Chapter 6: Gone
Hello persons! Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows. I really appreciate them and when I get the emails that someone favorited my story, I get all giddy and smile. So, thanks.
When I put up the last chapter, I got punished a few days later and my mom took away my laptop and phone. I just got my stuff back and am sorry about the big gap.
In response to the reviews, I thank you for actually paying attention to the little details that turn out later to be pretty big details later, I am planning to explaining the tattoo, the Red Dragon-Season 2 maybe (the search for an earthbending teacher)-, and her backstory in the years alone on the road in the later chapters. Also about her meeting Ran and Shaw, all I am going to say is that it wouldn't be a surprise to her that there were dragons in real life..(*hint hint* tattoo!). Just, be patient with me, please. By the way, I fixed up Zia's nickname and it is now Lieutenant.
Anyways, my editor mentioned that if I don't want to get sued, I would have to put a disclaimer, even though it's pretty obvious that I DO NOT own Avatar: The Last airbender. I only own my OCs; which are Zia, her family, and Kira.
By the way, have a good day, night, morning and review please. I don't know if I like this chapter, so please tell me what you think by leaving a review! Thanks!
Zia's POV
A person once said that you should just go with the flow, or the wind. I tried to believe that was what the twelve year old Avatar was doing. Other certain people (Sokka) believed that he had no idea where Aang was going.
Speaking of the devil, Sokka asked Aang "You have no idea where we are going, do you?" I gave the warrior a glare as the pre-teen answered him.
"Well, the last time I checked it was near water." I glanced down over Appa's saddle; we were flying over nothing but water. I groaned and pulled the rock I grabbed from our last stop out of one of the saddlebags. It was about the size of Momo's head, whom was our newest family member. He was our flying lemur, the same one that Sokka wanted to eat. The small white creature joined our adventure just as we were about to depart from the Southern Air Temple a week ago.
I broke a tiny piece of my rock and earthbended it high into the sky, ignoring the conversation the others were having. I closed my eyes and tried to sense the tiny piece of earth in the atmosphere. This was the perfect time to practice; we were in the middle of the ocean with the only land being way down deep, under the water. I willed the rock to come to me, and a second later, I felt a small object fly right into my forehead. Perfect. Now if only I could use that as a weapon; me hitting myself with my own rock.
I listened in on my friends' conversation just in time to hear Aang say, "Relax, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't need any pants." I snorted, trying and failing to hold my laughter in at those words. Sokka glared at me from the back of the saddle, and I just wiggled my tongue at him.
Turning forward to face Katara, who was glaring at Sokka, I asked but wasn't really sure if I wanted to the answer, "What was all that about?"
The younger girl softened her glare and looked to the side, facing me. She still looked angry, but not at me, "Sokka said a very sexist thing about girls being better at sowing and guys being better at hunting and fighting."
I scoffed, I lived alone for almost seven years and was definitely better at fighting than Sokka was; it was a proven fact, we even tested it. I didn't even use my bending to help me out when Sokka and I fought to see who was better. I pinned him down in less than 5 seconds. As for the hunting thing, we never tested it because I refused to kill an animal.
After I gave Sokka a dirty look for about five minutes, we arrived at an island that was shaped like an 'h'. It was still chilly in the air so I was forced to wear my red cloak over my clothes. Even though the red and black clothes under it weren't any better if we ran into people who didn't like the Fire Nation.
Standing in the middle of Sokka and Katara, I watched as Aang scanned the water for something. "Are you sure we should be stopping? I feel like I am being watched." I said in a low voice to the others, glancing around inconspicuously.
The siblings nodded and Katara added, "I am too. Plus we just stopped yesterday; at this rate, we won't reach the North Pole until spring."
Aang shook his head and made a sorry excuse, "But, Appa's tired already, aren't ya, boy?" At that the flying bison made a small moan. "I said, 'Aren't ya, boy?'" Aang elbowed Appa softly to get more of a reaction out of him. Appa made a more impressive moan, but I still didn't believe the two actors.
"That was real impressive, but still, hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster. Oh, my…" I ran to the water just as a gigantic koi fish leaped out of it. Aang, Katara, and Sokka also ran forward and stared in awe of the fish.
"Katara and Zia, you have to watch me ride the Elephant Koi! Ah, cold!" That last part was said right after Aang dived into the freezing water. I looked at the two siblings. Sokka and I raised our hands to our temples and made the universal sign for crazy.
I heard Appa walking and I turned around, chasing after him. He was by a tree and he turned his head, biting and pulling it out of the ground. "Appa, stop, you shouldn't eat that!"
Hearing Aang yell in excitement, I turned around to see what he was doing. The Avatar was riding the huge elephant koi fish. I smiled but called out to Katara for her help; Appa had started to eat the tree.
