Yura Bei Fong's Story

Yura Bei Fong

Yura Bei Fong walked along the rough sidewalk. Hands shoved in her pockets, she thought to herself quietly. She made sure she always had her head hung low. The thought of eyes watching her every moment was unbearing. It seems that was what everyone did in The Slums. It was a cold day, the wind blew her dark hair back, whipping it into the corners of her eyelashes. Her fingertips ran along the tattered scarf that wrapped below her neck. A feeling of anger flourished through Yura, it seems as if it always did. Many Neo-Equalists lined the streets. Like dark shadows, they were black and stealthy figures with bright and yellow eyes that hid in the darkness of the streets. Except they were actually people. Shocking. Her gaze turned to their wrists. Bands were wrapped along it, with a circular figure in the center. These machines were made for violence. Machines that electrified every inch of someones body, machines that could nearly shock someone to death. Of course, moslty used on benders. They were probably moving on from these classic weapons, trying to make new weapons to even kill benders. Yura slightly turned her eyes away. The Neo-Equalists had already taken The Slums. Along with many other things. At least they hadn't taken away Republic City. Yet. It seems the Neo-Equalists "owned" this place, like they had already started their own government. But who could doubt them? This was a refuge for benders. What better source of power? This day was among the many common and nasty days. The variety of beggers was much to high. Yura's head turned back to watch them moan in mercy. More like pity.

"Please- I'll do anything for food..."

"You don't know the pain of this!"

"I'll give away my bending. I'm so hungry..."

She heard this everyday in the least. Tattered, old souls that held cups out for simple yuans. Freedom is what Yura needed. Freedom to help these people. They didn't deserve this. Not benders like her. She didn't even have contact outside of The Slums. How would she know if the people in Republic City were trying to help out or not? Growing up in The Slums, she didn't even know how normal life worked. Angered by these thoughts, Yura bit her lip and looked away from the ground. Fallen bricks, poor people, rotten shops, dirty puddles, Neo-Equalists, and rain. The ugly painting she saw each day as she walked out of her rusty door. A door would be considered a privilege here in The Slums. Yura would be thought as one of the "lucky ones" who actually had a home. It was actually because of how she worked each day and night, for her grandmother and father. Well, in thanks to her grandmother. She had already passed while Yura's father stared out through the windows and sat and mourned over his wife's death. Yura's mother was killed by a Neo-Equalist. This was the rage that filled her heart. The rage that produced her to have energy and work for her lazy father. Or maybe it was love that promoted her to do this. The chime of a bell interrupted her thoughts.

"Looks who's late. Again." Mr. Tenza, Yura's boss, leaned against the wall with a wet rag slung over his shoulder. His stomach hung from the bottom of his shirt as grease stains covered the fabric. A scraggly beard and beady eyes described his features. A stout and plump man, Mr Tenza was. It seems that the bell came from the top of the door. Yura walked through, always knowing her way in The Slums while pondering things. Yura let off a smirk.

"I like calling it fashionably late if you don't mind." Yura smiled, hanging her scarf around a dusty rail. Mr Tenza wasn't amused.

"Not funny." He whispered. "Not funny at all." He turned away from Yura, walking into the kitchen as the first few customers arrived. A bow formed along Yura's waist as she tied her apron. She was a waitress for Tenza's Cuisine. Or, she described it as, "Fat Old Man Who's Food Is Terrible" Cuisine. At least it paid the bills. The restaurant was run down. A small and common place located in the depths of the city. Rotted floors, old music, and greasy tables and food. The only thing healthy there was Tachmen, a charred banana. That says much. Yura clicked her pen and grabbed her yellow notepad. What a perfect life for the Avatar.

"May I take your order?"

Yura Bei Fong

Yura had fallen asleep. The dream was well, quite odd. She stood there in the middle of the Spirit Oasis. Two fish swam around her ankles in a circular motion. One black, La, and one white, Tui. Her eyes widened to see many firebenders charging towards her. The two fish were the Moon and Ocean Spirits. It seemed as if Yura couldn't be seen by the people around her. She had read about them, Katara, Iroh, Sokka, and Princess Yue. Yue was actually healing Tui, who had been wounded by Zhao, the head Fire Nation General at the time. No, Yue was giving her life away to save Tui. Or the world would be out of balance. It was sad to see Yue's life end, Yura knew Sokka was grieving for his love for her. Was this a flashback of some sort? What was this telling her? "Yura..." The fish began to whisper. "Yura...Yura, we need you..." Yura's eyes widened as she took a step back. The flames licked the buildings of the Northern Water Tribe. An attack? "Yura...Yura. Yura! YURA!" She shook and wiped her eyes. Mr. Tenza stood there, a cold look on his face.

