Every Story Has its Beginnings... [FLASHBACK]

Kuzon wandered lazily onto the beach roughly two miles from his house. He often came here to practice his bending in relative solitude. While it isn't a private beach by any means, it is very seldom visited by people other than the few inhabitants of the Island. As he got to the gorgeous location, pure white sand of a fine grain stretching as far as the eye could see on either side, with the almost cerulean colored waters of the ocean lapping at the edges of the beach.

As he arrived, he removed the black t-shirt he had been wearing revealing his well toned muscles from his years of fighting and bending. He now only wore a pair of black swimming trunks that have the four elemental symbols emblazoned on the right pant leg. He started with a few light warmups such as generic stretching and getting his body ready for the physical activity it was preparing to do.

Taking a breath, he would exhale fire through his nose as his body had finally gotten warmed up. He would then begin flowing through the movements of a firebending style he had learned from the White Lotus. It was more of a graceful dance than the offensive styles that firebenders were more known for.

Fong laid on her stomach on the sand. Her head tilted to the right reading the same book she had read about ten times. It was her favorite and the last birthday present she had received from her father. The story is one she could recite without the pages. A story of a damsel and her struggles. However the damsel was helpless; Fong would never be helpless. She told her father that every time he read it to her. His response was always the same, "Everyone can be helpless sometimes, it is what you choose to do when you feel that way." She would never let someone save her if she did not put up a fight. The waves collided with the earth. She could feel the sun's heat igniting her soul. The sun has always been the main source of power for fire benders and on days like this one, she felt it more than ever. She just wanted to put on a bathing suit and dance on the beach.

After not being able to focus on the story, she took her book and hid it inside where no one could imagine it being. She changed quickly and dashed out of the house. Once out, she dropped her head and closed her eyes. She pictured many images that were very faded and faces that were already forgotten. All she could see were the movements they had made. She shapes they made with their fire. Breath after breath, she felt the fire inside of her grow and the energy in her palms. She eventually took a deep breath and ran down the sand. House by house she ran. She felt the earth between her toes and she started making her way to rocks. The rocks got bigger and bigger until they touched the sea. She knew it would be a great place to practice.

She moved. The energy exploded from her finger tips and that is when she finally felt alive. She crossed her arms and then opened them sending out a large blast of fire. She could see them doing leaps and flips and then she did them. Once she was out of breath, she tried to remember the hardest part. The most concentrated energy that was too fatal for a child to attempt. Fong always found this type of fire dancing the prettiest. They would dance with lightning sometimes. Doing turns with the energy blinking and the heat radiating to all of us children. They all wanted more than anything to try it.

Fong shot lightning from her fingertips. She turned with both arms up and opened them to the side. The lightning floated around her almost like air. It was static, it was light, it was exhilarating. She moved liked the energy was water from her soul. Surrounded by electricity she knew she could not stop to see the utter beauty of the sparks that she had created. Eventually she slowed down and sat on a rock close to where the cut to the sea. She let her feet dangle into the water as her dark brown hair blew around. Sand cracked, breathing, and then noise. Someone was approaching even though there was not a house in sight. She slowly peered over a tall rock and looked to see who it was. She then saw a fairly attractive man who looked about her age fire bending. He had dark hair and black shorts. It was not a strange thing to see anyone on Ember Island fire bending but his style was unlike the traditional. She had never seen this man before either. She slowly climbed down the rock and ran away.

Kuzon continued to flow through his own custom style, bending fire around himself, the fire flowing more akin to water than typical fire bending. He moved with practiced grace, showing a true mastery over the form that can only come from one who has spent countless hours honing his skills. He leapt into the air with a spinning high kick that sent a stream of fire flowing from his bare foot, that was then called back down to follow the flowing movements of his arms as he spun in a circle, keeping them centered around his core. He then released the fire in a ring around him before it dissipated quickly into nothingness.

