Mysterious Dreams: Finding Yourself

Chapter Twenty-Six

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The last airbender or the characters but I own Sayuri. Please read and review. No flames. Thanks.

Sayuri stood in the side lines watching the Avatar gang. A small smile formed on her lips as she saw the underground city become uncovered. She decided against letting her presence known. She would rather wait for the morning to come to let them know that she was there. She figured they needed some rest before she made another appearance.

The trees of the underground city was a misty greenish colored, and they weren't too tall or too short, just the right size. A crystal clear lake went through the middle of the trees and bushes. Purple, blue, and orange fruits decorated the bushes and tree tops. Various assortments of birds slept high in the tree branches. Schools of fishes swam in the lake. The city was almost like a paradise that had once been hidden. And maybe it was.

The four kids fell asleep listening to the forest's lullaby. The smell of the trees and the natural life seemed to calm them down, and the chirps of the owl-parkeet seemed to sing a song that sooned drove them to shut their eyes and fall asleep.

The next day when they awoke, the sun was just rising. It was a normal thing for Aang to awaken at such an early time. But, when Sokka awoke before the sun was even up, that was when things went from being normal to weird. And what was even weirder, it seemed that they had all awaken at the same time. No, she or he woke up something seconds or minutes after. And after they were awake, it was like their bodys were refusing because they couldn't go back to sleep, even though they still felt sleep on them.

Katara yawned, "Well, I'm up." She said, sitting up in her sleeping bag.

Toph, and Sokka nodded in reply. Both of them were usually deep sleepers. Well, mostly Sokka was but then again, it wasn't every day that Toph awoke at the crack of dawn. So it was reasonable that neither were prepared for conversation.

You would have thought that Aang would have answered Katara with some type of verbal reply, but that was where you went wrong. He just stared off into the distance, as if something was there and he was just waiting for it to show itself. And maybe he was correct, maybe something or someone was hidden in the shadows.

"Aang?" whispered Katara.

He took a second to glance at Katara. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. He turned his attention back to the spot where he felt like something or someone hid.

"Do you see something?" asked Katara.

Toph was now wide awake, ready for conversation. "Twinkle Toes, you seem tense, your heart is beating faster than normal." she mentioned to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to jump. "Calm down, it's just me."

Aang nodded. "I have a feeling..." he said, trailing off.

"A feeling? Want to talk about it?" suggested Katara.

Aang shook his head, but spoke either way. "I feel that she is there..."

"Who?" questioned Toph, "Oh, your mother?"

Aang nodded, silently.

"Well, I don't feel anything..." Toph told him.

"I'm not sure that you'd be able to feel her." whispered Aang.

"Why not?" asked Toph.

"She is dead..." he pointed out.

"And?" urged Toph.

"What Aang is trying to say is that maybe your way of seeing doesn't work to find ghosts." explained Katara.

"But, I saw her before?" replied Toph.

Katara shrugged. "Well, maybe that was when she was concentrated on making herself visible?"

Toph nodded. "That makes sense."

Katara opened her mouth to say something more but shut it when Aang held out a hand, signaling that he wanted and needed some silence.

Somehow during everything that was happening, Sokka had managed to get back to sleep. Not even a ghost or a higher power spirit could keep him from his beauty sleep. And according to Katara, he needed it. But still, this didn't stop the ghost from waking him every time he managed to fall asleep. But after awhile, the ghost saw that it was a lost cause, and let the boy get his rest.

Aang nodded. "She's making an appearance..." he whispered to the two girls.

Toph yawned. "I hope whatever she needs is good..." she retorted. Katara just nodded in silent agreement.

Aang stood up from where he had been seated and walked forth a bit but then he turned to face the two girls. He gave them a look that meant, 'Well? Aren't you coming?'. Even though Toph was blind, she could practically feel the stare on her. Both of them stood up silently, and followed the airbender.

Aang stopped in his footsteps. They were there. He noticed that in his walking, he had been brought to the core of the forest where the lake was the bluest and clearest.

He extended out his arm, as if trying to find something that was invisible to the naked eye. "Hello?" he whispered.

When they thought that this was a lost cause, and were thinking about turning to head back to the campsite, a figure of a lady began to show.

"Hello, Aang, Toph, and Katara" the woman whispered.

Aang bowed. He knew it wasn't necessary because one, this was his mother, and two, she would have been pleased with a simple handshake but he felt that it was mandatory because she was a spirit.

Without even waiting for a reply, Sayuri began to speak to them. "I have been watching from the side lines." she whispered, smiling.

The three nodded, silently. Neither dared to interrupt.

"I see that you have uncovered the water element's gift, and now the earth element's gift." she whispered.

Katara nodded. She decided to say something because Sayuri looked like she wanted some type of verbal response. "Yes." she held out the spirit water that she had unlocked earlier.

Sayuri nodded, smiling. "Hold onto that, little water bender. It will be of help when you least expect it."

Katara nodded, and placed the spirit water around her neck with the string that it was attached to.

"And, the city that you four have uncovered..." Sayuri whispered, "In there, you will find the clues to where the next object is hidden."

All three benders nodded. Aang held up a hand in question.

Sayuri smiled. "Yes, Aang?"

"What happens after we leave? Does the city go back to how it was?" he asked.

"I'm glad you asked." replied Sayuri, "I am not sure but I am sure that it would be in no danger either way."

"How come?" asked Toph.

"The city that you four uncovered isn't a normal city-" she began.

"I know, it was underground." interrupted Toph, smirking smugly.

Sayuri shook her head. "No...well yes but that's not the reason...it's not a normal city because it was brought down from the spirit world, thousands of years ago."

Now the sun was beginning to rise fully. And, Sayuri was slowly fading.

"I have to go now, but I'll be watching...from the side lines...good luck" she whispered, disappearing from sight.

Author's note:

Well, what did you think? I am kind of pleased with this chapter because I really wasn't that happy with my last chapter. Please review. No flames. Thanks.