𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

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"I told the Fire Nation where all the islands were."

La'kea tilted her head back, basking her face in the buttery sunlight as she dug her toes into the cool sand. The surf splashing around her ankles as light reflected off of the bright blue waters.

"La'kea!" Oliana shouted, shoving her small shoulder against the canoe she was unsuccessfully trying to push into the water. "A little help?"

"Right!" She shook herself out of her vacant state, scrambling over the sand to go help her best friend. "Sorry, I was thinking."

The future chieftain of their tribe tossed back her wild mane of stark white hair with a laugh. "You were thinking?"

La'kea groaned as their feet dug into the sand trying to push the boat, who knew two thirteen year olds would struggle to shove a whole boat, "Don't-."

"It truly is a special day!"

She couldn't help but giggle with her friend, but instantly shushed her, knowing that they weren't supposed to be taking a canoe out to sea unsupervised. If they were caught, La'kea would get a slap on the wrist, but Oliana's punishment would be harsher. One of the downsides of being a future chief.

All she wanted to do was take the boat for a small trip out to sea, and then back. Both girls had already been trained at an early age to sail, and an even earlier age to defend themselves. As long as they kept the island within their sight, they'd be fine.

But La'kea still couldn't help but hesitate, "Are you sure about this?"

Oliana thumped her head against the boat in exasperation, "La'kea, if we're caught in a current, you can bring us back. If a big sea monster tries to eat us, I can cook them." Tipping her head back with a grin, the future chief breathed a small stream of flames, always one to show off.

"Okay, okay," La'kea bit her cheek.

"Okay? Good," Oliana dug the balls of her feet into the sand, "Ready on three. One, two, three!"

The canoe finally slipped into the water, the future chieftess threw her hands in the air, "Finally! Take it away La'kea!"

Adjusting the sash holding her tapa up, she inhaled slowly, extending her arms out in front of her, but was stopped before she could pull them back in. "You gotta pay your respects!" Oliana shouted from the side, "The ocean won't listen to you if you don't respect it!"

"Why don't you pull the canoe into the water then?" She spit sarcastically.

Oliana only lifted her shoulders, "Would if I could, but I do pay my respects to the sun."

Groaning, La'kea lifted a hand above her head then back down, and repeated with the other hand. Before her friend could interrupt, she flung her arms out and snapped them back in. A blanket of ocean water shooting out and digging underneath the canoe. The boat was barely lifted above the sand but that was all they would need as the tide carried it out of the beach into shallow waters.

"What would I do without you, La'kea!" Oliana flung her arms around her best friend before scampering into the surf on top of the boat.

"Probably get in trouble," She admitted, lifting herself on deck and bending the water out of her's and Oliana's clothes.

The duo had no problem sailing past the bay and spent the day laughing, swinging on ropes around the deck and splashing into the water. The worst thing they encountered was a curious tiger shark that La'kea quickly diverted away and a rather nasty gust of wind that yanked the sail right out of their hands.

"If only we had one of the airbenders here," Oliana ground out as she wrestled the sail.

La'kea laid down on the boat, letting one arm hang off the side, "Nah, you know they're all kahunas, or training to be one, sitting on top of the mountain. To busy communing with the spirits."

"I hear they have the best sense of humor once you get to know them," Oliana dropped down next to her, swinging her feet into the water. The island was drifting farther and farther from their view, when La'kea extended her hand out it fit behind her palm. Meaning they were getting farther away than safe. A shiver crawled up her back.

Oliana suddenly stood up, hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she squinted at the island, "Hold on. It can't be- Oh spirits, it is."

"What was it?" She balked, scrabbling upright, trying to see what her friend was referring to.

"Your father."

"Oh no," They groaned in unison, her father had likely been sent by the chief to return them both back home to receive punishment.

"They're gonna kill us," La'kea eyed the mild waves lapping at their boat, "Maybe I could drown myself now and get it over with." She held her head anxiously, "Why did I agree to this?"

Oliana, untying various ropes, just shrugged, "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, that's my motto."

"Your motto is dangerous," The waterbender finally spotted the canoe being steered by her father, moving rapidly through the water by means of bending. He was shouting something, La'kea peered closer, waving his arms frantically.

Something was wrong.

A shadow suddenly blocked out the sun.

"Uh... La'kea," Oliana squeaked, grabbing her arm and forcing her to spin around. The two girls looked up as a mammoth metal beast of a ship was suddenly bearing over them. She didn't even have time to think about how it snuck up on them as it was barreling towards them.

"Jump!" She cried, grabbing La'kea's wrist as they dived into the water. Their canoe was reduced to splinters in the water as it was plowed through by the ship.

"Grab them from the water!" A voice shouted from above as nets descended above them struggling to tread water. The young chieftess flung out an arm above their heads, but couldn't control her panic enough to summon a fire.

La'kea wondered vaguely if this is how the fish they caught felt as they were hauled into the air. Dumped on the deck without ceremony and untangled by rough hands.

Her face was squeezed by a calloused hand, yanked upwards to stare back at a strange looking man in strange clothes with a strange voice. There were dozens of unfamiliar aliens surrounding them.

