A/N
I finally got to upload it! Sorry, I wanted to update almost two weeks ago but there's still little to no internet access here :/ I'm at my aunt's house now because she insisted to pre-celebrate my birthday (i'll turn 15 in 3 days :D) and made me a Zuko-cake and Azula-style hair ^-^ (She always calls me princess lol). I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's pretty long since it contains a lot of flashback (what did you expect when you've read the title?)
Thanks for the new review (and the old ones as well) :D I'll only answer reviews when they contain questions but I'm always fangirling when I see that someone likes my story :D (*foam)
Rated T for minor torture and some… mental images. I don't think it's that bad, just a bit sad maybe, but better safe than sorry :)
I do not own Avatar: tLA, it belongs to Nickelodeon and all the awesome people who helped making it
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 20: Back in memories
"Honey, we're out of Jewelweed and Ketu is full of insect bites. Would you please go and get some?"
Moyina, the healer of the small camp held the four-year-old boy in her arms, examining his bare skin. His mother Amita stood beside them, trying to keep her little son from scratching himself.
"You poor thing, you'll just make it worse, stop it," she told him, but as soon as she looked away again Ketu continued.
"Okay, mommy," Moyina's nine-year-old daughter yelled joyfully before she started to run towards the small, mossy path between two mountains which led to the forest.
"And don't you go alone!" her mother yelled after her as she watched her child disappear.
Jaycee turned around and ran back to the main campsite, to the tent of her best friend.
"Hey, Blossom, I need some herbs for mommy will you come with me to get them?" she exclaimed as soon as she spotted her.
Blossom, who had just finished eating a bowl of wood sorrel, clove and dandelion salad, smiled widely at her friend as she saw her running towards her, then she tossed the bowl away and got up.
"Coming," she yelled back, but after she had run a few steps her mother called her back.
"Sweetie, aren't you forgetting something?" she asked with a requesting voice.
"Whoops," Blossom apologized, turning around. "Sorry mom."
The girl ran back, picked the bowl up from the ground and put it into a wooden box filled with other used plates and cups.
"I'll wash them when I come back, okay?" she promised. "Can I go now?"
"Fine, but take care. And be back before sundown," her mother agreed smiling.
"I'm first at the path," Jaycee challenged her friend and started running.
"Never," Blossom replied and ran after her.
The two little girls ran towards the path together, laughing and jostling each other playfully.
"Do you remember how Jewelweed looks like?" the future healer asked her friend who nodded. They started searching, and soon they both had collected large bunches of the herbs. Jaycee decided that they had enough for Ketu and the whole leftovers of the entire camp – which weren't that many though – and so they headed back to their hidden home.
"Hey, there's still some time until sundown, do you wanna play hide-and-seek?" Blossom asked.
"If mommy lets me – sure!" the girl said, very thrilled about the idea. She immediately started to hurry towards her large home tent in which her mother was still talking to Ketu. Suddenly, a boy named Symo ran over to her waving his arms.
"Oh no, not again," Blossom whispered annoyed and Jaycee rolled her eyes in agreement.
"Hey girls!" he yelled with a big grin at his face. "What are you doing?"
"Umm, I've got to help mommy with her work," the light haired girl replied holding up the Jewelweed.
"Yeah, and I've got to help her help her mother," the other child added. "Sorry."
Symo looked disappointed for a moment, but he didn't give up yet.
"Can I help you? Here, I take it for you!" he offered them, trying to take Jaycee's herbs, but she held them up so he couldn't reach them.
"NO, thanks," Jaycee said determined. Symo had been her friend once, but since he had developed an obvious crush on her he had become annoying. He was one year younger than her, plus he had a very weird behavior, he always clung to his father, despite being eight years old. He wouldn't even leave the camp without him. It had always been fun to play with him when they all had been younger, but those times had changed, the boy just couldn't accept it.
Symo just wanted to say something as Jaycee suddenly pointed at a spot in the distance.
"What's that?" she asked. Her friends followed her glance and saw a large cloud of black smoke rising upwards darkening the sky.
"I don't know…"the boy answered.
"It looks like someone is making a campfire. A LARGE campfire," Blossom added.
Then the other people of the camp one after another spotted it too and started screaming panic-fueled and running around.
"The Fire Nation is coming!" someone shouted.
"How did they find us?" someone else screamed.
Jaycee dropped her Jewelweed in shock as she realized what that meant.
"MOMMY!" she cried, using her airbending to run home as fast as she could. Moyina just stepped out of her tent, Amita following her, carrying her little son.
"What happened, honey?" she asked, but then she saw it herself. "Oh no…" she whispered. Then she started pushing her daughter into the direction of the forest, away from the nearing danger.
