Arrival

Min Ya took a relieved breath of cold air when the snow caps were finally sighted. She pressed herself slightly against the furry head of her companion, trying to pull some warmth from the large beast.

It wasn't much longer after that she could finally see signs of people. "It's true, Fana! They make buildings out of the very snow!" she gasped in amazement.

Of course, it seemed the people who cast their eyes skyward gave her looks of even more astonishment as she flew over. It was a little daunting. Although no less daunting than realizing she had no idea where to go next. "I.. huh, where would the healers stay? I guess I'll have to ask around..."

Dire Need

Lifen didn't feel the cold, her panic making her nerves numb. "M-my mother. Please! She started coughing! A-and blood...." she knew she was incoherent. She stopped and took a deep breath as tears fell down her cheeks. "My mother started coughing up blood. She can't breathe. Please help!" she finally managed. Though the deep breath helped her get her sentence straight she was obviously still in distress.

She didn't even know if this girl was a healer, but she was the closest member of the water tribe. She could either help her mother or definitely help find someone who could. She just prayed to the spirits that she had been lucky enough to find a healer, and not just some random citizen. The more time she spent looking for a healer, meant the closer Lien came to death.

Teacher and Healer

Bright sun, cool breeze wafting through the open doors of the dojo. The morning had been beautiful and perfect for lessons. His firebenders had practically been able to breathe the warmth in the air, the energy it spread through their veins. Most of children boasted about the "magic" of the sun all through lessons and about how good it was making them, no matter how much he tried to tell them that was only part of the equation. But the dark clouds had rolled in on the tail of that wonderful breeze, cutting lessons in the yard short, dousing everyone from head to toe. Of course, none of his students stayed wet. Firebenders and all. They'd tried to help the others dry off as well, but he'd told them to wait patiently in the main hall for lunch and that they could go home only once the rain let up. He'd dried off the rest of his mother's students himself, one by one.

"Thank you, Akio!" The last little girl beamed up a him, before heading off to get lunch herself. Between his firebending students and his mother's martial arts students, they had ten children in the place today, and due to the last minute monsoon, they were feeding all of them lunch. His mother would love it, that much he knew. She missed the rambunctiousness and energy of having children around. It was why she'd started taking martial arts students, more and more the older he grew.

A long, gurgling groan came from his stomach. Fortunately the children were long gone ahead of him to lunch, so no one heard a sound except him. But this meant he'd be taking lunch with them and he wasn't sure how much he liked the sound of that. Lunch was ordinarily meditative, time alone in companionable silence that allowed his emotions to reach equilibrium again.

"Oh well."

Akio headed down to the main hall and entered to an enthusiastic cheer from his firebending students, who waved for him to sit with them.

"Master! Maaaaaaasteeeeeeeeer! Over here!"

Part of him wanted to give in to an evil streak and pointedly sit by himself, so he took a seat at an empty table. Nearby, his mother's chuckle rang out as all three of his firebenders picked up their food and filled in the table to either side of him. Suo, the only girl of the three, set her bowl down in the spot beside him and stood again, only to return with a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup for him.

"Suo, you're such a suck up!" one of the boys taunted.

She stuck her tongue out in response. "I was being nice! Not my fault you two are as rude as you are stupid!"

"All right. Enough. You'll have plenty of time to work out your differences in the sparring ring tomorrow. Lunch is not a time for all of that..." Akio said sternly, taking up his bowl of rice and his chopsticks. Especially not during his lunch if it meant he would have to break it up.

"Master Fan! Will you tell us one of your stories?" Akio looked up from his food to see it was the little girl from before who asked. His mother sat down among her students at the table adjacent to his, giving a smile to all the children.

"What would you like to hear about?" she asked.

"Ooh ooh! Tell us a story about monsters you've fought! Like dragons!" a boy asked.

"Dragons don't exist stupid!" another girl taunted.

"Children, you heard what Akio said. The same goes for you. Meals are not an occasion for fighting," she said, in the voice he so loved. It was no mystery how Fan managed to catch his father's eye. She was gentle, every gesture like the light touch of the wind on a summer's afternoon. She never once raised her voice when chiding or issuing discipline but somehow firm. It defied expectation that someone like her could command respect, yet she always did. Respect and love.

