CHAPTER ONE

"These students are improving quickly," Master Esen remarks, watching as the last of his students trickle out of the dojo. "I attribute their quick progress to your help, you know," he adds.

"I'm glad I've been able to help." I bow politely to Master Esen, then sling my duffel bag over my shoulder and turn to leave. I've got one foot out the door when he calls me back.

"How is the United Forces Preparatory School so far, Bumi?"

"It's going well so far, although I'm only two months into the first year, so we haven't gotten to the good stuff yet," I answer. "I thought it'd be more challenging, to be honest, but it's whatever. It's something to do until I'm old enough to enlist without parental permission."

"It'll get more challenging. You've just got to be patient, Bumi," Master Esen chuckles. "When I was an instructor at the UF Army boot camp, I spent more time than I wanted to spend just whipping the recruits into shape. I'd bet the instructors at the UFPS are in the same boat I once was."

"You were in the United Forces?" I ask, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. "You told me you were in the Earth Kingdom Army."

"I served in both," my middle-aged master replies, a smirk on his weathered face. "I did twelve years in the Earth Kingdom Army before I was transferred to the UF Army. I was among the United Forces' first batch of volunteers, and I did four years in the UF before the higher-ups asked me to help train the nonbending recruits at the Army boot camp in the Earth Kingdom. I was an instructor for a while, but after eight or so years I grew tired of teenaged recruits not knowing how to throw a punch." He shakes his head. "The nonbending combat styles ought to be cultivated from a young age, just like the bending disciplines — so I retired, moved to the United Republic, and set up this school to do just that."

"Yeah, I've noticed that — that some UFPS students don't even know to protect their core, never mind how to. When I square off against them in a drill," I continue, a complacent smirk on my face, "I usually take them down in seconds."

"Well, I'm not surprised to hear that you're among the best, Bumi," Master Esen laughs. "I don't ask just anyone to be an assistant teacher, you know."

"I'm aware, sir, and once again, I'm honored to have been chosen."

"You earned it, Bumi." He shoots me a cordial smile, then fishes around in his pants pocket until he finds a couple of yuans, which he then hands me. "Anyway, here's your pay for the week. Enjoy the rest of your night."

I duck out of the dojo with little more than a grateful nod, then drop my duffel bag onto the cold ground and start rummaging through its contents, pushing aside the miscellaneous items — a change of clothes, a pair of boxing gloves, a small first-aid kit, a water bottle, wrist tape, etc. — until I see what I'm looking for: the four bottles of cactus juice I bought on the black market when I accompanied my parents on a diplomacy-related trip to Omashu last week, and the bag of Omashrooms a friend dealt me earlier this week.

I zip the bag up, sling it back over my shoulder, then start walking in the direction of the liquor store closest to Master Esen's dojo, which I haven't stepped foot in since I turned sixteen earlier this month. I've been alternating vendors because I can't risk anyone telling my parents how much alcohol I drink. I've only been the legal drinking age for three weeks, so if my parents ever found out that, with some help from my friends, I've already emptied a couple of six-packs of cheap beer and six liter-sized bottles of liquor, they'd be furious.

I glance down at the crumpled, yellow yuans that I'm holding as I walk around the liquor shop, contemplating which type of liquor would best complement the cactus juice I am definitely not supposed to be mixing with hallucinogenic drugs — and I can't help but feel glad that I'm getting rid of the money. I'd rather stare into an empty shot glass than into the disappointed eyes of my father — even if the only Avatar that knows about my drinking habits is the pink effigy printed on the obverse of the paper yuans.

"Haiyang!"

"Hello, Bumi."

I add some more cactus juice to my liquor, then take a swig. "Where've you been, bro?" I ask.

He saunters over to where I'm sitting, surrounded by friends, underneath the Silk Road Bridge. "I've been trying to keep your ass out of jail," he answers, not even attempting to mask his hostility.

"What are you talking about?" I inquire.

"You left your jacket at my house when you slept over the other night." He glances down at the coat he's cradling in his arms, then returns his attention to me. "I didn't realize it until Dad gave me a heads-up that he was going to go to Air Temple Island and arrest you for possession… because, y'know, he's a cop, and Omashrooms are illegal in Republic City."

"… not just in the… the city," Ty, an earthbender I met my first week at UFPS, responds. "They're illegal everywhere."

"Yeah…" Haiyang shoots Ty a disgusted look, but quickly refocuses his attention on me. "I managed to get Dad to forget about it, but he grounded me to keep me from hanging out with you. He's convinced you're a bad influence," he continues. He chucks my jacket at me, and everyone around me laughs when one of the sleeves smacks me in the face. "You're welcome," he adds.

