Rainbow's Gift (Avatar The Last Airbender Fanfic)

54. Fear of Fire

"Do it again!" Nuwa shouted. The more she shouted, the more her voice seemed to get quieter over the flames. The flames were nearing me even though I tried to run away and now I was surrounded by it. Tears started to fall as the flames got closer. I didn't want to be here. I couldn't touch the fire. "Are you a wimp? Stop crying!" I heard Nuwa say. I couldn't even see where she was. The flames were growing.

"You heard what she said. Are you a wimp? I know you are. I have always seen you as a disgrace to our family." My father said as he appeared on the other side of the fire.

"I'm not a disgrace. You killed Rashan. You're the disgrace." I said in between sobs. My father laughed and he was joined by Firelord Ozai. He looked the same as I saw him a few years ago, with the same cruel eyes. He added more fire from his mouth like a dragon and I knew this time I was going to be engulfed in flames. I screamed as the fire licked my skin but in a second it all disappeared and I was in the red flower garden again.

"That is enough for today!" Iris said as she appeared by my side in an instant. Huise tried to put her arm around me and failed. I slowly stood up and wiped my tears. Seeing Zhao and Ozai together was not a happy sight. They both frightened me. "I'm sorry about Nuwa, dear," Iris said as she led me to the kitchen of the temple. "She just doesn't know when to stop."

I slowly nodded and muttered that it was okay but it wasn't. Ever since we've tried to unlock my red power of the rainbow, I've been seeing my father's ghost. I've been seeing Rashan'd death over and over again. Azula and her father have been haunting me. The day that Zuko burned me on his ship keeps going on repeat like an evil melody. I couldn't do it. I couldn't bend fire. I hated the element. Even when we made camp with Team Avatar, I made sure that I was never on firewood duty and I usually sat away from the fire.

In the early days when I joined the team, Sokka always asked me if I was afraid of fire. He once joked that it's funny that I'm scared of fire because the Fire Nation is my home. I remember hitting him and telling him to never ask me such a question or joke about it again. He never did but I always saw his worried glances whenever fire got near me.

I took the bean puffs and stuffed them in my mouth along with a glass of water. Iris and Huise were watching me with worried expressions and I wished they would stop. I was okay for a little bit until when I was alone. That was when I saw my father watching me, his brown eyes taunting me.

"I'm going to take a bath." I announced and Huise escorted me to the bath house. I quickly took off the white dress that I had been given and I  removed the bun I had put on my rainbow-coloured hair. My days of staying here had my features change to make me look more rainbow sylph-like like but as I examined the scars on my pale skin I knew that I would never be the rainbow sylph fully.

You think it would be easy to be the rainbow sylph without using fire. Fire is a part of us whether you like it or not. Not using fire would be like removing the color red from the rainbow. You would never be strong enough without the full rainbow. It's like the Avatar deciding he didn't want to firebend. He would have to at the end of the day or he would never be a fully realized Avatar.

Iris's words made sense, they did and I knew that I couldn't hide from fire. It was everywhere. But I was too scared to touch it since I had feared it since day one. I heard movement and I called for Huise, the Iris. They didn't appear. Instead, I saw a shot of blue fire and Azula appeared. I froze.

"Aw, you look scared. If only I had a painting of you looking like this." She laughed as she sat on the opposite edge of the bath, playing with the blue fire in her hands. I was waiting for the fire to come burn me. I knew if I got out of the water she would catch me and burn me. Azula was quick. "You know, you always said you weren't scared of me. Did you say that to protect Zuzu or did you mean it?"