I do not nor have I ever had anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon.

"BG means "Before [Air Nomad] Genocide" which happens when Aang is 12 years old.

I want to thank my Beta-Reader fanatla, without you Anila's Story wouldn't be as great as it is!

…

Chapter 25

"Anila! Wait! Please." Amitaruci called to Anila as she walked back the way she had come. "Please, I can't think of anything but you… I need you!"

The young woman stopped and turned to face him. "I do NOT need you! I do NOT want you!" She hollered back to him. "I am going to ASK you one time and one time only to please leave me and MY son alone! I will not hesitate to protect my family. You hurt me once, I will never give you the chance to hurt me or anyone I love EVER again! You have no idea how powerful I am!"

"But… but?" He stammered, he was still quite shocked that she told him no, nobody had ever told him no before. He stood stunned as he watched Anila walk over the hill and back to her campsite.

…

"Hey Anila! Where did you go?" Karma asked as Anila set Aang down on the ground.

"I just needed to say one last goodbye to someone…" Anila said in her everyday normal perkiness. "Are we almost ready to go?"

Aang toddled over and sat down next to his sister, she shared her ash banana with him. "Go Bye bye?" The chubby toddler asked his mother.

"Yes my, happy little boy, soon!" She said before checking to make sure everything was tied down properly.

"Everything is done, we can leave as soon as you are ready." Karma told her.

"Okay then let's go!" Anila said as she picked up little boy, then jumped onto Chesa's head, with Aang sitting comfortably in her lap as Karma did the same. "Yip yip!" She called out, urging the bison into the air.

"Ip ip" Her little one copied.

Anila sat quietly as they flew, the hours passed by. Her little boy had fallen asleep against his mother's chest wrapped up in her cloak and held on to tightly by his mother loving embrace. Anila kept going over her decision in her mind, was it the right decision? Was it the best decision? Would Aang have benefitted from being raised by both of his parents? What about Karma? Anila couldn't leave her best friend behind, Karma was more like a sister now than a best friend. And if Amitaruci joined them it would be way too awkward, he was Sonam's father too. After going over and over it in her head she knew in her heart, painful as it may be, she had made the correct decision.

"Anila, are you okay?" Karma asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything is just fine. Why do you ask?" Anila put on a great big fake smile.

"Because you're crying." Karma told her, placing a comforting hand on Anila's shoulder.

Anila touched her cheeks, feeling the streaks under each eye, then whipped her face with the sleeve of her cloak then stared down at the rope in her hands. "I… I'm so sorry. I should have told you the first day we were at the festival grounds! It has been eating away at me! I have been so afraid to tell you… Please Karma, please forgive me!"

"Anila, whatever has been bothering… it can't be that bad. We are practically sisters! What could possibly be so bad that you were afraid to tell me?" Karma said in a soft comforting voice.

Anila slowly lifted her head until she was looking straight into Karma's milk chocolate brown eyes. Anila took a deep breath then began to tell Karma about what happened a few days ago, when she was playing with Aang in the huge grassy field just over the top of the hill. She told Karma about the conversation she had had with Amitaruci. She felt so guilty that her stomach was upset as she relayed everything that was said and what happened. After a long pause Anila started back up. "When I was gone… To say goodbye to someone, it was to talk with him once more… to tell him… I told him no…"

"Oh… well good." Karma said with a hint of annoyance. "I'm going to go lay down with Sonam, she is getting sleepy." Anila could tell that Karma was upset about everything Anila had told her, and Anila didn't blame her, she would have been upset too if she were in Karma's place… especially since Anila was the reason he didn't really care about Karma and Sonam at the festival two years ago.

Karma had always acted like she didn't care about Amitaruci, that what he did was no big deal. She acted like everything was great, but after being friends with Karma for as long as she has now Anila has learned Karma's little hints, things she does when she lies; like sometimes she quickly looks down at her hands the back up, avoiding eye contact. How she fidgets with her hair when she is nervous. Anila could tell that Karma was very upset, both girls wanted to be by themselves when they are upset. Knowing this, Anila let Karma be alone until she was ready to talk with her again.

Anila knew that Karma must have been just as in love with Amitaruci as she is. He is so handsome, he knew all the right words to say to get what he wanted from the beautiful girls he chooses. What a selfish jerk he was.

So what does he want from her now? What would he gain from being with her he said he loved her, but how can she trust him? He uses his words and looks to get what he wants, as far as she's concerned he was just trying to get something he wanted from her again. Not she, not Karma, not Sonam, nor Aang would benefit from him being around them.

Anila leaned back against her sky bison, holding her boy against her chest, she closed her eyes.

…

"Anila?" Karma's words woke her. "You fell asleep, Chesa set down near a slow moving river. Help me set up camp."

Anila's head was foggy with sleep. "What?" She asked as she sat up, Aang still laying on her chest.

"Chesa, landed… We were both asleep… It's almost dark, please help me set up camp." Karma said slower, letting Anila's brain proses the information better.

"Oh! I fell asleep! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Anila said scrambling to recover herself. "I'm so so so sorry!"

"It's okay Anila, everything is fine." Karma's words were sincere. "Let's get camp set up then we can go look for some fresh fruits for dinner."

"Okay." Anila was happy to see that Karma was no longer upset with her. Anila wanted to finish telling Karma what happened when she was gone, she wanted to let Karma everything but didn't want to push the issue. She decided to leave things alone until Karma asked about it, if she ever does.

Camp setup went quickly as they worked together, the sun would be going down shortly and they needed to find something to eat. The girls, babies strapped in their slings, began their search for things that they could eat tonight, and tomorrow morning. They had bags of dried fruits and nuts and grains and things like rice and oats they could make for dinner if they had to, but foraging was always the first thing they did, it's what they had been taught to do. They foraged for as long as they could before the sunlight was completely gone.

Karma started their camp fire as Anila picked all the stems and leaves out of the sack of food they found. They found berries, nuts, and some nicely ripened fruit. After dinner both girls cleaned up their little ones and put them to bed.

Anila was singing a soft lullaby to her baby boy as he drifted off to sleep. Anila crawled over to her spot to start her nightly meditation. She rearranged her pillow so she could comfortably sit on it. In the dim light coming through the small opening of her tent she noticed a small pouch that had been put under her pillow. Anila picked it up, it jingled as she shook it. She was a little confused she could have sworn Karma had the money pouch, but then after a few minutes she pushed it out of her mind; she must have put it under there to keep it from getting stolen and completely forgot that she did.

After about an hour of meditation Anila crawled out of her tent again, she placed another piece of wood on the fire. She watched as the flames danced on the wood, slowly turning it from brown to red then to grey. She had always loved to watch the campfire, its dance was so mesmerizing, it moved as if it were alive. She poked at the ash covered log rocking it back and forth dislodging the ashes that clung to it. The fire was brought back to life, embers radiating warmth.

Anila decided where to go… She wanted to go back to Ember Island, she really loved it there. She enjoyed the Fire Nation in the fall and winter, it stayed warm most of the time. Camping near the beach, beautiful flowers were everywhere, and the people there were so kind and friendly. She would talk to Karma about it in the morning, she placed one more log on the dancing flames before crawling back into her tent she laid down snuggling her little boy to her chest and drifted off to sleep.

Now that you are at the bottom of the page, please take a few seconds to leave me a review.