A/N: Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today's chapter was a fun one to write.
Response from chapter 23:
Vapor23: Thank you for your review! I'm glad that you liked the double episodes, they were both too short on their own, so I put them together. Yes, Sokka's rejection was definitely heartbreaking, but we all knew it was coming. He's way too old for her, and it definitely was more of a, "crush on your older brother's best friend," type of thing. You don't have to wait too long to see Akira interact with Suki and Toph :) Looking back, Aang probably should've recognized that something was wrong, but you're right, he had his own things going on as well. Don't worry, he'll find out eventually! Thank you for your continued support. Enjoy!
We were flying over a swamp. Katara was looking at some of her waterbending scrolls, while Sokka was sharpening his machete. I was making a necklace from some flowers I had found a few hours prior. The sky was cloudy and grey, the perfect thing to match our bored mood. Suddenly, I felt as if we were going down, and looked over the saddle to see that the trees were getting closer and closer.
"Hey, Aang?" I asked, "Is there a reason that we're going down?"
I looked over to my brother. Although I couldn't see his eyes, it seemed like he was in some kind of trance, his vision glued to the trees below. He ignored me, keeping his focus on the trees. I internally groaned before speaking again.
"Aang, why are we going down?" I asked louder.
"What?" He asked blankly, "I didn't even notice,"
"Are you noticing now?" Sokka asked, chiming into our conversation.
It had been about a week since he had rejected me, and although I could hold a normal conversation with him, I still felt a longing ache in my chest when we spoke.
"Is something wrong?" Katara asked, entering the conversation as well.
"I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think the swamp is…calling to me," Aang stated.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"'Calling to you?'" I repeated, "What, Is it going, 'Aang…Aang…'"
I finished the sentence in a spooky voice, earning a snicker from Sokka. Aang gave me an annoyed look before continuing to speak.
"I-I think it wants us to land there," He said hesitantly.
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land on there to land on," Sokka stated.
"I don't know," Aang replied, "Bumi said to learn earthbending, I would have to wait and listen,"
"And now, I'm actually hearing the earth," He added, "Do you want me to ignore it?"
"Yes," Sokka responded flatly.
"I don't know," Katara said, "There's something ominous about that place,"
"Yeah," I agreed with a nod, "It's so…creepy,"
Momo then hid under the side of the saddle, ducking so he wouldn't be able to see the swamp, and Appa roared.
"See?" Sokka asked Aang, "Appa and Momo don't even like it here,"
"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this…" Aang said, "Bye, swamp,"
"Yip-yip,"
Suddenly, I heard a rumbling noise behind me, and turned around to see a tornado coming towards us.
"You better throw in an extra yip," Sokka said frantically, "We gotta move!"
Aang guided Appa away from the twister as best as he could. Sokka was almost sucked in by the tornado, screaming as he blew closer and closer to it. I quickly pulled him back with airbending, and got an idea. I stood up, forming an air bubble around Appa.
"Aang, a little help here?" I asked, my voice full of strain.
My brother got up and quickly began assisting me with the bubble, keeping it going even when we entered the tornado. Eventually, the wind outside of the bubble became stronger than the wind outside, and Aang and I's combined strength began to waver. We strained to keep up the air bubble, but the roaring winds outside became too strong and it dissipated, sending our group flying. We landed in mucky swamp water, Aang and I more gracefully than Sokka and Katara.
"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang asked.
Looking around, I noticed that the animals were nowhere to be found. My brother zipped through the trees, heading up to the top of the tallest one to get a look at the whole swamp.
"Sokka, you've got an elbow leech," Katara stated, pointing to the leech on Sokka's elbow.
"Where, where?!" Sokka asked frantically, squirming to check around his body.
"Where do you think?" I asked, my tone full of sarcasm.
Sokka looked down at his elbow, quickly beginning to pull off the leech.
"Why do things keep attaching to me?" He asked annoyedly.
Aang swung through on a vine, landing near us.
"You couldn't find them?" Katara asked.
"No," He replied, "And the tornado, it just disappeared,"
"This place is weird," I stated, "We need to find Appa and Momo and get out of here as soon as we can,"
"I like the way you think," Sokka said.
I got a slight flutter in my chest, swalloing it down as the pain of rejection washed over me like a tidal wave.
"We better speed things up," He stated, cutting through the vines with his machete.
"Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp," Aang suggested worriedly.
"Aang, these are just plants," Sokka replied, "Do you want me to say please and thank you as I swing my machete back and forth?"
"Maybe you should listen to Aang," Katara stated, "Something about this place feels…alive,"
"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here," Sokka said, "And if we don't want to wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can,"
Aang hopped down from the piece of land he was standing on, beginning to wade through the swamp water with us.
It had been many hours, and we still hadn't found Appa or Momo. The sky was dark, and we were all beginning to get drowsy. We continued to trudge through the swamp, calling for our animals as we did.
"Appa!" Katara called out, "Momo?"
"There's no way they can hear us, and no way we can see them," Sokka stated annoyedly, "We'll have to make camp for the night,"
Suddenly, flies began to surround him and he swatted at them with his machete. Then, a bunch of strange smoke came up from the water.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Nothing, just swamp gas," Sokka replied, "Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here,"
Then, the swamp gas came closer to us, the putrid smell filling our nostrils. I plugged my nose, sticking out my tongue in disgust. Suddenly, we heard a shrill, human-like scream. I huddled up with the rest of the group, looking around to see where the scream had came from. Looking up, I saw that the scream had came from a bird.
"I think we should build a fire," Sokka stated, his voice shaky with fear.
He then quickly zoomed away from our group huddle, cutting some branches from a nearby tree.
"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that," Aang said.
"No, I asked the swamp," Sokka stated jokingly, "It said it was fine,"
"Right, swamp?" He asked, holding onto a tree branch, "No problem, Sokka," He squeakily replied for the swamp.
I gave him an exasperated look, while Aang gave him one of annoyance.
We had gotten our camp set up and our fire built, but our nerves were still at an all time high.
"Does anyone else get the feeling we're being watched?" Katara asked worriedly, glancing behind herself.
"Please, we're all alone out here," Sokka replied annoyedly, swatting away the flies that were buzzing near his head.
Suddenly, a fly he was swatting at turned into an extremely bright ball of light, I covered my eyes to not be blinded. The light floated away from us, flying around the area and revealing many eyes peering back at us.
"Except for them," Aang stated, fear evident in his voice.
"Right, except for them," Sokka said shakily, pulling us all into another group huddle.
That night, we all slept close to each other, afraid that whatever, or whoever was watching us would attack.
When I awoke next, I was being dragged away by some unknown attacker, my fear high and my confusion higher. I screamed as I was dragged, not knowing where anyone else was. When I had completely composed myself and my surroundings, I quickly made an air bubble around myself, breaking myself free from the grip of the vines. I dashed up into the trees, attempting to get as far away from the vines as possible. One attached itself to my arm as I ran, yanking me back. I quickly sliced the vine from around my arm with air and continued to run. Once I knew that the vine attack was over, I took deep breaths, taking in my surroundings. I had no idea where I was, or where my friends and brother were. Worry creeped up inside my mind as I frantically called out their names. I walked around, searching for the group. Suddenly, I saw a woman in orange and yellow robes, robes very similar to Penima's. I came closer, wondering what someone could be doing all the way in this swamp. Then again, we were there. So what's to say there weren't others who were there, too? When I came closer, familiar memories of Penima filled my mind, her stern voice echoing in my ears. When I got closer to the woman, I knew it was her.
"Penima!" I exclaimed happily, joyful tears in my eyes, "How are you-What are you…?"
She turned to me, a soft welcoming smile on her face.
"Oh, Akira," She said calmly, crouching down so we could see eye-to-eye, "When will you learn?"
"What are you taking about, Penima?" I asked, a confused frown coming to my face.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Penima asked sweetly, "We're all gone,"
My frown deepened as I looked at her.
"Penima, what are you-"
"We're all gone, Akira, we're all gone," Penima chanted repeatedly, hundreds of air nomads appearing behind her and chanting the same words.
Reality hit me hard, and I found myself crying the hardest I thought I ever had, dropping to my knees. The words got louder and louder, becoming so loud that my ears rang and I couldn't hear my own thoughts. I felt a mixture of panic and pure despair rush through me, my desperate screams piercing the thick silence of the swamp. My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes widened in shock. I began to choke back my tears, trying desperately to breathe. My heart was beating extremely fast, and I felt like I was shaking. As I felt my conciseness begin to slip, my vision becoming blurry, I quickly bent air into my mouth, swallowing it like a meal. I did this over and over, until my breaths became even again and my heartbeat slowed. I looked around, seeing that my vision was gone and let out a sigh of relief. I felt dizzy, and in no way ready to stand and move on, but the life threatening moment was over, and I was okay. Suddenly, something knocked me over, and when I stood again, I saw my friends and brother laying on the ground below me.
