Legend of Korra: Reimagined

Chapter 1: Anger (Shyla)

Shyla Bei Fong strode through the streets of Republic City, smiling like a little kid. She was happy; it was true. She was an 18-year-old firebender, earthbender, and airbender, and she grew up in a family who raised her to do so. First her grandfather, Toph, began bending, and then he taught her mother. Now her mother was teaching her, and Shyla's 2-year-old daughter, Cala, was learning as well.

Shyla reached her boyfriend Maru Zei's house and let herself right in. Her boyfriend was not home yet; he was still out firebending. It was his job, his main priority. He saw to it every day between 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Now he would be home in 30 minutes, and she would be waiting for him. She did this every day, and because of this, he always left the door unlocked.

Shyla sat on the couch and rested. Her day had been very tiring. It had been filled with earthbending, teaching Cala not to touch the light switches, trying on earthbending clothes, and visiting her grandfather, who had a chest cold. She was exhausted. But she refused to fall asleep. She couldn't let her boyfriend walk in and see her sleeping (and possibly snoring) on his couch. It just couldn't happen.

Shyla decided to go into the bathroom and freshen up. She sauntered up the creaky wooden stairs and stepped into the white tiled bathroom. It smelled of rosy perfume in there. Aaah. Just the calming smell Shyla needed. Why he had sprayed rose-scented perfume in his bathroom-being a boy and all-was far from Shyla's mind. But it was a wonderful, beautiful smell, and she loved it..

As she took in the aroma, she grabbed a gray rag off the sink and wet it. She added soap and began scrubbing her face with the rag. After drying her face, she washed her hands. She searched the drawers for a clean toothbrush and began brushing her teeth. As soon as she was done, she began to walk downstairs, and stopped. Maru Zei was standing by the front door. He looked up. Then he began to walk toward the stairs. As soon as he was standing at the bottom of the staircase, Shyla ran down the stairs and flew into his arms. "Oh, Maru!" she exclaimed. "I missed you so much!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy, Shy!" Maru stepped back, laughing. "And it's only been a day since I last saw you!"

"Well, it feels like a century!" Shyla said, and kissed his lips. He kissed hers right back, and before they knew it, they were both kissing like there was no tomorrow. Maru held her in his arms and ran his fingers through her hair. Shyla loved when he did that. It relaxed her.

They kissed for a full ten minutes until Maru finally pulled away and said, "I was asked to deliver this." He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. He held it out to her and she took it, unfolded it, and gasped. "It's...its from Miyo," she said. She looked down. "I'll read it later." Maru walked into his living room with a nod and sat on his sofa. "Aaah," he said, closing his eyes.

Shyla walked over to him. "Hard day, huh?"

"Yeah," he sighed, opening his eyes. "Today while I was bending fire, I tripped over some careless kid's bending pillar and fell right into a mud puddle."

Shyla giggled while Maru just kept a straight face. He looked agitated. Shyla immediately stopped giggling. Maru looked at her. "Hey," he said. "How would you like to come with me to Capital City? We could see so much there."

Shyla's face fell. "Um...what about Tarrlok? Isn't he going to get the police after us if we go into his territory?"

"We just need to be careful," said Maru.

Shyla shook her head slowly. "I-I don't think so. It's just too risky. Sorry, Maru."

Maru looked confused. "That's odd. I know sneaking into Tarrlok's territory is risky, but you don't have to be scared. Gosh, you're nothing like..." His voice trailed off.

Shyla sat down next to him. "Like who?" she asked, looking at him.

"Never mind," Maru said. "Anyway, I just want to go into the Air Temple and take a look around, you know? Explore. See what Tarrlok has up there that he doesn't want anyone to see."

"But he'll know," said Shyla. "He'll know we were there. He can tell. It's not safe, Maru. Korra says it's not safe, so it can't be safe."

Maru frowned. "Wait-my daughter even said it wasn't safe? How does she know about this?"

"Well, since I'm dating her father, naturally she wanted to get close to me. She asked me why her father was gone, and I said, 'He's only going to the Air Temple. He'll be right back.' But she said it wasn't safe."

"Shyla!" Maru exclaimed. "I didn't want my child to know about this! She can't be worried about me all the time! She's just ten!"

"I'm sorry," said Shyla. "But it wasn't right for me to lie to her. She loves me like I'm her own mother. I couldn't tell her lies."

"Don't tell her anything else," snapped Maru. "I don't want her to know anything else, got it?"

Shyla stood up. "I think I better go home. To my mother. Who never tells me lies."

Maru stood up, too. "Wait, Shyla. I think Tarrlok was supposed to visit out town. He's making sure we're living under his rules."

"I have to go," Shyla snapped. "My mom wanted me home before seven-thirty anyway."

Shyla exited the house before Maru could say anything else. She honestly didn't know why she was so angry at Maru. It was only a misunderstanding. But she headed for home, no longer happy as she had been before.

As she walked home, she saw a flash of blood shoot up. Tarrlok.

She ran to catch up to him and see who he was bloodbending. She was angry; she felt like taking on Tarrlok.

When she reached Tarrlok, she saw that he was bloodbending her best friend, Amon. And her mother was just standing there, letting it happen.

"No!" Shyla screamed. "Tarrlok! Get your hands off him!" She turned to her mom. "Do something!"

But nothing happened. Shyla finally screamed at her mother, "GO HOME! HE'LL GET YOU NEXT!"

Without a word, she ran for home and left Shyla fighting Tarrlok. But it was difficult. Tarrlok was strong.