The Forgotten Airbender

Chapter 3: Anya

Twelve years after my Great-Grandmother became the worlds last airbender, she got pregnant. She and Namkha had fled Gaoling only a year prior when it became the second fire nation colony in the earth kingdom and had been living in a warmer mountain range above an abandoned mining town since.

"We have their address! We know they live outside of the cities! What safer place could our child be!" Namkha pleaded. He had been trying to persuade Tashi to give their child to a fire nation family allowing it to hide in plain sight. The man who had broken the news to the couple about the airbender extinction had a son whose friend was a fire nation citizen. The sons and the friend had stayed in contact with each other by messenger hawk, though only sent a few letters a year. This had stopped five years ago when the war picked up. In the last letter the friend had found a wife and was hoping to have children. They had moved out of the major cities to a northern village to escape the violence. "They are against the war, and very far away from it."
"But how do we know they are willing to do this! What if our child is a bender there's no way to be safe then!" Tashi exclaimed. No way she couldn't lose her child too.
"Are you saying no for you or for our kid."
"I-I"
"This way they can grow up with friends a family education Hell not sleep in a cave!"
"Ok," Tashi gave in, Namkha was right.

Two months after the baby (my grandmother) was born, it was clear she was not an airbender. They named her Sasha after Sash, Tashi's late best friend.

The couple had spent the last of their money on a messenger hawk who brought the fire nation family a letter asking if they could except Sasha into their family. They got a response, yes.

     All the notebooks filled with stories and traditions from western and southern air nomadic culture we attached to the top of Tashi's worn glider. Her child was wrapped to her chest. She was incredibly tired from this trip. Eight days prior her partner had said goodbye to his child and in a few hours she would have to as well.
     Sasha started crying when they began to cross the water again. The last stop they made was on an island and after yesterday's flight she new her child must hate the water as she cried over that too. "Shh darling, it'll be alight," she cooed.
     Five hours past and she spotted shore. "Look darling, we've almost made it." The cloud coverage was good but Tashi went higher just to be sure. They crossed over three small villages no cities as the northern firenation wasn't densely populated. Eventually she saw a forth village and a house around just past the edge of it and flew down. They had to be careful, if they were spotted they'd die.
She looked up at Sasha's new home. The house was stone and two stories tall. The slanted roof was a bright red as well as the windowsills and door. It wasn't very wide or long so not too big though behind was a field lined with massive trees. Namkha was right, the only place of peace from the fire nation was the fire nation. She held Sasha close until she began to cry. "Shhh it's ok. I'm here... i'm. I love you. She placed Sasha on the stoop next to the pile of books and loudly knocked on the door.

A tall woman with dark eye promptly answered the door and saw the child and the books. Looking around she realized the my great grandmother must have left. She picked up the baby and saw a sticker on her blanket, Sasha.

"Lee," she called, "Lee she's arrived!" The woman was so cheerful. The woman's name was Genna and for the past few years she and her husband had wanted a family but it had never happened, but now they could raise this child as their own.

The pair fawned over the child for hours until taking her to the village's Government building. There they pretended to have no idea who the child was and didn't mention the notebooks. After signing countless paperwork they legally adopted Sasha making her an official fire nation citizen.

     Sasha grew up knowing she was adopted but never knew her history. She never agreed with war yet never had to feel like she was the one being attacked. Unlike Genna and Lee, Sasha loved the idea of the city and moved there with her boyfriend (non bender too) after finishing their educations. It wasn't until she was visiting home for fire festival when she discovered the truth.

     Sasha had been helping her parents clear out their basement when she found a box labeled Sasha's Parents. "Mom what is this? is this about my birth parents?" she questioned Genna. She noticed her moms face shift. "w-what you told me you didn't know anything about them!"
     "honey" Genna said "it's nothing important!" though her face said otherwise.
     Sasha snatched the box and took it upstairs ignoring her moms complaints. Sitting in her old room she took off the top. Inside the box there were 8 books, fabric, and a note. She took out the note first it read: 'My darling Sasha, We have only gotten to know you for a month but love you endlessly. We wish situations were different we could walk raise you. Sometimes we dream what it would be like for you to swing between our arms as we walked through the temple gardens or watch you with the bison. But our life currently consists of living in a cave something we cannot let you do, so in an hour your mom will take you to the firenation so you can hide in plain sight. Even if we never see you again you will always be our world. I know you will grow up to be an incredible amazing and talented woman. Love you  forever,
Tashi & Namkha (your mum and dad)'
     'Woah' Thought Sasha, she had never knew anything about her birth parents the fact they had wrote words for her to see was crazy. She was also confused about some of the things mentioned in the letter and read it over again just as lost, then again this time to consume the words, her words. She picked up the first notebook. The date in the outside said it was written thirty five years ago. Opening the first book she read "Western Air Nomadic Social Structure" What. Why was this in the box. How did she have this. She flipped through, "Western Air Temple design" then "Master Tattoos and their meaning."  She put the book down and picked up the next two were the same well same idea all things involving western air nomads. The she saw two about the southern air nomads. The last two seemed to be diaries by she squinted Tashi? Oh! that was my birth mother! She rushed back to check if the other books were labeled. All the western books were written by her and southern by Namkha. 'No. How? No. They never told me. No. I'm— am I an air nomad? No i'm a fire nation citizen. Being an air nomad isn't a genetic trait. I'm not spiritual anyway. Is this the end of the culture. Yes. The air nomads were gone. Traditions have been gone, there's only me.' Sasha's thoughts were rushed, she wasn't who she thought she was but I mean this wasn't bad. No she always knew the extinction or the airbenders was a genocide. She had always hated the fire nation leaders, she hated the brainwashing teachers did so that students thought it was right. Everything was so messed up but she did recognize it was were she was safest, her birth parents were right.

Over the next night and day Sasha read through the diaries feeling so proud of her brave birth parents. They had survived so much and still found love together. Her mom and dad kept telling her they did this for her own safety how she was better off not knowing. Sasha took the box and left again for the city, they had let her remain ignorant and cut her off from her past, she swore she would NEVER do this to her child. She didn't.

Iloiah was born a decade after this event (also a non bender). She grew up knowing that she was the sole decendent left from the air nomads. My grandmother had felt freed when she learned about where she came from almost like a part of her made sense now, yet Iloiah felt burdened. She was a smart and after leaving school became an irrigation engineer.
Doing this she wasn't directly hurting anyone no she was helping people, but helping the people who killed her people. No it wasnt them and fire lord sozin commanded it. Her people were the fire nation right she never knew air nomads anyway. Every time she made a choice she would feel a so much pressure. She loved the culture but hated knowing her relationship to it. In fact it was unlikely I would ever know about my ancestors if I, Anya hadn't started air-bending.