(A/N): Keep the reviews coming. I really appreciate them; they improve my writing in ways that you wouldn't believe.

-Jakkani

Chapter Three: Sensei

Jubei squirmed, trying to wiggle his way into Hayden's home.

He squirmed even harder, like a pinned down cat, his limbs flapping and whipping around as he struggled violently to get out of the dirt tunnel. His face was a deep violet; He was halfway out, stuck at the hips, trying to push himself out. Hayden grabbed his left hand, and Colin the right, and they heaved him out of the tunnel together. It collapsed behind him.

Jubei stood, bumping his head against the low roof in the complete darkness when he tried to stand. He had to crouch, and still his head brushed against the roof of the small cave. He dusted himself off as Hayden lit candles around the small home.

The first thing he noticed was the ventilation system. There were four small, finger thick iron pipes embedded in separate places around the ceiling that lead to the surface. Jubei could see, when looking through the pipes, that they had thin plastic hatches over them, so that smoke could flow out but the rain and dirt couldn't get in. It was an ingenious design.

The second thing he noticed, with an ooh! and an ah!, was their food chamber. Hayden had a sphere filled with ice-water about as big as Jubei's torso laying under a small table in the corner. When he opened it, he noticed that the core of the sphere was hollowed out, and filled with meats and vegetables.

The third thing he noticed was Hayden and Colin, staring at him. Only then did he realize that he'd been running around the room, examining and inspecting everything in their home as if he were a child in a candy store.

Jubei stuttered the words, "Uh…this is a nice home you have here." Colin turned away without a word, disinterested, and opened a dirt-stained novel with missing pages. He cleaned his glasses with his rag of a shirt, and rested them on his tiny nose.

Hayden nodded as he took a seat on his bare, dirty mattress, next to the sleeping bundle of blankets that Jubei could only assume was his baby sister or brother. The mattress, of course, was on the ground.

Hayden broke the silence as he stared at his sleeping sibling, his voice even and calm, but still with a boyish tint. "Uh-huh. So, what? I gave you shelter from the rain. How are you going to repay me, besides fixing my entrance?"

Jubei twitched, suddenly realizing something. "Wait a minute."

Both Colin and Hayden looked up in unison.

"You're both orphans. How are you so well versed in language, and earth-bending?"

Colin looked back at his book, his dirty spectacles gleaming as he turned his head.

Hayden looked away, his eyes downcast. "We…we weren't always homeless."

For the first time, Jubei got a good, solid look at Hayden. He was either a younger sixteen, or an older fifteen, and his eyes were hard and cold as if he'd seen thirty or forty years of struggle, responsibility, and hardship. Regardless, he had the long, thin face of a young prince, but smeared with dirt and mud.

This boy yearns for greatness.

Colin was similar to his brother, but different at the same time. They had the same face and eyes, but Colin's hair was curly and a darker blonde where Hayden's was near-white and straight. And, of course, he had circular spectacles that were aged and worn from use.

And this boy yearns for knowledge. They are perfect.

Jubei crossed his arms and gave them a winning smile. "Very well, then," he proclaimed in a booming voice, "You two shall be my successors!"

Colin and Hayden both looked up in shock. "W…what?" They gasped at the same time.

"You heard me. I'm going to take you from this dirt hole, and teach you the arts, traveling all the Earth kingdom!"

Hayden regained his composure. "No." He turned away, picking up and folding the discarded clothes around the room

Jubei's mouth opened, gaping, searching for words, mentally backhanded.

"What…? WHY NOT!"

"I said no. We're fine where we are." Colin dropped his book, crossing the room and grabbing onto Hayden's arm. "Come on, brother. I don't like living like this."

"I don't either, Colin! But what about Margaret? She's too sick to travel. "

"She's too sick to stay here, too, Hayden."

Jubei cut in, "Look, Hayden. I know of bending, I know of art, I know of medicine, and I know of woodsmanship. I am moderately wealthy, and are more than capable of caring for two children."

Hayden stared at him for a moment, and then around at his home. All that he knew would be gone. He looked over at his brother, who pleaded desperately, and his sister, who just as desperately needed to leave here.

He sighed.

"Fine."

Jubei smiled brightly, his hair seeming to bristle.

"Um…" Colin said, shyly, "Mr. Shitagami, was it?"

Jubei looked down at him; even whilst crouching, he was taller than him. "Yes?"

"How are we going to get back through the entrance?"