Chapter One: Avatar Decisions
I'm Tatsu. Mom and Mommy didn't always get along. Especially when they kept secrets from each other. Mom was the Avatar though. And I bet it was really hard on her when her own friends and family disagreed with her decisions, but she had to make them because they were Avatar Decisions, or at least that's what she told me. She told me Avatar Decisions usually sounded bad at first but "come to help us out in the long run". I guess that's good, but it's easy for me to agree with Avatar Decisions when they've never really affected me. They have affected Mommy though because she's a grown-up, and Avatar Decisions only affect grown-ups. I know this because I saw them first hand.
First it was with my Eartbending teacher, Mr. Beifong, but my parents call him Bolin. Oh! I forgot to tell you, I want to be the first earth bender to master both metalbending and lavabending. Anyway, when Master Bolin heard the news, he was really mad, not like the funny and warm guy that Mom and Mommy described him as, and that he usually was when he taught me. He said that he was mad because it almost caused Mrs. Beifong to die so he hated the idea. I heard that there was already a lot of tension around Master Bolin already. A lot of people didn't like the fact that he was teaching lavabending because it was dangerous, but firebending was dangerous too, and people didn't get mad when people firebent, so I didn't get it.
Next it was Mr. Mako, the Police Chef, I mean Chief. Mom told me he was with his girlfriend Naomi, when she told him. Naomi was pretty and nice because she gave me candy and told me to keep a secret about them when Mr. Mako was babysitting me, but I forgot and told Mom and Mommy anyway. She didn't get mad at me and that's how I know she's nice. Mr. Mako wasn't as mad about Mom's Avatar Decision as Master Bolin was, but he was still mad. He told her to do what she thought made sense, but that he didn't agree with it at all. Then he and Naomi went on a romantic dinner or something and that was the end of that.
After that, she told Mr. Tenzin, who offered to let me stay on his Island whenever Mom and Mommy were away on business. He's really old but he's nice. He told Mom that he thought it was a good idea, but it would take sometime to get used too. He said that 99 percent of the world would disagree with it, but it would make things go like butter in the future. I hope I used that simile right. Mrs. Li told me to use similes when writing to make it more better. I don't like Mrs. Li because she's old, but not like Mr. Tenzin, but like that Lady in that really that old water tribe tale that made people dance by waterbending them somehow.
Then finally she had to tell Mommy, and that wasn't fun. Mommy was really mad, very very mad. She told Mom that she shouldn't see her for a while, and that made me sad, so I cried, because that's what most people do when they are sad. I wanted to go into my room and pretend it never happened, but it did, and there was nothing I could do. And now Mom is gone because she had to make even more Avatar Decisions someplace else.
And that's the beginning of my story about me. Like I said at the begin my name is Tatsu, after dragons, because dragons are really cool. I wanted a pet dragon, but Mom and Mommy said I couldn't have one because there are not that many, and that there needs to be more before I can have one as a pet. Instead I have a pet Goat dog, since there a lot of Goat dogs and Goat dogs are cool too. His name is Moppy, because his fur looks like a mop.
I live in a mansion in Republic City with my Mom and Mommy, but since they are both away, I live on Air temple Island, with the airbenders and flying bison and ring-tailed lemurs and the ac-acol-acolytes. Mommy tells me to sound out words that are hard. It's actually really fun there though. I get to watch people learn airbending and I like the food, even though there is no meat. It is really nice because Yuki is there too. She is Mr. and Mrs. Beifongs daughter and she's really pretty. She has olive skin and black hair tied in to two braids. Her eyes are bright green, like her mom's but she has her dad's warm smile. She and her little brother who's name is Toza goes to Air Temple Island to train while her Mom instructs there because they are airbenders, but their older brother Hong goes to earthbending training with me because he is an earthbender. He told me he wanted to help me write this story, so I let him. I don't know why but it's hard to talk to Yuki, and Toza always laughs at me when I try, even though he's only four and I'm seven.
Since I can't make Avatar Decisions, since I'm not the Avatar, I wanted to make Tatsu decisions. I decided that today I wasn't going to stutter like I do. Today I was going to teach Moppy to fetch a ball or a stick and bring it back to me. Today I was going to show off my cool earthdending to Yuki and she would clap for me and make me feel happier and make me forget that Mom and Mommy are mad at each other because of Mom's Avatar Decision. And today I wasn't going to cry.
Please excuse Tatsu's bad writing. He's only seven and a half. I'm 13 and I actually know what that Avatar Decision that he liked to talk about was. I know, because I'm Hong, my dad Bolin and my mom Opal's first son. It happened last Thursday after earthbending practice. Dad wanted me to demonstrate to the class how to position my feet to make a mid-sized rock force itself out of the ground and then make it hover in place. Dad has me demonstrate things a lot because I'm what you call a prodigy at regular earthbending. Trust me, I don't really like to brag, but it's the truth. Earthbending comes extremely easy to me and so does metalbending. I just haven't learned how to lavabend…but I know I can. It'll just take more time.
Anyway, that Thursday after practice, Avatar Korra came to pick up Tatsu but hung out around the outside of the studio until most of the other kids had left. I was helping Dad put away some stone plates when she came back inside and asked to speak to him privately.
"Hong, can you look after Tatsu for a bit?" Dad asked causally. I nodded like I always do when Dad asks me to do something for him. Then I went and sat with Tatsu at the small table in the lobby. He had brought his dog so, it sat on his lap as he played with a small rock ball made an ore thats easier to bend than traditional metal. Dad eventually did figure out how to bend it, but for some reason he could never fully master it, so Uncle Tu taught it to mastery level instead.
"Hey Hong. I wanna write a story, but I'm not that good at writing. Can you help me out?" he asked excitedly.
"Sure, why not?" I said, not thinking of anything else that could take my mind off of bending rock stew (my nickname for lava). "What's it going to be about?"
Tastu handed me some different color scraps of paper he was hiding in his shirt. I was reluctant to grab them at first, but I did anyway. He had scribbled his plot on a blue one with a chocolate milk stain on it. I read it in his bad hand writing and all and decided I could manage so I told him that I would help him out. But then I told him that I would want to write some of it too, and he agreed.
Then that's when we were startled and stopped talking. Dad was furious. I had never heard him this mad. Not even when I accidentally watched a few of his old movers. They came out of a room in the back of the dojo and walked as they talked.
"How could you even think of doing something like that? She almost killed Opal! She almost killed everyone in the entire city! I can't be a part of this! I'm sorry." Dad yelled.
Korra however, stayed calm. She must've expected that he'd react this way, but came anyway for the slight chance that he didn't. She took a deep breath.
"Okay Bolin. Thanks anyway." she said. Tastu stood up looking a little confused, but he ran to her and held her hand and they left without anymore words. The plot of his story changed for the worse after that. Dad rubbed his face and beard to try and cool off, but I could tell tonight wasn't going to be the night I'd ask to get the new TV set I wanted.
"Sorry Hong. Dad's just a bit mad about her 'Avatar Decision', that's all." he said. Then he turned around and started lavabending the plates that we had just finished putting away and took several deep breaths.
"It's okay Dad." I said in response to his apology. Then, I sat down on the floor and watched closely.
End Of Chapter One
Please let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Lost Glass