Book: Air
Ch.35 From Ashes comes Diamonds
The air was still on their quiet journey across the sky on their fluffy companion. Zuko sat in the back of Appa's saddle with his arms behind his head. Aang was at the reigns. They had left early the next morning to begin their mission together, and so far their trip had been very quiet. In fact, Aang never mentioned to Zuko as to where they would start their search for the phoenix prophet. But Zuko had a pretty good idea of where they were headed.
"You sure you want to head to the City of Ashes?" Zuko said against the wind. "Uncle told you that the City was destroyed by the Loyalists about a month ago. And Katara was last seen there."
"I'm sure if we poke around the ruins, we'll find something useful about the phoenix prophet." Aang said back to Zuko without turning around.
Zuko was surprised Aang wasn't trying to continue the conversation about Katara. Sokka was right to tell him that Aang was being heartless about this plan, Aang wasn't letting himself commit to finding Katara. He had assigned that job to Sokka. Aang chose to handle Ozai and finding the other prophet. But Zuko could tell that Aang was upset with his own plan.
Within a few hours, Appa came to a clearing of a field scoured with ash and burned debris. It was like a gray abandon wasteland that stretched about a mile wide. There were burnt foundations of what were once buildings and homes, and black sticks poking out of the ground that were once trees. This place looked like it had been attacked by some serious fire power.
But among the broken burnt wreckage, a lone building stood tall and beautiful. It was a massive building made of pure granite and finely crafted details. The roof was a doom made of strained glass. There were two huge stone phoenixes on the sides of the grand doors to the building. It was a magnificent structure that remained untouched by any flames or firepower. It was the only thing that remained fully intact among the gray ashes of the city. It seems that the city was now living up to its name, the City of Ashes.
The two young men stared in awe and wonder as to how that lone building could have survived.
"That's the Temple of Phoenixes. The City's culture and history lie in that temple. Ozai may have wanted to keep it preserved for a reason." Zuko said.
"I just hope that he did preserve more than just the temple." Aang flicked the reigns and directed Appa to descend.
As they landed the ashes picked up and bathed them in dust. With soft steps, they walked up to the temple. The grand entrance stood high above them with golden markings twisting all over the door. Being distracted by the door, a blast of fire exploded right in front of them that caught them off guard.
Aang and Zuko braced for a counterattack. Perhaps some Loyalists were still here and were vacating the temple.
"Be gone, you're not welcome here!" Shouted an old man's voice. Another blast was hit near the two men. Appa was groaning in a panic.
"Leave now! Or suffer the consequences of the great Phoenix spirits!!" Soon dozens of blast began bombarding the two. Aang lifted the earth from under the ashes to produce a shield over his friend and bison.
"Wait!"shouted a new voice, it sounded like it belonged to a young woman. "There's an earthbender among them, seize fire!"
The fire blasts stopped coming and it grew very quiet. Aang descend the shield back into the earth and looked around for the source of the voices. The grand doors opened a crack and an eye popped out.
"Who are you and what do you want? There's nothing left to take here!" it was the small old voice that was warning them away.
Aang slowly approached the temple, "I'm the Avatar. Is this temple under the control of the Loyalists?"
"The Avatar!" sounded the female voice from behind the doors. "Let them in grandfather!"
The door opened wider, the sunlight illuminated the old man behind the door. He had small eyes and a scorned confused face. He was dressed in deep red robes and held a staff with a point in one hand. The female behind the old man pushed passed him. Aang and Zuko were surprised that they had to lower their eye level to meet the big curious eyes of a young girl. She too was wearing deep red robes but they had a gold hemming on them. She didn't look any older than 8 years old. She looked up at Aang with fascinated eyes and a huge smile danced on her lips. Then she turned to Zuko and her eyes lit up in recognition.
"I remember you! You were Katara's friend, the FireLord." She gleamed.
"FireLord?" The old man became dumbfounded, Aang shared the old man's expression.
"Wait, you know of Katara?!" Aang stared down at the little girl.
