*I own nothing associated with Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, I do claim my character: Kaida.

DONT FORGET TO REVIEW! Let's see if this story can get 70 reviews before the end! :D Tell your friends and everybody you know that likes this sort of stuff to read and review! :3

I do not own the OC Xing La; she belongs to NejisDarkNymph.

Also, I do not own King Jonei; he belongs to VaMpIreRoCk2389 (Sorry he didn't make it into this chapter, next one, I promise!)

The next day, Kaida awoke in her bed. She yawned and stretched, taking in her surroundings. "I'm home?" She asked herself, looking around at the blue walls with the ice on the windows. Last night was a blurry and vague memory.

She opened her hand and stared down at the marking she was convinced wouldn't be there. Her eyes widened as she flew out of bed and pulled books off of the shelf in the opposite side of her bedroom.

She flipped through the pages and finally found an illustration that matched the one on her hand. "The Mark of La. Legend says that centuries ago, when the spirits of the world were being decided, every spirit was marked on their human hand. Once the human died, they turned into the spirit they were marked as. La-the Ocean Spirit's mark was a circle with the waves of the ocean surrounding it with a fish around the side in the shape of a crescent moon. The marking was deep blue, and once the human La passed, he was reincarnated as the ocean spirit." Kaida began, and she choked on her words.

"Although, if La marks another; he is still the overall Ocean Spirit; just as Tui shall always be the overall Moon Spirit, powers may be passed on to another spirit who can travel to our world, have the powers of La, and can become the new symbol of the ocean while Tui and La remain in the human world at the Spirit Oasis to keep the balance of the moon and ocean." Kaida finished and wiped the tears away.

She shut the book and stared at the marking in her hand. It was just as the book described. "So I guess Yue's hair was Tui's marking, right?" A sad but familiar voice said from the corner of the room. Kaida turned and stared into the sad golden eyes of Zuko.

She sat on the corner of her bed and nodded. "I suppose." She replied with a sigh.

Zuko shivered slightly in the icy cool room. Kaida was used to these temperatures, being as though she lived at the North Pole. She stood and walked to Zuko, her long sleeves almost touching the floor. She walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her cheek touching his scar. Zuko blushed slightly and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Did you mean what you said last night?" Zuko asked, breaking the pleasant silence the two had made.

Kaida's face turned scarlet. Zuko could feel the heat from her face on his cheek. "Of course I did Zuko, but-." She began.

"But what? But you have a duty to Tui and La to stay here trapped forever until you die then be trapped again? But you made a promise to Arnook to marry Sokka? But you think your people want you here forever? But what Kaida?" Zuko asked, trying his hardest to hold back the tears.

Kaida unlaced her arms from his neck and walked away. "But I have to make a decision, Zuko." She muttered.

Zuko stood, pushing the hair back from his eyes. "What's the decision Kaida?" Zuko asked, his voice now soft.

Kaida stepped behind a divider and slipped out of the long night-robe. She grabbed the light purple dress that she hadn't wore since before she met Aang. She put it on over her underwrappings and stepped away, sitting down at the mirror and brushing out the long wild mess of hair. "If I should follow my heart or follow Arnook's orders." She replied, doing her hair up like she used to every day, before her life took a different route.

Zuko turned and stared out the window, rubbing his sore eyes. "Don't you remember what Yue said last night?" Zuko asked with a yawn.

Last night was the first night he had slept in five days. Even then he only managed to sleep for four hours at the most.

Kaida stopped braiding her hair and turned to Zuko. "No, what did she say?" She asked, a sudden curiosity sparking inside her.

"Yue said to follow your heart Kiki." Zuko said, using the sweet nickname that she was once called many years ago.

Kaida sighed and rubbed her forehead. "That's what she always says." She muttered.

"Well she is trying to give you the best advice she can." Sokka said, entering the room.

"What do you mean?" Kaida asked, obviously not surprised that anyone could enter her room as they pleased now.

"Yue did everything Arnook said to, she thought that everything was more important than herself, when I told her that her duty was to her heart, she said that she had duties to her people too. But look what happened, Kaida, Yue died. Yue never got to be completely happy, she never got to be free or fall in love and get married. She's trying to save you from making the same mistake she made." Sokka said, a tear rolling down his cheek in memory of his lost love.

Zuko gave a thank-you smile to Sokka. Kaida sighed and turned to the two. "Yue really didn't, did she?" Kaida asked, tears filling her bright blue eyes.

"No Kaida, she didn't. She wants you to enjoy your life before you have to be a spirit like her." Sokka said and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"So, did you decide yet?" Zuko whispered, hoping that she chose him.

Kaida sighed and looked at the two men before her. One she had grown up with, spent every day of her young life walking his gardens, laughing at his jokes, secretly wanting him. The same she also thought of as a heartless monster at once, then fell madly in love with that same person. The other appeared just when she needed a supportive and helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, a reliable and trustworthy ally. The same that also once loved her cousin, and was now engaged to marry her. One was the path her heart was taking, and the other was the path Arnook told her to take. One gave his blood to save her, and the other gave up his happiness so she wouldn't marry someone she hated.

Her eyes flicked from Zuko to Sokka, Sokka to Zuko. "Please Kaida..." Zuko whispered.

Kaida turned and wiped the tears with her sleeves.

"I..." She began. Zuko's eyes sparked with hope. Sokka's happiness grew, thinking she had finally made the right decision.

"Go on." Sokka urged, a huge smile across his face.

"I..." She bit her lip, tears stinging her eyes once more.

"Please Kiki..." Zuko whispered.

"I...I.." Kaida breathed heavily, sadness and confusion clouding her mind all at once.

"Come on Kaida..." The two men said in unison.

"I, I need a moment!" Kaida shouted and ran out the room, her eyes bursting into a waterfall of tears as she ran away from both of the paths she was given to choose from. She ran down her own blurry and sad path, which led straight to the only place she felt safe-the Spirit Oasis.