V2
I Want a Dragon
And I'm Going to Have One
He was beautiful. His body flowed with the movement of fire. I wanted to reach out, to touch his hands, his arms, to hold him...but I didn't. He hadn't come to me yet. I wasn't going to be the first one to break the silence. He probably knew I was avoiding him.
The one person I never thought I'd see next to him was following his movements. They were stretches, really, but just seeing him moving in such a familiar way was making my heart tear.
"Is it hard to watch him?" came Katara's voice from behind me. I turned my head to see that the Waterbender was standing behind me, her long brown hair down to the middle of her back. A brush was in her hands.
"Hey, Katara," I said softly, wrapping my arms around my legs as I scooted over for her to sit next to me. "Yeah. Just a little."
"He never knew, did he?" She took my offering and sat down next to me, swinging her legs over the edge of the roof where I'd been sitting. I could see Zuko, but he couldn't see me.
My throat tightened. I pushed back the tears and grit my teeth. "No." Trying to hide my emotions from her, I took the brush from her hands and motioned for her to turn around. She seemed surprised that I would offer but still turned. I began brushing her thick, chocolate hair. Sometimes it made me miss my long hair, too, but that didn't last long.
"I'm sorry." And she really did seem sorry. I liked Katara. She never knew when to stop asking questions that went too far, but she was there when you really needed her. And yeah, she was a nag, but it was in a good way. If I could sit and talk with anyone for a long period of time, besides Iroh, it would be her.
No you aren't. I didn't say it, though. I just kept brushing her hair, a section at a time. I knew for a fact that she didn't like Zuko, that she completely despised him. But I knew that Zuko would teach Aang what he needed to know to defeat the Fire Lord.
Katara and I sat in an easy silence as we watched the boys in a heated conversation. Well, Zuko was more awkward, and Aang seemed nervous, but it was heated, nonetheless. Aang tried a Firebending move, but it came out as a puff of smoke. Zuko then demonstrated, making Aang step back. But...nothing came out.
Alright, pause. Things got a little weird there. I was used to getting premonitions. It wasn't an unusual occurrence. Normally it was of something from the future that may or may not happen. Sometimes it was of nothing in particular, just some message from the Spirit world. Well...this was different. It wasn't from the future, it seemed to be a very, very long time ago.
"You aren't leaving, and that's the end of that," an old, wrinkled man with bright white hair said below me, right where Aang and Zuko had been. I could still see their silhouettes where they'd been frozen, and Katara next to me was transparent and frozen. Her hair was sticking out where I'd been brushing it, but I wasn't holding it anymore. "It's too dangerous. You have no idea what the Sun Warriors are capable of."
Where am I? I wondered, looking around. But I was in the same exact place I'd been before. Tents were set up all along the pathways below me, and individuals who looked old-fashioned walked around with gear over their shoulders, on their backs, or being dragged behind them. Everything was washed-out. The sky, where it should have been a radiant cerulean, was a dull robin's egg blue.
"But Dagur...I've got to have one! I've been having strange dreams, and I swear I hear something calling me, pulling me towards the Temples..." That was when I noticed the girl. She was tall and lithe, with long black hair flowing down her back in thin, straight strands. Her back was turned to me, so I couldn't see her face. "Please, I'll take Jin-Ho with me. I've got to go, Dagur!"
The old man gently ruffled the girl's hair, making her clench her fists. He just smiled at her. "Maybe one day. But just as fire cannot be played with, neither can these creatures."
Then her face turned towards me, and all I saw were bright yellow eyes that were like butterscotch, an angled, almost sinister face, and a smile that was so familiar, I could have done it the same exact way if I really wanted to be creepy. "I want a dragon...and I am going to have one."
And that was it. It just ended, and I was left with hearing Katara say, "...and dinner is going to be so awkward, I don't want to even think about it." I didn't even realize if she'd figured out that I wasn't brushing her hair anymore. She stood up, stretched her back, and held out a hand to me. "You coming?"
I took a deep, shuttering breath, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Uh...yeah. Definitely."
oOo
Dinner surprisingly wasn't all that awkward. Zuko was pretty much standing off to the side, looking at all of us as if we were the outcasts and not him. I hadn't been all that hungry, but with girls like Toph and Katara for friends, (if you could call them that,) they wouldn't just let you sit there and not eat. They'd stuff the food down your throat, first. And the thought of Toph touching my food just made me not want to eat at all, so I quickly grabbed a small portion of rice and a little tea and started nibbling on the food.
Zuko's presence behind me made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. His raspy voice sent a shiver enough through my body. "Listen up, everybody," he said, and I was sure that he was looking directly at me. "I've got some bad news. I've lost my stuff."
I choked on the piece of rice I'd just been eating, which no one really paid attention to. Toph held her hands up, saying "Not me! I didn't do it!"
"No, I've lost my Firebending!"
And that was when it happened again. Everyone around me froze, and I could see through them. If they were moving, they were moving very, very slowly. "Dammit," I cursed, standing up. Zuko, behind me, was staring down at me with love and regret in his topaz eyes. Does he know? No! Of course not. Katara never would have told him without my permission. Koh, she wouldn't have talked to him anyway if she could help it.
I looked around, waiting to see the girl, but I was thinking that I might have to go find her this time. I was wrong, because she came sneaking out of the main sanctuary moments later. I still couldn't see her face completely, but the image that I had seen still haunted my memory. Who are you?
She turned and looked directly at me, as if she could actually see me, but she shook her head and kept walking. "Come on, Jin-Ho! Hurry up!" she said in a rather husky voice, waving to the rear of her, egging someone on. A dark shadow fluttered past her, and she gave a muffled scream. "Ooh, don't do that!"
A tall, lanky boy around her age stepped out of the shadows, smiling. "It was too hard to resist." He was tall, with thick black hair and eyes the color of green grass in Spring.
"We're undercover, remember? We're trying to sneak out of here, not get caught!" The girl's eyes narrowed in a flash of pale yellow. The eyes were scarily familiar. She started moving towards a group of eel-hounds with packs surrounding them. She had a pack on her shoulders as well.
