Book One: Water 水善

Chapter One

My mother always said water was the element of change.

She learned from an old, wise man that, like the element they could bend, the people of both water tribes could easily change. She also told us of their close sense of community. Everyone was like family as long as you were open to working with them and could prove yourself to be one of them.

Like the element, waterbenders could heal and purify. The element seems gentle enough, but even the stupidest of firebenders know not to mess with a waterbender, especially during a full moon. Waterbenders could use water in the simplest of tasks like stirring a stew or the most meticulous tasks like creating a jail with shards of ice. Either way, these benders are not a force to be reckoned with.

It would be fate that my brother is one of them.

I remember the first time he bent water. We were around eleven and we were fighting. About the prince.

The arguing got to the point where I ran away, angry because my brother wanted to control my life. We yelled, hit, and tackled, but it wasn't until a large wave of water collected behind my brother that I shut up and listened. He was surprised at my willingness to listen but then noticed the large, water wall right behind him. He freaked out, soaked us, and ended up getting us kicked out of the palace.

Kidding...we weren't kicked out...just smuggled out before we could get kicked out. Ozai already hated us for being close to his son. Add a waterbending friend of his son and that just equals a whole mess.

We ended up escaping with Fire Lady Ursa a couple of days after the incident. She cast us on a small boat with only a letter, some heavy clothes, and food to last us about a month. It was really just crossing open water so she set us in one direction and hoped for the best. We were lucky enough to be found days before we died of starvation by Master Pakku and some of his waterbenders.

It's been pretty smooth sailing after that.

"Come on, Lai! Bring him down!"

"She can barely lift a box full of tiger seal blubber! What makes you think she can take her water bending brother down?"

"She's a bender too, don't forget that!"

"Fifty gold pieces on Lee!"

"Twenty on Lai!"

Lai, standing off to the side near a clear sheet of ice, looked down to her reflection to check her hair. The light brown locks that she tied into braids earlier that morning were beginning to puff out from all of her movement. She huffed, smoothing her hands over her braids, before turning to face her brother, who was smirking at her. The signature smirk gave nothing away to the growing crowd surrounding them, but his golden eyes told a different story when they met her blue.

A young teenager stepped forwards, his mitten-clad hands holding a long sword up in the air. The crowd silenced, not even a low murmur was heard in the crowd.

"You both know the rules," Hahn stated, "no bending until give permission."

The two nodded from across the frozen field and got into their fighting stances. Lai put her hands up, beckoning her brother to attack her.

"Then let the match begin."

Lee smiled, almost devilishly, as he ran towards his sister, extending his left hand out to strike. She ducked, launching her leg out to trip him, which he easily avoided. He kicked, she countered. She punched, he blocked. As they fought, the crowd "oh'd" and "ahh'd" as the pair skirted around each other.

This went on for a couple of minutes. When Lai would strike, Lee would avoid, and vice versa.

Lai eventually got a jab in when she leaped over Lee, and struck the middle of his back. He stumbled forward and fell to the ground, grabbing his back in pain once he landed. Lee growled and got to his feet quickly before running towards Lai as fast as he could. He threw a punch that Lai barely missed before setting the familiar rhythm they had before.

"Oh just bend already!"

The two stopped mid-dance, glancing at each other, before trying to throw one more punch. Lai flipped away from her brother, removing her gloves and tossing them on the ground. Lee smile seemed to grow as a long stream of water came flowing to his fingers.

"What's wrong, sis, a little cold?"

"Yeah, it is cold. Maybe I'll warm it up."

He tightened the water into a whip. "You can try."

With a flick of a wrist, the water began to move quickly towards Lai. It turned into ice right before it hit her.

"Lee!"

The waterbender flashed a bright smile to the crowd, letting his hands guide the icy blade. Gasps erupted from the crowd as the shard hurdled towards Lai, only to evaporate with a puff of steam right before it hit her.

"I see you're plenty warm today."

"I ran some errands for Yue before I came, so you could say I'm plenty warm, brother." Lai replied before throwing a fireball her brother's way.

