I am doing this from a first person point of view from a made up 14 year old named Jake Turner. I do not know or have heard of any names of people mentioned in this story besides those of Avatar. I think I will base Avatar after the episode "The Western Air Temple," but I don't think they will be mentioned 'till next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, because if I did we wouldn't have to wait so long for new episodes!

I tussled my hair back after a long, hard day at P.S. 114. Yes, I lived in New York, the city everyone comes to, but they're wasting their time. New York City is just a boulevard of broken dreams with good advertising companies and a busy airport. Why did people have to be so oblivious to the obvious?!?!? "New York is one of the biggest cities in America. How did it get so over populated?" As I walked to my foster home, lost in my train of thought, the local bully, Jaybo, a strong, tough wanna-be teen gangster stepped out from behind an alley as I walked by, totally unaware he was creeping up behind me, and said, "Gimme the money FU!"

I sighed, "If I had money, I'd love to give it to you Jaybo, but it just so happens I'm broke."

Jaybo moved forward, a look of strangling in his eyes. He picked up the scruff of my shirt, "GIVE ME YO MONEY!!!!"

Beads of sweat dotted my brow, "Hey look," I said "A Central American drug dealer!"

"Where?" he asked stupidly as he released his grip on my shirt.

"YO MAMA!" I shouted as I dashed away. Jaybo took a swipe at me, but he was too slow, and started the chase. But then he and I heard the distant sound of a cop car, and Jaybo fled into one of his usual alleys.

"School, gangsters, no parents. Do other 14 year olds deal with this crap?" I mused to myself.

I stepped inside the building that was my foster home, and slammed the door shut. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw my sisters, Alexis, who was 9, and Summer, 17, playing together. My foster mom, Jannice, stepped out of the kitchen. "Hey, I was just about to make some cookies, wanna help?" I saw my little 12 year old brother, Chase, scooping flour into a large bowl in the background.

"Uh...maybe in a little bit, I've got some homework I need to start" I said as politely as I could.

"Whenever your ready, I'll be baking away" she said with a smile.

I went up to my room, and locked the door. I loved my privacy, even though I shared my room with Chase. I threw my book bag on to my bed. I was greatful for my room, I had a warm bed, colored walls anointed with many posters, and a T.V. Jannice got it for me because she felt bad about my parents disappearance in Indonesia. I turned it on and began to flip through the channels. Avatar: The Last Airbender was on. I loved Avatar, it was inspiring to see how the martial art of Tai Chi was the basis for Waterbending. It never ceased to amaze me when the one girl, Katara, fought the knife-thrower in Omashu. I knew everything there was to know about Avatar, everyone's age, personality, abilities,...weaknesses. I tickled me pink when I heard of the third season's approach two months ago.

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Reminiscing

"No, guys I'm sorry you can't come. Your mom and I think we may have found a cure for lung cancer in the blood of an Oran-gua-gua beetle [never heard of it, just made it up in Indonesia and we don't have enogh money to take six people!" my dad said as calmly as he could.

"But dad, the winter dance is coming up and mom said she would help me pick out my dress!" Summer cried out.

"Honey, I promise I'll do it when we get back, besides...your father and I have something for each of you" mom said excitedly.

"Really, what?" Chase said as he turned to Alexis. Alexis shrugged.

Dad pulled out what looked like four trinkets, each of them different.

Mom walked up to Chase as dad handed her what looked like a disfigured horn.

Mom handed the small horn to Chase, who looked at it confusedly.

"When we visited the Chinese countryside," mom said "local villagers gave it to us as a good-bye gift. Legend says that long ago, farmers would blow this little singui horn to have the Wind Spirits blow them a breeze on a hot summer day."

"Cool thanks mom!" Chase said

Mom then went up to Alexis, and handed her a flat pendant with some sort of engraving.

"We got this in Egypt" mom said. "It has a scarab beattle on it. In ancient times, the Egyptians praised the beattle for its rareness and secretivity. The beattle was so rare because it always dug deep within the earth, but when it rose up to the surface, it would scare people because it looked like the earth was moving."

Alexis tried to process all this, "Well that's neato, thanks" she said as she scampered away.

Mom smiled and then went up to Summer. She handed her a little figurine.

"Wow, the details are so precise, where did you get this" she exclaimed as she moved her fingers over the stone face of a mysterious man holding a ball of marble rock.

We got that in Greece, it's a carving of the sun god Apollo. He was carved out of obsidian and the marble ball is supposed to represent an orb of sunand fire."

"That's awesome, thanks mom." "Maybe he can burn away my fat with his sun powers!" Summer stated as she walked away with a giggle.

Mom giggled a little too. The last gift was given to me. It was a leather necklace with a shiny blue pendant with the Yin-Yang symbol in the center.

"This is pretty special. We got this when we traveled to eastern Turkey. The pendant is made of a rare stone called lapis luzli. A legend tells that whoever found this stone would have good crops granted from the River Spirits of the Euphrates and Tigris. The Yin-Yang represents how the two rivers released equal amounts of water when they flooded, always a balance between the two."

I looked at the necklace, how the circular lapis luzli shimmered in the light. "Thank you so much you guys."

"Your welcome love." mom said sweetly. "Now I know Summer's in charge of you guys, but your the man of the house, okay?"

"Okay thanks mom and dad. Have fun in Indonesia find that Oran-gua-gua." I said giving them a hug.

"We love you guys, bye!" they said simultaneously

"Bye!" we all said. We waved as they hoped in their car. They waved back as they drove around the corner and out of site.

That's the last time any of us saw or heard of them.

End of Reminiscing

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I had zoned out in my thoughts so much, I didn't hear Summer coming into my room.

"Hey, you want a cookie?" she said as her outstretched hand revealed a warm chocolate chip cookie.

I took the cookie and savoured its every morsel of chocolate.

"Thanks...hey do you and Alexis want to bring your sheets and pillows in our room tonight and have a sleepover, if your okay with the floor that is."

Summer looked at me weird for a moment, then said "I guess so, sure."

That night, we all got cozy in our beds and sheets. We all slept with our gifts from mom and dad, even Summer. We felt that the more we held to our gifts, the sooner mom and dad would come home.

If they were alive.

That's what kept me alive. My necklace and Avatar worked as my Yin and Yang. They kept me from falling out of joy and into despair. What kept me from stressing out about school, family, and Jaybo.

As I began to drift into sleep, the last thing I thought was "Why can't something interesting happen to me?"

I woke up on a hard, cold surface.

MMWWWAAAHHHAAAAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! Reviews though, I need to know if I'm adding to many details or not. Also, if anyone wants to recommend how the next chapter will fuse these stories together, it has to be all Avatar though, and it can be from any point of view [preferably 3rd person though. Thank you, and I hope to get chapter two up soon.