"Falling asleep on duty? You should be fired!" He spit to the side and wiped his chin. "Get your act together!" He turned towards the kitchen to fry another Tachmen. "Table 7! And don't you forget!" Tenza gave an evil smirk. Yura whipped her head around to return another cold look. How could she be fired? She was the only waitress there. The only one because of the lack of customers. Yura's eyes gazed across the dirty room. Broken lights, thugs, beggers, and thieves. Another pretty picture. Too bad she had grown used to it. This was the only low class that came in, or so she thought. The man at Table 7, sat wiping away the rain that had fallen on him. Pale skin, blue eyes, and waterbender features. He must be from the Water Tribe. The Northern? Yura thought this could be another sign. Did she need a teacher already? She strided over to Table 7. This was one of the few nicer men that came along. Why would he eat here among the common dirt?

"Hi. I'm Yura, I'll be your waitress for today." Yura bit her lip. She slid an extra napkin across the table. "Can I start you off with a drink? Do you like the rain?" It was an abrupt question. What the heck? Why am I asking him this? I don't need a teacher. I don't even know him. Am I being nice? Yes. No, I'm being rude! Oh great, I should probably walk away. I'll be fired. No you won't. You need to save the world. I do? No. Yes. No. Yes. No! Yes! No! YES! YURA."

Tzar stared out the window simply watching the rain fall, it was nice and calming, but also the reason that he couldn't go back to the nice place that was the central of the city. "Hi. I'm Yura, I'll be your waitress for today." Tzar turned to the person who had just spoken, a waitress? Ah yes a waitress this was a restaurant, and it would certainly be rude not to order anything from this fine est-.... this establishment. He reached for his satchel opening it in a very smooth movement inside were mainly books and a few other things that didn't seem like they were made in Republic City. He searched inside of it for a minute or two as it was a bit messy and unorganized, but he finally pulled out a small leather wallet, he opened it, inside a few coins and bills, not very many though. He scratched the back of his head and looked back at the waitress.

"Yura... Glass with two ice cubes... salad..." Tzar's voice was light one, and he spoke in a very calm and low manner, making it a bit difficult to hear due to how loud the few customers spoke. As he finished speaking to the waiter he turned his head to face to window once more. As Tzar stared out the window he got lost in his thoughts once again, he thought of many things, but mainly about why the waitress was so nervous, she didn't seem the type to be nervous, he asked himself he had missed something but he really wasn't one to miss details... was she new? No... if she was a new waitress she probably would be nervous around the other customers, her walking... no, she certainly wasn't a new employee. Tzar knew that he had to little information, but it was rather entertaining to try and see what he missed, he really didn't have much to do there either so he decided to let that thought go and moved on with what else was on his mind.

Walking down the streets of the slum Shizuko began to wonder. Was this all that there was to life? With her being a master waterbender she could seriously go and fight for the ProBenders, take back what rightfully belongs to them. At least try to make peace. She always had the Northern Water Tribes in case she wanted to leave this place. But that would mean leaving her dad and her little sister Rie. And she was not about to do that. They meant the world to her. She couldn't think of the hard work that her mother had put into creating peace. But as soon as she died everything seemed to go down hill. The new Avatar hadn't even appeared yet. From what she knew the avatar could be in hiding. But there were many places it could be.

Being greeted by many of the people from the slums gave her some comfort. She was known to heal those who couldn't pay for medicine or treatment, thus gaining the nick name "The Healer" around the slums. As she was walking she felt a drop on her head, then a second one. No later did rain started pouring down. She raised her hand and the rain above her fell to the sides leaving her dry. She knew that Neo Benders were around and they didn't dare attack her in public. Walking into the nearest place Shizuko breathed in. She was going to have to wait until the rain went away. Looking around she noticed she had walked in to Tenza Cuisine. It only had a few customers, most seemed like perverted old me and drunk.

In one of the tables she noticed a boy, he had water bender features and his clothing seemed to be water bender inspired. Not wanting to sit by the old men she walked and sat right infront of him.

"Hello, I hope you don't mind me sitting here." She said giving a warm smile.

