Chapter 1

I had grown up hearing stories of the Avatar, bringing balance and peace to the world. I had looked up to them and tried to learn to see the world the way they did. The day I found out I was the new Avatar was the best day of my life. I had plans; I was going to fix the world. Now here I stood, in a newly pressed blue and white plaid uniform, staring at my sixth school in two years, trying to find the courage to go in.
I closed my eyes and took the first step up the flight of stairs leading to the entrance. Even through my thick socks and required black shoes I could sense everyone inside. An image of the school popped into my head and I knew the layout of the school probably better than anyone ever did. I saw the girls in the bathroom stuffing their bras and the teacher in the lounge trying to sneak a smoke before classes began.
I let out a sigh, opened my eyes and finished my assent. I had fought many things in my life and seen things most teenagers thought only existed in movies, and I had yet to have an experience as terrifying as starting a new school, especially high school. I walked in hoping I looked more confident than I felt. I could tell immediately that this school was one with intense clicks. Everyone seemed to have a place, and they all knew where they fit. If everything went as it was supposed to, then they wouldn't even notice I was there and maybe I could finish high school here. But one thing I had learned over the years, nothing ever went as planned.
The day was thankfully uneventful, if not borderline boring. I had come in a month after classes had started, but I already knew that I was ahead. One cool thing about being the Avatar was that I had access to my past lives knowledge and skills. No studying needed, at least not at this level. The only bad part was that the history that today's society knew was skewed. No one remembered or knew of the time when people could bend and technology wasn't needed. As more advanced technology was developed, bending was needed less and less, and now it was gone, all except for the Avatar. Only a few still knew about the Avatar's existence, and have of them wanted me dead. The White Lotus had managed to stay in existence, they were the ones that found me and trained me, The Future Society, however, have made it their mission in life to hunt and kill the Avatar, the last of the benders.
I flowed out of school with the crowd of students and began to make my way home. I heard a group of girls discussing the upcoming dance that was supposed to happen in a month. I felt a hint of longing. I had never been to a dance and I had always wanted to go, but it just wasn't safe. I turned away from the girls, putting the thought out of my mind. I stepped onto the sidewalk and then immediately jumped out of the way as a bike flew by. The boy on the bike seemed to have been bracing to hit me, and when he had missed he completely lost control and did a face plant into a bush right beside me. He recovered quickly though and ran back to me.
"I am so sorry! Are you okay? I thought for sure I was going to hit you. You have some nice reflexes."
"Thanks." I replied, "And I'm fine. It's no problem. Are you okay? That was a nasty meeting you had with that bush."
"Nah, I'm good, I've had worse encounters. Besides, that bush and I are old friends and I hadn't seen him in a while, it was nice to catch up."
I could help give a smile. "Well, glad you're okay." I turned to resume my walk but the guy popped up in front of me.
"I'm Aaron, by the way. You're new, right? I think I saw you in my history class."
"Um, yeah. I just got here today. I've actually got to go and get home."
"Well, wait, what's your name?"
I stopped and took a moment to make a decision before I continued my walk. "My name is Tera."

After a few blocks I turned into a nearby park, checking one last time to make sure no one was following me. I crossed the play area and swings, making my way to the thick woods that lay beyond. As soon as I passed into an area where I could no longer see the park behind me I took off my socks and shoes. It felt good for my feet to touch the earth again. I could still sense things through my shoes, but the clarity that came through direct contact was like no other feeling in the world, I still could not understand how we as humans could become so detached from it.

A little while into the woods was a lake with a small house on an island in its direct center. The house didn't look like much from afar, in fact if anyone ever did stumble into this park of the park they probably wouldn't even give it a second glance. From the side of the lake it looked like an old shed that a groundskeeper might have used but was now abandoned. With little thought I ran across the water and stepped into my newest home.

From the outside it looked old and abandoned, and the inside didn't do much better at changing that opinion. If you looked you would be able to tell that someone lived here. There was a table in one room and a couch in the other. The floors were clean and there was electricity. But as far as homes went it was lacking the feeling of being 'full'; the feeling that one got when a house was lived in and loved. But, that's what I always got in my hideaway houses, an empty feeling. Luckily my grandmother was with me, well, sort of.

I made my way to the kitchen and closed my eyes as I let my backpack fall to the floor. Concentrating I saw my grandmother in all her glory; as she was when she was the Avatar, two generations before me. My connection to her was the strongest. We were the closet related Avatars ever in history, but she and the Avatar between us had died young, taken from this world by The Future Society.

She materialized in front of me as I reached the fridge to get a snack. I reached through her to grab an apple off the shelf.

"Hello, young one." She always started off that way, thought it made her sound old and wise. She was actually only twenty-five in this form. She was a beautiful woman, with long flowing hair and sun dress that had birds on it. I didn't know what she looked like completely as in this form she had no color but more of a transparent look, but I had always imagined her as very tan with green eyes like mine and brown hair.

"Hi, grandma. Like the new place?"

She took a moment to look around. "It's boring, needs more character. Who picks out these houses for you?"

I laughed. "You know who, and you agreed with them when we came to check this town out. You said it would be safest for me."

She looked sour. "Well, I was wrong. I say we go to New York and live it up!"

She was always saying things like this. When it came to her duties as a past Avatar, not to mention as my grandmother, like keeping me safe, she was all business, but as soon as I was safe she wanted to run wild and party, not that she actually could.

"Okay, I'll just do that. You can be the one who tells Tim where my body is when The Future Society finds me 'living it up'."

"Well, fine. You've made your point; I guess this place isn't so bad. Different subject, how was your first day at school?"

I thought about my answer carefully. "It was good and uneventful, although I did almost get hit by a bike."

"A bike? You could have made that story a little more exciting by saying you almost got hit by a car." She sat down at the table next to me. "But, I guess that is that was the most eventful thing that happened all day then that is a good thing. Who was riding the bike?"

"Just some boy in one of my classes. He ran into a bush because I jumped out of the way. He was okay though."

At this she got on her serious face. "Anything happen after this encounter? You just got moved in and I really thought you would be able to finish school here."

"Don't worry, grandma, nothing happened. I quickly left and I probably won't even see him again." I left out the part about him being in my history class.

"Well, alright. Just be careful, little one." She got a distant look in her eyes. "Boys can be any girl's undoing." With that my grandmother disappeared, seeming to drift off while she was in a different place, a different time. I never did hear the story of how she died, she had never talked about it, but I know it had something to do with my grandfather. I had a feeling she was reliving something with his as she faded away.

I spent the rest of the day training and thinking of my encounter with Aaron. He had been the first person who had ever really talked to me outside the classroom. Sure, in the beginning there had always been someone who had gone out of their way to "help the new girl", but after a while they too got the hint and moved on. Hopefully that's what would happen here. But I had told him my name. I didn't know why. I should have just brushed him off and he would have left me alone, but some part of me was intrigued by this boy. I just had to be careful.