Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. All of the rights belong to Nickelodean and the creators of the show.
To a firebender like Holly, being under the sun while it rises is the most refreshing thing. The glitters from its light were like cool droplets of water filling the pores through her skin. The source of fire in her heart increased its strength greatly. Her eyes shined the color golden to its fullest and the rays erased the blur. Her mood became clear, and opening up about the horrors of her mafia to the gaang didn't strike her as difficult.
She forgot about the slight mistake that she made a few minutes prior regarding her and Aang. So many worse things has happened to her in her life, and she has learned that you can't dwell on the past. Her heart is set on Chris, and that's how it will always be. Being under the sunrise made her think of him, and not feel bad about kissing Aang.
Everyone was sitting together in a half-circle in front of the tree in the corner of the courtyard. Sokka and Toph looked the most unpleasant out of them all. Both of them had a stubborn look on their tired faces, with their arms tightly crossed around their chest and looking at nothing but the ground around their feet. Iroh looked equally as refreshed under the sun as Holly. His hands were placed comfortably over his crossed legs with a humble look upon his aging face. Katara had a fake smile on her face. Holly could tell that she was nervous. Hopefully, after this, she won't have to be nervous anymore, because she's hoping that everyone can finally open up to each other and focus on what needs to be done.
"Good morning, young ones," Iroh greeted happily with a smile.
"Good morning," Aang echoed back in the same tone. He joined the group by sitting next to Katara, which brought up Katara's nervousness even more. Holly remained standing. She automatically leaned on her good leg to avoid irritating pain, but her posture was still straight. Everyone's eyes were locked on her. Toph was surprisingly the first one to speak.
"This better be good for waking me up this early," she pouted.
Sokka was the only one who chuckled.
"And a good morning to you all," Holly began kindly. "First of all, it was my idea to have us all get together this morning. I guess you could call it. . . a little family meeting, I suppose. I just feel that it would benefit all of us for the challenges we're to face in the future if we get clean about some things. But before we go straight to the point, I'd like to share a bit of my past to you all so you can get a better understanding of why I am the way I am, and so you'll feel more comfortable about sharing your own stories - if you'd like to.
"I was born in the fire nation, of course. My parents, Ignatius and Kokoro, planned on raising my sister, Amanda and I there." The gaang exchanged looks at the mention of her sister. Holly hates to talk about her sister, but she was going to open up to everyone to make it fair. "My father has always had himself an organization, but it was too hard to run his businesses when the war was interfeering. So my father agreed with my mother that it was too dangerous to raise Amanda, who was in her early stages of being a toddler, and I in the type of environment." She paused because Holly suspected an interruption by Katara on how ironic their decision turned out, but she said nothing. She was relieved to finally have a kind Katara in her midst.
"So our family and everyone apart of his organization migrated out of the fire nation when I was still a baby. From what I was told, 'someone' changed our course from Ba Sing Se to the desert in the middle of nowhere." Holly resisted herself from acknowledging her sureness of it being Mainyu who changed the course and continued. "And, a little too conveniently, our ships were destroyed after landing them. Our people walked for miles upshore to try and find something that we could live off of, but there was nothing that was naturally liveable. In order to survive, the organization was forced to build a city out of spare pieces of wood from our ships. And so this started a life for me being used to never having. . . enough.
"I never understood what my father's organization was when I was young. I never grasped onto the hints because of my understandable stages of being a child. But from the time I was a baby, from when I was almost nine years old, I was living a life of confusion. I never really knew what was right and what was left. The adults that were in my life looked. . . well, like mobsters, and after so many years, I was convinced that that was normal for a human to look. The way they walked, and the way they talked. . . I looked up to them, and I started to compare myself to them. So I never had a stable role model to look up to when I was that young besides my sister and parents."
Holly sat down and completed the circle. Her legs weren't strong enough to handle being crossed from another, so she half-folded her good leg up against her and stretched out her other in front of her. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand for the rest of her story, because it only goes way downhill from here. She was trying to stay strong for Katara, to try and assure her that she can feel comfortable around the gaang in confessing what she has went through, but Holly barely even mentions her horrible life to Chris, but it was partly because he was with her through much of it.
