A/N: Hi fanfiction people. I'm Peachy and this is my first ever fanfic. I hope you enjoy this story. Read on..
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lin Beifong's voice startled the couple kissing in front of her. Tenzin, the son of Avatar Aang, was just caught kissing an Air Acolyte. He whirled around to see his angry girlfriend scowling at him in anger, disgust and frustration. He pushed the girl he was just kissing and thought fast as to what to say to Lin. His face went scarlet as a hand smacked the senses from him.
"Tenzin, are you okay?" the acolyte rushed to him as he slumped to the ground, completely ignoring Lin Beifong clenching and unclenching her fist in anger.
"That's right," she spat bitterly. "Attend to your boyfriend you little whore."
"Lin, stop it," Tenzin snapped at her as he got to his feet. "I can explain. If you just listen…"
The policewoman's head abruptly turned to him. "Listen?! What for Tenzin? Listen to your lame excuse why you're kissing this damned child while I work my ass off in the station?"
She shoved him out of her way and went straight to the docks of the island. Things flooded in her mind and she touched her belly, reminding her why she was on the island in the first place, and the happy news she was supposed to tell her boyfriend. She was just informed by her doctor that she's four weeks pregnant and it turned out, Tenzin has already changed his mind about their relationship. She ran as fast as she could from Tenzin, clutching the laboratory report that bore the news. She felt a hand hold her shoulder firmly and stopped her from running. She spun and saw Tenzin slightly panting, his cheek still red from the slap she gave him.
"Lin, baby, please," he said. "Let me explain."
"Enough!" she yelled. "I've had it! I'm sick of your incessant pleading. How long Tenzin?"
"Baby, please," he persisted. "I love you." He reached for her hand and held it tight. "I didn't mean to kiss her—
"How long have you been seeing her?" Lin snapped, cutting him off. "I know Tenzin. Just be honest with me one last time."
"I have not been seeing her," he insisted. She scoffed and he felt her hand yank away from his and she turned away. "We can still fix this—
"No Tenzin! We can't! You and I, we're too different. We don't work!"
"Baby, don't say that," he pleaded. "Babe, please stay."
She walked away from him and he followed her like a puppy following its master. "Lin…" his voice trailed off as she stopped on the docks. She glared at him and shoved the paper she was clutching into his hands. "We're over and don't even try to think of finding me." She boarded the ferry, completely ignoring his voice calling out her name as the ferry took off. She cast him a last glance before she set her sight on Republic City and set a protective hand over her belly.
He let a tear stream down on his cheek as he read the result on the paper Lin gave him: PREGNANT.
.
.
"So that's why my mother brought me here?" The eighteen year-old daughter of Lin asked her nanny, Girly. She lived in the Parallel, the world opposite of the Four Nations, where her mother, now reinstated Chief Lin Beifong, brought her and raised her. Living in Napa County, California with Lin's friends, the Roberts, Aiko has been provided with the love and care a girl needed. It was a bit strange of an arrangement for a family. Aiko was not adopted by Jean and Allan along with their three kids, James, Riza, and Michael; but she was considered like a daughter.
When the Secret Gates of Dingbang, the link between the Parallel and the Four Nations (FN), were found and opened thirty years ago Lin immediately and secretly travelled in and out of the Parallel. Only the secret group The Round of the Secret Keepers knows about the gates located within the Shuang Mountain Range, the biggest in the Four Nations. The members of the Round werethe mightiest earthbenders and members of the wealthiest families of the Earth Kingdom. Lin was the only female since no one represented the Beifong family. Avatar Aang swore loyalty and secrecy to the Round and pledged that only the members will know about it.
When Lin Beifong got pregnant and broke her heart, she told herself that Tenzin will never see Aiko. She brought Aiko to the Parallel and entrusted her daughter to the friends she met twenty-eight years ago to be raised in their home. She visited Aiko every weekend and formed a very close bond to her bright daughter but kept her away from her real identity.
When Aiko heard her mother talk to Jean that night, she asked her confidant, Girly, about her mother's past. But Girly only knew about that part so she was determined to find her father, this Tenzin, and make him regret ever leaving her mother.
"I will go to Republic City," she stated firmly. "I need to know my real identity Girly, and you will accompany me."
"I knew telling you about it was a bad idea," Girly whined as she saw the determined face of her ward.
"Tell her what Girly?" Lin Beifong's voice sounded and Girly's eyes widened.
"Uh, nothing Lin," the nanny said softly. Lin switched her gaze to Aiko and raised an inquiring eyebrow.
"Care to tell me something, baby?" Lin asked her daughter who just smiled innocently.
"Nothing," Aiko scoffed. She rose from her seat and went to her mother to give Lin a kiss and a tight hug. "I missed you mom. How was your week?"
"Aiko Beifong, you are still a bad liar," Lin laughed and switched immediately to her serious face. "Now seriously, what did Girly tell you about?"
