Wandering Firebender
Twenty Eight: Welcome Home, Daughter
Finally after a week of being on the water, Cindra could see the gates of the Northern Water Tribe ahead of her. Now that the air was cold, she had her parka on again. Fishermen on their own boats waved to her as she passed by them.
She expected that she would be stopped by the guards at the perimeter as she came in, but they simply waved as she passed; they could see that she was using waterbending to propel the boat through the water faster, so they saw no reason to be alarmed.
As she reached the gate, she looked up at the symbol of her tribe with a happy smile. She was finally home again. As the waterbenders at the gate opened the way up for her, she let her tired arms fall to her sides. She allowed her boat to calmly drift through the gate.
As she came into the dock, she looked all around her at the familiar surroundings of her home. It was almost impossible to tell that the Fire Nation had ever attacked; everything looked almost brand new to her. It had been so long since she'd been here that she found herself having to readjust to all of the ice and snow.
"Mind your step on the dock, young lady." One of the older men by the pier said as he helped tie her boat to the dock. Cindra smiled and removed her hood.
"Thank you, Mr. Kozu." She said. Mr. Kozu looked up in recognition, and his eyes widened when he saw her face.
"Cindra? Cindra, it's you!" He exclaimed, standing up straight.
"It is me," Cindra giggled, pulling her pack out of the boat. "It's really nice to see you again."
"It's really good to see you! Some of us had heard about you leaving the North Pole. Are you crazy?! You could've died out there!"
"You're not wrong. But it turned out to be the best decision I could have made, Mr. Kozu. So much has happened, and I've grown so much." She grinned proudly. Mr. Kozu wanted to reprimand her more, but seeing her so happy broke down his resolve to do so.
"Heh," He sighed. "I'm just glad to see you safe and sound back home again. You should go see your family. They've been worried sick about you." He recommended.
"Oh yeah, I'm on my way there right now." Cindra nodded, giving him a quick pat on the arm as she hurried past him to make her way home.
Even though she was excited and happy to be home again, she was also incredibly nervous. The idea of seeing her family again, especially her father, put a deep pit in her stomach. After all, she had left home on terrible terms that night.
Rushing as quick as her feet could carry her, she soon found herself standing at her front door once again. She ran her hand on the wooden door and swallowed nervously. She took a moment to breathe in and mentally prepare herself for whatever might happen.
Then she knocked on the door and waited...
"One second!" She heard her mother's voice deep within the house, probably in the kitchen. Cindra said nothing, but smiled a little at the sound of her familiar voice.
Her mother finally came to the door and opened it up. Cindra swallowed and stood straight. Her mother's eyes widened in shock upon seeing her daughter again standing right in front of her. Despite her anxiety, Cindra smiled at her.
"Hi, mom. I'm home." She said softly.
"Cindra...Cindra?" She was in shock. Cindra stepped in and hugged her mom tightly.
"It's me, mom." She said. Her mother hugged her back tightly, quickly beginning to tear up.
"Don't you ever leave us like that again, young lady, do you hear me?" Her mother sobbed a little, "We've been worried sick about you."
"I know," She said, chuckling a little bit before speaking seriously. "I'm really sorry that I left the way that I did. It won't happen again." She promised.
"Good... Are you hurt? You're still in one piece?" Her mother asked, rubbing her arms as she looked her over.
"I'm fine, mom. Really," Cindra smiled. "I'm really happy to be home... Is dad here?"
"No. He went hunting today. He won't be back until the late afternoon."
"Oh, I see..." Cindra nodded quietly. She was hoping that she'd be able to get the initial conversation with her dad out of the way. Having to wait for it was only going to make her more anxious.
"Honey, you should go and see your brother," Her mother recommended. "I know that he's been really wondering about you."
"Yeah! Where is Ansel?" She asked.
"He's over at the training grounds with Master Pakku as usual." Her mother answered. Immediately, Cindra's expression sank.
"I'm banned from the training grounds, mom, remember? I can't go there."
"Go there," Her mother insisted with a faint smile. "I think you'll see that some things have changed since you've been gone."
"O-Okay. I'll go that way then." She said with a nod.
"Go on, hun. I'll take your stuff inside for you." Her mother offered, holding her hand out. Cindra nodded and handed her pack over to her mother.
"Thank you, mom. See you soon! Love you!" She said, hugging her again before walking towards the training grounds.
"Love you too, sweetie. See you soon." Her mother smiled happily before going back inside.
Cindra started quickly making her way towards the training grounds. She was curious to see what her mom wanted her to see, and a little nervous, but mostly excited. She hadn't realized until now just how much she had missed and needed to catch up on.
