Hey guys! So, like I promise, the next chapter is up! And we get some familiar characters in this chapter so keep a look out.
Thanks SinCityAssassin for betaing this chapter.
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 1:
Present day:
Metalbending Police Force Building, Republic City
Jinora was sweating in her thick red cape despite the cool spring breeze that whipped across the wide courtyard, scattering leaves everywhere. The book she was planning to read for today laid forgotten in her briefcase along with the lecture notes for the class she had to cancel. Although Jinora was currently lost in her thoughts during the trip here, the world continued to move on around her and seemed to be swirling past her.
Upon arriving to police headquarters, the large metal gates were shut tightly away from the pedestrians. Quite a few members of the police force were already on crowd control, guarding the gates from the reporters. They were demanding for a word, scribbling hastily onto their notepads, or flashing their cameras. One had attempted to climb over the wall, but was immediately caught and dragged down by the guards. They were all shouting, as the airbender glided her way through. When one of officers saw her credentials, Jinora was quickly escorted past the security though not before some of the reporters recognized her and bombard her with questions.
"Professor Jinora! A word! Please!"
"Ms. Jinora! Can you explain the situation?!"
"Jinora! Is it true? Is it true that-!"
Their cries fell deaf to Jinora's ears as she continued to walk though she could hear the popping sound of flashing light. She glanced up at the statue that stood over the looming building. Remodeled a couple of years ago, the only thing that remained completely untouched was the large metal statue of the first known metal bender and Republic City's first Chief of Police. On most days, the tough face of the woman gave a sense of safety as she looked over from the pedestal high above the building. Today, the eyes seemed cold and unrelenting as though the wind was bringing a sense of looming foreshadowing.
Her heart pounding against her chest, Jinora climbed up the steps slowly, opened the polished heavy door, walked into the building, and was thrown into another form of chaos. Phones were ringing off the hook and officers were running back and forth. The noise was familiar to her ears, yet today there was a sense of urgency, a spark of excitement, and a hint of fear. The buzzing heat from the room wasn't helping; finally, Jinora carefully opened the palm of her hand. Breathing calmly and clearing her mind, she concentrated on her hand and slowly the air around her gathered into a small vortex. The best thing about being an airbender was having one's own cooling system whenever one needed.
"Professor Jinora?" A thirty-something year old man with a small goatee materialized from the chaos; the lack of segmented metal pieces on his navy black uniform suggested that he was not a metalbender. His sharp and thin face accentuated his puffy eyes and pale skin had given him the appearance of a ghost.
"Yes?" Jinora asked warily, immediately hiding her hand in embarrassment.
"Lt. Keima," the man saluted, "We've received word that the White Lotus council members will be here shortly. Please, if you would like, there is a chair over here. Can I get you anything?"
White Lotus members? Jinora shouldn't be surprised to hear this, but it did make her stomach feel queasy. She wasn't supposed to be here to begin with, but she refused to slip away quietly after receiving the news. Still, what would their reaction be when they see her?
"Oh no. Don't mind me," Jinora said quickly, following the man, "I am quite fine."
"Well, I was told that you might want this. Everything you need to know about him is in here." The man handed a small portfolio. It was thin as though an empty book ready to be filled with chapters.
"No," Jinora said automatically, pushing the folder away. It didn't feel right to her – to know anything about the person of interest first without talking to them. "I'm only here to ask some questions without any bias. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like to be treated as a suspect or anything."
Lt. Keima merely nodded and tucked the folder back under his arm. "If you need anything, just ask someone and we'll do our best to accommodate. I'll have somebody lead you to the interrogation room when everybody is here." Jinora said her thanks and the lieutenant left to attend to other matters.
Ask questions? Why did she say that? What kind of questions could she ask? He probably couldn't even answer the ones she had, so what was the point of coming? Was she just curious or did she want to find closure?
Sitting for a few minutes, she finally checked the worn out watch on her wrist, wondering if she was early, which was a ridiculous notion now that she thought about it since she didn't come here for a scheduled appointment.
"Professor Jinora. What are you doing here?"
Jinora turned to the sound of her name and saw three elders wearing dark indigo walking toward her. Their white mantles were sewed with the white lotus symbol and radiate their importance. The only woman of the group had her hair tied up in a neat, gray bun. The few officers that noticed their arrival immediately quieted and stood up in respect before going back to work.
