#bireader
Seeing him in that ballroom was exhilarating, terrifying, and one of the best moments of her life.
Y/N had no idea where she was.
Well, of course she knew Ba Sing Se; she had grown up here with her mother in the palace. The more accurate statement would be she had no idea how she had gotten there. Casting her mind back, she scrambled for glimpses of her past, sorting them into order in a frantic fervour.
Suki – Appa – Suki again – a man – who was he?
And then she hit a figurative wall.
Something was blocking her memories of entering the Kingdom, and she was less than pleased. In fact, sneaking past the Dai Li and out of the upper ring was far easier than she could have ever hoped for. It seemed the Avatar and friends had caused quite the stir by barging their way into a prestigious social event, and they were likely playing a glorified clean-up crew. A bitter scoff escaped her lips as Y/N sprinted in the shadows cast along the street until she was at the first ring.
Panting, she braced herself for a moment. Things had really changed. Yes, the upper ring was always the nicest, richest part of the city, but the military trims of the hedges and the shine of the metal fencing reeked of facade. Even with most occupied with Bosco’s party, hardly a lantern was lit beyond those necessary.
She centred herself. Inhaling a deep breath, Y/N moved her energy into a flow of power. There was only one way for a firebender to get through that wall unseen, and it would be risky. With a final look on the bourgeoisie, Y/N pushed. Flames flickering a hot yellow at her hands and feet propelled her straight up like a firework ready to explode. The wind was merciless as it bit at her face in her haste, the cold nipping at her. Stumbling out of her flying, she toppled onto the walls top and took another quick moment.
The distance to the lower rings was far.
It had hit her whilst fleeing the palace that she had not seen a glimpse of her mother. There was no evidence of her existence, and piecing together the clues of a too-quaint suburb, secret police, and missing royal, Y/N figured she was only following in her mother’s footsteps.
Thousands of displaced refugees were living rough in the slums of the lower rings, and it was the perfect place to disappear. As the moon peeked through the thick smog of clouds choking the night sky, she felt some solace under its glow. It was no sun, the source of her power, but it reflected the same energy. It was not power, but comfort. That comfort brought calm, and the calm brought careful planning.
To propel herself all the way over the middle ring would be exhausting. Yes, she had the cover of night and the menacing clouds brewing a storm above, but could she make it all the way? She weighed her other options; going on foot was risky since she would be isolated and thus exposed. The rail line was constantly manned, not by the Dai Li, but someone who wouldn’t take too kindly to a teenage girl running along them like a race track. Giving the moon one final look as it slipped behind the darkness, Y/N made her decision.
She jumped.
Her fire carried her into the clouds and forwards. Agni, it was cold up there. Fighting through it, knowing a single shiver, a disruption to her chi, could send her hurtling down to the ground. What could she do but concentrate on what awaited her?
Mother would be so proud of her, how far she had come alone. If she could only find her in the ocean of people below, it would be a miracle. Freedom from Long Feng would be a reward in itself if finding her family wasn’t in the cards for her. How long had she played the puppet to his mind tricks? It left her stomach churning as she pushed that thought away. And Sokka.
Oh, Sokka.
Her fire faltered for a second, Y/N’s face falling into a panicked grimace as she forced for energy into her flight.
Somehow that boy had rescued her from the palace. It was strange to be true, but Y/N had felt almost submerged in the darkness of her own mind when he pulled her out. Seeing him in that ballroom was exhilarating, terrifying, and one of the best moments of her life. Spirits, she had missed him. Suki’s words swam through her head as she thought of him - go get our idiot; he’ll need you – and somehow, she had been right and wrong at the same time.
There was no doubt that Sokka would need her. Heck, the entire group probably suffered a little without her presence. However, thinking of his stubbornness and ability to walk head first into danger when sparse of a gentle guiding voice made her laugh. Moreover, there was something entirely else that Suki hadn’t gone over.
Y/N needed Sokka too.
