The Fifth Element
Zuko drove his fist into the wall and left a smoldering hole. He was angry, mostly at himself, because he allowed this to happen. The Avatar stole Taya from him, right out from under his nose. Right out from under the watchful eyes of his supposedly able crew. He was angry that he allowed himself to become so close to her. That it was from his own lack of restraint that he became complacent and she was gone once more.
He'd find her. He swore it to himself, to his Uncle, to any crew unfortunate enough to be within bellow range. First he'd find her and then he'd take the Avatar back to his father. It wasn't just his honor at stake now. It was her life.
"Please, calm down, Zuko."
The prince spun around to face his uncle. How could he expect him to remain calm, when he was nearly seething out of control? Then he understood. He was nearly seething out of control. That was the point. He took several deep breaths to center himself, to force his emotional state into one of focus once more.
He walked to the railing and stood there. Behind him, his crew milled around, prepared for anything. They prepared for their prince to explode in anger. He turned away from the railing and leaned against it, his face calm and his eyes glittering. "Continue on our course." He commanded. When several of his crew furrowed their brows in uncertainty he clarified. "We cannot track her, if we find the Avatar...we find Taya."
Iroh blinked then smiled to himself. The prince was usually very gruff and demanding when it came to his orders. Even a few days ago, had the crew shown the slightest bit of hesitancy to obey him he would have beat them into a quick submission. Indeed, Taya had a very profound influence on him, even after only a day. He wondered what they had talked about all night...or if they even talked at all.
The old man's smile grew wider.
The flying bison landed lightly in the desolate village and before Taya could even look around Aang had her hand and she was whisked off to the hut where Katara and Sokka lie. The hut smelled of death nearby and the princess could only stare in horror at the scene before her. At least a dozen people lay in various stages of sickness. The stench nearly overwhelmed her. There was such sadness in the old lady's eyes. Sadness mixed with hope.
Taya had a lot of work to do.
It was late the next day when she finally collapsed, exhausted. Drained of chakra, nearly drained of even her life force, she collapsed to the ground next to last villager to be afflicted by the sickness. Sokka caught her before she could hit the floor and she looked up at him gratefully.
Sokka gently went to the floor with her. Like Aang, he was grateful she was able to save his sister Katara. He cradled the healer in his arms and looked across the room at Aang, who sat near Katara. He watched his sister smile at Aang and he watched Aang dote on her with a small frown. Aang had better things to do then sit here. He was the Avatar, he should be training.
He looked down at Taya, who was asleep in his lap and his eyes were drawn to a small necklace she wore. It was made from three chunks of translucent amber each one engraved with a small golden symbol. The two outside chunks Sokka recognized as house symbols, though he recognized only one of the houses.
One of them was the house of the Fire Lord.
An anger began to build in him as he looked closer at the necklace. The center stone was the symbol for the Fire Nation. Sokka growled loudly and she blinked back awake in confusion and managed to keep from a harsh tumble onto the ground as he leapt to his feet. "FIRE NATION!!" It was all he could do to keep his calm, and even that failed.
Taya was brought back to consciousness quickly as every one of her senses screamed danger at her. She scrambled away from Sokka as he began to bellow and she shrunk back further when he drew his weapon on her. Dimly she saw others rush her way to stop him, but they would be too late. She raised her hands to shield herself.
Pain crashed across her hands and she screamed in pain. She heard Sokka scream in pain as well but she couldn't see beyond her eyes that were squeezed shut tightly. Her hand was broken, she knew it, and she didn't have the energy left to heal herself. The princess forced her eyes open to look at Sokka and he had collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Katara ran to her brother's side. What had he done now? Black fire poured out of the healers hands as Sokka smashed them with his staff. Sokka was still alive, thankfully, but he was dazed and unhurt mostly. Katara glanced at Taya and her broken hand and frowned as Taya passed out again.
It was several hours later, nearly dawn when Taya woke up. Her chakra had returned enough to heal her hand and she flexed it. Pain still shot up her arm at the movement and she knew it was not completely healed. She'd try again after she rested more. Aang and Katara looked over at her when she sat up, with concern.
"Are you alright?" Katara asked. The girl was different and Sokka had told her about her necklace. "You are Fire Nation." When Taya glanced up at the Water-tribesman, Katara added quickly "...aren't you?"
