36 Moon

The night soon came, and the Chief allowed the trio to rest for the remainder of the day so that they could have a conversation the next day, which was very welcomed by both Kaliya and Lei since they had to bear so much tension during their whole trip here, especially Kaliya who also felt worry and fear on top of the tension.

Madara, on the other hand, couldn't rest, he walked out of his room through the windows and using the darkness as cover, he walked up walls and after jumping from roof to roof, he reached the one place that he actually was looking forward to seeing… The spirit oasis.

The Spirit Oasis is a secluded cove located at the base of a waterfall behind the Chief's temple. This unusual place is a lush, warm, tropical oasis and a center of spiritual activity in the North Pole. The Northern Water Tribe believes that the energy of the Moon and Ocean Spirits keeps the oasis constantly warm and flourishing.

Dropping down from the ice walls that encircle the oasis, Madara took his time to reach the center of the place, which had a soft small patch of lush green grass around a small pond, with a Tori-looking gate right in front of it.

'This place…' looking around Madara felt like he was… home… no, not the Resort, Beifong guest house, or Southern Air Temple, but home-home, he never felt this before because he never had an actual home before but for some odd reason he knew, deep within his soul, that this is the feeling that only a proper home could give him.

Sitting cross-legged in front of the pond, Madara couldn't see the two fish that were the mortal incarnation of Tui and La, but he felt welcomed here, at peace.

He remained inside that place for over an hour with his eyes closed, enjoying the feeling, he was not really meditating or anything like that, he was just enjoying how calm and relaxed this place made him feel. 'I wish I could have something like this near my house…'

But suddenly he was interrupted by a soft young female voice.

"Hmm… Excuse me?"

He instantly opened his eyes and his sharingan were still on, as he hadn't deactivated since the incident inside the airship.

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It was another day for princess Yue, she was doing what she always did, learning about traditions, the spirits, and how to behave with proper etiquette for a good wife, in order to never shame her ancestors and the spirits that they have been protecting for generations.

She heard people of the city talking about outsiders, about an exiled waterbender woman that came back after years, and about a young man with long black hair and striking glowing red eyes, a very unique, and never seen before, trait.

She was obviously forbidden from even seeing them from a distance, her family was very traditional and she had learned her place in society and what was expected of her.

So even though she was curious, her father forbade her from even walking in the marketplace today, he was that worried about the trio walking outside having any impact on his daughter, so he ordered her to stay within the palace or meditate with the spirits for as long as those 'travelers' were around.

After having her dinner and remaining in boredom for a couple of hours she decided to walk towards the spirit oasis to talk to the spirits, she loved them very much and owed her life to them, she always felt among family when talking to them, even though they never actually replied.

But tonight was bound to be different, once she came inside the spirit oasis she saw a young man, around 2 years older than her, sitting by the pond with his back facing her. After watching him for a while and seeing that he hadn't moved, she decided to announce her presence

"Hmm… Excuse me?"

She saw the young man turning towards her instantly like an alarmed creature, his eyes blazing a blood red hue as he assumed a battle stance, only to relax a bit after looking at her.

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Sigh 'It's just her….' Madara took a deep breath 'To think that this comfortable feeling made me lower my guard to the point of being sneaked up on by some clueless princess.'

He sat down on the grass again and stared at her, she was staring back.

"Hey…" he said softly, or he tried, since he was still a bit… on edge… with the whole Pakku situation.

She smiled gently and replied "Hey…"

They stayed in silence for several seconds until she decided to sit down on the grass as well, facing him from 10 feet away.

"So… You are the infamous firebender that I heard about, huh?" she said without a single ounce of judgment in her voice, just pure curiosity.

He chuckled "Yeah… I didn't know I was infamous already since I didn't do anything but… unless there's another firebender around these parts… that's me."

She chuckled as well "How did you get in here?"

He shrugged "Things happened… I saw an otter penguin running around, found it cute, and decided to follow it… and here I am."

