Avatar: the Last Airbender NES

The Earth Rumble in actuality was exactly as Naomi had pictured it-- stony and humid with awful scent of man's sweat and too many voices cheering at the same time. She wanted to do some serious redecorating as soon as she stepped into the "lobby". A small space that had a few chairs laying carelessly around and a large man standing in front of the doors to get into the arena, which was somewhat visible through two large windows to the left of the doors.
"That'll be two gold pieces," the man said in a gruff voice, holding out his hand for Naomi and Amaya to pay for their tickets at the door.
Naomi looked to Amaya nervously, "Do you have any money on you? I think I left mine back at the house."
Amaya shook her head, "Mine's with Tao. I could run back out and get it."
"No, there's a line girlies. If you leave now, I'm giving your seats away."
Naomi gritted her teeth, "Why are they so expensive anyways?"
"Big fight tonight. The Whirlwind's here. And your late. Only have a few seats left. Supply and demand, baby," he answered, getting too close to Naomi for her comfort.
"Look, I need to see Rong Fa." Naomi demanded. "Where can I find him? I swear, I don't even need a seat, I just want to go look around for him."
"Nice try, girlie, but if you aren't paying, you aren't getting in."
Naomi was having trouble containing herself lately, and she sort of wanted to try out that new fire of her's again--white, temperature controlled, and pleasantly scented. "Ugh! Do you know who I am?! I'm the daughter of one of the most important women in the fire nation, Firelord Iroh himself is my master, and I'm close, personal friends with Prince Zuko. So basically, I could kill you in a single second," she spit, her words making her seem just as large as him.
The man began to laugh heartily, "Sure you are. And I'm sure the reason you have that weird hair is that you were blessed by the sun spirit, destined to become ruler of the spirit world!"
"I've had a rough day. I nearly killed my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend and burned down half of the Inner Circle just so I could find out where Rong Fa is, so I don't need you telling me I can't see him! I'm on a mission given to me by the highest officials of the Fire Nation! i just need to see Rong Fa, dammit!" She pounded her fist against the wall beside him, fist filled with the white flames.
"Whoa there. Cool down there, little Fire Nation girl. Wait, what was your name again?"
She brightened for a moment, hoping this was a good sign, "Naomi, daughter of the head of the Fire Nation Department of the People, pupil of Firelord Iroh, friend of Prince Zuko."
"You tried to kill General Heart's fiance?" He asked, dumbfounded.
Naomi shrugged, "She's a bitch."
"I can't let you in. Even if you did have the money. You're on the list."
"WHAT?! What list?!" She screeched, turning red, gathering white hot white flames.
"Chill, lady! The list of wanted Earth Kingdom criminals."
"WHAT?!?! She tired to kill me first! Like, ten years ago! Now I'm the criminal?!"
"Naomi, calm down, we'll just wait outside until it's over, then we'll ask around as people leave," Amaya said delicately, trying to calm the flaming girl.
"No! We're going to talk to Rong Fa now!" Naomi shot her flames at the gruff man, who quickly dropped the few tickets he was holding to block her attack with a remedial form of earth bending, just a large rock that he threw up in defense.
"Security!" he yelled and Naomi kicked more fire at him, which was blocked by more rocks which melted into lava on impact of Naomi's new fire and hardened again as it hit the ground. If it was possible, three even bigger men opened the rock wall to their right as if it had been a door. Amaya yelped as they shot rocks at her and quickly pulled her bending water out of it's pouch to deflect them. "Naomi! What are you doing! Stop melting the rocks! It's freaking me out, friend!"
"Sorry!" she called, now using the temperature of regular flames once again. She found they easier to control, as they should be, but not nearly as exciting to use. The most peculiar thing, however, was that as hard as she tried, she couldn't get back to completely normal, red and orange fire. But she didn't dwell on it too much, as now she had a new strategy.
Her white fire cooled considerable, she tested it against her own skin quickly and without being noticed and felt no burns, just the exceedingly odd feeling of something alive and wild but nearly cold brushing against her skin. Using a tweaked version of the fire whip, she sent out serpent like ropes of fire that wrapped around them men and pinned them against the wall.
Quickly, Naomi grabbed Amaya's wrist and busted through the doors to the arena. "Hurry!" she yelled over the roar of the crowd as a person riding on a boulder was thrown high into the air and then slammed back down. They ran down the aisle, bumping into a popcorn salesman who was muttering something about how under appreciated cabbages were these days and that popcorn would be much better to sell and accidentally spilling all the popcorn onto him.
"MY POPCORN!" he screamed in agony.
"Sorry!" both girls called, behind them, not slowing down until Naomi realized something and went back. "I'm really, really sorry." she apologized graciously. "But I kinda need this," she continued and plucked the forest green hat from her head and put it on as they ran away again, her stuffing her tresses of blonde hair into the cap. The popcorn guy screaming in anguish behind them, "My popcorn! Oh, I miss my cabbages!"
"Hey! Get the girls who knocked over the popcorn man's cart! They're wanted criminals!" the guards yelled behind them. Naomi and Amaya ran faster. They waded through a crowd to disguise themselves among them, a nearly failed plan as the guards were getting closer and closer until Amaya suddenly dragged them down the stairs. Down, down, down until they were as far as the stairs would take them. They veered left and down the dimly lit hall, which Naomi assisted with a ball of fire. There was nowhere to hide, it seemed, no doors or anything to jump into. That was, until a boulder landed right in front of the two girls. They looked up to find that they were running through the pit the fighters fell into when they lost a match. They looked at each other in a panic, then Naomi spotted a cleverly hidden door just past the boulder. She pointed it out to Amaya and together they pushed the rock aside to get there. They bolted as fast as they could and slammed the door behind them, huffing and puffing as they leaned against it, pushing it closed. Naomi took off the popcorn man's cap just as she surveyed the room--nothing special, a table in the center with a few cushions around it, a teapot laying on it, a sink and towels, a chair, a mirror, and in the corner a girl about Amaya's age with short brown hair brutally beating a punching bag.
Naomi screamed instinctively and shouted, "I swear, if you tell me anything negative, I will melt your face off!"

