Reeling with nerves, I couldn't help but fidget as we all flew towards Ba Sing Se, with a scheduled stop along the way. The place where my mother had told me to meet her, where she was waiting for me. The moment Aang heard my mother had contacted me, he insisted that we go there so that I didn't have to wait any longer before I could see my mother again, but now I was starting to feel sick. "If you don't stop wriggling like that, I'm going to throw up on you, you're making me feel air sick moving around so much." Toph complained at me so I did my best to sit still.
"Sorry, I'm just nervous. It's been more than a year since I last saw my mom, I just…I can't help but wonder if she'll be mad I didn't come find her sooner." I worried, hugging my knees against me.
"No way, your mom's probably heard all about how you helped end the war and understands that you had other things to take care of." Sokka reasoned, his leg still in a cast as it wasn't full healed yet, though he rather enjoyed being nursed by Suki and usually milked it for all it was worth. "She's got to be proud of you, right?"
"Sokka's right Kayo. Your mom will understand that you were doing your part in protecting the balance of the world. I bet she'll just be so happy to see you again." Katara agreed as Zuko smiled and reached out to take my hand, holding it gently and wrapping his fingers around mine.
"She'll be the proudest mom in the world, and if she doesn't know how amazing you were, we'll tell her." Giving a weak laugh, I thanked everyone and took a deep breath as Appa growled, as if also trying to comfort me so I reached over the saddle and rubbed his side. "Thank you Appa, I appreciate that."
"We're almost there, hang on guys! Appa, yip-yip!" Giving a burst of speed, Appa started to descend from the clouds where the Earth Kingdom coast came into view and I quickly leaned over side to look down. I couldn't see anything yet, but when the large town started to grow bigger, I began to recognise something down below.
"There! That's them! That's my troupe!" I cried out excitedly, pointing down as I saw fire benders dancing in the square, performing the Soaring Dragon dance and to my surprise, there were even earth benders dancing with them. They must have already started to accept one another openly now that the war was over, which was a relief to see. Appa landed but before his feet had even touched the ground I was out of the saddle and dropping down, taking off into a sprint as my troupe continued their dance, fire dragons circling through the air as earth mounds rose up and down, lifting familiar faces I had known since birth high into the air in order to flip, leap and spring through the loops the fire dragons made until one of them saw me running towards them.
"Kayo! It's Kayo! Kayo's returned!" Suddenly everything came to a stop, the cheering crowd murmuring in confusion as I broke through, pushing my way through the thick throngs of people until finally I stepped out into the open to see a swarm of people I called family, everyone already tearing up and calling my name.
"Kayo! You finally found us Kayo!"
"Kayo over here!"
"Look how big you've grown, and so skinny too! You look beautiful Kayo!" Soon enough I was surrounded by everyone, hugging and kissing me as I felt their love wash over me and I felt like I was finally home until suddenly, they all hushed one another and parted to reveal the figure of a lovely woman standing there, hands covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face. Her eyes shone like warm honey and her hair, which used to be pure black silk was now streaked with dark grey, as if the last year had aged her rapidly.
Behind me I sensed Zuko and the others also arrive, seeing me staring at this one woman until all at once, I ran towards her and cried out with everything I'd buried away in my heart, throwing myself into her arms as we both sobbed. "Mom!"
"Kayo!" We cried in each other's arms and the moment I felt her arms circle around me to pull me in close, I knew then that I really was home. She smelled just like I remembered and all the sweeter for how much I had missed the scent, the subtle softness of her skin over firm muscles built from years of dancing and performing whilst her willowy fingers stroked my hair as our tears began to intermingle, plum coloured lips kissing at my face and cheek as she held me. "Kayo…my precious little girl. You finally found your way home."
"I'm sorry mom, sorry it took me so long. You won't believe the crazy adventures I've been on, I can't wait to tell you everything." I sniffled, starting to bring my tears under control as we gazed at one another, unwilling to break apart but I did look over my shoulder. "These are my friends, mom. My greatest friends in the whole world. I couldn't be where I am today without them, and some of them are even my kin. From my father's side." I revealed, making her eyes widen before she smiled at me.
