Note: From now on and until I stop doing so, any dreams that occur in this story, will be in the point of view of the person who is dreaming the dream. So expect the dreams to be in First person point of view.
Disclaimer: Neither do I own Avatar: The last air bender, nor do I own the characters. Although, I own the plot and Sayuri and any other characters(ex: Hiroto, Sora, Kouki, Ping, the five elders)
that I may have created in this story, though not all of them will be mentioned in the chapter. Please read and review. Enjoy.
Mysterious Dreams: Finding yourself
CHAPTER 38
Sayuri sat on the edge of a white, fluffy cloud. She sighed, watching the scenes below her unfold.
"Sayuri" Kouki whispered, settling down beside her.
She glanced up at him, putting on a small smile.
He sighed. "I know that look, Sayuri."
"What look?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Stop playing dumb." he replied, "What's on your mind?"
This time, Sayuri sighed. "Nothing." she whispered, "Just…" She trailed off, shaking her head.
"Just what?" he urged her.
A tear slid down her face as she responded. "The fact that I'll never be able to actually touch my own son hurts."
Kouki frowned. "Sayuri…" he whispered, gently dabbing her tears away with his thumb. He went to collect her sobbing form in her hands, but she shook his arms off. "Sayuri?"
"Just…Just leave me alone?" she asked, "I want to be alone right now."
"But…" he urged, not wanting to leave.
"Just go! Please." she insisted.
He sighed. "Alright, but…I'll be back to check on you later." He stood up, and left.
Sayuri sighed once she was alone. After several minutes of staring down from the clouds, she stood up.
She moved her feet back and forth, as if she were dancing to nature's music. She shut her eyes as she soared around in the sky. She twirled around, then slowly floated back down to the clouds. Knelt down, her head on her knees, her dance complete.
In the background, wolves were crying. The sky was dark, and the moon was out. The sole light from the moon glistened the tall grasses.
"Katara" Aang called, grinning.
The girl looked up from the pair of pants she was knitting fix. "Yeah, Aang?"
Beaming, he exclaimed "Dance with me."
She seemed confused. "What?" she whispered.
"Dance with me" he repeated.
"But…there's no music." she pointed out.
He just shrugged. "Sure there is." he said, gesturing to the calm night. "The sound of the wolves is enough music."
She glanced down, blushing slightly. "I don't know, Aang…" She glanced up, and gasped. Aang now stood in front of her, with his hands out.
"Dance with me." he said again. There was no nervousness in his voice; not tonight.
Giving in, she sighed. "Alright." She stood, placing her hands in Aang's outstretched ones. "I don't know how to dance, though." she whispered.
Leaning in, Aang whispered in her ear. "Follow my lead."
The girl nodded, and followed the boy's steps. And soon after dancing for a couple of minutes, the girl had let loose, and was dancing with the boy freely, not a care in the world.
Back in the clouds, Sayuri had finished her own dancing and was now watching the display going on in the grounds below her.
She smiled. Then a thought occurred to her.
"Feeling better?" Kouki asked her, popping out of no where.
She jumped up, startled. "Oh, you scared me, Kouki! Never do that again." she told him, "And, to answer your question…yes, I am."
"Good." he responded. He then noticed the new thoughtful expression painted on her face. "What's on your mind now?"
"Nothing…" she blurted out too soon.
He crossed his arms, "What are you up to?"
Sayuri sighed, caught. "Nothing big." she responded. He arched his eyebrows up, and she explained "I was thinking…why not give them something to dance about?"
"What?" asked Kouki, confused. He then glanced down from the clouds, and saw what Sayuri had been studying a few moments ago; the dancing couple, Aang and Katara. He smiled.
"Snow." she whispered, softly.
"Snow?" he asked.
She nodded. "Kouki, let's give them snow!"
He grinned, nodding. "Sounds like a plan, Sayuri."
"Really?" she questioned, she had been unsure of him agreeing so quickly and easily.
He nodded. "Yeah." he replied, "Let's do this."
She nodded back, closing her eyes. He then followed her lead, closing his own eyes as well.
Together, they chanted "Love is here," their voices were in sync, "A fire is brewing…Snow is cold and happiness." There was a pause before together they finished with, "Let snow rain upon the current lovers and wash away the burning fire, and leave them warm inside, yet happy all around."
When they finished with their chant, they slowly opened their eyes to witness the first fall of snow.
Sayuri grinned, watching snowflakes fall down, all around the two dancing benders. "We did it!" She squealed.
Kouki nodded, smiling. "We did…" He turned his head to look at Sayuri; She did the same.
She gasped, losing herself in his eyes.
