Avatar: the Last Airbender NES

Sea air kissed Naomi's face and ran its fingers through her gold curls. The air was cold as it did so, making her nose red and skin perk up in goose pimples beneath the robes and blankets she wore. She smiled slightly in anticipation, the necklace she had gathered up the courage to don making a cool imprint on her skin. The giant white fortress of the Northern Water Tribe was becoming larger with each passing second, it seemed. Naomi was ecstatic and nervous. They would either help her or throw her off their land for being a ruthless firebender.
Six days had passed. Fire nation ships were said to be the fastest in all the world, but now Naomi knew it to be true. She herself had plotted out the best course and chosen her crew of acquaintances from long ago and ones who she had never met before. They were told not to ask and she didn't tell about the true purpose of their mission. But they would only be important for another week or so, then she would be flying on a dragon to get everywhere. And that made her ecstatic too.
She hid the eggs in the sweaty engine room where they burned the coal to power the ship. Zuko had taken the slightly larger and more orange colored egg while Naomi took the violet pink and teal, turquoise blue. Every time Naomi saw a sunrise or flames or a flower she thought of him. Even when there was nothing around her to reflect him, he was what was on her mind. She wasn't sure what love felt like--but it had to feel something like this. Like desire and hope and butterflies.
Her mother protested the journey and threatened house arrest. Of course, it's hard to put your daughter on house arrest when your never home and she has the Prince and Firelord on her side. Once caught, Naomi used the words love, destiny, soon, adventure, future, and I love you copiously. She was sent off with a tearful goodbye from her mother.
Zuko's parting present was a bit more romantic. Another necklace. Because it seemed jewelry and the royal family went well together. He had handed it to her wrapped in brown paper. She smiled at the sight and unwrapped it as Zuko disclaimed, "I'm really bad at giving presents. And it's really hard to top what my Uncle gave us. I'm sorry it's old too. I didn't know what else to do and it seemed kinda fitting."
"It's beautiful," Naomi gasped at the sight. A pendent of the sun with it's gorgeous leaping flames on a long, golden chain that would fall a few inches below her collar bone.
"It was my mother's. I took as much of her things as I could before they burned them when she was banished. It was her favorite." Naomi's eyes lit up as he fastened it, then she threw her arms around him and promised him she would find her. He promised in return to keep the world safe for her.
Naomi could tell it burned in Zuko that he could not go with her. It burned in her too. But destiny had a funny way of doing things.
"Lady Naomi, we'll be docking soon. But it doesn't look like the Water Tribe is happy to see us," a crew member alerted her. And it was true, hundreds of people were lined at the shore, on the bridges, in doorways, our windows watching the Fire Nation ship.
"Don't worry. Firelord Iroh said I can help repair our tarnished name in the process. And it's true. I'll get these people to forgive us."
It was awkward, being watched like that, but Naomi walked off the gangway like a tourist, amazed at all the mystical sights of a new land. She was greeted by three elderly men in blue parkas--just like everyone else there.
"You're not welcome here," the middle one said blatantly. "Let me speak to the commander of this vessel, little girl."
"I am the commander. And I realize seeing a firebender isn't the most wonderful thing after what my people did to you, but I assure you I come here as friend. I'm searching for someone."
The one on the right scoffed, "You firebenders think you can just come to our land and demand to see whoever you want for whatever reason you want."
"Well, the reason I need to see the first person is very, very important to the whole world. And the second person I need to see is very important to me."
"Who's the first person?" the middle one asked.
"Avatar Aang."

Aang's hand was warm in Amaya's, his bare skin barely brushing hers. She had stopped to re tie the belt around her waist, not wanting it to slip down to her feet. Her mittens were too bulky to tie it with, and she had taken them off to tie the belt.
Aang didn't need the mittens or even a warm parka. The kid was annoyingly immune to cold. They were walking back from a lesson of waterbending--Amaya felt like she was failing more than usual, but Aang had assured her she was improving. Tiny lie.
Amaya was stubbornly walking home soaking wet as a result of the lesson and she refused to let Aang waterbend the beads of water off of her clothes; she was determined to dry herself. The water would rise off of her coat, only to splash back. She was trying hard not to shiver. Aang laughed at her, and whenever he tried to help, she'd smack his hands down.
As she was trying for yet another time to get her clothes dry, she heard the sounds of footsteps on the ice. Her concentration broke and she looked up to see who it was. It was a face she didn't recognize, but she could tell by his clothing that it was a messenger.
"Avatar Aang," he shouted as he saw them. He slowed down, and then bowed in front of Aang.
"What's going on?" Aang questioned.
The messenger lifted his head. "A Fire Nation ship has just arrived. Their commander has requested to see you."
Aang nodded and they followed the messenger back to the docks, where hundreds of people were glaring. They were all standing defensively in a line at the docks, while others glared at the large boats that had brought the siege of the Northern Water Tribe two years earlier. The people still haven't forgotten, nor forgiven. Amaya was looking around the boats for a commander, someone that shouted Fire Nation. She was being stereo-typical, but that's how she was used to seeing the Fire Nation. She didn't see individuals, just people who represented the Fire Nation. Her eyes scanned the boats, but all she saw were sailors, none of which that looked overly important.
And there, at the bottom of the gangway, was a girl. She had shocking golden hair. Aang stepped forward and looked at her.
"You're the commander? I heard you wanted to speak with me."

It was hard not to giggle a little at the bald, fifteen year old Avatar with tattoos on his head. He looked so funny compared to everyone else she had ever known. She resisted though, in the name of diplomacy. Naomi did smile though, that charming, lovable smile that made everyone believe she was perfect back home. But then there was the excited smile, the smile that recognized that she was meeting the most powerful bender in the world, the savior of the four nations, that smile ended up being the most prominent.
"Hi! Yes. My name's Naomi. I'm a friend of Zuko's. It's such an honor to meet you."
"Thanks. You too," he said in his still young-sounding voice. "Is there something I can help you with? This is an awful long way from the Fire Nation to just say hi."
"Oh, of course. Is there somewhere we can go that would be a little less... public?" she glanced to the people staring intently at them.
Aang turned back to his pretty, dark haired and peculiarly sopping wet friend. "You guys can come to my house," she said and begun to guide them through the crowd. The little ones weren't so silently curious about Naomi's hair as they passed, they gasped and asked to touch it. She gave them little candies she had in her pocket for this reason instead.
The house was just an insulated block of ice covered in animal fur and the Naomi's core fire was becoming chilly. She asked before she bent a fire in the pit. Only the girl looked at her a bit uneasily.
"So... What's up? Why'd Zuko send you here?" Aang asked.
"There's a bit of an emergency," Naomi began as they all sat on the ground. "A very big emergency, actually. I know this sounds far-fetched, but the spirit world and our world are becoming one."
"What do you mean?"
"When you went into the Avatar State after you accidentally closed you chukra, you didn't just open spiritual energy for yourself. You opened it for everything in the spirit world. People have been seeing spirits in their physical form, not just their spiritual form."
"What?! That's impossible! That defies the logic that the worlds are based on!"
"I know. That's why you need to fix it."