"No Appa! Don't eat that!" The waterbender yelled out and ran to help me.
When we finally got the big tree out of the bison's mouth, we heard Sokka yell out to us, "Guys! Come quick! There's something in the water!"
Katara and I arrived at Sokka side and I noticed Momo jumping up and down, screeching. "What's wrong?" I ask Sokka.
"There's something else in the water! Aang's in trouble!" Sokka tells us. We looked at each other for a moment and then started to yell at Aang. I guess he thought we were saying 'hi' because he had let go of the Koi fish's fin with one hand to wave to us.
One second later, he was flying through the air and face planted into the ocean. I winced and saw a huge purple fin rise out of the water behind the Avatar. The preteen let a girlish scream, jumped out of the water, and started to run at an unbelievable speed to the shore.
The monster was gaining on Aang when he reached the shore, and I was in the way of Aang. Apparently, the Avatar couldn't stop himself from ramming into me. We slid back until we slammed into a tall tree. The back of my head banged into the wood and black surrounded my vision. My eyes started to flutter and I groaned, slumping down against the trunk.
Aang's POV
I looked at Zia's slumped form and instantly guilt came flying back at me. The teen was lying on a cot with her red hair covering her face. Her tanned face was scrunched up like she was dreaming of something unpleasant. The bender then moaned and turned over on her side, back facing me. Her head was bandaged up but I still spotted some red dots of blood on the white cloth.
Katara looked at me and put her hand on my back, rubbing circles on my tensed muscles. She had been doing that since we got to the house we were going to stay the night in. It turned out that this island wasn't abandoned like I thought it was.
Just a couple seconds after I rammed into Zia, a few female warriors jumped out of the trees and ambushed us. The warriors grabbed us up, bound us in ropes, and shoved us to the ground. They even secured Zia and put Momo in a sack! After being roped to a pole, being threatened to be eaten by Unagi which was the monster in the water, and airbending to prove that I was the Avatar, they believed me and freed us. I even made this guy foam at the mouth! It took a little to get them to trust Zia; we told the Kyoshi Warriors that she was just an earthbender in disguise. When she wakes up, we will have to explain it to her.
"Aang, she is going to be fine. Relax some. Here." She handed me a water tribe basket, "Come with me to the market to get some food for when we leave." I nodded my head solemnly and follow her out the door, with a worried glance at the red head on the cot. I hoped that she would wake up soon.
As soon as we walked out the door to the house, screams filled the air. I glanced around, worried, but then I saw the group of girls pointing at me and blushing. I caught myself smiling and waving at them. Katara just shook her head and frowned at me and the young girls. One of them ran up to me, then shyly looked down and twisted her foot nervously behind her.
"Hey Avatar Aang," she blushed but continued, looking at the dirt, "can you show us some airbending tricks?" I smiled and was about to tell her no when Katara answered for me.
"I'm sure he can. Aang you can go for a few minutes while I get the food." She mumbled something that sounded like "I think it'll get your mind off of Zia." I didn't want to disagree with Katara, so I handed her the small basket and turned to the young girl before me.
"My name is Coco. Come with me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward her friends. I stumbled and waved a fleeting bye to Katara.
When Coco and I reached the group of preteens, I smiled and waved to them. They giggled and Coco asked, "The airbending trick?"
I thought for a second and then came up with an idea. I cupped my hands into a circle and made a sphere of swirling air in-between them. Switching the sphere to my left hand, I bent down and grabbed a handful of snow from the ground with my right. "Ready?" I asked the girls.
When they nodded eagerly, I put both of my hands together in a circle and then lifted them, tossing the sphere that was now filled with snow into the air. It kept going straight up for a few yards and then, with a simple hand gesture, the sphere burst open and snow fell gently on top of us.
The girls squealed in delight and jumped up and down in excitement. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders modestly. Coco grabbed my hand dragged me away from the market and I gave one last look at Katara, who was rolling her eyes at us. My eyes widened when the small girl holding my hand pulled with unnatural strength, knocking me off balance.
She pulled me all around, making me do tricks most of the time. When I got tired of doing them, I told the girls bye and tried to go back to the house. The girls whined and begged for me to stay which I complied to do for a little while longer. After a few hundred tricks later, I tried to escape from the girls by running away. Sadly, I failed. Man, those girls are worse than Zuko, I thought to myself.
"Hey, Aangie, can we have a ride on Appa?" Coco asked me. She and the girls giggled and blushed. I thought about it for a second and nodded. Appa had been resting all day and he could hold all of us.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Katara filling her basket full of food. "Hang on, girls, I'll be right back!" I told the swooning group. Running up to Katara, "Hey how's Zia? Has she awoken yet?"
