The Girl After

Chapter 38

Having my family at the Air Temple was eventful, to say the least. Po, Klei, and Bumi all bonded over their stories of adventures across the world and memories of their childhood together. They had rekindled their lifelong friendship — the trio of boys determined to let their imaginations rule all decisions. Aunt Jasmine and Kya seemed to be bonding once again, though I wasn't sure if it was safe to say that they were back together or not. Aunt Izumi, unlike her brothers and sister, was in no way going waste time in socializing. She was always a closed-off woman, but loving, patient, and protective nonetheless. She was all business and had little time for foolishness.

"While the others are busy treating this like a little vacation," she said to me one day as we sat in what was designated to be my bedroom, "I want you to be ready. Just in case Akira does decide to show herself."

"I know," I said softly, holding onto my pillow. I hadn't slept much, to be honest. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of my mother always appeared. The thoughts were unforgiving. Relentlessly, the vision of my mother being bloodbent replayed in sync with the feeling of being bloodbent by Dakota. I'd wake up only moments after lying down, drenched in a mix of sweat and tears. Everyone — and I mean everyone — would come running, prepared to face my mother no matter the hour, only to find me sitting upright in bed and fighting to find breath again.

I felt guilty every time.

No one shared any distresses upon being awoken at random hours of the night be screams of agonizing horror — except Meelo, who never ceased to tell me, "Stop being a baby! Man up, soldier!" — but I knew. I knew that they were exhausted. I knew that they were beginning to reconsider the severity of the situation. I knew that they were all beginning to wonder if there was even a situation at all. Maybe she's just paranoid, I imagined them saying. Maybe being bloodbent simply messed with her head. But nobody was going to say it aloud.

From what I had heard, I wasn't the only person having a rough time. During their endeavors in the South, Mako and Asami had yet another fight. Over what, I wasn't told. Mako ended up being arrested and was now sitting in the Republic City prison. Korra was gone, but her whereabouts had been left out of the message to me. Bolin and Asami had returned to the Air Temple, but I had rarely been able to see or speak to them due to my family's refusal to allow anyone near me until we'd a solid plan for my mother's likely return. In the times that I wasn't forced to isolate myself "for my own protection", I was training for hours on end — with or without my family and the others barking orders at me. I hardly slept, I rarely ate. I trained relentlessly until I either collapsed or someone had to forcibly make me stop.

One particular afternoon, I stood in the courtyard with Iroh and Jasmine. Klei and Po were inside, arranging for their next seminar in Hira'a. Izumi had returned to the Fire Nation to resume her duties as Fire Lord, leaving me to wonder if Zuko and Gran Gran would be visiting now.

"Focus!" Jasmine shouted at me. Once she channeled her mind into Probending Mode, she was a petrifying woman. Aggressive and loud. She's made grown men cry. Jasmine created champions; she was an award winning coach with more credentials than a majority of the world's leaders and generals. "Put all of your energy into that fire, Leinani! Do it!"

I did as she said. I inhaled deeply and created a firewhip that glowed with a tinge of violet. I swung it and lassoed one of the sparring dummies, charring the material upon immediate contact. I yanked on the whip and it severed the dummy in two. As the whip jerked and danced, white sparks fell from it and disappeared onto the ground. A crack of the whip caused more sparks to fly and vanish before the whip itself recoiled and formed a ball that I held between my hands. I balanced it in my left palm and reeled my other hand back. With one forceful push, the ball soared into a spiral and became a disk before it embedded itself into the chest of the last dummy standing. Smoke rose from the scene.

"Good," Kya's voice called out as she joined us, finding a place beside Iroh. "Now, please, put the fires out."

I nodded and inhaled once again, calming myself from the adrenaline that firebending seemed to flood me with. My movements slowed and my eyes closed. I bent water from sweat on my body that the heat had created, and sent it into the air. With a sigh, the water became snow as it showered down on the burning dummies. I turned to face the adults, awaiting a response.

After a long, silent pause, Iroh finally said, "I'm...impressed." He'd a mix of excitement and confusion on his eyes. "Very impressed. However, I'm left with one question." He looked to Aunt Jasmine. "Why is her fire that color?"

She explained, "I'm not sure, really. I mean, there are different factors to it. It could be emotional. Dad's sister, Azula, had fire that was a bright blue. That meant it was much hotter than Dad's." She frowned. "Azula was filled with so much rage, most of which was due to their father... That's what I believe to be what made her firebending so fatal." Jasmine looked at me. "If my studies and information are correct, Leinani's fire is one of the hottest in recorded history. But... If it's emotional, that would mean that Leinani is beyond infuriated."

"That's one way to put it," I grumbled.

Iroh said with a gentle nod, "Nonetheless, I'm so very proud of you."

"We all are," Jasmine cut in with a prideful smile. She approached me with wide arms and embraced me tightly, indicating that she was back to my loving aunt rather than the drill sergeant of a mentor. "You've learned so much within a week! I have to say — despite all of the awards and champion fighters, you are my favorite success story."

"I'm definitely no success story," I told her.

"Of course you are," Kya frowned. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"I—"

My self-depricating explanation was interrupted by an excited exclamation. "Nani!" Bo's voice cried out from the temple. We all looked in his direction to see him stumbling down the steps, but quickly regaining his footing as he ran towards us with a his big, goofy grin. "Nani! Leinani! Oh, Nani, you'll never believe it!"

"Bo?" I wasn't sure whether to be concerned or thrilled, based on his behavior. "Bolin, what's the matter? What's going on?"

"You'll never believe what I'm about to tell you!"

"Well, we won't know that unless you just tell me what's going on," I said, now impatiently crossing my arms and watching him jump around as if he had to pee. "Bolin, if this is one of your little attempts at showing me a new trick that you taught Pabu, I really don't have the time for th—."

"No!" He blurted. "No, that's not it at all."

"Then spit it out, Bolin!" I said. "What's going on?"

He pointed towards doors from which he stumbled out of. There she stood. Brown skin, eyes the color of grass, hair as dark as dirt. The only real difference was that she was thinner, her face less round now and more angular. She stood there, as if waiting to be announced.

Bolin was now short of breath, either from the excitement or from the sudden burst of physical activity. Between each rise and fall of his chest, he said, "Dakota's back."