If I was to make a list of all the times Flint had gotten me in trouble, I would need an endless supply of paper.
This boy and his mischievous mind. He always had a knack of finding himself in places he had no business being at and doing things he really shouldn't have been doing.
And I always had the misfortune of getting dragged along with him on his misadventures.
Although, I would be lying if I said they were all bad experiences.
Truth be told, even if some of the worst days of my life had been spent with Flint, I also experienced some of the best and most memorable ones alongside him.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded angrily.
Even though I had willingly taken his hand and let him sneak us out of school, I was still skeptical about what he had in mind this time around.
With Flint, you could never be too sure.
"Just seat down and enjoy the ride, beautiful."
I clutched the torn material of the passenger seat of his vehicle. It was a wonder how I stayed in my seat with the way the thing was practically bouncing over rocks.
"How can I possibly enjoy a ride in this death trap?"
"Hey! Automobiles have feelings too!" He spoke, affectionately patting the vehicles steering wheel.
Automobiles were had to come by in Tren. The main and fastest method of transport around the Fire Nation were the steam engine trains.
Automobiles were a comfortable and more convenient way to travel but they were reserved for the wealthier people in the Fire Nation.
The only people who had automobiles in town were the mayor and the bosses of the mines, the factories and the docks. They were the only ones who had enough money to buy and maintain them.
Flint's automobile was a beaten up old thing that the mayor had discarded. The Mayor is one of Pam and my mother's loyal customers. He can't get enough of their dragon nuts. Pam negotiated for the automobile because she knew how fascinated Flint was by them.
He didn't mind giving it to him. Especially since he was his daughter's - Kai's - friend.
Flint fell in love immediately.
I still don't understand why. The rectangular contraption had no glass on its windows, the paint was chipped off, it was rusty, there were no doors and you had to say a prayer just to get it going.
Flint didn't care though, he worked on it everyday, almost religiously.
For some time no one could get him away from it. He even started having his meals in it.
We were driving away from town, towards the outskirts of Tren down a road that had long since been neglected. It was beyond dilapidated. Over the years, young firebenders like Flint and his friends would come here to practice their bending.
Tren wasn't like Agni. In Agni, even the schools had centres to train their benders. They believed it was never too early to master the craft.
In Tren, on the other hand, the adults would yell at you if you even tried to fire bend next to their wooden houses. And besides, there were so few firebenders in Tren, most of them weren't even that powerful.
I yelped as we drove over another random rock.
"Flint Park! I swear if I die-"
"Then out parents will have to buy two coffins because I'll be right behind you, my love." He took his eyes away from the road for a second to give me a charming smile.
I glared at him. "Flint-"
"You're right, it would be easier and much cheaper if we used the same coffin. At least that way I would have laid with you atleast once." He winked.
I couldn't fight the blush that immediately snuck onto my cheeks.
He chuckled. "I'm only kidding Mar. But I do believe we have some things to talk about."
I folded my arms across my chest, getting angry as I remembered why I had been mad at him in the first place. Flint was spontaneous and adventurous. One of the reasons I liked being with him was because he always made you forget the present situation and transported you to another world entirely in the present.
"You mean about how cozy you seem to have gotten with Kai?" I muttered bitterly.
He seemed confused for a second before he grinned.
"Oh... Now it makes sense."
"What makes sense?"
"Why you disappeared at the docks yesterday. Why you've been avoiding me..." He sounded amused. "Is my beloved wife jealous?"
I clenched my fists, trying to talk myself out of hitting him or setting his precious automobile on fire.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I spoke, looking away from him stubbornly.
"Aw... Come on, Mar, you know you're the only girl I have ever loved."
He reached over to place a hand on my shoulder but I moved out of his reach.
He frowned. "You don't seriously think something is going on between K and I."
I snapped my head to look at him. "She kissed you!"
Again he was momentarily confused.
"You mean at the docks? She was just being friendly." He shrugged.
"Way too friendly if you ask me. Why didn't she just shake your hand like a respectable young lady?" I muttered.
"Mar, I swear, nothing is going on between Kai and I." He was dead serious, in fact, he looked offended at the fact that I even suggested it.
"We're good friends you know that."
Okay, maybe I did. Kai and Flint had been friends since they were children ut that didn't kill my suspicions at all.
I sighed.
"Okay, maybe you know that but does she?"
It was no secret that Flint had lots of female admirers around town. But he never seemed to notice them or pay attention to them in the least.
Stella always says it was because he was madly in love with me.
It's comments like that that made me wonder if I loved this boy as much as he seemed to love me.
"Of course she knows." He responded.
I knew he could tell that I still wasn't convinced.
"Why were you with her in the headmaster's office this morning?" I asked.
Flint ran a hand through his hair, suddenly focussing on the road.
"Well I wasn't going to tell you until tomorrow. I wanted it to be a surprise... But something did happen with Kai in Agni."
My face dropped and I looked at him expectantly for an explanation.
"Part of the assessment of the new soldiers in Agni is to see how we react in emergency situations. So they took us to Haung, the most recent town to be captured by the Rebels."