"Sayuri…" he whispered, leaning closer to her.
"Kouki…" she responded, leaning in as well.
"I love you." he said, capturing her lips with his own. She smiled into the kiss.
Pulling away, she smiled at him. "I love you, too." she said before connecting her lips with his once more.
Feeling cold drops of snow fall on his bald head, Aang glanced up. He gasped. Katara gasped as well, looking up at the sky.
"It's…" She started to whisper.
"SNOW!" exclaimed Aang, finishing her sentence. He threw himself down on the ground, back touching the snow. He moved his arms and legs around.
She giggled. "What are you doing?"
"Making snow angels" he replied.
She smiled. She knelt down to the ground, and collected a handful of snow.
Getting up from the ground, Aang watched her closely. "What are you doing?" he asked.
She smirked. "You'll see."
Aang leaned on the ground, holding himself up with his elbows as he observed her.
Katara patted the snow in her hands into a ball.
"Katara?" he questioned, seeing the look on her face. "What are-" he was cut off by the ball of snow that hit him directly in the face. He laughed, "Hey!" He stood up.
She shrugged, innocently.
"Oh, it's so on!" he exclaimed, collecting snow. "Snow ball fight!" he declared, throwing the ball of snow that he made towards her.
She put her hands in front of herself, using her bending to take apart the well put together ball of snow.
"Hey no fair!" yelled Aang, laughing.
"Never said we couldn't use bending!" she retorted.
He opened his mouth to respond, but his words were cut off as a ball of snow that had been thrown at him, went inside his mouth. He shut his mouth, and waited for it to melt. Once the snow melted, he swallowed the watery remains.
"Next time, keep your mouth close!" she taunted playfully, "Wouldn't want to choke on snow!"
He laughed, a plan in his mind. He moved his hands around, picking up a huge amount of snow.
Katara watched him carefully. Her mouth widened as she witnessed that the snowball was almost as big as her.
"Giant snowball!" yelled out Aang, throwing it towards her.
Katara held her hands up, attempting to halt the huge ball of snow. Fortunately, her bending was able to shrink the snowball down a notch; Unfortunately, her bending wasn't able to stop all of it before it reached her. The now medium-size snowball hit her in the gut, causing her to lose her footing, and land bottom first in the soft, cold blanket of snow.
Witnessing her fall, Aang's eyes widened. Afraid that he had caused her any harm, he rushed to her side. "Katara!" he exclaimed. Although she was laughing, he asked her anyways. "Are you…okay?"
She glanced up, still laughing. She held a finger up, as she tried to halt her giggles. Once she was in control of herself again, she nodded, smiling. "Am I okay?" she said.
He nodded. "Are you?"
She laughed, happily. "Are you kidding me? Of course I'm okay!" she assured him. She giggled, "That was…the most fun I have ever had in a long time!"
Aang released a breath of air - that he hadn't been aware that he had been holding in- in relief.
"Good" he said, "Come le-" he began but was cut off by a pull on his feet that made him fall down and land beside her. He laughed, "Katara!"
Her eyes were gleaming with happiness, and playfulness. Slowly, she crawled towards him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"What are-" he started, but was cut short when Katara leaped on him, trapping him underneath her. Catching his breath, he asked "What are you doing?"
She smiled at him. "Let's have fun!" she said, "Let's wrestle in the snow."
Aang arched an eyebrow, glancing carefully at the girl that laid on top of him. "Wrestle?" he questioned. "Are you sure you want to….Wrestle?"
She nodded, happily. As if reading his mind, she said "Not the kind of wrestling that Toph's into."
"Oh" he replied, "What kind of wrestling then?"
Grinning, she responded "The playful kind."
Aang laughed, happily. "Alright. Let's play." And then, the game of wrestling began.
After several minutes of wrestling in the snow, they had stopped, out of breath. In the end of their little game, Aang was on top and Katara underneath him. Both of them were panting, trying to catch their breaths.
"Wow." Katara whispered, smiling.
Aang beamed, agreeing. "Yeah…" he whispered, glancing down at the girl underneath him. "That was fun." he looked her in the eyes.
Katara nodded, slowly. "We should do it again…sometime…." she whispered, losing her words as her eyes locked with his grey ones.
Aang smiled softly, "Agreed…" He was leaning closer to her.
"Aang…" she whispered, completely lost in his eyes now.
He replied with, "Katara…" And then, he had her lips captured by his own.
Throwing her arms that were once laying limp on the snow covered ground around Aang's torso, she shut her eyes in complete bliss.