"Run!" she commanded. "Hide in the forest! You know which plants you can eat, you're smart enough to make it!"
"What about you?" the girl wanted to know, her large eyes filled with tears.
"I'll try to follow you," her mother promised. "But whatever happens, don't turn back. Now GO!"
Jaycee started to run in the direction her mother had told her to, but before he could reach the path loud screams were heard and soldiers started to climb over the rock wall surrounding the camp and attack the Air Nomads. The girl looked at them paralyzed, not able to move, then suddenly Moyina pushed her behind a bush.
"Don't move until I tell you to," she commanded before she ran back to her tent to get something.
The little girl looked around terrified. Everything burnt: Tents, bushes, even people. People she knew. People she loved. Some of the Airbenders tried to fight back, but most of them ran away, just to get struck into the back by a blast of fire. Jaycee wanted to cover her eyes, but she still couldn't move. Suddenly she spotted Blossom. She ran as fast as she could, she was already at the entrance of the path to the safe forest as a Firebender appeared behind her and shot her down. Blossom, the ten-year-old best friend of Jaycee, fell to the ground and didn't get up, her clothes slightly smoking. The hiding girl started to scream.
Then her mother ran out of her tent, a scroll in her hands which had once belonged to her husband and Jaycee's father Tilon who had died before his daughter's birth. Moyina started to make her way to her daughter between all the dead or dying persons, trying not to look at them, as suddenly a large net fell over her making her hit the ground. Immediately soldiers were above her, holding her down.
"Run, honey," she cried to her daughter, but Jaycee didn't move. "I'll follow you!"
Deep inside the girl knew that her mother was lying. So she got up and ran towards her.
"Mommy," she yelled.
"No honey, run away!" Moyina's voice panicked as she saw her daughter running straightly into the arms of the Firebenders. But it was too late. Another net was tossed over the girl who fell beside her mother, screaming. Moyina reached out to grab Jaycee's hand, then the girl felt a dull pain at the back of her head. Then blackness.
Somewhere near a bird chirped loudly. Jaycee awoke from her dream, covered in sweat. After making sure that she wasn't in danger she laid back down into a comfortable position on her branch, forcing herself to calm down and get back to sleep.
The heavy metal door suddenly flung open and two men, probably prison guards, entered the room. The woman and her daughter, cuddled together on the cold stone floor, raised their heads. The room was divided in the middle by huge iron bars; the door was on one side of them, the prisoners on the other.
"Welcome in the Fire Nation," one of them greeted. "How does it feel, being the last of your kind?"
The girl hid deeper in her mother's clothes as the man continued speaking.
"You may wonder why we left you alive. Don't worry, it won't be forever. But for now, you're here because you're going to tell us something. Being Airbenders, you must know where our greatest enemy is located, and you will share that knowledge with us. Where is the Avatar?"
Moyina kept hold of her child and her face remained emotionless except for a glare at the two men as she replied.
"I don't know. None of us does. He wasn't part of our camp."
"Very well," the man announced. "We'll come back tomorrow to see if you change your mind."
The soldiers left again, leaving Jaycee and her mother alone. The little girl looked up.
"Mommy, I want to go home," she declared, hugging the woman tightly and burying her head in her clothes. "I want to play with Blossom."
"I know, honey," Moyina told her, hugging back. "It'll be alright."
"No it won't," her daughter refused. "They're all gone."
The nine year old girl started to cry. Her mother didn't respond. She knew very well that Jaycee was right. Instead, she started to sing familiar songs they had sung very often in the evenings when they had sat by the fire, until her daughter eventually fell asleep.
0~o~0~o~0
The two men came back every day, demanding the same over and over again. After about a week they brought two children with them, a girl and a boy, about Jaycee's age.
"Hello, little one," the girl addressed Jaycee with an innocent smile, even though she was obviously younger than her. "I'm Princess Azula, and this is my brother Zuzu. Our father said that we should talk to you a little bit."
Jaycee just stared at the children, too frightened to talk, as the boy stepped forward to his sister.
"I told you to stop calling me that," he told her angrily. "My name is Zuko!"
"Who cares?" Azula questioned, shrugging. "They're not going to tell anyone." Zuko's eyes widened slightly as he realized what that meant and looked back at the girl, not even as old as him.
"Listen," he said to the prisoners. "Maybe I can convince my father to set you free. You just need to tell us what you know about the Avatar."
"You give yourself too much credit," his sister interrupted him. "Dad would never let them go."
"But she's so young!" the boy claimed. "That could be you."