"I don't even know why we're going on this mission. Wait. I don't know why I am going on this mission. You don't need me to go with you." The boy was saddling up a few eel-hounds as he spoke, and they seemed to be loving the attention. The girl, on the other hand, shied away from them.
"Eel-hounds and I have a...rocky relationship," she said gruffly, turning around to look directly at me one more time. "Hey..."
"Yeah?" Jin-Ho asked, not looking up.
The girl shook her head and looked away from the spot where I was standing. "Nevermind." Then she gave out a long sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. "Any-who, that's why I need a dragon. Running around on eel-hounds isn't exactly my cup of tea. Now a dragon...that will show Mr. Midshipman-on-my-rump who's who!"
Jin-Ho had a knowing smile on his handsome—if boyish—face. "Ever since that Fire Nation Admiral sent that Midshipman Shoe after you, you've been determined to outwit him. Why a dragon this time?"
The girl had a funny look on her face. She was maybe sixteen at best, because I knew that she couldn't be any more than that. But I thought that I recognized that look. "It's Zhao, Jin-Ho. Z-H-A-O. Not Shoe. And I think our chase is rather...fun. Besides, Roku had a dragon."
Zhao? I wondered, feeling a slight skip of my heart. My...my dad?
"Fun as in 'I like getting chased after to be beheaded,' or fun as in, 'Hmm, this man may be attracted to me and I may be attracted to him?'" The boy still wouldn't look at the girl, and she didn't even seem to mind. She slowly got up onto her eel-hound and he got up very quickly.
"Neither. It's just a fun game in the middle of boring business."
"Because you've always thought of being a pirate as boring."
"No. Just a little more...adventurous."
When I stood up suddenly, expecting to run after the two on their eel-hounds, I saw that everyone was staring at me. Its over. "We've got to go!"
"Go where?" Aang asked, looking at me as if I'd grown two heads.
"To the Sun Warriors! Come on, I've got to go!" I shouted at the child. There was an energy building up inside of me, dying to get out and move and follow, like a predator towards her prey. "They died off thousands of years ago, but I know that their temples aren't too far away from here! I need to go now!"
That was my mother!
"Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins," Zuko suggested, staring at me intently with his topaz eyes. I felt like I was a book and he was reading everything inside of me. "I could get my stuff back."
"Its like the monks used to tell me," Aang said, looking forwards and away from me for once, "the shadows of the past can be felt by the present."
Oooh, yeah. They definitely can.
oOo
He wanted to do something, to hold her close, to tell her that he was sorry, but he was afraid of what she would do. She was sitting on Appa's head, her arms wrapped around her legs as she stared at the rising sun that silhouetted her. Her short black hair had a healthy sheen to it. He wasn't sure he liked it but she did, so he guessed that was all that mattered.
Looking over to see that the Avatar was asleep, Zuko stepped up behind her. He let his fingers gently land on the back of her neck, letting the callus on his thumb gently move over it. She stiffened under his touch. "Emiko..."
"I don't want to talk right now, Zuko." Her tone was soft but firm, and he knew that she meant what she said. She didn't even turn to look at him.
It hurt, just as it had when he told everyone he'd lost his Firebending. "I just wanted to know...what happened?" She stiffened and shrugged his hand off of her neck, turning to glare directly at him. Her gaze, where it used to be like a doe, was now like a hawk, and it cut straight through him. "When I saw you lying there, I thought—"
"I don't care what you thought!" she snapped, nudging him backward. She had lost all of the baby fat on her face. Her cheekbones were more prominent, making her look like a predator. He wondered when she would stop changing. "I'm fine, as you can see." Then she turned back and looked at the sunrise again.
Zuko pushed back his growing hair and sat down on the edge of the saddle, looking below them. You'd think that this thing would fly faster, for all the trouble I went through to chase it. Beneath the giant beast, a massive jungle loomed. It was a thick, green jungle that Zuko had never seen before, nor could he imagine the area it covered. He nudged the Avatar as an intricate city started to appear, made out of a weather-proof sandstone that towered far above the trees.
"Whoa," Aang breathed.
Suddenly Emiko froze, and then, a moment later, she asked, "Who are you?" Right before she took off running like a wolf-bat out of Koh's lair.
oOo
He said Amaterasu...he said it! I raced after the way their forms went, through long corridors that seemed to be completely endless. That Jin-Ho boy...he said her name, I know that it's my mother!
I didn't know how, but it was her. It was all there! The light yellow eyes, the midnight dark hair, and the light, parchment-colored skin that glowed in the sunlight. There was something about the shape of her face, and her jawline, that told me who she was. Why hadn't I seen it before?
Suddenly my foot snagged something, and I fell, catching myself with both hands hard to the ground. Something in my left wrist gave way, but I knew that I couldn't stop for some minor injury. I jumped up, almost running into a large hole in the ground with spikes sticking up. "Are you kidding me?" I screamed into the air.
I saw the boy, then, Jin-Ho. He looked a lot more real, this time, as he Earthbended a bridge over the chasm. I hesitantly took a step forwards, my foot alighting on the earth-bridge that he created. It actually held. Creepy...but I'll deal with it. I ran across right before it disappeared, and then I followed both of them. Sometimes they would show themselves as a ghost, and sometimes I could see them in full form. They would look back, as if they could sense my presence there, but they never stopped their rush to the finish line. If only I knew what that actually was.
Though it is strange... I thought as I ran further, my feet keeping an even pace as I followed the ghosts of my past. That was a trap, it must have been centuries old, and it still works! People don't make traps unless they have something worth protecting. A large, intimidating temple loomed over me. I stopped at the base of the steps
Unfortunately, I had to climb to the top of it.
By stairs.
All the way up.
At noon.
Even with all of my training and Firebending skills, I was out of breath three-fourths of the way up. I had to lean onto my knees once I reached the top and I was dismayed to see that my mother and Jin-Ho were no longer up there. Am I going crazy? Or is all of this real?
I looked up to the statue of a Firebender standing between two rings of fire, which was being breathed out by two dragon's heads on each side. The dragons were clasping hands and their bodies were curved and bent, some partially hidden by smoke or clouds.
