"Jai, may we see the avatar?"
The figure in front of them squirmed. "O-of course."
A metal side door opened, and a figure emerged looking back the way they had come as the door closed. The man standing in front of the council let out a breath. He beckoned the young man towards him with large arm strokes.
The young man did so, casting a furtive glance toward the door. He went to open his mouth but was interrupted when a wizened old man leaned forward on the small table in front of him. A few other people sat on either side of him.
"The Avatar."
"Well-"
"Are you not?"
"I-am..." the young man said hesitantly.
Brushing down his beard, the elder leaned back. "What is your name, young Avatar?"
"Tets-"
The door behind him sprung open and slammed shut equally fast. A figure sprinted out of it. Jai, who had been straightening his papers looked up eyes wide.
"Sorry!"
He slid along the floor, stopping right next to the other young man. They turned to face each other, giving mirrored looks.
The old man's mouth hung open. "Wh-,"
A woman sitting at his side recovered quicker. She cleared her throat and addressed them. "What are your names?"
"Renshu."
"And Tetsu."
A male voice spoke up on the other side of the old man. "It seems Avatar is not the correct term here."
Renshu grinned, followed by a smaller and more controlled smile from Tetsu.
The boys stood at attention in the small garden built in the sunlit opening between governmental buildings, eroded by time.
"These clothes itch," one whispered to the other.
"Be quiet."
They swiveled their heads to take in the garden faces and clothes identical.
"Oh look, a lizard-bird," one of them pointed. The other turned his head, looking in the direction of a small willow tree. The other flicked the side of his ear.
"Ow!"
Soles slid along gravel and they look away from the meager willow towards the stark building. In front of them, a person wearing dark navy hovered, a squint plastering their eyes into small slits. She held a clipboard and a shining pen. She leaned forward lips pursed. When she noticed the boys looking back, her head dipped down to the clipboard and flitted through a few pages.
"If I could get you to sign here," a low female voice said.
They took the clipboard and pen each holding one.
"Down at the bottom?"
"Yes."
"What is this form for?"
"As being the- avatar is dangerous. It is a form saying you understand and accept the risk."
The two pulled their heads away from the paper. "Doesn't that come with the territory?"
The person blanched. "Well..."
"Do we both sign?"
"Ah-if you could."
"Our signatures won't fit in this space. Can one of us put it below?"
"I don't see why not-"
"Ren, try to make your 's' smaller than you usually do-you don't need to write our last name," the one on the right whispered to the one on the left.
"Why not? It's part of my signature," the other whispered back.
"Because-" They both looked up and hurried to sign passing the paperwork from one to the other.
The middle-aged woman cleared her throat and took the papers. "Thankâyou," she vanished down one of the hallways leading away from the small garden.
"What do we do now?"
"Wait."
The one on the right stretched and headed farther into the manicured garden sitting on the bench while he itched his side.
"So I'm not the only one who finds these itchy."
"No, but I'm not loud about it."
"Hah," the other exhaled.
"This is the best the tailor had this month."
Ren peeled the fabric away from his neck and sighed. "I know."
"It's not that bad," Tetsu said, scratching where the material inched up the back of his neck.
"Uhu." Ren's eyebrows went up. "We can find better clothes here."
"And waste the money?"
"Won't we be getting paid for being the Avatar? I mean Avatars?"
Tetsu's eyebrows worked at that. "It's our duty. So I don't know if we're getting paid."
They look at each other for a long moment as a green butterfly hovered over a near-dried-up fountain and landed on the spout.
"But it would be nice."
"It would."
They looked up at the sound of two sets of shoes on gravel. It was the man and woman from earlier. Two of the people present from the interview of sorts.
"Ikiaq," the man gestured towards the woman, "I'm Biming."
The man had a wide jaw and green eyes. The woman had dark hair and pebble grey irises.
"It is finally such a relief to see the Avatars in the flesh," the woman said.