"How can you compare me to these filthy peasants?" Azula wondered, looking at her brother in disbelief. "They should be glad they're allowed to be in this palace. Living in the mountains, I'm sure it must feel great to have a solid roof above their heads. They should be graceful to us and tell us everything we ask for."
"Azula!" The Prince tried to stop her but she shook her head.
"What" she questioned, glaring at Zuko. "Are you really as pathetic as they? You're the prince of the Fire Nation. These people should be bowing to you, but, oh well, I'll have mercy. They probably don't even know how that is done."
"Enough, Azula," he commanded. "Can't you see how scared they are? I'm sure there were more than just these seven people we have. Just imagine what they went through."
"Well, maybe they could work here as servants if you insist," Azula suggested, growing tired of her brother's attempts to save the weak." But we don't have all day." She turned to the prisoners." Where is the Avatar? I'm hungry and want to go eat something now."
"I can only tell you what I told the other ones who asked us," Moyina answered her, trying to stay calm towards the children. "He wasn't part of our camp. I've never met him and I don't know where he is."
"I wasn't talking to you," the princess snapped at her before her voice went sweet and innocent again. "Come on little girl, are you sure there wasn't anyone who could bend all four elements? If you tell me, I'll maybe ask the servants to bring you some real food down here."
Jaycee just stared at her with wide eyes, unable to answer. Zuko quickly pushed his sister out of the way and kneeled down to look into the girl's eyes straightly.
"You don't need to be afraid of us," he told her calmly, giving her an encouraging smile. "I won't harm you. What's your name?"
"…Jaycee," she replied, still hiding in her mother's arms, watching the princess glaring at her.
"How old are you, Jaycee?" the boy wanted to know, making her look at him instead.
"N-nine," she stuttered, still scared of the girl behind the apparently nice boy.
"Do you know anything about the Avatar?" he asked calmly, giving Jaycee a questioning look. She shook her head, not able to speak much more.
"Azula, they really don't know," Zuko turned towards his sister, a pleading look at his face. She just shrugged.
"Father said they do," she declared, not really caring if that was true or not.
"Then he is wrong!" her brother almost shouted loudly, glaring back at her furiously.
"How dare you question father?!" Azula yelled back before turning towards Jaycee again. "I know you know where he is. Now tell me!"
"I don't know!" the girl shrieked, holding her arms in front of her face to hide it from the one year younger princess.
"Liar!" she shouted, and, before anyone could interfere, shot a huge blast of fire towards the little girl. Jaycee screamed in agony as it hit her right upper arm, setting her clothes and skin on fire. Her mother quickly put it out and hugged her daughter tightly.
"Azula!" the prince yelled shocked as he watched the young airbender holding her arm and sobbing.
"That's what you get for lying," she announced, almost smirking at Jaycee's pained expression. "Remember it."
The children left, Zuko glancing back for a last time, giving the woman and her daughter a sympathetic look, then the men continued their questioning every day. Until, some days later, they stopped. Jaycee and her mother sat together as always, the girl's right arm wrapped into a piece of cloth, and waited for something to happen. Suddenly they heard something coming from far away. As they held their breaths and listened, they could clearly recognize the sound of a pain filled scream, muffled through the thick walls.
"What's happening?" Jaycee wanted to know, fear clinging in her voice.
"I'm not sure," Moyina replied. "Don't listen."
The little girl tried to focus on something else, but the screams were impossible for her to ignore. About a minute later her eyes widened.
"Mommy," she said, shivering. "That sounds like Tenro!"
A tear glistened in the woman's eyes as she recognized the voice as well. Instead of answering she covered her daughter's ears with her hands and started rocking forwards and backwards to calm her while the screams ended – not slowly fading, but abruptly. Jaycee couldn't hear it; neither could she see the single tear that escaped her mother's eye. Moyina knew that there was one Air Nomad less left. And she also knew it had just started.
For four days, the same happened over and over again. The child always made out the voices before her mother covered her ears again. Mya, Nima, Ryung, Hyun Bae. It became harder to ignore the pain filled screams since their source became louder and closer each day. At the fourth day Moyina could also hear muffled shouting of some unknown voices, probably other prison guards or such. And at the fifth day, her time had come.
0~o~0~o~0
Jaycee slept in her mother's lap as the door flung open and three men entered. They opened the cell door without saying a word, then two of them grabbed the woman while the third one held her still drowsy daughter back, and then they forcefully pulled Moyina out of her cell before locking it again, leaving Jaycee alone in it.
"Mommy!" she cried as she finally realized what was happening. She tried to fight the men with weak attempts of airbending, but the guards didn't even bother looking at her, tying the adult Airbender to the opposite wall using iron chains which were attached to it.
"Let mommy go," the girl yelled, making a move that caused one of the men hit the wall in front of him face first. He turned around angrily.
