Chapter Text
Alya arrived at the adress she was looking for. It was run down and the glass on the entrance door was slightly cracked, likely from a stone or similar. Despite how it looked, the girl stepped inside and greeted the man behind the counter with confidence.
"Hi! I'm Ayla. I saw your job offer in the paper." , she smiled and looked around. The shop was filled with plants of all kinds from across the world. It was a wonder she had never wandered into this store before. Ayla had always loved flowers and plants.
"Oh... Yes. Welcome to Lee's Flower Vase. Do you have any experience with plants and flowers?", the shop owner asked with a tired expression on his face. The woman shook her head but kept smiling confidently. "No, sir. But I'm a quick learner. I will be an excelent addition to your staff!"
"Alright", said the middleaged man, "How well do you work under pressure? Not that we have many customers in this part of the city most of the time."
"I work very well under stress. I used to work as a waitress in a restaurant downtown." Ayla was still as confident as ever.
"Sounds good. Last question: Are you a bender?" The man looked down at the white haired woman with a grim expression. Without thinking, Ayla answered: "Yeah, I'm a firebender." It was a surprise when the store owners expression became even more grim than before. At least Ayla didn't expect it.
"I don't want your kind working in my store!" Lee said firmly, crossing his arms. Ayla's eyes widened as she wondered what the hell she should do now. Then, she decided to switch tactics.
She opened the top of her robe slightly, showing a bit of cleavage as she stepped closer to the counter, smiling sweetly. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sir. Maybe I can convince you otherwise?" The firebender asked in a suggestive tone.
Lee's eyes wandered down her body for just a moment, focusing on her cleavage before he managed to pull his gaze away. His expression fell even more. "Out. Get out of my store right now! I don't want to see you in here again!" He raised his voice slightly and gripped the counter he was standing behind tightly.
Without another word, Ayla turned on her heels and left the store while fixing up her robe. She huffed in annoyance and decided to walk back home. The job market in republic city was a fucking nightmare.
Kyia sat in her new home, taking everything in that had happened in the last 2 days. She would have never considered to ever live in a tiny apartment with a firebender that had apparently left ashy stains all over the apartment. The walls had been burned in some places, just like the floor, the kitchen counters, the couch and even the ceilling wasn't spared. Sure, Kyia hadn't met many fire benders before, but this? Couldn't they control their powers?
In a way, she was also jealous of her new roommate. Ayla was acting so careless and was open to new people. Kyia had never gotten the chance to make many new friends or truly feel free back at home. Even now, she was held back by the fear of her parents finding out what she was up to.
Thinking of them, she decided to write a letter. She couldn't have her parents find out that she had ditched the life they had planned for her. Kyia would just pretend she was with her betrothed and they were getting along well. Yeah, that should work!
If she just kept the lie up, everything would be fine. And if she could find a job soon, that would be even better.
Kyia was ripped out of her thoughts when she heard voices in the hallway in front of her new apartment. A child was laughing while a male sounding voice seemed to be explaining something proudly, though she could not quite understand what they were saying. Maybe this would be a good moment to introduce herself, Kyia thought and got off the half burned couch.
The apartment door was opened and a few meters away, a man with long, black hair was showing off his firebending to a little girl, which was watching and giggling in amazement. Kyia smiled softly as she saw the little girl, still holding onto her mothers hand, point in excitement while the man explained his bending proudly.
"Yeah! I'm a pro bender, you know? One day, my team and I will make it into the champion league and we will be world famous!" The man boasted. "Will you still remember me and show me the fire if you are famous?", asked the little girl with wide eyes.
"Of course! You're my number one fan after all!"
Kyia didn't want to interrupt the chatting, so she turned to walk back into her apartment through the open door, when the man's fire got a bit too close to the crumbling wall of the hallway. It caught fire in an instant and the mother pulled her child away from the flames quickly.
The waterbender acted out of instinct. She rushed into her apartment and turned on the sink, bending the water around her hand as she ran back out into the hallway. While the firebender was trying to put out the fire and console the little girl at the same time, Kyia moved her hands forward, letting the water splash against the wall, extinguishing the fire.
All of them let out a sigh of relief and the man turned to Kyia: "Thank you so much. This usually doesn't happen to me, I just forgot how flamable everything is in this rundown shi- building!" He quickly corrected himself before he could swear in front of the little girl. The little girl and her mother turned to walk to their own apartment and the man waved them goodbye. "See you again soon, Dayia!" Dayia waved goodbye as well before she and her mother vanished behind their apartment door.
