Chapter 24

I rushed into my room back home, stuffing clothes into my bag. I ripped my parents' safe in half with metalbending, the metal in ruined, wrinkled chunks. I stuffed the stacks of Yuans into the pockets of the bag, smiling a little. I took some rations as well, at least to last me a trip. I could buy stuff on the way. With all this money, I could be royalty.

I blew out of the house, taking one last look at the house. It was only full of memories now. Yena was gone, my parents going to prison. There was nothing left for me to stay for. Smiling a little, I hopped onto Selene's back. She crouched low, her wings stretching up. Then we were in the air, wind pressing down at us. We swam in the clouds, seeing the sunset start to coat the great capital with its fiery light. A good time to leave it all behind.

My eyes strayed to the spot of land resting in Yue Bay like an afterthought. Air Temple Island. I needed to sneak in there and get the trapped Vaatu back. I needed to put him back in the Tree of Time. That prison wouldn't last forever.

I patted Selene's neck. She immediately began to descend. Once we grew close enough, I jumped off her back, easily landing on the gray stone of the main area. I calmly walked into my temporary rooms in the female wing of the Temple. I found the air sphere with Vaatu in it in a frosted glass pillar. I hefted it up and grasped the air sphere.

"I will cause death and destruction!" the super-high voice of Vaatu cried.

"Oh, hush," I answered, weaving an additional air sphere around his temporary prison.

I dug out the jar that I took from home and stuffed him into it. I screwed the top on tight. I shoved it into my bag as I walked out of the room. I slammed into a wall of muscle.

"Where are you going?" Lee asked.

"Oh," I breathed, pulling a hand through my hair. "I'm going to the Spirit World to take Vaatu to the Tree of Time."

"Oh, alright. But before you go, I want to tell you two things."

"Alright, out with it. I'm in a bit of a rush."

The memories were already eating at me. I had to get out of this city. Out of this world. The material world held too much pain for me.

Lee pulled out an envelope. "I read this after you saved the city."

"Oh, happy birthday," I said weakly, smiling.

His lips quirked up at the corners. "Thanks. Anyway, so I read it. My birth parents were Equalists as well. They found out that I could bend when I was very young, so they took me to a bloodbender, and asked them to take it away."

"Oh, Lee."

"So, I was wondering if you could restore it. Only the Avatar can give it back."

"Oh, of course Lee! You have been such a good friend to me these recent days. I've been meaning to thank you. Without you, I would have broken. And the world can't have a broken Avatar," I said, looking up at him through my lashes.

He was about to say something but I held up a hand. "Now, let me give you what you have lost. You deserve it more than anyone."

Lee knelt in front of me, his brown eyes full of hope and fear. I smiled reassuringly, as I placed one hand on his forehead, the other on his chest. The Avatar State surged in response. When I looked at Lee, I didn't see the Air Acolyte that somehow stole my heart, when I didn't think there was one to steal to begin with. I saw a mass of silvery-blue pathways. His energy. I found the block where all of his pathways intersected, in his mind and heart. It was a dark and cloudy mass, sticky tendrils stretching into the pure energy that flowed. When I poured my healing energy to those spots; the darkness faded to reveal pulsing silver-white energy, fresh and vitalizing.

His pathways glowed anew. They looked so much brighter, healthier than before. His heart glowed pink-red, a bright light that branded into my eyes. I dropped my hands, the Avatar State fading.

"I think I did it," I told him. He stood, his eyes closed.

"I feel different. Stronger." The gruffness in his voice made my heart flutter.

He opened his eyes, the brown darkening as he looked at me. He held out a hand, breathing in sharply. He threw out that hand. A gust of air filled the air, making the window shut, the bed sheets ripple.

"You're an airbender," I said breathily.

"Yeah."

He smiled again and I got that feeling again. It was like seeing the sun rise, his smile was so beautiful.

I grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. "Well, I have to go. Bye."

As I passed him, I felt my heart aching in my chest. I gritted my teeth so I wouldn't say anything I couldn't take back.

"Tiana."

I turned, a hand on the sliding door. "Yeah?"

"I didn't tell you the second thing," he said.

"And what's that?" I slowly went back into the room, hand on my strap. I looked up at him, jaw clenched. My muscles were tensing. I was prepared to fight my way out if I had to. Lee couldn't stop me from leaving. It was my choice.

Already, I felt the metal in the room reacting to my unease. The candleholders shook slightly. The bed frame was starting to creak.

"This," he said, pulling me to him. My mouth opened to protest, but soon Lee's mouth was on mine, silencing me. I felt that spark between us that flamed into an inferno of passion. His hands greedily swept up my back, down my hair. We stumbled into a wall, my back pressing into it.

"I have wanted to do this ever since I met you," he breathed, his lips a teasing distance away from mine. I grasped his arms, eyes meeting his. I pressed closer to him and then drew away, knowing he would want to pull me close. With a growl, he pressed me deeper to the wall, kissing me again and again, until I felt faint.

His hand slipped down from my waist, seeking the slit running up to the hip in my kimono. I gasped when his hot hand ran up my thigh, grasping my hip. My hands ran up his chest, and intertwined with his hair.

We breathed each other in, our eyes locked. Lee gently cupped my chin and gave me one chaste kiss.

"You can't just abandon everything, Tiana. You have people here that love you."

"I did. One person. I killed her," I said, looking away.

"You have me. You have the Avatar families. You're not alone."

I pulled away from him. "I'm going to the Spirit World, Lee."

"But you plan on never coming back here. To Republic City. To me."

"I need to be alone."

"Alone is the last thing you need to be."

"You don't know what's best for me! I know what's best for me!" I yelled. The passion that had blazed so freely inside quickly turned to anger. I knew I was going to lose control. I felt the Avatar State at the corners of my heart and mind, the power ready to fill me. I already felt its light, like a thousand suns at my command.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath.

"I still have to master air and firebending anyway. I have to make this journey alone, as the Avatar."

I stared him down, challenging him with my gaze. He looked away.

"Just, don't abandon the world, Tiana. You can't. That would be forsaking your Avatar destiny."

This time, I looked away. "Okay. I promise."

Picking up my bag, I left Lee standing there, shoulders slightly bowed, a wind lightly tossing his hair.