"Tenzin," she said quickly.
"What?" Lin asked as shock swirled in her.
"Tennis?," Aiko switched what she just said. By the tone of Lin's voice she could tell that Lin would be angry with Girly and Aiko knows not to make Lin angry at her beloved nanny.
Lin looked at Girly who was very guilty-looking. "Tenzin? You told her about Tenzin?"
The forty-year-old woman waved her hands in defeat as she sat next to the teenager. "She bribed me—
"I did not!"
"Girly Smith, tell me what you told her," Lin demanded. She glared at her daughter and Girly, and saw fear etch on their features as they both shifted in their seats by the kitchen counter. Lin exhaled and said slowly, "Girly, my dear friend, what did you tell my daughter?"
"A bit of history," Aiko said. "That's what."
Lin inhaled and tried to calm herself as she said, "Aiko, can you please go upstairs? Riza asked for you."
"No she didn't," she protested.
"Now," Lin said sternly which caused Aiko to immediately retreat upstairs. Lin turned to Girly and sat across her. "What did you say?"
"I just told her about how you found about him and that acolyte," she said softly. "It's a good thing that she just knows about that because she asked for his address."
"You weren't supposed to tell her anything," Lin snapped. "This will cause trouble. Only the Round knows I snuck her here and if she will be marching onto that Island, everyone will know about the Gates which is a more serious and bigger problem for me and for the Round. Damn it!"
"I'm sorry Lin, really," Girly said in a soft voice. "But don't you think it's time for her to know about FN?"
Lin glared at her. "Do I have a choice? You already told her almost everything."
.
"What was that chaos down there?" Riza asked Aiko as she slipped her short skirt.
"Nothing," Aiko replied. "Just something about my father."
Riza, the Roberts' middle child who's the same age as Aiko shrugged her shoulder and sat in front of her vanity mirror. "You don't need him, you know."
"Hmm?" Aiko asked. Aiko knows what Riza meant. She knows her too well that even with just pronouns, she knows who Riza is talking about. She doesn't need her father financially but she knows deep down she needs the man for deeper reasons.
"You don't need your father," Riza repeated. "He doesn't deserve you and your mom…and besides you have me, James, Mike, and Mom and Dad. You know that right?"
"Of course," Aiko nodded. "I love it here, Riz. But I really want to meet the guy just for once. She'll understand that, right? Mom will understand?"
Riza set down her mascara and looked at Aiko through the mirror and picked her brush. "I think she will."
"What if she won't?" Aiko asked her.
"Then do something about it."
.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in."
"Hey mom," Aiko said as she sat on the bed next to Lin. "I'm sorry about earlier."
Lin looked at her daughter intently and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "You don't need him."
Aiko sat quietly waiting for Lin to say more but the older woman didn't so Aiko said," You don't. I do."
"I don't want to have this conversation," Lin stated.
"You know what? Fine," Aiko snapped. "Have it your way." Aiko rose from the bed and head downstairs and found Girly cleaning the countertop. She sat silently next to the counter and stared at her nanny.
"What else do you know Girly?"
"Nothing more than what I told you," Girly snapped. Aiko raised a menacingly inquiring eyebrow and crossed her arms. She resembled her mother very well and it intimidated Girly. "The mines…"
"What's that?"
"The old mines hold the Gates…deep within them," Girly whispered. "I usually drive your mother to the mines every Sunday night and… she stomps the ground and disappears in them."
"My mother is swallowed by the ground?" Aiko asked in full sarcasm.
"I mean she enters the mines and she's gone to FN," Girly said. "I heard her mention she doesn't need that darn key she carries around but she can't leave it lying somewhere else. Maybe she uses that key to 'cross over'."
Aiko 's mind filled with thoughts of Republic City and her father. "I need to get that key."
"You're one crazy girl," Girly snapped and shook her head. She knows Aiko sets her mind before thinking and is very impulsive especially on things that matter her parents. Once, when Lin was gone for the week, Aiko rummaged through Lin's things just to know the name of the man that knocked her mother. She did things her own way and she sees to it that she gets what she wants. "Your mother will notice its absence."
"I'll be gone by then," Aiko scoffed. "What else do you know?"
"Your mother mentioned it once that the Gates can be opened through what she calls 'bending,'" Girly lowered her voice. "Something like manipulating it or something."
"What, like magic?"
"I don't know," Girly said.
Aiko decided then that she'll steal something from her mother. "Say, where do you think she keeps the key?"
.
Aiko stayed up until two in the morning to make sure her mother is asleep like a dead man. She slowly crept in Lin's room and with the moon's faint light she scanned the room for a key. Slowly she approached Lin's bedside table and slowly lifted Lin's watch but before she could do that, she noticed a gold trinket on Lin's chest. It's the key! Very slowly she lifted the necklace her mother was wearing and thanked God that the lock was misplaced in front of Lin's chest. She unlinked it, removed the key, and replaced it with the key to her room. As she retreated to the door, she stealthily opened it and got out of the room. As she left, she heard her mother utter his name, Tenzin, which made her more determined to find this man and show him what he was missing.
