Hey guys, I hope your summer is going better than mine. I've managed to squeeze in some hours everyday to finish this. I've kept you guys waiting long enough, here's part two. Also I've also addressed something on the bottom's author's note that is unrelated to Girls of One Nation so if you would read it I would appreciate it, thanks.
"Hey Teo" Katara said after she had finished comforting Aang. "Is there any part of the temple that hasn't been under construction yet?"
"Yeah a couple, come on I'll show you" he said smiling. He led us towards a hall way to an untouched area like Katara had requested. Teo took us down a hallway which took us outside to a bridge. On the other side were walls in a form of a circle. There were several statues of monks that decorated the area each playing a different role in history. It was refreshing to see some parts of Aang's past still standing. All the machinery in this temple was reminded me too much of home, and that was one of the last things I wanted to think about.
"It's nice to see even one part of the temple that isn't ruined," Aang said as he looked up at the largest statue placed across from the entrance. I saw a satisfied smile on his face as he looked up at the untouched statue, but it only lasted for a short while.
"Look out," I heard a man shout. The warning didn't give us enough time, because about two seconds later I heard the crushing sounds of rocks. The head of the statue flew off and dust filled the air. When the smoke cleared the statue had disappeared and was replaced by a giant hole in the wall. From the opening I saw five men standing in front of a machine, what I would have to call a prototype of a bulldozer. Amongst the five men I was able to identify Teo's father as he walked up to us.
"What the doodle, don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse!" he lectured us.
"Do you know what you did? You just destroyed something sacred, for a stupid bathhouse!" Aang shouted out angrily.
"Well, people around here are starting to stink" the man said seeing nothing wrong with his logic.
"This whole place stinks!" Aang shouted out as he pointed to the man. Without any warning Aang took his glider and slammed it to the ground. It sent a wave of air that knocks into the bulldozer and sends it plummeting down the mountain. I heard the loud crash when it hit the bottom and thought of how much time they spent on the machine. Aang turned his head and glared at the men.
"This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way!" Aang told them furiously and took steps forward. "I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like!"
"The monks" Teo's father repeated with a questionable look, "but you're twelve."
"Dad," Teo called his father in a rather embarrassed tone. "He's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago." I looked over at Aang and could see that his anger was blocking and reasonable voice to calm down.
"What are you doing? Who said you could be here?" Aang blurted out.
"Hmm, doing here" the man thought as he turned his body away. "A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood." He walked over to Teo and placed his hands on the boy's chair. "My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother." He made a small sniffle and tried to hold back his tears before he went on. "I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home! Then I came across these fan-like contraptions!"
"Our gliders," Aang said corrected, not looking amused.
"Yes, little light flying machines. They gave me an idea," he said sounding a bit excited. "Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak!" he walked over toward the newly made hole in the wall and looked up at the blue sky. "We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?" I glanced over at the others and saw that Katara and Sokka had gotten a little too caught up in the story. Sokka tried to hold in his tears by closing his eyes and facing up at the sky. Katara on the other hand, made no attempt in hiding her tears and was even wiping hers with Aang's clothes.
"Nature knows where to stop," Aang said, still not completely happy with Teo's father's explanation.
"I suppose that's true," he said agreeing. "Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us." He seemed to get lost in his train of thought then turned his head to the right and was then pulled back into reality. "Look at the time," he shouted and stared at three large lit candles, "Come the pulley system must be oiled before dark." Sokka stepped forward and began to ask questions on how his little invention worked. I wasn't too interested in that small detail and decided to turn my attention elsewhere. I watched Teo occasionally glanced back and forth between her and his father. I shook my head, wondering how Brianna would be able to defend herself if she couldn't even sense eyes on her. When I went back to observing Teo, almost too suddenly, Teo's and my eyes met. There was a long pause as the two of us just stared at each other, unable to look away from the other's gaze. I finally found control over myself and glanced back at the candles. After several seconds I turned my head back to Teo and saw that he was no longer looking at me or Brianna, but was staring over to his father. I could see a faint shade of pink at the side of his cheeks, but I didn't know if it was my eyes just playing tricks on me. I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision, and then looked back at Teo and show that his blush was gone. Now I was confused whether it was because it faded or if it was because it was never even there in the first place.
"Hey Aang, I want to show you something" Teo said, when he noticed the upset monk, He motioned us to follow him and took us across the bridge back inside the temple. As we walked down the dark hallway Aang was still trying to take in all the changes.
"I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same" Aang said in dismay as he dragged his feet along.
"I don't know about that," Teo said disagreeing and picked up a furry hermit crab from the floor. "The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendents of the ones that lived here a long time ago" he told us then handed the crab to Katara.
"You're right," Katara said while playing with the crab in her her hands. "They're kind of keepers of the temples origins." She handed Aang the crab and he began playing with it, a small smile finally returning to his face.
"Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all" Teo told us.
((Brianna's P.O.V))
"Oh come on, why not?" I complained.
