The Aether

by Yo How's it Going

In the patterns of the cosmos, Aether is the elusive fifth element that has circular motion vs. fixed elementals that moved in lines. Effectively, the Aether does not follow any particular rule of energy, but rather it IS the rule.

8. The Purpose

Yo, How's it going, and welcome back!

(Side note: I was a bit lazy typing out Allen's speech this time around. Sorry about that.)

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Sleeping was not an option for Trinity at the moment. Every breath, every move hurt like a sharp knife trying to split her ribs apart. Trying to move off the bed was a no-go either. For the fourth time that morning, Trinity tried to sit up from the bed with no luck. Maybe rolling off the bed would work? With a groan, she turned on her right side then scooted to the edge. The drop from the bed to the floor looked like it was a mile long. One mess up could result in unbearable pain. Trinity took in a shaky breath. All she had to do is roll feet first, then stand. It wasn't hard. Moving her legs first, her feet almost made it to the floor until the ship lurched, making her entire body fall face-first on the floor. The impact caused her to scream out, holding her left side. The door immediately burst open with a masked soldier poking his head inside. He trotted up to her, kneeling down, "Are you alright?"

"Never better," she groaned, rolling on her back.

"General Iroh instructed me to get him when you awoke. Would you like me to find Doctor Tao first?"

Trinity sighed. She didn't really care what happened at this moment. Right now, trying to breathe without hurting herself was more important. Laying her arm over her eyes, she took in a few quick breaths.

"Miss?"The soldier hesitated, not knowing whether to leave or stay.

"Iroh is fine," she huffed.

The soldier nodded, stood to leave, but then turned back again. "Would you like me to help you up?" He started to lean forward to pick Trinity up off the floor.

"No!" Trinity stuck her hand out to keep the man away. She couldn't imagine how much being yanked off the floor would hurt. The man seemed to hesitate again. She sighed, "No, just." Trinity rubbed her palm down her face, "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell, but could you just get Iroh for me, please?"

He stood for a second, then bowed and left. Trinity laid flat on the floor, looking at the metal ceiling. At least the swaying of the ship was somewhat soothing. Maybe she should just try sitting up despite the pain. Iroh finding her flat on the floor might make him panic a bit more than he should.

"Okay, on three," she told herself, taking in a short breath.

"One, two, three..." Trinity shot up with a shout clutching her side. She managed to scoot her way over, so her back was against the bed. After a few short breaths, she lifted her shirt. Her left side had a large purple bruise stretching across the rib cage.

"That can't be good," she groaned, pulling her shirt back down. Maybe jumping off that ship wasn't the best idea, but could the impact really cause all this? Was there a possibility that she hit a rock on the way in? That would have caused more of a gash than bruising, right? A light knock on the door caught her attention. Iroh poked his head through the doorway before making his way in.

"How are you doing?" Iroh asked, kneeling down next to her.

"I think jumping off of that ship was a bad idea," she sighed, leaning her head back on the bed.

"Well, in my experience, jumping off of anything is a bad idea. Could you imagine what would happen at my age? My back would be in shambles," the old man exclaimed, rubbed his lower back.

Trinity attempted to chuckle at his joke only to feel a sharp pain again cause her to hiss.

"Hmm, we should get you to Tao right away. There is no telling what kind of damage there could be."

"Yup, just...Give me a minute." The fall and sitting up were painful enough. She just needed a second to gather the courage to stand up.

Trinity's hesitation didn't go unnoticed by Iroh. "I can bring him here if you would prefer."

As good as that sounded, Trinity wanted to get up and moving. Her muscles were tight, her spine needed a good pop, and her neck was starting to cramp sitting this way. "No. That's okay. I think I should get up anyway."

She hooked her right arm over the edge of the bed. If she could get her right side up, the left should follow with little effort. Trinity groaned as she pushing up, only making it a few inches off the ground. Iroh hurried to her right, "Here, use my shoulder." The old man pulled Trinity's arm around his shoulders, standing slowly. She almost felt the need to stretch once on her feet but stopped before she hurt herself more.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Tao can fix you right up." Iroh smiled, taking note of her stiff movement.

"I hope so. This isn't doing wonders for my back either." Trinity continued to lean on Iroh's shoulder as they walked out of the room and down the hallway. This sucked. She didn't like having to rely on people that much. It was inevitable though out the life she knew, but this. This was a little embarrassing. Though Iroh continued to help Trinity down the hallway, his mind wandered elsewhere. He was curious himself about what had happened at the river. Zuko planned on questioning her about it today, but with the amount of pain the girl was in, he would rather avoid that. He loved his nephew to death, but he could sometimes be overzealous when he wanted something. Maybe if he could get a few answers out of her now, he could convince Zuko to hold off on the questions.

"Do you remember anything that happened after you jumped off the boat?"

She shook her head, "No, I think I might have hit something, maybe, but I don't remember."

"Hmm, that is a possibility. The waters of that river did not look very deep." They both fell silent. This might have been harder than Iroh thought. Zuko did ask her about water bending. Perhaps starting there somehow, but how. "The moon was beautiful while sailing on the river."

"I didn't really notice it. Was it full?"

"Well, no. I believe it was almost at half," Iroh said, not remembering if he even saw the moon that night.

"Oh. How did you see it with all the fog?"

"Uh, I saw it before the fog rolled in."

"Oh, okay."

They both fell into another awkward silence. It wasn't like Iroh wasn't inexperienced in questioning people. He had done it several times in his prime, but those were different. At the time, they were enemies withholding information. Upsetting them wasn't an issue. Iroh didn't want to upset Trinity. He also didn't want her to catch on to what he really wanted to ask.

"Some say that they can feel great power from the moon. She works in tandem with the ocean to create balance." Maybe some words of wisdom would trigger a memory.

Trinity nodded, "We learned a while ago in school that the moon helps control the tides. It makes sense that it is the same here even if the ideology is different."

"Ah, so the moon spirit exists in your world as well?"

"Spirits aren't as well known where I'm from. People believe in them but not very many, specifically where I'm from." It had been a long time since anyone had said the word spirit in her world.

"I understand. When I was young, teaching about spirits was essential. They play a big role in maintaining the balance in our world and should be respected. While Zuko was growing up, it became less important. The glory and power of the fire nation became more important."

Trinity could hear the solemn tone of his voice. She could tell spirits were very important to him. "Well, my mom used to tell me a story when I was young about them. I can't remember the names, but I feel like it was her version of teaching me."

Iroh couldn't help but smile, "Your mother seems very wise."

Trinity let out a short chuckle as to not hurt her side, "She's a huge worrywart. If she saw me like this, she'd be running me to the hospital in tears."

"She loves you a lot."

"Oh yeah. She's probably worried sick about me right now. My Dad usually has to keep her from having a panic attack on a normal basis, so now he's probably got his work cut out for him."

"So your father incites calm within the family?"

This time Trinity laughed despite the pain, "Nah, my Dad is a lot like me. Kind of a big goofball even when he shouldn't be. If you want calm, then you'd be looking at my bother."

"What is he like?" Iroh chuckled.

Trinity scoffed, "He's a giant annoying stick in the mud. Always so serious, never wanting to joke around." She couldn't help but start to feel sad thinking about her brother. "He and I don't really get along. We haven't for a while."

"That sounds similar to my brother as well. Always so serious, never liked to do anything fun. I can't tell you the last time we sat down and had a nice cup of relaxing tea," Iroh sighed.

"Guess we both have brother issues," Trinity huffed.

"Unfortunately, it might be too late for my brother and I to get along again, but you are still young. You shouldn't fight with your sibling."

"Nathan and I are like oil and water. Everything that he's great at, which is just about everything, I'm not. He's naturally gifted at everything and I'm just me."

"I'm sure that is not true."

"Ha, I wish. Where I'm from, I'm not good at much of anything. I mean, I can draw, I guess, but other than that, nothing." The feeling of dread washed over her like it would every time she thought about what she could possibly do with her life. Even here, in an entirely new world, she felt lost and incapable, and now she was injured. She felt useless.

Iroh sensed the sudden drop in her mood. "You have a lot more value than you give yourself credit for. Everyone has a purpose, even if it seems small."

Trinity only gave a huff as a response. She had no purpose in her world and most certainly didn't have one here.

Iroh went silent as they walked. He had never thought about her own family what they may be feeling at this time. There was no denying that it was utterly selfish to keep this girl away from her parents while they used her. A flood of guilt hit his chest when he thought about how he would feel if his son went missing without a trace rather than killed. He would drive himself mad, looking for him. The thought crossed his mind to bring her back to the temple that she talked about, but it was more complicated now. Both he and Zuko knew she could sense the Avatar when he was nearby, and though he would be okay letting her go, his nephew would not allow it. Zuko would fight tooth and nail to keep her here until he was home. He would have to think of a way to convince his nephew to let her go. Both arrived at the door to Tao's room before Iroh could think of any way to return Trinity home. He felt the girl lean off of him while he knocked on the door.