Ren and Tetsu looked at each other and frowned. "Has something bad happened?" they said at the same time.
She shook her head. "No, it's just that we were prevented from meeting with you until now." She sighed, "Something the last Avatar put in place."
"The one from the Water tribe?" Ren spoke. Tetsu elbowed him.
"Yes, precisely, a rule was established that we couldn't put the Avatar on active duty until they were seventeen. So discreet that no one besides those old odd ducks knew your identities until today-which is why we didn't know there were two of you."
The two boys looked at her blankly.
"Today's a good day," Biming said. "Why don't we get you to your accommodations in the city?" the boys noticed his hair was tied in a small tail. Their mouths quirked. The boys nodded.
"This place is huge!"
"And polluted."
"What- you prefer farmland?"
"Yes."
"Still you can't argue with that view," Renshu said, pointing out the window of the lobby they were entering.
"It's a bit overcast."
They stopped at the lobby desk, dropping the bronze key onto the dark marble desk. "Thank you," they said at the same time. The attendant smiled sheepishly and took the key.
"What was that all about?" one of them asked as they descended the stairs. The other shrugged.
The sound of cars and people buffeted them and they each held their hands to their ears. A Kanocar pulled up next to them and Biming got out of the car smiling.
"Get in! It's a long ride to Air-Island,"
"To what?" Tetsu turned to Ren.
"I couldn't hear either!"
They drove for at least an hour and ended up on a bridge crossing a channel. They held their breaths as the machine trudged over the long bridge. The Kanocar made contact with land circling around a vegetative traffic island. The Kanocar parked in an area covered over by large trees.
Biming, who'd been in front got out and waved them over as he stood on a low step. The twins untangled themselves from the belts.
"This is the Historical Airbender estate, mostly used for educational purposes," he said, pointing toward a path.
Boughs of trees encircled the property in a copse so that only patches of pale sky and figments of deep water could be seen. Past the trees, the edges of several buildings peeked through.
"Someone is waiting for you."
The boys exchanged a look. "In the trees, no doubt," Ren whispered under his hand. Tetsu laughed.
They made leeway further into the property. Simple but elegant architecture, well-maintained and painted in soft ruddy colors mixed with polished sandstone. They hiked the steps and came to a carved structure.
"Let's keep going," Biming said. "This area is completely open to the public," he said, waving a hand to the building the two were ogling.
"It's huge."
They passed between buildings, coming to two other buildings. The one on the left was multi-storied. The one on the right was a flat building with its roof slanted.
Biming continued onto the building on the right and the two followed while eyeing the one on the left.
"That's where the rest of the family lives," Biming said.
"Family?" Tetsu said.
"Yes, Aang's descendants."
"I didn't know there were so many," Renshu said.
"Too many if you ask me," the man said, turning back to them giving them an amused look.
The building smelled of old wood and cool stone. They entered an open area that seemed to span the inside of much of the building. But looking up the boys could see polished glass above that created the illusion of no roof.
"I'll be off."
The boys turned to face Biming, who was now standing at the entrance of the open area. Their faces pinched.
"We don't know what we are supposed to do."
"Exactly," the other boy intoned, a frown on his face. "This is all new to us, Sir."
The man rubbed his hair and looked down. "You'll be alright."
The boys looked at each other. "Why wasn't that woman here instead?"
"She was busy. You'll be fine. I guarantee you'll be found in no time," the man said while trudging down the stairs. "And good luck!"
A minute later, they turn their heads toward the sound of a door opening
Out of the door came a woman dressed in practical attire, a pale rounded collar encircling her neck.
Once she got close, the two noticed a clean blue arrow tattooed on her forehead. Her hair was pulled into a low bun bringing her almond eyes to the fore.
"It's an honor," she said, bowing. There were small creases at the edges of her eyes. "To meet three Avatars in my lifetime,"
The two looked at each other and also decided to bow. "It's an honor to meet you..." they both said.
"Jinora," she said.