Merry Christmas! Have some fanfic!
Dec. 25th, 2009 08:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavanya_sixMerry Christmas (or Happy Holidays, if you prefer)!
Here are two drabble fics I wrote for a weekly-ish contest on the Avatar Spirit message board.
Not Fade Away -- An AU where "The Crossroads of Destiny" went just a little differently. (1,301 words)
Aang stood before the bowl of water, moving through a waterbending kata with careful deliberation. The bowl's water tilted gently from side to side, swaying in time with the Fire Nation ship.
"Come on," he hissed through clenched teeth. "WORK!"
The water did not bend.
* * * *
"The Avatar," Gyasto had told him, "is called to maintain the world's balance. It is the work of a lifetime, but do not despair, Aang. You will not be alone. You will have your friends, those you love."
"Great," he muttered, glaring down at the court where his so-called 'friends' were playing Airball. "I'm SO glad I signed up."
* * * *
Screaming in rage, Aang kicked the clay bowl. As the bowl arced through the air towards the cabin wall, its water spilled everywhere... before freezing in place mid-flight. The bowl hit the wall and shattered.
The bended water shocked Aang for a moment but then he sank to his knees, drunk with relief.
"Aang?"
He snapped upright and twisted his head around. Katara stood in the doorway to his cabin, absentmindedly weaving one hand through the air as she gathered up the levitating water and froze it into a small ice block at her feet.
"What's the matter, Aang?" she asked, concerned.
"H-how long were you standing there?" he asked.
"Long enough to see you abuse that poor bowl. Wh--"
Aang didn't hear the rest. He collapsed onto the cool metal floor, moaning in anguish.
* * * *
Katara had asked, "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"
Aang answered honestly, "Because... I never wanted to be."
* * * *
Katara had to bring Sokka down to help lift him off the floor. Aang couldn't stand, didn't want to stand. Aang didn't answer their questions. He didn't speak for hours. Katara stayed with him all night, leaving only for a half hour to deal with some commotion on deck. There was trouble with a Fire Nation ship that had come up alongside them.
Aang was pitifully glad that everyone wanted to keep him out of sight.
What could he do to help anyone now?
His friends thought he was in pain; that he couldn't deal with the trauma of Azula shooting him through with lightning. It was even true in a way.
When Katara returned, he waited until she fell asleep to slip out. He had to move carefully for fear of waking Katara, who was a light sleeper, but he was still a twinkletoes if nothing else.
The Water Tribe men who saw him smiled, thinking they were seeing the Avatar up and about at last. The hope in their eyes made Aang's heart hurt. At least they left him alone on deck with the breeze and the moonlight.
More than anything, he needed to talk to someone who would understand. He couldn't bear to disappoint Katara or the others. Not yet. But Gyatso was long dead and Roku... was too, now. That left only one person he knew. Aang looked up into the sky. "What do I now?"
The Moon was silent.
Aang run a hand through his short hair. "Right."
* * * *
"If you are killed in the Avatar State," Roku had said, "the reincarnation cycle will be broken and the Avatar will cease to exist."
* * * *
The next morning Aang called his friends into his cabin. He didn't want to tell them but he needed to put a stop to the invasion plan before people deluded themselves any further.
"When Azula shot me," Aang explained, "I was in the Avatar State. And when I d-died, I was in the Avatar State."
"Yeah," said Sokka, "and then Katara healed you."
"I know, but... it was too late." His friends stared at him, not understanding. He had to force out the next words, not wanting to say them and make it official. "I came back to life. The Avatar Spirit didn't. I can still airbend but that's it. I'm not the Avatar anymore. The Avatar... is dead."
Silence.
"You can't bend water or earth?" asked Toph.
"No."
"Have you, y'know, tried not being a wuss about it?"
Aang glared at his friend. "Yes, Toph. I have!"
She threw up his hands. "Okay! Okay! Sheesh, I was just asking."
Katara covered her mouth. "This is horrible," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Aang! I-If I had been faster--"
"No," he cut her off. "It's not your fault, Katara. It's mine." Aang bowed his head. "If I had kept better track of Azula, she would never have gotten the drop on me."
"...Okay," said Sokka. "Well, this changes the invasion plan a little."
