AN- A shout out to Zuko101, FireGirl and Jordan and his friendsfrom Sydney! And to all my review'ers, I luv ya' lots! The next chappters are going to be about Leiko getting revenge for her family...oh and by the way...Zuko isn't dead. ;)
The morning came, and the flames on the ship were now nothing but ambers. Leiko looked up as the sun rose with red eyes and dried tears on her cheeks. No matter how many tears she cried, nothing could change the past. Her life was over. She knew what she had to do…she had to move on. So she walked around the ship, pushing through the ashes and pieces left of the ship for anything that might have survived. She had the armor Lieutenant Jee gave her on, and in the ashes she was relieved to find her sword.
She took the sword out of its holster and held it up in the sunlight. The sun reflected off of the steal as she looked at it. And she looked deeper into the reflection, and she saw something in the sand. She turned around and found a helmet in the sand. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a warrior's helmet…it belonged to the one of the warrior's of Kyoshi. What were they doing at the scene? And then it came to her. The warrior's of Kyoshi were sworn to kill all firebenders that landed on their island. There wasn't a trace of any other firebenders at the scene. Had they done it? Leiko decided to investigate. She looked at her sword again and at the helmet in her other hand. She furrowed her eyebrows, and at that moment, she swore to do one thing she knew she was good at…kill.
Someone had taken away her whole life from her, and the only people she loved. And for that they would pay. She looked up at the sky, knowing that somewhere in the heavens; Zuko was looking down on her. And she made a promise to him, a promise of vengeance. She would hunt down who did this! And she would make them pay by taking the very life from their veins…slowly and painfully! She took her bandana and pulled it over her face and placed her sword in the holster and tied it to her hip. It was a bitter sweet moment for her, because once again she was becoming what she had feared to be for years…an assassin. "For my family…" she said to herself, "I will do this." And a tear fell from her eye. She turned and looked towards the village. She would see just what they were up to.
Leiko waited until dark to walk into the village through the woods, so not to be seen. She kept her steps light and quiet as she approached the people. She peered through the bushes and listened to what they were saying. The leader of the village was speaking with a roaring fire behind him. "Today is a great day. Last night, a fire nation ship that has darkened our harbors before exploded into nothing but tiny bits and pieces. Tonight, we celebrate the death of our enemies!" and the town cheered.
Anger boiled inside of Leiko and she jumped out of the bushes in a flash! People around the fire and at the dinner tables jumped up and began to flee! Parents grabbed onto their children and shoved them behind their backs to keep the safe! Leiko ran up to the leader of the village and whipped out her sword and stuck it in his face! "MURDERER!" She yelled and then she got closer to his frightened face. "Murderer." She growled.
Some warriors circled Leiko and took out their fans. "Step away from him, now!" one of the warriors of Kyoshi demanded. Leiko drew in a deep breath, hissing as she did and turned to face the leader of the warriors. "Leave and we won't hurt you!" Leiko placed her sword back in its holster and conducted fire in her fists. The people of the village ran inside their houses in fear and the warriors closed in on her. "She's a firebender!"
"You cannot kill me!" Leiko yelled at them. The flickering fire cast light onto half of her shadowed face, licking at the darkness surrounding them. There was silence, and the sound of the fire seemed to be amplified. A bead of sweat dropped from Leiko's temple and hit the ground. "I live for vengeance! You will all suffer for your horrible deed!"
"What deed?" the leader of the warriors spit out.
"The murder of my family!" Leiko barked back. "You blew up the fire nation ship! You killed my family!"
"But we didn't do it." And Leiko's face dropped. The flames in her hands died down as she grew stunned.
"You were celebrating!" Leiko accused them.
"But we didn't do it!"
"Lies! Nothing but fucking lies!" Leiko roared.
"I swear to you, Leiko Sikari. We didn't do this horrible act. We were celebrating is all." Leiko was shocked.
"How do you know me?" she asked.
"Who doesn't know of The Great Leiko Sikari, Undefeatable Warrior? You're the newest legend. People speak of you across the land. You escaped the fire nation, not once, but twice! Your own home."
"That's my business!" Leiko told them.
"It's true." The leader of the village spoke calmly. "This town is innocent. We did not blow up the ship."
"Nonsense! I found a warrior's helmet at the scene of the crime!" Leiko informed them.
"I swear to you, on behalf of the people in this village, we did not to it."
Leiko's face grew soft. Who was she kidding? These people were innocent. She could tell by the way they spoke. She let the flames disappear from her fists and dropped her arms down. "You have our sympathy." The old man said. Leiko's breathing went back to its regular pace and she calmed down. "Please…it would only be an honor to help a great warrior of such magnitude." And Leiko removed her bandana and revealed her face.
"I am sorry." She said with tears in her eyes.
Leiko sat in a room with the leader of the village. She had a blanket wrapped around her and a small fire going in a fire pit. The two of them sat on a pile of blankets and spoke. Leiko had a cup of tea in her hands. "I still can't express how sorry I am for attacking your village. And yet you're giving me a place to stay and food to eat. I am very grateful." She said and bowed her head. The man smiled.
"Anything for the Great Leiko Sikari. Now, tell me, your family was on that ship?" and she nodded, "But everyone says you are a loner."
"I got married, and adopted a babe." Leiko explained.
"Ah, the warrior started a family. Who was your husband?"
"He was the captain of the ship. He had attacked this village before in search for the Avatar."
"Prince Zuko?" and she nodded. "I suspected such."
"He was a great person when you got to know him past all the hatred." And she bowed her head again and let tears fall from her eyes. "It wasn't his fault that he was so harsh. He had a bad past."
"You must miss him."
"More than anything." And a tear streamed down her cheek. "This isn't the first time his ship has blown up. But last time he made it out. I keep telling myself that he could survive, when deep down I know that…that…" and she couldn't continue. The man got up and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I understand. Rest, it will be daybreak soon." And he walked out, leaving Leiko by herself. Leiko laid down next to the fire and curled up into a ball to fall asleep.