The Second Avatar Book 1: Water

Chapter 6: Family is fire?

Katara, Aang, and I sit near a small waterfall when we spot Sokka coming towards us. 

Aang "Great, your back. What's for dinner?" 

Sokka "We've got a few options first, round nuts and some oval-shaped nuts and some rock-shaped nuts that might just rock dig in." 

Katara "Seriously, what else you got." 

That's when I watched Momo take the little rock and bang it against a huge rock and made a considerable bang noise. Momo proceeded to do it again, which made an even louder sound. 

Aang "It's coming from over there." 

Sokka "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms, not toward them." 

We all go towards the sound to see a young man earthbending a rock, not seeing us watch him; that's what Katara said that he's an earthbender. 

I said, "No, I thought he was an Airbender Katara; why, guess Aang isn't the last of his kind." 

Aang "Let's go meet him." 

Sokka "He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously." 

Katara "Hello there, I'm Katara; what's your name?" 

I said, "Katara, are you going to be this stupid all the time? Come on." 

Aang "Nice to meet you." 

Katara "I just wanted to say hi." 

Aang "Hey, those guys got to be running somewhere; maybe we're near a village, and I bet that village has a market." 

Katara "Which means no nuts for dinner." 

Sokka "Hey, I worked hard to get those nuts; yeah, I hate them, too." 

We followed the path until we finally got to the village; this place seems familiar, but can't I put the finger on it? 

Aang "Great hat, I'll trade you some nuts for it." 

Katara proceeded to go where the boy we saw earlier to get her curious like a cat out of the way because I swear, she like a bit of a kid when they first see the glitter. 

Katara "Hey, you're that kid; why did you run away before?" 

Haru "Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid." 

Aang "No, she doesn't; we saw you earthbending." 

Haru and his mother both slam the window and door shut so that they can have a secret conversation with us. 

Haru's mom "They saw you do what?" 

Haru "They're crazy, mom. I mean, look at how they dress; even that girl looks like a fire nation girl." 

Haru's mom "You know how dangerous that is; you know what would happen if they caught you earthbending." 

Strange man, "open up!" 

Sokka "Fire nation act natural." 

I take my cloak off to avoid questions, knowing who will come in, and I stand behind the counter. 

Haru's mom "What do you want? I've already paid you this week." 

Strange man. "The tax just doubled, and we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" 

I said, "Your right; we wouldn't like an accident now get lost before I firebend your face to match Zuko's."

He looked me straight in the eye, and then he looked shocked even to see me here; he seemed so scared like he just wet himself. 

Strange man "General Mizu, I had no idea you were coming into town; why didn't you send us a bird?" 

I said, "I lost my bird a while back, and I wanted to see how you treated these people, but I feel disappointed seeing as you just threatened this poor woman who has to provide for her son." 

Strange man, "I'm so sorry, General, please forgive me. I am only doing my job, but from now on, I'll do it less aggressively." 

I said, "Very well as you were, leave the tax collection to me. I'll find my way back to you guy later on." 

The strange man left without another word, and this left everyone starstruck when I guess my little secret is out can't hide it anymore. 

I said, "Well, what was I supposed to do while you were in that Iceberg Aang blend in like everyone else? It will provide us with inside information, and the fact that I am a General makes me less likely to be questioned." 

Haru's mom "Five years, fire lord Ozai used our town's coal mines to fuel his ships." 

Haru "They're thugs they steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it." 

Haru's mom "Quiet, Haru, don't talk like that." 

Katara "But Haru's an earthbender; he can help." 

Haru's mom "Earthbending is forbidden; it's caused nothing but misery for this village he must never use his abilities." 

Katara "How can you say that Haru has a gift? Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend; it's a part of who we are." 

Haru's mom "You don't understand." 

Katara "I understand that Haru can help you fight back; what can the fire nation do to you that they haven't done already?" 

Haru's mom "They could take Haru away like they took his father." 

Haru, "My mom said you could sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning." 

Aang "Thanks, I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay." 

Haru and Katara leave to talk about feelings, and I am not a fan of emotions, so I decided to stay with Sokka and Aang; later that night, Katara wouldn't shut up about him. 

I said, "Well, if you like him so much, why don't you marry him, Katara?" 

She throws a pillow at me, and I dodge it making it hit Sokka in the back of the head; we all fall asleep to wake up at dawn. Katara walked back into the shed we were all packing to leave when she starts getting angry at the fire nation for taking Haru. 

I said, "I told you, you should have married him, then you guy wouldn't be separated." 

She came up with a plan to get her in prison to help Haru and his father get out, so his father told her to get onto the ship to make sure nothing terrible happens to Katara. The Warden took the whole day showing me around, kissing my ass, and straight-up just talking about how amazing he is at keeping all the earthbender's in line because you know he's doing all the heavy-duty stuff. Later that night, I walked down to find Sokka, Aang, and Katara all arguing, but for once, I'm with Katara; we need to get a rebellion to overthrow the Warden. 

I said, "Sokka and Aang, I'll stay here with Katara; you have nothing to worry about; after all, I am a General, and no one questions me, plus I'll look after her to make sure she stays in line." 

After gathering coal with Aang, it was almost dawn, and I could feel Katara getting very impatient; let me tell you, I wasn't near her, and I could feel it. Aang and I start to airbend the coal into the vent to get it to Katara and Sokka, but we might have gone a little overboard with the coal. I left to find Appa that way; I can keep my cover. I watched everything from afar, but I was impressed with everyone working together. I jumped off Appa and introduced myself to Haru's dad, who seemed to be in awe of seeing a fire nation uniform. 

I said, "I'm glad to see you again; it's been a while, and here I thought I didn't know Haru; we used to play together when we were kids before I became a General." 

Tyro "You have grown to be a beautiful young lady, and I hope your path at the second Avatar leads to a happy ending. I still remember how adorable you used to be." 

I said, "Well, we have to go, our journey isn't over yet, but I'll be sure to try and see you both again." 

I looked down at the bracelet Zuko's grandfather gave me to signify that I to marry Zuko was gone, but I wasn't sad. I'm sure I will see it again.