The little girl nodded, "Yup, she came here to the city and was in need of medical treatment so…"
"Medical treatment? How bad was she hurt, who hurt her, where is she now?!!!" Aang grew frantic.
"I'm so sorry Mister Avatar, but she left a long time ago back in Ba Sing Sai." The girl's voice softened.
Aang's confused expression never faded.
"Please come inside and we can talk about this with some tea." The little girl motioned them inside.
The old man and the little girl led the two men inside. The doors were big enough for Appa to fit through, he was following close behind his master. The little girl motioned them to some cushions just down the grand room they were in. Then she and the old man disappeared into a smaller room.
Zuko and Aang sat down on the cushions which were placed in front of a giant golden phoenix. The grand room must be the sanctuary to hold a service for the phoenix spirits. On the ceiling was the dome, it was painted with elaborate designs of people and phoenixes in strained glass. The pictures mend as if they were telling a story. The sunlight made the figures pop out and illuminate with importance.
"You know that girl?" Aang asked Zuko as he drew his attention away from the ceiling.
Zuko had busied his gaze at the giant bird statue in front of them, "Yes, while I was here, Katara was staying with her and her family. I've never seen that old man before thou."
"She mentioned that Katara had left Ba Sing Sai, did they ever talk about going there?"
"No, they didn't discuss too much. I was just passing by here, I tried to get Katara to come with me but she refused."
"For what reason?"
Zuko looked down at his hands, he tried to hold back the memories of Katara that one night he stayed here, "She said she had to fulfill her own mission, but she failed to explain what she meant."
Aang looked even more disappointed.
"Tea is here!" exclaimed the cheerful little girl. She entered the room with a pot in her hands, the old man was close behind with handfuls of cups. Soon they were all gathered around in a circle, each with a brewed cup of tea in their hands.
Aang kept staring mysteriously at the little girl, waiting for her to say something. But she was too busy smiling and quietly sipping her tea. Aang had to start his investigation, "So what are your names?"
"My name is Mayra." The little girl perked up. "And this is my grandfather, but you can call him Gran-Po." She giggled.
"Nice to meet you Mayra, may I ask you as to how you met Katara?"
"If I told you, will you go looking for her?"
Aang bit his lip, "I would just like to know if she's safe."
Mayra looked a little hurt by Aang's answer. She cleared her throat, "It's a very long story, I've already told my grandfather about her. I saw Katara floating down the river that runs outside the city. It was in the middle of the winter so there was ice in the water. Since the river runs right behind my house, my brother and I were the first to see her. She was cold and asleep. At first we thought she would be a bad criminal who escaped from jail because she was wearing jail clothes. But she was a good person who was captured by the Loyalists, which I think are mean people. My father is a Loyalists but I don't see him a lot. But he's a bad man now. He took my mother and brother away from me, and left me behind. He said that he couldn't take an earthbender like me. He and his friends burned down our house and the city. Katara and I escaped with others, she helped save a lot of people. She used her waterbending to heal and put out some of the fires. We all ran away safely together, but we were afraid that the Loyalists might come after us. So we all separated in different directions. Me and Katara went to Ba Sing Sai together in the early spring so I could go live with my grandfather. And then she told me that she had to leave, she seemed very upset that she had to leave me behind. After she left, my grandfather and I came back home to see if the temple was still here. But all the sieges in here are gone."
"Has anything else been stolen, was one of those sieges an important person?" Aang questioned, he hoped that Loyalists didn't capture the phoenix prophet. The prophet would have to be among the sieges.
The old man straightened up, "All sieges of this temple are important. But no, nothing was stolen from this temple. And if they did steal I'll curse them for it. I'll have the great spirits haunt them for all eternity if they ever come back."
"So what made you want to come back?"
Mayra looked at her grandfather, their eyes locked as if they were sending each other a mental message. Mayra spoke, "I was given a message from the Phoenix spirits that I have become a siege and should return to the temple."
Aang's eyes lit up, "I see. Well the night is growing long, could we sleep here for the night?"
"Of course." Mayra smiled. Aang smiled.