Tao answered, bowing immediately. "Ah, General Iroh. I thought our next match was later today, but I have no patients at the time, so we can start now." He stepped out of the doorway for Iroh to walk through.

"Unfortunately, our Pai Sho match will have to wait. I do have a patient for you." He gestured over to Trinity.

Tao looked at the girl who had her eyes closed and side clutched. It looked like she was having trouble breathing with quick shakey inhales and exhales. "Of course, come in, come in. Did you have another blackout and fall?"

Trinity slowly walked in, followed by Iroh shutting the door behind him. The first thing Trinity noticed was the smell of dirt and plants. The entire back shelf was nothing but herbs and jars full of powders and liquids. The room wasn't huge, either. A small exam table and a smaller desk for Tao. Though a bit different, she recognized where to go instantly. She walked over to the table and stood while Tao sat on a nearby stool. "I didn't blackout, I ah..."

Now that she had time to think about it, this sounded absolutely idiotic. "I might have jumped out of a speeding boat," she mumbled. Saying it out loud, it seemed more foolish than she liked.

"You jumped out of a what?"

"A-A boat, you know the small one."

"I assume that it was moving at a high enough speed to harm you. How fast was it going?" Tao stood, started with the same procedures as he did last time Trinity saw him. He held a small fire to her eyes to check for dilation and checked her heart rate.

Trinity only shrugged, so he turned to Iroh, "General do you know how fast the boat was going?"

Iroh turned, holding one of the many plants in his hand, "You have an admirable barrel cactus, nice and healthy spines." Iroh brushed his fingers across the spines. Tao immediately walked over, grabbing the plant from him," General, please don't touch that. It's a rash cactus, not a barrel."

"Rash cactus?" Trinity chimed in.

"It causes rashes when touched," Tao explained, placing the plant on a higher shelf.

"I see that," Iroh said, his finger swelling with red patches.

Tao quickly grabbed a jar of green paste off the shelf behind him and carefully rubbed the stuff over his finger. Then grabbed a rag, wrapping it around his finger. "Keep that rag around your finger for at least thirty minutes, and, hopefully, it won't spread."

"Hopefully?" Trinity once again spoke up.

"The rash cactus not only causes an irritating rash, but it spreads rapidly."

"Why do you even have that here?" Trinity chuckled lightly.

"I was working on a cream to help cure the rash," Tao grumbled, stepping back to Trinity.

"Maybe it should be in a jar or something so curious generals don't touch it," She snickered out, seeing Iroh looking at the plants again.

"It was never an issue befo...," Tao pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed.

"We're off track. General, do you know how fast the boat was going? It will help me determine how serious any injuries could be."

"Hmm? Oh, I wasn't there when it happened," Iroh smiled lightly, scratching at his finger.

Tao pushed the Generals hand away, "Don't scratch at it." He turned back to Trinity, "Can you give me a rough estimate?"

"Ah well, it might have been about to go down a very very...very large waterfall."

"A waterfall!?" Tao gaped, letting go of Iroh's arm.

"Yup."

"How large is large?"

"Oh, it was enormous! At least thirty meters long," Iroh chimed in, snatching at his finger again.

"W-why would you...?" Tao looked at Iroh again and pushed his hand down. "General, please, you're going to make it worse. Why would you do that?"

"I didn't want to go down the approximately thirty-meter-long waterfall. Seemed like a mildly good idea at the time," Trinity shrugged.

Tao gaped at her, then looked over to Iroh for hopefully some kind of better explanation. Unfortunately, he was scratching at his finger again while looking at the several other plants on the shelf. He sighed, standing to move another plant that Iroh was about to touch, "Well, since it was about to go down a waterfall, I would assume that it was going pretty fast. So you could have anything from some broken bones, a crushed skull, maybe a concussion. More serious your internal organs could be ruptured though you would likely be dead from that by now."

Trinity's jaw dropped, "Huh, I can see why you were concerned. So you think my lung exploded?"

"What? No, you'd be in respiratory distress. You would have needed immediate attention."

'Ah, okay. So this boat situation is new?"

"Most people know not to jump out of a moving boat," Tao glared.

"Oops."

Tao sighed, "Do you have any headaches, dizziness, confusion?"

Trinity shook her head, "Nah, it hurts to breathe or move at all really, and there's this." Trinity lifted the left side of her shirt to show the large bruise spreading across her front.

The bruise caught the attention of both men in the room. "No wonder you are in so much pain," Iroh gasped.

"When did you notice this?" Tao asked, gently touching the outside of the injury.

Trinity winced slightly, "This morning when I fell off the bed."

"Hmm, you might have a broken rib, maybe even a couple. I'm going to have to press down to figure that out, which could prove to be painful." Tao turned, ruffling through his selection of plants. He grabbed one pot and plucked a couple leaves off. "Here, I'd like you to chew these up and swallow them. It will help dull the pain."

Trinity took the leaves and hesitantly put them in her mouth. As soon as her teeth crunched down on the plant, she instantly spat them up in her hand.

"You're not supposed to spit them out."

"They taste like salamander slime Tao," she gagged.

"I don't know what that is."

"Is it like hippo cow sweat?" Iroh chimed in.

"What on earth is a hippo cow?" Trinity questioned.

"It can't be that bad," Tao pondered, stroking his chin.

"Why do we know what its sweat tastes like!?"

"Trinity, you'll have to eat those for me to be able to look at you. I'd rather not cause you too much pain."

She frowned, looking at the now spit-covered leaves, "Do I have to chew them..."

"Yes," Tao interrupted.

Trinity grumbled, contemplating whether to just deal with the pain or eat the leaves. Another breath and jolt of pain through her side told her to eat the leaves. She stuffed the plant into her mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing it. She stuck out her tongue with a look of disgust.

"It should only take a few minutes to take effect. I would sit down if I were you," Toa informed, sitting down on his own stool.

"I might need some help with that."

Iroh trotted over to her side before Tao could make a move. He again used his shoulder to loop her right arm around and help her up. Trinity groaned as she scooted back on the table.

"What's this plant supposed to do anyway."

"The plant is laced with tetrahydrocannabinol and lysergic acid diethylamide."

The redhead gaped, "Uh, can you convert that into a language that understandable, please?"

"It's just going to numb that pain but also make you very disoriented. I'm hoping the amount I gave you will lightly sedate you."

"Hoping?" Trinity quirked an eyebrow.

"You might feel a bit of discomfort, but it shouldn't be too much."

"Shouldn't?" She squeaked, lifting the other eyebrow.

Tao frowned, "Are you going to continue to ask one-word questions?"

"Are going to continue to make me?"

Trinity lifted her hand to point at him but felt a little weird doing it. She felt her arm move in slow motion. Her body felt tingly, "Woah."

"Sounds like it's starting to take effect."

Trinity tried to shake her head to shake off the weird dizziness she was feeling, but every shake left her head in one spot for too long before it moved again. She looked down at her palms, clenching and unclenching her fist. Since when did she have two hands on one arm?

"Trinity. Hey, can you look at me?" Tao stepped over, snapping a couple times in front of the girl. She didn't respond, only staring at her hand while blinking slowly. "It's definitely taken effect. General, can you help me lay her down?"

"Of course." Iroh moved her right side while Tao took her left, laying her flat on the table. Trinity felt her body moving but couldn't figure out who was pushing it. There was a dull buzzing feeling on her left side. It made her want to touch it, but where was her left side again? What was left and right? Why was the ceiling on the floor? Was she lying down?

"Alright, Trinity, I'm going to lift your shirt and press on your ribs, okay?" Tao called, hoping she could understand him. Most of the time, when he used this plant, his patients were so disoriented that they didn't know what was going on.

There were others in the room. Where did they go? She looked over to the side to see two people in the room, but who were they again. Why were they wearing such bright clothing? She'd never seen a red so brilliant. It was pretty. Iroh let out a yelp when Trinity grabbed his robe, pulling it down to her face.

"Trinity, please let go!" Iroh tried to gently pry her fingers away from his shirt, but her grip was firm.

"Actually General, this might be a good thing. It might help me if she's a little distracted." Tao lifted Trinity's shirt to the top of her sternum and began to press across her ribs. The dull feeling in her side began to feel like small fires against her skin. The sensation made her grab the bright red color more as she tried to sit up. The fire needed to stop. It hurt.

"Stop it," she slurred out.

"This surely isn't good for my back," Iroh struggled to try to ease the girl's grip just a little bit without too much force.

Tao continued to press on her ribs. It seemed like there was definitely one that was broken, but he had to check to see how many. It was careful work, which was getting increasingly difficult with her squirming. "General, could you hold her down a bit. Every time she moves, I have to start over."

Iroh tried his best to press down on Trinity's shoulders while also being held at a weird angle due to her firm grip. The tiny fires at her side were getting worse. What was happening? Why wouldn't it stop? The world started to spin. All she knew was the pain and didn't understand it. She began to panic, struggling against the hands holding her down. Looking up, a strange blob of a thing was holding her down.

