---

(A/R: I'm not sure now if this story is going to fallow the story line in "Legend" it pretty much has so far, but I don't know if it will be exactly like the end. Oh well, please review.)

---

Five Months

---

Five months passed. Five miserably months that I was punished for my mistake; my cowardly mistake that caused someone to die. Someone I loved.

If only I'd told them it was me. Then I would be buried by a bathing creak, far away from my home. I would be cold and dead and alone. Completely alone and scared and…

The Fire Lord never forget how I, as he put it, 'attack' him; attempting to save Kai. He obviously didn't take it very well. Because since that day I was doubled in my duties.

At the end of the first week of work, I had blisters on my swollen toes and hands. Bruises on my arms and legs and strained muscles throughout my whole body.

It became harder and harder to fall asleep; as well as wake. Though my pain was obvious, no one attempted to help. Except Lynn; but all she could do was offer her bed.

If I ever came near the Fire Lord, I had to bow especially low. Because if he thought I wasn't, he either ordered a guard to push me down lower, or on rare occasions, do it himself.

I stopped my water bending completely. Half blaming the gift of it for Kai's death. Though I knew it was my own fault.

I didn't see the prince for weeks, I was confined mostly to scrubbing the floors and washing bathrooms.

My fifteenth birthday passed without a word. I didn't tell anyone; I almost forgot myself.

I slowly began to forget lots of things. Starting with what my home looked like. It was all a blur, I just remember ice and a cloudy sky. That was it.

Then my last name became nothing but a word I hardly remember. Yang. Every time I tried to picture my name. I couldn't.

I felt like my soul was slowly being drained away. Was that what happened to all slaves?

That's what I thought. Because when I met one of the Fire Lord's personal slaves, who was a boy about the princes age. He'd lived here since he was five.

I asked him what his name was, but he didn't respond.

I asked him if he would rather work in the kitchen. He only looked at me.

"Do you… talk?" I questioned softly.

"Talking is forbidden in the Fire Lord's chamber." he said in a quick almost robotic voice. "One of the most important rules."

I let out a soft "Oh", then asked for his name again.

"I…" he pondered a moment. "Don't remember." then he turned and left, back to the Fire Lord's chamber, not to speak.

Roku smiled ever so often when I passed by. I only bowed my head though. I still hated him; though he never actually hurt me. Not like his father did at least.

---

It wasn't until the day of Roku's seventeenth birthday that I left the palace courtyard.

The farthest I'd gone in almost a year from the palace was to the creak and back. That was it.

But this time, Roku gave the slaves a chance at freedom. Even if it would only last an hour or so.

He wanted to celebrate his birthday at the shore. Bathing in the sun, or swimming perhaps. I didn't really care, all I could think about was leaving the walls of the palace.

He only chose select few of us servants. The cook, who would bring the food prepared, his personal assistant, whose name I could never remember, five or six more and… me.

Lynn tried not to show her disappointment when she was unable to attend, but I could see it.

"I'll bring you back a shell." I promised.

She only smiled and continued her chores.

---

When we reached the beach, it was absolutely amazing. At first, we only stood about a bit, waiting to be ordered around.

But once the prince didn't ask us for anything; merely sat in the sand with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. We wondered toward the water.

I didn't dare go very close, for guards were watching. But occasionally I would get close enough to touch the water.

The sea foam between my toes felt wonderful. I even closed my eyes and sighed and one point, when the water reached up to my ankle in one wave.

It wasn't until I looked up to the unending scene of ocean that my bliss disappeared.

In the distance, drawing nearer and nearer, was a ship. A Fire Nation ship… but next to it… next to it was a Water Tribe ship. A small one tide to it's large metal companion.

The prince stood and walked toward the water, looking out over it. "What…?"

I stared at it with lips pressed tight together, fists balled.

"Send word to the Fire Lord that the warship is back." Roku ordered a guard, who quickly turned and ran off, back uphill toward the palace.

The prince turned to us. "You, you, and you." he pointed from a man slave, to a younger girl, then at me. "Come."

We fallowed slowly as he started down the beach. Where was he going?

Soon did I realize though, that he was heading toward the docks. The same docks I'd stepped onto when I'd first arrived.

Now I wished I'd never stepped foot off that ship.

---

The captain of the Fire Nation ship informed us that they'd only successfully captured one of my Tribe's boats, but the others were destroyed or they escaped.

He never spoke directly to us slaves, but to the prince. I waa eavesdropping.

The captain glanced at me distastefully a few times, but never said a word.

My head shot up when he said that and I stared straight at him.

"How many?" Roku questioned calmly.

"Five; three men, a woman and a girl."

"A girl?"

My hand shot to my mouth just as they turned to me. I'd been standing a few feet away, holding the prince's sitting blanket; which I dropped.