"A little?" asked Aang, incredulous. "How am I supposed to face the Fire Lord now?"
Sokka wagged a finger at him. "You're still a master airbender. And the last time I checked, we have a world-class waterbender and the greatest earthbender ever."
"Aww." Toph slugged Sokka's shoulder. "Flatterer."
"Ow," said Sokka.
"But I'm not the Avatar anymore," Aang insisted. "I'm just the last airbender."
"So?" said Toph. "Like Chuckles said, we'll just do it together." She cracked her knuckles. "A three-on-one fight against a powerless Fire Lord sounds awesome!"
"Yeah," said Sokka. "Besides, what's the big deal? Everyone in the whole world KNOWS you're the Avatar."
"But the Avatar Spirit di--"
Sokka gestured to the closed cabin door and the world beyond it. "They don't know that."
Aang frowned. "Wait, you're saying we lie about me still being the Avatar?"
"No," said Katara, a grin spreading across her startled face, "Sokka's saying we fake it. Toph and I can cover for your earthbending and waterbending. We don't tell anyone. People will still have hope in the Avatar!"
"You're all CRAZY!" Aang shouted, stumbling to his feet. "Don't you get it?! I'm not the Avatar anymore! There is no more Avatar! It's over!"
"I'll never give up, Aang," said Katara. She came over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. Looking him in the eye, she said, "I'm not going to give up and let the Fire Nation win. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't keep fighting. And we may not have the Avatar anymore, but we still have you. And you have us."
Sokka poked his head around Katara. "Yeah, what she said."
"I'm with Sweetness," piped up Toph. "Fight 'em 'till we can't!"
Katara asked, "What do you say, Aang?"
* * * *
And Aang considered.
The waters were still. The earth did not move. The Spirits were silent.
On the plus side, he would never have to be afraid of burning Katara again.
Hope seemed impossible. Even with the Day of Black Sun, how was he going to defeat the Fire Nation without the rest of his powers? It made more sense to turn the ship around, maybe find someplace far away, a remote island or an oasis in a desert, and hide away forever.
He wasn't the Avatar anymore. He was free to just be a kid again. He could let the war be someone else's problem. After all, if the Fire Lord was going to be powerless then anyone could fight him. It didn't have to be Aang, the last airbender.
But...
But the world had fought the Fire Nation for a hundred years when the Avatar had deserted it. Even after the fall of the Earth Kingdom, the people of this ship were still fighting on. His friends were still going to try, even knowing what he'd lost. Gyatso had gone down fighting when things must have seemed hopeless. None of them had been the Avatar. They had still fought for the people they cared for, for the Balance.
Avatar Aang had had to do it, but Airbender Aang had a choice.
And Aang knew the right choice to make.
* * * *
Katara asked, "What do you say, Aang?"
After a long moment, Aang nodded. "Let's do this."
The Natural Daughter of Somebody -- Midori is eight years old. She always looks forward to her Uncle Mushi's visits. The first AtLA fic I've written that's not an AU!! It's a continuation. (1,499 words)
Midori's first memory is of sitting in her uncle's lap, looking across a Pai Sho board at her mother. She's four or five. There's a pleasant odor of tea in the air. Midori remembers thinking how pretty the painted tiles looked.
She reaches for the piece with the three-legged raven. Her uncle gently takes hold of her wrist and keeps her from messing up the game in play.
* * * *
The spring of her eighth year, Midori has a surprise for her uncle when he comes for his annual visit. She waits in her mother's shadow as they welcome Uncle into their little house, which buds off from the printing shop her mother manages.
"Jin," says Uncle, kissing Mom's hand. Mom smiles like a cat at the gesture. It's an expression that Midori wishes she could imitate but can't. They aren't much alike. "You are looking lovely as always."
"Oh, Mushi. Always the flatterer."
"~Mom~!"
Her mother gently rests a hand on top of her hair. "Mushi, your grand-niece has something she's been dying to tell you."
Uncle hunkers down on his knees. "Oh?"
"I'm a BENDER!"
"You... bend?" he asks, with a touch of wonder. Midori can tell he's impressed. She grins. He looks up at her mother.
"Don't worry," Mom says. "Show him, baby."
Nodding firmly, Midori stomps the ground. A chunk of rock breaks off the stone floor and levitates into the air.