"What are you!?" she yelled out. The monster holding her down let out a guttural noise and pressed harder. Its face morphed into an evil-looking face similar to the pirate that tried to capture her yesterday. Trinity let out another shout and arched her back. The violent movement made her side hurt even more. Looking down, there was another monster further down. This one smiled, pulling out a knife and stabbing into her ribs. The sight made Trinity scream again, kicking her legs.

"Just a little longer Trinity, okay I'm almost done!" Tao shouted, hoping his voice would reach the panicking girl. There was nothing he could do to calm her until he found out how many ribs she had broken. Tao pressed a bit harder, closing his eyes. The pressure would cause more pain, but he could get it done quicker if he was less gentle.

Iroh pushed down on her shoulders a bit harder when Trinity started to violently thrash about. Then he began to feel weird, like something was pulling at him. His hands felt twitchy and sweaty. Like the fire in his very soul was being pulled out of him. He looked down at Trinity, and his eyes widened. She started to glow with the same symbols she had in the past, but the characters moved in an erratic pattern. The more she struggled, the more intense the glow became. "Tao, I believe we should stop."

"I'm almost all the way down the rib cage. Then I'll be done." Unfortunately, his hands wouldn't stop twitching as involuntary spits of fire released from his fingertips. Tao didn't know if he was nervous or scared, but he tried his best to hold the small fires back lest her burn the girl.

Iroh looked down at the girl again. One of her eyes was no longer there, replaced with a purple glowing light. Iroh instinctually let her shoulders go though she was still holding onto his robe. Trinity sat up immediately, "Get away from me!" Her voice distorted, mixed with another's. Giant glowing strands of light shot out of her body in different directions. Tao opened his eyes and shot back after seeing the girl hitting his stool, falling over. The light strands flowed to the nearest fire sources, wrapping themselves around them and bringing them back to her body, forming a shield. Iroh winced back at the fire as he attempted to grab the girl's shoulder again. Maybe he could shake Trinity back to reality.

"Trinity! Trinity, please calm down!" The flames only grew more intense when she realized how close Iroh was to her. Tao stood turning to a shelf, shuffling about to find a glass vial. Though his hands were shaking severely, he found a syringe pulling up an undetermined amount of the liquid.

"General, are you able to push the fire away from her?" he shouted through the purplish flames' loud roar.

Iroh nodded, striking his palm outward to push away the flames, but the fire didn't respond. It was fused with the purple light that the girl produced. Iroh was speechless. He had never seen anything like this before. "It didn't work," gasped more to himself than Tao. Tao took a deep breath then ran at the girl. He just needed to get the syringe into a muscle. His skin burned as he went through the fire to reach the girl's thigh. Breaking through, Tao jammed the needle into her leg. After ten long seconds, the purple light dimmed the beams flowing back into Trinity's body. The flames it held fell, extinguishing before hitting the ground. The glow dissipated as Trinity slumped down. Iroh backed away from her when her grip loosened on his robe.

"General?" Tao took a breath to collect himself. "What the hell was that?"

"I have no idea."

Tao slowly approached the unconscious girl, checking her pulse first. Her heartbeat was slowed but there. "I apologize, General. I should have fully sedated her to begin with, but the plant only lasts for an hour. The worst symptoms I've seen are some mild hallucinations, not...that."

"There was no way of us knowing that that would happen," Iroh replied, also approached her.

"Well, she has three broken ribs which would explain the trouble breathing and the bruising. I don't think they've punctured anything, which is good." Tao rubbed his forearm, hissing quietly to himself. Iroh looked over to his arm, "Are you alright? Your arm is burned."

"It'll be fine. Nothing some salve can't solve."

Iroh only hummed in response. "She looks pale." Trinity's face looked sicklily discolored like she had lost a large amount of blood. Her breathing was also slowed, only taking breaths every ten seconds or so.

"It's a side effect of the injection I gave her. It slows the heart rate exponentially, which causes a pale look. That's why I didn't want to use it in the first place." Tao walked back to his shelf, looking for another liquid. "Thankfully, I can reverse the effects. Not only that, it helps with pain management as well. It's still going to take her a few hours to fully wake up, though."

"That might be for the best right now," Iroh sighed. He was still in shock at what just took place. The two stayed quiet for what seemed like hours until Tao finally spoke again.

"General?"

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what is this girl?"

"I don't know, but I fear that I will have to find out soon before something like this happens again."

Iroh and Tao quickly compression wrapped Trinity's chest before carrying her back to her room. Tao instructed him to teach her to do some deep breathing exercises and drink ginger tea every few hours for the pain. Once Tao left the room, Iroh stayed sitting by Trinity's bed. Out of all the things that could have happened in that room, that was not one of them. Obviously, something similar must have occurred at the river involving water, but that was the problem. What he just saw was the manipulation of fire. As far as he was aware, that was not possible, not with the Avatar still alive. He would have to ask his nephew about the strange purple lights. Iroh watched Trinity sleep for a while. With the drug reversed, her color was starting to return to normal, as well as her breathing. After another minute, Iroh left the room. It would still be another hour before the girl would wake up, and he wanted to find Zuko. At first, he was against this questioning, but now he wanted to know more as well. There were a few things he needed to clear up first before that could happen.

Iroh found Zuko at the bow of the ship, sparing with another soldier. Looking up at the sky, taking a whiff of the ocean air. The air pressure was dropping and the wind smelt of rainwater. That was an issue for another time. Iroh waved his hand in the air, signaling his nephew to stop. Even with the fight going on, Zuko saw his uncle's call only stoping after delivering one solid blast to his opponent. He stretched his arms above his head while walking up to Iroh.

"What is it, Uncle?"

"I need to talk to you about what happened at that waterfall."

Zuko blinked, then looked away from Iroh, "I've already told you..."

"You did not tell the whole truth and we both know it," Iroh snapped.

Zuko jumped. How could he know about that, unless? "What happened?"

"Follow me."

Zuko hesitantly followed Iroh back into the ship. Something must have happened in between last night and now to incite this. Did she show him her bending? Was she really lying the entire time? Maybe he found the answer to why she's helping them. Iroh walked into a room that Zuko didn't necessarily recognize until he saw the girl lying asleep.

"What are we doing in here?" Zuko hushed, attempting not to wake her.

"You can speak normally. She has been heavily sedated."

Zuko's eyes widened. Did she attack? His uncle looked unharmed. Obviously, if she did try to harm him, she wouldn't stand a chance, but then why the sedation? The cyclone flashed in his head. If she had attacked him with that, even his uncle would have had some problems.

"She has some broken ribs. Most likely from jumping from the boat. Tao gave her a plant to help with the exam. She became disoriented, no longer recognizing us."

"Did she attack you?"

"More likely, she panicked and was not able to tell the difference between friend or foe." Iroh sighed before speaking again, "Tell me what really happened at that river. I'm going to need every detail."

Zuko broke down everything that happened, including the weird, powerful feeling and the purple lights flying about. Iroh was quiet for a long time, slowly walking over to the bed sitting next to the sleeping girl. "We will question her about this a few hours after she wakes."

"Uncle, what happened?" She had to have used some form of water bending, but he wanted to hear it come out of his mouth.

Iroh sighed, "When she panicked, she used fire bending or at least some form of it."

Zuko couldn't get a question out. He felt his brain split in two, trying to figure out how that actually happened. He rubbed his temples, "But that doesn't make any..."

"Sense, I know. This girl seems to have power that even I don't quite understand. It is important that we learn about this now before it gets out of hand."

Zuko nodded, looking at the sleeping girl. There was nothing they could do until she woke up. The thought made him anxious. What if she tried to attack them? Would both of them be able to hold her off? He couldn't help but pace back and forth.

"Prince Zuko, why not go back to practice. It might be another few hours before she completely wakes."

Zuko stopped his pacing and looking between the door and the girl. He didn't want to leave, but he also didn't like staying in here while his anxiety shot through the roof.

"I will retrieve you as soon as she started to wake," His Uncle assured him.

The statement eased some of his stress just a bit as he marched toward the door. "Inform me as soon as she wakes up."

It was an entire three hours before Trinity woke up. As Iroh promised, he retrieved Zuko as soon as the girl started to stir. When she fully awoke, she saw two men staring down at her cause her to scream and jump away from the two of them. Both men shot back as well, while Trinity grabbed her side in pain. It wasn't as bad, but it still hurt.

"A-are you alright?" Iroh stammered.

Trinity couldn't answer. Whatever was wrapped around her torso was making it hard to breathe. She took several quick breaths. It was the only way she could get an ample amount of oxygen without pain. The lack of oxygen was causing a flood of anxiety to rush through her body. She couldn't remember not being able to breathe this bad before. Iroh slowly walked up to the redhead. The last thing he wanted to do was set her off again, but if he didn't calm her down, she would hurt herself. He sat himself down at her bed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Trinity jumped, looking over at the old man. He began to breathe deeply, slowly, egging her to mimic his moves. It took her a second, but then she tried. It hurt, but it was helping her calm down just a bit. After a few minutes, he asked the same question again. She nodded shortly, "What happened? What's going on?"

Before Iroh could speak, Zuko yelled through, "We have questions for you!"

"Prince Zuko!"