"Cindra? Hey, Cindra!" She heard a voice call to her, causing her to slow down and look back towards the voice. She found that it was none other than her best friend Tara calling to her. Seeing that it was Cindra, Tara quickened her pace to catch up with her.
"Tara? Hey!" She greeted her happily with a hug, "I wasn't expecting to run into you so soon."
"I wasn't expecting to run into you at all! When did you get here?!"
"I just got back!" She said with a laugh.
"No way! I'm so glad you're back in one piece! I-I- Ansel told me that you left and I was really scared for you! What happened? You didn't get hurt, did you?!"
"No, I'm okay, Tara! I just came back because I'd heard what happened here while I was gone... The Fire Nation really attacked?!" She asked.
"Yes! Oh gosh, it was so scary! You're lucky you weren't here. There was a whole fleet of ships just outside the front wall, and soldiers were running through the roads fighting with the waterbenders. It was terrifying!" She described. Cindra shuddered when imagining what the fighting must have look liked.
"Jeez...but we pushed them out, obviously."
"With the help of the Avatar, they retreated. You should have seen it, Cindra. It was amazing! He merged with the ocean spirit and became this giant water monster that sent their army on the run! It was the biggest feat of waterbending I've ever seen!" Tara continued recounting the events, raising her hands up high in the air to illustrate how huge the monster was.
"You're kidding!"
"No, I'm not kidding!"
"Man, that must've been incredible... What about the moon? I saw that it disappeared from the sky and reappeared. Was that what I think it was?" She asked. Tara's expression became somber and serious.
"Yeah... The guy that was leading the Fire Nation siege made it all the way to the sacred alcove. He...killed the moon spirit."
"Tui is dead?!" Cindra exclaimed in shock. Her eyes widened in shock. As she processed this information, she found herself dropping down to one knee, "I can't believe it. B-But then how is the moon still in the sky now?!"
"Princess Yue," Tara answered, crouching down and putting a hand on Cindra's shoulder. "She...gave her life up to restore the moon. Some even believe that she is the moon spirit now." She explained.
"The princess...?" Cindra repeated slowly.
She didn't know much about the princess while she was alive. She'd only heard idle stories of how beautiful and kind she was. She was pretty disconnected from the princess, but now that Cindra was learning of her death and noble sacrifice, she wished that she had known Yue better.
"Are you okay, Cindra?" Tara asked in concern, seeing that this news was hitting Cindra hard.
"Yeah... I should have been here, Tara. I should have done something." She said, shaking her head.
"There's nothing that you could have done, Cindra. All of our best waterbenders were here fighting, and we barely survived the siege. If it hadn't been for the Avatar, there would have been no home for you to come back to." She said. Cindra sighed and nodded.
"Yeah... That's the real reason why I left. I was so tired of being useless. The Fire Nation siege is exactly what I was talking about with my Dad." She said as she stood up again.
"Yeah... Where are you headed now?"
"To the training grounds. I wanna see my brother." Cindra answered.
"Oh! Yeah, you're gonna be really happy when you see what's going on there." Tara said with a little smile.
"Really? Mom said the same thing, but she didn't tell me what."
"Go and see for yourself." Tara encouraged her.
"You're not gonna tell me either, huh?" Cindra asked with a small chuckle.
"Nope. You'll see," Tara giggled. "And I'll see you later. I'm glad that you're back." She smiled and hugged her one more time before going her own way.
"Thank you, Tara." Cindra replied, waving goodbye to her before continuing her journey to the training grounds on the other side of town.
Finally, Cindra made her way to the bridge that led to the training grounds. Standing alone across the way from the grounds, she had to take a moment to compose herself yet again. She looked across and could see the students practicing their waterbending in pairs.
"Here we go..." She said to herself before walking across the bridge and walking into the grounds.
As she approached the grounds, she noticed something that gave her pause. She looked over the waterbending students and realized that some of them were girls; in fact some of them were her own classmates in the healing classes!
"No way..." She said breathlessly. As she watched boys and girls learning and practicing real combative waterbending together, a tear came to her eye, "It's exactly what I wanted." She said to herself. Bolstered by what she was seeing, she continued on and looked for her brother.
She worked her way from right to left, scanning over the faces of the male students. She finally found Ansel waterbending a sphere of water back and forth with a buddy. She smiled and took a few steps closer, calling to him.
"Hey! Ansel!" She called his name. Ansel passed the water to his friend and looked over to see who was calling him. His eyes widened as he recognized her immediately.
"Cindra?" He said before getting hit in the side of the head with water. He fell to the ground and landed on his side.
"Ansel!" Cindra shouted, rushing to his side quickly.