Uncle stares, dumbfounded, but then a broad grin breaks out across his face. "That... that's very impressive, my little earthbender."
She's still showing off the little tricks she's picked up in the last few weeks when Mom whispers to Uncle, thinking Midori isn't listening, "This makes things easier, you know."
"In some ways," murmurs back Uncle.
* * * *
The next day, she and Uncle go for walk through the winding footpaths of Taku. Midori leads the way, though Uncle makes them stop, like, every twenty feet to browse through a vendor's stall or a knickknack shop.
Taku is both a new city and an old one. Destroyed in the early days of the Great War, it laid fallow for almost a century until the territory was given back to the Earth Kingdom at war's end in exchange for conceding sovereignty to the larger Fire Nation settlements in the Five Occupied Provinces. Midori knows this because Taku is filled with unhappy refugees from the land the Fire Nation stole.
It's mostly the adults who care about stuff like that. Midori and her friends grew up in Taku in the years the decayed city lifted itself out of the grave. The Great War is ancient history. If a bunch of bitter old men and women with burn scars want to rough up traders from the Fire Nation, Midori hopes they're at least smart enough to do it in the back alleys where the city guard can't see.
Eventually the two of them end up in a little park. Uncle takes a seat on a bench -- "My old bones are weary," he tells her -- and watches as she and a couple of other kids play a pickup game of Earth Soccer. Midori loves it because it gives her a chance to show off her earthbending. Not three months ago she could only sit with her friends and watch as the benders played. Now she can bend. Her teacher said she had 'real talent'. Midori likes that idea. She wants Uncle to see how good she is at earthbending.
It isn't hard to do. Midori is amazed how the other kids just didn't see how the soccer ball will angle off the rock pillars. Are they blind? Or just stupid? Midori had picked that stuff up the first time she played. Now she can ricochet it off her pillars at crazy angles and dance around the other kids.
Midori leaves her own teammates in the dust, single-handedly racking up a string of goals in minutes. After the game is over, one of her teammates, a pig-tailed girl, runs up to her and says, "Hey! Why were you hogging the ball?!"
"I wasn't hogging it! I was winning the game!"
Instead of saying anything, the girl shoves her. Midori shoves back. The pig-tailed girl doesn't take it lightly, hitting Midori in the shoulder with a sloppy punch. In turn, Midori slugs the girl across the mouth. She staggers back. The rest of the kids gather 'round, cheering them on. Before the other girl can recover, Midori moves to strike her again. When she draws back her fist, however, it's caught in something firm. Spooked, Midori turns her head.
Uncle glares back at her. "That's enough!" His word is enough to silence the bloodthirsty circle. He lets go of Midori's hand. "Apologize to this girl."
"B-but--!"
"Now, niece."
Skin flushing with embarrassment, Midori turns away from her uncle and faces the pig-tailed girl with the bloodied lip. She chokes out, "I'm s-sorry."
* * * *
Later, they sit together on a park bench.
Uncle rests a hand on the small of her back. Midori's first instinct is to push him away. But this is Uncle and he and Mom are the only people who would never hurt her. Uncle says to her, "You know, you have your mother's eyes, but there are times when I can not help but be reminded of your aunt."
Midori perks up at this. "I have an aunt?!"
Uncle nods. "She was a... juggler like your father."
"Really?" Was everyone on my father's side except Uncle a circus freak?
"Really."
"What was her name?"
"...Hotaru."
"'Aunt Hotaru'," Midori whispers a little breathlessly.
"There are times when I cannot help but think of you as your aunt reborn. It is unfair, I know, but the physical resemblance is uncanny." Uncle strokes his beard. "And there is more. You share her relentless drive for perfection, her love for her parent--"
Midori asks, "So Dad and Aunt Hotaru were only raised by their mom too?"
Uncle smirks. He wags a finger at her. "Sharp too. But not quite right. After your grandmother passed away, your father and aunt were raised by your grandfather. Lee and his father did not get along, but Hotaru was close to him."
"What about you?"
"Lee and I... we didn't spend much time together before he left the circus. Hotaru and I were never close."
"B-but you said I was just like her! You still love me, right?"
"Of course!"
