The dualbender (atla) book 1

Chapter 4 - traveling

- Third POV -

Mizuki wakes up and immediately gets out of bed. She quickly exits her bedroom.

"Mom! Dad-" Mizuki stops talking the moment she sees the corpses laying on the ground and remembers what had happened yesterday. The Fire Nation took away her parents. Mizuki looks at the Temple with a sorrowful expression written over her face. She starts walking towards the fountain. As soon as she arrives, she begins to bend the fountain's water to heal her wounds. The burn scars wouldn't disappear from her body, no matter how many times she healed herself. Mizuki absolutely despised her scars, they were a constant reminder of how she lost her parents. It was eating her alive. What if she hadn't ran away? What if she had stayed with her parents? Mizuki sighs upset as she looks at her wounds. She has scars everywhere, except for her face, hands and feet. Suddenly, Mizuki's stomach starts to rumble. The girl hadn't eaten anything in almost two days. Mizuki grunts annoyed, how was she supposed to find food?

Mizuki decides to go to a nearby village to buy some vegetables and fruits. I don't have any money but maybe I can trade my belt or gloves for food. While walking towards the village, Mizuki can't help but wonder how the Fire Nation had found her family. They had been living in the abandoned temple for years, and no one ever found them...until that boy Zuko came to visit. Mizuki clenches her fists angrily. How could Zuko betray me like that?! I even healed his wound! Mizuki crosses her arms. I can't believe I was so naive. What was I thinking? Befriending a stranger from the Fire Nation? Tears start running down Mizuki's face. I trusted him. I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could of have been friends. I was wrong. As soon as Mizuki arrives at the village, she walks towards a small stand. A woman is selling fruits and vegetables.

"Hello, I was wondering if I could get some-"

"HEY, THAT'S THE GIRL FROM THE WANTED POSTERS!" Shouts a man across the street. Upon hearing this, everyone looks at Mizuki, who backs away nervously.

"I think you guys confused me with someone else" Replies Mizuki anxiously.

"Get her!" Yells a Fire Nation soldier as he sends a fire blast towards Mizuki's direction. Mizuki begins to run away from the market. Multiple Fire Nation citizens begin to chase after her. After a while, Mizuki manages to get rid of the people who had been chasing her and hides in a forest close to the village. She sits down and leans against a tree. It was getting dark and the sun was setting. Mizuki sighs upset as she realizes that her life won't ever be the same again. She looks up at the sky, thinking about her parents.

"I just want to go home, but home doesn't feel like home anymore" She cried out. I miss my parents, I miss the Western Air temple, I miss the fountain. Why did Zuko have to tell the Fire Nation where I was living with my parents? I hate him for ruining my life.

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After traveling for nearly two years, Mizuki was getting closer to the Southern Air Temple. She realised that staying in the Western Air Temple was dangerous since it's really close to the Fire Nation. However, in order to get to the Southern Air Temple she had to travel across the world. Mizuki knew that there was a chance she wouldn't survive traveling so far. But she had no choice. Where could she go? She didn't have any family or friends left. And on top of that, she was wanted by a whole nation. It seemed like things couldn't get worse. Well, that was until she had to travel across seas. It was terrible. She had to travel without eating for multiple days. Mizuki would constantly heal herself, but after a while her body was just tired and starved. Mizuki had traveled through mountains, rain, deserts and much more. She was just walking and walking. Hoping to find a destination. A place she could call home. Sometimes she would feel like giving up. She had nothing to lose, nothing or nobody to live for. All hope was lost.

However, in the darkest times, the spirit of her father would appear. Mizuki learned that her father used something called spiritual projection in order to contact her. A high level airbending move, apparantly. On the days her father visited her, she felt incredibly happy and devastated at the same time. Happy that her parents were still alive. Devastated that she was seperated from them for whoever knows how long. Akio would try his best to cheer up Mizuki and tell her about life in prison. However, he would randomly disappear. Mizuki figured out it was because of the guards checking up on him and never really thought about it.

That is until a few weeks later, her father still hadn't contacted her. Mizuki started to doubt if her parents were still alive. Are my parents okay? Did they get killed? Or what if they left me- no. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't...Mizuki started to lose hope each day her father didn't visit her. They wouldn't abandon me...right? Is this it? If she only had known that a few weeks ago would be the last time she saw her father, she would've told him how much she loved him. She would've hugged him until the very last moment. She would've told him how grateful she was for having him as father, and she would've told him to tell her mother that she loved her so much. Mizuki started to sob as she looks at the ground. Dad, please contact me. Won't you send a sign? I'm running out of hope and time. I'll take anything, a letter or even lightning strike.

"Dad, can you hear me? I'm probably talking to myself here, but dad, I have to ask. Are you receiving?" Whispers Mizuki as she looks up at the sky, hoping for something to happen. 

To be continued

Word count: 1.022