Warning this chapter does talk about things that have to do with abuse and rape.

Chapter Twelve

Told as Cameron

I wandered around the ice glumly as everyone was off doing something or another. Katara and Aang were trying to learn waterbending despite Master Paku's refusal to teach them… Charlie was off talking to Arnook who was actually her father while OJ was wandering around the tribe. Sokka was probably off trying to woo Yue.

I rubbed my hands together glaring at the ground beneath me. It wasn't even ground! It was ice. How was this fair? I didn't fit in here.

I glared at the ground a bit more then flicked a flame down at it, watching with slight interest as a hole formed in the ground, the ice melting away. What made everything suck even more was the fact that the others said I couldn't firebend.

If Aang could airbend and OJ could airbend then why couldn't I firebend?! It was beyond unfair! How was I going to fight otherwise?

I glared at the ice some more and watched with little interest as the hole became bigger, about the size of my fist. This sucked…

"FIRE NATION!"

I spun around with a swear thinking that someone had seen me yet was froze at the sight that was behind. Flakes of ash were falling to the ground and the skys were grey. Several Fire Nation ships were sailing through the water the tribe.

A large drum filled the air and I watched seeing dozens of people were rushing towards the main gathering hall. Oh why did this happen now. Though I was greatful for a bit of action this wasn't what I had in mind.

"Mommy! Where are you?"

I turned to see a little kid backing away from me with wide eyes. I looked down to see the ball of fire laying in my fists and realized that she was frightened by the whole thing. The child believed that I was the enemy. Okay I suppose now I could see why the others didn't want me to firebend.

"Hey… I'm not going to hurt you…" I spoke slowly trying to calm her. That however didn't work considering the poor girl burst out into tears. Groaning I ran over the options in my head then came up with probably the stupidest one.

"Watch this."

I snapped my fingers and a flame formed on my index finger. With much concentration I managed to manipulate the fire to look like a horse. Cheesy but that seemed to do the trick considering the fact that she ran up to me her eyes wide as she stared at the flames.

Shaking it out, I hoisted the girl up onto my hip and rushed to the gathering hall hoping that the child's mother was going to be there.

"What's your name sweetie?" I asked looking down at the four year old. She just glanced up at me with her wide blue eyes and didn't say a word. After a moment of staring at her she stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry causing all of my affection towards her turn to amusement and disgust as I tried to wipe away her saliva.

"Eve!" Out of no where a woman swooped and yanked the girl out of my hands thanking me before rushing back into the crowd. I stood there for a moment stunned then shook my head deciding to just go with it.

"Now! As we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits! Spirit of the ocean! Spirit of the moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for our dangerous mission."

Soon enough their makeshift army was organized and while almost everyone stayed inside, OJ, Charlie, and I stayed on top one of the walls with a few other benders, watching Aang try and fight off some of the firenation ships.

"There is no way he's going to be able to take out everyone…" Olivia muttered as we watched. Nobody said a word seeing as we knew that she was right.

One of the walls had already been destroyed and it was going to be too long for him to destroy every single ship. There had to be thousands more behind those.

I fingered the bracelet around my wrist for a moment with a scowl. My nation was the one that was threatening all of these people's lives. mine was the one that was going to cause the deaths of everyone. It was embarrassing to see how much destruction fire could cause. Embarrassing yet not a surprise.

"Guys! We need to get Aang to the spirit world! Come with us!"

We all looked down to see Katara waving her hands at us with Yue and Aang behind her. We all rushed towards them and followed Yue to the most gorgeous place. To my relief it wasn't all ice. There was actual land that was surrounded by a waterfall and hand a pond in the middle. For a moment I wished that there wasn't as much chaos so that I could paint this place. It was beyond perfect.

I shrugged off the water tribe jacket that I had been borrowing and was relieved to get a cool breeze. Taking in a breath I looked around again, still stunned.

"It's so warm down here! How is that possible?" Katara asked her eyes wide. Charlie fell into the grass along with Aang and we all savored the place.

Why hadn't I been shown this place sooner?

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land." Yue grinned as well and I looked to where Momo was and joined his side, staring at two fish that were circling around in the water.

Both were koi fish though some that I had never seen before. One was completely white with a splotch of black in the middle while the other was the complete opposite. Black with a splotch of white.

