Chapter Text
(Y/n) POV
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days: a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements; only he could stop the ruthless Firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me to not only look after my tribe, but my twin brother and little sister to as well. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but my sister hasn't lost hope. She still believes that, somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world.
I on the other hand, feel like life is just screwed up. Hi. My name is (Y/n) and I am... a disappointment. I know that sounds really bad, but I can't blame anyone but myself. That's what dad always told me anyways. Some people use the word bitch, but I prefer the term realist.
My little sister Katara was the perfect child. Well behaved, friendly to others, polite as pie, and acts like a mother to us and all the other children. But what everyone loves about her most is her power, Waterbending. Yup my little sister is the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Which makes her a gem to this little block of ice! Oh but you must have a yang to that yin! The yang is me. My dads little shame ball he acts like doesn't exist. Yup that's right, I'm a Firebender! The first Firebender of the Southern Water Tribe woop-WOOP! My nation committed mass genocide, so that makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. I hope you can read the sarcasm in that.
I was only three when I discovered my powers and my dad originally thought my mom slept with the enemy. Only to find out that my dad has an ancestor who married into the fire nation and here I am.... yayyyy. Of course the Chief of the Water Tribe couldn't let it out to the public that my powers existed. I couldn't ruin his reputation after all. So I spend most of my time hunting for the Tribe. Dad told me women should never hunt but let me go only because of the possibility I could reveal myself by burning the entire village down. Fair point, I'm told I have a short temper. Katara had to learn it from somewhere after all. I do enjoy the peace and quiet though. It is nice to be alone with nothing but my thoughts for hours on end.
It's kinda impossible for me to become a master in my bending (because obviously) but being alone allows me to practice. The only problem recently is food has become scarce due to the season. So Sokka and Katara insisted on coming with me to hunt today. I don't mind though, I love my siblings and would do anything to protect them. As long as I can keep them safe, I'm okay. That is what I promised my mom before she was taken from us, and I intend to keep it.
"It's not getting away from me this time," Sokka grind holding his spear. "Watch and learn, girls. This is how you catch a fish"
I watched the two both try and grab fish on the boat. Katara was able to use her bending to make a floating bubble containing a fish, "Sokka, (Y/n) look!" She smiled.
I started clapping for her, "Spirits I wish I was a Waterbender" I chuckled.
"Sshh! girls you're going to scare it away," he said with a look of bliss adorns his face. He licks his lips and wiggled his fingers, not taking his eyes off the fish. "Mmmm... I can already smell it cookin'"
"But, Sokka! I caught one!" She exclaimed starting to struggle holding up the water.
"Focus on the weight, not the size" I told her as the as the bubble hovered over Sokka's head. I then watched as my oblivious brother raised his spear to strike the fish, bursting the bubble of water with the blunt end of his weapon, causing Katara to lose control raining down on Sokka, soaking him.
I burst into laughter, "Hey!" He shouted at my sister, "Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?"
"It's not 'magic', it's waterbending! And it's-"
He cut her off, "Yeah, yeah, 'an ancient art unique to our culture', blah, blah, blah. Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself"
"You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water! And at least I'm not a Firebender!" Katara told him.
"True" he nodded.
"True about the muscles or bending?" I smirked.
Before he could talk back to me the canoe suddenly shudders. As we tried to keep from falling over, Sokka whirled around toward his end of the canoe, a frantic look on his face. The boat must be caught in a rapid current, which was pulling us swiftly toward a jumble of large icebergs which block the end of the narrow passage formed by the towering walls of ice.
I tried to paddle the boat in an attempt to stay clear of any floating chunks of ice. We managed to gain just enough speed to keep the boat from being crushed by two icebergs which slam together behind us. The canoe kept violently moved through the water as I furiously rowed and a the canoe as it is nearly pinned by a number of smaller chunks of ice.
We began to panic, "Watch out! Go left! Go left!" Katara shouted out me.
The ice moved closer together in front of the boat, narrowing our path. The boat manages to somehow stay clear of some of the icebergs, but it veers to the right with the current and becomes pinned by three large chunks of ice. As the canoe was then completely crushed by the ice, I threw Katara and Sokka from the canoe before jumping myself and onto one of the floes. I nearly slid off the other side into the water, but came to a halt at the floe's very edge. As I raised my head, looking around, my vision zoomed out to reveal that we were floating on one floe among dozens.
"Shit" I muttered.
I shuffled onto my hands and knees, moving away from the rim toward the middle of the floe, sitting next to my siblings. Sokka spear was embedded point-first in the ice just behind him.
"You call that left?" She scoffed.
"You don't like my steering? Well, maybe you should've," I waves my hands imitating her waterbending. "Waterbended us out of the ice" I spat.
"At least she tried" Sokka had my back.
"So it's my fault?" She scoffed.
"I'm not saying that" I tried/failed to calm her down.
Sokka rolled his eyes, "I knew I should've left you home! Leave it to the girls to screw things up!"
Our necks both snapped in his direction, "Come again little bro?" I gritted my teeth.
Katara started getting more pissed, "You are the most sexist," She brought her hands up to her head and swings them back down and behind her in her rage. The movement created a small wave of water behind her. "Immature," she did it again. "nut brained..." and again. "I'm embarrassed to be related to you!"
"Uh Katara... your temper" I tried to warn her.
"Ever since mom died, I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier while (Y/n)'s been hunting!"
"Katara" I tried to warn her.
"I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!" She spat.
She wasn't wrong, they smell like death... and I've smelt death.
Sokka tried to stop her rage, "Katara, settle down!"
"No that's it! I'm done helping you! From now on, you're on your own!" She then made one last giant movement in the water creating a rumble, before a giant iceberg shoots up from the water.
I quickly pull my siblings behind me, "Okay, you've gone from "weird" to "freakish"" Sokka exclaimed as the waves died down.
Katara moves forward towards it, "You mean I did that?" She asked Astonished.
"Yup" I looked at the ice wide eyed.
"Congratulations" Sokka said.
We then see a giant blue glow from inside the ice and a...boy?! We watched as he opened his eyes, "Is he alive?!" I gasped.
Without hesitation Katara plucked Sokka's spear.
"Katara, get back here! We don't know what that thing is!"
We then watched as she smashed the iceberg in one blow. Huh. Okay then. We then all covered our eyes a the blue hue exploded into a giant beam of light. When it went away we looked back to see a boy on the ice patch with us. He looked to be around twelve but had.. tattoos? Ok that seems a little young if you ask me, but not my life. The boy slowly opened his gray eyes. He gasps in awe as he beholds Katara, who stares at him, in relief.
In a weak voice the boy spoke, "I need to ask you something.."
"What?" Katara leaned closer towards him.
"Please... come closer"
"What is it?" She complied.
Then in a clear, happy, hopeful tone asked her, "Will you go penguin sledding with me?"
She looked at me confused before back to him, "Uh, sure... I-I guess?"
The boy elegantly rises to his feet in one swift motion, uhhhhh okay? Katara looks at him in awe while Sokka backs away in shock, aiming his spear at him again. I just glanced at him in disbelief. The tattooed boy looked around and rubbing his head, while Katara scrambles on her feet, "What's going on here?" He asked.
"You tell us!" Sokka Aggressively pointed to the top of the crater. "How did you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?"
"I'm not sure" he smiled.
A low, gruff noise suddenly fills the air, coming from within the crater of the iceberg. Quickly, the boy scrambles up the ridge of ice and happily jumps on the head of a large, furry creature that has the same arrow-shaped marking on his forehead as the boy.
"Appa! Are you all right?" He asked the animal.
"Aww!" I squealed, "Who is this?!" What? Just because I'm a bitch doesn't mean I can't love animals.
"This is Appa, my flying bison" he happily told us.
"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister. Oh and that's (Y/n) my firebending twin" he sarcastically told the boy.
My eyes widened, "Firebending?!" I gasped.
"I'm kidding!" He chuckled right before Appa sneezed on him covering him in snot.
I started to burst out laughing as Sokka screamed rolling in the snow trying to get it off of him.
"Don't worry, it'll wash out," the boy told him. "So do you guys live around here?" He asked changing the topic.
Sokka gasped standing up and going in front of us with his spear, "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light?! He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye" I crossed my arms.
Katara chuckled, "The paranoid one is our brother, Sokka. You never told us your name"
"I'm A... a-a-a-Achoo!" The boy then sneezes, creating an air blast that sends him soaring into the air! He lands back on the ground, unharmed, "I'm Aang"
My mouth became wide opened, "You just sneezed... and flew ten feet in the air!"
He looked disappointed, "Really? It felt higher than that"
My sister then gasped in excitement, "You're an airbender!"
He smiled, "Sure am!"
"But I thought all-"
"Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders... I think I got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense" Sokka exclaimed cutting me off before realizing we were stuck.
"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift" Aang smiled.
"We'd love a ride! Thanks!" Katara wasted no time getting on the bison.
Before Sokka could say anything stupid making Aang leave us, I gripped him by the ear ignoring his crying and flung him on Appa.
"Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!" Aang smiled.
Appa growls in response. He moves his tail up and down and takes a huge jump into the air.
He soars through the air for mere few seconds, making it appear as though he would fly, before belly-flopping into the water with a splash.
The bison begins trudging through the water slowly. Katara crawls to the front of the saddle while Aang tries to get Appa flying, whipping the reins again.
"Aww your just an adorable little fluff ball" I hugged the side of him.
———————
Appa didn't fly, but I didn't care! He's so cute! God it's like hugging a cotton ball! Since I'm the oldest of the Chief's children (and collect most of the food) I was able welcomed Aang into the village without consulting the tribe first. It was too late for him to meet anybody that night so we'd have to wait till morning, but I couldn't leave him in the cold. I was also able to get him a new cot and clean blankets for the night. I may not be next in line for the 'throne' or whatever you call it, but I still take on the responsibility as chief.
My siblings and I have a system, and it's a good one. Katara handles the children and helps with the cooking, Sokka protects the tribe and trains the kids to become warriors and I handle the hunting and legal mumbo jumbo in the tribe. I don't mind the responsibility and Gran-Gran loves having me help her. She's getting to old for something's so I've basically become the chief in the eyes of the people here. Gran-Gran is the only other person who knows my secret, but unlike dad doesn't hold it against me. She tells me that it makes me unique, but what good is that if everybody fears you?
I knocked on the igloo before entering seeing Aang, "Hey (Y/n)" he smiled.
"I brought you a couple extra blankets," I handed them to him. "It gets chilly at night" I explained.
"Thank you," he smiled. "Uhh can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot"
"I heard your the chief's family, so does that make you guys like.. royalty?" He asked.
I raised a brow, "Huh, I never thought of it like that. Sure I guess" I shrugged.
"Wow! Should I refer to you guys like that?" He asked.
This caused me to chuckle, "No!" I smiled, "Nobody's called me that before, you don't have to"
"Oh. Okay"
"Has Katara bugged you yet?" I asked leaning against the wall.
"What?"
"About the Avatar?"
He looked down, "Oh... yeah"
"Don't take it personal, she thinks some person will single handedly end the war," I rolled my eyes. "It's a hell battle that just won't ever end. Destiny is fake and only the strong will survive this"
We were both silent, "Okay I'll see you in the morning" I was about to leave but he stopped me.
"Uhh (Y/n)?"
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to ask you something else"
"Okay?" I raised a brow.
He scratched the back of his neck, "Uh Katara showed me some family paintings... why aren't you-"
"In them?" I cut him off, "I was sick, they couldn't paint me"
"Oh okay" he sighed.
I gave a light sigh as well, "It's ok, anyways it's getting late. I'll see you in the morning"
"Night (Y/n)"
I smiled, "Night Aang"
—————————
The next morning I got the entire village outside our home, while Katara woke up Aang.
"Aang, this is the entire village" she showed him our citizens.
"Entire village, Aang" I finished.
Aang bowed respectfully toward the villagers, but they cower away in fear, I raised a brow surprised and so did Katara. I glanced behind me to see Sokka just watching from a distance.
"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang embarrassingly asked Katara.
Gran-Gran stepped forward, "Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughters and grandson found you" she smiled.
Aang's eyes widened, "Extinct?"
"Aang, this is my grandmother" I introduced her.
"Call me Gran-Gran" she stated.
As Sokka was trying to interrogate Aang on his flying staff, Gran-Gran pulled me aside.
"He seems nice" she told me.
"I know I should've consulted you first, but I couldn't leave a twelve year old out in the snow" I frantically told her trying not to get in trouble.
She started to laugh, "You did the right thing," we looked over to see Aang flying on his staff. "You saw a little helpless boy and helped him," she smiled. "You'll make a great leader one day"
I sighed, "Gran-Gran you know father made it clear that will never happen"
"I never said Chief," She shrugged. "Maybe your meant for something more"
"Yeah right!" I rolled my eyes, "Tell that to father" I quickly went into our home coming out with fishing gear.
She sighed, "You know he loves you, in his own way"
"Sure," I readjusted my gear. "Is that why he disinherited me from becoming Chief?" I rolled my eyes.
"He just needs time" she explained.
"He's had time"
"(Y/n)-"
"Gran-Gran, I'm not in that painting. I'm not family to him"
"Don't say that"
"The truth hurts" I told her before leaving to hunt.
I waved to my sister who was hanging out with Aang, while Sokka was 'training' the kids.
———
I put my fishing gear down and quickly set up a couple lines, sticking the poles in the ground to protect them from falling, and placed a net around the edge. I took off my thick blue coat and tied back my brown hair. There's a lot of joke in the village Katara is my real twin and not Sokka. I don't see it, but I'm told all the time we are identical. I let out a breath before shooting a flame about five feet forward. I then attempted to do a kick allowing a small blue streak to follow my foot. I kept practicing as the day went on. Only stopping to catch a couple fish I caught on a line. As I continued to practice, I saw a flare go off in the distance. Oh shit! I quickly packed up my gear and food, before sprinting back home. The only problem is... I forgot my coat.
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