Lotus Flower: Book One|ZukoxOC(Avatar the Last Airbender Fanfic)

Imprisoned

"Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that." She says angrily.

"But Haru's an earth bender. He can help." Katara says, hopeful.

"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" Haru's mom gives a meaningful glance over to her son. "He must never use his abilities." She forbade.

"How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are." Katara says in dismay.

"You don't understand." The mom shakes her head.

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" I placed a hand on Katara's shoulder to try to calm her down, I was upset too but there has to be a reason for the carefulness.

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father." And there it was.

It was now nighttime. I was laying outside in the grass, thinking about the events from earlier. I wanted to help Haru's family. I wasn't sure how, but I needed to help them in some way. Think Liena. Suddenly I heard a big boom somewhere close by. I jumped to my feet and followed where the noise had come from. I rounded a corner to see an old man being pinned to the ground by fallen boulders of a mine.

I gasp and ran to the man trying to lift the rocks off of him with my bare hands. What I would give to be an earth bender right now. "Don't worry, I'll get you out somehow." I promised. "I don't want to leave you.." I whispered as I looked around for something to wedge underneath the rocks.

I found a big log and dragged it over to him. "Help! Help!" The man continued to scream in panic.

"I'm trying! I'm so sorry!" I apologize.

The log wasn't enough. I looked around before trying to use my airbending to make the rocks fly away from him. But nothing worked. The man's eyes were huge, to say the least. Suddenly, Katara and Haru were by my side. They began to pull on the mans arms but it didn't work.

"It's not working! We have to get help." I say, holding the man's hand in an attempt to calm him down.

"There's not enough time." Haru responds.

"Haru, there's a way you can help him." Katara points out and my eyes went wide.

"I can't." Haru says, clearly worried.

"Please, there's no one around to see you. It's the only way!" Katara begs.

"I know it's scary, but this seems to be the only option right now." I say and he looks at me with fear in his eyes. "I'll help in any way I can," I comfort.

Haru steps away from us, taking an earthbending stance. He blasts all of the boulders away with one quick movement. He clearly didn't need my help, he was a better bender that I thought. I run to the old man and gently helped him to his feet, leaning most of his weight on me.

"Haru you did it!" Katara says in amazement and Haru comes to help me.

"You didn't even need my help. You're an amazing bender," I compliment. We walked away from the mine, and I continued to pester the man about his injuries. I escorted him back to his home and made sure he was well taken care of. Katara and Haru had already left.

"Are you sure you want to stay here? He seems to be in good hands." Haru had said, acknowledging the old man's family.

"Yes, I'm sure. I need to make sure he rests."

"Make sure to be back tomorrow morning, at the latest. We're leaving soon." Katara said.

I sat next to the old man, who was laying in his bed wrapped in blankets. His wife was placing a hot towel on his head. "Excuse me, can I help at all right now? I could make some food or run into town to grab some medicine." I offer.