A stream of water met the fireball halfway, disintegrating it into steam. They threw their elements back and forth, water meeting fire in a cloud of steam. As they battled, they grew closer together, which made the steam grow more in the air as their attacks were less spread apart. The taste of victory was inches away as Lai noticed her brother's closing proximity to her. She smirked, gathering all of her energy into the palm of her hands before thrusting it towards his throat. A large ball of flames flickered in front of the water benders throat.

"I win." She announced.

Lee smiled at her, flicking his eyes to her throat before moving them back up to her unwavering gaze. Following her brother's eyes, Lai glanced down at her throat, only to find a long, jagged piece of ice nearly inches from killing her.

"A draw!" Hahn shouted, causing much of the crowd to groan. The sound of coins mingled among the crowd as it began to thin, leaving only Hahn and the two fighters after a couple of minutes. Lai took her fire away first, noticing the red mark beginning to form on her brother's neck, Lee taking his ice shard away right after.

"Good fight, you two. Winnings well earned."

Lai smirked at Hahn, outstretching her palm out to the young solider. He smirked back, slapping the money into her hand before doing the same to her brother. The twins shared a look before Lai handed her money over to her brother to protect.

"Thanks for the good fight, sis. I'll see you tonight? Pakku said he had some new moves to show you."

"Of course. I'll be there after I make sure Yue has gone to dinner safely."

Lee nodded, bowing his head before turning back to Hahn. The two teens began a loud conversation, something about polar bears, seal jerky, and skipping rocks. Whatever it was, it made Lai smile as she walked away towards their village. As she neared, people greeted her with warm smiles despite the subzero temperatures. The smiles caused her to feel like they were trying to trick her, like they weren't as friendly as they seemed.

Those people weren't like that, she knew, not like the people back home.

As she walked up the steps to the palace, she noticed the clouds above began to circle in the sky. It was nothing new being so close to the solstice. Shrugging, she walked calmly through the palace doors and made her way up towards Princess Yue's room.

"Hello Yue, are you ready for your dinner?" Lai asked as she walked into the room.

The princess sighed, rising from her spot near her vanity and turning towards her friend. She moved her white hair out of her face, turning to glance at her reflection once more before giving Lai a small smile in the mirror. The two walked out of the room together side-by-side and ventured in the long hallways of the palace.

"Did you win your fight?" Yue asked as they made their way to the dining hall.

Lai scoffed. "It was a draw, like last time. We've learned around each other for too long, we now each others moves. It doesn't draw as big of a crowd as it used to."

"Awh, poor Lai. Maybe if you stop learning his waterbending moves, you'd actually have the upper hand in a fight."

"I'll have the upper hand in a fight against the Fire Nation when they don't expect me to fire bend their heads off."

Yue rolled her eyes. "Okay, hotshot, just make sure your brother's there to put out your flaming ego."

Lai rolled her eyes but smiled none-the-less as she guided the princess towards her family. The two stay silent the rest of the way, only speaking when they parted ways. Lai nodded at Chief Arnook before slipping out of the hall.

She skipped down the stairs and ran to the training grounds, where her brother and Pakku were running some exercises.

"Maybe we should try something a little easier, Lee. You seem tense."

"I'm fine! This is too easy, Master."

"Then why is the water so unstable? It seems like your thoughts are elsewhere today."

"Maybe it's because I almost beat him in a fight today." Lai stated as she leaned up against the nearest pillar. "Had him locked up, you should've seen it, Master Pakku."

The graying man chuckled, beckoning for Lai to join them. "I'm so terribly sad I missed it."

Lee let the water hit the ground, dropping his hands to his sides. He sighed before glancing up at his master.

"I've felt...different lately. Something about the water is setting me on edge. I...feel like it wants to tell me something but I just can't place my hand on it." Lee looked straight into Pakku's eyes. "This feeling has settled in within the last couple of hours."

"Have you ever felt like this before?"

"Once, a couple of days ago. But I-oh wow." Lee's eyes grew big and his mouth dropped.

Lai turned around to see what her brother was staring at, only to find the Spirit Oasis glowing a bright white. It illuminated the setting sky, and disappeared just as quickly as it came.

"Master Pakku, what does this mean?"

"It means the Avatar is back."