The Forgotten Airbender
My name is Mia Ling, and I am an airbender. You may be finding yourselves wondering "How could that be, Fire Lord Sozin killed the airbenders almost one hundred years ago?" It's a long story, but I'll fill you in. My grandmother Amita was perhaps the luckiest airbender on Sozin's comet day. Her parents, at the time of the attack, were not at one of the air temples. As nomads they enjoyed travelling the world and spreading their teachings. News of the attack spread throughout the world like wildfire. Fear of the firenation was intense. Everyone was shocked at what lengths the Fire Lord would go to, to unite the four nations under him. My great grandparents knew that the firenation would be looking to finish the job and hunt down any remaining airbenders. They, like many others, travelled to what was thought of as the safest place in the world, Ba Sing Se.
They were wise people, or so I've been told, they knew to fear other people as much as firenation soldiers. They feared people who would sell them out to the firenation for money, power, protection, and so on. As a result, they began to grow their hair long, and wear what has become our family's signature clothing item. The headband. The purpose of this was not to show the earth kingdom's symbol, nor as a fashion statement, but to cover their airbending tattoos traditional to our people. Moving things along, my family line continued. From my grandmother to my mother, and then to me. I was born sixteen years ago today. Despite how long my family has lived here, as refugees we have always lived in poverty in the lower ring. My mom, Nima, drew the eye of an earth kingdom aristocrat by the name of Charan. From what I understand, he'd sweet talk her, buy her gifts, and provide for her and her mother. Soon she had fallen in love and they had conceived me…Not fun to think about, trust me. Now...I wasn't a part of the plan. What I mean by that, is that my father was fine with his airbending mistress, but a child was not in the game plan. Not only was he already married, as my mother later found out, but he also feared that I would be an airbender too. My father was a coward, and feared that one day the firenation would take over. He feared that they would find out about his connection to airbenders themselves, or from his enemies. So to protect his ass, he left my mother and me in poverty. My mom depended on him…I have never even seen my father except from portraits. My mom was heartbroken and never quite right again. She died when I was very young… She gave most of the food to me, and in the end was too weak to go on…Seeing her in death was the most traumatic and tragic day of my life. My heart will never heal from the hole her death left in me.
My mom didn't leave me alone with completely nothing however, she gave me the traditional tattoos of our people. Now I know what you may be thinking. "Only airbending masters should get tattoos! Why even get tattoos isn't that dangerous?" Well you'd be right on both accounts. She did it, just for the sake of not sacrificing who we are. If we sacrifice who we are, then the firenation has truly defeated us. Before we get into the story, there are some things you should know about me. I'm not your typical peace-loving, pacifist airbender. I grew up on the streets, I had to learn to take care of myself. I learned to fight, without my bending, for fear of giving myself away. I don't take shit from anybody, and I tend to be a very direct….some would say violent person. I learned very quickly nobody gives a shit about you when everyone else around you is just as miserable and poor as you are. You have no choice but to be tough, or get stepped on. Well, this was just a little background on me, next time I'll begin telling you about the present, maybe even get around to telling you about the one person who I can truly say gives a shit about me. The one person who saved my life.