"How did you get all those burn scars if you never killed a dragon?" the boy asked with a puzzled tilt of his head.

Akio fought to keep his muscles relaxed, avoiding any outward show of emotion. For a moment, he was so focused on remaining normal that he hadn't realized he paused in his eating, awaiting his mother's response.

"I'm afraid it was nothing so glorious and heroic as fighting a dragon," she said with an easy chuckle, "just an accident."

The accident that had sent them away from his father and sister. The accident that had almost killed his mother, leaving her disfigured and crippled. She'd lost most of her arm, from the elbow down, and her hearing in one ear as well as some of her looks to the fire he couldn't control. She would never tell a soul, afraid for her son's feelings. But in his heart, he had reconciled with the guilt years ago.

Akio resumed his eating. "An accident maybe, but something certainly more heroic than fighting a dragon. She saved her son from killing his own sister."

----------

Shaking. Her body was shaking. It wasn't from the cold; she'd only just emerged from the warmth of the hut. So why was she shaking so much. No... someone had shaken her.

Mei Li blinked a couple of times, and a face staring back at her finally resolved through the haze in her mind. She didn't know this girl's face, but whoever she was, she looked frantic, desperate.

"P-please! My mom! She needs help!"

This girl was shivering. She wasn't dressed for the cold, nor was she from the Water Tribe. A foreigner. A foreigner demanding help.

Of course, she must have assumed from my clothing... Mei Li thought numbly. Can... do I have to be somewhere...? Is this a patient of mine? No... I still don't know this girl. What do I do...?

"Your mother... what's wrong with her exactly?" Mei Li asked. She internally cringed at how distant her voice sounded and hoped the girl just thought it from fatigue, or was too distressed to notice.

Pull yourself together. She needs help, whoever she is. She found you and this is your duty. You're a healer first. Have to be a healer first... always.

I'm here to supply the transportation...

The brisk, cold air whipped about in the North Pole. High above the lapping waters, a large furry beast seemed to soar through the air, letting out gutteral complaints.

"At least you have a fur coat, Fana..." the rider atop of the bison pulled her coat closer around her. Min Ya's eyes searched over the horizon. Did she pass that ice block before? It felt like she was going in circles.


She took a deep breath, shifting about to keep the warm blood flowing through her veins. The air bender questioned her reasons for coming here. Each time, however, she was reminded that her tasks were of the utmost importance.

She had volunteered to help seek out water tribe healers for the temples. Temporary assignments, of course, but just to ease the minds of the Air Council that things were not dire.

And then there was one more task. More important than even the effects of the plague. As Air Nomads had always been known to be closely connected to the Spirit World, they had taken it upon themselves to answer the question that had sprung up since the sickness spread.

What has happened to the Avatar?

As bad as the plague was, it had been argued that there was no possibility that the Avatar's cycle had been severed. However, balance must always be maintained. The Avatar must be found, if he or she is to be taught how to control the elements and connect to the spirit realm.

Post

"Sweetie," said Lifen's mother, Lien, hoarsely, "You should get something to eat."

"I am fine, mom. I got something while you slept," she lied. The truth was that Lifen hadn't left her mother's side since they made it to the Northern Water Tribe.

Lien smiled weakly, "You are a terrible liar, Lifen. I will be fine. The doctors will be here any second... You shouldn't even be here. Your father is probably worried sick about you." A coughing fit struck Lien. In an instinct reaction Lifen grabbed her mother's silken handkerchief and handed it to her. Her mother coughed into several times. Each cough looked like it caused her tremendous amounts of pain. It wasn't until she saw red staining the handkerchief did she know something was seriously wrong.

Lifen had panicked. She didn't know what to do when her mother began to cough and choke on her own blood. Lifen jumped up and ran out of her tent without her jacket. She ran as fast as her legs could take her. Adrenaline pushed her onward as she yelled out into the street, "PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!" Lifen had come to the North Pole with her mother in order to find a cure. They had just gotten here an hour or two ago before this happened. A healer hadn't even had the time to speak with them yet on their treatment plan.

