Republic City High School - Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty – I'll Remember, This Time


At the boating docks in Republic City, many people had come to see the miracle take place. A small crowd was gathered around as I stood with Yupei, Dan-Tei, and Rinzen on one of the concrete docks that harbored the ships going back and forth between Republic City and the Fire Nation. We were all watching in stunned silence as Tahno and my mother stood to face each other.

My father, dressed in his White Lotus uniform, lowered himself onto his knees before my mother. They locked eyes for a long time, and slowly she placed one hand to his forehead, and the other over his heart. The crowd grew deathly silent.

I saw my mother's hands begin to glow where they connected to my father's body. He let out a gasp that was heard by everyone gathered there, and through his mouth, there started a white light. My mother and father both opened their eyes at the same time, entire sockets glowing a healing white. It seemed to last forever, and then the lights died down, and my father seemed to be released from some trance.

He looked around cautiously, eyeing the crowd in a paranoid manner. Then he gathered himself, and turned to the ocean that lapped against the docks.

This was the moment.

He readied a stance, pushed both hands out, and then retracted them back to his core. And with that movement, he pulled with him some of the salty water from the ocean and swirled it between his hands. The crowd watched in awe for a moment, and then the cheers erupted all around me.

Suddenly, the water fell to the ground, but I could see that it had been an intentional movement on my dad's part. There were tears in his eyes when I looked back to his face, a hysterical happiness that could not even be expressed in words. He looked at my mom, who smiled gently at him, and then fell into her arms. I had never seen him look so grateful in his life. I saw the tears fall to the pavement, and as the crowd dispersed to spread the news of the avatar's miraculous abilities, I was left standing there with just my three friends.

I guess this miracle marked the end of my time at Republic City High School, at least for now.

"Tahno," my mom managed to mumble. "Come on, stop. Pregnant, here. This kind of hurts."

He let go of her, and dropped to his knees to kiss her stomach.

"Listen to me, baby," he said, voice cracking. "I'm going to be your waterbending teacher, understand? If Mommy tries to give you lessons, don't let her, okay? You and Daddy have to team up against her so we can always have the advantage."

"The advantage for what?" my mom groaned. "Jeez, Tahno."

He looked up at her and smiled. Then he stood, placed both hands on her shoulder, and another tear fell.

"Thank you, Uh-vatar," he sighed.

She smirked back at him.

"Don't be gone too long, Pretty Boy," she teased, punching him on the shoulder. "Don't think this kid's just gonna wait around for you."

"I'll be home before the baby is born," he promised. "We only need a little time to sort things out. There's still a month or two before it's due."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I'll miss you, you know."

"I'll miss you, too."

"When you see Master Katara, remember to tell her I say hello."

He nodded, a little sad, now. "Yeah. Of course I will."

My dad turned to me, nodding to the boat that waited for us to board. I let out a long breath. This was it.

I took a few steps towards my dad, then turned back to see my friends. On this occasion, I was grateful to my dad for pushing aside the way he felt about Mako. I didn't know what I would do if I couldn't have a proper goodbye with Yupei and Dan-Tei.

"Come back soon, Kono," Yupei said, coming out to hug me. I returned the embrace and smiled at her when she released me. "I'll miss you a lot."

"I'll miss you, too, Yupei. And don't worry. It won't be that long. We have to be back before the baby's born."

She smiled, and stepped back to stand between Rinzen and Dan-Tei. When I looked at the firebender, he looked hurt.

"Man," he hissed. "Here you go, leaving me again."

Rinzen cast Dan-Tei a strange look. Dan-Tei didn't seem to notice. But my heart hurt when Dan-Tei said those things.

"I'm not moving away," I reassured him. "I promise you with everything I have. I won't forget, this time."

He let out a rueful breath of laughter.

"I hope not. I was born in the Fire Nation," he reminded me. "So maybe you'll think of me from time-to-time when you're there."

I let out a little breath and smiled at him. "I'm sure I will."

Then I looked at Rinzen, who had that same look in his eyes. But there was something a little different, now. They were cloudy and distant, not just dull. Something had definitely changed in him.

I felt ashamed looking at him, foolish. The last time I'd seen him, I had poured my heart out on the ground before him. This time, I just bowed deeply without removing my eyes from the ground.

Without another word, I turned around to leave.

"Don't go," a voice said from behind me, and I stiffened at the sound. My eyes widened as that voice shook through my body. I turned around slowly, locking eyes with the owner of that beautiful and terrifying voice. Rinzen stared at me with eyes laced with thin clouds. "I don't want you to go."

His words took my breath away, and it was a long time before I could even speak.

"Wh…why?" I managed to breathe.

He let out a short breath and cocked a smile.

"Because," he said simply. "I'll miss you."

I stared at him, sad and happy at the same time. Those were the exact same words I'd said to him the last time we'd seen each other.

"You're saying that because it's what I want to hear," I told him.

He smiled.

"Maybe I am," he admitted. And then, he continued. "Maybe I'm not."

Either way, I supposed it didn't matter.

"See you around, Rinzen," I told him warmly. Then I turned back once more to Dan-Tei and Yupei, and gave them the same farewell. I turned away – for the last time, this time – and took my dad's arm. We boarded the ship together, and I got just one last look at my friends before the door closed at the ship readied to make way for the Fire Nation.

"Bye," I said quietly to myself, holding my dad's hand to keep myself together. "I promise to remember all of you."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


When I watched the boat leave, it was kind of a sad feeling. I held on to my cousin's sleeve, watching my friend sail away in that ship. I guessed she'd be back. Until then, I would just keep waiting for her. It wouldn't be that long, after all.

"I guess we need to find a temporary waterbender for our team," I sighed. I wasn't really concerned about that. But I needed something to distract me from the sadness of that moment.

"Yeah," Dan-Tei sighed. Then my cousin's voice turned into a hiss. "And an airbender."

"I thought I was your airbender," Rinzen said from beside me. Kono and I had intentionally put ourselves between the two in order to separate them as much as possible. Now that she was gone, it was just me and the two boys.

"Not a chance," Dan-Tei snapped. "I already told you."

I let out a long, breathy sigh. What was I going to do about these two without Kono?

Dan-Tei went to walk away angrily. Rinzen and I stood, watching him stomp down the dock. I heard Rinzen laugh quietly to himself, and I looked up curiously at him.

"Dan-Tei," he said smoothly. My cousin stopped in his tracks at the airbender's call. He didn't look back, but he was definitely listening. Rinzen seemed to know that, and continued. "You know…I never considered you a rival to me in my entire life. I never considered you a threat to anything I had or wanted."

I saw Dan-Tei bristle, fists clenching. He still didn't turn around. I saw him twitch as if considering walking away again, but then Rinzen drew in a long breath and spoke again.

"That was all before Kono happened. Now…I'll admit you are quite a threat. And I think it will be an honor to consider you my rival."

I didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but at those words, Dan-Tei stopped bristling, and turned around to stare wide-eyed at Rinzen. The two met gazes that held for a long time, and then my cousin finally looked away and made his way down the docks.

"Fine," he seceded. "You can stay on the team. But don't expect me to like it."

Dan-Tei disappeared behind the buildings of the city, and I looked up to see Rinzen smiling. The airbender nodded, and I tried to understand.

"Of course," he whispered to himself, pulling a whistle from his pocket and started casually down the dock towards the city boundaries. He let out a soft laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way."