New Beginnings
Chapter 16
Written by rachel76
Edited by Don Kaufman

The list of characters mentioned in this story belong to the various authors that created them. This is a fan-fiction story.

~~~000~~~
We follow Iroh into a private sitting area. We see King Kuei looking out the window at the oriental garden. He turns to see who Iroh brought with them.

“I remember you. Your names are Richard and Brianna. Why are you here?”

“I’m here to learn the finer details of Earth Bending from Toph. I have earned the fifth black sash of ten for the Shaolin Dragon Master title. We are here for at least four days, King Kuei.”

“That’s great, Richard. Please sit with me. There are some things we need to talk about for the moment.”

“Thank you, King Kuei.”

We sit down at another table near King Kuei’s table. We look at Iroh. “We would like to have two cups of hot jasmine and marjoram for us, Iroh, preferably one at a time.”

Iroh smiles from the order we gave him, “Of course, Richard.” Iroh turns around to retrieve the hot teas from the kitchen.

I set our satchels on the floor near us. I put the fairies’ satchel on another chair. They quickly fly out of our coat pockets. They open their satchel. They bring out their small cups and create their own warm cups of honey-water.

King Kuei smiles when he sees the fairies doing that.

“Richard, I know you are not from here.”

“Yes, King Kuei.”

“You’ll find Toph in Yu Dao. She has a metal bending academy there. Eventually, there will be a Metal Bending Police Force in Republic City.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We did some further investigation in Republic City. We found a criminal organization being formed within it. Also, we found an anti-element bender group. My question for you is this. Are we able to handle it?”

“You’ll be able to handle it, King Kuei. It will finally come to its conclusion with the next generation Avatar when she solves the problems.”

“That’s good to know, Richard.”

Iroh brings in a tray of hot marjoram tea for us to drink. There are two cups and a small ceramic tea pot on the tray. He pours out the tea into the two cups.

“Thank you, Iroh.”

“You’re welcome, Richard.”

Brianna and I take a sip of the hot marjoram tea at the same time. “It is very good, Iroh. Thank you very much. Iroh, I have a question for you.”

“Yes, Richard. What is it?”

“This is a question from one dragon to another dragon. Is it possible that you can teach me the finer details for Fire Bending?”

“Hmm . . . I’ll have to think on that, Richard. I know it will be a great honor for me to do that for you. I’ll give you my answer before you see Toph.”

“Thank you, Iroh.”

We sit in silence sipping our cups of hot tea. When we get done with the marjoram, hot tea, Iroh brings out the hot jasmine tea. Again we thoroughly enjoy sipping the hot jasmine tea.

Iroh sits with us while we sip the jasmine tea. He is also sipping on some hot jasmine tea as well. We can see he is thinking hard of my proposal to him.

~~~000~~~

What should I do, Creator? Will there be another Dragon of the West here on the Avatar World? Richard should seek out the Sun Warriors. I suspect I have about five to ten years left in my life. Hmmm . . .

Have no worries, Iroh. Anyone from the Fire Nation can be another Dragon from the West. I will make sure there are more when the Ultimate Last Battle takes place. There will always be an Order of the White Lotus for each Avatar generation. In fact, you will draw your last breath within five years.

Sigh . . . Thank you, Creator.

You’re welcome, Iroh. Richard will be your last student. But, yes, they must seek out the Sun Warriors to eventually meet Ran and Shaw.

Iroh continues to sip his hot jasmine tea.

~~~000~~~

We continue to sip the hot teas until we are done.

“To get to Republic City, you will need to take an air ship. From there, you’ll have to take a carriage to Yu Dao. I’ll have a carriage brought here to take your family to the air strip.”

“Thank you, King Kuei.”

We all get up and pay Iroh for the hot tea. That is a silver coin for each pot of tea.

“Richard, I have made a decision.”

“Yes, Iroh.”

“You will probably be my last student to teach the Fire Bending details. After that, your family must seek out the Sun Warriors on our world to meet the dragons. I will have to trust the Creator there will be more Dragons of the West here in the future.”

