Forest with the Fountain
"The goddess of dreams, born from the Dark, roamed the Skies, giving the mortals below them dreams. She slipped into homes at night and enticed children with fascinating thoughts of futures and gave them imagination. During the Time of Strife, mortals came to her, asking what they should do. The goddess gave them hope…hope that tomorrow would be a better day.
The Light saw this and became jealous of the Dark's rising approval among the mortals. He sent out Fire to destroy the goddess. Fire found the goddess in a serene forest. In a quick flash, he killed her. Her death was felt through the land as dreams shattered and hope vanished. The Dark found her daughter's body and mourned for her. She built a marble fountain and placed the goddess' body in it. As the Dark cried for her daughter, the body became a liquid like substance flowing through the fountain.
To this day, in the Spirit Realm, all one needs to do is look into this fountain, and they will relive any memory that brought forth tears, in memory of the destruction of Dreams, and the mourning of the Night."
Sokka was in a state of shock. That was putting it nicely. After the Fire Nation rocket incident, he had clammed up. He practically lost all confidence in himself. He had almost died that day, but what made it worse was that Katara almost died as well—and it would have been his fault.
Aang, although 112 years old, could not comprehend Sokka's sadness. Katara was fine. In fact, all she needed was a good night's rest, and she was ready to conquer the world again. Aang tried to cheer up Sokka by performing his famous spinning-marbles trick or by tempting him with food. Nothing worked.
"Katara, why is Sokka like this?" Aang asked one night around the campfire. Sokka had already gone to bed, his light snores providing an ambience. He truly wanted to help his friend…and it was an excuse to be close to Katara. Kill two birds with one stone!
"He gets like this sometimes. Don't worry about it. Give him about a week and he'll be back to his normal, cynical self." Katara chuckled. Aang didn't like her answer—it was too vague.
"But…why?" Aang asked. Katara sighed and lowered her eyes.
"He feels that it was his fault for dropping me."
"But it wasn't—"
"I know. It just takes some time for him to realize that and move on. He's very protective. Our father told him to watch over me and Gran-Gran, to make sure that nothing happens to us. Sokka took this very seriously."
"I see…"
"Just give him a few days, and he'll be good as new." Katara smiled. Aang attempted to pull his mouth into a smile, but the sudden attack of butterflies made it come out crooked. "Are you ok, Aang?" Katara asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Katara laughed and patted his head.
"You're so cute." She planted a kiss on his bald head. Aang had to use every ounce of self-control to keep himself from shooting up into the air…
…Which resulted in him turning a fine shade of magenta.
"Well, I'm going to bed. It's getting pretty late," she said, a yawn backing up her statement.
"Ok. See you in the morning," Aang said, the goofy grin still plastered on his face. He practically skipped into his sleeping bag.
Hours later, he woke up…but it didn't feel like he was awake. Looking around, he saw that he was in a serene forest. Light trickled through the willows leaves like a waterfall. The grass was as soft as cotton, minus the itchy factor. Amazed at the sheer marvel of the redwoods' height, Aang traveled by foot.
"This is amazing!" He said. "I wonder how high these trees actually go." He started to jump when something caught his eye. This produced in a half-jump—something with painful results. His body slammed into the earth, but he felt nothing. "Hey…what's going on?" he pondered. He looked up and saw a large, white marble fountain.
"Wow…" was all he could muster to say. He stood up, forgetting that he no longer had the ability to feel pain (which would actually come in handy, incase there were any firebenders here.)
"Hello, Aang," said a soft voice. Aang perked, hearing his name.
"Who's there?" He pulled himself into a fighting position.
"Aang, do not be alarmed. I come in peace." A figure emerged from behind the fountain. She was dressed in traditional waterbender's clothing. Her dark hair was pulled behind her in a long braid. Her bangs clasped and pulled behind her ear. She had large, blue eyes…so caring and understanding. Her milk chocolate skin brought out the necklace she wore around her neck. She looked so familiar…he couldn't place it.
"Who are you?" he asked. The woman before him chuckled.
"I am who you think I am," she said with a chuckle.
"You're Katara's mom? Wow!"
"Yes. You may call me Uri."
"Where am I?"
"The Spirit Realm, didn't you know?" Aang recoiled in shock. This was the first time he had crossed over without being in a shrine. Uri chuckled again. "You don't have to be in a shrine, Aang…just in a peaceful state. When you were asleep, your mind subconsciously sought me, knowing that I'd be able to help with Sokka's present state."
"Would you?"
"Of course. You are here after all, aren't you?" she cocked an eyebrow in a mischievous way. She summoned him to stand next to her by the fountain.
"You look just like Katara, but you're so different at the same time." Uri laughed heartily at this.
"Yeah. Katara got her father's personality. Sokka got mine, which is why I understand what he's going through."
"What is he going through?"
"What Katara told you. He's in shock because he almost lost his baby sister. But there are other factors involved as well. Come…look into the Fountain with me." Aang poked his head over the basin and looked in. The water rippled and the scenes around them changed. "Hang on, Aang," Uri said. He didn't have to be told twice. He held onto the fountain for dear life. The scenes whirled and it felt like he was spinning…
…Faster and faster…
…And then it stopped.
They were at the Southern Tribe: Katara and Sokka's home growing up. He and Uri walked along the pathways of it. The village was in a dead silence. Black soot fell from the skies, an indicator that the Fire Nation was here. Nighttime was approaching them—a night with no moon.
