Leiko awoke the next morning on the cold, hard cave floor. It reminded her of the times she had woken up in the dungeon after her father sent her there. It was most unwelcoming. However she didn't let it bother her, she still remembered her quest and refused to let anything discourage her. She sat up and ran her fingers through her bangs. The fire she med had gone out sometime in the middle of the night, and it was cold again. She shivered and reached into her bag to get her diary. She had packed a small bottle of ink and a feather pen to continue in the chronicles of her adventure. She wrote,

Dear Diary,

I know I haven't written in a long time, but a series of events have prohibited me from giving my time to any other activity, other than grieving. I have never felt so alone, so vulnerable. I am on my own now, and I have lost everything. I have nothing but absolute and utter rage to keep my flames from burning out.

It all started a few days ago, when a serious crime was committed. My husband, Zuko, and my babe, Reina, were killed along with Iroh and the rest of the crew in a fiery explosion. The ship blew up while I was out on a walk after Zuko and I had an argument. I never even got to say goodbye…or how sorry I was...and how much I love him. It burns me inside knowing that an innocent life as new as Reina's was destroyed without a second thought. The cowards fled the scene, and all I found was a helmet belonging to the warriors of Kyoshi.

Turns out that they were innocent. They only celebrated the dreadful deed, but had no hand in it. I attacked their village but they showed forgiveness and let me stay. They gave me only kind hospitality despite me brutal actions. I couldn't help it. I have been pushed to a point beyond reason. Nothing will stop me.

I got a lead from the head of the village, a kind old man, that the king of Omashu is the one responsible for taking away my life from me. I am on a journey as we speak to Omashu to seek my revenge. To get to the ports I have to travel to the other side of the island, and the only way is through a mountain pass. The mountains are perfidious and they test my every step and move, testing my physical fitness and my will. But like I said, nothing will stop me. May the gods have mercy on me for what I am trying to accomplish. But if I burn in hell for my actions than so be it. I cannot live without my revenge.

Leiko

Leiko flipped through the pages of her diary, remembering all the happy entries she had left. She went way back towards the beginning and read on of her favorite entries. It was about her and Zuko. The two of them and some friends had challenged each other to gobble down a whole bag on fire flakes. It was during Leiko's favorite event of the year, the fire nation festival. They had all accepted the challenge and began to wolf down their individual bags of fire flakes by the handful, and all of them regretted it later. Zuko had ran around screaming for water and another boy began to cry. Leiko's own mouth was on fire, but not burning enough to keep her from smiling at the scene. Zuko downed a whole pitcher of water that evening.

Leiko sighed and closed her diary again. She stuffed it back into her bag and closed it up. It was time to move on. As she stood up, her feet frozen and cold tears sticking to her cheeks, she played out the scene at the festival over and over again. She set her first step into the deep snow and looked out of the cave. A cloud had descended over the point, making it hard to see. At least it wasn't snowing. "For my family." She muttered and began to walk through the snow.

Thanks to the blizzard from the night before, the snow was up to her knees now. It was extremely hard to walk. And it was still bitterly cold out, so she put up her bandana to keep her face warm. Every time she exhaled it warmed her face. Walking through the snow made her legs ache, she was over working them far too much. She lost the feeling in her toes and she was almost certain that they were frostbitten. But this wouldn't end soon. Beyond this mountain point was another one, and she would be in the mountains for a few more days.

She began to wish that Tila was there to talk to and keep her going. She began to wish that she was in Zuko's warm, strong arms again. She even wished that she could hold Reina at least one more time. But no amount of wishing would change the truth. They were gone. No more giggling baby, no more bird on her shoulder, no more kisses and hugs, no more old war stories from a retired general…no more anything. "I must keep going." She told herself.

And then, she got that weird feeling in her gut again. She grabbed it and held her hand there, until the feeling went away. "It's the feeling of desire…" she spoke to herself, "Desire to accomplish my goal." She convinced. She stood in the snow until it went away and then pressed on. She moved her hand up to her neck and clutched the necklace that Zuko had given her for their betrothal. It was beautiful. And closed to her bust was the necklace he had given her as a child for her birthday, the one with the flame. Those and the ring was all she had left, beside her memories.

The mountain air grew thin and she began to breathe harder. She was going higher up into the cloud, where there was hardly any air. She gripped the ledge and pulled herself up and rolled onto the ledge. She closed her eyes from fatigue and began to cry. "Why?" she asked herself as tears fell from her eyes.

"Leiko…" she heard. And she opened her eyes and looked to her side. Did her eyes deceive her? It was impossible! It was…

"Iroh?" she asked and she got to her knees. In front of her stood Zuko's old Uncle. She felt relief in her heart and stood up and wobbled over to him. "Iroh! Oh, you're alive!" she cried. But when she walked up to him, he disappeared! She stopped and looked around. "Huh? What?" nobody was there.

"Leiko." She heard, and she spun around and saw Zuko! Could it be him? It couldn't be!

"Zuko…Zuko!" and she ran ahead, but just like Iroh, he vanished. Leiko spun around more looking for him! "NO! Come back! COME BACK!" she yelled into the wind! And then she heard a twitter and looked up to see Tila flying over her head in a circle! And then she heard a giggle and looked to her left to see Reina in the snow, reaching out to her. Leiko looked all around her and then Iroh and Zuko came back! She grew confused! She went to touch Zuko's face but he disappeared. And one by one the rest of her family did as well. She looked around more, but saw nothing but the godforsaken cloud she was in. "NO!" she cried out and dropped down to her knees! "CURSE THIS MOUNTAIN!" she screamed at the top of her lungs! She covered her face and fell into the snow. She was going delusional. "The gods are taunting me." She whispered. They weren't there…they were just simple allusions from the mountain air.