Intro

It has nearly been 500 years since the war amongst the four great nations. Fire, earth, air and water. The avatar, master of all four elements has done their job of keeping peace among the world, until something happened…

Today, the four nations evolved into four different parts of Japan. Water nation by the coast of Tokyo, earth nation in the country, fire nation in down town Tokyo and the air nation that has been gone since the war. But, some rumors are said to believe that some still wander around Japan today.

Things have been looking down for the benders in Japan. They were to be arrested and killed if necessary. The emperor made that law six years ago. Now only a thread of benders were left except for the fire nation, because of their loyalty to the emperor.

But there was no real reason for the emperor to make a law against the benders. Or was there? Some say that he was afraid that the benders would try to de-throne him. But probably the real reason is that the emperor of Japan is afraid of one person… The Avatar.

Chapter 1

The bell rang at Fuji High; all the students in room 203 stood and bowed to their teacher before they left. The last person out was a girl with dark brown hair pulled up in a long ponytail. Her eyes were blue like the ocean and she wore blue jeans with a light blue tank top showing her tan skin.

"Hey Tyshi! Come here!"

The girl looked over her shoulder to see a small group of girls.

"Hey… what's up?"

The group of four stood there in silence.

"What?" Tyshi adjusted her backpack nervously, looking from face to face of her friends.

"You mad at me Miss Water Bender?" Tyshi tensed up slightly at the nickname.

"What? Why would I be?"

The girl she was talking to wore a white lacey skirt and an orange t-shirt.

"Because you've been avoiding me lately."

Tyshi leaned up against the lockers.

"No I haven't."

The group behind the 'head girl' was murmuring slightly. One began to whisper amongst the others.

"I think she's avoiding us. The first sign is denial." She said and the others nodded in agreement.

"No, it isn't what you think… I have been busy working to help my mom."

"Yeah, right… anyways Tyshi, umm… I think it is time for us to go our separate ways."

Tyshi felt a wave of sorrow wash over her.

"What, why?"

The group began to walk away.

"We're too different… I mean, like you're from the coast and I'm from the city."

The sorrow she felt previously was soon replaced with pure anger. Her so called "friend" not wanting to hang out with her anymore just because she thought she was better, coming from the big city rather than the country side by the coast.

"Do you know what I mean?"

Tyshi closed her hand into a fist. She was loosing her temper and could feel the water in the classroom's fish tank move. Tyshi fought so hard not to loose her temper, she took a deep breath and nodded. The other girl smiled,

"Good. So, see you tomorrow." She spun and left with her group trailing closely.

"Yeah… right." Tyshi walked outside to the bus stop. She sat down on the bench with her head in her hands.

"How can things get any worse?"

The bus came to a stop and the air hissed and the doors swung open and she boarded, and of course, it was packed. Tyshi found her spot in the back corner of the bus and it lurched forward before driving off.

'My friends… or, old friends, almost found out my secret… If she did, that could have been worse. A lot worse.' Tyshi sat there in silence as the bus dropped of people little by little. And before she knew it, the bus was almost empty. Tyshi looked out the window; the sun was setting over the sparkling sea. She pulled the cord that lit up the sign that read stop.

The bus slowed to a stop in front of a little town on the coast. Tyshi hopped off and started for home. The town wasn't much like the cities with the tall buildings and cars. All there was in the town were trading posts, markets and hotels in the business section and houses everywhere else.

It was nice to live by the ocean, less population and a lot less crowded. The people who lived there were all close, friendly or related. Tyshi lived right on the beach with her single mother Lanna.

"Mom! I'm home!" Tyshi threw her bag on the chair next to the door.

" Oh hi Tyshi, someone came to see you earlier today."

Tyshi walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle.

"Oh really? Who?"

"You will never guess…"

Tyshi sat down on a chair waiting for her mom to finish her sentence.

"Oh I can't keep a secret! Calen stopped by! He left for a while, but he'll be back to see you around 5:00."

Tyshi looked at the wall clock. 3:00 pm.

"Really? Wow! It's been… forever since I've seen him! Thanks mom! I'll be outside practicing till he gets here!"

"Tyshi, you know that I don't like it when you practice out there, even if it is your talent. There is a chance of being caught or killed."

"I know ma' but I need to… you know that."

Her mom took a few steps closer, her face full of sorrow.

Lanna looked very similar to Tyshi in so many ways. Her tan skin and soft brown hair, but her eyes… they had lost their glimmer after Tyshi's father died. For he was a bender that had been caught.

"But if you are captured and killed, I would never be able to live with myself."

"I need to, it's apart of me. I just can't go on living only half a life."

Her mother fell silent.

"My bending makes me who I am." Tyshi walked over to the backdoor and opened it. "I hope you'll understand some day." She whispered to herself before leaving to the ocean.

The salty air filled her nose with each breath. Tyshi rolled her jeans up to her knees before walking wading into the water. She looked around and as usual, the beach was abandoned. She closed her eyes, allowing the sand and water wash over her feet and between her bare toes.