"For what?"

"Did you hear anything I just said, Bumi?" Haiyang growls. He crouches down so that he's level with me, then glares at me. "You'd be in jail right now if it weren't for me."

"I would not," I respond dismissively. "The Chief of Police is practically my aunt, bro. She would've let me go as soon as she found out that I had been arrested."

"Yeah, but did you forget that anyone in the United Forces Preparatory School who gets arrested gets suspended — and expelled if they're convicted?" he counters.

"You're going to give yourself a heart attack, Haiyang," I chuckle. "I love you, man, but you're neurotic." I take another swig of the cactus juice-infused liquor, then hold the glass out to him. "Here," I offer. "This'll calm your nerves."

"I don't want a sip of your drink, Bumi!" Haiyang yells. "If I get caught drinking, I'll be charged with possession, public intoxication, and underage drinking because I don't turn sixteen until December — and you can be damn sure my parents won't bail me out of jail! They'll leave me to rot in the drunk tank, and I'll lose my spot at the UFPS and my internship at Kya Memorial Hospital!"

"You gotta relax, Haiyang—," Ty starts, shaking his head.

"Shut up, Ty!" Haiyang growls. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Oh, for Agni's sake, Haiyang, stop being so grouchy," I command. "You're killing the mood."

"I don't care. You've been acting out ever since we graduated from RCPSA, but you've been completely out of control ever since you turned sixteen, Bumi!" he cries. "You're shitfaced 24/7, for Agni's sake!"

"I'm just having some fun, Haiyang," I respond, once I register what he just said. "You ought to try doing the same sometime."

He twists his wrist, bending the alcohol out of my glass; then, with a flick of his wrist, he makes it splash against my face.

"Hey!" I cry. "This shit costs money, Haiyang! You just waterbent part of my paycheck!"

"It doesn't matter," he grumbles. "You're smart, Bumi. You'll find a free way to throw your life away." He turns his back to me and starts to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you—?"

I stumble and, in the process of tripping over nothing but my own two feet, knock over an empty bottle of cactus juice, causing it to shatter.

How drunk am I? I wonder as I stabilize myself and realize that I can't do anything except stare at Haiyang as he shakes his head at the sight before him.

"This is ridiculous. I'm not hanging out with you again until you get your shit together," he declares.

I scramble to my feet and, with my back against the cold, metallic bridge, watch my best friend walk away.

Do I… should I… go after him?

"Oh, forget 'im, Bumi," Ty instructs. "We don't need 'im." He glances down at the watch on his wrist, then frowns. "We should get going soon, though. You wanna go over the plan one last time before we head over to Aang Memorial Island?"

The plan.

I nod.

"I visited Aang Memorial Island last night and left my glider and the lanterns there, in one of the blind spots of the museum's cameras, so I'm all set," I say. "I'll be taking a boat to Aang Memorial Island, and the firebenders can come with me. I stole one of the White Lotus' skiffs to get here earlier, and since the boat has the symbol of the White Lotus on it, it won't draw the attention of the cops patrolling the island.

"If all the waterbenders work together, they should be able to create a bubble big enough to surround themselves and all the earthbenders," I continue. "The bubble will allow you all to walk across the ocean floor. When we've all reached the island, we'll set up — earthbenders on the rocks, waterbenders on the roof of the museum, and firebenders on the extended arm. I'll be in the sky."

"This is gonna be great," Narika, a girl I've been… uh… talking to, smiles. She comes up behind me and wraps her arms loosely around my neck, then leans forward and plants a gentle kiss on my left cheek. "I made sure to tell all my friends at Republic City University to keep an eye on Avatar Aang's statue tonight," she adds, laughing into my ear. "It's gonna be a sight to be seen, that's for sure!"

"I got a look at the pro-bending arena when the train I took here crossed over the bridge near the RCNT," Kazuo, a firebender, says, referring to the Republic City National Theater. "There were about two dozen or so kids hanging out on the roof, waiting." He takes a sip of his drink and smirks. "They're gonna be grateful they've got front-row seats."

"I'll bet."

"You're sure you can fly, Bumi?"

I glance at Ty, who asked the question, then look up at the cloudless, star-littered sky. I've got some doubts due to the fact that the wind isn't all that strong tonight, but I'll be damned if I chicken out now. "I've done it a million times before," I say.