"How would I fix this?" Aang said, trying to keep his voice steady. The task seemed enormous to him, trying to herd up all the spirits who had crossed and putting them back, and then locking them in the spirit world. "They can't be touched, how could I force them back if they wouldn't agree on speaking terms?" He sat back down onto the floor, hands on the side of his head. Amaya crossed over and put her cold fingers on his shoulder. He sighed, touching her hand gently.
"But that's most of the problem. They can be touched and killed. But we don't want to kill them because spirits are important," Naomi explained.
"Then that's even more impossible," the Avatar cried.
"You saved the whole world from the Fire Nation," Amaya started, then remembered Naomi. She fell silent, creating an extremely awkward silence.
"But these are two worlds I have to save," Aang said, sounding pathetically hopeless and lost. It was hard to remember he was still a child.
"Think of it as a step up," Amaya suggested, knowing how awkward she sounded and thought how it would be better if she kept her mouth shut. But she steeled her mouth to keep going. "You can do this Aang. You're the Avatar, and plus, you've got Prince Zuko on your side, instead of him chasing you."
"Your training--"
"Don't use me as an excuse."
Aang looked up helplessly at the two girls. Amaya sighed, not knowing what else to say, thinking that whatever she would try to say would only discourage him. She dropped her hand from his shoulder.
Just then, Katara and Sokka burst through the door with Sokka's girlfriend and Kyoshi Warrior, Suki. "I heard Zuko was back!" Sokka exclaimed with a hopeful and excited look on his face.
"Where's Zuko?" Suki asked, face falling, Sokka's fell too.
"Oh, he's back at the palace. I'm his friend Naomi," she smiled her award-winning smile.
"HEY! Zuko got a new girlfriend! It's about time! See, I always thought Zuko and Mai were okay together, but they weren't the perfect couple like Suki and I. And Zuko and Katara would've just been weird." Katara turned red at this. Her brother continued, "So it's nice to see that there's a suitable girl for him. But, uh... What's with your hair?" Sokka said, making bizarre facial expressions in the process.
"Sokka!" Katara punched his arm.
Naomi laughed, "I dunno. It's just light."
"So what are you doing here? Friendly check-in? Want us to spill some, deep dark secret about him?" Sokka leaned in closer to her and whispered loudly, "He snores sometimes. He also is kinda crazy if you make him mad..."
She giggled more, "Thanks for the heads up."
"I'm Sokka, by the way," he begun to attempt to look manly and cool, putting his arm around his girlfriend and leaning against the wall. "And this is my girl Suki. And my sister Katara. Yeah. We don't get many firebenders up here. What are you, uh, doin' in these parts?"
Amaya rolled her eyes, "Sokka, you're a bit late."
"It's all right. Sit down. I know who you are. You helped take down all those Fire Nation war balloons on the day of Sozin's Comet. And you helped Zuko that day too."
"Yeah... Sorry about that..." Suki said awkwardly.
"It's all right. I drugged Azula." They all laughed. "I'm telling the truth!" They laughed more. She sighed. "On a serious note, I was just telling Aang about the problem with the spirit world. The spirits can become physical now without a purpose."
"What?!" they all three said unanimously.
"Aang accidentally made opened the worlds. He's no longer the only bridge," Naomi explained, fiddling with her sleeve, trying not to look them in the eyes.
"But that's not possible," Katara shook her head.
"It is now," a new voice said at the door. It was female and soft and beautiful like a moon-beam. They all turned. The voice wasn't the only thing that was moon-like about this girl. She was gorgeous and soft and one of the most lovely beings Naomi had ever seen. It made her burn with envy, made her want to become more beautiful and run away.
"YUE!" Sokka shouted.
"Hello, Sokka," she smiled.
There was silence for a moment.
"Well this is really awkward..." Aang said, uncomfortably.
"Oh. Yeah. Yue. Er. This is Suki. Suki, this Yue."
"Hi. How do you, uh, know each other?" Suki asked reluctantly.
More silence.
Sokka's face turned redder and redder... until he exploded, "SHE WAS MY GIRLFRIEND! I'm sorry Suki I didn't tell you that my first girlfriend turned into the moon spirit and stuff but I just couldn't do it, it would make it so much more awkward and now it's SO awkward and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Suki, Yue, but how was I supposed to do that, you up in the sky all the time, spreading lunar goodness and all and was I supposed to think that we were just going to be together long distance, that wouldn't even make any sense and I'm so--"
"Wait!" Naomi interrupted, "You're the moon spirit?"
"Yes. And what you say is true. I am physical now without a purpose." Yue touched Naomi's shoulder, it made Naomi angry and tense and uncomfortable. "See?" she moved her hand, Naomi could breath again. "Aang you have to save us. The worlds have to be separate or there will be no more of either of them."
"But how?!" he exclaimed.
"That's for you to figure out. I have to go protect my home," she began to walk out the door. "But Sokka... I'm glad you're happy." The moon spirit smiled and placed her hand on top of his for a moment before fading away completely.
Sokka instantly fainted.
No one seemed to care.
"Well," Aang began. "This sucks."

Naomi wasn't yet used to the cold. She didn't know if she ever would be, and she couldn't help but wish she would be out of here before she would get used to it. Snow. Moon. Water. It was so opposite to her own element. Her fingers were practically icicles attached to her body as she burried the purple and the blue egg under the snow. "Did you lose something in the snow?" Amaya asked, walking up behind a kneeling Naomi.
Naomi jumped, "Uh. Yeah. I did," she lied.
She could've offered to help, maybe try and help by showing off with waterbending, but if she did, that would only show off how much of a fail she was. So, instead, Amaya tried to make small talk. She raised her eyebrows, but shrugged it off after awhile. "We're total opposites," she said, looking around her. "You were coming to talk to Aang about the spirit world, and he's gone now. Not to be rude, but what are you still doing here? If I were you, I honestly would love to just race back home as fast as I possibly could."
Naomi chuckled and patted down the last of the snow. "I know. I'm not just Zuko's glorified messenger. I'm looking for someone." She stood and fell back into the snow once again, laying there, making an angel. "I don't know if I'll ever find her. It seems so hopeless..."
"Is it anyone here that you're looking for in particular?" Amaya asked, even though if what Naomi needed help with was face recognition, she wasn't the best to go to. "Is she from the Northern Water Tribe?"
Naomi sat up and took off the water tribe necklace, "I need to find the person who made this. It's important. To me."
Amaya studied the necklace, but she didn't know who made it. She had seen the design before, but the creator was unknown to her. She changed subjects to be more light and friendly.
"You said you drugged Azula," Amaya laughed at the thought. "And that's why she was so crazy and lost to Zuko."
She bent down to sit on the snow with Naomi. "Being from the Palace City of the Fire Nation, I'm guessing you see Zuko a lot. And all of his gawking fangirls. We've got them here, goggling all over Aang." Amaya smiled, thinking of some of the things she had seen for Aang; people dressed up as him, people making treats for Momo and Appa, people creating their own dolls of him. Things could get pretty weird. She turned to Naomi. "Would you consider yourself one of those fangirls?"
Naomi smiled and got lost in thought, "Yeah, we have them. I guess I've been one of them since I was eight years old. But now I'm his biggest fangirl. President, treasurer, secretary of state - the whole shabang. What about you? What's with you and the Avatar? Is he your boyfriend? You two have chemistry."
The dark haired girl felt a blush rising to her cheeks. She gave a lopsided grin. "I guess you could call him that." She laughed nervously, because she had never really called Aang her boyfriend, not in public, nor in her mind. The mere thought of it made her turn red like a tomato. Even if she wanted to call him that, she felt it would be rude, considering Katara was nearby all the time, as her other teacher. Mentors and students should be close, and it was an awkward situation for her, being stuck between the two. "It's funny to give such a small name like 'boyfriend' to him, considering he's one of the most powerful people in the world."
Naomi laughed again, "I know how you feel. It doesn't seem... right, ya know? To call them that. It's not proper enough." she sighed, "It's so weird. Their little bubble of power is interesting to be in." She created a little ball of fire in her palms to warm herself with, "But it also sucks too. Zuko's so... Angry at everything. Still. And as hard as I try, it's just not enough... That's why I'm here. I'm looking for his mother. She gave Azula this necklace when she left them - it's the only clue I have to where she is. Therefore, the only thing that could make him happy again." She blushed, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I don't have friends back home. Just my mother and master Iroh. And Zuko. Kinda."
"It's basically Aang and me as well. I don't feel like I could go up and spill my life story to Katara, or anyone else. If I gave it all to Sokka, he'd give me a weird look and a sarcastic comment and be on his way." Amaya stared enviously at the little ball of fire in Naomi's hands, knowing if she tried to do the same with water she'd get both of them wet. Which wasn't usually the best way to make friends. "I know what you mean, wanting to make Zuko happy. I feel...well, brace yourself, Naomi, for a ton of complaining," Amaya smiled. "I feel like I'm not worth it for Aang, compared to Katara. It's awful that they fell apart and I feel almost selfish, everyone admires Aang, but I'm the one who gets him. But how on earth could I ever live up to Katara? She's traveled all around the world with him, healed him when he was nearly dead, and she is an amazing water bender!" Amaya stood up and tried to draw moisture from the snow, and ended up with a wiggling blob that somewhat resembled jelly. "Even this is hard for me!" the blob fell back to the ground, sinking into the snow. "How could I make myself worthy?"
Naomi gave Amaya a forlorn smile, "I understand completely. Feeling so small in comparison to what was left before. Unimportant. I know, like you were tossed beside once before, and now somehow it's different for some reason, but that's the thing... it isn't different. Or that's what it seems like half the time. It's like you wish you could move mountains and make the grass a different color just to feel like they'll love you." That's when she heard it. A small cracking noise and a little wail that sounded like a near roar. "Wait..." She listened closer and leaned in towards the snow bank where she had burried the eggs. "Holy...." She trailed off and began to scoop the snow out of the way. The blue one. It had a crack in it. And it was becoming larger.
"Whatever you were looking for seems to be wailing," Amaya observed.
"Oh my....." The blue egg's crack thickened and the tiny roar grew louder as the purple's got its first crack. "AMAYA!" Naomi screamed. "THE EGGS ARE HATCHING! HOLY SHIT THE EGGS ARE HATCHING!"
"The eggs? What eggs? Is that what you were burying?" Amaya jumped up, seeing how much Naomi was freaking out and rushed to her side. Brushing away the last bits of snow that obscured her view, she saw the shiny teal colored orb and the purple's long, thin crack.
"Don't tell me, those aren't....are those DRAGON EGGS?" Amaya's eyes widened.
"YEAH! THEY ARE! And they're hatching!!!" She smiled so brightly it nearly brought tears to her eyes, "This so amazing..." They both steadily used their tiny breaths to heat the egg under the shell and use their little fangs and claws to poke through. The blue one peaked its head out first. That made tears roll down her cheek. It was so beautiful to see the original firebenders, the ones who had so many thousands of years ago taught her people to use the heat from their core and the light from the sun to create a little tiny heart beat. It was incredible to see one of their new little heart beats. The purple one had more difficulty. It wailed louder and cried harder. But it made it out too. Gently, Naomi reached out to softly pick up the poor little purple one. The dragon hissed at Naomi when she tried, but Naomi was persistent. She offered a small spark of fire to the new dragon. It came closer to her, attracted by the heat and sniffed her fingers, breathing in the flames. On the exhale, the dragon released peculiarly white flames and nestled up into the palm of her hand. It was a nearly a foot long normally, but could fit in her hand when it curled itself up. Naomi couldn't help but cry. "Amaya. The dragons aren't gone," she smiled and sniffed, "There's still hope for my people, Amaya. Look at them."
Amaya couldn't feel the exact connection Naomi felt, the original waterbender was the moon. But the little dragons squealing and crying as they scraped away their pretty shells were beautiful. She smiled at the blue one, scraping against the last bits of shell so it could break through and heave the rest of its body from the warm casing. It coughed, shaking its head as it breathed in the cold air. Steam rose off it's warm, wrinkled body, and it squealed at the sight of endless blue and white. Amaya laughed at the confused little dragon and reached her hand out to it.. It tried to squeal again, but a terrified squeak escaped from it's open mouth. She gently set her hand on its scaly back, and the dragon slowly calmed down. Trying to imitate Naomi with the sparks, Amaya concentrated hard on the snow and took moisture from it, raising droplets of water. The dragon was curious by the floating water, and stretched its head up. It's little tongue licked at the water, which splashed down at it when it broke the bubble. Amaya chuckled and brought the water towards her, letting it hover right above her hand. The dragon followed the water first with its eyes, then slunk over towards her fingers. It rested it's head on hand, purring like a cat.
Naomi turned to see Amaya and the other dragon, so oppositely perfect together. It made her smile even more, "Amaya... I want you to have that dragon. She's yours." Naomi turned back to her own, "I think I'll name her Rei. Love." Rei breathed out more white flames as if satisfied with the name.
"What? She's mine?" Amaya repeated, looking at the dragon. It was so small and beautiful, and even though it was an enormous gift and she felt like she should refuse it, but the little dragon had crawled onto her hand, curling itself up. The dragon sneezed at her, waiting for her too give her a name. "This one could be Tao. Meaning Life. Love and Life." Amaya smiled, realizing that it sounded cheesy, but she didn't care. It was perfect. Tao looked up at her with big, glassy eyes, and flicked her tail. Water rose from the snow and splashed Amaya in the face. "A water dragon?" she laughed. "Is that even possible?"
Tao splashed her again, verifying that indeed she was a water dragon and that it definitely was possible.
"Maybe it's because you're a waterbender," Naomi offered, but didn't take her eyes off the little purple, scaly thing that was curled up in her palm. It was one of the loveliest things she had ever seen.