The temple grew very dark and quiet. Mayra and her grandfather had laid out their sleeping mats in front of the giant phoenix. Meanwhile Appa stayed in the grand room, Zuko was asleep in the saddle, and Aang laid wide awake on Appa's paw. His eyes kept looking at Mayra's sleeping figure. She was so tiny, but she reminded him an awful lot like Katara. She was kind, happy, brave, and very commanding in a gentle way. It made Aang feel comfortable and at the same time sad and disappointed. He was happy to have met someone who knew more about Katara, but it still wasn't enough. Mayra described the situations that Katara was put through, but Mayra didn't describe Katara's emotions. And he couldn't ask Mayra to answer him about that because she would be too young to understand the complications between Katara and him. Aang didn't want an innocent sweet child to get involved in his problems. But there was still so much that he didn't know about Katara. Surely Katara had to have mentioned why she was running away to someone. Mayra seemed very attached to Katara, maybe she does know the reason why Katara is abandoning him. Aang had to know, but he mustn't go after Katara, he just had to know why. He had to know if she was still in love with him, if they still had a chance to be together in the future. Aang was fulfilling this cold hearted plan so that he could be with her in the future where they wouldn't have to worry about evil anymore. He just had to know if the pain in his heart right now was worth it. He was abandoning her for a future together, but that future will only come true if she truly desired him.
The aching urge was becoming too much for Aang. He sat up and quietly stepped over to Mayra. She was fast sleep. Her figure looked a lot like Katara when she would sleep, but it was more of cute childish way. It made Aang smile, but then he shook his head. He softly nudged her shoulder. She stirred and Aang shushed her. He grabbed her and threw her on his back and softly ran out of the grand doors.
Mayra rubbed her large eyes, "Mister Avatar, why did you wake me? Could you sleep?" Mayra yawned.
"No, I still have so many questions I have to ask you. But it doesn't seem right from me to ask them. But Katara was staying with your family right?"
Mayra nodded.
"If I returned your family to you, would you being willing to answer all of my questions?"
That question woke Mayra right up, "Mister Avatar, you want to save my mother and brother?"
"Yes, its my way of saying thanks for taking care of Katara. It doesn't seem fair that your family was taken from you. I, as the Avatar, will do everything that I can to bring your family back."
Mayra stared wide eyed at Aang, then she captured him in a big hug. "Oh thank you Mister Avatar!"
Aang shushed her.
Mayra reduced her voice to a whisper, "Its been a long time since I've seen my mommy and brother. I miss them very much. When the Loyalists took them away, I thought I would be all alone. But then Katara came and saved me. And then I wasn't alone anymore. She took care of me, even when I knew I should be taking care of her. She became almost like my mom, but now she's gone too. I want my mommy back. Katara should go back to you, I know that she loves you, I just know it. And I know that you love her, so why should two people who love each other be separated? Why should I be separated from my mommy and brother?" Mayra began sobbing into Aang's shirt.
Mayra was such a small little girl involved in a big cruel environment. She was so small that Aang was able to lifted her up and hug her tight to his chest. He rubbed the small girl's back and rocked side to side.
"Its ok Mayra. I'll help you find your mother and brother. I will get them back to you, I promise."
"I want to come with you." Mayra cried between sobs.
"No, I will be going behind enemy lines. It's no place for a little girl like you. You need to stay protected." Aang spoke in a gentle voice.
"But I'm an earthbender, I can fight, and you can train me. They're my family, I want to save them with you."
"We might run into the leader of the Loyalists, Ozai. And he won't take…."
"I know Ozai, and I know that my father is not going to Ozai. I heard him talking to my mom once. He said that he wanted to take her and my brother somewhere, where they could be happy and he promised they wouldn't be too close around that guy because my mom hated him. But then she got mad that he didn't want to bring me and said that I had to go with him too. But he wouldn't take me because I was an earthbender and that would be dangerous." Mayra cried.
"Did he say where he might take them?"
"He said someplace along Chameleon Bay, in the mountains. So are we going?"
"I will take you, but if it gets too dangerous, I want you to stay behind me. Got it?"
Mayra wiped her tears away and smiled wide for him, "Got it."