Memories

by jalpari


Pipi takes Noor to a place of her visions and there Noor meets someone who has been expecting her.


A/N:

Sorry for the long gap! Life got in the way! I am currently transitioning from one chapter to the next big chapter in my life and there are so many things to do.

Anyway, I'm back and will do my best to be consistent with the next chapters. Hopefully, you enjoy and leave comments and feedback!


"Wait...that...that's the place I saw in my vision", Noor gasped and looked at the land below.

Pipi descended to the vast barren expanse and landed in front of a large, seemingly dead, tree. Noor slid off and eyed the tree cautiously. Her eyes opened wide as she saw a glow emanate from inside the hollow trunk.

"What is that?" Noor turned to Pipi.

"Go on", Pipi twitched her nose. "She's been waiting for you." With that, Pipi flapped her ears and flew away.

"Hello?" Noor took a deep breath and walked closer.

Silence.

"Umm...I'm Noor...have you been...expecting me?"

The glow began to subside and Noor covered her mouth in surprise. There, in the center of the trunk, sat a woman. She opened her eyes slowly and a smile spread across her tranquil face.

"Hello, Noor", the woman came towards a speechless Noor. "I'm glad you're finally here."

"I...uhh...yes, I'm here. Although I don't know exactly how or why", Noor frowned and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Understandable", the woman chuckled. "All this...everything that's happened to you so far...must seem strange and overwhelming."

"That is the understatement of the year", Noor rolled her eyes. "Are you the one who sent Pipi to find me?" She eyed woman and tilted her head.

"Yes, I felt you enter the spirit world."

"But...who are you?"

"I'm Jinora", she bowed slightly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Noor noticed the soft blue arrows on her forehead and arms. The woman had a serene look on her face.

"I'm sure you have many questions. Come with me."

Noor followed her into the tree hollow and looked around confused. It was empty and didn't look any different from a regular tree. She sat across from Jinora and waited.

"This", Jinora looked around smiling, "is the tree of time."

"I think I've seen this in my visions before."

"You must have. Its roots bind the spirit and physical worlds together. Once your water bending awakened, you started connecting with the spirit world. Your visions were trying to lead you here but your connection wasn't strong enough I guess. When your fire bending was triggered and you were at your lowest, your connection deepened. It pulled you here."

"How do you know about my fire powers...umm...bending?"

"The tree of time remembers all. We are all connected, Noor. And when you first unlocked your water bending, I could feel your spirit and see your memories. Everything up until now."

"Everything?" Noor bit her lips.

"Yes", Jinora placed a hand on Noor's face lovingly. "Everything you've been through has only made you stronger, unyielding, and fearless. Even if you don't believe so. Your inner spirit is strong, and that is why you can hold this power within."

"But what is this power? How did that creature get it and put it inside me?!" Noor groaned.

"Close your eyes, and focus your mind."

"Are you asking me to meditate? Even the creature made me do that and he made me relive all my terrible…the point is...I suck at meditating."

"Believe me", Jinora chuckled, "There was another one, who held the same power a long time ago, who felt the same way about meditation. But it's not about getting it right or wrong. It's just about letting yourself be."

"There were others?!"

"One step at a time", Jinora smiled and closed her eyes.

"Fine", Noor sighed and closed her eyes too.

As she focussed on her breathing, she could feel a tingling sensation all over her skin. A few seconds later, her mind was overflowing with visions. She realized that these were actual memories. Her memories, Jinora's memories, and many others of people who she didn't recognize.

She saw other humans bending water, fire, even earth and the air around them. She saw giant turtle like creatures and other glowing creatures like Pipi. She saw a huge flying creature with arrows like Jinora's, a giant mole like creature, a bright magnificent moon, and a majestic dragon.

"Oh my god!" Noor opened her eyes in shock. "I saw a dragon! An actual dragon! Was that...are those real?!"

"Everything you saw, is real...or at least it was, thousands of years ago."

"I saw many things! Humans controlling different elements, animals that I've never seen before, and people who I don't recognize."

"This is our past, Noor. The long forgotten history of the human race. There was a time when humans were granted the power to bend elements by the ancient spirits. With time, humans no longer needed such things. They became powerful in their own way."

"Do you see that shining beam behind you?" Jinora continued. "That is a spirit portal. It connects the spirit world to the human realm. The ones on Earth are dormant now, unknown to humans. The quantum abyss has a portal too. That's the one you came here through. There are many more all across the universe."

"Is that...how the creature got here? That's how it got the vials, isn't it!?"

"Vials?"

"These...the creature injected whatever is inside these into me and somehow that gave me these powers", Noor pulled out the two vials from her pocket and handed them to Jinora. "There were four but two have already been injected in me."

"That must be how you were able to fire bend and water bend", Jinora held the vials up against the light. "This must be the essence it stole."

"Essence?"

"The essence of our lion turtles. The ancient beings that possess the power to grant elemental bending to people."

"I saw those when I was meditating. The giant turtles!"

"Long ago, they were in the human realm and granted bending to people when required. Eventually, they left earth and returned here. About six months back in your time, the creature entered the spirit world. It was unbelievable. No human had crossed over in thousands of years. He must have had a strong sense of spirituality and unearthed and studied ancient texts."

"He was quite the spiritual master when I met him."

"He found his way here and managed to extract the essence of the lion turtles."

"So he stole the essence from the lion turtles?"

"Yes...and now...the spirit world is out of balance...things have been becoming more and more chaotic", Jinora looked at Noor with desolate eyes.

"Oh no!" Noor gasped. "Can we do anything about it?"

"You will have to return the powers to them. It's the only way."


When Pipi returned to the tree of time, she was accompanied by another dragonfly bunny.

"Hi there, Furry-Foot", Jinora petted the spirit affectionately as she climbed on it.

Noor scrambled onto Pipi and once again found herself soaring through the blue skies. Soon, she saw a vast sea below them and as they began descending, she could see two figures standing on the shore. On landing, Noor saw a woman with a giant white dog like creature beside her.

"That's a polar bear dog", Jinora chuckled as they dismounted the bunnies.

"Of course it is", Noor shook her head.

"You must be Noor!" The woman rushed towards them grinning. "Finally! Took you long enough!"

With that, the woman hugged Noor and picked her off the ground. Noor yelped in surprise and hung awkwardly mid air. When she was finally placed back down, she rubbed her arms and stared at the woman.

"Who...who are you?"

"I'm Korra", the woman smiled, "I was an Avatar in the human realm many many centuries ago."

"An av...avatar?"

"Humans could only bend one of the four elements", Jinora replied, "but the Avatar could bend all four elements."

"We were the protectors of humans", Korra added, "it was our responsibility to maintain peace and balance."

Noor listened in awe as Jinora and Korra told her everything about Raava, Vaatu, Avatar Wan, the Avatar cycle, the four nations that existed during their time, the wars, the restored harmony, the spirit portals, the lion turtles, and so much more.

"Woah", Noor exhaled and sat down on the shore, "that's...a lot of information to process all at once."

Noor grabbed a fistful of sand and watched the grains scatter as she let them go.

"Tell me the truth", she looked up at them suddenly, "Am I dead? I must be dead. This is...so unreal...almost magical."

"I assure you", Korra chuckled, "you are not dead. See…", she pinched Noor's arm prompting her to scowl.

"Okay...okay", Noor rubbed her arm vigorously. "So what now? How do I give their essence...back?"

Just then, a rumbling sound echoed all around them. All at once, four giant bodies appeared in front of them, one arose from the water, one descended from the sky, one emerged from the forest behind them, and one from the sand in the distance.

"Are these...the lion turtles?" Noor's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yep", Korra grinned.