Who would have known what would have become of her if it wasn’t for Sokka’s stubbornness saving her from Long Feng?
It seemed as though he’d rescued her again as Y/N saw the dividing wall between citizens and refugees coming up. Her body screamed, aching and grinding against her will, but they were so close now. Just thinking of him, anchoring her thoughts onto him, had pushed her through the pain of flight.
Lowering into the slums, her fire dwindling by the second, she fell into an empty street. The first thing she noticed was the smell. Now Y/N wasn’t one to judge, especially considering her privilege, but it was pungent in the cramped streets of the lower ring. Seeing how people lived here compared to what she had just witnessed was a startling and upsetting reality. It was made even more apparent by the silks she was still wearing melting into the environment with mud seeping into the hems.
“Your Highness?”
Y/N tensed. Following the voice, she saw a door open only slightly, a girl about her age peering through the crack.
“Please,” She whispered, beckoning her inside. “Come inside before you catch your death.”
Seeing no other option, mostly because she hadn’t thought that far ahead, Y/N bundled up her decadent robes and darted through the door. She embraced the warmth immediately, falling to the ground as her legs finally gave way.
“Princess!”
Y/N looked at the girl once more, smiling at the concern behind her hazel eyes. “Please, call me Y/N.”
“I am Yin,” She said graciously, bowing low and making her flush. “My family is upstairs in the sleeping room, but I thought I heard something outside, and it was our own princess! The Kingdom has been nought without you, despite how popular our King, your cousin, is.”
“You’re too kind, Yin,” Y/N said, a weak grin playing at her lips.
“Anything for one of our monarchs!” Yin exclaimed, albeit quietly.
“I owe you a debt of gratitude for this,” She said, moving to stand. “For your help tonight, I am in your debt, but may I ask one more favour?”
Yin nodded. “Anything.”
“Could I use some clothes? You may keep the silks, sell them if you want, but I cannot be spotted whilst I’m here.”
As if becoming some force of nature, the girl whirled upstairs in a matter of moments, flurrying downstairs once more with an abundance of blankets as well as a change of clothes. Setting up her bed in the dining space by the kitchen – the house seemingly was made of only three rooms, the entire downstairs being open – Y/N did not recall ever falling to sleep, nor changing into her disguise.
Waking up in the morning to a freshly slice moon peach and the attention of an entire family was overwhelming to say the least. They seemed to dote on her despite her insistence that they owed her nothing. Jin was especially enjoying her presence, not only because she was royalty but because of the praise her family was pushing onto her for rescuing the poor princess from the streets of the slums. How did she ever end up there?
Further insistence was taken in the form of sending Yin and Y/N to the finest tea shop in the lower ring. In her new clothes, a pair of green cotton pants and a tunic, she felt comfortable in the fact that it would be incredibly difficult to differentiate her from anyone else in a crowd.
Tea was a luxury too few and far between for the princess. On her travels, they had never really stopped to get the necessary ingredients, nor would it be practical to carry the kind of teapot that Y/N really enjoyed making tea with. If Momo ever got his paws on fine china, Y/N was sure every antique enthusiast in a mile radius would weep. She still infused herbs into the cooking she had done on their travels, well aware of their medicinal properties – though not the cactus kind.
The tea shop was quaint enough, as small as the house shared by Yin and her many family members. Steam tendrils tinted with jasmine, lavender, and vanilla filled the air, drowning all senses on first entrance inside. It was pleasant, though. Somehow, Y/N felt enlightened, calmed and joyous all in one breath.
Taking a seat by the window, she pondered her plans in detail. Firstly, she had to reunite with her friends, but she couldn’t give herself over to the Dai Li. For now, she would lay low, perhaps relying on Yin’s kindness until she could move on. If she couldn’t be with her friends, her mother was the next name on her list. She had to be in the city somewhere, but she was definitely not in the upper ring otherwise Long Feng would have advertised them as a matching domestic pair. If all those plans went wrong, perhaps Y/N should invest in a Pai Sho board.
