Earth... Fire... Air... Water...

The Avatar's destiny has been fulfilled, and soon, her story will end.

AVATAR

The Celestial Sailors

BOOK THREE: DEATH

36: Vigilante

Ami parted her fluttering bangs out of her eyes as the bison swerved. A chill blew up from the nearby mountains, issuing snow and ice. She heard Yuichiro shivering, but he issued no complaint, nor did Keya, or even Anshar. The wind thrust against them but soon it was at their back, the bison sensing the change and shifting with it. She was a wise creature, well-versed in the wind, not only able to fly but capable of sensing the change in air pressure, slicing through turbulence to catch a helpful squall. They were passing over the Kolau mountains, where Minako was rumored to have been cited. Ami bit her lip as she mentally prepared herself for the confrontation. It had only been a little over a month since Minako left for parts unknown, but it felt like countless ages: partly because she was a beloved member of Usagi's close-knit team, and the one who held Ami's heart, but also because of some rather unsettling rumors. Ami tried not to let herself be too concerned, but her chest clenched with anticipation, her throat constricting, her nerves shaky.

Are you sure, she had pressed. The young man—barely more than a boy, really—had trembled as he recounted his horrible experience.

Yeah, he confirmed, nodding his head. He lifted a shaky cup of tea to his lips and drank. She killed everyone but me. I think the only reason she spared me was because I soiled myself out of fear. Called for my mother and everything. You...you can't blame me, after what I just saw. Ami could scarcely believe it. The Minako she knew wouldn't even hurt a fly if she could help it. Killing was as much anathema for her as eating meat.

You're positive it was an air-bender? She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, an orange ribbon in her hair...

Yeah, she had those blue arrow tattoos and everything. She used air-bending to... He paused, went for his cup again, but dropped it on the floor, breaking it. He shrank back and hung his head in shame as a waiter silently cleaned it up. Sorry, sorry. I...I'll pay for it. But...yeah, that's what she looked like, what you just said.

Do you know where she went? He squealed painfully, hiding his head in his arms. He couldn't say; he hadn't stayed around long enough to find out, preferring to run in fear.

The bison dove lower once the mountains were behind her. She kept a steady pace as long patches of grassland and farmland stretched below them. A few people waved up, but none of the passengers saw them. They were all silent, each brooding in their own thoughts. Keya had her eyes shut as she clutched her sword. Anshar was reading a book. Yuichiro was busy guiding his bison. Ami kept rehearsing what she'd say—or perhaps she shouldn't say anything. She had never been good with words, that was Minako's specialty.

Minako. The pain of her long absence cut deep.

Ami had never lost anyone close to her. Her father had left the tribe only about five years after she was born, and her mother had released him without protest. She barely knew anything about him, except that he was an artist, and he sent her paintings on her birthday. He was talented; maybe he was living successfully somewhere. If Ami suddenly found out that he had died, would she grieve? Would she even feel sad? Makoto's parents had died when she was very young, as had Rei's mother. Ami wanted to sympathize with Minako's behavior, but if she were being truly honest with herself, she knew she'd never be able to understand. Maybe if her own mother...

She hadn't realized she was clutching onto the bison until it let out a pained groan. Yuichiro steadied it as she quietly apologized. It had been fortunate for her that he had been in the area: with Artemis gone, Ivanushka off with Linka, and both Ishtar and Haruka lacking transport, she didn't know any other air-bender that could've helped her. Yuichiro had practically thrown himself at Ami's feet when she asked if she could borrow his bison ("I'd do anything for one of Rei's friends!" he had chuckled). They set off after telling Haruka and Michiru where they were going, and promised to send letters whenever they could.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Michiru had asked. Ami shook her head.

"As long as it takes. I'm not coming back without Minako." The two older women stood in respective silence. Michiru crossed her arms over her chest in Water Tribe fashion.

"Take care of yourself, Dolphin. We'll let Usagi and the others know."

"And you," Haruka said, jabbing a finger at Yuichiro, "take care of her. Got it?" He nodded firmly, giving her the open-palmed Air Nomad salute, which she returned. That had been two weeks ago.

…...

