One Fateful Day

It has been twelve days since Fama took his own life. I've kept up with the days while lying on my side in the corner of my room. Half of me was in denial of what happened two weeks ago. The other half just hoping that I was just in a nightmare that I'd soon wake up from. Many thoughts have run through my mind since then. How it should have been me that died that day or I shouldn't have let him go that far to the point where he was under such guilt. Perhaps I should have even died before Soza had came to get me earlier that day and perhaps none of this would have happened.

"How come we have to take em with us. I heard Captain Rehongs ship has far more clearance than anyone in this fleet!" Speaking of the demon I could hear his voice coming down the hall.

"You know as well as I do that its cuz of his family ties to the upper echelon." I didn't recognize the other voice. How come he wasn't alone? Usually only one soldier is needed to transport inmates.

"I can't wait for his dear old dad to promote him outta here. Must be nice though, to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth."

"You said it. Hey dirt-bag! Make room in there!" Soza unlocked my cell before opening it while standing off to the side.

"You got a new roommate thanks to civil unrest. Don't get any bright ideas now you hear me?" He motioned for the other soldier to move the new prisoner into my cell.

"You're lucky I didn't lose the bet after that last stunt you pulled. If that bastard didn't kill himself you'd be in a world of hurt!" I was seething at Soza for his derisive remarks of Fama. In fact I was prepared to lunge for his throat but a man who seemed like he was in his late forties walked in pretty much covered head to toe in iron restraints. It was such a shock I couldn't even believe he was able to take steps being weighed down to such a degree.

Once he crossed the threshold of the door they slammed it shut leaveing us alone together. The man took a quick once over the room finally resting his eyes on me. Slowly lowering himself to sit he finally rested with his legs crossed and his hands cupped together in his lap. Neither of us spoke as the light outside hummed with power until a few dozen seconds later the man sighed.

"Haah.....What a disrespectful young lad this one is." He shook his head.

"Huh?" My confusion was audible as I tilted my head.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to greet your elders upon meeting them?" He clicked his tongue as he turned his head to the side.

My anger that was previously meant for Soza was now slowly bubbling back towards this old man.

"...My parents aren't here. I was separated from them over two years ago." I hugged my knees to my chest.

"Pah! You dishonor your father and mother."

And with that I don't know what came over me but I lunged at the man stopping a hairs breadth short of his face only because my chains prevented me from getting closer.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW HUH?! NOTHING! THESE BASTARDS TOOK EVERYONE FROM ME! FAMA TOO! YOU DON'T GET TO JUDGE ME! YOU WEREN'T THERE! NO ONE WAS THERE TO HELP! THEY'RE GONE!" I roared in his indifferent face while my hands were held back due to those chains being shorter.

I wanted to hurt him so badly. I wanted to hurt everyone that did my family wrong. Take away their precious ones just like how they took mine. Make them feel what I felt. It wasn't fair, how come I had to go through this? My family. My mother, father, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins. Even my friends as well as my teachers. All of them were gone.

"So just because they aren't here that means you can throw away everything they ever taught you?" His calm voice was firm as he met my glare. "Their just beliefs and life principles that they instilled into you. Simply because they no longer are here to monitor you, you throw it all out the window at the drop of a hat?" His words cut me like a knife.

"Did you actually care for them?"

"Of course I did- I still do!" The very question seemed crazy to me. Who would ask that considering what happened?

"Could have fooled me. Everything you showed me thus far proves the exact opposite." The man had a look of doubt on his face.

I could recall how my father introduced my uncle Goma on my birthday when I had made 7.

[Come brother! This is my son.[ ___ ], I want you to properly greet your uncle Goma. Go on, you can do it, just how you practiced.]

That was months before our village was occupied, almost a year before our house was destroyed. Reminiscing back on the precious memory I took three steps back.

With my posture as stable as possible I tapped my left fist over my chest before bringing it out cupping my right palm on top of my knuckles with the edge of my fingers straight creating a 45 degree angle, followed by my torso leaning slightly forward.

"The noble fourth son of Holon the head of the Bàolì clan greets his elder. May your life have many days."

"The former Dai Li soldier and former advisor to the head of the Beifong clan greets the new head to the Bàolì clan." He returned my greeting by bowing with his right hand enclosed into a fist covered by his left hand (the customary bow by majority of other earth kingdom families). It differed from mine for the simple fact that our clan was highly respected due to our ancestor who gained favor from the monarch of Ba Sing Se long ago by leading the family to support for him to claim the throne. It was a monumental occasion. I was told that the kingdom was on the verge of collapse due to a civil war that had taken place.

"For one descending of such impactful and prestigious historic value your actions hold more meaning than anyone. Your forefather would turn over in his grave if he were to see the state in which you carried yourself thus far. Let this be a dire lesson from now on, for you are a noble from the earth kingdom! You must never again show yourself to be decrepit in front of others!" His voice raised with each sentence showing his agitation.

