The Girl He Won't Remember

Chapter 13

"Let me go!" I yelled, not caring that I was talking to plants. "You stupid vines, let go of me!" The vines had coiled themselves around me, restraining my arms and legs. I fought and struggled as they tightened. I slipped my right arm free, and bent the water from the swamp gas to slice the vines apart. Finally free, I bolted back to the camp — or so I thought. As I ran, nothing looked the same. I'd no idea where I was or which I'd come from. I let out a frustrated scream and stamped my foot on the ground. My scream echoed, fading slowly into silence as I pouted. "Stupid swamp," I grumbled, then sighed. There was no point in throwing a tantrum. It wasn't going to get me any closer to the camp or my friends. So I walked.

I soon found myself in mess of flower-covered vines and more swamp water. The malodorous stench of swamp gas had somehow grown stronger, making my eyes water. I rubbed my wrist against my eyes. When I looked up, a friendly face was smiling softly at me. "Ursa," I whispered. New tears stung at my eyes as I ran towards her. She opened her arms for me...

...then I tripped over a vine, skidding my knee on the ground as she faded into the mist. Of course, it was too good to be true. The combination of hunger, sleep deprivation, and swamp gas was simply playing a cruel joke on me. Angrily, I sobbed on the ground. I didn't care about the blood trickling down my knee and shin. I didn't care that every part of me ached, or that I was longing for a real bed again. I simply wanted her back. I wanted Iroh back. I wanted Zuko...

Moments later, I'd run out of tears. I pulled myself up, bending water from the swamp to heal my knee, and stalked through the dreaded jungle of vines to rejoin my friends. I called out for my friends. Only my echo answered me. I trudged through the water and the twisting vines, water-whipping vines out of my way. "Katara! Sokka! Aang! Somebody?!"  I climbed down a steep tree root. There was a rustling coming from the other side, followed by grunts. My friends suddenly came tumbling down, stopping right at my feet. 

"What do you guys think you're doing?!" Sokka shouted as he shimmied from under the others. "I've been looking all over for you guys!"

"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara snapped back.

"I was chasing some girl," Aang said quietly. 

"What girl?" Katara asked. 

Aang shrugged and stood up, assisting Katara as she did the same. "I heard laughing, then I saw some girl in a fancy dress."

  I finally spoke. "I thought we were alone in this swamp." 

"Welp, there must be a tea party, and we just didn't get our invitations," Sokka said sarcastically. 

"I saw someone, too, Sokka," I said.

Katara frowned, looking away from us. "I thought I saw Mom..." 

Sokka's smug grin faded. "Look, we were all scared, and our minds were just playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here."

"You saw something too?" Katara asked.

Sokka turned away from his sister, hiding whatever emotion he didn't want to be seen. "I thought I saw Yue... but that doesn't prove anything! Look, I think about her all the time, and you saw Mom— someone you miss a lot."

"What about me?" Aang asked. "I didn't know the girl I saw, and all of our visions led us right here."

"Okay," I said, "but where is 'here'? The middle of the swamp?"

"Yeah..." Aang looked up, and the rest of us followed suit. "The center... It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here — I knew it!" We were standing on the root of a massive tree, whose branches outstretched farther than the eye could see.  

"It's just a tree," Sokka urged. "It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us, and there's nothing magical happening here!" Leave it to Sokka's pessimism and skeptical nature to absolutely jinx us. The water behind us erupted like a volcano, raining down on us as an enormous plant monster towered over us. Yes, I said it. A plant monster! As if things couldn't get more strange with this group. Our first instinct kicked in: separate, run. We dispersed and hoped to confuse the beast. Almost expectantly, the monster kept its attention on Sokka, the one person that continuously harmed the plant life of the swamp. It wrapped its "arm" around Sokka, completely restraining him as he struggled against the grip. As he was lifted into the air, Aang used his airbending to sever the arm, dropping Sokka back into the water. The monstrosity didn't surrender, nor did we. 

Katara left into the water, and I bent a wave to maneuver her to where she needed to be to attack. She hurled water at the beast and penetrated its torso, forcing it to stagger back with a large hole in its center. When it was clear that the creature was unfazed by the damage, I ran to Katara's side. Together, we bent a large wave and shoved the creature backwards, tossing Sokka with it. Frustrated, Katara parted the water and ran towards the beast, but was swatted away like nothing more than a pesky bug. Tentacles of vines shot at me and Aang, throwing us backwards as well. The battle went on for what felt like forever, and I could already feel the bruises forming. Katara eventually sliced the beast open, and the vines fell limply into the water. Inside of the vines was a very stout man, whose unmentionables were hidden only by a modest leaf. 

"Why did you call us here if you just wanted to kill us?" Aang glared, fully prepared to knock the wind out of this man. (No pun intended.)

"Wait!" He said, "I didn't call you here."

Calming down, Aang said, "We were flying over, and I heard something calling to me — telling me to land.

"He's the Avatar," Sokka clarified. "Stuff like that happens to us all the time."

"The Avatar?" The man gestured to his left. "Come with me."

"So... Who are you?" Katara finally asked after a silent journey up the tree. 

The man bent a large vine from our path. "I protect the swamp from people that want to hurt it." He frowned at Sokka. "Like this fella, with his big knife."

"See?" Sokka said. "Now that's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home! Nothing mystical about it!"

"If I recall correctly, you were screaming pretty horrifically," I teased. "You seemed awfully terrified of this 'regular guy'." He glared at me, and I stuck my tongue out mockingly.

"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place alright," the man said. "I reached enlightenment right here under this banyan-grove tree." He sat cross-legged between two roots. "I heard it calling me, just like you did."

"Sure you did," Sokka replied. "It seems real chatty."

The man ignored Sokka's remark. "You see, this whole swamp is just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and take root, then spread some more. One big, living organism. Just like the entire world." 

Aang and the man engaged in a riveting conversation about the entire world being one living organism, and so on, but I wasn't interested in hearing it. What I wanted to focus on was getting out of the swamp, but I couldn't do that without Appa or the others. Instead, I allowed my mind to drift off into the dream I'd had when we were falling. Maybe it was the swamp trying to speak to me. After all, it seemed to know who I missed and what I was feeling. What if it was right? What if I only want to leave the group because everyone I love keeps leaving my life, and I just wanted a head-start? If that was the case, then maybe it was time for me to move on. In my new life, I won't be left behind anymore, I thought to myself. I won't depend on anyone to protect me like I've always done. 

"Saki? Saki!"

I snapped back to reality with Sokka shaking me. "Didn't you hear anything? We have to go! We know where Appa and Momo are!" He grabbed me by the hand and practically dragged me along to catch up with the others. 

When we caught up with our animal companions, we found them bound by other waterbending men wearing only modesty leaves. Once Aang freed them, the swamp people treated us to opossum-chicken and large bugs. It's safe to say that I didn't eat much that night. 

While the others were feasting and chatting away, I was in the saddle, finally composing my letter.