Avatar The Last Airbender: The Sins of the Past [Katara x OC]

Chapter 1-9: Crystal

I’m roused from my fitful slumber by hearing two quiet voices across the room. I can’t quite make out what they’re saying, but I pretend to still be asleep in the hopes they’ll continue and I can hear them. Eventually I’m proven correct, as I hear the voices get louder, moving closer.

The first voice, which I recognize as Zhao, says, “And this one. She is a bit damaged, but still quite beautiful. I have reason to believe she is Avatar Roku’s lost daughter, the one no one ever found.”

The other voice, an unfamiliar male, says, “If the rumors are true, she seems to have somehow extended her life like Avatar Kyoshi did. She still looks quite youthful.”

Zhao says, “Ah, yes. Quite.” I feel a cold shiver run through my spine as he says that, but I bite my lower lip and force myself to stay still as he adds, “She could be useful for Fire Lord Ozai’s daughter, either as a sparring partner or as a servant. I heard that she was a skilled firebender despite her… limitations. It’s a damn shame she sided with the Avatar, but if we could make her loyal to the Fire Lord, we can make her do anything.”

Both men leave the room, and I hear the door shut behind them. I start tearing up and hyperventilating, unable to remain stoic anymore. ‘The one no one ever found’. They found my sister. They found Rina. She survived the town burning down, but the Fire Nation found her. What did they do to her? What happened to Mother? What are they going to do to me? Whatever it is, I don’t want to stick around to find out.

I sit up, trying to get enough air into my lungs to calm myself down, but it’s not working. I can’t even move my hand up to wipe my rapidly falling tears since my arm is chained to the cot. All of a sudden, I feel a hand come from behind me, wiping away my tears. I turn around and see a girl around my age sitting in a cot behind me, the only other person in the room. She has short brown hair, tan skin, and piercing emerald-green eyes.

She takes a deep breath, and motions for me to mimic her. I do so, slowly calming down.

It takes a few minutes, but when I feel myself breathing normally again, the girl says, “There we go. Just take slow breaths.”

I ask, “Who are you? Why are you helping me?”

The girl responds, “I’m Crystal. I saw you having a panic attack and just wanted to help. It’s just in my nature, I guess. I was taken from a Fire Nation controlled Earth Kingdom village about a month ago. What are you doing here in the servant’s quarters? You look like some kind of Fire Nation royalty except for those clothes.”

I ask, “Did you not hear Zhao and that man talking earlier?”

Crystal shakes her head, saying, “No, I’m deaf. I can tell only what others are saying through reading your lips, and I get whipped if I stare at them too long.”

I say, “Oh. Uh… I’m Ryuza, and I’m Avatar Roku’s youngest daughter. I was traveling with Avatar Aang and our friends when I was taken by Zhao. He took me to try to make me a servant for the Fire Lord.”