Trinity looked at Iroh then back to Zuko, "What kind of questions?"

"Just a few things we would like to know, but if you need more rest, we could..."

"We've waited long enough. We need answers now!" Zuko shouted, marching over to the bed. Unfortunately, the two hours of practice did nothing for Zuko's patience. He was practically bouncing on his heels when she started to stir awake. He wanted answers and wanted them now.

Trinity rubbed her temples as a headache started to form. Not only was she still hurting, now she was confused and being yelled at. "What are you talking about? Answers about what?" She groaned.

"Do you remember what happened when we saw Tao this morning?" Iroh asked, trying to take control of the situation before his nephew blew it out of proportion.

She glared, "Yeah, he gave me some disgusting leaves then um...Well, I don't know after that, but that plant thing is never happening again."

"That's not what he's talking about," Zuko growled out. Smoke leaked out of his fists, "Are you a bender or not?"

Trinity stared at both of them. "Eh?"

Zuko's fists shot fire straight down to the floor, "What do you mean?! You can bend, can't you? Don't lie to us!"

"Whoa, dude, chill, I told you I can't do any of that. I didn't even know what that was until you explained it to me."

Zuko scoffed, "Well, you've done it before in front of both of us, so you have to know something."

Trinity was taken aback. "W-what? There's no way..."

"You have," Iroh spoke up. "Once at the river when you jumped off the boat and again when Tao gave you the herbs. You don't remember any of these times?"

Trinity shook her head, "N-no, I don't. When I jumped off the boat, I got knocked out, I thought, and when Tao gave me the leaves I..." She tried to think. What happened after Tao gave her that plant. Things started to get weird. Her vision started to get muddled and then...and then. "I think I might have been..." She finally shook her head. The memories were too fuzzy to get an accurate picture. "No, I don't remember doing any of that. I can't do anything like that."

Iroh could tell she was getting more stressed by the minute. Her breathing was become in erratic again, and she continued to rub her temples. He had no idea what triggered her abilities, but she had to remain calm if stress was one of them. He placed a hand on her shoulder again, motioning her to take another deep breath. "How about we start from the beginning. Before you ran into me, where were you?"

Trinity sucked in another deep breath wincing at her sore ribs, "W-when I come here..."

"What does that mean?" Zuko interrupted, rolling his eyes.

"I've told you already, I'm not from here. Everything about this place, your world, is completely foreign to me."

Zuko's face scrunched, "That doesn't make sense. Where the hell are you from then?"

"Earth. Just like everybody else I know. Where are you from?" Trinity bit back at him.

Before Zuko could yell back at her, Iroh raised his hand to stop him. He knew whatever came out of his nephew's mouth would only damage the situation. "Where you are from can probably wait. How about we start with how you arrived here." Iroh kept his voice calm to keep both teens in the room relaxed.

"Ever since I was a little girl, I've been transported here by some...thing. I don't know what she is or why she brings me here."

"A spirit, maybe?" Iroh suggested.

"I don't know. Like I told you, spirits aren't very well known where I'm from. More like myths or legends than fact. Hell, they might as well be nonexistent."

"Hmm, that is a rather odd situation."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I've been transported here for years and I still don't know how or why." Trinity's voice was solemn.

"Okay, your right. I don't care where you come from or how you got here. I want to know about your bending," Zuko snapped.

"And I told you already, that's impossible. I can't bend anything!"

"So this other world that you're from, they don't have bending there?" Iroh asked.

Trinity shook her head, "No, it's not possible. I can't attest to spirits being there, but bending is defiantly impossible."

"Then how the hell can you do it here!?" Zuko yelled.

"I can't!"

"Yes, you can. We already told you you've done it twice!"

"No, I have...!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Iroh spoke up. This bickering was going on for too long, and Trinity would end up hurting herself if she wasn't careful. Zuko looked to the wall, grumbling while Trinity went back short quick breaths. Iroh turned to the redhead, "You must try to breathe deep breaths. I understand that it might be uncomfortable for you."

"I'd be easier without this wrap on. Is it really necessary?" She tried to stretch her side, but a sharp pain stopped her.

"You broke three of your ribs. The binds will help stabilize them. You must try to breathe normally." Iroh once again took a deep breath and let it out.

She attempted to slowly take in a breath, but she heard Zuko let out a frustrated huff stopping her. "Hard to do with this idiot in the room," she grumbled.

"What'd you say!"

Iroh held up his hand to stop another yelling match between the two. "As much as I don't want to upset you, Prince Zuko is right. You have used a form of bending in front of both of us. That being said, I do not believe your form of bending is the same as ours."

Trinity stared at Iroh with a look of disbelief. She couldn't wrap her head around doing anything like that. "I barely know what bending is, let alone how it could be different."

"It seems like every time you have manipulated the elements, there have been two things in common. You were in some kind of distress and the purple lights. You never seemed completely conscious of what you were doing."

"Purple lights?"

"There were purple beams of light that floated everywhere when you used water bending," Zuko grumbled.

"And the same occurred when with the fire with me."

Trinity rubbed her face with the palm of her hand. Purple light meant the purple lady was around, right? She hadn't seen her since she arrived here.

"When I did these things, was there someone else around? A woman glowing purple more specifically." Maybe the purple woman was doing these things around her, confusing them. There was no possible way she could manipulate elements.

Both men looked at each other then back to her, shaking their heads. The silent answer caused her to groan, placing both palms on each eye, rubbing them. That wasn't exactly surprising. Her whole life, the only other that had seen her, was her bother, years ago. But Iroh was in an enclosed space with this happening, and he could see spirits too. That was if she was a spirit. This entire situation was giving her one hell of a headache.

"Who is this woman you're talking about?" Zuko asked.

Trinity sighed before responding. "She's the thing. The one that brought me here."

Iroh stroked his beard, "The possible spirit. I have not heard of a spirit that emits a purple light. I could try to do some research into it."

Zuko rubbed his temples; he didn't care about spirits. What he wanted to know was still being brushed aside. "This still doesn't explain your bending. Just because some spirit brought you here doesn't mean you can suddenly bend."

"Oh my god, what does it matter if I can or not? Why is this such a big deal?"

"Because the only person that can bend more than one element is the Avatar and there can't be two of you!" Zuko shouted back. He had spent years searching for the Avatar, and now there were possibly two of them. Should he bring her to his father as well? Would his father even be interested? What if she escaped? Would he be tasked to catch both of them? Then there was the aspect of her loyalty. Whatever type of bending she had, it was powerful like the Avatars. Though he had more experience, a fight could prove to be detrimental. If she suddenly decided to turn on them, he didn't know if he could keep her there. Then, a potential new Avatar would be gone, and the best way of finding the other one would be gone as well. Zuko didn't know if he could handle that.

Iroh looked up to his nephew. He didn't necessarily understand why Zuko was so adamant about the bending, but now it made sense. This discovery could cause an entire sloo of other problems, but this girl's bending wasn't normal. "I do not think that is the case, Prince Zuko. As I said, her form of bending seems quite different from our own."

"We don't know that, Uncle! We don't know anything. We don't know who she is? What she's doing here? Whose side she's on?"

"Earth to Zuko, I don't know any of that either. I have about as much information as you do."

Zuko scoffed, "I doubt that."

"Why would I lie to? What benefit would that bring me?"

"I don't know!"

"It would seem we all need more information before we can question any further," Iroh responding but his words fell on deaf ears.

"I don't understand why this matters so much. Even if I could bend things, which I still doubt, what does it matter?"

"With bending like that, you could turn on us at any moment!"

You know what, I'd be half inclined to do so since you captured me against my will and accuse me of doing things that I can't and won't do."

Everybody in the room went silent. The air between the group was thick and heavy. Both teens in the room were tense, Zuko, most of all, while they glared at each other. Iroh gently placed a hand on Trinity's shoulder in an attempt to keep her calm.

"Why don't we take a break. You must be quite tired and sore. Prince Zuko, I'm sure the captain is waiting to give you his report."

Zuko looked away from the girl growling. He didn't trust her and most certainly didn't like her here, but it was better than elsewhere. "Fine," he growled, stomping out of the room.

Iroh waited until his nephew was a few steps down the hall to turn to Trinity again. "I am sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for him, Iroh," she huffed, rubbing her eyes again.

"That is not what I am doing." He sighed, then stood from her bed, "It is my fault you were brought on this ship. I should have let you go when we were freed from those Earth Kingdom soldiers, but I was curious about your ability to see and interact with spirits. I convinced Zuko that you were connected to the Avatar in some way. It was only mere coincidence that I was right. I was selfish, and for that," Iroh placed his closed fist into his open palm and bowed. "I am truly sorry."

Trinity didn't know quite how to feel. Iroh was the only one who had really been almost a friend on the ship, yet she was stuck here because of him. Now that she thought about it, she had only know Iroh for a few days, maybe a week. There was no reason for her to be completely comfortable around him, but he was so kind. She didn't know what to think.

"Can I have a minute to think for a bit? Maybe get a little more sleep." She sighed, turning away from the older man.