Aang took his seat on the ground across from all of us and started meditating. Charlie and OJ talked a bit to themselves while I took in the details of the whole place, wanting to memorize them so that I would have the chance to at least draw it later on.

"Well aren't you a big girl now." I shot to my feet as the familiar voice broke my thoughts and we all turned to see Zuko standing there with the permanent scowl on his face. Seeing him reminded me how much I hated that damned ponytail.

"Give me the Avatar and I won't have to hurt you."

Rolling my eyes at how stereotypical he was being we all took our stances, ready to protect Aang. For once I would like a moment of peace.

Olivia and Charlie ran over towards Yue to protect her just in case. I knew that for Charlie it was because of their newfound sister bond while for Olivia it was just because Yue was the princess and her new friend. All three of them rushed away to get more help though I could tell that they wanted to do more than that.

I snapped out of my thoughts seeing Katara freeze Zuko up on one of the walls. A surge of power filled me and I stepped forwards knowing that Zuko could feel the power from the sun as well. He quickly melted the ice and knocked Katara back meaning that he only had me to face now.

"And here we are again Cameron." He almost growled and I ignored his comment sending a blast of flames towards him which he easily deflected. Quickly I sent a few more, power surging from behind every blast that I shot.

I however was no match to him.

A heavy burst of flames was shot at my feet and though I tried to block it, they were too powerful for me. I lost my footing and fell back into the waterfall, choking on water as I tried to catch my breath.

As I gasped for air, I heard some cheesy comment from Zuko yet that turned to nothing as I pulled myself out of the water, and black spots invaded my vision. Though I didn't want to admit it, Zuko was a damn good fighter.


I blinked a few times to only get a red haze filling my eyes. I pulled myself off of the ground to see my father with a struggling with a bag in his hands. Though my body was weak I managed to pull myself off of the ground. He had the moon spirit in his hands..

"I am… a legend now. The fire nation for centuries will tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon!"

I could feel myself getting stronger with each breath I took. Centering myself I glared at my father's back as he yelled up at the sky. I was raised by a psycho- how wonderful. For a moment I wondered where everyone else was yet I didn't have enough time to question it. I had to stop him.

"Hey dad!" I yelled my voice hoarse. I was about to yell fuck you at him when Momo jumped on his head providing enough of a distraction. I summoned the fire within me and threw a fireblast at him which he quickly dismissed.

Iroh tried to step in yet before any of us could react Zhao let a flame hit the fish and everything went dark. Iroh let out a yell of rage jumping to intervene yet about five fire benders stepped in letting Zhao escape.

There was a moment of shocked silence before I knew what I needed to do.

"CAMERON DON'T!" I ignored Olivia's yells and burst into a sprint after the man I had called my father. Ignoring the stitch in my side I chased him onto the top of one of the destroyed buildings.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" I shrieked at him sending a burst of fire as I charged towards him. He blocked it with a laugh, his expression twisting as he saw who it was.

My body slammed into his causing us both to stumble yet he quickly shoved me off, sending a blazing arc which I barely missed.

"I always knew that you would come back to me in the end." He taunted, blocking every flame that I sent his way. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy for you to forget me though… After everything we've been through."

I frowned at what he said, unsure as to what the hell he was talking about.

"What the-"

"Don't you remember the room? I mean you couldn't get it out of your head when you were a child… Maybe our training sessions will help boost your memories. I mean those had been quite fun. For me at least." He laughed. A crazed look in his eyes.

"You're crazy!" I exclaimed and all I got in return was a cackling laugh as the moon reappeared.

He stared at the sky for a moment in disbelief before turning back to me, looking even worse than before.

"Kill me! I dare you!" He screamed at me, raising his arms to his sides as he faced me. I froze at the sudden change in his attitude and stopped my attacks. Did this man really expect me to kill him? He was my father whether I liked it or not and that wasn't something that I was okay with.

"Again!"

Sweat poured down my neck as I kneeled over, gasping for air. My muscles screamed at me to stop yet glancing at the towering man, I knew that I couldn't. There was a moment of silence as I stumbled to my feet, gathering my breath.

"I SAID AGAIN!"