The shrill, high-pitched shriek startled Aellai and she immediately turned on them. In an instant, she was in her stance and a gust of air shoved the intruders to the ceiling, which they promptly bounced off of before slamming back down. It wasn't enough to hurt them, only make them a little dizzy and confused.
"Who are you?!? What are you doing in here?!?" she yelled at them, still poised in case one of them decided to attack. The look in her eyes was cold, but behind them was a hint of curiosity.

Naomi assumed a defensive position with fire in her hands. "Nothing--Nobody--who are you?!" she replied quickly and nearly lit the table on fire on accident.

Aellai yelled with alarm, ran to the sink, and quickly turned on the water before proceeding to splash water on her table until it was out. Then, she looked at the intruders and knit her brow.
"Since you're in my dressing room, I ask the questions! Now tell me who you are and what you're doing here or I'll kick both of your sorry asses so hard you'll land in Ba Sing Se's dungeons."

Naomi glared at the girl, "We're running away from bouncers because apparently I nearly burned down Ba Sing Se. I'm Naomi of the Firenation. Who are you?" she scowled but readjusted her robes, trying to look much more high-class.

Aellai's head spun. 'Fire nation?!?'
"What are you doing here?!? You have no right! Get out! GET OUT!" her face darkened, and the room seemed to as well. Quickly, wind swirled around Aellai, sending her hair all over the place, whipping at their clothing, and moving the furniture.
The door was forced open, and in her fury, Aellai shot her hands out towards them. The gust slammed into the intruders like a train, sending them flailing out into the corridor.
"GO BACK TO THE FIRE NATION!" Aellai screamed, her eyes full of hatred and anger as she slammed the door shut.

"That was very unnecessary!" Amaya shouted at the closed door. She pulled herself to her feet, untangling herself from Naomi. She wanted to crash into the room again, but the girl was obviously very pissed off. Even if Naomi was the best firebender ever to walk the earth, it was usually hard to beat someone angry.
Amaya looked down the corridors. The stench of body odor and sweat filled her nose. There was swearing and the sound of fists hitting punching bags. Above her head, she could hear crowds cheering and roaring and stamping their feet against the stone floors.
"Where the heck can we find Rong Fa?" she wondered out loud. She looked at Naomi. "Should we check all of the rooms? Wouldn't that be...rude?"
"I will wring her little neck. Does she think she's better than us? I don't think so. Who is the greatest firebender to walk the earth? With the exception of Zuko. Yes, that's right, me. And...urgh!" Naomi was still seething. "When I stepped into this, I had no desire to have a freaking little girl throw me out of a room."
"Dude. Chill. We need to find Rong Fa. You can wring her neck later. If needed, we could drag her outside and introduce them to Rei and Tao. And about the little girl comment...she's my age. At least, she looked like it."
Amaya pulled Naomi around the corridor for a few minutes and then a sweat drenched teenager stepped out from a hidden hallway. Amaya poked Naomi. "Ask him," she mouthed.

