A/N Ok, here is the promised Ty Lee chapter. It's as close to the original as it's going to get, and I think I'm alright with it. :) I apologize again for not updating when I said that I would. Computer trouble is a real pain. I have lost some information on the story, but was able to recover some from memory and some old paper notes I've stumbled across (pure luck!). Anyway, thank you all for your patience and for reading! I have this posted as Chapter 29, but I may remove the previous chapter, or edit it. Enjoy! :)
"You said you wanted to talk to me?" Ty Lee asks, doing cartwheels next to Katara. The wind blows through her light pink clothing and she feels as light as air.
"Yes. Are you sure the Warriors don't need you for a while? I wouldn't want to get in the way of your training." Katara's feet stop by a tree and she sits down.
Ty Lee decides the ground is too boring. She's spent far too much time on it. She springs up and catches a branch, swinging up into the tree and dangles upside down over Katara's head.
"Nope! Actually, they've been trying to get me to take a break for a while. They say I overwork myself. Maybe I do, a bit... But I have so much to learn! And their chi blocking is good, but could be better. And there are some little girls in the village who want to join us when they get older, so I give them lessons every now and then."
"Sounds like you really could use a break then." Katara smiles up at her.
She grins back.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, Oyaji seems to think that you're descended from Air Nomads who'd escaped the genocide at the Temples." Katara starts.
"Oh." Ty Lee feels like she just got the wind knocked out of her. "Yeah, that's kinda true."
"You knew? And you worked against Aang?" Her voice is calm, but the anger is there, under the surface.
"Well," She chews her lip a little. "You don't really say "no" to Azula when you're a little kid and everyone makes you hang out with her."
"You're right. I'm sorry." Katara sighs. "How did you know?"
"It's a bit of a long story."
"We have time."
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"Watch this!" Ty Lin shouted from the top of their gardening shed. She leapt into the air, turned a few neat somersaults, and landed neatly on the ground in front of them.
"That's amazing!" Five year old Ty Lee exclaimed.
Then, of course, they all had to try it. So they spent a little while flipping from the garden shed.
"Girls! Come inside to do things like that! Someone might see you!" Mama called from the back door.
The girls tumbled all over each other in their rush to Mama's side.
"Why can't we let anyone see us, Mama?" One of the girls asked.
"Because, Ty Lin, people don't like to see little girls hurling themselves off of buildings. And we wouldn't want to attract any attention to ourselves that isn't necessary." Mama explained. She got bowls of soup off the table for them, handing one to each little girl.
Ty Lee looked over at the one Mama had called Ty Lin. She was actually Ty Woo. Ty Lee could tell the subtle difference by the difference in weight. Ty Woo had two extra pounds and a mole on her left arm. Ty Lin was the two pounds less and had a mole on her right arm.
Nobody bothered to correct Mama anymore. She and Daddy always got them confused.
"Have you done your meditation for the evening?" Mama asked.
"No Mama." They chorused.
"Run along then, when you've finished your food. And remember to tell me or Daddy if you feel anything different or strange."
It was always the same old warning.
Ty Lee wondered what sort of "strange" they were looking for.
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Ty Lee opened up her meditation chamber. It was a small space, cramped. And dark. There was only one very small window, right above the floor. She could open it for air if she wanted.
The sisters all had identical chambers built into their home.
They had to be very small, or they might be discovered in a search by Fire Army guards.
Mama always told them she would explain the searches when they were older.
Ty Lee took a deep breathe and closed her eyes. She reached out and opened her window and air rushed in to fill the cramped space. To take away all the heat, all the darkness, all the heavy feelings from the day.
The sisters all complained about having to sit still for twenty minutes every morning and every evening. They lived to move, to laugh and dance, and to see the world. These spaces were the opposite of all they lived for.
And yet, Ty Lee secretly enjoyed these parts of the day. No being mistaken for someone else, no being forgotten on the way home from the market, no getting punished for another sister's behaviour, no loud screaming, hair pulling, or any of the general insanity that comes from living in a small home with nine people.
Just peace. Just calm. Just room to breathe.
She inhaled deeply again.
