Chroma: Snapshots of Yume and Ginshi's relationship. From the beginning to end. Prompts are in the style of chroma ( a fancy word for colors).

A/N: Hey, guys, it's been a hot minute. I've been toying with the idea of this Avatar OC for about five years. I have been constantly writing and rewriting her story, and frankly, I can never seem to make it any good. Recently, I've decided that she's going to be with the character I swear she'd never be with. But one time, I drew them together...and I fell in love? I've decided to write their love story, in little vignettes because I'm better at that than at long stories. So here you go. Yume Akanishi and Ginshi Mamoto, Fire Nation Avatar and Royal Pain in the Ass. Very reminiscent of Zuko and Aang's relationship. We'll see how this goes!

White

On Ember Island, one has no choice but to wake up with the sunrise. As soon as the first stroke of purple appeared in the night sky, the birds would start chirping, the frogs and crickets would begin their ritualistic chanting, in the form of obnoxious chirping and croaking. The rare number of people who still felt a rhythmic pull to the sun's rays would be drawn to their warmth, awakening from their slumber like the dead, only to be revived once they stepped out into Agni's bright glory.

Yume trudged into the gentle rays of the dawn, yawning so widely she thought her jaw would unhinge. She was unbelievably tired. Last night, her dreams were filled with dreams that had her tossing and turning. Doors had kept shutting in her face, shadows kept appearing and disappearing, leaving her alone in the dark. These night terrors kept her awake for many nights, and she wondered if maybe she needed to see a professional about them, but ultimately decided against that.

She believed, somehow, that these dreams were connected to her bending. If she could get a handle on her fire bending skills, maybe the visions would disappear. Agni knows she needed the practice. Right now, all she could do shoot fire at random intervals. She was never in control, which terrified her. Ginshi, on the other hand, all suave and sophisticated, knew what he was doing. Last night, he lit a bonfire with a single punch, and Yume had never been so surprised. She'd marveled at his control. Ginshi said it all had to do with breathing. Yume found that ridiculous, but Ginshi drilled her on it every morning. He made her practice inhaling, exhaling, mouth breathing, and holding her breath until she was blue in the face. It drove her crazy, especially since they'd been doing this for a week. When she confronted him, Ginshi promised to incorporate forms in their next lesson if she got up extra early to meditate.

Eager to learn said forms, Yume was fighting sleep as she attempted to meditate under the sunrise. "Fire benders rise with the sun," Ginshi would say every morning. What made the sun so special?

She closed her eyes. The sun was hot, unforgiving during the summer but absent during winter. Its rays converted to food for plants, which was good she supposed. People could lay in the sun and bake. They didn't freeze to death because of the sun. Yume figured that was something. She thought about how the sun felt good on her skin, how she always felt comfortable sitting in the sun even when other didn't.

Ginshi once told her that fire benders naturally feel a connection to the sun, a tangible pull. That, Yume learned, was Agni, beckoning towards His subjects, calling on them to worship him. She didn't feel a strong connection to the sun. Sure, she appreciated the sun, but she didn't feel physically synced to it, she didn't feel that pull.

Perhaps that was her issue. She needed to strengthen her connection to the sun before she could learn to control her fire bending.

Straightening her back out, Yume took a deep breath and focused. She felt the sun's energy in her skin, seeping into her pores. She felt it enter her bloodstream, the warm blood coursing through her veins and arteries, feeding into her heart. Her heart beat rhythmically, a reminder that her life was due to the sun and its power. She then followed the energy as it left her heart and bled into her organs-her lungs, kidneys, brain. She could feel it behind her eyes, a heavy pressure pressing on the back of her eyeballs. She could not see it, though. Then it moved downwards, and Yume felt it in her arms and legs. She felt it ingrained in her bones, down to the very cells that built her body. Yume shivered, realizing just how deep this went. She contemplated on how far it could possibly go, and whether or not she wanted to follow it.

Then she thought about Ginshi. She wanted to be like him, to be able to breathe smoke and heat a plate just by thinking. She wanted to be in tune with her Maker. She wanted to see her destiny as a fire bender all the way through.

So she pushed on.

