Kimi (ATLA) (Coco; Book 2)

20

Last time on "Kimi;"

"If you know this then why do this? Why help Patyn?" I ask desperately.

I just don't get it. She was just like me once. Why would she want another young woman to go through something she went through, something that made her miserable? She could help me, she can leave this place and start over, I'd help her! Instead, she chooses misery. She'd rather watch her son cause chaos and destruction, it's not fair.

"He's my son. You'll understand when you have your children," she replies.

"No, because Patyn is going to try to kill me in three days."

"No," she gasps. "My Patyn would never. You may not love him, but he loves you. Just give him a chance, please!"

She's nuts!

"No, never! And if you knew that I was lying, then why not tell Patyn? You had your chance to expose me in the beginning, but you didn't."

"Wishful thinking, I guess," she laughs sadly. "I watched my son for years go around heartbroken, desperate for you. When you showed up at my doorstep, I thought Sozin himself gave us a miracle... But it was too good to be true. You could've done anything, travel the world and revive the Air Nation, move to the Air Temple for good, or you could've chosen to be with my son, something he's wanted for years... and yet you came back here, for that man," she says the last part bitterly.

"Mrs. Long... Do you hear yourself? I was 15. Your son scarred me. Why would I ever chose him? I know you love him, but Patyn is a bad person, and he needs to be stopped. I can take you away from this place. You can start over and we can heal together."

"I don't need healing, I need to help my son," she replies.

"If you want to help him, then you should accept my offer, or else-"

"Or else what?" She cuts me off.

"Or else I'll kill him."

"Ha!" She exclaims with a bitter laugh. "You're an airbender, you wouldn't kill anyone. Your people died because they refused to fight- cowards, all of them. I would expect the same from you."

"You're wrong!" I say strongly. "I will, I will kill him! And you're wrong about  my people. The airbenders were the bravest and most courageous. Remember, it was Sozin who had to wait for the comet to attack the Air Nation... and yet, he still lost, because I am here, and so is Aang. So yes, I will kill your son."

This isn't Fire Nation vs. Air Nation, because I am just as much Air Nation as I am Fire Nation. This, this is personal now. Just like how it was Aang vs. Ozai, this is Me vs. Patyn Long.

"Well that just won't do."

She looks at me. Her eyes dark and cold. Those are the same eyes I stared into the night I was burned at the North Pole those many years ago. Patyn has those same eyes. That sweet looking old lady that once stood before me is gone. She thinks this makes her a good mother, but it doesn't, not at all. Patyn Long is deranged and evil because his mother and his father is deranged and evil. He comes from a line of sick and twisted people. If Mrs. Long refuses to do the right thing, then she leaves me no other choice.

She ignites her hands. Hm, so she's a firebender, too. The difference between now and the night her son burned me, I'm not a little girl anymore, and I refuse to get burned again. I draw up a small wind around us, making my hair flow. She looks around like she's actually worried, but it quickly fades away, and her stare is icier then ever.