The Rebels were the enemy to the throne, practically the main cause of the second great war.
"They made you go there?" I asked in concern. I knew how ruthless the Rebels were. I had heard enough war stories.
Flint gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, most of the rebels were run out of towns like that the minute the war ended..."
"Most?" I whispered.
Flint got serious again. "They're still a lot of rebel sympathisers around the Fire kingdom, Mar. People who still believe we never should have changed sides."
When the Second Great War begun, King Joash turned his back on the other three major kingdoms and made an alliance with the rebels.
King Joash struck a deal with them. If he helped them overthrow the monarchy in the whole of Oris, the Fire Kingdom would still have a major part in the 'new order'.
The decision didn't make King Joash very popular but he quickly redeemed himself when he turned on the Rebels at the last minute. Apparently that was his plan all along, to lure the Rebels into a false sense of security.
Just like that he turned from the most hated man in Oris to a hero among his kind.
The decision didn't make King Joash very popular but he quickly redeemed himself when he turned on the Rebels at the last minute. Apparently that was his plan all along, to lure the Rebels into a false sense of security.
Just like that he turned from the most hated man in Oris to a hero among his kind.
"We were taken to a compound where it was rumoured some people were harbouring a couple of Rebel spies..." He shifted in his seat uneasily. "Turns out it wasn't a rumor and there were more than just a couple of them."
He seemed to be fighting a shudder.
I studied him, looking him over trying to see if I had missed something. A wound? A scar?
"Did you get hurt?" I asked.
He shook his head, a small smile made it's way to his lips again. "They don't say the Fire Kingdom has the best soldiers for nothing. They quickly neutralised the situation, it was amazing. Their reflexes, their skill - but..."
My eyes widened, "but?"
"Well, the applicants had direct orders not to take part in the action. But Kai tried to be a hero and..."
"Did she get hurt?" I asked suddenly feeling guilty for how mad I was at her.
"No, I got- well let's just say she wouldn't be here if I hadn't stepped in."
"You saved her life?"
He shrugged but I saw the small smile form on his lips.
"It was no big deal."
"Are you kidding me?" I playfully pushed him. "You're a hero!"
He grinned. "Well... You're not the only one who thinks so. Kai insisted that her father honours me tomorrow at school during the assembly. That's what we were talking to Headmaster Kross about."
"That's what you wanted to surprise me with?"
"Were you expecting something else?" He teased.
I shrugged. "I was expecting you to tell me you fell in love with some other girl while you were gone. Even if it wasn't Kai." I was only half joking and I knew he could tell.
That was the hardest part about watching Flint leave. Wondering if he would come back a different person. Someone who liked different things.
Things that didn't include me.
"There were girls, Mar." He admitted. "But none of them looked like you or talked like you or were even remotely like you. The whole time I was there it just felt like... Something was missing..."
I looked up at him through my lashes and blushed.
"I know sometimes you doubt me... But believe me, Mar, only a fool would be able to overlook what a treasure you are."
I looked away and blushed, fiddling with my hands.
I was going to tease him about who he had stolen the line from but something caught my attention.
"Wait, I know where we're going!" I exclaimed as I begun to see a streth of long green grass.
"I didn't think it would take you this long to figure out." Flint responded. "And you're supposed to be the one with the brains."
I practically started bouncing excitedly in my seat as the trees became sparse and more spread out.
"We haven't been here in so long." I whispered.
"Remember the first time I brought you here?" Flint asked.
"It was after you found out I could fire bend."
"You were so nervous you almost burnt my hair off, might I remind you." He spoke shuddering at the memory.
I laughed. "Hey, I was scared! I could barely control my bending then."
"I hate to break it to you, Mar, but you still can't control your bending." He had stopped the automobile by the side of the road.
I quickly got out, and took in the fresh air of nature.
The Fire Kingdom mostly industrial. That means there's lots of pollution. You barely see places so untainted as this place.
A place that man has not yet touched and or ruined.
It was our little meadow.
I heard Flint coming up behind me.
"I thought coming here would make you happy." He spoke.
He had no idea.
I turned around to look at him.
"You've always had a talent of knowing exactly what would make me happy." I told him playfully.
He leaned against his automobile, arms folded across his chest.
"I'd sure like to think so."
I rose a brow at him.
"Is it still here?"
He pushed himself off the automobile. "Only one way to find out." He grinned.
"I'll race you!" I screamed before quickly turning around and darting into the long grass.
"Hey! That's not fair!" I heard him yell after me.
I laughed. "Catch me if you can slow poke!" I let my memory of the meadow guide me as I ran down the sloping land.
I could hear Flint close behind and I had no doubt that he would catch up soon but I didn't stop.
I just spread my arms and enjoyed the wind blowing against me making me feel like I was flying.
Flint had caught up like I expected and before I knew what was happening, he had his arms around my waist.
He must have lost his balance because the next thing I knew we fell onto the ground with me landing on top of him.
We looked at each other before bursting out laughing.
I wanted to push myself off of him but he held me in place.
