Elysium (ATLA)

Chapter Five

With a gasp of fresh air, Xian opened her eyes. Beautiful sunshine flowed through the slats of the blinds above her window in her room at the library. For a second there, she thought that the past few months had been a dream. Her moving to Republic City was a dream. Her getting sick and not finding a cure was a dream. Her meeting Navrek, the dead guy, was a dream. Her dying was a dream. 

But, she knew better than that She knew all of those things were real and had happened. Why was she alive, though? She thought that the ritual did not work. She had died. She did. Here she was in her bed, alive and breathing and definitely not dead. It must have worked. It must have worked!

Xian jumped out of her bed and ran out into the hallway of the little apartment above the wonderful library. There were so many worlds below her in those books, but this real one was very dear to her heart. She knew for certain that she wouldn't ever lose herself again like she had before.

She ran down the stairs, enjoying the feeling of just running. She hadn't been able to do that for a long time because of her illness. Now, she was very healthy and fit and ready to run across this world. She was ready for everything that was going to happen to her.

"Dear cousin, it worked!" Mesila signed to her once she saw her down here in the library, eyes bright. She wrapped her arms around Xian's shoulders for a quick second before letting her go. "You are alive."

"I am. All thanks to you."

Mesila rolled her eyes. "Give thanks to the Spirits, dear cousin. They are the ones who saved you."

"I have to go tell Navrek the good news!"

Xian hugged Mesila again before sprinting outside. It was early morning, where the sun was barely over the buildings around her. A sweet breeze blew through the streets, bringing along the wonderful scent of bread that was slowly baking down the block. Everything about this world was so wonderful and beautiful and breathtaking. It was like she was seeing this world in a new light, one where everything was so bright and full of joy.

Other footsteps joined the sound of hers, making her frown. Who else was out here this early in the morning? Most people in Republic City didn't get up this early, let alone on the weekend. It was their relaxing time. No one else would be out here. No one. Except the one she had wanted to see since she woke up this morning.

"Navrek!" she shouted once she saw the familiar boy wandering through the street in front of her. She ran over to him, feeling both happy and confused. What in the world was he doing here? Was he alive, too? "Navrek, it's me, Xian!"

"This world . . . it's --"

"Different, I know," Xian said with an excited grin. She couldn't believe that her research had actually found a real cure for her illness and for death itself. She had to write about this for the medical community of Republic City. She was still a little confused as to how he got revived, but she wasn't going to even mention it because she was so happy. Turning her attention back to Navrek, she found a frown on his face. "But, I can show you around."

"I don't want to be here."

Xian's eyes narrowed at him, wondering if she even heard him correctly. "What?" she asked him, touching his shoulder before he could even walk away from her. She had no idea where he was going since he didn't know where he even was right now. "Navrek, what are you talking about? You don't know where you're going!"

"I can find my way back to the Northern Water Tribe."

"Everything's different." Her hand slid down his arm into his own hand, holding onto his fingers gently. His skin was clammy, like he was absolutely terrified. "Your mother won't be alive, Navrek. Everyone you knew will be very, very old or dead."

"She's right, Navrek."

Xian dropped Navrek's hand in surprise. Who else was awake at this time in the morning? No one she knew. Besides, that voice sounded very familiar, more familiar than anyone from Republic City. 

"Eimi?" Navrek asked, his voice thick. Xian immediately turned around to see the Spirit glimmering in the early morning sunshine. She looked so heavenly right now. "What are you doing here? And what am I doing here?"

"Xian completed a ritual to save herself from her illness," Eimi said with a smile on her face. Xian beamed at her. "Because of that, she resurrected you, too. Her hope and lifeforce was enough to cover both of you."

"Why?" Navrek asked bitterly.

"You two are getting a second chance at life, just like I did," Eimi said with a soft smile. "Use it wisely." She turned toward Navrek, her smile widening. "I traveled the world for you, but now you have the chance to do it. It's so vast and exciting, Navrek. You deserve to see it in all its glory." Before Navrek could even answer Eimi, she turned toward Xian with that same grin on her face. "You have so many stories to tell, Xian. No one else is going to tell them like you can. You have to live, though, and meet new and old friends. Both of you. That's the only way to thrive."

Xian knew that Eimi was talking about Okoma, her old friend from the Fire Nation. Hope burned through her chest at the thought of traveling the world and actually living. She didn't have to be afraid anymore. She didn't have to be terrified of anything and everything. No, she wasn't going to be afraid. She was going to live.

"Most of all, fall in love," Eimi said. Her voice got a little quieter as the light started shining through her glowing body. Xian didn't want her to leave; by the look on Navrek's face, he also didn't want her to leave. "It's the best feeling in the entire world."

Just as Eimi started dissolving into thin air, another person joined her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him. Xian knew who it was. It was Sokka, Eimi's true love, the one who saved her from herself. The two of them locked eyes with large smiles on their faces as they disappeared from her line of sight. 

"Goodbye, Xian and Navrek," her voice whispered even though she was gone. "I'll see you both soon."

And just like that, it got absolutely quiet. Xian glanced at Navrek to find a blank look on his face. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she didn't expect him to not want to be alive. Then again, she had also been ready to die and leave this world behind; she couldn't blame him for it, but she also thought that there could have been a reason for him to want to be alive. 

"What are you thinking?" Xian whispered to him, hating to break the silent spell around them. He still wouldn't look at her when she touched his hand. "Navrek?"

"I can't believe I'm alive," he said softly. Finally, he looked at her with those hypnotic eyes of his. There was something behind the confusion in his eyes, something that made her smile. "We have to listen to Eimi. She obviously knows what she's talking about because she's a Spirit."

"Yeah, she does." Xian stepped a little closer to Navrek, hoping that he was feeling exactly what she was feeling. "We're both alive and healthy and free, Navrek. I think that's something to celebrate about."

"By traveling the world?"

"And by writing more novels together?"

A wide smile spread across his face, casting shadows down his neck because of those high cheekbones. "Together. As long as we're together."

Navrek wrapped Xian up in his arms, lifting her off the ground as he spun her around and around. Her happy shrieks rang out through the air while the area around her blurred together until she could only see Navrek. For once in her life, she finally felt happy.

He slowly set her down but kept his arms wrapped around her. "I think we can start this falling in love process that Eimi was talking about," he whispered to her.

"Yeah? How are we going to do that?"

He answered her by kissing her. Xian knew that this life was a gift and that she shouldn't take it for granted ever again. To be alive was special. However, to live -- to actually live -- was so rare, so unique. Her life before this experience was basically dead; she was too terrified to do anything that she wanted to. However, now that she had a second chance, she would live a life worth reading about -- a life worth writing about.

THE END