Chapter 1: The Slums

It wasn't a horrible place to live. Look past the grime and the putrid smell, and the slums were an alright area of town. They were halfway between the market and Mr. Zano's farm, so there was only a half hour walk to get to food. Of course the food wasn't free, but it was easy to steal and there were houses, or trees in the case of Mr. Zano's farm, to run through and escape capture. It was surprisingly easy to stay alive in the small town that liked to be called a fire nation city.

"Hestia come quick!" a young voice called. I stood up from where I had leaned against a grime covered wall and turned to face the child. A girl crashed into my knees. The girl's sooty cheeks were stripped with healing cuts and tear lines.

"Leena, what happened?" I tried to calm the girl down by speaking softly and in a low voice. My street roughened hand rubbed at the little girl's back. Leena's shirt was worn through, bits of blue string were hanging free from the woven cloth, soon I would have to find scraps to make her a new one, or get one of the boys to steal her a shirt.

"It's Raz! He's lost control again," Leena sobbed.

"Let's go," I ordered. I breathed out and sent a quick prayer to the gods. As long as no one else caught onto Raz and his abilities, than this would all work out. I didn't want to think about what would happen if someone important did find out about him. Leena nodded and pulled me in the direction that she had come from. I paused to scoop her up in my arms and then sprinted. Leena held onto me and pointed the way. I ran passed people and around street corners, dodging the rubble that littered the streets of the people who couldn't afford to get rid of their trash. Soon I'd have to send the girls out hunting, there must be something flammable in this dump of rotting food scraps and broken pottery. A small crowd had formed in the road. Some people cheered when they saw me, others screamed for me to control my kids. I set Leena'ssmall body down on the road.

"Stay here," I said. Leena nodded, her corkscrew curls bouncing in time with her head, "Are you scared?" I asked. She nodded again and darted forward to hug my knees. Fire used to terrify her, and in moments like this, it still did. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back like I always do."

I took a deep breath and turned to face the street where Razwas. Firelight was faintly pulsing against the wood of the shanty town that this part of the city had morphed into. I took a few steps and peered into the deserted alley. Raz was curled into a small ball in the middle of the street, a ring of red fire surrounded; it was hot enough to singe the hair on my arms. Raz's fire had always been a bit cooler than most of the young fire bender's, almost like he could control an ice fire. It took a lot of energy and concentration for him to actually burn someone, which was why the heat from this fire was surprising.

"Raz? are you in there?" The shape in the flames sat up and looked to where I was standing. I kept still, trying to keep him calm.

"Hestia?" the boy asked. His high voice broke midway through my name and he sounded like he was close to tears. I let out the breath that I had held and started to move again.

"What's the rule, Raz?" I called. I continued to step carefully towards where he was lying.

"Don't cry unless absolutely necessary?" he asked.

"That's the one," I said.

"I can't stop it." He didn't sound like he was going to burst into sobs, but Raz was still scared.

"That's why I'm here." I was at the edge of the circle of fire. With one sharp flick of my wrists, I cleared a part of the circle and stepped through before the fire rushed back into the space with a heat that flowed like water. I sat down next to him and ignored the heavy smoke that surrounded us. Raz looked like he wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say, so I kept silent and gave him the time that he needed. Raz usually spoke without thinking, so the fact that he was gathering his words, like the birds gather seeds, was a little surprising. Then again, nothing about this day had been normal.

Raz finally looked up at me, his eye's were filled with unshed tears, "Can I cry now?" he asked quietly.

"Is it necessary?"

"I think so."

I opened my arms to the eight year old boy. He buried his face in my chest and cried. The tears evaporated off of his cheeks before they touched my shirt and I held him until his body stopped shaking and he fell asleep. I stroked his ashy hair and waited for the fire to die down. Raz did well, he kept the fire close to him, so that it didn't spread to the flimsy houses. He also managed to keep the heat to mildly pink and no burnt to death, something that I was incredibly thankful for. The fire sputtered and died down so I gathered Raz's warm body in my arms and I walked back to where Leena was sitting. The crowd had left and she was counting the small stones in the road. She looked up when I walked by. I took her outstretched hand and allowed her to lead us back to the slums. Raz nuzzled my neck as we walked. I hiked him higher on my hip and glared down at Leena, who was giggling uncontrollably.

"Not a word. You hear me?" the little girl snickered. I pressed a hand to Raz's back. He would hate me forever if word got out that he was an unconscious cuddler.

Raz woke up a few hours later. Leena left shortly after we got back to go play in the streets. A few of the other kids had gone to flinch some food, but I forbade them from waking Raz up. Raz was the best at finding food that was easy to take, but he was exhausted from creating so much fire. "You didn't have to give me your bed," he said. Raz always woke up grumpily, so I usually ignored him in the morning.

"Go wash the crud from your face," I said from where I sat. My feet dangled off the edge of the roof. The house was condemned, but it was structurally sound, so I didn't worry about it collapsing from underneath me and I didn't worry about the people living there yelling, or attacking, me or the kids. Plus, we could sleep through the night up here and not be seen by the assholes that stole from homeless folks. "We'll, discuss your actions later," I told his retreating form.

"Yeah yeah, okay. Bye Hestia," he shouted over his shoulder.

"What? No 'thank you for earlier?"

"Bye Hestia." I shook my head at him. That boy was too young to be trying to be cool. He probably thought that he had to be as tough as the royal family, what an idiot.

A/N: Hey Guys, sorry it took me so long to write again. Im back now and I have some ideas. I hope you liked this chapter. The Gaang will be in the story soon, but I thought that it would be better to solidify the OCs before I introduced the ones that we all know and love. Also, this story is situated right after "The Headband", so it'll be pre nice Zuko. (sorry for all Zuko lovers...I feel ya) Anyway, review if you have comments or liked this, it helps me a lot, emotionally and I use reviews as a way to figure out where to go next.

Thanks again,

-Ananimous