Run. Keep running. Run!
Aylin ran as hard as she could. Her legs burned, her lungs ached and a stitch began to form on her side but she couldn't afford to stop.
She had to run. She didn't know from what but all she knew, all she thought about was the danger.
She needed to run. She didn't even know where she was. All she could collect was that she was in a tunnel and there was hardly any light.
She could hear the pounding of her feet as she ran, the heavy breathing that echoed all around her. She believed she was going to collapse from exhaustion since she kept tripping as she ran.
But just as she was about to give up, she saw light spilling under from a wooden circular door and she nearly collapsed with relief.
She raced to the door with newfound strength and pushed the door and collapsed on the ground as the door opened.
She lay there, exhausted as she let her heart calm down and her breathing return to normal.
The stitch in her side burned as she breathed.
She closed her eyes and felt the coolness of the grass.
Grass? She lifted up her head and gasped at the familiar surrounding she was immersed in.
Oblivious to the pain in her side and the way her legs shook with fatigue, Aylin stood up.
She was in the Spirit Oasis at the Northern Water Tribe but how?
Looking up she saw the full moon and didn't feel fear or terror. Just confusion.
Come closer.
She did. She stepped closer inside and sat down, watching the fish circle around each other in their eternal dance.
Feeling as if someone was watching her, she looked up and gasped.
Princess Yue was floating above her, smiling softly. Rage rushed all over Aylin's body as she stood up.
"You?! I hate you! Do you have any idea what you did to me?" She yelled angrily, shaking her arms, forgetting that the water was following her movements.
"Yes, I do." She said.
"No, you don't! I hate you! I hate everything you did to me!" She yelled as she started bending the water to attack Princess Yue. She knew it was hopeless but she needed to vent out her anger at something and what better way to do that than at the person who made her life a living hell?
Princess Yue just floated above her, the water slipping through her like air.
After exhausting herself, she collapsed on her knees, breathing hard and sweating.
"Are you done?"
"Not even." Aylin said, lifting up her head, her anger evident in her eyes.
"I know you must be angry with me..."
"Anger doesn't even compare to what I feel for you." Aylin nearly snarled at Princess Yue.
She nodded her head and smiled. "But there is a reason as to why..."
"You possess me? You hurt me intenionally?"
"I do not possess you. You resist. If you resist me, you suffer and that is the last thing I wanted to do."
"Then why? Why me? Why did I ever to do to you?" She screamed, angry tears burning at the back of her eyes.
Aylin saw a sad smile form on Princess Yue's face.
"You are of blood."
"What?" Aylin asked, her face frowning in confusion.
"You are my great niece."
Aylin reeled back from her confession. What was she talking about?
"I used to be human. I was an only child. When I was born, I was very sick and the healers had little hope for me to survive. My father begged the spirits to help me and he brought me here, to this spot. They laid me in this pool and my hair turned white and I began to cry." She suddenly looked tired and Aylin felt a small rise of sympathy for the Princess Yue.
"I was 16 when the avatar and his friends came to the northern water tribe. I met Sokka." There was love and warmth in her face and voice that made Aylin briefly wonder about Bolin.
"I fell in love with him but I was betrothed to another man. One I didn't love. I had to do it to help my people and I chose duty over love. I sacrificed my life to save the entire world because the moon had disappeared."
Aylin remembered about what she read in the history books about the General Zhao had killed the moon by killing the fish in the spirit oasis. But she didn't know what it had to do with her?
"Sokka didn't want me to do it but I had to. I had to become the moon spirit. I loved him and my people and I had to choose duty over love. When the battle on our home was over, my father mourned me but moved on. A few years passed and he fell in love with a young woman. They had two kids. Both boys. They were my half brothers." Princess Yue smiled at the memory but it just left Aylin really confused.
"They grew up and married. Your mother married my younger brother. My other brother, Ryu, took over the throne."
Princess Yue looked at Aylin then and understanding dawned on Aylin's face with realization.
"You're my aunt? I don't believe this." Aylin said as she sat down on her haunches, her hands covering her face.
She was related to Princess Yue? How? Well, she knew how but it was so bizarre and so out of there that she was still feeling so many emotions.
"You are not the only I help. You're not the first nor will you be the last."
"But why me?" Aylin asked. She didn't understand.
"Because you need help. I had to because I knew you're parents were going to die."
"What?!" Aylin yelled, not expecting this at all. "You knew?!"
