The Xun Party buildings were near the center of the city, the part that tourists and businessmen frequented but Chie seldom went. Every building around her towered high above her head and she felt claustrophobic from the deficit of sky above her.

They entered a skyscraper made of tan brick labeled only with the number four. A man in gray attended the elevator; when they reached the desired floor, he wished the pair a nice day and they were handed over to the secretary, who only made time for speaking after hitting the return key on her typewriter.

"You Shi Yaozu?"

He nodded.

"And that's the earthbending girl?"

He nodded again.

The woman typed until the end of her paragraph came; she then stood and walked into a room behind a wooden door. After a few moments, she returned. "Xun Deng will see you now."

He was a tall, tan man in his twenties or thirties in the office. There was more window than wall, and as Chie watched the gray clouds move over the grayer city, he relieved Yaozu of his duty and asked Chie to sit down.

"So how's the family business going?" asked Deng, circling around the room like a wolf-vulture.

"Well," Chie said quickly.

Deng nodded. "That's wonderful. Been very busy?"

"Yes."

He sat down across from her, leaned over, and smiled, close-lipped and wide. "You don't need to lie to me, Chie. It's true that you've lost quite a bit of business in the past few years, isn't it?"

"It is," She looked at the ground.

"Sorry to hear it," He stood up again, "That's not what we're here for, today; but at least you've learned to tell me the truth, and I've learned a little about you. It's a fine start," He stopped, as if waiting for Chie to respond, but she didn't. "I've got this paper, you see. It's a report. I won't read it all to you; it's not necessary, to be honest. We waste a lot of paper here. It starts off with Shi Yaozu—I believe he's the one who escorted you here. Then it gets to you. It has your parents, your age, your dress, and your passport number. You're an earth bender; my grandfather was from Omashu."

Deng took a deep breath; Chie felt strangely comfortable towards Deng already, as if he wasn't a member of the Xun party.

"Now, it says here that you made a passing remark to Shi Yaozu about the ability to bend metal."

"I did."

"Was this a valid claim?"

"Yes."

He smiled, showing a set of straight, white teeth. "Oh my, that's impressive. Most people can't do that."

Chie's face turned red and she stumbled over her words. "It's not, really. Gold and silver are really soft and they're already refined for us, and I'm only a jeweler. I haven't even been making anything lately."

"But that's no problem," said Deng as he fell out of Chie's sight; his orbit around her went quickly. "You must have incredible talent, regardless. May I ask you a favor?"

Chie nodded slowly.

"One moment, please," Deng smiled and winked before leaving her alone in his office. Chie examined the things on his desk: brushes and ink; a stack of papers that had been typed on next to a round, red stamp; a bowl of candies. The door opened behind her. "Here we are," He sat in his chair and held out a thin strip of black metal. "Do you know what this is, Chie? Go on, you can take it if you'd like."

She took it from Deng's hand and examined it. It left a dark powder on her pale hands and Chie could feel very little earth in it. She made a guess. "Iron?"

"Almost," said Deng, wiping his hand off with a damp cloth napkin. "It's steel. Could you bend it?"

Chie shook her head. "No, no, I don't think so," She set the piece of steel down on Deng's desk.

He leaned over close and rested his hand on Chie's. She suddenly felt very calm, despite her quickened breathing. "Could you try? For me?"

She nodded and picked the metal back up, tried to feel the earth in it. There was very little. She and Deng were silent for minutes already when Chie put the steel back on the table. Deng opened his mouth to speak, thinking that she was giving up, but Chie struck a pose that said otherwise. Her fingers were in a bent, painful-looking pose that she kept for what felt like a very long time, until the bar began to shake in its place.

Her arms began to shake, too, from tensing her muscles in an attempt to get the steel to do something more than vibrate.

It worked. The strip first began to levitate, and then folded into a ninety degree angle. At this, Chie dropped her arms and the metal fell with it. Deng smiled. "Can you spare the time for a little chat?"

Tentatively, Chie agreed.

An hour later, Deng escorted Chie out of his office, onto the elevator, and back into the city. Some of the slush on the streets had melted and there was far more traffic on the roads and sidewalks. She wondered how she would find her way back to the city's fifth district, where her delivery was to be made.

"I hope I didn't make you late."

"No," said Chie, "It's fine."

"I do hope you'll think this over, Chie," said Deng, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Feel free to come and see me at any time. I'm here to help."

A/N: Thank you so much, poniesnpens97!

Please review. ;D