Chapter 1

For the tenth time that morning, I rolled over in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep had eluded me once again much to my dissatisfaction, and I had tossed and turned all night. Sighing, I sat up, rubbing my face tiredly, before throwing off my covers and padding to my apartment window. Climbing onto the ledge, I leaned my head against the glass and looked out over the city, the early morning traffic busy as always. Somewhere down below I heard a loud screeching and a series of honks followed by people yelling out words that, though I couldn't hear them, would probably make my mother faint.

"Good morning Republic City," I yawned, stretching out my aching limbs as I watched the sun come up behind the skyscrapers. A year ago today I had moved to Republic City from the Northern Water Tribe, wanting to start a new life for myself. I had felt out of place there for years, with my family feeling pity for me because my bending and my memory still hadn't come back. There was apparently a time when I was 16 where something happened while my friends and I were on a hunting trip, and when I woke up I had amnesia, and my ability to waterbend was gone. Ever since I had tried to unlock my bending and my memories again, but nothing would work, no matter how hard I tried to connect with "my inner spirit" or whatever mumbo jumbo the healers talked to me about. So here I was, 365 days later, with a new name and a new identity, trying to sort out the broken pieces of my life and forge new ones. Leaving my comfy spot, I walked over to my closet, pulling on a blue tunic and black leggings before tying my dark brown hair in a single braid. Looking at myself in the mirror next to my bed, I groaned when I saw the dark bags under my eyes.

"Oh well. Hopefully, no one will notice," I mumbled to myself as I slipped into my black boots and grabbed my backpack from where it was laying on my dresser. Heading to my kitchen, I grabbed an apple and stuffed it in my tunic pocket before racing out the front door and down the stairs. As I walked out into the streets I took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scents of garbage and moldy cheese.

"Home sweet home," I laughed, heading down the sidewalk towards the city square. As I walked, my mind started to wander again, and I wondered if any of the people back home were thinking about me. I hadn't received any letters from anyone recently besides a few from my mother about how my siblings were doing, but other than that no one else had contacted me. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, tightening my hold on my backpack.

"Laira! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" I glanced up and saw Resa running towards me, holding a newspaper in her hands. I steadied her as she bent down, her chest heaving.

"What's going on?" I asked her as she finally regained her breath and handed me the paper, and I looked down to see her article about the bending triads causing unrest in the city on the front page.

"Resa! You did it!" I exclaimed, giving her a hug. Resa had been my first friend when I had come to the city, always lending me a helping hand when I needed it most. With a little help from her family, she had gifted me with the apartment I was living in now, and I could not have been more grateful. Ever since then, she had done everything she could to make my new life here better, and we forged a strong bond with each other. She had always wanted to be a journalist, and last year when she graduated university she was hired almost immediately by the top newspaper in the city, and I knew that she had been born for the job.

"Yeah! Mr. Saiki said that it was the best piece of writing he has seen in years, and he promoted me to section editor!" she yelled happily, and I grinned, high fiving her.

"I think this calls for a celebratory breakfast," I told her, and she beamed, nodding enthusiastically.

"Yes! Oh, can we go to that new place? I forgot what it's called but I heard they have amazing lychee smoothies," she pleaded, and I smiled.

"Absolutely," I said, and she squealed, hugging me tightly.

"Thank you so much! I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you!" She cheered, and I glanced at her knowingly, smirking.

"Maybe you could stop trying to set me up with people," I suggested, and she gaped at me, pouting.

"I just want you to be happy," she expressed, and I ran a hand through my hair in exasperation.

"Resa, just because I don't have a man doesn't mean that I'm not happy. I'm perfectly fine with the job that I have at the homeless shelter right now, and my life has been anything but boring with you around. Besides, I think I've almost exhausted the supply of single men my age here," I added as we hopped into a taxi, and she smacked me on the arm playfully.

"Hey, you never know, there might be someone out there, just waiting for you to ask him out on a date," she smiled, and I groaned.

"Yeah, okay. You let me know when he comes around," I teased, and she laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll know as soon as you meet him that he's the one," she said, and I shook my head, chuckling softly. I had gone on about twenty-five dates over the course of the time I had been here, mostly because I was bored and partly because Resa found out that I hadn't found what she called "my one true love" yet. She had made me go on dates with men that she and her friends had picked out for me, and I still had found absolutely no one that I had fallen for. Just last week I had gone to Narook's with a man who only wanted to talk about taxes and politics and it had taken everything within me not to break down and cry. I was shaken out of my thoughts by Resa pulling on my arm, and I looked over as she got out of the car. Pulling out a few yuans from my bag, I dropped them into the cab driver's hand and stepped out. Without even so much as a thank you, he sped off down the road.

"Rude," I growled, shouldering my bag and walking with Resa down the street to where the smell of fresh-baked bread wafted towards us from the cafe on the corner. As soon as we made it to the door I saw that the inside was packed with people, and I gulped softly.