Despite the fascination with a new culture, Naomi was becoming to hate the cold, the snow, and the water. Amaya had given her a parka which was so small on Naomi it defeated the purpose. She stuck with her Fire Nation blankets and robes. They both stood on one of the many ice bridges pedestrians frequented. Naomi held the necklace tightly in her hand, asking whoever passed if they had seen a woman with amber eyes or know the person that made the necklace itself. Amaya didn't pay much attention to Naomi as she focused intently on sculpting the ice in front of her to resemble what Naomi guessed was a koalaotter. Maybe.
"Ugh. This is hopeless," Naomi groaned. And it really was. They'd been questioning people for four days now and no one wanted to talk to them. Perhaps it was because their dragons were never out of sight.
Tao and Rei and grown five feet a day, Rei slightly bigger than Tao. They were each about twenty feet tall that day as they splashed around in the water below their masters. It was beyond Naomi's knowledge of dragons, but somehow, Tao was a waterbending dragon--not a firebending dragon. Not only could she manipulate the water surrounding her, but also could create water like Rei could fire. It mystified Amaya and Naomi both. But it was freaking cool.
Naomi had never known what it was like to be truly connected to anything before, with a bond nothing in the world could sever. She felt that with Rei. The invisible strings that were attached to each other were more like steal chains. No one else in the Northern Water Tribe besides Amaya, of course, Aang, Katara and Suki thought they were beautiful. Sokka fainted upon the sight of them. Everyone else just screamed or got all jumpy.
A woman and child passed.
Naomi instantly asked, "Excuse me, Mame. I hate to bother you, but have you, by chance, ever met a woman with amber eyes?"
The woman turned agitatedly to Naomi, "No. Now would you please put your over-grown lizards on a leash? I'm worried about them hurting my son." She scowled at Naomi.
"Oh, don't worry about them. They're harmless," she smiled that charming smile. On cue, Rei belched some of her signature white flames and completely melted Amaya's penguin sculpture. Tao flicked her tail and froze the water into what Amaya had been working on once again as if Rei had never afflicted it. Amaya grumbled something about a four day old dragon being a better water bender than her and that Tao could've at least made it better than it was before.
"See?! This is exactly what I mean. Leave it to a firebending dragon to destroy this cute little girl's adorable little ice sculpture."
Amaya snapped, "HEY! I'm fourteen!"
"Oh. Right. Sorry," the woman said awkwardly. "But that doesn't change anything. Those things are dangerous creatures which should be kept in zoos or at least the fire nation. We don't want them."
Naomi gritted her teeth and pretended not to be furious with the lady, "Right. Sorry."
The two began to make their way across the bridge when the little boy noticed the necklace in Naomi's hand.
"Hey, Mommy," he said, "This is like what grandpa makes!"
Instantly, Naomi was curious, "Your grandpa makes necklaces like this?!"
The child nodded.
"Can I see him?! Will you take me to him?!"
His mother scoffed, "As long as you promise not to bring the walking disasters."
Naomi let that comment slide. "Amaya, watch Tao and Rei! I'll be back soon!" And Naomi followed them down the street.
The woman lectured Naomi the whole way to the grandfather's house. But Naomi wasn't listening, her brain already whirling with her next move after meeting the Jeweler.
The little boy slipped his and out of his mothers and into Naomi's. "You don't look like you're from around here."
"No. I'm from the Fire Nation."
"Oh. I like fire. It's pretty and keeps me warm." He smiled, showing the gaps in his young mouth where his big boy teeth would soon grow.
Naomi smiled back and took her hand away from his to create a small spark, "Don't touch." He put his hands close, but followed her rules.
"You know, if you're a firebender, firebenders aren't as bad as everybody says."
Naomi beamed and bowed to the kid. He bowed back. She fixed his hands to portray the correct Fire Nation way.
"Well, are you coming or not?!" The woman yelled, holding a wolf-skin pelt open to a seemingly average ice-made building.
Naomi quickly shuffled in. Everything seemed to glitter or shine. Somehow, each piece of jewelry was more beautiful than the last. Even the necklace in Naomi's hand seemed a little understated.
"Hello, Dad," the woman said a bit absentmindedly, leaning against one of the display cases.
"Hello, darling! What a pleasure to see you in my shop today! And you as well little warrior!" An elderly man wearing large, thick glasses and a deathly thin figure stood up from his work-table behind the counter. "Oh! Who do we have here?" The man asked upon seeing Naomi.
"She's a firebender who's been looking for you. I just brought her. I'll see you at dinner," the woman took her son's hand and walked out.
"A firebender? Long way from home, aren't you?" he chuckled. "What can I help you with?"
Naomi gently placed the necklace on the counter. "I"m looking for the person who made this necklace."
He studied it for a moment, "Well, you're in the right place. The naome's Larto, finest jewelry maker in all the North Pole, if I do say so myself. What can I do you for?"
"Do you remember the woman you sold this to?"
Larto traced his slim, old fingers over the blue pendant. "See this design? This can only be achieved by bending the water over the gem in the same pattern over and over and over again. The symbol means love and protection. The larger sparkles are water frozen so completely it will never melt. The gem is found deep in the ice below us. The chain is exquisite velvet. This is one of my finest pieces. I do remember the woman who bought this. However, she told me to never tell anyone of her identity."
"I already know who she is. Tell me where she is."
"I wish I could, but I can't."
Naomi's heart fell, "Please. Please tell me. I have to know."
"I would love to tell you, sweetheart, but I was sworn to secrecy."
"I'd give you anything. Please tell me where she is."
Larto sighed, "I'd love to, but I really can't."
The necklace on the table made Naomi want to scream. She wanted to wring his neck and bend fire right in his face to get him to spill. Bribery was a better option than violence.
"I'll give you half a sack of gold."
"Information that interesting is worth a lot more."
"Fine! I full sack! I can't afford to pay anymore so that's all you're going to get." He shifted positions to cross his thin arms over his chest. "What do you want?!"
"I was a much younger man when I made this... Had much more skill. I would tell you in exchange for the necklace."
"No!" was Naomi's first impulse. But staring down at it.... it didn't seem as important as knowing where she was. It had gone years without anyone missing it. Why would anyone miss it now? Besides, it was Azula's. And Azula was crazy and in prison. Not to mention, they could always just buy it back again one day. She sighed, "All right. Take the necklace. But tell me everything you know about Ursa."
Larto smiled and put it on his work table. "I got the request to make the necklace by Fire Nation messenger hawk in the middle of the night around ten years ago. That was when the war was still raging hard and it was unheard of for someone in the Fire Nation to want some of my jewelry, especially not the Firelady. She said she wanted it to give to her daughter as a gift."
"I already knew all of that," Naomi scoffed, "You're no help."
"Ah, but this is what you don't know: she must have confused which hawks were going where because I received a letter before that from the Firelady. It was adressed to someone in the Earth Kingdom. Ba Sing Se, I believe."
Naomi's eyes went wide and she leaned across the counter, grabbing the old man's shirt, "What did it say?! Who was it adressed to?!"
"It said something about her coming for a visit and that she needed a favor! I don't remember much else, now please release me!" She did.
"I need a name or I'm taking the necklace back," she said harshly.
"I'm old! I don't remember! I did save it though. It, along with her request to me, are in my request file."
"Show me the request file," Naomi demanded.
He nodded and gestured for him to follow her to the room divided from the main one by a pelt. She went around the counter and followed.
"Holy shit," Naomi gasped.
There had to be a hundred thousand pieces of paper littered the room.
"I'm not sure how they're organized. Have fun," Larto said and walked away, leaving her to rot, searching for a note.