That was when the next premonition happened.
"Jin-Ho, come on!" yelled the pretty girl who ran through the caverns of the beautiful Sun City. She was tall and thin, with mischievous yellow eyes and long, thin black hair that shone beautifully in the wind. "We don't have all day."
Jin-Ho was a boy about the same age as the girl—fourteen or fifteen—with thick brown hair pulled into a ponytail behind his back. "You aren't seriously going to go through with this."
"Of course I am! I want a dragon egg and I'm going to have one." She hopped along further, over a small, banner-less bridge. I started following closely behind, while Jin-Ho looked slightly nervous as he walked across the bridge, looking down into the cavern below. "Hey! Come look at these!" She was looking at the same statue I'd just seen. I wanted to say something to the girl, or to the boy, for that matter, and ask them who they were. But I just floated along beside them, trying to find a way to stop the tears that choked my throat.
"As an Earthbender, I feel slightly daunted here in the Sun City," he said nervously, edging away from the statue with a distasteful look on his face.
"Funny," Amaterasu—it was strange to think of her that way, but I had to—said as she danced closer, "that's exactly how I felt as I entered into Ba Sing Se, but you told me to brush it off. So, brush it off, mate." I stepped closer, intent on inspecting this woman—or girl, as it should be—just in case I would never see them again.
Jin-Ho looked closer at the dragons, his head cocked to the side. "Aren't the dragons and the Sun Warriors friends? Why such a hostile picture?"
"The dragons are intelligent creatures," she said softly, gently running her hands over the cold marble. "They are not only the lords of fire, but of the sky itself. They could squash us like little tiny bugs under their claws. They are thinking beasts that communicate with your mind. If a dragon's consciousness were to touch yours, you would wonder if you had gone mad...but the beauty of a creature's mind that is attuned to nature is marvelous. It's just...perfect."
"But they're all gone," I said softly, running my hands over the beautiful artwork as well. It was chipping in some places, but I could see the perfect exoskeleton over it, as if I were looking through Amaterasu's eyes as well. "Fire Lord Sozin hunted all of them. And Iroh killed the last one."
"Who are you?"
oOo
Amaterasu drew her sword as the girl looked over, surprise in her soft yellow eyes. She was short, with hair so short it almost made her look like a boy. Her face was soft and pale, like a noble, and Amaterasu instantly hated the girl for it. She was garbed in a simple black pant that was low and tight on her hips, but flared out before it clenched to her calf. Her feet were bare, as was her midriff. Her small chest was covered in a black half-top with one strap, covered in gold accent. A thick, horrible Firebending scar covered her left shoulder.
"I asked you a question," Amaterasu said harshly, her throat catching when she saw the wonder and awe in the girl's eyes.
"Y-you're t-talking to me?" the girl asked in a voice that sounded as if it were used to leadership. Her wide lips hung open in awe.
"Who else?" Jin-Ho asked. Amma was pleased to see that his sword was drawn as well. They both kept their attention on the strange girl. I'd thought I'd seen someone following us, but I could have sworn that I was imagining it all.
"How...where...?" the girl asked, letting out a pent up breath. She looked even paler as she studied Amma with trembling eyes.
"Where do you hail from?" Jin-Ho asked harshly, while Amma could only stare back as well. Is that...? No, it couldn't be. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "She's injured," Jin-Ho said quietly as he leaned over to whisper conspiritually in her ear. Amaterasu looked at the girl's wrist, noticing that, yes, the girl was in fact injured. The skin around her hand was turning purple.
It took the girl a moment to answer. "I-I'm from the Fire Nation originally." Jin-Ho stiffened, as did Amaterasu, but the girl quickly continued. "I have no affiliation with them anymore, though." She looked like she was about to say more, but she quickly closed her mouth and blushed, looking towards the ground.
"Who do you have affiliation with?" While Jin-Ho was interrogating the girl, Amaterasu checked to see if she had weapons. All that Amaterasu could see was a small dagger sheathed in the girl's belt—not enough protection for a city full of powerful Sun Warriors and dragons.
The girl straightened her shoulders, trying to make herself appear taller, which seemed impossible. "I have friends from all Nations. My closest friend is a blind Earthbender, and another is a skilled Waterbender. In any instance, what does it matter?"
Jin-Ho took a step forwards, but the girl didn't back away from the rapier's point. "It matters to us! How did you get here?"
"It doesn't matter," Amma growled quickly, before the girl had to answer. "We need another Firebender, anyways. As long as she doesn't stab us in the back, that's all I need to know. She is injured, mate." She held out her hand. "Give me your weapon and swear upon Agni that you won't Firebend against us. I have a feeling that you need us as much as I need you."
"How did you know I was a Firebender?" the girl asked softly, her hands clenched in front of her. Tears looked ready to fall from her eyes. She didn't bother to hand over the dagger.
How do I always know? Amaterasu wondered, shaking her head. Her hand never faltered in asking for the dagger. "I don't know. I just felt that you were. And I was right, obviously."
The girl slowly took the dagger off of her belt, tossing it and its case over to Amaterasu. "Yes, you were. If I may ask...what are your names?"
"I am Amaterasu, Jeongsdaughter." Amma bowed, though she never took her eyes off of the girl. She held a shocked, strangely stoic look. "And this is Jin-Ho, Fongsson. And to whom do we have this honor?" She had a hunch...but she wouldn't speculate and get her hopes up just yet.
"I am Emiko...Daughter of None." Once Amaterasu knew the girl's name, all of her hope was dashed. I could have sworn that she was my mother...but no, it was a false hope. Could she be lying? ...No. Just because I've seen her in 'visions' before, doesn't mean that this is happening now. "I don't know how I got here. My...friends were with me, hoping to find the true source of Firebending, although now that I've crossed over, I have a feeling that I've lost them."
Jin-Ho raised an eyebrow as he took a look at Amma, as if asking if the girl was sane or not. "'Crossed over'? You make this sound like an awful Ember Island Player's 'Traveling with the Spirits' show."
"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."