“Yes, Iroh.”

Iroh smiles, “From one dragon to another dragon, I will make sure the true teachings of the dragons are passed on to the next generation. I will trust the Creator that you will do the same in teaching your students. You must see me a year from now, if not sooner. I am very tired, Richard.”

I smile at Iroh, “Yes, Iroh. Your years are winding down. I’m sure Zuko will make sure your passing away will be noticed by many people as possible.”

Iroh keeps smiling, “I know I affected a lot of people in my life time, Richard. But, that comes from having the right frame of mind to be a positive influence on people. From what I sense about you, you will achieve that as well.”

“Thank you Iroh, for that vote of confidence.”

“You’re welcome, Richard.”

“Oh, and one more thing, Iroh. I think Zuko will ask a big favor from you.”

“In what way, Richard?”

“I think he will ask you to mind the throne while he searches for his mother.”

“Hmm . . . that’s a possibility, Richard. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”

“You’re welcome, Iroh. I’ll be here before Zuko asks that question, Iroh.”

We all do the traditional hand clasp and bow to each other with smiles on our faces.

Brianna and I make sure the satchels we brought are sealed tight. The fairies fly into our coat pockets to stay out of sight. Soon, their heart beats are in tune with us.

King Kuei and his guards escort us from the Jasmine Dragon. We see a carriage parked in front of the Jasmine Dragon. The animal seems to appear as a combination of an ostrich and a horse.

King Kuei quickly speaks to one of his guards. The guard hails another ostrich-horse drawn carriage coming down the street. The carriage pulls over. The driver steps down from the carriage to speak to the King.

“You are to take this couple to the nearest air strip. They are going to Republic City.”

“Who are they going to meet there, my king?”

“They are going to see the Metal Bending Academy in Yu Dao. There, they will find Toph.”

“Yes, my king. I’ll make arrangements so they won’t get lost getting there. Do they have any coin with them?”

“He does. He will pay the fares to get there.”

“Thank you, my king.” He turns around and looks at us. “Please get on board. I’ll take you to the nearest air strip.”

“How much will it cost, sir?”

“For the two of you, it will be two silver coins.”

“Do you want the payment now, or at the destination?”

“I’ll take the payment at the destination, sir.”

“That is fine, sir. I will pay it then. Do you have any idea how much is the fare to arrive at Republic City?”

“It varies sir. It can be any where from a silver coin to a gold coin per person.”

“I was just wondering. Thank you for the information.” I look at the ostrich-horse for a second.

I’ll get you there safely, Omega. But, you need to be wary in Republic City if you visit it. Yu Dao is a much safer city to be in.

Thank you for the caution, friend.

Brianna gets on the carriage first. Then, I pick up Robert’s baby carriage and place it in the carriage. Then I step up into the carriage and sit down.

The driver steps up the carriage side and gets in the seat. He takes the reins and snaps them. The ostrich-horse pulls the carriage down the streets to the nearest airship port. For us, it seems it took more than thirty minutes to get there. Brianna and I are sitting side by side with our arms around each other. We see Robert’s eyelids are fluttering. It seems he is getting ready to take another nap.

Soon, we arrive at the airship port. We see several large buildings in front of us. The driver pulls over to the side and comes to a stop. He steps down from the carriage and opens the side door.

“Have no worries, sir. I’ll help you get inside. That will be two silver coins, sir.”

I step out first and take Robert’s carriage from the carriage and place it on the ground. I lock the wheels. Then I extend my hand to help Brianna down from the carriage. We are still carrying our satchels on our shoulders. Then I unlock the wheels. I reach into my satchel with both of my hands. I open the coin bag within the satchel. I take out two silver coins and hand them to the driver.

The driver looks at the coins. “Hmm . . . I don’t recognize these markings. Where did you get them from?”

“The coins are from a far away place. At least it is still silver. You can change the markings if you want to.”

“Yes, it is, sir. Thank you very much, sir.” He puts the coins into his pocket.

We follow the driver to an air side attendant standing near a doorway to the building. He quickly tells them we need a flight to Republic City. He turns around and walks to his carriage. He mounts the carriage. He snaps the reins and pulls away from the terminal building.