She hand't really stepped into this place until now. The place looked run down and in need of a touch up. She noticed the server coming back with a glass of water and salad. Must have been for the boy.

Yura Bei Fong

Yura was dissapointed in herself. No, she had to be herself. She took a deep breath in as she listened to his reply, "Yura... Glass with two ice cubes... salad..." The reason why Yura was so nervous was because the lack of real Water Tribe people who didn't try to steal your yuan along with other benders. She gave a slight nod as she turned on her heels to talk to Tenza. "Tenza. We need salad."

"Salad?" Tenza let out a small chuckle. "We don't have salad little missy." Little missy? Yura was so lost in thought it was hard to remember what was actually on the menu.

"Fine." She smirked, leaning her palms down onto the counter. "I'll make it."

"You? Cook!" He laughed again. "Good luck with that." Yura rolled her eyes. She entered the kitchen as she drummed her fingers along a rusty pan. Salad...salad... Well, there was obvioulsy nothing healthy here. She pondered this. Wait... Don't we use lettuce for our Shezukan Dish? Yura knew she could outsmart Tenza. She quickly found the lettuce and began to create a fresh salad. She added a few things here and there but not much. Yura collected the water and hurried out of the kitchen. She was proud of herself for outsmarting Mr. Tenza. "Here you are sir!" Yura placed the dish on top of her customer's table. She glanced to the side to see another Water Tribe looking member that now sat next to him. She looked familiar. Maybe she had seen her on the streets? "What would you like?" Suddenly, someone new walked through the door. A hooded man, to be exact. This is new. Yura would soon also serve him, but she waited patiently. She had an intest for studying others.

Tzar looked away from the window and back at the woman sitting at his table as she continued speaking, she spoke about the Mother and the child walking the streets and about him being from the Northern Water Tribe. He simply stared as she spoke but decided that he wasn't really in the mood to talk about his home so he simply shrugged when she finished speaking. Once again he found himself watching the mother and her son, they had seem to have stopped walking around and simply stopped sitting near the wall trying to get away from the rain, but it wasn't really and use. Tzar sighed and placed both of his hands on his knees, both hidden from sight under the table, and with slow gentle movements he began bending the rain around the woman and child, making so it passed as near as possible but without touching them, he wanted to make sure no one would notice that someone was bending but still being able to stop it from falling on them. The Mother looked around as she held her son near her, not really knowing what was going on but at the same time not caring she simply continued sitting there.

Finally after a few minutes of waiting the waitress was back with his salad and his cup with two cubes of ice. "Thank you." said Tzar in his usual calmness. He slowly took his right hand from under the table (While the left kept bending) and grabbed a fork, he then took a small nibble out of the salad, the salad was mainly main out of lettuce but it was still quite enjoyable, not the best he ever had but still nice. "Good..." muttered Tzar in a tone a bit lower than usual and continued eating even though eating with his right hand wasn't the easiest of tasks.

Yura Bei Fong

Yura had finally delivered the girl's meal. It seemed Mr. Tenza was getting tired along with Yura. She yawned as she spotted the man in the green cloak. Yura stepped towards him quietly. "Hello sir, can I get you-" Her eyes widened. His cloak showed a strip of armour. Like the one her grandmother used to wear. Metalbending armour! She was to speachless for words. She looked away quickly. Could he really be from Republic City? "Sir- what would you like to drink." No! That was so stupid! Say your the damn Avatar! This might be your only chance! Yura sighed before he replied and bit her lip. Her palms sat on the table. What if he wasn't from the city... Could this end my life? Her gaze looked down. It's time to do this. "I need to show you something. Now." The man looked at her oddly. Black hair that fell down to his forhead and dark eyes. Yura grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out, the door slamming behind them.

"Hey!" She heard Tenza yell, "YURA!" She was sure this guy was freaking out. He was probably trying to pull away. Yura pulled him into the side ally. Dark, with no Neo-Equalists.

"You think I'm crazy. Don't you?" She looked at they man, just staring there in the rain with his arms crossed. "I need to show you who I am. And I don't know you- but..." She closed her eyes. Her hands began to flow up to the rain, in circular patterns, stopping it around herself. Her foot shifted to the right as her forearms clentched together to create a block of ground that was thrown into the air. She kicked it, knocking it into the dumpster behind her. She took a deep breath and spun around while moving her hands, causing a ring of fire. She stepped back and ran into it, knocking it out with a gush of airbending. Her arms fell to her side. She looked around quickly. No Neo-Equalists, not anybody. Good. She was stupid to bend outside. "As you can see, I need your help." Yura looked to the man as rain rolled down her face. "I taught that stuff to myself. It's all I know except for earthbending. That's my natural trait. And I'm-... I'm the Avatar."

