The Other Airbender

4

After earning a good shouting from my Mother last night, all I had wanted to do was sleep. Honestly, the voice on that woman almost broke my eardrums sometimes I swear. It was another day, but it was still the same. I'd probably go find Haru because I was bored, and I didn't really want to pay much thought to the way I felt about him. I just wanted to see him. 

I knew he would probably be practicing earthbending in his usual secluded spot, so I headed towards the forest to see if I could catch him before he came home. Like me, Haru also practiced his bending in private, away from prying eyes, and sometime we even fought each other. We kept our secrets, and our Mothers never found out. I could hear the sound of the earth before I saw him, and I couldn't help but smile to myself. The smile fell from my face when I heard a female voice. I stopped in my tracks. Who was it? I didn't recognise the voice, it almost sounded foreign. Before I could process my thoughts I heard rocks crumbling together, before Haru came running towards me. I stared at him.

"You look like you've seen a spirit or something." I giggled, before stopping to pat his back as he panted softly.

"We need to run." He insisted firmly, "Someone saw me bending."

My laugh died in my throat and I could feel my stomach sinking and my heart beating faster. I let him grab my wrist and pull me forward as we sprinted towards the village. Oh no, Haru. What have you done? We slowed down as we neared the village, trying not to act suspicious. He pulled me into his house, and we gave each other a knowing look, before he greeted his Mother. 

"Where have you been, Haru? You're late! Get started on your chores" She exclaimed. "Oh, hey Miko, you wouldn't mind giving him a hand, would you?" She smiled, her whole demeanour changing after seeing me. I let out a small giggle, letting myself relax a bit after the terror I had felt about Haru being seen. I was about to respond when the door burst open. 

"Hey, you're that kid." The female voice from before exclaimed. I saw Haru's eyebrow raise as a look of horror washed over his face. We whipped around to see who was talking, an uneasy feeling settling inside me. Although I resented her for not just leaving Haru alone, I had to admit the girl standing in front of me was unbelievably pretty, and she wore what looked like Water Tribe clothes. Her bright blue eyes stood out from her coloured skin, and I felt my breath hitch in my throat. 

"Why did you run away before?" She prodded.

"Uhh." Haru looked down at me, as if hoping I would come up with something. His Mother just watched the whole situation incredulously. 

"You must have him confused with someone else." I butted in, and he gave me a relieved look. If I were him I wouldn't have been relieved, that was a terrible lie.  

"No she doesn't." Another voice cut in. I turned my head to see who was talking and I let out a small gasp. The young boy standing behind the girl was wearing Air Nomad clothes. And I mean, they were almost exactly like the real deal, the ones I saw in drawings. I had tried to recreate them myself, but I could never get it right, not that I was any good at sewing as my Mom never took it upon herself to teach me. I mean she never really wanted much to do with me anyway. The boy had even drawn on airbending tattoos, and I could see them on his wrists. How cute. He was probably a big fan if he was able to get clothes as realistic as that.

"We saw you earthbending!" He shouted. Haru, his Mother and I all gasped in terror. Boy, that little kid was loud. We ran to shut the windows and the door abruptly, before I shot the group a glare. There were three of them, the boy dressed in Air Nomad attire with a comically large hat on his head, the pretty girl with Water Tribe clothes and her side bangs looped into a large braid, and another guy, who looked about the same age as Haru and I, who was also wearing Water Tribe colours and his hair in a short ponytail, and he was eyeing me with piercing blue eyes. My breath hitched in my throat again, before I shrugged it off and gave them all glare.