Midori relaxes. Straightening her shoulders, she declares, "That's acceptable."
Uncle laughs. "I am glad you find it so."
"So why didn't you and Aunt Hotaru love each other?"
The characteristic twinkle in his eyes dims. More solemnly, he explains, "Your grandfather -- my brother -- thought I was a bad influence, and your aunt and I had different opinions on... well, everything. She was passionate but I don't think she ever cared about how the things she did affected other people." Uncle deflates. "Nowadays I cannot help but wish I had tried harder with your aunt. I helped your father. Perhaps..."
Midori has never heard of a mean-spirited juggler before. "Is that why you got angry at me for hitting that jerk?"
"Ah," says Uncle, "but why did she shove you first?"
"Because she's mean."
Uncle arches one eyebrow.
Midori hunches forward. "Okay," she says after a few seconds, "I didn't pass her the ball." Midori adds, "But she's a horrible player! I was winning for the team!"
"Were you? Or were you playing for your own satisfaction?"
She scowls. "What's satizz... satis--?"
"For your own fun."
"Oh." A pause. "But I was better than her. So I should be the one with ball!"
Uncle asks, "How would you feel if another, better earthbender wouldn't let you have the ball during a game?"
"I'll be the better one," she mutters, staring angrily at her bare feet. Since she'd started earthbending, Midori has steadfastly refused to wear shoes. Everyone knows the greatest earthbenders walked around barefoot. "I should be the best."
"Being the best isn't enough if you don't have love, niece. Your father strove to be best at juggling even if he lacked your aunt's raw talent."
Uncle goes on, "Lee was the most honorable man I ever knew, and I do not say that just because he was your father. Lee struggled to do the right thing. There were times he failed but, in the end, he made the right choices. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his friends. Lee knew power is nothing without love, something I couldn't teach your aunt."
"I wish my dad had done the wrong thing," Midori says, staring at her feet. "Then he'd still be here."
Uncle Mushi leans over and hugs her. "I'm sure if he had the choice to be with you, my little earthbender, he would be."
Rather than say anything, Midori just hugs her uncle back.
"Try to remember what I said today, niece."
"I will, Uncle."
Hand-in-hand, Midori and her uncle walk back home.
Here are two drabble fics I wrote for a weekly-ish contest on the Avatar Spirit message board.
Not Fade Away -- An AU where "The Crossroads of Destiny" went just a little differently. (1,301 words)
Aang stood before the bowl of water, moving through a waterbending kata with careful deliberation. The bowl's water tilted gently from side to side, swaying in time with the Fire Nation ship.
"Come on," he hissed through clenched teeth. "WORK!"
The water did not bend.
* * * *
"The Avatar," Gyasto had told him, "is called to maintain the world's balance. It is the work of a lifetime, but do not despair, Aang. You will not be alone. You will have your friends, those you love."
"Great," he muttered, glaring down at the court where his so-called 'friends' were playing Airball. "I'm SO glad I signed up."
* * * *
Screaming in rage, Aang kicked the clay bowl. As the bowl arced through the air towards the cabin wall, its water spilled everywhere... before freezing in place mid-flight. The bowl hit the wall and shattered.
The bended water shocked Aang for a moment but then he sank to his knees, drunk with relief.
"Aang?"
He snapped upright and twisted his head around. Katara stood in the doorway to his cabin, absentmindedly weaving one hand through the air as she gathered up the levitating water and froze it into a small ice block at her feet.
"What's the matter, Aang?" she asked, concerned.
"H-how long were you standing there?" he asked.
"Long enough to see you abuse that poor bowl. Wh--"
Aang didn't hear the rest. He collapsed onto the cool metal floor, moaning in anguish.
* * * *
Katara had asked, "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"
Aang answered honestly, "Because... I never wanted to be."
* * * *
Katara had to bring Sokka down to help lift him off the floor. Aang couldn't stand, didn't want to stand. Aang didn't answer their questions. He didn't speak for hours. Katara stayed with him all night, leaving only for a half hour to deal with some commotion on deck. There was trouble with a Fire Nation ship that had come up alongside them.
Aang was pitifully glad that everyone wanted to keep him out of sight.
What could he do to help anyone now?