"Thank you soo much! I don't think we've met before. I'm Zuke!" The man introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, Zuke. I'm Kyia. I just moved into apartment 13 yesterday." Kyia shook his hand politely. Zuke was about 1,65cm tall, but still a bit taller than Kyia, had long, black hair and brownish golden eyes. He smiled at her and pointed towards the wet wall.
"Are you by any chance a firefighter? Those were some fast reflexes." - "No, not really. I'm actually looking for a job right now, preferably in childcare or similar. I'm new in republic city and I'm still getting used to all of this". Kyia explained with a polite smile on her lips.
"Well, if that doesn't work out, you can always apply as a firefighter for the city. Far as I know, they are always looking for people. See you around, Kyia. It was nice meeting you." With that, Zuke turned around and walked back to his apartment, number 8.
The council meetings were stressful as always, but today, Tarrlok was even more on edge than usual. Normally, he could hide his frustration very well. Today was different. Even his page noticed. He still had no idea how to deal with the situation concerning his betrothed. There must have been an error. Either the girl or her parents must have gotten the date wrong, surely.
How the hell was he supposed to explain this to his mother, or, worse, the press, if they found out?! Tarrlok had no idea how to handle this diligently. For now, he just had to hope that everything would work out without his input. What else could he do right now? He had no information and if he asked for it, from his mother or his brides parents and something did indeed go wrong, it would be his image on the line. No, no. He would just wait for the next letter he would get from the northern watertribe.
Finally, his break was over and Tarrlok had to return to his council duties. Just a few more hours and I can finally go home, he thought to himself as he stepped out of his office. Luckily, there wasn't much more on the agenda for today. The council had debated about raising taxes for the coming year, constructions that were in planning and the shortage on firefighters for the city. Tenzin had been especially annoying today, arguing that the taxes, if anything should be lowered to help the working class. Tarrlok and most of the other council members had disagreed with him, but Tarrlok knew the debate would continue over the next few weeks, since the representative from the firenation had also been against raising the taxes.
When the endless debating and arguing was finally over, Tarrlok left the council hall. He stepped down the large steps and took a deep breath. The air smelled cold and the snow on the streets still hadn't melted away. It always reminded him of home, at least the good times. Before his thoughts had the chance to drift into darker waters, he got into his satomobile and started driving home. The letter he had taken with him to the docks yesterday was still on his passenger seat, and his mind wandered from his childhood to his bride. He was sure he wouldn't get much sleep tonight either...
Amon always felt uncomfortable without his mask. Over the last year as he had started building up the equalists, his life's work, he had worn his mask at all times. But he couldn't show up in public with it, could he? No, he would stand out, attract attention. And if everything were to go as he planned, his mask would soon be recognized not only by his people, but by all of republic city. But for now, he would stay anonymous in public, his face visible but recognized by none.
Finally, he saw his new plaything walking down the street again, in between a crowd. She was in a hurry, clenching her fists and didn't keep her head as high as before. It seemed whatever she had been doing didn't go well. Amon knew exactly that this was a tricky moment to make a move. Ayla could either take his help, starting the first phase of his plan, or she could simply treat him like he was merely a shadow, again. Still, he knew she was vulnerable right now and couldn't resist seeing her desperation upclose.
Noatak started walking along with her, first keeping his distance. This had to look real after all. Slowly, he fell into step beside her, glancing over as if just taking in his surroundings. Ayla didn't react and just kept walking, she didn't seem to recognize him from earlier today. Good.
After a few minutes, he finally adressed her: "Are you alright, miss?", Amon asked carefully, his voice gentle. This had to be convincing, make her open up, or at least interact with him.
Ayla flinched slightly before turning her head towards the man that had just adressed her. "I... Bad day.", she shrugged, not giving him much to work with. But Amon had done this before, he had perfected his game, knew what to say. She needed help, and he would be the one she'd confide in. Once he'd have her trust, it would be childsplay to slowly isolate her and tear her down bit by bit.
"Oh, no..." Amon answered as if this was worrying him. "You seem like you need someone to listen for once. I know I am a stranger, but I'd hate to just leave you like this. Do you want to talk somewhere..?"
The woman's steps became slower and she looked at Amon for the first time. He was tall, handsome, had brown greyish clothes on and kept his hair neat. He wasn't bad on the eyes and seemed to have sympathy with her. Ayla decided to use this to her advantage. She needed money for food, neccessities and rent, and if nobody would hire her, she would have to find other ways to make money.
With a soft smile on her lips, she nodded and looked back up into his eyes: "Thank you. If it's no problem, I would like to take you up on that offer..." Despite the fact that she was going to try and use him, she felt different than before. She wasn't angry anymore, didn't think about the shop owner who threw her out, just because she's a bender. Ayla felt seen, actually seen for the first time in so long...