She hurriedly got the backpack she prepared filled with her clothes, electronics and other grooming stuff and passed by the kitchen to get her water bottle. She checked her wallet again and counted the yuans Girly handed her: six hundred twenty yuans all in all. She darted to the door and slowly closed it to prevent anyone noticing her getting out of the house. She turned the animal alarm trap off and jogged to her mountain bike. She got on and rode off to the mines where her little adventure starts.
She reached the mines just a little over three thirty in the morning and got her torch. She flashed the light to the entrance and mustered a great amount of courage and erased all rumors of haunting happening in the mine. She entered the mine and followed the tunnel that led deep into the mountain. She walked and walked until a faint glow caught her peripheral vision. She flashed her torch to her right and saw a rusty gate with a bit shiny key hole. She got her key and inserted it, expecting that the rust might obstruct the key hole but she found it rather lubricated. 'Mother does pass here,' she thought. As pushed the Gate, she heard a small grunt.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" she called out in a trembling voice. No one answered. She went through the Gate and locked it again. She followed the tunnel and prayed that she'll see the end of it. After what seemed like hours, she got tired and grunted in dismay. "Ugh! Where the hell is your end?"
After the echo of her voice, she heard a grunt again and her knees trembled. "Is anybody there?" Boom! She flinched at the sound and just in front of her, a blinding light erupted. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she heard birds chirping and felt a cool breeze against her pale skin. She scanned the perimeter and smiled as she heard a truck's engine. She ran from the tunnel to the highway and the mouth of the tunnel went unnoticed as it closed shut.
She raised her hand to hail down the truck which stopped just in front of her. The driver looked a bit friendly so she asked him, "Mister, where are you headed?"
"Republic City miss," the driver replied, kindness sounded in his voice.
"What part may I ask?"
"Air Temple Island, see I'm an Air Acolyte," he answered. Her eyes grew wide and she grinned at the driver.
"Can I hitch in? I'll pay you a hundred doll-yuans."
"You don't need to pay me anything," the man said kindly. "Where will you be dropped off in the city?"
"At the police station," she said. The driver nodded as she climbed in the passenger seat and they took off. Her overnight vigil made her drowsy but she was afraid the driver might do anything to her. She stayed awake but her eyelids grew heavier, and with the comforting thought of her black belt in taekwondo she soon gave in to the call of slumber.
.
Lin woke up at six in the morning and felt something was off. She scanned her room and felt her chest to see if her key was still in its place. She panicked as she saw a silver key rather than a gold one and she immediately headed for Aiko's room which was just across hers. She knocked on the door and called out her daughter's name but no answer came. She opened the door and found an empty bed with a pillow dummy and her fear indeed became a reality.
"Girly!" she called and headed downstairs. "Girly have you seen Aiko?"
Jean Roberts sat by the breakfast table and looked questioningly at Girly and Lin. "Is there something wrong, Lin?"
"Where's Aiko?" she asked immediately. "She's not in her room."
"Lin, I saw this by the fridge this morning," Girly said softly as she handed Lin a small piece of paper with Aiko's handwriting in it.
Mom,
As you're reading this I might be on my way to Republic City riding a bus or a train. When I knew what happened, I know that I need to find him and if I do nothing, I know you'll never let our paths cross. I'm sorry if me leaving without you knowing breaks your heart a bit. See you in Republic City.
P.S. Please don't be angry with me while we're there, you kind of freak me out and I won't have anywhere else to go.
I love you all.
-Aiko
"She'll be dead before she'll reach the end of those tunnels," Lin exclaimed worriedly. "Girly if anything happens to my daughter I swear—
"Calm down Lin," Jean soothed her. "You won't accomplish anything if you just sit there. Come on. Let's get you back to the Gate so you can get your daughter back."
Lin hurriedly dressed up and got what she needed and Girly started the car. They drove to the mines and found Aiko's bike. Lin rushed to the tunnel and stomped her foot trying to sense her daughter. "I can't feel her anymore. She's crossed over." She bid Jean and Girly her goodbye and after a last glare at Girly, she was on her way to the Gate. She bent the lock and shut it after she crossed and stomped her foot again and tried to sense Aiko. She caught nothing but some badgermoles bending the tunnels. As she felt her way through with earthbending, she located the tunnel she made to her car and after she got out of the mountain, she drove her way to Republic City in a speed only a worried mother can handle.
"Aiko Midori Beifong, you are dead meat when I get my hands on you," she muttered. She must find Aiko before Aiko finds Tenzin.
A/N: So what do you think? If you have any questions/confusions just PM me or review and I'll answer your queries. I hoped you like the first part of my multi-chapter story.
-Until the next Chapter,
Peachy :D