Amaya wasn't bored while Naomi went on her necklace hunting gig, she had the two dragons to deal with. The woman was kind of right in a way, the dragons were walking disasters. At day four, they were twenty feet long. Tao was beautiful, teal blue scales shimmering in the light and looking perfect against the Northern Water Tribe's scenery. Rei looked a bit stranger, with her purple scales, but then again, Naomi didn't exactly look at home with the Water Tribe. It was kind of perfect.
The dragons would play together, acting like hatchlings, despite their size. Amaya couldn't blame them. They still were hatchlings. Rei would blow fire trails out at Tao, and she would squeak, building up a thick wall of ice. The fire melted a hole right through her shield. Tao would then squeal with something that resembled laughter. Amaya couldn't get bored watching them. She practiced her waterbending, thinking longingly of Aang, as she tossed a wobbling ball of water at Tao when she wasn't looking. Tao swished her tail and then orb froze into a spiky ball of ice. It shattered against the thick ice platform they were standing on.
Naomi didn't come back out of the shop for the rest of the day. She came home looking drained, so Amaya showed her to a room whee she could sleep. Naomi gave her a brief summary of the day's events and crashed.
The next day, Naomi got up early and left back to the shop to search for the letter. Amaya was left to babysit the dragons again. They were at 25 feet when she woke up, coiled up at the back of their houses. Amaya woke up Tao and led her to the spot where they were the day before. Rei followed right after. Tao dove into the water once they got there, and to keep herself from getting wet, Amaya tried moving her arms in a flowing motion to direct the water away from her. To her great joy and surprise, it worked. The only problem was that it hit Rei, who hissed angrily. Amaya transferred that same concentration to drying Rei. It sort of worked, and Rei jumped out from underneath the floating water and Amaya dropped it back to the ground.
It was Naomi's second day searching for the letter, and she still hadn't found it. Amaya was getting slightly better at waterbending. She could create waves and was working on making a water whip.
Day three was no different. Amaya had nearly mastered a water whop and was starting on making jets. Katara wasn't around, but Amaya felt like she'd be proud. And that Aang would be even prouder.
Amaya didn't want to say it, but by the fourth day, she was starting to feel restless. The dragons seemed to sense it as well, Rei looked as tired as Naomi did. They were about 75 feet long now, and from what Amaya had read about dragons, they were just about half their full grown length. Amaya was done training for the day, leaning against a curled up Tao and manipulating the water in the snow.
Then she heard Naomi running and yelling with a small piece of paper clutched in her hand.

"I GOT IT!" Naomi shouted, "I got it!" she huffed, sucking in as much air as could fit in her little lungs. "The letter to the earthbender Ursa accidentally switched with Larto's!"
Amaya dropped the snow she was playing with and ran over to meet Naomi half way. The dragons followed.
"His name is Rong Fa. He lives in Ba Sing Se." She showed the piece of ten-year-old paper to her friend and recited off the words, more or less from memory, "Dearest Rong Fa- I would like you to know that I have taken your suggestion to heart and will be joining you in Ba Sing Se within a few days of this letter's arrival. I hope you understand my situation and do know that this decision is a challenging one to make. However, I find that my duties to my children and the world are now intertwined in light of recent events involving the state of my nation. I do hope everything goes smoothly. I greatly look forward to seeing you once again. -Asru."
"Who's Asru?" Amaya asked.
"It's Ursa spelled backwards. And look, see this little mark up on the top here. That's where she scratched off the Fire Nation insignia. This is great, Amaya! We know where to look of her next!" Naomi beamed and hugged the paper close to her chest.
"How on earth are we going to Bs Sing Se?" Amaya wondered, her eyes wandering over to the dragons. She smiled, trying hard to contain her joy. "Get ready for a road trip, kids. We're flying."

Riding dragons was harder than Naomi and Amaya had predicted.
"So do we just...get on their backs?" Amaya asked. Tao regarded her with raised eyebrows.
"Uh... I guess..." Naomi replied and put one hand on Rei's back while the other held onto her horn. Rei turned to look flatly at Naomi, sending her off balance and ultimately causing her to fall on her bum. "How the heck am I supposed to ride you if you don't help me out here?!" Naomi shouted, annoyed with the large beast. In response, Rei blew a stream of her white fire at Naomi who redirected it behind her, avoiding the flames. "Gee. Thanks. That's really helping our cause."
"Do you think they have a weight limit on them?" Amaya knew that it was stupid to be asking questions, considering that neither of the two girls knew the answers. And the dragons didn't talk, which wasn't exactly a plus. Amaya looked at their luggage that was to come along for the ride. Naomi by far had the largest pile. Her bags were filled with gold, robes, and other Naomi necessities. While Amaya's were modest and carried only a change of clothes and some useful remnants of home.
"They're dragons. Not ostrich-horses."
"What's that...?"
"Oh my goodness..." Naomi sighed. "I'm really glad you're going to get out of the North Pole."
"Well, only if we can ever figure out how to ride these things!" huffed Amaya. The dragons gave her look. She apologized quickly, not really meaning the apology. "Feel free to enlighten us on how you'd like to be ridden," she grumbled sarcastically to Tao. If dragons could roll their eyes, Tao would've at that moment. She bit onto the back of Amaya's shirt and tossed her up over her head so that she landed in the cranny behind her head and between her horns. Amaya was screaming the whole time.
Naomi's eyes were wide, "Well. I guess that solves the problem."
"Uh... I don't know how to get down..." Amaya said awkwardly.
"Stay up there. I'll hand you your stuff." She did and Amaya took out a map from her bag. "Looks like we need to travel South East for a while before we get there. Ba Sing Se looks monstrous."
Naomi put her stuff where Amaya had put her's. "I've heard it is. But we'll find Rong Fa, don't worry." She finished and turned to stare at Rei, "Now would be a nice time for you to throw me up like Tao did." Rei blinked at her. "UGH! You are so frustrating sometimes!" The snow beneath Naomi's feet melted a little. Rei sighed and bowed her head to Naomi with her eyes closed. "Fine." Naomi muttered, "Just fine." She climbed up on Rei's purple snout. "I'll just climb on you like a jungle gym. Ugh. Can't you have, like, a portable stepping stool?" She finished climbing on her dragons face and sat where Amaya was. "Should we say goodbye to Sokka, Suki, and Katara?" Naomi asked.
"We could just do a fly over and wave."
"Okay. Are you ready?" Naomi grinned at the pure excitement of flight. She petted Rei's smooth, violety pink scales. Amaya nodded, grinning too. "Tobu, Rei!" Rei instantly batted her wings and soared freely towards the sun, Naomi screamed in childlike delight. It was like no other sensation she had ever felt before. Exhilarating.
Amaya watched her friend and listened to her delighted screaming. "Tobu, Tao." she tried copying what Naomi said. Tao didn't move. "Fine. We'll try fei fei?" Tao surged upwards to catch up with her friend. It was terrifying, an adrenaline rush that felt great at the same time. Amaya was laughing and crying and screaming. With all the noise she was making, Sokka, Katara, and Suki were bound to see them and give a goodbye wave.

"LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLLEEEEE!!!!!!!!" The entire arena went mad, cheering, jeering, taunting, foaming at the mouth, fan-girl screaming, and jumping around like wild baboons.
"NEXT UP: KATZUO FA---" some of the crowd cheered, "VS. THE WHIRLWIND!!" And the arena went mad once again. Aellai shot up to the platform in a tornado of power. She landed lightly on her feet, and took a strong stance.
She'd been fighting for a week now, every other day, and she ALREADY had an enormous reputation. She ignored the hundreds of pleading, shouting, excited fans and focused on the task ahead.
Katzuo Fa [If you guys can think of a better first name for him, please let me know] calmly walked up the steps and waved to the crowd, smiling handsomely. Aellai sized him up. He was much taller than her, but strength, power, focus, agility all belonged to Aellai. 'This should be a piece of cake.'
He grinned beautifully at the crowd again. 'No. Focus. He is not attractive.'
Slowly, he walked to the center of the ring, pushing his long, dark hair out of his brilliant green eyes. 'No! They are not brilliant! FOCUS!'
Then, in one swift motion, he ripped his shirt off, much to the delight of hundreds of screaming girls in the crowd. He beamed at them, his body radiating heat. Soon after, he summoned a ball of earth, attached the shirt to it, and threw it into the crowd. A few girls lost pieces of hair and teeth trying to pry it away from one another. 'Focus, Aellai. Focus. He's a pansy. Yeah, that's right. A perfect, little pretty-boy.'
"Are you done playing dashing hero yet?" she called, crossing her arms. Katzuo raised an eyebrow, turned to face her, and cracked his knuckles. The arena went silent.
"Are you done playing princess yet?" he mocked. Unfortunately for him, Aellai had a short fuse. In a second, her hand was outstretched and he was sliding on his back across the floor. His hands shot upwards and a sloped piece of earth, much like a crescent moon, returned him to a standing position. And now he was mad as well.
Katzuo punched the air sending projectiles towards her face.
But they were easily dodged. Aellai placed her hands behind her back and simply moved out of the way of all his attacks as he got closer and closer and closer until finally he lifted his hand---and she grabbed his wrist. Their noses were mere centimeters apart.
"Buh-bye," she grinned, and slammed her left palm into his chest. Katzuo flew fifty feet into the air and landed with an enormous crash outside the ring.
The majority of the crowd went nuts.
Aellai simply bowed, and exited the arena. She was now 500 gold pieces richer, and that is always a nice feeling.
About an hour later, she sat at the window of her small apartment-like room, reading by the light of a candle. There was a knock on her door, which struck her as odd. No one visited her.
She opened the door to find an earth-bender leaning against the frame.
"Oh, it's you." she muttered, confused as to why he was here.
"Hey." he grinned at her.
"Hey?" she said hesitantly, her brow knit in puzzlement.
"You're a great fighter, you know that?" Katzuo asked, smiling at her.
"Yeah, I do." she said with attitude. "Now what do you want?"
He looked taken aback for a moment. Most girls were ALL over him. "I wanted to talk you." his voice was timid.
"About what?" she demanded, crossing her arms. He was still standing in the hallway and she had not let him in.
Katzuo rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Well, you see...I just...I just wanted to know...." he muttered, all his cool was gone.
"Spit it out." she groaned.
"I wanted to know how you did that."
"Did what?"
"How you beat me." He looked thoroughly interested. Aellai sighed and motioned for him to step inside. 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE LETTING SOME STRANGER CREEP INTO YOUR HOUSE? ARE YOU INSANE?' her brain screamed, but something about this felt right.
"Okay. What is my stage name?" she quizzed him.
"The Whirlwind." He sat carefully on an armchair and answered simply.
"Right. Now think about that, and the fact that the first time I attacked you, I was nowhere near you and---" but she was cut off.
"Yeah, I know you're an airbender. That's not what I'm asking." he looked up at her as she put her hands on her hips.
"Well then obviously you need to clarify what you want to know." she hissed.
Katzuo sighed. "I want to know how you got such a rouse out of that crowd. I've been working for this place for two years. I started when I was 14, and I've actually really improved. But the POINT is that you've been here for one week, and those people ADORE you."
"Maybe because I don't bask in my own glory." Aellai mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Nothing. Well, it's probably because I'm an airbender, and---WAIT a second. WHY am I telling you this? You have no right to question me! Get out of my house!" she finally realized why he was here. Or at least SHE thought she did. He wanted to know her secrets!
"Wait, that's not what I meant--" Katzuo stuttered as she shoved him out the door.
"Leave me alone or I'll kick your scrawny butt again!" she yelled, slamming the door in his face.
[Sorry this is so bad guys. If you want me to add more to this, let me know.]

There is a certain need in some people to hit something the moment they get up. Which is exactly why Aellai had a punching bag in her room. It seemed to calm her nerves.
After washing her face and pulling on some lovely robes, she stepped out onto her sunlit porch and had a cup of lavender tea. It was a beautiful morning in Ba Sing Se, and the streets were buzzing with activity. A cool breeze blew some hair from Aellai's face and brought with it the scent of flowers blooming. And for the first time in a while, she smiled, feeling fulfilled and relatively happy. To think that in just one week she had gone from rags and dirt to silk and luxury.
She was brought back down to Earth by a knock on her door. Slowly, she shuffled over and opened it. And there, standing brilliantly in the sunlight, was Katzuo. He immediately snapped into a stance, expecting her to attack him at any second.
"I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to talk and I swear I don't mean to intrude--" he was talking VERY fast, probably afraid that she'd throw him across Ba Sing Se and he wouldn't get to finish. But Aellai was in a surprisingly good mood.
"Come in." she said, turning her back on him and returning to her balcony. He stood there stunned for a moment before regaining his composure and crossing the threshold, closing the door behind him. He leaned over the railing next to her and looked below them.
He whistled in amazement. "You have a fantastic view."
"I know. So what do you want?" that came out a little harsh. "I mean, what are you doing here?" she corrected, a little more kindly this time.
"I honestly just wanted to come talk to you and apologize for being intrusive. You're an amazing bender and I thought---I thought that maybe it'd be cool to get to know you better, but slowly because I feel bad for pressuring you last night and--" he mumbled, not looking at her.
Aellai sipped her tea and nodded as she sat down. "Okay." she interrupted simply.
Katzuo was appalled. "Okay? Really?"
"Sure, why not? You go first." she said quietly. She'd been up for hours after he left, analyzing every moment, wondering if she'd been too harsh or told him too much. But after a while, she figured that he'd be a good acquaintance to have if she got in any trouble. So it was time to play nice.
"Well---I don't know where to start--" he stuttered, obviously confused why she was completely different from the night before.
"Where are you from?" she asked nonchalantly as he sat down beside her.
Hours passed and the two talked the entire time, sharing stories, sympathy, and occasionally laughs.
After Katzuo had left, it was well past noon. Aellai changed clothes and went out to her small arena to practice, her mind in disbelief that she actually had a friend.

Landing wasn't much of a problem. Beyond the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, there was just miles and miles of desert--the perfect place to park a dragon. Amaya exchanged a glace with Naomi as she looked up at the guards on top of the wall.
"What the...?" they muttered. Amaya and Naomi shared humored glances as they came to a gentle stop on the wall.
The obviously highest most ranking official greeted frantically as soon as they did so, "What do you think you are doing?! And what are those beasts? You can't bring those things into our city! They will take up more space than five families of four in the outer circle!"
Naomi, by some god sent miracle, gracefully dismounted Rei and kept a sweet smile. "Oh, these old chubs," she laughed, petting Rei's face, "Oh, why they won't hurt a fly, I can assure you. They're well trained and elderly, we've been practicing with them for years. Dragons are making a kind and gentle comeback, I assure you." She beamed.
The highest ranking official seemed to falter as he started to speak again. "It's not the tameness that is our concern, miss. It's the ridiculous amount of space they'll take up. I'm afraid Ba Sing Se can't accommodate that."
"Oh," Naomi sighed, her face falsely falling. She then brightened, "I'm sorry, I've been so rude not to introduce my self and my friend. My name is Naomi, I'm the daughter of the Fire Nation's highest ranking woman, the head of the Department of the People. As you may well know, my mother deals with many things regarding the Fire Nations happiness, of course what you may not, however, is that she actually has a decent hand in playing out what happens in the Earth Kingdom as well. Not to mention my friend Amaya here is close personal friends with the Avatar himself. Now, after hearing this, I'm sure you must be able to find a suitable place for myself, Amaya, and our dragons, Rei and Tao."
He gave an awkward, desperate smile after turning to discuss the matter with the two guards standing behind him for a moment, "Yes, I'm sure you'll find your accommodations to be quite enjoyable. You'll be staying in the inner-most ring of the city. Once you arrive at the wall, we'll have some one waiting to escort you to your temporary home."
Naomi grinned proudly, she loved how well her charm worked.