His friends thought he was in pain; that he couldn't deal with the trauma of Azula shooting him through with lightning. It was even true in a way.
When Katara returned, he waited until she fell asleep to slip out. He had to move carefully for fear of waking Katara, who was a light sleeper, but he was still a twinkletoes if nothing else.
The Water Tribe men who saw him smiled, thinking they were seeing the Avatar up and about at last. The hope in their eyes made Aang's heart hurt. At least they left him alone on deck with the breeze and the moonlight.
More than anything, he needed to talk to someone who would understand. He couldn't bear to disappoint Katara or the others. Not yet. But Gyatso was long dead and Roku... was too, now. That left only one person he knew. Aang looked up into the sky. "What do I now?"
The Moon was silent.
Aang run a hand through his short hair. "Right."
* * * *
"If you are killed in the Avatar State," Roku had said, "the reincarnation cycle will be broken and the Avatar will cease to exist."
* * * *
The next morning Aang called his friends into his cabin. He didn't want to tell them but he needed to put a stop to the invasion plan before people deluded themselves any further.
"When Azula shot me," Aang explained, "I was in the Avatar State. And when I d-died, I was in the Avatar State."
"Yeah," said Sokka, "and then Katara healed you."
"I know, but... it was too late." His friends stared at him, not understanding. He had to force out the next words, not wanting to say them and make it official. "I came back to life. The Avatar Spirit didn't. I can still airbend but that's it. I'm not the Avatar anymore. The Avatar... is dead."
Silence.
"You can't bend water or earth?" asked Toph.
"No."
"Have you, y'know, tried not being a wuss about it?"
Aang glared at his friend. "Yes, Toph. I have!"
She threw up his hands. "Okay! Okay! Sheesh, I was just asking."
Katara covered her mouth. "This is horrible," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Aang! I-If I had been faster--"
"No," he cut her off. "It's not your fault, Katara. It's mine." Aang bowed his head. "If I had kept better track of Azula, she would never have gotten the drop on me."
"...Okay," said Sokka. "Well, this changes the invasion plan a little."
"A little?" asked Aang, incredulous. "How am I supposed to face the Fire Lord now?"
Sokka wagged a finger at him. "You're still a master airbender. And the last time I checked, we have a world-class waterbender and the greatest earthbender ever."
"Aww." Toph slugged Sokka's shoulder. "Flatterer."
"Ow," said Sokka.
"But I'm not the Avatar anymore," Aang insisted. "I'm just the last airbender."
"So?" said Toph. "Like Chuckles said, we'll just do it together." She cracked her knuckles. "A three-on-one fight against a powerless Fire Lord sounds awesome!"
"Yeah," said Sokka. "Besides, what's the big deal? Everyone in the whole world KNOWS you're the Avatar."
"But the Avatar Spirit di--"
Sokka gestured to the closed cabin door and the world beyond it. "They don't know that."
Aang frowned. "Wait, you're saying we lie about me still being the Avatar?"
"No," said Katara, a grin spreading across her startled face, "Sokka's saying we fake it. Toph and I can cover for your earthbending and waterbending. We don't tell anyone. People will still have hope in the Avatar!"
"You're all CRAZY!" Aang shouted, stumbling to his feet. "Don't you get it?! I'm not the Avatar anymore! There is no more Avatar! It's over!"
"I'll never give up, Aang," said Katara. She came over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. Looking him in the eye, she said, "I'm not going to give up and let the Fire Nation win. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't keep fighting. And we may not have the Avatar anymore, but we still have you. And you have us."
Sokka poked his head around Katara. "Yeah, what she said."
"I'm with Sweetness," piped up Toph. "Fight 'em 'till we can't!"
Katara asked, "What do you say, Aang?"
* * * *
And Aang considered.
The waters were still. The earth did not move. The Spirits were silent.
On the plus side, he would never have to be afraid of burning Katara again.
Hope seemed impossible. Even with the Day of Black Sun, how was he going to defeat the Fire Nation without the rest of his powers? It made more sense to turn the ship around, maybe find someplace far away, a remote island or an oasis in a desert, and hide away forever.
He wasn't the Avatar anymore. He was free to just be a kid again. He could let the war be someone else's problem. After all, if the Fire Lord was going to be powerless then anyone could fight him. It didn't have to be Aang, the last airbender.