"You really have been through a lot. Come on, let's invite your friends in and you can tell everybody everything. I have a feeling it's going to be a very long story." The motherly tone of her voice sounded like music to my ears as I hugged her again, burying my face against her until she led me away and invited everyone to follow. The troupe welcomed me back with huge grins and laughter, promising to be back soon after they'd finished the show whilst mom brought me to their camp. I introduced my friends, and my mom was a little surprised to meet the Avatar as well as Fire Lord Zuko, looking at me quickly. "Just what kind of crazy trouble have you been getting yourself into?"
"Hey, why do just naturally assume I get myself into trouble?" I protested, making the others laugh as Zuko answered.
"Because you always make trouble no matter where you go."
"I do not!"
"I can think of at least eight different times you were the main cause of trouble because you were messing around."
"Really Zuko? I help you become Fire Lord and this is the thanks I get? I'm still waiting on that title you promised me, you know." I teased him, everyone getting settled as food was made. When the rest of my troupe returned, it became even rowdier. I leaped from person to person, hugging everyone in turn and knowing them all by name as the others also introduced themselves and quickly being recognised as the heroes of the world.
"Haha! I can't believe our little Kayo, who was more laid back than a snail-sloth last time we saw her, helped these kids save the world!" Pei Wu boomed with laughter as he slapped me on the back and almost knocked me into the floor. "So Kayo, tell us everything! Start with the day we lost you in the storm, what happened?"
"Well, it goes like this…" Beginning to regale everybody with the epic tale of my adventure, I stood in front of everybody as they sat and listened ardently, eating food made by Wu Lang as I acted out certain scenes and held nothing back. Zuko protested when I described him as an irritable, grouchy and moody prince whose sole obsession was capturing the Avatar, but everyone else agreed that my description was pretty accurate so he couldn't argue.
I made sure to not miss out a single detail, telling them how I learned how to manage a Fire Nation warship as well as now to read the stars, how to play instruments and how to make the perfect tea, then carried on with the story, including incidents where I crossed paths with Aang, Sokka and Katara. Anytime I'd mention Sokka, he'd excitedly stick up his hand and yell. "That's me! I'm Sokka! Tell them that joke I said!" The story took so long to finish that it was starting to get dark by the time I was done, finishing with me beating Azula, helping secure the palace and Zuko being crowned. "Then I got a message through Hakoda that you guys were here waiting for me, so here I am!" I spread my arms and bowed as my family all cheered, amazed with my story.
"So you're a real water bending master now Kayo? That's amazing!" The twins, Sorna and Seyla breathed in wonder.
"Well I wouldn't say master…"
"She is." Katara spoke up, smiling at me warmly. "Kayo is a gifted water bender and learned faster than I could teach. She has her own unique style which she takes from her skills in dance and athletics. It's actually really beautiful to watch." She said and I touched a hand to my chest, signalling that I was touched she would say that to me. She really believed I was a master now? I didn't need anymore training?
"Show us! Show us Kayo!" Some of the younger performers pleaded so I looked at my mother who nodded her head, smiling at me with such joyfulness that I couldn't help but be fulfilled.
"I'd love to see my daughter's talents." Within moments music started to play and Aang cheered, everybody encouraging me to dance and even Momo chittered at me, flying over my head and landing on my shoulder to nuzzle me before taking off again.
"Okay, here it goes." With balletic grace and style, I danced with a stream of water for everyone to watch, showing them a little of how much I'd learned until the music ended and I was given another hearty applause and cheer. Soon I was swarmed by my family, having missed each other so much over the past year and I wanted to know what had happened to them all.
"Well, after we lost you at sea, our ship somehow managed to get us to the colonies, where we disembarked and tried to get help to find you." Mom began to explain as I came and sat in front of her, lacing my arms over her lap and resting my chin there as she started to play with my hair. "The officials wouldn't help us, saying there was no chance you were still alive and that we'd better give up hope."