As Katara watched her reaction she tilted her head slightly. This Fire-nation girl didn't act like she expected she would. Like a tyrant. Like someone she should be able to hate easily. It was obvious that Taya was not completely naïve, and no stranger to warfare. She was a Bender, but her healing powers took the forms of blue and black flame. Blue seemed to be healing, while black was the color of pain, and Katara wondered if Taya was able to kill with those same black flames.
Taya rubbed her hand and looked away. "Yes." She said quietly after a moment. "I am Taya of the Southern Desert Nation..." Her voice trailed away as Momo, a lemur, leapt into her lap. Her uninjured hand reached up to stroke its fur softly while it chirred and settled down across her legs.
Sokka scowled at the display. His distrust for this Fire Nation healer clearly written all over his face, and he looked away. "She's Fire Nation. She's wearing a necklace that has the Fire Lord's house on it. We can't trust her!"
Aang, ever the mediator shook his head. "Why not Sokka? She saved your life." When Sokka didn't respond Aang continued. "Besides, she's free now. She doesn't have to go back."
His smile was short lived however as Taya turned back towards him sharply. "I HAVE to go back." She said. "You don't understand, Avatar." Taya forced herself to calm her emotions. She wanted desperately to return to Zuko, but...this might be her only chance to talk to the Avatar. Her only chance to find out for herself if either her father's teachings, or if the teachings of her shishou, her mentor, were correct.
Besides, she reasoned. Aang was kind of nice. So was Katara.
Katara tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean Taya?" she asked.
"You did not rescue me from the Fire Nation...you kidnapped me." At their astonished expressions she chuckled softly. "It's ok...they kidnapped me too..." She reached into her shirt and exposed her necklace for all assembled to view. "Like I said..." she paused as the old woman joined their circle. "...my name is Taya, of the Desert Nation of Sand."
The old woman nodded as she sat down. "Princess Taya."
The princess looked surprised that someone recognized her, but she nodded. "That is correct and I am-"
"Prince Zuko's betrothed." The old woman finished again, much to Taya's growing astonishment. There was much this woman knew while she didn't appear to know. Taya wondered what more she might learn from the old sage. The woman, perhaps aware of Taya's thoughts, nodded with a tiny smirk. "I am old child, I have seen much. I was born soon after Avatar Roku disappeared. I have seen many changes." The woman leaned forward and offered Taya a warm flour tortilla.
Suddenly aware of how hungry she was, the Princess accepted the food gratefully. "Thank you."
Sokka crossed his arms. "Feeding the enemy. Not a very good idea..."
Katara opened her mouth to scold her brother at his lack of decorum but Taya beat him to it. "Believe it or not Sokka, not every single person in the Fire nation wants to destroy everyone who is not Fire." Her green eyes flicked towards Sokka. "If I wanted such a thing, I would not have bothered to save you, or this Earth Nation village. My .. gift...can be used to help...or to harm." She glanced down at her hand, bruised deeply and still swollen from the attack.
Still not convinced, Sokka glared at Taya. She was lying. She had to be lying. Fire Nation soldiers and especially the nobility hated the other lands, they destroyed everything they touched. His skin crawled as he thought about how she had to touch him as well. "Look! If you're such a healer, then why don't you heal your hand?"
Taya looked down at it and answered softly. "Because I can not."
Sokka leapt to his feet. "SEE?!" He cried out. "She's not as powerful as everyone thinks!" He danced around for a moment in victory and ignored the glare Katara gave him.
Taya shrugged, and half wanted to laugh at his silly behavior. "...I used up most of my energy healing you." She could not hide the smirk as his dance was stopped cold. "I want the Avatar to unite the lands."
The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
Katara was the first to speak. "Are you ... are you serious?"
It was inconceivable to the young princess why the others would not believe her. To her, it was an obvious solution, especially for Water Tribesmen. She didn't understand the question. "Uh..." she stammered. "Of course I am serious." She responded. When their expressions didn't change she continued. "What? Do you believe that simply because I am to be married to Prince Zuko, and that I am from the Fire nation, and because I am a princess of that Nation, that I believe in the Avatar and wish for peace?"
When Taya heard her own words she slumped forward. "Um...yeah...ok...I see your point..."
Katara raised an eyebrow, "Listen Taya, it's not that we don't believe you—"
Her brother interrupted. "...but we don't.."
