"Jai, may we see the avatar?"
The man stood before the council and scratched the back of his neck. "Of course."
A metal door along the side of the room slid open. A figure emerged and looked back down the hall. Jai exhaled and beckoned the young man towards him with large arm strokes. The young man tread toward the table of peering eyes.
"Welcome Avatar."
"Well—"
"You are the Avatar correct?"
"I am..."
Brushing down his beard, the elder leaned back. "What is your name?"
"Tetsu—"
The metal door once again opened as someone sprinted out of the opening bumping into Jai who'd been straightening a stack of papers in his hands.
He came to a stop right next to the other young man. They turned to face each other. "Sorry."
The old man's mouth hung open. "What is this?"
The woman sitting to his right cleared her throat and addressed them. "What is your name?"
"Renshu," the new arrival said.
A male voice spoke up on the other side of the old man. "It would seem 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 a small garden built in the sunlit opening between governmental buildings, eroded by time.
"These clothes itch," Ren whispered.
"Be quiet."
They swiveled their heads to take in the garden faces and clothes mirrored.
"Look, a lizard-bird," Ren pointed. Tetsu turned his head, looking in the direction of a small willow tree. Ren flicked the side of his ear.
"Ow!"
They turned their heads from a meager willow at the sound of shoes on gravel. A woman hovered in front of them. She held a clipboard and a shining pen that caught the light. She leaned forward lips pursed. When she noticed the boys looking back she parsed through a few pages.
"If I could get you to sign here," she said pointing.
They took the pen and clipboard fashioned with bronze clasps.
"Down at the bottom?"
"Yes."
"What is this form for?"
"It is a form saying you understand and accept the risk of being the Avatar."
The two pulled their heads away from the paper. "Doesn't that come with the territory?" Ren said.
The woman blanched. "Well..."
"Do we both sign?"
"Yes, please."
"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," Tetsu whispered.
They signed passing the paperwork from one to the other. The middle-aged woman cleared her throat and took the papers.
"Thank you." She vanished down one of the hallways leading away from the small garden.
"What do we do now?" Renshu asked.
"Wait." Tetsu 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." Ren exhaled.
"This is the best the tailor had this month."
Ren peeled the fabric away from his neck and sighed.
"It's not that bad," Tetsu said, scratching where the material inched up the back of his neck.
Ren's brows lifted up. "We can find better clothes here."
"And waste the money?"
"Won't we be getting paid for being the Avatar? Avatars?"
Tetsu's eyebrows squirmed. "It's our duty. So I don't know if we're getting paid."
They look at each other. A green butterfly hovered over a waist high fountain garnished with a few rancid drops of water and landed on the spout.
"It would be nice," Ren said joining his brother on the bench.
"It would."
They looked up at the sound of two sets of shoes on gravel. A man and woman approached two of the people present from earlier.
The man gestured toward the woman. "This is Ikiaq and I'm Biming."
The man had a prominent jaw and eyes the color of waterlogged grass in high summer. The woman next to him was petite hair falling to her back.
"It is 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. "There is a rule now the last Avatar put in place."
"The one from the Water tribe?" Ren said, followed by an elbow to his side from his brother.
"Yes, that rule established that the Avatar couldn't be put on active duty until they were seventeen. So discreet that no one besides those odd ducks knew your identities until today. That's we didn't know there were two of you."
Biming clapped his hands together. "Why don't we get you to your accommodation?"
They stopped at the lobby desk, dropping a bronze key onto the dark marble. The female attendant smiled sheepishly and took the key. The sound of cars and people buffeted them, and they each held their hands to their ears. A Kantocar pulled up next to them, and Biming stepped halfway out of the car.
"Get in! It's a long ride to Air-Island,"
They drove for at least an hour. The crossed a channel, the machine chugging over a wide bridge. The Kantocar made contact with land and parked in an area shadowed by trees. Biming got out and waved them over as he stood on a low step ahead. 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 stained glass patches of the sky could be seen. Past the trees, the edges of several buildings peeked through. They made leeway further into the property. They hiked the steps and came to a carved structure that seemed to be an animal, its identity worn away. They passed simple well-maintained architecture and plant life. Biming stopped in a green grove. The building on the left was multi-storied while the one on the right set apart was flat with a slightly slanted roof.
Biming continued onto the building on the right, and the two followed.
"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 and giving them an amused look.
The building smelled of old wood and cool stone. They entered an open courtyard. A skylight in the roof let in soft clouds of light.
"I'll be off."
The boys turned to face Biming, who stood at the entrance of the courtyard.
"We don't know what we are supposed to do," Ren said.
"This is all new to us, Sir," Tetsu intoned, a frown on his face.
The man rubbed his hair and looked down. "You'll be fine. And good luck!" the man said while trudging down the stairs.
A few minutes later the sound of a door opening caught their attention. Out of the door came a woman dressed in practical attire, a pale rounded collar encircling her neck. As she got close, the two noticed a pale arrow inked on her forehead. Her hair in a bun.
"It's an honor to meet three Avatars in my lifetime," she bowed slightly. There were small creases at the edges of her eyes.
The two bowed. "It's an honor to meet you..."
"I'm Jinora."