A/N: I only own the original characters in this story. So yes, I own a vast collection of Air Nomads. xDD Except Monk Gyatso. Yeaaah.

Recap: The Gaang go through the library ruins of the Southern Air Temple and find 4 diaries, sitting in a circle, they begin to read them one at a time hoping to find clues about Aang's real parents. One entry per person in the order of their circle, all putting the story together as they go along.

***

Many years ago…

"Mom…I want to just stay home and be with you! How come I have to meet other kids?"

Monk Kannin laughed, "Oh Yai, it's good for you to meet others. Wouldn't life be boring if you never met anyone else?"

"But mom I don't look like anybody, not even you."

"It's going to be alright Yai. You'll make friends, don't worry about it." She smiled at her adoptive daughter. If there was any child that was going to truly make friends in the Southern Air Temple, it was Yai Ching. The girl was truly of not just the Earth Kingdom, but of Omashu. Since she took in the abandoned baby, her life changed drastically for the better. The only drawback to adopting her was that Yai couldn't ever become a monk as she was. The monks were airbenders and despite earth and air being opposite elements, she relinquished in the challenge of teaching Yai movements she could use for her earthbending.

Yai pouted. It was her first day of school and her mother was brushing her hair and tidying her up before she went. She was going to become a nun. The good thing was that nuns got to travel as much as monks did. So she'd get to travel the world like she'd always wanted. Her mother told her stories of all the places she'd been and promised to take her the next time she was going to travel.

"Alright Yai. You're ready." Monk Kannin smiled widely, backing away and looking her daughter up and down. "You look so beautiful dressed in the traditional nun robes."

"But mom it's loose feeling!"

"It's supposed to be. Except around the waist. The fabric is extremely delicate, so that it helps with airbending." She chuckled, "And it is a dress after all."

"So does that mean that nuns can airbend too?"

"Some of them can. It's a choice sweetheart. Girls can choose to become monks or nuns or whatever they want to be whether they can bend or not. It just so happens that mostly those who can bend become monks and those who cannot bend become nuns or takes another role."

"But what about me?" Yai sniffled, "I'm different."

Monk Kannin reached to embrace her daughter and kissed her forehead, "You're very special Yai. Don't ever forget that. Now run along so that you're not late your first day."

Yai Ching nodded and turned to run out with scrolls and ink. The meeting place wasn't that far away. She thought the monastery a bit odd. People tended to fall in line even though everyone was free to make their own choice and do what they wanted. The girls mostly decided to become nuns. Not too many of them could bend at all. Possibly 3 of every 5 girl could while 4 of every 5 boy could airbend. So it was mostly boys who became monks. She knew that with her earthbending, there was no way she could be a monk like her mother was. The monks became Masters of airbending only.

Slowing down in her sprint, she sighed and closed her eyes. She steadied her breaths making it to the learning grounds. It seemed like there were a lot of girls already there. Some of them were looking at her oddly. She blushed, expecting that to happen. She looked nothing like the people here and had always known that since she was much smaller. Looked nothing like any Air Nomad. But that was just fine with her, even if she went without making any friends…

"Hello there!"

Yai snapped from her day dream of her Omashu pride and glared at the girl who spoke to her. The girl was taller than her with bigger eyes and a very slim structure. She had long jet black hair and this beautiful, happy look to her. She couldn't explain the girl's eye color. They were this odd silver-gray color, like storm clouds of some sort. Moreso gray than anything else. She'd never seen someone with eyes like that before, "Hi."

"My name is Demoska. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand for a handshake.

Yai pouted and crossed her arms, "The name's Yai Ching."

"You're not from here are you Yai?"

"Tch. Course I am."

"But you aren't an Air Nomad."

"Look, I'm still from here girlie! My mom is a traveling monk."

Demoska giggled, "I think I know her. Isn't your mom Monk Kannin?"

"How could you know that?" Yai looked at her suspiciously.

"Your mom is kind of famous. Anyway, you seem like a freshman. And as an upperclassman, I want to show you around and everything."

Yai looked around at the other girls whispering and watching them, "Why would you want to do that? It doesn't seem like you'll be very popular."

Demoska smiled, "I don't really care about that with the other students. I'm friends with a lot of the teachers and monks. But it wouldn't hurt to finally make a fellow student friend." She lowered her hand, seeing as to how Yai didn't really like handshakes.

Yai quirked a brow, "So you want to be my friend?"

Demoska nodded, "Of course. I just got here myself and the other girls" she blushed, "Well they already started acting weird around me about the color of my eyes. I figure that we could stick together since we're both different."