"Sorry, dude. That's my bad," His partner said. "I'll let you have your moment." He said with a faint chuckle before stepping away. Cindra helped Ansel stand up.
"Are you alright?" She asked him. He nodded and cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I'm fine," He said, composing himself quickly. He looked at her. "It's really you, huh? You're back."
"Yeah, I'm back," She smiled at him. "It makes me really happy to see you, little bro." She hugged him tightly. Ansel hugged back.
"It's good to see you too. I'm glad you're okay. I was worried something would happen to you while you were gone." Ansel said, rubbing Cindra's back.
"I'm really sorry that I worried you all. But I'm okay. I didn't get hurt badly while I was gone," She reaassured him before letting him go. "There's so much I have to tell you about."
"Yeah, me too. You missed out on a lot." Ansel said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, Tara was telling me. Were you or dad hurt in the siege at all?" Cindra asked, putting her hand on Ansel's shoulder. Ansel shifted uncomfortably at her touch and exhaled sharply through his nose like he was in pain.
"Yeah," He grunted, fixing his parka once he had shaken Cindra's hand off. "I took a...fireball to the shoulder during the attack. Mom healed me up pretty good, but the scarring is a little sensitive still."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed apologetically. "I-I didn't know! Ansel, I'm so sorry! I wish that I had been here to help you."
"It's okay, it's okay," He reassured her. "Honestly, I'm glad that you left. I-I mean not because I wanted you gone, but because I at least knew you were safe from what was happening here." He said honestly.
"Yeah... What about dad? Did he...get hurt at all?" Cindra asked slowly, fiddling with her sleeve. To her relief, Ansel shook his head.
"No no, he actually came out just fine. But he did lose someone in the fighting. Yuga was killed by one of the soldiers." Ansel informed her.
"Oh no..." Cindra swallowed. Yuga was a very close friend of her father's; they had known each other since they were young boys.
"That's terrible."
"Yeah... He didn't say much about you after you left, but I know he was worried about you too. I know that he'll be relieved to see you're back." Ansel said. Cindra's eyes lowered.
"I don't know... Our fight was really ugly when I left that night. I don't think that he'll really be all that happy to see me." She confessed her feelings.
"He will. You'll see." He reassured her.
Before Cindra could say anything else though, their conversation was interrupted by Master Pakku making his way over to the two of them. Cindra stood straight, bracing herself for whatever he might say. Pakku looked her over and smiled sideways slightly in amusement.
"Well well well, if it isn't Cindra. You know, when the rules were changed, I thought that you would be the first person to show up for class the next day. You can imagine my surprise when I heard you'd gone down an entirely different path." He said.
"Yeah, well you didn't leave me much of a choice," Cindra shot back. "You here to kick me out again?" She challenged.
"No, not this time," He kept his hands within his sleeves, his posture relaxed and unaffected. "But I assume now that you're back, you'll be wanting to join in the lessons?" He asked.
"If you're willing to take me as a student, then yes." She answered, standing her ground.
"Hm," Pakku scoffed. "Class begins in the morning Monday through Friday. I expect you to show up ready to waterbend. Don't think that just because the rules have changed, I won't hold you to the same standard as all my other students.
"I expect nothing less than your best every day."
"Oh, I'll show you my best. I'll give it a 100 percent! I can promise you that!" Cindra said with a smirk.
Pakku chuckled and shook his head before walking away from them without another word. With that, he dismissed the students for the day. Ansel looked at Cindra.
"I guess we're going to be training together now?" He asked her.
"I guess so!" She smiled at him, "I can't wait! I've gotten so much better since I was last here! I can't wait to show you what I've learned." She said excitedly.
"Yeah. We should head back home. Mom will be done with dinner soon, and then Dad will be home." He said.
"Right... Let's get going then." Cindra said with a nervous chuckle...
Ansel and Cindra went straight back home after being dismissed. They entered into the house and left their shoes at the door. As they came in, their mother walked over to greet them both with a hug and a kiss on the head.
"Oh it's so nice to see both of my children back home. Come and help me set the table now, kids. Your father will be home shortly." She instructed them.
"Yes, mom." They both said at the same time.
So they both immediately went about getting the dinner table ready for when Kawan: their father, got home from hunting. Once everything was prepared, Cindra took some time to go into her old room and begin unpacking some of her things.
Stepping back into her old room for the first time in a few months after everything she had gone through was very strange. It was like stepping into a memory. Everything was made up neatly, neater than how she left it. She felt like a completely different person now as she stepped into her room.
