Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA. or Olaf.
Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same. - Helen Keller
Chapter 14 – Assumptions
Many years ago, in the not-so-distant past, the Southern Water Tribe was hailed as a thriving civilization. A multitude of prosperous, interdependent villages stretched from one edge of the frozen continent to the other, but that had not always been so. There was a time when the southernmost realm lay uninhabited.
For innumerable generations, this land repelled any who dared attempt to occupy its icy domain. However, as is the case with all such reigns, the time came when the southern tundra could no longer retain its isolated sovereignty. This happened when a small group of pilgrims, stubborn and resourceful, invaded its shores.
Despite the biting cold or the howling wind, the endless weeks of darkness or the maddening days of an unsetting sun, the powers that dominated the arctic could not dispel these new intruders. In this glacial land fraught with danger; from the volatile ice shelves, the unpredictable ice floes, and the blizzards that raged with sub-zero malevolence; the people, close descendants of the first waterbenders, carved life out of this unyielding environment.
Through intrepid perseverance, they subdued the polar demons. Not only did they survive, they flourished. In the face of such harsh conditions, these new inhabitants clung tightly to one another, developing a culture where the bonds of family and community were esteemed above all else, for they knew without these uniting bonds, they would perish.
Time passed and though the Southern Water Tribe, as it was now called, had conquered every hardship nature had thrown their way, they were unprepared for the threat that now loomed upon every horizon. The Fire Nation.
The war the firebenders waged, with its never ceasing raids and unprovoked attacks, decimated the coastal establishments as no ocean gale could. Fear spread like a poison, paralyzing the economy until the citizens of the smaller villages abandoned their homes and sought the protection in the larger communities.
By the time Kaiya was born, the population in the southernmost nation had diminished to the point that only two villages remained: Atka and Tornuaq. The vast Nutarniq Ice Shelf separated these last strongholds by a half-day's journey.
No one knew this path better than Daisuke. He would use every opportunity to travel between the two villages; delivering messages, transporting goods, whatever excuse he could find to visit Tornauq, the home of a quickly growing child.
For Kaiya's protection, he never revealed his connection to her or his knowledge of her true heritage. He never even made direct contact with her, but watched her in passing to ensure that she was safe and well. This would appease his conscience until his next journey.
During his earliest visits, he witnessed several incidents where she was judged due to the foreign look of her eyes, but nothing ever came of these accusations, for how could you hold prejudice against a cooing, defenseless babe. It also helped that the widow Daisuke had entrusted her to was a rather strong-spoken woman with a heart as soft as her convictions were hard.
Kaiya's early years passed without incident, for as far as Daisuke was aware, and he had fallen into a comfortable pattern of checking up on Kaiya every few months. This pattern was not long lived as the summer of Kaiya's eighth year marked the beginning of many changes that would impact both their lives.
That year, the naval attacks on the southern nation began to escalate and the tribal council decided that, for the purpose of safety and survival, the two villages should combine. Daisuke inwardly rejoiced when he heard this news. Now he would be able to remain near to her; watch over her more closely, as he'd been prevented in the past.
Finally, the day came and after much packing and preparation, the people of Atka bid farewell to their homes and set out across the ice shelf. There was quite a procession that crowded onto the streets of Tornauq more than eight hours later. It's surprising how much slower traveling is with a troupe of that size!
As he passed, Daisuke could not help but glance at the widow's house. He saw Kaiya standing at her window, eyes were wide with childlike wonder as she watched the influx of people file past. He smiled to himself; she looked so like her mother. He felt happier then than he had in many years; however, in the days and weeks that followed, he would come to curse the council's decision as the wide-eyed girl changed before his eyes.
The day after he and the rest of his village arrived, he made his way to where she lived. Sitting on a bench, he feigned sharpening a blade as he watched her interact with the new children. At first, the scene he looked upon was a perfect picture of children at play, running about, carefree and full of life. He went back to sharpening his knife, a smile upon his lips as the sounds of laughter and play wafted to his ears, but within a few moments, the laughter took on a different tone; the giggles and squeals becoming taunts and teasing jeers. From where he sat, he could only see the backs of the children now. They were all facing away from him. He stood in order to see what it was that had interrupted their innocent play. Standing apart from the group was Kaiya, her shocked expression clearly visible before she turned and ran off. That was how it began.