Yai lightened up, looking into her eyes, "Well, everything's different about me. So having at least one friend wouldn't hurt much."

Demoska brightened up, "We'll be best friends Yai! I just know it!" She turned around, "Now follow me and I'll show you to your classes and everything! Oh!" She looked over her shoulder, "Do you need help carrying any of your scrolls?"

Yai blushed, "Um no thanks."

Demoska giggled, "This is awesome. I finally made a real friend with someone close to my own age." She smirked and spun around, walking backwards, "Yai, later on I'm gonna introduce you to my two other best friends."

Yai huffed, "I thought you said you didn't have any other friends here!"

She giggled again, "I don't. They're both boys who are training to become monks. I think they're both the same age as you. Plus I think you'll like them. They're different too."

"What is this!? A misfit club!?"

"Not exactly. They're my childhood friends. We used to play all the time. It just so happens that we're all very different from everyone else. Pure coincidence."

Yai stuck her tongue out at her elder nun trainee, "It still sounds like a misfit club."

"Say what you want. I swear you'll like them. I'll introduce you after class okay? They always come over here to see me during their break."

"Wow. You really don't care what other people think huh?"

Demoska shook her head, turning around and clapping her hands, "I only care of what my teachers think of me. I want to be a head nun some day. I'm well on my way because I'm a prodigy."

"I hear a 'but' in there somewhere." Yai snickered.

Demoska stopped walking, raising her left hand and holding her palm upwards. The wind picked up and a small ball of air formed.

"Demoska, you're an airbender!"

"Sssssh! Not many people know that about me."

"I don't get it. Why would you want to keep that a secret? Why would you even want to be a nun? You could be a monk. Get trained to be a Master."

"I just…don't want that kind of life. You know…to be a monk, you have to be bald or part bald. I really don't want to cut my hair." She released the air ball in a gust, then running her fingers through her long black hair. "I couldn't do without it."

Yai thought of how her own mother had short black hair though just towards the back of her head. For the most part, she was bald at the front of her head, "I see. Well I have a secret too."

Demoska looked with interest, "Oh?"

Yai stopped, inhaling deeply and taking a firm step forwards, a very small part of the ground raising.

Demoska widened her eyes shocked, "Yai! You're an earthbender!"

Yai reached forwards with her palm outwards, lowering it to lower the part of the ground that she lifted, "Yeah. I wanted to become a monk, but I don't think anyone will let me. My mom said she talked to people and they wouldn't because I'm not an airbender."

"You have to be the only earthbender living with Air Nomads that I've ever heard of." She clapped her hands again, "But how are you learning how to earthbend with no teacher?"

"My mom is Monk Kannin. The lady's been traveling the world since before I was born. She teaches me earthbending from her studying different styles as a hobby and making friends in the Earth Kingdom who can give her advice. She can never show me any examples, just the poses and such. I just take what she shows me and apply it, teaching myself."

"That's so cool Yai! I'm happy that it's not so difficult for you here. I mean earth and air are opposite elements. She has to be such a genius to be a Master Airbender teaching you earthbending. It's unheard of!"

"Not so loud Demoska! I stand out enough by looking different with my face and hair. I don't need the other girls knowing that I'm an earthbender too."

"At least you have brown eyes." She smiled innocently.

Yai started walking again, "Yeah yeah chickee." They laughed together for the first time out of many to come.

*

"I beat you again!"

"Awe Jiao! That's not fair!"

"Don't be angry. I beat you fair and square."

The boy pouted and got up, kicking over the Pai Sho board, "Whatever Jiao! Whatever!"

Jiao laughed and tried to imitate his master's voice, "Do not forget peace of mind young grasshopper." He snickered seeing the other boy walking off pretty pissed.

Jigako smiled a little, walking over to his brother, "You really need to stop bullying the other guys and play against the monks. You're too good."

Jiao rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah I know I should stop flaunting my skills. But not yet. Just a couple more flaunts and I swear I'm done." He stood up, "You ready?"

Jigako nodded.

"I wonder if Demoska found what she was looking for at the library."

Jigako shrugged a little, then reaching to straighten a wrinkle on his orange top.

The boys headed towards the girl's nun school. Taking their time and stopping when they saw Demoska waiting up the path with a shorter girl.

Demoska smiled widely, waving, "Boys! There's someone that I want you to meet!"

They walked over, Jiao looking to the girl closely.

Yai had to fight hard not to blush. Demoska didn't mention how cute the boys were, even if they were completely bald, "H-hi. I'm Yai Ching."

Jiao reached forward, putting his palm on her head, "One of us is Jiao and the other one is Jigako. Can you guess which one?"