But...
But the world had fought the Fire Nation for a hundred years when the Avatar had deserted it. Even after the fall of the Earth Kingdom, the people of this ship were still fighting on. His friends were still going to try, even knowing what he'd lost. Gyatso had gone down fighting when things must have seemed hopeless. None of them had been the Avatar. They had still fought for the people they cared for, for the Balance.
Avatar Aang had had to do it, but Airbender Aang had a choice.
And Aang knew the right choice to make.
* * * *
Katara asked, "What do you say, Aang?"
After a long moment, Aang nodded. "Let's do this."
The Natural Daughter of Somebody -- Midori is eight years old. She always looks forward to her Uncle Mushi's visits. The first AtLA fic I've written that's not an AU!! It's a continuation. (1,499 words)
Midori's first memory is of sitting in her uncle's lap, looking across a Pai Sho board at her mother. She's four or five. There's a pleasant odor of tea in the air. Midori remembers thinking how pretty the painted tiles looked.
She reaches for the piece with the three-legged raven. Her uncle gently takes hold of her wrist and keeps her from messing up the game in play.
* * * *
The spring of her eighth year, Midori has a surprise for her uncle when he comes for his annual visit. She waits in her mother's shadow as they welcome Uncle into their little house, which buds off from the printing shop her mother manages.
"Jin," says Uncle, kissing Mom's hand. Mom smiles like a cat at the gesture. It's an expression that Midori wishes she could imitate but can't. They aren't much alike. "You are looking lovely as always."
"Oh, Mushi. Always the flatterer."
"~Mom~!"
Her mother gently rests a hand on top of her hair. "Mushi, your grand-niece has something she's been dying to tell you."
Uncle hunkers down on his knees. "Oh?"
"I'm a BENDER!"
"You... bend?" he asks, with a touch of wonder. Midori can tell he's impressed. She grins. He looks up at her mother.
"Don't worry," Mom says. "Show him, baby."
Nodding firmly, Midori stomps the ground. A chunk of rock breaks off the stone floor and levitates into the air.
Uncle stares, dumbfounded, but then a broad grin breaks out across his face. "That... that's very impressive, my little earthbender."
She's still showing off the little tricks she's picked up in the last few weeks when Mom whispers to Uncle, thinking Midori isn't listening, "This makes things easier, you know."
"In some ways," murmurs back Uncle.
* * * *
The next day, she and Uncle go for walk through the winding footpaths of Taku. Midori leads the way, though Uncle makes them stop, like, every twenty feet to browse through a vendor's stall or a knickknack shop.
Taku is both a new city and an old one. Destroyed in the early days of the Great War, it laid fallow for almost a century until the territory was given back to the Earth Kingdom at war's end in exchange for conceding sovereignty to the larger Fire Nation settlements in the Five Occupied Provinces. Midori knows this because Taku is filled with unhappy refugees from the land the Fire Nation stole.
It's mostly the adults who care about stuff like that. Midori and her friends grew up in Taku in the years the decayed city lifted itself out of the grave. The Great War is ancient history. If a bunch of bitter old men and women with burn scars want to rough up traders from the Fire Nation, Midori hopes they're at least smart enough to do it in the back alleys where the city guard can't see.
Eventually the two of them end up in a little park. Uncle takes a seat on a bench -- "My old bones are weary," he tells her -- and watches as she and a couple of other kids play a pickup game of Earth Soccer. Midori loves it because it gives her a chance to show off her earthbending. Not three months ago she could only sit with her friends and watch as the benders played. Now she can bend. Her teacher said she had 'real talent'. Midori likes that idea. She wants Uncle to see how good she is at earthbending.
It isn't hard to do. Midori is amazed how the other kids just didn't see how the soccer ball will angle off the rock pillars. Are they blind? Or just stupid? Midori had picked that stuff up the first time she played. Now she can ricochet it off her pillars at crazy angles and dance around the other kids.
Midori leaves her own teammates in the dust, single-handedly racking up a string of goals in minutes. After the game is over, one of her teammates, a pig-tailed girl, runs up to her and says, "Hey! Why were you hogging the ball?!"
"I wasn't hogging it! I was winning the game!"
