Ready to explode... (OPEN)

::OOC:: This is kinda the whole start of Nyima's life-path, so feel free to have a "meanwhile" going on here, or to meet up with her later in the thread or eavesdrop or follow or what-have-you, but she's going to run home and have a discussion with her mother. ::/OOC::

There was a loud crack as the ice gave way in the center of the path, putting her two would-be attackers at odds against the wavering chunks of ice that bobbed in the water. Nyima gave a shout, recoiling back to more solid ground herself. How had this happened? She looked at her hands, as if not sure that they belonged to her, and turned to run, passing yet another stranger on her way from the square. What a day for people outside the tribe to be here! The thought crossed her mind, but was jolted away when she turned a corner and ran directly into the elder whom she had been bringing the dress to in the first place. First surprised, then penitent, she fell to the ground and spoke from her knees before her elder. "I am sorry, ma'am, but your dress..." The elder cut her short.

"Nyima Akiyo!" the elder said sharply. Nyima looked up and met a very angry, weathered face. "Where is your mother?"

"My mother? She's at home," Nyima replied, confused.

"Tell her, she has failed."

"I - I don't understand, elder, what do you mean?" Nyima struggled to put two and two together.

"Long has she sworn to protect us from your fire bending, but today she has proved that your power can no longer be hidden. Tell her that she will be allowed to re-enter the tribe, if she will allow us to exile you from this place. You do not belong here, Nyima Akiyo. Now go." The elder turned and walked back to her house, leaving Nyima in the snow, confused. She stayed a moment more before she got up and began to walk, then run towards her home at the edge of the village. It seemed her whole life was crashing down around her. Tears streamed down her face as she ran, her eyes burning with the cold air that swept into them, when she arrived at her house she barely had to say a word. The look on her mother's face seemed to say that she realized all that had happened, which confused Nyima even more, because how could her own mother have kept her in the dark for so long? and what exactly was this secret?

Anana looked at her daughter with pity and pain in her eyes. Nyima wondered what her mother was thinking. "Come, sit down my child." She gestured to the bundled furs that lay on the floor next to her. Nyima went over and sat down cross-legged in front of her mother, not sure what to expect. "Before I get started, I have to tell you that I love you very, very much," her mother said, almost in tears. Nyima took her hand instinctively.

"It's okay, mother," she said gently. Her mother squeezed her hand and did not let go.

"It is time I told you about your father," Anana began slowly. Nyima sucked in her breath - they had never discussed her father before. Anana began to tell the story: she had been party to an ambassadorial group from the Southern Water Tribe to the Fire Nation. Her father, Taizo, was a handsome young man in the Fire Nation army. They had met in the marketplace, and fell in love. They had a passionate affair over the next few weeks, but when it was time to return home, they decided it would be best to go their separate ways. Yet not long after Anana had arrived back at the South Pole, she found out that she was pregnant. "They asked me who the father was, and I had to tell them he was from the Fire Nation. The elders feared that I would bring danger on the entire village if my child was a fire bender. It is not safe here, on the ice, to have a child that cannot control their fire bending. Accidents could happen." They had all waited until the baby was born to pass judgement. When Nyima was born, they tested her, and saw that she did, indeed have the power to bend fire. They named her Nyima for the sun, and gave her her father's surname, to distinguish her, and the elders gave Anana an ultimatum. "They told me I was allowed to stay in the tribe and raise you, but I must live on the outside so that you would not be a danger to anyone, and I must always keep an eye on you. That's why, whenever I saw you getting angry, I pulled you away from the fight. I did not want you to harm anyone - it was my duty. But now, I have failed." She looked down, disappointed with herself.

"Mother, you are the strongest woman I have ever known. You have not failed - neither them nor me," Nyima said, still holding her mother's hand firmly. "I am only sorry that I have brought this on you, by being born a fire bender."

"No, Nyima," Anana said firmly, taking her daughter's face in her hands and looking her directly in the eyes. "You are special, whether or not your were born a fire bender, you are of the water tribe - you bend fire as if it were water, you can bend fire through water. I have seen you do it in your sleep, sometimes. I only wish that the rest of the village could see you as I do." Nyima stared at her mother, tears streaming down her face. All these years of misunderstanding, not knowing why she was treated the way she was, feeling as if she didn't belong and didn't know who she was, all of it seemed to come to light now. Suddenly, Nyima knew what she had to do.

"I know that you love me mother, and I will always love you. But it is true, I am a danger here. I need to go somewhere where I can learn how to use my power so that I do not bring harm to anyone. And if I go, the elders say you can return to the tribe." Nyima said, standing up and readying her things.

"Wait, Nyima, what are you doing?" her mother said, rising from her seat and stopping her daughter from stuffing a blanket into a pack.

"You have always done what's best for me, but now I am going to do what's best for both of us. It's time for me to learn who I am, mother. I promise, I will come back." She threw a couple more items into her pack, along with a weeks worth of salted seal meat and other food items. She turned to go and her mother rushed to embrace her.

"Here, take this money. It's not much, but it should keep you well-fed and buy your passage as far as you need to go. Write, if you can. I love you, Nyima." Nyima accepted the bag of coin from her mother and they embraced one last time before Nyima turned, sighed, and headed out the door.

Now what? she thought to herself. She headed back into town, ignoring the stares of all she passed. She saw that the group of strangers she had encountered were still in the square, but attempted rushed past, hoping that they would not notice her with her hood up. She made it past and headed for the docks.