"There was one rule in our house - and it was the most important rule in our house that we had to follow. My mother told Amanda and I that we are not allowed, under any circumstances, to ever roam the streets at night. She would get so serious about it at times, that we would have gaurds standing outside of our bedrooms and put tons of locks around us. She would make sure that we were safe at night.
"One night, when I was just barely nine years old. . . this was when I was young, and immature, and I was cocky. I was just starting to learn firebending, and after learning that my fire was spiritual, I thought that nothing was going to hurt me. . ." Holly took a deep breath. She at least attempted to justify her actions, even though she still feels guilty about making this decision every day. "One night, I decided to break the most important rule of our house . . . and go outside at night. I snuck out the back window when no one was looking, started walkin' down the first road I came to, took a few turns, and very quickly. . I got lost. I could see everything fine, of course, but all of the buildings look the same, as well as the roads and alleyways.
"Eventually, I ended up on the other side of town, which I've never was able to set foot in. I instantly realized why:" She exhaled puffs of white and transparent smoke that was released through the fresh air. "The smell of drugs contaminated my senses the instant I set foot in the next alley. It was altering my decisions to turn back when I had the chance or keep going out of curiosity. . . I hate myself every single day for the decision that I made, and that was to keep walking down the wrong path.
"There was a group of about five - ten at the most mobsters at the end of the alley, smoking weed - and they were obviously wasted." Holly could simply not go into detail without breaking down. She was already living through it again in her mind. "Long story short: I got raped by one of 'em, Chris saved me, and we fell in love," she grinned cheesily. Her and Aang exchanged an awkward look. She noticed water building up in Katara's eyes and she hugged her knees close.
"I certainly and most definately got my act together after that. I knew that if I didn't do what I was told, then I wasn't gonna survive there.
"There were five nobles of Haven City that were the highest-appointed mobsters of the city - next to my family, of course. After that night, I met with one of the nobles named Angra Mainyu. He was the one who came to me, actually. He basically took my immatureness to his advantage and offered me firebending lessons. Obviously, I wanted to take any oppurtunity that would make me stronger and able to defend myself. So anytime that I got the chance, I would meet him at a vacant house and learn how to firebend like a real mobster.
"I kept seeing my parents less and less because they were having issues in the business. My sister was starting to lose her mind after she found out what happened to me cause it was her boyfriend that raped me and she didn't wanna believe it. She just didn't wanna face the reality that Austain was a sick man and he wasn't the guy of her dreams. She had to get slapped around a bit to finally realize that somethin' was wrong with him. So. . . I never really saw her, either. I was always with Chris. We were the only sane people in the mob, and we were kids back then. He would teach me some firebending moves and stuff like that in our spare time, we'd go to his penthouse and play around. . . that was basically the only time that I could be a child."
"I thought things were finally starting to turn up for me. I never broke any of my parent's rules anymore. I mean, I would spend the night at Chris's penthouse sometimes, but my parents were never really there to tell me that it wasn't right. Uh. . . and then I turned ten. Everyone in the city could feel something strange going on. Things were changing, the business was getting out of control, my parents were holding more security on Amanda and I, and. . . Chris would not leave my side anymore. I wasn't aloud to see Mainyu anymore under my mother's orders. She gave me some lecture about how I shouldn't trust him, and the day after she gave me that lecture, I never saw her again - along with my father. . ."
Holly gripped onto the ground so tightly that the heat from her hand was killing the lively grass.
"That's terrible," Katara said. Holly looked at Katara again. She knows what it's like to feel helpless in the mafia, and she knows that it takes a lot to admit what actually happened to the people you love.
"She said that you can't see Mainyu again?" Chris asked, after her explination of her mother Kokoro's lecture.
"Yeah. I mean, the guy's weird, anyone can see that, but I never would think that he's that bad of a guy. . ."
"I don't know, Holly, I think I might agree with your mom a little bit. I've never really trusted him, either. There's just something about him. . ." he admitted. His colorful eyes wandered the living room of his penthouse. Holly leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.
"I just want him to teach me firebending, and there's nothing else to it. I don't care what kind of a guy he is."
"Holly, you know what I said about keeping such a leniant attitude. I don't want you trusting just any mobster just because he wants to teach you firebending."
"Yeah. . . I guess you're right."
They sat in a small moment of silence.
Chris sighed. "We should probably get going. The sun's gonna start coming down soon."
"How can you tell? It's not like you have any windows to check," Holly smirked. She ran her fingers through her long, golden-brown hair that reached to the middle of her waist in many waves and curls.
"I just have a feeling. You've been here a while, and I don't want you out too late."
Holly stood up, followed by Chris, and the two of them walked out of the living room, through the foyer, and Chris held the door for Holly outside. The sun was already starting to set, which was grealty worrying Chris, and Holly, even if she didn't want to admit to it. There wasn't any mobsters out yet, but they were bound to come out of their homes soon.
"Okay, you're spendin' the night at my house again." He wrapped his arms around Holly's waist from behind and urged her to move back inside.
"If I spend the night at your house again then I'm gonna get in trouble and I won't be able to see you. I think my mom's not gonna be handing out anymore second chances on that. . ."
"Everyone has heard of people bein' caught off gaurd, and you've probably experienced something like that once or twice in your life. . . but I know what bein' caught off gaurd is like. It was so weird 'cause it was just a normal day for me. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary that day, there wasn't anything unusual until Chris and I started walkin' back to my house that evening."
Holly could see mobsters at the dead ends of all of the alleys. They were commensing amongst each other. At times, one of them would notice Holly's precense and give her a piercing look, but they took no actions to attack her. All of them appeared sober, and very into whatever conversation they were having. It scared her a bit that they all looked so serious and cunning. Chris suspected that they were planning something.
Chris latched his arm around with Holly's tightly, so if there were any case that any mobster would try to drag her away, Chris would go along with her.
They were about a block away from her house, and they ran into a huge group of a few dozen mobsters that filled up the road ahead. The sun wasn't completely down. This was entirely out of line. This was something that both of them have never even heard of happening before. Chris couldn't see between everybody to tell what they were doing, but Holly could.
"I went into depression for a few months. I know that that doesn't seem like it's very long, but it really is when you're under that kind of condition. I was so out of control. . . I, uh, changed my image, I started doin' drugs. . . and then my sister left me. Chris said that she told me she was going to try to go back to the fire nation, but I don't remember it 'cause there was never a moment that I was sober.
"One day, when I was just turning eleven, Chris finally had enough of me bein' that way. He made me stay at his penthouse all day, every day. He cleaned me out of all the weed, all the drinks, a little bit of cocaine. . . and he made me sober again. . . an'nd I did not like that," Holly gave a nervous chuckle. "I would try to run out his door to get some kind of drug in my system, but he would not let me go. I would kick and scream and throw hits and punches at him, but he didn't let me. Chris broke my addiction to drugs.
"So I finally got clean at eleven. I wasn't perfect, but I was definately a lot better. But those drugs did somethin' to me physically and mentally. Physically: I lost almost all of my senses of smell, and my lungs got shot, and now if I'm ever caught in too much smoke, then I could choke to death. Mentally: My personatlity changed from a normal girl. . . to a gangster.
"So Chris was finally startin' to trust me more now, and he let me out of his house by myself to see if he could trust me on this. I passed a couple mobsters talkin' about this. . . move that can kill people by the true fire in one's heart. And they specifically said that that was the move that killed my parents and drove my sister away. I watched 'em from afar trying to demonstrate how they do it, so I took that information, I walked back to the vacant house where Mainyu used to teach me firebending, and I worked my ass off to try and get that move down. Along the way, I wanted to get myself stronger so I can protect myself more and feel more healthier and more confident about myself. I completed my image of what I am today at about that time. That's about when I started gettin' into piercings, too. Chris wasn't really too fond of it, but. . ." Holly trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.
"Chris sounds like a magnificent young man with a very big heart," Iroh complimented. "Not only did he save your life on numerous occasions, but he also saved your mind and soul."
Holly breathed deeply and absorbed Iroh's compliment.
