KIDA HAS JUST GOTTEN TO SLEEP WHEN TOPH WAKES EVERYONE UP.

"You guys, you're all gonna think I'm crazy, but it feels like a metal man is coming," she warns.

Kida lets out an exhausted sigh, and beside her, Sokka groans. She sits up and looks around, only to find a ray of light shining on them. Kida follows it to the source, and, sure enough, Toph is right: a man with a metal arm is standing at the top of the trench, a third eye in the middle of his forehead.

Suddenly, the man inhales deeply, then sends powerful bolts of fire towards the team. Aang and Toph act quickly, bending air and earth to prevent any explosions from causing them harm. Katara uses water to block the next attack, creating a fog, which allows the group time to find cover.

"This is crazy!" Sokka shouts, just as the group is hit with another explosion. "How can we beat a guy who blows things up with his mind?"

"We can. Jump on Appa," Aang suggests. "I'll try to distract him." Aang leaps away before anyone can object.

"Let's go," Kida orders, tilting her head towards Appa.

As quickly as possible, everyone packs up camp and leaves on Appa. Not even a minute later, Aang meets them and settles into the saddle where Katara, Toph, and Sokka are sitting.

"Kid, you okay?" Kida wonders as she navigates Appa towards safety.

"I'm okay," Aang assures, though he sounds out of breath.

"Well, that was random," Toph notes, leaning back against the saddle.

"I don't think so," Katara states. "I get the feeling he knows who we are."

A tense silence engulfs the team as they fly further into the night.

»»---------------------►

KIDA LOOKS AT THE ASHES OF LAST NIGHT'S FIRE, FEELING A STRANGE TUG IN THE PIT OF HER STOMACH. Earlier, when it was still dark and she woke up, that same tug was there. Kida, as usual, watched the sun rise, and felt uneasy throughout. She tries to remember if she dreamt anything that could have upset her, but Kida's mind is blank.

"Hey, you okay?" Sokka, in the middle of his personal planning session, turns his attention towards Kida. Toph, Katara, and Aang are still sound asleep. Sokka tries to wake up as early as Kida does, so the two sometimes have some alone time in the morning. Kida wishes that this was one of the days he had slept in instead.

"Yeah," Kida replies, making sure to avoid contact.

"The summer solstice," Aang suddenly mumbles, still half asleep. "That's soon isn't it?"

Sokka lingers his gaze on Kida before looking at the schedule. "In a couple days, why?"

"We need to go to Roku's island," Aang announces. At these words, Kida feels the tug in her stomach grow stronger.

»»---------------------►

ROKU'S ISLAND IS COVERED IN VOLCANIC ASH. Kida had never been there before, obviously. Still the island felt familiar; when she kneels down and presses her palm to the ground, Kida can almost feel the heartbeat of her ancestors. The sun is brighter here, the earth warmer, and the air electric. Some might find it comforting, but it has Kida on high alert.

Aang leads the team to what must have been the top of the volcano. Even from its peak, there was nothing to see but miles of volcanic rock followed by even more miles of water.

Once Aang has settled into his meditation, Kida feels the sudden urge to run away.

"Kida, are you okay?" Katara asks when Kida abruptly stands up.

"I just need some alone time," Kida assures, offering a small smile before turning around and walking away.

"Kida!" Sokka calls, only for Katara to stop him from following her. Kida makes a mental note to thank her later.

Kida decides to walk down to the shore. When she gets there, Kida stares at her reflection in the water. As the sun continues to shine, paired with the soft ripples in the water, the image looks somewhat distorted. One second, Kida is sixteen, her body tired and littered with scars. The next, Kida is much younger, much more carefree. She hates the contrast between the two.

It's your destiny, a voice muses.

With her growing headache, Kida has to resist the urge to tell the voice to "fuck off;" instead, she just ignored it. Then, Kida feels the gold ring on her finger start to burn her skin. She looks down engraved dragon glows briefly before disappearing once more.

Without knowing what else to do, Kida takes a page from Aang's notebook. She sits down, crosses her legs and closes her eyes to meditate.

When she opens her eyes, Kida is no longer surrounded by volcanic rock. She's standing in a meadow, the sky blue and clear, the sun as bright as ever. In front of her is someone familiar.

"Dad?" Kida whispers. She looks down at her hands, the ring isn't there anymore, and her hands seem almost see through, ghost-like. Her father looks the same, too, if only a little younger than she remembered: his gold eyes are a little dull, but his smile is still as bright as ever. Kida realizes that she is somewhere between reality and a dream — maybe she's in the Spirit World, who knows. Still, Kida can't help but run towards her father and wrap her arms tightly around him.

Her father chuckles as he hugs Kida back. "I missed you too," he whispers back. When he pulls away, he reaches down to hold her hand. Kida is shorter, then, seemingly no older than eight or nine, as they walk to nowhere in particular.

"How have you been?" he asks.

"Tired." Hearing her voice is strange, like it somehow shrunk down.

"I hope you haven't been fighting too hard," her father says, his voice comforting, but far away. "I know I call you my little dragon, but even dragons have their limits.

Kida ignores that remark. "How have you been?"

Her father doesn't respond.

When they finally sit down, Kida feels stronger, even though her arms aches slightly. To her left, a bow and quiver lie, indicating that they were probably practicing archery. Her father, sitting on her right, looks a bit older as well as the sun starts to set. The ring on his left pointer finger glows faintly.

"There's something I should have told you when I was —" he pauses to find the right words. "I shouldn't have kept it from you, I mean."

"The prophecy, I know," Kida interrupts. "I overheard you and Mom the other day." In the background, Kida swears she can hear her mother's voice and her brother's laugh, but when she turns around, no one is there. She goes back to staring at the sunset, just like her father beside her.

