Double Bender

Part 16

After all that happened, all of us decided that a small break or a vacation was in order. Aang looked at the map and told us that a neat place to go would be a place called Ember Island. "Ember Island?" I asked skeptically. "Yep," said Aang, grinning. "Isn't it great?" I looked at the map. "Are you sure it's a good idea?" "Of course it is," said Sokka. "Why wouldn't it be?" I looked at the map again. "Well, Ember Island is a tourist spot. It'll be crowded with visitors. Are you sure going there as a vacation is the best idea?" "That's the best part." Aang said. "This spot right here," He pointed to a spot on the map. "It's just a bunch of springs and caves. People hardly ever come there. We'll have it all to ourselves." "Well," I said. "Since you put it that way... Let's go!"
We arrived at Ember Island early in the morning at a deep crater, that looked like it should've been a volcano but was filled with water, changed into our bathing suits, and started to swim. Well, I decided to stay clear of the water. "Come on!" Said Geo. "I'm good," I said. "I really don't feel like swimming." "Aw c'mon, why?" She said. "I don't have a bathing suit!" I called after her. "Just swim in your dress." I shook my head in protest. "It'll dry off." She continued. What's the big deal?" I didn't want to tell her. It was too embarrassing. "You'll catch a cold?" I said it like a question. "Did you turn into an old lady within the past five minutes?" she joked. "No," I said defensively. "Then come on!" she said."You're a water-bender. How could you not want to go swimming?" "I don't feel like it. End of discussion!" "If you want to be a stick in the mud, go right ahead," she said as she dove into the water. The real reason was it reminded me too much of my mother. Okay, here's a better description. My mother loved to swim. And living really close to a lake, you could guess where we would spend our spare time. The three of us, me, my mom, and my dad, would swim all the time. That lake was our paradise and then we would go home and we'd roast marshmallows over an open fire and just bask in the summer air. And even in the winter, she loved the water. We'd go ice skating. Of course, my dad, being an earth-bender, sucked at it. But it didn't matter, it was still some of the best times of my young life. So, ever since she died, swimming always kind of...depressed me.
Anyway, Toph and I still had our doubts and we still thought someone was gonna see Aang and recognize him. "Aang," said Toph. "I know swimming is fun and all, but do you really think you should be exposing yourself like that? Cover up!" Aang decided to take his easy-going route. "What?" He said. "I'm wearing trunks," "I know," Said Toph. "It's your tattoos I'm worried about. What if someone sees you?!" "There are walls all around us," Katara said. "It's completely safe." "I'm with Toph," I said, sitting up. "It's a good idea to take some precaution," "How about this," Sokka said. "If a guard comes, we'll tell him that he's seeing things." He laughed at his own dumb joke. "I'm serious!" I said. "Go ahead and be worry-warts," Sokka said. "When you guys want to have fun, come find us," With that, he dove into the water. "Excuse us for wanting to make sure you guys don't get killed," Toph muttered.
That night, just as we were about to go to sleep, I felt something move. It was very near to us, just about the shape of a man, but...made of metal? "Guys?" I said. "This is going to sound weird but, it feels like there's a... metal man following us." "I feel it too," said Toph. "I got a signal too," Geo added. I looked up at the cliff and saw something shiny standing there, reflecting the moonlight. I was right. It was a metal man. He was huge, with a body of flesh but his left leg and right arm were made completely of metal, he had a short, black beard, and on his forehead was a tattoo of a red eye. He was huge and intimidating. Fear surged through me as he looked at us. My body shivered as his piercing eyes blazed at us like a pair of swords that could not be seen but were twice as sharp. Wait, he wasn't looking at all of us...he was looking right at... Aang. I saw him scrunch his nose up as he took a breath. He breathed in... and then it went from silence to chaos. A beam shot from his forehead giving off the loudest sound I've ever heard in my life. He was fire-bending with his mind! A boom echoed through the air as the beam flew...right at us. The beam hit a nearby cliff and we were all blown backwards in the explosion. Toph and Geo got up but I was still in shock. I lay there in a useless heap as Toph and Geo sent a pile of rocks flying towards Mr. Metal Pants but another beam created an explosion right in front of Toph. By then I was brought out of my shock and I was on my feet with Katara and using my water-bending to try and prevent the next explosion. But it only resulted in a cloud of steam. "Where is he?" Sokka said. "I don't see him!" I shouted. Suddenly, I saw a shadowy figure of a huge, buff man coming right at me.
I froze. I didn't know what to do. The figure got closer and closer, I closed my eyes and prepared for pain. "Tatiana!" Said Geo shaking my shoulders. "What's gotten into you?! Snap out of it!" She grabbed my hand and ran by a cliff with everyone else. "This is crazy!" Sokka said. "How can we beat a guy who blows up things with his mind?!" Aang peeked out to try and get a look at our attacker. "We can't," he said. "Jump on Appa. I'll try and distract him," We ran to get Appa, hearing several cracks and bangs. "Yip yip!" Katara said. We flew low, hoping to get Aang when the fight was over. Suddenly, Aang jumped out from the steam and onto Appa's back. "I'm okay," said Aang. Toph was a little confused about the attack. "Well that was random," she said. "I don't think so," said Katara. "I think he knows who we are,"
We finally made it too a random island and walked into a cave to sleep for the night, but none of us could really sleep. "I told you!" I cried, close to collapsing from fear. "I told you going to Ember Island was a bad idea! I told you you shouldn't have been in the open like that! I told you it was too dangerous!" "Get a hold of yourself!" said Geo. "Calm down or I'm gonna slap you!" I took a breath. "Good. Now we should all get some sleep. It's been a crazy day," I took Geo's advice. Or at least...I tried.
I couldn't sleep a wink that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw faces rising out of the smoke and I would wake up in a cold sweat. I kept trying to sleep but I couldn't and I'd continue to wake up in these cold sweats until I couldn't take it anymore. Without much else to do, I walked out of the cave and into the night and sat on the edge of a cliff. I stared down at the water and thought. I thought about where I had been no less than three months ago. I thought about when I first met Geo, little did I know we would become best friends. I thought about Uncle. Where was he now? I thought about Zuko and cringed. Hot tears poured down my face. That bad thought led to a worse thought. I thought of his father, the ruler of a country, the man whom the people loved...the man who ruined my life... and ended my parents'. I cried even harder. I thought of my other family, how they tried to break me. At this point, I was starting to believe they did, with very delayed results. I was broken and depressed and scared and and... and I felt so alone. Then, another thought popped into my head. Not a bad thought. Not even close. Granted, it was of something Zuko said, but he said it before he was a traitor. It was that one night, in the earth tent after I'd told him about my past. "You're worth more than ten of them combined. Nothing can break you. Some people would kill to have strength like that, and they try to get you down because of it. And if you let them, you let them win. And that's probably the worst thing you could do," A tiny smile passed over my face. I was stronger than I thought. It didn't matter where I was not or even where I'd been. I was here, alive, with friends and still functioning. Even though Zuko was a complete jerk, he could still give great advice. I brushed the tears away from my face and went back inside the cave.





I know it's short and I know it's kind of sappy. Anyway, vote, comment, anything nice. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Luv u!