Disclaimer: I do not own avatar.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
A sick pale Avatar tumbled around in his bed. The annoying ray of sunlight from a nearby window was driving him crazy.
"Stupid window!" He muttered angrily as he grabbed a fistful of the curtains and swiped them over the sun. "That's better."
"Wow." A voice behind him smiled, "I've never seen you this grumpy." Aang looked behind his shoulder and calmed down to see his best friend standing there.
"Oh. Hey Sokka." His weak body slowly waved to him and plopped itself on the soft bed. "Why are you awake this early?"
"This isn't early." Sokka smiled and sat himself next to Aang. "It's after lunch."
"That's still pretty early for you." Aang smiled tiredly.
"Well, what about you? You never sleep this late!" Sokka defended.
Aang smiled, "Touche. What's up?" Sokka's smile dropped.
"It's about Arianna. She hates me!" His arms flailed above in failure.
"Well, girls always have a reason to hate someone." His finger rested on his chin in thought. "What did you tell her that could have upset her?" His gray eyes seemed to shine with worry for his friend. Despite the fact how tired Aang was right now, he was always there for his friends in times of need.
"Well. I kind of shot her down saying that I'm still getting over Suki." The muscles in his body twitched at the memory of Suki.
"I bet you said something worse than that, Sokka." Aang frowned in thought.
"Well. I kind of told her that she's bad luck and I don't trust her." Sokka smiled weakly while Aang slapped his forehead.
"Idiot! You never tell a girl that!" Aang's hand patted his friend's back. "It's okay. I'll fix it if you tell me one thing." Sokka nodded.
"Do you love her?" Aang seemed determined to find this out. Aang patiently waited as Sokka dove into extreme thought. Memories of her beautiful hair whipping with the wind at the Garden rushed through his brain. The way the moon reflected off of her creamy soft skin reminded him how pretty the other sex could be. Thinking of her soft brown eyes made him miss the times when she didn't want to kill him. The memory of her body swiftly going through her firebending stances was imprinted in his mind. Her cute little nose and curvy body; he loved everything about her.
"I do." He replied confidently. "Are you sorry?" Aang asked. "So much, it hurts." The stinging sensation on his cheek came back again.
"Then we have a LOT of work to do." Aang smiled.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
"Zuko!" Katara ran to her fiancée and kissed him on the cheek. "The invites for the wedding were sent out." She smiled. Zuko didn't reply. All he did was weakly smile back and dove into deep concentration.
"What's wrong?" Her hand caressed his cheek.
"At the meeting yesterday, I found out that a dragon egg as been laid and that the dragons are coming back into this world. Masters Ran and Shao aren't the only ones." Katara jumped with glee.
"That's great Zuko! The dragons aren't gone!" Her smile was wiped away when her fiancée frowned.
"I just got a letter that the egg was stolen!"
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
Aang finished his talk with Sokka and sent him out of his room so he could freshen up. He gargled some water and put on his robes. He was still pretty sick and his body felt horrible. He never got sick when he was younger and it surprised everyone, especially him, when he got the fever. His appetite had worn out, but Katara was adamant that he still eat her sea prunes. Aang gagged and begged for some other 'edible' food. Thankfully, Arianna made some spiced noodles for herself, Zuko, and Toph but offered some to Aang.
"Thank you." He licked his lips as the bowl was placed in front of him. He hungrily finished the bowl in one bite and innocently held the bowl up and asked for some more.
"I'll get it." Arianna smiled and filled his bowl with more of the delicious noodles.
Aang smiled as the once-again filled bowl was in front of him. "You're a pretty good cook, Arianna." He mumbled through his full mouth. She smiled and brought a platter of some kind of pastry.
"What's that?" Toph pointed at the platter. All that crying really made her hungry.
"Wait! I know this!" Zuko smiled at the memories this dessert brought him, "It's my mother's famous red velvet cake!" He grabbed one and took a bite. The cutest smile spread through his mouth and made all of his worries fly away. "It tastes different, though." Zuko smacked his lips together as everyone else grabbed one.
"You're quite the cook, Arianna." Iroh smiled at his new niece, "Do you have any tea-flavored?" Everyone laughed. "I'll try to learn that, Uncle." She smiled.