Yai looked up as the brothers stood next to one another, looking with the same expression on their face. She pointed to Jigako, "He's Jiao isn't he?"

Jiao broke his expression and laughed, "So wrong! I'm Jiao and this is my older brother Jigako."

Jigako gave a little wave.

Yai had to rub her eyes, "What the heck!? You guys look exactly the same! How was I supposed to know? How much older are you Jigako!?"

He raised two fingers, "Two seconds older than Jiao."

Demoska giggled, "See what I was talking about Yai? I have a weird eye color while Jiao and Jigako are identical twins."

Jiao smirked, "Except we act different. We're both 10. Not sure if she told you but Demoska here is 12. How old are you Yai?"

"10, just like you guys." She crossed her arms.

"Sweet. So besides the hair and looks, what's so different about you?"

Yai giggled, "So this is a misfit club! I so called it!"

Jigako quirked a brow.

Jiao laughed, "Misfit club!? Girlie for that remark, you're so in. So anyway, what's different about you?"

Demoska nudged Yai, "It's okay. You can tell them. They're trustworthy."

Yai blushed a little, "Well I'm not from here. My mom found me in an Earth Kingdom city called Omashu. That and I'm an earthbender."

The brothers both quirked a brow and looked at each other. Jigako finally speaking again, "That's rare."

Jiao nodded, "Hey can you show us some cool moves!? And train with us?"

Yai's blush deepened a little, "Uh sure…yeah anytime."

"Yes! I can finally test my skills against another element!"

Yai looked away from Jiao, trying desperately to hide her blush.

Demoska smiled, "I told you, you'd get along just fine. Now who's ready for lunch?"

*

"How was your first day at school Yai?"

"I made three friends mom. Two boys training to be monks and a nice older girl."

"Well that's interesting. See now Yai, I told you you'd make friends on your first day of school."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah I know. But anyway, they wanna hang out later today. Is it okay?"

"It's fine. What are their names? I'd want to meet their parents."

"Well the girl is Demoska and the boys are Jiao and Jigako." She blushed as she thought of Jiao. He's so cute and he looks smart and funny. I know Jigako is his twin but he looks so serious and quiet. She blushed more. I like Jiao better. She thought of how he patted her head when they first met earlier and of how it was so easy to talk to everyone during lunch.

Monk Kannin quirked a brow, "Interesting friends you've made my dear."

"Why do you say that mom?"

Monk Kannin smiled widely, "They're all prodigy children. A lot of people know about them. Demoska is 12 and started studying under the head nun who is in charge of all four of our people's temples. She just started but I'm sure she's doing fine. And I know of the twins Jigako and Jiao. They're very great in airbending for their age and are training under Master airbenders that I have tea with often. Elder Monk Igau and Elder Monk Eiji."

Yai nodded, "I know." She sighed, "Demoska said we were gonna be best friends from here on out."

Monk Kannin nodded, "I'm glad you made good friends in them. You all have something in common. I believe that is why the universe brought you all together as friends today."

"What's that mom?"

"You're all very different from everyone else and special."

Yai threw her arms up dramatically, "I knew it! I knew it! We're a misfit club!" She giggled, "But it's all cool though."

Monk Kannin smiled, "Now run along and I'll start dinner."

Yai got up from the table and headed towards the door.

"A moment Yai. There's something I want to let you know."

She stopped, "What is it mom?"

"I should have let you attend school earlier like all the other kids instead of home schooling you. Perhaps you'd have been friends with them sooner."

Yai shook her head, "Oh mom. You can't ever regret that. I learned a lot about the world from you and there's a chance I wouldn't have ever met them. You taught me that everything happens for a reason."

As a mother, Kannin felt a rush of relief, joy, and pride as she listened to her daughter exit the house to go hang out with her new friends.

*

Jiao looked, "Hey Yai, can you tell me another story about a place your mom went?"

Demoska nodded, "They're all so wonderful. I'd only be able to travel to other Air temples in due time. But not to travel the world freely!"

Jigako nodded.

Yai thought, "Hmm. There was the time she went to the Fire Nation. She knows a lot of their dances and showed me a few."

Jiao smiled widely, "Ooh ooh! Tell me! I want to travel the world someday like your mom. When I become a monk, I'm gonna make tons of friends all over the globe in the other nations." He nudged Jigako, "I think o' lamo here wants to stay put and travel just to the other air temples like Demoska."

Demoska pouted, "There's nothing lame about it! I study the heritage and culture of our people very closely. Besides, the other Air Temples are beautiful!"

Jigako nodded.

Jiao sighed, "You're with me right Yai?"

