Left Behind

Chapter 7: Second Chances

WARNING: It has been a long time since I have touched this project, so I think my writing style has changed a lot. So first off, if you no longer enjoy this story, I apologise and thank you for following it thus far.

And secondly, I am so so sorry for the lack of attention I have been giving this story! I feel horrible! D:

Anyway, please enjoy, thank you for reading!

She wasn't sure what eventually made her come to – but the sound of Sokka yelling must've contributed to it.

Rynn woke suddenly. Initially she struggled, recongnizing where Zuko had taken her – the holding cell of his ship – but she realised it was no use when the sound of metal clashing against metal told her her hands were firmly bound above her head in cuffs. She slumped against the wall before remembering her shoulder. It screamed in agony at the angle it was held at. Rynn didn't dare look at it. She knew she wouldn't like what she saw.

She slowly tried to stand. It took over a couple minutes but she eventually achieved her goal. Panting from the exertion, Rynn glanced out the small window carved into the cell.

The tribe. Her tribe. Zuko and the other Firebenders harassing the elders. Rynn saw Sokka dive headlong into a pile of snow. Kato hiding behind Nadi with tear-streaked cheeks, wondering whether his sister was ever going to come home.

Emotions surged within Rynn. Utter rage, willing her to kill every Firebender in her way, end this bloody war once and for all. Deep saddness, telling her to give up, that she'd failed, that there was no reason for her to ever love again. And the smallest sliver of hope.

Don't you dare give up, Rynn. Don't you dare leave me behind.

She had no idea who the voice belonged to.

But it didn't matter.

Rynn saw the water from outside the window, crashing onto the ice, sending mist into the air. But compelling enough as she felt something swell within her, she felt the water. She felt the tide. She felt the way the waves moved, the way the it surged and the current thundered.

Deep breathes.

One. Two. In. Out.

The walls around the cell seemed to blur, becoming less solid, less real as Rynn concentrated on the world underneath the waves. It consumed her, filling her up – Rynn willed the ice beneath the Firebenders to shake, and it did.

She raised a bubble of water and forced it though the bars of the window. Water surged around her, surrounding her and the chains that bound her. But unlike her previous experience, she didn't freeze. She wasn't cold.

She was alive.

The pain in her shoulder ceased to bother her as the water Rynn bended coated itself around the injury. The chains came loose and broke off the wall. Energy surged through her, new and powerful and unlike anything she had felt before. She sunk into the water and breathed anew. It swelled around her and surrounded her like impenetrable armor.

The door was her next target. It was flattened by the force of her bending, thrown aside as if it was no more solid than paper. She moved like the water, flowing out into the next room, carrying her bendables with her. The Firebenders patrolling the hull were shocked and hurled fireballs at her. Rynn sent out tendrils of water to sizzle out the attacks before they even got near her.

She surged forward and froze the soldiers where they stood. The water she carried flooded half the hallway but where it may have been a hinderance to her enemies it was nothing but an asset to her.

The Firebenders on the levels above heard the disturbance and rushed down to investigate. They met a swift disarmament as Rynn flowed past them, leaving them to a similar fate as their comrades.

She exited the bowels of the ship and breathed in the fresh air, free at last. But she didn't have time to spare. She rushed off the ship and back to the village, riding a powerful wave. Determination etched on her face, Rynn reminisced at what she had already done - this was her moment to redeem herself. She didn't deserve a second chance. But Kato did.

And so did Sokka.

She ran off when her village needed her most. She got herself captured by the Fire Nation in some sort of suicide attempt.

No. Rynn was not worthy of a second chance.

But she would damn sure make the most of it.

Her wave crashed headlong into Zuko who was threatening to tear down Sokka. He spluttered as her bending tossed him aside.

The retaliation was instant and brutal. The Prince's lackies conjured fire and proved no mercy as they hosed Rynn. She extended four octopus arms and paused the stream of fire, providing Sokka the space to pick himself off the snow.

"Rynn...?" He breathed.

She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want the shame of his disappointment.

Rynn hosed at the firebenders, causing them to splutter and fall back. They all fell around her and she never felt more powerful. She froze the water around them, locking them in place. When she was sure that they were no longer a threat, she slowly lowered her feet to the ice and dropped the water. She turned away from her tribe.

"Rynn!" A small body collided with her and squeezed her in a hug. "We thought you were dead!"

She gratefully squeezed her brother back but said nothing more. The next to approach her was Katara.

"I'm so glad you're alive," she said. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"I don't know," Rynn admitted. "I felt the ocean calling so I called it back to me."

Katara nodded, mesmerised. "That was the most powerful Waterbending I have ever seen."

Rynn gave neither thanks nor acknowledgement. She simply cast her eyes downward at the snow. "I abandoned my tribe. I'm sorry."

"There is nothing for you to be sorry about," Sokka approached her. "You saved us. All of us."

"I don't deserve your pardon."

"I think you do."

Tears twinkled in Rynn's eyes. "Thank you."

A wounded howl interrupted their conversation as Zuko picked himself out of the snow. "Filthy Water Tribue peasent!" He roared.

No.

How could she forget?

He powered a fireball at the group just as Rynn threw off Kato and pushed past Katara. She felt time slow around her as her instincts kicked in, but she couldn't raise water to block the attack in time.

All she knew was that it struck her chest.

Then she knew nothing more.