Chapter 2 – To Be Found Wanting

As pale Dawn stretches her long fingers across the sky, sweet breezes flow in through open windows to make the curtains dance and to tease the travelers from their dreams.

One dreamt of times long past. This one dreamt of flying with brothers and sisters and bison and lemur monkeys; of old, kind teachers who were best friends, too; of sweet, grey-green eyes that always reminded him of spring and summer dawns shared together high up on the mountain top. This traveler dreamt of happy greetings from close friends, of accidental kisses and intentional gifts, and a budding young love that had been forgotten in the chaos and rush of responsibility and reawakening.

One dreamt of times that only seemed long past. This one dreamt of happy families and his own smiling, unscarred face; of trips to the beach with Mother and Father and Sister. All dear to him. All loved. And all loved him. This traveler dreamt of a time when his life was happy, his father hadn't yet taken his honor away, his mother was there and, though his sister was still cruel, Mother could make anything all better with a kind word.

The third traveler had come just as far as the other two, if not farther. One part of her had traveled down the years from the time dreamt of by the first. The other part of her knew only the times remembered by the second and remembered only old stories of those older times, before the rage of the Fire Nation ignited a war. This one tossed and turned on her bed made of thick blankets and accidentally kicked one or other of her charges. Her sleep was fitful and she didn't so much dream as remember a memory that wasn't her own. She didn't sleep so much as learn from an ancient spirit that dwelled within her, one that no one could know about. But in her lesson that night, she was told that the Avatar must know. He MUST know. This was the reason the spirit had come to her, had stayed with her through the years. Not just to teach and to train her but to prepare her to help the Avatar. And now the time had come. She must prepare herself for what was to come. She must…

The travelers rose from their beds slowly, sleepily. Fingers, arms, back, legs, toes were stretched and various joints popped. The three, who had been two and a stranger the night before, shared a sad look. Today was the day to be Judged by the masters. The stranger who was now a friend hoped that they would not be found wanting.

With the old staff returned to its hiding place and breakfast delivered and eaten, the three moved to the place of the sacred fire where the chief waited with yet another lecture, yet another speech. This one was short and sweet and did nothing to calm the shakes of the twelve-year-old boy who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. That was where the tough love of the other boy came to bear, though still she wanted to give a comforting word and still she bit her tongue. There were paths they each must take and she had interfered enough for now. She went with the Sun Warriors to wait at the mountain top for the arrival of the Judged.

All went well to the disappointment of some and the joy of her. But then, the Avatar let his flame go out. She could feel her heart stop. As the boys scuffled, the other flame ceased to exist, too. She wondered how, with her heart stopped as it was, she was still conscious. But then they tried to follow the Dance of the Dragon and they were Judged and they were not found wanting. And, as the masters' flames surrounded them in light and what she thought of as a kind of love, her heart started a happy staccato in her chest that was almost painful.

As sweet as this pain was, the feeling of triumph when she saw the crestfallen face of her fellow Warrior combined with the feeling of utter joy at the look on the boys' faces as they displayed their control over fire was a savory and heady wine that made her head spin and time slow. She drank deep of this wellspring, knowing it was short-lived.

"Careful, child. You have much work to do yet. Breathe deeply, calm yourself."

A deep breath later and her head had stopped spinning. Another deep breath, and time sped up again. Another, and her heart had calmed to a steady beat. The two boys were still speaking with the chief who was giving them a warning that they must never speak of the Warriors to anyone. Yin saw her opportunity.

She called the chief aside. "I think my time here is done. May I go with them?"

It was all agreed and she flew away with them within the hour, carrying all her possessions in a single pack. She brought the staff with her, too, but carried it separately since it would not fit.

Zuko sat towards the back playing with a ball of fire, smiling a little as he made patterns in the air. That gave Yin the opportunity she needed. She slid out of the harness onto Appa's head and settled herself gracefully next to Aang.

"Hey, you're pretty good at that. Most people get a little disoriented up here their first time."