And Katara ignored him and continued. "—but you are the first Fire Nation we've ever talked to. All the others..." she paused, pain in her words. "All the others...killed or tried to kill those that we loved, destroyed our villages, our families, our lives. Everywhere the Fire nation goes, destruction follows." Tears filled her eyes and she looked away.
Taya nodded, empathizing with the water-bender. "Which is why the Avatar needs to stop the Fire Nation and unite the world...right?" She leaned forward towards Katara. "Listen to me Katara. I will not lie to you. Yes, I was raised to believe the Fire Nation was all-powerful, but...when my gift became known, I became a target as well. I became a tool to be used by my people, for ONLY my people. Each element supposedly has a gifted one like me, but...I've never met any others." She paused as Momo the lemur stood up and stretched lazily before he plopped back down in a new position. Taya smiled, she missed her pets as she looked back up to continue. "This is wrong. What the Fire Nation is doing is wrong." She looked at Aang. "What Zuko is doing is wrong."
Aang blinked. "Wait...aren't you...don't you love him?"
Taya laughed. "Just because I disagree with what he's doing doesn't mean I don't love him. Hasn't Sokka ever disagreed with Katara, his sister? Does that mean he no longer loves her?" Katara grinned while Sokka turned further away. Taya continued "Zuko is a good man. He has a good heart. He hunts you down because he believes it is the only way he will regain his father's love." Her smile turned sad. "He is honorable and kind, he is just...misguided for now." She looked up at the Avatar and her smile returned, although it was a sad painful one. "He is a lot like you Aang, and I think, if you had met in a different time...the two of you might have been friends. His scar, his banishment...it changed him. He wants nothing more than to reclaim his throne, his life, his father's love..." She blinked and then seemed to remember who she talked to, and shrugged a bit. "It is all very complex..."
"When I ran away, I was found by my shishou Deidara. An Earth-bender." When Aang nodded she smiled. "Ah, you met her? She is blind, always has been, but very VERY powerful...perhaps, if you are not already a master of Earth-bending, she could teach you." Aang smiled at that. "She taught me many things, mostly she taught me that there are always more than one side to every story, and that everything in the world is a matter of perspective...it was just a matter of opening your eyes to see it."
Even Sokka turned to look at her. His mind raced. How could someone his own age and a Fire noble, understand the pain of the world? How could they understand that the Fire Nation killed his parents, destroyed everything he loved? Perhaps...perhaps he was wrong about her... Sokka blinked then turned away again. No...he wasn't wrong, and it would take more than her words to EVER convince him otherwise.
Katara was also dubious about Taya, and found it hard for even her open mind to accept that someone so close to the hierarchy of the Fire Nation would understand the pain of the world they created themselves. She glanced over at Aang and watched him for a moment. Fire soldiers had destroyed his home as well, and wiped out ALL the airbenders but one...would Aang ever accept her?
For his part, Aang smiled at her. Sure, she was powerful, and he could sense her ability to destroy as well as heal, but the fact that she was willing to sit and speak with them, with the Avatar spoke volumes to him about her. Her words rang true to his ears and he knew he had a choice. He could either trust her, or he could send her away.
He chose to trust in her. "Where are you going now?" He asked.
Taya smiled at him softly, her features soft in the flickering fire light. "I must return to him."
The Avatar nodded. "Alright...in the morning then...but...why must you?" His large eyes blinked at her, honestly. He truly did want her to stay with them. She was different than anyone he'd met before and she reminded him of his past.
Likewise, Taya felt a kinship with Aang she had not felt in a long time with anyone. She wanted to stay, to get to know both he and Katara better, and to prove to Sokka she wasn't a liar and a monster, but she shook her head. "I believe in you Aang." She said. "Perhaps, I can make Zuko believe in you too. Don't you see?" she pleaded softly. "If I can make him understand, if I can make him see the world the way I see it, the way you see it, then I must stay with him. I love him, more than anything, and he will someday be Lord of the Fire Nation. Maybe...maybe when that happens...it will be because of you Aang, and the world will be free." She blinked away tears of emotion and giggled softly. "Perhaps I'm just being silly. Dreams of a reality that is impossible...but...I have to try...don't I?"
The gathered group remained quiet after her words for a long time before Katara reached out and put her hand on top of Taya's. Katara understood, and Taya smiled up at the girl warmly. Maybe things would work out after all.
The remainder of the night was spent in a comfortable conversation between Katara, Taya and Aang while Sokka snored fitfully.