Iroh rose from his bow and gave a gentle smile, "Of course. Let one of the crew know if you get hungry. The fish should be really delicious this afternoon." He winked and left the room. Trinity couldn't help but smirk. Even if this was all Iroh's fault, she didn't know if she could stay mad at him. Trinity laid back down against her pillows. Right now, she just wanted to rest her throbbing head.

Nathan sat in his car, waiting for Allen to come out. It had already been ten minutes and still no sign of him. He pulled out his phone again to check to see if he actually sent the message he was outside or not. A bang at his window made Nathan's head almost hit the roof. He unlocked the car to have Allen quickly get inside, trying to catch his breath.

Nathen turned on the car, "What the hell, Allen?"

"D-don't dr-rive away y-y-yet," Allen panted, not pulling his eyes away from the front doors.

"What the hell is..."

Allen held a palm up to Nathan's face, "S-shh, shh, shh. Just w-wait a second-d."

Nathan sneered, smacking Allen's hand away before looking at the doorway for himself. Nothing was happening. After a minute, Nathen clicked his tongue, "Allen, we don't have time for this."

"There! T-there! Tho-ose two g-guys right t-there!"

Nathan looked back to the door to find two very irate-looking teens, one brunette and one redhead. They were looking around until the brunette pointed in their direction; both came charging for the car.

"Dr-drive! Drive! Drive!"

Without thinking, Nathan switched the car into drive and started off with a loud tire screech. They both were silent for a few minutes while they drove.

"So what the hell was that about?" Nathan finally asked.

"Th-that w-was them-m."

"Them who? What are you talking about?"

"The t-two gu-guys I-I t-told you ab-about. T-the ones th-that chased-d Trinity in-into woods."

Nathan stopped the car in the middle of the road, causing an ensemble of car hones behind him. He took the time to pull over before looking at Allen, "Those two are the ones that chased her?"

"Ye-yeah, I'm sure o-of i-it."

Nathan was quiet for a minute. What should he do about this? Hell, what could he do about this? He could report it, but that would just be word of mouth, with no proof. The best option would probably be to tell the school faculty, but he had no evidence once again. He'd look crazy if he busted through school doors claiming they did something to his sister.

"There's nothing we can do about that right now," Nathan finally sighed.

"Wha? There's-s pl-plenty we c-could-d do."

"Like what? Enlighten me."

"W-we could g-g-go to a teach-teacher or, or, or the prin-principal. H-hell, we cou-could even go t-t-to the police, or w-why not just-st beat the sh-shit out of th-them for fu-fucking with your s-sister."

"And what proof do we have that they did this. If we go barging into any of these places with no evidence. What do you think they're going to do?"

Allen's angry face slipped into one of thought, "W-w-w-well, we could st-still kick th-their asses at-at least," he mumbled back.

"If your willing to get in trouble with school for that, go ahead. I would rather not go to jail for killing a couple minors." Nathan turned back on the car, pulling away from the curb. There were another few moments of silence until Allen spoke again.

"Damn, yo-you'd kill them, f-f-for real?"

"If I got my hands on them, probably."

Allen went silent for a second while they drove, then smirked. "I-I-I could lead th-them t-to an empty alley-alleyway. Th-then you c-could off the both-th-th of them l-like Batman's parents. N-no one would kn-know."

Nathan couldn't help but smirk at the suggestion, "Shut up, Allen."

Allen released a grin that went as quickly as it came. "U-um, H-h-hey. We're go-going to your parent's hou-house, ri-right?"

"Yeah."

"C-c-c-can I, u-u-um." Allen stopped to try his best to get his words straight, but he was a bit nervous about asking this, which made things more difficult. "C-C-C-Can I ma-mak-ke a little re-request-st? J-J-Just a-a-a sm-small stop-p be-be-before w-we get-t there."

"Like?" Nathan sighed.

"C-C-C-C-Can um, can I-I-I-I go see h-h-her?"

Nathans's eyes widened, almost stopping the car again. He took a few quick glances at Allen, trying to keep his eye on the road. The teen wasn't looking at him but at his hands. His right hand clasping onto his left enough to turn it red. Nathan sighed through his nose, "Yeah, we can go."

The drive to the hospital was quiet. The walk through the halls was even more ominous. It was silent yet not at the same time. There was a severe lack of human voices, only computers and monitors beeping and buzzing. When the duo arrived at the door, Allen hesitated to open it. The last time he talked to his friend, she was awake and full of life. He didn't know if he could handle seeing her so lifeless.

Nathan took notice of his doubt and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We don't have to go in."

Allen jumped at his voice, "N-n-n-no, I'm, I'm, I'm fine." He pushed open the door and walked through, followed by Nathan. The teen stopped when he saw his friend lying in the hospital bed. She was hooked up to so many machines. Allen felt his eyes burn to try to hold back any tears that threatened to fall.

"She looks better than yesterday," Nathan spoke behind him. He had called that morning to check on her. Thankfully they had pulled the respirator and took off the EEG headpiece. She looked more like she was sleeping more than the machine keeping her alive.

Allen nodded as he sauntered up to Trinity's bed, kneeling down beside her. He grabbed her hand carefully, being sure to take the one without the catheter. "H-H-hey T," he whispered quietly, giving her hand a little squeeze. "I-I-I don't kn-know if you c-c-can hear m-me or not-t, but u-uh," Allen paused to gather his thoughts together. "We're, We're going t-to w-w-wake you up, okay. By we, I m-m-mean you-your broth-brother and I."

Nathan walked over to Trinity and moved some of her hair out of her face while Allen continued.

"You we-were right ab-about him, y-you kn-know."

Nathan stopped moving his hand, quirking an eyebrow at the other.

"He-He r-r-really does su-suck, just n-n-n-no fun at all—a com-mplete st-stick in the mu-mud."

"Watch it," Nathan growled, glaring at the other.

Allen let out a chuckle, "B-B-But if it wa-wasn't for h-h-him, w-we would-wouldn't be-e doing th-this, so I gu-guess we c-c-can gi-give h-him po-points for th-that, h-h-huh."

Nathan rolled his eyes, stepping away from his sister. He often wondered what would have happened if the purple lady didn't show herself to him. Would she still be in that forest? Would his sister even still be alive?

"W-w-we're go-going t-t-to figure out-out what happ-happened to you, s-s-s-o you just re-re-rest here." Allen's voice shook as he spoke. He didn't think it would be this hard to see her. When Nathan heard a quiet snuffle from Allen, he decided to leave the room. A few minutes went by until he heard the door open. Allen emerged, his cheeks slightly damp.

"You ready to go?" Nathan asked, not looking directly at him.

With one final sniffle, Allen wiped his face with his sleeve and nodded. Both boys left without another word. As they both sat back in the car, Allen looked over to Nathan, "Th-th-thanks for br-br-bringing me here-re."

"No problem."

The duo pulled up to the little white house about fifteen minutes after leaving the hospital. Nathan specifically picked out a time frame so his parents wouldn't be home. Though he didn't mind the trip to the hospital, it put them behind now. They only had an hour. "Mom and dad took her things from the hospital last night, but I don't know they put them," he stated, unlocking the door, stepping inside.

"W-w-would they not put-put it i-in her ro-room?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

Both boys wandered into Tritiny's room, shutting the door behind them. It was like she was never gone. All of the things on her side were still in disarray. Her bed was still unmade like she had just slept in it that morning.

"Th-th-this is a-a-a li-li-little w-w-weird." Allen looked down at the floor, rubbing his sleeve.

Nathan took in a deep breath, then left it out in a huff, "Yeah." He always found it a bit odd being in her room after he left. They had shared a room since childhood despite the fighting and arguing. This was where they would spend the most time together, where he had the most memories with her. With her in a coma now, he had taken to sleeping on the couch. It felt worse to sleep in the same room with her in the hospital versus them just ignoring each other. Nathan took a deep breath, trying to shake the knot in his throat. "Okay, um, where do you think she would keep this journal?"

"H-huh?"

"Where would she keep this journal? I wouldn't know?"

"Oh, I h-h-have no idea," Allen shrugged.

"You have got kidding me?" Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He-hey man, she's n-n-not go-gonna t-tell m-m-e where this-is thing i-is. It's li-like a-a diary. Th-there c-could-ld be secrets i-in there." Allen whispered the last bit, placing his hand by his mouth.

"Wha...okay, well, let's start looking. We don't have a lot of time."

"We ha-have a-a time limit-it?"

"I'd rather my dad not find out we're rifling through my sister's things trying to find a thing that he still believes doesn't exist." Nathan started to look on top of Trinty's dresser full of different nik naks and drawings.

"They-they st-still don't kn-know?" Allen started his search by her bed, looking through a small end table though a bit more frantic than his partner.

"Why would I tell them?" Nathen responded, opening up Trinty's dresser drawers one by one.

The younger teen shrugged, "I-I-I don't kn-know. Maybe-be they c-c-could he-he-help." Allen lifted the mattress, looking under, then dropped it back down with a loud thud.

"They didn't help her. None of us did." Nathan grumbled, opening the closet. He groaned when a pile of junk fell from it.

