The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 12

I awoke early the next morning, and practically crawled to the door. Zuko was already on deck giving orders as the ship sailed-I only knew this because I could hear him yelling. Rubbing my eyes to wake myself, I stood and dressed myself, then went to join the others on deck. Without having to ask, I knew we were near Kyoshi Island. It was strange that I had never heard of this place, especially with all the sailing Zuko's had everyone doing.

"You don't seem to be much of a morning person," came a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Bao smirking at me.

"Is it really that obvious?" I smirked in return, trying to convince myself that our previous encounter hadn't happened.

"You look terrible," he laughed, pointing to my mess of hair that had been styled by my pillow. I felt myself blush as I combed my fingers through my tangled hair. "It's fine," Bao laughed again, smiling this time. "You look fine."

From that point, we trained to keep ourselves busy; There was nothing else for either of us to do until the ship was ashore. Nothing that wouldn't force Zuko to have yet another tantrum again, that is.

Hours later, we came upon the small island, a large statue of Avatar Kyoshi standing in her honor. I watched as Zuko walked down the ramp to the ground, followed by his soldiers. "Find the avatar. I want him alive," he instructed. Just from tone of his voice, I knew this would lead to one thing: Destruction. I knew Zuko would've told me to stay on the ship, and it was probably best that I stayed behind after what happened last time. But, still, I left the ship and went to warn the island.

I know, I know. This was probably the stupidest thing I could've done, but that didn't stop me. I wasn't sure where to go, so I chose a random building amongst the village. Just my luck, of course: the building consisted of what I had assumed to be warriors. Face paint, armor, fans similar to Avatar Kyoshi's. They were definitely warriors.

"The island is under attack!" I announced after barging in, catching their attention. My voice lowered to its normal volume when I added, "The Fire Nation is here." That was enough to have most of the all-female militia to run out to save the village. Just as I turned to help them outside, I heard Sokka's voice.

"Saki?"

I turned to look, but I didn't see him. Only two of the warriors, one of which looked a bit too masculine compared to the other girls. I shook my head, dismissing it as just my imagination as I ran out to the village. The soldiers were already wreaking havoc on the village, burning whatever they had to in order to find the Avatar. While the other girls were fighting off the soldiers and Zuko, I was trying to put out the fires. One after another, I was saving the houses from crumbling to the ground into a pile of ashes. But no matter how much I tried, it seemed like ten fires would appear for every one I put out.

"These little girls can't protect you forever!" I heard Zuko shouting, hoping to provoke him to come out and face him.

I sighed in frustration and tried to double up on my progress, putting out two fires at a time. That was when I heard a crash, which only meant that they were in battle. Wonderful..... If given the chance, I would've gone to help - but it wasn't my place to be, and I had fires to put out. Finally, I had finished. As a result of the now-extinguished flames, the sky was now murky, and the air seemed unbreathable. I looked up at the dark blend of smoke and clouds. I sighed and ran to tend to any villagers.

"Help!" A woman's voice called from behind me, coming from one of the homes behind me. "Please, someone help!"

I ran to the home that the cries were coming from, but stopped in front of the burning home. If I waited any longer, whoever was in there would be trapped. So I didn't hesitate. "I'm here!" I shouted to reassure her that help was on its way, though there was no real guarantee that I could get her or anyone else out. I proceeded to bend water from any nearby source, which so happened to be a small well only a few feet from me, and extinguished the fire. "I'm coming!" I said again as I stepped into the smoking-filled house, ashes finding their way into my throat as I looked for the woman trapped in the house. I hadn't expected there to be more fire, but that's exactly what I got. The walls, the roof, the furniture. All of them ablaze.

"Please, help!" The words were more hoarse, but I still attempted to navigate through the smoky rooms. I looked into a bedroom and found a body hunched over, cradling a much smaller body.

"I'm here," I coughed. "I'm here, I'm going to get you out of here." The woman looked up at me with eyes red from either sobbing of from the smoke-or maybe both. She shook her head, holding the smaller body out to me. A little boy, about 1 or 2 years old, ashes on his terrified little face. "Take him," she said. "Please, take him. Save him."

I shook my head, just about to protest that I was going to save them both, when she shoved the boy into my arms and yelled for me to go. I wish I had grabbed that stubborn woman and pulled her out with us, but I didn't. I didn't do that at all. I held the little boy close to keep him from breathing in anymore smoke. Once we were outside, I heard something I'd never forget. Crash. The roof and walls came down in flames, becoming nothing but a pile of rubble. What I didn't hear was a scream. The woman didn't make a single sound as her home came down on her.

The only scream I heard was my own.