The air side attendant quickly escorts us through the terminal. It takes another fifteen minutes to arrive at a check-in desk.

The clerk looks at us, “Hmm . . . we have a family here with a baby. What is the destination?”

“Yu Dao, sir.”

“That will be two gold coins, sir. You will be arriving at Republic City that is west of here. Then you must take a carriage to Yu Dao.”

I reach into the satchel and take out two gold coins from the coin bag. I then close the satchel. I hand the two gold coins to the desk clerk.

He looks at them closely. “Hmm . . . I don’t recognize these markings. They are not from the Earth Kingdom.”

“It is all I have, sir. But, at least it is still gold. You can change the markings if you want to, sir.”

“You’re right about that, sir. Thank you. Okay, let me get your passes ready and stamped.” He takes three cards from a stack. “I need to put your names on the passes, sir.”

“My name is Richard Moore. My wife’s name is Brianna Moore. The baby’s name is Robert Moore.”

He writes down the names as I speak each one. “Okay, that should do it. Now to ink stamp each one and put my signature on each one.” He quickly puts an ink stamp on each card and his signature. He takes another three cards and does the same thing for his own records.

He hands me the first set of cards. I hand them to Brianna. She places the passes into her satchel.

“Follow me, sir. I’ll take you the correct gate for your air flight.”

We follow the air side attendant for another ten minutes or so. Soon, we see a sign for “To Republic City” displayed on it. We walk up to another desk clerk. Brianna takes out the three passes and hands them to the clerk. She writes our names on a sheet of paper for her records.

“You are here just in time, sir. The air ship is set to be air born in a half-mark. It will take about two marks to get there. Follow me to the air ship.”

We follow the desk clerk. Another desk clerk quickly takes her place. We exit the doors to the tarmac. We see a long air ship sitting on the tarmac. We follow the lady to the steps that lead into the airship.

“Can you collapse the baby carriage, sir?”

“Yes we can, ma’am.”

I undo the latches that hold the basinet to the carriage. I lift the basinet and set it on the ground. I then fold up the carriage itself.

“That is a great design, sir. I really like it.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I carry Robert’s basinet while Brianna takes the folded up carriage into the airship. Once, we are inside, we see it is full already. A female attendant approaches us.

“The last seats are in the back, sir.” We follow the attendant down the aisle. People look at us as we walk by them. Once we get in the back section, we see there are more empty seats available than we thought. I put Robert’s basinet into an empty seat. I use the seat straps to secure the basinet. Then Brianna gets on one side of Robert, while I get on the other side of Robert. We fasten our seat belts. We sit back and relax. Soon, Robert is fast asleep for another nap. I reach over with my right hand to Brianna’s left hand. We hold each other while we wait for clearance for our flight to Republic City.

In about thirty minutes, we hear the engines rev up higher. The mooring ropes are released from the anchors in the tarmac. We feel the airship rise into the air. Then we feel the air ship move forward. One of the flight attendants approaches us. “You can now unfasten the safety belt, sir. The restrooms are in the back here. In about an hour we’ll be serving drinks only. What would you like to have, sir?”

“Two cups of fruit juice will do just fine, ma’am.”

“Thank you, sir. Sit back and relax.”

“Yes, we will, ma’am.”

I reach into the fairies’ satchel. I open one of their fruit bags. I discreetly take out pieces of dried fruit for our fairies. I hand four pieces to Brianna. We put them in our coat pockets. The fairies gladly receive the fruit pieces from us.

Thank you, father, mother, Omega. That is greatly appreciated.’

You are welcome, my fairies.

They nibble on the fruit pieces slowly so as not to make any mess in the pockets.