"I'll warn you, little brat, one more move and you're next," he threatened, letting a fire appear in his hands to demonstrate that he was serious. Jaycee stopped airbending and held onto the iron bars in a desperate attempt to open the door again, tears streaming down her face.
"Please," Moyina begged, knowing what would happen next. "Not in front of her."
"Sorry sweetie," another man replied with a smirk. "We have orders from the Firelord. But I'm going to give you one last chance, in case you want to protect your cute little daughter from this. Answer our question and we will not harm any of you."
"You know that we are telling the truth," the woman yelled, trying to free her arms only to get chains cutting into her wrists. The days in prison had made her too weak to fight any of the men; even with her hands unbound; let alone tree. "You know very well that none of us knew! Why are you doing this?"
"Your choice," the prison guard told her, raising his arm with a flame in his hand. Moyina shot him a last hateful glare before she closed her eyes. She gritted her teeth, trying hard to remain quiet, for the sake of her daughter, but as soon as the fire hit her she knew it wasn't possible. A loud scream escaped her, answered by another one, coming from the cell in the opposite room. Jaycee was curled up on the floor covering her ears and screaming as loud as she could to overtone her mother, but she could still hear her agony.
A couple of minutes later the door opened again and another man entered, the boy following him hesitantly. The sounds of torture stopped and the little girl opened her eyes slightly to peek at the boy. He seemed to feel shocked and uncomfortable being there and seeing what was happening.
"Do it now," the man who had brought him ordered, pointing at the woman who was already too weak to even open her eyes anymore. Zuko looked at her, then back to Jaycee, before he spoke.
"No," he refused.
"What does that mean?" the man wondered. "You have orders, you know that."
"This is cruel!" the prince declared. "They don't know anything!"
"You will do as the Firelord commanded, or do I need to tell him that his own son is a traitorous wimp?" the prison guard threatened, grabbing the boy's arm fiercely before letting it go again.
"As if he wouldn't already know that," another man muttered, causing his comrades to chuckle. Zuko broke his gaze away from Jaycee at those words.
"I'm not a wimp!" he snapped. "Who are you to insult me like this?"
"Well then prove it and do as you're commanded," the prison guard beside him provoked him, gesturing his hand towards the woman again. Zuko gulped and took a deep breath as he positioned himself in front of the barely conscious woman. He created a fire and aimed at her chest before he clenched his eyes shut and threw his hand with the flame forward, hitting his target. Moyina let out a short scream which ended not even a second later, as if someone had suddenly covered her mouth. The prince opened his eyes and stared unbelievingly at the woman in front of him. She still hung from her chains, but there was no attempt of her to fight against the cut of the them anymore. She was motionless. Dead.
"NO," Jaycee screamed, louder than before, making an airbending move against the prison guards and the Prince. Somehow she had suddenly become strong. She unleashed a powerful blast of air which blew the whole cell wall and the door to the room out of their ankles, shattering them into pieces. The men fell to the ground; a flying piece of the iron bars hit Zuko's head and knocked him unconscious, along with two of the guards. The other two quickly recovered and proceeded to get up, but another stream of air blew them down again. Jaycee found her way out of the building and began running towards the mountains which encircled the city, followed by Firebenders which tried to hit her. She airbended at them without looking back, until she finally reached the hills and disappeared behind them, the image of the boy's shocked golden eyes, along with her mother's scream, lingering in her mind.
Someone stumbled out of a tent before looking around to see if someone had been watching. Jaycee sat up, panting, and watched the boy with the golden eyes stretch his arms in the morning sun. She tried to imagine him doing something cruel to her mother again, but she just couldn't compare a guy who had trouble getting out of a tent without kissing the ground to a ruthless killer. Still having the memory of her dream in mind however, she untied her bag from a branch above her head and carefully jumped down the tree.
"Nice performance," she greeted him, watching him flush as he realized she had seen it.
"Good morning," he replied, trying to look somewhat authoritarian, despite having just woken up. "How'd you sleep?" he attempted to change the subject.
"Nah," the girl responded. "I keep having nightmares about your precious nation, but other than that, I'm fine."
Zuko didn't answer, and the girl wondered why she had to be so cruel. But she was just answering his question honestly, after all.
"Seems to me like you've slept better," she added, causing the Firebender to raise his eyebrow. "Nice hairstyle."
He quickly ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to bring it back into some order, though it remained looking overly shaggy.
"Are you always like this when you wake up?" Jaycee asked, trying to sound annoyed while holding back a snicker. "Hey, everyone else is still asleep. You wanted to tell me about money, remember?"