"It's snow white butter cream! Mom used to make that all the time!" Katara screamed with delight. Sokka took another off the plate and nodded in agreement.
"My mom loved it and she taught me how to make it. My dad taught me the cake recipe. It's a recipe that was passed down throughout the family." Arianna smiled as everyone savored the dessert. "Glad you like it." She wiped her dirty cooking hands on a cloth.
"LOVE IT, you mean." Aang smiled. "Yeah, this is pretty good, Sparkles." Toph licked her fingers for the butter cream icing. Sokka reached out for another one, but Arianna glared at him to back off. He quietly squirmed into his chair. Soon, the platter was finished and everyone's stomachs were bulging out.
"You didn't eat any, Arianna." Sokka asked cautiously. Arianna glared again but softened up. "I didn't want some. It was for you guys." She stared at the necklace on her neck and smiled, "I'm going to practice bending outside." She stood up and walked out of the dining room. Sokka quickly followed her. "We can practice together." He desperately tried to get them alone so he could apologize, but she quickly frowned and hissed, "Alone." His shoulders fell and he walked back to the table.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
The moon crept into his room as he meditated in a corner. His face relaxed at the feeling of the wind on his skin. He still felt pretty weak, but he had convinced himself he couldn't stop meditating just because of some petty fever. He tried to stay still, but there was a distraction in his mind. The thought of Zuko getting Katara unnerved him a bit. His heart broke a little but the thought of Toph brightened him up.
"I'll tell her how I feel soon." He smiled to himself at the new confidence. "After all, I'm the Avatar. I shouldn't be scared of this." He went back into thought. This is Toph. Being the Avatar doesn't help at ALL… "Yup, scared again." Fear grew into his face. In hopes of calming down, he picked up the glass woman next to him. It was a gift from Iroh: the Spirit of Destiny. His arrows glowed and he could feel his soul being pulled out of his physical body. "Spirit World." He whispered to himself as he felt water at his feet. He looked up and saw the Spirit of Destiny herself.
"Avatar Aang. I've been waiting for you." Her red locks framed a beautiful pale face with bright purple eyes. The Avatar, in pure awe of her beauty and power, quickly bowed showing his respect for the Spirit.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
It was night already; everyone went into their respective rooms to be granted the pleasure of sleeping. Toph was the only one who wasn't getting that needed pleasure. Her thoughts were swarming with one person: Aang. Her poor heart couldn't take it anymore. All these love triangles were driving her crazy! In rage, she slammed her fist onto the wall. The shelves came crashing down and all the items on it. One item, in particular, felt right on her foot. She screamed in pain and grabbed onto her foot.
"Stupid rock!" She mumbled in anger. The rock Iroh gave her was pretty heavy for its size. "Just a useless rock." She picked it up and was about to throw it out the window when she felt a weird sensation. It felt like a rush of heat swarmed her petite body. Her back arched from the intense temperature. Her mouth tried to scream, but couldn't speak. Her throat felt twisted. Her mouth felt dry and she could feel her body ripping apart. Her cloudy eyes blinked in confusion. She fell unconscious.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
"What is it?" His eyes widened in fear of something bad. The Spirit's face darkened in sorrow and stared at Aang with an expression similar to the Avatar's.
"Evil is coming." She whispered. Her usually sweet, melodious voice had nothing sweet about it now. "Another War could be on you doorstep."
Aang kneeled down in pure anger. Why is it always me! He screamed in his brain. He felt a soft hand on his back giving him comfort.
"Do you know the story of the dragons, Avatar?" She asked him softly.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
It felt like she had been asleep for hours when she woke up. A blinding light burned her eyes. In defense, her hand went up to block the sun. She rubbed her eyes and stretched. Her toes squirmed at the feeling of grass under her. It was surprisingly cold for a place with this much sun. She opened her eyes fully and took in her surroundings.
"What the hell! I can see!" She screamed and stared at the mountain range in front of her.
"Hello, Miss. Toph." A gentle voice behind her called. Her dark hair whipped around and she took an earthbending stance. "Where am I?" She threatened from her stance. The man, in a meditating pose, seemed unaffected by her death glare and calmly replied.