Amaterasu sheathed her sword, looking at the girl intently. "You'd be surprised what I think is real and what isn't. Try me."
oOo
It wasn't what I thought...you know, meeting my mother. She was my age, probably a little older than me at this point, and it was...strange. She didn't look anything like I remembered, and she didn't act as if she realized who I was, either. She looked harsher, with hard eyes and a shifty look, as if everything was ready to attack her. And her ignorance hurt me more than anything in the world.
She was tall and lithe, with long, thin black hair falling down her back line a waterfall. Her eyes were exactly like mine, and so was her nose and brow, while everything else seemed altered. She was tall, with a feral look in her eyes as she stood over me, lithe and dangerous. I knew that with one twitch of her thin hand she could decapitate me with her hand-and-a-half sword.
I spent a moment thinking over what I should tell her and what I shouldn't. In the end, I thought that I would tell her everything except for the fact that I was her daughter and that my companions were none other than the Avatar and the banished prince of the Fire Nation. Other than that, I told her about how their Firebending had decreased in strength with the lessening of their anger, and how they'd suggested we go to the Sun City to find the true meaning of bending. I told them of my premonitions, of how I'd finally gotten into the premonition.
My mother was frowning, her eyes turned away from me. Then, her back straightened and she pierced me with those hard, foreign eyes. She didn't say anything, just started walking forward. When I didn't move she turned and asked, "Well? Aren't you coming?"
Gripping my injured wrist, I stumbled after her quickly, almost losing my footing. Jin-Ho looked less than excited but followed my mother through the strange wilderness of the Sun City.
oOo
The girl's story was less than believable. Daughter of None? Pah! Everyone was the daughter of someone. Then again, not everyone has their heart on their sleeve. This girl definitely didn't. She had eyes that spoke more than her sixteen, seventeen years and a battle-hardened face.
It was hard to look at her. She reminded Amma so much of her mother that her heart nearly broke. It was just the eyes, the shape of the face, and the lips, but it was such a close resemblance that whenever she looked over, she expected to see her mother there, strong but steady, ready to scold her as soon as give her a hug. At the moment, the girl was tearing away the excess of her shirt, (what there was, anyways,) and wrapping it tightly around her wrist to keep it from moving. To finish, she tightened it with her teeth and flexed her hand with a grimace.
Amma blinked back tears and looked away from her two companions, up onto the tip of the temple that they were climbing towards. It was simply magnificent, with Fire Nation architecture that she was used to along with some long-lost building secrets that the Fire Nation had misplaced in time.
Jin-Ho went up to the doors and pulled on them but he was quickly dismayed to find them - "Locked."
The girl's small, hard eyes looked around them, seeming to see everything. Amaterasu would have been doing the same thing but all she could do was stare at the girl. She wondered how long she'd been doing that. "Jin-Ho," Emiko said softly, beckoning him, "back up."
"Why should I?" Jin-Ho asked defensively. He did as she said, revealing a red light that was being shined by a bright red stone. It moved across the ground.
Amma could sense the sun's movement through the stone and knew exactly what that meant. "You're kidding me!" she shouted, kicking at the light even though she knew that it would do no good. Damn the Spirits! This is just like the Fire Temple raid!
"What's wrong?" Emiko asked, real concern on her face. Emiko reminded Amma of a child who wanted to please an elder sibling or idol.
"Its a Celestial Calendar, just like the Fire Sages have in their temples." Her mood could not have gotten any worse. I have to get in there! A Dragon will be mine!
"So, just bust the door down, Jin-Ho," Emiko said, shrugging her shoulders. She reached for her dagger, but then realized that Amaterasu still had it and blushed a deep red, causing her horrible burn to turn a darker shade of red.
"That won't work," Amma said irately, gripping the hilt of her sword to keep from punching the door. "It's made to where the door only opens when the light hits it. And if we break down the door, I'm never going to get a dragon; we'll scare them away."
"You mean this thing will only open on the Solstice?" Jin-Ho groaned, slapping his face in the same irritation as Amaterasu.
Emiko didn't even seem phased as she looked at them, only slightly confused. "You're here for...a dragon?"
"What else, besides Firebending, kid? I'm almost a Master, I don't need to understand its true source." She didn't tell the girl that she was the Sun Spirit and already knew the true source of Firebending.
Emiko looked frustrated and bit her lower lip as if trying to keep from saying anything. "But...the dragons are extinct. Fire Lord Azulon allowed their hunting, and by that way, they were all killed off—to obtain the title of Dragon."
Jin-Ho instantly flinched at the mention of the Fire Lord. Amma zeroed her sights onto Emiko and touched her tongue to one of her back molars as she glared. "There are still plenty of dragons. The title of Dragon is obtained by very few individuals."
Emiko wrapped her arms around her body, rubbing her arms as if to create friction in the dry air. "I'm not from this time, Amaterasu. In the future...there are no more dragons, that I know of. I was just about to see if this was true before I crossed over into your story."
It took Amma a moment before she was able to speak. She couldn't even process what this...this girl was telling her. "I don't believe you," she said finally, unclenching her jaw from the position that it had been in. Or maybe it's just that I don't want to believe her, she thought, sighing. "I'm done talking with you. I don't trust you and I don't want to waste anymore time."
"I knew we shouldn't have brought her Amma, she'll just slow us down," Jin-Ho growled, stomping his foot and making the ground shake. Amaterasu glared at him which made him stop.
Emiko clenched her jaw and said, "It's just what happened. Anyway, do you have a solution to open the door without alerting the...the dragons?" She said this as if they weren't real. Amaterasu couldn't imagine a world without dragons. And she definitely didn't know how to open the door. "Give me my dagger."
Jin-Ho made an outraged sound, kind of like an injured animal. "No way we're going to give you—!"
Amaterasu tossed Emiko the dagger, trying to ignore the sounds that Jin-Ho was making. "Don't hurt yourself, girl." Do as I have thought, girl, and my suspicions will only increase.
Emiko's eyes narrowed. "I've had more experience with weapons than you would believe." Before Amma could say anything, Emiko turned around and looked up at the light. "We can't wait here until the Solstice, and I'm not gonna wait to get back to my reality. I might be able to speed things up." She put the dagger to where it was underneath the light. Then, she reflected it towards the Sun Stone.