They stopped in a little village along the way, asking the townsfolk for news. Most of them were just glad that the night had come back and they could get on with their lives. The village was peaceful and sleepy, poor but prosperous in its own dignified way; the people knew little about matters beyond their borders. The next village over was a rest stop nestled in the foothills of the mountains; several townsfolk claimed to have seen various air-benders passing through, but none of them matched Minako's description.

"Ya mean there's nomads out there that don't shave their heads?" one of them drawled. Yuichiro grinned and proudly showed off his shaggy mane.

"Uh, yeah, buddy, you're looking at one now!" The farmer peered at him queerly for a long moment, smacking a stalk of wheat between his lips.

"Hmm. You shore you're an air-bender?"

"Yup, I got the tattoos to prove it!" They argued a bit before Ami came back to the matter at hand. The farmer asked them why they were looking for her (she was a friend who had went missing, and people were worried about her), then he asked where else they had looked. The monks at the Western Air Temple had reported they saw Minako flying south, towards the Fire Nation, so Ami went to Boiling Rock, the Temple of the Sun Warriors, Ember Island, and the Capitol itself, where she ran into Suen's group. They had been dealing with thieves and bandits, disreputable people who had taken advantage of the recent chaos to loot and plunder as they pleased. They had just mopped up another hideout when Ami came by, and were preparing to swing by the Black Cliffs in case any more of their lot were still around.

"But first, Lady Iku's graciously offered a suite for us," Nergal had said. "We're gonna spend the night as honored guests of the royal family. Marduk doesn't even have to cook!"

"You should spend the night, too," Nabu suggested. Ami was feeling pretty tired, and with the sun going down, it seemed pointless to continue their search. A feast was prepared, everyone ate their fill, and slept well until dawn. Before they set off, an older woman approached them, a strange sword sheathed at her back. She was clad in Fire Nation finery, her dark green hair held back in a ponytail, her countenance grim, eyes piercing, hard as iron.

"Excuse me," she had said, bowing curtly. "My name is Keya; I'm a traveling companion of Suen's. If it's not too forward of me, I'd like to join you. I'm good with a sword, and..." She and Ami both looked to Suen, who stood stock still and silent. Keya sighed. "Truth be told, I'd like some time away from...myself and my thoughts. I reasoned that traveling might do me some good. Please." She bowed again, nearly getting down on one knee. If Ami recalled correctly, Keya had lost her twin sister in the fight with Iblis, so her mental state must've been similar to Minako's. Although she didn't know the other woman, Suen and Nabu's word was good enough for her—and besides, she didn't have the heart to refuse such a request. Still, Ami warned her that they had no destination, that there'd be no telling how long they'd be away, or even if they were coming back at all. That was fine, Keya assured her. She wasn't in any rush. Yuichiro didn't mind the extra company, so up she went, carrying only a sword and a sack of supplies.

"Anshar," Suen said, calling for her brother, "could you go with them? I'd like for someone to keep an eye on Keya."

"Are you getting tired of me already?" he joked. Only Ishtar snickered; the others were too respectful of Keya to feel amused. Suen's expression sobered the boy quickly, so he agreed to go along, taking his bow, some supplies, and of course his cat-rabbit Kishar.

"Hello," Ami giggled as the creature introduced himself. She and Yuichiro promised to watch over him, and with that, they set off to explore the eastern archipelago.

…...

Minako's trail had cooled by the time the group left Crescent Island. The monks at Air Temple Island had seen a bison from the west fly over the Great Divide (apparently they could tell which temple every bison originated from); people crossing over the Great Divide were, appropriately, divided on the matter of lone nomads and their mounts. Some claimed to have seen one floating around the Kolau Mountains, while others swore they saw one heading toward the northern Provinces, and still others stated that one went straight for the Serpent's Path.

"Great," Yuichiro grumbled, "now what?" Ami puzzled over it for a moment. Both Motoki and Mamoru didn't have the resources necessary to send any scouts out, so nobody would be on the lookout for Minako if she went south or east. Ami decided to head north and skirt the Provinces. If that didn't work, she could always turn to the monks of the Northern Temple for assistance. They were already skimming overhead come the next morning, stopping at every village they found for information. Most places were a bust, but one actually had a decent lead. Apparently, an air nomad from the west had heard rumors of thieves and robbers in the area, and had come to "settle the matter". As strange as it seemed for someone to fly so far out of their way just to help a little village, the people were thankful, and directed her to the general source of their problems. An hour's sojourn south revealed a grisly sight: bodies strewn along the ground, most of them crushed to death or blue from suffocation. Ami didn't believe that Minako was capable of such a heinous act, but Yuichiro knew air-bending when he saw it.

