CHAPTER ONE

"Well, how'd it go? What did Headmaster Ogawa say?"

I glance across the waiting room in front of the headmaster's office at Haiyang, who's jumped out of his seat and is staring at me, eagerly awaiting my response; then I look back at the closed door leading into Headmaster Ogawa's office, which, I admit, I closed more roughly than was necessary.

I want to throw a temper tantrum — complete with kicking and screaming — that would rival one of Kya's worsts, but all I do is shake my head and stalk past Haiyang and out of the waiting room, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

"Hey, wait up!" Haiyang calls, sprinting to catch up with me as I storm down the corridor and out the back door.

I ignore his command and walk into the courtyard at the rear of the school, then angle my head so that I can look at the engraving near the top of the edifice: REPUBLIC CITY PARK SENIOR ACADEMY.

The Republic City Park academies are the United Republic's most prestigious schools. The schools are located about halfway between the outskirts of the downtown district and City Hall, near the westernmost tip of Republic City Park, and while there are some regular, middle-class citizens that go here, the academies are known for being the nobility's institutions of choice.

I shift my gaze to the five banners before me. These banners are identical to the banners that are hanging beneath the engraving atop the front entrance to the school, and each one bears the name of one of the things the administrators that manage the Republic City Park academies consider crucial to a successful education: ambition, equality, honor, intelligence, and solidarity.

I scoff at the sight of the banner with "Equality" sewn into it, then reach under my tunic, where my chest sheath is. I'd taken it off and stuffed it into my locker once I got to school, but as soon as the bell signaling the end of the day rang, I returned it to its rightful place on my person. I will not leave myself defenseless, I vow as I retrieve one of the kunai knives stored inside the sheath.

I aim the blade, then launch it towards the banner with "Equality" written on it. It severs the rope connecting the top of the stupid banner to the wall of the building, then glides behind the rope attached to the top of the banner with "Ambition" written on it, leaving that one and the other three unharmed.

I smirk and watch with great satisfaction as the damned banner flits to the ground, then trudge through the snow-covered courtyard and retrieve my knife. I return it to the sheath, then turn to leave.

"Why'd you do that?"

I glance up and see Haiyang walking towards me, waterbending the snow out of his way, creating for himself a path along which he can walk unhindered. "Stop that," I growl.

He shoots me a confused look. "Stop what?"

"Waterbending!" I cry, much more loudly than I intended to.

He raises one eyebrow in either confusion or concern, but stops waterbending. "Uh… okay?"

I continue stomping my way out of the courtyard.

"I'm guessing Headmaster Ogawa didn't change her mind?"

I stop, but I don't turn to look at him. We stand there in silence for a couple of seconds, until I finally speak.

"I campaigned in the speaker's corner of the park after school every day for a week since campaigning in the courtyard for any cause is forbidden. I nearly ran myself ragged, but I didn't even mind because I was sure all the signatures would convince her to change the rule," I begin, indignation more evident in my voice than disappointment, even though it's the latter sentiment I feel most prominently. "There are three thousand kids in this school, and I got seventeen hundred signatures; that means that more than half of the student body agrees with me. I've got signatures from bending and nonbending students alike — but did that matter to the headmaster? No, no it did not! You know what she did, Haiyang? She glanced through the names, then kicked me out of the office with little more than 'Sorry, kid, but I'm not changing my mind. The rule stands.'" I shake my head. "What am I supposed to do with this petition now, Haiyang? I don't want to throw it out, but I can't just let it sit in my backpack and collect dust…"

"I don't know, Bumi. I'm sorry."

"Did you even agree with me, Haiyang?" I ask, staring out into the distance. "Did you agree with me, or did you just sign my petition because we're friends?"

"I wouldn't put my name on a petition I don't support, Bumi," Haiyang answers, the faintest hint of indignation in his voice. "I agreed with you. I still agree with you. The conditions you set were fair; and besides, the complete ban on weapons is ridiculous. They're as handy as bending. I mean, if you hadn't had your knives on you, who knows what would've happened to my sister? I wasn't there, and despite this school's supposed emphasis on honor and solidarity, no one else was doing anything to help her."

I squint until I can see the entrance sign to Republic City Park, then, without another word to my best friend, start walking towards it. He trails behind me, as I expected him to do, but he doesn't say anything — so we walk down the street that leads to the park entrance in complete silence, letting the breeze rustle our jackets and the snow whiten our hair.

"Haiyang," I say, after a few minutes of silence. "Go home."

"But—."

"Go. Home." I glance over my shoulder at him and offer him the smallest of smiles. "I'm alright. I just want to be alone right now, okay? I'll see you tomorrow — or even later, if you'd like to grab dinner around here before my boxing class starts."

"Yeah… okay, sure, sure," he mutters, his voice anything but sure. "Six o'clock?"

"Sure."

"Well… alright. I'll see you later, man."

He stares at me, concern wrought on his face, for another second or two, but then crosses the street and turns the corner. He disappears behind the building, but it doesn't matter; I know where he's going. I know the route to his house as well as he does.

I stand still for another minute or so, then continue on down to the park. When I reach it, I acknowledge the two officials standing guard outside the entrance with a nod, then walk past them and start meandering through one of my favorite places in the city. It's a lot easier to walk through the park than it was to walk through the courtyard because there's far less snow on the ground here; the waterbending park officials clear out the snow almost as soon as it falls, unlike the school administrators, who just let it collect in the courtyard.

