LAST CHAPTER!
"It can't be-"
Setto shook his head. "She's not her sister. We must talk with Yagoda, the healer will help clear things up."
The guard nodded slowly, and rushed to fetch the Head Healer. He hesitated for a moment when he turned a corner, staring at Yuri and shaking his head violently before taking off again.
"You look too much like your sister when you dress in traditional Kimono." Setto said, smiling. Yuri returned the smile weakly; wondering if that was to be the response every time someone looked at her face.
"Are you sure this Yagoda will know about the night you were born?" Kalen said sceptically. "Hanna said your parents themselves don't even know. How could she have kept the secret from your mother and not from another healer?"
Yuri nodded. "Yagoda was the head healer right after Hanna. She told me that much. She also said she'd explained me away as a still-born, so she at least knows I exist, even if she has no idea I was alive. The healer is the key to proving my identity."
They were kept waiting until sunset before they were joined by the soldier and an old woman, as well as a man who looked as old as Suka. He held himself tall and strong, but the second his eyes held her gaze he seemed to shake, and a part of him threatened to snap.
"Explain this to me." The man demanded angrily. "Explain how this girl looks like my daughter and claims to not be Yue returned to life, but her twin sister whom we were told never existed."
Yuri swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "Yagoda, you know of my guardian Hanna. You also know that the night the princess Yue was born, the night my sister was born, you approached Hanna as she slipped through the city with a bucket and her basket of medicines."
"I-I do." The old woman admitted, shaking with fear. "I was told never to tell anyone, that it would hurt the chief's wife too much to know she had lost another child—"
"But I wasn't actually stillborn." Yuri said. "Hanna had done all she could to save me, for the love of my mother and to lessen the blow of Yue's illness. But she had no choice. She used a forbidden technique to save me, and knew that she would be banished and I would be put to death, marked as a curse from the bloodbending witch."
"But then you—" The soldier began.
Yuri interrupted him. "I was raised on the island of Kyoshi, there I met and befriended the members of the village, and there I saw the Avatar and learned of my sister's death. When I met Setto, he told me of the situation here and I decided to come to you, father." It was the first time she addressed the man, let alone as her father. "You may deny me my birthright, deny that I am your daughter, but your wife in heaven knows, and so does the moon spirit, so does Yue."
"How would they know if in life they never knew your existence?" The chief protested. "You are the spitting image of my daughter, with the hair of my late wife, but you are nothing more than a common child, accusing a dead woman with kidnapping to gain a throne!"
Yuri stood her ground, her eyes flashing. "Ask the moon yourself. Ask the spirit who saw in Her full glory the miracle of my birth. Ask Her how I was saved, not kidnapped, by your healer, who died six months ago protecting me from the fire nation on Kyoshi Island."
The chief walked up to Yuri and slapped her. "Insolent child! No daughter of mine would have such a—" There was a sudden thump as he landed on his back on the floor.
"You may be the chief, and whether you choose to believe it or not you are this girls father. But you will not strike the Princess again. I am not in her employ to allow any man to strike her." The firebender said coldly.
Yuri held her hand to her cheek where it blazed red, and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. By now the sky had darkened and the first stars showed in the clear night, but the lanterns around them kept the room illuminated. Setto rushed over to the chief and helped him up as Kalen watched, his arms crossed with contempt.
"You-you are fire nation!" The chief yelled. "She is working with your kind to try and infiltrate my city! I will kill you!" He pulled out a sword, and Kalen followed suit, positioning himself between Yuri and her father.
"The only thing I am is Yuri's bodyguard. I have never been a part of the Fire Nation army or the navy, nor shall I ever be. My loyalty lies with the highest bidder, and I owe this girl my life, so I will use it to protect hers from any threat."
"Including the man she calls her father?"
"Especially that man. You pose the most danger to Yuri, your decision makes her fate. She will be accepted by you, or she will die fighting for the people she loves against the fire nation alone."
For the first time since her stuttering admission, Yagoda spoke. "Your grace, look!" She pointed to the window that faced the southwest.
A light silver-blue and shone as a beam into the room. A figure appeared, suddenly beside Yuri. The figure was a mere silhouette of light, but the shape was almost just like Yuri's. Suddenly, the light fused with Yuri's body, and she felt a cool embrace, and all around her the word "Sister" echoed. In that moment, the girl knew the love and the person Yue was, and how even though they had never met, there was no mistaking the closeness of the two girls.
"My sister." A beautiful voice rang out on the light. "You carry a great burden, besides the one of your birth. But you are needed here, and soon you will be needed elsewhere. I give you the gift of the Moon, so you may command more than just the dark curse you have had laid upon you, and you will know more love than anger that your magic brings."