"This is nice," Amaya approved, running her hand across the soft fabric of a pillow. Tao tried to stick her nose through an open window, nearly knocking over a potted plant. "Careful, Tao!" Amaya shrieked, pushing the dragon back out of the house. Tao retreated with an annoyed huff.
"I'm going to bed," Naomi announced.
"The sun's just barely going down," Amaya observed. She raised her eyebrows.
"You can't blame me. Being charming is very exhausting." Naomi went off to choose her room and crash. "Oh. We'll find Rong Fa tomorrow," she said as she closed the door.
Amaya shrugged, made sure that the windows of her room were open for Tao's monstrous nose, and decided to force herself to sleep as well.

*Guys, I changed his name...I guess you didn't notice, huh?*

*We're not looking for your little boyfriend. We're looking for his dad, Rong.*

It would have amused Naomi to watch Zuko stand at the docks of Palace City looking so stern and serious with the wind rustling those short little strands of black hair around his face that refused to be put up into its proper style and his hands in fists. She would've laughed and given him a kiss on the check, assuring him that the situation wasn't going to get any better by simply making it more dramatic. But Naomi was half a world away and fighting her own battles. Part of this act was keeping the princely attitude intact, however he was still tense with impatience and nerves. Though, when he saw the tiny speck of a flying bison and the fifteen year old Avatar coming closer, he let his lips turn up into a half smile. It had been much too long since he'd seen Aang, the boy he'd come to consider as nearly a brother.
Aang brightened too. Of course this was a little more expected and extroverted. Once the flying bison, Appa, landed safely on the ground a few yards away from where Zuko stood, Aang jumped off and had to remember the proper way for an Avatar and a prince to greet each other. He walked up slowly and bowed properly, Zuko mirrored him, both fighting back grins.
"It's so nice to see you, Avatar Aang."
"And you too, Prince Zuko." Aang smiled as he remembered always remembered fearing Zuko's name. But two years of calm and one of war had completely changed that thread, and the two most powerful people of the world were best friends.
"Avatar Aang!" Iroh's cheery voice said. The Firelord came outside and greeted him. "It's great to see you. Why don't you come in for tea?"
Aang nodded politely and he and Zuko followed him inside. Iroh poured them all tea and they sat down.
Aang smiled behind the cup of tea. "I met Naomi," he grinned at Zuko.
Zuko flushed, "Oh. Yeah," was all he could think of saying.
"Wonderful!" Iroh chimed in, sitting down at the table with them, "Isn't she lovely? You know, she's out looking for Zuko's mother, Ursa. Such a kind and loving young lady..."
"She's looking for your mom?" Aang looked shocked. For three years he had tried to help Zuko with tracking down his mother. So far, they hadn't gotten very far, when Zuko had gone down to try and extract information from ex Phoenix King, ex Firelord Ozai, he had returned furious. It reminded Aang when Zuko was always like that. "She is a nice girl." Aang smiled and recovered from his surprise. "So she must be fairly high in ranking for you to trust to go search of for you mom, lead a fleet, and give a message to me," Aang teased lightly.
"I didn't ask her to do any of those things," Zuko snapped, then recomposed, "But she is very trustworthy."
"Oh, don't be modest Prince Zuko!" Iroh laughed and turned to the Avatar, "Naomi and Zuko have recently fallen madly in love with each other," he grinned.
"Uncle! I'm sure the Avatar did not fly half way across the world just to gossip with you about me over tea! There are more important things we have to worry about!"
Aang couldn't help but laugh, but then controlled himself. "He's right. We do have a large problem. How do we kill the spirits?"
"We don't!" Iroh exclaimed. "By killing the spirits, you'll kill part of the natural world and humans have done enough to damage it already!"
"If we can't kill them, what do we do with them?" Zuko asked even more agitatedly than he normally would've. The subject of Naomi had been sending him into a fiery rage since she left and Iroh was simply adding fuel to the flames.
All eyes were on the Firelord, "Why are you looking at me? I don't know."
Zuko and Aang turned to each other, both realizing how thoroughly screwed they were.

* (Gets very flustered) Wh-What? B-b-Boy-Boyfriend?! That's---That's rediculous!!
"Uncle! I'm sure the Avatar did not fly half way across the world just to gossip with you about me over tea! There are more important things we have to worry about!"
I can totally see Zuko saying that! lol!

The next morning, Naomi rose with the sun at dawn. Having fallen asleep before the celestial goddess had set, Naomi didn't really feel compelled to get more sleep. What she did do (after sitting by the window, admiring the source of all firebending, drinking some weak tea in comparison to Firelord Iroh's, and plotting strategies for finding Rong Fa for a while) was bathe.
It had been much, much too long since her last real bath with water perfumed to whatever was her liking and bubbles that made her skin so soft it shocked even her. Baths on the ship were short and conservative with only cheap soaps that were scented so exotically as, "Fresh" "Clean", or even "Squeaky", and the one bath she took in the Norther Water Tribe was an experience so miserable, she hated even thinking about it. This time, she made sure the water was good and hot.
She chose a scent from the large assortment that reminded her of home, Vanilla Cherry Blossom. Of course it didn't make much sense, for cherry blossoms are cherry blossoms and have no flavor other than cherry blossom. Still, it made her ache a bit for Palace City, her mother. Zuko. Naomi quickly cleared her thoughts upon remembering why she was in Ba Sing Se in the first place and once again brainstormed ways to find Rong Fa.
Once she was satisfied with the state of her hygiene, she wrapped her long tresses of hair around her fingers so they curled more perfectly and painted her face with the makeup she had insisted upon bringing with her. Deep pink lips that looked almost red, skin the shade of sand that glimmered in the light, barely blushing cheeks, forest green eyes shadowed by sparkling purple and smudges of dark brown lined by thick black lashes, and framed by her golden locks. She looked happily into the mirror, having missed looking pretty after days of a plain face and side braid.
Next, she peeked into the closet of their temporary house, hoping to find something clean and nice looking. Much to her luck, she found a green, white, and pink dress that was precisely what she'd had her tailors model her own robes after. It brought out her eyes perfectly. The robes even had a matching pink cloth flower for her hair. With excitement, she threw it on. Green wasn't a bad color on her. Though, it couldn't match the smoldering intensity that came with red. But it would have to do.
Lastly, Naomi fastened Ursa's necklace around her neck with great care, like it might break at any moment. Just as she did so, the sun broke through the window of Naomi's room that was opposite the mirror, finally finding the perfect spot let the rays shine through to the Fire Nation girl, avoiding houses and barns and statues. As if in approval of Naomi's appearance, the sun set everything about her on fire. Her skin sparkled, eyes shone, lips glistened, and the pendant of the gorgeous necklace she made sure was on proud display over her heart seemed to burn just like the sun itself. The moment came and passed as a cloud dragged itself in front of the sun. Naomi couldn't shake the odd feeling that the necklace had in fact been radiating its own heat and providing its own light - just as the sun would, but she shook this off, attributing it to the light reflecting in the mirror and then back onto the pendant and thought of it no more as she could hear Amaya beginning to wake up, stumbling around the kitchen and half halfheartedly attempting to water-bend the water from the faucet to her tea cup with little success. Naomi sighed and went out to greet her, knowing the girl would want her to firebend the water into near-boiling perfect heat and discuss this Rong Fa business. So Naomi didn't think about the sun and the necklace any longer and soon it had all but vanished from her memory entirely.

The tea seemed exotic, strange on Amaya's tongue. She cupped her hands around the cup, enjoying the heat and the steam that rose up into her nose. It was still too hot to drink, but Amaya took tiny, scalding sips.
"Thanks Naomi," she said to her friend. Amaya looked down at the the tea and blew on it again, dispersing the steam for a few moments. "So. About this Rong Fa. We need to narrow our search a bit; this city is huge." Amaya set down her cup and twisted her fingers through strands of her hair, something she had picked up from Naomi. "Do you know anyone in Ba Sing Se that could maybe help us?"