Horror and anger erupted in Aylin's body and she stood up yelling out her pain and grief that had been ripped open.
"You knew they were going to die?! Why didn't you do anything?! Why didn't you save them?! Why did you let them die?! Why?! You killed them! You let them die."
Princess Yue let her take out her frustrations and anger and pain towards her. She knew how she felt. She had lost Sokka when he died and everyone she knew and loved.
Aylin collapsed again on the ground, beating her fists against the ground.
"And you hurt Bolin! You hurt him and destroyed everything!" Aylin was crying heavy tears, her face filled with pain.
"I cannot stop something that is already in motion. I can try to help but it was futile. I chose to save you. You were going to die if I didn't intervene."
Princess Yue let her words sink into the young girl before continuing. "I entered your body to help you when you are in danger. You were not the only one I helped."
Aylin's mouth stood open in shock.
"When I sense you are in danger, I enter you but you are the first to resist me. You refuse to accept my help and because of that, you suffer physical pain. Once I try to enter your body, I cannot stop until I succeed. But you are the first to resist me."
"Because I hurt people when you enter my body. I didn't want to bloodbend those firebenders that killed my parents. You made me do it and I didn't want to feel powerless."
"You would've died. You can't honestly say you'd rather die than bloodbend those firebenders."
Aylin closed her mouth. "You are too pure in heart and I couldn't see you die. I had to help you. I had to force you to bloodbend those firebenders to save your life."
"But Bolin? Why him?"
"Because you felt he was a danger to you and I had to prove to you that he wasn't."
"He would never hurt me!" Aylin yelled defensively.
"I know but you run from him every time he gets close. You always run and you need to stop."
"How can I let him in my heart when you are the very thing that is blocking us."
"I am not."
"Yes, you are! Everytime you try to enter me, I lose control and don't know what I'm doing. I'm completely at your mercy."
"I would never hurt the people you care about but your soul fights me and I lose control also. It is dangerous for the both of us. You have to accept me completely or you'll continue to suffer both physically and emotionally."
"I can't." Aylin whispered dejectedly. "I can't let you control me and do things I would never do. You hurt Bolin."
"I did it to save him. You and I were struggling with each other and it was going to be deadly if he stepped in. You wanted him gone to save him and so did I but our power combined would be too powerful to control."
"Now, do you see why I can't be with Bolin?" Aylin begged, tears falling and spilling into the pond. "I'll hurt him."
"You won't if you accept me."
"That would mean letting you control my body completely."
Princess Yue nodded.
Aylin shook her head. "I can't do that. You'll do things that I don't believe in."
"I understand but I'll continue to help you when you are in danger."
"I don't want you to."
"But you'll need me."
"I'll fight you. I'll resist."
"For how long? Till you die?"
Aylin stared at her then, determination evident in her eyes.
"If that what it takes to protect Bolin."
"You're doing the opposite by resisting me."
Aylin said nothing and Princess Yue knew she was going to fight her. She was saddened at the thought.
"You'll change your mind." Princess Yue said softly. It was the truth. She knew Aylin would accept her completely. It was going to happen.
"I won't."
Princess Yue just smiled and started to fade. "It is time for you to wake up."
"Wake up? I am awake."
"You'll accept my help. You will. You will.
Aylin sat up, gasping fo breath and sweating through her clothes.
What had just happened? Did she just dream that or did it really happen?
Was it all her imagination or something else?
Nyla licked her hand and Aylin turned around to pet her.
"It's okay, girl. It was just a dream."
A weird one. She felt claustrophobic suddenly and had the sudden urge to get out of her home. She got up and changed and washed her face. She was so confused and felt shaky from the whole dream thing.
"Want to go for a walk, girl?" Aylin asked as she got ready. It was late at night and not many people would be out.
Nyla licked her face and Aylin smiled softly before leading her out and sitting on top of her.
Aylin rode on Nyla until the reached the park.
Getting off, she let Nyla drink from the fountain before heading off to find some fish to eat. Aylin sat at the edge of the fountain, dipping her hand into the cool, clear water.
She was trying to make sense of what just happened when she heard footsteps. She wasn't completely aware of those footsteps until a furry red thing into her lap, jarring her from thoughts.
"Pabu?" Wait a minute. If Pabu was here then that meant...
"Aylin?"
Oh spirits no! Her body turned cold with fear and she tensed her body with flight.
Swallowing the lump in her throat she turned her head and she nearly fainted.
It was Bolin.
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