The waterbender shook her head and replied sadly, "I have been healing the back of her head but she still hasn't woken yet." I looked down and frowned, worried. "How about you help me bring this basket back to our room? It's kind of heavy."
"I can't right now." I said, shaking my head.
"What do you mean you can't?" She asked, a little angry I told her no.
"I promised the girls a ride on Appa. Do you want to come with? It'll be fun." I told her, hopefully.
"Watching you show off to a bunch of girls does not sound like fun, at all. Besides, I have to get back to Zia, in case she wakes up." Katara puts more food into her basket.
"Well, carrying your basket doesn't sound like fun either." I said to her.
"It's not just my basket. It's ours; we need supplies for our journey!" She yells back at me. "We have to leave Kyoshi soon; the longer we stay here, the longer we bring danger to this island."
"I don't want to leave yet. I don't know what it is, but there is something I like about this village." I say to Katara.
"Aangie, what's taking so long?" Coco calls from where I left her at the statue of Kyoshi.
I hear Katara mutter, "Aangie? Are you serious?"
Calling back to my fan girls, "I'll be there in a second, Coco."
"I never thought all this Avatar stuff would go to your head." Katara said.
Shaking my head, I said, "It didn't. I am just a simple monk. And you know what? I think you don't want to come because you're jealous of how much fun we are having without you."
"Jealous? That is ridiculous." She stated furiously and went back to putting vegetables in her basket.
I retorted back, "It is a little ridiculous, but I understand." Katara then growled, grabbed her basket, and stormed off in the direction of the house. Coco and the girls had lost their patience and grabbed me, dragging me to Appa.
After I took them for I ride on Appa, I told the girls to wait for me at the banks of the ocean, where I was going to ride the Unagi in hopes to get Katara to come. On my way to our room, I passed by the dojo, where the Kyoshi warriors trained.
I looked into the room and saw Sokka in one of the Kyoshi warriors' outfits. I faintly heard him say, "Bravery and honor," while puffing out his chest in manly pride.
I couldn't resist myself when poked my head in and said, "Hey, Sokka. Nice dress." Then I walked away, laughing at how his shoulders had slumped. I strolled through the quiet town to get to our room, waving and saying hi to everyone I saw.
When I reached the room, Katara was kneeling on the floor, trying to heal Zia. The bandage was off of the red haired girl's head and the bright blue of the healing water was a definite contrast to her hair. I looked at Katara's face and gasped slightly. The blue light was shining on her face; bring out the color in her eyes. She looked absolutely beautiful, sitting there with a look of absolute concentration on her face.
I watched Katara until the healing session was over and Zia still didn't wake up. Shaking off the feelings of guilt, I spoke to Katara, "Hey, you remember how I was almost eaten by the Unagi yesterday?" She nodded with a look of annoyance on her face and I continued, "Well, I am going to ride it now. It's going to be really dangerous."
"Good for you." She said abruptly, concentrating on the water she was playing with.
I felt disappointed in her reaction to that, "You're not going to try and stop me from doing something really dangerous?" I was laying it really thick in hopes she would tell me that I shouldn't ride the monster, but I had no such luck.
"Nope; have fun." Katara said, not looking at me. I told her I would and we kept going back and forth until, with a huff of annoyance, I walked out of the room. As I passed through the doorway, I gave Katara a sad glance and then walked off to the lake.
Zia's POV
When I opened my eyes, I saw nothing. It was pitch black and cold. I sat up and looked down; even the ground was black. I pushed myself up onto my feet and looked around, trying to see anything else than the color of black. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white light.
Being naturally curious, I walked towards it slowly. It got steadily bigger as I walked and I could see that it was huge doors instead of a light. The doors were a brilliant white and it hurt to stare at them for a long time. They gave me warm, tingly feelings in my stomach.
I reached my hand out, touching the doors. I gave them a slight push and they opened without a sound. That part was kind of creepy, but I ignored it and walked past the doors. I wasn't expecting what I saw right then. It was sort of like a flashback, but I was watching the moment instead of living it; this was the day I ran away. I don't know how I knew that, but I did. This was the day I learned to bend green fire, along with my red flames.
I was in my old town; a town full of hybrid kids and cross nation couples. It was 5 months after my mom died, which meant that I had no family to turn to. My mom was an only child and her parents were deceased. My dad's brother and parents didn't want anything to do with me. Although, I wasn't too disappointed; they lived in the Fire Nation. I was, at that moment, living with Kira and her family of four brothers and sisters.
I saw my younger self walking alone to my old house. It was a normal day, the wind blowing a gentle breeze into my deep red hair. I had my hair down that day; usually I never wear my hair down anymore because, two years later, I learned why I should put it up. Even seven years into the future, I wore the same style as I used to: long sleeved red hooded tunic and black slacks with my combat boots.
