Disclaimer: I don't own any names referenced in the story from ATLA or LOK.

Hello! If I'm being completely honest with myself I feel like I wasn't able to make the last chapter as good as the first two. This one, however, will be different (Hopefully)! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Trial by Fire

Within the First Wall of Western Ba Sing Sae was where the high economy citizens lived, unlike in the east, it was filled with more luxurious homes and businesses. A mixture of green and gold colors would be seen throughout the whole district, the Metal Citizens took pride in their kingdom. Ruled through Diarchy, the kingdom had been at peace for four hundred years under this system, no decision could be pushed forth unless both heads of the kingdom would agree on the law. This would prevent a single ruler from having all the power and both representatives had equal control over the kingdom. Sudhir was not from the first wall originally, he was from the second wall. His parents were offered a home by a wealthy property owner after Sudhir's mother saved his daughter. Their jobs were humble, his father a Repairman and his mother a Neurologist. It had never crossed their minds to be something greater and they were satisfied with what they did. Sudhir, however, wanted to become something more than just another worker in the busy Vulture-Bee hive. He wanted to join the Health Corps to help those who could not help themselves, past the walls of Ba Sing Sae. His current adventure, however, was to find Coranithe to see if Taku was truly the Avatar. This was a mission he wished to see until the end.

They arrived at the strawberry colored walls of home in the evening and Taku knew that Mei would be suspicious, he thought of every excuse and every outcome of the conversation before he inputted his house key. Before he could finish typing the four digit code he felt Sudhir tap him in the back. A sudden burst of despair hit him when he turned around to see Mei right behind them, in her sports outfit. Sudhir attempted to sneak away while Mei's eyes were locked unto Taku to no avail, she had already grabbed him and locked him into position, there was no escape.

"Hey Darling!" Sudhir stuttered out of his mouth "I see you were playing Ionball, how was it?" Mei's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, Taku turned into a house pillar.
"Alright, Taku what's going on? Sudhir is only willing to say darling if he thinks I'm gonna get mad."
"What? Nooo... I thought you were already mad that's why -"
"Nothing Mei, we were just afraid you'd get mad at us for being gone for almost two days." Taku poured sweat out of every pore, praying she wouldn't pry anymore.
"Why would I get mad at that? I can keep busy without you guys being here, unless, wait a minute you're not hiding something from me, are you?" Their neck hairs prickled upwards and a chill went straight through their spine out their eyes.
"No! Why would we have anything to hide, all we did was go to - "
"Sudhir, you tell me what you guys are up to, right now." He was trapped with no escape, Mei's grip was impossible to get away from. He couldn't say what they were actually doing or Taku was gonna kill him, if he lied Mei was definitely gonna kill him.
"Come on, darling. There's nothing going on! Actually, I was looking for some jewelry for you! That's why it took so long!" Drenched in sweat, Sudhir shook like a leaf in the wind.
"Oh, really? But you know I don't really wear expensive things. If anything, a new pair of running shoes would be nice."
"I was just thinking, that maybe, someone as beautiful as you would need something that could compare!" Sudhir's bag of excuses were empty.
"Alright, stop trying to please me. It's getting real weird. Just stay safe, I'll be happy with some flowers or something."

Mei simply walked passed Sudhir and Taku, who were still petrified in place, and went inside the house. A few minutes after the ordeal, Taku and Sudhir were finally able to move. Both of them took a sigh of relief and began their plan of looking for Coranithe. They traveled to every jewelry store they had investigated nearby and when they asked about Coranithe they all had the same replies. It seemed that almost all of the Coranithe was already bought by an anonymous buyer and what little was left of the Coranithe that wasn't sold was in possession of Chun Kao, an old man that lived in the South-West part of inner Ba Sing Sae. The old man lived in a small home surrounded by an extravagant garden of different animals. The house itself became overgrown with vines and its porch looked neglected for a very long time. The old man sat on the steps of his humble home, playing music with a Dizi that looked very decrepit. The boys approached him cautiously, trying not to startle the old man who appeared to be in a serene meditation. When they came closer the old man stopped playing his music and looked up at them, his right eye had lost it's pupil, and his left was identifying the two boys who was disturbing his peace.

"Whadd'ya kids want? Is it Kiyoshi day already?"
"No sir." Taku stepped forward "We were wondering if u had anything that contained Coranithe, we suspect one of our friends might be the Avatar."
"And how did you find out? I need to see some proof young man, word o' mouth and the ignorance of an old man can only get you so far."
"I do have proof, but it might cause a fire in your home Mr. Kao"
"A Fire Bender huh? Who's to say you're not from the Seyroku? Fire benders still exist there, or so they say."
Taku knelt on the soft grass, head lowered and politely bowed to the old man. He pulled out a badge that revealed his heritage. Taku's history was the unity of two powerful families from long ago, Beifong the Wealthy and Hiruzen the Powerful.
"Please sir, we just want to know for sure. We'll leave you alone once we see what the gemstone thinks of us." The old man stood from the steps and pondered to himself for a moment.
"Alright, I will let you use the Coranithe, but, if nothing happens you must never come back. You understand me?" Both of them nodded and followed the old man inside.

They were lead into a large basement, metallic flooring and steel walls covered the large room. The room appeared run down, the glass cases that were arranged on both ends of the room were all empty except one. A Coranithe necklace laid inside the glass case like a glimpse of hope in the light. Its dark green gemstone reflected in the distance, a shining nobility spread in the room as they approached it. The old man opened the case and took the necklace. He held it in his hands for a moment and turned to face the boys.
"This is the necklace was worn by Kiyoko, the great granddaughter of Avatar Kiyoshi. They have passed the necklace down from generation to generation, but it seems I'll finally be the last of our family tree. Hold it in your hands and it will test you."

