Kya Maiden of the Sea Book 3 ATLA

Chapter 3

I slammed the door to my room, taking a deep breath. I sat in the silence trying to imagine myself doing something I've never seen anyone do before. But if it was anything like what I ended up doing in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, theres a small chance I can do it. My hands quickly flew through the air as if they were controlling strings, sharply but swiftly. It was physically exhausting, especially trying to do it without any actual water. As the hours went on the more my stomach churned. Sleepiness mixed with straining my body to no avail, making me vomit in my mouth. But I continued to try. I needed anything to give me even the slightest bit of hope, I needed something to keep me going. Before I keep losing myself in this place.

A knock at my door in the middle of the night, the moon shone right to my door. I wondered who would come at such a late hour to my room. I stopped what I was doing, wiping my mouth lightly. I stayed silent, waiting for whoever it was to open the door. But no one did. Another knock, this time softer.

"Come in," I said. But there was no response.

I never even heard them walk away. I wanted to open the door and see who it was. But curiosity killed the cat. So I didn't, just continuing to practice and retching all night long. I slumped down on the floor, understanding more or less what I'm supposed to do if the situation arises when I need to do it, now I just need to prove to myself that it works.

But how?

I laid back on my bed placing my arm over my eyes. Holding back whatever was in my stomach all night while moving without taking a single break was exhausting. The sun was already up. A soft breeze entered through the slightly opened window. It cooled down my overworked body making me relax a little.

But nothing peaceful ever lasts too long for me, footsteps came to the door of my room.

"Sure, just walk in whenever you please," I said harshly.

"Well someones in a sour mood," Azula said making me curse at myself for snapping at her, "We've got wonderful news for you don't we Zuzu,"

"We're going to the beach on Ember Island," Zuko said.

"And it looks like you could use the much needed,,, relaxation," Azula said examining my eye bags.

"Why?" I responded plainly erasing my traces of annoyance.

"Fathers orders," Zuko said.

I looked over to Azula who nodded at me. As long as I do whatever Azula says for now everything will be ok, I'll be okay as long as deep down I don't become complacent.

"We're all going. It'll be interesting," Azula smirked as I sighed.

"Alright," I responded in cold defeat.

"Perfect," Azula said,"Lets go, you at least need to look the part at the beach,"

"Azula," I said in a worried whine because I was already tired. But she didn't care.

Azula dragged me out as Zuko watched me. I constantly sighed in discontent as we met up with Kaito, Mai and Ty Lee to get beach wear. Never in my life had I wanted to die faster than that. The entire time it was Ty Lee showering Azula with complements, as Kaito would try to make sure Mai wasn't sending me death glares the entire time by trying to strike a conversation Mai was not interested in having. I mostly stayed quiet. After a couple hours I was completely drained, actually wanting sleep, which is something I haven't done since the day I arrived here.

>>>

At the end of the day we boarded a small ship. Just enough room for all of us to roam without being a bother to each other's personal space. I sat down looking out to the open water giving a very small smile. The ocean was always my center of peace. I let my fatigue from the day leave me.

"I'm so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island. It's gonna be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing," Ty Lee said enthusiastically

"Doing nothing is a waste of time!" Zuko argued,"We're being sent away on a forced vacation. I feel like a child."

"Lighten up. So dad wants to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around, don't take it personally." Azula said.

"She's right, Fire Lord Ozai has his reasons," Kaito added crossing her arms and sitting down,"You should be the first to understand and accept that,"

Zuko clicked his teeth at Kaito's remark, probably because she was right.

"Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island?" Ty Lee asked.

"We used to come every summer when we were kids." Azula replied

"That must have been fun." Ty Lee said.

"That was a long time ago." Zuko said as I looked over. Mai tried to comfort Zuko in his angst. I rolled my eyes. 

It was kind of weird to watch from the sidelines. A brewing tension lurked underneath everything I could feel it, but I chose to ignore it. I quickly looked at the room before turning my focus back to the ocean blowing the hair out my face as I leaned to my side. I felt empty and alone. I wanted to be alone yet didn't like this kind of loneliness. It was weird but that's exactly how I felt. I wanted someone to see my pain but I doubted anyone here was capable of that.  I looked back hearing the commotion Ty Lee was going on about and locked eyes with Zuko. He looked at me softly with his golden eyes. For a second, it felt like before.

I quickly looked down, from the corner of my eye Kaito watched. She seemed to be a little out of the picture in this group too. But I shouldn't care, look where I got myself for that. I shook my thoughts looking back out to the sea hoping for guidance but receiving nothing in return.

What am I supposed to be doing here?