“Hello, welcome to our little shop. What tea are you interested in today?”
Opening her mouth to speak, Y/N looked up. Her jaw slackened, and the waiter shifted under her gaze. If it weren’t the deadpan tone and the slight lisp that gave it away, it would be shaggy black hair that gave him away.
Zuko was here. Zuko was stood in front of her.
A little gasp escaped her as his scar finally registered in her mind. “Zuko, what did they do to you?”
He flinched, fingers ghosting over his face. “Do I know you?”
“Duckie,” She whispered, his childhood nickname flowing easily from her mouth. “Don’t you recognise your dearest cousin?”
“Agni, I have to get Uncle.”
In a flurry of movement, he was gone. Yin stared between her and the empty space he was occupied with morbid curiosity. “Princess, who was that?”
“That was my cousin, Yin,” She gasped, tears welling in her eyes, “And he just said my father is here. He’s here and alive. Oh, Yin, I didn’t know they would be here and- “
“Is that truly you?”
Her rambling was cut off by a soft, unmistakable voice. The entire shop had fallen into a quiet hush as her father stood, not in a general’s uniform but a tea maker’s, a wide smile across his warm face. It had been so many years since his last letter. She had fought against the logical thought that he had perished in battle, and she had been right. Y/N had prayed to the moon every night for his safe return to her, and he had.
Stifling a sob, she launched herself into her father’s arms, embracing him with a hug strong enough to make up for years without them. He was laughing, she realised, and crying too as his body rumbled with the force of his emotions. The clothes he wore didn’t smell of ash and soot, but jasmine tea and freshly lit incense.
“Father,” Y/N said, tears streaming down her face. “You’ve come home to me.”
He gripped her shoulders, looking over her once and counting the years he had been away. “Nothing could ever stop me, my little lotus.”
The tea shop watched on in shock and the purest joy as they reunited, tears brimming in some eyes across the room. Even Zuko, stood at the counter looking sheepish, seemed happier than he had when he hadn’t been recognised.
“Friends!” Iroh exclaimed, grinning with an expression so similar to hers. “Today family has been reunited! My daughter, Jia, has been returned to us! This is a time to celebrate, so, please, your tea is on the house.”
A fake name, of course, but nevertheless she was ecstatic. Even Yin was crying at the sight, dabbing her eyes with her cotton sleeves. All analyses and plans fell empty from her head as all Y/N could do was weep.
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“The creature scowled at the boys, eyes sadder still.”
Sokka was not enjoying Ba Sing Se.
As big cities go, the lack of hero-worship was disconcerting, and not just because it meant less boost for his ego! People within the walls seemed to have no idea that there even was a war outside. Needless to say, there was some super dodgy policing going on that didn’t seem entirely legal, and don’t even get him started on Joo Dee. After the pretty substantial amount of time it took for Toph to even acknowledge him after, well, Y/N, she wholeheartedly agreed with an eerie impression for flavour.
Perhaps more frustrating than all of the weird happenings in Ba Sing Se was the fact that none of them could help Aang do his spiritual Avatar shtick and save the world. With the Avatar on side, Sokka had expected to slide on by easier than an otter penguin on ice.
These thoughts plagued his mind, clouding his brain to the point he could hardly sleep through the nights. It was only made worse by his now clockwork waking at dawn. The problem was he woke up alone now. Regardless, Sokka had made it his task to come up with an idea to get them an audience with the Earth King. So far, the plans involved disguising themselves as a travelling circus to get in with the entertainment, or a daring heist in which Toph teaches Momo to earthbend.
As they all began to stir from sleep – sleeping in one room just like they would when they camped in the wilderness – Katara rose with a yawn. Stretching out her limbs, she narrowly avoided tripping over Qin’s tail as she exited out the front door.
Sokka could have sworn an entirely different person walked back in.
