Chapter 2
"Okay, so you guys will sleep here. Your parent's room is just a few yards down. I'll let you guys get settled in." Caleb dropped his bag on
one of the mats on the floor and examined their new room. It was about the size of a small living room with a single wardrobe, two mats
for beds, two windows, and a washing basin. "Where do you live," he asked. Teo smiled "I live in the temple with the rest of the workers.
I can show you guys around after the tour." "That sounds fun," Leah chimed. Teo was a little startled. Leah hadn't said any thing to him
since… well ever. "Uh, cool, then after the tour, I'll take you to my place. You'll like it. There are lots of places to explore! And I can show
you my new project. I haven't shown it to any one yet, so you guys will be the first!" "What are you working on?" Leah asked getting a
little more social. "It's a surprise, but I will give you a hint. It has a lot to do with cliff diving." "Cliff diving! What kind of a hint is that,"
Caleb shouted. "Hey, that's all I'm giving you. The rest you will just have to figure out on your own or wait until I show you." Caleb folded
his arms and pouted. "Uh, I think we should get going. I can see people gathering in the court yard," Leah said looking out the window.
"Oh man, you're right! Okay lets get going," Teo agreed. Leah stayed back a little. "Uh, you guys go ahead. I'll just be a minute," she
stammered. "Um, okay. I'll save you a spot," Teo said, giving Leah a half smile that made the heat rush to her face. "Bye Teo," she
giggled. Caleb rolled his eyes and pulled Teo out the door. "That is going to get annoying." "What," Teo smiled. "Oh bye Teo," Caleb said
mimicking his sister. "I hate it when she flirts with guys! It's disgusting," he whined. Teo's eyes went wide. "She was flirting with me?
How can you tell," he asked increasingly interested. Caleb sighed and began to point out the little things his sister pulls when she likes a
boy. "Well, she wouldn't talk to you at first and I don't know if you noticed, but she stared at you when you're not looking. And when you
do look at her, she turns away and blushes. THEN when she does talk to you, she giggles like every freakin' time! Doesn't it get annoying,
Teo… hello Teo." But Teo was lost in his own mind thinking back to the times when she flirted. Then he thought of how pretty she looked
when she smiled. It lit up her perfect face and made her hazel green eyes sparkle. Teo sighed as he thought about her. "Oh boy," Caleb
groaned.
Leah realized that she had not seen a mirror in over three days. She walked over to the basin hoping that she didn't look to bad in front of
Teo. "I guess it's not that bad," she said to herself. But she could look a lot better. Leah washed the dirt smudges off her face and ran a
comb through her tangled, black hair. Then she pulled two pieces in front and braided them. Leah made one last check in the mirror.
Indeed she looked a lot better. "Okay, I'm good enough." Leah dried her face and ran out the door towards the courtyard. She finally
reached the large group of people and then began searching for Teo.
Caleb and Teo chose a spot up front near the guide. Caleb sat criss cross eating what was left of the nuts from lunch. Teo sat in his chair
turning every so often to look for Leah. Then he saw her running towards the group and looking around. Teo's heart raced faster. 'Wow
she does look pretty' he thought. Teo waved his hands and called her name. She turned around frantically searching for the voice then
spotted him. A wide grin spread across her face and she elbowed her way through the crowed. Teo tried to keep an eye on her, but then
lost her in the crowed. After 30 seconds of searching, she appeared right next to him breathing heavily. She was so close to his face he
could feel her warm breath. It smelled of peppermint and nuts. He inhaled softly and smiled. "Glad you could make it," he whispered in
her ear. She blushed and gave him a warm smile. Their gaze stayed locked in place until it was interrupted by the mechanist's voice.
"Welcome Earth Nation new comers! I hope the ride up here wasn't too unbearable. I apologize for the poor quality roads. Any ways, I
can assure you that your stay here at the Northern Air temple will be both an exciting experience and a great opening for different
opportunities. I have gathered you here to give you a tour of the temple and give explanations to what we are all about. So now if you will
follow me, we can begin." The crowd followed the mechanist into the heart of the temple. Caleb held onto Leah's hand so they wouldn't
get separated. With her other hand she held onto the rim of Teo's chair. The mechanist guided them through every annex and building of
the temple grounds and gave explanations of their history and what the temple has to offer. He also explained that for protection, earth
bending was not prohibited for fear that the Fire Nation would arrest the earth benders. Leah bit her lower lip in concern. 'Maybe I should
have told him I could earth bend. That is something you might mention for a first meet. I'll tell him after the tour. I hope he isn't to mad I
hadn't told him before,' she thought to herself. The tour lasted about two hours. Afterwards, Teo, Leah and Caleb broke away from the
group and started walking to Teo's place. Leah waited for the right moment to tell Teo… when they were alone. Luckily, Caleb had to use
the bathroom, so she had about five minutes. They were sitting outside the outhouse waiting for Caleb. Leah took a deep breath, "Um,
Teo," she said timidly. "Yes Leah?" "There is something I need to tell you." Teo leaned forward in interest. "What is it?" She sighed and
thought of the right words, "Well, you know on the tour, when your dad said that it was dangerous for earth benders here and that they
have to keep a low profile, or we could be discovered by fire nation?" Teo was puzzled. He raised his eye brow in suspicion, "Uh, ya. What
about it?" Leah scooted a little closer to Teo's chair and looked around to make sure no one was listening… just in case. "Well, I… uh…
I'm an… an earth bender," she mumbled. Teo was taken aback. He stared at the ground with a look of dismay on his face. "Wow, well…
uh, um… that's pretty big. Why… how come you didn't tell me before?" Leah's face saddened at his reaction. "I was waiting for the right
