An Echo of Legends: An ATLA Mystery Story (on hiatus)

Chapter 2: Izumi

"How's the firebending going?" Izumi slammed her book shut. 

"I'll be inside." Izumi walked quickly down the stone path and into the main building of air temple island. She didn't know the house very well, so she simply walked down the hallway, the sunlight streaming in, her leather shoes padding softly on the bamboo floor. She stopped as she saw a cabinet. On top were a few unlit candles, an incense burner, and two portrait paintings. The first was of a woman who looked a lot like Katara. The second was of an older man in airbending robes with a kind smile. Izumi glanced left and right to make sure there was no one around. Then she picked up one of the candles.

Remember what dad taught you, she thought to herself, Firebending comes from the breath. She breathed deeply, put her thumb and index finger together, and a tiny flame appeared between them as she exhaled. Izumi grinned and used it to light the candle. 

Now for the hard part. Once again she inhaled, and as she exhaled, she pinched the wick of the candle. 

"Ow!" 

"Izumi?"It was Bumi, standing in the entrance to the kitchen. 

"Hey," Izumi sighed. 

"Can you still not firebend?"

"I can firebend!" she protested, blowing out the candle, "Well, I'm a firebender, I just..."

"Let's go sit by the water," Bumi glanced at the two paintings, "I don't think my parents like us messing with this cabinet." Izumi nodded and followed him. She knew her parents,  Bumi's parents, and the rest of their friends had a distressing, war torn past. She knew by the way that her paternal grandfather was never mentioned. Her great Uncle Iroh had been there, but he'd left two years ago, to where, she wasn't sure, and while she knew her father had a sister, she didn't even know her name, much less what she was like or whether or not she was still alive. 

"I still don't understand why it's such a big deal," Bumi said as the made their way to the pier. 

"If I'm going to be the firelord I should be a good firebender."

"But why?" Bumi said. He gestured to her book, "I think that's a lot more important."

"As the firelord, I will be a symbol of our strength and pride. A weak firebender as a leader reflects poorly on the entire nation," she sighed, "I can't even snuff out a candle, let alone a rebellion, or enemy forces." Bumi shrugged. 

"I just don't think it's that important. You're going to be a great firelord."

"Thanks Bumi," Izumi said, but it didn't make her feel any better. Looking out from the pier, she saw an odd shape. 

"What's that boat doing here?"

"Huh?" Bumi looked out alongside her, "That's weird," he said, "Maybe I should go tell my dad." Then they were shaken by a deafening boom. Izumi turned her head and saw a blast of heat and debris. The whole island seemed to shake, and blue flames began to lick up the sides of the buildings. Then she felt Bumi grab her arm and pull her into the bay, just as the pier began to catch fire. They resurfaced from the freezing water a moment later, gasping for breath. 

"Bumi?!" She couldn't see him anywhere. The waves were recoiling from the explosion, and she fought just to keep afloat. 

"Izumi!" She heard the flap of wings, and her mother's voice, as Druk swooped down, and Mai's arms pulled her onto the dragon's back. She hacked up seawater until her throat was clear, and once her vision focused, she saw Bumi sitting next to Sokka, Ty Lee, Su, and Kya. She sighed in relief. 

"Are you okay?" Mai asked. Before Izumi could answer, Fang made a sharp turn to the right, where four figures were running towards the now destroyed pier. It was her father, Suki, Lin and Tenzin. Druk landed on the sand, at a safe distance from any trees that could catch the strange blue fire. 

"Go to Toph's apartment," Zuko said as Lin and Tenzin climbed onto Druk, with the help of Suki, "The rest of us will try to put out the fire." 

"Wait!" Izumi said. After all, she was a firebender, "I- I can help." It sounded more pathetic then she intended. Her parents engaged in a silent conversation with their eyes. She saw pity, and maybe even exasperation in their expressions. 

"No," Mai said, "You can't." She signaled for Druk to lift off. Izumi bit her lip and looked away. She had a clear view of the chaos that was taking place on the island. Aang had gone into the avatar state. His eyes and tattoos glowed, and he and Katara summoned a massive tidal wave. Toph was using huge blocks of earth to try to stamp out the fire, while her dad was extinguishing it with firebending. 

That's what I should be doing, she thought, that is, if I wasn't so useless.

As they flew towards the city, no one talked, except for Sokka and Suki. Izumi had to strain to hear their muffled voices. 

"You know what this looks like."

"Sokka, we can't be sure."

"Come on, blue fire?!" he whispered harshly. 

"We haven't seen her in almost 20 years."

"Exactly. What if she was trying to send a message?"

"And what if it is her?" In the low light, shades of pink and orange set Suki's concerned expression aglow. "What will we do? We've never been able to catch her before."

"Believe me," Sokka said, "I really hope it isn't." 

Druk landed beside some boats, with sirens blaring, probably to help put out the strange fire that had occurred on the island. More silence as they walked silently to Toph's apartment, on the top floor of one of the older buildings of Republic city, back from when Cranefish Town had just started to expand. Lin turned her spare key into the lock, and the door swung open. The silence that had perpetuated throughout the entire flight home finally broke. 

"I know this is shocking," Suki said, "But let's all try to get some sleep."

"Your parents will be fine," Ty Lee said, noticing Tenzin's distraught face, "The island will heal." Slowly, everyone began to settle down. Lin, Su, and Kya talked softly as they walked to Lin's room. Izumi followed, a few feet behind. She was the outsider, always buried in a book, never exchanging conversation or showing off her bending. As everyone else started to fall asleep, she stared out the window, the island's blue light slowly dimming as the fire was being extinguished, like a candle flickering out. 

~~~

Thanks for Reading! Updates might be a little slow for a while. I'm pretty busy.