As Sudhir was about to grasp the necklace their feet suddenly ejected from the floor. A headwind force suddenly struck every podium and person in the room. They shot up, straight to the ceiling, as if falling from the floor. The impact struck Sudhir with force, unprepared for the sudden movement. The old man was groaning on the ceiling, appearing severely affected by the unexpected collision. Taku managed to stay on the floor, he had come prepared with his GC and was maintaining his own stable gravity. A man started walking down the steps, his metal arm hitting the railings with every step. His face was covered with a mask of war paint, wearing his own GC and light body armor. He appeared to have a powerful build, an intimidating size put Taku on edge while Sudhir was still reeling.

"Sudhir! Get out! This man is a Gravity Bender, and he isn't any novice!" Using his own abilities, Taku raised his arms to the ceiling and with one jerking motion carefully lowered Sudhir and old man to the floor. "That man is maintaining reverse gravity in this entire room, I'll try and keep both of you on the floor so you can bolt out the room. There's no way he has any strength left to also fight back."

The main raised an arm and closed it, slowly moving his arm to his chest. The necklace, that was dropped, began moving towards him. Taku in reflex and panic used his strength to make the man fall towards the right wall, making him lose concentration. The whole ceiling threatened to bring all of the objects back down at once as he hit the wall with a thud. Sudhir and the old man was also flung straight up to the ceiling as Taku focused on keeping the large man's gravity on the right wall. Sudhir was ready this time and managed to land safely and catch the old man. He had to grab the necklace and get out of the room, once the old man and the necklace were theirs he had to come back and help Sudhir deal with this man.

"It's fortunate you kids were here, otherwise, this would've gone too smoothly." Croaked a distorted and robotic voice from the terrifying man. He began trying to drag the necklace towards him once again, this time Sudhir dropped a podium unto the necklace, making it much more difficult to move. Taku switched the gravity of the man from right to forward and slammed him to the farthest wall from him. He repeated this, throwing the man, right, left, forward, up. Taku was already exhausted from changing the gravity of the man so many times so quickly, with a powerful strained strike he threw the man into several podiums in the ceiling and then let him collapse back down. Because the room's gravity was still reversed he knew that the man was not unconscious, only disoriented. Taku could not fight any longer or he would collapse before he could knock out the invader. He hastily gestured Sudhir to rush up the stairs before his own gravity was shoved to the wall behind him. Taku staggered to his feet only for normal gravity to return to him and drop to the floor, he then felt himself being dragged towards the assailant.

With quick wit he amplified the direction his gravity was already going, increasing his speed. With an empowered force that could create a Shockwave, he kicked the man straight into his Solar Plexus. The opponent crashed into the steel wall, denting it inwards and creating a blast of sounds. With a thud he dropped to the floor groaning, all the objects floating in the ceiling began to drop along with Sudhir and the old man. They rushed out the house as quickly as they could and began looking for nearby people for help. In due time, several police officers investigated the scene. As the investigation continued, they carried the old man to the nearest hospital and left him there, not wanting to trouble him more than what they had already caused.

As they sat waiting for the GTU, silence laid in-between them.
"So, I think we should tell Mei about this," Sudhir spoke up, "She deserves to know."
"I was already thinking the same thing. I'll tell her myself, I don't think you should be blamed for any of this. We got involved in something that shouldn't have."
"I mean, it was going well, until that guy showed up. I don't think our presence really changed anything that was about to happen for the worse, in fact, I think we did a good thing back there."
"Still, this is crazier than I expected. I thought I could get away with this being something small, learning about the elements and just keeping it a secret forever. We won't even know if I am actually the Avatar."
"Who says we won't?" Sudhir pulled out the Coranithe from his pocket and held it next to Taku. Both were in awe as the stone lightly glowed in the colors of the four elements. Sudhir quickly pocketed the stone again before anyone could notice. "Congratulations Taku, looks like you have won the raffle and arethe Avatar. Do you have anyone you want to shout-out for this amazing prize?"

"Thank you Sudhir, really. I want to thank you for being an amazing friend. I wouldn't want anyone else as my brother-in-law." Sudhir choked on air, agitated, and starting coughing.
"I'm sorry w-what? Don't make this out to be about me and Mei! You're gonna give me a heart attack." Sudhir took a sigh and recollected himself. "Your blessing is appreciated though."
The GTU finally arrived, waiting for them to board. The thoughts in their mind still racing as to what to do next. They had to tell Mei, but also look for the rumored Earth Benders to still exist. How will they approach them? Will they be chased by that man that attacked Chun Kao? Only time would tell.

"You didn't have to obtain the last piece of Coranithe, we have more than enough"
"Every piece is important, makes our work easier."
"Regardless, don't go chasing those children. They don't have to be involved, they'll only cause more problems."
"What do you think they wanted with the Coranithe? I don't suppose they also have something that requires it as a power source."
"Since it's a pretty luxurious accessory, I assume they just wanted something pretty."
"No no no, why do you think they went to such lengths to grab Coranithe from an old man? They even had a lady friend look through the Archives with such an advanced pass. One of those boys managed to take me down, remember? They were no ordinary -"
"Just get to the point 347."
"I'm saying, they were looking for the Avatar. Which means?"
"Someone they know, or one of them, is the Avatar"

"Exactly. We can't leave them alone, I'll follow them myself. J4 doesn't need to know. We'll see if their suspicions were right, of course, I'll leave them alone if nothing comes from their adventure."
"Don't get caught."

"Don't worry... I won't."

End of Chapter 4

Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to tell me what you think so far! This was a little bit late but once again chapters come out every Thursday.