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Burden . That was one of the first words Suki ever learned as she heard it a lot. Even before she had learned to walk, she had been passed around from household to household like a bad yuan. It had been that way since she was born. Since her mother took off in a boat, bound for the Earth Kingdom in what those in the village called a fool’s errand.
By the time she was five, Suki found herself without a home. Her current caregiver refused to let her in the house. “I’ve got too many mouths to feed. My blood comes first.” The door slammed shut and remained that way no matter how much Suki begged and cried. Her search for a new home began. As night fell, it began to rain. Her knocks and pleas fell on deaf ears.
Eventually, Suki curled up underneath a tree which provided the bare minimum of cover from the rain. Her bare feet and clothes were caked in mud. Her face felt the sting of heavy rain droplets. Body aching, Suki tried her best to go to sleep even as her body shivered from the cold and her stomach growled from hunger.
Suddenly, the rain stopped hitting her. Opening her eyes, Suki saw a tall figure standing over her. Taller than any of the adults she knew. The rain continued to fall except on the spot where Suki and the figure stood.
"Where is your home little one,” the figure asked.
Suki shook her head, frightened that this could be one of those dark spirits the other children told tales of. The spirit who would target children who stay out after dark.
"Don't be afraid of me, my child." The figure leans down. Suki can just make out the figure’s face. It was a woman. She wore white face paint and had green eyes. A gold headpiece that reminded Suki of the rising sun rested on her head. She offers Suki her gloved hand. "Come with me. I'll find you a warm place to stay."
Suki is hesitant at first but seeing the woman's smile, she suddenyl runs forward and hugs the woman around the neck. The woman wraps her arm around her. "I've got you my child. You’re safe." Suki feels safe and warm in the woman's arms. That was something familiar about it.
The woman carries Suki back towards the village. At no point did the rain let up yet not a single drop landed on them. Wandering through the village, they come to a house near the center of town. Holding Suki tightly in her arms, the woman knocks on the door. It opens revealing a middle aged man whose graying hair was pulled into a large topknot. It was Oyaji, the village elder.
“Yes? Who is it?" A lightning strike reveals the woman's face. Her expression of displeasure almost sent him crashing to his knees. "Y-Y-You!"
"Explain yourself." Her voice was low and had such menace behind it that it would’ve sent even the bravest warrior scrambling away. It was not the tone one would want to be on the receiving end of.
"W-What? I--"
"You are the leader of this village and this child wanders the streets, cold and hungry. I repeat. Explain yourself."
Oyaji's voice trembles. "S-She's an orphan. Her mother left this place on a fool's errand. One of the farmers said he was going to look after her."
"Does this look like 'looking after'," the woman demanded, her voice sharp. Feeling Suki wince she gently rubbed her back to keep her calm. "I question your judgment Oyaji."
"I-I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I promise to do right." Oyaji bowed his upper body to the point that his back was perfectly horizontal.
"Good. Then you will raise the child."
Oyaji’s head snapped up. "B-But I already have—"
The woman's dark green eyes narrowed. "Already breaking your promise?"
Oyaji shook his head. "No! No! I will take the child."
"Treat her as your own?"
"Yes of course!"
"Make sure she grows up healthy and strong?"
"Yes!"
"Good.” The woman stepped forward, her entire figure filling the doorframe. “Don't make me come back here, Oyaji. Your actions make me doubt your leadership. This is a chance for redemption."
"I understand." Oyaji bows his head again.
The tall woman turns to Suki. "I found you a home little one." The little girl doesn't want to let go, wrapping her tiny arms around her neck, her cheeks becoming wet with tears. This prompts the woman to chuckle. "Unfortunately where I go, you cannot follow." The woman wipes away Suki's tears. "We will meet again someday. I'll be watching over you, Suki of Kyoshi Island."
The woman handed Suki to Oyaji and left, disappearing into the night.
Suki quickly became accustomed to her new home. It was easy when all one had was clothes on one’s back, a meal of varying quality and some form of shelter. Suki overheard Oyaji’s wife argue about another child under their roof but once he told the tale of the visitor who dropped her off, there was no more arguing. Oyaji and his family took Suki in and over time they became close, though Suki would always feel like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit.
Days later Suki accompanies Oyaji to the town market. Oyaji was in the process of haggling with a merchant over turnips when he noticed Suki had wandered off. He found her at the base of the Avatar Kyoshi statue situated in the heart of the village. She was staring up at it.
"Do you know who that is," Oyaji asks, bending down next to her.
"Of course,” Suki says with a big smile. “That's the lady who saved me.”
13 Years Later
Suki stepped off the gangplank onto the docks. She had never seen Kyoshi Island so busy. The once isolated island was open to visitors, though resistance to a Ember Island resort company to redevelop a large portion of the island ensured that the village didn’t become overwhelmed by tourists seeking a vacation that included cocktails by a swimming pool.
