The last time I saw my mother and father alive was that morning. My mother was bent over her metal, melting it to form a small dragon. She was a talented firebender; she could control her fire so well. Unlike me.

I walked up to her and was about to tap her shoulder, but paused as I remembered the last time I did that. She had startled and burned me, and I still have a small scar on my hand, but she says that that will fade. I hoped not. It looked kinda cool.

This time I circled around the room, my footsteps echoing against the metal floor. She was so wrapped up she didn't hear. I walked even slower, and carefully stepped into her line of sight. She did jump a little, but stopped bending and set down the almost-finished dragon. It was still red from the heat, but cooling quickly. I could make out the true color of the metal, it was a dark metal; the type she liked to work with.

She stood up and stretched, her back cracking. Walking over to me, her pale skin glowing, she placed her hands on my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. I embraced back, smelling the metallic smell she always carried, and stepped away. She looked as she usually did, night black hair up in a loose bun with strands falling out. Her full red lips were curved in a smile, and she stared back at me with the bluest eyes… eyes like the sky set over a perfect nose and on smooth skin. Her thin frame was covered in her red and yellow robe. I didn't have any of her beauty; I got my looks from my dad. I appreciate the thin brown hair, brown eyes, too thin and too tall frame he left me, with the tanner skin. (Note the sarcasm.)

"When is Dad coming home?" I asked, and she frowned a little.

"I'm not sure," she said, looking at the bracelet he had given her a long time ago, "He was invited to see the air temples as he was inspecting the Wall… he might be gone a long-" she stopped as a pair of footsteps entered the room. I turned and a smile split my face when I saw my father enter. "-time…" my mother drifted off. He looked at us for a second, the father that leaves and comes back randomly thanks to his job. He held out his arms, and smiled at us.

"Well?" he asked, and we snapped out of our daze and ran at him. He had been gone for three weeks, and I missed him terribly.

"I thought you were going to see the temples!" my mother cried, pulling back. I stayed in his embrace, smelling the spicy stench of his new robe. He was a strong man, tall and thin, (like I said,) but heavily muscled. Lean, I guess.

"I politely declined the offer," he said, smiling. "I wanted to come home. Besides, I've seen them before. Nothing spectacular." He bent over me and kissed Mom on the cheek, and then clapped my back. "Well! I think now you two should get your presents." I squealed and Mom grinned as he took several wrapped packages from his bag.

Several hours later, full from dinner, brimming with happiness, and several toys richer, I opened my window and snuck out. I know I should stay, what with it being my father's first night back and all, but I'd promised Tage that I'd meet him tonight outside the school. We're officially going out, by the way.

I jumped off the low roof and landed on the concrete below, (we used to have grass but I accidentally burned it all when I was two… now we have a large slab of concrete,), and took off toward the school.

The night was a dark one, with only a sliver of moon. The streetlights brightened it some, and I walked through their glow. I lived in a nice neighborhood in a not-so-nice town, because the city I lived in, Tatta, could only pay for so many lights. A lot of people used their firebending to light their way, but I was too out of control with mine. I stuck to streetlights. I felt safe in the streetlights' glow as I walked, but when I got to Bau road, they only made it creepy by casting shadows everywhere. By the time I got to Han street, they were gone. It was very, very quiet, and I walked faster. There were gangs on this street, and they were known for attacking people.

I walked a bit further, crouching down some so I would look like a lowly beggar in the hopes I would be left alone. But two or three minutes into that, after I had fallen countless time, I gave up. I straightened and dared try to firebend. Just a little light, so I could see and then run.

I raised my hand, palm up, and tensed it. With a flicker, a little flame came from the center of my palm, and a warm feeling followed. I smiled, glad I was controlling it. I took a step forward, and the flame remained controlled. My grin split my face, and soon I was running toward the school. I was doing it! Tage would be amazed, (and glad, considering that the last time I tried to firebend in front of him I burned half his hair off,) and so would Mom and Dad… I was so excited, I forgot to pay attention to the noises around me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Too late, I heard footsteps pounding the cement behind me. I refused to turn and to run faster, after all, I was a brave firebender who COULD CONTROL their fire. In fact, I might have slowed down. But then I heard more pairs of footsteps behind me.

Crap, I thought. I tried to run faster, fear making my heart pound, but I was tackled from behind. Hitting the ground hard, I felt my fire go out, leaving my hand cold in the night's temperature. A hand clamped over my mouth, and though I tried to bite it, I couldn't. My scream was snuffed, and I heard several men's voices talking, though I couldn't see them in the night's light.

"How old? Boy or girl?" a gruff voice asked, and another laughed. The man on top of me adjusted his hand so my nose was free, and I could smell whiskey on his breath. "Girl," he said, and a cheer went through the group. "How old? How old?" and "Does she have biggies?" went through the group.

"I don't know, and they're medium." The one on top of me said, and the men sighed.

"Oh, well." A quieter voice said, one that seemed more terrifying that the others' voices, "We can still have fun." I tried to scream again, but my lungs were being crushed and they all piled around me and lifted me up and I was dragged toward bushes and I was trying to get away but there were so many please no no nononono

He opened his eyes to muffled screams coming from outside. Groaning, he turned over in his bed. It happened all the time. You can't always be a hero, you know. A pulled a pillow over his head and he drifted back to sleep….

Until a bright light shone through the window and male screams were cut short.

"What the-" He launched out of bed, covers falling to the floor as he peeked out the window, ready to shoot someone. But then he froze. There was a girl outside, eyes glowing and surrounded by a circle of fire… rising above the houses on a pillar of rock. Several dead men lay at her feet, and, with a quick step to the left, two raised hands, and one thrust of the other foot, several houses collapsed to the ground. Other people were waking up now, he noticed, and some were outside. The glowing girl turned to look at them, white eyes seeming to glower. The fire that surrounded her grew, and she yelled in anger as it hit houses, spreading further and further along, anything it touched burning in the poor neighborhood, with houses made of wood.

People ran screaming from their houses, one woman ran back inside screaming for her baby. He could see other houses in the distance, all falling into the earth as the girl moved about her pillar, causing destruction everywhere. The girl raised her hands and moved her feet, raising hundreds of rock and sending them flying in all directions…

The Avatara sharp intake of breath-

And then a rock crashed through his window, killing him.