"I can't believe how much you've actually gone through in just the first ten years of your life," Sokka told her, shaking his head in shock.
"Yeah," Aang agreed. "I mean, being in Haven City for a week was bad enough. I can't even imagine what it would be like for someone to grow up in a place like that."
"You guys are actin' like I'm done with my story." Holly let out a painful laugh. All of them fell silent, and none of them laughed along with her. Holly wiped the fake smile off of her face. She knew that it was hyppocritical if she was trying to help Katara, who did look like she was feeling more comfortable about herself. Holly has never told anybody all of her tragedies in her life, and it was definately a weird feeling for her to be so open to other people. She didn't know if she liked it or not yet because she hated feeling that feeling of having a ball in your throat that won't go away.
"So this other day, when I was 'bout eleven and a half, I'm walkin' with Chris over to his penthouse, and we find this scroll on his doorstep. And it happens to be from the nobles, invitin' me to their place that night. They said that I have to be the next person to step in as the mob boss.
"It's been about a year since my parents died, and it just hit me at that moment that I was the last Haven in the city. It was pretty striking to me at first, and Chris's reaction, obviously, was that he didn't want me to go."
"Holly, I don't want you walkin' through the streets at night! I can't believe you're actually considering this!"
"I have to go, Chris! I have to be the one who has to step in!"
Chris opened his mouth to say something, but Holly interrupted him before he could argue.
"What do you think is gonna happen if I don't at least show up tonight? You think that they're just gonna be like, 'Oh, well, we'll just find someone else to take the job.'? No, you know that they don't work like that! You know if I don't do what they say that they're gonna find us!"
Chris stared at her blankly. He had nothing to say back to her because what she said was true. For once, Holly was making practical decisions and she was thinking things through. He realized that she was finally maturing and learning how to survive in a place like this.
"But I finally got through to him that I would be better off going to the nobles then risking the chance of them gettin' pissed that I refused the mob's rules, which would prob'ly get both of us killed. When I showed up, I finally met the other nobles for the first time (since I've already met Mainyu). The highest appointed noble, Baer, was definately the highest appointed noble for a reason. The other three of 'em were pretty intimidating, but he was just. . . someone that you had to have respect for. It's not that he was, like, a bad man or anything. He was just fricken intimidating." This time, everybody laughed along with Holly. But she knew inside that it was not funny. It was certainly not a humorous thing to be in that room full of master firebenders pressuring her to be the leader of their city.
"I seriously had no choice but to be the leader of the mob at age eleven. I was understandably not very happy about it, because I had no idea what I was doing. The nobles gave me this new penthouse across town from Chris's penthouse, which he didn't like very much. I had to fill out papers of all of the businesses that have been out of control since my parents died. I had to sort out how to export the marijuana that we were growing to other organizations across the world when we were in the middle of a desert, and how to import the money in exchange, and how to use that money to purchase the needs of our city for all of us to survive. . . It was a lot. I had to grow up a lot more in order to keep everything organized. I was getting more serious about my firebending techniques, even though I hated my instructor. . ." Holly felt a burning hatred in her heart for the sick man who took her city. "But things were pretty fine, I guess. I thought that I was actually savin' the mob, and I sort of was for a while. It was a lot easier to do it with the nobles on my side. I actually met one of the noble's daughter, Heather. It was pretty convenient because the day I met her was the day me and Chris decided to breakup. It was mostly because Chris couldn't handle having me as a girlfriend at the time because I was so focused on my work and we never saw each other. And whenever we did see each other, we would just fight over stupid things. Even though we called it quits for a while, I knew we would pull around, but I didn't expect it to happen the way it did.
"I was twelve. Heather and Chris were dating while I was runnin' the mob. And then, this one day, Heather comes into my penthouse and tells me that Chris got in a fight with a bunch of mobsters," Holly raised her eyebrows. "I freaked out. I ran over there and find him layin' in the street half-conscious. Then all of these mobsters start crowdin' up on us from every direction. I got in a battle with all of them, and I finally got the move down, and I killed a good handful of 'em. I didn't get all of 'em, though. There were still so many of them around. I thought they were all killed behind me, but apparently there were still a few left. So, in the meantime, I attacked the whole crowd in the front, and since I couldn't see the others behind me, I never noticed that they threw dynamite that landed between my legs. That was the closest that I ever came to death."