"I already told you, it's the last part of the temple that's the same and I want it to stay that way" Aang told me in an annoyed voice.
"But what's wrong if Teo takes a peek?" I asked. "I mean there are like three other Air Temples that are probably completely untouched. Why is it such a big deal if Teo gets one look what's behind that door? I mean you let Katara and Sokka go into the Southern one!"
"Brianna," Rebecca called me in a stern voice. "You should know the situation."
"But if we just reseal it nothing will…"
"Brianna," she scolded me. I was about to tell her how I didn't think this was fair when she grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me aside. "What's your problem?" she asked in a harsh whisper.
"I…I don't know," I said, realizing I had no reason behind me being angry.
"What do you mean you don't know," she asked glaring. "You should know what's behind those doors! Or have you forgotten?"
"No I know what's inside. You'd think I'd forget," I lied.
"Then why is it that you are pressuring Aang to let Teo in?"
"I….I already said I don't know." I could see Rebecca getting more and more frustrated with me. She looked like she was ready to strangle me. "I just felt so frustrated when I saw Teo's disappointed face. It just didn't seem fair and it made me mad!"
"That's it..." Rebecca said in disbelief. "That's the reason for all this fuss? Why the hell would something like that get under your skin so much? It shouldn't be a concern of yours."
"I know. I just can't shake the feeling." Rebecca gave out a heavy sigh then rubbed his forehead, looking like she was trying to calm down.
"Go cool your head off," she told me and eyed at a corner. "Sit down and maybe then you can think of a reason."
"Yeah, I guess you're right" I agreed and I took a seat in the corner. As I tried to find a comfortable sitting position I heard laughing coming from my right arm.
"Aren't you a little old for a timeout?" Nyoko mocked me.
"Shut up," I growled from under my breath. "It's not a timeout. I'm only here to cool off." Despite my efforts to convince her Nyoko just continued to laugh.
"Yeah sure whatever you say," she said not believing me for a second. I rolled my eyes and tried my hardest to ignore her. I sat in the corner and watched Katara attempt to fly on one of gilders made by Teo's dad. Aang and Teo flew along side with her, just in case, while Rebecca watched them. After a while, Teo decided to come for a landing. Rebecca immediately walked over to him to help remove the glider parts from his chair. She handed the parts the nearby children who knew where to place it. Rebecca was about to go back to her spot on the edge and watch Aang and Katara when Teo suddenly stopped her. I felt my heart jump out of my chest seeing Teo grab Rebecca's arm. Rebecca looked just as surprised as she looked down at Teo. I couldn't hear what they were saying because I was too far away. All I knew was that it had to be serious from the look on Teo's face. When he finished talking there was a long awkward silence between the two. Rebecca scratched the side of her cheek and avoided eye contact with him. She only did that when she was really uncomfortable. It's really rare when it happens but it didn't prepare me for what happened next. I saw Teo's cheeks turn a light pink as he looked down at the floor embarrassed. Rebecca panicked and tried to comfort the boy. She was about to put her hand on his shoulder but suddenly stopped. She might have sensed me looking at them because she looked over to where I was. She quickly avoided eye contact with me and whispered something into Teo's ear. He just nodded his head, still blushing, before Rebecca silently walked away from him.
"Why…" I heard me whispering to myself.
"I wonder what's going on between those two," Nyoko said, reminding me I wasn't alone. I shrugged my shoulders but continued to watch the two of them. I couldn't look away and I wanted to so badly. Rebecca waited for Aang and Katara to land while Teo secretly gazed at her from a distance. You could tell Rebecca was aware that he was watching her because of how stiff she was but she didn't bother to turn around. He still had a light shade of pink on his cheeks which was easy to spot against his pale skin. His eyes were completely focused on Rebecca's back as he watched her with sad and uneasy look on his face. Seeing him watch her like that made my heart ache. I knew why I was so angry with Aang now…
"I like him," I whispered under my breath. I could feel my cheeks warming up from embarrassment while I pulled my knees to my chest and hid my face. I should have been happy that I figured about why I was so mad, but I couldn't help but feel heartbroken at the thought of Teo liking my best friend. I only felt worse when I realized that was getting jealous of Rebecca but I couldn't help it, I really do like him.
I've recently been invited to a forum by a guy under the name of Rayos. The forum is called Avatar: the Last Airstudent: Book 1: Sophmore Year, and from the title you can already guess what it's about. It's a basic roleplay of the series but in a high school theme. We need more people involved in it, since I'm only one of three people who are taking part in it. The story's actually a lot more complicated than one would think and we need more people to help us form the story line as well as take in some of the roles for the characters. So if anyone is interested in joining us just go to his forum.
.net/forum/Avatar_The_Last_Airstudent_Book_1_Sophmore_Year/94920/
Anyway thanks for your time. I'm still going to be posting up more chapters of this so don't think the forum will get in the way of Girls of One Nation.