"I've had a lot of practice, Aang." He turned to question how she could possibly have practice on a flying bison when he noticed her eyes. They were a beautiful shade of grey-green. Taking a quick glance at Zuko, to be sure he was still absorbed in his little fireball, Aang focused on her, eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, you don't know me?" The voice sounded so disappointed.

"Why have you taken over Yin's body? What did she ever do to you?" It was a struggle for him to not yell. So soon after making a new friend did the spirits come to ruin it.

"I have been with her since the beginning of her short life. I am not here to hurt her but to help her help you. There are things even she does not know about herself and if you are to defeat the Fire Nation then you will need my little Yin La's help."

"Yin La?" She hadn't said anything about a middle name. Maybe she just shortened it for conveniences' sake?

"Her father was a waterbender and gave her the name of the ocean spirit, La. Out of respect for her mother she was given the first name Yin." The body winced.

"She's trying to take back control, isn't she? Give it to her and leave."

"She may have her body back whenever she wishes but she gave me control so that I could speak to you myself. She does so hate being a messenger. And I cannot leave just yet, you haven't guessed my name." The body smiled before the grey-green faded from the eyes. The smile faltered as she registered the look on his face. "Did you not want to speak to her?"

Aang's eyes narrowed. There was something off about this. "Who is she?"

"Can't you guess? I'll give you a hint." She turned and picked up the staff from where it leaned against the edge of the harness.

His jaw dropped and he stared at her. "Lo? Lo's spirit is in your body?"

Yin smiled as she cradled the ancient but sturdy staff in her lap. "She taught me all I know about air- and firebending."

Now he was just plain confused. At the same time, deep down inside in a place he wasn't redy to acknowledge yet, there was a kind of relief that he wasn't really the last of his people. "You can airbend, too?"

"Lo was my grandmother after all, and she married a firebender so…" Yin shrugged as if to say 'what else could happen?'

"But I thought that the Avatar was the only one who could control more than one element." Even as the words left his mouth, he could see the potential for learning she provided. And if the Fire Nation stayed unaware of her, that would give them an edge during the comet.

"Maybe. Maybe there hasn't been anyone like me before because I'm not supposed to exist. But whether that's the case or not, what matters is that I can control the elements and I'd like to help you if I can."

"I'd be stupid to turn down another teacher. But what about the other two elements?"

Yin blushed, embarrassed. "My paternal grandparents were water- and earthbenders."

"So all four then." He was quiet and contemplative. She smiled nervously then sighed. "Yep, all four. Do you know how hard I tried to keep all that a secret? Even my father didn't know. Only granmama and she could only teach me so much. The rest I learned from trying. As much as I wanted to help people I had to keep it quiet or the Fire Nation would have killed me. I couldn't stand up to them then and by the time I felt comfortable even sparring with another person rumors that you had finally returned reached us."

"It's ok. It's not like you could take the job of Avatar, even if you wanted to. The Avatar spirit is in me, you came by the talent naturally", he said, trying to make her feel better about not fighting his battles for him. He felt as though he would never quite forgive himself for running away that day, despite what he told others.

She leaned back and stared up at the blue that surrounded them. "I wonder if it all means something. I mean, my grandmother loved you as a child, enough to stay in this world for you after death. I can control all the elements and now I've finally met you. Do you think that it's all connected somehow?"

He felt like she was right, that there was a connection somehow even if he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I think that meeting you was an amazing opportunity and I'm glad we're connected in this life."

"But our connection is just my grandmother and that is tenuous and temporary. Now that I've left the island, I can find a spiritual place and finally put my grandmother to rest. She has taught me all she knows, she has seen you again, and more than that she has been dead for years. It's time for her to move on."

"I know but, somehow, I don't feel like she should leave." She could see he squirmed unconsciously a bit at the idea.

"That's not it. You just don't want her to go. You've found a living, or close to it, link to your past and you don't want to lose it. But she HAS to move on, Aang. You know that." She touched his forearm lightly.