The younger me hesitantly walked into the abandoned house. I followed her and looked around. My house wasn't that impressive: two stories with a training room in the back for me; my dad was big on the self-defense thing. The bottom floor was the kitchen, dining room, living room, and the bathroom. The top floor had the master bedroom which was my parents' room, a bedroom for me, and a guestroom.
Younger Zia walked down a hall, which were covered in portraits of me and my parents, to get to the stairs. She stopped in front of one of them and I walked up behind her. The portrait was of my dad and my mom. My mother was holding a newly born me in her arms and my father had his arms around her, smiling. My mom looked so happy in that picture. She had big green eyes, and a wide smile. I had inherited her tan skin and big eyes, but not the color of them.
I looked at my younger self's face and saw tears streaking down her face. I can remember this part clearly. I knew what was going to happen next. The younger me yells out, tears streaming down her cheek. She grabs the portrait and throws it down onto the ground, shooting fire at the painting. As soon as the fire came out, it changed color; from bright red, to bright green. My smaller self stared at the now burning canvas, surprised at the color of the flame.
Then my best friend walked in, already speaking to me, even though she couldn't see me. "Zia are you in here? My mom says it's time for lun…" Kira trailed off when she saw the flames dancing on the painting. "Did you do that? Since when could you make your fire green? I have never seen this color of flame before."
I watched this scene through watery eyes. This is the last time I saw my best friend. I probably would never see her again anyways. My younger self shrugged and walked to the flames. She put her trembling hand into the green flames and I knew that she felt no heat or pain. I knew that it felt like somebody was moving a soft feather up and down her hand, while someone else poked it thousands of times with a dull needle point. Little Zia quickly pulled her hand back out of the fire quickly. She looked at it in awe, memorized at the golden glow of the skin that was starting to fade.
"Oh my, that is so awesome!" Kira exclaimed, eyes wide. "You're not even burned at all!" Little me nodded and continued to stare at her hand in wonder. "Anyways, what are you doing here? Are you," she paused to suck in a breath, "leaving?"
Zia finally looked away from her hand and glanced at Kira. "Yes," she squeaked out, "I am leaving. I am a burden to your family, plus, I need to find a master to teach me earth bending and firebending. And don't tell me that someone in the village will; you know as well as I do that nobody likes me in this town but you and your family. Nobody will teach me because I a freak."
My waterbending best friend opened her mouth to say something, but she ended up running to the little me and giving her a hug. Tears are streaming down all of our faces now, mine, Kira's, and the younger me's too.
"I'll miss you; you're my best friend ever and you better come back when you're older." Kira said through her tears. Little me nodded and they continued hugging for a few minutes.
"I have to go, Kira. Go back to your family and tell them I said thanks for letting me stay with them. I'll miss you so much." They let go of each other and my past self walked around the house grapping things she needed. She stuffed them in her bag and walked into her old room with Kira besides her. She grabbed two pairs of clothing and our dad's dagger from the closet. She then walked to the empty corner of her room and stomped her foot, earthbending up a box. Inside of the box was some money and a small portrait of her and Kira. I watched as the young girl shoved all of it in her bag and walked to her parent's room.
She did the same thing; earthbending up a box and taking all the money in it. She then grabbed our best friend's hand and pulled her out of the house. They walked silently next to each other until little me whirled Kira around and gave the bigger girl a hug. Then letting go of her, she gave the waterbender a small nod and a salute, turned, and walked off. Little Zia didn't look back at her best friend, for I knew even back then, I would have stayed if I saw the tears streaming down Kira's face.
Now, however, I stared long and hard at the young girl in the middle of the road. I missed my best friend so much that I never wanted to leave where I stood, but I felt the subtle tug at my soul and knew that I was leaving the past and going into the present.
I heard the sounds off fighting and smelled something burning. I felt someone's gentle hands pick me up and carry me bridal style. I didn't have the strength to move or even open my eyes to see who was carrying me. The back off my head was pounding and I suddenly remembered why.
Aang had rammed me into a tree. Oh he was so going to be dead when I regained my strength, I thought to myself. I groaned and shifted against the hard armor I was pressed up against. Wait, armor? Sokka, Aang, and Katara don't wear armor. The only people I knew that wore armor were the Fire Nation.
I was placed on something hard and that smelled like animals and then the thing I was laying on started moving with an unsteady gait. A few minutes after, I was hosed down with water, which I knew wasn't rain because of how quickly it had come and gone. Suddenly I slipped off the back of the animal and the back of my head banged against the wet ground, making me lose consciousness, again.
I awoke to soft rocking and the sense of déjà vu hit me. I opened my eyes and spotted a now familiar face. I groaned and shut my eyes hoping I was dreaming again. Reopening them, I saw that, sadly, this was not the case.
"Hello, Prince Hothead. How are you?"