Instead of saying anything, the girl shoves her. Midori shoves back. The pig-tailed girl doesn't take it lightly, hitting Midori in the shoulder with a sloppy punch. In turn, Midori slugs the girl across the mouth. She staggers back. The rest of the kids gather 'round, cheering them on. Before the other girl can recover, Midori moves to strike her again. When she draws back her fist, however, it's caught in something firm. Spooked, Midori turns her head.
Uncle glares back at her. "That's enough!" His word is enough to silence the bloodthirsty circle. He lets go of Midori's hand. "Apologize to this girl."
"B-but--!"
"Now, niece."
Skin flushing with embarrassment, Midori turns away from her uncle and faces the pig-tailed girl with the bloodied lip. She chokes out, "I'm s-sorry."
* * * *
Later, they sit together on a park bench.
Uncle rests a hand on the small of her back. Midori's first instinct is to push him away. But this is Uncle and he and Mom are the only people who would never hurt her. Uncle says to her, "You know, you have your mother's eyes, but there are times when I can not help but be reminded of your aunt."
Midori perks up at this. "I have an aunt?!"
Uncle nods. "She was a... juggler like your father."
"Really?" Was everyone on my father's side except Uncle a circus freak?
"Really."
"What was her name?"
"...Hotaru."
"'Aunt Hotaru'," Midori whispers a little breathlessly.
"There are times when I cannot help but think of you as your aunt reborn. It is unfair, I know, but the physical resemblance is uncanny." Uncle strokes his beard. "And there is more. You share her relentless drive for perfection, her love for her parent--"
Midori asks, "So Dad and Aunt Hotaru were only raised by their mom too?"
Uncle smirks. He wags a finger at her. "Sharp too. But not quite right. After your grandmother passed away, your father and aunt were raised by your grandfather. Lee and his father did not get along, but Hotaru was close to him."
"What about you?"
"Lee and I... we didn't spend much time together before he left the circus. Hotaru and I were never close."
"B-but you said I was just like her! You still love me, right?"
"Of course!"
Midori relaxes. Straightening her shoulders, she declares, "That's acceptable."
Uncle laughs. "I am glad you find it so."
"So why didn't you and Aunt Hotaru love each other?"
The characteristic twinkle in his eyes dims. More solemnly, he explains, "Your grandfather -- my brother -- thought I was a bad influence, and your aunt and I had different opinions on... well, everything. She was passionate but I don't think she ever cared about how the things she did affected other people." Uncle deflates. "Nowadays I cannot help but wish I had tried harder with your aunt. I helped your father. Perhaps..."
Midori has never heard of a mean-spirited juggler before. "Is that why you got angry at me for hitting that jerk?"
"Ah," says Uncle, "but why did she shove you first?"
"Because she's mean."
Uncle arches one eyebrow.
Midori hunches forward. "Okay," she says after a few seconds, "I didn't pass her the ball." Midori adds, "But she's a horrible player! I was winning for the team!"
"Were you? Or were you playing for your own satisfaction?"
She scowls. "What's satizz... satis--?"
"For your own fun."
"Oh." A pause. "But I was better than her. So I should be the one with ball!"
Uncle asks, "How would you feel if another, better earthbender wouldn't let you have the ball during a game?"
"I'll be the better one," she mutters, staring angrily at her bare feet. Since she'd started earthbending, Midori has steadfastly refused to wear shoes. Everyone knows the greatest earthbenders walked around barefoot. "I should be the best."
"Being the best isn't enough if you don't have love, niece. Your father strove to be best at juggling even if he lacked your aunt's raw talent."
Uncle goes on, "Lee was the most honorable man I ever knew, and I do not say that just because he was your father. Lee struggled to do the right thing. There were times he failed but, in the end, he made the right choices. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his friends. Lee knew power is nothing without love, something I couldn't teach your aunt."
"I wish my dad had done the wrong thing," Midori says, staring at her feet. "Then he'd still be here."
Uncle Mushi leans over and hugs her. "I'm sure if he had the choice to be with you, my little earthbender, he would be."
Rather than say anything, Midori just hugs her uncle back.
"Try to remember what I said today, niece."
"I will, Uncle."
Hand-in-hand, Midori and her uncle walk back home.
