Bri: We're back and sorry we're late, but; Merry Christmas!
Ru: Bri, one: we are really really late and two: don't say that, it might be offensive to somebody!
Tawny: We celebrate Christmas; can't we wish that others have nice one as well?
Ru: No we can, but that's not what I meant. What about the people who celebrate Hanukah and Kwanza?
Bri: Okay Happy Christmahanakwanzekah.
Ru & Tawny: Christmahanakwanzekah?
Bri: Yeah Christmahanakwanzekah; it includes all those holidays together to form one monster holiday!
Ru: Okay, Bri, I think that you've had one too many candy canes.
Bri: But I only ate six!
Tawny: (sighs and shakes head)
Ru: Okay so here is our Christmannana…
Bri: Christmahanakwanzeka!
Ru: (rolls eyes) Okay here is our Christmahanakwanzeka(to Bri) there happy, present to all of you!
Chapter 11: Hellos and Goodbyes
"Mom?!" Zuko couldn't believe his eyes. "I- I thought that you were dead!" He was standing over her with her wrist firmly in his grasp. She just looked up at him in astonishment.
"Zuko? Oh Zuko, I can't believe it's you!" Ursa exclaimed as she leapt to her feet and enveloped her son in her arms. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Tears rolled down her thin cheeks and onto his shoulder. "I should never have left you or Azula!" Still shocked and not sure what to do, Zuko pulled away. Ursa looked into his eyes. "Oh my son, look how you have grown! But…" She looked at his scar. "Who did this to you?" She asked; eyes full of sadness and anger. Zuko turned away; Katara stepped forward toward him.
"You should tell her, Zuko." She said softly. Ursa looked at the waterbender; confused.
"Tell me what; tell me who did this to you?" She asked. "I would like to know who did this to you." Zuko looked at her; knowing she would not accept the news readily.
"Dad." Zuko said bitterly. Ursa looked at him still waiting to hear something; when it finally dawned on her.
"W-what?" She said still not sure she had heard correctly.
"Father did this to me; for showing shameful weakness." He said through gritted teeth. Ursa just looked at him as all the color drained from her face.
"I- I can't believe it. Ozai would never…hurt his own son." She said trying to convince herself it wasn't true. "He promised me he would keep you safe as a last favor before…"
"Mom, he did okay?!" Zuko said wanting to change the subject.
"Ursa, it's true; Ozai did give Zuko that scar." Iroh confirmed; he looked over at his nephew and saw that Zuko didn't want to talk about it anymore. "But Ursa, what are you doing in Ba Sing Se?" Ursa caught the hint that the subject needed to be changed and resigned to talk about it with Iroh later.
"Well, after I left the palace I needed to get out of the Fire Nation completely and knew that the only place that was safe was Ba Sing Se. So I came here and have lived here ever since." She replied. "And when I heard of your banishment I almost went back to the palace, to try to convince Ozai that he was being to harsh on you. So are you still searching for the Avatar?"
"No, Mom, Father declared Uncle and I traitors and sent Azula to try to capture us. Now she, Ty Lee, and Mai are chasing us. A few weeks ago, we fought Azula and she hurt Uncle. The Avatar and his friends fought with us."
"We tried to help Iroh when he was hurt, but Zuko pushed us away. The next day I came back with my friend Toph and persuaded Zuko to let us help. Being a waterbender I can heal people, but to even get near Iroh I had to freeze Zuko where he stood and have Toph, who is an earthbender, seal him in wall of rock." Katara cut in.
"And then we decided to join the Avatar. We had been with the Avatar's group for about two weeks when…" Iroh started.
"These three crazy girls showed up and said that they wanted Zuko to lead their army against the Fire Nation. At first I thought that he would never go against his father, but when Iroh talked to him about it; he decided that he would lead the army. And here we are." Katara finished.
"Azula, your own sister, is hunting you?!" Ursa exclaimed; unbelieving. Zuko looked away, his discomfort apparent on his face. Iroh sighed; they had moved from one uncomfortable conversation to another. He had to say something to change the subject yet again.
"Uh…, Ursa, why don't we go back to the Earth King's Palace and get you some place to rest." Iroh suggested.
"No that's alright I have a little house not too far away where I'm living." The fatigued woman said. "You are all welcome to visit anytime you wish. I will come by the palace tomorrow to talk with you some more, Iroh. For now I need to lie down; so goodnight and see you first thing tomorrow morning." With those words Ursa turned and left the three standing in the street looking tired.
Tawny stared at her reflection in the mirror back in her room at the palace.
"What am I doing? Why am I here?" The frustrated teen asked her twin in the glass. Mixed feelings bubbled inside her stomach, making her tired and irritated. She wanted to save her friends, but she didn't want to go on a mission without her sisters. They had always been together, never apart, and it was very strange thinking about going on a dangerous mission without them. She sighed, why did things always turn out bad for her? She wanted to scream! Things were changing so fast and she hated it! She was sick of everything: sick of this stupid war, sick of being quiet, sick of having to follow orders without a second thought! She collapsed on her bed and fell instantly into a troubled sleep.