"What do you guys think you're doing?" Sokka asked annoyedly, "I've been looking all over for you,"
"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you," Katara retorted in a similar tone.
"I was chasing some girl," Aang stated. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
"A girl?" I asked, "But I thought he liked Katara?" My thoughts added.
"Who?" Katara asked, a hint of jealousy in her tone.
"I don't know," Aang replied, helping her up, "I heard laughing, and I saw some girl in a fancy dress,"
"Well, there must be a tea party here, and we just didn't get our invitations," Sokka stated sarcastically.
Aang gave him an exasperated look.
"I thought I saw mom," Katara stated, a sad look on her face.
My face softened, concern etched on my features as I recalled my own experience with seeing Penima.
"Look, we're all just scared and hungry, and our minds were playing tricks on us," Sokka said, "That's why we all saw things out here,"
"You saw something, too?" Katara asked.
"I thought I saw Yue," Sokka stated, turning away with bitter sadness in his voice, "But that doesn't prove anything,"
"Look, I think about her all the time," He said, his tone defensive but sorrowful, "And you saw mom, someone you miss a lot,"
"What about me and Kiri?" Aang asked, "I didn't know the girl I saw, and Kiri hasn't even said who she saw,"
"Well, your case is probably avatar stuff," Sokka replied dismissively, "But, who did you see, Akira?"
I felt a lump in my throat as I remembered talking to my mentor, the repeated chants loudly playing in my head and making me feel the pain all over again.
"I didn't see anyone," I lied, my tone bitter and defensive as I crossed my arms, "I don't know what's going on with you guys, but I saw nothing,"
Sokka raised an eyebrow, seemingly skeptical of my rude demeanor.
"Well, no matter if we had visions or not, we were all led to here," Aang said.
"Okay, so where's here, the middle of the swamp?" Katara asked,
"Yeah…" Aang replied distantly, looking up at a large tree above us, "The center,"
"It's the heart of the swamp," He stated breathily, half to himself, "It's been calling us here, I knew it,"
"It's just a tree," Sokka argued, annoyance heavy in his tone, "It can't call anyone,"
"For the last time, there's nothing after us, and there's nothing magical happening here," He stated sternly.
Suddenly, water began rushing up near us, revealing a giant vine monster. We all began to scream, holding each other close. The monster started swiping at us, and we quickly scurried away in different directions. Some vines caught on my leg, causing me to trip. I quickly sliced them off with airbending, scurrying to my feet and running afterward. I saw that the monster had successfully grabbed Sokka, and was now thrashing him around. I sent an air slice at it, freeing Sokka from its grip. Although Sokka had been freed, there was more to come for me. After regenerating the arm I sliced off, the monster turned to me. Fear and confusion were evident in my expression as the monster slapped me away, sending me flying backwards. When I landed, I made sure to cushion my fall with airbending. I quickly ran back, seeing the monster get closer and closer. It looked like Aang and Katara were fighting it with waterbending, but I didn't know where Sokka was. When I got closer, I saw Aang and Katara fly past in different directions. Apparently, turning my head to look at them for a second had been a huge mistake, because the monster picked me up and threw me aside. The monster must have believed in "sibling harmony" or something, because when I got up, Aang was near me. Or, maybe not, because Sokka was inside of its vines while Katara was Spirits knows where.
