Chapter 1
Every life begins with a funeral
'Mera Lin, could you please come over here?'
'Not now, mom. I'm busy.'
'But it's important. Very important.'
I stood up and dragged myself to the living room. Couldn't that important thing wait until the weather was cooled down? But from one look in the big, sad, emerald eyes of my mother I realised it was important. Her eyes looked even more upset that they did normally, which was significant. Mother had always been a small, anxious woman. I presumed that was because of my father. Despite he wasn't home the bigger part of our lives, his strictness and harshness was perceptible in every brick of our house. Admiral, it be so. In my opinion he was just a severe and old-fashioned man who terrorized us with his stories about how strong and important he was in the war. I never accepted him as my dad, just as a dismal man that lived in our house.
'Please sit down. It will be some very bad and shocking news.'
'I don't think it will be less shocking if I sit down. Just tell me.'
And sit down yourself, I thought, before the stress reaches your legs. Mother took a chair. Did I say it out loud? That could be possible, my mother was too anxious to say something about it.
'Would you like a cup of tea?'
I would like to hear your important bad news, be shocked about it, and then just continue what I was doing, whatever that might be. But that was rude to say.
'Yes please.'
She poured the tea into small porcelain cups. Her hands were shaking, poor woman. Finally I took a chair and settled down. It was rash to leave her on her own right now.
'Please tell me the bad news mom.'
'Well…'
She looked at me like I would be so shocked when I heard it, that I would spit out my tea in her face.
'You know a lot of things changed when firelord Zuko was crowned.'
'Definitely. People are happier, less scared.'
'Yes, most of them are.'
I tried my best not to yawn, after I would have screamed: I thought this was so important I couldn't wait? I kept myself back, knowing mother was scared. Extremely scared.
'Just tell me, mom. I'm sure I can handle it.'
She sighted and stared at her shoes, continuous whirling her tea.
'You remember I told you father was imprisoned for participating at the war?'
I nodded my head. I remembered clearly how relieved I felt when she told me.
'That was just what I whished that had happened to him. But it was a lie.'
She held her breath for a second. Her hands became fists, like she fought against the truth. She lost.
'They found his body yesterday...'
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