He pulled away, seconds later. He was blushing, and so was she. Noticing their compromising position, he let himself lay beside the girl. He had a silly smile plastered on his face, and Katara had a small smile eternally glued on her face.
"Aang" Katara whispered, softly.
He turned his head to look at her. "Yeah, Katara?" he asked.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked him.
He nodded. "Anything." he replied, smiling.
Katara smiled back. She sighed, happily. "I…" she started, "Aang, I love you."
Caught by surprise, Aang jumped up into a sitting position. "Really?" he exclaimed.
She giggled at his reaction.
Blushing, Aang cleared his throat, and tried to say in a more manly tone. "I mean…Really? That's cool."
Katara smiled, holding in her laughter. "Yes, really" she told him, letting out a few giggles.
His eyes grew large with emotion. He beamed. "Awesome!" again he cleared his throat, "I mean…" But he was cut off by a pair of lips, that pulled off way too soon for his liking.
She was grinning. "Aang" she said, "I know what you mean, you don't have to explain."
He nodded. "Okay." he said; he took a deep breath, "But, there is one thing I have to tell you." She nodded, waiting for him to say what he needed to say. "Katara…" he began, "I love you as well."
Katara giggled; Aang frowned. She slapped his side playfully until he himself smiled. "I know that…although, it was great hearing you say it anyways."
The snow had stopped, the only evidence that it had ever snowed was the white blanket underneath the two.
In the clouds, Aang's parents had been watching the scenes before them unravel. Kouki had his arms latched around Sayuri's waist, and she had her arm wrapped around his neck.
Sayuri's cheeks were stained with fallen tears, and her eyes were watery. Kouki looked no better. He had a soft, small smile on his face and tears trailed down his face.
Now, he finally understood Sayuri's previous mood. "It's a shame…" he whispered, watching his son hug the girl he loved.
Pulling her eyes away from the loving scene below, Sayuri looked at her husband. "What is?"
Kouki smiled softly. "Just that, while we can always watched him grow and love, we'll never actually be there for him as he struggles to grow or when love starts to rotten for him." He sighed, "I wish we could take it all back."
"Take all back, Kouki?" she questioned.
He shook his head, clenching his teeth as spoke. "Why did the fire nation have to ruin our happiness?" he asked, sadly. The pain showed clearly in his eyes. "Why?"
"Kouki…" she whispered, her eyes wide.
"I've never even talked to my own son…" he said, softly. He closed his eyes, attempting to halt the falling tears but to no avail.
Sayuri could feel his pain; She shut her own eyes, and sadly sighed. "Kouki" she said, her voice firm. He glanced up. "Next time I go down to Earth to see Aang…" she paused as she fought to stay strong for Kouki, she swallowed back a sob. "You are coming with me." She said, her voice breaking with emotion.
"What?" he asked. Kouki's tears had stopped for the moment, but his eyes still gleamed with sadness.
She repeated with more sureness, "When I go down to Earth, you will come with me."
As much as he loved that idea, he had to ask. "How can you be so sure that Sora will allow that?" he paused, "And what about Hiroto? What will he think?"
"Who cares what Hiroto thinks?" she responded, "And, I know Sora. He wouldn't deny us this."
Kouki smiled, slightly. "Alright."
Sayuri smiled in return. She grasped his hand in her own, and pulled him with her, towards the gold doors.
"Where are we going?" he asked, once she had paused in front of the gold doors. He watched her, as she fiddled with her pockets, trying to find the keys. "The doors are open" he said.
Sayuri nodded, halting her searched. She pushed the doors open, and then pulled Kouki inside. Once inside, she shut the door with her free hand before resuming pulling Kouki down the halls towards a familiar room.
"Where are going?" he asked again, as he was pulled this way and that.
His question went unanswered as she pulled his through a hall that had the walls painted a royal blue, and portraits hanging on the walls. One particular painting was called 'The last feast'; it was of a group of monks sitting at a table, but one monk in the painting stood out since he was wearing a different color wardrobe than the rest. And, all of them were holding a glass up in toast, also in the middle of the table were plates of vegetables; in the foreground of the painting, several animals were painted staring at the monks as they feasted, the animals themselves were painted to be wearing crowns, which resembled how great the monks' love for all animals really was.
She stopped in front of huge double doors, and Kouki arched an eyebrow. "Sora's room?" She nodded. "We could just wait to see him in the morning…" he said, "He may be asleep already." But, Sayuri had ways of changing his mind.
"Sora likes to stay up late to make sure everything is balanced." she argued, "He never goes to bed until all is good and calm. And besides, this can't wait for tomorrow."
Giving in, he shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "Alright, you've convinced me."