"Yue." The girl whispered, tears in her eyes. "Do you truly mean it? I can waterbend properly now? I don't have to bloodbend anymore?"
The light shone brighter. "Yes. You can now command all water, but you must learn how to use this power properly, and find a better way to use your original powers. And when the Avatar defeats the Fire Lord, you must return to Kyoshi Island and give a message to your friend Suki."
"What message?" Yuri asked curiously.
The light began to fade. "Tell her to take care of him, and of you." The light faded slowly, and Yuri collapsed. She hadn't realized that the Moon's strength had kept her standing this whole time, since she hadn't had any rest or anything to eat since the night before.
"Someone take me to a bed. She needs rest and food, now!" Yuri felt Kalen left her and saw in her already fading vision Setto's shocked and afraid face. Her father looked as if he'd seen a ghost, which he probably had. He made orders for the Princess Yuri to be taken to the royal suites and brought food. Then Kalen began to walk and the movement made her completely black out.
A few minutes later she awoke to the sharp scent of smelling salts that Yagoda had near her face. "Where am I?" The girl asked, looking around at the richly decorated room and clutching thick, soft wool in her hands.
"This was my daughter's room. Your sister Yue." A male's voice came from the doorway. The chief shook his head. "I cannot deny you after what was seen here tonight. This is your room now, I will have your women put together a proper wardrobe for you, and you will have a proper dress for your introduction to the Water Tribe tomorrow."
"Where are Kalen and Setto?" Yuri asked, much more concerned with the two than her acceptance into the royal family.
"They are in the Guardian's suite next door. If you need them for anything you may call out and they will be here." Then the man did something unexpected. He rushed over to the bed and hugged Yuri. "I saw Yue again, and I know you are her sister. I thank you for that. I didn't—" he choked on tears and then cleared his throat and pulled away to stare into her eyes. "I didn't think I would be able to live with the loss of all my family."
She embraced him back, allowing him to run his hands through her hair. "I never had any family but Hanna, I'm so glad I could meet you, and that you can accept me Father. I wanted you to know me so much."
When he finally left Yuri saw the dinner beside her bed and dug in savagely. Everything was delicious, and not a bit cold from being left alone for a while.
Six weeks later:
Yuri sat at dinner with her father, completely silent as it always started. It took a while for them to decide what to say, and tonight there was quite a bit to talk about.
"Father, I was wondering—" She began, and stopped. Was it appropriate to bring up politics now? The only time they had ever spoken like that was when Yuri told him she wouldn't be forced to marry is she couldn't choose her own husband, and the other minor things concerning protection of the city from Fire Nation attacks. They had never spoken about the events going on in other parts of the world. It was Kalen and Suka that had asked the Chief for help at Kyoshi Island, and it had been a group of merchants that had brought the news of the Avatar's second return and victory over Fire Lord Ozai.
"What is it, Yuri?" Her father asked, taking a large bite of steak. "Is there anything you want?" He added after swallowing.
Yuri blushed slightly and looked down at her plate. "Well, the city is safe now, and the Avatar and the new Fire Lord are working together to rebuild the Earth Kingdom. So I was just curious, I don't know the condition of Kyoshi Island after our troops were sent back. I am curious about my old home—"
"And you miss your friend Suki." He finished for her. "I had heard she was alive and well, and her return with her Warriors was an excited one."
"I want to return to Kyoshi Island. Only temporarily of course, but I want to see her."
"I'll have a ship ready for you in the morning."
A flush of relief and joy flowed through Yuri and she couldn't help but grin. "Thank you, Father."
The boat floated slowly into the dock, too slowly for Yuri's patience. She jumped off, stripping down to the silk dress under her kimono and used waterbending to carry her without getting wet onto the beach. The reason for her hasty approach stood on the beach facing away from her, dressed in a pretty dress beside a boy she didn't recognize. Hesitant to call out to Suki, she followed the two as the walked near a small cabin right near the beach. She came very near and was about to speak when the boy turned around and noticed her.
His eyes went wide, and his face turned pale as the sand. The horror was mixed with something else Yuri couldn't decipher and his voice shook as he said the words that triggered an immediately impolite response. She slammed him against the wall of the cabin, pulling an ice-crystal dagger to his throat.
"Who are you and how do you know my Sister?" She hissed angrily.
"Y-you're not Yue?" was all the boy could stutter.
Suddenly Yuri's friend was on her, pulling her off the boy roughly. "Yuri, get off of him, he's a friend!"
That was how Yuri met Suki's new fiancée, and her sister's ex-boyfriend.
COMING UP NEXT: AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER-BOOK FOUR; AIR