"Oh come on, Laira. We'll just be in there for a bit," Resa whined as she saw my face turn pale. Willing my hands to stop shaking I allowed her to push me into the restaurant, and I stood off to the side as Resa ordered our food, nervously looking at the door. As soon as our order was ready I grabbed it off the counter, practically dragging Resa out of the restaurant.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait a second! I still have to breathe, you know," Resa panted as I let go of her sleeve, my heart racing.

"S-sorry," I stuttered, trying to get my breathing under control again as my shaking subsided.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have forced you in there like that," Resa apologized softly, and I shook my head.

"It's okay. I thought I'd be over this by now, but I guess not," I laughed drily, and Resa looked at me worriedly. A few days after I had been released from the healers, I noticed that whenever there were lots of people in a closed area, I started to panic, and my body and my mind started to shut down, and it was often very difficult to calm myself down. I had asked my mother about it, and she told me that that never used to happen before the incident during the trip, and I realized that whatever had happened that day had scarred me more than I thought. I had gotten better with it over time, and could now stand to be around crowds for about an hour, but for some reason today had been a different story.

"Are you okay?" Resa asked me as I handed her the food. I nodded, my mind still reeling.

"How about we get you back home, alright? You look awful," she told me, her voice laced with concern, and I nodded numbly, willing my mind to focus again. A few minutes passed in relative silence before I felt a tingling in the back of my neck as if someone was watching me. I glanced behind me, not seeing anyone that looked suspicious, and turned back around, holding onto Resa's hand a little tighter than before. About thirty seconds later I had the same nagging feeling that someone was following us, and I stopped, Resa looking at me quizzically.

"Follow me," I said softly, and she walked quickly behind me without another word as I led us through the groups of people on the sidewalk, keeping my gaze forward.

"What's going on?" Resa asked me as I ducked into an alley, putting a finger to my lips. She went silent and followed my gaze as we watched a tiny bearded man walk past us, a bundle of flyers of a man in a mask in his arms. I heard Resa gasp softly, and the man glanced sharply in our direction, my blood running cold. I slapped a hand over my friend's mouth, watching as the man took a step forward into the alley. We were far enough back that the shadows concealed us, and for that I was grateful. The man looked around once more before shaking his head and continuing on down the street, and as soon as the sound of his footsteps disappeared, we allowed ourselves to breathe.

"Laira, I-I've seen that man before. Just yesterday I was in the park, and he was shouting something about joining a group called the Equalists. I listened for a little while, and the things he was talking about...Laira...t-they want to get rid of benders for good," Resa whispered, fear in her tone, and I gulped nervously. Resa was an earthbender, just like the rest of her family, and if what she heard was true, then Republic City had a lot more to worry about than just bending triads.

"Hey, it'll be okay. I'll talk to Lin tomorrow morning and get things straightened out. You're gonna be fine," I assured her, hugging her tightly, and she nodded, her hands trembling.

"How about you stay with me today? I don't want you to be alone," I suggested, and Resa smiled.

"That sounds great. Can we go to my mom's dress shop? They've got some new orders in today and I want to try them on," she asked, and I grudgingly complied, walking with her into the crowds. I stayed with her the rest of the day and went out to dinner with her family that evening, making sure she forgot all about the strange man from earlier. As they drove me home, I couldn't help but worry, wanting Resa and her family to be safe.

"Are you still thinking about what happened this morning?" she asked, turning towards me, and I sighed, nodding.

"Yeah. I just...I want you guys to be okay. This anti-bending stuff concerns me," I admitted, and she patted my arm encouragingly.

"I know. It scares me too. But it'll be okay. We'll get through this," she assured me, and I smiled, leaning my head against her shoulder. A few minutes later her father pulled up next to my apartment building, and I stepped out, thanking them for the ride.

"Be safe," I whispered to her, and she smiled softly.

"I will. Get some sleep tonight. You look like you haven't slept for months," she joked, and I groaned.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice," I whined, and she giggled, shaking her head.

"You know I know you too well for that," she admonished, smiling.

"Yeah, I know," I replied, and waved her and her family goodbye as they pulled away and drove down the street. As soon as they were out of sight I walked back upstairs to my apartment, taking out my braid in the process. Shutting the door, I took a deep breath and went into my bedroom, falling onto my bed in an ungraceful heap.

"Why can't I go one day without anything bad happening?" I complained, grabbing my stuffed turtle duck and sitting it on my chest.

"What do you think I should do, Bo Bo?" I asked, disappointed when he gave no reply.

"Well, you're no help at all," I grumbled, leaving the animal on my pillow and sitting on the edge of my bed, running a hand over my face. I held out hope that Lin would be able to help me figure out the whole Equalist mess tomorrow morning, but a part of me felt as though this whole ordeal was going to be a lot worse than what we thought it was. Not wanting to spend the whole night worrying, I lied back down underneath my blankets, holding Bo Bo against my chest.

"Tomorrow will be better," I told myself, shutting my eyes and surrendering myself to the bliss of sleep, not realizing just how wrong I would be.