Later that day, as he was eating lunch with the other men, he was surprised when Kaiya became the topic of discussion.
"Have you seen her?" one of the older men asked. "In all my days, I've never seen a member of the water tribe with eyes like that. Even on my travels to the Earth Kingdom, I've only ever seen green or brown. I'm telling you, it's only the Fire Nation devils whose eyes burn that bright. There's something wrong with that girl."
To Daisuke's horror, mummers of agreement followed. He did not finish his meal that day.
Those who had been Kaiya's neighbors, teachers, and playmates, who had grown accustomed to her vibrant, yellow eyes, now looked at her differently. Influenced by the newcomers, they began to treat her with suspicion.
Kaiya began to be ridiculed and rejected and it wasn't long before overzealous parents forbid their children from associating with her.
Kaiya didn't understand. How could she?
What hurt the most was when he saw members of Kasumi's family treating the girl with the same half-veiled contempt as the others. These were Kaiya's aunts and uncles, her cousins, her grandparents. Of course, only Daisuke knew that Kaiya was the child they believed had died with her mother, but that did not make it any easier to accept their rejection of her. Daisuke wondered how they could not see Kasumi in the young girl. The shape of her eyes, the curve of her jaw, had their prejudice blinded them so badly that where he saw the familiar features of his once love, they saw only the eyes that associated her with the enemy?
Shunned and discarded, she began to turn inward, to repress her feelings and guard her heart. She began wearing her hair differently; down, hanging over her eyes as she walked with her head bowed.
Daisuke would lay awake at night searching for a solution. He often entertained the notion of stealing off with Kaiya under cover of darkness to seek a better life for her among foreign lands. These thoughts were as fleeting as dreams facing the harsh light of a rising sun. Increasingly hostile reports of the continued advancement of the Fire Nation kept Daisuke from taking action. At least here, she was safe.
As days turned into months, the changes in Kaiya became even more pronounced. She never smiled anymore, would hardly speak. It was as though she wished to become invisible, to pass by unseen, unnoticed. Sometimes she succeeded, many times she did not.
Perhaps things would have gotten better; perhaps time would have diluted the hostility against her, allowing her to lead a normal life among her people, but that would never be known.
Daisuke heard about the accident well before the summons to the council came. Just returning from a rather uneventful morning spent fishing, he noticed a group of people gathered near the water's edge. They were talking rather excitedly and before he even stepped out of the canoe, he picked out the words "attack" and "Kaiya". Rushing over, he heard the woman at the center of the throng.
"Well, I didn't see the flames, but I know a firebender's attack when I see one. He's in the healing huts now. That little demon ran off. The warriors are on their way to arrest her now."
Daisuke was already sprinting to the widow's house.
"Where is she?" he said breathlessly as he burst through the door.
"Why, hello, Daisuke. I haven't seen you in quite some time," the old woman responded slowly.
"Kaiya, where is she?!" he nearly shouted.
"Oh, she hasn't come home from school yet. Nothing to worry about, she comes home late most days now."
He was out the door before she finished her sentence.
When he reached the schoolyard, it was empty, so he went to search for where she might have tried to hide. Rounding a corner, he saw them, a group of men escorting a small shape towards the town center. Reaching the back of the group, one of the men told him that the council had called an emergency meeting.
The meeting room was full by the time he arrived. Daisuke scanned the faces, but Kaiya was nowhere to be seen. He recognized all those on the council; Hakoda, Bato, and Kenai, he knew from Atka; Kelaun, Nartok, Umiak, and Shesh he knew from his days traveling back and forth to Tornuaq. They were good men, noble and brave. They would judge honorably.
The council called first the woman who had found the boy and she repeated her story dramatically. Then a healer came with a report of Kido's condition and their conclusion as to the cause of his injuries. They made Kaiya out to be a monster. No one disagreed.
By the time they called Kaiya into the room, her fate was decided in the eyes of the people. Murmurs started the moment she stepped into the great hall, several taunts were shouted before quiet was called for.
