An OC Oneshot. I've made this a LONG time ago, but never bothered to upload it. That...and the fact I thought it wasn't good enough. But it's haunted me on my computer, so...HERE IT IS! Totally OC, no characters from Avatar, except the mention of two of them (FIND OUT ON YOUR OWN!). It's based on a dream my friend told me, which was really weird 'cuz it involved all of my friends including me...OO So, c'mon and read, "A Promise". REALLY HEART-WRENCHING IN THE END! XD BTW, Huo Zai is Chinese while Shi Jin is Japanese! Okay, LET'S GO ON ALREADY!

A Promise

Guji Zhanchang: a place of reckless fighting, people dying, and promises being broken. I knew I would now longer see him after the war was over. It was useless. He would die anyway…

The day the queen's messenger, Ermete, came to me to tell news that we were going to participate in a war, I had no problem. I was an excellent airbender. Even if I couldn't really do anything without my fan, I still fight pretty well.

But when I reported to the Queen Kazumi for confirmation that we were fighting, I was shocked to find out the city we were fighting against: the firebending city north of us, Huo Zai.

Our city, Shi Jin, is mixed up with all kinds of benders, even air. Ever since the last avatar, Aang from the Southern Air Temple has finally finished his job against the Fire Lord. Since then, all bending powers were scattered, chosen to be given to those who deserve it. Also, a plus, benders have at least more than one element if they're lucky. We called it the Scatter. I'm not one of them, though. But I know few who did.

Now, I've heard recently, Avatar Aang is back in the newly remodeled Southern Air Temple. Unfortunately, even after the peace over all four nations, some fire leaders still hold grudges among us all.

It's really crazy when you think about it. Fighting because of want of power. It's all ridiculous. But, I obtained a strong bond because of these weird wants.

Around after the time Avatar Aang defeated the Fire Lord, I was wandering around a place called Ba Sing Se, an old refugee place but now a peaceful place. Then all of a sudden, I bumped into a stranger...

"Watch where you're going." The guy was pretty rude. He had black hair and dark grey eyes. He was tall and lean.

By the time he noticed he bumped me to the floor, he quickly helped me up using airbending. I was surprised that he could airbend, because of the recent incident. So, immediately, I thought he was a solid airbender.

When I was in midair, he gently put me down. "Sorry 'bout that," he apologized. "Um, by the way, I'm Li Kuang." I looked at him for a moment, then smiled and said, "Rei Miyamoto." After that, everything just came into place. We met up more often, just to talk. We talked about anything, friends, family, bending. Li was the one who actually taught me some of my bending techniques.

One day, we were on a cliff where you can see the ocean, sitting on a bench. I asked him to show me his bending, and after a little persuading, he finally showed me. He moved in the center of the cliff and began doing these moves with air. Li moved in circular motions, waving his hands, performing advanced movements.

When he was finished, he looked at me. "You can bend, too, can't you?" I nodded. "Well, you show me now." I stood up moved to the center. I was lucky enough to wear loose clothing that day.

I was shy though; he was more experienced than me. "Umm, just promise me one thing...," I asked. He nodded. "Let's never use our bending against each other. Promise?" Li looked at me strangely, but eventually nodded.

When I demonstrated, I used forceful movements, blowing wind in planned places. But when I tried to the famous air scooter, I fell to my butt. "Ouch...," I muttered. I got up slowly and grinned at Li. He looked at me and tried to hide a laugh, but I saw it clearly. That was the first time I saw him smile.

When he was walking me home to my friend's house, I felt slightly cold. This was the time that I found out the worst past about Li. He put his hands out and cast a small flame through his hands to warm us. I gasped and looked at him. Li put his head down and put out the flame along with his hands. "Just had to show you that," he mentioned.

"No, I didn't mean it's a bad thing, it's just...I was surprised," I explained. "So, you're one of the chosen in the Scatter. Which one was your original element?"

"Fire," he said.

"Oh. By the way, just wanted to ask...Which city are you from?"

I waited for his answer eagerly. The answer determined if we were rivals or friends.

"Huo Zai."

"Really?"

"Yeah." We kept on walking in silence, both of our thoughts racing.

When I arrived at the place I was staying, Li stopped me. He made me turn to him and look him straight in the eye. Li had both hands on my arms, making sure I was looking at him.

"I want us to make another promise...," he whispered.

I nodded and let him continue, slightly weirded out in our position. "Let's promise...promise to stay together no matter what happens, okay? No matter what our differences...Promise?" he asked.

I looked at him with a hard stare and slowly nodded. "Promise."

I haven't talked to Li since then. Ever since I told my cousin, Takeshi, who also lives in Shi Jin, that Li is from Huo Zai, he immediately sent me back to Shi Jin and didn't let me see him anymore. I'm mad at him, but still kind of relieved. Who knew what could have happened if we continued the relationship.

Now, I'm standing in Guji Zhanchang, the battlefield that separates our cities. The war was called because of Huo Zai's king, King Chao, who hated our city for its extreme diversity ever since the Scatter.