"It's deadlier than people think," he said, trying to contain his disgust. "Air can be heavier than steel when it gets dense enough, and I don't need to tell you what happens when you can't breathe."

"So this was all the work of an air-bender?" He nodded grimly.

"Yeah, a powerful one. They knew what they were doing." Ami turned pale as they continued to survey the landscape; later, they all helped bury the dead. Following the bodies, they came to a crossroads where they saw a local wanted man nailed to a road sign, most of his bones broken. Keya carefully removed it and buried it a distance away while Yuichiro just sat, glowering.

"No way," he growled. "There's no way any air-bender would do this. There's just no way."

"Let's keep moving," Ami muttered. The trail led them over the Taku Ruins to the Serpent's Pass, where a small fleet of capsized ships awaited them. Coastguards and fishing-boats were pitching in to trawl out whatever they could, but there was no helping the crews. The authorities explained to Ami that these were ships that had been stolen by pirates—the previous crew murdered "heinously", they added with a shudder—who then turned to terrorizing the locals. They had enjoyed a week or so of plunder, bloodshed, and "indescribable acts" performed on a few women before they were sent to their graves. While the authorities didn't condone vigilantism, they were willing to look the other way this time—not that they could've prosecuted in any case, since the perpetrator had flown south.

"Did you say she flew?!" Yuichiro bellowed.

"Uh, yes. On an air-bison." Yuichiro cursed loudly, punching a nearby tree in fury. Ami trembled fearfully but tried remaining calm as she asked for a description. "Well, I couldn't say if they were a man or a woman, since they didn't talk and none of us got a good look at their face, but they had long blonde hair, that much is certain. Can't forget something like that on an air-bender."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Yuichiro growled. "There's no way..."

"Calm down, Yuichiro," Keya said firmly. "Let's not waste our time cursing and shouting. Besides, I doubt I would have shown those pirates any better courtesy..."

"Yeah, but this is an air nomad we're talkin' about! They don't just go around killin' people, no matter how bad they are!"

"All the same, we need you to have a cool head. South of us is the Kolau mountains, and they are treacherous no matter which altitude we approach them at." Yuichiro growled but eventually calmed down; he was stoic and deathly silent for the entire flight. Kolau was brutal to them, with strong winds biting and fierce ice stinging. Ami parted her fluttering bangs out of her eyes as the bison swerved. A chill blew up from the nearby mountains, issuing snow and ice. She heard Yuichiro shivering, but he issued no complaint, nor did Keya, or even Anshar. The wind thrust against them but soon it was at their back, the bison sensing the change and shifting with it...

A red stain drew their attention. When they landed, they were greeted by piles of crushed or suffocated bodies, many already scavenged by wildlife. Anshar went ahead with Ami to search the area; they found an old compound that had been used by the royal family two or three generations back. There had been guards stationed there, but robbers had apparently overrun it and made it their own (some had even been wearing their uniforms). As Ami picked her way through the empty facility, Anshar called out to her. He was holding up a long yellow strand of hair. Ami clutched it tenderly, her arms shaking. She brought the hair to Yuichiro's bison, letting her sniff it. The bison let out a roar and veered southwest, toward the Si Wong desert.

"She must be close," Yuichiro said flatly. He looked up at the mountaintops and thrust his hands at them, bending the air so it disturbed a layer of ice and snow. The small avalanche slid down and covered some of the bodies. "Ami, could you finish up?" he said mechanically. "We can't use up too much time." She nodded and covered the bodies with the snow; then, everyone mounted and set off again.

…...

Ami instinctively squinted as the sand pelted her face. There had been a storm yesterday, and a little bit of it still lingered today. Even at full force, it wouldn't have been enough to deter her, but Hakim had advised against it all the same. Today, the weather was manageable, so with some white robes for protection against the sun and goggles to protect against the sand, their small group set out. Hakim had been kind enough to loan out fifty of his sand-benders to help in the search, stating that he owed Sifu Kinsei a favor. With everyone split up over the vast Si Wong (Yuichiro flying overhead with Anshar, Ami and Keya with the sand-benders), they'd hopefully find their wayward friend, or at least another clue.

