Chapter 10: Happily Ever After
Isaac finished work, and got into his car to drive home. The request was for a brick wood fire pizza oven, in an arch shape. Isaac earthbended the bricks into place, and spent most of the hot day relaxing in the pool while the owners of the house were out. As he was driving home, he got a text message from Kayla, asking if he could pick Zoe up from school.
It had been a year since Isaac's supposed death, but since then he had never had more of a life. He returned to his handyman business, and everything went back to normal.
He arrived at the school, to see Zoe out the front, with her teacher by her side.
"Mr Smith? Could we please talk?" asked the middle aged woman, faking a smile at Isaac.
"Zoe, go sit in the car, I will be there in a minute." Isaac said, smiling at his young daughter. She ran over to the back seat of the car and jumped in. Isaac noticed how she never walked, only ran as fast as she could.
"I wanted to ask about Zoe's large absence from school last year." Said the teacher.
Isaac had worried about this. Even though it had been a year, Zoe wasn't mentally stable enough to leave her parent's side after the ordeal with Cobalt. She had only returned to school 3 months before.
"Her grandfather had a heart attack a little while ago. We went to see him, and stayed there for a while. Then she witnessed her grandfather dying when we visited him in hospital. I know it seemed a bit excessive, but it scarred her. We thought it would be best for her to have a break." Said Isaac, lying through his teeth. This teacher didn't care that Zoe had been away from school so long. She was just unable to mind her own business.
"I see. Well I think it would be best for Zoe to repeat the third grade." Explained the teacher.
"She will be fine. She will catch up, she is a smart girl." Said Isaac firmly.
"In case you change your mind, I would recommend reading this." Continued the teacher, handing Isaac a pamphlet.
"Ok then, I will think about it." Isaac said, continuing to lie so he could leave.
He turned around and walked to his car. As he did, he scrunched the pamphlet into a ball, then ignited it, letting the ashes hit the ground.
Isaac and Zoe got home 20 minutes later, and found Kayla preparing dinner. After they ate, and Zoe went to bed, Isaac and Kayla sat on the couch, completely silent. Until Kayla broke the silence.
"Until Asher came last year, it seemed like life would be normal. How do we know that it is going to stay that way?" asked Kayla. Isaac thought long and hard about what he was going to say.
"The truth is I don't. I'm the Avatar. The world needs me. Our lives may seem like they will be normal, but eventually that won't be the case. When the world needs me, I need to do what has to be done. We should just take everything as it comes." Said Isaac. Kayla smiled at him and leant up against him. Isaac assumed he had said the right thing, and breathed a sigh of relief, quiet enough for his wife to not hear.
Most peoples idea of happily ever after was to be anything but normal, but for Isaac, someone who was far from normal, his happily ever after was the life he was living now. His normal life. He knew that it wouldn't stay that way forever, but he was going to enjoy it while he did.
Isaac was happy, and that the moment, that was good enough for him.