Avatar: The Fifth Element

29. Healing

Zuko climbed out of the crater with an unconsciousness Rumi in his arms. The others immediately rushed up to him with relief washing over their faces, but Zuko no longer felt okay.

He plopped down to the ground and held Rumi in his lap.

"Is she... she can't..." Zuko did his best to choke out the words, but he wouldn't let himself say it.

"Rumi!" the sound of Rumi's parents voices grew louder as they limped from the basement, their bounds had been broken from Rumi's power, but they were also injured.

When they saw her, they kneeled on the ground. Her mother bent down and hugged Rumi, both her and her husband crying.

"Thank you for stopping her," Gopan spoke quietly to Zuko.

"I just... wanted to save her... I love her," Zuko sniffled.

"Excuse me, coming through," Iroh's voice was heard throughout the crowd until he reached Zuko, and sat down. "May I have a look at her?"

Etka nodded solemnly and let go of her daughter, allowing Iroh to examine Rumi.

"She's alive."

Zuko could've sworn his heart exploded with joy. More tears fell, but no longer ones of sadness. This was relief, relief and pure bliss.

Gopan and Etka also teared up more, but no one seemed more relieved than Zuko.

Suddenly, Rumi shifted in Zuko's lap and her eyelids fluttered open.

She looked to her parents, her eyes threatening to roll back as she was barely conscious, "I... forgive you..."

"Oh! Sweetie! I'm so sorry!" her mother cried out.

"We love you dearly," her father said, and the two of them pulled Rumi into a tight hug, never wanting to let go again.

Breaking the hug, Rumi attempted to stand, wobbling on her legs. With a little help fro Zuko, Rumi stood, a little unsteady on her feet. Everyone around her took a nervous step back, watching her with fear in their eyes.

I need to show them that I can be good. This element heals, it's life as well as destruction. I need to... clear my head.

Rumi took a deep breath in—just like she had when opening the chakras with Guru Pathik—and allowed her mind to go blank. She turned to Zuko and closed her eyes, placing both hands on his cheeks.

He had been injured quite a lot from her destructive episode, along with many others. Zuko was scattered with burns, cuts and bruise, and everyone else suffered from burns due to the heat of the Sun. The land around them had also suffered. Where lush plants once grew, we're now charred and scorched shells of what they used to be.

Rumi allowed herself to see it all in her mind, and then turned her focus to Zuko. She thought about giving all her energy and strength to him; transferring the ether. Suddenly, the same bright light shone from Rumi's hands and spread over Zuko's body.

He flinched, expecting it to hurt, but this time it was different. Instead of pins and needles, it felt like warm mist sprinkling his body. It smelt fresh and lifelike.

When the light fizzled away, everyone was in awe as Zuko had been completely healed. They no longer backed away in fear, but looked to Rumi to help them.

She faced the crowd and bowed her head down, "I'm sorry... let me fix this."

And one by one, she healed everyone who had been injured by her wrath. Bending no longer drained her, and the more people she helped, the more rejuvenated she felt. It was like she was born again.

Feeling the power surge through her, Rumi now focused her attention to the land. She knelt down and placed her hands on the ground, allowing the ether to expand from her fingertips, coating the damaged earth. The plants and ground had newfound life in them, as trees and grass sprouted back from the dead.

Some people rejoiced while others cried tears of happiness, and for once, no one was scared of Rumi. The gratitude and forgiveness she received from everyone had fulfilled her, but no one more so than Zuko. With him, Rumi felt like she could accomplish everything.

For the next several days, Rumi sought out to right all of her wrongs. She—along with the others—traveled to all the places the meteors hit, where she revived the land and healed everyone who had been injured, all while apologizing profusely.

Rumi never got tired of helping people, and through it, eventually came to forgive herself. That was the hardest part of all. She knew some people may still view her as a bad person; a monster even, but she wouldn't let every little thing get to her anymore, that's how she spiralled in the first place.

Rumi wouldn't allow herself to fall back into her past, but she learned to not regret it either. After all, if it weren't for everything she'd been through and done, she'd have never met Zuko and the rest of them. Those friendships were now the most important things to her.

After mending the relationship with her parents, Rumi went to the forest village where she met with some of her old friends, along with Osamu and Nima.

It wasn't hard fix her friendship with Chou and Siku, as the two knew she had never intentionally been a bad person. Siku admitted that her brother—Kaito—has been deeply corrupted, and nothing could have been done to save him. Chou had wished she had sided with Rumi earlier, but Rumi no longer cared. They forgave her and she forgave them, all was well. Even Osamu apologized to Rumi for not dealing with things properly in the past, and Nima, well she never held grudges against anyone. She was only happy that all ended well. Somehow, it seemed like she knew it would.

With the world and Rumi's heart all healed, everything finally seemed to be at peace, and everyone could rejoice and celebrate.

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A/N ~ holy guys! this was the last chapter, but don't worry, there'll still be an epilogue! i'm not gonna say much right now because there'll probably be a big ass authors note after the epilogue.
i hope you all have enjoyed up until this point, and of course, don't forget to comment/vote/share!
—Blaise⚡️