Zuko ran towards the woods, not knowing where she was exactly. Xiaoli was close behind.
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"They threw me in prison to rot, along with my brothers and sisters! They deserve the same! You must carry on my work," Hama snarled.
"But I have something to say, Hama." I pointed out with a smirk. "I have nothing against the Fire Nation."
"I realized that already. You're too close to that boy, Zuko, and he's Fire Nation."
I laughed out loud. "But you have no idea how much Fire Nation I am myself."
"What?" Hama asked, the sneer still etched on her old, wrinkly face.
"I am a waterbender, that's true," I nodded, outstretched my arm and bringing my fingers together. I pulled my hand up lightly as the grass under my feet darkened and all the moisture emptied it, flowing in the air. I rotated my hand clockwise and the water spiraled around me. With one quick movement, I sliced my arm across the air and the water sliced through a rock, splitting if smoothly in half. "...but I'm all for firebenders." I punched the air and delivered a roundhouse kick that exploded a fireball right at Hama, which she barely dodged.
"Impossible," she gasped, a mixture of confusion and rage twisted on her face, "You're the Avatar?"
"No. Someone like him, perhaps," I said.
Suddenly, Hama straightened up, looking taller. She was sneering.
"Ah well. Even then. You're no match for me. You should've learned bloodbending before you decided to betray me."
"I was never on your side," I said, but suddenly, I felt a horrible pain in my arm as it twisted behind me against my will. I turned to it in horror and my head whipped around to face her again. She made me stand tall, and I squeezed my eyes through the pain. Her hands moved up and down evenly as she pointed four fingers in my direction, controlling me from yards away. I fought against the restrains she'd put up inside my body but I couldn't. And slowly, she brought me down.
"Bow before me," she chuckled evilly, and I finally gave in.
"Please, stop..." I was on my knees almost begging. She she balled one of her fists and everything inside me was screaming for her to release, begging for mercy. I'd never felt so powerless and weak in my life, knowing that an outside force was controlling me from the inside with such ease.
One arm was still behind my back, painfully, and the other was on the ground preventing me to fall over. Suddenly, something hit Hama and I was released from the grip. Hama fell over and I scrambled backwards. How could she control me from such a distance?
I saw Zuko, but he was far from Hama. A rock had hit her in the back, and then I saw another boy with Zuko. He was as tall as Zuko but slightly leaner. His hair was dark but short and pointing up from the front. Who was he?
Hama staggered to her feet, and I ducked behind a tree, taking deep breaths. I peeked out from behind and saw Zuko jump and start firebending. The boy looked slightly surprised but fought anyway, earthbending, but Hama stopped them both almost easily. The next thing I knew, they were kneeling In front of her. Zuko was filled with rage and I could tell he was fighting back. The boy, on the other hand was in absolute pain; it showed on his face.
"Let them go!" I yelled, coming out from behind the trees.
She just cackled and raised her hands and, as if controlling puppets, Zuko and the boy rose too. The boy had a knife in his boot and Hama forced him to pull it out. Before she could make him do anything, I pulled the moister out of the trees and with a flip, I smashed it against the boy, freezing the water around him.
"Sorry!" I called out.
"It's okay!" he assured me.
Then I did the same to Zuko, emptying a full four foot radius of grass from water and froze Zuko against another tree trunk.
"Oh Mei, don't hurt your friends," Hama cackled and broke them free of the ice. Then, catching them under her grip again, she turned then against eachother, the boy coming at Zuko with his knife. If I didn't stop them, Zuko would die.
I watched in terror, unable to do anything.
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Zuko was literally flying towards the outstretched knife. He'd never felt so helpless In his entire life. The knife was so close, and just when he thought it was over, that he'd never regain his honor from his father or see his Uncle again, everything froze. Xiaoli dropped the knife and fell to his knees. Zuko felt the grip of Hama loosen and Zuko broke free from her painful grasp. He too, fell to the floor. He looked up to see if Ayame was okay when he saw her doing something he least expect. Her face was tight with anger and hatred, four fingers pointing at Hama.
Zuko turned to Hama who gasped sharply, her arms twisting and her knees on the ground. Ayame jerked her arm back and Hama fell forward, and then Mei lowered her hands and closed her eyes.
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I couldn't stand the fact that I controlled someone against their will. If I had done this some other time I would've thought it was cool, but this time, almost watching your friend die in front of you . . . it was horrifying, terrifying, and scary. Especially when someone reached inside of you and moved you around like a puppet. And that's exactly what she was.
The puppet master.
The boy who had come with Zuko staggered to his feet and with one stomp of his foot on the ground and a few hand movements, he put earthen handcuffs on her hands behind her back. As he pushed her away and a few others had appeared because of the commotion, Hama looked back.
"Well, my work here is done. I Know it won't die off with me. You've mastered bloodbending and I know that you'll use it, if Katara never will. Trust me, you seem like the type." She cackled as they took her away.
Zuko walked towards me, his face emotionless but his gold-hazel eyes shocked and in disbelief. I was even more hurt than him, scared and not knowing whether to cry or to laugh.
"You did it, Mei, calm down," he said standing in front of me.
"What did she mean?" I asked quietly. "she said she knew I'd use it, if Katara, the other girl wouldn't. Does she think I'm a bad person?"
"Don't care about what she thinks. No one can make you a bad person unless you make yourself one," Zuko assured me.
"But she knew . . ." I sat on the floor and finally let out the tears I'd been holding for the past month.
I missed Gran, I missed home.
Zuko sat beside me, hesitantly patting my shoulder. I turned, latching onto his arms and pulling him close, my forehead resting on his shoulder.
He didn't pull away.
