Suki was astonished at how fast Draaka grew. Within a week, she was up to Suki's hips, and flying with care, and halfway through then next week she was ready to start leading the group towards their goal. She could also understand if she was spoken to, although she could not yet speak fluently, like Ran and Shao.
They were reluctant to leave, after such a blissful period of rest, but knew they had to. The fate of the world was in their hands. If Suki was a normal world citizen, she would have been deeply disturbed that her fate would be determined by a small group of mismatched, hodgepodge-y hormone-crazy teens. Especially, she added, a blind one, as she had to gently steered Toph out of the way of a rampaging monkey-wasp. Toph, instead of thanking her, exploded, saying, "I wish for once I could find someone who respected me and realized I was just as powerful and capable as the rest of you. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm helpless!"
"Toph," said Suki, trying to remain composed. "I just didn't want you to get stung. Be reasonable."
"Haru says that I'm perfectly reasonable, just wanting some respect. Respect that I deserve, he says!"
"I don't hold Haru's opinion in very high esteem," retorted Suki, but only to herself, she was worried about what the response would be if she said that out loud.
The six walked for hours, as long as they could without collapsing, and then more still. When all of their stomach's growls had turned to deafening roars, they stopped for a small meal. As Suki's eyes traveled across the faces of the group, she choked on her food. She had to struggle to breathe, because she was laughing, choking, and trying to swallow all at the same time. She could have sworn that some of her noodles slipped out her nose.
Zuko looked at her, concerned and puzzled, as Sokka and Katara patted her on the back, trying to extricate the final pieces of food lodged in her throat. "What?"
"You looked…alarmed," she said, giggling. It was true, his eyes had been stretched wide as saucers, his mouth hanging slightly open.
"Oh…" he responded, not having been aware of the expression he was making. "It's just … it feels… funny here. Do you feel it? I feel so…powerful. It's strange.
Aang beamed. "Don't you know what that means? We're getting closer. Closer to the Mother Dragon!"
Two days later, the kids were exhausted, parched, and hopeless. Draaka flew on, unfazed. They didn't know how much longer they could go on, and they knew it wouldn't be long.
Early that day, they rejoiced when Draaka landed at the foot of a steep hill, nudged Suki, and squeaked "here!" in her developing dragon voice.
"Thank goodness!" breathed Suki, then looked around for and entrance or door of some kind. Then she gave herself a mental kick for being so naïve. In the world of freaky magic and bending and spirits, they would never have anything to do with something as simple and everyday as a door. "How do you get in?" she asked the dragon.
Without a word, Draaka slunk over to a stone on the side of the hill. She put her foot on the stone, and it started to glow. Dull at first, but gradually and as the light brightened, a hole grew in the side of the hill. When the glow resided, there was a gaping cave mouth where before there was solid earth. The gang packed inside. The tunnel was long, and the only light was from the entrance of the cave. And that disappeared as the hole quickly refilled with impenetrable stone. They stood in complete darkness.
Suddenly, a flame flared to life. Suki looked for the source, and found that Draaka was breathing a steady stream of fire, to light the path for the group. Suki smiled, and found that she had become quite fond of the young dragon.
With great care, the group worked their way down the tunnel. They came to another wall. This one had a curious emblem of a dragon, as the trunk of a tree, with little branches of flame and smaller dragons coming off of it. She wasn't an expert, like Aang, but she guessed that it was some symbol for the mother dragon. Aang pushed towards the front of the group. He placed his hand over the emblem. His eyes glazed over, immediately. In a few seconds, he appeared to dissolve. "Aang!" cried Katara, pushing everyone out of the way. Desperately, she placed her hands on the emblem in the same way she had. A moment later, she dissolved as well.
(Meanwhile while Aang is dissolving)
After putting his hands on the strange symbol on the wall, he became semi-unconscious. He barely notice the walls melting away around him, and being replaced by pure blackness. "What is your greatest fear?" hissed a voice. It did not come from a particular source, it came from everywhere around him, at once. He immediately snapped back to consciousness.
"Uhhh…who is this?" he asked.
"What is your greatest fear?" repeated the voice. It apparently wasn't in the mood to chat.
Aang thought about this for a moment.
"I-I'm afraid of… I'm afraid of failure. I already failed in defeating the Fire Nation once, I don't want to do it again. I can't." Aang didn't expect this answer, it just came out of him. But the truth of it brought tears to his eyes. And he dissolved again.
Katara came next.
The question came again. Katara was frantic. Where was she? She couldn't see. She desperately tried to move, but she was held fast by some invisible force. She decided all she could do was answer. She searched for an answer. "I'm afraid of hurting the people I love. Sometimes I get so mad… I lose myself, I don't want to do anything to the people I love, then when I lost myself… I could never come back. I couldn't live with myself." Again, like Aang she passed on.
Toph materialized like the other two had.
She heard the question. She didn't know what to say. She had no reply. "I don't have any fears. I just want. I want to be recognized for the strength that I have. Not just that I'm blind." The darkness quivered for a moment, wondering whether to let the girl pass, or to throw her back for her insufficient answer. Finally, it let her pass.
Then came Zuko.
When he heard the question, a face sprang into his mind. "My mother. He said. I'm worried I'll live my life never knowing what happened to my mother, where she is. If she's alive." Again, he passed through.
Sokka materialized in the dark chamber next.
He didn't know what to say to the question. There was so much he was afraid of. But something stood out from all the rest. "I just got her back." He said. "Suki. I don't want to lose her. I'm worried I won't be able to protect her. I'm afraid that I'll lose her. I love her more than I've loved anyone before." He was let go without a moment's hesitation.
Suki was the last to come.
She had contemplated this question before. "I'm worried that I'll lose everyone. That there will be no one in the world who loves me. I'm worried that there's already no one in the world that loves me." And she passed on like the others.
Next thing she knew, Suki was in an enormous cave. Sitting in it were her friends, and an enormous dragon. The first dragon.