This place is almost as dismal as the South Pole, I observe as I walk around. I can hear individuals yelling about various things from the nearby speaker's corner, and I can see children sledding down the small, snow-covered hills, the waterbending children on sleds made of ice and the other children on wooden sleds; but other than them, the park seems devoid of life. The grass is dead, the trees are barren, and the majority of the pond that stretches from one side of the park to the other is covered by ice due to the unusually cold winter Republic City is experiencing this year.

This is the perfect place to be right now, I decide as I scan the area. I'm like the grass or the flowers or the trees. I worked so hard to bloom, to look nice, to be strong… but a harsh wind came and made all my efforts for naught.

I retrieve a knife from the sheath on my chest and start spinning it around and around in my hand as I walk. The sound of a familiar voice shrieking almost causes me to miss it as gravity brings it downwards, though — almost.

"I'm gonna win! I'm gonna win!"

I turn in the direction of the high-pitched voice and see Akemi, the gorgeous, firebending elder daughter of a United Forces Navy admiral, being chased by her boyfriend and one of my good friends, Hengjian, who's the second-eldest son of the United Republic Council's Earth Kingdom representative.

"Oh no, you're not!" Hengjian cries, his voice tinged with laughter. He stomps his foot, and less than a second later the ground beneath Akemi morphs into a column that raises her several feet into the air.

She stares open-mouthed at the ground for a second, then turns to glare at Hengjian, who has since walked to the tree nearest them and is now casually leaning against it. "You were saying?" he smirks.

"You better let me down now or I'm going to set your you-know-what on fire later tonight!" Akemi threatens. She stomps one foot against the column, but the earth doesn't move for her like it did for Hengjian.

"Yeah? I dare you to try," Hengjian challenges. He crosses his arms over his chest, and his smirk widens. "Come on, jump down; it's not that high."

"You better catch me!"

I watch as Akemi jumps off the column and onto Hengjian, causing both of them to slam against the tree trunk. The snow on the branches falls down onto them, practically covering both of them, but they just laugh and shrug it off.

As Akemi brushes the last of the snow off her jacket, Hengjian collapses the column into dirt. When the ground is back to its original state, he turns towards Akemi. He cradles her cheek in his hand, then kisses her passionately. He kisses her the same way I kissed Princess Izumi all those months ago… which is the same way I want to kiss Akemi.

"I don't get it, Kemi," I said. "Why? Why him? Why did you pick Hengjian and not me?"

"Oh, Bumi…" Akemi sighed. She laid a hand against my cheek, but despite the warmth her being a firebender usually brought to her hand, her hand felt cold — and when she removed it after a second or so, the spot on my cheek where it had been felt frozen. "You're brave… and funny… and handsome… and strong… but so is Hengjian, and he's… also an earthbender. You may be named after the former King of Omashu and the second-greatest earthbender in the world, but you're not an earthbender, Bumi. It's not your fault. It's just that… well…"

I glance at the area where Hengjian's column had been before returning my attention to the ground beneath my feet. The brown grass is dusted with snow, and it looks beautiful… in a sad sort of way.

Yeah, I'm not an earthbender, I think, sighing quietly. I'm not a bender at all. I can't control the air. I can't shape the water. I can't move the earth. I can't create fire. I sigh again. I can't do anything.

She could have told me that she doesn't find me attractive or that she thinks I'm an idiot, I continue musing. Did she have to give me the reason that would make her rejection sting the most?

It's not your fault.

She's right. It's not my fault. It's not my fault that I can't bend. It's not my fault that she wanted to date a bender.

"Shh, Kemi. It's okay. I understand."

"Please don't be upset, Bumi. I'd hate for this to ruin our friendship."

"Are you kidding, Kemi?" I smiled genially at her, then plucked a snowflake from her dark hair. "I treasure your friendship too much to ever let something as trivial as this ruin it," I assured her. "And besides, if I can't be your boyfriend, then I'm glad someone like Hengjian can. He's a good guy. He'll treat you well — and I'll be happy so long as you're happy."

I had acted as if I wasn't upset at all — and I did a damned good job, even if I do say so myself.

"You better treat her well, Hengjian," I ordered, poking my finger into Hengjian's chest, "or else I'm gonna have to show Akemi that even though you're the earthbender, I'm the one who can rock her world!" I turned around and wagged my eyebrows at Akemi and her girlfriends, who were standing a few feet away from us, beside Haiyang, and grabbed my groin for emphasis; and while Akemi and her girlfriends were blushing and laughing into their hands, I threw my arm over Haiyang's shoulder, changed the subject to some hilarious topic, and led the two of us away.

When I returned home after school that afternoon, I walked straight to the edge of the island and spent the remainder of the day throwing my boomerang out over the crashing waves of Yue Bay and catching it when it came back to me, only to send it flying again. I spent hours doing that. By the time night fell, I had bloody palms and so little energy left I couldn't even lift my arm.

I still smile at Akemi when I see her in school, though, and I still eat lunch with Hengjian and ask him to be on my team when we play games in the courtyard. He even signed my petition, I recall as I start walking away from the two of them. There are no hard feelings between us… as far as anyone knows.

I'm good at playing pretend, though.

I'm good enough to convince myself that I wasn't upset enough to cry, at least.