"So you were in an explosion?" Toph asked, giving away the fact that she was interested in Holly's life story.
"Yes."
"You actually survived from that?" Sokka asked unbelievably. "I've heard of people from our tribe getting injured from dynamite explosions from the fire nation, but the bomb never got that close to them like that!"
"I agree," Iroh said. "It is, without question, a great miracle that you have been given another chance at life."
"Believe me: I am blessed to have survived." The corners of Holly's lips were pulled at each ends into a slight smile.
"It doesn't even look like you were in an explosion," Aang implied as a compliment.
"I used to have huge ugly scars all around my thighs, but you can't see 'em as much anymore. But I got permanent damage to my left thigh muscle that disables me from running. I guess I must've ran into some kind of metal bar and it hit my thigh when I was flying through the air from the bomb. That's what I was told, at least. . .
"Anyways: I wakeup in my penthouse, wrapped up in so many bandages that I couldn't even move in the bed that I was in. They gave me some kind of drug that numbed the pain when I wokeup, so I was really stiff and confused. I had no time to collect my thoughts, cause then lo' and behold: Mainyu shows up!
"He tells me that all of the nobles have conveniently died after I almost did, and I was just so damn lucky to not go along with 'em like he planned! Since I was in no condition to be leader anymore, he steals my place. Even though I didn't die, he still got what he partly wanted, and that was to be the leader of Haven City. The next step in his power to make his plan complete was to overthrow the fire nation. Because if you can takeover the fire nation, then you takeover the world.
"Basically: he figured out that the only thing that the fire nation would do anything for right now is to have the avatar." At the mention of Aang, everyone drew in closer. A slight gasp escaped Katara's gawked mouth. "He convinced himself that the fire nation were stupid and he was so much more intelligent then they were." Holly rolled her eyes in discust. "Arrogantly, he convinced himself that finding the avatar would be a piece of cake. 'Cause if you got the avatar, then in Mainyu's mind, you automatically have the fire nation. At first, he was gonna do this by himself and a good handful of his fellow dealers. He didn't expect me to have such a full recovery so soon (I was able to walk around with a cane in about six months). I didn't want him to know that I was better, actually. I tried to sneak through the city. Since I didn't have a penthouse anymore, I found myself back at Chris's doorstep. He, of course, welcomed me in literal open arms. . .
"By this time, I figured out that Mainyu kept me alive because I was going to be used in his 'brilliant' plan of his. I guess I shoulda known that he wasn't gonna go out by himself to find the avatar. Oh no, he was gonna make me do it! I found out from the dealers that all of us were gonna take a trip to one of the largest fire nation prisons in the world (since it was the closest thing from the fire nation near Haven City) to gather information on where the avatar might be. I took the information that I got and took it took Chris. We had a lo-ong talk that day. Ever since that day of the explosion, we both knew that we couldn't keep this mob from happening any longer. Both of us knew that we had to get ourselves out of this environment before we really did get killed.
"I was thirteen, and I was recovering from that explosion. Not only that, though. . . I think by that time I was finally a fully-realized firebender. I did a lot of thinking about this avatar stuff since I wokeup from that explosion, and this epiphany hit me when I was with Chris: I wanted to be his firebending teacher. If the avatar can save us from the war, then the mob would be no longer because hopefully the world will be at balance.
"I spent my last night with Chris that day. I cherished every moment with him that night. . ." Holly paused for a moment, "and the next morning, we said our goodbyes. . . and it was the hardest thing that I've ever done was to leave him there." Holly's pure eyes built up with tears. She pulled her head into her arm and quickly took it back to make it look like she wasn't trying to hide the fact that she was holding back a cry.
"I found myself in prison for a good. . . long year. Nobody talked about the avatar enough for us to act on it. It's like we were just regular prisoners for that long of a time. It's not that anything huge happened during that time, but that was the problem. I could defend myself, I would always win in verbal and physical fights, but that didn't really happen too often. It was just depressing to be there for so long. Especially to be constantly watched by the man who has killed your parents and made your sister leave. . . to be watched by the man who I hate.