The eldest of the three – Yamada – was walking rather slowly and calmly compared to the brisk walk of his colleagues. In fact, his face was the only lax one of the three. Rather fit for someone in his early seventies, his eyes seemed far away and distant. He was a soft-spoken man and the only one of the three who had a close friendship with Tenzin, treating Jinora with the same respect he had with her father.
Morisaka, the man who just spoke, was a rather short and plump man. His dark tan skin contrasted greatly with his gray beard. He didn't seem to like the place and glared at the source of the noise before attempting a strained smile to Jinora.
"I'm here for the same reason as you are," Jinora said calmly and carefully.
"Hmm, I am surprised that you were also notified to come. I could've sworn that this needed to be kept as low of a profile as possible."
"A good friend told me."
"Really? Well I suppose that friend is a snooping reporter paying you to be her informant or perhaps an untrustworthy officer of this police force?"
It took all of her effort for her eyes to unemotionally look back at Morisaka's. Out of the four of them, she was definitely younger than them by at least twenty years old, yet she was the Order's spiritual advisor, one of the highest seats. She was welcomed and praised in pubic eyes because of her younger age and felt like they can relate to her more. It was uncomfortable to say the least for most of the White Lotus high-ranking members.
"Leave it be," Yamada said quietly. "Jinora has every right to be here too. She, too, will play an important role in this. She is, after all, our spiritual advisor and her father was also heavily involved with the search. May the spirits bring him peace now that we can finally find some answers." There was a rather awkward silence for a moment on that note.
"He is in a place like this?" Tall and thin Hei Lai asked rather sharply, though the question wasn't really directed to anyone in particular. She was the final member of the White Lotus here and had a long thin face, lined with premature wrinkles. Hei Lai was a rather stern person who pursed her lips often as though she was eating a lemon. The idea of meeting the person in the law enforcement place gave her an even sourer disposition.
Jinora did agree that this was not her first place of choice to meet such a person but it was the most secured place to hold him and not to mention he was already here to begin with.
"Oh good, you're all here." A different policeman, wearing metalbending gear this time, showed up hastily. He looked rather young, probably in his mid-twenties, and seemed rather eager to please such important people. "I am Private Lan; I'm here to escort you."
"Where is the Chief of Police?" Hei Lai looked rather taken aback by the young man and his lowly rank.
"Busy at the moment with the press."
"Very well. We'll speak to him later," Yamada said, "let's get this over with."
"Please, right this way. We have our most secure and private room ready." The clanking from the man's armor didn't help with the mood and the police officer realized this as he embarrassingly tried to tiptoe and move discreetly in his metal suit.
"Busy? What is that man thinking? Doesn't he realize who we are?"
"Hei Lai, please. The safety of the city is his top priority, not escorting a bunch of old people around the building. We have plenty of time to talk to him later."
The woman gave a sniffling sound, suggesting she was displeased with Yamada's lack of concern of the Chief of Police's lack of the respect.
They entered down a hallway that deafened the noise but still had a hushed urgency lingering in the air. Most of the doors were closed but the ones that were opened revealed small offices. They were passing one of these doors when there was a loud 'Wait!' coming from it. Jinora, recognizing the voice, turned to see a rather startling but familiar face.
"Professor Jinora!" The man grinned and saluted, "So good to see you again."
"Please, call me Jinora. We've known each other for so long."
The guy gave a hearty grin and big bear hug. In his fifties, the man stood up with his back straight like an obedient schoolboy in front of his strict teacher. He was wearing the standard metalbending uniform and a small flat cap on his head.
He was looking more like Jinora's late Uncle Bumi back in his days as a retired commander of the United Forces – slightly grayed hair, wrinkly face, a goatee – along with a growing belly that bulged out slightly from his belt. However, the boyish glitter in his eyes had not gone away and his friendly personality was still the same.
"Wait, are you him?" Hei Lai said sharply, cutting into the conversation, "The eyewitness to the scene that happened? The man who was supposed to be in charge and handled it poorly?"
"Oh, err, yes. I mean, yes mam," the man's smile evaporated and he looked rather nervous now that he realized the company Jinora was with. Hei Lai now looked as though she wanted to rip the sergeant's badge off his chest.