Spit flew from his mouth as he yanked me to my feet, smashing me into the wall behind. I stayed silent glaring at my father. Part of me wanted to defy him, to just spit in his face yet… I knew I couldn't do that. He would bring hell upon me if I did.

Catching myself I took my stance and summoned my chi, feeling the anger and the power that filled up inside of me. My moves were sharp and precise as I moved around the dark room, trying to ignore his eyes that were burning a hole into the back of my neck.

Everything was going well until my foot caught on the ground. My whole body lurched forwards and on instinct I reached my hands out to catch myself. That was my mistake.

A crack filled the air and let out a howl of pain, rolling over while clutching my now throbbing wrist. The pain was there though I tried to disguise it the best I could.

"You are useless!"

I tried to get up to prove that I wasn't yet a blow to the stomach caused my whole body to fling to the side, crashing into the wall. I gasped for air trying to survive and winced at the tenderness of my body.

Another blow to the ribs caused me to curl up on the floor and try and breathe. A sharp kick to the face left me sprawled, my nose bleeding heavily making it hard to breathe.

I laid there in silence as the blows to my body kept coming. Something that I had learned was that crying out just made it worse. It just made everything much worse...

"In half an hour I will be back… and when I get back your form better be completed." His hot breath on my neck caused me to flinch back yet I felt relief hearing the door slam shut behind him.

That left me trapped. Trapped in the dark room to train. To get stronger.

Tears mixed in with the blood as I staggered to my feet. Fury raised up inside of me as I shook. Every part of me hated this man.

I cursed him for doing this to me. I cursed myself for letting him do it. I cursed myself for making an elementary mistake.

"You remember how much I hurt you? How painful it was?"

He stood there as he taunted, a smirk on his face. I could hear someone approaching the both of us from behind yet neither of us payed any attention.

"I would have had more fun if you hadn't left so early."

I tried to be as quiet as possible as I pulled my window open. If I was caught I knew that I was as good as dead in this situation.

Slipping into the room I grinned a bit remembering his lips on my own. Everything had been so perfect.

"Where were you?"

I spun around to see Zhao's eyes boring into my own. My grin immediately fell as I comprehended this whole situation. He was standing in the doorway with the oh so familiar snarl on his face. This wasn't going to be good.

"You had tried to run away before. Of course I caught you but then that night came… that was the only night.."

His fists slammed into me and I fell back unable to do anything. He grabbed a fistfull of my hair, yanking me to my feet then flinging me onto my bed.

"You'll never be able to escape me." He purred, his eyes flashing from where he stood. "I will always be in your memories whether you like it or not.

I didn't fight back until his hands wandered.

"You will ALWAYS be mine! Even if you kill me you will never get away!"

With every inch of my being I fought. He just held me down as he wandered. One hand on my throat threatening to choke me while the other explored.

A tear of fabric altered me that everything was going to end. His breath was hot on my skin and my whole being went numb.

"I said kill me! KILL ME YOU COWARD!"

"Cameron Stop!"

My mind was hazy as the memories came rushing.

Pounding and Pounding.

Rage filled me as everything pieced together. It was all his fault. This was all his faught. Power surged through me as I shot flame after flame towards him. He did nothing but stand.

Each and every flame hit him, Though the pain was there he just stood. That fueled my anger even more.

I watched in triumph as his body burned. He screamed yet I refused to pull back. That monster had asked me to kill him so I was going to kill him.

"Cameron! THIS ISN'T YOU" Distantly I heard OJ's cries yet I blocked her out. The heavy scent of charred skin filled the air and his body hit the ground.

"Cameron!"

Out of no where a body slammed into my own causing us both to go flying. Everything was so distant though. The image of Zhao filled my head causing me to shudder in disgust.

"Why would you do that!?" I blinked a few times to see and enraged Zuko on top of me. The pounding.. the pain.

Zhao's face flashed again and I shoved Zuko off of me, crawling away from me.

My vision was blurred as I collapsed onto the ice ignoring everything around me. For a moment my vision blurred and I panicked thinking that I was going blind. When touching my face something clicked and I realized that they were just tears which were streaming down my face.

Cries of victory filled the air yet I ignored it, curling up on the ground. I rested my cheek on the cool ice savoring the pain from how cool it was compared to my skin. My mind was spinning as I tried to calm down my breathing which was just coming out in shallow gasps.

Did that really just happen?