Power Like No Other

Chapter 4:Memories

There were back, all my memories of the past, who I was, where I came from, how I lost my memories in the first place, all of it.

When I stood on that beach, watching the Fire Nation boat get closer and closer, it triggered those locked memories.

 As I watched the Fire Nation man stab my mother through the heart, something inside me shattered, like a thin glass wall breaking with only the slightest touch. Water shot up from the ground and hit the man square in the chest, causing him to be launched back eight feet. But even though I knew it was too late to save her, I still wanted to try, I still wanted to protect her, my mother, the woman who had birthed and raised me, and now, she was gone, killed right before my eyes.

I watched as my father held her tightly in his arms, tears streaming down his face, pure fury in his deep blue eyes. Just as I was about to go to him, and maybe, just maybe find a way to save my mom, I was grabbed by the waist and was being carried in the direction of the Fire Nation ship. Arms stretched out towards my mother and father, I yelled their names over and over again, a tiny part of hoping that they would come to my rescue, as I was carried into the ship, with the docking door closing in front of me.

The storm had been raging for two days straight now, Katara was being kept in a small sell, in the last level of the ship, she was cold, hungry, and her eyes were puffy and red from crying. The sounds of footsteps made Katara lift her head, two guards came and stood before her. She just stared at them, arms holding her knees close to her chest, the soldiers opened the door and looked at her with hate-filled eyes, Katara shuddered, chills running down her spine. Her arms were grabbed and she was dragged through the halls of the boat, up a flight of stairs, and out onto the deck. As soon as we reached the top step onto the deck, cold and heavy rain slammed into me, soaking me to the bone, the boat rocked back and forth, large boiling waves turned in the sea on either side of me.

Growing up in the south pole, we lived on fish and seal meat, so oftentimes I would go out on the boat with my dad and Sokka to fish along with some of the others. So even as the boat rocked back and forth, I was able to keep my footing.

"Sir, we have brought the water bender," one of the guards said in a loud voice so that he could be heard over the storm. I watched as the man who had killed my mother came forward, soaked from the rain, he stepped forward, knelt down, and looked me in the eye. I fought against the men holding me, grinding my teeth in frustration as I was held back I glared at him, putting all my hate and anger into it, the Fire Nation man actually flinched as I stared at him down. With one last effort to escape, I stomped my heel onto the roof of one of the guards' feet and bit down on the other hand. Both let out loud cries, and I was able to get out of their grasp.

I pushed past the Fire Nation men on the boat, headed straight for the rails, just as I was about to reach the edge, I was grabbed from behind, I kicked and screamed for the soldier to let me go, I would not let them get me.

Ramming my elbow into his ribs, I was able to get out of his grasp, but as I did, the boat rocked to the side and my head hit the metal rail and I fell into the sea. As I sank deeper and deeper into the raging ocean, I thought that maybe it was better this way, maybe, just maybe, if I died, I could see my mom again.

I shot up. Tears streaming down my face, I was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. I was in my room, sitting on my bed, how did I get in here? I thought. I looked down, Suki was lying there, sleeping on her arms, with a rag still in her hand. My mother was sleeping over in the corner, with my sister resting her head in her lap.

How funny, I thought. Even though I had just regained my past memories, I felt rather empty, like there was a large hole in my chest. The overwhelming grief that I was feeling, my chest hurt, I needed air. I stood from my bed as quietly as I could, my body felt like it weighed a ton, my legs also felt like jelly. I found that sneaking through the house was not as easy as it once was, but once I reached the door, all my tension melted away. It was early morning, the sun was just coming up over the horizon, it warmed me.

I thought of my real mother as I stood there, I thought of her warm smile, her bear-like hugs. My heart tightened as I thought of my brother, Sokka, his stupid humor, that goofy smile...I felt more tears slide down my face as I thought about the loving family I had forgotten. I sat down in the grass, resting my chin on my knees, so I really was from the Southern Water Tribe, that explained my water bending. All of a sudden I heard footsteps behind me, standing up a turn, what I saw surprised me, I had been expecting to see Suki, or my mom or sister coming to get me, but instead, I found myself staring at a man with a large scar on the left side of his face, he had long black hair pulled half up half down. Standing next to him was an older man, with a round belly and gray hair, he had wrinkles on the side of his eyes, telling me that he probably smiled a lot, both walked with airs of authority, and by the color of their eyes and robes, I knew they were Fire Nation.

"Oh, I see you're up, I hope you're feeling better," the old man said with a cheery smile. I found that I liked this old man right away. Even if he was from Fire Nation, not all people in the Fire Nation are bad, I thought to myself. "Thank you," I said, giving him a small tight smile.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked. The old man chuckled, "Yes I would imagine that in the state you were in when we found you that you would not remember that my nephew here was the one to bring you to your house after you fainted, I'm Iroh, and this handsome young man standing next to me is my nephew, Zuko." He finished with a proud smile, I glanced at his nephew. He was watching me, seemingly studying me. His gaze made me shift from one foot two another. Bowing with my hand in a fist and my other cupped over it, I said, "Thank you, for your kindness."

"Please don't bow", my head shot up to look at Zuko, he looked rather flustered and antsy, odd.

"There is no reason for you to bow," he said. "I just did what anyone would have done, I'm just glad to see that your fever broke." He gave me a ghost of a smile, and I decided that these two did not seem too bad.

Zuko watched her. The color in her cheeks had come back, and she looked more alive than she did two days ago. He wondered what had happened, and why she had gotten so sick. But he did not ponder on it, as he watched her walk with his uncle, the sun rising higher by the minute. He smiled a rare smile, today was a good day.

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Happy Fourth of July!! Enjoy this chapter, I'm sorry I did not get it out sooner, I was so tired all week, and writing just seemed like the last thing I wanted to do.

Love you my Kittens!

Arianna