"Mai, Akira, come inside" A woman called from the doorway of a small cottage that sat on the precipice of a tall cliff on the edges of a kingdom known as Ba Sing Se. "Quickly now." She called out again. The two children turned to face their mother, Akira relinquishing his hold on a small clump of earth that he had pulled from the ground, while Mai stopped lighting blades of grass on fire, watching the Bumble Ants try to scurry back to their burrow in time. They got up and quickly shuffled as fast as their four-year-old legs would carry them.
"Can't we keep playing for a little longer Ma?" Akira asked looking up at the woman with soft brown eyes. His blonde hair speckled with bits of dirt and grime.
"Yeah Ma! Just a little longer?" Mai pleaded, her dark green eyes fixing on her mothers.
"No sweetie, it's getting cold out, you need to come in and get warm." Lin told her daughter as they slowly ambled into the hut. "Go and get cleaned up, dinner will be ready soon my little fire ferrets." Their mother told them giving the twins a gentle shove towards the washroom. Once inside, the two children quickly started playing with the warm water in the basin that they used to clean the grime from their skin. They could hear their father in the room next to them, sitting in the soft couch listening to the radio news broadcast. He got up and moved to the kitchen where Lin was busy preparing their meal.
"They were outside playing again Rohan." Lin said with a worried tone.
"I know dear, but we can't do anything to stop them, they're just kids after all." Their father said as the kettle began to scream. The two children came out of the washroom, watching their father extinguish the flickering flame from the palm of his hand as he held the kettle above it. "Ah! There are my little Lemur-Monkeys!" Rohan said putting the pot down and moving towards them with his arms out. Akira jumped from where he was, more than five feet away, soaring straight into his father's arms without even trying. Lin and Rohan exchanged a concerned look, concern crossing their mothers face.
"Kids, why don't you go out and feed Meiko and Ianto?" Rohan suggested, the children's eyes lighting up as they nodded, running towards the half door at the back of the house.
The family found the Fox-Antelope Meiko, and the Tigerdillo Ianto on a vacation to Ba Sing Se two lunar cycles ago. Meiko was injured in a Sato-mobile accident, their father hitting the small deer-like creature on their way into the forest for a family picnic. While the Tigerdillo was left behind when the travelling circus moved out of the town. The children immediately begged their parents to nurse the animals back to health, falling in love on the way. When it came time to leave the great city, the children would not part unless their new friends accompanied them. Mai made a special bond with Meiko as Ianto was rarely found without the baby Tigerdillo by his side.
Meiko was standing in the shade of a fruit tree, grazing at the small berries that hung among the lower branches. Walking over to her charge, Mai pet the small creature on her haunches, while it crunched through the dark seeds she turned around as the girl sat stroking her light red fur. Mai held out her hand, which contained a small array of fruits and grain for the Fox-Antelope to eat while the girl looked over the cliff face onto the ocean. Ianto curled up on the precipice of the cliff, the hard skin on his back forming a protective layer against the elements. Akira tickled a small patch underneath his friend's ear, forcing him to uncurl and sniff at the small lump of raw meat in the boy's hand. Opening his maw, Ianto snapped up the dripping steak in two bites and let out a long yawn. Rubbing the creature along its back, Akira watched him curl up into a small ball again and doze off as the sun set.
Walking back towards the back door of their house, Akira heard a noise coming from inside, slowing down he hushed his sister. "Mai, shh, Ma and Papa are yelling." He whispered to her with wide eyes. Leaning close to the door they listened to what their parents were saying. They didn't understand most of what they were saying, but they knew that they were talking about the twins.
"We need to tell him Lin!" Rohan blurted out. "He has a right to know! And when the White Lotus come searching for the next reincarnation, they're going to spot him from a mile away."
'He's so young Rohan, can't we give them a few more years together? Let them be kids for a little while longer?" Lin tried to reason with her husband. "He's only four Rohan! Do you want him going away to live with strangers teaching him how to control who he really is?"
"No, of course not Lin-," Rohan started
"Then why are you insisting that we tell them?" Lin shot back.
"I only want him, them to know what's really going on. They must know something's up by now." Rohan said softly, sounding slightly deflated.
