Sai breathed rhythmically, staring at the man across the arena. His stance was steady but his left leg was injured in the war and it was starting to pain him. She stomped hard, a good sized rock popping up from the earth. With a punch, Sai sent it shooting at the man. He dodged right and she took the opening. Digging her hand into the earth, she shot a wave of soften dirt at his good leg. He slipped and his stance cracked. She closed the distance between them and grabbed his tunic at the throat, hooking her foot behind his bad leg. Her hand was raised to deliver a fatal blow.
The man gasped, eyes wildly looking for a way out. Finally, he raised his hands in defeat. Sai smiled and brought her hands to her waist. The crowd assembled in the stadium started cheering and stomping. Sai had been the universal favorite to win the tournament. She waved at the crowd. Sai looked to the private box set high in the stands and bowed to her Earthbending Master, her Queen, and her friend.
Oma got to her feet, and proclaimed:
"Citizens of Omashu, we have our winner. Sai, stand proud. Today, I name you Earthbending master."
The crowd's cheering drowned out anything else Oma had to say.
As usual, Sai sat at the left hand of Queen Oma during the meetings of the city council.
"The aqueduct construction is ahead of schedule and the wheat farmers expect a bumper crop this year." Oma's chancellor said from his seat at the far end of the table. "It's a good thing, too. We have another hundred refugees asking for Your Majesty for asylum."
"Another hundred," Oma said, shocked, "where do these people keep coming from?" she asked the room. Rong remained silent. He never spoke unless it was about security. Sai honestly didn't know.
Chancellor Wei supplied the answer. "Word of our city has spread, Your Majesty. Many families see Omashu as a sanctuary in this troubled time. I'm sure Your Majesty will review their petitions and grant asylum to those worthy."
Oma waved a hand "Yes, Wei, I will do that immediately. How is the integration of the new citizens with Jiang and Yangtze citizens going?"
"Quite well, the civilians and commons soldiers don't care who we invite into the city." General Rong answered from his seat opposite Sai. As head of Her Majesty's Army, it was his job to oversee the safe and wellbeing of the city. "It's the officers who complain."
"And I suppose you'll keep them in line, General." Oma asked coyly.
The general puffed out his chest, "Course, Your Majesty."
Oma smiled shaking her head. "And how are the Earthbending Lessons going? How many people signed up this month?"
"We have about three dozen new potentials and a little more than twenty have agreed to training." Sai answered this time. "They're not all soldiers either. One woman I talked to wanted to set up a series of stone slides to let someone go anywhere in the city."
Rong frowned, "How would a non-Earthbender use these slides?"
"She didn't say. I told her she needed to work on the idea."
Oma sank into her throne, "Is there anything else for today?"
Wei ducked his head in a bow. "No, Your Majesty."
"Good," Oma said. She shooed the council out with a gesture. "Now go do something fun. You deserve it."
Rong left with a short bow. Off to cross swords or draw up defense plans.
Wei bowed again "Of course, Your Majesty. I'll go review the accounting books." He said with genuine glee.
He turned and scurried out of the room with one more bow to Oma.
Oma looked after Wei with mild concern. "I'm starting to think I never should have let that man in my city. He's a damn good administrator but anyone who thinks accounting books are fun has got to be insane."
Rong snorted from the doorway.
Sai smiled from her seat, "If you hadn't let him in, he would have been eaten by those rabid tigerdillos. And he is good at detail work."
Oma sighed and ran fingers through her hair. "As usual your right, Sai." Oma wiggled her fingers at Sai, grinning wickedly. "Come on, I want to visit Shu. I don't get to see him nearly enough."
His Royal Highness, Prince Shu the Second, of the city of Omashu was trying to catch cave hoppers. Sai watched the Queen of Omashu dashed after the child just before he fell and scrapped something.
"He looks so much like Shu." Sai thought with a smile. "I hope Oma doesn't spoil him too much because of it. Not that I'm helping."