At sunrise, Ba Sing Se was already bustling with activity, and Aellai had been awake for an hour. Sweat dripped down her brow as she pounded all of her energy into the poor, straw man that sat in her courtyard. She would need a new one soon, seeing the miserable state of this one.
As the tendrils of light began to spread across the sky, Aellai stopped in mid-punch. Carefully, she climbed the small ladder that leaned against her little villa to the roof. Then, she sat tenderly on the blanket she kept up on the shingles, crossing her legs as her mother taught her, and placing on fist on her palm. Just as the great sun rose over the horizon, Aellai closed her eyes and felt the warmth and strength flow through her. She had a big day ahead, as there was a tournament planned at The Earth Rumble, and she needed all the courage she could get. She let all her thoughts disappear until her mind was empty. And then---
"Fire Nation!" "Run, Aellai! Don't worry about us! Just run!" "I love you. Stay strong. I'll always be with you, as long as you listen to the wind." Shouts rang through her mind. Pictures of fire, torture, battle, blood. Her mother being dragged away from her father, and their cries to her to be brave. She felt the strong grip of the Fire Nation soldier on her elbow and remembered the loud crack when her foot broke his jaw. And then she ran. She ran and ran and ran and ran.
Screams, fire, battle, machinery. Blood.
Aellai. A giant catapult sent masses of burning pitch into the temple, collapsing walls and crushing women and children. Aellai, wake up. She saw the terror in a woman's eyes as a soldier took her newborn babe from her. "Please, no!" she cried as tears ran down the cheeks of mother and child.
Aellai!!!
"Stay away! I'll kill you all!" She screamed, pinning whoever had her shoulder to the roof, with anger and hatred in her eyes. The wind picked up, swirling and spinning all around them and making the trees bend over. She felt the burning passion of fury inside her and all she wanted to do was unleash it.
The boy looked up at her, terrified and shocked. He tried to form words, but his voice had retreated in her anger. He prayed that she wouldn't break him in half.
That was when Aellai realized who she had pinned down. This was no Fire Nation soldier. Slowly, the wind subsided and her face fell. Ba Sing Se was once again a calm, peaceful place and Katzuo breathed out a sigh of relief. She blinked at him.
"Wh-What're----Katzuo why did you do that? Why are you on my roof?" she asked, meaning for it to come out as threatening, but it only sounded shocked.
"I--I wanted to wish you luck today on the tournament. And--Well I saw you up here, but I suppose you were meditating, so I was going to wait until you were done, but then you fell over onto your side and you were...well you were wincing and you looked like you were in pain. So, I--I tried to wake you up, but you must've thought I was someone else, cuz you've got me pinned now and...well, yeah..." It all came out in a rush, and he hoped she wasn't mad at him.
Aellai sat there for a moment, until she realized that she still had him pinned to the roof. She stood up and crossed her arms, looking to the horizon.
"I'm sorry, okay? I was just--I was thinking about--the past. I didn't mean to hurt you. Can you leave now please? I need to be alone."
"Yeah. Sorry for bothering you." his voice sounded sad as he climbed down the ladder. She felt a pang in her stomach. She didn't mean to hurt him.
"Wait!" she yelled, and jumped off the roof, landing lightly next to him right as he touched the ground. "Thanks. You know---for waking me up." she said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Yeah. No problem." he said quietly, his soft eyes sparkling in the sunlight as he walked past her down the cobblestone street and turned the corner.

Naomi thought for a moment, "No I don't think anyone I would know from the Fire Nation would end up--" she stopped herself, memories flooding into her mind. One in particular, the first in a long string of incidents leading to Naomi's hatred, began to replay in her mind.
"Hi there! I like your hair. It's so... sparkly," A seven year old Ty Lee admired, stroking one of the golden locks after hand springing over.
"I think it looks like someone poured bleach on her head," Mai said flatly, as always, following behind her.
Naomi flushed and pulled it away from either of their grasps, protecting it with her own fingers. She turned back to the story-scroll in front of her and tried to ignore them.
Then the page caught on fire.
Naomi screamed and jumped away from the parchment. She stomped it out as quickly as she could. The girls, now joined by Azula, were laughing and rolling around on the ground like it was the funniest thing they'd seen in a long, long time.
"That was mean!" Naomi yelled, angry and embarrassed tears rolling down her face.
"I don't even understand why you go here," Azula smirked, now under control. "No one likes you and your mother barely has enough authority to live in Palace City, let alone send you to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls."
"My mother is one of the greatest women in all of the Fire Nation!" Naomi spat angrily.
Azula and Mai cracked up, Ty Lee stood there awkwardly.
Mai recovered herself, "Right. And I'm the Queen of the Airbenders! All shall bow down to my mighty airbending power!"
They laughed more.
Naomi gritted her teeth and fought off tears.
Ty Lee was desperately trying to get back in on the action with Mai and Azula, "Hey! Guys! Guess what I heard." They still didn't pay much attention to her, "Guys! Naomi has a crush on Zuko!" This shut Mai and Azula up instantly.
If it was possible for Naomi to be more mortified than before, she was. "I do not!" But her red cheeks contradicted the statement, making her lie completely unbelievable.
Mai turned to stare daggers at Naomi, who was doing all she could to not crumble at their feet, "He doesn't even know your name. You are not important at all. You will leave him alone."
"You can't tell me what to do!" Naomi screamed, balling her hands into fists, fighting the urge to send a large, unrefined burst of fire at her face. But she fought it hard. If there was one thing her father taught her, it was that fire was the most wicked, horrid thing one could ever be cursed with having the ability to bend.
"Of course I can tell you what to do. You are my inferior. You will bow your head when I walk by. Pray for my safety each time you close your eyes. Give me anything of yours I take a fancy to. You will never talk to Zuko again. And you will fear me."
Eight-year-old Naomi was trembling, the intensity of Mai's nearly black eyes scaring her half to the spirit world and back. She didn't say anything, she refused to give them the satisfaction of her agreement or her tears or even her defiance.
"That's what I thought," Mai scoffed, obviously taking silence for a yes. "You're just an ugly freak with bleached out hair who doesn't even like fire," Mai spat.
Naomi didn't move until they had walked away - Mai looking back to make sure Naomi still wasn't breathing, Ty Lee doing less enthusiastic cart wheels than before, and Azula leaving a trail of sparks Naomi assumed she hoped would catch the blonde on fire.
Then she knelt to the ground, sobbing.
Naomi pulled herself out of the memory.
"Mai."

"Oh god. The depressed one with a man voice and freaky knives in her hair? Ugh! What is she doing in Ba Sing Se?" Amaya made a face. "You're not serious?" But the girl could tell by Naomi's face that she wasn't kidding.
After a bit of thinking, she got over the fact that who they needed help from was going to be Mai, and that they needed to locate her.
"Alright. Well, operation stalkarazzi-Mai is now in plan. Where do we find her?"

"Yeah. Her," she replied, anger hinting in her voice. "Ugh." she groaned, dragging herself away from the table to go search for Mai in the directory of the inner circle of Ba Sing Se which she went to sleep with last night, searching through all the endless pages of "Fa"s. But there was no Rong Fa. She flipped through, but Mai wasn't there. She swore, then realized that it was organized so the wage earner was listed, then the people who they cared for were listed. Of course Mai wasn't making her own money.
"UGH! Who was it she ran off with? What was his name.... Ugh..." Naomi talked to herself, hoping to organize her thoughts out loud. "It was some dude with an L sound... Loue! Loue.... Heart! Loue Heart. That was his name. Because Zuko said that he had No Heart. And neither does she. So it works." Naomi quickly realized she was talking to herself and silently found him in the directory. General Loue Heart. Ugh. And there he was listed as being engaged to Mai. Naomi seriously considered how anyone could stand to be in her presence for more than five minutes, let alone be engaged to her.
She pointed him out to Amaya and discovered that they only lived a few blocks away. They planned on leaving at ten.
This was going to be interesting.

Amaya twisted her hair and dressed in clean clothes from the ones provided from the dresser; she didn't want to use the clothes she had brought, and anyways, it was Mai that they were going to go see. There was no real reason to look nice. Amaya didn't really need to bother brushing her hair. But she felt slightly intimidated about how nice Naomi looked, and ran a brush through her hair and changed.
She gave a kiss to Tao, and at ten they left the house. As much as the two wanted to avoid the appointment, it was hard to use to excuse of getting lost, considering Mai was only three blocks away. It must've been a lot worse for Naomi. Amaya only knew Mai from stories and gossip, how she was dating Zuko, how she had knives in her hair, was depressed, had no feelings, and had a man voice. Or an attempt at a seductive voice. But she hadn't actually known her. Naomi had to live with her while she lived in the Palace City.
They were quiet as the they approached the front door steps.
Amaya stopped before they knocked. "Do we even have a plan as to what to say to her?"