As Suki strolled through the town center, she looked up as she always did at the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. For years she had been bugging Oyaji to refurbish the statue. It wasn’t until Avatar Aang and his friends showed up on their doorstep that Oyaji saw the need to give the Avatar, for whom the island and its warriors were named after, a fresh coat of paint. That is of course until the prince of the Fire Nation showed up and burned the village down, scorching the statue in the process. Now it stood once again proudly in the center of town, a crowd of admiring visitors underneath it. A general store nearby sold postcards of it. The people of Kyoshi Island were determined not to let their island become a tourist trap but were willing to profit off some merchandise.
The purpose of Suki’s visit was to fulfill a promise to Oyaji. Years prior, the village elder instructed her to return to the island when she had turned eighteen. For what purpose, Suki didn’t know but she kept her word and now she was standing on the same doorstep where on a rainy night she was placed in Oyaji’s care. Her memories of that night were hazy and assumed that Oyaji took her in voluntarily when no one else would. She never harbored ill feelings to those who turned her away. Instead she focused on being the best Kyoshi Warrior she could be, earning her Captain’s rank in her teens. Months after Firelord Ozai’s defeat, she returned to the island as a war hero.
Her life had changed so much since then. She had established a new chapter of the Kyoshi Warriors in the Fire Nation, worked as a bodyguard to Firelord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai, was in the process of establishing a Kyoshi Warrior chapter in the new United Republic and was enroute to the city to reunite with her fiance Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. They would be married later that year. Suki was thinking about asking Oyaji if they could hold the ceremony on Kyoshi Island.
Suki gently knocks on the door. A shuffling of feet and the door opens. Oyaji stands before her, looking the same although there were more lines under his eyes. They bow to each other and he invites her in. The house feels empty now. Oyaji’s wife died years prior. His children were grown and had families now. No words are exchanged as tea is poured. Oyaji sits on the floor in the lotus position, eyes closed, his hand running through his bushy beard. He always did that while in deep thought. Suki waits for him.
“I appreciate you returning here Suki. I know how busy you are.” Oyaji reaches behind him and picks up a wooden box with ornate carvings on it. “I made a promise many years ago to give this to you once you turned eighteen.” He reaches into the box. “I believe you are ready.” He pulls out an envelope sealed with a wax seal and hands it to her.
“Who is from,” asks Suki, running her finger over the seal.
Oyaji hesitates before answering. “Your mother.” The creases on his forehead deepen. His eyes remain cast downward.
Suki’s breath catches in her throat. She felt like she had been slapped. Shaky hands break the seal and the letter inside is revealed. Suki bites her lip as she begins to read.
“To my dear Suki,
I am sorry I wasn’t able to take care of you. But please do not think of me as a bad mother. I cannot force myself to stay here on this island and pretend there isn’t a war happening. I have no family to take care of you while I’m away. Your father was a defector from the Fire Nation Army who no longer saw what his country was doing as noble. He left the night after you were conceived. Do not think of him badly either. He was a man like no other and I hope you are everything like he was. I am planning to help with the war as much as I possibly can, meaning I may take disguise as a man in order to fight.
I will not see you again in this lifetime. I hope that by the time you read this letter on your 18th birthday things will be different than how they are now. I also hope you can forgive me for leaving.
I love you, my little one. My advice I can offer you is to be fearless and brave. Do not let others take charge of you. Be courageous, my Suki. You are a descendant of Avatar Kyoshi, so until someone can take care of you, I can only hope she watches over you.
I’ll love you forever.
Your loving mother,
Akari”
Teardrops fell upon the paper. Suki has to hold it away as tears rolled down her cheeks, her teeth biting into her lip as she tried to control herself. She was overwhelmed with so many emotions. Grief for the mother she never knew, the shock of being a descendant of her idol Avatar Kyoshi, excitement over information about who her father was. The villagers she had asked labeled him as merely a nobody, a fisherman who stopped in port one night and left the next day. Most of all there was the relief that she wasn’t a burdensome child who her own mother didn’t even want. She was shocked at how much her mother’s life mirrored her own. All this time, Suki had unknowingly followed in her mother’s footsteps.
Oyaji remained still as Suki collected herself.
“Thank you Oyaji,” Suki said, wiping away her tears.
The village elder’s features changed as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see a smile on Suki’s lips. “How do you feel,” he asks softly.
“Proud.” Suki held her head up as she beamed. Glancing out the window she saw the statue of Kyoshi in the distance. “I’m so proud.”
That evening Suki headed for the docks for the next ship to Republic City. Once again, she stopped by the statue which had taken on an entirely different meaning now. For a long time she had debated with herself on whether to return to Kyoshi Island or set up a dojo in Republic City. Sokka would support her decision no matter what but she knew that Sokka, Aang and Katara were needed most of all in the capital city of the new nation. Knowing what she knew now about her mother and her lineage, she was fully confident that this was the correct path.
“Thank you,” Suki whispered, staring up at Kyoshi, tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you for looking after me. I promise to make you and my mother proud.” She bowed her head towards the statue. The ship horn sounded and Suki made her way quickly towards the docks, excited for the next chapter of her life.