At birth

The Bei Fong house was a blur one fall evening as maids rushed to take care of their lady struggling in childbirth. It wasn't her first but her first in a long while and the entire city of Gaoling was awaiting the child with enthusiasm. Even the young master, Honghui was eager to see his new sibling's face. Unfortunately, he was made to wait down the hall, where his mother's cries would be less severe. Some of his caretakers were trying to distract him with play but being ten years of age, he wasn't fully engrossed.

His father was holding on to his wife's hand, dreading every moment the grip became tighter and tighter. He wished, just as much as everyone else in the room, for a healthy child, preferably a boy. But as his wife's pain dragged on, he didn't care what it was so long as it came.

Close to half past nine, the new life came. It was greeted enthusiastically by the midwives, judged to be healthy by the woman in charge of the entire affair, and already receiving some loving stares from its parents.

The head midwife pointed out the obvious. "A healthy boy. Hear how he cries for his transition into this new life is over."

He was just like his older brother had been: just as loud, just as pink, and just as small. One of the other midwives took him to wipe him off as the head took care of the mother. Soon the child was within his mother's arms and being cooed. His father was beaming over his wife's shoulder. It was a happy-looking picture for a good long moment.

But the baby kept crying. No matter how much he was soothed, he just wouldn't stop. Fearful of her baby having been possessed, she handed him over to the head midwife in hopes that she had the answer. She assured her right away that possession was just a bunch of nonsense and laid the baby on the table nearby. Skin contact seemed to sooth the tiny one but she wanted to find out the cause. She checked his very new eyes by making a mean-looking face and he cried. She checked his rump and back for bumps but found none. She checked his ears by snapping beside them, hoping to get him to turn his head.

"What is wrong?" her lady called from behind. She did her experiment from top to bottom once again to be sure. "What is it?"

With a heavy heart, the midwife turned and handed the baby back. "Gently rub him; he likes skin contact."

Her lady let out a small laugh. "Is that all?"

The midwife hung her head. "No, my lady."

Her eyes snapped onto her trusted woman and held her breath for the rest.

"I am afraid that little one cannot hear."

It would take more than a night to absorb what was being said but in that moment, everyone in the room had felt they had failed. It was after a long silence that a knock was heard at the door.

It was Honghui. "Mother, may I come in and see? Is it alright now?"

Whispers could be heard as his caretakers were still trying to get him to return to the room he had been waiting in. But the boy had been waiting for hours and wasn't going to wait much longer.

His mother knew how much he had been looking forward to the event and couldn't bear to say no. Now that the baby was quiet, she felt that no matter how sad of thought it was, she could hide it from him for a moment, to see the joy which should have stayed on all their faces once more.

"Come in," she called.

The young master nearly leaped into the room and gladly went up to his mother's side to see. His expression was priceless.

"What is it?"

His mother couldn't find her tongue so his father answered. "A boy."

A grin flashed. "Great," he touched him lightly on the cheek with his finger. "That means I can play with him, right?"

A silence followed and he began to notice everyone else's face. He knew something was wrong but he couldn't find it in the adorable face.

His mother broke the silence. "He won't be able to hear you."

It took but a moment for the boy to decide what he should do. To confirm what his mother said, he yelled a head's space away from the younger's face, "Good evening! Welcome to the world!"

The baby didn't stir.

Though every adult was in gloom, Honghui didn't seem to think it was that big of a problem. "Well he will still be able to bend, right? He doesn't need to hear to do that."

It was the most optimistic part of the baby's next five months.

(Break)

The Bei Fong household seemed to recover from Duyi's disability with the hopes of him becoming a great bender like his great grandmother. Inside, his parents felt sorry for him and what his life would become but otherwise, they outwardly showed no discontent. As if in their misery, they had their son Delun in which all the hopes and dreams they had for children of the Bei Fong family were doubly place in repentance. And with Enlai following there after, the family seemed more than complete.

All the boy's education began the same way. As soon as they were able to walk, their grandfather began to teach them earth bending the best he could. When they were three, they were expected to have learned to read and were then started on other subjects. The only hiccup was Duyi.

Without being able to hear, the household thought he would be dim and treated him as such. He was shown countless characters against their roots in the world so he could learn how to read. Though they had done this since he was a year of age, they didn't think him ready for school until he was five, nearly six. Already behind, his tutors began at a normal pace until his parents caught them and told them to teach him slower so he would understand.

That changed when Honghui had his coming of age and announced his plans. Then his education was purely bending and etiquette based, for bending was the only thing he seemed to be good at. He had his grandfather's approval but what he wanted was his parents', mainly his mother's.

It was when he was eight when he found what he could do to make his mother smile.

Playing in the large courtyard with his two brothers, Duyi was paying attention to one thing: the ball. He made sure his eyes were always on it and the way under his feet was clear. He was good at ball games because all he needed to know was whether he had to get the ball or whether it would be passed to him. This time, it was a passing game where all three of them were running and trying to trip up the others by faking passes and changing direction. Dulen passed him the ball after quite a bit of zig-zagging around bushes and Duyi caught it, his next few moves already planned.

But his brothers stopped and began running back to the main house. He turned around and saw their mother, relaxing at the edge with prepared afternoon snacks being placed next to her. He excitedly ran back. As usual, their mother paid attention to the other two first but after some cuddling, they formed half a circle around her and she looked at all of them with the same motherly affection. Usually, Duyi would let them talk and then smile the best he could as his mother handed him his snack and all of them could go sit in front of the television but an idea occurred to him.

The spirits were unusually quiet for once and he thought that if the spirits made noise, then it probably came from the same place as the living. He had tried to read his family's lips before but he knew the sound didn't come from the lips. It came out there so what if the cause was just farther down. Staring at his brothers' throats, he saw it. Something was moving up and down.

So, because the curiosity had built to be too much, he reached over and touched Delun's. He stopped but not before Duyi found his answer. His face broke out in a smile immediately and in confusion, his brother turned and complained to the only person who could get him to stop. He felt it, he knew the word: Ma. If anything, he was able to read that from everyone's lips, even the floor-scrubbing girl as her mother came to walk her home after work said it.

He felt his mother gently touch him to pull his arm away and Delun forced his hand off. Overjoyed, Duyi immediately tried what he had learned. Making the noise was a bit hard but with his hand on his own throat, he made it out.

"M-ma. Ma. Mamamamamama."

He would never forget the look on his mother's face as she was close to tears and sobbing with joy as she pulled him in for a hug. Her smile was especially bright and would continue to be as he called for her with his unbearable word and as he learned new ones, no matter how simple. He was still considered duller than unpolished iron but as long as he achieved that smile, it didn't matter.