"Fine. Tell them the story, but please Rohan, please don't tell them the truth. He's just not ready yet. Nor is she, imagine what would happen to her if she found out her brother has to leave us." Lin said sounding defeated.
Akira and Mai looked at each other with confused expressions on their little faces. "Who's going away?" Akira whispered to his sister.
"I don't know, but I hope Daddy isn't going to the war again." Mai said back sadly. The two kids slowly edged their way inside the house and rounded the corner into the kitchen where their father sat at the table drinking tea, while their mother stood at the kitchen sink.
"How are the animals doing?" Lin asked her children.
"Good, Ianto looks lonely, I think he misses him family." Akira said, his parents shooting each other a strange look.
"Meiko keeps eating." Mai giggled. "All she does is sit under the tree and eat."
"That's because she's still a little sore, she'll get better soon." Rohan said.
"Ma, are you and Pa fighting?" Mai breathed out, clasping her small, tanned hands to her mouth.
"Of course not Mai! Why do you ask?" Lin replied.
"We just heard you and Daddy talking loudly. Who's going away? It's not Daddy again is it?" Akira interjected.
"I'm not going anywhere kiddo," Their father said, "The war has finished. We won, no need for me to go back." Rohan said with a smile.
"Tell them." Lin sighed, turning back to the sink where she started pouring a thick stew into four bowls.
"Tell us what Ma?" The twins asked at the same time.
"The story of the Avatar…" Rohan said quietly.
"The Abatar?" Akira stumbled over the new word.
"No son, the Avatar." Rohan corrected. "For hundreds, even thousands of years. People have been able to control the four elements. Fire, Water, Earth and Air. But only one person contained the ability to control all of them. The Avatar. The Avatar gets reincarnated into the next nation after they die, following a cycle. Water, Earth, Fire then Air. Each time starting with new memories, friends, looks, personality. They start all over again. It's the Avatars job to watch over the world and keep the balance between nations and the spirit world. The Avatar must be wise, kind and most of all, fearless in the face of danger." Rohan finished.
"But who is the Aviator daddy?" Mai asked.
Rohan chuckled "Avatar dear, and we don't know. Avatar Korra passed away four years ago, after keeping the peace for over eighty years, she died and the war broke out among the Air Nomads. No one has been able to find her reincarnation since." He said giving Lin a long, solemn look.
"Who was before Korra?" Akira asked, looking interested in the conversation.
"An Airbender named Aang. He was the last of his kind, after running from who he was; he disappeared for a hundred years, returning in time to end the Fire Nation's war. His eldest son, Tenzin taught the previous Avatar airbending. And from him, the entire race of benders have been saved." Lin said with a smile as she put their dinner down on the table.
"There were no airbenders?" Mai asked, sounding confused at the thought of those small humans who were always jumping off their cliff with their gliders not being around.
"Not for a very long time, but they're all back now." Rohan said with a small smile, spooning some soup into his mouth.
"Being the Avatar would be fun." Akira mused, imagining what it would be like to wield the power of all four elements. His parents shared another concerned look, but covered it with a spoonful of food.
The next morning, the twins crawled from their small beds and walked into the sitting room, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"Good morning sleepy heads!" Lin said from the couch. "How did you sleep little ones?"
"Good! Although I had a dream that Meiko and I were on an adventure! And Mai was there and so was Ianto." Akira said with excitement. "It was fun! And I could fly in one of those Gliders that the airbenders use!" He said with a big grin.
"Looks like someone's got an active imagination." Rohan said, opening the front door, a messenger falcon resting on his left forearm. "Lin, this just came from the White Lotus." He said, indicating at the piece of parchment tied to the bird's leg. Rohan detached the note and whispered his thanks to the bird as it launched itself from his arm and out the window.
"What about?" She asked.
"Um, you better come and read this." He said simply, holding the scroll out for his wife. Lin's eyes rapidly flew down the page; she reached the bottom and then started again. Not believing what she was reading.
"The White Lotus is coming around to all the Earth Nation families to determine who the new Avatar is." She said looking over at Rohan with concern.
"I know. They have never done this before, it's always been the Avatar which finds them." Rohan said quietly. "But we can't stop them from coming, or talking to the kids. I wonder how they're going to figure it out…" Rohan mused.