He cuddled into Oma's chest as she carried him back to the tunnel mouth. Sai stood at the mouth of the cave watching Oma and Shu hurry to meet her. It was the place where Oma had met the first Shu. Where they had fallen in love and conceived the child that clung to his mother. And it was the place where the first Shu had been laid to rest.
Oma set Shu down in front of his father's grave. Shu reached out one chubby toddler hand to touch the engravings on the stone. Oma looked sadly at the tomb.
"I wish you could have seen this Shu. It's all because of you." Oma whispered. "My one and only King of Omashu." She kissed the headstone gently.
Sai put a hand on Oma's shoulder like that day on the battlefield so long ago.
Oma looked at Sai tearfully, and pulled her into a hug "I'm glad I meet you, my friend."
The women broke apart at a tugging on Sai's pants. Young Prince Shu raised his arms, cooing. He wanted a hug, too. The women smiled, scooped him up and left the cave laughing.
Sai was standing on the wall outside Omashu at dawn. The construction work had quieted, and the city had yet to wake. She looked at the half formed city. It was rough and gawky but it was a young city. Time would smooth it into something beautiful. Something she had helped create.
A blast of wind caught her off guard. Sai turned to fight and found an enormous red dragon staring back at her. They gazed at each other for a long moment, gold eyes meeting green ones. The dragon nodded and dived to the canyon floor. Sai dashed to the edge of the wall. Instead of the vast canyon that surrounded Omashu, she found herself looking at a chain of islands from the distant heavens. The largest had arms that curled around a vast sea and mountains that belched thick black ash. The view came closer to the Island and a city come into focus. She memorized the features: Tall white buildings with peaked red roof at the foot of one of the smoking mountains, a road twisting like a lazy snake down to a crescent bay. The dragon circled the city once, then flew back at Sai. It coiled around her, its head looming above her; it opened its maw and engulfed her in an inferno. Sai sat bolt upright in her bed. The predawn light filtered through her gauzy curtains. She regarded the city with sleepy eyes and sighed.
Sai walked along the outer wall to the spot she had stood in her dream. She looked out into the canyon and waited for whatever would come.
"Missing something?" a voice said behind her.
Sai spun around to see Oma standing calmly on the wall. Oma looked out of the city.
"I always love looking at the city at dawn. It reminds me of the new beginning we made here." Oma said, than she turned Sai and smile. "But you're not here for the view, are you?"
Sai stumbled for an answer, any answer. Oma held up a hand.
"I know you're leaving. I knew from the moment I meet you, you would never stay here long." Oma smiled weakly. "This is my home, Sai. I'm as rooted here as a mountain. But you." The Queen shook her head. "You have a destiny. It will lead you to places that many people could never even imagine."
Oma picked up a heavy pack next to her. "Here. You'll need this." Oma held out the pack to her. Sai was speechless. She took the pack from Oma and slung it across her back; Turned her back on Oma and Omashu.
"One more thing," Oma put a hand on Sai's shoulder. The other produced a necklace from her queenly robes. It was a thick green choker with a flat crystal disk. Etched on the disk was the royal seal of Omashu. Oma gently fasten it around Sai's neck. The disk came to rest in the hollow of her throat. "To let the world know that no matter where you go or what you do, Omashu will always be your ally and that I will always be your friend."
Sai stared at Oma. Both eyes sparkled with unshed tears. The queen of Omashu opened her arms and wrapped Sai in a tight embrace. They held it for a long moment. When the two women broke apart, they made no effort to hide their tears.
A fierce wind tugged at their clothes. Sai and Oma rushed to the edge of the wall. The crimson dragon from Sai's dream flew up from the canyon. It landed lightly next to the two women. Oma gave Sai's arm a reassuring squeeze. She shrugged, settling the pack across her shoulders, and clambered to sit at the base of the dragon's neck. The dragon leaped over the edge of the wall without warning and began to fly away to a far-flung corner of the world. Sai looked back until she couldn't see Omashu; until the city she had called home for two years had disappeared behind the mountains. Sai breathed a sigh of longing, and turned into the wind. She set eyes to her destination. To the next step in her Path.