Yume followed the energy as it continued to press forward, entering a realm which was separate from her body, yet still tied together by an invisible cord. She followed the cord as it intertwined with her chi. She felt it coil up in her lower belly, blooming into a warm and comforting feeling. She wanted it to stay there, where it was safe, but it didn't. It rose up, like smoke, and she had no choice but to follow it. When it moved to her sacrum she felt a release of pressure there, as though her spine had been twisted at the end, like a rope. She continued, following the energy as it resonated in her chest. Yume felt an ache there, something raw and powerful burning there, eliciting feelings of guilt, grief and rage to shake her core.

Images of her parents flashed across her mind. She watched them as they smiled softly at her, before their faces became remorseful and sad. She watched them turn their backs on her as they walked through the door, leaving her to face the darkness all alone.

Next she saw Omi playing with his tablet in the hospital waiting room. He was bald and pale, but his cheeks still had a bit of pink in them and he still had a smile on his face. He looked up at her and winked, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed. The sound of a heart monitor beeping grew deafening as she watched him transform into a bare skeleton, laying lifelessly in his hospital bed.

Suddenly, she was standing next to the pool in Miyazaki's backyard. Rei was shouting at her, but Yume couldn't hear anything coming out of the brunette's lips. Without warning, Rei shoved Yume into the pool. As she crashed through the surface and sank into the water, Yume could see Rei's dark shadow looming over her. She could hear a cold, cruel laugh ringing in her ears.

A sharp breath left Yume's lips as she struggled to stay afloat. Hot tears slipped down her cheeks, meeting under her chin and dripping onto the sand.

It hurt something awful. She desperately wanted to leave it all behind and abandon ship. She couldn't stand the way her chest ached, how the painful thoughts grasped onto her heart and squeezed so tight she thought it would burst, leaving a gooey, sticky mess inside her rib cage. The thought of it petrified her.

The mental images receded slowly as Yume pulled back, watching them get smaller and smaller as she felt herself falling. It was as though the ground under her just faded away, leaving her to plunge to her doom. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but the black abyss swallowed it whole. She felt like she was falling in a dream; the initial jolt of panic was supposed to wake her up. But instead of waking up, Yume plummeted deeper and deeper into her nightmare. She felt like she needed to reach up, to grab for something, but she was surrounded by nothingness. What was there for her to hold onto? After being reminded of her parents, her brother, of Rei, there was nothing left to hold on to. Yume shut her eyes and accepted this, a single tear trickling out of her eye and disappearing into the darkness.

Then, abruptly, something wrapped around her wrist and held tight. Yume's eyes flew open as she halted to a stop in midair, suspended by a single, glowing tendril that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Yume," came the soothing voice. A feminine one.

Amber eyes were wide with shock and recognition. It came from inside of her.

"Yume," the voice repeated. "The more sorrow you encounter, the more joy you can contain. You will find both in life; do not allow yourself to give into despair. Your destiny is a great one. Do you understand?"

...Yume understood.

0oo0

Ginshi walked towards the platform where he and Yume trained every morning, a plastic bag full of peaches in one hand. He was looking forward to sharing an early breakfast with Yume before they started training. He knew the girl was eager to learn the different forms of fire bending, but he was surprised to find out just how eager she was to push everything else to the side so she could learn this new skill. Was that really all she had? It couldn't be true, considering that her best friends rarely left her side. So what made Yume so inclined to learn? Ginshi understood the drive to be a master fire bender, he too had the fire burning within him (as did all fire benders), but there had to be more to the story.

He reached into the plastic bag and drew out a perfectly ripe peach. He brought it to his lips and sank his teeth into its skin.

As Ginshi chewed, he thought about the blue fire Yume possessed. Blue fire was an archaic sign of incredible power, known only to prodigies (and dragons, but they were long banished back to the Spirit World). There was something special about Yume, something raw and untapped. The aristocrat figured, once he found out what that special something was, he would decide whether or not to report her to the Order of the White Lotus. The organization required each aspiring member to perform a great service to humanity before inducting them. His great-uncle saved the Fire Lord from an assassination attempt, which earned him the 'Grand Lotus' title twenty years ago. His father used his legal ties to free thirteen wrongfully convicted men and women from death row, which earned him a seat on their board. If Yume was dangerous, delivering her to the White Lotus's doorstep would finally grant him entry, and maybe even make his father proud, for once.