Tyshi could feel the push and pull of the ocean's tide, so calming, so powerful. She raised her arms from her sides up and over her head. Now she felt the water rise above her head, swirling leisurely, not touching her. She slowly pushed her hands out in front of her, then lowered the water around her waist; the sand beneath her feet remained dry, being untouched.

She kept the water there for so long it seemed like it was frozen. Tyshi lost track of time, but she could feel the power of the sun going down and the moon rising. Tyshi had been holding the position and had been in deep thought for about two hours. She thought about what her mother had told her earlier on Calen coming to visit.

'Wow… it's been so long since I've seen Calen. It's been a little over a year now since he's visited. I guess it's hard to visit when you live all the way in South Korea though. I miss the days when he was just down the street; it's amazing that we've still managed to remain best friends this whole time though. I still remember the day he got the news of his parents death… we were what… nine? Then he went to live with his aunt in South Korea. I always looked forward to his visits though. Just last year though, after he turned 18, his aunt died too. He inherited the house I think…"

'If he wanted to see me, he would have been here awhile ago.' She thought impatiently. But little did Tyshi know, someone had been watching her for the past hour. He looked like Tyshi's age, around 19. He had short brown hair with blonde streaks. He had eyes like the forest. The boy was just sitting there, watching in surprise, perfectly content.

'Should I tell her I'm here?' The boy hesitated, but stood up.

Tyshi heard the rustling of the sand. Her eyes shot open in horror, thinking she had been caught bending. She summoned a water whip, allowing the water around her feet to collapse around her. She pulled back on the whip and lashed it at the person behind her. With a snap, the water died in her hands. She turned to see who it was, but the only thing behind her was a large wall of sand with a large gash down the middle.

"What's the big idea?!"

Tyshi's eyes softened with relief.

"You snuck up on me!"

The boy looked around the wall of sand.

"Well sorry… You were practicing and I didn't want to interrupt ya." The boy dropped the wall of sand. "Well next time, I'll just barge in."

Tyshi smiled and trudged out of the ocean.

"Well it's nice to see you again Calen. It's been long enough" Tyshi hugged him, but he yelped in surprise. She pulled away, "What?"

"Your cold and wet!"

Tyshi rolled her eyes and playfully punched him on the arm.

"Ow!"

Tyshi stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ah… poor baby." She bended a ball of water at him and it hit softly, letting the water soak him.

"Not fair…"

She merely stuck her tongue out at him again, but this time Calen picked up Tyshi with ease and tossed her into the water. Tyshi didn't surface, but a wall of water came at him that was twice as big as him. As fast as Calen could bend, he put a wall in front of him, blocking most of the water. With a thud the water collided with the sand and was quickly get washing away, but the water soon died down and receded back into the ocean. Calen let the remains of his wall collapse.

"Tyshi…?" he looked around to see only wet sand and the sea. Little did he know that Tyshi was behind him.

"Boo!" she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed off the ground, sending them both sprawling toward the sea. They both landed in the water with a large splash.

"Man, it's been to long." Tyshi froze some water and hoisted herself up on it.

"Yeah it has." Tyshi lent out her hand so Calen could sit up, but he bended the sand underneath him as a stool.

"Ooohhh… Mr. Fancy." She teased.

Calen sent her one of his looks and tickled her in the side. She nearly screamed.

"Not… funny!" She said between squeaky little screams and gasps for breath, but Calen just continued to laugh.

"You haven't changed much over the years." Tyshi smiled.

"Neither have you, but I guess that's good."

Tyshi shivered at the thought of change.

"Cold?" Calen asked.

Tyshi shook her head no as she looked at the horizon.

"Nah… just thinking."

"Oh." Calen checked his watch and noticed that it stopped working. "Great, I need to get a new watch…" he said bitterly.

"Let me see."

Calen took off his watch and handed it to Tyshi. She examined it a few seconds.

"It's just wet." She bended the water from the watch and began to wind it up again. Then she handed it back to Calen. "There ya go."

He set an ear to the watch as it started to tick.

"Thanks. Now lets see the time. 5:50, lets head in for dinner."

"I should probably dry us off first so mom doesn't get mad."

Tyshi stood up and quickly bended them dry. Some of the salt from the dried seawater brushed off her skin.

"Race you there!" Tyshi froze a path from her, to the front door of her house. She took a running start and began to slide. Calen on the other hand made large stepping stools of sand and dirt and as he ran along them, the ones he'd already traveled on sank back into the ground. While he ran, Tyshi used the pushing and pulling method of the ocean to skate along.

Now the two of them were neck in neck as they approached the door. They ended up reaching the house at the same time.

"Dang it, why can't I beat you when it comes to racing?" Calen shrugged.

"But we tied… that has never happened before. That tells me that you've gotten better."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was one."

"Oh, well… I'll still take it as one"

"Whatever…" she rolled her eyes. "Common, I'm hungry."

Both went inside, but from a distance stood someone in a black cloak with a flame symbol on the back.