Brianna and I close our eyes to get some rest during the flight. About an hour later into the flight, a flight attendant brings us two cups of fruit juice. We taste the fruit juice first. We find a surprising citrus flavor in the drink. However, it is no where near our own citrus fruits on Earth. We slowly sip the drinks. We see people walking past us to use the restrooms during the flight. When we get done drinking the fruit juice, Brianna goes to the restroom to wash her hands and touch up her makeup. When she comes back, I get up to use the restrooms. Once, I get inside, I see a clean restroom. However, when I open the toilet lid, I feel warm air wafting up. I turn on the sink slowly and let it trickle. The fairies flutter out quickly in fairy form. They wash their hands and faces in the water before I do mine. I see a piece of soap sitting in a holder. The fairies check it out by smelling it.

“There is a flower scent to it, father. That’s nice.”

“Yes, it is, Rubio. Okay, let’s get back in. We’ll be landing soon.”

“Yes, father, mother, Omega.”

The fairies quickly flutter into the pockets and quickly settle in. Soon, their heart beats are in tune with mine. I relieve myself by standing above the toilet. Then I zip the pants up. When I lower the toilet lid, I hear a quick air movement within the toilet. I wash my hands with the soap and exit the bathroom. I sit back down in the seat on the left side of Robert.

Then we see the flight attendant walking down the aisles. “It is time to fasten your seat belts. We are now descending into Republic City.”

We fasten our seat belts. It takes at least thirty minutes before we are secured on the tarmac airfield. Once we are given the ‘clear’ from the pilot, we get word from the flight attendants to unfasten the seat belts. I carry Robert’s basinet while Brianna carries the fold up carriage. It takes another ten minutes before we get to the stairs to leave the air ship. Once we are on the tarmac, we see Republic City rising up before us as it is being built with cranes. We follow the people through the terminal building until we exit the building. We see ostrich-horse cabs all lined up to take the people to their destination. I approach a driver.

“What is your destination, sir?”

“We need to go to the Metal Bending Academy in Yu Dao. I need to meet a lady there. Her name is Toph.”

“Toph? I’ll get your family there, sir. It will cost you two gold coins. We will be there by mid-afternoon, sir. Did you bring any food with you, sir?”

“I’ll pay you when we arrive there. Yes, we brought some food to snack on. Did you bring yours?”

“I always carry it with me, sir.”

“That is fine, sir.” He turns and opens a door for us to get in. Brianna gets in first. I hand her the fold up carriage. Then I place Robert’s basinet in the middle. I then sit down and close the door. The driver gets in the top cab seat. He takes the reins and snaps them. The ostrich-horse begins pulling the carriage through the outskirts of Republic City.

Soon, he leaves Republic City and is traveling a well-worn road to Yu Dao. We see other carriages going back and forth between the two cities. We snack on the nuts and fruit in the satchel. I even give a nut and fruit to each fairy this time in the pockets. They will have to wait until we are in our rooms to make their cups of honey-water.

We get there by mid-afternoon with no problems. We see a high wall around the city. The driver pulls into the main entrance gate. He travels down a street on the right-hand side and finds the carriage station and comes to stop. He steps down from the carriage and opens the door for us. I get out first. I take the fold up carriage and unfold it. Brianna hands me Robert’s basinet. I ‘click’ it in place. Then I help Brianna out of the carriage. I reach into the satchel to take out two gold coins and hand them to the driver.

“Hmm . . . these gold coins are not from the Earth Kingdom.”

“It is all that I have sir. If you want to, you can change the markings if you want to.”

“I probably will, sir. Thank you.” He quickly puts them in his pocket.

“Thank you, sir.” He gets back on the carriage. He snaps the reins. The ostrich-horse pulls forward to find the stables to spend the night here at a local inn.

We push the carriage from the loading area into the city of Yu Dao. We see people walking down the side of the streets. I walk up to a shop nearby to get someone’s attention.

“Sir, do you know where the metal bending academy is?”

“You are not far from it, sir. It is outside the walls on this side of the city. It is on a high hill top with many white steps. You will find it there, sir.”

We trace our steps back to the front gate of the city. We walk around the walls until we are walking down the adjacent wall. Soon, we see the white steps leading up to the dojo.

“Well, it’s a trek. You might as well get some flower nectar along the way fairies. I see plenty of flowers along the way.”

