5 The Interrogation

A few minutes passed when I walked into the interrogation room. I was sitting in my chair with my hands cuffed to the table. The light above me was so bright that it lit up the entire room.

There was an awkward silence present in the entire interrogation room. So silent that you could hear a pin drop because, sitting on the opposite side of the table, was the chief of the Republic City Police…Lin Beifong! Daughter of The Toph Beifong!

She had her arms crossed and looked at me with a serious expression. She had placed a file in front of her while still maintaining eye contact.

On the surface, I kept my cool, but in my mind, I was squealing! I just wanted to break out of these cuffs and just give her a big hug and ask her for her autograph. My legs were shaking with excitement that the cuffs were shaking violently beneath the table.

Then suddenly a voice sounded out on the opposite side of the table, breaking the awkward silence.

"Are you nervous, kid?".

"What?", I replied rapidly.

"I asked if you are nervous, 'cause your legs are shaking. I can hear the cuffs jumping up and down underneath the table".

Hearing her mention that, I looked down at my legs which were practically dancing, and I immediately calmed myself down.

"Yeah, uh, I guess you could say that", I smiled wryly.

"Damn it, Kai. Keep it together!", I told myself.

She continued to observe with a Stoic expression. It felt like she was seeing right through me and that I would break at any moment. But I had to keep my emotions under control, cause from what I know. Toph, Lin beifong's mother, taught her the technique: Seismic sense. And If she was going to question me, then she would use that technique to sense any reactions, if I was lying.

" So, what's your name, kid?", She began to ask.

"Uh, K-kai. My name's Kai, uh, Ma'am", I replied while trying to keep my cool.

"Kai what?", she continued.

"Just Kai, Ma'am", I answered.

"Mmm", She frowned her eyebrows a little and stared more intensely. I was trying hard, man! I could still manage to keep a poker face, but I was afraid I would crack like an egg any second. She continued to question me.

"So, Where are you from, Kai?".

"Where I'm from?", I asked.

"Obviously you're not from Republic City, or else I would've seen you before. Especially someone with a scar like that", she commented.

"Damn, I knew she was gonna ask me that. Damn this scar, Why did I even ask for it before I came here in the first place? First, it was Loui, who thought that I was part of a gang, and now her!".

Before I came here, I remembered that one of the questions that asked what I wanted to look like, had a bonus question. It asked what I wanted to add to my body or to my face. I answered that I wanted a big, cool-looking scar on my right eye.

"Why", you say? No idea. I just wanted to be edgy, I suppose. I was thinking hard about what I was going to say before she interrupted my train of thought.

"*Ahem*, are you going to ask me where you're from or not?".

"Y-yeah, of course. I'm from, uh, I'm from Plains", I answered.

"Plains? And… where's that?", She asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, it's, uh, it's a very poor, and old town. It's somewhere In the grasslands of the southern Earth kingdom, to the west of the, uh, the Si Wong desert", I explained, whilst still maintaining my composure.

"And why did you leave?", she asked right after.

"Because it wasn't a very particular ideal place to live in. Especially for an orphan, like me. It was also home to a few suspicious characters, who had passed themselves off as Earth kingdom soldiers. They basically ruled the town by fear. Every time they came, they would steal food and money from people they saw as weak. I was also one of them", I explained.

Lin attentively listened while I was explaining my backstory, which was all lies, of course, except for the orphan part. Before I came here, I actually lived most of my life as an orphan. It was… actually quite depressing, to be honest. And really lonely, too. But then I came across a TV show called Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I was immediately hooked. I also made a friend, who was also a fan of the show. And that's where it basically all started, I guess.

Lin saw my melancholy expression when I was reminiscing about my old life and asked sincerely, "It must have been hard for you, huh, kid?".

"Ah, It's ok, ma'am. Hey, At least I made it through, right", I said, showing a bright smile on my face.

Seeing me smiling, Lin's usually Stoic face suddenly softens a little, and a little smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. "Huh. Even all that, he's still smiling. The kid's got guts", she said in her mind.

She then stood up and grabbed the file in front of her and opened it. Her facial expression, which was different a few seconds ago, now returned seriously again. Seeing her suddenly stand up like that, flipping through the file, I started to become nervous again. My leg, which calmed down a few minutes ago, started to shake.

"So, let's talk about what happened today, shall we?".

" *Sigh*, Oh, boy, here we go", I said to myself. I straightened up and prepared myself for her next questions.

"When did you arrive in Republic City?", She asked sternly.

"Two weeks ago, Ma'am. I used several means of transportation to come here", I answered quickly.

She still listened to any sort of reaction from my body as I answered, but I still kept my cool and kept making things up as I went along with her questions.

"Were you self-taught in Earthbending?", She continued.

