Book 1 Realizing

Chapter 3 Teamwork

Zaiko was sound asleep before he was woken by the sound of his phone ringing on his nightstand next to his bed. He fussed and groaned sitting up looking out his window. It was still dark out and there weren't that many cars driving around. He looked at the time on his phone and saw that it was only 6:00 a.m. This irked Zaiko to the fullest. "Who in the world is calling me at 6:00 in the morning.'' He hesitated but eventually he answered his phone. "Hello" he said, while controlling his slight irritation.

"H-hello" he heard Terri-ann's voice answer through the phone and it sounded like she had been crying. "Hey what's wrong?" Zaiko asked, concern showing deep within his voice. Even though they had only met yesterday, Zaiko felt as if he and her already shared a deep bond and it didn't help that he liked her...although he did well at trying to hide that fact.

Terri-ann didn't answer him right away. She stayed quiet for a couple seconds before answering.

"I don't think we should be friends anymore," then the phone hung up. Zaiko sat there in disbelief for a long time before he reacted. Light began to flood his room as soon as the sun began to rise. He pounded his fist into his palm.

"I don't know what she's talking about but I'm gonna get to the bottom of this" he said out loud " and she better not lie because what's in the dark always comes to the light… "

. . .

Zaiko was looking at himself in his full body mirror, his blue eyes which usually gleamed were full of self doubt.

I understand what Avatar Zuma was trying to tell me, Zaiko thought looking down "But is he sure?"

He shook his head and stood, straightening his posture.

"Seriously, this is not the time for self doubt," he muttered under his breath. Although as hard as he tried not to, his mind still drifted to his times back at Akira Elementary School. Back then Zaiko was always harassed by the older firebenders when he was young. His mom would always ask him seeing that they were slowly breaking him if he wanted to change schools. But he was trying to listen to his mother's teachings of inner peace, which of course didn't end well. Once he got into the sixth grade that's when it happened…

Zaiko shook his head finallying pulling himself back to the present. He had to keep moving. It was the only way to stay ahead of that time.

Then, as he was about to lay back down he heard Mako knock at the door.

Zaiko groaned again. He had almost forgotten about the training his parents had set up for him and Mako.

"On my way," Zaiko called through the door just as Mako rapped at it again.

"I said I was coming!" Zaiko said louder out of slight irritation for his brother's impatience.

"Ok, just making sure you're up." Zaiko heard his brother say behind the door as he headed for the stairs.

Zaiko quickly got dressed, pulling on a purple hoodie over his white muscle shirt.

By the time he made it down stairs, Mako was already halfway through a stack of pancakes.

"Are there any left,"

Mako looked up, mouth stuffed with pancake. "Yeah there's one on the counter."

"One?" said Zaiko, noticing one miniscule pancake, already bitten into it.

Zaiko sighed. "You know what? I think I'll just skip breakfast today"

"What, why?" Mako said, looking shocked. "It's the most important meal of the day."

"You're right." Zaiko said. Picking up the slimy pancake with the very tip of his finger and thumb and flung it at him.

Mako created a vortex which then flung it past Zaiko and slapped against the wall behind him with so much force that it blew sticky pieces of pancakes all over it.

Zaiko looked back at the obliterated pancake, "You're cleaning that up when we're done."

"Hey I'm not the one who was going to waste a perfectly good pancake."

"You already ate off of it." Zaiko yelled.

"So, I'm not sick," Mako said getting louder

"That's not the point!" Zaiko bellowed.

"Boy's," their mom yelled, breaking through the heated conversation. Zaiko walked away from the table and made his way toward the back hallway. Once Mako had finished he wiped his mouth and followed his brother. Upon walking to the back door he bumped into Zaiko who was just standing there stretching out in the doorway.

"Seriously, like can you move" Mako complained

Zaiko turned and smirked, "I could… but I don't feel like it."

Mako sighed and simply pushed past Zaiko entering the backyard.

Zaiko stepped out and placed his hand on an obsidian tile, which then glowed with the symbol meaning fire. Their father had a hidden armory installed beneath the house. The only way to open it was to place your hand on this tile and shoot fire into it, unlocking the secret door on the side of the house but Before he could make his next move Mako stopped him in his tracks.

"We're not going there today Zaiko" Mako told him smirking

Zaiko turned to his brother, waiting for him to tell him what the heck he was talking about. He motioned for Mako to keep talking but instead he was swooped over his brother's head before he could react. Zaiko shot fire from his feet and flipped back to the ground landing on his feet.

"Now now Mako you have to do better than that"

Mako smiled, then swept his leg, slashing air at Zaiko only for him to jump over it spin, then kicked a fireball towards him. Mako quickly formed a small vortex blowing out the flame and simply swiped a hand over the other as if cocking a pistol. Zaiko looked in awe as he saw a small ball of air in front of his fingers as Mako motioned his hands as if firing a gun. A second later Zaiko felt pain in the center of his forehead.

"Ow!" Zaiko said, rubbing his forehead, "What was that?"

Mako just laughed "I learned to condense air, that's my air bullet whatcha think?"

Zaiko yawned. "I think I'm going back to bed." Then began for the house.

"You know it's already 9:15" Mako informed

"Exactly, too early to be fighting," Zaiko replied. A second later a blast of air from inside the house blew him in a heap, right back next to Mako.

First stepped out their mother and then their father.

