Forbidden | Avatar the Last Air Bender

Chapter 25: The Awakening

The true meaning of everything

Tasha's POV

3 weeks.

It had been this long since we lost Ba Sing Se to the fire nation. Aang was in a coma for these few weeks, and many things have changed since then. To cut a long story short, things basically went like this; Sokka and Katara were reunited with Chief Hakoda, their dad - who was just like an Uncle to me, and his assistant, Bato. We captured a fire nation ship easily, and threw all the fire nation soldiers over board, securing control over the ship.

It was great here, secretly disguised as fire nation. But it wasn't great when the memories of the times spent with Zuko in a place similar to this ship flashed across my mind. 

The days when he scolded me for not obeying his orders, or when he first hurt me with fire just to teach me a lesson. Or the days of combat training with him, or that incident when he was comforting me in a heart to heart talk after the incident at the North Pole - it felt so surreal, as if those moments didn't really happen at all.

But I know, it did. I created memories with Zuko right here in a similar fire nation ship.

Trust me, it hurt. 

I couldn't let go of this past, no matter how hard I tried to, I just couldn't.

I still loved Zuko.

To let him go...

I was out in the deck. The sound of the waves gently lapping the hull of the ship resonated through my ears.

How depressing...

With my spirits down, I dragged my body back to my room where I lay down on my creaky, makeshift bed, letting my unwanted thoughts flow through my mind. I was depressed; getting oppressed by my own thoughts. How foolish, I thought. I'm getting this upset just because of a person, who didn't think twice before betraying me.

I screamed painfully in my head for the memories of Zuko to vanish into oblivion. But obviously, they didn't. Frustrated, I slammed my fist down on a fire nation embodied cloth on the table beside my bed, setting it on fire. I watched as the flames engulfed the cloth, and trails of smoke traveled up the small room.

At this moment, my head started to spin uncontrollably.

I held my heavy head up using my hand, but soon it slipped off due to my faltering strength to even sit up.

Before I could even tell what happened, the world around me purpled down into absolute darkness.

~

I jolted awake, stunned by the events that had just happened. Looking around, I saw that I was in a very unfamiliar, but yet familiar surroundings. It was that same crystal clear lake that I apparently saw in the dream that I was in before. This time, I saw that the same woman in front of me.

I rubbed my eyes, checking to see if I was dreaming. I wasn't. This same woman, not a black figure any longer, has shown me her face. It was glowing white, and I could see her facial features.

It was beautiful. She was beautiful. Her hair flowed down to her waist, and her soft and soothing smile seemed to catch me off my feet.

"We meet again," The woman said, walking closer to me.

"Tasha Ayuzawa."

I blinked and blinked repeatedly, ensuring that I was not seeing things.

"How did you know my name? Where am I?" I managed to choke out amidst my surprise.

"You're in the spirit world," The lady explained ever so mysteriously. "I've brought you here for a reason."

The spirit world.

"My child, it is now time for you to understand your own destiny." The lady started. "There's not much time left. You need to know why you are filled with opposite energies. You need to realise it before the Avatar wakes up."

I rubbed my eyes.

This has to be a dream. What kind of spiritual mumbo jumbo is this?

"Remember the last time you saw me here, I told you that then was not the time to know who you really were?"

"Yes, you did," I replied. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

"A long time ago when you were just a child, your mother brought you here to the Spirit Oasis where the highest amount of spiritual energy can be found in the universe. It was then that we met, Tasha. But you didn't know it. Your mother brought you here for you were dead - you weren't even alive. You were suffering from a deadly disease - and unfortunately, you died when you were just 5 years old."

What? I was dead before?

How could I possibly have died when I was a child? I remember mother telling me I was the strongest child ever, that I could play out in the freezing snow without catching a cold. Was my mother lying to me? That's impossible!

"Yes, I'm afraid so," The strange lady continued, as if she had read my mind.

I was getting furious now. The thought of my own mother lying to me hurt terribly.

"You were fused with a part of me, the spirit inside of your conscious mind. I am a part of you. I am the spirit of the elements. I have created new memories from your old, so what you think you recall in your subconscious mind is all a fake. It didn't really happen in reality."

"I was once dead, but you gave me life." I whispered.

Needless to say, I was upset, and disappointed. Now I understand why I didn't remember much from my childhood. My memories were all blocked and some of them had been created so that I couldn't remember I was dead.

Because I had died as a child, and I was resurrected from there by this spirit.

"So what about my bending?" I asked, finally grasping my situation.

The lady chuckled. "I'm the spirit of the elements, I can choose what gifts to grant to the child who has a part of me fused with."

"So you gave me the power to fire and water bend," I said, looking up into the spirit's face. "Just like the Avatar?"

"A half avatar," She corrected. "But I got Roku to tell you that."

My mouth widened, forming an 'o' shape. This was surprising. But still, I understood everything. She gave me the strength I needed. That was why my water bending was strong; and I could blood bend at will.

"Don't get too happy, child." The spirit said sharply.

"You have a duty to uphold."

Wait. What?

"Silly girl. You're indebted to me," She floated in mid-air towards me. "I gave you double bending for a reason. You are to perform your duty as the Avatar's guardian, and that's your destiny. It was why I chose to give you life back then, as I knew the Avatar was coming back soon. He will need all the help he can get, and with your extraordinary powers, you can make a difference in this world. You will help bring balance to this world; and this was why I created you."

I nodded, bowing slightly in respect. "I understand."

"Good," The spirit smiled ever so gently. "I'll send you back to your world, to perform your duty. You will tell the Avatar about this, yes?"

"I will, and I will perform my duty as the Avatar's guardian."

"Good."

And that was the beginning of the start of a new journey, the journey to fulfil my own destiny.

-

A/N: I'm so sorry, it seemed like ages since I last updated. I was busy with my newly released Teen Titan Fanfiction, so I couldn't really update. And I'm kinda busy with some stuffs in real life, so yeah. Forgive me for the long wait! Hoped this chapter filled up all the gaps and questions in the story... like how Tasha can double bend and stuff like that. Hope you've enjoyed it!