Don't Stop Now [Finding My Path Sequel]

Chapter 2

"Come on, Tomi, this is your chance!" my dad said.

The wolf stared me down from a distance, as if deciding whether to fight or run.

You should run.

I got into the stance I had practiced, mimicking my dad perfectly. I could sense the wolf tensing as I held out my arms. I tried to reach inside the beast, feel the water in its body.

Where is it?

"Now," Dad said in a harsh whisper.

Panicked, I tried again, trying to find the water in it. "I can't," I said through clentched teeth.

The wolf hissed at me and ran off in the opposite direction, leaving me dazed and out of breath.

"What was that?" Dad demanded. Anger seeped into his voice.

"I-I don't know. It just didn't work," I said. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You did everything perfectly... Maybe we just need a different animal," he suggested, although he didn't sound too convinced.

"And if it wasn't just the animal?" I wondered without meaning to.

My dad sighed loudly, without looking at me. "Then maybe you're just not a bloodbender."

"You know that I grew up not knowing much about either side of my family. At first, I thought my dad was of Earth decent. But that wasn't true," I began. "But there's still a part of me that's from the Earth Kingdom."

"It's not working. Nothing is working," I growled. I was frustrated with myself, not being able to do anything at all.

"No, it's not," my dad agreed. He seemed to remain calm. "I assumed since you could waterbend, bloodbending would only be natural. Apparently not."

Could it be I wasn't trying hard enough? That some part of me knew bloodbending was wrong?

"What do I have to do? To be better?" I asked. I could feel the desperation setting in. Everyone in the camp could bloodbend. Everyone. What was I to do if I couldn't? It had already been two years of training, mastering waterbending, then practicing stances and learning techniques. Why wasn't it enough?

"There's nothing to do," my dad wouldn't look at me now. "Our bloodline isn't all waterbenders, Tomi. Or, at least, yours isn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother." It came out in barely a whisper.

"I need to find my mother," I said to Lina. "My dad said she was originally from the Earth Kingdom, and after she left him, she returned to her family in Ba Sing Se."

"Your mom?" Lina asked. "You're going to find her?"

I nodded. "I just hope she wants to be found." I dug in my pocket and pulled out a single piece of paper. On it, I scribbled down a name and The Lower Ring. "I've just got this, but I'm hoping it'll be enough."

"Her name was Adisa. We met in a bar where I worked at the time. We were the same, in a way. Neither of us were wanted anywhere by anyone. We bonded, and eventually we got an apartment together."

Dad seemed to be raking through his memories, as if he didn't even need me there. Was he planning this before? Did he know he'd have to tell me someday?

"It wasn't serious at first. I guess it was never very serious until she was pregnant. Then it was all panic, worry, get a job, feed the baby."

"And?" I asked. "She just decided she was done? Left you and her kid?"

Dad sighed loudly. "Part of it was my fault. In moments of panic, I escaped whenever I could. I eventually turned to bloodbending as a stress reliever."

"Bloodbending," I muttered. "I take it she didn't like that."

"Not at all. She thought I was a danger, that I was already turning her child into a monster and that we would both kill her. She left right after, when you were almost one. You were all I had left."

"Where did she go?" I asked, hardly able to think of another question. My mom was out there somewhere.

"She won't want to see you," Dad said automatically. "Especially not since you've been living with me, and with the bloodbenders. It's her worst fear."

"Why does she have to know?" I asked him. "I can go and meet her, maybe not even tell her I'm her son."

"And what will that do?" he questioned. "Satisfy your need to know who raised you? Well, that was me. Make you a better bloodbender? We've already crossed that bridge."

I felt myself sighing, angry and lost at the same time. "You wouldn't get it."

"Wouldn't I? I had a mother that left me once."

"And you had a father. Who you found, and look what it's done for you," I was almost yelling now, trying to prove a point.

"Calm down, Tomi--"

"No," I growled, "this is what I have to do. I'm sorry if you can't agree to it, but I'm not looking for your approval."

With that, I turned out of the room, ready to leave the camp and go who-knows-where. I could only hope my dad would try to stop me as I walked off.

"Tomi!" he yelled, sure enough. I turned, but all he said was, "The Lower Ring. That's where she'll be. Adisa Chung. If you're willing, I can get a picture of her," he added but I was already losing him.

On another piece of paper, this one bigger and more carefully folded, Dad had one of the women from the camp draw a picture for me. Dad described her as a blonde woman, with bright green eyes. He told the woman what to draw, and he thought this would be accurate enough. I couldn't help but stare at it now.

Lina looked at the drawing and note. "I think we can work with this. No, I know we can."

I felt myself light up. "So you're in?"

"I'm in," she agreed with a smile. "When do we start?"