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The following story is indubitably fanon and should not be considered actual canon.
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By Originalavatarnerdling | Genre | Rating | Reviews | Updates |
More from Originalavatarnerdling | Adventure | G (all ages) | Positive | No update page |
THE BALLET[]
Kya was in town visiting her parents, but alas, Avatar Aang was away on a peace mission in Ba Sing Se, so Kya and Katara decided to have a thrilling mother, daughter day out to themselves.
"What are these tickets for again, Kya?" Katara wondered as the women walked into the Republic City Performance Center.
"It's called ballet," she stated excitedly, "I've heard great things about it! I think it's supposed to be a mixture of bending forms and dancing, all blended together with the sweet sounds of classical music."
"Kya, you should tell stories for a living," her mother chuckled, "Your powers of perception are astounding."
Kya couldn't tell whether or not her mother was being sarcastic or not, so she just grinned and kept walking through the line. When inside, Katara and Kya were directed to their own private balcony to watch the ballet (considering their family affiliation) and the two women took their seats in the fancy theatre. Kya pulled out a little pair of binoculars for her mother and a few moments later, the curtains drew back and the show was underway. It was a spectacular site! Men and Women dressed in heavenly uniforms that made them appear like paint strokes as they danced gracefully about the stage below. They moved in ways unique to the world, yet still managed to capture that familiar form from the bending arts, mostly Air and Water, but with a tiny pit of Fire tossed in for flair. The men, who were equally as nimble and graceful as the ladies, were strong and masculine, their dancing was more a mix of Earthbending and Airbending, held together with strength and serenity. The women were lovely, led by the lead ballerina---a tan skinned woman whose complexion seemed to just glow as bright as the moon itself, her uniform was a sparkling silver and white mixture that made her appear to be a floating star all throughout the performance.
After the show, the crowds roared with applause and roses from all corners of the stadium were tossed to the lead woman with the beautiful brown hair and striking pink eyes.
"Wait a minute?" Katara smirked... "Kya, do you recognize the lead girl there..."
"No?" she pondered, starring through the binoculars for a long minute until gasping, "Wait! I do! That's Tyra isn't it Mother?"
"I believe it is," she nodded, "She is the spitting image of her mother, and I knew she had joined the performance arts, but I figured the child was away with the Ember Island Players."
"We should go say hi to her, come on Mom!" Kya yanked her old mother out of the balcony and managed to weasel backstage in time to catch Tyra after the show.
"Tyra!" Kya cheered, "I haven't seen you since you were like five years old! Come here!" Before the startled ballerina could even wave, Kya had her wrapped in a hug and Tyra merely gulped and insisted she be set back on the ground.
"Katara!" Ty Lee squealed as she rushed up to the bunch.
She and Katara exchanged a light hug and Katara smiled, "It's been too long, Ty Lee."
"It has!" she practically cheered, "You look great! Oh and your daughter's aura is so colorful, she reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age!"
"Your daughter has grown into quite the talented young woman, Ty Lee, you must be extremely proud."
"Thank you master Katara," Tyra bowed respectfully, "It is an honor to hear such a compliment from you."
"So you're a Earthbender, right Tyra?" Kya asked, "I saw a few of the other performers do some actual bending, the way you Firebenders blended the colors together was spectacular---how did you do it?"
"Well, it's a stage trick, we actually have these special beads with dye in them and the Earthbenders fire them to the Firebenders and when the fire hits them, they burst open and change the color to any we want..." Tyra explained, "Glad you enjoyed it."
"Not to be the hasty lady or anything," Ty Lee inched, "But we have to go get ready Tyra. The World Tour doesn't stop here and we need to get you ready to travel to Ba Sing Se by tomorrow."
"Tight schedule?" Katara wondered.
"Extremely!" Ty Lee nodded, "But with Haru and my son back in his village---the place is almost as big as Ba Sing Se now---full of people from all over the world! My boys are teaching Earthbending and Firebending in their own father-son dojo; so that just means that Tyra and I have the whole grand tour to ourselves! I taught her everything she knows about dancing."
"I understand that these times are time consuming..." Katara chuckled, "My poor Aang is in Ba Sing Se now, on a peace trip with King Kuei's son. I'll give him a call and tell him to be sure and attend your show. He'll just love it!"
