Chapter Three: Hope Restored
Another two had passed since Shen and Huang had left as soldiers to defend the Earth Kingdom from the increasing threat from the Fire Nation. Although the war had been going on for many decades, signs of weakness had been showing more and more throughout the cities. Many cities on the coast of the Earth Kingdom had become occupied by enemy forces, which gives better opportunities to take more inland locations.
Kimiko's village is no exception to the hardships of war. Traded goods, like certain spices and clothes, were very expensive now. More people were having trouble paying the high prices of food, as more and more of the workers were busy fighting for the Earth Kingdom. Jia did the best she could to earn money for the family by selling woven cloth she would make out of the koala sheep wool. The extra eggs and milk from the other animals were also sold, as were some of the herbs that both Kimi and Jia had begun to grow right before Shen and Huang departed from them. Also, both men sent whatever money they could spare back home. The money was enough to buy the basic necessities and keep on living, but if something happened to the animals, then things would become increasingly hard. Taxes were also rising steadily as of late. Each passing day Jia would grow more worried about their state of living.
"Mama, look at this drawing I made! It's a picture of Papa and Huang!" The boy's light blue eyes were shining. He looked very proud of himself. "Maybe we can give it to them when they come back home."
Jia sighed quietly to herself as Najun walked up to her eagerly, his brown curls bouncing on top of his small head. He had gotten so tall over the past year. "It's beautiful, Jun. Thank you."
Since he was four years old now, Jun was more curious about where his father and brother had gone. The boy had been asking about them lately, but how does one explain war to an innocent child? Jia would just plaster a smile on her face and try easing his worries or changing, but that would only work for so long. Children have to grow up eventually. If Jia had a choice, it would be years before Najun became aware of the war. But she wasn't a fool. War makes people grow up fast. It was just Jia's job to delay the inevitable for as long as she could.
"Are you ready for lunch, Jun?" the boy's mother asked while stirring the vegetable soup she had made for the day. He bobbed his head up and down quickly and Jia smiled softly at her little boy. "Go get your sister then. She'd in the backyard."
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Kimiko laid in the tall grass underneath her favorite tall tree. The winding branches of the tree reaching toward the clear sky were above her, covered in green leaves and beautiful pink flowers. They were just beginning to fall, signifying that spring had begun to come to a close. Sunlight peeked through the dancing limbs, creating a mosaic of scattered patches of light around her. There was a warm breeze today, which was blowing the small pink petals down to the ground around the girl resting beneath the tree. Kimi closed her eyes and smiled at the gentle caress of the wind against her cheek. The soft sound of the leaves shaking against each other was relaxing and almost lulled the girl to sleep. It was a magnificently beautiful day.
"Kimi! Mama said it's time for lunch!" Najun shouted, causing his older sister to open her green eyes and push herself into an upright position. A crooked smile made its way onto her face as she watched his precious brother trample over to her clumsily up the hill where she lay. When he finally reached Kimiko, he collapsed on top of her in a warm hug.
A small chuckle fell past her lips as she grabbed her younger sibling and tickled his sides. The boy couldn't help but laugh joyfully.
"Stop it, Kimi! Please! I'm hungry and Mama has food ready!" Najun belted out between his own giggles.
"Okay, Jun, but only because you said please." Kimi reluctantly released her brother from her wrath and he shot back up onto his feet.
"Wait!" Najun called to his sister as she started to make her way down after brushing the grass off of her. "Can you carry me? It's so fun, please!"
Another grin lit up Kimiko's face as she stared into her brother's large, begging eyes. "Oh, okay! You're too cute, kid, you know that? Now, climb on."
Jun's own smile got bigger when he got what he wanted. Kimi could hardly ever say no to her little brother, especially when he gave her those eyes. He excitedly jumped up onto the elder child's back and firmly fastened his arms around her shoulders. He'll never forget the time he flew off because he wasn't holding on tight enough. Their mother almost killed them.
"Ready?" Kimi asked with uncontainable joy showing on both her and her brother's faces. When he nodded, Kimiko wasted no time taking a big run and jump off the top of the little hill, propelling herself farther and faster with her airbending.
Najun cackled happily in her ear as they flew down toward the ground near the house. He sometimes wished he could fly like his sister, but he was an earthbender like his father and brother. This was only discovered a few weeks ago when Jun was grumpy in the morning before breakfast and stomped his foot, which caused a large, cement vase in the kitchen to fly at the wall. Thankfully, no one was harmed.
Another concern was that no one knew how Najun was going to learn to control and master his bending, as both Shen and Huang were fighting the war. The only other earthbender in town was Rono, but he hardly could even bend with his permanently injured leg that was shattered during the war. He could barely walk as he is now. It is true that Kimiko did not have a master to teach her bending, but that case was very special, as there are no more airbenders around.
"I see you two finally made it in," Jia commented from the table in the corner of the room. She had placed three bowls full of soup out, one for each of them, and a small loaf of bread was in the middle for them to share. The bread was something that the mother had splurged on in the market, as baked goods usually more expensive than she could afford, but she got a good deal from the baker and earned a little extra money this week. "I hope you guys are hungry."
Kimiko smiled at Jia as she grabbed a piece of bread, "Thank you for preparing us lunch, Mama. It looks delicious."
"Mhh!" Najun hummed in agreement, his mouth already filled with food.
Jia and Kimiko both laughed after a brief shared look between the two. Happiness radiated through the room. It was times like this that the family treasured, even if half of them were missing. These are the memories they would think of when hard times came.
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"Hey, young miss! I bet would like to try this perfume, it's jasmine scented!" a shop owner called from his stand to Kimiko's right. He was a tall man with graying hair and a smile that was too large plastered on his face. When he saw that Kimi wasn't going to stop, he immediately turned to the next person on the street.