The prince nodded, relieved to be out of the awkward situation, and climbed back into his tent to get his money. Then he made his way outside again without a struggle and sat down on the grass. The Airbender sat beside him, making sure to have a few inches distance between them.
About ten minutes later Jaycee raised her head. Zuko interrupted his explanation and followed her glance to see Suki slowly getting up from Appa's leg, trying not to wake her friends.
"Morning," they both greeted her as she turned her head into their direction; she seemed to be surprised to see her allies sitting side by side.
"Hey," she replied, walking over to them. "What are you doing?"
"I'm teaching Jaycee how to use money," the prince explained.
"I figured it'd be useful if I got to have some one day," the girl added with a serious voice. The Kyoshi Warrior nodded.
"So, how was your trip yesterday?" she asked. "Did you find any food?"
"Yes, I think we can feed your boyfriend today," Jaycee told her. "As for tomorrow, he can get his meat himself; towns aren't really my thing."
Suki oppressed a laugh as she shot her friend a halfway angry glare.
"Right," she remembered. "I can't imagine how it might be living far away from civilization."
"Hey, you're making it sound like I'd be some kind of retarded hog-monkey!" the Airbender protested a bit offended. "Can hog-monkeys eat with chopsticks?"
The other girl looked at her in bewilderment as Jaycee explained.
"Zuko taught me when we were eating something yesterday in a restau… uhh, I keep forgetting that word; what was it again?"
"Restaurant," the Firebender muttered, flushing. Suki chuckled.
"You guys were at a restaurant?" she asked, laughing.
"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" Jaycee wondered.
"Nothing, nothing," the Kyoshi Warrior quickly assured her. "It's actually pretty cute."
"Cute?!" the Masterbender repeated, looking back and forth between her and Zuko who avoided her glance, glaring subtly at Suki instead.
"Never mind," she giggled as she saw his glare.
"I just wanted to show her how it feels to do stuff every normal person does," the prince clarified angrily.
"Hello?" Jaycee turned over to him. "I can hear you, you know?"
"Sorry," Zuko apologized quickly.
"Oh come on," Suki said. "You're just being taught how money works."
"Okay, you do have a point," the Airbender admitted, looking a bit thoughtful.
0~o~0~o~0
A couple of hours later the team flew over a wide area with mountains and forests on the left and a large, open field of grass on the right, both divided by a river.
"So what exactly did you two do yesterday evening?" Sokka wanted to know from Zuko.
"I already told you, we were just eating something," the Firebender replied annoyed.
"Leave him alone, Sokka," Katara said.
"Yeah, sure," Suki added sarcastically. "Two people… at a restaurant… watching the sunset..."
She intertwined her fingers and placed them at her chest, sighing heavily in a romantic gesture. She, Toph, Sokka and Aang began laughing as Zuko clenched his fists and looked away.
Meanwhile, Jaycee ignored them and stared at a spot between the mountains in the distance.
"Guys?" she asked, her voice sounding far away. "Could we land for a moment? I… need to see something here."
Everyone stopped laughing and looked at her surprised, but then Aang shrugged and turned around again.
"What are you doing?" Sokka exclaimed. "We need to hurry! If we don't arrive at Ember Island before the next morning we'll have to wait a whole day, otherwise someone could spot us! We've discussed this. So, no breaks, flying."
"Yip, yip," the Avatar yelled, steering Appa downwards to the grass.
"Are you even listening to me?" Sokka shouted. "We don't have time for… well, for whatever this is."
As they landed, the Masterbender jumped down from the bison's saddle and crossed the river using her airbending. Then she started to slowly walk towards the mountains, disappearing between them.
The others followed her confusedly, watching their friend follow a barely visible, mossy path, Sokka was still complaining, but they didn't question her until Jayce suddenly stopped.
"What is here?" Aang asked.
"I can sense a lot of destroyed stuff," Toph mentioned. The Airbender sighed.
"I thought so," she replied the blind girl. "I hoped that it would have been restored, but I never really believed that."
"What do you mean?" Zuko wanted to know. Jaycee touched the stone wall beside her with a sad look on her face.
"This… was my home," she explained. The other ones gasped and she continued. "When I recognized the area I wanted to see it. It's right behind those rocks."
She pointed at some mossy rocks in front of them, blocking the path.
"Then why don't you go?" Suki asked her ally. Jaycee shook her head.
"I'm afraid of what I might see," the girl told her.
Katara took her hand. Jaycee flinched in reflex but she didn't refuse. Aang put his hand on her other shoulder.
"When I saw that the Fire Nation had killed Monk Gyatso and the other Air Nomads, it was awful. But I'm still glad I've been there. It's better to know for sure that they're gone than to live in uncertainty. I know what I'm fighting for" he said.