Tawny looked around at the dark, barren earth around her.
"What? Where am I? What's going on? Why am I here?" She asked the emptiness.
"Why do you think you're here, Dark One?" A voice from nowhere inquired. Tawny gasped and looked around; if someone had been there she would have sensed their presence. But whatever this voice was or wherever it had come from she could neither sense it nor see it.
"Who or what are you?" She questioned the being.
"I am everything and nothing, dark and light, good and evil. I am the one to which you pray and follow." Tawny could see off in the distance a figure with two animals approaching her. Soon the figure was close enough for Tawny to see, and at the sight she fell to her knees. Elen of the Ways, Goddess of travelers, stood in front of the ninja with her two companions, Gawen and Sianna, both tall, majestic dogs.
"My Lady." Tawny said humbly with her face touching the ground.
"Dark One, you have been unsettled lately, what is troubling you?" The deity raised Her follower to her feet.
"My Lady, I am afraid to travel so far and to such a dangerous place, alone. I have been in difficult situations before but never without my sisters! I don't know what to do."
"My child, sometimes we are faced with difficult decisions and do not know which road to take, but you will find the answer if you look for it. Look at your life, Dark One, the answers are all around you all you have to do is look. Life is a journey, you have your destiny ahead of you, but to fulfill that destiny you must first take the journey to the Fire Nation. But do not be frightened for I will be with you during your travel." Tawny felt somewhat comforted by the goddess's words; but something irked her.
"My Lady, why do you call me Dark One?" She asked the spirit.
"There is a prophesy, it states that when the estranged prince comes to terms with himself and his situation, the One of Darkness, the One of Light, the Mother, the Old One, and the Hidden Princess, will join in his fight and save the world from the Fire Nation. You are part of the Prophesy, Dark One."
"But, darkness is evil and wicked how can I be the Dark One if this person is supposed to be evil?"
"Child, darkness is not always evil; to have harmony and balance in the world you must have both light and dark. Darkness is evil only if you make it so."
"I see, so why me? Why at all?"
"You have so many questions, but those will be answered next time we meet. For now, you will have to be satisfied with what you know. You are still not ready for the answers to your other questions." And as She said those last words, She and her dogs faded away.
"Wait! I have more to ask you! You can't leave me in this waste land! Elen!" Tawny cried into the darkness. She was alone again as the earth seemed to disappear and she plunged into the depth of the darkness.
Jet was walking down a corridor of the palace reminiscing the good time he had at the festival. He turned a corner to go back to his room when he nearly tripped over Shuang, who was sitting on the floor, crying. She looked up at him with red eyes, startled.
"What are you looking at? You never seen a girl sitting on the floor before?" She spat at him.
"No, it's not that," He said as he sat next to her. "you're crying."
"Yeah, what of it?" Shuang managed to say through sniffs.
"Why?"
"Why would I tell you? I hardly even know you." She asked him.
"Well, I'm the only one here and it would make you feel better." He said kindly, understanding her pain. Shuang gave him a suspicious look before finally conceding to tell him everything.
"My brother, Yingjie, was a solider for our kingdom. He was one of the bravest, kindest men I knew; and he would always come home and play in the field of our farm with me. But then one day, we were overrun with Fire Nation soldiers. For two years my family and I hid my brother's alliance to the Earth Kingdom. But then one of our friends got greedy and decided to make money by telling the Fire Nation that my brother was an Earth Kingdom solider. They came to our house and burned it to the ground. Then they took us to a holding center so they could decide our fate. They came to the decision that my brother would die publicly as an example and the rest of my family would watch while he burned to death in the town square. The last thing my brother said to me was 'Shuang, I won't be here to protect you anymore, you have to get the family outta here.' I promised him I would as he walked up the scaffold to his death." She turned her head away as she said those last words; she couldn't bear the pain anymore. "The Chun Tian festival was his favorite time of year, he used take me around the festival and eat sago cakes with me. Even when we were under the control of the Fire Nation he would bake some cakes and we would eat them together secretly in celebration of the new spring." Jet looked at her with sorrow in his eyes.
"Hey, if it's any consolation, I know how you feel." Shuang's head snapped in his direction.
"What do you mean you know how I feel?" She said angrily; no one could possibly know how she felt.
"My entire family was killed when the Fire Nation raided our village. For a while I hated everything and anyone from the Fire Nation. I still hate them but I used to hate them so much that I would sacrifice an entire village just to kill a few of them. Katara and the Avatar came along and taught me the hard way that that was not the right way to fix the Fire Nation problem." Jet said solemnly, looking at his feet. Shuang looked away sorry that she had said anything at all.
"I'm sorry," she said, "at least I have most of my family with me. If I had known I wouldn't have…"
"No it's okay, I'm over it now; it just took a while." He said smiling sadly at her.
"Thanks." She said quietly after a moment of silence.