After winning his first match of the day, Katzuo lowered himself into the pit beside the stage while waving at his screaming fan-girls.
"Katzuo! Nice one! You've got this tournament in the bag!" Jao yelled to him as he tossed him a towel. Katzuo laughed and wiped his face as he walked past. "Thanks! But I'm not so sure. Aellai seems to be on top of her game too..."
"Eh! Maybe this'll be the day you knock her out of the ring." Jao yelled after him. He smiled.
"Yeah. Maybe." he was soon lost in thought, his mind whirring. He turned a corner to see two girls, around his age, standing up and brushing dirt and dust off of their robes. One was tall and blonde with a pale complexion, and the other was shorter with dark hair and the dark skin of the water tribe. He raised an eyebrow, 'How did they get down here? They don't seem like the earth-bending type...'
"Excuse me ladies," he said in his charming, debutante way, his rippling pectorals glistening with sweat*, "Are you lost?"
*Sorry I just HAD to add that in. It was too funny to pass up

*You just wait til Rose posts! (laughs butt off)*

*Now I'm scared...................................................*

Naomi gave one last angered look back to Amaya before turning to the teenage body-builder and turned on her charm like turning her firebending hot and cold. She laughed sweetly, "No. We just were... looking for you."
"Alright," Katzuo stopped and crossed his arms. He was a little suspicious but kept a friendly smile on his face. "But you're not really supposed to be down here..."
"Oh, yeah. We know. Sorry. But we just had to meet you. You were so incredible out there. It's such a fantastic coincidence that we found you, running around down here," Naomi smiled sweetly and spun her flax-colored hair around her finger. Amaya stood there awkwardly and tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear, hoping she was playing along with Naomi's trick.
Katzuo laughed, "Thanks. I guess I am kinda doing well tonight." Before Naomi could respond, there was a large explosion above them and an enormous man hit the wall to Katzuo's right, and then slid all the way down the length of the wall, landing with a sickening thump. All three began to laugh--Naomi in a lovable giggle, Katzuo in a chuckle, and Amaya in a awkward snarf sounding thing that she hoped would replicate Naomi's. Katzuo continued, "You, uhm... You want an autograph or something?"
"Yes, an autograph would be simply fantastic!" Naomi replied with false enthusiasm.
Katzuo pounded against the stone wall and out came one flat, paper-ish rock and another stick-like one. Naomi didn't even have to fake her impressed applause as he carved his name into the "paper" with the "pen".
"And who am I making this out to?"
"I'm...Lily, and this is...June." Naomi answered slyly, trying not to throw off their smoothness.
The earth bender finished and rubbed off the carved out stones before handing it back to Naomi. "There you go, ladies. Do you want me to show you the way back up to the seats or are you going to stay down here for a while more? I could show you around. My next match isn't for a while."
Naomi squinted at the slab, trying to make out the boy's name. Maybe he could be more helpful than just showing them to Rong Fa with his wicked earthbending skills and everything. "Uh, yes. We just want to--" Naomi stopped short for a moment. His name she could finally make out. Katzuo Fa. Elation slipped into her blood like fire in the heat of an Agni-Kai, but she kept her composure, they had to pull this off in order to not seem creep or dangerous. "We just would absolutely love to see Rong Fa."
"Well, he's MC-ing right now.... Why do you need to see my father?" Katzuo's brow furrowed, his suspicious feelings towards "Lily" and "June" growing tenfold for some reason he couldn't put his finger on. Something about the list of people who weren't allowed into the arena and a rumor that the inner circle nearly got burned down today.
Naomi fought off a large grin despite the fact that she could feel the earthbender getting more and more uncomfortable, "Oh, my own father's just a really big fan of him. That's kinda funny isn't it? My dad loves your dad and I love you..."
"Why isn't your dad here with you?"
Naomi was loosing her momentum, "Oh, he's back home... in... uh..."
"The Quan Wan mountains," Amaya answered, "Which is near the fire nation. Which is why N--Lily here has such pale skin."
"Ecactly. And June is adopted from the Northern Water tribe. Her parents were killed in the war when she was very, very young. It's a tragic story, really."
"Anyways, our dad isn't here because he is..."
"Dead," Naomi offered.
Amaya punched her shoulder subtly and grinned to cover it up, "Sick. He his sick, Lily."
"Right. But the town we come from is called Dead, so he's in Dead, but he's just sick with a little case of pentapox."
"Wasn't that just a fake disease some citizens of Omashu made up to get out from under the Firenation rule?"
"It actually turned into a real thing because as it turns out, if you you leave pentapus ink on your skin for too long, you'll get a rash and that rash turns into hives and then you get itchy and it's just bad and can be transferred from the gross-flaking skin," Naomi explained.
Amaya nodded, "It's just disturbing."
"So we were sent to our Aunt's house to escape the illness and she lives here in Ba Sing Se."
"Yep and she doesn't like the Earth Rumble so we came by ourselves and sneaked down here to find you, which we did, so that's good," Amaya expanded.
"Right..." Katzuo said skeptically. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why is your hair so light colored?"
"Oh. Right, when I was little I slipped and fell into a bucket of lemon juice concentrate my mom was using to clean with and it bleached my hair for life. Bummer, right?"
"Yeah... Well, I guess we can go wait in my dad's dressing room for him to come back," he responded and turned around to walk down the way he had already came and the girls would have ended up going, "Follow me."

