Into Her Past

I remember, back when I was growing up around Ember Island with my parents. Back then, bending was something that only my mother did to keep the home warm, or lite the stove. Very rarely would I ever see her light up to attack or harm someone. It was meant to be an aid, not a weapon, at least that was how my parents saw it.

My full name is She Who Runs With Scissors Jane Kenta, my parents were Ron and Sheryl Kenta and two of the most generous people I had ever known. They were great people, revired by many and many came to their funeral. Atleast, that was what I was told.

I spent most of my childhood between school and the playhouse with Takeda Goleda. Not that I could dare believe that he still remembers any of those times. Running though the town square, grabbing at whatever was in reach until we reached the playhouse where we could hide in the rafters till the merchants lost hope in finding us. I just I was just born into the craze of doing bad, if only I had known back then what I came to find out later.

I tried, I dared to firebend like my mother, but I could just barely get the flames on my birthday candles to bend into a heart on my 15th birthday. The sheer sight of the little flamed hearts sent a shock through my parents, and immediately I began training on how to correctly use my gift. Apparently, candles aren't supposed to be played with, but utilized.

I remember dreams from my past more than the actual memories. Years of getting beat up and burnt has a tendency to mess with your head a bit. I would see myself running to my father with his arms spread wide to catch me, or being cradles in my mother's arms like an infant. It wasn't until recently that I found out what caused them to push me away. The thing that caused my home to be burnt to the ground in endless flames that filled that dreadful night's sky.

It was my 18th birthday, we were going to have a party after the last performance at the theatre so that my best friend Takeda could make it. He was playing one of the lead roles and couldn't get away, so we postponed the party to be at night for him. I just couldn't have the party without him.

Finding out about my past tends to lead people away, and now I know why. My father wasn't the noblest person in the Fire Nation, and he owed a lot of money to a gang of thugs. He didn't expect them to attack the home while my mother and I were still there, but they did. They were relentless and ruthless, caring only for the destruction that their creations caused.

I remember the day well, all too well sometimes. I was outside shooting my brand new bow with my father, working on stance and precision when my mother yelled from the house. My father rushed me to the back gate and told me to run, just run. "Leave, never come back." He yelled as he turned a ran into the house after my mother. A few seconds seemed to go past before the house was fully engulfed in more vicious flames than one's imagination could conjure. I never saw either of them again.

Now, some people remember the Kenta family for its corruption and fear us, well me. However, I never grew up knowing how to make things explode or kill people with the fire bending I had inherited. I grew up learning how to fist fight and use my bow, then only using my fire bending to help people. Do I hate my father for what he did? No, I could never hate him. My father was a great person, just like my brother was. He fell into an ungraceful act that he paid the ultimate price for, there is no reason he could possibly be hated by me. He saved my life.

I am a better person because of what my father did. I have his tendency to get into fights, my mother's likeliness to cause trouble, and both of their clumsiness, but I know when I need to step back and let things happen. Fighting still scares me, mainly because I disagree to fighting with fire, but I am getting better at it. However, I am generally a king person, only you get to know me.

For years after I was thrown out of Ember Island, I roamed around the world, making me living as an assassin and picki8ng up odd jobs to pay for food. While out hunting one day, I came across a thief of a Puma. It was a small Puma, about the size of a dog and probably the runt of the litter. He had been stealing the rabbits and squirrels I had collected while hunting, so I decided to take on a companion for once. Hey, what harm could Puma have right? People had dragons as pets for Avatar's sake. Boris is now a full member of my Kenta family, and a great guardian when I need it. He can take care of himself while I'm out on missions, and watches over the children for me. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

(to be continued)