The girl giggled "Hehe, there are no otter penguins within the city, they always caused mayhem and stole many fish from market stalls so the soldiers decided to keep them away for years now."

He just chuckled "Well then it was a midget that looked a lot like one…"

She laughed loudly "Hahaha... of course… they are very common in the north pole."

After laughing for a while, Madara sighed and spoke "I will be leaving then, I would appreciate it if you kept our meeting a secret."

She panicked a bit "No! Wait!"

Madara shot her a curious expression, raising one of his eyebrows.

"The spirits are happy to have you around, they probably welcome you here… so of course… you can stay," she said gently, after calming down a bit.

He chuckled again "Well no one told me anything about that."

She shook her head "No, they did… not in words but… you felt it, didn't you? Them welcoming you?"

He stopped in his tracks and stared at her for a bit before sitting back down and nodding his head.

"But.. how do you know that?"

She smiled gently "Well… you can say that I have a very… unique… connection with the spirits Tui and La, I can understand their feelings to some extent," she said while casting a gentle gaze towards the pond.

Madara nodded as he remembered the knowledge of the series. "I see, I don't know why they would welcome me here but… I'm glad that at least someone in this place welcomes me," he chuckled.

She chuckled back at him "Well, I'm sure you have something about yourself that makes them happy to see you, you have a very unique eye color after all…"

He grinned "Look who's talking, the only young girl with natural snow-white hair that I have ever met since I was born."

She caressed her hair with affection "Yeah, it was a gift from the spirit of the Moon."

"Sounds like an interesting tale."

"Not long enough to be called a tale… When I was born it was said that I would die soon, so my dad sought help from the spirits, and after bathing me in the spirit oasis… I was healed, the hair was just a side effect, a side effect that I'm really proud of!"

Madara nodded already knowing the story "It's indeed an interesting stor-" he stopped talking as his eyes went wide and he stared at her, remembering something that he heard almost a decade ago…

[The reason why you suffered your whole life was because of your artificial soul. You see, your world rejects you because of it .... It's uncommon but not rare, most humans like that die when they are still inside of their mother's wombs, and the percentage that survives usually dies in their early years.]

He kept staring at her like he was staring at a ghost 'I-is she just like me?... Another a-artificial soul?'

The girl on the other hand was a bit weirded out by Madara's behavior, he stopped talking out of nowhere and kept staring at her with wide eyes and a shocked expression.

'It is possible, isn't it? I mean… It was never said that it only happened to my world… Quite the opposite… it was said that it happens a lot, not common… but not rare either…' He came back from his thoughts and coughed loudly to break the weird atmosphere.

"Ahem, I'm sorry about that… I just remembered something from my childhood."

The girl gave him a smile and calmed down too "By the way, let us introduce ourselves… My name is Yue."

He smiled back at her "I'm Madara."

She beamed at him "Nice to meet you, Madara! I officially welcome you to the Northern Water Tribe!"

He chuckled "Yeah, finally the first actual welcome that isn't just for the sake of a social protocol."

They laughed together.

"So, what were you doing here?" She asked curiously.

He shrugged "I felt like I was back at home here. It felt peaceful… welcoming… It made me let go of certain things that I had in my mind, even if just temporarily."

She moved a bit closer to him, remaining 5 feet away from him this time "Oh? What things keep you worried?"

He shook his head "I'd rather not talk about it, you might see me as an enemy if I tell you…"

It was her turn to shake her head "No, the spirits welcomed you, they like you, so obviously you are no enemy."

He considered telling her, and she might tell her father but honestly… At this point he just wanted someone to listen to his problems, someone unrelated, an outsider to give him a new perspective.

"One of your people harmed one of my family members in the past… It was quite a nasty wound… and I will return in kind."

Her face paled "H-how is it possible?! We are a peace-loving community, we don't harm people!"

He shook his head "Have you ever heard of… Pakku's niece?"