Today was Kimiko's birthday, the first day of autumn. She was fifteen years old. Her mother had sent her off with a few silver pieces to buy herself something nice while she tended to her own stand selling her handwoven wool cloths and blankets. Recently, she had acquired new plants to make brighter and bolder dyes, like bright yellows, oranges, and even a few pinks to mix in with the usual greens, whites, browns, and blacks that the Earth Kingdom citizens usually wore.
After walking past most of the stands, Kimiko didn't see much of anything she wanted. But then a glorious aroma caught her nose. Turning behind her, she saw the baker's shop. He was pulling fresh pies out of the oven, which was the culprit of the tantalizing scent. Even better than fresh pies was peach pies. They were Kimiko's absolute favorite. Although the pies weren't made by her mother (which automatically decreased the quality in her opinion), she was very tempted to buy one to share with her mother and brother as a treat. Kimi had found what she was going to buy for her birthday treat.
But the last time she had a peach pie was the day her father and brother left. She hadn't heard from them since. Kimi knew that it killed her mother to be away from her husband and first son. Najun barely remembers them as he was only two when they departed. Suddenly the sweet smell of peach pie left a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Are you Kimiko of the Bao family?" a deep voice asked from behind her, pulling the girl out of her own thoughts.
Turning her head to the left, Kimi saw a boy only a year or two older than herself. He had long, black hair pulled back into a knot and gray eyes that bored down into her own green orbs. When she finally came to her senses at that fact that an actual person was actually talking to her, she blurted out a few jumbled words, "Yes, um, did you need something or...?"
"Yeah," the other teen said and then held out a scroll of parchment to her, "you got a letter and my dad said to deliver it to you since you were just out front instead of walking up to that house way up the hill later. Name's Bipin by the way. My father runs the post here."
Slowly, Kimiko reached out and grabbed the letter from the boy. She had never received one before. "Thanks, Bipin."
"Not a problem," the post boy muttered to her before rubbing the back of his neck. "So what do you do around here? I mean, I just haven't really seen you around much. Do you, like, ever leave that house of yours?"
The question throws her off. She never really spoken to people her own age. Do people normally ask such invading questions like this? When she is about to answer, she sees movement behind Bipin's shoulder. It's a group of three other kids about her age and they were staring at her and whispering to each other. They were obviously intrigued by her presence. Kimi never really left her house unless her mother asked her to accompany her or grab some things from the market, but she never did stay to chat much with anyone. Her mother taught her everything she needed to know herself instead of sending her off to school as they were worried about Kimiko accidentally airbending in front of someone when she was little. By the time she grew up, she didn't much care for the idea of meeting new people her age. Huang was usually enough to entertain her, and even Najun after he was born. Truthfully, Kimi just wanted to spend every moment of her childhood trying to figure out airbending and now she had daily chores around the house that kept her busy.
"Oh, well, I usually just work around the house and only come down to town every once and awhile." Kimi felt very awkward. She felt as if these kids thought she was weird and different like they already judged her long ago and had been an occasional object of conversation. Especially when Bipin looked disappointed with her answer like she wouldn't sound so normal. "Well, I should get going."
"Yeah, nice to meet you." Bipin backed away from her and returned to his friends, who immediately started to question him.
Rolling her eyes, Kimi turned her back on these kids opened her letter. The contents inside were not what she was expecting.
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My dearest little Kimiko,
I am sorry that I have not written until now. Things have been very hectic for Papa and me and I haven't really had a chance to contact you or Mama until now. The reason I am now able to write this letter is that I have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and serve under Captain Yung in Omashu. Have you heard of it? Omashu is the last stronghold city in the west of the Earth Kingdom that isn't occupied. Don't worry about Papa, he's fine; although they are separating us now. As I was promoted to lieutenant, he was already at this rank and is moving up to major already. I have no idea where he is being located, but I'm sure that we will both be safe. Nothing is more dangerous than the frontlines and we both made it out of there.
Although it is nice to inform you about our status, I have other very important news that you need to hear. The Avatar has returned, Kimi, and he is a master airbender. News from Kyoshi Island is that he is traveling to the Northern Water Tribe to master waterbending next so he can defeat the Fire Lord. This is amazing, Kimi! A real airbender, maybe one you could meet and learn from. I know you keep Mama company though, and I am grateful for that, as is Papa, but maybe it's time you learned to master your own element from someone who quite possibly is the only person who understands you and what you can do.
Please tell Mama and Najun that we both miss them very much. I hope you are doing well too, as we still have a rematch to conduct when I return home after this war. Oh, and happy birthday, Kimi! I've enclosed some extra spending money for you as well. I know it's a lot, but I'm making up for the past few that I have missed.
Stay safe,
Huang
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Kimiko did not know what to think. Her brother told her that the Avatar had returned? A real airbender? Finally, she felt something akin to hope at not being the last airbender to exist. She wasn't alone anymore. Kimi could hardly identify what she was feeling. She had to find this master airbender and learn from him, as he was the only one in the world that could teach her. It was like what she proclaimed to her parents years ago when she first discovered her bending. This letter was the best birthday present she had ever received.
But what was her mother going to think? It would just be her and Najun is she left to find the Avatar. She didn't want her mother to feel alone and abandoned and Jun was so young. But she might not have the chance to leave again. If the Fire Nation won the war, then she was as good as dead. If she found the Avatar, not only could he help her master airbending, but she could help him save the world.
Author's Note: Thank's for reading another chapter! This didn't get posted as soon as I would have liked and is a bit of a filler, but I have hashed out more of the background of the story. I still am trying to decide when Kimiko meets the gaang too, so if you guys have any input on that it would be nice. Please leave a review!