Seven lunar cycles later, the White Lotus knocked on the doors to the house of Bosco. Rohan and Lin answered the door, letting the fancily dressed males and females into their living room.
"Good morning, thank you for accepting us into your home." Said the man who had knocked on the door. "I am Lu Ten, leader of this faction of the Avatar's elite known as the White Lotus."
"Yes yes, good morning." Rohan said, shaking his hand, "I am well aware of whom the White Lotus are, I am General Rohan from the Fire Nation Army."
"Ah, General, I have heard of some of the amazing feats that you have achieved." Lu Ten said kindly.
"And this is my wife, Lin." Rohan said, stepping to the side, revealing his wife standing behind him watching the entire exchange.
"Thank you for letting us into your home Lin, it is a honour." The White Lotus' leader said warmly, greeting Lin with a small handshake. "Tell me Lin, do you have any bending abilities?"
"Y-yes, I'm an Earth and Metal bender. I was taught by a direct descendant of Toph Bao Fang, the inventor of the technique." Lin said, holding her chin up high.
"Oh, why that is fascinating news! Do you know who made the name Lin famous?" Lu Ten asked her, his startling blue eyes peering closely at Lin.
"Of course, Toph's daughter Lin was one of the leading agents in the fight against Amon many years ago with Avatar Korra. She sacrificed herself so that the Airbenders could flee." Lin was looking at the ground.
"Correct! Now I'm sorry to be blunt, but I am here for a specific reason, where are the children Mai and Akira?" He asked, searching the small room with his eyes.
"The children are just out the back feeding Ianto and Meiko, they won't be long." Rohan said.
"Ianto and Meiko?" Lu Ten asked with a look of confusion.
"Oh, pardon me, Meiko and Ianto are a Fox-Antelope and Tigerdillo that the children rescued on a family vacation. They have raised them from a fawn and cub." Rohan said with a smile, remembering the times when the animals became restless and in an effort to have some fun, destroyed a better half of the very room they were standing in.
"A Fox-Antelope and Tigerdillo are very strange animals to keep as pets don't you think?" Lu Ten asked, chuckling.
"That's exactly what we said to them, but alas! They had their minds set." Rohan laughed back.
The back door swung open and the twins rushed in, stopping when they saw the small collection of people sitting in their lounge room. "Who this Ma?" Mai asked, her eyes never leaving Lu Ten's.
"This is Lu Ten, he has come to talk to you two." Lin said, pulling Mai in closer. "How long do you suppose you will be Lu Ten?"
"Oh, it really doesn't take long, a few questions, one or two physical activates, that is all. Now if you don't mind, this is something that only the children can witness. I insist that you leave the room for the duration of the next few moments. We will call you when we're ready." Lu Ten said, looking from Lin to Rohan slowly. Lin went to object, but Rohan grabbed her around the forearm and pulled slightly, telling her without words, not to say anything. She put her daughter down and they shuffled from the room.
Akira and Mai sat on their couch and faced Lu Ten whom stood in front of them with his hands clasped behind his back. "Now tell me kids, how old are you?"
"Four." Was all Akira said, "We turn five on the next Winter Solstice."
"Ah, excellent, and can either of you bend any of the elements?" Lu Ten asked carefully.
"I can bend fire! Like Daddy" Mai said with a smile, producing a small ball of fire in the tiny hand.
"And I can bend Earth, like Mummy." Akira said, not showing the man whom he did not trust entirely.
"Oh good! And is that all you can bend? You haven't noticed any signs of other elements yet?" Lu Ten said, rocking onto the balls of his toes.
"No, that's all." Akira said softly.
"That's fine!" The older man said, indicating for the others behind him. They immediately fanned out and rolled a mat that contained several kid's toys. "Now, one at a time I am going to ask you to come over here and pick three toys each. Once you have chosen them, please put them back on the mat. While one is choosing, the other must not see what they pick. Is that okay?" Lu Ten said, motioning to the toys, which were now spread out all over the children's floor. As soon as the kids nodded their agreement, Lu Ten said "Ladies first." And motioned for Akira to be blindfolded.