During the fight with Iblis, Hakim reported that several prisoners had used the lax security to break out and cause havoc. While there were few people left behind for them to harass, they nevertheless enacted a degree of evil, killing those who stood in their way and stealing what valuables they could (for what, Hakim couldn't say. If they had lost, no amount of gold would have saved them). His people had been scouring the Si Wong for any sign of them, and with the information Ami's group gave him, he surmised that Minako must be after the same goal. Yuichiro had warned him that there might not be any prisoners left alive to recapture, but Hakim had just shrugged.

"If she kills them, then she does us a favor," he had stated coldly. "I might have been lenient if they had remained in prison, but as it stands, whatever misfortune befalls them is one they have brought upon themselves." Ami didn't want it to come to that—she didn't want to believe that Mina, her Mina, the woman she loved, her friend and traveling companion, her sunshine and laughter, the goofy air-bender who always saw the best in people and the lighter side of life...Ami didn't want to believe that she could kill. Yet the evidence weighed heavily against her. She decided to reserve her judgment until she confronted Minako in person. The wind picked up again as she thought about this, throwing more sand in her face. It was annoying, but Ami took this as a good omen. She pressed on.

According to Hakim, the prisoners would likely head for the nearest oasis, so that's where they headed first, a mere seven miles away from the city. His sand-benders set down their skiff half a mile away from it so their presence wouldn't be detected; the plan was to surround the oasis on all sides and close in on the prisoners—and hopefully, Minako. The first oasis was a bust, though it yielded evidence of human presence. There had been a campfire, hastily built and hastily covered up, and several branches showed signs of being recently cut by a blade. The next-closest oasis was also no good, though one of the benders' mole-hounds picked up the scent of a freshly-buried chicken-owl bone. There were some desiccated bodies at the third oasis, but they only accounted for a portion of the total escapees, and two more at the fourth, much fresher than the first two. All were buried beneath the sand as the group pressed on, Ami becoming more pensive by the moment.

Come on, Mina, where are you? Are you really responsible for all this?

Hakim stated there were only three more oases the prisoners could have reached by now, at least with limited supplies and no mount. They tackled the first by night, finding a lit campfire with five of the prisoners huddled together in the bitter cold, still alive. They were quickly overpowered and recaptured; the group made their way to the next just before dawn, only to find seven more bodies, all crushed or suffocated to death. Before the group moved out, a huge whirlwind sprouted out of the distance, shooting out bursts of sand. Hakim studied it for a moment, knowing full well that such a squall couldn't materialize so suddenly. It seemed they had found their wayward nomad, but before anyone went charging off, Ami stopped them.

"Sir, please, let me go talk to her first! If it's really Mina, I need to—"

"Do as you wish, if you're willing to take the risk," he gestured. "If you're successful, you'll come back alive with your friend; if not, we'll avenge you. Travel safe and swift." Ami didn't expect to be let go so easily, but she thanked him anyway and set off, casting a jar full of oasis water into the air and bending it out to form a block of ice. As hot as the Si Wong was, the block was large enough, and Ami quick enough, to maintain until she reached her destination. She skidded over rocks, pebbles, dunes, bracken, cacti, and a large antlion pit, passing over horned scorpions and frilled lizards and four-eyed toads. She came to a stop just as the whirlwind abated. Everything became deathly silent as she looked up, eyes flaring open as four bodies fell to the earth. Without hesitating, she flung her block of ice at them, turning it into a large liquid hand that caught them as they fell. The hand dissolved as it splashed onto the sand; standing between Ami and the prisoners was a veil of gold and orange, a visage she would have recognized anywhere. The veil whirled around, confirming all of her worst fears.

Minako's eyes burned with alien hatred. Her teeth were bared, her fists clenched. A combination of travel, sand, and neglected hygiene had caked her face with dirt. She looked more like a savage animal than a person. Without saying a word, she whirled back around, thrusting her arms down, smashing a massive wall of pressurized air on the surviving prisoners.