“I got it!” She cried, triumphant. “I know how we’re going to see the Earth King!”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Toph asked, more cynical. “It’s not like we have a princess in our group anymore, and you know that one doesn’t just pop in on the Earth King!”
The Joo Dee impression? Neat. The unnecessary dig at Sokka? Ouch.
“The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear.”
Aang frowned. “You mean, platypus bear?”
“No, it just says ‘bear’,” Katara said, rereading the papers in her hand.
Sokka scoffed. “You sure it doesn’t say skunk bear, sis?”
“Or his armadillo bear.”
“Gopher bear?”
“No,” Katara confirmed, face twisted into confusion. “Just… bear.”
This place was freaking weird.
Bears aside, Katara had thought up a solid plan to get them into the venue; Sokka saved his proud tears for another time as yet another in his family had achieved the ingenuity of being an ‘idea person’. Apparently, it was a plan wilder than faking a duel to distract the guards and sneak in though as Toph shut it down quite quickly.
“Won’t work.”
They all stared at the girl, Aang and Sokka exchanging worried looks as they braced themselves for another clash; there had been plenty since Y/N left.
“Why not?”
“Well, no offense to you simple country folk,” Toph grinned, taking a bite out of the pastry she was sharing with Qin – gross, by the way, “But a real society crowd would spot you a mile away. You’ve got no manners!”
Sokka blanched. “Toph, you are literally going halfsies on a peanut butter bun with an overgrown lizard.”
The steed hissed at Sokka as it gulped down the rest of the food. Out of everyone there, it seemed Qin had lost the most respect for him. As funny as it is taking the mongoose lizard out for walks in the too pristine neighbourhoods of the upper ring, she wouldn’t sleep on his chest anymore, nor would she tolerate his snoring. There was a bruise on his chest to prove her disdain.
“I learned proper society behaviour and chose to leave it,” Toph said, voice trailing slightly. “You never learned anything, and frankly, it’s a little too late.”
Perking up, Sokka couldn’t rein in his enthusiasm. “Aha! But you learned it! You could teach us!”
“Yeah!” Aang joined in, hopping to his feet. “I’m mastering every element. How hard could manners be?”
The two grinned at each other as they began some caricature of high society for the ladies’ pleasure – and their utter amusement. Fitted with curtains and sophisticated accents, they bowed at each other again and again until their heads clashed. With a yelp and a grunt, the two boys hit the deck, smothering snickers of laughter into their elbows, forgetting why they had even ended up there in the first place.
“Katara might be able to pull it off,” Toph cut into their shenanigans, “But you two would be lucky to pass as busboys.”
“But, Toph,” Sokka simpered, “I feel so fancy!”
With a snort, Toph groaned as she came to her feet, joints cracking in supposed effort. Leaving no warning, she grabbed Katara by the wrist and led her out of the living space, probably to teach her some ‘etiquette’. The room became quiet for a few moments until the boys cracked out laughing again; mimicking them, Momo had wrapped himself in a discarded curtain as he attempted to glide across the floor with grace. It seemed, however, that Qin was feeling especially malicious today as she pinned the end of the curtain with her tail, watching Momo struggle against her full weight until he fell.
That entertainment, too, died down as Momo abandoned his cloak. Qin, now subdued, huffed, eyes looking completely sad as she rested her head on her front legs. Twiddling his thumbs, Sokka looked up at Aang, his wisest and possibly youngest friend.
“Aang, do you think I was wrong?” He asked, quieter than usual.
“Sokka,” He said gently, “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
Barking out a laugh, he shoved the Avatar’s shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t blame you for your knee-jerk reaction,” Aang said, his words careful, considerate in a way that reminded Sokka exactly who he was talking to.
“Would you have had the same reaction if I started firebending? Or if it turned out Suki was a firebender?”
“I don’t know,” He groaned, head in his hands. “I guess not, but I felt like she lied to me, y’know?”