The cramped feeling of the space faded away and she could see herself standing in a field. The sun was overhead, the darkness of her space forgotten.
Birds soared freely, and she felt she could fly with them, if she wanted.
So, she did. Up into the air she soared, over fields and rivers and mountains.
She had no idea where she was now, but she could hardly care less.
The wind seemed to dance and to sing, and she ached to sing with it, if she only knew the words!
The birds drifted down, and she followed them, landing lightly in an old stone building.
She walked, or maybe floated, through an old open doorway.
There were boxes of scrolls laid out in the enormous room before her.
She reached to open one, to read one of the ancient scrolls.
Her hand passed right through.
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The sound of Mama's voice pulled her back into the real world.
"Ty Lat! Are you alright?" Mama asked.
"I'm Ty Lee, Mama." She said, dazed.
"I'm sorry, dear. Are you alright?" Mama sat down beside her.
"I'm fine, why?" She looked up and saw the concern on Mama's face, and noticed that her sisters were standing all around outside her space.
"You've been in here for at least an hour. Everyone else came back out ages ago." Ty Lin told her.
"I saw something strange, Mama." Ty Lee said, pulling her braided hair.
Mama sent the other sisters away, keeping a hand on Ty Lee to make sure she didn't mix in with them, lest she get sent away with them, leaving the wrong girl.
"What did you see, Ty Lee?" Mama asked, getting her a glass of water from the kitchen.
"A big stone building in the mountains. With boxes, big stone chests filled with scrolls. I tried to open one, but my hand passed through. What happened, Mama?" Ty Lee's hands shook, spilling some water on the floor.
"Ty Lee, this isn't exactly one of the "strange things" that Daddy and I were looking for. But it is a strange thing, nonetheless." Mama acknowledged.
"What's wrong with me, Mama?" Ty Lee whimpered.
"Nothing, dear. Everyone sees things from time to time when they meditate, especially when they're young. All of you girls have had active imaginations in the past." Mama brushed hair out of Ty Lee's face.
"But this time was different, Mama!" Ty Lee insisted. " I felt like I was there! I really did!"
"And maybe you were, in a way. This was perhaps not your imagination. You know of the Spirit World. Daddy and I tell you the stories all the time."
Ty Lee nodded, burrowing into Mama's arms.
"You may have meditated your way there. It's something that masters of the elements are capable of. But it's not unheard of for others. You must be very careful now, Ty Lee. If you stay in the Spirit World for too long, you may become a part of it. But, don't fear it completely. It is a gift to be able to see it. It may be useful to you later. Just don't ever tell anyone that you can see it. Not even your sisters."
"Because of the soldiers?" She whimpered.
"Yes. The soldiers can't know that you can do this. It's dangerous."
"Can I stop?" She asked.
"No. You must continue to meditate. I'll tell you why, when you're older."
"You always say you'll tell us when we're older!" She shouted, standing up. The sudden rage surprised her, but it filled her very being and she couldn't stop it. "You always say that! Well, when is older?! I'm older now than the last time you said it! And the time before! I'm older, so tell me!" She stomped her foot.
Mama pulled her close and hugged her.
"Older is when you are in school. I'll tell you then."
"Can I start school tomorrow then, Mama?"
"Not tomorrow. You'll be there soon enough. Don't rush it." Mama smiled.
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Three years later
"Hey, Airhead! Catch!" A boy's voice called. Something hard hit her on the back of the head.
"Ow!" She spun around.
"What was that for?" She refused to show her pain by rubbing the sore spot. She picked up the ball and held on to it.
"I want my ball back now." He held out his hand, ignoring her question.
"No. Not until you apologize." She replied, tapping her foot.
"I don't owe you one, Airhead. Give me that ball, or I'll tell my dad on you! And you don't want that. Trust me." He smirked.
"Not until you apologize." She said again, firmly.
"Oh yeah, that how it's going to be, huh?" He threw a little fireball past her head, a warning shot.
"Yes." She planted her feet and waited.
"Ty Lat! What are you doing?" Ty Woo called. She ran to get between them.