Mai stepped towards the mat and looked at all the toys individually. She picked each one up and felt it in her hand, testing their weight and size. She eventually settled on three small wooden toys that showed signs of having been in a fire previously. Although they were damaged, they were fun and Mai knew she would have liked to keep them. But as Lu Ten had told her, she put them back down and moved to where her brother sat still on their couch. "All finished" She said, pulling Akira's blindfold off. "Your turn, Akira."
Her brother slid down from the couch as her blindfold was secured. He moved over towards the mat, and instead of closely examining each item, he picked the first three his hands went to, deciding that they seemed fun enough. Putting them back he looked up at Lu Ten who had a look of utter confusion on his face.
"No, it, it can't be!" He exclaimed looking at the small boy.
"Is something wrong mister?" Akira asked him, "You don't look too good."
"No, no I'm fine. It's just, both you and your sister picked the same three toys. The toys which have always indicated whom the Avatar is." He said with a stricken look. "Go and fetch their parents," He snapped at one of his lieutenants, "Now!" he said with urgency. Lin and Rohan entered the room a few moments later with concerned looks of their faces.
"Lu Ten? Is something wrong?" Lin asked the man.
"Mr and Mrs Bosco, something strange has happened, something very strange indeed. Not only has one of your children shown signs of being the Avatar, but both of them have."
"What? That's preposterous!" Rohan exclaimed, "There can't be two Avatars! What game are you playing at Lu Ten?"
"I would not lie to you, both of your children are gifted. Although we are not sure as to the full extent of the situation, it seems that the Avatar has been reincarnated into twins." Lu Ten said with a finality that seemed to frighten himself. "I must send a message to the training camp immediately." He said rushing out of the room. Lin and Rohan stood near the doorway watching their children who had lost track of the conversation, it all seemed too strange to them anyway. Why was this man freaking out when all they did was choose the same toys? It has to have happened before right?
Lu Ten rushed back into the house, "Mr and Mrs Bosco, I am sorry to intrude like this, but I am going to have to insist that the White Lotus remain here until we get orders to move on. If it is not problem with you we would ask that we set up camp on the lawn." Lu Ten said, bowing low to the tall, thin woman.
"Of course that's fine Lu Ten. I would insist that you stay in the house, yet it just is not large enough for all of us. You can set up tents anywhere you need to. But just a word of warning, don't peg them near Meiko and Ianto, they don't really like guests." Lin said with a small smile.
For the next 7 days Lu Ten and his men and women lived in their small tent village in the front of the Bosco's house, eating from their own food reserves and keeping to themselves. The children were told not to approach the strange figures dressed in their long white and pale blue dress robes, so they spent most of their time out the back with their charges entertaining themselves. Finally the day came when the contingent of White Lotus Elders arrived to determine the fate of Mai and Akira.
The small group contained six individuals who had achieved a great age, a representative of each of the great nations, Fire, Earth, Air, Northern Water Tribe and Southern, the sixth a non-bender. It was decided during the time of Avatar Korra that non-benders were not included nearly as much when it came to decisions regarding the land. Although it would be the benders who set the plans into motion, an especially skilled weapons master or wise scholar would be elected to represent the people. Walking up to Lu Ten, the group had a brief discussion with the middle-aged man, discovering the true purpose of their summoning to the small cottage on the cliff. They then moved on to the house where they introduced themselves to Lin and Rohan, one at a time they found out just who sat in the council chambers. From the Fire Nation a bender named Delara bowed low to the residence, a sign of great respect, and her deep red dress shimmering with different shades, as if she herself were on fire. The Air representative was next.
"Rohan, Lin, my name is Meelo, son of Tenzin and grandson of the Avatar Aang." He said, his bald-head making his forehead look large, even in old age he still had that devilish air-bender gleam in his eyes. Like nothing would ever contain him, he was the essence of freedom, going where he wanted when he wanted to. All he had to do was call upon the skies to carry him wherever he wished.