Silently, she walked to her nightstand where she kept some sentimental items: a doll from when she was a little girl, a ring that her mother had given her, and a stone that her brother had given her a couple years ago. She smiled and ran her hand over the doll's hair.
She removed her parka and laid it neatly on her bed. Then, after adjusting her hair, she removed her necklace; the one that Elio had given her before they kissed each other goodbye. The thought of that made her blush. She neatly placed the necklace on her nightstand with the other mementos.
"Dad's home!" Her mother called out. Cindra lifted her head and immediately her chest tightened up. As she made her way to her door, she took a few breaths in and out, trying to mentally prepare herself for the moment she would face her father again.
"Here we go..." She said to herself before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.
"It's good to be home," She heard her father chuckle as he hugged and kissed her mother. "How was your day, honey?"
"Just fine, love. There's a surprise waiting for you, dear."
"Oh really? And what's that?" He asked her with a chuckle.
Cindra timidly laced her fingers as she stepped out from the hallway. Noticing someone moving in the corner of his eye, her father turned his head and saw Cindra standing there. His eyes widened in shock. He took a few steps towards her.
"...Cindra?"
"Hi, dad... I'm home." She said nervously, unsure of what her father would say or do.
She watched as her father swallowed; he seemed to be as unsure as she was. He walked over to her and looked her over. He then wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Cindra quickly began to tear up as she tightly hugged her father back.
"You're home safe and sound, hun." He sighed in relief.
"Yeah," Cindra said with a shaky voice, sniffling as she fought back a few tears. "I'm sorry that I ran away, dad. I should have been here."
"I was worried about you every day that you were gone...but I'm glad that you weren't here to experience the horrors the Fire Nation brought to us. I'm just glad that you're home and you're okay." He sighed.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She smiled at him. He smiled a little back.
"I should apologize too, Cindra, for treating you the way that I did. I was wrong... You know that I only want what's best for you." He said.
"I know. I love you, dad." She said, quickly hugging him again.
"I love you too."
After such a tearful and emotional reunion/reconciliation, Cindra and her father gathered with the others at the dinner table. They all sat down to eat. It was clearly a weird but welcome experience for everyone seated: having the full family together again.
"It feels like forever since we've had every seat filled for dinner." Ansel commented.
"Well thanks for saving my seat," Cindra said lightly. "I'm glad to be back home. I'm glad to be here with you all again. And I'm glad that I get to enjoy your cooking again, mom. I've missed the food." She said with a heavy chuckle.
"I'm sure there isn't much seafood in other parts of the world. Definitely not like home," Her mother presumed. "Where did you end up going?" She asked curiously.
"I spent a lot of time in the...the Earth Kingdom. But actually, before I tell you what happened with me, I'd like to hear about what I missed while I was gone." She said.
"Oh. Uh, well, other than the siege, which I'm sure you've heard all about by now, you haven't missed much." Her father answered.
"Yeah, Tara and Ansel filled me in on what happened... I'm sorry about Yuga, dad. I know he meant a lot to you." Cindra offered her condolences. He nodded quietly with a slight sadness in his eyes.
"Everyone's time comes sooner or later. Yuga was my brother in battle. He may be gone, but his spirit will always live on through the people he touched: his family and friends." He said. There was a moment of silence at the table before the conversation continued.
"It hasn't been all bad though," Her mother respectfully changed the subject. "Ansel has really improved in his waterbending, and he's progressed to the next stage of his training." She informed her.
"Oh really? That's great, Ansel! I'm happy for you." She said to him.
"Thank you. After the invasion, I really wanted to...you know, do better. It took some figuring out, but I finally worked past my block." Ansel summarized simply.
"That's really good. I know that the pressure was weighing on you."
"What about you, Cindra? You must've had some adventures, hm? Out in the Earth Kingdom?" Ansel asked.
"Oh! Yeah, quite a bit happened to me while I was traveling." Cindra nodded.
"Tell us all about it." Her father invited her to speak.
So Cindra spoke at length about what she had experienced during her travels. She told them about the Earth Kingdom, about the Fire Nation posts that she had seen, and about the different feats of earthbending and sandbending that she had witnessed.
Then she told them about Elio: how he had saved her life, and how they were traveling to Ba Sing Se together before the moon disappeared. It was very difficult for her family initially to believe that she had befriended a firebender, but the more she spoke about him, the more it made sense to them.
"It sounds like your time in the Earth Kingdom really shaped you in a lot of ways." Her father commented once she had finished recounting to them all that she had been through.
"It did. It really did." Cindra nodded and smiled...
Once the family had all finished dinner, they put their plates away. Cindra, feeling the effects of her long travels, said goodnight to everyone and went back to her room. She set her travel pack and parka down on the floor next to her bed; she would finish unpacking in the morning.