'Power. Strength. Dominance. Stealth. Best. I am the best. I am better than the best. I am the champion.' Aellai carefully pep-talked herself as she walked up onto the stage, ignoring the hundreds of fans surrounding her. They screamed and yelled support, some yelled taunts, some got into fights with one another, there were lights flashing all over the place, the atmosphere was thick with sweat and adrenaline. And she ignored it all. 'Focus. Fight. Defeat.'
After fighting all day, it had come down to this. In the previous two matches, Aellai had defeated some body-builder rock man, whose name she forgot the instant she slammed him through the ceiling, and Katzuo had lost to The Rockalanche, a hard-headed, self-centered moron.
And now, here she stood in front of him as he basked in his own glow.
"LAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS AND GEEEEENNNNNNNTTTTTTTLLLLLLLEEEMEEEEEENNN!!! NOW IS THE TIME YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!---- IT HAS COME DOWN TO THIS. IN ONE CORNER, WE HAVE THE MIGHTY ROCKALANCHE!----AND HERE COMES HIS COMPETITION. SHE'S TOUGH. SHE'S ROUGH. SHE BLASTED HER LAST OPPONENT THROUGH THE ROOF------YOUR RETURNING CHAMPION, THE WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRLWIND!" There was considerably more obsessive fan-screaming at Aellai's name, and she noticed that Rong Fa said the Rockalanche's name with considerably less enthusiasm than her own. Perhaps Katzuo got hurt in the last match. 'No time to worry about that! Focus. Fight. Defeat.'
"You ready to dance, Landslide?" the Whirlwind taunted.
"The Rockalanche has conflicted feelings about fighting a small, innocent girl." he stated, grinning at the crowd and glancing at her.
"I'd say you're scared out of your rocky little boots, Landslide!" she yelled back and the audience roared, most of it positive, some of it negative. There was a pause as he regarded her.
"The Rockalanche is over his conflicted feelings and ready to bury the little girl in his fury!" he yelled at her, clenching his fists.
The Whirlwind turned 270 degrees so that her side was to him, took her stance, raised her hands, and looked right into his beady little eyes. "Bring it on."
The Rockalanche also took his stance, but it was wider, and his whole body faced her. Large target. Good.' He lifted a fist into the air, causing a piece of the ground in front of him to as well, which he promptly kicked towards the Whirlwind. She yawned, flicked her wrist, and the boulder crashed into the wall to her right.
"IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?" she shouted at him, seeming to play with her fingers.
This flared up The Rockalanche's temper, which she was counting on. He leaped high into the air and came crashing down on all fours, causing the entire stage to curve like the ocean in powerful waves. The first one caught The Whirlwind and threw her into the air. But she recovered quickly, flipped a couple times, drew the air around her to keep her afloat, and touched back down when the waves had subsided.
"Your poor attempts are starting to bore me." she said, cracking her knuckles in front of her. In three steps, the distance between the opponents became ten feet. She jumped over and ducked beneath the rocks he was hurling at her, and as she touched down on her fourth step, her hand shot out like a bullet, and the force she'd been collecting in her hands was released, and The Rockalanche sailed across the arena, crashing painfully into the stands.
And the audience went berserk!

