Fire Heart

Chapter 36

I sit with Appa as Sokka and the others exchange scary stories. I was listening but I was distracted by a hawk sound. I look around and see the hawk Sokka gave to me flying down. I hold my right arm out and it lands on it. I take the rolled up letter out of its carrier. I unroll it and the hawk goes to a branch beside me.

Dear Ivy,

I'm glad that you're okay. I was really worried about you. I made sure no one found out that you weren't kidnapped. Mai told me why you needed to go. She took me to these underground tunnels beneath the palace. Did you know these were there? Anyway, I hope the baby won't hurt you too much. I haven't spoken to Azula or Father much just so they won't somehow figure out that you're with Aang and the others. Also, I might've sent an assassin to kill Aang before you left...You probably really want to punch me right now. I don't know where the assassin is, just be careful. If you hear or see an explosion of any kind, go to Appa immediately. See you soon.

I'll love you always,

Zuko

My eyes light up. He's not mad! I pull out a piece of parchment and begin writing.

Dear Zuko,

Oh thank goodness you're not mad. But really? An assassin? Sometimes I wonder what goes through your mind, Zuzu. I got you letter minutes before I started writing this. But I'm glad to hear from you. What do you mean by see you soon? Are you coming to join me, Aang, and the others?

Lots of love,

Ivy

"Tell Zuko I say hi!" Rin exclaims. I smile and nod.

P.S. Rin says 'hi'.

I roll up the letter and put it in the hawk's carrier. It flies away. Sokka makes some sort of spooky noise.

"I liked the story about the man with a sword for a hand better." Aang says.

"I have a good one. It's an old Water Tribe story from our village." Katara says.

"We all know the one about dad pretending to be a water spirit with Bato. It's funny, not scary." Sokka sighs.

"It didn't happen to Dad. It happened to Mom." Katara says back, making Sokka shut up.

"It was back when she was a little girl. The village was victim to a devastating blizzard. The snow covered everything. Mom noticed a month afterwards that her friend, Nini, hadn't been seen since the blizzard. So Kya went to see if she was okay and went with a few other villagers. When they saw no one was home, the men went out to search for Nini and her family. Mom stayed in the house. When she heard Nini's voice say, 'it's so cold and I can't get warm'. Mom turned around to see Nini standing by the fireplace. She was blue, as if she was frozen. Mom called for help. But when the men came back, Nini disappeared. Nini never appeared again. But to this day, sometimes you can still see smoke coming out of the chimney. Like little Nini is still trying to get warm." Katara tells us is a scary tone. I didn't even realize I was shaking till Appa moved closer to me as if to comfort me.

"Wait. I can hear people screaming." Toph says and feels the ground with her hand. I snuggle into Appa more.

"Stop trying to scare us Toph." Sokka whimpers.

"I'm not. There are people under the mountain screaming...it just stopped." Toph says.

"I don't like this." Rin whimpers. We all move closer to each other slowly.

"Hello kids." An old woman says when she comes into view. We all scream and hang onto each other. The baby kicks rapidly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just heard you all out here and wanted to tell you it's not safe to be out here. Especially on a full moon." The woman says. "I have an Inn nearby. How about we all go there and get some sleep."

"Okay." We chorus, frightened by the woods. We follow her and up to a nice Inn. She takes us to our own rooms. Once I lay down, I'm out.

-Time Lapse To The Next Evening-

"There you are, Dear. We just started dinner." Hama says. Katara told me the woman's name when she woke me up for dinner and that she's originally from the Southern Water Tribe.

"I've been asleep so long." I whine as I sit down.

"That's alright. We have a treat, it's a Southern Water Tribe dish. Stewed sea prunes. But since you can't get sea prunes here. We had to make do with ocean kumquats." Hama says and waters Bends the soup into our bowls before serving the 'Stewed sea prunes'.

"You're a Water Bender! I've never met another Water Bender from our Tribe!" Katara exclaims.

"That's because they took them all away, including me." Hama replies sadly. I frown and start eating as she tells the story of how the Fire Nation came and took away the Water Benders.

"I was the only one able to escape." Hama finishes her story.

"How?" Sokka asks.

"I'm sorry, it's too painful to think about." Hama says and looks away. Katara places a hand on Hama's shoulder. The Fire Nation took away our mother. She was protecting me from being taken away. She told them that she was the last Water Bender. They killed her instead of taking her prisoner." Katara tells her. Hama frowns.

"Oh you poor things." Hama says sympathetically.

"Well, Katara. I'm getting a bit old as you might've noticed. I'd like to pass on the traditional way of a Southern Water Bender." Hama says. Katara grins.

"Of course! To learn more about my heritage! That would be amazing! Thank you, Hama." Katara says gratefully.

"Ivy may come too. She needs to learn more ways to protect the baby when it's born." Hama says. I smile.

"Thank you." I reply. She smiles and nods. Everyone eat their dinner before heading to bed.

-Time Lapse To The Next Afternoon-

I follow Katara and Hama into a field with a bunch of beautiful flowers.

"You two may have noticed that places all over the world may not have visible water. But keep an open mind. There is water in places you don't even think about." Hama says and bends water out of thin air before sending ice daggers at a log.

"That's true. I even used my own sweat once." Katara says.

"That's very resourceful of you Katara." Hama praises her.

"You can even take water out of plants." Hama tells us before Bending water out of a large patch of flowers, leaving them dead and grey. We watch in amazement as Hama slices a boulder with the Water.

"I have one more thing to teach you both tonight." Hama says once the sun starts to go down. We follow her into the woods and the Moon is out. It's a full one. I look around nervously.

"I have go to the bathroom. I'll be over there." I say and walk off behind a bunch of bushes. I just stay there and hide for a while. But I peak out to see Hama controlling Katara. My eyes widen. Wait, there's water in blood. Mysteriously disappearing villagers...Hama must've controlled them to go down into the mountain. Sokka and Aang run into view. Hama then makes Sokka and Aang attack Katara. But my friend freezes them to trees. I sigh with relief. Katara just stands there with relief. But then Hama makes Aang and Sokka fly towards Katara.

"No!" I exclaim and bend the blood in Hama. Pain fills me but I keep my hold on her till Katara recovers. Katara gets a hold on Hama and I collapse to the ground. Toph and Rin run over to me. I don't know where they've been. Soon a bunch of villagers come and arrest Hama.

"Congratulations you two. You're Blood Benders." Hama says with a sick smile and begins cackling as she's lead away. Katara and I begin to cry. For different reasons. Katara because she never wanted to learn it. Me because the pain is becoming unbearable. Toph and Rin hug me while Sokka and Aang hug Katara. I don't want to tell Zuko about this. I will never use Blood Bending again. It's terrifying to use it on people.