Thank you father, mother, Omega. The fairies change into butterfly mode before exiting our coat pockets. They quickly drink the nectar of the flowers along the way. The people smile when they see the butterflies fluttering among the flowers. I take apart the carriage again and fold it up. Brianna carries the fold up carriage. I carry Robert’s basinet. We slowly make our ascent to the dojo.

It takes another half hour to get there. When we get to the top, we hear Toph yelling out the encouragement.

“That’s right. Focus on the ores within the metal. There are minute traces within it. That is your clue to metal bend. Then once you see it. Expand your senses to the refined metal.”

“Yes, Toph.”

“All right, you are doing great. You can go and get cleaned up. Be back here tomorrow morning.”

After fifteen minutes, they all exit the building together. “Toph, didn’t you tell us a story that someone gave you a foot stomp and made you laugh?”

“I sure did. It was the best foot stomp ever. He had another name for it. I won’t ever forget it.”

Then they all stop when the students see me standing in the courtyard of the dojo with a big smile on my face.

“Who’s here, Ho Tun?”

“There are a man, a woman and a child. The man has a big smile on his face. What’s your name?”

“My name is Richard Moore. Here is my horse stomp again, Toph!”

Toph is smiling widely now.

I quickly raise my foot and aim it at the big guy. “Stommp!!”

“WHAAA . . . aaattt??!!!” He falls down with a big “Thud!!” on the ground. He lands on his derriere!! “Owwww!!!”

Soon everyone else is laughing, including Toph. “Hah, hah, hah,. . . .!!!”

Ho Tun gets himself up from the ground. They all gather around me.

“Richard, it’s good to hear your voice again. Are you here to learn the finer details of Earth Bending?”

“I am, Toph. I have earned the fifth black sash of ten. I have also conditioned my body to have the dragon armor. I won’t be needing to wear a metal suit of armor this time.”

“What’s the dragon armor, Richard?”

“I’ll demonstrate that for you.” I take off my multi-pocket coat and the shirt that I’m wearing. I hand them to Brianna. “There are three levels of armor. The first one is the preying mantis armor.” I bring up my arms for the pose. I flex the muscles slightly. “If you notice, my loose skin is hiding my strength at this level.”

Toph comes up and touches the arms and the chest. “I recognize that from our preying mantis style here. That’s good, Richard. What is the second level?”

“The second level is the iron shirt for the blue scorpion insect.” I flex the muscles again. This time they are slightly larger. The loose skin is barely hiding the muscle definition this time.

“Whoa! He got himself bigger, Toph.”

“He sure did, Dark One.” Toph touches the muscles again to confirm they are bigger.

“Now for the dragon armor.” I flex the muscles again. This time they are much larger with every definition of muscle seen. “The nice thing about this dragon armor, the skin is impervious to hand thrust knives and darts. The other two armor levels are susceptible.”

“Oh wow! He’s got one up on us, Toph.”

“I agree, Penga. Well, Richard, we are done for the day here. If you get here bright and early tomorrow morning about second mark after sunrise, we’ll get some work in. How long is your stay here, Richard?”

“We are here for at least four days, Toph.”

“All right that is plenty of time to train you to be the best Earth Bender for your world.”

“What are you saying, Toph? Are you saying he is from another world?”

“He is Ho Tun. In fact on his world, anyone can master any of the elements. He is destined to learn all five elements.”

“What? He is an Avatar, Toph?”

“Are you an Avatar, Richard?”

“No, I am not an Avatar for my world. When it comes to the Spirit element, my use of it will be as a weapon.” I put my shirt back on, then the multi-pocket coat.

“Oh, wow. We’ll just have to see how you do for the next several days.”

“Where can we stay, Toph?”

“There are several inns near the front gate, Richard. Any one of them is very good. I’ll point them out as we walk back into Yu Dao.”

We follow the group to walk down the white steps. Before we get to the top step, the group notices a bunch butterflies following us.

“Why are these butterflies following us, Richard?”

“You better tell them before we enter Yu Dao, Richard.”

“Yes, Toph. On my world, we have unicorns, dragons and centaurs. Unicorns are horses with a single horn on top of its head. It is the male unicorn who gives birth to fairies. Male unicorns are dual gender with both sexes. Fairies are small winged people. Male unicorns give birth to the fairies. It is the female unicorn who gives birth to more unicorns.”

“Is he telling us the truth, Toph?”

“He is, Penga.”

“On my world, there are many hidden mysteries. One of them is the Omega Unicorn Dragon. He will be the greatest animal fighter for his world.”

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What does that mean?”

“It means I will have learned the five bending elements. I will learn dozens of animal moves, and how to use 600 weapons. That even includes the farm tools.”

The Dark One looks at me intently. “Then how you can prove it, Richard?”

“Like this.” Brianna and I step apart. We then stretch out our hands. Then immediately our unicorn images come out. The butterflies all change into fairies. Even Croin comes out and hovers above me.

All three students have their mouths hanging open in awe.

Toph comes up to each image.

“I’ll make them solid for you, Toph.”

“Thank you, Richard.”

I make them solid so Toph can touch each unicorn image. She smiles as she touches each image, including Croin. She holds her hands out, palms up. Each fairy lands on her hand palm. She feels the breath from each one. Then she feels Silva and Silvia being the last pair to land on her palm.

“I sense you can do the Earth Bending better than your brothers and sisters.”

“Yes we can, Toph. We were within Richard’s womb while he learned the Earth Bending element and the Earth animal moves. We know the magic will come back to our Earth, Toph. However, it will be weak enough so no blood bending will ever be used again.”

“That’s good, fairies.”

“What did happen on your world, Richard?”

“I would say about six thousand years ago or more. We used to have magic on our world Ho Tun. But, the people abused it to control other people. It would be like the use of blood bending here. Therefore, the Creator of the Universe decided it needed to be removed from us. There was a subcontinent in one of our oceans where it was abused the most. There was a fantastic city there by the name of Atlantis. The Creator split that subcontinent and sank it underwater. There are small pockets of magic still on Earth. It is guarded jealously so it won’t be abused again. For us, this magic is found in the Ethereal Space ore. It is a rare ore scattered throughout the cosmos. Brianna, my fairies and I can do magic if we want to. Even Robert here has the potential to do it as well.”

“Well, we’ll wait until tomorrow, Richard. Let’s go find you an inn to stay in.”

Immediately all of the fairies quickly fly into our coat pockets to get their rest. Soon, their heartbeats are in tune with us. We walk down the white steps from the dojo. Then we walk along the wall to get to the front gate. We enter the city once more. This time, I see some people giving respect to Toph’s students as we walk past them.

Toph takes us to a nearby inn that is a block from the main road. The people greet us warmly.

“Toph, it’s good to see you again. Have you decided to change inns?”

“Not this time, sir. I have a family here. Let’s say, I’m sharing the wealth here. They will be here for at least four nights.”

“That’s great, Toph. I know all of the inns here operate the same way. But, each one has their subtle differences. Is it because we have the steam rooms here?”

“That’s one of the reasons, sir. He will be learning the fine details of Earth Bending from me.”

“Excellent, Toph.” The clerk behind the desk looks at me. “You’ll definitely need the steam rooms to relax the muscles. It will take a lot of strength to master it. Then once the mind has it under control, moving Earth will be just like moving Water.”

“Thank you, sir. So, how much is it per night here, sir?”

“For the three of you, it will be a gold coin for each night. We do have an eating area here. However, there are other food serving places here as well. We all serve up excellent meals here.”

“Thank you for the advice, sir. How would you like to be paid, sir? Pay for all nights at once? Or pay it per day?”

“I would suggest you pay it per day, sir.”

“That’s fine, sir.” I reach into my satchel. I bring out a gold coin from the coin bag and place it on the counter in front of him.

He looks at it closely. “Hmm . . . this is not an Earth Kingdom coin. Where did you get it from?”

“It came from a very far away place, sir. If you like, you can always change the mark if you want to.”

“I probably will, sir. Thank you very much.” He takes the coin and places it in a drawer underneath the counter with the other coins. “All right, let me get your room key. He turns around and takes a key from an array of boxes behind him. He takes notice of the number and writes it on a sheet of paper. “What is the name, sir?”