"Kiri, I have an idea," Aang stated, turning to me, "I'm gonna air scooter up the monster, then use a mix of water and airbending to twist up the vines,"
"If it retaliates, I want you to air slice at it, as much as possible," He continued, "It might get exhausting, but I believe in you, you're strong,"
I nodded, and Aang began to go with the plan. Katara then came over, freezing the vines that Sokka was caught up in. She then cut the ice, freeing Sokka at last. Upon this, the monster untwisted itself, a gaping whole in the middle of its body. I watched as it regenerated the whole, seemingly waterbending to do so. When it began to come closer to the pair, I knew what I had to do. I quickly began to air slice at the monster, cutting off its limbs. Every time they would regenerate, I would cut them off again. Eventually, my strength began to waver, and the monster would not stop. I felt as if I was going to pass out, my breaths coming out ragged and sharp. Suddenly, Aang swooped down, pouncing on the monster with a mix of water and air on his side. When he landed , the monster pushed, him away, sending my brother flying. Knowing Aang would be fine, I turned my attention back to fighting the vine monster. I saw that Katara had started sending powerful water swipes at it, cutting its limbs at a faster rate than my air slices ever could. I decided to start helping her, my air slices and her water swipes mixing to cut up the creature. Eventually, the creature started to crumble, revealing an old guy inside of its chest. Then, I knew what was going on. The vine monster wasn't a monster, but a guy bending the water in the vines!
"There's someone in there," I stated, "He's bending the vines,"
With one last water swipe, Katara split the mask of the monster in half. I thought it was going to crumble the vines, but I was wrong. The vines picked her up, sending her into the air. Aang came from who knows where, powerfully blasting the vine guy with air and finally crumbling the vines, revealing him completely.
"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?" Aang asked, his voice low with anger.
"Wait," The old guy said, "I didn't call you here,"
Aang and Sokka shared a glance, and my brother spoke again.
"We were flying over, and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land," He explained.
"He's the avatar," Sokka stated, "Stuff like that happens to us a lot,"
"The avatar?" Vine guy asked, "Come with me,"
We all shared a glance, dropping our defensive stances before following the guy.
The strange vine man lead us to this large tree, its trunk seemingly never ending, and its leaves draping over the landscape.
"So, who are you, then?" Katara asked.
"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it, like this fellow with his big knife," The guy replied, bending a clearing for us to go through.
"See?" Sokka asked, "Completely reasonable, not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home,"
"Defending his home from you," I thought.
"Nothing mystical about it," Sokka stated.
"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right," The guy said, "It's sacred,"
"I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan grove tree," He continued, sitting down, "I heard it calling me, just like you did,"
"Sure you did," Sokka groaned sarcastically, "It seems real chatty,"
I shot him an annoyed glance. Sometimes, his sarcasm was funny, but it really wasn't needed at that moment.
"See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles," Vine guy explained, "Branches spread then sink and take root and then spread some more,"
"One big, living organism, just like the entire world," He finished.
"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Aang asked, a skeptic look coming to his face.
"Sure," Vine guy replied, "You think you're any different from me, or your friends, or this tree?"
"Okay, being not any different from you, or us, makes sense," I stated, "But the tree? The only thing that us and trees have in common is that we're both living beings,"
"That's the point," Vine guy replied, "All living beings are connected, in a way,"
"And, if you listen hard enough, you can hear them all breathing together," He added, "You can feel everything growing,"
"We are all living together, even if most folks don't act like it," He said, "We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree,"
"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked, "I mean, those of us who had them,"
"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone," Vine guy explained.
I looked down sadly, remembering the encounter with "Penima", a pained feeling deep in my chest.
"But the swamp tells us they're not," He stated, "We're still connected to 'em,"
"Time is an illusion, and so is death," Vine guy said.
"But, what about my vision?" Aang asked, "It was someone I had never met,"
"You're the avatar," Vine guy said, "You tell me,"
"Time is an illusion," Aang repeated quietly under his breath, his brow furrowing in thought as he looked down, "So it's someone I will meet,"
Vine guy nodded in response.
"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo," Sokka stated, standing up.
"I think I know how to find them," Aang said, causing me to raise in eyebrow in puzzlement.
My brother then put one of his hands to the tree.
"Everything is connected," He stated quietly, shutting his eyes.
The tattoo on his hand began to glow, and he sat there for a moment. After whatever he was doing was over, Aang stood.
"Come on, we've gotta hurry," He stated, fierce determination in his tone.
When we got to the spot that Aang's vision had led us to, I saw a whole bunch of other vine guys, Appa in a net behind them. I furrowed my eyebrows, anger hitting me like a wave. Apparently, the same had happened to Aang, because he quickly attacked the guys, breaking their boat with waterbending. We then quickly rushed over to a spot where the guys could see us.
"Appa!" Aang exclaimed before hitting one of the guys with airbending, pushing him off the boat.
"We're under attack!" A vine guy shouted, he then began to waterbend a wave at us, but Aang and Katara blocked it.