"Surprise " their father said sending a fireball towards Mako

"Crap" Mako mumbled as he met the fire with an equal force of air.

Zaiko groaned, but got up in a ready stance. He sent an experimental volley of his own, just to see how serious his father was. His father blocked them with the palm of his hand.

Then his father took off at blazing speed, right at Zaiko. Zaiko's breath slowed as he prepared for the immense speed of attacks he was going to receive. He knew his father well enough to plan out his father's next few moves, but he only had time to think three, four moves ahead. In an instant Zaiko's father was there using a mix of hand to hand combat and fire bending, but Zaiko knew that was coming. Fire bending doesn't always work in close quarters, especially against his father, who had trained with non-bending monks when he was young.

Zaiko blocked and deflected and blasted, but he was running out of energy. His father on the other hand seemed to just be getting started. Eventually, Zaiko knew he would be hit and knocked from his stance. Running out of ideas, Zaiko pretended to let his guard down so that his father would push hard against his upper body. Zaiko's father gladly took the bait allowing Zaiko to quickly shift his weight backwards while sidestepping and shoving his father past him. It worked, giving Zaiko some breathing room.

Zaiko was aware of Mako fighting their mom. He was surprisingly holding his own. Their mother specialized mainly in palm strikes and with each strike a small but powerful amount of air is released, increasing her effectiveness. But Mako knew how to block them. He used the back of his hand to redirect her first palm to the side of his face spinning; he attempted to sweep his mother off her feet, for her to jump, flipping three feet back. Mako attempted to use his air pistol, but his mother absorbed each blast and sent them back at Mako. Before he could react the blasts hit him full force in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

"Oh, Come on!" Mako yelled, getting up.

Their parents stood next to each other smiling at the looks of confusion on their children's faces. "What's wrong you two?" their mother said, hiding a smirk. Zaiko was blasted back by a fire blast into mako crashing them both to ground

"Owwwwww" Zaiko groaned, rubbing his head returning to his feet. He helped Mako up and stretched out his arms. Mako brushed himself off, obviously still upset that his air pistol didn't work. Zaiko caught this and laughed.

"Alright Mako, let's switch" Zaiko saw Mako's eyes light up at the sound of this idea. Zaiko shot fire from his feet, rocketing towards his mom. He then jumped and spin-kicked at his mother only for her to block with her arm getting pushed back. Mako had no problem matching his father in close quarters since he was more fluent in movement thanks to the air-bending nature. Mako easily dodged his father's strikes returning his own in response, doing well at keeping the pressure on his father. His father dodged and weaved all of mako's strikes but at the moment that's all he could do. On the last strike his dad grabbed his arm and gut punched him knocking half the air from Mako's lungs.

As Mako fell to his knees his father turned to watch his wife and Zaiko's battle. The fight was more intense than Mako's. Zaiko flipped back dodging a palm strike from his mother that would have hit him in the face. He jumped back, landing on his feet to gain distance from his mother.

"Well someone's pretty nimble," his mom smiled. He had no time to be grateful for compliments, he thought to himself while shooting three straight fire jabs at his mom.

His mom blew two to each side of her and reflected the third as a sheet of superheated wind back at Zaiko, who jumped and did a rock-star slide on his knees under the blast. His clothes steamed when he was back on his feet. But he didn't have time to think about it. He decided to do some close combat bending, using fire to cover his fists like boxing gloves. It didn't go as planned though. Immediately upon stepping forward for his first attack his mother used a blast of wind to knock his knees out from under him. He was on the ground before he even had a chance to land a blow.

His mother and father stood side by side, facing their children with looks of disappointment.

"You two are stronger than this." their mother told them, sternly.

"But not separately. You both are more than capable, but not individually." said their father.

"The best of us learn this." said their mother, smiling this time at her husband.

"That we are stronger together than apart." Their father continued.

"United a bender is unstoppable." their father finished.

"Now. again!" yelled their mother.

Zaiko and Mako nodded to each other as a silent agreement passed between them. [we will not lose.]

Zaiko took a deep breath, Mako doing the same at the same time. releasing their breath they sent a powerful blast of flames and wind in their parents direction. Their mother created a dome of air shielding them from the blast. When the dome was gone Mako and Zaiko were both right there to land a solid blow to both their parents. The siblings both smirked as they finally managed to break past their parents' defense. As both of their parents stepped back to regain grounding both siblings took this as their opening. Knowing their parents they both knew they wouldn't get this chance twice. Zaiko shot a fire blast right at his mom. As she began to block with a vortex Mako was in the air as he spun and kicked a powerful slash, cutting through his mother's vortex knocking her down. Just as their father came to her defense, Zaiko and Mako ran at their father from both sides. Zaiko slid between his father's legs, knocking him off balance as Mako ran and shot a blast of air at his father's right arm. At the same time Zaiko pushed up, using his father's own loss of balance to throw him over his shoulder, completely discombobulating their father. He landed right next to their mom, who looked over, with slight sympathy. Before they could recover, both Zaiko and Mako stood over their parents, a smirk on both of their faces.

"So how was that?" both siblings asked in unison.

They both grinned.

"Better," said their father. "But there is still room for improvement." Then their mother and father both blasted the brothers back in a wave of fire and air. They both landed with a thud on their backs.

"Again!" Yelled their mother again, though this time she smiled. "After Lunch."

"Yes," Mako said, pumping his fist.