"No, stay right there, the view is fantastic." He tucked his hands behind his head and gave me one of those charming smiles he was famous for.
I playfully hit him but allowed myself to rest my head on his chest.
I turned to the side and saw a little pond just a stone throw away from us. And a few feet away from the pond was an all too familiar tree.
"It's still here." I whispered feeling Flint's chest rise up and down as he breathed softly.
He strained his head to look in the direction of the tree. "I guess it is."
It had been years since the tree had produced any fire lilies but you could still tell that it was that kind of tree with it's slender dark stem and branches and it's tiny deep green leaves.
But you probably couldn't tell upon first glance that there were initials engraved on the bark right on the side. A clumsy 'F' and a more delicate 'M'.
You would never know that a twelve year old me had burst out in tears when I realised the tree had stopped producing my favourite flowers. You would never guess that it was at this tree that I had first kissed Flint after the first time he called me beautiful. You would never know all the stories and moments this tree could tell about Flint and I if it could only talk.
"Mar," Flint whispered, breaking our calm silence.
"Mmhmm..." I hummed carelessly pulling out weeds from the ground.
"What if you didn't have to hide your bending anymore?"
I sat up and looked Flint in the eyes. "What?" I asked in confusion.
He sat up as well, no hint of humor on his face indicating that he wasn't joking.
"What if you didn't have to hide your bending?" He repeated.
"But I have to." I told him really not knowing where this was coming from.
"I know Terrence and Christine only want to protect you from high class fire bender perverts and the army but how would you feel if you didn't have to hide that part of you anymore?"
"I don't know..." I muttered looking at my hands as if afraid they would burst out in flames any minute now.
I spent so much time concealing my bending, sometimes I forgot that I could. But I always felt the warmth in my veins, the fire burning inside me, reminding me that it was a part of me.
"Why are you asking me this?" I asked him uncertainly.
He mimicked me and raised his right hand, except his actually burst into flames. The orange flame danced easily on his palm. It was comfortable, effortless, something he could control, something I could only wish I could do.
"I saw a lot more female benders applying for the army this season." He spoke, his eyes fixed on the flame, the orange reflected in his dark orbs. "I guess they're tired of having their fates written down for them."
I looked at him in shock.
"You want me to enlist for the army?"
He quickly put out the flame and shook his head as if shaking himself out of a daze.
"No, no... That's not what I meant. I know how much you're against violence."
He was right. If I had it my way, I wouldn't have let him even enlist for the army.
But once Flint had made up his mind about something, there really was no changing it.
"I'm saying... What if you didn't have to join the army? What if you didn't have to sell yourself out to some snobby high class couple?" Flint sounded angry when he said the last part.
It was rude to gossip but everyone in town knew the real reason Flint was such a strong firebender.
Pam had some fire bending abilities, nothing too strong but enough to boil a pot of water if she focussed enough. Rumour had it that she had an affair with an extremely high profile and considerably strong firebender when she was younger and lived in Ruthsburg.
The story was that he promised to leave his wife and marry her after she got pregnant but after she had Flint, he went back on his word. It was obvious, him and his wife only wanted her around as a fire bender baby maker. So one day she took Flint and ran away and ended up in Tren, a town so small and insignificant, no high profile person would ever bother coming to look for her here.
"What are you talking about?" I asked Flint.
He reached into his pocket and for a minute I couldn't make out what it was that he held but the minute I did, my eyes widened.
"What if you married me?" His voice was low but I knew there was no humour in it.
He held the silver shiny circle, focusing his eyes on it.
"If you were mine. You wouldn't have to hide yourself from the world because I would protect you from those who tried to harm you. If you married me, you could finally be yourself."
Years of having Flint call me his wife couldn't prepare me for this.
I stared at the ring then back at him.
"You mean it?" I whispered with a smile knowing how playful Flint could be.
"Well we would have to wait till you turned eighteen next month. Your parents want that much-"
"Wait? They knew?" I asked in outrage remembering my mother's behaviour this morning.
"Of course. I wasn't going to do this without asking their permission first." He spoke scratching the back of his head. "Terrence would beat me to a pulp with his crutch."
I laughed.
"You would have to leave Tren and come with me to Agni." Flint spoke as if in warning. "And perhaps you'd have to move with me whenever I got deployed but... That's your dream, right? To travel? I mean you wouldn't stay in the same place for too long but what's a house when we can make a home anywhere? And we wouldn't even have to have kids if you didn't want any. And I would get rid of my automobile and I would shower you in fire lilies and-"
I cut his ranting off by jumping into his arms, sending him falling onto the grass. I pressed my lips onto his.
He didn't hesitate in kissing me back, pulling away only to chuckle.
"I assume that means 'yes'?"
I giggled. "A thousand times yes."
I don't know how long we were in the meadow discussing our future life.
How people at school would react when they found out. Stella would probably start planning our wedding immediately.
We hopped it would happen before Flint got called to Agni to start his training.
We talked about how heartbreaking it would be to leave our families and friends but we would surely visit whenever we got the chance.
We would be okay. As long as we were together.