Chapter 1: Portal of Flames

Another dull Sunday came and went, Majime sat on the sofa playing with the beads in her hair. What a way to spend her sixteenth birthday; home alone. Kisa, the youngest sister, had her school play. Mom and dad never missed one of her "Special Events", never. Not even on their eldest daughters sweet sixteen. After the play they had to go pick up Seiji from soccor practice.

Who needed family anyways? It was always a dog-eat-dog world, ever since she was smaller. Always struggling to get her parents attention, after the incident six years ago, any attention she recieved was to make sure that she wasn't playing with fire.

Like she would, Majime knows the painful consequences on paying with fire. At the time she thought he fire ability was a gift, but she was only ten. Now Maji only thought of it as a curse. Where could she possibly fit in this day and age? The orange haired teenager came to except the fact—she was a freak with fire powers. What a wonderful world she lived it!

Glancing at the clock she realized that Kisa's play was about to end, they'd all be home within the hour. Sliding of the sofa, Majime sat infront of the fire place; ever since she was younger...fire had always calmed her nerves. She was grateful to the old fireplace and all the memories that she had around it.

With a heavy sigh, she grabbed a match and couple of pieces of firewood. Throwing the wood in, Majime lit the match and tossed it in afterwords, watching as the flames danced. Sitting there sge wondered if she still had the same control over that she when she was younger. While concentrating, Majime began to move her hands in a circular motion. To her surprise, her control over fire was better than it was when she was ten.

Even though her parents would freak at the sight, she motioned a small bit of the fire towards herself. The pleasure that she derived from it, the power of holding something so dangerous...made her feel as though she could do anything.

Gasping she threw the flame back in. As much as she loved fire, the constant reminder of how close she came to dying...was written on her arms. In her mind, they were a there to keep her in line...for her emotions were a very dangerous thing.

Then a thought came into her mind, what if she accepted the flame as her own? To some masochist or sadist, the idea she had would be right up their alley. Shaking the thought from her head, Majime leaned in closer to the fire, slowly inching her hand towards the twirling flames. So what? If she was wrong, the worst she would get was a burned hand! Her parents would notice for sure...and they'd accuse her of playing with fire again. A tiny flicker and she placed her hand into the blazing inferno, concentrating on becoming one with it.

The only thing that met her theory was a searing pain, but she held in her cry and continued on with her experiment." Work...please work! Being with fire is the only place I'll ever thrive!"

As if by magic, the flames flew away from her hand and a sense of pride washed over the carrot top. For once, acceptance was her achievement and it couldn't have tasted any sweeter. If her parents couldn't accept the fact their daughter was a freak...the fire that was her freakishness, would.

To expect acceptance...you need to accept me first...

For a moment Majime thought she'd just imagined the voice, no...the flames, or something behind the flames, had spoken to her." How do I accept...when I already have? I know what I am and I already accepted it!"

You think of your gift as making you an outcast, not as an honor. You bring shame to your people by thinking this...

"I am an outcast because of it...I'm a freak living among a society that will never see the real me." Looking at her arm, Majime felt the hatred well up in her chest." There is no one like me...so I have no one to shame."

Is that so Fire Bender? You shame your entire family, your ancestors who lived thousands of years ago; who served under the Fire Lord. And if your heart still angers at this curse...then perhaps you should live amongst your ancestors to learn the true meaning of being a Fire Bender.

"W-What?" Inside she wanted to scream she had no real family, none that would care if she WERE to disappear into another time period.

No family, child? Then you shall see the error in your thinking, you will learn the honor of being the gifted child you are. Your journey will not be painless, nor will it be easy...you will have to overcome all your blockades to see your way safely home.

Majime would have laughed at the idea of 'magically' leaving her home, but a voice couldn't be as powerful as all that, right? A skeptical look on her face, she began to pull her hand from the fire when the flames went back into place. This time the pain from the burn was more intense, so much so that her mind couldn't handle it all...and the world around her darkened.

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Everyone knows they love fire! Fire fire fire...but I'm more of a water bender myself. I love water so it would be better if I were one. lol My second pick would be between air bending and fire bending. Heck! Why not just wish to be the avatar? Thay way you could learn all types of bending?

Oh! And you pronounce Majime's name "Ma G May". It still sounds a little boyish to me but that's her name!

Ha! I took a Mary Sue quiz..and mine was below the number.proud smile Got a 17 outta 69 I'll have you know! So no harsh comments like that...I didn't take kindly to the last person that said that. I work hard on my characters, drawing what they'll look like and then working on their personalities, so I do take offense.

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