The man was the one who had notified Jinora about the situation and though his action was for good intention, it was a dangerous move. Jinora tried to remain as calm as possible without giving anything away. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the sergeant, who was terrible at lying, so if he was asked…
"Then you can also verify that what happened at the marketplace was completely true?" Yamada interrupted, "We've been hearing too many rumors on our way here. And quite frankly, the whole situation is rather… puzzling."
"Y-y-yes… sir." He continued to speak to Jinora but his eyes flickered to Hei Lai every so often. "I-I saw you and needed to see you and... Look, I've already given my statement so everything is in the file."
"I know," Jinora said calmly. "So what is it you need to talk about?"
"Yes, um, here is the thing." He glanced around nervously before lowering his voice into a whisper. "I know the record says that he had some… problems with us, but he is a good kid. Doesn't joke a lot and he's smart too. Just a little bit headstrong. You know; when you talk to him… just, understand that he doesn't like being talked down to. That mouth of his gets him into trouble, not all the time of course."
"You know him personally?"
"Well, yes… I mean, I am his mentor and his leader. Not for a long time and all though… I have a platoon of trainee and it was their first patrol across the city. And then… I mean, the situation was mostly my fault and it was thanks to him that things rolled over smoothly. I mean… you know… damage aside and all…" He trailed off, looking frightened.
"We will deal with the damages for another time," Morisaka interrupted, "We're more concern with what had happened. There are witnesses and they, unfortunately, cannot keep quiet. You do understand that it is your duty to not spill this out to the reporters outside."
He knows… Jinora thought fearfully and clutched her briefcase tightly. The metalbending officer looked as if he had received a huge electrical shock.
"Yes. I mean yes sir, I know, but… he's… well…" Jinora understood the struggles her friend was going through. There was another and more specific reason why he was concern about the situation. However, Morisaka was done talking to him.
"Will you show us the way now?" Morisaka asked their escort, "We are wasting valuable time."
"Yes, sir. Right this way sir." Lt. Lan along with the other White Lotus members left.
Jinora lingered behind for a moment and decided to ask the uncomfortable question on her mind. "Have you contacted your brother?"
"Mako? No, I mean…" The man fell silent for a moment. "I've lost contacted with him since... well, you know…"
"The news will spread," Jinora said softly, "He'll be back before you know it, Bolin." That was probably the only good piece of information after what had happened today.
"I hope so. But… it'll be hard on him… I mean… it's hard on me too."
"I know…"
"I should've known or at least seen it," he continued, "All this time, he was right there, in front of me a-a-and…"
"Professor Jinora," Hei Lai said waspishly, "If you're done, we have more important stuff to do." Jinora gave a tight smile, trying very hard not to look irritated.
"I'll see you later. We'll meet up after work at that seaweed noddle restaurant you like, okay?" Jinora gave a light pat and left Bolin standing. She glanced back once and could see the sadness in his green eyes. The past twenty years had been extremely hard on him even though he tried to hide it.
But then again, it had been hard on all of them.
…
As they continued down the hall, there was uneasiness among the members and rightly so. There had been many mysteries surrounding this ordeal, an ordeal that has been going on for almost twenty years. Could the answers that they were desperately searching be right in front of them?
"He is in here." The nervous guard made a swiping gesture and the wall in front of him slid open to reveal a room. It took a while for Jinora's eyes to adjust to see in the dark room.
The blast of chilly air gave a moment of relief until one actually stepped into the hushed interrogation room. The windowless room was bare except for a metal table with some nailed down chairs that seemed to blend in with the gray metal walls. A young black hair teenager wearing a long black trench coat and one shoe already took the prisoner seat at the moment. The other leg had the teenager's pant legs rolled up to the knee to reveal a tightly bandaged foot.
"Wuxing," the man announced to the room, "The Order of the White Lotus is here to see you."
The teenager, despite his stoic face and straight body posture, seemed nervous as he continued to tap his fingers on the table. The handcuffs nailed down to the metal table snapped open and shut in the same motion as the teen's finger.
Clink… clink… clink… The sound had made Jinora uncomfortable, but after taking a long and strained breath, she pressed forward into the room with her colleagues.
"Knock on the wall when you're done or if there's any trouble," the guard added in a whisper before sliding the door back into a solid metal wall and leaving the four people alone in the dark room. Adjusting their eyes to the dim room, the four slowly walked their way to the chairs provided. The teenager's dark eyes seemed to glow in the dim light as they watched carefully – silent and waiting.