It's true. I have done this a million times before. I've wrecked a couple of gliders, but it doesn't matter because Uncle Sokka, who learned from the gliders' original engineer, taught me how to build them. When I wreck one, I just build another and get right back to pretending to be an airbender.

I down the contents of a bottle of beer in one big gulp, crush it in my hand, and throw it on the ground, then turn to the all-bender group. "C'mon," I say. "Let's go make my dad's statue glow."

"Whoa!" Ty exclaims as Narika propels herself, him, and another earthbender onto Aang Memorial Island via a water spout. "You've got 'im glowing already!"

"How did you get the lanterns to stay in the eye sockets?" Narika asks me.

I glance up at Dad's face — or, more accurately, at Dad's effigy's face — and watch the birds that circle it until a strange light that kind of resembles a shooting star whizzes through the sky. I wait to see if someone will mention it, and when no one does I dismiss it as a cactus juice- and Omashrooms-induced hallucination. "I stuck grappling hooks above the eyes, then tied together the hooks' ropes and the strings used to hang the lanterns," I answer. "It was easy."

"Do you think it'll hold?" Kazuo asks.

I glance upwards again and see that although the blue, circular paper lanterns are swaying slightly due to the autumn breeze, they aren't swaying too far from the center of the eyes. "Yeah, I think so." I return my attention to my friends. "Okay, let's get this ball rolling. Does everyone remember their positions?"

"Yeah."

I glance out at Yue Bay and see that the patrol boat that guards Aang Memorial Island 24/7 is about fifty feet from the island, as well as completely still. The idea that the cops/guards are likely fast asleep calms me, and I jump up and attempt to grab onto the top of the doors to the museum on which Dad's statue stands so that I can hoist myself onto the roof. I guess I'm seeing double, though, because all I grab hold of is air.

"Come down here, Bumi!" Ty yells. "I'll give you a lift up. We'll be here all night if your drunk ass has to climb this shit."

I jump down, and as I fall I realize that I didn't grab my glider before I started climbing.

I guess I'm more drunk than I thought, I think, grabbing my glider and walking over to Ty.

He stomps the ground and raises his hands upwards, lifting me and all of the firebenders to the top of the giant statue. I step onto Dad's bald head as Kazuo and the other firebenders jump down onto his extended arm.

"Okay, on my mark!" I call as I get into position and ignore the almost-blinding glow of the small, blue lanterns I fastened to the glider's body so that I will create the whitish-blue glow that actual airbending does. "One… two… three… now!"

I'm around benders all the time, but the power they possess never ceases to amaze me — and I can't help but watch, awestruck, as a stream of fire so big and so bright it'd put Sozin's Comet to shame shoots along the statue's arm and beyond its fist before morphing into a ring around its torso; as one giant wave after another materializes, as if the ocean itself were stretching out its fingers to strangle me, then join the ring of fire encircling Dad's body; and as the foundation of the island itself cracks, giving rise to mini, mobile mountains which, within seconds, consolidate to form a third elemental ring around Dad's body. I stare at the spectacle, in awe that Dad possesses all this power and more and acutely aware of how comparably powerless I am.

"C'mon, Bumi! We need air!"

Oh shit, that's right. Okay.

I jump off the statue's head and, since I love the feeling of the wind on my face, allow the air currents to carry me for a couple of seconds; then, by shifting my center of gravity, I guide the glider downwards, until I'm surrounded by a gimbal and have to weave in between axes formed from water, fire, and earth just to stay alive.

The water dampens the cold night air and makes me realize how dry my mouth is, and the fire illuminates the dark sky, putting even the stars to shame. It heats the air, and I can feel and see the hungry flames eating away at the twine that ties to the glider's body the strap that secures my legs to the glider's frame and keeps me parallel to the hand-crafted structure. The really dangerous element, though, is earth — the element opposite to the one this modified glider lets me pretend I control. The ring of rocks blocks the majority of the air currents, leaving me defenseless in my fight against gravity — but I don't realize that I'm falling until I slam against the metallic lotus flower on which Dad's left foot rests.

I attempt to get up, but I just fall onto — and then off — the roof of the museum, then into the turbulent water of Yue Bay. It's blood-red, as if all the fish in the bay have been impaled, and the deeper I sink, the darker the water gets. I order myself to swim to the surface, but the waves smother me.

I glance around in an attempt to gauge how deep I've sunk, but all I see is blackness — and that's when I realize that my eyes are closed, that I drank so much I'm crashing.

If I'm falling asleep… I reason, probably all of my friends are too drunk and high to realize what's going on, which means that… that… I'm going to drown.