Naya and the Last Airbender

xii. Truth

          I ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where to, but my feet moved faster than my thoughts. I could hear Bato's shouts from being, urging me to come back.

I didn't want to. I didn't want to look him, or Katara, or Sokka, or Aang in the eyes.

I ran to a cliffs edge and looked down at the sea below. I could see my friends on the beach. Bato had joined them. I guess I was gone for longer than I thought. He stood before them and said things that I, obviously, couldn't hear.

My head fell into my hands. My breaths were quick and short and it grew harder to breathe.

I was raised on a lie.

My mother wasn't my real mother. Katara and Sokka were my siblings. I was an orphan and both of my parents perished at the hands of the Fire Nation.

Did Sokka and Katara know? Did Kya every mention to them that they had an estranged sibling? Did Sokka remember me from when I was an infant?

My mind travelled back to my dream on the day I was sick after the storm. Where the woman holding me was actually Kya and not my mom. It was why I couldn't recognise her.

Who was my mother? Was she a random woman from the village who wanted to leave, or someone dear to my family's heart?

I don't understand why my Dad kept that from me. He lied about who I came from and for what, to preserve my happiness? Now all I could feel was hurt and betrayal.

I looked up at the sky. The skies were clear and blue and all too perfect. Tears clouded my vision as I tried to find the heavens.

"Why?" I screamed into the abyss above. "Why keep so much from me?"

I stood up. Anger washed into my body. My whole life has been a lie. I had grown up under the false impression that I was an only child. That Kanya was my flesh and blood. My mother and father were happily married.

Were Sokka, Katara, and Aang soon going to betray me just as I've been doing to them, or my parents have done to me?

I threw a first forward and white flames blasted from them. They spewed everywhere, destroying the natural life around me.

I continued to kick and punch until I couldn't feel my arms anymore. The scene around me was horrific. Black char covered the land as my flames did what they were meant to do: destroy.

My eyes followed my friends as they still gathered on the beach. I knew I had to get back to them and accompany Aang on his journey. I had a destiny to follow and there was no way I could object that.

I stared down at Sokka and Katara. It hurt to see their smiling faces. So much guilt and regret washed over me. I could've had a life with them. I could've had a family all along. Instead, I grew up fighting for my life.

Should I tell them?

Sokka and Katara deserved to know that we were related, if they didn't already. I knew that if I was going down the road of truth, I would have to reveal the rest of my story. I would have to tell them of my abilities and true origins.

I don't think I'm ready for the pain that was about to come.

+

          THE town was somber when I came back. Katara and Sokka readied themselves for what looked like another trip, but Aang sat on Appa in sadness. Katara and Sokka were splitting from us.