Chapter Two: Kindling here and a little there

"Air Benders don't exist! They went extinct when the Fire Nation was being a giant Butt-head! Learn your history!" Flint crossed her arms with a final humph. The poor nonbending boy could only scratch his head at her history lesson.

"Flint!"

She did a quick 180 and tried to ignore the heavy footsteps. The earth under her feet shifted and she ended up tripping over a small hump in the ground. It had been approximately three weeks since her run-in with the brothers. Flint made it her daily mission to avoid them with all the stealth of a roach.

Her tooth wasn't growing back this time the local, kind of sketchy, dentist had informed her. Along with that bad news, the dentist pulled out some giant pliers. The tooth only broke, so he had to pull the root out or it might get infected. At the time, she would have taken the infection. It was the longest hour in her short life.

But, here she was. Once again her face was being abused by the Earth bender. With all the speed of a tranquilized sloth, she rolled onto her back. Bolin was looking down at her apologetically. The hand he offered was tempting, but her pride wouldn't let her take it. "Thanks, but no thanks." She didn't exactly swat it away, but kind of gave him a weak high five.

"Flint. I have been trying to say sorry this WHOLE time." He was wide eyed and excited. The emphasis on "whole" made her look at him warily.

"Okay. You said it. Bye." The conversation was over. There was nothing more to say at this point. After bye, people stop stalking and go their separate ways.

Not Bolin. "Mako is sorry too. He thought you would dissolve the flame. If you can call that a flame," he laughed while nudging her like it was the best joke in the world. They weren't friends and she didn't like how comfortable he was acting around her.

She shrugged, "I didn't want to hurt him. You though…" she pulled down her bottom lip and revealed the gap where her adult tooth used to be. She was also missing some other baby teeth so her grill looked all messed up.

He studied the area with his eyebrows knitted together. "It will grow back. Mine did." He too pulled down his lip to reveal a nub of a tooth coming in.

Flint smiled at how silly he looked. His eyes went all crossed and he opened his mouth wide like a platypus bear. "Nope, buddy. That tooth was the last of 'em. No more in storage."

Whatever happened between them mutually dissolved after her smile. A genuine curiosity and excitement led them into play. Kids are usually like that when it comes to forgiveness. A little laugh can mend a shaky friendship or rekindle one. They can instantly forget of the hurt and zone in on the pleasant. Bolin and Flint didn't immediately become besties, but their friendship grew over the next few months.

However, there are some scars too deep a smile can't heal. Flint never looked Mako in the eyes when they were around each other. If they found themselves without Bolin as a barrier, Flint would be the first to leave without a word. Truth was Mako still scared her. He had deflected her attacks like they were no more than pesky gnats.

Lucky for her she wouldn't have to see Mako any longer. She was being adopted.