"Jinora, why don't you start things off?"
Start things off? Jinora merely wanted to come and see the teenager and stay on the sideline. But perhaps, Yamada thought that with her profession, she would probably be best one for the job. Or maybe he wanted to give Jinora the chance to finish what her father couldn't. She took a deep breath and prayed that she won't mess up.
"Hello Wuxing. I am Professor Jinora at the Unity Academy. It is nice to meet you." If the teenager was surprised that a teacher was meeting with him in a police interrogation room, he didn't let on. His dark eyes watched Jinora carefully. The airbender decided to continue after a few moments without a response.
"These three here are important members of the Order of the White Lotus – Grandmaster Yamada, Morisaka, and Hei Lai." The three nodded and each sat next to Jinora.
The teenager stayed quiet and didn't even bat an eye after hearing the name of the prestigious and secret society. But now, he folded his arms across his chest. Bolin was right. This kid didn't look the type to open up that easily.
Nothing like her. They are not the same person so don't treat him like you would with her.
"Is your foot okay?" For a moment, Jinora could've sworn there was a flicker of surprise across the boy's face.
"Yes." His voice was soft and methodical. He didn't elaborate on the pain and seemed to be silently dealing with it.
"That's good… I heard you were a trainee. How has that been going?"
"Fine, until today." There was light sarcasm in his voice now.
"Was today your first day?"
"No."
"Are you from here?"
"No." These short answers were getting them nowhere and Morisaka was starting to show signs of irritation. Maybe Jinora should've read that profile before coming here.
"Okay, listen carefully Wuxing, I know so many things have happened today, but me and my friends here would like some answers from you to shed light onto this matter." Jinora explained kindly. Wuxing curtly nodded but no more.
"Please, start at the beginning. This morning to be more precise."
And so, with a slight pause, Wuxing began his story. He spoke formally and to the point, but did not leave out important and needed details. By the time he was finished; everybody's faces of doubt were gone and were replaced with concern and perhaps apprehension. For a moment, they all seemed to be at a loss of what to do next.
"Sergeant Bolin did everything by the book," Wuxing added, "He did nothing wrong. It was my fault that things gotten out of control."
Fiercely loyal… He does have something in common with her…
"I can only imagine what you had been going through. Such a shocking event." She paused again before asking another question,
"Wuxing, how old are you right now exactly?" The teenager was genuinely surprise now. He inspected Jinora with such intensity that she felt like she was the one being interrogated now. But behind her, Jinora could feel everybody else waiting on bated breath. It was that important of a question.
"Seventeen."
A long silence followed as everybody tried to digest this piece of information.
"Seventeen…" Yamada muttered, speaking up for the first time, "Then that means there is still a one year gap…"
"Shh!" Hei Lai hissed. This exchange didn't go unnoticed under Wuxing's sharp eyes, but the teenager continued to remain stoic and pretended he didn't see it.
"Wuxing," Jinora plowed on, trying to get back on topic, "Do you understand what had happened to you earlier?"
The young teenager indistinctively glanced down at his injured leg before looking back at Jinora. "Yes. Yes I do."
"Then you understand why we are here."
"Actually… no, not really. I do not see a point in having such a private meeting. I mean, I know what happened is a big deal, but what does that have to do with… well, you guys?" Jinora could hear confusion in his voice, but there was something else.
He's scared. Jinora finally realized. She should've known despite his stoic appearance, what happened to him today wasn't something anybody could just relate to. It is going to change him for the rest of his life. And he doesn't know what to do.
Then again, neither do we.
"From here on out, the Order of the White Lotus will be protecting you." Jinora explained, though feeling slightly uneasy. "They will take care of your living arrangements and take care of your training."
"What?" Wuxing looked up in shock, the mask he had on was broken at this point.
"The three of us," Morisaka announced rather importantly, "and our White Lotus sentries will escort you back to your house where you will pack up your things." He got up and then added, "We ask that you wait here for your safety while we finish going over some final details."
"Wait a minute, I can't just lea-"
"Of course," Hei Lai interrupted, ready to get down to business as well and enough of the chitchat, "your family will be notified. Whom do you currently live with?"
"Look, with all due respect," Wuxing said sounding angry for the first time and got up now. He winced as he got up but refused to back down. His posture was still straight like a soldier despite his injured leg. "I do not need this kind of protection."
