"Fu!"

Fu blinks, turning to Jiahao; the boy who called his name.

Fu was a boy with dark hair and beige skin; the only thing that stood out from him was his bright amber eyes; a trait he gained from his Fire Nation father. He had an oval face and was rather tall for a thirteen-year-old.

Jiahao was a reckless boy with golden-brown hair tied back with a beige bandana, framing a square face with tan skin and a little baby fat clinging to the cheeks.

"Jiahao, be quiet," murmurs Fu once his friend is close enough. "There are soldiers everywhere. They don't like when we act out, remember."

"Nah, don't worry! The nice soldier is always on shift this time, he'll let it slide!" Jiahao replies with confidence. "Alrighty, we gotta get Ai now."

Fu felt heat feel his cheeks. "A-Ai? Why Ai?"

Jiahao snorts. "Your gramps told us to come by today, 'member? Said somethin' 'bout havin' ta learn."

Right, thinks Fu. His grandpa was his primary caretaker and tended to teach him and his friends about normal stuff and bending stuff in secret. The Fire Nation wouldn't allow them to read or learn, and if anyone was caught with a book, they'd be punished severely. School wasn't allowed, either.

Fu was born long after these rules were put in place, but his grandfather had been a boy when the rules were enforced and he was pulled out of school.

Grandpa Menma was a person who valued knowledge; as well as an earthbender who's been hiding his talents for decades. He'd teach all of Fu's bender friends bending because Grandpa Menma believed that knowledge was power and he did not want them to be powerless.

Although, those with bending prowess tended to stay hidden no matter what, so the only people who'd come were Ai and Jiahao, even if some of Fu's other friends were benders.

"There she is!" exclaims Jiahao, gesturing towards Ai.

Ai was a very pretty girl with long tresses of brown hair-the bottoms bleached blonde from the sun; she was fifteen and kids starting labour by twelve-and beautiful forest green eyes. Her face was soft and round, complimented by her kind smile.

Fu was captivated.

"Thanks for getting me," Ai says, softly and kindly in a way that was entirely hers. "You wasn't waiting for long, right?"

Jiahao grins. "Nah, don't worry 'bout it! We just got 'ere too. 'Sides, we don't really care, eh, Fu?"

Fu freezes in the face of human interaction. "Um, well, we should get going probably," Fu blurts, his face heating. "Gramps gets impatient and stuff."

Jiahao snickers before nodding.

The three make way to Fu and Grandpa Menma's hut, talking quietly about the Fire Nation and the revolts they'd heard happening in Omashu. They'd probably gossip more about the other kids, but it was never safe to speak freely outside.

They stop in their tracks when they see the hut being torn apart and surrounded by soldiers. Grandpa Menma was tied up on the ground while a squad of soldiers uncaringly ransacked the house, breaking countless items.

Jiahao growls. "Hey! What are you doing!? Stop it!"

"Silence!" a soldier hisses. "These are the criminals; take them into custody," he orders a few other soldiers who nod obediently, roughly grabbing them, Ai whimpering and Jiahao glaring.

"...why..?" mumbles Fu.

A soldier harshly grabs Fu by the hair. "What? Speak up!"

"Oi! Get off o' him!" snaps Jiahao. "He said, 'why'!"

"Menma and Fu Song are under suspicion of crimes. As are you two."

"What crimes!?" hisses Jiahao, eyes burning. "We didn't do anythin' 'cept exist! We didn't do anythin'!"

"Sir, we were right," a different soldier says, stepping out of the hut with a bunch of scrolls. "They're earthbenders."

"Kill the old man here, we'll execute the children publicly as an example."

"Wait!" Fu shouts, swallowing his grief. He had to save Grandpa. "Wait, don't-!"

A soldier beheads Grandpa Menma.

It becomes a blur.

Fu screams, loudly, until his throat is sore, his rage burning beneath his skin.

How dare they-!

"The Avatar State!?"

"He's the Avatar!"

"Kill him! Capture him!"

The darkness swallows him.

Jiahao and Ai are burnt alive in front of him.

Ai cries while she dies.

Jiahao curses at the soldiers until they rip his tongue out, and dies with his head held high.

They publicly execute Fu, allowing the Phoenix King to do the honours.

Fu dies quickly.