"I'm teaching this idiot a lesson! And I'm Ty Lee."
"Sorry." Her blank face said she felt anything but.
"And who are you?" The boy looked over at her.
"I'm Ty Woo. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll mistake me for her at some point. So you might as well pick on both of us."
"Oh, I plan to."
"What is going on over here?" The principle asked, evidently having been told something was happening.
The boy pointed at the girls and that was it. No words exchanged. The ball was removed from Ty Lee's hands and they were escorted back to the principle's office, while the boy returned to his classroom.
Ty Woo and Ty Lee just sat silently throughout their detention. They knew it was pointless to ask what they had done wrong or to give their point of view. They were treated as if they weren't there unless they caused trouble, and they had learned that causing a problem at school caused a problem at home for Mama and Daddy.
When they were leaving school that day, the boy who'd thrown the ball at Ty Lee was lounging on a stone beside the gate. He smirked at them and pointed down the road.
The sisters all looked at each other and ran back to their side of town, a few streets away.
The large mansions on the school side of the city gave way to apartments over shops, then to tiny three room houses surrounded by walls with guards around them. Beyond them were fields and docks, but only Daddy was allowed to go that far.
The sisters dashed through the gate and down the road to their house.
Guards surrounded them when they reached the front door.
Daddy was being beaten in the street and Mama was held by a guard on the doorstep, although she made no movement towards her husband.
"Daddy!" Screamed from each girl's lips.
He lifted his head to look at them. His expression was a clear "stay where you are".
Ty Lin sobbed openly, but the other sisters maintained a stoic silence. Ty Woo bit her guard's hand and recieved a slap in return, so she stomped on his foot. He shoved her to the ground and held her down, but delivered no further blow.
Ty Lee could feel her body vibrating in fear, and yet she felt none. She felt absolutely numb to the whole thing.
The other families in the neighborhood looked on silently, knowing any movement they made would make Daddy's situation worse.
After what seemed to be forever, the guards tossed Daddy down, released everyone and went back to the wall.
Ty Lee and Ty Woo ran to Daddy to help him up and the others went to look after Mama.
When everybody was gathered inside the living room, things got quiet.
Mama's eyes streamed tears but she refused to sob aloud. Silent shudders racked her body as she sat ramrod straight.
Some of the sisters cried. Ty Lee wanted to but her eyes remained stubbornly dry.
"Is everyone alright?" Daddy asked, looking around.
Everyone nodded or said yes.
"I think you all are old enough to know about why we live this way, and what we're to do about it." He said. "I understand that you all are going through some awful things at school, and now we get searched and attacked more than ever at home. You may have noticed that your history assignments are bigger than your classmates."
The girls waited patiently for him to gather his words. Ty Lee looked over at Ty Lin and reached an arm around her sniffling sister.
"As you know, we don't live like the others do. Your classmates don't have walls and guards keeping them in their houses. If they are lucky, they have walls and guards around them to keep trouble out. You've realized by now that we don't look like Fire Nation. We're not."
Ty Woo rolled her eyes, as though it were obvious.
"What are we then, Daddy?" Ty Liu asked.
"We're Air Nomads. Or what's left of them."
The girls gasped.
"But, they were wiped out by the Fire Nation." Ty Lin said, wiping her eyes and finding her voice at last.
"Yes. But unlike in your history lessons, they had no great army. They were unarmed. They were a peaceful people. They fought only in defense. And they never forced their beliefs on anyone. They had utmost respect for other cultures, even if they didn't believe in those things themselves."
Mama moved to his side to begin tending his wounds.
"But the Fire Nation attacked the Air Temples. They were looking for someone in particular. The Avatar. Who, at the time, would have been a twelve year old boy, still learning to master his birth element. They obliterated all at the Temples. But while they looked throughout the surrounding areas and the Earth Kingdom for a time, they couldn't find all the Nomads. Once word got around about what had happened, everyone else went into hiding, wherever they happened to be."
"So, we're descended from the Nomads?" Ty Lat asked.
"Yes. And while they had to suppress their Airbending, all Air Nomads were originally Airbenders. They were spiritual. They had a deep connection with nature. You know how you're all considered miracle children in this compound, yes?"