Yai smiled and nodded, "Heck yeah! I want to travel the world and get to see all the things my mom got to see! Like when she went to the Fire Nation, she said they have these birds called hawks! They're big and brown and sometimes they have grey and white stripes on them. It's crazy!"

Jiao blinked, "Whoa! Is it as big as a sky bison?"

"Not exactly. They're a lot smaller. But I think they can fly as fast as one."

Jigako smiled a little, "Speaking of sky bison, I have to check on Gnaa."

Yai quirked a brow, "I've never been close to a young sky bison. Can I come with?"

Jiao pipped up, "Sure and you can see mine too!"

Demoska stood up, "I don't have one but Jiao's bison isn't the friendliest of the lot around other people." She sweatdropped.

Jiao laughed, "Demoska all she did was give you a new hairstyle airbending style."

She huffed, "And she slobbered all over my dress!"

Yai was excited, following everyone to the main temple balcony where the sky bison met the people. Two bison flew down to them immediately, "This is so cool! My mom has one and she's incredibly old, but friendly nonetheless." She reached for Jiao's and smiled when it allowed her to pet along its nose.

Jigako held an apple to Gnaa, "I knew you'd be hungry good friend." He smiled watching the bison eat.

Jiao hugged into the white fur, "Her name is Rin."

Yai nodded, petting the bison more "Nice to meet you Rin." She giggled when Rin gave an odd sounding roar and licked the side of her face. Coated in saliva she laughed hysterically.

Demoska shook her head and giggled, "You're such a tomboy Yai. I like Gnaa because he won't slobber all over me." She walked up to the male bison, reaching to pet him. "You're such a good calm boy aren't you Gnaa?"

Yai wondered aloud, "Why don't you have one Demoska?"

Demoska sighed, "I guess I just wasn't meant to have one as a companion. None of them approached me." She smiled, "But its okay. They didn't approach my master either."

Jigako looked to Demoska sheepishly and wondered to himself.

Later that night, as Yai was slipping into bed, a figure appeared by her opened window, climbing in. She sat up and immediately recognized the silhouette of one of the twins, "Jiao?"

"Ssssh. Yeah it's me."

"What are you doing here this late at night Jiao?"

"I just wanna talk to you about something. You're the only person I can talk to."

She sighed, "Okay what's up?"

"Listen…I…kinda…really like Demoska and I want to get her to like me too."

Yai's heart sunk, and she was glad he couldn't see her disappointment in the dark, "Okay…"

"Well, since you two are best friends and all do you think you can talk to her for me?"

It'd been weeks since Demoska introduced her and they all were friends. She got to know Demoska very well in such a short amount of time and vice versa. But she had yet to tell anyone about her crush on Jiao. And here he was, telling her he had a crush on her best friend, "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know…anything! I can't have Jigako do it. And I can't tell her myself!"

"Why not?"

"Just because!"

"Are you scared that she's not gonna like you?"

"Terrified that she's not gonna like me! She wouldn't even look at me or Rin today!"

Though her young heart was broken, she nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

*

Demoska asked Yai aside after they parted from their separate classes, "Yai can I talk to you for a minute?"

She fought the temptation to roll her eyes, either way she nodded and followed Demoska outside, "What is it? You look kind of upset."

"I'm not upset. It's just that I really like this guy and I don't know how to tell him."

"Write him a love letter or something."

Demoska brightened up and clapped her hands, "Yai you're a genius! I'll slip it in his belongings!"

"Who is the guy anyway?" Yai grumbled, "Jiao?"

Demoska blinked, "Heavens no! That boy is immature, rude, and you've seen all the pranks he pulls all the time on kids and adults. I wouldn't like him in a million years!"

Yai felt terrible now, just hearing the previous night about how Jiao wanted to pour his heart out to her best friend and she didn't even like him enough to look at him except when she was talking to him directly about something, "I see."

Demoska smiled widely, "Anyway thank you so much!" She leaned forward and kissed Yai's cheek, "Come to my house for dinner. It's the least I can do to repay you! I'll tell you who I like then!" She turned away trotting off, "Oh I hope he likes the love letter that I write!"

____________________________________________

A/N: The introduction to my main characters. Just so people can remember something for later chapters

-- Zuko is reading Jiao's diary

-- Katara is reading Demoska's diary

-- Sokka is reading Yai's diary

--Aang is reading Jigako's diary

Toph is just sitting there listening to each entry as they're read. xD Since she can't read or write due to her blindness.

2 of these individuals out of Jigako, Jiao, Yai, and Demoska are in fact Aang's parents. [The obvious] =) I wonder who people think it will be. Kukuku.