*I thought I'd get this going again*
After basking in the glow of victory, and being presented with flowers, chocolates, a trophy, but best of all MONEY, Aellai was escorted to a private room where she could 'calm down'. But she was already calm. She was always cool and confident, and the only thing on her mind was those two firebenders that came into her dressing room. She wondered what they wanted, and she wanted to find them and destroy them. 'No. Don't be ridiculous. They're gone. I scared 'em off.'
Just then, the door opened and Rong Fa stood there with his arms open and a grin on his face. "Congratulations!"
"Thanks," she smiled slightly at him, which in itself was rare.
"What're you gonna do now? That's a BIIIIIG cash prize!" he grinned at her. Aellai leaned back on the cushions she sat on and put her feet up on a table.
"Hmm...I dunno probably gamble." she lied, looking at her fingernails. Rong Fa laughed heartily.
"A little thing like you. Gamble?"
"Yeah why not?" she snapped.
"I didn't mean to offend you, A. It's just a funny thought that you'd be wowing a ton of huge guys."
She smiled slightly at the thought of their shocked faces.
"I suppose you're right."
Just as Rong Fa was about to ask another question, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." he yelled, and the door pushed open to reveal a grinning, dirty Katzuo.
Aellai rolled her eyes.

Mentally, Naomi groaned and moaned and rolled her eyes and did other things to indicate her displeasure with the voice that she had heard from the other side of the door. The girl who kicked her out of the dressing room. She tightened her fists instinctively. There was no way in hell she was going to be thrown against the ceiling again. But there was more than just annoyance boiling in Naomi's blood--there was fear and anxiety and tension. Her manipulative charm could only take her so far and she had no idea how she would lure one of the biggest mysteries of the world out of a man she had never met before.
"Hey dad," Katzuo casually said in his typical suave manner. "I ran into a couple girls who wanted to meet you. Would you mind giving them an autograph?"
Naomi heard a smile in the man's reply, "Sure." he then chuckled, "It's been a while since somebody asked me for one of those."
The young earth bender gestured for the two girls to come inside and once they did, the reactions to their presence were not generally considered pleasant.

*Rachel, would you like to write Aellai's reaction to them? I'm sorry this is so short after so long of not posting, but yeah. I'm thinking Rong should know who Naomi is because of her hair, since he is the guardian of the spirit world and the reason Naomi's hair is so light is because she was blessed by the sun spirit and all. Yep. Okay. *

*Aellai's reactions remind me of Toph's sometimes *

The little airbender leapt to her feet. "What are YOU doing here, BLONDIE?!?" she yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the firebender.
"Rong Fa, I want her OUT of my sight!" she yelled, and you could practically see the steam radiating off of her.
"Calm down, tornado girl. I don't believe this 'blondie' means you any harm..."

Naomi unconsciously made a fireball in her fist in reaction to the obnoxious brunette's rude greeting. She didn't mean to, but it was simply her natural response to beat people up if they made her angry.
Of course, though this was her natural response, it certainly wasn't the best response, considering Katzuo jumped back about a foot and yelled, "Whoa! You're a firebender?!"
But she simply ignored him and walked deeper into the room, bowing before Rong Fa, "Sir, it is an honor to meet you." Amaya followed and bowed as well.
Rong smiled and Aellai rolled her eyes, "What can I help you with, Lady Naomi?"
"Naomi? You told me your name was Lily," Katzuo exclaimed, confused, but no one paid any attention to him.
"How do you know my name?" Naomi asked with a furrowed brow.
"I expected sooner or later you would find me and now, here you are! How lovely it is."
She smiled awkwardly, "You didn't really answer my question."
"I'm sure you have many. Come, let me make you some tea."

Amaya watched as Naomi left the room, and immediately she felt out of place and a cloud of insecurity settled over her. Being used to following in Naomi's overbearing and intimidating shadow, Amaya had no idea as to how to work through her situation. She was stuck in a rock room with a girl who already slammed her into the ceiling and a boy who really didn't know what to think about her. Moments ago he learned Naomi's name was not in fact Lily, and probably by now he had put two and two together and figured she wasn't named June.
They all sat down awkwardly on the small couch. From left to right, Aellai, Katzuo, and Amaya. Silence fell over them, for many minutes.
"So..." Katzuo finally said. "Nice weather today..."
She noticed that the airbender shot him an annoyed look, making the situation even more awkward.
Amaya shifted on the couch, admiring that it was comfortable and soft, unlike the stone walls and rocky people around her. With a smile she thought about how pathetic it was--how she was comparing the furniture to the Earth Kingdom stereotypes. She turned her head to look at Katzuo too many seconds late.
"Yeah..." she nodded, though in her head she was wondering skeptically how he would know the weather if he was stuck inside a dark and underground arena all day.