"Hey, hun," Her father called to her softly through her door, knocking on it. "Can I come in for a few minutes?"
"Yeah, come in! The door's unlocked." She said to him. Her father opened up the door and smiled at her a little as he entered into the room.
"You going to bed for the night?" He asked.
"Yeah, in just a little bit. I'll worry about unpacking and everything tomorrow. I just really wanna sleep." She said with a tired laugh. Her father chuckled too.
"May I sit?" He asked, gesturing to her bed.
"Of course." She nodded, sitting up and scooting to sit next to him on the side of the bed. He sat down and patted his hand on her knee.
"I'll definitely be able to sleep well tonight knowing that both of my children are safe in their beds." He commented with a faint smile.
"Good. I think we'll all sleep well tonight. I know I will. I'm exhausted." She giggled.
"I'm sure. But before you go to bed, I wanted to tell you about something that I saw while you were gone."
"Oh okay." She nodded.
"It was when the Avatar came here. There was a girl with him. Her name was Katara." He began.
"Oh, Katara! I've heard of her before. Elio told me about her." She said.
"Yeah. She came here to learn waterbending from a master. But Master Pakku refused her. So you know what she did? She challenged him to a fight in front of the council; in front of the royal family. I hear she put up a pretty good fight too," He chuckled.
"Remind you of anyone?" He asked, looking at her with a sideways smile.
"Sounds like me." Cindra giggled, blushing a little in embarrassment.
"Uhuh... The safety of my family means more to me than anything, Cindra, you know that. But after the Fire Nation came and went, I saw that you were right after all. Had you been here, there's very little I could have done to protect you if you'd gotten into any trouble.
"You need to learn how to protect yourself, Cindra. That's what you wanted, right? I hope that you take your training seriously. I'll support you 100 percent in that." He told her.
"Thank you, dad. That makes me really happy to hear," She said, leaning against him. "I'm not mad at all, even though we fought... I missed you a lot while I was traveling."
"Well I'm just glad you made it back in one piece. Get your rest, sweetie. You're gonna need it." Her father said, hugging her from the side.
"I will... There is one other thing actually. I forgot to mention it, but it's important." Cindra brought up.
"What is it?"
"I saw a vision while I was in the Earth Kingdom... A vision of the moon spirit. Of Tui. The day before he...died, he spoke to me." She revealed.
"How sure are you of this?" Her father asked seriously, looking at her.
"I'm totally sure it was real, dad. He showed some waterbending moves. But more important than that, he told me that...that our tribe is going to be in danger again one day. I don't know if that means another attack from the Fire Nation or something else, but that's what he said." She explained.
"I see..." Her father took some time to think about this deeply. "Tomorrow, I will take you to speak to the council. They will need to hear everything that the moon spirit told you." He decided.
"Okay."
"But for now, just try and get some sleep," He said, stroking her hair before standing up. "Goodnight, Cindra. Sleep well. Love you."
"Love you too, dad." She responded before her father closed the door. She got up to lock it behind him.
Cindra finally felt like she was able to breathe fully again. Now that she had gotten everything off of her chest, everything had been settled and she was back home, she felt relieved and that she could relax. She laid down on her bed again and stretched out, getting comfortable and falling asleep quickly...
Elio ran out onto the deck of a Fire Nation ship, frantically trying to escape. White fog surrounded the ships, obscuring his surroundings. He looked around as half a dozen Fire Nation soldiers surrounded him, their hands raised and ready to attack. They all shot fire at him at the same time.
Elio pulled out his staff and spun it around, moving in circles to keep the fire off of him. He rapidly swung the staff in different directions, shooting arcs of fire at his attackers in a desperate attempt to open up a chance for escape.
However, the soldiers were not deterred by his attacks. They continued to advance on him, creating more forceful heat and pressure. Elio was unable to defend himself from it all. He lost grip of his staff and fell to the ground.
He grunted out, still shooting fireballs at the soldiers as they came closer. They swiped his attacks away and swarmed over him, all of them kicking and stomping on him. Once they had him beaten and pinned down, the soldier standing at his head raised up his hand.
With one swift movement, he sent a fiery blast down onto him...
"Elio!" Cindra screamed, sitting up in her bed. She panted heavily in a cold sweat. Her room was much darker now; she couldn't see much around her. She hugged her arms, slowly catching her breath.
She was still worried about Elio; there was no denying that. She was no longer there with him to keep him out of trouble. She knew that he could take care of himself though, and she was trying to use that fact to reassure herself. Still though, if he was in trouble, she'd want to be there with him so she could protect him.
At least it was only a dream...