"And, with all due respect, I'm sure you understand that this is not up for debate," Hei Lai said in a rather cold and icy tone. Jinora opened her mouth to say something, but the kid was not done and didn't seem to be afraid to say what was on his mind.
"I am perfectly capable of handling this situation by myself. I don't need any of your… living arrangements. You can't just suddenly barge into my life like this." He was no longer scared. He was mad, real mad.
"Handle yourself? You certainly proved that at the marketplace today." She let that sink in for a moment. "Boy, this is not a trivial matter. Do not act as though you are in charge."
"I've been doing great on my own for the last seventeen years of my life before you suddenly took an interest in me," Wuxing snarled, seeming to take great offense for being called 'boy', "Why should I just go ahead and listen to you?"
"How dare yo-!"
"Hei Lai," Yamada interrupted this heated argument, "Wuxing has the right to be mad. We're uprooting him from his life, without any warning no less. I think we should at least give him the courtesy to explain why we're doing this."
Jinora, turned back to the teenager and couldn't help but give an inward sigh. She remembered being friends with a certain hot-blooded teenager with the same defiance to the idea of being confined. Had it only been thirty years ago when Jinora saw her learn how to airbend?
The teenager slowly sank back down into his chair, wincing only once from the pain in his leg. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before opening them again. Jinora saw that Wuxing had calmed down and was impressed how quickly he had done so. But he wasn't happy.
"Wuxing, do you know what happened eighteen years ago?" Yamada asked calmly.
"Eighteen…?"
"Yamada, now is not the time," Morisaka warned but Yamada continued to plow through.
"You weren't born then and yet, as strange as this may sound at first, you are connected to what happened. In those eighteen years, an important person went missing. Of course, the whole world has been told otherwise so it's not surprise you don't know. Many people of the Order of the White Lotus, myself included, have been searching for this person, but we had no luck. We know just as much as the rest of the world, which is very little I'm afraid. The theories that sprouted have been nothing substantial."
Her body has never been found. Jinora's hands tightened into fists and could feel the nails digging into her skin. She looked at her lap and tried to hold back the tears. They will have to use an empty casket for the upcoming funeral.
"And then we met you." Yamada gazed directly into Wuxing's eyes, which were immediately adverted.
"By tomorrow, no, by this evening, your face will be on the front of every newspaper and television screen. Not everyone is going to welcome you with open arms, especially by those who knew what happened eighteen years ago. What they will do I cannot say, nor do I want to risk your life to find out." There was an uneasy feeling rising in the room. Yamada said the uncomfortable truth with a matter of calmness and firmness in his voice.
Without needing to hear another word, Yamada got up and his colleagues followed him as well. Surprised by the abrupt end of the conversation, Jinora quickly fastened her coat and knocked on the metal wall. It slid open to reveal the same metalbender police from earlier. He looked eager for some information, but Hei Lai and Morisaka left without even glancing at the man. Grandmaster Yamada stopped at the threshold turned to face the teenager one last time.
Wuxing stared mutely at the wall opposite to him, ignoring the brightness pouring in from the opened door. Although he was not a captive inside these walls, he had never felt more imprisoned in his life. Jinora didn't know what to say, but she wished that there were something – anything – that could fix all of this.
"Although I hoped to meet you under much better circumstances," Yamada added kindly though there was a sense of sadness within it, "it is still an honor to meet you, Avatar."
And with that, the metal door slid shut again.
Author's Notes
Wowwwwww. Should be interesting to see how far this will go. And what has happened 18 years ago? Any theories? Hating the suspense already? :D
So about this story – I'm going out of my norm and attempt some issues not fully discussed in Legend of Korra such as benders vs. nonbenders rights and relating it with traditions vs progressive movements. There will be light-hearted stuff and actions so don't worry about that. But one of the goals of this story is to bring questions on what is right, wrong, or if there is a right or wrong answer at all. Our new Avatar will have to face these problems as well and we'll just see if the path he takes will lead to peace or destruction.
AND VERY IMPORTANT! This story will continue unless I say otherwise. I may not update for a long while but guarantee that there will be a new chapter. My New Year's resolution is to write and edit to the best of my ability to bring quality writing. But what allows quicker updates is support from you guys. Let me know what you think but please keep it tasteful.
Thank you all. I hope to see you in my reviews and Happy New Year's everybody!
-JapanDreamer