Sayuri nodded to herself as she knocked softly on the doors.
Seconds later, the doors opened. Sora greeted them both with a smile.
"Kouki, Sayuri" he said, "What brings you two here at a time like this?"
"Actually sir…" Kouki started, "Sayuri wanted to talk with you."
Sora glanced towards Sayuri. "Is that so?"
She nodded, slowly. "Yes."
Gesturing for them both to enter, he said "Come in, come in."
Sayuri entered, Kouki following behind her.
Sora sat down on a chair. "Sit, sit." he insisted, gesturing to the more than enough amount of chairs.
Sayuri nodded, plopping down on the closest chair.
Kouki shrugged, saying "I'm fine standing"
Sora nodded, getting to the point. "So, what did you need to talk to me about, Sayuri?"
"Well, it's more like a question…" she said.
"Ask away." he replied.
"Tomorrow when I go to visit Aang…Could I take Kouki? Please?" she asked.
Sora smiled. "I figured one day you would come to me with that question." he said.
"Please Sora-Wait, what?" she asked him.
Sora shrugged. "The answer to your question is sure. He can go with you. After all, for all this to work, Aang will need to meet his father at one point. So why not tomorrow?"
"Really?" whispered Sayuri.
Sora smiled, and nodded. "Really." he said. There was a pause, "Also, before you came in here, I was just about to walk down to wherever you were, and suggest you take Kouki with you."
"Seriously?" Kouki asked, grinning.
Sora nodded. "You two practically saved me the trouble of searching everywhere for the two of you and from having to bring about the topic." he said.
"Glad that we could help then" Sayuri said. She got up, and placed her hand in Kouki's. "Come on."
"Where are we going now?" he asked.
Sayuri rolled her eyes, laughing softly. "We need our rest, if we're to go down to Earth."
"She's right, Kouki." Sora added, "It takes an awful lot of energy to go from the heavens to Earth, and once you are down in Earth, you're basically solid as a human." He stood up, "That reminds me, if he shall be going down with you, he'll need a couple of things." He picked up a box of items, and handed them to Kouki.
Opening the box, Kouki asked "What is all this stuff, Sora?"
"The ring is to make you visible, though Aang can see you with or without it, it lets the rest of them see you as well." he paused, "The cape makes you invisible, you place it around yourself to hide away from everyone, including anyone who can see a ghost without the help of the ring." he stopped to take a breather, "And everything else in that box, I need you to show to Aang. It's all proof of who you are." he finished explaining.
"Okay." Kouki said, shutting the box. "Thanks."
Sora nodded, and watched Sayuri walk out the doors with Kouki by her side.
It was still night time, and everyone was asleep. Aang was laying against Appa. He had a smile on his face, but then his eyebrows scrunched up as his dream progressed.
"Who are you…" he whispered in his sleep.
The sky was clear, and the sun was shinning. I was playing with Momo when it happened, when they came. It had been a lady and a man. I recognized the lady as my mother. Though, I had never seen the man that stood beside her. But by the way they were holding hands, I could guess the man meant something to my mother. I walked towards them, slowly. I had so many questions but one rang stronger inside my head. Who was this man? And what was he doing with my mother?
"Mom" I spoke, breaking whatever trance the man before me had placed her in but quickly as it broke, it had been fixed. "Who are you?" I said towards the man, a venom-like hatred leaking in my tone of voice.
I was expecting my mother to retreat from the man when I showed my obvious distaste of the man, but she didn't. Nor did she explain who he was. I didn't really want to hear this man talk, I wanted answers from my mother, not a stranger. At least, I thought he was a stranger.
"Aang" the man began. Great, I thought. How does he know my name? Maybe my mother told him that much of me. "I am your-"
Before he could hear what the man was going to say, his eyes snapped open, and he jumped up. Sweat covered his brow, and he was panting. He glanced up towards the sky. It was still dark, barely even morning. He sighed, and settled back down. He closed his eyes, letting sleep take him once more.
Author's note:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I used music from my TV( for scenes with Sayuri, I used 'Soundscapes' and scenes in Earth, I mostly used the channel called 'Sounds of the season') to help me try and get a setting or something right.
I hope that I portrayed the characters well for your liking. I am sure though that in the playful scene with Aang and Katara, they might have been out of character. Let me know if you think that. But, if they were, let me just say that it was needed then.
Overall, please click the button underneath and write up a review, letting me know what you thought of this chapter(What do you like about my writing? Do I need to improve on anything? Any advice on how to improve as a better writer or to improve my story? Any thoughts?) But please, refrain from leaving me flames. Thank you.