"And we're with you," the Waterbender added. "You're not alone."
Jaycee nodded and started to keep walking, then she proceeded to climb the rocks. As her hand reached the top of them, she stopped for a moment. After taking a deep breath she finally lifted her head up over the stones.
In front of them was a small area with grass at some spots of the bottom and trees at the edges which were hiding it. At other parts of the bottom was just earth, but everywhere were things laying around. Broken wood sticks, tents which were torn to pieces, cooking utensils like pots and teacups, broken pieces of other glass and porcelain things and lots of other stuff. Some of the tents' sticks still stood, sticking into the ground. The broken tents or whatever they had been once stood in two circles, one of them larger and around the smaller one. In the middle of the place were stones laid in a small circle and mossy wood in it; probably a fireplace. And all of the things were burnt, shattered or somehow else destroyed. Marks of fire were everywhere – on the wood sticks, the tents, even the grass.
But the worst things were the skeletons. As it seemed like, most of them had been running away from something when dying. They laid at their front sides, the clothes at their backs awfully burnt. Some others had went down fighting, facing the enemy. The most horrific view was of a skeleton in a dress – probably a woman – and a smaller one, laying in her arms. Considering its size the person hadn't been much older than four or five.
Jaycee looked around for a moment, no emotion on her face. Then she started walking straightly into the ruins of her old home, sometimes pointing at things.
"This was our campfire place," she explained, more to herself than to the others, no sadness or any other emotion showing on her face. "We used to sit here together almost every evening, eating together, telling stories… Here was grandpa's tent. He was our oldest. Everyone just called him grandpa, but his real name was Kavi… Ketu and his family. He was four… My best friend Blossom… Our childhood friend Symo; he got annoying when he fell in love with me but it was still fun to mock him… Blossom's crush Maycen…"
In the end the Airbender finally stopped at the ruins of the largest tent, at the edge of the outer ring. She sighed and touched the burnt wooden sticks that had remained standing.
"Here's where I lived," she said. "And Mommy and Mune. My mother was the healer here, so we had the largest tent to store our plants and guest beds for the sick. She taught me and my sister." The Airbender shook her head to clear it and turned around, still emotionless.
"We can go now," she announced. "We have to hurry if we want to reach the Fire Nation before next sunrise.
Jaycee made her way past the others, over the rocks, through the mountains and onto Appa's saddle, who was resting beside the river. Looking in the distance, she waited until her friends arrived.
"Yip, yip," Aang yelled again and the bison rose op into the sky, taking the last survivor away from her shattered home.
After a few moments of silence, Zuko, who sat right next to Jaycee, turned his glance at the girl.
"I'm sorry," he said lowly. She glanced back into his face, her eyes suddenly filling with tears as she lost her controlled indifference. Then she threw herself into the arms of the closest person, which happened to be a very surprised Firebender, covering her face in his clothes.
"They're all gone," she sobbed. "No one survived."
Zuko petted his ally's back, not knowing what else to do. Everyone else looked at her, deep sad looks in their faces, not wanting to get any closer to the already horrified girl.
Another few hours later, when it was starting to become day, the team finally reached the shore of Ember Island.
0~o~0~o~0
In Appa's saddle, everyone sat quietly. No one made a sound or moved around very much. Jaycee still laid in Zuko's arms, now sleeping, her head resting on his chest and his arm slightly slung around her, a faint blush on his cheeks. As he spotted his family's house he tried to take his arm away, but she immediately woke up from the sudden move.
"We're there," the Firebender whispered to the girl as he noticed she was awake. She moaned sleepily, not ready to get up and keep her guard up again yet, and snuggled farther into his chest before she recognized her resting place. The Airbender shrieked and jumped away in shock, looking around with a panicked expression, then she turned deep red, just as Zuko did, too.
"Umm, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I mean, I never wanted to…" she stuttered, then the Prince interrupted her.
"It's okay, I, umm, should have waked you earlier, I just, umm…" his blush turned even darker as he tried to explain himself to the girl.
"I'm sorry about yesterday, too. I don't know what happened to me. I just kind of lost it," she told her ally and lowered her glance a bit saddened.
"It's alright," Katara replied, saving both Zuko and Jaycee from the uncomfortable situation. "It must have been hard for you to see your old home like that."
The Masterbender sighed.
"Yeah, it was," she said. "But I'm alright. I mean, I always knew they were gone. It was just different to actually see them. I mean, what's left of them."
"We're there," Aang interposed.
They landed in the yard as the sun began to rise. They had just made it in time.
"Finally we're here!" Sokka exclaimed as he proceeded to jump out of the saddle. Aang jumped after him with an airbending move while Jaycee just slid down Appa's leg like her non-airbending allies.