They nodded. They had been septuplets. Mama had almost died giving birth to them all. The neighbors had all pitched in to ensure the sisters' survival through their first hours so that the doctor could focus on Mama. Even then, everyone's survival had been considered a gift of the spirits.
"We were hoping that perhaps, if the Avatar Cycle had been broken, maybe one of you would have been the Avatar. Or at least, an Airbender. We were hoping that Airbending was not extinct. Without an Airbender, there can't be any new Air Nomads, no Air Avatar, no Avatar Cycle, no balance left for the world. No peace." He stroked Ty Lee's hair.
"So that's why you had us meditate all the time. You were hoping that one of us would be an Airbender." Ty Lin said.
"Yes. We thought that if one or all of you were Airbenders, you could help the new Avatar when she appeared. Since you all look alike, nobody would know one of you was missing, if we could explain away the occasions where you're normally seen all together. But," He sighed, "it was not to be, I suppose."
"Sorry Daddy." Ty Lee felt compelled to say it.
"It's not your fault." He looked shocked that she would think such a thing. "It was a long shot anyway. We're grateful to have each and every one of you, even if we get you all mixed up everyday."
"But what do we do now? I don't want to just let anyone get away with doing mean stuff to us at school. The teachers won't help us. They don't even let us tell our side of the story! They don't let us do anything!" Ty Woo stood and stomped her foot.
"Sit down, Ty Woo." Daddy ordered. She did so promptly, her face still locked in a scowl.
"The Air Nomads taught tolerance. Patience. We must do what we can with what we are given. We must be forgiving when others do us wrong. When we must fight, we only do so in the interest of pursuing peace. It is only with experience and time that you will learn what is worth fighting for." Daddy hugged Ty Woo and Ty Lee saw her tough sister's face crumble, just for a moment. The shield went back up in an instant.
"But how do we do that?" Ty Lee wondered.
"What happened at school today? Obviously, we know there was an altercation." Mama asked. She was calm by now, and got up to get some hot water for everyone.
"Some guy threw a ball at my head. I wouldn't give it back until he apologized." Ty Lee bit her lip and looked over at Daddy and his bandages with guilty eyes.
"I wouldn't have either." He admitted. "But in this place and in this time, it isn't for us to decide. If this happens again, give the ball back. If he throws it again, throw it back. Make it a game. If you can. If not, it is all we can do to bear it for now and hope that things will change."
"But why should I give it back when I know he'll throw it again?" Ty Lee's guilt faded as her anger returned.
"Because," Daddy said gently, "We have no other choice. You won't be beaten as much because you're children. There is only so much that people will take before they'll begin to refuse orders. But when you get older, you will not be offered as much mercy. It is best to learn what's expected now, while you still can."
Ty Lee sipped her water, deep in thought. The other girls continued to chatter and ask questions, but her mind wandered from the room. It wandered out the door, through the city, and on to the world beyond.
She imagined what it would be like outside the walls of her home and school. Where the great Si Wong Desert was, or what Ba Sing Se's wall looked like. Or the Colonies. An image of the Air Temple she'd seen during her meditation years ago rose up in her mind.
She had been careful not to meditate as deeply as before. Now, she wondered if she could ever find her way back.
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"So you lived as prisoners of war, basically. Even though you were never fighting?" Katara asks.
"I guess so. I don't really know why they didn't just kill all of our people before my parents were born. I guess they wanted us for labor or something." Ty Lee shrugs, although it feels a little weird to do so while upside down.
"So, how did you wind up going to the Royal Fire Academy for girls? How did you meet Azula and Mai? Where did you learn to chi block?"
"I'll tell you some other time. It looks like Sokka and Aang are headed this way, and it looks like they're ready to go somewhere fast."
She drops out out of the tree as Katara stands up.
"Oyaji wanted to meet with us over lunch." Aang says. "He says he has some things to tell us."
A/N As always, reviews are appreciated. Do you want to see a Ty Lee pov throughout the story? This is another one of those experiment chapters. Let me know what you think! :)