"You've got this all wrong!" Shen Aidu was slammed against the wall. Pain shot through his back as the rain poured down his face. A pale firebender, with black hair was being beaten. He felt the urge to firebend, but he was afraid there might be a few Neo-Equalists lurking around.

"We've got this all wrong eh?" A thug, stared at Shen with a grin. The Triple Threats didn't dissapear along with the Avatar, sadly. A flame rose in the air in the thug's hand. Two of his friends snickered. "Well, why don't you give us some yuan- and I'll tell ya' what's right?" He shoved his hand along Shen's chin, sliding him up the wall even further. His black bandana circled around his head, and the scruff of a simple beard hung from his chin. Shen smiled,

"I'll show you what's right..." He pulled his knee up, htting the man in his face with a bang. He held his eyes as he slid through the rain

"Get him!" The other men ran towards Shen. One placed his arms in a formation which caused a pounding rock to be thrown near Shen. Another, collected the raindrops and turned them into sharp spikes that shot towards him. He easily dodged the attacks with a burst of fire throught his foot. Blinding the enemies, Shen ran out of sight behind a dumpster quickly. The thugs luckily, ran past him. He let out deep breaths. But there was something else going on in front of the dumpster... He looked behind carefully. A girl with black hair, looking at a man in a robe. He might as well stay out of it. He turned to leave until the rain stopped. The girl stopped it, then kicked a rock, then went through fire with airbending. He was dreaming. The Avatar hadn't been here for 17 years! That couldn't be her. He turned back as his eyes widened. Maybe the Avatar didn't dissapear after all.

Chen was appraoched by the female waitress. He was a bit stunned and very confused when she was dragged into the alley. But his Jaw dropped when he realized who she was. He watched as she began to bend all four elements. He kept his cloak drawn up he realized this was a failure she must have known he was from the city maybe she had seen his armor. This scounting mission would be just what was needed. It might even be the solution for the tensions between benders and nonbenders. He bowed. "I am honored to meet you Avatar- I'm sorry What is your name. I'm Chen Saikahn. He said bowing again. He wasn't sure if there was some etiquette involved with meeting the avatar.

Chen rubbed his eyes to make sure he is not dreaming. "Well avatar, this isn't the safest place to be staying now is it? If you wish I will personally escort you to republic city. " He said letting his cloak fall revealing his metal bender armor. The united forces seal as his badge. He saw Shen run around the corned. The man looked shocked obviously he had seen the Avatar as well. "Hello there." He said trying to sound friendly. He did not want enemies. Maybe this guy could help them out. If the Neo's found out the Avatar was here they would try to kill her as fast as possible he could only assume. The fact that the Avatar was alive had to be kept a secret. He thought to himself.

The girl dropped the food off for the boy as well as the water. The way the boy was eating seemed like he was having some sort of difficulty. Perhaps he wasn't used to eating with utencils, but then again everyone ate with them. Even those of the water tribe. Until she noticed some of the muscles in his arms move. He was waterbending the rain. He was definetly not from around here, especially since he was bending in public. Moments later when he saw the guy walk in Yura dragged him outside.

She got out of her seat and walked towards the counter. "Good evening Tenza, how are you doing?" she asked as he bowed her head lightly. The big man turned once to make sure it was him that was being called and then twice when he noticed it was Shizuko. "Ah! Lady Shizuko, what brings you around? How is your old man doing?" he asked. "He is doing fine, always working to make sure we can manage" she smiled. "And how are your burns?" she asked. Tenza was one of the regulars at her clinic. She was always healing his burn from time to time. It was always when the cooking went wrong. "They are perfectly healed thanks to you and your healing" he smiled.

"Listen, can you do me a favor. Can you go back there and get Yura for me. I swear sometimes that child goes crazy you know?" he said as he turned back to the stove. "Will do" she replied as she walked to the back of the restaurant into the alley.

"Yura, Tenza asked...." She was kind of shocked when she found Yura facing the man in the metal armor.It was also the man that had walked in earlier. Her guess was that he was from the police of Republic city. "Whats going on here, Yura, are you okay?" she said as she walked towards her.She might not have known Yura like that but she was someone that knew Tenza.