He put his hand over hers and squeezed gently. "Yeah. I know. But we still have some time before we can get to a spiritual enough place for us to help her cross over. In the meantime…" He stumbled over how to ask for what he wanted. He didn't need to bother, she knew.

"I'll let you enjoy her company as much as I am able. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep this between the three of us."

"I don't like keeping secrets, but I guess it's all right since she'll be gone soon. We can tell everyone else about her once we've helped her move on."

"Thank you." She smiled. "I'm going to keep Zuko company before he burns off the harness." She climbed up and away and induced Zuko to play a game of fireball juggling with her. They were still moving numerous balls of fire between them as Appa landed among the rest of the group.

"So, what…?" The question died on Katara's lips as she saw a beautiful, and obviously talented, girl gracefully dismount from Appa while still juggling fireballs with Zuko. 'Who is she? Aang's new teacher?' How could someone be so graceful while dismounting from a giant sky bison? A little worm of jealously writhed in the pit of her stomach. New teacher or not, she did not like this girl.

Aang was oblivious to Katara's sudden change of mood. "Oh, hey Katara. Yeah, everything went great. Zuko and I can firebend now AND I picked up a new teacher and fighter for our team. Everybody! Meet Yin La. She'll be teaching me and fighting alongside us from now on.

Yin passed all the flames to Zuko, who continued to juggle them all like a show off, and bowed to everyone. "Thank you for allowing me to help. I hope we will get along well."

Aang had no doubts. "I'm sure you'll all be fine. You're all friends with me so, after all, how different can you be?" He turned back to Katara. "So, what's for dinner?"

It was actually Sokka who answered. "Well, we've got some rice going and Toph and I managed to trap some meat."

The aforementioned girl huffed, annoyed. "What d'you mean "Toph and I"? I did all the work!"

Yin laughed. "If it's all right," She reached into her pack and produced a small package. "I have some sweets you might like. I made them myself. I have some tea leaves in here we can brew, too."

Throughout the evening, Yin was introduced to and talked with everyone. The others welcomed her, grateful to have another soldier on their side and, as they later found, a good cook as well. By the time they all went to bed everyone was good friends with everyone else. Or so they thought.

'I don't know what it is about her, but there's something off about that girl', Katara thought as she drifted off.

Yin, who had tried to ignore the subtle bad vibes from Katara all evening, turned her face to the glowing embers of the fire and tried to fall asleep. 'It seems Katara doesn't like me very much. I wonder why? There isn't any reason why she should feel threatened by me, but I guess that never stopped anyone before. In either case it seems that, according to her, I have been judged and found wanting.'

Yin dreamt strange and unsettling dreams that night and for many nights after.

Aaaaannnndddd now for the part where I reply to reviews from the previous chapter. I would've done it at the beginning but I like to think of it as an extra treat for the people nice enough to leave me a few words and continue to read the strange children of my imagination. ^_^

In the case of KiwiGuy2010 it was more than a few words. (In all seriousness, if you want to know what a well-rounded critique looks like just read his review.) First of all, I want to thank you KiwiGuy2010 for using proper grammar and spelling in your review. I don't know if it's just me but it makes me cringe to read lolspeak in a review. Shorthand is fine, I use LOL in reviews I leave all the time, but please, for the love of writing, use proper grammar and spelling! I know it's the internet and all but, really, English isn't that hard! (Obviously, my lovely readers for whom English is not a first language are exempt from that last comment and should not take offense if they really try.) As for the actual content of your review: I promise I have a reason for making the "reveal" kind of sudden and tactless. I needed the connection between them obvious and solid before she met everyone else. Also, keep that headache of hers in mind. (hint-hint-wink-wink-nudge-nudge)

As for the admittedly clumsy explanation of the elements, I'm going to chalk that up to a mixture of my absolute refusal to go with a spiritual representation (I think we got enough of that in the actual series), my subsequent attempt and failure at a literal representation, and my poor OC's inability to teach. ^_^ Again, thank you KiwiGuy2010 for the wonderful words you left for me. If I may say so, your review was a breath of fresh air. ;)