"You want to outsmart the Sun Stone?" Amma asked, amusement in her voice from thinking about this piece of scrap actually hurting something with a dagger. Amma realized she might have underestimated the kid.
Emiko aimed it, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her lip. The second the light hit the stone, it glowed a bright, brilliant red.
Jin-Ho scowled. "Nothing's happening."
"Patience, Earthbender." Emiko kept the light aimed at the door until finally the ground shook as if Jin-Ho were doing it. "Just a little bit longer..." The doors creaked open, as if no one had walked through in decades. Emiko stood up straight and tossed her dagger in the air, catching it again. "And there you go." She took the initiative and walked inside on her own.
"I don't like her, Amma," Jin-Ho said softly, taking a hold of her hand. She stiffened, but he didn't notice. "I don't like how she knows what she's doing, as if she's been here before."
Amaterasu pulled her hand out of Jin-Ho's as she had countless other times. I don't feel that way for you, my friend. "I told you—I feel like I have been here before. As she is a Firebender, perhaps she feels the same way." Or maybe... She shook her head and took a few tentative steps forwards, coming into a room with large, mean-looking statues of men surrounding the room. She'd never liked statues so she grimaced and kept as close to the door as possible.
"They were so graceful," Emiko breathed, still looking at the poses of all of the marble beings. They were arranged in a circle around the room, with diagrams along each base of every statue. She looked at the first one on the right, which was standing on one foot and holding both arms out with palms up.
"Yeah," Jin-Ho mumbled, staring into one of the statues' eyes, "if you like moist, dilapidated statues that are ready to fall." Just to prove his point, he shook the ground softly with Earthbending, making the statues shake precariously.
"Jin-Ho!" Amaterasu snapped, shaking his shoulder to make him stop. She hadn't meant to snap, but with the hot, moist air that flew through the temple mixed with the shaking and scary statues, Amma was having issues. "Really!"
He shrugged, gently rolling out the muscles in his shoulders. "Just proving a point."
"These are really old techniques," Emiko said to herself, but with Amma's hearing she could hear it as if it were spoken to her. Amma looked up at the frightening statues, realizing that the girl was right. "Maybe if I..." Emiko stood on one foot, putting both of her arms out, palms up. Only when she did, her foot indented into the floor.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked down it. Then, for a moment, the girl's eyes glazed over, as if she were watching something from far away. Amaterasu turned to look at what the girl was looking at, and she saw a shimmer of something, as if it were an illusion trying to tempt her. "Emiko?"
The girl shook her head, looking back up at Amaterasu with curious eyes. "It's a...dance." She frowned with distaste.
"A dance?" Jin-Ho asked irately, crossing his arms over his chest. "Of all the idiotic, stupid... What kind of dance is this, if I may ask, O Daughter of None?"
"M—Amaterasu," the girl said breathlessly, "stand over there." Amma, hesitant of the glares from the statues, did slowly as she was told. "Now follow the steps of the statues. It's a complete circuit of Firebending moves."
Jin-Ho scoffed behind Amma's hesitance. "You can't seriously believe this, Amaterasu."
She didn't say a word as she followed the first move, just like Emiko, and then switched to the second. The upraised foot was pressed downwards, while one arm was brought into a fist, pushing the other out. Amaterasu understood when she saw that her foot had indented the floor.
"These aren't dance moves," Amaterasu said, standing up and punching out with the opposite hand. "These statues are teaching us a lesson."
The two women flowed seamlessly through the next few moves, Amaterasu wondering at the graceful movements of the girl, who, although short, seemed to move as well as a tall, graceful Master. She stopped watching the girl as they pushed their arms out and they spread their legs apart. They did a turn and put their arms in the same fashion. Then they moved to where their arms were out—one palm up, one down—and had one leg bent behind them.
Amaterasu couldn't help but let her body flow with the moves, to let her mind go numb as she felt the power of them. The chi in her body was building to the point of pain, but she kept it in, knowing that she would have to use that power at a later time. The muscles in her legs burned as she bended and twisted.
They punched out their fists with their front legs bent before ending with holding their arms in a U while bending their bodies towards each other. She had hoped that when they finished, a dragon, or even a dragon egg would appear. The only thing that happened was a door opening behind them.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," Jin-Ho scoffed, stretching out his back as the girls stood up, looking around for something to happen. "Hereee, dragon-dragon-dragon, hereeee..." Amaterasu hit him in the stomach to make him shut up.
Emiko was staring at the back wall where the door had opened, her eyes glazed over again. Then, suddenly, she jerked back and held a hand over her heart.
"What?" Amaterasu asked, placing her hand over the hilt of her sword. She could feel something strange wallowing in the pit of her stomach. She was very much aware of fear, of adrenaline, and of lust, but this was none of those three. "What do you see?"
Emiko shook her head, as if trying to rid something near it. "N-nothing. Let's just...go. Don't touch anything."
oOo
My heart was pounding. Zuko and Aang had just touched something that was situated in that room and had gotten trapped by some kind of goo. The pull from that room tugged at my gut, almost irresistible. All I could think about doing was going towards it, as if something were drawing me towards it. I could see the longing look in Amaterasu's eyes, as if she could feel the pull as well.
I started walking towards it, feeling drunk as I did. The room behind the doors was deep, like a cave, but the walls were smooth as butter. Beautiful, ancient calligraphy lined the walls and in the center of the giant room was a pedestal. On it was a beautiful gem.
It was large, bigger than my head, with rings of bright rubies around its onyx perimeter. Gold decals lined the sides. And, with one more step, my mind instantly went blank. All I could feel was this...this longing. I felt myself moving towards the gem, not of my own accord, and a fire in my stomach moved me forwards. It felt like I was pregnant again, with a fire so hot in my belly that my child was a Firebender.
I...I want that gem...
"Emiko?" my mother asked softly, in almost a loving tone. She reached out to stop me, but I evaded her grasp and moved forwar.
"What is that?" Jin-Ho asked almost as softly, as if speaking too loudly would disrupt everything and ruin it for all of us. "It looks like some kind of mystical gem."
"Emiko, don't touch it, then!" Amaterasu whispered fervently, but I still wouldn't listen. I reached out to touch its shiny surface and...
oOo
So he did tell her all of it.
I shrugged it off, seeing as how everyone in the royal family but my daughter knew of all of the Spirit business, and looked at the girl lovingly. She was lovely, obviously, between both Zuko and I. She had our same pale skin with Zuko's long, shiny hair and my mischievous eyes. "As long as you're safe, Izumi…that's all that I care about." Thank goodness she'd gotten someone's common sense. Obviously not mine or Zuko's.
She smiled beautifully with the wide lips that my grandmother had given her. "Thanks, Mom." Izumi looked around the small room and stood, stretching and kneading her fists into her lower back. "Well, you should probably get some more rest."
I instantly knew that I was frowning. "I've spent most of my life resting. I would like to go outside." I tried to get up, but Kalisto moved to stop me.
"Mother…" she warned. But I took her warning as far as I could throw her. Izumi didn't have a drop of meanness in her tall, lithe body.
But I scowled and flopped down on the bed, noticing just how tired I actually was. "Alright, then. But on one condition." She nodded, standing there with her eyes wide and expectant. I took a moment, watching her keep her yellow eyes directly on me. "Bring me the egg—err, gem."
Her eyes suddenly turned professional, no doubt from the mind washing teachers at Ba Sing Se University whom I payed way too much to teach my daughter. "I can't let you do that and you know it."
"Maybe so... But what I know for a fact is that my daughter is talking back to me." She flinched and bit her lower lip, worrying it with her teeth. Here were the options: listen to her mother, or to two, fire-breathing, ancient dragons? "Give me the gem, Izumi."
Sighing, she surrendered with a slump. "Alright." She was always a good girl, and it showed as she exited the room. She never usually argued with me or her father unless it was something she believed in. I hated to ruin her sense of independence, but...
Soon the egg was in my grasp, seeming to slightly glow as I held it, and I felt that familiar urge to hoard it. I wanted to tuck it under my dress and run off like a child hiding a cookie. But instead, I lay down on the bed to rest once more. Oh, to have you in my grasp again...
A kick hit the edge of the "gem's" shell.
It knows its master.
Good boy.
oOo
This girl is going to get us killed! Amaterasu reached forwards and grasped the girl's arm, jerking her away from pedestal milliseconds before she would have touched it. "What in Agni's name do you think you're doing?"
Emiko blinked, not bothering shrugging Amaterasu off as she looked at the onyx gem. "It...it's an egg!"
Amma lost her grip on the girl and looked at it hungrily. The second she'd seen it, her greedy pirate inside had wanted to steal it. But, with all the traps they'd already encountered, she knew that it was probably one as well. Now she wanted it even more. "Why would the dragons put one of their prized eggs on a pedestal for all to see?"
"Because it's a trap," Emiko said softly, hitting herself over the head. "Damn it, I'm stupid."
"You had the same pull towards it as me," Amma admitted grudgingly, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Don't feel lonely."
Jin-Ho pushed forwards behind them, moving past the pedestal and examining it. Amaterasu still felt the sting of her moment of weakness, having almost let Emiko touch it and wanting it herself. "Well," Jin-Ho said, scuffing his sandal across the crude, sandstone floor, "you're either going to have to get a full-grown dragon or none at all. This bad boy is rigged to blow any second."
All she could feel was disappointment and a slight amount of anger. She held her head in her hands and sat down, knowing that this was over. I can't take on a full-grown dragon...not on my own...
"You aren't meant to have the egg anyway, Amaterasu," Emiko said softly, bending down and placing a soft hand on the woman's shoulder. "Maybe if we keep looking... You know what, just follow me." Emiko held out her hand, expecting Amaterasu to take it. She did without a second thought.
oOo
All I could see was their shadows but I knew that I was following Aang and Zuko. Someone had captured them but I couldn't see who it was. Amaterasu, behind me, looked as if she'd given up complete hope for a dragon. Jin-Ho, on the other hand, seemed deep in thought, as if he were trying to find a way to get one. All I wanted to do was get out of this place.
I gripped my injured wrist and tried to think of what I was going to do. First, I had to try and get my pouting mother a dragon. Then, I had to find a way out of this nightmare and back into the real world where I could figure all of this out.
Suddenly I felt the earth tremor. I looked back to see that Jin-Ho had fallen flat on his face; a vine had tripped him. A suddenly wild, vicious screaming erupted as arrows started flying through the air. I ducked, sending a wall of flames at the closest volleys, but they just kept coming! Between my mother and me, all we could do was keep them at bay—at least until Jin-Ho put up a giant rock barrier around us, completely cutting off the bullets.
"Bah, an Earthbender!" came a man's voice, and dozens of others started complaining. "Come out and fight us, Firebenders! You will never reach the dragons unless you go through us!"
"The Sun Warriors," my mother breathed, looking around the box as if trying to find a way out. "I-I'm not here to kill a dragon!" she shouted out to the men. They scoffed and started yelling louder. "I am Amaterasu, the current Sun Spirit! I wish to have a companion!"
There were no more voices outside. All I could hear was the harsh breathing of myself and my companions. Then, the first man said, "Why should we believe you, the intruders who wish to slay our dragons?"
She had to think a moment. I knew that her mind had gone blank, but I had to stop it. "You saw her Firebending—it was so hot it was almost white. And her eyes are the color of pure sunlight. You would be a fool not to believe her."
The man grunted outside, slowly muttering to his companions. Amaterasu was looking at me like I was crazy. It might have been the lack of oxygen in the stone box, or the fact that I was having a mini-panic attack, but she looked as if she recognized who I was.
"Let down your walls, Spirit. At this temple, we honor those who are of the legendary line."
When Jin-Ho looked to Amaterasu for confirmation, she nodded, and the Earthbender let the walls down. We were completely surrounded by men in black, red, and gold clothing. Their bodies were painted in the same colors with elaborate headdresses and hair in the male Fire Nation style.
The lead man stepped up. He had on red paint over his eyes and white paint going over the bridge of his nose and down his cheeks in spikes. His goatee was black and tied, while he wore a red and gold headdress with a mane sticking out of the back of it. He looked at us accusingly. "You were in the temple of the Sun Stone."
"It was well protected," Amaterasu said simply; I noticed that her hands were shaking by her side. "We weren't after your...Sun Stone, anyways."
The man looked each of us over in turn. When his eyes met mine, he smirked. "Ah. I see that we are greeted by another as well." I wanted to run over and put my hand on his mouth, but I just stood there and felt blush fill my cheeks. My mother looked at me curiously—Jin-Ho with fury—until the man snapped his fingers and the men around us got a little closer. "We can't let you leave just yet, O' Glorious Spirits. You must be honored...the right way."
oOo
"I don't know who that girl is...but she isn't anyone ordinary," Jin-Ho was telling Amma as they walked in a procession towards a very large, very intimidating center of a city. "I told you we never should have let her join us."
"We're here, aren't we?" When Jin-Ho had nothing to say to that, Amma said, "Exactly. Now shut up. If she's a Spirit, she's probably here to test me or something."
"Either that, of she's her on her own test."
"I don't usually play this card, but I'm the Avatar."
Amaterasu put her hand to her side, catching Jin-Ho in the chest. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Or...at least I used to be. I know my people have distorted the ways of Firebending to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way...the original way. When we came here, I never knew that the Sun Warrior civilization was secretly alive! I am truly humbled to be in your presence. Please...teach us."
Emiko looked confused and looked around, then back to where Amaterasu was standing. "She knows what's going on," Amma said with gritted teeth, "and I'm going to figure this out." She moved forward, pushing through the crowd, and stood by the girl's side. "What game are you playing?"
The girl looked smug, though slightly crestfallen. "I told you...I'm not supposed to be here."
Amaterasu had to bite her lip to keep from yelling—none of it was making sense! Someone couldn't just travel from one time to another, there were rules even the Spirits wouldn't cross. "Who are you, Emiko? Really?"
The girl looked crestfallen as she looked over with tear-filled eyes. "I...I'm—"
"Not supposed to say," the Chief said as he towered over the both of them, putting his hand on Emiko's shoulder. He then dismissed Amaterasu as if she were a small, ignorant child.
oOo
"I'm not sure what you're doing here, young one," the old man said seriously, walking along beside me as if this were a leisurely stroll, "but you don't seem to be in the right place."
I was shaking as I looked up at his dark, painted face. "I-I don't know what I'm doing here, either."
"Your friends are here." He gestured over to where I could clearly see Aang and Zuko standing, partially covered in some green slime. "But you are not."
"I'm supposed to be with them," I grumbled, rubbing my arms in order to create fiction. It seemed a lot colder, even though this was supposedly the "Sun City." "The Spirits are messing with my life. I want it to stop."
He nodded, placing his hands behind his back as he surveyed the people surrounding all of them. "There is a reason for everything that happens because of the Spirits...they have a reason, although I'm not sure what it is. Do you need to see a Dragon? Do you need to learn the true meaning of Firebending? Or do you need to see your mother and understand that what happens here can shape your entire future?"
I couldn't say anything for a moment. We reached the area where Zuko and Aang were. I saw them and I could see that Amaterasu saw them too. She watched me from her spot near a giant hearth. The people were honoring her and asking for White Fire, which she gave unwillingly. "How did you know?" It came out as nothing more than a whisper.
"The keeper of the Dragon Fire must know many things. It just turns out that I know a few."
I nodded, watching as Zuko and Aang took some of the Eternal Flame—I'd read about it while staying in the Fire Nation Capitol—and started walking out of the temples, up towards two giant mountains. "Will my mother know who I am?"
He parted his lips, as if he were going to say something, but then he stopped. Apparently to say something else. "If you wanted her to know, you would have already told her."
"What is my part in this?"
The man looked at me with amusement in his eyes before shaking his head. "You have many questions."
I couldn't help but feel confused. "You said you knew!"
"Just a few things, 'tis all."
I swallowed through a rock in my throat, looking around at the celebration that seemed to be starting. It turned out that a Sun Spirit hadn't visited the City of the Sun for five different incarnations—had to be a record. I didn't know why a Spirit wouldn't want to visit this place. It seemed other-worldly.
"I want to see a dragon," I said softly, making the Chief stumble next to me. He looked as if he were about to protest, but I stopped him. "Look. My future, my mom's future...whatever, it's all linked together anyways. Nothing I do here will change hers, but it will affect mine. I've already seen my future. Your precious "stone" isn't a stone—it's an egg. A dragon egg, and I'm going to have it. Not now, but in the future." I took a deep breath, ignoring the shocked look on the Chief's face. "I want to see a dragon now...so I'm prepared for it in the future."
"Well, then...if you insist." He cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked around at his expectant me. "Call them out!" All of the men started chanting, two of them picking Amaterasu up on their shoulders. I was also roughly handled and set upon shoulders, vice grips holding onto my legs.
"Hey!"
"Sound the call!" the Chief cried.
A fat man blew on some kind of horn, emitting 'the call'. The entire ground shook as the horn's noise radiated through the entire city. The mountains loomed closer as we approached. We were sat roughly down at the bottom of the stairs, spears prodding us in the back.
"Go," the Chief said lowly, his eyes narrowed. "Go, Spirits, and present yourselves to the dragons! Be judged! Your honor, your heritage...all of it is taken into account as the Masters judge you!"
"I thought we were seeing dragons!" I cried out, unwillingly making my way up the stairs. I could see Zuko and Aang up there, almost completely whole as they argued and lost the flames in their hands. Whatever I'm here for, it had better happen soon!
We made it up to the top of the stairs, onto a large platform suspended between the two large mountains. Amaterasu looked at me as if it were all my fault—which it was—but that didn't stop it from hurting. "Look what you've gotten us into," she growled, her voice cracking at the last moment. I could see that she was shaking. "There's no way I'm going to be able to fight a dragon, Emiko!"