It truly left me dumbstruck as after all this time I had quite frankly given up on living. I initially saw no point in going on or keeping up appearances, they had honestly felt pointless. But now I see that it was disrespectful to my family's memory- no, their legacy.

"You are right I am a dishonor to my parents. I vow on my life I won't do it again for as long as I live." I swore to carry on fighting to live till my last breath.

"Good. Very good." He nodded his head in satisfaction to my declaration. "You must build yourself up once more. Soon....You will be ready."

"Ready?" Confusion once more settled onto my face. "Ready for what exactly?"

He looked at me as if I had five ears and one eye. "For you to take your rightful place as Grand Secretariat of course!"

"Gr-Grand Secretariat?! We are both prisoners headed to who knows where! Not only that, even if we were to make it out of here, I am far too inexperienced as well as young to hold such a position. If anything the one who'd most likely to have such a position would be you. Your accomplishments far outweigh mine, not that I've done anything worth considering anyway." The very notion I could hold such office seemed so impossible I couldn't even envision myself in the attire worn by an official.

"My social standing and family accolades wouldn't hold much weight to make it that far I'm afraid. Not to mention my time would be short-lived as well. Someone with potential, drive, as well as time is needed to strive to obtain it." He shrugged his shoulders before motioning towards me.

"But-"

"Don't worry about being held here. Look, if you find another goal in life you can always change your fate but until then you must have something to look forward to to fight for. It's only a matter of time before those peasants slip up one way or another. Once an opportunity presents itself at the right time you'll see what I'm talking about. But until that happens..." His tone and countenance became serious as he pulled out a stone the size of my fist from his thick beard. "Your learning of the real world and your enemies begins tonight young lord."

And learn I did. From my extensive practice of earth bending to conducting myself during mock debates as well as social battles. I soaked in as much as humanely possible without rest save the times we were forced to deal to the whims of our captors. Weeks soon turned into months and as far as bending was concerned I could just barely sense the ocean floor beneath the naval ship. As for my social skills I became proficient in proper discourse as well as double speak. From what I learned these were all the makings of a successful governing official. All while not even knowing my new teachers' name.

I soon realized this had been done purposefully however I never pointed it out. If he thought it was best for me to not know I'd respect his decision and willingly be ignorant of it. I owe him at least that much decency to upkeep his privacy.

~5 Months later~

It was now in the middle of the night and I was having a mock game of Pai Sho with my mentor. We had previously finished going through an extensive history lesson as far back as over four millennia regarding philosophy as well as ideals. One figure that stood out to me was an Airbending monk by the title and name 'Guru Shoken'. One of his short poems went "If you meet the spirit of enlightenment on the road, slay it!" It resonated with me. At first glance it seemed sacrilegious but if one truly understood the meaning behind those words they'd know it was true wisdom being relayed. The foolish would be the only ones to misinterpret the truth.

"You're infatuated with him aren't you." He placed what was meant to be a playing piece but was in fact a glass shard with a design etched into it off to the side.

"His work, his life teachings. From what you told me about his outlook and statements...I just wish there were more documents we could track down when we get out of here." I picked up a shard that I had carved by using some fine dust to bend a design of a lotus on and stared into it before seeing how it resembled the 'playing board' on the floor.

Yes I had carved that as well. It took time and effort but I knew that it was well worth it. It helped me learn innovative ways to bend but that was just the surface of what it did. My control had grew to a level of where I was able to use a fine edge of earth. From what I learned a large majority of Earthbenders mostly relied on pure concussive force to damage their opponents. But if I could somehow utilize a sharpness in my arsenal like a blade I'd be a formidable bender worth mentioning.

"You never know, perhaps you'll get lucky and run across some information regarding works of his that have been hidden till now." A soft smile found its way on his face as he looked down to the 'board'.

Taking a deep breath I placed the Lotus tile in the center. "Perhaps."

"As I've always been telling you since the beginning you cannot play the White Lotus gambit this late into the game. Especially after I already placed mine." A chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head.

"Apologies Shifu." I grinned closing my eyes.

"Yeah yeah. I know you do it on purpose." He sighed before going quiet.

The feeling of constant movement died as well as the low hum of the ships engine rotating underneath our feet.

'We've... stopped,' I thought. 'There must be a reason why the ship halted this far from the shore this time.'

Over the past few weeks I eavesdropped on a few conversations of the guardsmen about how they were supposed to be headed to drop off a number of non-benders to the coal mines then towards the Southern water tribe in the South Sea.

Looking into Shifus' eyes I understood our chance was due any moment now. He brought it up every once in a while throughout conversation and it was finally here.

'Today is the day.'