Chapter 1: Old Friends, Old Memories

Four years had passed since Isaac left his home. So much had happened in such a short time. Isaac found himself an earthbending and airbending teacher off the list of people his father left him. He was now a trained Avatar. Master of all four elements.

He lived in a small town, far away from the city he called home. For the past 2 years, he had been living in a small apartment, paying rent and living expenses off small construction jobs, which he advertised in the local newspaper. He had a life here. The life he dreamed of. A normal life. It felt like so long since he had seen Asher and Kayla, and a day didn't go by that he didn't look at the picture of Kayla, stuck to his apartment wall.

It was a rainy Tuesday. Isaac had just come home from another day of work. The man who he did today's job for requested a brick retaining wall in his backyard. When the man left Isaac alone in the morning as he went to work, Isaac earthbent the bricks and mortar into position, and had what would usually be a 5 hour job, done in 5 minutes. He then went to his next job early. They requested he assemble the garden shed that they purchased, but didn't have time to set up themselves. Since his bending would have been useless here, Isaac did this manually, which took a lot of the day.

Dumping the pizza that he bought for dinner on the table, Isaac walked over to his phone, and checked for messages, some of which could have been potential work. He was right. The first message was from a college girl, who went to school nearby. She requested that a shelf be constructed on the wall. Isaac called her back, and organised to come the next day, then went to sleep.

Isaac awoke at 9am the next day. After having a shower, and gathering what he needed, he drove over to the college, and found the dorm room of the girl who called yesterday.

"I have classes now, so I am trusting you to install the shelf and go. If I find anything missing, I will call the cops. Got it?" said the girl with a stuck-up attitude.

"I know, I have heard this before, I won't take anything. I will install the shelf and go." Said Isaac.

The girl left and Isaac got started constructing the shelf. 20 minutes into the job, Isaac was nailing part of the shelf, but missed the nail, hitting his finger instead. Cursing at the sight of blood, Isaac looked around for a tissue to clean it up, seeing a box of tissues on the table next to one of the beds. He ran over and grabbed a tissue, wrapping it around his finger. That was when he saw something that shocked him. A photo of him and Kayla during one of their free periods at school. The day of the Burning Suns attack on the school. This was Kayla's dorm room. The stuck up girl he was installing the shelf for must have been her room-mate.

Isaac fixed his attention on the job at hand, setting up the bookshelf and then leaving. Not before he left a note on Kayla's desk. "Firebug Isaac says hello".

Isaac left and went to the local pub for a drink.

"Ah Isaac, how was work?" said Ted the bartender. Ted was a short tubby man, with little hair left. When Isaac first arrived in town, Ted found him sleeping against one of the walls of the pub, and took him home. He let Isaac live with him in the spare bedroom for as long as he needed, and in return, Isaac helped out around the pub. When Isaac was old enough for a full time job, Ted lent him the money to rent his own apartment, and helped pay for Isaac's tools and ad in the newspaper. Isaac was extremely grateful for this, and paid him back in full. Ted would let Isaac have weekends off of work, and in those free days, Isaac tracked down people on his father's list that lived close by, and once he explained who he was, they were happy to teach him.

"Pretty interesting, I must say. Did a job for one of the snobbiest girls I have ever met" laughed Isaac.

After having a drink and a good old chat with Ted, Isaac went home, buying take-out on the way. As he walked in the door, the phone rang. He walked over and answered it.

"Isaac Smith Construction" he said

"Isaac Smith you sneaky bastard! You couldn't have picked a more obvious fake name." laughed a voice that remained familiar over the years.

"I'm sorry who is this?" Said Isaac

"Don't bull-crap me, is this where you have been hiding the past 4 years?" Said Kayla.

"Yes Kayla. I have been living here a while."

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" Asked Kayla.

"No why?"

"We are going out. You have a heck of a lot of explaining to do." She said, "Be here in 20 minutes."

"Do I have a choice?" laughed Isaac.

"No"

Suddenly the call ended. She must have hung up on him. Isaac grabbed his keys, wallet and a plastic bag to clean the rubbish out of his car. Half an hour later Kayla was in the passenger seat, giving him directions to her favourite restaurant.

"So what have you been doing out here all these years?" Asked Kayla as they ate dinner.

"I met the local bartender Ted. He let me live with him in return for helping out at the pub during the week. On the weekends, I tracked down people on the list my dad gave me, and learnt Earth and Airbending. Eventually Ted helped me afford my own place, and helped me get a job. Since then I have been doing small jobs for people, like that shelf in your dorm room." Laughed Isaac. He was glad to finally see Kayla again.

"How is Asher?" Isaac asked.

Kayla started to tear up, and Isaac believed the worst.

"You were the only one the Burning Suns feared, when you left, they committed crimes left, right and centre. After knowing what they had done to you, Asher signed up for the police force the moment he finished High School. Then a year ago, during a raid on a Burning Suns building, Asher was hit by lightning. The same sort of lightning your father used when we were kidnapped. He must have met a powerful firebender in there. The lightning didn't kill him, but it severed his spinal cord. He has lost all use of his legs. He says he is coping fine, but I honestly struggle to believe that." Wept Kayla.

Isaac was shocked. The point of him leaving was to protect Asher and Kayla. But in Asher's case it did the exact opposite.

"This is my fault" said Isaac, "I thought by leaving, the Burning Suns would focus their attention on finding me. I was wrong, and from what you have told me, it's made things worse" said Isaac.

"Don't say that. You wouldn't have been able to do much against them without earth or airbending, nor with you dead. You were better off here. Away from it all until you were strong enough to fight them."

Isaac stopped paying attention. He had already made up his mind. He was going home, to fight off the burning suns. To avenge Asher and his mother. To redeem himself. Kayla could tell what he was thinking by the look on his face.

"You're going back aren't you?" she asked.

"You know me well Kayla"

"Well not without me!" she said fiercely.

"But what about college?" he asked.

"I graduated months ago. I was just staying there because I was struggling to find a place to stay. That girl you saw in the room is one of the new students. So yeah I am coming with you." Kayla insisted.

"Fine, pack your things and sort out any loose ends. I will pick you up at 6am sharp the day after tomorrow."

Isaac looked at his watch, and realised it was 11pm. Looking around he saw that the restaurant was empty.

"Come on, I had better get you home." Said Isaac, leaving money for their dinner on the table.

Isaac parked his car in the college dorm car park.

"It was great seeing you again Isaac. I really missed having you around." Said Kayla. She then kissed him on the cheek and got out of the car. After making sure she was in the building safely, Isaac reversed his car out of the parking space and drove home.

The next day Isaac packed the essentials and drove to Ted's pub.

"Isaac, it's a little early to be drinking isn't it?" laughed Ted.

"No drinks for me Ted. I have some business to take care of back home. I leave tomorrow." He replied

"Good thing you didn't leave without saying goodbye eh? I would have hunted you down if you did!" laughed the bartender.

"I owe that much to you at least. Thanks for everything Ted" said Isaac, "I will be back as soon as I can".

Isaac's next stop was to the landlord who was renting him the apartment. He paid his last rent, and told him that he was moving out. The landlord was disappointed, as Isaac was his only tenant that handed the rent in on time every time.

Since all of Isaac's tasks didn't take as long as he expected, he visited Kayla and helped her pack. He had never known someone to have so much "essentials". After a long day, Isaac went home and went to sleep early. He had a big day ahead of him the next day.

The next day Isaac woke up at 5:30, and picked Kayla up. They hit the road then. Isaac knew that the time was right. He was ready to face the Burning Suns. He was ready to put them in their place. He was ready to fight.