"You're in the Spirit World, young one." The man's beard seemed to be flying with the wind. His robes, weird looking ones, were whipping with air and it seemed like he was the only one who was getting the cold winds.
"Yeah right!" She tried to bend a boulder up but failed. "Why can't I bend?" She screamed in fright. Her bending was the only defense she had.
"Calm down." He walked up to her, "No one can bend in the Spirit World, not unless your dead." He chuckled and patted the dirt off his shoulder.
"Why am I here? I thought only the Avatar could come here. Why can I see?" The questions popped out of her curious mouth and the man shushed her.
"You'll need to let me speak if you want to know answers." The man smiled sweetly, "My name is Gyatso. Since your bending is gone, the Spirits have granted you sight in the World. You're here because of that special rock you have. It's a spiritual rock that helped the highest monks gain advice from the Spirits. General Iroh was very wise to give you this." Toph was still confused.
"I cannot explain everything. We don't have much time. Do you know the story of the dragons?" He quickly asked.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
"Dragons roamed throughout the Fire Nation before Sozin ruled." The Spirit's angelic voice explained, "By the time of Azulon's reign, there were only a few dragons left. Fire benders killed them for honor. My poor creatures were dwindled down to only ten and all of them found shelter in a few islands near the shore of the Fire Nation."
"Many generals during Azulon's reign killed the small amount of dragons till only four were left. These last four dragons are now called the Prestigious Four." Gyatso explained to the confused girl in front of him. "The four dragons were named Ran, Shao, Ling, and Hann. Ling had given birth to a beautiful egg. The egg was very important for it held the sacred Golden Dragon."
"Every hundred years, a Golden Dragon is born to the dragons. It has an immense power, something that will never be known to any firebender." Aang listened carefully at how important this baby dragon was. "The Prestigious Four believed that this dragon could save their race from annihilation, but the egg hadn't even hatched yet. A merciless general, General Zhan, killed the mother of the egg, Ling. There were only three dragons left. Those three combined powers and created a sacred teardrop of fire to bless the egg in hopes of saving the fate of the baby dragon. The dragons were aware of how important the egg was. They could feel the raw power surging through the egg."
"The hopes for the dragon were powerful till General Zhan killed the egg." Toph's eyes widened with shock. No one could ever be that evil. "He became known as the Golden Dragon. Hann, Ran, and Shao were still quite young so they ran to protection with the Sun Warriors."
"Years before you visited the Sun Warrior civilization, Hann had already died. Ran and Shao were the only ones alive. A new egg has been born and it is missing. I believe that this is the Golden Dragon. You must save the egg from the clutches of evil." The Spirit demanded the poor Avatar in front of her. "Princess Arianna is in control of the sacred teardrop of fire. Her father had the power to create the drop by himself."
"Guard it with your life." Gyatso cried, "If evil controls the drop and the egg, the world will come to an end. This hard-earned peace will be wiped away with ease. The first person the dragon sees once it has hatched will be the master of it. If the drop is drunk, all the power of the Golden Dragon will inhabit the drinker. If the soul is pure, the drop will be used to defend everything good. If the soul is evil, it can be used to destroy the world and cover every corner with fire. You must find the egg and save it." Gyatso grabbed onto her shoulders.
"Why did you have to tell me? Why not Aang?" She asked confused.
"It is your destiny." The Spirit answered Aang. "Save the egg and guard the drop."
"It is your destiny to help your friends defeat this evil." Gyatso smiled at Toph. "You can do it." Toph sighed and tried to smile. "Tell Aang I'm proud of him." And he vanished.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
Arianna stared at the necklace with deep thought. The moon shone on the water droplet and reflected onto her eyes. The fire inside burned strong.
"I miss you Dad." She whispered softly. She quickly removed the necklace and placed it gently on the nightstand near her bed. A spell of slumber took over her body as her chest rose from the deep relaxation. Yue smiled from above. She knew that the girl was in for a lot, so she blessed her with a quiet sleep. The Spirit of Destiny looked over from the other side of the night sky. Her face, enlightened with her destiny, twitched in fear yet confidence. She knew that Arianna would fulfill her destiny and bring bravery to her soul.
"Sleep well, Arianna." Both Yue and Destiny whispered.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*
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