The young aristocrat went for another bite of the peach when a flash of bright white light shot into the sky. His golden eyes nearly bulged out his head when he realized it was coming from the platform where he and Yume trained every morning.

Dropping the bag of fruit, Ginshi broke into a sprint towards the light. He feared what he might find when he got there.

When he finally did reach the platform, Ginshi gaped at the sight. Encased in a ball of swirling, turbulent white energy was Yume. Her eyes were glowing with the same energy. Her arms and legs were outstretched, as though commanding the elements around her. Streams of fire, air, and water encircled her. Dozens of rocks found their way into her orbit as well, spinning around her form at an impossible speed.

Ginshi tried to advance towards her, but was violently shoved back by the hurricane-like force of her winds. He realized if he got too close, he could be seriously injured, if not killed.

Instead, he tried calling out to her. After scrambling behind a large rock, Ginshi poked his head out and shouted, "Yume!"

She didn't respond.

The young man tried again. "Yume! It's me, Ginshi! Come down from there!"

Still no response. The cyclone around her intensified, blowing far enough to cast surrounding sand into the ocean.

Shit, Ginshi thought. If he didn't stop her now, she'd obliterate the island. He took a tentative step forward, squinting as the harsh winds slapped at his face. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he screamed, "Yume! I don't know what you're going through, but whatever it is...this isn't the answer!" More wind. "Please! Listen to me!"

Something shifted. Yume turned her head to look at him. Ginshi felt his knees buckle at the sight of her ghostly eyes boring into him. The swirling vortex around her began to ebb slowly.

Ginshi smirked. It's working, he thought. The wind wasn't blowing full force against him, so he found it easier to move.

"Yume, you're going through something really heavy. I can understand that. If you let me, I can help you! You don't need to be alone in this!" He called as he edged closer.

That seemed to do it. The energy around Yume started dissipating and the light from her eyes faded. She fell, unconscious, through the air. Ginshi took a calculated leap towards the girl's plummeting body, arms outstretched. He caught her mid fall. With both his feet on the ground again, he allowed Yume to rest in his lap and stared long and hard at the girl. He checked for the rise and fall of her chest. Thankfully, she was breathing. She was alive. But...

...what the hell did he just witness?

Yume shifted in his arms then, slowly opening her eyes with a moan. Ginshi just stared at her. "...What are you?" he asked.

He got his answer when the girl softly whimpered,

"Raava."

A/N: I am so, so sorry this chapter was so long. I had so much to say and so much blank space to fill. I hope this chapter was to your liking. Originally, it was going to be a lighthearted chapter about Ginshi and Yume meditating together while sharing peaches, but it evolved into whatever the hell this is.

I have been deliberating over what to make of Ginshi since I first imagined him as a snotty rich brat living off of daddy's money five years ago. As time progressed, his significance as a character grew and I became obsessed with this idea that he would orchestrate some kind of betrayal against the Avatar. Are you starting to see the Zuko in him? You will eventually!

Also, I feel like I have to say this so you can understand: Yume had a difficult upbringing. It contained a lot of doors closing, a lot of nightmares, and being cast aside. That kind of emotional weight, paired with an ill family member can take a toll on a person. That's why, in previous chapters, I alluded to Yume's drinking. Before the start of her story, Yume was addicted to alcohol at the tender age of twenty. You all know how addiction works. She is in the middle of recovery by the time we reach this part of the story. Her obsession with learning bending replaces her thirst for alcohol, but it doesn't replace her need to feel important, to be remembered. Her role as the Avatar inflates this obsession and this need to be important, which is important to her character arc. As you may have been able to tell, Yume soaks in attention like a sponge. You can imagine why, I hope. Otherwise, I didn't write her well enough. Let me know!

P.S. The quote Raava used, "The more sorrow you encounter...", that is a quote from Khalil Gibran, a famous Lebanese poet from the early twentieth century. His poetry is absolute art. I would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for new stuff to read. Enjoy