"The Avatar at my show!?" Tyra smiled widely, "That---That would be such an honor, Master Katara---and Master Kya! It was lovely to see you both again," Tyra waved, "Thank you so much for coming to our performance."
"Come on dear," Ty Lee motioned, trying to steer her daughter towards the dressing room, even though Tyra had sprouted a good three feet taller than everyone in the room... "We have packing to do."
"Bye you two!" Kya called.
They waved back and Katara and Kya left the theatre, abuzz with the new hit craze "ballet" and seeing their old friends again for the first time in many long years.
JET AND VIDEL[]
Longshot and Smellerbee's only son, Jet, left home to move to the city in order to get a decent job that wasn't on some farm or shop in Ba Sing Se. Almost twenty-eight years old and so unaware of what the city had to offer, the young man left home with a hopeful mind and his parent's blessing. Before he got too far out the door, Jet's father, wrapped his old, red scarf around his boy's neck and gave him a firm grasp on the shoulder and a stare.
"This scarf is the last thing I have of my family," Beau explained in a calm, quiet tone, "It will bring you comfort and hope in the city."
"Thank you father," Jet grinned.
"And remember," Honey stated, "If you need anything, you go see Aang---that guy owes us plenty of favors and he'll help you, or I'll kick his butt!"
"Find the Avatar," Jet rolled his eyes, "Noted."
"You're sure we can't talk you out of this?" Honey frowned, before her husband took her shoulder and she shrugged in acceptance, "I know...He has to find his own place in the world. I can't argue with you, but something about that city worries me."
"I'll be fine Mother," Jet waved, "I'm not getting any younger! I'll call you as soon as I get to the city!"
"You better, Jet!" she threatened.
One final wave and Jet was off, leaving the only place he'd ever known behind in the dust.
It was a long journey, but Jet made it to the city and was welcomed at the docks by a familiar face, the Avatar's wife, Katara.
"My my...look how you've grown up?" she grinned.
"Master Katara?" he gasped, "What are you doing here?"
"Your mother called me and asked to see to it that you got settled in, in one piece."
"Figures that she would get involved---she's very---persistent..."
"You don't have to tell me sweetheart," Katara eased, "Now, where are you staying?"
He told Katara the location written on his notes. Jet had gotten a job at one of the Future Industries locations, working as a welder on car parts; his home was a few blocks south of the sub factory where he was supposed to work.
"Not a bad distance," she smiled, "One trolley ride into town and back and you'll pass right by your work and home. After you work hard, I'm sure you'll get promoted even deeper into the city---maybe even near Toph and my brother. Mr. Sato might even let you work in his main corporation?"
"Your optimism is comforting," he grinned, his voice low and steady, "Mother always said that you were too nice to people."
Katara grinned before thinking that Smellerbee's words were more insulting than anything else and she let out a quick frown. She paid for the travel fare and showed Jet around the part of town that he'd be staying. She tried to be kind, but honestly this part of town wasn't the best---it was kind of lowly and poverish, but Jet didn't seem to mind.
"Have you ever thought about working at the power plant? You can Firebend if I'm not forgetting, right?"
"Sorry Master Katara," Jet blushed, "I'm afraid there weren't many Firebenders in Ba Sing Se---the only thing I know, is the lesson the Avatar taught me as a boy when he came to Ba Sing Se and stopped by for a visit."
"Poor boy," she stressed, before snapping, "With that warm voice of yours, you could be on the radio---ever consider that?"
With another uncomfortable look of embarrassment, Jet sighed, "I think I'll just stick with the job I was offered. I hear some people are roaming around with no jobs at all---I'll take any work I can get out here, and I won't press my luck."
"Alright dear," she shrugged, pointing, "This is your stop honey, that is your apartment right there."
"Thank you for the tour Master Katara," he bowed as he exited the trolley, "I appreciate your helpful kindness."
"You need anything, just call," she waved, and suddenly, Jet was alone in the city; a new man and a new place---a new life ripe for the taking, and Jet was going to make the most of it!
Months pass into the cold winter and this lowly city life was becoming much less than it was cracked up to be. Jet left his apartment to head off to work, dropping a coin in the cable car as he sulked down into his father's scarf to keep warm on the ride to the factory.
"I'm sorry, I know it's in here somewhere?" a voice pleaded.
"No money, no ride!" the snobby operator gruffed at the head of the trolley.
Jet looked out the window which was foggy from the intense cold raging from outside and saw a small woman in green shivering outside the cart.
"Someone must have taken my change while I wasn't looking...please sir, I really need to get on this cart!" she tried to explain.
In the same tone, the old driver snorted, "No money, no ride!"
"Here..." Jet dropped a coin in the fare and both the woman and the driver let out a quick astonished look before things got back to normal and the girl hurried onto the trolley. The driver blew his mustache with another snort and started driving his route as Jet and this woman took their seats on the bench. The woman sat next to Jet and brushed the wrinkles of her clothes out nervously as she avoided direct eye contact. She seemed really sweet and shy and smelled like different mixtures of fruit and vanilla. As Jet was studying her actions, she took a breath and gave him a look out of the corner of her eye, smiling in the slightest as she said, "Thanks for that..."
"It was nothing, really," he protested, "It's too cold for anyone to be walking around in this weather."
"You don't have to tell me..." she shivered. Jet took notice of her garments, they were thin and had patches sewn over holes and worn out fabric.
"You must be freezing?" he gasped.
"After you've lived here all your life, you get used to it," she smirked, scooping the loose bangs out of her face before fiddling with her dangling ponytails.
"Here, let me show you a trick I learned..." Jet held out his hands.
"Look buster, just because you paid my bus fare doesn't mean you can start getting all smooth with me!"
With a laugh, Jet persisted, "I swear, it'll help. The Avatar taught me this move himself."
"Oh..." her voice was unenthused and in disbelief, "Well, the Avatar!? Then by all means---" She gave him her hands and Jet warmed his to a toasty temperature that instantly cut away the young lady's frostbite. Warmly, she awed, "Wow...that---that's some trick---you're a Firebender?"
"Untrained," he admitted with a blush, "When you grow up in Ba Sing Se, there aren't too many people to teach you Firebending."
"Oh, so you're new to the Republic City life---figures," she smiled, her nose crinkling as she teased, "You're way too nice to be a natural born city man. We make Ba Sing Se look like the Shi Wong Dessert, now don't we?"
"I'm adapting..." he blushed, "Well you're pretty kind for a city girl?" Jet admitted, "First person I've talked to for months that I didn't work with."
She blushed and messed with her hair nervously, asking, "Where are you heading?"
"The local factory---you?"
"I work at a little store that sells candles," she giggled, "Silly."
"That explains why you smell so nice," he mumbled.
"What?" she wondered.
"Uh, nothing---nothing..." he blushed.
With a smirk, she held out her hand and greeted, "My name's Videl."
"I'm Jet," he shook her hand and the two sat there until the trolley bell dinged and Videl stood up.
"This is my stop..." she eased, "So...thanks for the help, Jet---maybe I'll see you on board tomorrow?"
For a man with such a low and calming thunderous voice, it utterly squeaked as Jet replied, "Sure!"
Videl laughed and fled the cart as Jet watched her from the train, rubbing a circle in the glass so he could see past the fog. Videl waved once before rushing into a small store nearby and vanishing. Love-struck, little hearts fluttered about Jet's face all day long, even through his rough work day. All he could think about was meeting that girl again on his way to work the next morning, and he looked foreword to it every second.
Fanon Trivia[]
- This is the first time that ballet was introduced to the Fanon, and also the first form of stage dance that uses actual bending.
- Tyra was last seen in Year 18. Kya hasn't seen her since she babysat her and her brother when they were toddlers.
- As the Avatar, Aang has to travel around to important cities for meetings on occasion.
- This is the first time we've seen Longshot, Smellerbee, and Jet since Year 18.
- Longshot's scarf is an important token in their family. He got it from his late father, and wore it all throughout his life, and now it's Jet's turn to do the same and one day pass it on to his own son.
- Smellerbee not liking the idea of her son moving to the city could just be a mother's worry---or it could be considered foreshadowing...who really knows?
- This is the first mentioning of Hiroshi and his Future Industries noted as a huge success.
- Katara said to call if Jet needed anything---this is something people say a lot, but in the long run---you never really call them.
- NOTE: The Trolley man is not very pleasant.
- Jet's "hand warming" trick was one of the few things he learned as an inexperienced Firebender.
- The little hearts after Jet's crush on Videl can be considered similar to Mako's crush when he first meets Asami.
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