“My name is Richard Moore. My wife’s name is Brianna. My son’s name is Robert.”

He writes the names down next to the key number. “Thank you very much, sir.” He places the key in front of me. “The room is down that hallway. It will be the fourth room on the right. Each room has a separate bathroom with toilet, sink and a tub.”

I take the key. “Thank you very much, sir.”

“See you at second mark in the morning, Richard.”

“See you then, Toph.”

Toph and her three students leave the inn. Brianna and I walk down the hallway until we come to the fourth door on the right. I put the key into the slot. It pushes a button within it to unlatch it. “Click.” I push the door inward. We see a glorious room. It is typical in oriental culture. As soon as I close the door, the fairies flutter out quickly to check out the room.

“This is very nice, father. It is like the hotels we stayed at. The oriental motifs are great, mother.”

“Well, I don’t know about you. We all need a clean up from those carriage rides.”

“Giggles . . . We sure do, father, mother, Omega.”

I roll Robert’s carriage to an empty area near the bed. Brianna proceeds to take care of Robert by changing his diaper and powdering him up. Soon, Robert is smiling again. We see the diaper is not soiled too much. Brianna takes the diaper and places it in a dresser drawer. She closes it and recites the spell to clean the diaper. When she opens it, she finds it perfectly clean. She smiles that she can do the magic here as well.

We find no kitchenette in the room. The only second room is the bathroom with a toilet, sink and the bath tub. At least we see piping and a drain for the water in the tub. We also see kerosene lamps in the room as well. We look in the top dresser drawer to find a box of matches. We see towels folded up on two tables in the bathroom. In the main room, there are three dressers. Again, we see several tables with folded up blankets and towels in them. I set up the fairies’ shower set on one of the dresser tops. They open the top dresser. They take a fluffy towel and fold it up. They place it in the top drawer. Then they put their bed blankets and pillows on top of that where they want it.

We take out our clothes from the satchels and place them in the dresser drawers. Brianna sees a small table with a chair and a mirror on the wall. Brianna puts her makeup bag there. The fairies take their shower on the dresser table top. I go first in the bathroom and use the tub. Once I get done, Brianna has her chance to get cleaned up. In about forty-five minutes, we are finally done and cleaned up. The fairies stay behind in the room to have their meal of nuts, fruit and cups of honey-water. Brianna and I leave the room to check out the cuisine in the inn. Fairies just realized there is no television unit here or even a radio. So, they decided to tell stories to each other to pass the time away.

The hostess smiles as she directs us to a table with a window view of a small oriental garden. “We have an assortment of fish, fowl and vegetarian dishes, sir. What would you like to drink with the meal?”

Brianna and I look at each other. “Fish, Richard.”

“Okay, fish it is Brianna. Jasmine tea is fine, ma’am.”

“Thank you both. I will bring out a pot of hot jasmine tea for starters.”

The hostess leaves our table. She returns with a tray of ceramic cups and a ceramic pot of hot jasmine tea. She pours out our first cup. She returns to the kitchen to take care of the other guests there. We slowly sip on the hot jasmine tea.

Richard, do you have any idea what’s going to happen tomorrow?

I think I will be focusing my mind and body in manipulating the earth elements. At least the hard part is done with the physical conditioning of my body.

Yes, I would hope so, Richard. Richard, I would like to progress as well in the sashes. I know I have the potential to be an Earth Bender, let’s see if I can do it as well.

Okay, Brianna. I’ll start teaching you the next set of forms for the blue sash.

The hostess brings out a tray of hot food for us. Once we see it on the table, we see the fish and vegetables are all steamed. However, we do detect a spice on top of the fish and a different one for the vegetables. For the vegetables, we see an orange colored vegetable and a green colored vegetable.

We silently give our thanks to the Creator for the meal in front of us. We take a bite from the fish filet. The hostess waits for our first bite.

“This is good, Richard. The spice reminds me of something we know well. I can’t remember what it is though.”