"You say it," Aang agreed , starting to play with Momo.
"Don't set your hopes too high," Zuko told him. "We'll be training today; Sozin's comet will be here soon."
"Can't I just have a little break before?" the Avatar begged. His firebending teacher sighed.
"Fine," he then agreed. "But we start at noon."
"Hey Aang, do you think you could teach me how to do the Air Scooter?" Jaycee suddenly asked her friend. He smiled, apparently glad that she felt better again.
"Sure," he agreed, then he turned to Zuko. "Zuko, is it alright if we practice while you show the others the house?" The Firebender thought for a moment.
"Alright, we'll meet here later for your training, okay?" he said.
He and the rest of the team headed off to explore the house while Aang and Jaycee stayed on the courtyard.
0~o~0~o~0
"Hey, I think I figured it out," Jaycee exclaimed as she rushed passed Aang and some feet up the wall of the house; then she backflipped to the ground, landing beside her friend.
"That's great," the Avatar cheered. "Now try to catch me!" He created an air scooter for himself and went away quickly. The girl made a new one too and followed him. They laughed as they rushed across the court, chasing each other, until they eventually stopped at the stairs in front of the house and sat down.
"Phew, that was fun," Jaycee giggled, breathing heavily. Aang climbed at Appa's saddle, then he came back to his friend and sat beside her, a bag in his hand. He grabbed into it, moved his hand to his mouth and started munching.
"What's that?" the Masterbender asked him noticing it.
"Some candy," her friend munched. "Did you never eat this before?"
Jaycee shrugged.
"We didn't really have the resources for things like this," she explained.
"Man, you really missed something," Aang told her. "Here, try it." He handed her a handful of sweets. The girl looked at them mistrusting, then she slowly took a bite.
"Mmmmh… this is really…good…" she said while stuffing her mouth with the candies. Aang handed her the whole bag, considering Jaycee had never had something like them before.
About 10 minutes later Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Suki and Toph came back from their house tour.
"And no one has been here since your mother vanished?" Sokka just asked.
"No," the Firebender replied. "She was the only one who ever really wanted to come here; I don't think my father cares about who is here."
"I still can't believe we're hiding from the Firelord in his own house," Suki noticed.
"Doeshn't make shenshe when ya hear it firsht, but when ya shink 'bout it it'sh pwetty loshishal, ishn't it"? Jaycee added, still munching the now half-empty bag of candy in her lap. ((Translation: Doesn't make sense when you hear it first, but when you think about it it's pretty logical, isn't it?))
"Yeah, probably," Katara agreed. Sokka noticed the bag.
"What are you eating the whole time?" he wanted to know.
Jaycee didn't even stop eating. "Candy."
"Better don't eat too much," the Avatar advised her. "That's not very good…"
"It TASTES good!" the Masterbender complained.
Zuko rolled his eyes about his friends.
"Whatever, we need to train," he changed the subject. "Aang, your firebending still needs practice."
"Sparky's right, your earthbending could also be better," Toph added.
"Waterbending, too," Katara agreed. "Come on." She grabbed Aang's arm and pulled him with her.
He followed her annoyed.
"Aww, man, do I have to? I just finished training with Jaycee!"
"Pfft,
training," the Masterbender chuckled quietly.
"No excuse twinkle-toes, come on, now," the blind girl told him, making the earth under the boys feet shift so that he moved forward. Katara turned back to her Non-bending allies.
"Sokka, Suki, you can stay here with Jaycee and watch us," she suggested.
Suki looked at Zuko and Toph who were now arguing about who of them would teach Aang first, Aang himself was stretching his muscles.
"Nah, I'll better go and train some fighting myself," she refused
"Alright," the Waterbender agreed, then she joined her arguing allies, yelling, "Quit it, you two! We start with waterbending, then earthbending, and then firebending, like in the Avatar cycle. Aang, try to attack me."
"The Avatar cycle is unfair," Toph complained, but then she followed Zuko a few steps apart from her friends to clear the area and watch Aang taking some water from a nearby fountain and trying to throw icicles at his friend who stepped aside and threw them back.
Sokka sat down beside his ally who offered him a handful of candy which he refused and watched his girlfriend warming up then proceeding to make some simple but effective moves with her fans.
0~o~0~o~0
"I think that's enough for today," Katara announced about half an hour later. "Break, everyone!"
"Finally," the Avatar sighed as he plopped down beside Sokka who sat alone, Appa resting beside him, an empty bag on his lap.
"Yes, finally," Toph agreed. "It's my turn now, and I won't go easy on you like sweetness."