I looked back at her, not able to believe that she seemed...scared. "But...you're Amaterasu! You can do anything!" You...you're my mother. You're supposed to be fearless. "You're a pirate for crying out loud!"
She pressed her back against mine, looking around to make sure that nothing would hurt her. "I'm a coward. I'm a maggot-brained, dirt-eating coward, alright? I thought I would just get an egg and be gone! I didn't want to actually have to fight one!"
It hurt to hear that. She was almost crying. After all of the stories I'd heard about her fighting, killing countless men in search for honor and prize money in the Royal Navy, I was met with a coward?
I didn't have time to actually tell her what I thought of her. It was then that a giant screech came out of the cave that I was facing away from. She started sobbing, her knees shaking.
"Stand up straight and stop crying," I snapped, wondering if she would remember this ten, twenty years from that day. "They're only going to judge us. We aren't going to fight them. Keep a level head and look them in the eye."
I turned my head to see bright, yellow eyes glaring at the both of us. Amaterasu had turned deathly pale. Slowly, a large, red dragon crawled out of the cave. He was long and slender, with four massive paws and a head larger than an ostrich-horse. A long, curling beard was under his chin.
"Emiko..." Amaterasu breathed, her hand reaching towards mine. Her hand held onto mine as, on the other side, a slightly smaller blue dragon came out. It's scales were of such a brilliant hue that I couldn't even look directly at it. It seemed more feminine, without the beard. "You still think we can take them?" Amaterasu asked in a shaking voice.
"I never said anything about that." Because no, there was no way in hell that we would be able to defeat either of them. "We are here to be judged. And we are going to be judged."
Spirits of old and new.
"Did you hear that?" Amaterasu asked, her eyes wide and fearful. Her hand felt like it was about to break mine. "What was that?"
The blue dragon looked directly at me, and the red dragon looked at Amaterasu. We are the Masters. We have been, and always will be, the sires of the first dragons. We created the Eternal Fire. And we created you.
"They're talking inside our minds," I breathed, trying not to panic myself. They were staring at us with trepidation, as if we would bolt at any second, or that we would attack them.
"And I'm your mother," she said sarcastically, letting go of my hand. "Really, what is that?" I tried not to laugh at the irony of this situation.
Silly Spirit...we thought the Fire Spirit demented when she proclaimed that she wanted to be mortal. I wasn't sure, but it seemed as if the blue dragon was just talking that time. I could sense a feminine tone to her thoughts. But who were we, the children of she and Agni, to argue with her? We created her body, and with it, created Firebending. The only drawback...
Being human, the red dragon growled, his lips pulled back to show razor sharp teeth. I knew that my mother was putting up a good front, but I could feel her body shaking against mine. Your puny bodies are not strong enough to withstand a single flame, let alone the burdens of a Spirit inside of you.
The blue dragon shook her head and laid down on the bridge, her head lying down on her massive front claws. My mate does not appreciate your ancestor's decision. He determines that it is too head-strong. Your true Spirit form will never revert back to it's otherworldly form. Ever.
"Mate?" Amaterasu asked, strengthening her stance. "Then that means..."
Yes, the blue dragon said, cleaning the scales on her feet, the egg was mine. One of my last. My children are dwindling, Spirits. We will not last much longer. I have seen the future, and I know this—one of your children's children will have my egg. She is strong and pure, and will teach your children well.
"One of my children...?" Amaterasu asked, her breath hitching. But I knew that the female dragon wasn't talking about my mother. "It...it is an honor. But, please, dragons, Masters, I have always believed in a dragon companion. If I could...?"
No! the red dragon growled, the hackles around his head rising and creating a terrifying sight. Your kind has done nothing but hurt our race. We are strong and proud, and we will never bow to you!
The egg will not go to your children's children, Spirit Amaterasu, the blue dragon said softly, her eyes directly set on the both of us. It will go to Spirit Emiko's.
"But—!"
No more, the blue dragon said, standing up from her position. It is time for Emiko to return to her own time. It has tired me to keep her here.
I told you that she could figure this out on her own, the red dragon growled, but the female showed him no heed. Ready yourselves, mortals. You do not deserve to witness this.
They growled at us. Amaterasu started shaking again, making her grab my hand in fright. The dragons breathed deep, suddenly jumping up and flying around us with wingspans four times their body lengths. Then they started breathing smoke, and Amaterasu let off a small whimper.
"Are they going to—?"
We screamed and shielded our faces from the flame. But it wasn't flame...yet it was. It spiraled around us in many mesmerizing colors. I saw many things that weren't supposed to make sense, but they did. Firebending was harmony, it was life. The way a bender got their power wasn't by choice...it was by fate, and the will of the Spirits. It was the dragons who showed us everything, from love, to growth, to our very existences.
"Emiko...who are you?" Amaterasu asked softly, turning to look me in the eyes. She was smiling, tears rolling down her cheeks as she gripped my hand more.
"I'm..."
oOo
It was a calm, clear day. The sun was shining brightly into the back yard of the small, brightly-lit orchard they had in their back yard. She was sitting on the back deck, facing away from the small, bustling town in the front. For now, all she had the urge to do was watch...something.
Two little girls were running between the trees, controlling their Firebending with bright bursts that made her smile—ah, to be a child again! Another child, a boy, this time, was sneaking through the grass, pretending to be a soldier sneaking up on the girls. He and the smallest of the girls had strikingly black hair, while the other girl had thick brown hair. All was worn long.
Two sets of hands placed themselves upon her shoulders, gently massaging them. A scruffy, under-shaved face rubbed up against hers and kissed the crease behind her ear. "We make beautiful children, Amaterasu. Are you almost ready to go?"
The voice...that voice! She wanted to turn around, to look that man in the eyes, to see that it really was him, but all she could do was sit there and smile at the children. She felt like she was being held inside the mind of this body, banging against the walls to make it move.
"Children," her voice said from the lips of the woman she was, "we're going out soon."
The littlest child looked up with wide, beautiful yellow eyes. "For my birthday?"
"Yes, Emiko," the woman—Amaterasu—said, getting out of her chair and bending down to look the five-year-old in the eyes. "For your birthday."