He took a break for a moment and pulled out a bottle of water from his pack that he had brought with him. He was definitely getting some good training while he was stuck on the island, so he could at least get that out of the way. "Its a nice day out, it's good to be home." He would say to himself, his smooth voice carrying in the wind. The sweet nectar of his voice travelling to all those who might could hear it, well, unbeknownst to the young avatar, he was not alone on this beach.

Fong ran so fast that her surroundings were blurred. She was a good distance from the rocks to where her home was barely visible over the horizon. Ember Island had many hills and her house was on one overlooking the sea. It was large with many windows that reflects the sun like a mirror. It is almost blinding to look at. She finally got a glimpse of Fliptwinkle, and he flew towards her. He flew so fast that he charged to give her a hug and knocked her to the ground. Fong banged her head on the sand and started laughing. Dragonfly bunnies are beautiful creatures and she was so lucky that one chose her. Not many people had them as a pet. Twink finished loving on Fong and looked up. His green eyes sparkled from the angle he was at. His yellowish purple fur was matted together. It was time to give him a bath. Twink utterly hates bath's so giving him one should be interesting. It is better to trick him outside during the rain. He started flying in the direction that she was coming from. Maybe he wants her to chase him or maybe he wants to explore?

Without thinking, she followed as fast as she could. Before she knew it, Fong found herself faced to the same rocks she had just deserted. She looked up covering her eyes from the blinding sun. Twink was now still above the rock line staring at what was behind them. Had he heard that guy? Fong tried to climb up to grab Twink. With every reach, she felt her stability loosen. She looked down realizing she was about twenty feet from the rocky sand.  She looked up again bending a rock behind Fliptwinkle to get him to come to her. He flew up, causing the rock to hurtle towards her hand. The rock striked her grip hand. She then slipped and began falling to the ground, having many rocks fall along with her. She was airborne staring at the ground. She needed to flip over. She lifted her arms, stopping the fallen pebbles in mid air. All she could think of was trying to stay quiet. She wanted no interaction with this guy that she had never seen. Before Fong knew it, she smashed the ground with a loud thud. The wind escaped her lungs followed by excruciating pain throughout her body. A screech of total agony came soon after. The rocks began falling since she had lost control of them. Shortly she felt the small rocks hit her already injured body. One felt like a million needles on her body. Twink flew down and made sure she was okay. Her vision had the stars in them. "So much for us trying to stay quiet Twink," Fong said with her voice sounding raspy.

He continued to bend the fire around himself, pushing it farther and farther until it turned pure white. The hottest a fire can get and still be visible, white flames rocketed around him with enough heat to bring the already high temperatures even higher. He released the fire quickly when he heard the moving of rocks and noticed a woman tumbling down the embankment behind him. He was about to bend to help her, but was not fast enough. So, he rushed to her side to see if she was okay. She didn't have any outward injuries upon a glance, so she should be alright, "Are you alright? That was quite a fall." He spoke kindly to the woman, and in a clear tone, he didn't know if she had suffered a concussion or not.

Offering her his hand, he would pull her up if she accepted. "Come on, I can make us some tea while you recuperate." He would pull out a ceramic cup and pour some tea into it from a canteen, heating it quickly with his firebending and then subtly stirring it with water bending, he would offer the cup to her. Should she accept, he would make his own. "What were ya doing all the way out here?"

For a second, Fong could not see clearly and breathing hurt. She covered her eyes with her arms for just a second listening to Twink's wings flutter. All of a sudden she felt a breeze on her legs. She could not hear Fliptwinkle anymore which scared her. Her heart began to beat really fast and it hurt inside of her chest. Opening her eyes, they faded from the white of the sun to the image of a guy; it was the same guy as before but clearer. His body muscular and tanned. He had messy black hair and his eyes were a breathtaking shade of amber.