"It is a pleasure to be in the presence of one so… great" Rohan said, trying, and failing to find a word that described Meelo's presence. The Northern and Southern tribe representatives stood forward together, holding hands they introduces themselves as Indira and Enota, husband and wife, they grew up on opposite sides of the world, brought together by their passion for travel. The Earth nation's delegate was a large man who went by the name of Tagryn, he seemed to find everything amusing and was forever chuckling at seemingly common things. Finally the non-bender stepped forwards and bowed low to the young adults standing before him.
"Good day fair Rohan and Lin, my name is Fernin." His ice white hair touching his shoulders, "I am the council's spiritual and non-bending advisor. I am the son of Sokka, Avatar Aang's friend and wife's brother."
"Wait, how can you be his son? He died many years ago and you are far too young to be his direct child." Lin queried.
"Ah, you see, when Sokka took refuge in the Northern Water tribe on his adventures with the Avatar, he fell in love with Princess Yue. My mother. She died shortly after his visit but not before I was conceived. I was trapped in the spirit world for many a year, not even entirely an embryo. Yet when Korra was in the Spirit World she discovered that I was alive and found a way to bring me to life. I grew up in Republic City, carer after carer came and left as time went by and I finally decided to foray out on my own. Learning the land, wandering and teaching small colonies the stories I knew, stories about the Spirit World." He finished, the parents standing there staring at the man in front of them with a look of awe on their faces. Lu Ten stepped forward and cleared his throat, indicating that the introductions were over and it was the time to get down to business. Rohan quickly invited the contingent into their home and ushered them towards their living room, as it was easily the largest room available. Akira and Mai came into the room and watched the group warily, sitting on the mat in front of the radio they spent majority of the next hour talking between themselves as their parents conversed with the strangers.
At one point Lin broke down in tears, Rohan quickly comforting her whispering something in her ear, she looked up at the children and then back to Rohan. "Kids, come here for a moment please." She whispered. Mai and Akira got up and stumbled over to where their parents sat facing the group, "Fernin here has some news for you, so listen up and wait until he's finished okay?" the children nodded, understanding not their mother's words, but how she said them.
Fernin turned to face the to kids and very softly he told them the truth about who they are. "Mai and Akira, something very unusual has happened here, I'm sure your parents have told you the story of the Avatar before?" he asked them as they nodded. "Yes, well normally the avatar is reincarnated into a single human, but this time it seems that you are both the Avatar. Do you understand?" their little faces screwed up as they tried to digest what Fernin was saying.
"I think so, but who is the Avatar this time?" Akira asked, his brown eyes fixated on the old man. "You said it was two people, but what two people?"
"Well, we believe that it is you, little ones" Delara said smiling, "You have both indicated signs of the Avatar within, this has never happened before, yet here we are."
"I don't think I get it." Mai said looking up at her parents, "Ma? Pa? How can we both be the Avatar?"
"We don't know darling, but we can't ignore this. You two have been chosen." Lin said sadly.
"Don't be sad Ma." Akira clutched to his mother's leg.
"Now kids, we have a very special house set up for you two, you have to move there so we can teach you how to control your powers and learn to be the Avatar properly." Meelo said.
"Yes, it really is a lovely little cottage" Tagryn chuckled; yet they couldn't tell if he was referring to the house they were in or the Avatar's quarters.
"But Ma and Pa can come too right?" Mai stumbled out. "They can come and live with us right?"
"I'm afraid that they can't live in the house with you no, but they are more than free to move into the families building next door, specifically designed for the family of the Avatar to live in while they are in training." Enota said from where he was leaning against the wall.
"I don't want to go if they can't come too," Akira cried out, holding onto his mother's leg with all his strength.
"It's OK dear, we won't be far away. And I'm sure we will get to see you all the time." Rohan said patting his son on the head.
"And what about Ianto and Meiko? Are they coming too?" Mai asked.
"We wouldn't dream of leaving them behind." Indira said warmly, "After all, every great Avatar had an animal guide."
"Wasn't every Avatar great?" Lin asked.
"That's my point." Indira said smiling.
"Well when do we leave?" Rohan asked, looking from one of the White Lotus to the next.
"At Sunrise tomorrow. It takes almost a week of solid travel by foot. But we won't be going by foot, will we Meelo?" Fernin said with a grin.
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Meelo cackled.
"H-how are we going to get there?" Lin asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Flying Bison of course!" Meelo giggled.