Unwanted Fire

Chapter 1: Unwanted Fire

    The little boy giggled as the magic fire danced along his fingertips. It went from one finger to the next and the boy could not contain his joy at the sight of the magical flame. In the South Pole, it was hard to make a fire because everything is wet and cold. Sokka grinned. He can make mama's job easier now. He could just see the smile on her face as she would praise the four-year-old for his awesomeness.

    He heard the sound of the igloo cloth 'door' opening and turned around with a smile on his face. It was his mother. Sokka held up his hand, showing her the magic fire, and expecting his mother to laugh and tell him good job. No such thing happened.

    "Sokka!" the woman exclaimed, grabbing the boys' wrist. "Stop it this instant."

    The shout startled the boy, and he flinched back, but his mother had a firm hold of his wrist. Sokka concentrated on putting the fire out and luckily, the fire obeyed.

    "Mama?" the boy questioned tearfully. "I was trying to surprise you mama..."

    The woman looked down at her only son with tears in her eyes. The Fire Nation raid five years ago is to blame. Kaya had hoped that it wasn't the case, but Sokka's bending proved it. He is not his father's son.

    "Oh Sokka," she said bending down and pulling her son into a firm hug. Tears fell out of her two beautiful, blue eyes. "Please, don't fire bend anymore. Okay?"

    Sokka felt his mother's sadness and it confused him. She was supposed to be happy that he could make magic fire, not sad. "But why mama? I thought you and daddy would like the magic fire," he replied looking into his mother's blue eyes with his own.

    Kaya wiped away her tears and spoke firmly. "You are to never tell your father about your firebending, do I make myself clear? At least... not now."

    The boy nodded. "Okay mama, I won't play with magic fire anymore."

    Kaya tried to smile, but she was sure it was more of a grimace. "That's my boy." She can only hope that the rumors about not using bending weren't true.

...

    The clan rejoiced when they learned Katara was a waterbender, which only served to confuse Sokka. Like Sokka promised, he never told anyone about his bending. The boy is now six and Katara five.

    Sokka watched as the (admittedly small) tribe held a feast in her honor. Everyone laughed and partied, his mother among them as well. Everyone watched in awe as they watched the concentrated form of Katara move the snow with her bending. Sokka thought about using his bending to impress everyone and actually melting the snow, but his thoughts were interrupted by the clacking of two wooden staffs being hit together.

    "Today we rejoice because the spirits have blessed our tribe with a waterbender," Sokka's father shouted and everyone cheered. "The Fire Nation attacked with their cursed bending seven years ago, and we lost many." His father paused, watching as many faces turned downcast. "But the moon spirit has decided to bless our tribe with a waterbender, a sign of good things to come. And now we feast!"

    Everyone cheered once again and dug into their food, but Sokka could only stare at the meat on his plate. He finally knew why he was not to use his bending. His fire is like the one the Fire Nation uses and it would be a bad reminder to the tribe. It would be selfish of him to bend. The spirits must've cursed him with this fire before blessing Katara and the tribe with her water.

    Tears gathered in the six-year-old's eyes and he left the giant wood table that his tribe used to feast and headed towards his family's igloo. He needed to be alone.