The rest of the night, and the day for that matter, had me restless. I had barely slept that night, tossing and turning. My dreams had been plagued with visions of swirling clouds, orange lightning that intermingled with shots of fire, and of course, me trying to run to Aang but my feet being unable to move, or I was shackled, or when I dared to make it to his attacker, my hand stayed because I saw Prince Zuko's face looking at me with soft vulnerability.
I didn't bother leaving my room, not even for breakfast or lunch. By the time the sun set, we had reached Kyoshi Island. I heard the hiss of the bow lowering from my window. I wanted to go observe, yet my fatigue from lack of sleep and kept me glued to the bed.
Finally, my stomach gurgled and with it shot up a pain I couldn't ignore. I slowly rolled out of my mattress and opened the door. My plan had been to go to the galley and eat whatever food had been left over from lunch. But when I opened the door to the main deck, I hesitated.
In front of me, was the small village that housed Kyoshi Island's inhabitants. In the center of the main hub, in front of a simple wooden gate, was a large statue of a raven-haired woman wearing a green kimono, holding golden fans, and her face adorned with elaborate red and white makeup. Avatar Kyoshi. By the statue, their large gray tails snapping side to side like meaty whips, were four Komodo rhinos. Three of them were mounted by two Firebenders. At the head of team, riding solo, was who I could assume was Prince Zuko.
"You can't hide forever!" he shouted. The streets of the village were completely abandoned. There was a moment of brief silence before, after he gave a command I couldn't hear, the three rhinos began trudging slowly down the main street. As they passed two houses, I saw something moving on the rooftops. It was a blur of green, with a small golden glint. There was a similar one on another rooftop. Suddenly, in perfect unison, I saw three women wearing green uniforms, armed only with golden fans, leapt from the rooftop and knocked several riders off of their mounts onto the ground.
What followed was a melee between aggressive styles of fighting and a graceful elegance that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. One of the warriors made a beeline for Prince Zuko, who was blasting fire in her direction. She wove with elegance before leaping airborne. My breath hitched. Would there be a deadly blow at her? Or would he not bother with firebending? My answer came when he turned his rhino, who knocked her to the ground with a mighty swing of its tail. As she was downed, he aimed a fire blast at her face.
My heart began to boil with anger, and heat flushed on my cheeks. No. The last time the prince had left someone vulnerable; he had spared them. It was even someone he didn't like that had been his own culture, where burning someone during a duel was required. This was an Earth Kingdom fighter. While she wasn't an enemy Earthbender, her vulnerability was just the same as any opponent's. She was a woman fighter, no less. Man or woman, no one should have been subjected to that level of I grabbed my staff and raced from the lower decks to the lowered bow, into the main street. This obsession with catching my brother was turning him into someone I knew wasn't the true him. If fighting him head on was the only way to defend Kyoshi Island's innocents, then so be it.
I leapt towards Zuko with my staff held horizontally. The force from me coming down airborne and the barrier of the staff sent him falling off of his rhino and onto the porch of a nearby house. His now free rhino grunted and stumbled away. I pinned him beneath the staff. I stood firm but unmoving.
He slowly looked up at me. Surprise and anger were the two most prominent emotions I saw in his eyes. "You…" he muttered. I continued to glare at him silently. The grip on my staff did not falter. My own emotions were swirling. I felt anger on behalf of the villagers, fear of how my deliberate violation of his orders would affect our budding respect, and of course, a sense of righteousness. The only reason we were here was because of Aang.
Behind me, I heard footsteps. I was being followed by two other Kyoshi warriors. One of them was the fearless one who had nearly gotten her face burned off. But she was seemingly fine. Fans were unforled, the setting sun glistening off their gold metal. Fists were lifted. My chest swelled with pride, and perhaps validation. I was going up against a Firebender, and I had allies on my side.
Prince Zuko gripped my staff firmly. As I watched in horror, smoke began to curl from his grip. I pushed and pulled quickly to shake him off. That had been my mistake. Now free from my influence, he spun on his hands with a yell, his swirling feet sending out fire in arcs. The force and heat sent me propelling backwards through a door made of woven straw. I landed on my rear end and slowly curled my legs to one side. My staff lay in one corner. I picked it up and assessed the damage. There were black grooves in the middle. Grooves that uncannily looked like fingers. Had I not reacted when I did, this staff would have been completely crisped.
