Just Starting Off

She had been coughing for three days. It started out as a shiver from the harsh wind, but after the first night of tossing and turning and keeping everyone in the igloo awake, it was clear her grandmother had contracted a terrible cold.

Neekla returned to her home with a bundle of herbal medications borrowed from the kind neighbors and handed them to her mother.

“Thank you so much, Neekla,” she murmured. She gathered the dried stems and leaves together and fiddled with some other supplies.

“How is she?” the girl asked.

Her mother frowned a little as she worked. “It’s hard to say,” she replied. “Her coughing has gotten worse, but one moment she’ll sound horrible, and the next she’ll… Well, you know how she is.”

Neekla smiled a little, but her worried brown eyes revealed her anxiety.

“She’ll be fine, Klay,” her mother reassured her with her pet name. “She’ll survive this. She is far too stubborn to give in to a little cold.”

A painful coughing came from her grandmother’s room. “Krinann,” a voice croaked, “I need more tea. It’d be wonderful if you could get me more tea.”

Neekla looked at her mother. “I can finish this,” she told her with a smirk. “The woman requires more tea.”

Krinann rolled her eyes as she started for the door. “She always needs more tea,” she muttered. “I might as well buy out the entire store.” Her mother left and the door shut out the cold behind her.

“Psst,” the voice hissed after a few moments of silence. “Neekla. Are you still here?”

The girl stood up and walked into the back room where her grandmother held a cup still full of tea in her lap.

“You liar,” she commented.

“Oh, yes,” the old woman wheezed out a laugh. “I had to get rid of her somehow.” She coughed loudly. “You see, I wanted to talk to you."

Neekla turned her head, confused.

“You know how your mother is, Neekla, always rolling her eyes at my stories. But this time it’s different. I…" she hesitated.  "Well, I don’t think I am, but you never really know about these kinds of things, so I might, but I—”

The old woman fell into a coughing fit so rough and violent it hurt Neekla to watch.

“There is a chance,” she said when she recovered, “however slim, that this horrible cold could be too much for me.”

Neekla stiffened.

“I’m clearly fighting it with all I’ve got,” she assured her, “so it won’t be easy to take me out. But it could happen. So I wanted to tell you a story – one that I’m not sure my daughter will ever be prepared to tell you. She’ll be mad at me, but you can’t be mad at a weak little old lady with her tea for very long, now, can you?” She grinned and then stared at her granddaughter. “Do you think you’re prepared to hear it?”

Neekla furrowed her brow in anticipation, but she nodded. "Of course."

“All right,” her grandmother said. “You may want to sit down.”

----

Neekla sat on the edge of a rock, watching the koala otters play in the water. She twisted a lock of her short brown hair.

I have a sister. The thoughts swirled in her mind. I have a sister. I’m not alone.

Her grandmother had told her she lived with her father in the Earth Kingdom. Neekla knew she had to find her. It had never really bothered her before, but now she yearned desperately to meet this girl.

“I’ll leave first thing tomorrow,” she said to the splashing creatures before her. One of the smaller ones poked its head out of the water to observe her before it flopped onto it's mother's belly to take a nap.

Neekla sighed and stood up. "Mom's not going to like me leaving her, though," she said as she started back home.  "Gran will drive her nuts."

Spoiler:

"You're not going."

Neekla groaned. "Mom, I have to.”

“There are thieves in the woods, you know,” she said, crossing her arms. “You could get hurt.”

“I’ll be careful,” Neekla shrugged. “Gran taught me some waterbending moves.”

“That’s the other thing,” her mother hissed. She leaned in towards her. “How am I going to deal with Gran? She’s nutty!”

“I heard that!” yelled a raspy voice.

Neekla’s mother rolled her eyes and looked pleadingly at her daughter.

“I won’t be gone long,” Neekla told her. “I’ll even buy a messenger hawk if you want.”

Krinann frowned, clearly still worried.

“I’ll be fine,” Neekla assured her. “I promise.”

“I should be going with you,” she mumbled distantly. She glanced back towards her mother’s room and sighed. “You can take some frozen food with you,” she said. “And your hammock and some rope and take some weapons with you too, just in case. For our sake, please be careful.”

“I will,” Neekla grinned.

“Your sister’s name is Jyla,” she told her. “She lives with her father -- your father, Braim. I’m not sure where exactly they live, but I believe they are south of Ba Sing Se. He was always a well-known man, so you will probably find him if you ask around.” Bitterness hinted her words, but Neekla decided not to ask about their relationship. “You can use your old travelling pack,” her mother added.

Neekla nodded. She found the pack and her mother helped her collect everything she thought she would need. The sun had barely risen over the horizon when she finally bid farewell to Gran and her mother and took the first steps of her journey to the Earth Kingdom to find the sister she never knew she wanted.

Spoiler: