200 word drabble: On the Building of a Fortune

[attackfish]

Written for avatar_500 prompt #62, Anonymous.

Summary: Other people worked hard to put him where he is.

On the Building of a Fortune

She sucked in a breath and made the flames as hot as she could.  Metal melted and fused together as each half-finished satocycle passing her got an exhaust pipe welded into place thanks to her firebending.  When the break bell sounded, she grabbed her lunchbox and joined the escaping throng.

~*~

The healer bent the water low, close to the burn on his client's chest.  The water glowed blue as it soothed the pain.  "Try to keep it clean, Mr. Sato," he said with a bow when he had finished.  "That's a nasty burn.  You don't want it to get infected."

~*~

"So, boss," one of the earthbenders said as she bent the rubble into the underground wall.  "Why you been having us clear out this hole under your place?  Wine cellar?  Laboratory?"

Hiroshi's expression slammed closed.  "That really isn't any of your business, is it?"

"Okay," she said.  "Just curious, sheesh!"

~*~

He almost left the arena twice.  It just wasn't right for his kids to see that kind of cheating.  He worked hard, had a good job at the power plant, that was the right example.  But when the Equalists stormed the arena, he felt his own lightning crackling in their gloves.

Comments

[meganinhiding.livejournal.com]

I really liked this. There were several benders in Sato's life but the only one that counts is the one who murdered his wife. All of these people probably found themselves in line to have their bending taken away.

This piece is also a good counterweight to Sato's assertion that he is a self made man who only had help from the person who lent money for his business.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Sato to me is such a paradoxical figure, because is probably never occurs to him not only that other people worked towards his rise, but that he was almost certainly using bending to aid the anti-bending revolution. He's not a bender, so bending has never been useful to him, oh no. It's a little like people who use the internet to talk about how we all need to go back to nature, but with more power.

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

Mr. Sato is an interesting fellow, isn't he? In a roundabout way he's arguably Amon's equal in terms of being the show's Big Bad. Without his financial backing and scientific genius, the Equalists would have been a much less potent foe.

Also seconding this drabble. I like it a lot.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, no revolution is complete without a benefactor. They wouldn't have any cool toys without one.

Thank you!

[honestly-sangi.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this. Hiroshi Sato is definitely one of my favorite characters - while he wasn't as sympathetic as the A:TLA characters, he had a very interesting background. I like the idea of the benders he used to get to his position and the last bit really cinched it. Thank you for sharing this with us. :)

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I don't nessisarily think that every character needs to be sympathetic even if they have an interesting background (Azula and Long Feng come to mind) but I would have liked to see more of Hiroshi to see how his mind worked.

[honestly-sangi.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree. What made Azula so great for me was the amount of time they spent developing her, and Long Feng's interesting background was also great. Amon & his brother had some development, and I hope we get to see more of that for an antagonist in S2.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

That is one thin I do not like about Korra. 13 episodes and a new villain each season just doesn't feel like enough time. It's like, no wait, they just got interesting and now they're gone?

[honestly-sangi.livejournal.com]

That is exactly how I felt. I loved the old days, when we had Zuko, Azula, and the other great antagonists. Now that they know there will be more seasons, there will hopefully be more continuity in the main characters as well.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Yes. I just want more time with the characters. Well, we get to keep Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, and the rest, so...

[honestly-sangi.livejournal.com]

True. We'll just keep crossing our fingers and hoping that it comes to pass. :)

[grandiose666.livejournal.com]

yeah, I felt like Korra was a bit rushed, and wanted more world/Sato/brothers background, and maybe some Korra background too. I really like this drabble! Sato probably didn't think much about benders who worked for him, who gave inspiration and perspiration towards his success. I wonder what their power source was going to be when lightning benders were all gone? burn coal? bye bye clean energy. But maybe he'd bought up fossil fuels or something.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping we get more background in the coming seasons. Asami will be there, so maybe we'll get her background and thus her father's?

I think Hiroshi, like a lot of people I meet, just never thought through the side effects of his actions.