Kimi (ATLA) (Coco; Book 2)

15

Kimi

I anxiously pick at my fingers as I wait at the door. Should I be doing this? I don't want to, but I have to. My nation is in trouble, and so is the Air Nation. My marriage, my friendships, my pregnancy, everything will be ruined if I don't handle Patyn. I have to do this... Without Zuko, and without our friends. Long already ambushed Sokka and Katara's grandmother's memorial, and Suki got hurt. If anything happens to anyone else, Zuko, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I'm already risking a lot. Hello! I'm pregnant. It's time to put an end to Patyn's rein. I need to do this... Alone.

"Lady Kimi, what are you doing here?"

"I'm so sorry to bother you this late. May I come in, Mrs. Long?"

...

Zuko

"What do you mean she's gone?" Aang asks.

I called this emergency meeting because Kimi is gone. She's left a note and that's it. There's not a trace of where she went, no one even saw her leave!

"She left, Aang!" I yell at him.

"In the note she said she needed to find Patyn, by herself," Sokka explains.

"That's ridiculous," Katara says.

"So what, are we going to interrogate everyone in the palace again?" Toph asks. "Someone had to see her leave."

"No," I answer. "Someone is leaking information to Long and his Ozai followers. They have tabs on not just Kimi, but also me, Aang, all of us. We don't know what they're going to do next. They could be getting ready to start up another war. Patyn has convinced them that Ozai is going to rise again."

I know Kimi believes this is her mess to clean up, but it's not. Patyn is like Azula. They're both obsessive and psychotic. It just so happens that Kimi is his obsession. My father is the one who trained him personally, who instilled such an evil and wicked mindset in him, just like he did others. He saw himself in Long and used it to his advantage. If Kimi weren't in the picture, he'd still be wrecking havoc. He wants to be Ozai. Do you know why Patyn is so obsessed with Kimi? Because when he got to her the first time, she was so young, so impressionable, and he loved having someone he could manipulate. He was trying to turn Kimi into what my father tried to turn so many people and Azula. So when he couldn't, he burned her, scarred her... Just like what my father did to me.

"So then what do we do?" Aang asks.

I sigh.

What the h3ll do we do?

"I'm not sure."

...

Kimi

"Thank you," I say politely as Patyn's mother hands me a steaming cup of tea.

"So what brings you here?"

Come on, Kimi. You can do this. Do this for Zuko, for your family, your friends, your nation! Just get it over with so you can you can go home to Zuko and start your family.

"I just can't do it anymore. Running an entire nation with... Him!" I exclaim as I fake sob into my hands.

"Come on, hun, you can tell me. I'll understand, I am a mother."

Gotcha!

"It's Zuko. Gosh, ever since he became firelord, he's been unbearable! I just feel so stupid. Patyn would've never treated me like this. He'd know how to run a country, and he'd know how to treat me. I just can't do it anymore. You saw how he treated me that day we first met!"