Looking a little bit closer to her, she saw the four elements on his shorts. She could not tell what expression showed on her face, for all she could think of was the horrible pain in her ribs. The sun had now been covered by clouds and would soon be hidden behind the horizon. Should she try to escape or fight? Should she stay and talk to him? She turned her head to to the right to look for Twink but he was not in sight. He was probably sitting above her but it hurt her to much. She wondered what he was thinking about a girl watching him. Her heart was still beating fast but the pain in a breath had slightly weakened. He pulled her up gently and offered her tea. He ask her what she was doing out here in which she responded, "What is up with the tacky shorts?"

Kosuke snorted as the woman sipping at her tea made a snide comment about his trunks, "What's wrong with them?! I think they are cool!" He would poke his tongue out at her in a joking manner. "Seriously though, are you alright? That was a nasty fall!" The worry was clear in his voice, he might not know her, but it was kinda his job to look out for the wellbeing of the world. He didn't know any way to heal her if she WAS messed up, but he could figure something out. He didn't know how to heal using water bending, but he could surely figure something out should the need arise.

Fong smiled slightly at the gesture. The question she had just been ask was one she did not know. It felt like a large section of her left side had been stabbed. She looked down to see an instant bruise forming. "I think I might be okay." she lied. She heard wings from a distance and she turned around to see Fliptwinkle flying towards them. In his mouth was a cup of water. Once Twink landed on her shoulder she took the cup and gulped down the heavenly liquid. She could feel it make its way throughout her body.

She took her right leg and stomped the ground creating an earth bench to sit on. She looked up at the guy to see his expression. He may be shocked at her ability to earth bend but she would not know unless she ask. She did not plan on asking. She slowly bent over and grabbed her ribs taking slow deep breaths. She stomped again making another earth chair and held her arm out gesturing him to sit. "So, what is your name?"

Kuzon smiled at her, it was obvious she was injured but she wouldn't fess up to it and he had no way of healing her, so he let it go. Listening to her, he would speak with a kind voice, "My name is Kuzon! Good to meet you...? I don't know your name either, ya know!" He would laugh slightly, but would listen to her name and then smile to her. "So, do you live on the island? What do you do for a living?" He figured he may as well get to know her better, it was only polite after all!

He had been here on a brief hiatus from his travelling for the last few months, so he wondered how long she had been there, he had never seen her before, so it was odd to think, considering the population of the island. He would listen intently to any of her answers and would nod politely.

She listened to his reply. Kuzon is a very popular name; she even had many friends that she called that. "My name is Fong," she said looking down at the earth, "You know, it is weird that I have lived here my whole life and I have never seen you. Were you home schooled or something? I will have to find some way to differentiate you from every other Kuzon on this island. "

She looked at him and then around. Fliptwinkle had decided to sit in Fong's lap, staring at the strange guy intensely. She took another sip, finishing all of the water. She was just beginning to see clearly. The pain in her ribs had weakened but had a strong presence when she took deep breaths. She got up, went to the ocean water, and filled her cup full of water. In the water, she could briefly see her reflection. She noticed the part line in her hair was jagged along with a bruise that had formed right above her eye. She did not even know how she got that one; maybe it was a stone. She looked at the hand holding the cup and saw where the rock had cut her hand. After sitting back down, she created a small flame from her hand. Heating the water, she put it to her side to attempt to soothe the pain.

Kuzon looked at his watch as they spoke, he noted that it was getting late in the afternoon and he had a meeting with Master Oro to attend to if he didn't want to spend all night practicing the basics of firebending movements again. "Well, I spent most of my life travelling training with my masters. I'm not like any other Kuzon you know, I'm a bit different!" He decided it was time to make his grand exit, "I have to go now though, feel free to finish your tea! It was good to meet you Fong!" He would then stomp the ground, moving the earthen bench she had created for him back into its original position. He would then use airbending to lift himself into the sky, flying was one of the hardest skills to master, but he had managed it nonetheless. He would then take off in the direction of the main city area of Ember Island, leaving his new friend to do as she was doing before their fateful encounter.

[EXIT]