Terrified out of her mind, tears welled in her eyes, until a soft and familiar hand enveloped hers. Oliana pulled her close, "We're gonna be okay." She whispered, who she was trying to convince La'kea still didn't know.

She was wrong anyway.

Their families joined them in the cells not long after, along with the rest of their tribe... Except for the airbenders.

"I told the Fire Nation where all the islands were."

Reality shattered around La'kea, feeling like a scared thirteen year old child, except she was staring at the face of a fellow islander. Her thoughts were moving erratically as memories threw themselves against the wall of her skull.

She slowly lifted her hands to grab her head, "Oh my gods." Turning around, she stumbled a few steps shakily, she didn't know where she was going, but she needed to stay on her feet. "Oh my gods."

The islander man coughed, muttering something under his breath. The cold numbness that had weighed down La'keas legs, crushing her lungs, and blurring her vision was swept away. She used to pride herself on being slow to anger, not easily riled, able to stifle that burning kernel of anger. The adults of her tribe used to scold Oliana, trying to tame the future chieftess wildness by comparing the two girls.

Oliana had loved her anyways.

"It's your fault," La'kea gasped, feeling dizzy as she spun back around to face the traitor. "It's your fault." She could not stifle that anger this time.

"Look," The man spat, "I just did what I needed to survive."

"This house looks like a lot more than just surviving," Zuko suddenly spoke, looking down at the man with a sneer. It felt like her ribs were splintering.

"It's your fault!" She screamed with a strangled cry, shaking fingers digging into her scalp as she heaved for air. The rest of the search party had finished the house and rushed outside to see what the commotion was.

As soon as she had discovered her gift of waterbending, her mother had taught her to always use that gift kindly. How to take the kindness the world had shown her and pass it forwards to someone that needed it. If there was peace in her soul she could bring forth that tranquility into the world around her.

There was no peace in her heart as she lifted her hands towards the man, who backed away uneasily. Her mother's words were hammering in her ears, of forgiveness and peace and kindness. Her father's lessons were also there, of how to blind her opponent using the moisture lining the eyes, how to strike where nerves were, of breaking bones using their weight against them. For the first time, she tapped into violence mana.

The traitor shrieked like a pig as his legs were suddenly bent, bringing him to his knees. Arms twisting unnaturally as La'kea curled her fingers into a claw. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, the ebb and flow of blood moving through his veins, into his lungs, his limbs, his brain. He gasped for air futilely as the pressure on his lungs increased. She raised her hand, it would be so easy to just-.

"Ms. La'kea," Iroh seemed unnaturally calm in the situation as he clamped a hand around her wrist. Zuko shook himself out of his shock, thoroughly horrified by what he had witnessed. "This isn't what your family would have wanted."

The waterbender slowly relaxed her hands, letting them fall to her side as her breathing evened out. The man fell onto his back, exhaling in relief. Iroh backed away, seemingly satisfied as he and Zuko started making their way back to the ship. "No," La'kea sighed, making them pause, "This isn't what my family would have wanted." But her family wasn't here.

Her hand clenched into a fist.

The man looked up into dark eyes and saw that they held no mercy for him. "It's what I want," She breathed, and before Iroh could stop her, the man's head was tipped back and blood erupted out of his nose and mouth.

The red liquid fell into a neat puddle next to the traitors body as he fell back. Dead.

The rage passed as quickly as it had shown up, leaving her feeling hollow and cold, but she could not crumble here. She turned back towards Iroh and Zuko, who were looking at her, frightened. Words failed her, so she just marched past them, and tried to keep her hands from shaking.

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She held herself together the whole ride on the back of the rhino. No one spoke. Before they reached the beach, La'kea suddenly slipped off the rhino and disappeared into the trees.

Zuko brought his rhino to a halt and waited, knowing that the girl wasn't trying to escape. Iroh pulled up next to him, "You should go talk to her."

The prince hesitated, "You don't think she wants to be alone?"

"I think she wants a friend right now, Prince Zuko." His uncle assured, making the prince pause. Was he her friend? It seemed like a stretch.

He found her standing still at the edge of a cliff, below them was the beach and beyond that the horizon. Her hair had fallen out of it's knot, dancing in the breeze unbridled. The prince still wasn't sure if she wanted to be left alone and approached slowly.

Zuko had heard what the man had said, he had betrayed his people, his country. He had seen the sheer pain in her eyes when it sank in. He thought about how her clothes had hung off her frame that first week at sea.

"He deserved it," He assured her as softly as he could.

"I killed him," The girl stared at her hands, numb from the damaged nerves, not a single fleck of blood was on them, but the sensation was clinging to her fingers. She could never use violence mana again. "I killed him on purpose. I've never done that before."

Zuko stayed silent, at a loss for words as she gritted her teeth and suddenly fell to her knees. Clutching her head as she screamed in agony, tears falling down her face, and she sobbed. For her mother, her father, the village and the people from other islands. For Oliana. All betrayed by one greedy man.

She cried.

La'kea could have knelt there on the cliff for hours, for days, weeping, but eventually her mind pieced itself back together and forced her to reel it all back in. 

A hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up into sharp golden eyes that betrayed a spark of sympathy. Remembering that they still had a job to do, she stood to her feet, and started walking back into the forest. Zuko following closely behind

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