"Hey!" Allen snapped, sitting up from looking under the bed.

"I'm not blaming anyone but this what we're doing right now. It should have been done sooner." Nathan didn't say anything else after that, only bent down to ruffle through the mess. Allen stared at Nathan. His voice sounded so somber and full of regret.

"Hey, you-you-you are-aren't," He stopped trying to straighten out his words. "Y-y-you don't..."

"I think I might have found something." Nathan raised out of the closet, holding an old book that looked like it hadn't been touched in years. He started to flip the journal while Allen trotted his way over. "I-I-Is th-that it?"

Nathan shut the book instantly, "Possibly, but we need to look for her sketchbook before we take the time to go through this."

Allen groaned, stomping back to the bed looking around. The two spent another fifteen minutes in the room to find nothing.

Finally, Allen flopped on the floor with a groan, "Th-this i-is hope-hopeless. Wh-where the h-hell is this-is th-thing?"

"We've only been looking for thirty minutes Allen. That's not that long." Though that's what he said, Nathan was also getting a little impatient. He had looked in the same spots at least twenty times only to find the same junk.

"I-i-it's a-a-a lo-long time wh-when yo-you're only look-looking thr-through half a-a-a room-m. Would-wouldn't it b-be in her ba-bag or-r some-something? Wh-where i-is th-that a-at?"

"My parents put all of the things she had on her in a box somewhere. I just don't know where."

"G-go ch-check their-r ro-room," Allen said, waving Nathan away with his hand.

The older glared, "And what are you doing exactly?"

"Wal-wal-wallowing in my s-s-sorrow," Allen sighed dramatically, turning his head away from Nathan.

Though he really wanted to give the teen a good kick in the side, he decided against it, leaving the room. They didn't have much time left before his parents came back. Sure enough, there was a box on the ground with Trinity's belongings piled inside. Nathan mentally slapped himself for not checking this twenty minutes ago. After ruffing through a few things, he found the sketchbook closer to the bottom. Quickly, Nathan made his way back downstairs to Tritny's room, finding Allen still flat on the floor. He stomped over, dropping the book down on Allen's stomach making him jump.

"H-H-hey! I was st-st-still wallowing."

"Well, stop. I found it no thanks to you."

"N-No th-thanks t-to m-me? I'm-m the one-one w-who to-told you to lo-look up there. W-We'd st-still be dig-digging a-around i-i-if it was-wasn't f-for m-me."

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose, walking away. "You go through her sketchbook see if you find anything. I'll take her journal."

Allen sat up from the floor, flipping through the book, "Why-why d-d-d-o you g-g-get the jou-journal? Th-that's like car-cardinal s-s-sin number-ber one t-t-to go through-through you-your own s-sister's di-diary, you kn-know."

Nathan rolled his eyes, "If you would really like to know, it's because reading is hard and looking at pictures is easy." He said, leaving the room with the teen hopped up, chasing after him.

Allen glared at the man in front of him, "You're-You're a-an ass-asshole."

Nathan grumbled as he grabbed his keys, "Make sure you look through it carefully. Anything that looks like it could be the purple woman needs to be documented." He walked to the door opening it for Allen.

"Y-yeah yeah, I-I-I got it," Allen droned, walking out of the house. "Can w-w-we st-stop and g-g-get some fo-food before y-you take-take me ho-ho-home."

"No," Nathan said, slamming the door behind them.

By the time Nathan got back, his father was home on the couch, looking through the box that had Trinity's things. Victor was never one for being depressed or at least never showed it. Now he looked defeated like he had just lost a seventeen-year war. Nathan hid the journal under the end table by the door then walked into the living room. "H-hey, Dad."

Victor jumped when he heard his son's voice, looked over, and sighed, "Oh hey, kiddo. Sorry, were you looking to go to sleep?"

"Uh, not quite yet. I, um." Nathan made his way over to the couch, sitting down with a huff. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

Victor cracked a small brief smile, "You know it's my job to be asking you that. I know that you and your sister didn't get along too well but...,"

Nathan shook his head, "She's still my sister."

"Yes, she is." They both sat in silence for a minute before Victor spoke again. "You'll have to forgive me, but I'm not going to lie. I don't really know what to say to you."

Nathan quirked an eyebrow looking at his father.

"You're hard to read, son. You hide what your thinking and feeling well, or hell, maybe I'm just out of practice. Your mother and sister both wear their emotions on their sleeves. I can comfort your mother just fine, but you." Victor sighed, sitting back against the couch, "I don't know what to say to you to help you through this."

Nathan clenched and unclenched his jaw, staring down at the ground. Did he need comfort or support? He couldn't quite tell. Knowing that his sister's situation was supernatural rather than medical gave him both hope and despair. If they figured out what the purple lady wants soon, they could wake her up, but the odds of doing that were low. Until he got more answers, he was in this weird limbo that had him on conflicting feelings.

Nathan shook his head at the mild headache that started to form, "I'm okay right now. I don't know. Maybe, everything just hasn't sunk in yet."

His father nodded, "Yeah, it did happen quickly." Victor stared at his son for a minute, hoping that he would maybe say something else. Nathan stayed silent, staring at the coffee table. "You know, and stop me if it starts to make you uncomfortable, but I can't stop thinking about the last time I talked to her."

Nathan once again didn't respond.

"She uh, well." His father's voice was shaking. He could tell he was struggling to get his words out. "I found out that she didn't want to continue her education, go to college, you know. She told me that she couldn't do it." Victor rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Your mother told me to wait, to not talk to her about it until the weekend when we both could be there, but I..." He didn't finish his sentence; instead, he let out a rough sigh. Nathan could feel his father's distress, but he didn't know what to say. The last time he talked to his sister, they were yelling at each other like always. He was no better than his father.

"I don't care if she goes to school now. I just want my daughter to wake up."

"She's going to wake up," Nathan finally spoke up. That was dead set in his mind. Through all the fighting and yelling, he owed her that.

"Your right," Victor huffed, placing a hand on Nathan's shoulder. His voice still shook slightly, "Welp, I'm going to let you get some sleep. Let me know if you want to talk about anything, okay. You shouldn't hold all this in by yourself."

Nathan nodded as his father walked upstairs to his room. He waited until he heard a door close to retrieve the journal. Nathan didn't want to think about his last conversation with Trinity. Or think about how they were always fighting and that he was the one that usually started it. She had to wake up, and this journal should help lead him in the right direction.

The first couple of entries in the journal were entirely useless. Nathan could tell his sister was young, maybe about ten. The handwriting was atrocious and hard to read. It took him thirty minutes to read through the first couple of entries. Many of the writings were about the act of having a journal, how stupid it was. The following few updates were on what she would draw in her sketchbook or how someone made fun of her at school, nothing about the purple lady. After another fifteen minutes of reading, Nathan rubbed his eyes. This was going nowhere, and his impatience was getting the better of him. His sister's younger ramblings weren't helping the situation. Maybe the journal was a mistake. He could probably find more information at the library. Nathan flipped through a few more pages in the book and kept flipping until he saw the word purple and stopped. Flipping through a few more pages, his sister was older; the writing was less sloppy. It seemed like she started to use the journal as a sighting log.

5:00 AM: Bedroom right side of the bed, no transport

6:54 AM: Outside kitchen window in the back yard, no transport

10:28 AM: Inside the classroom. Accidentally knocked over the desk but no transport

1:15 PM: Cafeteria. Spilled juice on my pants. No transport

2:45 PM: On the way home on the sidewalk, No transport

4:15 PM: Could see the glow from my room door. I'll stay in the living room until it's gone to avoid transport

6:00 PM?: Transport. I can't remember the specific time. Everything was the same over there.

The short entry ended there. The following entries mimicked the one he read. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to the places that the purple lady seemed to appear from what he could tell. The times were also very random. He didn't know what she meant by transport either, but it was the only repeating factor. Nathan set the book down and rubbed his temples. Transport implied she was being taken somewhere, but where? Were her blackouts merely her being teleported to somewhere else. That didn't make any sense. He let out a small huff. His researching whether his sister was in a coma due to a supernatural glowing ghost didn't make sense either, but here he was.

Maybe the reason why she was not waking up here was that she was awake somewhere else. Just before he was about to knock the idea out the window, he remembered what the doctor said. Trinity's brain activity was high like she was asleep. If she was awake somewhere else, that would explain the weird tests. Only two problems arose from this hypothesis. One, it truly did not make any sense, and Nathan was still having doubts. Two, If Trinity was somewhere else, where in the hell was she, and how do they get her back? Nathan laid back on the couch, grabbing his phone, and texted Allen. As much as he was against breaking Allen out of school again, he would like to head to the library as quickly as possible. They could talk about his discovery then. Right now, he would instead rest and calm the headache that plagued his brain.

A young Trinity hopped up the stairs to her parents, elated. Today was the day. She had given them the slip to go on the school field trip a few days ago, and they promised they would look over it this weekend. All of her chores were done the night before. Every ounce of homework was done before heading her way up to their room. She was sure that they would sign it after that. Being way too excited, she busted through her parent's door, making her father jump and drop his phone on the ground.