"Search for them. Kill them all," a gruff voice said. Aang couldn't place it. A group of thirty-to-forty Fire Soldiers stormed the small village. Homes were destroyed; bodies were strewn into the streets. Those on fire dived into the snow, screaming from the pain. Aang gasped. He saw Uri being dragged from the small igloo by Fire Nation soldiers. Aang looked past the igloo and saw two young children—ten and nine—running. It was Sokka and Katara.
"If she has kin, kill them as well," the brute general said. The soldiers dashed behind the igloo and searched for the children.
"Come," Uri said. She guided him through the snow—it began to storm. She led him to a small cavern at the edge of the horizon. It was just large enough for two children. It was far enough away from the village for them to be spared.
Katara, nine years old was sobbing.
"Katara, you need to be quiet," Sokka said.
"They took Mom!" She clutched to her brother, the sobs taking over her small body. "They're going to kill her." Sokka knew this fact; Aang could read it on his face.
"No they're not. They're going to see that she's a nice person and let her go." Katara looked at her brother.
"Really?" she wiped her eye.
"Really." Sokka tried to smile. "You'll see. You just need to be quiet." Katara slowly drifted to sleep, the run completely wearing her out. When Sokka saw that she was asleep, he slipped out into the blizzard.
At first, his steps were small, but they broke into a sprint. He tripped on a stray rock headfirst into the snow and began crying himself. He screamed curses against the One and several other gods that Aang had never heard of. He cried out apologies to his mother for not being there for her. The sobs became softer and the scene rippled. A short woosh of air brought Aang and Uri back to the forest.
"Why did you show me that?" Aang asked.
"Ever since that day, Sokka's been guilty for my death. If you were to tell him that I said that it was ok…that he needed to stop blaming himself, maybe he'd change. Right now, he's got a culmination of emotions and guilt. There was Yue, me, and recently Katara…I think if you told him that I forgive and don't blame him, he'd snap out a little easier." Uri looked at the fountain. "If someone had told me that when I was younger, I wouldn't have run away."
"You ran away?"
"Yes, Aang. To the Earth Kingdom, but that's a story for a different day. Right now…it's time for you young man to return to the Mortal Realm so you can get some sleep." Uri hugged Aang tightly. "Be brave and be good. And watch out for some stormy weather ahead, alright?"
"Sure." Uri released him and there was a white flash. He was back.
"Sokka! Get up!" Aang said. He practically pounced the fifteen-year-old. "Get up! I have something important to tell you." Sokka rolled in the sleeping bag and waved the airbender away. "Sokka!"
"Not now, Aang. 'M tired." Soft snores escaped the teenager. Aang sighed. He didn't want to resort to this.
"I saw your mother." This made him perk up.
"You what?"
"I saw your mother. I went to the Spirit Realm."
"How…why…what?"
"I'm not sure how it happened either. She said that I was in a peaceful state and that I wanted to cross over."
"Why would you want to do that?" Sokka asked. "What possessed you to go there?"
"I wanted to help."
"Help with what? What would conversing with my mother do?"
"She wanted me to tell you something."
"What?"
"She says that she forgives you." Sokka stopped. His outrage dimmed to a light simmer.
"She forgives me?"
"Yeah. She said that she never blamed you in the first place, but you weren't going to buy that, so she said she forgave you."
"You're lying!" Sokka said, his anger reaching peak again.
"No I'm not! Why would I lie about something like this?" Aang said quite loudly in defense.
"Shut up, do you want to wake up Katara?" Sokka hissed.
"Look. She's just trying to make you feel better. Those deaths weren't your fault. You're too hard on yourself. You need to let it go."
"But…I could have…"
"No. There was nothing that you could do. It's not your fault."
"Are…are you sure she said that?"
"Is your mom Uri of the Southern Water Tribe?" Aang said. He could see Sokka finally responding in the right way to his words.
Sokka stopped, simply looking out into space. "'M tired." He rolled back into his sleeping bag. A grin crept over Aang's face. He could see that he reached Sokka.
A blue figure stood next to him. Aang jumped at the sudden arrival. Seeing it was Uri, he relaxed.
"Good job, kid," she said with a wink.
"No problem, Uri," Aang said. Uri smiled. She turned to her children and kissed each on the cheek before she departed.
bandgeek's music corner…
Wow! I have returned from the dead. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, I'm quiet proud of this chapter. I had many hair-pullingout moments with this chapter because my beta...thought that the 1st ending "could have been better." Which meant that she though it twas bad. -- Just jokes! You know I love you cyrusdragon! Ooh, and big shoutouts to my friend WaffleIron. He works with me! HELLO1!
Ok, some are asking me for the Zutara. The Zutara shall come. Remember, patience isa virtue! Anywhoos, next chapter is A ZUKO CHAPTER SO YA'LLS BETTER BE HAPPY! XD
Well, no review minimum. It doesn't matter how many reviews I get (they just make me really happy). But between work and practice and school, updates are going to be sparce no matter how many reviews I get.
Whatcha waitin' for? Hit that button in the lower left hand corner. It shalt make mes muy contento:-D So, be gone! Be joyous and merry for January is almost over and that means days closer to AVATAR SEASON 2! Shiggity W00t!
Kai