"You are not permitted to speak-" a guard stepped toward me.

"No, it's fine." the prince raised a hand, glaring a warning at me. Which I bowed my head at and picked his blanket back up.

"They're in the holding cell." the captain continued, nodding toward the docked ship next to us.

"Any benders?"

"Three. Two of the men and the girl."

"My father will put them with the others then." the prince sighed softly.

I felt something in the pit of my stomach tighten. I was suddenly lost there, standing on the docks.

A young girl, a bender. Doomed to a fate far worse then my own.

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, because I was to busy going cold where I stood. Had she lost everything too? Was she anything like me? Did I know her?

I stepped toward the ramp, which extended from the ship, biting my lower lip. My heart was racing as the prisoners were unloaded.

The men came first, then the woman.

The girl hesitated at the top, blinking several times at the broad daylight. I remember that feeling, being in the dark cell for so long.

She slowly started down, each step she took was painful for me.

She was going to suffer… suffer so much.

I had to do something, had to help her. But how? How could I do anything? I was just a broken girl who gave up on bending long ago.

But something sparked inside of me and I lurched forward.

The blanket flew from my arms, dropping to the wooden planks below me.

"No!" I almost shrieked, running toward the girl. "Don't get off! You can't!"

"What-!?" a guard stepped in my path, fists extended toward me. The same slow motion returned to me, like the day Kai had died.

As the fire flew toward my upper body, I ducked down, dodging it by and inch.

He was surprised when I managed to slip by him, still running for the ramp.

The girl had now stopped, staring at me questioningly. She still was on the ramp though. She hadn't stepped foot on this land yet. I wouldn't let her either.

In a moment… I was in front of her. "Don't let them take you." I gasped, catching my breathe. "You won't survive here. Do whatever you have to do and turn around. Get back on that ship and live there or... something.... please… just go."

What was I saying? She didn't have a choice. She was hundreds of miles away from her home. Our home.

The guards advanced on me.

"No!" I spun around, protectively putting my arm out to block them from getting her. "You can't have her!" I glared at them.

The prince stepped toward me. "Don't make this difficult."

"No… you don't make this difficult!" I was stuttering. The sun was beginning to set. "You act as if you're nothing like you father. Like you're doing something good by even greeting the prisoners. But you are more like him then you think. You are more like your father then anyone. In fact, you are him!"

There was silence, in which the guards awaited a command. The sun sunk lower and lower, the sky darkening into a deep purple, then orange, then red.

"Take her back to the palace." the prince ordered, causing two guards to go for me.

I fought back as they captured me; dragging me away from the girl. Who reluctantly was escorted off the ship and onto the sand.

Could I have prevented her suffering?

As I walked away from the docks the prince watched me go, head held high. In the darkening sky he looked just like his father.

Tears began to flow again and my body ached. I wanted to collapse to the ground and rest. We still had the hike up the volcano to the royal palace.

The docks were almost out of sight. I felt a sudden anger spike inside me again.

The girl's life was doomed. As was mine. Was there any chance of helping her at all?

So many questioned that would go unanswered. Unless I did something.

"Can… I rest for a moment?" I questioned innocently.

One of the guards snorted, but the other sighed. "Three minuets."

I would at least need five. But I nodded and sat down upon the sand. The sun was almost gone, I counted as it began to set.

"Alright." the guards began to pull me back to my feet.

"But… I…" I frantically watched the sun. "I…"

"Stop stuttering girl and get a move on." the meaner one snapped. He began to drag me toward the hill.

"Five… four…" I whispered, twisted my head to watch. "Three…"

"What…?" the guards stopped.

"Two… one!" I jerked myself free, shoving the man backwards.

They stared at me in surprise a moment, then reached to restrain me. I spun around and ran, back toward the beach.

I wasn't very fast, so they caught up quickly. But I was close enough.

I stopped abruptly, causing one to almost run smack into me. They raised their fists.

"Alright," I turned around, hands raised. "You caught me."

They exchanged uneasy glances. The lapping of the waves on the beach behind me was all that was heard.

"Only problem is," I smirked. "It's night."

One opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him. My hands flew up, aimed at them.

They stepped back in horror for a moment, staring past me. One shot a fire blast, but the water was faster.

I didn't think it was possible for me to make such a big wave. But I did.

As it crashed down upon us, I was lifted atop it. I watched as the guards were thrown back, gagged by water.

When my feet touched sand again, the water drew back to the sea. The guards lay sprawled out, unconscious.

I turned for the docks, but stopped. If I wanted to help those prisoners… I needed to take care of the Fire Lord first. Though I wouldn't be able to defeat him… I still felt I needed to go.

---

(So this chap was a little wierd... and boring and cheesy, but maybe the next willbe better. Review please!)