"Come here darling!" Jian's mother yelled from the kitchen.
The smell of moon pie wafted from an open window. Jian wished he could eat it hot, but he would have to wait until after work. Jian smoothed out his rumpled clothes before coming inside.
"Why there is Daddy's favorite little avatar!"
His father said while messing with his his hair.
His father was listening to a radio, while his mother was in the kitchen. His mother came in, her curls perfectly pinned up into two tight buns. Her green dress was dusted in flour.
"Well goodness me!" She said gesturing down at her dress.
Jian heard the faint sound of laughing, but remembered to stay in character.
His mother set down the Moon pie, and pretended to serve it everyone. Jian's father picked up a piece with his fork, but merely held it in front of his mouth as he talked.
"You know Jian, that was some impressive earth bending, I see a future Pro bender in you."
His mom placed her hands on her hips.
"Lao, our baby won't have time to be a pro bender and the worlds savior! He's only seven, there's still so much he doesn't know! But he promised to cook with his mummy, didn't you sweetie?"
This was his cue. He turned to the camera and flashed a bright smile.
"Of course Mom! An avatar and a chef, I think I can do it all!"
"CUT!"
And with that a bell rang and the production crew went back to their jobs. Mr. Varrick came down from his directors chair.
"Well done Mr Jian, you are so adorable!" He said painfully pinching his cheeks.
"Almost makes me regret not having children." He said while rubbing the ends of his mustaches. Then he got that crazy look in his eyes.
"JUST KIDDING!" He yelled and patted his back. He ran off muttering something about
"Me and Zhu Li with those little demons? No thanks."
Back at the plastic table, Jian reached for the Moon pie, but his mother swatted his hand.
"Ah ah Jian, good little boys get to have moon pie."
"But I did the scene right" he complained while eyeing the pie. The smoke was staring to come off, and the "fresh from the oven" effect would ware off soon.
"Jian you have three more scenes, then you can have moon pie." His mother said with false sweetness.
"You" she snapped at one of the many hair and makeup assistants.
"Please fix this" she said gesturing to her hair.
Jian couldn't spot a single hair out of place, but immediately many women crowded around his mom to attend to her needs. He sighed sitting down on the bench. He picked up his script and started memorizing lines again. Jian hated "The Avatar Show". He didn't want to be a mover star or much less a reality star. All he really wanted to do was eat some moon pie and have fun like all the other kids. Don't get him wrong, he loved being the avatar, but this wasn't what he signed up for.
Technically he did sign up to be the avatar, or at least his parents did. He was earth bending outside when it happened. Even before his avatar fame, his parents were pretty well known. His dad was a retired pro bender and his mom was a mover star. Jian's father had taught him to earth bend, and Jian was very good it. He practiced every day wanting to be absolutely perfect. He remembered the strange men his parents led into the living room, they called themselves the white lotus.
They told him his birthday was special, that he was one of the few people born November 8th. Jian used to hate his birthday. Every time he would walk out of Gao Ling on his birthday, and see black drapes hanging out of windows. It was silent, and incense sticks would line the streets with pictures of Korra. Jian was forgotten, unimportant. That was until a man stepped forward and gave Jian a lotus tile. He told him that he was the new avatar. Jian was the happiest five year old out there.
His first thought was that he was a super hero. After the announcement had been made, there were suddenly pictures of him everywhere. Radio stations wanted to talk to him, Firelord Iroh II wanted to invite him to eat at the palace, he got to ride sky bison, he was the happiest kid. And then he turned eleven.
Jian had done it, he mastered earth bending. He could sand, metal, and lava bend. He got private lessons from Bo Lin and Wei, and become one of youngest earth bending masters. He was excited to move onto fire, he already had many friends in the fire nation. But Jian had been eleven then, and he wasn't as naive as he was at age seven. He knew he wasn't the avatar.
For a while Jian thought one day he would master the avatar state. One day he'd be able to bend four elements, that he was just a stalled avatar, but he knew better. One day he'd been picked up from set( not the Mao family show, which Mr Varrick directed, a mover set where he had a small role) by a man with a lotus symbol on his vest.
He said he had known him in his two past lives, he said he had even been his son in a past life. But Jian told him that wasn't true. Jian trusted him like he trusted anyone else in white lotus, and he told him that he wasn't the avatar. The old man simply smiled saying he knew. He introduced himself as Bumi.
"It's hard when you can't bend an element that the whole world is waiting for you to bend." Bumi grunted.
Jian felt even worse. He would've been happier if Bumi told him they had made a mistake, but to know they were lying to him? His whole life? Jian almost felt like he had been made a mockery of. For so long he truly believed he was the avatar. Looking back Jian should've seen how every battle he had to fight, he fought earth bending, or the white lotus would step in.
Now that he had thought about it, at every fight the white Lotus was there to help him take down the bad guys, like they knew he couldn't do it alone. All the sudden Jian had so many questions, like were these fights staged? He felt like a puppet, a sad excuse for a hero.
Bumi sighed clapping a hand on his back.
"Look kid I know this must be tough to hear, but you weren't dealt the worst cards. You're rich, and famous, and beloved. You're an icon!"
"I'm a fool." He snapped.
"You're a hero." Bumi corrected
"Fake or not, you're our avatar, and as long as the world knows that, we're safe. The world is changing at unnatural pace, I remember when radios were the biggest invention we had seen. But you my friend, are familiar. A constant, a reassurance to people. The world needs their avatar, and that's you."
Jian rubbed his temples.
"So what, I have to be the avatar forever? I have to live a lie for the rest of my life?"
That was a question Jian would soon know the answer to. For the next six years Jian would "master" the elements. Production teams would film his stunts. Artist would model him after avatar Aang and print pictures of him in the avatar state. He'd do more interviews, host more events. He'd be the avatar the world needed him to be. His future was planned out to the detail and there was no more surprises.
