She was standing in the middle of nothingness. There was no floor, ceiling, walls, nothing. Just black. All she could hear was the sound of her breathing and her heart pounding. "Tell me a story, mommy..." she could hear a child's voice call softly.
"Once there was a princess named Jin..."
"Mom?" called Jin, looking around. "Mom where are you?"
"Princess Jin was a very curious and naughty little girl who always did what her mother told her not to..." Jin ran around panicking. She could hear her mother's voice clear as day but she still had the feeling of being alone.
"Mom! Mom I can't find you!"
"What happened to the princess?" asked the child's voice. Jin knew it was her own... almost as if from the past. She paused and listened as the dialogue from her youth repeated itself, her mother telling her a bedtime story...
"She went out into the woods after her mother specifically told her not to. And you know what happened to her?"
"What happened mommy?"
A dim light showed and Jin saw the sillouhettes of her mother sitting on a bed talking down to a much younger Jin, who, rather than looking intrigued by the tale, looked terrified.
"She was never found again. She died out there, alone and afraid. The darkness devoured her and she was never seen. She never saw her family ever again."
Jin felt her blood run cold and she ran towards her mother and her younger self. "Mom!" she cried. "Mom it's me! I'm here! I'm not lost!"
The scene before her began to withdraw into the shadows and it seemed every step Jin took towards her mother the farther away she withdrew. Suddenly Jin's foot sunk down to her knee and she looked down in horror as the darkness beneath her seemed to be engulfing her like quicksand. "Mom!" she cried in terror. "Mom! Help me! Mom!" She was up to her waist and sinking rapidly. "Mom!"
"I came for you and you weren't there..." said a voice. As best as she could,Jin turned her head around and saw a young man was standing a foot away from her, staring down at her. She couldn't see his face but she knew his voice.
"Zuko!" she cried. "Zuko help me!" She reached out her hands to him but he made no move to help her.
"You weren't there. You promised you would be and you abandoned me."
"I didn't! I swear I didn't! Zuko!"
He stepped away and turned his back on her. "You weren't there." She sank up to her neck and screamed loudly until she could feel the darkness spilling into her mouth, filling her lungs, suffocating her.
----
"JIN!"
A few people nearly fell off of Appa, the sudden outburst making them nearly jump out of their skins. Even Appa made a slight jolt from it, and everyone craned their heads around to Zuko who was sitting there wide eyed, breathing heavily as sweat fell down his face.
"Zuko!" cried Katara. "What's wrong?" He didn't answer right away. He was breathing so heavily and was shaking.
"I think he had a nightmare," said Toph.
"I saw Jin," he gasped. "She was dying..."
He'd been running through a black forest towardsa voice that had been calling him. At first the call had been like that of a lover's, but it changed from love to fear, and soon frantic screams for help. When he found the source of the voice he saw Jin standing on a pile of dead branches, coughing up blood and spitting it out by the mouthful. He'd called her name but she collapsed before he could reach her, and she landed so she lay on her back with her arms folded across her chest... just like a corpse. The branches below her ignited and she was engulfed in flames before he could reach her.
"I couldn't help her..." he said, shaking even more as the thought scared him to death. For a long time he didn't look at any of them and Aang glanced at Katara, wondering if she could make anything out of this.
"I'm sure it was just a nightmare," she said softly. "You've been away from Jin for so long you're afraid now more than ever that something will happen and you won't be there to stop it." Zuko said nothing but her explanation made sense to everyone else. "We'll be in Ba Sing Se soon, and you'll find her and she'll be fine."
For a moment Katara thought her words had comforted him but the look in his eyes said the opposite. "Something's gone wrong," he said shaking his head. "Something's gone very wrong." Katara tried to encourage him otherwise but he was inconsolable. She finally gave up and he sat there staring out over Appa's saddle, praying that Jin would be all right... where ever she was.
----
Jin opened her eyes with a gasp and jumped to her feet, frantically gasping for air, the feeling of drowning not leaving her yet. Soon she felt dizzy and fell to her knees again, slowly regaining control over her breathing. It had only been a nightmare... nothing more. When she looked around, however, she realized she was not where she had fallen.
"Was wondering when you'd wake up..." said a voice. Jin ripped her broadswords out of their sheaths and spun around, coming face to face with a young woman who looked about her age. She was horribly skinny and had ratty brown hair near waist length. Jin breathed a sigh of relief and put the blades away. "I found you laying in a clearing and brought you here. The Dai Li have been searching through the woods this morning looking for someone. If I'd left you in a clearing you would have been found by now."