Everyone in Shi Jin's side in Guji Zhanchang is someone close to me, people I know. My best friend, Midori, is right by side in the middle of the crowd. She and I are one of the middle level fighters here. Midori is a waterbender and a earthbender, because of the Scatter. She holds a sword in her hand, looking at me stiffly. She knows who I'm looking for.

Soon, Huo Zai's fighters came. They were dressed in red outfits, looking at us with dark glares. I didn't dare look for him. Faith will choose this ending.

I got a clear view of all the fighters. Girls and guys, all around our age. It was almost like a battle of youth. I looked back at the people around me, unfortunately knowing that some of them, or most of them, would be gone. Maybe including myself.

After a while, a horn sounded, and the fighting began. I got my fan out, a black fan bigger than myself, and began to fight against the firebenders. I did multiple moves with bending, taking down one person each time. I didn't want to do this, fight and possibly kill my own peers, but...I had to.

The fight soon eliminated many of the people, and as I predicted, some of the people I kept close to me. All my other friends--Yasu, Suzume, Shizuka, and even Takeshi--were killed. I cried in their death, but kept strong. Some people were still left to defeat, and luckily Midori was still here beside me.

Other than Li, I knew some other people from Huo Zai. One of them was related to Midori. His name is Minoru. I knew him before the Scatter. I heard he moved to Huo Zai because of some weird incident between his parents. But the real truth, from what I heard from Midori, is that he inherited firebending from the Scatter and Minoru and his family were forced to move due to a debt from the fire nation.

I'm looking at him right now. Midori is staring at him, too, with a sad, distant look. He held his hands up in battle stance, looking at us with a stiff stare. "I'm...sorry..."

Then he did the unimaginable.

He moved forward, jumped in the air, and blasted fire at Midori, his own cousin. They both passed by me, like a swift wind. I turned around and saw Midori on the floor, a scar of fire upon her body.

I looked up at Minoru with dark eyes and ran to Midori. Her body was darkened, and I could barely tell her out. Her green uniform for training and fighting, one that I wore, too, but a different color, red, was darkened and crisped. Midori, a very close old friend, was obviously dead.

I stifled my cry and got Midori's katakana attached to her back. I held the long, thing sword in my hand, feeling the cold metal. I quickly shifted my foot backwards, held my arm out, and threw the katana towards Minoru in a straight motion, throwing air into the attack.

I looked at Minoru, the sword going through him. I didn't notice the speed I incorporated in the attack. With the sword stuck in the center of his body, the air pushed the sword out of his body and the katana speeded at someone else. It was then I regretted what I had just done, the only time I ever regretted bending.

Midori's katana pierced through Li, who was standing up, supposedly seeing what I had done to Minoru. "LI!" I screamed. I ran to his fallen body and pulled the sword out. I dropped it to the side and held Li's body up. All the while, the fight was kind of going on, but some fighters stopped to stare, even Huo Zai's.

"Li, oh my gosh, Li are you still alive?" I asked, slapping his face gently. His body was near mine, and I held him close, hoping he wasn't dying.

Li slowly opened his eyes, looking at me with a soft look. "Our...our promise...," he whispered. I examined him, his body in red shades of clothing. His shirt was loose and simple, and his pants were baggy, yet looked fitting. The only part I hated to see was the slowly oozing mark in his abdomen where the katakana was.

"Which promise...? I think...I broke one already, the no bending against each other...," I told him.

"The promise where...we said we'll always be together." It felt like an eternity passed after he said those words. "Keep it."

I couldn't help it anymore. I was crying. Insanely crying. I hugged Li close to me. I could just feel him dying slowly.

I stopped crying when I felt Li cover his hand on my mouth. "Stop...crying..." He then grabbed my chin, and pulled me into a soft kiss. I was surprised, but continued to cry.

When we broke apart, he looked at me smiling. The last time I will see him smiling. I saw in his eyes that he was crying a bit, too. "Don't ever break it." Then, his hand broke apart from my face and fell to the ground. Li's eyes were closed, but he was smiling. And...he died...

I cried more, but held it as I stood up. I looked around. All of my friends on the ground, barely anyone left. No one was left. They were all gone, both Shi Jin and Huo Zai, because of a silly quarrel of two cities.

I looked back at Li's body, his smiling face. I looked at the sky and saw the red sunset. I then grabbed the Li's dao sword attached to his back.

I examined the metal, the thin design. It dawned on me that Li held this once, too. I held the dao close to me, tears falling from my face.

I kneeled down close to Li, held the dao high in the air, and brought it down, making it pierce through me. I took the sword slowly out of my body, and threw it aside as I quickly weakened.

When I felt myself die, I looked down at Li, his face. I hugged him as he was on the floor as I was slowly dying, making sure to keep my promise.

So, yeah...XD It made me kinda cry 'cuz I had to kill characters. Or my whole cast. XD Okay, R&R!