"You call that easy? Aang exclaimed indignantly. The blind girl just smirked and sat beside him stretching her arms. The young boy glared at her, then he noticed his empty bag on his friend's lap.
"Hey, where's my candy?" he wanted to know.
Katara suck her breath. "Sokka, you…"
"That wasn't me," he replied, holding up the bag.
"Then why are you holding it?" his sister asked, pointing at it. Sokka put the bag back at his lap and looked thoughtful.
"Uhhh…" he started, then suddenly Jaycee came running towards them and stopped in front of them, starting to speak very quickly.
"Oh, no, wait, that really wasn't him, that was me, I'm sorry, did you want to eat it, I'll go to town and get you more, I mean, I don't have money, but, you know, I'm good at getting stuff for free, I mean, it's not allowed, I know, but, who cares, I mean, it's not like the Fire Nation is always following rules, right, and when I'm already there I could also get more for myself, I mean, it tastes really, really good, and you were right, I have no idea how I survived without candy until now, you know, thanks for giving me, I didn't want to eat it all, but I just couldn't stop, you know, it's too good, oh, am I talking too fast, sorry, just don't blame Sokka, he didn't eat any of it, I mean, I offered him some, but he refused, and actually I'm glad, because now I could eat it, I mean, I know I shouldn't have, but still, you know, I feel much better already, I feel so good as if I could fly now, you know, without a glider, just by running fast enough, you know, like, weeeeeeeeeee!" she yelled laughing, starting to run circles as fast as she could around the whole court, using her airbending to become even faster. Her friends stared at her confused, not really sure about what had just happened. Suki came walking beside them, her eyes also on the running Airbender.
"What's with her?" she wanted to know. Jaycee waved her arms into the air, still running circles, and screamed, "I LOVE CANDYYY!"
Her allies kept staring at her, not knowing what to say about the situation.
"Yes, she obviously does," Sokka agreed withhis friend.
"At least she's feeling better," Aang stated, trying to look encouraging.
"I'm not sure if you can call this better," Katara disagreed, watching her ally.
"Yeah, what was in that stuff?" Toph wondered. "She's worse than Sokka on cactus juice."
"Probably too much sugar for someone who never ate it before," the Avatar suggested.
Suddenly Jaycee stopped in front of them again, a dead serious look at her face.
"Stop staring at me," she pleaded, glancing shyly at her friends.
A/N
Okay, my apologies for the weird ending xD. My best friend and I were talking about this story when one of us noticed that Jaycee had probably never even seen anything with sugar before, so I wrote this just for fun since this would probably happen. When I saw how depressing this chapter is I decided to add the scene to make it funnier ^-^ Please don't take it too seriously.
I hope I didn't make little Azula too cruel. We haven't seen much of her in the show, but I think this could be something she would say/do. I mean, have you read the search? And I'm not sure if Ozai was already Firelord when Zuko was 10. Actually, not long ago I've read somewhere that he became Firelord when Zuko was 11, but let's just ignore that. Ursa was on vacation and couldn't stop her husband.
By the way, in case anybody noticed, the Amita with the four-year-old son is the same Amita who was pregnant in the last chapter. Life went on 3 (but then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked).
Also, yes, Zuko fell out of his tent. Happens to everyone. This is actually pretty much me when I go camping. I wanted to make him a bit awkward so Jaycee would have doubts about him being the enemy. And because he's just so cute when he's awkward ^-^
On Appa's saddle, Jaycee just needed comfort, she didn't care who hugged her. It could've been Firelord Ozai himself.
Btw I recently got very bored so I went on one of those pages where you can find out the meanings of names, and I found out that Jaycee is Greek and means healer! I SWEAR that's a coincidence! When I picked the name I thought I had made it up myself until I found out it already exists (yeah, looking back I feel pretty stupid for not knowing that). I kept it because I liked it and I made Jaycee the healer's daughter because she had to have knowledge about edible and healing plants. I didn't know of the meaning, but… OMG xDDD
I just wanted to explain these things. My A/N's are always too long… :/
The next chapter will probably lack of action. I didn't write it yet and I have no idea what's going to happen; I have writer's block right now :/ It'll probably just be the Gaang hanging around on Ember Island. But there has to be a filler before Sozin's comet starts because I don't want to make things seem too rushed. I'm not looking forward to rewrite that; especially because Jaycee won't have that much dialogue in it. She's only really important in one scene (You can probably guess in which one; Zuko/OC cliché). But I'll have to rewrite the whole thing (at least the parts with Jaycee in them) to make this story sound logical.
Whatever, this A/N is starting to be longer than the entire chapter again…
Thanks for reading and PLEASE review! (makes Puppy dog face) Thanks :D