Avatar:Folk tale of an earthbender{Book One:Earth}

Chapter 4: Escape to Omashu

She rose to her feet, practically trembling. As she once again, reached her arm out swiftly, seeing the pillar rise upwards. She felt backwards, placing her hands on her mouth. "Am I...no..I AM...I'm an earthbender!" She said in disbelief. All of it began to make sense. Why Maika got apprehensive when Kaori asked if her mother was a bender. "Mama was an earthbender too? She must've been! She was from Omashu after all! That place is filled with earthbenders!" Kaori said, without realizing that she'd been talking to herself. She lowered her arm, and the pillar went back into place. She felt a whole wave of emotions wash over her. Surprise. Happiness. Anger. It was a bitter sweet moment. She couldn't help but feel angry that her father never told her. Without realizing, she'd began sobbing again, but this time, it was a mixture of pure joy and sadness.

Not only had she gotten more information about her mother, she was a bender, not a firebender, but this was good enough. The only problem was, that, if her family were to find out. Chances are, they wouldn't react all that well. Princess Kaori being able to earthbend? If the public found out, she'd be screwed. She shook her head, feeling sick to her stomach. She'd thought about running away on multipe occasions, but of course, she could never go through with it. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she felt as if she was going to faint. "I could run away." She said, her eyes widening. "I could run away!" She said louder, her tone more serious this time. Of course, there was no guarantee that this was a good idea, or that it would work. But in Kaori's mind, it was better than living out a miserable life in the palace in Anzu's shadow. Perhaps she could find her mother's family in omashu. And live out her life there. But of course, Kaori wasn't exactly an optimist. And she knew that this wasn't exactly likely, it sounded truly crazy. Leaving the palace to go find people who might not even know of her existence. Of course. There was plan b. Going to find the avatar. They'd be in the earth kingdom, wouldn't they? But of course, even that was farfetched.

She looked upward, catching her own reflection in a window, makeup streaming down her cheeks, dyed hair, fancy clothes. Was this truly who she wanted to be? Did she want to be known as 'Princess Kaori of the fire nation' any longer. She could barely recognise herself. Who was she? Who was that girl staring straight back at her? Did she really want to be her? The answer was no. She only wanted to be "Kaori." A normal girl. With no stress. No stepmother. No duties. No titles.

She ran to her bedroom, locking the door as she made out her escape plan in her head. And like that, it was set. She wasn't going to be Princess Kaori of the fire nation anymore. She'd just be Kaori, the earthbender. Kaori, the girl looking for her family. Kaori, the girl searching for the avatar. Butterflies filled her stomach as she imagined the life she could have. But of course, part of her was terrified. She'd have to fend for herself for the first time. And she'd probably feel more lonely than she did then. Yet, she was excited, to start out anew, no problems, no challenges.

She spent the night stirring in both excitement and fear for what was to come.

The next morning, she woke up in a cold sweat. After hours of twisting and turning in bed, she'd eventually fallen asleep, only to be greeted with horrible nightmares. She'd overslept that morning, normally, Maika would've woken her, but, Maika was gone, sadly. She'd still felt guilty about that, but, she prayed that she might cross paths with her once again in the future, though, even she knew that it was unlikely.

She'd had an atrocious night, and truth be told, she was terrified, yet, she was smiling ear to ear. The reason being, she could bend! Something that she'd always wanted. It wasn't firebending, but it was good enough. Much to her dismay, she couldn't trajn that morning, knowing that someone would see her. It was late when she'd discovered her bending, so, luckily, nobody had seen her. She'd already made an escape plan out in her head, she was going to take a fair amount of money from her father's vault, she'd also have to bring some food and clothes. She'd decided to leave at midday, while her family would be eating dinner, if anyone confronted her, she could just say she was to go run some errands. But. What if someone recognized her? What if somebody realized that she wasn't just a normal girl. She didn't have any backups if it failed, but she'd hoped for the best. Besides, her roots had grown in, if she were to cut her hair she'd be unrecognizable.

The day went smoothly, not many people spoke to her throughout the day, Fusa only gave her a few dirty looks as the passed eachother in the hall. Kaori was dead set on running away until. She saw Anzu. "Did you sleep well last night? I thought I heard you in the other room" She said. Kaori nodded her head. "Uh..yeah yeah..I slept fine" Anzu nodded awkwardly. Once again, there was a barrier between them, and neither knew why. Though, Kaori did feel a bit guilty, leaving her younger sister all alone. But, that didn't stop her.

As she packed her bag, she noticed something, something shiny placed on her windowsill. She approached it with caution, she stopped as she realized what it was. The head piece, only to be worn by the crown prince/princess, with a piece of parchment paper attached to it. "Figured you want this back, it's yours, after all. -Anzu" Her father had taken it away from kaori at a young age, giving it to Anzu. Tears welled up in Kaori's eyes, and she felt herself fill up with guild. "I'm sorry, Anzu." She said to herself

It was 5 o'clock, and she was ready to go. She was only planning on bringing the clothes on her back, along with a bag containing some of her belongings. She almost called it all off as she passed the dining room, tears welling up in her eyes as she realized that this might be the last time she sees them. She'd obviously miss Anzu and her Father, and really, she might even miss Fusa. The two had never gotten along, yet, she obviously had some sort of care for her well-being, having spent most of her life around her. But, she'd come too far at that point, she kept walking, keeping her head down. She'd planned to get a train to the earth kingdom, and start out her search for her family there. After all, Maika did say that her mother was from Omashu.

And just like that, Kaori had left the Palace grounds, off to start a new life in Omashu. Off to find the avatar, off to find her family. And of course, find herself.