"Mainyu got fed up of waiting just after I turned fourteen. One night, he escaped out of his cell and he stole one of the staff's uniforms and became disguised as one for a couple days. He somehow found the warden and overheard him saying about how the fire nation just found out that the avatar and his friends were spotted leaving the Western Air Temple, and they were making their way north. After Mainyu found out, he ran back to me and told me to leave in the morning to fetch him. He told me to not make it look like I left - but screw him, I took out the entire back wall of the cell of flew out of that depressing place. . ." Holly sighed and looked around at the people listening to her life story. Sokka, Katara and Aang all stared at her with the same shocked look. Iroh's expression was much as the same as before she began talking. Toph obviously could not stare at Holly, but she looked just as intrigued as the rest of them.
". . . and then I found you guys."
None of their expressions changed, and nobody said anything.
"I certainly wasn't intending on telling you guys my whole life story, but-"
"You're amazing!" Katara blurted out. Holly jumped a bit in surprise at the sound of her voice. "After all that you've been through, you're still standing here - trying to do good in the world! After everything in the mob, you still fought for what's right!"
"I think we all agree one hundred percent," Iroh said gladly. "I knew the moment that I saw the color of your eyes that you have nothing but light inside of you, despite all of the contradictions you have had to face with all of your life. The eyes that you have been gifted with have a purpose, and they are partly there to be the windows to your soul. If my guess is correct, then I must be sitting beside a young woman who is either descended from the great spirit who has created fire for our world, or is actually her, sitting wholely in the flesh of another's body."
"What?" Holly asked, her voice raising a couple of octaves. "You're referring me as some random girl who got this gifted soul that belongs to The Great Spirit of Fire? That's impossible! I never heard of her passing through generations."
"Holly uses the second source," Aang reminded. "The second source doesn't come from your soul. It comes from your heart."
Holly, Aang, and Iroh all looked at each other in confusement.
"Okay, so what does that tell us?" Sokka asked, putting himself in the debate. "Is Holly the fire spirit or not?"
"I do not know. Avatar Aang has brought up a good point. . ." Iroh contemplated, stroking his beard in deep thought.
"Well, from what I'm hearing, in order for Holly to be the spirit, she would have to use the source of firebending that comes from your soul, because that's how you're naturally supposed to use it, right?" Toph asked.
"White fire can only be obtained by a gifted spirit, according to my sources. . . but if the fire comes from her heart, that would make her a spirit of her own."
"What kind of spirit?" Sokka asked.
They all looked at each other again, until Aang spoke up.
"I have an idea!" he proposed. "Maybe if I can go to the Spirit World, it'll give me some answers. Maybe her actual spirit can't be seen in our world!"
"Yeah!" Sokka agreed. "Good idea!" Katara said. Toph also agreed with a nod, and so did Iroh.
"Guys, wait a minute! I haven't even gotten to the main part of our discussion!" Holly tried to explain. "At least, I need to talk to Iroh before he leaves for Haven City."
"It does, of course, phase me to the dangers of which I am about to face in my journey, but I am not considering of cancelling any of my plans," he told Holly.
"I know. I completely agree," she began. "But I just want you to know how to defend yourself from the mobsters so you can complete your mission. Without knowing how, you're never gonna survive there, and you especially won't save your niece and nephew."
"I will do whatever it takes to save my family."
"Then you won't have a problem in me teaching you how to deflect the killing move, then?"
"Not at all. I would feel honored to be taught by such a great bender. . . such as yourself."
Lots of Holly, lots of Holly in this chapter. . . once I wrote the dialouge at the beginning of her speech, I just couldn't stop writing it until it was finished properly :P. I purposely didn't want to get to Holly and Katara explaining their abuse in the mob because I wanna save it for future chapters, which it'll probably be very soon. My intentions with Aang is when he goes to the spirit world he won't just learn about Holly, and it'll be more about the original story about him defeating the fire lord and stuff like that, because I know that I'm already way too off track.
Anyways, hope you've enjoyed :D