Cold air drifted through the dark halls of the Earth Rumble as Rong Fa and Naomi walked to Rong's personal chamber, deep within the heart of the stadium. They said nothing but listened to the hum of the crowd from far away until he bent the earth that created the doorway to let them through. It was a small room, simple, the main feature being a pai sho board in the center of the floor. Rong carefully stepped around it to get to the sink and cabinet to make Naomi some tea as she sank down onto the cushion closest to the door.
"Do you take any sugar in your tea?" He asked casually. She answered a little in the same nonchalant manner. He handed the hot cup of liquid to the girl and sat across from her, the tension in the ambiance growing heavy with each passing moment.
"Sir--" She began awkwardly, but he cut her off.
With a smile, he began, "I always knew you would come one day, but I never began to think of how I would explain everything to you. Foolish of me, I suppose, that now here you are and I can't even imagine what to say."
She tugged at her robes awkwardly as she suggested, "Perhaps you could just answer my questions."
As a reply, he simply nodded and said of course.
"How do you know who I am?"
"There's an old legend about a beautiful young girl with hair like the sun's rays. Many have forgotten it and those who have not disregard it as ancient folklore, but it has been treasured in my family since the time of Avatar Roku."
Naomi gave a skeptical look, "And you think I'm this golden haired girl from the legend?"
He shrugged and pretended to seem uncaring, "Perhaps. But, my dear, are there any other girls with light hair you can think of?"
Naomi didn't answer, rather, she asked her own question, "What does the story say?"
"Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that - the usual things." Naomi raised her eye brows, "The girl was said to have been blessed by the sun spirit at birth, giving her incredible bending powers as well as beauty equivalent to that of the sun."
"Why would the sun spirit do that?"
"Because she was destined to save the sun spirit, the fire nation, and the two worlds from certain doom. They called her Naomi Sulwyn. Beautiful, sun blessed."
Once again, Naomi didn't answer, sinking into a wold of thought about this ancient tale that could very well be about her.
"But that's not why you came here, is it?"
Naomi shook her head, "No... I'm looking for someone..." She paused, trying to figure out where to begin, "The ex-Firelady Ursa, mother of Prince Zuko. I found a necklace she gave to her daughter the ex-Princess Azula before she left them. It led me to the Northern Water Tribe and there I found a letter that was sent by her to you, but accidentally ended up with the man who made the necklace. It said something about taking your suggestion to heart."
Rong smiled and sank into a world from long ago, "Ursa... What a beautiful, kind woman."
"So you did know her?! Where is she, how can I find her?!" Naomi sat up and said with more excitement than she felt in a long time.
"Lady Sulwyn, there is a lot you have to learn. Much has happened that you must be aware of if you are to fulfill your destiny. Listen."
So Naomi shifted her position uncomfortably and began to listen to Rong Fa's story, "It begins in the time of Roku and Sozin. Back long ago, my grand father taught Avatar Roku earth bending, they became such good friends that Avatar Roku declared him to be guardian of the Spirit World in times of trouble when the Avatar could not help. Lucky, since there was no Avatar for one hundred years to watch over the spirits. In that time, the title was handed down from him to my father and from my father to me. Through the years, the family of Avatar Roku and my own family kept a tight bond despite the divide between our two opposing nations. I have known Ursa her whole life. And it is because of these two factors that about ten years ago, I learned that it was time for a new sun spirit to take control over the sky. Five years ago, if you will remember, was when Ursa disappeared. I knew there would be no one as fit to become the sun spirit as Ursa, so I suggested she become the sun spirit. However, she told me she could not leave her family and I understood and began searching for another to take the place. But the first letter I had sent her by messenger hawk was intercepted by her husband at the time, Prince Ozai. He told his father, Firelord Azulon of the situation. Azulon decided to take advantage of the predicament and threaten Ursa with a horrible, horrible choice. Ursa could become the sun spirit and use her powers to help the Fire Nation win the war or Ozai would kill their first born son... Prince Zuko. Ursa, being the strong, beautiful woman she is, refused to accept this fate. She took her destiny into her own hands and plunged a dagger into Firelord Azulon's heart while he slept that night and, as she couldn't bring herself to kill her own husband, threatened to unleash a world of hurt upon Ozai if he ever hurt Zuko. Then, she fled Palace City to accept my offer to become the sun spirit, Kalinda. She and the other spirits of the four elements worked tirelessly to mend the war-torn earth. Though, as I am sure you know, Ozai did in fact harm Zuko. He gave him a terrible burn across him face. Upon discovering this, Ursa, now known as Kalinda, began to take matters into her own hands, willing Katara and Sokka to find Avatar Aang in the ice berg, influencing countless dreams and battles and decisions to help the Avatar win the war. But the most important thing she ever did was eventually what led to her biggest mistake. It was she who allowed Aang to re-enter the Spirit World and go into the Avatar state once he had closed his chukra, for by doing so, she allowed all the spirits to go into the physical world without a purpose, simply whenever they chose. Similarly, humans can wander into the spirit world now. Luckily, no one has done so yet, but our good fortune will only hold out so long. The other spirits know this as well and have become angry with Ursa. They have imprisoned her. The longer she stays imprisoned, the weaker the sun and all fire benders will become until there are simply no fire benders at all left. I'm sure you also know the problem of how the malicious spirits of the spirit world can now cross over to our world and reek havoc across the nations. This problem has to be fixed, Lady Naomi Sulwyn. You must go into the Spirit World and save Kalinda to fulfill your destiny. You and your friends must mend this problem or the two worlds will be completely ruined forever."