Her eyes went wide as if lightning struck her. "T-that…." Of course, she did, the whole incident was recorded, Kaliya was not a no-name, she wasn't a princess but her family was high enough to have their achievements and fate recorded, and considering how famous Master Pakku is… It would be impossible to sweep it under the rug and pretend that it never happened.

She lowered her head and nodded a bit "Y-yes.. I heard of what happened…"

He kept his stoic face with a cold gaze and said "I will burn him for what he did to Kaliya."

She panicked "Y-you can't! I-it was an accident, he confessed what he did, a-and paid for it!"

He laughed "Paid for it? I bet he is living comfortably while Kaliya had to sail the seas as a pirate for years, with a body covered in scars, and a blind eye… No Yue, he didn't pay for anything."

She stopped talking for a long while, she knew that what Pakku did was wrong, very wrong, but at the same time… Pakku was a stern but kind man, he was very traditional and always followed the rules but he wasn't a cold old man, he was kind in his own way.

"Will it solve anything?" she asked in a low, muffled tone.

"Will what solve anything?" Madara asked back.

"Vengeance, retribution… will it solve anything? Will it bring back her eye?"

He shook his head "I'm not doing this to bring back her eye."

"Then why?!" she asked abruptly.

"Because she is family… one of the only family members I've ever had."

"But that's wrong! It won't solve anything so why are you dead set on vengeance?!" exclaimed Yue.

Madara looked her dead in the eye and asked back "If that's the case why do all of you resent firebenders to the point of hating me? Even if your family members died at the hands of the Fire Nation, why do your people feel the need for vengeance? Why do they feel hatred?"

"T-that…."

"It's part of the cycle of hatred, Yue… it's not about what I can get out of it, it's just a selfish desire, and I openly admit that… I want to see him burn for the sake of my selfishness, I want to see him crying in panic and pain… regretting what he did."

"Do you think he doesn't regret what he did?" she frowned and then shouted "He does! My dad told me that before Master Pakku was very cranky but sweet and gentle with kids, he treated his niece as his own daughter… but after it happened… he closed himself off, focused on waterbending, and barely interacts with others anymore, I bet he regrets it every day! And different from mere physical pain... his pain will not eventually heal! I bet he would trade his pain for some physical torture every day of the week if that meant getting rid of his guilt!"

Madara couldn't reply to that, she was right… by all means, she was right… but at the same time he felt.. powerless… he knew that it happened long before they met, probably long before he was even in this world, it's just…

"Sigh, I just can't see my family hurt… I never had family…. they are precious to me…" he lowered his head.

She approached him and touched his cheeks with her fluffy water tribe gloves "Then instead of thinking of how to avenge them, think about how to make them happier. Vengeance brings nothing, it's like drinking a vial of poison to satisfy your thirst… if you want to fight then do it, but do it for the right reason."

They stood there in silence for a while, Madara with his conflicted gaze and Yue with her stern one.

Finally, Madara's sharingan deactivated after over a day and he let out a long sigh.

"You say very wise words for someone 2 years younger than me…"

She huffed "And you are a big dumb dumb for someone 2 years older than me!"

They stared at each other and laughed again for a while, but then she stood up again and prepared to leave

"I have to go back, or my father will get worried that I've been away for too long, I usually only spend a few minutes in here."

Madara nodded and stood up "I will be going too… I will probably show up tomorrow night as well..."

She nodded happily knowing that she made a new friend and turned away. After she walked halfway through the bridge that led her across the waterfall, Madara shouted at her.

"I've heard that the spirit water can heal wounds and scars!"

She turned around with her hands behind her back and beamed at him while shouting back.

"Leave that to me!"

Madara saw the girl disappearing through the waterfall with a soft smile on his face

"Such a sweet girl… To think she died to bring back the Moon spirit," he said while looking up at the moon and snorted angrily "Tsk… one more reason to get rid of that fucking pussy… I don't care if it's divine intervention or the world trying to get rid of her, she won't die under my watch…" he smiled sinisterly.

"Like I needed one more reason to kill him… he is but a dead man walking!"