"Hey, you guys are waterbenders," Katara stated, her voice calm despite the circumstances.
"You, too?" The vine guy asked, "That means we're kin,"
Katara made a grossed out face. The water they were bending dissipated, and Sokka arrived with the original vine guy.
"Hey, Huu," The guy on the boat greeted, "How you been?"
"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines," Huu replied, "The usual,"
"Huu?" Sokka repeated, a weirded out look on his face.
That night, we went with the swamp guys to their camp. We were all sitting around a campfire, the mood happy and light. I stared blankly into the campfire, the chanted words, "We're all gone, Akira, we're all gone," Chiming through my head. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned to see Aang, his expression full of concern. He stood, beckoning me to follow him. I slowly got up, the words still repeating in my mind. I bent a little bit of air into my mouth, the feeling of breathlessness coming over me. When Aang stopped walking, we were behind a tree, safe from the ears of the vine guys and our friends.
"Kiri, what was your vision?" He asked, his voice soft but sturdy.
I immediately built my defensive wall, my eyebrows furrowing and my eyes widening.
"I told you, I didn't have a vision," I replied gruffly, "I don't know why you guys were going insane, but I'm fine,"
Aang's frown deepened, concern evident in his expression.
"Come on, Akira, I know you," He said, "If you weren't lying, you wouldn't be so defensive,"
I looked down, my defensive wall crumbling under the truth of my brother's words.
"Fine," I started, my voice breaking under the weight of my pain, "I saw Penima, and she said something,"
Hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
"What did she say?" Aang asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he stepped closer to me.
"She told me they were all gone," I explained through choked sobs, "And a whole bunch of air nomads appeared behind her,"
"After that, I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe," I said, "I felt so helpless, as if my despair was going to swallow me whole,"
"It was unbearable,"
Aang's eyes filled with tears, and he hugged me, cradling me in his arms as I cried into his shoulder. My sobs began quiet and soft, their volume rising with each second.
"It's okay, Kiri," Aang whispered, his tone soothing, "You're gonna be okay,"
I continued to sob, desperately clinging to his shawl as if it were the only thing keeping me from withering away. Aang's grip didn't waver, his strength evident as he held me.
I had started to get a headache. I pulled away from Aang and i's hug, my face splotchy and filled with tears.
"I have a headache," I stated.
"Well, that's not good," Aang said gently, "Do you think sleeping would help?"
I nodded, exhaustion hitting me like a brick wall as my eyes began to struggle to stay open. Sensing my tiredness, Aang scooped me up in his arms, and I wrapped my legs around him. He set me down at the camp and I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
"Aang, I heard crying earlier," Katara stated in a hushed tone, her words pulling me out of slumber, "What was going on with Akira?"
Deciding not to open my eyes as to hear their conversation, I began to listen in.
"She actually did have a vision," Aang replied, "It was of Penima, her mentor back home,"
"She also told me that after she saw it, she couldn't move or breathe," He continued, his voice thick with emotion, "I'm worried about her,"
"Me too," Katara agreed, her voice filled with the same amount of emotion, "She's been through so much, and she's only ten,"
"I wish there was something I could do to take away her pain," Aang stated, the strength in his voice wavering, "I feel like I failed as a brother for dragging her into my mess,"
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Katara said reassuringly, "Trust me, I know how hard it is to basically raise a kid when you're only a kid yourself,"
"When my mother died, I felt like it was my sole responsibility to take care of my dad and Sokka," She stated, "I felt like I needed to fill the void my mom left,"
"You're a really good brother, Aang," Katara said, her voice carrying a strong sense of reassurance, "And Akira knows it,"
"Thank you, Katara," Aang said gratefully, his voice barely above a whisper.
I couldn't believe my own ears. Aang thought that he had failed as brother, that he had dragged me into his mess? I fought back the urge to open my eyes, sit up, and tell him that he did not fail, and that I'm thankful for every second I get to spend with him. The air was thick with silence, the only sounds being the ambience of a swampy night. Suddenly, I felt the blanket that had been placed over me shift ever so slightly, to where it was covering up more of my body. Aang planted a soft kiss on my cheek before speaking, his words quiet and gentle.
"Good night, Kiri,"
Then, my exhaustion took over again, and I found myself drifting back into a deep sleep.