Katara stared at Zuko, the words he just said, the look in his eye, he was dead serious. Well, this might just work, if she could leave with Zuko she would not have to find another way to leave and look for her family, if they were still alive that is. But something inside her told her that they were, so she would hold onto that. Nodding, she said, "I will go with you, but you have to promise me you will help with my search for my family."
Zuko nodded. His golden eyes alight with fire, determined to help.
"I'll talk to my uncle, I'm sure he will agree with me, and I'm sure he won't mind you joining us. The place we are heading next will be a good start, we are headed for the Northern Water Tribe, you might get some answers there." He had stood up at this point, stretching out his hand to help me up from the sand, I took it, and he pulled me up. Once I dusted the sand off my clothes, I stuck my hand out, waiting for him to take it, "Let this be the start of our partnership."
Zuko smiled and took my hand. It was warm, and he had calloused palms and fingers, showing signs of swordsmanship. I was surprised, most fire-benders don't bother to learn any other form of fighting, most just practice their fire-bending to get it to the point where they simply would not need anything else. But as I thought about learning another form of fighting that might be very helpful, even myself, with the Kyoshi warriors, and practicing with Suki all the time, I found that bending was much easier, and my body was in better shape.
Zuko and I parted after that, and I returned to my room. Tired as I was, I still found it hard to sleep, my thoughts now finding their way to the loving grandmother that I missed. I remembered her kind and loving blue eyes that would always stroke my hair affectionately, her gentle voice that would tell me stories of the Avatar, or of my mother and father and how they fell in love, these thoughts brought more tears to my eyes, and that night I cried myself to sleep.
***
The next morning, I sat with my adopted mother and father, along with my sister and brother-in-law. My sister looked tired, and because of this, I glared long and hard at Wong, who would always avoid my look, as if he was not the reason my sister was so tired. Putting that thought aside, I decided I was going to get straight to the point, I was not going to beat around the bush with this, they did not deserve that.
"Mom, Dad, Sis, I have something to tell you," they all stopped what they were doing, and looked up at me, my mother frowned, and grabbed my hand, "Katara dear, what's wrong?" She looked at me with serious and worried eyes, oh, how she knew me.
"I.." I paused, finding it hard to tell them this, "I have my memories back."
It was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. My heart pounded loudly in my ears, my whole body was trembling. This was way harder than I thought it would be. I looked up, only to find tears running down my family's faces, my heart stopped.
"You...Why did you not tell us sooner?" My mother asked as she stood up, leaning over to where I sat she grabbed my hands tightly, "Oh my sweet Katara, my blessing from the spirits, how you must have suffered." Tears ran down her cheeks, her eyes glistened with sorrow, sadness evident on her face, at the fact that her daughter, the girl she had raised since she was eight, was now facing the heavy weight of having all her memories back by herself, with no one to tell or lean on, it broke her heart.
This was not the reaction I had been expecting from my family, I thought that they would be mad that I had my memories back, why I had ever thought that I have no idea. They were my family, and had loved me for 10 years, why would they be mad? I pushed that behind me and told them everything, about myself, about how I ended up on Kyoshi, and who I was. They sat and listened quietly. I finished by telling them that I was a water-bender, they just looked at me, my mother, my sister, and my father.
"Are you going to look for your real family?" My father was the one to ask, right on the mark.
I nodded, "I plan on leaving with Prince Zuko, they are headed for the North Pole, I thought it might be a good start," I said with a shrug. My father nodded in agreement, "It sounds like a plan Katara, but...for how long will you be gone? And if you find that your family is gone, what will you do?" These were questions that Katara had not really thought about, but she knew that if she never found what she was looking for, that she would come home, to Kyoshi Island, and just live out the rest of her days.
***
That afternoon Katara sat by the river with Suki sitting next to her. She had just finished telling her everything she had told her family only a few hours ago, Suki was quiet. When she spoke, her voice was calm and composed, with a tinge of sadness in it.
"I see."
It was all she said.
I didn't really have time to think about it though, because I needed to get my stuff around to leave. According to Zuko, we would be leaving in the morning at dawn. I planned to be ready when we left.
***
I stood in my room staring at the things that I laid out on my bed, the things I planned on taking with me. It was a strange feeling, packing my clothes, and putting them in my pack. I never thought I would ever leave Kyoshi Island, but here I was, after getting my memories back, planning on traveling the world in search of my blood family, such a strange feeling.
All of a sudden, there was a soft knock on the door, I turned. My mother was standing in the doorway, holding an old box.
"What's that?" I asked her. She smiled and came over, setting it down on my bed. She opened it. Inside was a blue-dyed sealskin coat, lined with soft white fur. It had purple threading outlining it, and at the bottom of the coat there were hanging tassels, just under the collar line, was a crescent moon, it was all yellow. And when Katara saw it, she knew that this was the same coat that her mom had made her for her 8th birthday. She choked up just looking at it.
Under it was a necklace. Her mother's necklace. Katara's hands shook as she lifted the beautiful piece, it was the necklace her mother always wore. Her grandma had given it to Katara's father to use to propose to her mom,(as was the tradition in the Southern Water Tribe) the necklace had a deep blue band, with a smooth round stone that was attached, the symbol for the water tribe engraved on the transparent stone, the stone would glisten ever so slightly in the warm afternoon sunlight that was pouring in through the windows.
With shaking hands, I lifted the necklace and put it around my neck, bringing the clasps on the back together.
"It suits you Katara." My mother said with a smile on her gentle face. I hugged her then, tightly.
"I'm going to miss you, mama," I said in a small, choked voice as tears ran down my face.
***
That night as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, I thought about how my life had played out. Things had been so easy before I got my memories back, but either way, I was glad that I got them back. Without them, I would have never learned about who I really was, or where I came from. Putting these thoughts aside, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I found myself standing on the beach with my family (plus Suki) to see me off. It was bittersweet, even as I hugged my mother, father, and sister for the last time, or when I told Suki goodbye, I felt rather numb. It was like a feeling of dread, one that I could not shake off as I boarded the ship, following behind Zuko and his uncle, I walked up the ramp carrying with me my one pack. When I was on the deck, I made my way to the railing and waved to my family that was still standing on the beach waving to me.
My heart tightened.
I would be back, I would.
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There it is, the next chapter. From here on out things will get a lot more exciting, more action! more romance! more friendly mushroom!!(sorry I had to(:). Anyway, I hope you are all happy and heathy.
Love you my Kittens!
Arianna
YOU ARE READING
Power Like No Other
FanfictionThey had come. Why? Why now? Kaya had known for a long time that they would come for her, but she had always hoped that it would never happen. But of coarse it was a for not, they were here for her only daughter, and they would get her at all cost.
