Put an End to this Sad Story

The Two of Us Together Again

I stare straight ahead, looking at the sea before me. The waves crash against the boat, freezing cold and rough, yet beautiful too. Perhaps it's the shimmer cast by the setting sun, or the raw ferocity with which they crash upon us. Looking out at the vast ocean, it seems so powerful, so uncontrollable, but I could easily bend these waters to my will, and that feeling of power is exhilarating. Despite bending being the cause of my misery, I love the feeling of control more than almost anything else.

However seeing my brother, after so many years is a feeling that is nearly indescribable. I've missed him so much. I regretted running away from him, I should have grabbed his hand and made him escape with me. Guilt used to keep me up at night as I thought about how I had left him alone with my father, no one to defend him except my mother.

A pang of remorse shoots through me, I wish I hadn't had to take away his bending. But it was for the best, bending is a curse on our family and the world, the fewer of us burdened with it, the better. Besides, bending has brought enough pain to my little brother, I'm glad I was able to relieve him of it.

He looks similar to when he was a child, but when I glanced at him before, his eyes no longer had the look of a lost polar bear dog. I saw his eyes many times after I left, not just in my dreams of home, but in the people of my revolution. Defenseless non-benders who looked towards me for guidance in our fight against benders, they had all felt violence and oppression from benders, just like Tarrlok.

When I first heard him make speeches I had been surprised by the change in him but I know I should have expected it. All those years of anger and rage had taken its toll on my innocent little brother. It had hardened him into a man of action, one who would not hesitate to impose unfair laws to get what he wanted. I realize we are very much alike, even after all these years apart, we still ended up the same. Both of us were relentless in our efforts to achieve our very different goals. Yet we have always wanted the same thing – freedom.

 I vowed to myself that I wouldn't become the man my father was, I would never use my bending against others like my father had while he was a crime lord. I would only ever use it to defend people. That's what I had promised myself, but I had unknowingly broken my promise a long time ago.

By using my bending to fight others, I realize I had done what my father wanted. Used my strength against those weaker than me, destroyed their lives much like my father had. Perhaps I was the monster people thought I was, but that's not what I had meant to be. I had meant to be a revolutionary, and to the Equalists I still am, but everyone else thought I only spread terror and discord. But maybe the only way to make a change in this stubborn world is to use aggressive force.

My plan had been perfect; it would have solved the world's problems. I would have eradicated all bending in the world; everyone would be on equal level. No one would ever be able to take advantage of others using their bending. But they had to keep fighting. If they had just yielded, let the revolution happen, all the pain would have been avoided.

But it doesn't matter, I'm still alive, and now I have my Tarrlok by my side. After all these years we are finally together again! Nothing can stop us now; we can achieve anything we want. This time, we really can succeed; we can change the world – for the better.

 "The two of us together again, there's nothing we can't do!' I say, voicing my thoughts to Tarrlok, excitement colors my voice. I smile at my words, they give me hope.

I will never give up my dream, not without a fight. And with the two of us fighting together as an unstoppable team, my vision of a bending free world will one day be a reality. It has to happen, because the alternative is a world where people like my father can exist. My solution may not be perfect, but it's the best answer I can think of. It's the only way the pain and abuse I suffered as child can be healed; it's the only way to make sure no one ever has to endure what my brother and I have faced.

"Yes Noatak," my brother says from behind me. His voice, it stops me for a second. Where I feel excited and hopeful, all I hear in his voice is sorrow. But he agrees with me, which has to mean something.

We're finally together and I know this is our destiny. I can feel it, we're meant to bring in a whole new world order. We can change the world, and I know we'll survive because we'll always be together and that's all we'll ever need. I know Tarrlok also wants this, how could he not, he must feel the same way I do. If we do this, he'll finally be able to get revenge against our father. Instead of destroying Republic City, we can save it! Under my father's control the city would have crumbled but under ours it will only grow, I know it!

And we can do it all without having to hide. There's no point anymore, everyone knows who we are. I haven't been called Noatak in a long time, the last time I heard another say my name was when my little brother called out for me to come home, years ago.  I renounced that identity when I ran away from home, but maybe I could take it back. Maybe I don't have to be Amon anymore; instead of having to hide behind a mask I could change the world while still being me. The people of the world fear me now, but with my brother's help soon they can come to know me as Noatak, and eventually they will let me help them. Eventually they will help me, Noatak, make my dreams of an equal world real.

I chuckle and say, "I had almost forgotten the sound of my own name." Memories of the past flood my mind. From when we were children, back when life was carefree and easy. Despite the many years, the image of my mother hasn't faded or blurred at all. Flashes of details I've desperately clung to run through my mind, the sound of her laugh, clear and silvery. The warmth and safety I felt in her hugs. The beautiful smile that lit up her face whenever she saw Tarrlok and I after a hunting trip. And then memories that both sicken and confuse me come to me. My father hugging my mother and giving her a kiss on the cheek. The monster, I don't know if he ever really loved her. How could he have? If he really cared for her he would have told her the truth. He would have run away and never married her. He would never have ruined her life! Without him she would have lived a happy life just like any other normal person from the Southern Water Tribe, but he took that away from her. Because of him, my mother will one day die alone, unhappy and confused as to whatever happened to the happy family she probably remembers. And then I remember Tarrlok as a child, him and me playing in the snow. Me looking after him, being the big brother. I loved being the big brother; I took pride in protecting him. With this new life, I can continue protecting him.

All the pain of the past still burdens me, but with Tarrlok here, it seems to fade and is replaced with a carefree happiness.

These are all hopes and dreams, somewhere deep inside me, there is a pit filled with doubt and misery and anger waiting to unleash itself on the world and I feel scared. I feel scared for the world and for myself; I don't want to hurt anyone ever again. I want to live life but I wonder, what will the future hold for us? Will we continue repeating the mistake of our father, or will we manage to change the world for the better?

It doesn't matter though, nothing matters anymore. Because whatever happens, we're together again, nothing will ever separate us and that's enough for me.

"It will be just like, the good old days."

            A tear slides down my cheek at his words, and it's filled with longing and hope but sorrow and doubt. And most of all, it's filled with endless love.

Because I love my brother, and that's enough for me.

The two of us together again, it will be just like the good old days.