"Kaiya, tell us what happened today," Hakoda asked, his tone was not kind.
She looked around fearfully, "I don't know." Staring at her hands, she continued in a small voice, "I pushed Kido."
"She did more than push him! She practically burned his face off!" shouted the woman before she was silenced.
"Kaiya?" Hakoda prompted.
She was crying now with her arms crossed tightly over her abdomen, hands now hidden from view. "I didn't mean to. I don't know how it happened. I was angry and when I moved, it was like my anger came shooting out...as fire." Most of those gathered did not hear this last statement for barely a sound escaped as her lips moved, but the expressions of those sitting before her changed from suspicion to hatred.
"So, you admit you bent fire at Kido?"
Kaiya did not have an answer. She knew she had caused the fire, but even as she knew this was true, her mind fought against it. I'm Water Tribe; I can't be a firebender.
"Bato, take her away while we determine what action needs to be taken."
They then called forward the old widow and questioned her about Kaiya's lineage. She had none.
"Is there anyone here who will speak for her?"
Daisuke stepped forward.
"What is your relationship to this girl?"
"I have none."
"Then, why would you speak for her?"
"I've seen her grow, as you all have," he said gesturing to the hostile faces that surrounded him. "She is a good child."
"She is a danger to herself and to others."
"It was an accident."
"That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that she's a firebender. She cannot remain within the tribe."
Daisuke had to shout to make himself heard over the clapping of the crowd at that last statement. "This is the only home she's ever known. You can't just send her out into the snow."
"No, we are not heartless like our enemy. There is an orphanage located near the Port of Yanlin in the Earth Kingdom. Our warriors are leaving in a few weeks to support the war effort near Ba Sing Se. They will take her there."
Daisuke began to protest, but they would not hear him.
Kaiya was restricted to the widow's home for the next three weeks and when the time came for the warriors to embark, she was escorted by four armed men as if she was some kind of wild animal. Daisuke made sure he was on the same vessel as she which wasn't hard; no one wanted to travel with the "demon child."
The journey lasted four weeks. Four weeks that Daisuke was near Kaiya every moment. In that time, it became clear the terrible damage he had allowed by his inaction. Normal children would turn to an adult, seek comfort when they were scared. Kaiya didn't. During their first storm at sea, he found her, curled in a ball, trembling with fright. She was so alone. On a ship filled with more than a dozen men, fathers and brothers, she was alone, and it broke his heart. He should have taken her away that summer four years ago. He should have let her know she was not alone, she was not unloved, but all he could do now is sit with her during the storms, trying to comfort her where words failed.
They reached Port Yanlin and left her upon the dock. His mind flooded with questions. Will life be better for her here or will they reject her as well? Is there any place in this world that would accept one such as her? He realized that she had noticed his gaze and his questions reflected in her eyes. She lifted a hand in his direction, but he was called to his post. When he looked back, she had already turned away.
"I will come back for you," he swore to himself as her figure faded into the distance.
Author's Note
You know, I was thinking about what to say after a 6-week absence and here's what I came up with. I read because I enjoy it. That's also why I write, but it more than that. It's because I want to share something that other people will enjoy as well. I've been touched by the things I've read here and if I'm able to accomplish that on any level, then I think I've succeeded in what I set out to do. If this chapter made you happy or sad, or angry, made you laugh or cringe, or touched you in any way, please tell me.
I look forward to hearing from you. Also, here are some stories that have touched me recently.
Come With Me by Steamboat Ghost, just completed and it is amazing. It's a Blue Spirit/Painted Lady. Very dramatic, full of action and suspense, and the romance is written beautifully.
Stormbenders by Fandomme, has some pretty good action sequences and the drama is top notch, but it's the humor that makes this a standout fic, particularly Iroh's mildly disguised innuendos. Get ready to crack a rib.
If your looking for a short dose of humor and some good-spirited Zuko torture, check out Girl Problems by Moor. So hilarious and truthful, I read it to my husband. He recognized the "three magic phrases."
Wow, that sounded remarkably like a commercial. Anyways, if you do check out these stories, leave a review for them, as well. They're sure to be appreciated.