"Mina!" Ami screamed.

"Don't stop me, Ami! You have no idea what these people have done!"

"Yes I do!" She grabbed Minako, pinning her arms to her waist, a lover's embrace turned desperate. "Stop! This isn't you!" Minako struggled, gnashing her teeth and growling. On a good day, she was slightly stronger than Ami; today she was fueled by rage and grief.

"Let...me...go! Let me..." She wriggled, swerved, thrust herself forward and back: Ami held tight. The prisoners saw their chance and made a run for it, but Minako was clever: even bound, she could air-bend, and blew a gust from her mouth that sent them sprawling. Finally she wrested herself free, but hardly took two steps before Ami grabbed her by both shoulders.

"Mina, please! Just come back with us! Usagi's—"

"There's no going back now!" she screamed. "If you knew what they did...if you knew what all of them did..."

"I told you, I do know. Mina..."

"You don't know a thing!" she shrieked, her voice cracking sharply. She whirled around again, eyes inflamed, shivering with anger and despair. "I know Usagi's recovering! Don't you think I've read all those letters you sent?! But I can't go back to that, ever! She gave everything she had in that fight—we all did—we all...gave... And dad..." The tears flowed freely; Minako's voice trembled, her knees giving way. "And...I thought we'd all have a happy ending, l-l-like in the s-s-stories; we'd all get better and ride off into the sunset and live out our days happily, and... Do you know what they did? These walking tumors, these pathetic excuses for humans... And not just them! So many, there were so many... They didn't care about what we did, they didn't care that we had saved them, or that so many people died for them. As soon as we won, they went right back to killing and stealing and destroying everything they could, because they were just evil, and they didn't care... And Motoki, he...he still hasn't gone on his honeymoon, he's working himself to death every single day, and...Usagi can barely walk, and my father's dead, and people are comparing Mamoru to Beryl... To Beryl, Ami! They're saying that our friend is the same as a tyrant! All of our work, all of our struggles, all the lives lost and the sacrifice...and for what, so this filth can go back to their evil ways, like none of that ever happened?!

"Do you hear that!" she shrieked, directing her volcanic indignation at the groaning prisoners laying prone on the sand. "The Avatar almost died trying to set everything right again, and how do you thank her? You killed people, ruined their houses and their lives, stole their crops, violated the women, sold children into slavery... She fought harder than any human being has ever fought before, just so you could throw it all away and go back to..." She spat and hurled them away with another blast of air. Ami called out to her again:

"Mina, please, stop! Just forget about them and come home with me! Please! Usagi's waiting!"

"I can't go back," she growled, flames of vengeful fury billowing in her stare. "We've been going about this all wrong. We've been too soft on these people. All that holding back, all that coddling, all those...trials, imprisonments, exiles, community service... All so they could turn around and ruin everything good in the world! We reach our hands out to help them and they bite them off! Well, no more. I'm going to choke the life out of every last one. It's the only way we can really make this a better world. Kill the evil. Snuff it out like a disease. That's what they are, a disease."

Ami was so horrified by what she was hearing that she was paralyzed for a moment. Minako approached the prisoners, who were scrambling away desperately, kicking up tufts of sand and rock. There was murder in her eyes; Ami had to act fast. She darted in front of the other woman and stood firm, spreading her arms out.

"You'll have to go through me first," she stated. Minako halted, hesitating, storms whirling in her hands. They both glared at each other. Muscles tensed. Minako weighed her options. Kill, kill, kill. Ami, Ami. Desecration of those she loved. One she loved standing right in front of her. Murderers. Paramour. Desire. Duty. Life. Death.

"Why are you protecting them?" Minako snarled. Ami held firm.

"I'm not. I'm protecting you." Minako's heart caught in her chest, and she saw her reflection in Ami's eyes. It was not something she recognized, but a monster, bloodthirsty and vengeful. From an outsider's perspective, it looked as though she was truly ready to attack Ami—attack the woman she loved. Those people, those things squirming behind her, they deserved to be punished, maybe even to die. But how would Minako be any different if she fought Ami in the process? Moreover, how would she even be different from Iblis, the creature they had sacrificed so much to defeat? Wasn't this the exact treatment he had wished to enact upon the world? If Minako repeated his mistakes, then her father would have died for nothing.

