The next chapter will be up later today. Look forward to it.
"Finally they've stopped," I said with a sigh. The army's ships had all dropped their anchors just as the sun set. My legs gave in and I sunk into the water. The cold ocean water felt good and cleaned the sweat off my skin. My whole body felt heavy having no rest since the early afternoon. My body floated to the surface where I waited for Gin to come down to pick me up. I waited as Gin slowly hovered over to me. With my remaining strength I pulled myself onto his back and we flew back to the village. I spotted Katara and Yue when Gin made his landing, stumbling just a bit. Although it was better than Nyoko who landed head first into the balcony snow wall. Normally I would felt some sympathy for destroying public property, but with the state the village was in one would never notice the hole. After we caught our breath Gin and Nyoko went back into the charm to rest while Brianna and I stayed lying on the ground. Katara and Yue ran over to see if we were alright.
"You guys okay?" Yue asked a worried look in her eyes. I rolled over and stared up at the darkening sky. I didn't respond and just gave a heavy sigh. I just wanted to rest. The only thing that got me up was the echo of a loud groan. I saw Aang riding on Appa who collapsed the second he safely landed. Aang jumped off some Appa's back with a distressed look on his face.
"I can't do it, I can't do it" Aang said with his hands on his head.
"What happened?" Katara asked.
"I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships but there's just too many of them. Even with Rebecca and Brianna's help. We can't fight them all!"
"But, you have to, you're the Avatar!" Yue told him.
"I'm just one kid" Aang said bringing his knees to his chest. Katara went over to comfort Aang while Brianna looked worriedly back at the Fire Navy ships. Doubt surrounded us. Could we really win? I took a deep breath then forced myself to my feet.
"Where are you going?" Katara asked, noticing walking toward the ocean.
"To fight," I told her, but who was I kidding? It was a struggle just to walk, let alone fight. Before I could thoroughly think about just have stupid my plan was Katara and Yue blocked my way.
"No Rebecca, you're too exhausted" Katara told me.
"Katara's right Rebecca, don't do anything rash" Yue beg. "You need your rest." I wanted to argue with them but even I knew it was suicide to try and keep going. I could barely sink a single ship on my own. How I could take down a whole lot of them would take more than a miracle. I silently walked toward Appa without saying a single word. Aang helped me up onto Appa while Brianna searched for something in our bags that we could eat. It surprised me that Brianna had energy left but then I recalled that she hadn't done as much as the rest of us. Although who could blame her, there was no earth to be found for miles and if she had used fire someone might have gotten burnt. I doubt she wanted to have to deal with the penalties of a friendly fire. Brianna handed me a piece of jerky she had stolen from Sokka's precious meat stash.
"You sleep," Brianna told me. "I'll wake you up when something happens."
"Oh you better!" I threatened. Brianna just smacked my forehead lightly before making me lay down. Aang gave me a warm smile.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine" he said. I wasn't so sure if what he said was meant more for me or him.
"We better let her rest," Yue told the two of them. I felt really weak for being the only one forced to take a nap but there was no use arguing. We were in the middle of a war. They needed me to be at my best.
((Brianna's P.O.V))
"Brianna, are you sure you shouldn't be resting?" Katara asked. "It's already night time but you're still up.
"I'm fine," I told her looking up at the moon. It was still starting to make its way across the in the sky. I couldn't remember the last time I saw the moon. I had wanted to see it for a while that and I was too nervous to sleep anyway. Everyone looked up to the sky, trying to see what the heck I was looking at. Everyone expect Aang that is. He was still trying to think of what to do. How to win against that huge navy?
"The legends say the moon was the first water bender," Yue said, breaking the silence. "Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves."
"I've always noticed my water bending is stronger at night," Katara added.
"Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon," Yue explained. "Our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance."
"The Spirits!" Aang shouted. The sudden burst of energy frightened Momo making him jump off Aang head into my arms. "Maybe I can find them and get their help!"
"How can you do that?" Yue asked him.
"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World. Aang can talk to them!" Katara explained to her.
"Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!" Yue said excitingly.
