FicWad

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Saiuri

Hi everyone! This is my OC, and I pretty much have the whole series with her in it! This is when the Avatar and friends first meet Saiuri. RXR!
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Chapter 1- To Begin With...

She creeps down, close enough to see the trespassers. She knows one is the Avatar, and another is a Waterbender and another, an Earthbender. She's not scared, but she is sad. Only a month ago, she had been with these people, laughing and joking, and feeling like she had purpose...
She realizes they are calling her name, and they sound desperate. She doesn't call back. There is nothing for her here...
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I was born in a little village in the old Air kingdom. My parents weren't Airbenders, but they were from the AirNation. My mother was beautiful and my father strong, and I grew with a mixture of both in me. My little brother Sai Ling was like our father, and he was always proving how strong he was. My sister, Kalana, was exactly like our mother, beautiful and delicate.
When I was 6, my cousin, Nobu-san went to live at the Imperial palace of the FireNation. He was a servant to the young Prince Zuko, who was 8. His letters were about the many advancements that our village had not seen. He also mentioned how he loved the Princess, mother to Zuko and his twin sister, Azula, who had, to quote my cousin, a temper to rival her father and a streak of cruelty. The Prince Ozai was also cruel, but he loved his wife and doted on his daughter. I remember feeling sorry for Zuko when I read this, because Nobu also said that Ozai seemed to hate Zuko, or at the very least, dislike him.
When I was 7, my cousin invited me to the palace to be a lady for the princess. Mother and father argued for days, and then finally, they agreed. I was excited, but I cried when I left my mother and father, my little brother, and my sister.
The palace was exciting, and the Queen, as I called her, was very kind. She encouraged me to meet the Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. I remember Azula being very mean and cruel, but Zuko was kind, and had very fascinating eyes. He said my eyes were the fascinating ones, because they were deep blue, like crystals, which is very uncommon. He never could remember my name, which was Saiuri, and so he called me "Sarah." I spent many days playing in the garden with him.
But times were changing. The Fire Lord Azulon was sending more troops out to conquer the people, and although the Queen tried her best to protect me from hearing the gossip, she could not silence them all, and I went to sleep every night with the stories the soldiers came back with. I remember hiding behind a tapestry and listening to a group of soldiers bragging on what they had done to a group of young girls that had been captured. For some reason I thought of Kalana, and an inexpressible rage came over me. Before I knew what happened, I had rushed out of the tapestry and was yelling every bad thing I could think of at them- and although it wasn't as grand as some of the servants, it was far grander then a little girl from a godforsaken village should know. I had hoped that I would shock them into silence, but all that happened was they laughed at me. One of the men, who was the biggest, grabbed my shoulder and squeezed so that it hurt.
"This girl has spirit." He said, but his voice was mean, with a fake oily kindness and he was sneering. "What's your name little girl?"
I didn't answer them, because it just dawned on me that I was in for trouble.
"I said, what's your name?" the man said, and he shook me. His fake kindness was gone.
I was very scared, but I couldn't think of what to do. The men were muttering, and finally the man holding me lost patience and actually lifted me off the floor. By then I had started to cry. Suddenly, I heard footsteps and a moment later, a small blast of fire hit the man holding me straight in the head. He spun around, dropping me on the floor, to see Zuko glaring at him.
"Leave her alone!" he yelled. The men ran, except for the big man, who glared at Zuko. I saw his hand twitch and realized that he was going to hit Zuko with a fire blast. Zuko had no way to protect himself. I did the only thing I could think of: I swung my leg swiftly and tripped the man.
It was a move I had seen warriors practice all the time, so you can imagine that I, a little girl of 8 years, was a bit startled at my ability. Then I came to my senses, grabbed Zuko's hand and bolted.
Both of us heard it at the same time...the man was chasing us. Zuko tugged my hand and veered left. "Where are we going?" I yelled despretley.
"To my mothers quarters!" he yelled back and a moment later we had burst in the room, where his mother was sipping a cup of tea and reading some scrolls.
"Zuko!" the Queen said, putting down the cup and scrolls. "What's wrong?" Then she noticed that he was still holding my hand, which he instantly dropped, blushing.
"Your highness." I panted. "There is a big...man...and he...he..." and here I burst into tears again.
Just then- and it is rather hard to believe, but perfectly true- the man ran straight into the room and grabbed me by the throat! He was snarling like a dog, and he was doing so loudly. Then he seemed to realize where he was and dropped me in an instant, and bowed to the Queen.
That man was executed the very same day.
I had an inexpressible gratitude to the Queen. She was so kind to me, often visiting my chambers to ensure I was comfortable. She taught me many things. She had also heard from Zuko the account of what had happened with the thugs, and she told me I would do well to learn more, because I seemed to have a natural ability. Zuko helped me with the techniques, and I spent many hours happy, even in the midst of the chaos outside the palace.
And then everything changed.