"Thanks," breathed Jin. "How long was I out?"
"A few hours. My name's Kiri by the way."
"Jin," said Jin, offering her hand. Kiri's eyes widened.
"No wonder they're searching then. They're looking for you!" Jin made a face. "You're the one who lead the uprising against the Dai Li and the Fire Nation. If they find you..." Jin nodded.
"Thanks again," she said. "I can't stay here and keep you in danger. I'd repay you for your kindness but I have nothing to offer." Kiri shook her head.
"I wouldn't go out there alone. Even armed you're no match for all of them," she warned.
"I know, but I can't stay. There's someone... I just have to find a way out of these woods." All she could think of was Zuko now and how afraid he would be if he returned and she was not there. Heaven only knew how her parents were holding up.
"Suit yourself," said Kiri. "Take this though..." she handed her a loaf of bread. "When the Dai Li came for me I did the exact same thing you did. I ran. But I managed to grab some food on my way out. You'll need this more than me." Jin took it and smiled.
"Thank you again. And good luck."
"Same to you," she said, and Jin left her. Something told her she would see her again, but for now she had to focus on getting home. Zuko would write her soon or even arrive for her and she had to be there.
"You weren't there..."
"I will be," she said, pulling off a piece of bread and stuffing it in her mouth. "I will be..."
----
Mai sat on her bed in the tent and stared down at an old ratty bracelet on her wrist. She had recieved it when she was very young, but she wore it everyday to make herself feel closer to the one who had given it to her. She traced her finger over it, knowing it looked disgusting and she should toss it, but she had no desire to.
"I'll find you soon, Zuko," she said to herself. "And then things will be the way they were supposed to. You, me, and no filthy peasant girl." She knew the Dai Li mocked her for her 'obsession' as they had so mockingly called it. Even Ty Lee had left her, deciding she'd rather be a performer again then aid in another 'wild goose chase' as she had so mockingly called it. None of them understood. Mai sighed and pulled her sleeve over the bracelet. Zuko would understand. He had to.
"Miss," called one of the Dai Li. "We're ready to start searching." She stood up with a nod and left her tent. Soon it would be over, and that peasant girl would no longer stand in the way.
----
When Appa landed Zuko jumped off and the others had to scramble to follow him. "Zuko, slow down!" called Katara, but Zuko was running for Jin's house. He didn't even make it through the door.
Looking through the window he saw Jin's mother weeping, sitting in a chair and her face burried into her arms which were resting against the table. Beside her was her husband trying to comfort her and Jin's brother, Koji, paced around in a frustrated manner. Zuko's heart nearly stopped beating. He ran over to Jin's bedroom window and looked in. She wasn't there but all her belongings seemed to be in place. There was no sign of forced entry but he could tell she had left in a hurry.
Katara was soon beside him, followed by Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Aang. "Zuko..." said Katara, trying to find the words to say. "I'm so..."
"She wasn't taken," he said. "No one broke into her room. She must have run before they could catch her." He found a small glimmer of hope in those words... but it was very small.
"There's three other families weeping out there," said Suki, pointing into the streets. "What happened here?"
"The Dai Li's what happened," said Aang looking around. "We've seen the stuff those guys are capable of."
"I don't understand it," said Toph. "What to the Dai Li have to gain in kidnapping young women?"
"I can think of a few messed up reasons..." said Sokka.
"Don't!" snapped Katara. "We'll find her, Zuko," she said, turning to him. He turned to look at her but his eyes strayed to something else. Stepping away from Jin's window he wandered over to the wall of one of the houses and reached for something protruding from it.
"What's that?" asked Aang. Zuko pulled it out and held out the dart, eyes narrowing.
"The Dai Li aren't the only ones who have been here," he said tossing it to Katara. She examined it and shook her head.
"Mai..." she said in realization. "That means Ty Lee is probably somewhere in the city as well."
"I doubt that," said Zuko. "Mai never got along with Ty Lee. Azula was the one who kept the two together because they both liked her."
"But why would Mai be a part of this? It doesn't make any sense," said Toph. Zuko didn't answer but Katara caught his eyes darkening a little.
"We better start asking around," he said after a moment. "See if anyone saw anything last night."
"Zuko..." said Katara. "If there's anything else you might know..."
"I don't," he said. "I have no idea why Mai would do this. Now let's go.
We're waisting time"
----