"Or, maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" Aang shouted out even more excited. Katara and Yue stared at him like he was crazy. "Or wisdom. That's good too."
"Maybe they'll do both!" Yue and Katara gave me a weird look, probably thinking I was crazy.
"The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident" Katara said getting back on topic. "How are you going to get there this time?"
"I have an idea," Yue said after a bit of thinking. "Follow me." While Yue led the way I stayed close by Nyoko's side to make sure that Rebecca didn't fall off her back. We soon reached huge wall with a small door.
"So is this the way to the Spirit World?" Aang asked Yue.
"No," Yue said with a laugh and opened the door. "You'll have to get there on your own but I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole." Aang was the first to step inside and from the sound of his gasp it had to be something amazing. Sure enough when I got inside I was speechless. You would have never imagined that behind the cold ice walls would be lush green grass. Although the place was mostly water and had a raging waterfall in the back, the small island of grass was enough to make me smile. It had been so long since I had seen anything but snow but what amazed me more was the temperature. It was warm! I no longer had to fear for frost bite. I immediately took off my coat and ran toward the grass. I couldn't help but roll all around in it. Who knew grass would smell so good? I probably looked like a total idiot in front of everyone but I didn't care. I was just thankful Rebecca isn't awake otherwise I'm pretty sure she would have stepped on me.
"I never thought I'd miss grass this much!" Aang shouted and hugged the ground. I got up after Yue and Katara came to join us and began looking around. I didn't know how but I had completely overlooked the small pond in the center of the island. Inside were two black and white koi fish which I knew to be the Moon and Ocean Spirits.
"It's so warm here! How is that possible?" Katara asked while she and Yue removed their coats.
"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land" Yue explained. I saw Momo dip his hand in the water to try to grab a fish. Before I could stop him Momo was pushed back by a gust of wind. I turned to Nyoko and sure enough Rebecca was awake.
"You woke up just in time," I told her with a smile. She didn't respond back and just kept glaring at Momo. The poor lemur was scared to get close. I would have helped but I didn't want Rebecca to bite my head off.
"You're right, Yue. I can feel something it's so tranquil." Aang said then sat down in front of the pond. He got into a mediating position and closed his eyes.
"Get ready," Rebecca told me, jumping off Nyoko. "Once he glows we run through him." I nodded my head and the two of us waited patiently for Aang to cross over to the Spirit World.
Just as a note, for a long time I discovered that I really didn't like my explanation as to how Brianna and I could go in and out of the Spirit World. It wasn't until maybe a year or so of writing this series did I come up with a new theory, but I decided to wait for this scene to come up rather than give you it at a random chapter.
When thinking about how Aang was the bridge to the Spirit World and the World of the Living it made me wonder how the some spirits can wonder from these worlds, like the Ocean Spirit, Moon Spirit, and Hei-Bai. I then came to the conclusion that there are other bridges that can be taken to cross between the two realms. And being the Girls of One Nation, we are able to locate these bridges such as the Avatar, statues of Spirits with powerful supernatural properties, and so on. Once located the bridges, they can be easily crossed due to the supernatural presence of our charms and our animal companions.
"Why is he sitting like that?" Yue whispered to Katara.
"He's meditating, trying to cross over into the Spirit World. It takes all his concentration." Katara explained.
"Is there any way we can help?"
"How about some quiet?" Aang shouted at them frustrated. "C'mon guys, I can hear every word you're saying!" He turned his head back around. The koi fish must have gotten his attention because he was staring at them. He almost looked like he was in a trance, a very good sign. And sure enough it didn't take long for Aang's tattoos and eyes to glow.
"He's crossed over" Rebecca shouted, "let's go!" Before I could even react Rebecca had already sprinted toward Aang. As she approached Aang she slowly began fading away until she went through him, disappearing completely.
"Whoa!" I heard Yue and Katara shout as I was crossing over with Nyoko following right behind me. I could feel myself entering the Spirit World but before I left entirely I took one last glance at Katara. She needed to step up her game because we were leaving Aang's body in her hands.