Naomi couldn't breathe. She couldn't think, she couldn't do anything but take another sip of her tea and say softly, "I need to see Zuko. He has to know this..."
Rong smiled, "Yes. He does. Go."
Instantly she dropped her tea and ran, head spinning like nothing she had ever felt before, she sprinted as fast as she could back to the room where Amaya, Katzuo, and that air bender were. Rong walked calmly behind her, but she was too disoriented to notice anything but her pounding heart.
"Amaya!" she screamed, "We have to go to the fire nation! Now! I have to tell Zuko about this! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..." she hyperventilated and then... she fainted.

Clumsy Amaya didn't take in everything at once, and wasn't fast enough to catch Naomi before she hit the ground, and the firebender landed with an thud. "Sorry Naomi!" she squeaked, picked up her friend and dragged her to the couch, shooing away the airbender and Katzuo.
"Naomi," Amaya said, ungracefully shaking her friend's shoulder. "Get up. Now is not at all the time to be fainting. What's going on? What do you have to tell Zuko?"

*lamo post. But do I really care? Noooo. I can't do much more than that anyways.*

Slowly, Naomi regained her consciousness and shook off the light-headed feeling that had previously handicapped her. With a groan, she sat up and dragged herself to the couch, "Sorry. It's a long story."
So Naomi took a deep breath, sat up straight, and began to recount everything that she could remember properly--a jumbled mess of all the things darting through her mind--despite the fact that there were two complete strangers listening in to the chaos.
"And that's why I have to see Zuko," she declared upon finishing.

"Zuko? As in PRINCE Zuko, of the Fire Nation?" Aellai stepped forward in inquisitively.
Her mind was racing. Here in front of her was some fire nation girl, talking about seeing the prince himself, the one person Aellai had unconsciously chosen to blame for the death of her people.

Naomi furrowed her brow, "Yes, of course. Who else would Zuko be?" Just before Aellai could say anything in response, Rong Fa appeared in the doorway.
"You must leave for the Fire Nation as soon as possible," he announced. "My son Katzuo will escort you."

Aellai's mind was racing. This was finally a chance to avenge her people, to avenge her parents, to avenge her ancestors, and it was walking out of the door.
"Wait!" she burst out, and everyone stopped to look at her. There was a moment when her tongue was tied and a silence was ensued, until she finally found herself again. "I'll take them, Rong Fa. Now that the Tournament is over, I have nothing to do for the next few weeks, but Katzuo has that one, big competition coming up. I'd be inclined to help them out instead of him." It actually came out a lot smoother than she had expected, and she surprised herself.
"I had forgotten that...yes, of course. Aellai will be a good guide as well."
"Father," Katzuo protested, "I insist that I be allowed--"
"You have other matters to attend to here, Katzuo. Thank Aellai for taking this burden off of your shoulders. She does not realize yet what she has gotten herself into." Rong Fa interrupted his son's interruption.