time to tell you. I didn't think it was that important until I found out that it was dangerous to be an earth bender. You're not mad are
you," she asked. Teo stared into her face with understanding. "No, I'm not mad. It's okay. I won't let anything happen to you," he said
softly. Teo wound his fingers around hers. His touch was warm and comforting. Leah squeezed his hand as a tear escaped her eye and fell
down her cheek leaving a gleaming trail. But the moment didn't last long, much to their dismay. Caleb stepped out of the outhouse waving
a few flies away. Leah released Teo's hand before Caleb could notice. He walked up to them feeling ready to go now that his business was
done. "Okay, I'm good! You guys ready," he chimed. Leah and Teo quickly put on a smile as to not worry Caleb. "You betcha! Caleb you're
gonna love it. There's a secret place my dad didn't show the rest of the group. I'm the only one who knows about it. Follow me!" Teo led
them through the temple. Down many winding corriders, and taking countless elevators, they went deep down into the depths of the
temple to what only Teo knew lay ahead. Teo stopped in front of a boarded up door. "Well here we are," he exclaimed. Caleb looked
disappointed. "You mean this is you secret place, a blocked off door?" Teo smiled mischievously and pushed the bottom part of the door
open. "Go ahead, see what's on the other side Caleb," he ushered. Caleb grinned and ran into the opening. Teo and Leah could hear his
gasp. "Wow, Leah you have to come in here! It's soooo cool!" She looked at Teo questioningly not knowing what to expect. He smiled
warmly as he took her by the hand and led her through the door. Caleb was right. It was breath taking! Leah stood at the foot of a huge
cavern with stalactites and stalagmites jetting up from the floor and ceiling. In the middle of the cavern a waterfall cascaded into a crystal
pool. "Oh Teo this is beautiful! How on earth did you discover this," Leah gasped. "I found it by accident actually. When we first arrived,
my dad told me to locate a near by bathroom so why wouldn't have to walk all the way to the courtyard and use that one. Well, while I
was searching, I got into a little trouble with the local lemurs. I found a little one sitting on a window seal, so I thought it would be fun to
chase it. But when I wheeled up to it, there were about twenty other lemurs below sleeping. My screaming woke them up and they
started to freak out. They chased me all the way down that corridor. I didn't notice the blocked off door and crashed my chair right into it.
One of the boards was loose and I fell right through, discovering this cavern. And the rest is history," he finished. "So no body else knows
about this place," Leah asked. Teo nodded, "Yup, which also makes it the perfect place to work on a secret project. Caleb, since you
seemed to be the most anxious to find out, I'll let you find it. You see that opening behind the waterfall?" Caleb craned his neck to get a
better view. "I see it!" "Good! Go ahead and tell me what you find." Caleb grinned ear-to-ear and bolted straight through the waterfall. A
few seconds later, Caleb screamed, "It's a drill with wings!" Teo chuckled as Leah stared at him with wide eyes. "I suppose I should
explain. Come on." Teo held Leah's hand as the walked through the waterfall. When the broke through the mist, Leah finally saw what
Caleb was screaming about. There, standing about ten feet tall, was a drilling machine with two metal wings attached to the sides. All of a
sudden the top latch licked open and Caleb popped his head out. "Teo this is so cool," he exclaimed. "What's it for Teo," Leah asked. Teo
slid his hand out of her grasped and wheeled to his machine. "Well, I figured that since more people will be living here, we're gonna need
more room. I mean you noticed how small you're guy's room was! I don't think people will enjoy the itty bitty living space. So I figured
the only way to make more room…" "is to start underground," Leah finished. "But what are the wings for," Caleb asked. "I thought about
that. When I was surveying the grounds, I noticed that the temples were built on multiple levels of cliffs, so to be able to dig under all
these levels, the drill will have to be able to be easily moved. So I added the wings. They will make the drill able to glide from one level to
another and now it can tunnel almost anywhere." "Teo this is brilliant! Also, since none of us can earth bend, we can use this to do the
tunneling. You thought of everything," Leah exclaimed as she gave him a small hug. Teo turned a deep shade of red from the admiration.
She let go of him and looked at her feet. "Hey, uh Teo? Since nobody knows about this cavern, do… do you think I could uh, maybe use it
t-to practice earth bending." Her face was burning and her hands clutched at her skirt afraid that Teo might get made from her question.
He noticed her nervousness and his face softened in understanding. He moved his chair closer to her and held her hand with both of his.
His thumbs rubbed the top of her hand trying to comfort her. Then he pulled her down to his level and spoke softly. "Leah, I know how
much earth bending means to you. And I did promise that I would keep you safe, so if you ever want to practice, just tell me, and I'll stay
with you to keep guard. This is now both yours and Caleb's cavern." Leah's eye's started to glisten and she threw her arms around his
neck, "Oh, thank you Teo! Thank you so much! If my parents ever found out, I would be in huge trouble! You have no idea how much this
means to me," she cried on his shoulder. He pulled her in closer and whispered in her ear, "It's okay Leah. It's okay." He held her head
and ran his hand up and down her back leaving a warm trail. Her tears finally stopped running and she held her head up, but still locked
in his arms. "You know we are really lucky Caleb's inside the drill. If he saw, he'd probably go and tell my mom what we did. Then I
would probably have to get the "Boy" talk again," she giggled. Teo smiled at the comment, "Ya, we wouldn't want that! Come on, we
should get going. It's getting late." Leah was released from his grasp to get Caleb out of the digger. Together all three of them walked out
of the waterfall and left the cavern behind.