"Gah," Victor grumbled, "Trinity! What'd I tell you about busting through the door like that? You're supposed to..."

"Knock first! Right, sorry. I'll try again."

"You don't have to..."

Before Victor could finish his sentence, Trinity marched out of the room, slamming the door only to bang on it again with the force of a polar bear. He sighed, "Come in."

Trinity once again busted through the door, running up to her father bounce it on her heels. "Did you guys sign it yet?"

It took a few seconds for Victor to remember what his daughter was talking about. He recalled getting a paper shoved in his face, but what was that paper about again?

"What...paper?" He braced himself for the building outburst that his daughter was about.

The red-headed girl pushed herself up to her father's face using his knees as support. "The trip, Dad! You guys promised you'd sign it this weekend."

Now he remembered. The girl came charging through the door a few days ago, shoving a piece of paper in both of their faces wanting to go on some two-day school trip. Apparently, once you hit seventh grade, it was a big deal to go to a science center specializing in space travel. The facility was about four hours away by bus, so the students would stay at a hotel for one night before heading back.

"Oh yeah, right. Your mother and I haven't talked about it yet. We were going to do that uh," He looked down at her clearly anxious daughter, "Today! We'll look at it today."

Trinity glared at her father. They were supposed to have an answer by now. She worked so hard to make them happy too.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Listen. As soon as your mom gets in the room, we'll talk about it alright."

Trinity let out a dramatic groan moving away from her dad to the middle of the room. "When's Mom gonna be here?"

As if on cue, Ella walked into the room, flipping through that morning's mail. She bumped into her daughter, trying to walk to the bed. "Ah, sweetheart, what are you doing?"

"The field trip paper, Mom! You guys were supposed to sign it."

The brief look of shock didn't go unmissed by the other two in the room. Ella's face then morphed into a worried look to her husband.

"Uh, hey T, how about you step out of the room for a second, and we'll talk just like I promised, okay," Victor asked, giving his daughter a small smile.

Trinity huffed, "I guess." She marched out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She didn't understand what there was to talk about. All they had to do was sign the paper. Her curiosity got the best of her as she softly pressed her ear against the door to hear what on earth her parents had to discuss.

Victor sighed, laying back against the bed, "So what do you think?"

"You know what I think, Vic." She placed the mail on the end table then walked to the dresser to find a change of clothes.

"Do I get a say in this?" He grumbled.

Ella looked back with an eyebrow quirked, "Of course you do. Why would you..."

Victor sat up on his elbows to meet Ella's look, "Because when this was first brought up, you said no and ran off before I could say anything."

"Well, what is your opinion then?" She sighed.

"I don't think,"

"Vic..."

"I don't think we should be holding her back like this," he said back quickly before she could interrupt again.

"How are we holding her back?"

"You won't let her join a club. She can't hang out with any friends the rare times she asks to do that. The girl can't even get into sports. We both know she's fast as hell; who knows how fast she'd be if she'd join the track team."

"Victor, she can't do those things."

"Why not?! I don't..." Victor took a deep breath, stopping himself from yelling any further. He didn't mean to raise his voice, but the prospect that his daughter couldn't live an everyday life was infuriating. Not only that, but she was getting old enough to realize a problem. The last thing he ever wanted was for her to think she was incapable, but with their actions, that's exactly where she was heading.

"Vic, what happens if she wanders off during one of these club meetings. I know those clubs. They're hardly supervised." Ella went back to shuffling through the dresser drawer.

"I'm sure if we talked to the faculty, they'd find a way to make it happen."

"And if she went to a friend's house and blacked out, what then?"

"We could explain to whoever's parents her situation. They would..."

"And what parent would want that responsibility? Hey! Guess what? Our daughter might wander off or pass out at any point. Thanks for having her." Her searching for clothes turned more into moving the folded articles around in disarray in frustration.

"You don't know that, Ella. We can't assume that."

"And we've already talked about the sports thing. It's just not safe."

"El, we need to stop assuming she can't do things because of her blackouts. At this point, the girls not going to know what to do when she gets older."

"She's twelve, Victor. There's plenty of time to figure that out, but right now, it's just not safe for her." The last thing Ella wanted was for her daughter to get hurt. She's fallen off of so many things and wandered off to unknown areas way too many times for Ella's comfort. If Trinity was to get hurt because she allowed it, she didn't know if she could handle it.

"So what? We shelter her until she's eighteen. She'll have no idea what to do with her life and have no idea how to talk with her peers. That's if she doesn't rebel and runaway before that," Victor growled under his breath.

"That won't happen."

"There you go assuming again." Victor snapped, getting off the bed.

"Victor!"

"Whatever, so she's not going then?"

"I just don't think..."

"Fine, but you're telling her." Victor made his way out of the room, huffing down the stairs. This happened every time Trinity asked to do something that any child should have permission to do. They would end up fighting about it, and he would have to leave to cool down. Usually, Vic would find his daughter to try and explain why she couldn't do something but not this time. He was sick of watching her hold back tears, silently agreeing with whatever bullshit excuse he came up with. Victor stomped into the kitchen to get some water, only to see Trinity in the backyard sitting by the tree, her chin resting on her knees. She would be out playing, smiling, running around, but instead, she was alone by a tree. "Fuck..." Victor cursed, looking away from his sad daughter.

Trinity sat by the tree, holding back the tears that so badly wanted to fall. It wasn't fair. Everybody else would be going on the school trip, but she couldn't go because she was sick. She just wanted to go somewhere by herself for once. Not with her parents watching her like hawks and not because the purple lady led her somewhere. Trinity hugged her knees to her chest tighter. She wanted to see movies, play sports, maybe even make one friend. Hell, she wanted to step outside by herself without it being an emergency. Maybe cook something without her mother being scared that she's using a butter knife. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't do anything, so what was the point of trying. A purple glow caught her eye from in front of her. Trinity looked up just with her eyes. It was all her fault was all she could think as the world around her went dark.

Trinity woke to the ship rocking and groaning. Distant metal squealed while steam screamed in the distance. She sat up in much less pain than she was earlier. Her ribs were more in a dull ache than sharp pain. The wrap was still making it rather hard to breathe. That dream, no that memory, she remembered it well. Her father had found her passed out by the tree in the backyard. It was the last time she had asked her parents to do anything. There was no point; she couldn't do it anyway. It had always been like that. Trinity was never unique or gifted; she always was stuck. Even now, there was no way she was capable of doing what Zuko and Iroh said. Having some sort of powers, sensing people, and seeing spirits were all too much for someone who couldn't do anything.

She just wanted to go home. The entire reason she was here was because of Iroh, who, by far, was the kindest person on the ship. She could be at home by now with her family and Allen. The brief thought passed by of maybe she was supposed to be here. Perhaps these powers were a sign. Though against her will, she could do something here. People didn't treat her like a freak or a porcelain doll. At least there was a goal here, even if it was to go back home.

On the other hand, she could be home in her own bed with people she knew and loved. Though she wasn't entirely happy there, there was a comfort that home bought. And though her parents were overprotective and her brother was not the best, she still loved them. Who knew what kind of nonsense Allen was getting himself into without her there. She missed all of them. Trinity couldn't help but feel a bit sour about Iroh's decision. She didn't know if she could forgive him. Zuko, on the other hand, was a whole other problem. That guy had some major trust issues. Why would he think she would betray them? Powers or no, they were her only way back at the moment. Trinity rubbed her temples. This was way too frustrating. The ship let out another loud bellow swaying violently to the right, almost slinging her off the bed.

"What the hell is going on?"

Trinity got out of bed, hardly able to walk to the door in a straight line. Thankfully, Iroh had the hindsight to assign another guard at her door again. The soldier jumped slightly at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Oh, Miss Trinity." He bowed in the same way that Iroh had bowed to her earlier. The ship swayed again, causing her to stumble into the door while the guard shifted his weight easily to avoid falling. "Prince Zuko has set our course through a bad storm."

"Of course he has," she groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Would you like me to take you to General Iroh?"

"If you could. I think I want to talk to him." She still didn't know if she forgave Iroh yet, and letting that linger in her mind might make the situation worse. She needed to figure out if she was truly angry or not.

"Right! He should be in the captain's quarters."

The duo started walking down the hall in silence while the ship moaned again, louder than before. The violent swaying was beginning to make Trinity a little sick, her head thump.

"This storm must be a bad one. It's been a while since we've had this much trouble."

"Have you guys ever been worried about capsizing?"

Before the guy could respond, a loud explosion rattled through the ship, causing both to fall to their knees. The soldier was the first to get up quickly, moving to help Trinity. The fall was definitely not good for her ribs as she held her side in pain.

"That sounded like the deck. Would you mind if we went there first? The crew might need some help."

"Sure." She expected them to hurry forward. She did not expect the soldier to scoop her up and start running full speed to the deck.

"I apologize if this is a bit sudden, but it is not a good idea to run with broken ribs."

