Chapter 20: Bumi

[Solon POV]

I was sitting right next to Bumi looking at the sky with a cup of tea in my hand.

"The times have changed Bumi, the world is not the same. I learnt that the people with the power of fire started using iron to make tools, the air people continue with their nomadic life, the earth kingdom started making small settlements outside the lion-turtle."

"As for the water tribes, they remain in their previous state, since Hahn is still alive they won't be allowed to develop."

*Sigh*

"This place will never be the same without you." I said as I looked to the stone next to me.

"You worked with the earth during your life and now you a part of it, such a sad yet fulfilling end."

I took a sip of my tea while looking at my friend's grave.

[Third POV]

"Come out, you don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you." Solon said without looking away from the grave.

Complete silence followed as Solon waited calmly.

"If you don't show yourself I will assume you are an enemy and attack. This is your last warning."

After a minute of silence a small child with green eyes and short auburn hair appeared from behind a tree it was hiding.

He wore standard sand-bender clothes with no shoes that were tattered due to time. A large gourd was hanging from his back.

"Hello there." said Solon calmly as he unconsiously obtained information about the person in front of him.

The child was looking directly at Solon without saying a word.

"Would you like some tea?"

The child nodded warily as it took a seat close to the stranger in front of it.

"You can call me Solon, what's your name?" he asked as he placed a cup of Ginseng tea in front of it.

"G-Gaara." He said after he took a small sip of the tea.

"Nice to meet you Gaara. May I know the reason you are here?"

The now identified Gaara took a deep breath to calm himself down and answered.

"This place is calming, I like it."

Solon looked around at his old training grounds filled with grass and large trees stopping the intense sun from increasing the temperature too high. Creating a serene and peacful enviroment.

"Indeed it is." he said

"But that's not all, is it?" he asked with a smile.

After hearing the question Gaara's body tensed as a large amount of sand exited the gourd on his back and surrounded him like a protective cicle.

"Calm down child you are in no danger." said Solon.

Gaara looked at Solon thoughtfully.

After a minute his body relaxed a liitle bit. He took a seat once again without returning the sand to the gourd.

"I'm sorry." Gaara said as he took a sip from his Ginseng tea.

"For what?"

Gaara looked at Solon, confused about the question.

Solon saw Gaara's confused face and continued.

"What are you sorry for? Being wary about a complete stranger that knows way more than he should? You did nothing wrong." he said as he took a sip from his Oolong tea.

Gaara stood there looking at Solon dumbfounded at his words.

Solon watched Gaara's face changing with amusement.

"You look troubled; Do you want to talk about it?" he asked ignoring the fact that he already knew what was troubling Gaara.

"Everyone hates me."

"Why do you think so?"

"I am different from others. I was born able to control the power of the earth, unlike other people that need to obtain it from the lion-turtle. I am unable to use rocks and stones, however controlling sand is like a second nature to me. I can easily control huge amounts of sand even without consciously trying to, once people found about that, they started fearing me."

Gaara took a sip of his tea and continued.

"One day, while I was sparring with one of the hunters I accidentaly used too much power which lead to me injuring him. From that day onwards, people started evading me like a spirit." Gaara said as tears started running down his face.

Solon seeing him break down in tears, waited patiently while drinking his tea.

After 10 minutes of Gaara sobing, he took a deep breath, calmed himself -as much as possible- and drank some of the tea in front of him.

"This tastes different from before."

"Indeed, the one you drank before was Ginseng tea which is great for conversations, right now you are drinking Jasmine tea which is calming and soothing to the body and soul."

Gaara looked at the tea in front of him and exclaimed.

"I didn't know there are so many types of tea."

Solon smiled at Gaara's attempt to change the subject and answered.

"There are at least 100 different types, however I only drink and serve my 16 favourites."

"I see..."

A calming silence followed as Gaara and Solon drank their tea without making a sound.

"Do you know what this place is?" Solon asked out of the blue.

"People call this place the forest of honor. All hunters and soldiers that die fighting for a better future get buried here, becoming a part of the element they lived with."

"You are not wrong, but originally this forest was the tomb I created for one of my friends. He died 880 years ago. Once I found out about his passing, I brought his body to this place -our training ground- and buried him in the earth."

"880 years ago?" asked Gaara surprised at the number.

"Yes, I may not look like it, but I am a spirit."

Solon looked directly at Gaara waiting for some kind of reaction, but Gaara's inaction surprised him.

'I expected him to attack me the moment he heard that information.' he thought intrigued.

After that, Solon continued to explain his story with Bumi.

It took him a whole hour to explain everything worth mentioning.

"So, are you going to kill me?" asked Gaara after a while.

"Why would you think that?"

"Most people say that spirits are our enemies. It's not weird for someone to kill his enemy."

"Well, you are not wrong. Most spirits, indeed hate humans, however I am different from the rest of the spirits."

"How so?"

"That's not something you need to know."

~~~~~{chapter end}~~~~~