete and utter silence in the cabin, the little girls words would not have been heard: "I c-c-can't remember…"
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They began calling her Mi Shi Qi, meaning, "lost angel". She tried so hard to fulfill her new duties. No matter how hard she could never please any one else except for Aunt Yang Mu, Uncle Joco, and Uncle Bo. The overseer of the servants would beat her and deprive her of food at least twice a week. She became to small, filthy, and frail she looked smaller that ever, nothing remaining of the little girl she used to be. At the end of every week the ex-princess would assemble the entire crew before her to assess their work for that week. Azula always tried to find something wrong with the little girl, punishing her harshly for even the smallest of mistakes.
One day Azula got into her head a new punishment that was so harsh that it would almost certainly kill her. She fetched Mi Shi Qi that day while she was mopping the floor. "Come with me," Azula said in a cold voice. She practically dragged the poor girl all the way up to the crow's nest by her little ear. "As you punishment this week for not pleasing me in your chores you will stay up here the next two days without food," she said with a smirk. She left the crow's nest and didn't return for the promised two days. In the dark of the night the little girl cried.
When Azula came back to check on the girl she found that by some grace she had managed to stay alive. In a fit of fury Azula tossed Mi Shi Qi over the side of the crow's nest positive this would kill the girl for sure. But as if by instinct the little girl straightened her legs beneath her and held her arms out like wings. The air caught in her ragged dress and she gently floated to the ground unharmed. Azula stared at the girl in complete shock. She's just like her father…
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(she is now 13)
Dream sequence
Light, laugh, love. Two figures stood over her. Their figures were surrounded in light and she couldn't make out their faces. By the voices she could tell that one was man and the other was a woman. They would laugh and hug her and play with her although she could remember none of it. But the end would come too soon. She could tell that she was lowered into a cradle and they would tuck her in.
Woman:
Sleep, my sweet baby
Have no fear.
When you wake in the morn
We'll be right here.
Man:
Sleep, my sweet daughter
My pride and delight
We'll be right here
When you wake in the morning light
They would always say the same verse… before everything went dark
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"No! Don't go away!" she awoke abruptly to the face of Uncle Joco.
"It's alright. It was only a bad dream," he soothed.
"But that's the thing. It wasn't a bad dream. That is, until the end," Mi Shi Qi explained.
"Ooh. It was that dream again," he sympathized. Mi Shi Qi nodded. She had been having this same dream every night for as long as she could remember. It killed her from the inside because she couldn't see the faces she thought so desperately seemed familiar. Although this dream was always so pleasurable and warm it left her feeling drained, alone, and unloved every time. She wished that just once the brilliant light would let up so she could see the faces of the man and the woman. She felt something she couldn't understand in that dream. It made her feel so warm and happy. When she explained this to Aunt Yang Mu she had answered that it might have been a very strong love the two had been showing Mi Shi Qi. Of course her Aunt and Uncles loved her very much but this love was different and she couldn't grasp it. It was just one of the many memories that had escaped to the farthest recesses of her mind.
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"Poor man…" Aunt Yang Mu had said. Mi Shi Qi had just walked in on the conversation after swabbing the deck.
"Who?" she had asked after setting down her bucket and mop.
"Oh, we just heard some news about the Avatar. He is truly a broken man…" Aunt Yang Mu had answered.
"Why?"
"Well it has been ten years since it happened," Uncle Joco said.
"It what? What are you guys talking about?"
"Well it was ten years ago that his only child was taken from him. They had been searching for ten long years for the child with no avail. They have finally announced her to be dead. Poor soul…" Aunt Yang Mu said glumly.
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She had been helping Uncle Bo in the kitchen considering he was the cook on the rebel ship. No one had seen it coming.
"I've had a weird feeling all day today, Uncle Jo," Mi Shi Qi had said out of the blue.
"And what is that little one?" he had asked.
"I'm not sure. But I just feel as if something extraordinary is going to happen today. But it isn't a good feeling. It feels like… dread. Is that a good thing, Uncle Bo?" she replied.
He shrugged. "I believe that the great spirits send us messages through people's hearts and minds. If there is a message to be heard, heed."
They had docked in the evening in a small Earth Kingdom port. Although her trusty advisor warned her that this would be a risky move, Azula stubbornly ported. Within minutes Earth Kingdom warriors attacked them. There was a great clashing of swords and a great shedding of blood on the deck while Mi Shi Qi watched it all hidden behind a barrel. Suddenly the ship was set ablaze. The night sky glowed red from the element. Mi Shi Qi was terrified. She fled the ship unnoticed. As she stared back at the burning ship, she realized that Aunt Yang Mu, Uncle Bo, and Uncle Joco were still trapped below deck. She watched, as the only family she knew was burned alive. The screams and yells of the crew filled the air. Tears fell down her filthy cheeks as she watched the burning carnage wreak havoc on the ship.
She had nowhere to go. She was a street urchin who begged for coins. She had no possessions to speak of except for the simple blue blanket she had owned for as long as she could remember. She had heard of the great city of Ba Sing Se. That any one, even a beggar like her, had a chance. Here she would be able to find work and able to make a little money even if she had no home. When she heard that a ship was headed for Ba Sing Se she had snuck aboard.
After two days the captain discovered her. "Who are you?!" he exclaimed.
"Please! Let me explain. When I heard that a ship was bound for Ba Sing Se I took the chance. But please, if you let me stay I will work for you here until we arrive in the city. I promise I will do well. Please give me a chance!" she pleaded. The captain studied her. Although she was small he figured it would do no harm if she worked for him on the ship until they arrived in the city. He agreed. Mi Shi Qi was on her way to Ba Sing Se.
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Here it is! The next chapter! Yep this is definitely going to be a three shot. The next chapter will be the last. I hope you are enjoying the story! Poor little angel. She keeps losing every one she loves. Oh well. Any way Review! Thanks for reading!