"I felt it was dangerous for you to know," her father continues, almost rambling. "It was selfish, really, thinking it was better to keep the truth from you, to keep you safe."

"Dad, it's fine," Kida assures. "I already know. It's the destiny of a descendant of Avatar Roku to help the Avatar restore balance to the world. I haven't always known how to follow that, but I really am trying to."

"And, for that, I'm so proud of you." Her father offers a sad smile before continuing. "There's more to it, though."

"Like what?" Kida asks, feeling an increased sense of urgency.

Her father sighs. "The way I heard the prophecy, is that a firebending descendant of Avatar Roku, at age sixteen, will somehow be responsible for the course of the war. Something about the decisions they make either helping the Avatar restore balance to the world or —"

"Helping the Fire Nation destroy it," Kida guesses, her throat suddenly tightening. She tries to refrain from rethinking every choice she ever made, down to what she had for breakfast this morning.

Her father nods grimly. "It was also foretold that their journey will be difficult, and that they must complete it regardless of personal cost."

"What...." Kida takes a deep breath. "What does that mean? "

"Well, this was what I — what I was trying to prevent," her father sighs. "It means that you could die."

Kida sighs, somewhat relieved, but still on edge. The sun starts to disappear behind the mountains. "Oh, okay. Is that it?"

"But, it also means, well, that you might lose someone you love."

Kida feels her heart drop. An uncomfortable silence settles between her and her father. The shadows grow deeper.

"Kida, our time is almost up," her father announces, his voice low. "I know you'll do the right thing."

"What in the name of all the Spirits does that mean?" she shouts. When Kida stands up abruptly and her father follows, she's now almost as tall as him. The gold ring is now on her finger, and it starts to burn her skin again. "You're not here, though, are you, Dad? So how can you stand there and what to do?"

"There's much more on the line than you realize," he warns.

"I've known that the whole time!" Kida retorts. "It's haunted me for as long as I can remember."

"And I'm sorry for that," her father says. "The prophecy — it's your destiny. The fate of the world depends on it."

"Destiny, fate, prophecies! They don't mean anything if the people I love aren't safe."

"Kida —"

"Look, I don't care what happens to me; I care what happens to them."

"Well, I care what happens to you," her father counters. "But, I also care about what happens to the world."

"It's not fair," she cries, though she can't tell if any tears escape. Gently, her father brings her into his arms. "It's not fair."

"It's not fair," her father whispers back, hugging her tighter.

»»---------------------►

KIDA HEARS THE TEAM TALKING AS SHE WALKS BACK TO WHERE SHE LEFT THEM. They're facing away from her, towards the sunset.

"Do you really think that friendship can last more than one lifetime?" Toph asks.

"Well, scientifically speaking, there's no way to prove that...."

Katara sighs. "Oh, Sokka just hold hands!"

Before interrupting them, Kida pauses. The four of them holding hands, a picture perfect moment of hope and peace. Kida figures that now is not the right time to reveal what she wants to tell them. Maybe she could walk away slowly so that she doesn't have to ruin the moment. Maybe she can slowly, carefully, back away. She takes it one step at a time, but, of course, a twist of fate: Kida trips and scrapes her knee.

The team turns around, then rushes to where Kida has fallen.

"Kida, are you okay?" Sokka asks, kneeling down next to her. Kida nods and plants a kiss on his cheek to reassure him.

"Gross," Toph grumbles. "You know I can hear you guys."

"I think it's sweet," Aang muses.

The teams laughs, all taking a seat. Katara pulls out her water patch to heal Kida's knee. In no time, the wound has cleared up. Examining Kida, Katara puts a hand on her cheek.

"You feel warm," she notices. "I think you have a fever."

"I'm fine." Kida waves her off and shifts away slightly. "But...I need to tell you all something." She takes a deep breath. "Avatar Roku was my father's grandfather."

For a second, everyone is silent, until Sokka says: "You mean your father, who is also Zuko's mom's brother."

"You're giving me a headache," Toph groans.

"That means Zuko is also a descendant of Avatar Roku," Katara notes.

"Wait, there's more," Kida announces, realizing that her father was right and that there is more to it than she realizes.Kida walks them through the information she just got from her vision, more or less, as well as some from her past about how her family died, being killed by Fire Nation soldiers to prevent the prophecy from coming true. She decides to leave out the whole "personal cost" thing, knowing it will just worry them even more.

Sokka sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Fuck, you're just telling us this now?"

"I...I kind of just found out," Kida defends.

"Do you realize what this means?" Sokka shouts. "What if we've been planning this all wrong? What if — Spirits forbid — it applies to Zuko? Then what do we do?"

"Did you think that maybe Combustion Man is after you?" Katara realizes. "Maybe the Fire Lord found out you were alive and sent him."

"I don't know," Kida admits. "To all of it; I really don't know." She hugs her knees to her chest.

"I don't think it changes anything," Toph argues. She shrugs. "The plan is still to kick the Fire Lord's butt, right? I'm pretty sure that will end the war and restore balance to the world, or whatever."

"Toph is right," Aang agrees, as calm as ever. "Trying to figure out what a prophecy means isn't going to get us anywhere. If this visit proved anything, it's that we're on the right track." Aang then turns to Kida and smiles. "Thanks for telling us though, Kida. Especially now that I know you're my great-great-granddaughter!"

Kida laughs with the rest of the team, despite the lingering unease in her stomach. If this was the price she had to pay, it might just be too high.

»»---------------------►

author's note: 

thank you for reading! 

we're halfway through book three and i don't know how to feel about it...

anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter <3