Sophie POV
I've avoided Kai as if he's contagious.
He noticed, I mean everyone did, but they understood.
They knew what had happened with my Kai and when Bolin and Mako explained to them how similar they look, they let me do my thing.
Everyone knows but Kai himself.
I know he is utterly confused but every time he goes to ask someone they tell him to ask me but of course he can't do that as I literally hide from him.
Which isn't exactly hard either as this ship is massive.
Today I'm practicing with Mako on my new found bending and he says he's pretty impressed, that I learn quickly and have a lot of power in my strikes.
Of course it also helps that I read any book on bending the library had to offer in hopes of helping my brothers with their pro bending career a while ago.
"I'm done for today."I breath out feeling the sweat run down my back.
Mako agrees and throws me a towel.
"I'm going to go drink something and then get ready for Ba sing Se.You want something?"I ask and Mako shakes his head.
We sit in silence till Mako sighs.
"You got to go easy on the kid, Sophie.It not right."Mako says and sits down on a bench.
I stay standing and throw my towel in the basket.
"I know, I'm trying, but it's hard on me.I know he isn't him but every time I look at him, I see my Kai.It hurts...a lot."I reply.
Mako nods and grabs another towel.
I turn to the door and walk out.
I walk to the kitchen and see that no one is there.I make myself some tea with my back turned to the door.
I hear the door open and look into the reflection of the kettle to see who it is.
Kai's standing behind me totally still and looks at me with wide eye.
I sigh and turn around looking at him.
'He's not him, Sophie.'I remind myself.
"Want some?"I ask and point to the kettle.
Kai looks around the kitchen to see if I'm talking to anybody else but nods when he realises we're alone.
"Is Jasmin okay?"I ask and he quickly nods again.
I give him his tea and take a sip of mine.
I go to grab the biscuits when Kai's voice stops me.
"Why do you hate me so much?"he asks and I almost drop my cup.
"I don't hate you."I frown and pull out the biscuits.
"Then why do you treat me like you do?"he asks and I take a seat opposite him.
"It's a long story, Kai but you remind me a lot of a boy I once knew, my best friend to be exact.His name was also Kai and you look so much like he did...it's scary.He-He sadly took the wrong path in life and never got a chance to save himself.I never got a chance to save him.I guess it's a bit hard for me because you remind me of him but you aren't him and I have to realize that."I explain and he looks down at his cup.
"All I need is some time to figure it out for myself and I thought avoiding you would help me but I now realise that it doesn't.I know you've done some stupid things in the past too, Kai but you're on the right path now.I hope you Stay on it."I tell him and finish my tea.
Kai avoids any eye contact and I stand up.
"Sophie, I'm sorry about..."Kai trails off.
"You have nothing to do with it."I reply and walk out.
I shower and get dressed in some semi-formal attire before meeting everyone on the deck.
"Sophie! Mako!This is it! This is where dad grew up!"Bolin shouts and jumps on the railing.
"Bo, be careful."I say as he almost falls over it.
"Any advice on the queen, Sophie?You met her just before you went to the Southern seas, Right?"Korra asks nudging my shoulder.
"She's a difficult women so try to agree with as much as she says."I say and we start flying over the rings.
The lower ring smells awful, no wonder dad left.
The middle ring looks way better and the upper ring is beautiful.
Once we land we are greeted by her secretary, Gun.
When Gun sees Pabu, Naga and Oogi he freaks out and tells us to hide them.
I face palm as I should have known this but forgot with everything else running through my mind.
Gun tells us to follow him to our quarters and I take in the scene in front of me.
The Gardens of the palace are just a different type of beautiful.
"Ah Miss Sophie I take it that you remember all the rules of the palace from your last visit."Gun greets and asks with a small smile.
I smile and nod,"Of course I remember."
"Are there really that many?"Mako asks from behind me.
I reply with silence and Gun explains every rule.
"So please, please for my sake just try not to upset her majesty."Gun finishes and I click my tounge.
"You know just as much as I do that that's almost impossible."I reply and Gun drops his head in agreement.
We arrive at our quarters and all get comfortable.
We wish Korra luck as she goes to meet the queen and I decide to read in the lounge.
I'm soon joined by everyone and start chatting with Jinorra.
We were just talking about something random when a thought seemed to cross her mind.
"Hey, has anyone seen Kai?"she asks and I frown.
I hadn't seen him in ages.
"Kai! Little Bro?"Bolin calls out from the stairs.
"I don't think I've seen him since we've landed."Asami states.
"No he was there, I saw him riding on Naga."I reply and stand up.
"I knew that kid was no good.He was just waiting for an opportunity to run away again."Mako says.
"We have to find him."Jinorra frowns.
"What's the point? He obviously doesn't care about us."Mako reply's.
"But he's my new little brother. Hes probably lost and scared."Bolin argues.
I don't know how much I'm liking this whole little brother thing but I guess I'll roll with it.
I sigh.
"He is just a little boy, and he's our responsibility.Besides he's the only airbender we've recruited so far, we can't loose him."I say making Mako give me a surprised look with this change of heart.
"Fine.Bolin, you and I can go find him."Mako says and the two of us nod.
I grab my wallet and we go to leave.
We walk to the city centre and shout out to Kai.
Bolin starts shouting under the bridge while Mako and I scan the area.
A random wind blast catches our eye and we give each other a knowing look.
We see Kai help the man who was the victim of the blast and shout out to him.
"Kai! Get back here!"I shout.
He gives us a salut with a big grin and starts running away.
Bolin starts babbling something about us being his new family and I shout at him to shut up.
Okay maybe it bothers me just a bit.
We follow him through the streets and I gain on him quickly as I can navigate through the busy streets way better than my, built like a tree stump brother, Bolin and ,too tall for his own good, other brother, Mako.
We follow him too a train station and into a train.
He runs into Mako and I block the path behind him.
"What are you doing running around robbing people?"Mako asks, angrily.
'Nothing we haven't done' I think to myself.
"I was just practicing my air bending."Kai defends himself.
"Yeah right.Let's go.You're in big trouble"Mako grabs Kai but Kai frees himself and airbends us off our feet, making Mako fall on top of me.
My brothers try to catch up to him but the doors of the train close leaving us on the moving train and Kai outside of it.
We drive off with Kai waving at us.
"You're Little Brother, huh?"I ask.
"Yeah, just a lovable little scamp, isn't he?"Bolin replies making me groan.
"Reminds me of my little brother."Mako reply's.
The train driver announces that this train is going to the lower rink and we slump into three unoccupied seats.
I look out the window and physically see the living standards of each ring decrease.
When the train stops we are pushed out of the train and stand on either side of the exit.
"All right, let's see if we can catch a train ride back to the upper ring."Mako states and we walk to the train that indicates that it will be going to the upper ring.
We try to walk on but are stopped by an employee.
"Passports and tickets."he says.
"We can pay, hold on."Bolin tells him and we start looking for our wallets.
I try to grab mine from my pocket but feel nothing.
Damit Kai.
"Where's my money?"Bolin asks and Mako looks at him with wide, angry eyes.
"No. Kai wouldn't—"Bolin says looking at the both of us.
We both give him a look and he falters.
"Aw, Man!"Bolin sighs.
"All right, Beat it, you three."The employee pushes us away from the train making me trip and fall on my butt.
"Before things get ugly."
I Stand up angrily but stop when I see Mako side glance and hesitate.
I also look and see two figures who I recognise as part of the Dai Lee.
Mako grabs my shoulder as he walks past me and we walk out of the train station.
We walk further into the ring and I scrunch my nose as the bad smell consumes my senses.
Can't believe dad lived here for a whole 18 years.
"The bad news is, we're stuck here.The good news is, you can go to the bathroom wherever you want."Bolin pats the both of us on the back.
"Eww Bolin, stop trying to make this better."I pull a face in disgust.
Bolin shrugs and we walk further into the city.
We walk for what seems like hours till we decide to call it a night and sleep on the floor in one of the alleys.
I wake up the next morning right next Bolin and groan from the ache in my entire body.
"It's been a while since we spent the night on a trash pile."I say while picking bits and pieces of rubbish off my clothes.
"It's about how I remembered."Bolin adds and he lifts a can from under him.
He helps me up and I stretch again.
"I bet everyone's freaking out that we've been gone all night."Mako states.
"I'm worried about Kai.He's just a little kid out there on his own.He's probably really scared."Bolin sighs.
I snort and look at him,"He's perfectly fine, we should be worrying about ourselves.Because of him we have no money to get home or live on so how are we going to get out of here? I don't think I can take the smell any longer."I ask and roll my eyes.
I'm met with silence till Mako suggest that we should walk around the city again to find another exist.
"Whew, I'm getting hungry."Bolin says after a bit.
"Normally I'd insult you about that but I'm pretty hungry too."I agree making Mako look at me.
The same look in his eyes that he had when we were still living on the street, 'My little siblings are hungry and I need to be the one to solve that.'
Bolin gasps,"We might have to hustle up a little breakfast with the old fruit stand scam."
Bolin grabs Mako and tells me to wait by the stairs in front of the stall.
I watch as my brothers argue and somehow start a fight with the vendor of the stall.
I watch as the vendor jumps over the fruits and onto my brothers.
I gasp as they land in front of me and shout at the guy to get off of them.
A man speaks up from behind me and I listen to the guys and the man's conversation.
I walk closer to my brothers and lean down right next to Bolin's face.
Just as I was about to say something the man in front of us gasps.
"Bolin?Mako?Sophie?"he says.
"How do you know our names?"I ask, looking up at him.
"Yeah, I mean, I'm famous, so I get that.She's a world renowned mechanic, so that makes sense too but how do you know his name?"Bolin asks.
"You look just like San. Tu, You'll never believe who these guys are.They're your cousins, My brother San's kids."the man says making my mouth drop open.
When I feel flys try to enter I close my mouth and help my brothers stand up.
We all start walking to their place and he explains how he knew us and that our father had sent a letter which was also the last time they heard from him.
"First we saw a article about Sophie in the news when she was titled the smartest person in the world, then we saw your guy's bending a few years later in the paper and Bolin, we love those Nuktuk movers.They're hilarious."my uncle explains.