And then there was Ami. She remembered the first time they met, in that frantic battle in the north against Zoicite. How funny, cute, and charming Ami had been, even back then. How insecure and fragile she seemed. How quickly they became friends. How much she had pined for Makoto. The secrets they shared. How easily Minako dropped her guard around Ami, how she could really be "herself", comfortably vulnerable, without pretense of posture. How they flirted during the fight with the Everlasting Army. When they held hands at that fountain. When she realized she was in love with Ami.

Their first kiss.

The night they spent together.

All the times they had saved each other in battle, and walked together in peace. The jokes. The discussions. The comfortable silence. The smell of her hair. The warmth of her body. The cool grip of her hand. Her voice. Her eyes. When it was just Ami Mizuno and nothing else in the entire world.

And now this. She couldn't. Minako's legs gave out and she collapsed. Ami enveloped her gently.

"When did you get so tough?" Minako whispered. She trembled, shedding tears, too weak and ashamed to move. Ami just smiled and held her. Honestly, she didn't know the answer herself.

Maybe Rei was right: maybe love really did make them stronger. And if love could make someone like Ami tough enough to stand up to the woman she loved...

Hakim's sand-benders caught up with them around that time, along with Yuichiro. Ami glanced over at them.

"That's our ride," she said to Minako. "Come on, let's go home." She slipped away and headed back. Minako held tight to her arm.

"I can't," she croaked. Tears stained her, burrowing moist scars down her face. "I told you, I can't go back...ever." Ami gave her a forgiving smile, drawing closer to comfort her.

"Mina, don't be—"

"Do you know how many people I've killed?" Her voice strained, weakening. Hate had become loathing and shame. "Do you know how many of them I tortured?" Ami drew closer.

"No I don't," she replied, caressing Minako's face. The patient stare she gave was worse than any venom. "But I won't judge you, and neither will Usagi. She begged me to bring you back, so that's what I'm going to do. Please. That's all I care about."

"But I'm not..."

"You!" Yuichiro's roar interrupted them; he leaped off his bison and stormed after Minako. "You have no right to call yourself an air-bender, woman! I should petition to have you exiled from the order!"

"Yuichiro, stop!" Ami glared at him. "This isn't helping!"

"Am I wrong?" He snarled; Minako trembled; Ami arbitrated.

"Let's just take her back," she sighed. "That's all I want. Nothing else matters."

"Not on my bison!" he snorted. "I don't want that disgrace getting her dirty!" He hopped on just as Anshar hopped off. Keya joined them, stoic and silent. He snorted again and flew away. Hakim, at least, kept his composure.

"That could have gone better. You are well, I take it?" Minako trembled. She knew full well she wasn't.

"I'll take care of her," Ami said quietly. "I'm sorry, but could you arrange for a boat back to the Fire Nation? Our ride..."

"It's fine," Minako grumbled, putting a little distance between them. "Artemis is still here somewhere." She put her fingers in her mouth and blew; in a few moments, the familiar gray-and-white visage of Artemis could be seen hovering in the sky. As he landed, Minako spat out the dust that had caked on her fingers, causing Ami to chuckle a little. It was something the old Minako, the cheerful Minako, would have done.

And despite everything Minako had done, and everything she was feeling, Artemis let her climb on. Ami gave him a nuzzle before she joined the other woman, followed by Anshar and Keya, and after thanking Hakim, they flew off. Minako was deathly silent; Ami gently held onto her the whole trip, too happy and relieved to say or do anything else.

…...

A day and a half later, Artemis touched down on the island where Usagi was recovering, a few feet away from the little house. Ami slid off first; Minako hesitated. She was eventually coaxed down and slowly made her way to the house, dreading every step. Usagi was outside, and both Makoto and Rei were with her, one helping her walk while the other held a parasol above her. It seemed she was still having difficulty with the light—but that didn't matter now. As soon as Minako came into view, Usagi threw everything else aside and ran until she was hugging her. Tears came to her eyes and Minako hugged her back. Soon Makoto and Rei were enveloping her as well, with Ami joining in last.

Team Avatar was whole again.

The End of "Vigilante"

Next time: "Healing Hands"