I sit up, groaning softly. My whole body aches. I stand, forcing my muscles to stretch out. It takes a while, but by the time I'm done I feel much better.

Well- my body feels better. My mind feels whole at last.

But my heart... I don't know if my heart will ever be better again.

I look around. Where am I? I'm in some sort of wooden room, and the floor is rocking beneath me. Am I on a ship?

And if so, where is this ship going? And how did I get on it?

The last thing I remember is running through Ba Sing Se. I think I collapsed at some point, and I must have passed out. There's nothing after that. And before that... I don't want to think about before that.

I will never be ready to think about before.

I push open the door, half surprised when it swings open easily. Whatever I'm doing here, I'm not a prisoner. That's encouraging.

I walk through a narrow hall, my body conforming easily to the motion of the waves. I've been on this ship for some time, obviously.

I hear voices to my left, and turn towards them. A huge man leans against the wall, and a smaller, ratty looking man stands beside him. They're talking about a raid they went on- they must be pirates.

I step forward and they turn to me.

The big man smiles.

"Hey, you're finally awake! I was starting to think you'd sleep forever."

I eye him warily. "How long was I out?"

He tilts his head to one side, thinking. "About two weeks, I think."

Two weeks?!

"Who are you?"

He grins at me. "I'm Niles. This is Xu."

"I'm Ka- Kiri." I'm not ready to be called Katara. Not yet. Maybe not ever. That's not who I am anymore. I look around. "Where are we?"

Niles takes my hand, and I let him lead me through another hall and up a ladder. He talks as we go. "We're just outside Chameleon Bay, near the Eastern Air Temple Island. We're pirates. You?"

I laugh. "I'm a waterbender." Those words echo through my mind. I'm a waterbender. I'm not some useless Earth Kingdom girl. I never was.

And Zuko let me believe- he let me think that my family had abandoned me. But they didn't. They thought I was dead, because of him.

All those months of misery- and the weeks of happiness. I force the thought away. Zuko never loved me. He used me.

My fists clench on the rungs of the ladder, and Niles tugs on my hair.

"You okay, Water Girl?"

I smile at him. "I'm okay."

But I'm not. And I don't think I ever will be.

We step onto the deck of the ship, and the smell of the sea hits me. I stop and breathe it in, soaking up the knowledge that I am finally, truly home. I am a waterbender. I belong here, on the sea, with the ocean breezes in my hair and my element surrounding me.

My element.

I have an element!

I throw my head back and laugh, and Niles' laughs with me. It feels good to laugh. I look over at Niles.

"How did I get here? And where are we going?"

"I found you in the Lower Ring. You were pretty out of it. As for where we're going- that's up to the captain. Wherever the wind takes us, I imagine. You're welcome to stay with us, if you wanna."

I look out over the sea- feel it in my hair, breathe it in. I can't think of a better way to heal.

I look up into Niles' dark brown eyes. "I'd love to, if you'll have me."

He grins at me. "Great! You're going to love it!"

I return his smile, even though I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure that I will ever love anything, ever again. If I will ever be happy again.

But I'm willing to give it a try.

_______

Heh soooo. :) WHAT THINK YOU, LOVELY FANS AND READERS OF MINE?! :D

COMMENT and vote, and as usual five and I'll update... :)

-Tess