Meet Taio (made with). Bending for day one of atla oc week @atlaocweek
taio’s always had a complicated relationship with bending
he’s not a bender, but comes from a family of benders, people who could make lava and rocks dance, but hid it out of fear
his father was an earthbender who was taken away by the fire nation when he was in his early teens
all of a sudden, it was just him, his younger brother, and mother, AND the smuggling ring his father had to take earthbenders to safe locations
taio respected the work, he knew the benders were people too and deserved to be safe, but being stuck with the remains of this illegal movement
but then, a scared mother and her young child showed up at the side door of the barn, and he couldn’t just leave them to die, so he takes up as head of the organization, moving benders in and out until the end of the war
he almost gets caught during azula’s occupation of ba sing se, but was deemed irrelevant when they realized he couldn’t bend
when the war is over, so is his work, and he just hangs around the farm while his brother goes to school and gets married
and finally, he realizes he has to move on
he’s on his way to republic city when he accidently meets zuko and sokka in a bar in a small village and accidentally gets invited to their meeting
when he first meets the gaang, he’s wary of them
they use beding to send each other plates and warm dumplings and fill cups and they do it so freely. the only bending he’s ever known was secret and fearful
once he’s living in the palace, bending is more common place
izumi and senna bend constantly, so do zuko and azula and katara
he learns to love it though
how the fire family plays fire frisbee and makes smores from their fingers
and as he falls in love with azula, he falls in love with her bending and realizes how entwined a person is with their bending
she rises and falls with her bending, is weans when she’s tired and rages when she’s angry
but she’s never harsh with it, not anymore, she tells him she hasn’t used it viciously since ba sing se
and slowly, over years and years of falling in lover with azula and the gaang, he learns to love ending too, not fear it