"Uh, yes, ma'am. I also learned a bit by watching other Earthbenders fight".

"Did you now? Can you Metalbend?", she asked while looking at me to the side.

"No. At least, not yet", I answered confidently. Because even if I was still a beginner Earthbender, I was quite sure that I would be able to Metalbend too. Maybe even Lavabend. I was a bit hesitant about that one, but we'll see in the future. Who knows, perhaps I can also be a…

Hearing me say that, she gave a chuckle, "That confident, huh, kid? Alright, so there are still a lot of things in this rapport. For example, reckless endangerment…".

"Hey, I was chasing this thief, who stole my money and robbed a guy. And he was a freaking slippery bastard! Forgive my potty mouth…", I interjected.

"Causing a traffic accident…".

"I was looking left and right before I crossed the street, okay? It wasn't my fault that car came out of nowhere…".

"Destroying a road…".

"He really, really pissed me off about that one, alright. He blinded me with a smoke pellet that he pulled out of his ass, and was about to escape. I had to do something. And If the Republic City Police came sooner, none of this would've happened. So, in hindsight, I did nothing wrong", I finished with my statement.

"But if you did nothing wrong, then why did you run from the police when they arrived?".

She got me there, I ain't gonna lie, " Well, you see, uh, I-I-I, umm, well, you see, w-w-what had happened was that--", I desperately tried to defend myself.

"Yeah, sure, kid", She immediately cut me off.

"And also you yelled out something to one of the officers. Something about his mother?", She looked at me curiously.

"He's, uh, still not mad about that, is he?".

"No, not anymore. He's, uh, currently crying his eyes out, as we speak".

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"*Sob*, *sob*, and, and, and, and he said that my mother was so stupid, she put lipstick on her forehead to make up her mind!", bawled out one of the officers.

"Pfft, It's ok, man. It's ok. What he, uh, *Ahem*, said was completely out of line, ok?", he tried to comfort him, while he and the other officers tried to hold in their laughter.

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"Oh. Umm, tell him I'm so sorry, and that I did not mean anything by it, Ok? I'm sure his mother is a wonderful, kind, and loving person".

"You can tell him yourself, later". She finished with her report. There was a brief silence in the room. She closed the file and took a seat back in her chair. Furthermore, she looked at me and began to speak, "From what I've read and heard, I couldn't believe it at first. A kid defeated 7 members of the Metalbending police force. Not an experienced adult fighter, but a kid. In my opinion, you are still a novice when it comes to Earthbending and your fighting abilities. And if you went one on one with any of the Metalbending police force, you would most definitely lose. But you are resourceful, cunning, and calm in every tense situation. You got a lot of potential, kid. And I would really hate to see you waste that potential and talent when you're still so young…".

I was speechless when I was listening to her. Even without me having the seismic sense, I knew she meant every word that she spoke.

"What are you saying?", I asked.

She continued, " I'm saying, I would like to take you in. I am going to train you and teach you. And I'm sure that with your potential and talent, you will be able to master Earthbending, and Metalbending in a few short years".

"I, uh, I-I don't know what to s-say…". I tried to make sense of this situation. Was this really happening? Lin beifong wants to take me in as her student?! Can somebody pinch me, please? I think I'm dreaming!

"I gotta tell you, kid. This is the first time I'm doing something like this and I don't know what I'm doing. If you don't want to accept, then--".

"I accept!", I shouted wholeheartedly.

"What?". She was a bit taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"I said, I accept. I would be honored to be your student", I said proudly.

She looked me in the eyes and saw my determination. She sighed in relief and nodded.

"Alright, then. I will see you in three days, kid".

"Wait! Three days? For what?", I asked her.

"Well, you still made a mess in your chase with that thief. So...".

"But what about the other guy, then? He was the one who did the stealing!", I argued.

"He gets the same sentence. We also had trouble catching him, and as you said, he was a slippery bastard. But don't worry, I've made sure to put him in the same detainment cell as yours". she then walked out of the interrogation room with a file in her hand.

When she said that, I almost wanted to ask her to extend it to a full week. "Looks like I'll be having a fun three days, huh, hehehehehe?", I said to myself, while an evil smile crept on my face.

"Hello, Chief", greeted the officer, who was waiting outside the interrogation room.

She nodded at him softly.

"Uh, Chief. Are you sure it's a good idea to put those two in the same detainment cell together? And for three whole days?", asked the officer with concern on his face about what might happen.

"We have been trying to catch that guy for a whole week. And every time he would slip through our fingers. I say he deserves it".

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Three officers went into the interrogation room to escort Kai to one of the detainment cells, where he was happy to reunite with an old friend. The officers stopped in front of a cell, where a man was trembling seeing a familiar face beside them.

"Well, hello there. Looks like we will be having a wonderful three days".