The White Assassin

Ch. 13 - Digging Deep Down

It's been a week since the attack of prince Zuko and my kiss with Aang. After that, we have only gotten closer. However, we never confessed our feelings to each other. We have been training together ever since the others were injured. I was truly worried, especially for Haron. Aang had been knocked out by a fall that was caused by Haron. He pushed Aang out of the way and Aang hit his head on the ground knocking him out. Haron got the full blow from one of Zuko's lightning attacks and was severely injured. A part of me is happy that Aang didn't get hit by the blast but another piece of me was hoping that Haron wouldn't get hit as well. To be honest I still cared for Haron. We use to have feelings for each other before I left home, however I never told him. The feelings seemed to have died down once I met Aang but now there's a pit of regret in my stomach. Maybe I should've told him. Hopefully he'll wake up soon.

It was late in the afternoon and I was training with Pete. We were working on our fighting and bending skills around the training room. He had beads of sweat on his forehead while I wasn't even out of breath. "Come on Pete, keep up!" I said teasingly. He grunted and tried harder to hit me but this time he seemed annoyed. His fist blew past my face and I barely missed it. The wind from the punch blew into my cheeks and he stood there. I looked at him and his face was down looking at the ground. He started to shake uncontrollably and one would think that he was crying but Pete has never shed a single tear; until now.

"How dare you?" He said. I looked at him with wide eyes and confusion. "You left us. Now you come back with a threat to our home and you just want to joke about it?" He started screaming at me. He lifted his face to show his cheeks wet with tears. "Haron and I were worried sick. Our childhood friend had gone away and was missing. We thought the fire nation kidnapped you and killed you! Do you know how much suffering you caused us?" He exclaimed. My eyes widened with even more shock. His did as well, he didn't mean for this to go so far. "Hale, I-"

"You're right." I said. I looked down and felt the tears come pouring down. All the worry, all the sadness and regret were in those tears flowing from my eyes. "All I did was cause suffering for you two and my parents. Not only did I cause it then but I'm causing it now." I looked back up at him and his eyes showed pure shock. "Maybe I should never have come back." Before he could react to what I said I walked out of the training hall. The tears in my eyes wouldn't stop. No matter what I did, where I went, how I felt the tears would not stop flowing. I went to the garden in the middle of the palace. It was my favorite place to go to growing up. The plants always looked beautiful, they never withered; not even in the winter. They would always be fresh and vibrant no matter the season. However, now they're looking a bit dull, as if no one has watered them in a while. I reached towards one of the petals and as my fingers brushed it, the color fell to the ground. I felt saddened to see such beauty die off. I continued walking to the outskirts of the palace. There was an entrance to the woods from the back of the building. I made my way there and snuck out once again. This time not wanting to go back I started towards a lake. Mirror lake was its name. It had a legend saying that whoever looked into its crystal waters would see their destiny shining back. Me being as curious as I was, I would always sneak out to peer into the waters when I was younger. However, I only saw my reflection staring back at me, never anything else.

I saw the sandy beach surrounding the lake and I sat down. I leaned my back against a tree and looked around my surroundings. There were some high trees, some low ones. Some flowers and some patches of dirt just hanging about. Nothing out of the ordinary except for a line of smoke traveling into the sky in the distance. I squinted my eyes to see if I was imagining it but I wasn't, there was a fire. I ran like the wind towards the smoke but did it quietly. If anyone were to find out I had snuck out again, they would probably haul me back to my parents. I hid behind a tree and saw some fire nation soldiers camping in the forest. One of these soldiers was none other than Scar face Zuko himself. He was sitting in front of the fire eating what looked like a soup in a tin bowl. His soldiers sitting next him trying to figure out a plan. Probably to try and capture the avatar no doubt. 'I don't need to look at these ruthless people' I thought to myself. I walked away from the camp site and headed back to the palace.

When I arrived there were guards searching the grounds. 'Oh great, they noticed.' I walked in and the surrounding earth soldiers looked at me. "Princess, we were searching for you." One said.

"As I guessed. I only went for a walk, please understand." I replied. They nodded and together we made our way back to the throne room. When I arrived my parents were sitting restlessly and fidgeting. They saw me and had relief rush over their faces.

"Don't you dare do that again!" My father exclaimed. I nodded and he sighed. I looked to my mother who had tears in her eyes. I left the room and headed to my old room. When I reached it, the door was cracked open. 'Who's in there?' I thought. I slowly opened the door to see Aang sitting on the edge of the bed staring into a mirror. I opened the door fully and he smiled.

"I knew you didn't actually run away." He said. I nodded and I sat next to him. "You know, you can't just run off without telling anyone where you were going. They may think you won't return like when you ran away." He explained.

"What you say is true, however you can blame Pete for why I left." I replied. He looked at me questionably and I told him what had happened. How Pete flipped out at me while we were training and how I ran out to the garden. He listened to my story intently and he sighed.

"You can't take everything to heart, Hale." He told me. I widened my eyes at him, not exactly what I was expecting him to say. "Some people let their emotions get the best of them and they don't mean to say what they say. I understand what he said hurt you and made you seem to be the bad guy but think of it from his perspective. He was suffering and worried for his childhood friend who he thought was murdered by the fire nation. He never would be able to say goodbye to you because you would be dead." Aang explained. I looked at him surprised, for once he was acting mature. Not that he was immature but he sounded like a wise man. One you would question if they were insane or not because all they would say would be riddles of none sense.

"Yea.." I said. "I can see why he would be so upset but still, he has been with royalty all his life you would think he would know how to speak to them."

"Hale?" Aang asked. I looked at him and he looked back shocked. I didn't notice what I said but when I thought it over I covered my mouth. "Did you really think that he said that because he didn't know how to talk to royalty? He cares about you and you just up and left him!"

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" I replied. I looked down and stared at the floor boards. "This is why I never wanted to come back. I was a snotty brat when I lived here, so full of myself and selfish. I never knew how to accept other people's feelings and only thought of benefitting myself and not other people." I brought my hands to the back of my neck and I felt a weight get lifted from my shoulders. It was if the thought of all those things being out in the air has made me a better person. Aang patted my back and I looked at him.

"That doesn't matter." He started. "What matters is that I-" The door slammed open before he could continue.

"Hale!" I turned to see Pete in the doorway.

"Pete?" I asked. I stood up and he was heavily breathing.

"It's Haron, he's awake."