This chapter was inspired by SilentStorm1999, who posted a review with an idea that appealed to me. So, I just want to say thank you for the inspiration!
Chapter Twenty-One
Wake Up
A voice. Smooth and quiet, but it comforts him. It sounds so…familiar, yet he can't recognize it completely. He doesn't hear the words coming from the mouth of the speaker, only the sound of it. It is warm and it makes his stomach churn, makes his senses come alive, or so he thinks.
When she-he knows it is a she, he just knows-speaks, that is the only time he actually feels…awake? He wants so desperately to wake up, to see…her…but he can't. He tries. But it's a fruitless attempt. The voice…its familiar and it hurts him to not know who it is. He knows the voice. But he can't put a name or a face to it.
The voice is like a melody. He pulls himself from his conscious as he tries to tune into it.
The sound stops and his heart drops. His mind finally places a name to the voice.
Vinca.
The sudden realization hits him like a wave. The name draws memories, and he feels like he's watching them from a different point of view. She is in his arms, she is smiling, laughing, bending, her eyes sparkling as she teasing him. Her face, determined as she turns to the Dai Li with such confidence even though it is almost guaranteed they will overpower her. The glee that radiates constantly from her, the way her eyes always seem distracted as she stares unknowingly, deep in thought. The way she bites her lower lip, the way her light brown hair gently dances in the breeze. The graceful way she airbends like she has been doing it her whole life.
His whole body seems to buzz as more memories kick in, rousing him from his subconscious state. His friends' faces - Toph, Katara, Sokka, Appa, Momo - Gyasto, Bumi - Avatar Roku, Kyoshi - his life crashes into him. The shock and desperation when he learned that they were going to move him away from Monk Gyasto. The power and fear from the Avatar State. The confusion from thinking he liked Katara when he really liked Vinca. Bending. Facing his enemies, the discomfort with the idea of killing the Firelord, killing anything...
Wake up.
A voice coos. It sounds like Vinca's. His conscious stirs as he comes back to earth. Wake up. His chest heaves as new life breathes in. Wake up. He feels power flow into him, feels the waves crash against the boat, the air tighten around him. Wake up. His finger twitches as feeling comes back to his body. Wake up. More memories file in. The lightning. The pain. Wake up. The utter feeling of failing as he dropped, his heart stopping. Wake up.The moment of confusion and exshastion as he is revived.
Its all to much. He must wake up. He knows too much, remembers too much, has felt too much.
Vinca.
The single name holds so much feeling that repeating it makes his brain freeze, the memories coming back come to a halt.
Vinca.
That is the last thing he thinks. The last face he sees in his mind before all his thoughts slip from his desperate grasp. His body shuts down. The memories that have began to return evaporate from his mind as he breathes in a heavy breath before his breathing returns to shallowness. He returns to his slumber as if nothing happened. In reality, nothing did.