I smirk knowing Bolin won't like that comment.
"Yeah, I could probably be a pro bender, or an actor, or a mechanic, or something if I lived in a mansion in republic city like you guys.You don't know what it's like here on the Streets.You gotta be tough."Tu says and starts flexing his arms.
"Oh, we three grew up on the streets.We were homeless, then we were kind of in a gang, then we lived in a gym."Bolin explains.
We were all suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and pushed into a room.
"Hey, everybody! Look who's here!San's kids, Mako, Bolin and Sophie!"He shouts and everyone lets out phrases of shock.
I look at the room full of people and wave.
"Is it true? After all these years?"A old lady says walking in front of us.
"Children, this is your Grandmother, Yin."my uncle introduces.
"Oh, It is so wonderful to finally meet my long-lost grandchildren."she says and pulls us into a hug.
I freeze for a second before hugging her back.
We pull away and I glance around the room again.
"Where is San and your mother?"Grandmother asks and we look at each other in sorrow.
"Wait, you mean you don't know?"I ask.
I look at the floor, avoiding eye contact.
"I'm sorry. They were killed when we were little."Mako explains.
We talk about everything for a while longer before someone announces that dinner is ready.
I gleam at the food on the table and quickly start eating, just like Bolin.
Grandma jokes about us having inherited San's appetite which make me smile into my soup.
It's nice to hear stuff like that.
All my brothers have ever told me that I look quite similar to mom and have the same tone when I shout there names when I'm angry.
"This is so great.We've never had a family before.Now we've got... 1, 2, 5, 11..."Bolin trails off.
I do a quick sweep of all the people.
"23"I tell him.
"A big family! Yeah!"Bolin exclaims.
"So why did dad leave Ba Sing Se?"I ask.
"Oh, He always had big dreams.He couldn't wait to get out and see the world.Your grandfather thought it was ridiculous.He wanted San to stay home and work the fruit stand, but San was determined to leave and they had a huge fight and that was the last time they ever spoke.Oh, um, sorry, mom."Our uncle explains but apologises when he sees grandma's mood sadden.
"Come with me.I have something to show you."Grandma says and stands up.
We also stand up and follow her to her bedroom.
She sits down on her bed and pulls out a box.
"This is the only letter we ever got from San.It says he married a beautiful girl from the fire nation and had two wonderful sons and a beautiful daughter."she explains and pats the bed telling us to sit.
I sit next to grandma while Mako sits next to me and Bolin sits on her other side.
"He sent this picture of you all on his birthday."
We look at the photo and I see my mom and dad.My mom had both her hands on Mako's shoulders while dad had Bolin sat one knee and me on the other.
"Look, Mako dads wearing your scarf."Bolin points out.
The longer I look at the picture the more I feel tears stinging in the back of my eyes.
"I'm so sad that I never got to meet your mother.But you look just like her,"she looks at me and then at Mako,"and you have her eyes."
"I know from looking at you three that she must have been a wonderful bride for my boy."she says and I feel a tear run down my face and hear Bolin sniffle.
I feel myself being pulled into a side hug from Mako and wipe my eyes.
Makos hand leaves my shoulder, I look up to see him unraveling his scarf.
"I'm sure they would want you to have this."Mako says and puts it around her neck.
She looks at the three of us before pulling us into a hug again and I embrace it completely letting the warmth of it wrap around me.
A few more hours pass and it's dark now telling us that another day has gone by and we still haven't found a way out.
Not that I'm complaining through, I'm enjoying this much needed quality family time.
We are now telling them some stories of our travels and they are amazed.
"You know San would have been so proud of you guys, traveling the world with the avatar, working with the United forces, he would have loved that."Uncle tells us and I shoot him a smile.
"We actually need to get back to the avatar in the upper ring."Mako explains.
"We're supposed to be helping her find airbenders in Ba Sing Se."I carry on explaining while eyeing Bolin wondering how he can eat half the table of food.
No wonder he's built like a Sato mobile.
Everyone gasps and my eyebrows shoot up in question.
"What? What happened?"Bolin asks.
"One of our neighbours started airbending about a week ago.A couple days later, two Dai Li agents come out of nowhere and snatch him up.No one's seen him since."Uncle explains.
I feel my brain start to rattle and think of ways to get out of here and back to Korra as soon as possible.
"They say the earth queen's locking all the airbenders up somewhere and using them for experiments."Tu mutters from the corner.
For once I hope Kai is actually being responsible and safely at home with everyone else and not out and about robbing people in the dark streets.
"Ty! Don't talk like that about her majesty."Grandma exclaims and sends a kiss and prayer to the the portrait of the queen on her wall.
Wait till she hears that I'm almost dating the heir to the fire nation throne, only reason I haven't told her yet is that I'm scared her heart won't take it.
She loveeeees royals.
"We have to get back to the upper ring and tell Korra."Mako says and stands up, followed by Bolin and I.
"I hope Kai is okay."Bolin mutters and I agree.
But as far as I'm concerned, that boy is money smitten enough to go walking the dark streets all alone at night no matter the risk.