"O-okay." Trinity couldn't necessarily think. Her head was pulsing again in a weird heartbeat-like rhythm; the feeling was starting to get familiar. The Avatar guy was nearby.

When the two made it to the deck, it was udder chaos. It was raining so hard that both sight and sound were hindered. The man carrying her set her on her feet and ran off to the others without another word. Trinity saw Iroh looking up with a worried expression. Her eyes followed up until she saw Zuko and another man climbing up a latter to get some else hanging from the latter. Trinity turned back to Iroh to run over to him, but in seconds, he took a stance then was struck by lighting.

"Iroh!" Trinity ran over to him in a panic. Forgiveness or not, she didn't want the man dead. He was still standing, at least. "Are you alright?"

The old man let out a cough, "A little well done but fine otherwise. What are you doing out here? I would think you would like to rest for a bit longer."

"I'm pretty sure it's impossible to..." she couldn't finish her sentence; the rhythm in her head was getting louder. She rubbed her palm against her forehead. Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you..."

"What is she doing out here?" Zuko walked up with the others in the toe.

"Zuko, I think..."

"The Avatar!" She heard him gasp before she could say it herself. Trinity looked up to see the big flying thing that she saw the first time.

"What should we do?" The lieutenant next to him asked.

Zuko looked down at the girl, then back up at the sky, "Let them go. We need to get this ship to safety."

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm," Iroh stated.

The ship rocked toward more calming waters, but Trinity's head pounding did not get any better. In fact, she almost felt like it was getting worse as minutes passed by and the ship stilled. It was starting to hurt. Iroh and Zuko were talking about something, but she couldn't make out the words. Trinity couldn't help but grasp her head and let out a gasp. She expected Iroh would be at her side, but it was Zuko that was next to her. "What's wrong?"

She couldn't answer; her skin felt like it was burning. Trinity looked down at her skin, and her eyes widened. Her skin had dancing symbols with a purple glow to it as small beams tried to seep from her skin.

"S-stop it."

She looked up in shock to find Zuko visibly shaking, holding his wrist. His hands were smoking as he backed away from her slowly.

"Trinity!" Iroh called from a distance. He didn't realize there was a problem until he felt the same tingling feeling he got when Trinity lost control the last time. Running over, he saw Zuko trying to not spew fire from his hand. Iroh tried to get closer only to feel the pulling sensation get worse. He remembered the feeling of fire almost being pulled out of him before and decided to keep his distance.

"Trinity, please, you must calm down!" He shouted, hoping it would reach her ears.

"I'm not...I can't." The purple beams made their way from her skin and started toward the ocean like they were called. Keeping a wide birth, Iroh ran over to where the lights were heading to find a bright blue sphere heading for the surface. "What on Earth..."

The giant white bison burst through the ocean carrying the Avatar and some others with him. As soon as he broke the surface, the lights dispersed, some flying right back into the girl, others floating into the sky. Zuko watched as the Avatar flew away then looked at the girl's collapse to the ground. With the feeling gone, Iroh rushed over to her. Trinity was able to sit up on her own by the time he reached her.

"What the hell was that about?" Zuko snapped.

"I couldn't...I don't know how I did that." The burning feeling slowly started to go away.

"We told you, you could bend," Iroh said, gently kneeling to her level.

"I can't..."

"Stop saying you can't because you obviously can!" Zuko shouted at her.

Trinity could only stare at Zuko in shock. Being told that she could do something and seeing it for herself was two different mediums. She really did have some sort of powers. Iroh didn't say anything but did help Trinity stand up while Zuko marched up to her.

"You have power. Instead of denying it, how about you learn how to use it before you hurt someone." Zuko yelled in her face before stomping off into the ship. Trinity couldn't udder a word while Iroh patted her on the shoulder.

"There is some truth to what he said. Though it is your choice, learning to use this power you have would be more wise than letting use it you."

"I just...I've never been able to do anything. My entire life, I feel like I've been held back and now." It was almost like a bomb had gone off in her head. The realization that she was capable of doing something shook her soul.

"Now, it seems like you might have more purpose here than you initially thought.

"I just...I want to go back home."

Iroh sighed, almost sounding disappointed until she continued.

"I want to go back home, but your right. I obviously have some sort of power here, and I can't control it. Maybe I should learn how. Hell, maybe I could actually really be a help to you guys."

Iroh smiled, "You have already been a major help to us."

It was a weird feeling, saying that she could help someone and genuinely mean it. The sensation made her feel pound but also nervous. She didn't want to promise something she couldn't do. She felt better like a weight had been lifted. This was the first time that her being different was praised rather than ridiculed. Maybe it was time to embrace it rather than run from it.

"I accept it, by the way."

"Hm?" Iroh hummed.

"Your apology, I accept it." Even if this was Iroh's fault and she could be home right now, Trinity couldn't stay mad at him. He had given her something that she had never had, even if he didn't mean to. Trinity now had a purpose.

"Well, that is excellent news!" Iroh chuckled, "We should celebrate. I wasn't lying when I said the fish would be delectable today."

Trinity laughed, following Iroh into the ship.

Sailing hundreds of miles away from Zuko's ship, two masked figures floated on an oblong black rock, both laying flat on their backs.

"This sucks." Zheng groveled, picking her soaked clothes.

"Yup," Shen sighed.

"Let's quit. Can we quit? Is that a thing?"

"Don't think so."

"Well, can we take off these soaked hot as hell clothes?" Zheng groaned, attempting to wiggle out of the black shirt.

"Hey! We can't remove our uniforms." Shen slapped at her hands, stopping her.

"Why the hell not!?"

"What if we're seen?"

Zheng flipped to her hands and knees, causing the rock to wobble a bit. "Seen?! By who?! We're in the middle of the damned ocean, barely alive after almost drowning in a stupid ass storm!"

"They have eyes everywhere. You know that." Sun yawned, stretching his arms above his head, his hand brushing past Zheng's nose.

She slapped his hand away, "Shen, we smell like rotting fish guts cooking in the hot sun."

"Gross. You should bathe more often," he said nonchalantly.

"With my clothes on?"

"Precisely! It's the most efficient way of getting clean by washing your clothes and skin at the same time."

"You're the biggest moron I've ever had the misfortune of knowing." She growled, sitting back down on the rock, facing Shen.

Shen stood, causing the rock to almost tip over. "I'm the moron! You're the one that said sail into the storm! It'll be fine, you said! Nothing good ol' Shen couldn't bend, you said!"

"It's not my fault you let me get to your head." Her being the nonchalant one this time.

Shen glared, "Oh, I do hate you sometimes."

Zheng laughed so hard he fell backward off the rock and into the ocean. It took a couple seconds for her to emerge, using her arms to keep her afloat. Shen sat back down to level out their makeshift boat.

"You deserved that."

"Yeah yeah."

They both floated in silence for a few minutes—the ocean wave's sounds lapping against the black rock.

"Hey, you think we can at least sneak onto that ship. Maybe steal a bath," Zheng sighed.

"We do stink, don't we?"

"Yup."

Shen sighed, "Alright, get on the rock. I should be able to get us on there with them focused on fixing the ship."

"Whoo, yes!" She hopped up on the rock, causing it to capsize, knocking them both back into the water. Both came up at the same time, gasping for air. "Would you be careful, you idiot!"

"Get us to that ship and I won't have to!"

Shen grumbled as they both got back on the rock and bent them toward Zuko's ship.

---

I. Am. So. Sorry. This really shouldn't have taken my eleven months, but I kept changing things, and then I focused on my other story. Then work had me overtime for like three months. Anyways, my bad for making you wait. Couple things!

1) If your curious, the plant that Tao gave Trinity doesn't exist (at least I don't think it does), but the chemical components do. The plant was pretty much a hefty dose of weed and LSD mixed together. Trinity just had an awful trip, lol.

2) The injection that Tao gave her is real, though, and is often used to sedate animals. (It's called Dexdomitor) I took some creative freedom because, well, one: I don't know if you can use that in people, lol. Two: giving it in the muscle like Tao did, it would have taken five to ten minutes rather than the seconds. I just couldn't find it feasible for Tao to give it to Trinity IV due to the situation.

3) Compression wrapping broken ribs is an old way of letting them heal. They don't use compression wrapping now because of the issues breathing, and it can cause pneumonia. Currently, you would just take it easy with some pain medication, but I feel like the avatar world would use older practices rather than new ones. Just thought it fit the time period better.

4) So Trinity's powers do affect fire benders a bit differently than other benders. In fact, the purple light really doesn't affect other benders at all. This is because the other three nations manipulate what's around them while fire benders create it. As you've read, the light is drawn to the elements, but fire isn't always around. So it finds it by other means, forcibly drawing it from a fire bender. I wanted to explain this-now before there's and confusion later.

Alright, so good news! I have the rest of this season and half of the second outlined and ready to be written. Bad news, It takes me forever to do anything, lol. Regardless, thanks for being patient with me. Please leave some feedback through comments or reviews. I really love to know what people think. I do not mind negativity as long as it's constructive. Thanks for reading, and hopefully, I'll be back sooner than eleven months.