After we left the hideout, Mayou, Tamako, and I went back to the lively gathering. I asked them about Tao but they kept quiet and said that now wasn't the time.

Is the banished guardian really Tao? Did she know I was one, too? Is that why she always acted so weird around me?

I felt sick as questions swimmed around in my mind.

Tamako pointed to the other end of the room. "There she is!"

Who?

I turned my head to see what she was pointing at.

Before us was one of the most beautiful spirits I had ever seen.

Her skin was a translucent white, and you could see visible blue veins that looked like wires that ran through her body. Her hair was white, and her eyes were a gray color. She had slender fingers that were attached to her weak looking hands. Her arms and legs were thin and looked almost fragile. She wore small white robes and her pale abdomen showed. She wasn't wearing a necklace like the rest of us, though. I guessed she didn't need one. Her body had a light blue glow to it. She was elegant and beautiful. She was obviously the head of the guardians.

Mayou and Tamako insisted that I meet her, because she had been waiting on my arrival. They told me to not be nervous and not to be intimidated. I wasn't the slightest.

She gestured toward me. "Jinora, I'm so glad you've finally come. From what I have heard, you will be a fine addition to the guardians." Her voice was strong. "I am Rowena. I oversee all of the guardians here and make the orders. Life here is what you make it. It can either be in your favor, or not. There are some rules, but we aren't too strict. I'm sure you will fit in just fine."

Her gaze turned to Yue.

"After all, you have a great mentor. There shouldn't be any problems."

She smiled warmly. "Welcome, Jinora. From now on, you are a part of our family."

The guardians in the crowd cheered.

"Jinora!" Mayou came running to me. "So what do you think? Of our home, I mean."

Home!

Suddenly I felt homesick. I wanted to go back, even though I had only been here for a few hours.

I had a spaced out look on my face, and was staring straight ahead. My voice was soft and quiet. "Why do you call it your home?"

"What do you mean? It is my home!" He laughed. "And now it's your's too."

"No. No it's not. This place will never be my home.." my voice trailed away, and then I spoke again. "Don't get me wrong. This place is great and what the guardians do is also great.. but I could never call it my home. Because it's not my real home!"

Mayou lowered his voice. "I get what you're saying, Jinora, but sooner or later you're going to have to leave that behind. It isn't your real home. Here is your real home.. and please don't yell, you're attracting attention."

I didn't care who heard me. I yelled even louder. "You don't get it, do you? I've been told that I have to give up my familiar life for something I just found out about! Were you okay with it whenever you found out you were a guardian, too?"

"Well.." he looked away.

"Well what? Are you telling me you were okay with it? How could you just leave your family like that?"

"I've always known." He looked me in the eye. "Rowena is my mother."

Shocked, I took a step backwards. "So you were born into it?"

He slowly nodded.

"But what about your father? Where is he?" I questioned.

He lowered his head. "He died when my mother was pregnant with me. I was always told what a great earthbender he was, and my mother used to tell me stories about him all of the time."

Suddenly, I felt bad for being so hard on him. "Oh.. I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"It's fine. I would be angry and confused too if I was in your situation."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "It's just so hard to believe. It's all so much to take in all at once."

He placed his hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. We're all here for you."

To know this was strangely comforting. All these people here have gone through similar trials.

I looked around. "Hey, where's Tamako?"

Mayou shrugged. "Dunno. But do you wanna go for a walk outside? It's so crammed in here."

I smiled. "Sure."

We waded through the crowds of spirits and came to the arch I entered through earlier.

The moon was full and bright, and provided plenty of light.

Mayou led me to a rock trail, which we began walking down.

I turned to him. "Something's been on my mind since I saw your mother.."

He raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well she seemed so.. I don't know how to put this. She didn't seem like the other guardians at all. She didn't look as human as the rest."

Mayou laughed. "Well, she is the head guardian. She succeeded the last head guardian and took their place. When a guardian succeeds the head, they aquire much higher power than any regular guardian could dream of. That's why she has glowing veins, white hair, and pale skin. It's just what happens when the powers are transferred."

"So.. everyone looks like that when they become head?" I was trying to understand.

"Heh. No. But your appearance does become noticeably.. different.. I guess you could say. She told me she had blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes like me, but when she got the power everything changed."

"Pretty complicated stuff," I said, trying to take it in.

"Yeah, even I don't really get why it happens."

Mayou stopped walking, and grabbed my wrist.

"Wha-"

He put a finger up to his lips. "Shh."

I heard heavy hooves pounding the ground in the distance.

"You have to get out of here! Now!" He was urgent.

"Why? What's going on?" I was confused.

"No time to explain! Use your necklace to take you home!"

"But what about you? You have to get out of here, too!"

Without waiting for any protest from him, I grabbed both of his wrists and closed my eyes.

Home.

The sound of hooves stopped.

I opened my eyes and we were in my room, safe.

Mayou and I were breathing heavily.

I let go of him and sat on the edge of my bed.

"What was that all about?" I asked him.

His voice was grim. "Those were evil spirits disguised as animals. They bring disaster to both of the worlds, and threaten to expose us guardians to the human world."

"Why?"

He sighed. "We don't yet know, actually. It's a mystery what they are and where they come from, but we do know that they aren't friendly. They're cold blooded murderers..." his voice trailed off. "They killed Kaeru." Tears spilled from his eyes. "He was my best friend.."