When I was 12 years old, and Zuko was about 14, Fire Lord Azulon died. But that didn't truly trouble me. What did was that Zuko's father had requested that he become Fire Lord after the death, instead of General Iroh, Zuko and Azula's uncle, and heir to the throne. He had recently been at Bai-Sing-Say, the great Earth Kingdom, but his only son had died in battle, and grief-stricken, he had returned home. On the night Azulon dies, the Queen, my protector, escaped into the night. She died soon afterward.
Ozai became Fire Lord.
I was not the only one distressed with the Queen's departure. My cousin was furious. In front of the court, he denounced Fire Lord Ozai, to his face, saying he was a disgrace, and a murderer.
Later that night, my cousin and I stayed up late, I because I wasn't sleepy, and my cousin because...well, I never knew as a child, but I do now. He knew what was going to happen. He didn't know when.
The suddenly, there was a knock at the door. All the colour drained from Nubo's face, and he told me to hide, quickly. Looking back, I realized the bravery that my cousin held. He could have easily hidden himself, leaving me to face the music, but he didn't. As soon as I had hidden behind the heavy curtains, he opened the door. I saw through a small hole in the curtains FireNation soldiers hail my cousin away. Fright overcame me, and I rushed out the door, in time to see the FireBenders stop, throw my cousin on the floor...and kill him.
I couldn't scream, couldn't breathe. All I could do was watch Nobu's blood snake along the floor. The monsters simply looked at me, and laughed, and walked away. I couldn't look at my cousin, all I could do was cry.
"This is what happens to people who insult the great Fire Lord." Came a cruel voice behind me, and I turn to see Azula, smirking at me.
"Go away Azula." I said, drying my tears. Azula laughed and walked away.
As I stepped in my room, I saw the gleaming ornamental swords that hung above the mantle. I took them down, and stared at them a long time. Then I moved, slowly, like the soldiers I had seen when they practiced. I stayed up all night, simply copying what I had once seen.
And I never cried in the palace again.
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Times continued to change.
I was no longer entitled to live in the luxurious apartment I had used when I was a lady to the Queen. I became no better then a slave to the palace. My work no longer allowed me to converse freely with royalty; because while once I was nobility to the Queen, and had the right to speak to Zuko, or even the king (although that was rare) now I had no right even to speak to the higher servants. I slept poorly, and was given poor rations to eat. My room was cold and drafty, and right above the dungeons and Interrogation room, which, in my opinion, was another word for torture. Sometimes, when new prisoners arrived, I was kept awake with their screams, their pleading, their cries for mercy.
The conditions began to take a toll on my health. My hands grew so cold I could barley hold onto things. I had a cough, and I felt sick. I forced myself to get up, because I promised myself that I would practice my swords and my fighting.
I grew so sick and lonely during this time that I began to forget my place, and simply spoke what I felt. This often had me in a heap of trouble. A servant was supposed to keep their tongue.
One day, I was making tea for General Iroh. He was a kind man, and whenever I arrived to clean his room, he always offered me something to eat and some tea to drink. He also helped me learn to fight, because he said it would be "necessary." I never thought much, but I believe that Iroh 'loved' his brother no more then I did. But as I said, I was in his room when he mentioned how the troops were invading the old Air Kingdom in search of refugees. Without thinking, I jumped to my feet and yelled "Those monsters!"
Iroh looked quite startled, but bade me sit down, poured me more tea and asked me what was wrong.
"My family." I said, my hand shaking. "I left them so long ago to come here with...with Nobu-san."
General Iroh looked sympathetic. "Yes, I heard of that." He said. "At least you didn't have to witness it-" but stopped with a look of horror and sadness as my face took on a look of grief, pain and revulsion as my mind was forced, once again, back to the day I lost my cousin.
"You saw it." He said gently.
I nodded, not thinking of anything else to say or do. Grief compelled me to talk. "He told me to hide, but I didn't. I ran out to save him...or to..." I shook my head. "I don't know what my aim was. But I saw."
Iroh sighed. "I wish I could say it was justified, but killing rarely is. Especially what happened to Nobu-san."
I nodded, thinking back to when Azula came and taunted me for his death. In the past few years I had lived in the FireNation, I had come to hate her. Just the thought of it made my blood boil, like lava was filling me up. Now I was remembering all the cruelty she had ever dealt me, the hatred exploded. I didn't notice anything was happening until Iroh yelped and jumped back as a flame burst from my hands.
Slowly, oh so slowly, I lifted my hands, trembling, to look at them. They were blistered from work and pale, like always. Iroh looked at me with an odd expression - shock and...awe?
"I'm so..." I started, but I had no idea what to say, what to do.
"I knew that there was something unique." Iroh said, jumping from his chair and rummaging with his great collection of scrolls. "But you being the One! A miracle!"
"What do you mean?" I said slowly, still an ignorant girl from a nearly forgotten Air village.
Iroh held out an old, fat scroll, cracked with age. The picture showed a beautiful girl with blue eyes mastering all elements. But something was different. There was a moon and sun, but sand was there, and the signal for temperature, and she seemed to control shadow bending and mind-bending.
"Saiuri...I believe you are the All-Being."