Chapter One.
This story is pretty much dedicated to the Lieutenant from the Equalist who I grew to love even though he was a villain in the show. His last moment of redemption in the first season was great, I just wish they had him put up for of a fight before he was throw aside. I hope you all enjoy this story and review!
He was a broken man.
A man who dedicated his whole life to a single cause.
A cause which was a lie.
He was once a powerful and influential figure, but now he was just a lost wanderer.
He was nothing.
...
The man formally known as The Lieutenant now went by his his birth name of, Liang.
A name long forgotten to the second-in-command of one of the largest revolutions the world had ever seen, the strong and brilliant man who once stood alongside his leader. A man that his followers could look up to and follow his steps as he was an example to all of them, but now he was none of that.
He was Laing, a broken and lost man with no future.
No future, only a broken past filled with lies and betrayal.
...
Liang sighed heavily as he slowly wandered down the streets of Republic City, the late night wanderers gathered throughout various night clubs and street ways. The city light were bright as any country boy would confuse the nighttime in the city as the daytime. Liang shuffled his feet behind him slowly as his eyes glared at the ground below him, his soul was dead and his fighting spirit was gone. He taught selfdefense classes on the weekends in order to make a few honorable coins, but whenever those classes ended that spark that lit his heart was gone.
Liang was a soldier with no war to fight.
"Lieutenant?"
The voice rung through his head loudly as he hadn't heard that name spoken out loud in what had felt like an eternity. Slowly craning his head around he was greeted by several familiar figures as standing right behind him were five faces that once stared up at him with awe. Five faces that once followed him into battle against deathly odds, five hearts that were once dedicated to him and his leader.
Now, all he saw were five broken faces.
"Lieutenant, it's us... Remember?" One of them spoke out as the five of them had worked close with him during his time of power.
Liang looked at them with his empty gray eyes.
The corners of his mouth curling to the sides as he weakly whispered a few words, "Don't call me that anymore."
The five faces looked at his painfully as one spoke up again, "But the war isn't over."
The war isn't over?
Liang looked up at them in confusion as he had no idea what these five hopeless wanderers were talking about, "Amon was a liar and a traitor. We have lost our leader and our forces are scattered, we lost the war."
Liang practically spat these spiteful words.
"Haven't you read the paper, there are so many Equalist strongholds throughout the city that are still trying to make a stand," A young man spoke out as his voice was filed with hope as he smiled weakly at Liang.
Liang had heard about the sudden rise of Equalist fighters that had been rising up from hiding lately, but every news article ended the same. Every article ended with a black and white picture of the police chief standing over the newly arrested Equalist fighters. Liang was once dedicated to the cause, but now he was done and it hurt him to see so many of his former comrades still struggling to continue the cause that was just one big lie.
"Just give up before you get caught," Liang muttered lowly as he turned around and began to slowly walk away from the five familiar faces of his former subordinates.
The five of them just stood there in confusion as they knew their Lieutenant would never walk away from their cause so easily. One of the younger women with tearful eyes stepped forward and in a pain filled voice cried out, "I guess you're abandoning us just like he did!"
Liang's blood ran cold.
Her words stabbing him like a knife.
"I'm not like him, I'm nothing like him."
...
Liang watched as the gentle waves from the bay splashed into the loading dock, the sound easing his spirit as he stood there all alone. His gray empty eyes weakly glaring out at the full moon which lit the bay brightly. Liang released a low whimper of pain as his hands created fist and his legs became weak. His lower lip quivered as his eyes became weak and his spirit cried out for help.
Help...
He just wanted to escape this nightmare.
"You bastard."
That was all Liang could muster up at the moment as his eyes fell upon a old water damaged Equalist poster that was slowly peeling off a near by dock warehouse. The white mask of a traitor starring right back at him as the damp poster slowly peeled off the wall and gently drifted down into a muddy puddle.
"You bastard!" Liang roared angrily as he stomped his right foot down on the ground with great force.
Tears now rolled down his cheeks as his whole body was shaking.
"I dedicated my life to your cause and you betrayed me!" Liang cried out as he dropped to his knees and angrily slammed his fist down in rage. Tears dropping from his empty gray eyes and gently splashing into icy cold water below the dock, "I fought for you thinking that you'd change the world! All you did was make everything worse!"
Liang wanted to throw up from the pain.
He wanted to roll up in a ball and just die.
Die.
He wanted to just die along with all of his dreams for a better future.
A future that was now lost.
...
Liang slowly walked towards the bright lights that filled the noodle bar, a few late night costumers filled the seats while the elderly chef finished up with the last order of the night. Liang's tearful eyes glared at the old wooden stairs located at the side of the noodle bar, those creaking steps led to his small one bedroom apartment where he spent most of his night alone.
"Um, excuse me?" A voice called out as Liang turned to be greeted by the hazel green eyes of the daughter of the noodle bar owner. She was young with chestnut brown hair, her skin had a soft brown tan to it, and her smile was welcoming and warm. Liang groaned lowly, "I have one more selfdefense class tomorrow. After that class I can pay your father the monthly rent."
The girl was taken back by his remark, "I just wanted to know if you'd like to have a bowl of noodles with me?"
Liang looked up at her confused.
"It's my break and it would be on the house," The girl explained as Liang tried to remember her name in his head, was it Lou... No it started with a L but wasn't that... Lin was her name.
Lin looked around uncomfortably as Laing had yet to answer.
Clearing his throat he spoke up, "Sure."
...
Lin giggled softly as she watched Laing slurp up the last of his noodles, the noodles slapping him in the nose. Liang rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he and forgotten how innocent a women's laugh could be. Lin smiled weakly at him, "I see you walk up to your apartment every night and I see you every weekend teaching those classes."
Liang raised a single eyebrow at her remark.
"I've seen those moves you teach before and I can see the pain in your eyes," Lin added on as these words caused Liang's heart to sink painfully.
Liang prepared to get up from his bar seat when suddenly he felt the warm contact of skin gently brush against his hand. Lin looked at him with her eyes as she gently bit on her soft lower lip, "I've also seen the way you look at benders like myself and I know that you've given up on that cause."
Liang knew that Lin and her father were earthbenders and when he first rented the apartment above their noodle bar he was disgusted by them. Yet, as the months passed on he slowly began to forget the fact that they were benders and just saw them as the father and daughter who greeted him daily as he left his apartment. The idea that his former self would probably of attacked them for just being benders make him shift awkwardly in his seat, he was uncomfortable with his past life and was more uncomfortable with who he was now.
Liang's eyes became weak once again, as he had noticed in the passing months that his once hatred for benders had slowly started to take a backseat to his hatred for his former leader.
"I should go," Liang muttered weakly.
Lin quickly rose up from her seat, "If you're free I'd like to know if you'd maybe wanna go out to this cute cafe down the street?"
There was silence.
Lin awkwardly shuffled her feet as she waited for her response.
"Sure," Liang started in a soft voice as for the first time in months he smiled.
Lin smiled happily as she watched him disappear up the old wooden steps and up into his apartment.
...
Liang stood before the old beaten up Equalist poster, the white masked traitor glaring back at him as she stood there in his apartment all alone.
"You need to understand... There's no longer a place for you in this world," Liang simply stated as he ripped the poster down and crumbled it up into a ball before he threw it into a near by trash can.
Maybe there was hope for this warless soldier.
Just maybe...
Liang could stop living in pain and start living in happiness.