“Yes, it is good, Brianna. Also, these vegetables are nice and tender with the spice.”

“Thank you for the compliments, sir and lady. I’ll be sure to tell the chef he did another masterpiece.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.”

She turns around and returns to the kitchen.

We continue to eat the meal before us. We eventually get done in about half-hour. The hostess picks up our plates. We pour ourselves another cup of hot jasmine tea. The hostess returns with a bowl of four different fruits. She also places a bowl and a damp towel for each of us.

We take the knife to cut into each fruit. We use our forks to stab the piece and bring it to our mouths. Once we taste it, we have a big smile on our faces.

“I think we better share a half of each fruit Brianna. This is too good.”

“Yes it is, Richard.”

We share a half of each fruit between ourselves. We have to use the damp towel from time to time to keep our chins and mouth clean. It takes another half-hour to get done with the fruits.

The hostess returns with our bill. “It comes to two silver coins for each place setting, sir.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I stick my right hand into my coat pocket that is inside the jacket on the left side. I recite a spell to bring four silver coins from my coin bag in the satchel. They appear in my hand. Then I remove my hand to produce the four silver coins and place them on the table.

The hostess picks up the silver coins to look at them carefully. “Hmm . . . I don’t recognize these markings, sir. They are not from the Earth Kingdom.”

“It is all that I have, ma’am. Besides, it is still silver. You can stamp some new markings on it if you want to.”

“You’re right, sir. It is still silver. I’ll let the inn owner take care of those new markings.”

“Well, thank you for a wonderful meal, ma’am. It was very good.”

“Thank you, sir. There is a grill that is a block away, sir. It serves up some excellent dishes.”

I smile at the hostess. “Is it because the inn owner also owns the grill as well?”

The hostess smiles, “He does, sir.”

I smile again, “I thought so. When does the sun set around here?”

“Since we are a bit in the northern half, the sun should be setting in about a mark from now.”

“Thank you for the information, ma’am.”

We get ourselves up from the chairs. We walk back to our rooms. I insert the key to open the door. Once we enter inside it, quickly the fairies fly to us and hover around us.

“Come sit down, father, mother, Omega. We have been bored lately. There is no television or radio here. We ended up telling each other stories of what we have done so a far.”

“We’re coming, Esmeralda.” We sit in the two chairs in the room. Quickly, the fairies reposition themselves around us where they are comfortable.

“When is the sunset, father?”

“It will be about an hour from now, Tiger.”

“Good, it will give us something to do together.”

After enjoying each other presence again. The fairies quickly get into our coat pockets. I push Robert’s carriage out with us. Brianna and I walk out of the room and down the hallway. We exit the inn to walk down the streets. The fairies quickly see flowers on display along the street. They flutter out in butterfly mode to sip the nectar from the flowers as they follow us.

We pause and look at the clouds changing color as the sun sets. It is very similar to our own sunsets. For one thing, there is no pollution here. But, we see a haze on the horizon where Republic City is being built.

We look up and see the sky become darker. Then we see the stars shining brightly in the night sky. Of course, the constellation groups we are seeing are totally different from ours on Earth.

Our butterflies quickly flutter back into our coat pockets. Brianna and I walk back to our room in the inn. I stop at the desk to inquire about a wake up call in the morning.

“At one time in the morning do you want to wake up, sir?”

“Well, Toph asked us to be at the dojo by the second mark in the morning.”

“Hmm . . . that means you’ll need to wake up at sunrise. Okay, one of my staff will be knocking on your door at that time.”

“Thank you, sir. What about the morning meal?”

“We are open at sunrise here, sir. It will be a light meal of fruit juice, hot tea, cooked grains, toasted bread and honey.”

“That’s fine, sir.”

“Okay, I’ll put you down for that. Have a great night of sleep. It will be cool tonight, sir.”

“Thank you, sir.”

We walk back to our room and enter inside it. Quickly, the fairies fly out of our coat pockets. We all change our clothes to our sleep clothes. I blow out the flames in the kerosene lamps. I get under the covers with Brianna. Soon, we are all fast asleep for the night.