The Other Airbender

3

I was not in a good mood.

After last night on the roof, I couldn't bring myself to face Haru. I needed to let him go. I needed to improve my airbending. And to do that I had to let him go. But I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, he would always be a part of my life, and letting go wasn't as easy as I thought. So I was stuck, clueless and hopeless. And confused.

What exactly was I feeling when I thought of Haru? I knew that when I was with him I got a strange feeling in my stomach, and no one else made me feel like that, not that I knew many other people. I knew that when I was with him I absent-mindedly let my guard down, and that scared me, yet at the same time I felt safe with him. I didn't know what to do. What does it mean?

So here I was, dragging my feet along the dirt ground as I went out to fetch more food, the measly amount of coins cooling the palm of my hand. I'd rather not contemplate matters that involve my own feelings. It's pointless, anyways. And it makes me uncomfortable.

"Did you hear? The Avatar is..." I paused my walk abruptly and turned to see a vendor talking in a hushed voice to one of his customers. I almost choked on my own spit at his words. The Avatar? The 'last Airbender'? I'd heard rumours recently that he was still alive but I didn't know what to believe. But if it really was true then maybe I could meet him, he could teach me, I could-

No. I shouldn't get my hopes up. It's probably just another rumour, I mean, someone bending all four elements? Likely story. Besides, he would be over a hundred years old, and anyone that age can barely walk, let alone bend, so even if he was alive what was the point in trying to find him? But I couldn't quench my curiosity, so I approached the vendor cautiously.

"What did you say about the Avatar?" I asked nervously. He eyed me warily before sighing.

"If you want to know, then you must buy." He gestured to the baskets of fish in front of him, "fresh from Kyoshi." I shrugged, I needed fish anyway, but this looked more expensive than the fish I usually bought.

"How much?" I ventured, preparing myself to be let down. I gripped the small coins in my hand tightly, as if somehow they would increase in value if I just wished hard enough.

"Two silvers." I gaped. Two silvers? For a fish. No fish is worth two silvers. I knew I only had one silver in my hand, and a couple of copper ones. Usually this was enough to buy more than just a fish, but obviously if I wanted this fresh Kyoshi fish and information I would need to pay up with money I didn't have. I sighed dejectedly and eyed the coins in my palm for a second before turning around to walk away. Whatever, it was probably some stupid rumour anyway, I didn't need to know it.

"I'll make it one silver." He called after me. I spun around, surprising myself with my own eagerness. Wow Miko, you're that desperate?

"Only for information on the Avatar, though." He clarified. Well this would be costing me a fortune. I gulped, hoping I wouldn't regret my decision.

"Fine. Deal." I tossed him the silver coin in my hand. He caught it and grinned, flashing the gaps in his teeth.

"The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island, and it's true, saw him with my own two eyes when I was catching fish, just yesterday," He began.

"What was he like?" I interrupted, surprising myself yet again with my eagerness to know the situation.

"Alright, alright, let me get to it," He sighed, slightly annoyed. "He was... how do I put this... cocky, perhaps? He seemed a bit self-obsessed. He was being followed by a bunch of squealing young girls - scared all the good fish away." Oh. I was disappointed, and you could see it written all over my face. So the Avatar was just some hundred year old sleaze abusing his name to get girls? Some saviour. Any hope at all I had earlier had vanished completely.

"He kept showing them this trick with his airbending, I think he was spinning some kind of marble in his hands? It wasn't very impressive, but it seemed to get all the girls swooning- some guy was even foaming at the mouth." I snorted, but I was also confused. That marble trick was something so simple any beginner could do it. Surely he would be showing off greater feats of his bending skills? But he was the real deal, as far as I could tell from the mans words. The marble trick was still airbending, and if he really was the Avatar maybe I could learn from him. Maybe.

"Well, there isn't much to it, other than that. He was bald and he had arrows tattooed all over his body. And everyone claimed he was the avatar, so I know I'm right, but I only saw him from a distance" He was probably true, and there were a lot more rumours going on about the Avatar lately, more than ever. People talked about it in hushed whispers, some joyful, some angry, some just in disbelief. After all, where on earth had he been for the last hundred years?

"Hmm, and he was very short..." He murmured, more to himself than to me.

"Well, thank you, mister," I said abruptly, not wanting to stand there awkwardly while talked to himself. He offered me a small smile.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, he didn't seem like he would be saving anyone anytime soon." He stated, almost gloomily, and I agreed with him. The Avatar was supposed to save us, not hang around in safety away from the Fire Nation with a bunch of girls.

"Thanks again." I stated before walking away, my mood worse than it was to begin with. Great. Now I was hungry, with less money and nothing left to hope for. My Mother would have it in for me when I got home. And just to add on to that, the Avatar was some hundred year old pedo who liked to perform basic airbending tricks for little girls. And he was on Kyoshi Island, which was not very far from the mining village where I lived. Great. Everything was just great.