It hurt to see someone in this much pain. I grabbed his wrist. "Here, sit." I pulled him down to sit by me, and turned to hug him.

"I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through that," I whispered.I drew my arms back from around him. "When did this happen?"

"About a year ago. It was their first attack. They're vicious creatures, and I will make sure they face the same fate as Kaeru did."

After a few moments of silence, I decided it was time we rested.

"Won't your mother be worried?"

Mayou shook his head. "No, she probably won't notice I'm gone. And as for you, they'll just think you decided to go home."

I nodded and pressed my lips together. "Okay. I'll make you a cot."

He shook his head. "No, I might get caught by your family if you did that."

"Then where will you sleep?"

He looked under my bed.

"Here is fine. No one would see me."

"What? Are you kidding? I won't make you sleep under there! It's probably dusty."

He smiled. "No, I insist. But it would be nice if I could get a blanket or two.."

I smiled back at him. "Of course."

I walked over to my dresser and opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a thick wool blanket. I tossed it to him and handed him one of my pillows.

"Thanks."

"No problem," I said, laughing.

I grabbed a green nightgown and changed in the bathroom.

Tired, I climbed into my bed and quickly fell asleep.

"HAAAAPPY BIRTHDAYYYY, JINORA!" Ikki yelled.

I opened my eyes to see Ikki and my mother in my room.

"Happy birthday!" My mom exclaimed. "I can't believe you're already turning fourteen!"

Wait. Today's my birthday?

How could I forget my own birthday? It is on the summer solstice, after all.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Ikki and Meelo helped make breakfast. It should be done soon, so get ready!" My mom called as she and Ikki walked out, and closed the door behind them.

I reluctantly got out of bed and took off my nightgown. I opened my dresser and pulled out my airbending robes.

I heard Mayou's voice behind me. "Morning, Jin-"

I whipped around, still in my underwear.

"AH!" I threw my nightgown at him.

I forgot about Mayou.

His face turned red. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you were dressing!" He said quickly, and turned around.

Here I am, having just met the guy yesterday, sleeping in the same room with him, and already showing him the goods.

I sighed, then laughed. "It's okay. I should've remembered that you were in here."

I pulled on the clothes.

"You can turn back around."

He turned around and walked over to me. His face was flushed. "So I hear you're turning fifteen today?"

I nodded.

"I turned sixteen a week ago."

He looked fourteen.

I smiled at him. "Congrats." And then changed the subject. "I think you should go back soon."

His smile faded. "You don't want me around?"

"No, it's not like that. I do want you around, but-" I was interrupted.

"So you do want me around." He smirked. "Then why do you want me gone?"

"I don't 'want you gone.' It's just that people are probably looking for you."

His face fell. "I doubt it."

"What do you mean? You are Rowena's son, after all."

He looked away from me. "Exactly."

"I'm not following you.."

"I'm not very well liked, Jinora. Since my mother is who she is, people think that I will be the one to succeed her solely because I am her son. They think that I have done nothing to deserve the position. That's not the case, though. She even told me herself that I will not take her place." He sighed.

I closed my eyes and breathed out. "I'm sorry, Mayou."

He shook his head. "Don't be. I deal with it everyday."

I opened my eyes.

"You're different."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He laughed softly. "It means exactly what I just said."

I smiled. "So should I take that in a good way or a bad way?"

"You decide," he said, and flashed me a smile.

I drew my hands behind my back. "And you.." I looked to the side, and then back at him. "Are charming."

His cheeks turned a light shade of pink for a few seconds, then it faded.

"Thank you," he said curtly.

"As much as I would love to have you here, it's my birthday and my family expects me to be at the breakfast table any minute now."

"I understand. I guess I will be on my way then."

I waved. "See you later, Mayou."

In the blink of an eye, he was gone, and I was alone.

"Thanks, guys. It was great," I said after I finished my breakfast.

"I'm glad you liked it. We put a lot into making this," my mom said.

Ikki ran over to me with a small brown box in her hands.

"Jinora! I got you a gift."

My face lit up.

She put the box on the table in front of me, and I cupped it in my hands before slowly opening it. Inside was a blue pearl bracelet. On some of the pearls was a carved letter, and they all spelled out 'Jinora'.

"Thank you so much, Ikki. I love it! How are the pearls blue? Where did you get this?" I turned to face her.

"Gran Gran has secrets to jewelry making," she said, beaming.

Meelo jumped out of his chair. "Me next!" He set a piece of paper in front of me. It was a drawing of our family. We were all smiling, and Oogie was in the background.

I hugged Meelo. "Thank you, Meelo."

My dad handed my an orange box.

I opened it to find a book titled 'The Guardians of the Spirit World.'

My eyes instantly shot up towards my dad.

My heart skipped a beat.

Does he know?

"Your grandfather wrote this. It's a fiction about the spirit world. I saw that you were reading one of his spirit books and might enjoy this one. It's from both your mother and I."

Fiction? So he doesn't know..

"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed. This book could help me tremendously.

My mother smiled. "Korra has something for you too, but she won't be here until dinner. She's out with the gang."

I stood. "Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate all of this."

Afterwards, I went to my room. I had to know what was inside this book.