Lifen knew that on the boat ride here her mom had gotten worse and worse. Lifen did her best to keep her mother well on the way here. Lifen never left Lien's side. She had stowed away on the ship just to make sure she was near her mother in case she needed her. She couldn't let her mother down now.

 Her eyes darted from person to person when she saw a young woman with two small feathers in her hair come out from a hut. A water bender. Lifen ran up to her and grabbed her by her tunic, panic written all over her face. "P-please! My mom! She needs help!" she said between gasps. Each gasp felt like a knife in her chest. Tears stung her face in the freezing wind.

The Emptiness in the Cold

No matter the season, no matter the time of day, the wind in the North Pole pierced through furs, seal skins, and flesh alike. But rushing down roads of hard-packed snow and ice, from hut to hut, Mei Li felt nothing. Exhaustion stole away things like that, awareness and thought. There was energy for nothing eyes beyond staying on her feet and bending when needed. Ever since the treatment for this dreaded plague had been discovered, this had been her life, day in and day out.

Mei Li's father forced her to rest often. As a waterbender himself, he knew the toll healing took on the body, he knew the limits. However, when she was allowed to forget about the dead and the dying for a little while, all talked turned to her future, her plans. At nineteen, she was already too old to have no direction for her life, so her father said. He had only let it slide this long because of her duty as a healer.

"I want you taken care of, Mei Li. I want to know that you have a future beyond this..." Over the past few years, his face had aged, etched deep with worry and hardship. Mei Li often wondered if hers had suffered the same, but mirrors weren't a very common luxury in the homes of the common folk. There wasn't much use for them in the life of men and women whose appearances were appreciated by few.

Finally Mei Li came to her destination, a ways down the road. The hut was a small one, tucked away against one of the outer walls of solid ice, several meters thick, that surrounded the inner ring of the city. This inner ring was nothing like the sprawling labyrinths of lanes and mansions she'd heard existed inside the walls of Ba Sing Se, but it still separated the most prominent members of their society from the rest. To live right beside this wall, despite the size of the hut, meant this family was old and likely well off, which meant so were their guests. Money always meant prompt service.

A short formal bow, an introduction. It was all so automatic, like she herself was stuck in a repeating time loop.

"Ah yes. It is good to see you again, Miss Mei Li. When my aunt sent a letter to inform us that she and her family were coming north with their sick, I requested that you attend us again when they arrived. Your treatment of my son was a wonderful success." The patriarch of the house was an older gentleman, a long beard matching the white arctic fox bear fur he trimmed his robes in. A hint of memory of him remained, but nothing more than just a hint.

"Thank you. I am honored to serve you again..." The voice sounded so hollow, soft. Was it really hers?

The old bearded man's head bobbed a nod and he motioned for a younger woman to approach.

"This way." She gestured toward another entry way and pulled back the covering to allow Mei Li inside. "We believe they are only in stage two... so treatment should not be overly complicated."

"Thank you. Please stay away from the patients as much as possible," Mei Li replied, kneeling on the ground. The patients were both children, one no more than six or seven and the other potentially a teenager. The woman, whoever she was, was right. The disease had not progressed too far; these children would most definitely recover. That was a relief.

Mei Li uncorked a special skin at her waist that contained the concoction of medicines for the cure. She bent a thin stream of the liquid from her skin, splitting it into two smaller doses, beading them in the air.

Leaning over the teenage boy, she spoke to him softly, coaxing him to open his mouth. "I'm going to give you some medicine... just try to swallow and be still." He nodded weakly and accepted the bead of liquid as his dropped into his mouth and slid down his throat. Mei Li moved to the other child, delicately persuading her to do the same. Once both children had accepted the medicine, Mei Li stood to accomplish the rest.

Originally, this treatment had been regarded with fear, too closely related to bloodbending, the forbidden art. Now, it was acknowledged that it had saved far too may lives to forbid completely.

When it was finished, Mei Li stumbled through the thanks and the formalities before making her departure. Happiness bloomed in her chest every time she was able to believe a patient would live, but day after day of this... it was all starting to fade. Anymore, it wasn't enough...