"Nope. Not in the slightest. Just whatever you do, do not bring up Zuko or how she's now living with Heart or our childhoods or Azula--actually, just let me do the talking." She smoothed down her golden curls, taming the imaginary friz with an instinctively self-conscious action and tapped softly on the door.
There might have stood there for a hundred thousand years, waiting without breathing. The door opened before them.
"What are you doing here?" the man voice said. Deep and unromantic and hurtful, completely unchanged since Naomi had last heard it scream curses towards Zuko as she left for good. But the view had changed. Significantly. She still had perfectly white skin, like cream, pale brown eyes, and midnight black hair as shiny as a freshly polished gold coin. But that envious hair hung loose on her shoulders, without the strange style that Mai had been noted for, her perfect face was not bare, instead Naomi could tell the smudged mascara and too dark lipstick had only recently become habit, and in place of the hideous dark red and brown pant-robes, she wore in place nearly the same clothes Naomi had traditionally seen on Earth Nation men. However, none of this was as bizarre as the fact that Mai didn't look like she hated the world in general, just the fact that Naomi had showed up on her doorstep.
She couldn't speak for a moment, as she only wanted to watch Mai in her new form, then she realized how creepy she was being and found words, "Hi. Um. Hi." Seeing her childhood nemesis in such an odd fashion muddled her brain.
"Did you not here me? What are you doing here?" Mai repeated.
Naomi got a hold of her senses, "I was looking for General Heart."
"He's not here. But why do I not believe you?"
"Mai, I'm just trying to find someone in the city."
"If you're trying to take another guy from me, I'm not going to be done with this one for a while, but if I ever do dump him, I'll be sure to throw my dirty laundry to you."
Naomi's skin burned, fire wanted to leap from her fingers, she ignored her comment as she had for the hundred and fifty thousandth time and continued, "No, I'm looking for a man who doesn't live in the inner circle."
"Why do you need my help? I don't expect much from you, but is it really that difficult to look up an address."
Ignored, the heat got stronger. "I tried that, I was just hoping that since you're the only one I know who lives in Ba Sing Se, you'd help us."
"Wishful thinking for a girl who I despise."
"Just please tell me if you know where I could find this guy." She burned. She burned. She burned.
"Why would I help you? You don't think I know that you and Zuko are together? You're a slut and a joke. No Fire Nation citizen in their right mind would approve of you becoming Firelady. You've slept with half of them though, haven't you? Look at yourself. What spirit did your parents piss off to make you look like that?"
The fire was too strong. "At least I'm not a soulless, heartless bitch," Naomi screamed back, she could tell how uncomfortable Amaya was getting as they stood there in the pretty street of the inner circle, at the doorstep of a pretty house, saying some not so pretty things. But, honestly, Naomi didn't really give a damn. "You've been some crazy tyrant to me since we were eight and I'm not going to take it anymore! You can't do that to another human being! You're such a miserable, terrible bitch that no one wants to be around!"
Mai responded through gritted teeth and raised eyebrows, "Really? Because Zuko wanted to be around me. He wanted to be around me all the time. And he wants to be around me now."
"That's a blatant lie."
"Zuko still loves me, little miss blonde. He'll always love me. No matter what you do, how often he says the opposite, he'll always love me. And one day, you'll end up just like your mother--hopelessly lost in things that don't matter, completely crazy--and Zuko will run off just like your father, with some girl, only to ultimately come back to me. You can deny it if you like, but you know it's true. You know your a freak and a slut and that Zuko loves me. That's why you came here--to confirm your greatest fear, well, now you know it's true."
Naomi couldn't control it any longer. She threw the first lash of fire, without thinking about all the destruction she would cause in an unorganized fight in the middle of a populated street in midday. She didn't really care. She just kinda wanted to burn Mai's stupid, ugly face off--that's all.
Mai quickly retaliated, however, by taking three daggers from her clothing and throwing them at Naomi, who dodged them by jumping into the street. Amaya was not so lucky, as she was pinned to the wall of the house by the daggers by her sleeves and pant leg.
"Naomi!" Amaya screamed, "Stop! We need to find him! This was not part of the plan!"
But Naomi ignored her friends cries as Mai raced across the street to be opposite of her opponent. She couldn't think of anything but all the hurt she had felt through the years of being second best to Mai and being controlled by Mai and being teased by Mai--Mai. Naomi wanted to make Mai burn. The fire she through at her was hot and dangerous, burning everything it touched with bright orange flames. There was only her and Mai. The daggers and the fire. Naomi dodged the knives but had trouble, undoubtedly, as she couldn't turn her enemy's energy back around on her. She elaborately flipped and cartwheeled paired with less elegant turns and dives to avoid the stilettos that shot through the air and blasted more hot, hot fire at Mai, not caring about anything around her.
"Naomi! Stop! Please!" Amaya's cry penetrated through the bubble of Naomi's hatred. For a moment, she stopped. To look around and see the world around her engulfed in flames, the yellow-red-orange tongues about to lick the skin clean off Amaya's bones who could neither run nor waterbend as she was stuck against the wall. "Naomi! Be careful!" Amaya yelled. Naomi stopped short as she was about to thrust another fireball at Mai to calm herself for a moment, to watch the fiery world, to regain her senses. But Mai was not stopping. She threw another handful of knives. Naomi took a breath and remembered everything Iroh taught her, the candle's flames, the beating heart.
"Rei! Tao! Rei!" Naomi called as she moved out of the way.
"Who are you calling? No one is going to help you. No one could beat me."
"Really?" Naomi laughed in response. "Really? No one can beat you? Rei! Tao!" Mai moved closer to Naomi, taking out a single knife from her sleeve. "I'm not going to fight you anymore," Naomi smiled. "I'm bigger than that."
Mai grinned and poised herself for a deathly throw, "Fine. I would've beaten you any--" Mai fell to the ground before she could finish her sentence. The two other girls cheered and there was a giant spout of water that put out all the flames Naomi had carelessly created. Mai screamed once the smoke and steam cleared. "What in the world?!"
"Mai, meet Rei and Tao. Tao and Rei, meet Mai. Mai is the most awful girl in the entire world. While on the other hand, Rei and Tao are two of the last surviving dragons. And Tao doesn't bend fire, she bends water--by the way. Now that everyone's introduced, I think I'm going to beat you in an Agni-Ki now."
Mai didn't move from her cowering position on the ground. Rei and Tao bared their large fangs and growled at Mai, surrounding her. Naomi stalked towards her, straight faced. "I'm ending this. Right now," she said as she gathered two balls of flames in her hands.
"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Mai shouted spitefully. Naomi laughed and slammed down the fireball.
There was a lull in time, as if the whole world held its breath for a minute as the flames climbed and leaped. There was the scent of vanilla and surrounding view of white. Mai yelped and everything was brought back into reality.
Naomi's flames were white. White as the vanilla scented candles Naomi had spent so many hours practicing with, the contained the same sweet smell. Just like Rei's own. But the most peculiar part was the temperature. Naomi's ball hit Mai right in stomach, but her clothes did not turn black, her flesh did not burn, and her screech was only from instinct. The fire was white, vanilla scented, and cool.
"Where is Rong Fa?" Naomi demanded, leaning over Mai and grabbing at her shirt with her right hand, holding a ball of her newly developed flames in her left.
"I'm not scared of you. Your fire is just like ice. That makes you even more of a freak."
Naomi gave a half grin and suddenly, the flames were as hot as the sun, making them sweat just from the presence. "Really? Because I'd say this could be pretty hot if it got you in the right angle."
"How did you--?"
"What is going on here?!" A male voice said from behind them. Naomi turned and so did Mai.
"Loue! Save me! This girl is crazy, she's trying to kill me!" Mai shouted.
"What are those things?!" General Heart quivered, terrified. He wasn't an overly attractive man, just brawny. Naomi found herself wondering why in the world anyone would leave Zuko for him.
Naomi grinned. "Just my dragons. Nothing special. Since Mia obviously doesn't know. where could I find Rong Fa?"
He continued to tremble, "Rong Fa? He works with the Earth Rumble. The Fa family is famous for their fierce fighting finesse."
"Good. Where and what is that?" Naomi continued, dropping Mai and turning her white fire against the General.
"It's an earth bending competition .It's in a cave in the outer circle. Just ask around. Please let Mai go," he said desperately.
"Great. Thanks," Naomi grinned falsely and shot a glare to Mai. She quickly bolted over to Amaya and pulled the knives out of her clothing as Heart comforted Mai. "Tobu! Fei Fei!" she called to the dragons and both girls mounted. "See you in hell, Mai!" Naomi called as the two of them took off flying towards the outer ring.

"Welcome to the very first completely interactive Earth Rumble Tournament!!!!!" A man stood in the center of the arena. He had long, straight black hair and tan, muscular arms. He looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. The arena was different this time too. From each end of the ring, a bridge crossed over to the audience. "I am your host, Rong Fa! Let's get ready to RUUUUMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The crowd went wild; screaming fan girls, admiring guys and even MEN, and a couple excited grandmothers as well!
"First up, we have Katzuo Fa, my own son, versus The Elephant!!!!!!!!!" Rong Fa yelled at the top of his lungs, throwing his arms in the air.
Katzuo raised his arms like his father and flexed his muscles. Girls in the front row cried and fell over each other with absolute adoration for him. He winked and they squealed.
A massive man stomped into the ring. He had an enormous nose and ears as well as feet. Well, everything was enormous about him, actually. But the adoring fans focused on Katzuo.
Aellai stood behind the scenes and rolled her eyes. 'Ignorant, conceited pig.'