Braya : The Lost Guardian

Healed Connections

"Aang, have you seen my necklace?" Katara yelled to her husband. "I took it off before getting in the shower, but that is the last place I remember seeing it."

"No dear, I'm sure it is somewhere in the temple," Aang said. "Women, you have the hardest time keeping track of things. Toph and Kya have both complained about things they have lost this week. I thought I would never get Kya to stop crying when she lost the bracelet Braya gave her." He went back to his research. He had been studying all the areas the bodies of previous victims had been left, hoping to find a clue of Braya's whereabouts.

Four months had passed since Braya was taken, and the energy in the air temple was less than positive. Toph spent every minute in the station, reviewing all the information they had gathered over time about their killer. Lin had passed her test at the academy and was hired on as an officer. She along with the rest of the family spent most of their time looking for clues. Even Bumi who was enlisted in the United Forces would write to his father with ideas of possible hideouts. So far, every lead they had though, fell short. The mystery man who took Braya was like a ghost, and he had taken her to his ghost town.

Katara had planned a dinner for everyone at the air temple. She wanted as much to remain normal as possible, for everyone's sake. Lin didn't usually go to the dinners anymore. She normally stayed at the station and continued researching with Toph, but tonight Aang had made Toph promise she would come. "I'm not going to this dinner without you. We can continue discussing the research at the temple," Toph said to Lin.

"Take Suyin, I don't want to go. My time is better spent here," Lin replied to Toph.

"That wasn't an invite, it was an order," Toph said glaring at Lin. Lin sighed and got up to leave with her mother.

When they reached the air temple everyone was already inside. They all took a seat around the dinner table and ate quietly. Noone had anything to say. Kya who had taken Braya's disappearance especially hard was the first to speak. "I heard today that people that have gone missing for longer than a month usually are found dead, and we are going on month four, is that right?" Kya said to the group.

"Kya!" Katara yelled at her daughter. "What has gotten into you?"

"Oh, nothing. Just glad we can all get together like the big happy family we are and have dinner," Kya said sarcastically.

"We have to try and keep our spirits up too Kya," Aang said from across the table.

"That's what this is?" Tenzin said joining into the conversation.

"What has gotten into both of you?" Katara said rounding on Tenzin.

"I guess I would be the only one who truly cared about here out of everyone in this group," Kya said looking down at her plate.

"How dare you say that!" Suyin said raising herself off her seat.

"Are you going to argue it? Mom and dad were so busy training their precious water and airbender, they didn't give Braya any time at all. Toph is a major workaholic and raised one to be just like her. I spent time with her when she cried about being lonely, none of you did," Kya said a single tear running down her cheek. Everyone was silent.

"Braya said she was lonely?" Katara said just barely loud enough to hear.

"Yeah, we all failed her." Lin stood up and smashed her chair against the wall behind her. She walked out of the air temple without another word and went to the bench Braya loved so much outside. She sat down and watching the waves hit against the island. A few minutes later she felt another person's presence. Toph sat down next to Lin on the bench. "You know I use to meet Braya right here before going to her training with Huong," Toph said to Lin. "I watched her training. I have never seen anyone learn a new skill as fast as she did."

"She was really smart," Lin said sadly.

"Don't talk about her like she is dead already. Kya is broken, she misses her sister and best friend," Toph started.

"Yeah! Well, I miss my best friend and..." Lin stopped herself. "You don't see me treating other people like that"

"Why do you hide it?"

"Hide what?" Lin said confused by her mother's question.

"You said you miss your best friend and... and then stopped. Why didn't you finish it? You miss your best friend and girlfriend," Toph said looking in Lins direction. Lin sat frozen not sure what to say.

"How did you know?" Lin questioned

"I could feel your heart rate increase every time she walked through the door. The way you treated her was different too. You were much kinder and supportive of her than anyone else," Toph said casually.

"I loved her. I was so worried about what everyone would think and my career, that I ruined it. That night Braya told me she wanted me to go with her away from Republic City, at least for a little while. I told her no because of my career. She said she would stay, but she wanted us to tell everyone about our relationship and I said no. I told her our relationship was too much for me," Lin wiped a tear starting to form in her eye. "I was so worried about what our family would think. Now she is gone and that was the last thing I said to her. What if she is dead mom? I could never forgive myself. I couldn't move on."

"She's not dead Lin. She's stronger than that. Lin, I know I set an example of working a lot, but don't choose your job over family or love. Your job won't be there one day when you are too old to work it. As for your relationship with Braya, I just wanted you to tell me. I didn't want to force it out of you. When you were born, I hoped that one day you would find someone that would love you for you. Someone that if one day you were to get married, I would be proud of my daughter in law. When I realized that who you were with was Braya, I was ecstatic. She is everything I ever hoped you would find in someone, and I love the girl to death. I was rooting for you two," Toph stopped and grabbed Lins shoulder. "I only want for you whatever makes you happy." Lin gave Toph a hug. They sat for a minute longer on the bench and went back inside the air temple. Things seemed to have died down, no one was screaming or fighting. Instead, they were all relaxing in the living room of the air temple. They joined the others in silence.

Aang was sitting in a recliner staring at the fire burning in the fireplace. He was lost in the flames, thinking about Braya and where she could be. Suddenly, the room started to fade from his mind, and he was surrounded by dark clouds. He knew he was in the spirit world, but this was different than before. He could feel someone in the clouds, someone that hadn't been in the spirit world until now. He could see a figure, but he couldn't tell who it was. He called out to the figure, but no one responded. The clouds started to fade, and the room came back into focus. He looked at his family, who were all staring at him now. "Aang?" Toph said looking concerned.

"I just saw someone in the spirit world I've never met before," Aang said looking around at everyone.

"Who did you see?"

"I'm not sure they weren't talking, and I couldn't see them," Aang said. "Whoever it was, they were reaching out to me. They just didn't know it."