Ten years later...
A young boy of ten held up his hands slowly. His form was full of grace and he made a water whip and shot at the target in front of him.
"Try again, you can do better" His mentor, Ren said.
The boy nodded and performed the water whip again and knocked the target clean off the ground. The boy smiled in succession as Yukito came into view with his guards.
"Father, did you see that?" The boy asked with happiness in his eyes.
Yukito looked down at the child and then at the target. He lifted up his arm and shot flames at another target. The target burst into flames and fell to the floor still burning.
"You must aim at the head, heart and stomach. Otherwise your opponent will defeat you and you will die" Yukito said.
The boy's shoulders slumped but he nodded and turned to practise his bending again.
"You shouldn't be so hard on Li. He did really well" Ren said.
Yukito turned to glare at him and Ren quickly apologised for speaking out of turn.
"Take him to the martial arts arena" Yukito ordered.
Li turned around and bowed to his father. Ren led the boy away and Yukito watched him leave.
That night, when Yukito entered his home he found Li staring at a picture.
"What is that?" Yukito asked.
Li scrambled up and hid the picture unsuccessfully behind his back.
"Show me" Yukito ordered with a stern voice.
Li held out the picture and Yukito snatched it from him. He examined it and saw it was a picture of himself, Tao and Lina.
"Is that woman my mother? You never talk about her" Li asked.
Yukito felt his hands begin to shake and he shook his head.
"Don't ask about your mother again. She abadoned you. She is dead" Yukito tore up the picture into pieces and threw them onto the floor.
Li burst into tears and knelt to pick up the pieces.
"Don't ask about her again!" Yukito left the room and Li picked up the pieces of the picture.
He gathered them up, still crying and put them in a small box where he kept his clothes.
"Mother, I miss you" he murmured.
He ran away from the hut and onto the beach. He saw his friend Temon sleeping with his head on his mother's lap. Temon's mother was a maid at his home and she was the one who had breastfed him and had also taken care of him during his childhood.
"Li? Come here" Temon's mother, Sheena said.
Li smiled and ran to her. Temon was already fast asleep so Li lied down next to him with his head on Sheena's lap. Li smiled and Sheena ran a hand through his hair as he quickly fell asleep.
Seven years later...
"Are you sure we should sneak out? I mean, Master Yukito will be pretty mad if we skip out on practice" Temon asked.
The small scrawny boy of ten who was now Li's best friend had grown up into a tall and handsome young man. His black hair was neck length and his brown eyes sparkled with mischief but this time his face was showing indecisiveness and worry.
Li shook his head with a smile on his face. His blue eyes crinkled at the edges and his shoulders shook with silent laughter.
"Father won't do anything. I'll just tell him I forced you to come along and he'll punish me instead" Li replied.
"You shouldn't have to get your Father's punishment every time. You've got enough scars to last at least four lifetimes" Temon argued.
"The scars show bravery and resilience" Li quoted from his bending master Ren.
"Ok fine. Let's go" Temon threw up his arms in surrender and Li grinned.
They snuck out of the compound and into the village. The village had a river along the edges through which you could see the entire village. Li and Temon climbed on the boat and floated along the river. Li bowed to several of the villagers whom he had helped out at different times of his life.
Li grabbed fruits from a vendor and passed some to Temon.
"It must be nice that your father owns the village" Temon said as he munched on an apple.
"Yeah, free food" Li replied with another grin.
Temon spotted a few girls on one side of the village and nudged Li. He pointed to the girls and Li shook his with a smile. It wasn't exactly a secret that Li didn't like any of the girls in the village. They were too plain or too pretty for him. Temon had always suspected that there was another reason involved in this but never questioned his friend.
The girls waved at Li and he smiled and bowed to them. Temon knew that Li had a handsome face. He was taller than Temon at 6 foot 2 inches and his black hair was always messy. His blue eyes were darker than any person Temon had seen and his years of training in water bending had made him more graceful than any teenager in the village.
They got off the boat and began walking around the village. Then Li suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Temon asked.
"Listen" Li said.
Temon couldn't hear a thing and Li furrowed his eyebrows. Then he ran off like a bullet.
"Hey! Li!" Temon shouted but his friend was already gone.
Li ran towards a small hut on the left side of the river. He peeked through the window and saw a man who was almost as old as his father cornered by five to six bandits.
"Where's my money?" one of them, obviously the leader asked.
"I don't know. I left it here for you and someone took it" The man replied in a shaking voice.
"Since the money's gone, we'll cut out your organs and sell them off" The leader replied.
Li grabbed one of the mangoes and threw it. It flew with deadly precision and hit the leader right on the forehead. The leader staggered and looked around.
"Where did that come from?"
Li smiled and threw another fruit, this time an apple. It hit the leader again, this time in the eye and the leader screamed in frustration and pain.
"Find who it is!"
One of the bandits looked out the window and Li waved to them with a grin on his face.
"It's him!" The bandit showed and Li threw another fruit to hit him straight on the forehead.
"Get him!"
Li began to run and the bandits followed him. He led them along a wild chase through the village before he returned back to the hut. He found the man still there with the leader.
"Let him go!" Li aimed a kick at the back of the leader's knees and the leader toppled to the floor.
Li hit him along his sides and grabbed the man's hand.
"We have to go! Before he wakes up!" Li began running and the man ran with him.
They ran as fast as they could and climbed on a ferry boat which would take them back to Yukito's compound.
"What's your name, young man?" the man asked sitting down on the wooden floor.
"Li. I'm Yukito's son" Li replied running a hand through his messy hair.
"My name is Hakka" The man replied. He brushed his hand out of his eyes and Li caught sight of his blue eyes and dark complexion.
"Are you from the Water Tribe?" Li asked with excitement.
"Yes I am. You look like you're from the Water Tribe as well with your blue eyes. But your face is quite fair" Hakka replied.
"My father Yukito is from the Fire Nation. I don't know anything about my mother. I've never met anyone from the Water Tribe. Most of the kids here are from the Earth Kingdom or from the Fire Nation" Li explained.
"Where are you taking me?" Hakka asked.
"To my father. He'll let you stay with me" Li replied with another grin.