"We were so mad, we wanted to teach those jerks a lesson! Since we knew you could water bend, we knew there was no way you went down with the mast and were probably still out there but lost." Sorna added, folding her arms and lifting her chin. "Of course, we couldn't tell them you were a water bender, otherwise they would have thrown us all in jail as traitors, so we got help from the fishermen and they took us back out to sea to search for you. We stayed for two months before thinking maybe you washed up somewhere."
"That's right, so we left a message behind in case you showed up at the colony, then made our way down south along the coast, stopping at every town and harbour to look for you and leave messages behind, but still with no luck." Frowning slightly, I asked for some specifics, like dates and when they were at particular ports and discovered that we had crossed over several times, in fact one we actually passed one another without even knowing.
"Then those officials never passed on our messages or gave us yours! That's terrible!" Jin-Jin gasped from where she was giving Toph a head massage. "I should go find every single one of them and stick them with a needle."
"There's no use being bitter about what's past. We've found each other now. Actually, we knew you were alive when your picture started cropping up everywhere in the colonies." Mom said with a chuckle, pinching my cheek lightly and tugging on it. "Since when did you get branded as a fugitive of the Fire Nation?"
"Since I threw Azula into the ocean and helped her uncle and brother escape captivity. Didn't you hear that part of the story? It was rather awesome." I answered, making her laugh.
"Well, anyway. Once we knew you were alive, we figured that you were at least with someone who could look after you, though I worried about you being captured and thrown in prison for treason, but then a few months ago, your name started to crop up with the Avatar's. By that time we'd already branched out of the colonies and seen more of the Earth Kingdom and what the war had done to so many towns and villages, so we started to help." Mom said and from there, she told me all about how the troupe smuggled earth benders out of their villagers when the Fire Nation troops came looking for them, smuggling them away and somewhere safe, even placing them in Fire Nation colonies where no one would think to look for them.
"Wow! So you guys became real life rescuers and saved people from being caught by the Fire Nation!" Aang grinned. "That's amazing, I'm so glad to hear that people are working together to rebuild already."
"When we found out that Kayo was with you and your friends, Avatar Aang, we knew that we could not sit by and do nothing either. My daughter cannot be easily moved unless she believes strongly in something, and if she had decided to join you, then there was no question it was the right thing to do, so we followed her example." I blushed slightly at my mother as she brushed her hand lovingly against my face. "I am so proud of you Kayo. Words cannot describe how it felt to hear of your deeds to bring peace and balance to this fractured world."
"Thanks, mom. I'm glad you think so too." Resting my head against my lap I closed my eyes in order to fulfil myself with the sensation of my mother's closeness, feeling her hand running through my hair whilst listening to the soft thrum of her voice.
"There's something you should know, Kayo, something important."
"What is it mom?" Lifting my chin with a touch of her hand, my mother looked at me seriously, though she smiled all the same with a happiness that seemed to transcend all other joy I had ever seen her express before.
"I'm not the only one who is here waiting to meet you. There's someone else too." My pulse thumped heavily and behind me, I heard several audible gasps as my friends held their breath in hopeful anticipation. "Your father is here. His men have been protecting the coast from pirate raids. Whilst waiting for you, I also decided to search for him for the first time in seventeen years, and this is where we found each other again. He told me that an old friend of his had been in contact, telling him that he had a daughter, and he was so overcome with happiness that he wanted to scour the world for you, but I persuaded him to wait here, that you would come to us once you were ready."
"My…father…is here? Where is he? Why don't I see him?" I was up on my feet like a shot and looking around but my mother caught my hands.
"He's at sea right now, there was another raid which he had to go stop. Since the Fire Nation troops pulled out and the Erath Kingdom is in disarray, pirates and bandits have taken advantage of the lack of military resources and have been plundering every coastal town they can find."
"I wasn't aware things were that bad. I'll be sure to help the Earth King quickly return to his throne and report to his generals of this issue." Zuko promised and I gave him a grateful smile before turning back to my mother.
"When will he be back?"
"Soon, dearest. Soon." My father. My dad. I was going to meet him. I was finally going to meet him after all this time. Could this day possibly get any better? I already felt like my spirit was soaring, any further and I'd leave this world altogether and never come back down again.