"For what?" Jet asked.
"For getting me to tell you, I feel much better now. Yingjie wouldn't want me to be sad during his favorite holiday."
"Hey, I heard that the cook was having a little party in the kitchen, want to go get some sago cakes?" He said as he stood, offering her his hand. She smiled at him, nodded, and took the outstretched hand. The two walked down the hall to the kitchen hand in hand.
Eriko was wondering around the festival grounds; a few activities were still going on and there were still people out. She had ditched the Dai Lei after her mother took Kayoko to bed. She had also changed her clothes from the elegant expensive kimono she had been wearing to a simple green dress and shoes. Eriko walked down the town square until she had spotted him.
"Daiki!" She yelled as she ran to him.
"Emiko! Where have you been, I have been here half an hour." Daiki told her.
"Sorry, I got caught up in something, but I'm here now!" Eriko, who had told him that her name was Emiko to hide her true identity, apologized. She took his hand and the two walked down the street.
Ru and Tamotsu watched the scene. Tamotsu looked puzzled and Ru just giggled.
"So that's the boy she was telling me about!" Ru mused; Tamotsu looked at her.
"Boy? My sister has a boy?" He asked confused. "She didn't tell me!"
"That's because she knew that you would go into big brother mode and frighten the boy away. And he doesn't know that she is a princess, she didn't tell him because she was afraid he would be too afraid to like her. Everyone knows your face so you showing up would have made things worse." She teased her puzzled boyfriend. "Let's leave them alone for now, but keep an eye on the relationship. Eriko is not stupid; she knows when she is getting in too deep." Tamotsu still wasn't sure about the idea of his little sister having a boyfriend.
"You're right, Ru, we need to give them space. But if anything happens, I'll kill him!" he said, forming his fist into a ball. Ru laughed at the sight of his over protectiveness.
"Come on, it's getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow." She said happily.
"Oh you do; do you? Well, let's get you home then." He said playfully as he bent down to kiss her. She smiled as her lips met his. When they parted he took her hand and led her down the street.
Saimei was sleeping next to her husband in their bedroom. It had taken a long time for her to fall asleep she would have much rather been awake than in the restless sleep which was induced upon her now.
She was surrounded by mists so thick that it was almost impossible to see the ground in front of her. Suddenly a figure appeared in front of her; the face was a familiar one. She gasped he had her eyes and Iroh's face!
"Lu Tien? Is that you?" She whispered to the figure in the mist. The face gave her a silent stare in response. She gasped. "It is you!" She ran forward to hug her son. She enveloped him in her arms only to be pushed away. "Honey? Are you alright?" Lu Tien just glared at her.
"Where were you Mom?!" He said angrily. Saimei stared at him confused.
"Honey, I'm right here and everything is going to be fine now."
"Why didn't you love me? Did you hate me?" The spirit asked with tears in his eyes.
"No, I love you! I love you just as much as your brother and sisters!"
"Was I such a bad son that I had to cry myself to sleep wondering where my mother was?"
"No, Darling, I'm sorry that I could not have been there when you were little, but I'm here now!" She called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear her.
"Why weren't you there? Where were you when I skinned my knee? Where were you when I got sick? Where were you when I graduated from the Fire Academy? Father was there, where were you? Where were you when Father tried to raise me by himself, why couldn't you raise me? You raised your other children! Why not me? Where were you when I died? I was laying there in pain calling for you, why didn't you come? Why weren't you at the funeral? Father had to inter my body without you!" With those words, Lu Tien stalked off into the mist.
"Lu Tien wait!" Saimei ran after him with her hands out in front of her because she could not see through the mist. Soon her hands hit a wall of mist that Lu Tien had disappeared through. She banged on the wall with her fists using all her strength.
"Lu Tien, Lu Tien! Please don't leave me here! Please come back!" She fell to the ground crying.
"Saimei, Saimei! Come on, you're having a bad dream. Please wake up." Her husband, Sujin, was sitting next to her unconscious crying form. "Darling, it's okay, I'm here, I'm right here." Saimei woke and buried her face in her hands as Sujin drew her into his arms and held her.
"It's okay, shhh…" Sujin said comforting his heartbroken wife.
"My son, my son!" Saimei sobbed quietly.
"It's alright; he's fine; he's in his room asleep. You will see him in the morning." Saimei shook her head and buried her face into Sujin's chest.
Bri: Poor Saimei!
Tawny: Yeah I really feel sorry for her.
Ru: But what about Eriko's man?
Bri: He sounds nice.
Tawny: Yeah, I think that he'll be a nice guy.
Bri: Oh what's up with Shuang and Jet!?
Ru: I think they look cute together.
Tawny: I agree!
Ru: Anyways, we're really sorry that it took so long to update; first we were really busy, then we had writers' block, then we were busy again.
Bri: It was crazy!
Tawny: But now we're here, and we will hopefully update really soon!
Ru: So reviewers you know what comes next: Please review!
-AirForcebabe16