Elsa smiled despite herself when Bruni perked up at the mention of more food and stretched toward Aang expectantly. The fire spirit chirped, entirely unapologetic. Elsa shook her head fondly before her attention returned to Aang, and when their eyes met again, that strange feeling returned. It wasn't unlike the pull she felt toward Ahtohallan; that sense of being called toward something she couldn't yet understand again, but this was less like a distant voice and more like standing before a door she hadn't realized she'd been searching for. It unsettled her and yet, she couldn't bring herself to look away as he asked if she was a spirit.
"I don't know," she replied quietly. The answer surprised her. For years, she would have answered immediately. No. Human. Different, perhaps, but human. Now she wasn't certain.
Her gaze drifted toward the forest around them, "I used to think I knew exactly what I was." Her fingers absently stroked Bruni's back as the little salamander continued working through the bun. "I'm called the Fifth Spirit." The title sounded almost detached when she said it aloud. "The other spirits embody the elements. Fire, water, earth, and air. The Fifth Spirit is supposed to be a bridge between them and humanity. At least, that's what I was told. When I was first told about it, I thought it meant I was supposed to find some other being chosen to connect two worlds, but then I went to the glacier, Ahtohallan, the river of memory and the source of the spiritual energy that flows through this world. I needed to find the truth about the terrible things my grandfather had done, and I went too far. I froze to death. I still remember the cold stillness and the feeling of becoming part of something much larger than myself."
The memory lingered in her eyes for only a moment before she continued. "But ever since I Ahtohallan brough me back, I haven't been entirely sure what I am. I still look human. I still feel human." She laughed softly. "Most days, anyway." Her gaze wandered to the the trees. "But I feel things I didn't before… the spirits seem less like companions and more like... a part of me." Bruni chirped around a mouthful of bun. "Even when they're causing trouble."
Her smile retuned again as she looked back at Aang, a thoughtful crease formed between her brows. "I've don’t believe the Fifth Spirit is meant to be only one person. A bridge has two sides. Two points connected between something greater than themselves. I think there was another half. Someone lost, maybe.” The strange pull she'd felt since stepping into the clearing tightened in her chest.
"I don't know if they're gone or if they were simply forgotten by history." A breath escaped her. "But whatever happened, the balance between humanity and spirits broken and the spirits withdrew and the world changed without them.” And yet here she stood, staring at a man she'd never met, feeling an impossible sense of recognition as though some part of her had known him long before today, and that realization should have frightened her, but instead she relief.
"You asked if I was a spirit because I felt familiar, and the truth is, when I looked at you, I wondered the same thing. You feel..." Elsa searched for the right word and failed. “As if I've been looking for something my entire life and only just realized it when I saw you standing here. Or maybe I'm reading far too much into this." The confession hung awkwardly in the air until Bruni chose that exact moment to reach for Aang's satchel again and Elsa laughed softly, grateful for the interruption.