I left the house, pausing to see a confrontation that I had only heard once, but now, I was seeing it with my own two eyes.
Aang and Prince Zuko were standing on either sides of the village. Aang dodged a blast of fire aimed in his direction before retaliating with a spinning back kick. The gust had sent the prince back slightly but not enough to push him down. With another grunt, Prince Zuko sent two fireballs towards my brother. Aang dispelled one fireball with a swirl of his staff while dodging the other. With fast, nimble wrist motions, my brother began rotating his staff above his head. The wind currents carried him upward and he seemingly floated off the ground and brought him closer. I followed the trajectory of his flight and came to stand next to him.
"Gitan?" Aang sounded just as shocked and excited to see me.
"I've got your back, Aang."
Prince Zuko looked us up and down. "Two against one…it doesn't matter to me."
With a rough growl, he shot a fire blast in our direction. Aang threw his staff at the dirt, kicking up a small dust cloud to obscure our opponents' vision. I darted forward. While I didn't aim for Prince Zuko's arms truly, they were enough o get him to focus on me. He fired at my feet, which I jumped away from before spinning and redirecting him to back up into a space within Aang's reach. A well placed jab forced the prince to stumble into the center, where Aang threw another path of air.
The two of us worked side by side, exchanging staff swipes and parries. This was different than simple sparring sessions at the Air Temples. We were fighting with fire. Literally. My only regret was having not been by Aang's side during his first fight, yet a part of me realized that Aang's knowledge of Prince Zuko's fighting style was working in our favor. I followed his lead, maneuvering through turns and strikes to keep out common foe at bay. We flowed as one unit, air and staff, dispelling the flames tossed at us.
I managed to dodge an attack fromPrince Zuko which resulted in Aang getting too close. One swipe sent his staff flying. I had come in with an attempt to jab, but my staff was also kicked aside. As I fled to one side to retrieve the staffs, Aang had managed to retrieve two golden fans that had been dropped during a scuffle with the warriors. They floated with ease into his hands. Prince Zuko charged forward as Aang spun to collect momentum. With a strong strike downward, Aang, with the added aide of the fans, created a gust that sent Prince Zuko flying into the wall of a nearby house.
I ran over with his glider, handing it to him. "Good job!" But then I noticed his face. The determination and will to fight was gone, replaced with an expression of sadness. "Aang? What's wrong?"
My brother didn't answer. He dropped the fans and took his staff. With a toss forward, he transformed it into his glider form, recognizable by the orange kites. He flew over the village, sweeping around various houses and the main street. I stood in the center of the ground and looked around. Some of the Firebenders atop the rhinos had created fires that were beginning to grow wider. The warriors were fending them off, distracting them from villagers rushing inside to hide. I heard a whimper behind me. When I turned around, I saw two little girls looking around with fearful eyes.
"Sh, it's all right. Come with me. I'll take you someplace safe."
The little girls followed me to a house that had yet to be touched by the flames. When I reached the door, I was relieved to see a safe face. Katara was crowded around a trio of little girls, entertaining them with a steady stream of water in her hands. Next to them was a white lemur with intelligent green eyes.
"I see you made a friend at the temple," I announced with a chuckle.
Katara turned around. "Gitan! Oh, thank goodness you're okay."
"I'm fine, thank you," I said. "So, where'd this guy come from?" I nodded to the lemur, who was too busy grooming himself.
"Aang kind of…adopted him," Katara said with a soft smile. "We stopped at the Southern Air Temple and…" She hesitated, her smile fading. After a beat of silence, she said, "It;s safe to say Aang learned the truth the hard way."
"Oh…"
The lemur lifted his head and looked at me. He made a chittering noise before leaping down. I knelt to its level, extending a hand towards it. His nose wiggled and he clambered onto my arm. "Hi, friend," I said amiably with a laugh. "I guess Airbenders stick together, huh? So, did what silly name did my brother give you? He was always naming the lemurs around the temples. Actually, he named every small animal he wanted to adopt as a pet."
Katara laughed. A pretty, watery laugh. "His name is Momo, apparently."
I stroked behind the lemur's large ears."Momo, huh? It's appropriate."
Behind us, I hear the clack of Aang's glider closing. I looked over my shoulder. Aang was visibly upset with his gray eyes on the verge of tears. Katara and I both approached him. Momo hopped off my shoulder and sought comfort in the little girls.
"Aang…" I began gently.
"What have I done?" he said sorrowfully.
Katara smiled compassionately. "It's not your fault."
Aang thinned his lips. "Yes, it is! This town is burning because they were trying to protect me."
I looked at the girls, then over at Aang. There was truth in his words. Kyoshi Island had seemed so peaceful. Seeing it being covered in fires was heartbreaking. The warriors were good, but they were no match for ruthless Firebenders. Even as a nonbender, I had barely stood a chance. I looked at the burns that Prince Zuko left on my staff. It was the price I paid for protecting my brother and the innocent people in his path.
"Then you should go," I said firmly but gently. "Prince Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow you. I don't think my redirection plans will work as well, but I'll still do my best to keep you safe from him."
"I know it feels wrong to run," Katara said, "but I think it's the only way to keep more people getting hurt."
Aang bowed his head slowly. As he went to go get Appa, Katara and I rushed towards the main square in search of Sokka. The fires had grown to the size of campfires, and the Kyoshi warriors were emerging as victors. Katara slowly hovered a sphere of water from a nearby bucket to douse one of the bigger fires. I used my staff to beat down a pile of of the Kyoshi warriors rushed towards us without fans. It was then that I saw that this female warrior was….well…
"Sokka?!" I blinked owlishly at him. In the Kyoshi warrior garb, he had seemingly blended in perfectly.
He looked at me quizzically."Long story. Let's just say I've learned to respect girl warriors."
"We're getting out of here," Katara said firmly.
"Wait…" Sokka stammered shyly. "I…there's something I have to do."
He ran back the way he came. Katara ran to assist Aang in helping Appa. I was left alone, staring down a clash of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation ideologies. I lowered my staff, uncertain if I should go with Aang myself, or if I should follow through with my promise of redirecting Prince Zuko. The warriors seemed to be doing well on their own, so I focused on putting out whatever fires I could using the bucket that Katara had Waterbent from. Despite my best efforts, I could only put out two fires.
"There you are…"
Anger was evident in Prince Zuko's voice. Quiet anger. He approached me with a quick stride. I flinched slightly. For a brief moment, I saw his eyes flicker to my staff and there was a shadow of regret. Yet, like the cinders I had doused, it was a temporary flicker.
"Where is your brother going?"
"Away from here. That's all I know."
Almost on cue, Appa flew overhead. Zuko commanded a retreat to follow them. The Firebenders mounted rhinos and began strolling back down the main street. I was grabbed uncomfortably, but not aggressively, around the waist by Prince Zuko. who lifted me up with no effort, onto the saddle of his rhino. Compared to the bigger saddles, this one felt smaller and confining. Even the way the rhino moved underneath was awkward and clunky. Its side to side movements were the opposite of Appa's clean up and downs.
As we retreated, I stole a look back to the fire over my shoulder. The entire back half of the village was engulfed in fire. Guilt twitched in my stomach. I wanted to do more to save the town. Yet despite that, something else fluttered below. A sense of comfort. I had saved several children, and from the looks of it, no villagers were harmed. Kyoshi Island had fierce warriors to protect it. I had much to learn from their expertise as a nonbender. Jealousy slithered into the pit of my stomach, sitting heavy. These fierce women had done what I had aspired to be, a protector for the greater good, and all I had done during this war was swing a stick miserably and put out a few fires with a bucket. It was so small compared to the literal leaps and bounds and moves with a fan that these women had done.
Suddenly, I felt a drop of something on my cheek. At first, I thought I was crying. Then I looked up when I heard the soldiers around me crying out in surprise. Water was falling from the sky. Yet it wasn't fresh water rain. It was a rain made from a spray of water from the nearby bay. It pattered over the village, dousing the fires behind us and in front of us. It steadily fell until finally, it stopped. Black patches were all that remained of the fires on Kyoshi Island. There was damage, but it could be easily repaired.
I swept some wet hair from my face with a knowing smile while the soldiers grumbled.