"You're up in five." Bumi reminded.
He walked into Jian's room in Ba Sing Se. Today he'd be giving another speech. He was used to giving press conferences, but today was the anniversary of when avatar Korra fought UnaVaatu, which had become somewhat of a holiday. Not big enough to get school off unfortunately, but enough for Jian to fly to Ba Sing Se to give a speech.
"My nieces are in the crowd, but don't let them scare you."
Jian made a sour face, remembering all the times he had rejected their proposal to have them as his airbending mentors. He had a feeling they may have suspected something was off at one point, but he hoped it would ware off.
"Nervous?"
"No." Jian answered truthfully.
He was excellent at public speaking. His mom had made him practice countless times, until he was perfect. He glanced towards his wardrobe where a tiny tin of moon pie sat. There was a little note reminding him not to mess up in his mother's handwriting.
"Yeah I figured. Proud of you kid."
Bumi said resting his hand above Jian's hair. He could tell Bumi wanted to ruffle it, but he wouldn't let the old man. Last time Bumi had ruined his hair he threw a powerful fit of rage. He hated having a hair out of place.
He shuffled out of the room leaving Jian to practice his breathing exercise. He quickly straightened out his uniform, and practice his smile, for when he had to meet fans. He listened to the crowd scream and figured it must have started with Raiko giving him an introduction. He heard his cue and made his way out.
He wasn't a quarter into his speech when he heard gasps. To his dismay his beloved fans turned their attention to someone else. He heard gasps and applause and tried to figure out what they were staring at. That's when he saw Korra's statue. Not even 10 steps away was Korra's pavilion with her massive statue. His eyes widened at he stared into Korra's eyes, which were glowing white.
He wasn't sure why they glowing white. He figured this was a special effect, but why display it while he was talking. He glanced at Raiko for help, but Raiko had his attention elsewhere. That's when he saw him. Suspended in the air with glowing white eyes. He tan muscular skin also seemed to glow with the rest of his body. He watched as he sent a blast of air to whoever was on the ground. Then as if to confirm his worst nightmare he lowered himself on the floor with a heavy impact, earth bending.
When the glowing faded the crowd burst into applause. Raiko whispered something to three men Jian knew were in the white lotus, and they nodded, running off in the direction of the avatar, the real one. Without a doubt, that was the master of four elements, and he has just humiliated Jian. Hiding for seventeen years, letting Jian claim the title of being the avatar. He was sure he was mocking Jian, waiting for the moment to embarrass him, and out him as a fraud on television.
An overwhelming feeling of hatred and anxiety took over. This was it, the secret was out. He was a fraud and everyone knew it. What purpose did Jian serve if not the avatar. Just as he felt like falling to his knees, Raiko rushed forwards and took the mic.
"I hope you enjoyed our wonderful avatar reenactment. The actor wasn't supposed to perform until later, so we kindly ask you turn your attention back to avatar Jian."
All the eyes returned to Jian and his moth felt dry. He breathed in and out, remembering what his mom had taught him. "You can't be perfect if you can't breathe." His mother used to say.
He gave the crowd a warm smile and resumed his speech, the back of his mind burning with questions. He finished taking a bow and waking off stage, his hands clenched so tightly his nails left marks. He matched right up to the White Lotus, ready to let out all his pent up frustration. He however walked into a conversation, and decided it was worth a listen.
" YOU LOST THE KIDS!" Raiko shouted.
"SEND A SEARCH PARTY IMMEDIATELY, FIND HIM AND TAKE HIM IN! BE DISCRETE ABOUT THIS, DO NOT CONFRONT HIM IN PUBLIC, WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER LIGHT SHOW." He barked.
Seven men nodded and ran out, Raiko stood pacing back and forth. Jian turned to see Bumi pinching his temples and muttering something about "impossible".
Raiko turned to Jian, who was desperately blinking his eyes. Jian hadn't cried unintentionally in so long.
Raiko placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry Jian, I'll make sure nothing will change."
——-
Three weeks had passed of Jian being mentally drained. Any day he feared he'd wake up, and his big scam would be over. In the weeks following the incident at Ba Sing Se, he had done double the press, filmed more videos of him "bending" the four elements. By now he knew who he was dealing with. The avatar was not alone, accompanied by another teenage girl. Jian was sure the avatar was fully realized, the true master of four elements. He had been hiding for seventeen years, he was probably the most prepared avatar.
Rage boiled up in Jian, to think this boy was laughing at Jian, plotting the day he would ruin his life. The White Lotus intercepted any missing persons to match up any teen, but none fit the description. Who er he was was master of evasion, outsmarting the White Lotus at every turn. He was like a bomb that was waiting to be set off, and he knew that. The real avatar knew the White Lotus didn't want to him to enter the avatar state, so he used the public to his advantage.
Jian concentrated hard at the ground and to his satisfaction tiny bubbles of lava appeared. He quickly waved his his hand, and back was solid ground. While Jian could only bend Earth, he was a master. He could metal, sand, and now lava bend, and he was proficient in each. The avatar was good, but Jian had to be better.
"Say thoughts on girls?"
Jian turned around to see Bumi and frowned at him.
"Girls?"
"Yeah, any special ladies in your life?"
"Why are we talking about this?"
Jian was no stranger to girls, them making up majority of his fan base. His first kiss had been on television when he was twelve, and he had had many more. Every time he kissed a girl it felt the same, it was work, it was professional. He never found dating to be important, and actually saw it as a waste of time.
"Because we found him."
Jian caught his breath.
"And the girl, you want me to-"
"No no, not his girlfriend, someone else, the people he's been staying with. This is how we get him."
Jian nodded.
"Let's do it."