Chapter Text
Book 1: Chapter 1
In Asami Sato’s humble opinion, there were three distinct reasons why an ex would try to get in touch a year after a break-up.
Reason 1: they want to get back together with you.
Reason 2: their therapist told them to seek ‘closure.’
Reason 3: there’s a three month old baby that has your eyes - surprise!
When Asami received the letter from Sang, she was able to rule out Reason 3 right off the bat. As good as they had once been together, Asami felt fairly confident she had not at any point impregnated her ex-girlfriend. Asami sighed and closed her eyes, placing a bet with herself as to whether she’d find Reason 1 or Reason 2 hiding within the sealed envelope. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. Using a Future Industries letter opener, Asami opened the letter.
Dear Asami,
It's been a while since I've heard from you - I hope you’re doing well!
Everything is the same as usual here in Ba Sing Se. Mom and dad are always working and business is good. I’m helping out in the billing department now that I’m done with school. I swear at least half the invoices I send out are addressed to your dad. Who knew electrical wiring was in such high demand in Republic City? Ha Ha.
Speaking of R.C. - did the Avatar really move there? I read about it in the United Republic Herald, but their reporting has seemed a little dodgy lately… Just last week they had a two page spread about some guy called Amon who actually claims he can take people’s bending away. Wild right?
Anyway… reading about all that stuff in R.C. got me thinking about old times… I’m going to go traveling for a while before I start working for my parents full time. Republic City could be a good place for me to start. The truth is, I miss you and I would really like to see you but I won't bother coming to the city if I don't hear from you.
I really hope you write back.
xx,
Sang
Ah, yes. Reason 1 - a hope for reconciliation. Asami folded the letter and tucked it into her jacket pocket before leaning forwards and placing her forehead on her desk, banging her head lightly against the smooth surface one, two, three times. Asami’s small gray, windowless cubicle suddenly felt suffocating. She rose from her workspace and peered over the partition.
"I’m gonna take my lunch now. I might take a stroll around the park or something. Need anything while I’m out?" Asami said to Arnaq, the Future Industries intern who worked at the next desk over. Asami’s father had been shocked when she told him she wanted to start with an entry level position and work her way up in the company her father founded, owned, and operated. But Asami had insisted. If she were to one day inherit Future Industries from her father, she wanted to know the ins and outs of each and every cog in the machine, starting with the glamorous role of unpaid intern.
"This doesn't have anything to do with all the dramatic sighs I've been hearing for the past five minutes, does it?" Arnaq asked. Asami rolled her eyes and tapped the top of the cubicle two times.
"See you later," Asami said and, with one final exaggerated sigh for effect, she grabbed her helmet and made her way out to the parking garage. When she reached her usual parking spot, she put her helmet on over her flowing black hair, pulling her protective goggles down before mounting her scooter. She slipped her hands into her driving gloves and, with a rev of the engine, she was off.
The moment Asami reached the road outside, she breathed a sigh of relief. The cool wind tickling her face instantly calmed her nerves. From the time she was a small girl learning to drive her dad's latest designs and prototypes, being behind the wheel of just about any vehicle gave Asami a feeling of control that she was hard-pressed to find in any other facet of her life. Driving gave Asami time and space to think and process, cool off and escape.
As she signaled a left-hand turn, her thoughts returned to the folded paper in her pocket. She had been surprised when she received Sang’s letter. It had been over a year since Asami had broken things off. Thinking back, Asami felt she had made herself perfectly clear in her last correspondence that, since Sang’s family had moved to Ba Sing Se, the distance simply made it too hard to continue their relationship. Asami would always think fondly of Sang but had known deep down it was time to move on. Chewing her bottom lip, Asami decided it would be for the best that she not write back.
Asami pulled her scooter into a parking space within a stone’s throw of her favorite park, stopping by a food vendor to grab a chicken-pig kebab before making her way to the green space. She felt any residual stress of the morning slip away as she began her stroll through Republic City Park.
"Brothers! Sisters! Non-benders of Republic City!"
The booming voice caught Asami’s attention. She glanced up and saw a man standing atop a makeshift stage made from shipping crates. A small crowd of passersby had already gathered together in front of the man, curious to see what he had to say. Intrigued, Asami crossed the lawn to join the group, standing in the back of the crowd with her arms folded across her chest.
"Hear me when I say Republic City has been home to grave injustice for far too long! Bullies! Extortionists! Benders ,” the man sneered. “As non-benders, we have been oppressed and overlooked in this city!"
Asami frowned and glanced around at the people surrounding her, surprised to find several of them nodding their heads and murmuring in agreement. Asami shifted uncomfortably where she stood, eyes narrowing as the man continued his speech.
"Today, my friends, join me as I say we will be silenced no more! Stand with me, with Amon, and join the Equalists - a movement for people exactly like you and me. Amon alone can end the tyrannical hold benders have on the city and lead us to a new age! An age of equality! An age of…”
But Asami decided she had heard enough. Who was this Amon she had now heard mentioned twice in one day? Chills ran down Asami's spine as she hurried back to her mo-ped, anxious to put as much space as possible between herself and the man on his shipping-container stage. Lost in her thoughts, Asami started her scooter and zipped away. She was distraught as she pictured the crowd of people nodding and cheering along at the man’s message. And who really was this man? A protester? A recruiter? Uniting people against, of all things, benders? Asami herself was a non-bender. Sure, she’d seen her fair share of injustice in her short lifetime, but when it came to corruption, benders and non-benders were two sides of the same coin. Some people in the world could bend, some could not, but regardless there were good people and -
*Screeeeeech*
Asami hit her brakes hard when she saw the young man dart into the street, right in front of her scooter, but try as she might, she couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting him, sending the young man flying to the ground. At last skidding to a halt, Asami leapt off her mo-ped and rushed to where he now lay sprawled on the ground. She was relieved to see he was sitting up and able to move his limbs.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you…”
When Asami got back to work, she couldn’t wait to tell Arnaq about her chance encounter. She still couldn’t believe it. She had met Mako. The Mako!
“Met him?” Arnaq said with a snort after Asami finished relaying her tale. “You nearly killed him!” Arnaq laughed and added, “Talk about hitting on someone. He really fell for you, am I right?”
Asami groaned and booed at her friend’s jokes, but nothing could wipe the smile off her face that had been there since the moment the tall, handsome firebender had agreed to go on an ‘I’m-sorry-I-nearly-killed-you-with-my-scooter’ dinner date with her. Asami was so lost in daydreams of their date the coming evening that all thoughts of ex-girlfriends and Equalists simply drifted away.