I haven't been able to get to the computer for a while, my big brother has this habit of getting on in the morning before I wake up and staying on for the rest of the day. I've had to resort to using paper and... and... and pencils... it's terrifying! NOOOOOOO!

Anyways... enjoy the chapter, even though its kinda short. The next one will be longer promise.

; )

Chapter 8

They spent the rest of the day like that, having fun and laughing. Neither of them wanted to mention anything about Kaiya's banishment or her status.

Reality caught up with them at 2 o'clock.

"Kaiya?" Greta called round the door of her room.

Kaiya stiffened.

"Are you nearly ready to go? High priest Pah wants for you to leave around 3 o'clock..."

"Uh... yeah" Kaiya replied shakily. "Leaving... 3 o'clock... got it."

"Alright then, just bring your bags to the east courtyard when you're ready." Greta smiled at the two children and left.

Kaiya turned back to Kouyo, his face was grim.

"What now?" he whispered

"I have to go." Kaiya said simply. There was no other way to say it, that was the truth.

She knew she had shocked Kouyo with her acceptance of the problem, He always believed there were at least two choices.

She watched as his cheeks turned pink. He puffed out his face in an exasperated expression and frowned. She grabbed his arm gently.

"There is nothing in the world that will stop me from going Kouyo." She whispered softly. "This destiny was set in motion for me ages ago, maybe when the pirates cornered us, maybe as soon as Gran started teaching me, maybe when I was born. I'm the Avatar; I'd have to go away sooner or later."

Kouyo raised an eyebrow "what a different attitude to this morning" he commented.

"I think it's better if I just accept that I'm leaving" Kaiya sat up and trained her bright blue eyes onto her brother.

"Come on then..." Kouyo stood and walked to the bags sitting in a lumpy pile at the back of her room.

Kaiya sighed and drifted over to Kouyo. She picked up the green singlet top lying on the floor and sniffed it. She screwed up her nose, it smelt of something weird.

Pine. Something inside of her answered. and jasmine oil. What was jasmine oil anyway? No one she knew had ever talked about something as weird as that.

"Kaiya?" Kouyo waved a hand in front of her face. "Wakey, wakey"

"Huh?" Kaiya jolted out of her half trance.

"You know... packing? What we were doing three minutes ago? You may remember."

"Oh, sorry" Kaiya sat down next to Kouyo on the ground and carefully tucked the singlet into one of the bags.

"There." Kouyo said "all done"

Kaiya just looked at him. "Since when were you all neat and tidy?" she asked leaning forward on her elbows. "What happened to 'my room gets clean over my dead body'?"

"Uh... that's just to annoy Greta" Kouyo laughed

"Whatever, Let's go. They'll be waiting for us." Kaiya stood out, stretching out her legs.

"Waiting for you, you mean. It makes no difference whether I'm there or not really."

Kaiya hugged her brother around the shoulders and squeezed gently. "It matters to me if you're there" she told him.

Kouyo picked up two of Kaiya's small bags and started walking to the door; he nudged it open with his foot and stepped out into the hallway. Kaiya picked up the last two bags and hurried after him. Like it or not, Kouyo was leaving without her.

It was all set; Suli was in the courtyard, all of the packs tucked securely into her brand new saddle she had been given by the water temple priests. Kaiya patted Suli softly on the head, listening to the water dragon croon quietly.

"Are you ready Kaiya?" Pah asked

Kaiya nodded without turning around. "I'm ready"

She patted Suli once more and climbed into the massive saddle. She settled down into a cross legged position, holding the reins limply in her hands. She scanned the small group of people crowded around. There was high priest Pah, and high priestess Greta. The rest of the faces blurred together in her head. She hadn't been here really long enough to get to know anyone else.

"You'll be ok" Kouyo patted her hand reassuringly

"Are you sure?" Kaiya joked "There are a million things that could happen to a girl travelling alone, robbers, bandits, kidnappers, the list is endless."

"Haven't we been over this already?" Kouyo grinned "what will you do if confronted with any of those people?"

"Blast 'em sky high" Kaiya laughed "Provided I have enough water around"

"Yeah, that's sort of why I want to give you this," Kouyo stretched out his hands. He was holding a bright blue bag with a black strap hanging out both ends. It was patterned with a flowing and swirling white design that twisted around the whole thing.

"It's a water bag" Kouyo explained "there isn't water on the ground everywhere in the world like there is here. This is so you can carry some water everywhere you go; say if you find yourself in a dessert or something."

Kaiya took hold of it stared, it really was a pretty thing. She tucked it into one of her bags for later use, she wouldn't need it here but she might soon.

Kouyo reached up to clasp her hand tightly; he twisted both their hands together and up.

"We will see each other again, in four years time" he whispered fiercely. He yanked his hand free and stepped back and away from the water dragon and her rider.

Kaiya nodded to all the people around her. She patted the top of Suli's head and whispered in her ear. White mist began to billow around the water dragon, thickening and spreading until a neat little cloud covered most of Suli's blue scales. The soft, white cloud then began to gently rise, lifting mysteriously up to the sky.

Kaiya looked down, catching the bright blue eyes of her twin brother. She willed the moment to last forever. She fixed the image permanently in her mind.

The small ten year old boy in a shabby water tribe tunic. There was white trim on the sleeves, neck and bottom. He was also wearing dark blue pants under that ended mid calf where his scuffed black boots began. His mid neck length hair was hanging loose, two strands of hair hanging beside his face, blue beads threaded amongst the dark strands.

She blinked, the image stored firmly inside her head.

Then it was gone, and there were only swirling white clouds left for company.