Aang nodded. “But it doesn’t mean your hatred of the people who hurt you should brand Y/N as the same as them.”
“I suppose,” Sokka said, resting his chin on his knee. “Hey, do you wanna play a game?”
They occupied themselves for what seemed to be hours as Aang consistently beat him at different games. Nursing a bruised forehead – and ego – Sokka almost didn’t notice Katara and Toph walk back into the room, nor the fact that the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. The girls were giggling as they entered, hiding their painted faces behind their fans. It was impossible to ignore, however, the dreamy look now carved onto Aang’s face.
Part of Sokka wanted to say dude, that’s my baby sister, but the other half knew that Aang was harmless.
“Wow.” The Avatar was well and truly stunned. “You look beautiful.”
Harmless or not, Sokka didn’t miss an opportunity to flick his forehead in revenge. Even if his sister wanted to respond, Toph snapped a fan in front of her mouth. “Don’t talk to the commoners, Katara.”
Oh, the Blind Bandit was definitely enjoying being able to push them all around. Nevertheless, she and Katara had given them an in on the party, and the king. Turning to Qin for a ride, the creature scowled at the boys, eyes sadder still. Ignoring the pang of guilt, they snuck out of their house and headed for the very centre of Ba Sing Se.
Being behind the girls, they didn’t see them enter the palace, but were fairly certain that all was going to plan; many nobles milled into the grand building until the yard was empty of decadent hairstyles and luscious silks. Darkness loomed over the palace as the abundance of lanterns began to pool the area in delicate firelight. It glinted gold off the lion statue Sokka and Aang were hidden behind, spotting the terracotta ground with what looked to be sunspots. If it weren’t for Yue’s shine higher in the sky, perhaps they would’ve believed it was the day.
Sokka supposed fire could be somewhat pretty.
“Where are they?” Aang asked, jaw clenched slightly as he fiddled with his hands.
“Look,” Sokka said, staring at his friend and his nervous movements, “I came with a back-up plan, okay? We dress Momo like a ghost, right? He flies by the guards, creating a distraction. Then-”
Aang grinned, before taking a good look at the yard. “Or we could go in as these guys. Toph said we might pass as busboys!”
“Okay,” Sokka grinned, rolling his eyes, “But remember that Momo ghost plan.”
Sneaking across the light dappled floor, the boys took some busboy uniforms, walking in procession following the other workers with no issue. As they strolled through the halls of the servers’ entrance, Sokka was reminded of what he had learned about Y/N. Had she grown up within these palace walls? Surely cousin to the king meant she had some sort of nobility. He never really asked her about it; he had a bad run when it came to princesses.
They were handed plates of food, kitted out in uniform. It was itchy, and Sokka was definitely missing his Water Tribe garb. Scanning the room for his sister and pygmy puma friend, he handed out tiny food to rich people with ease. Without Katara’s hair loopies, or Toph’s loudmouth attitude, it was a harder task than he thought it would be. It was only made more difficult by Aang’s anxious whispering every time he passed him.
“Another crab puff, please.”
Well, he found one of them.
“You found us!” Aang cried, nearly blowing their cover; Sokka finally understood what Toph meant about them not passing for high society folk.
He watched the ensuing conversation with some amusement, sometimes putting a sarcastic quip in for good measure, but he was still looking for something. He didn’t realise what it was until he saw her.
“Y/N?”
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“Go get our idiot.”
TW: Canon typical injuries and Appa’s Lost Days
At the verge of a great wood, the Kyoshi Warriors woke with the dawn. It had been a few days now that Y/N had travelled with them. Still, she could not summon a steady hand to paint the precise lines on her face. It was because of this that Yu was straddling Y/N’s waist, gently and meticulously. She felt powerful with this mask on; she was anonymous and free of her firebending roots when they coloured her skin with tinctures and makeup.
“Stop it.”
Y/N looked up slightly, trying her best not to move and ruin all of Yu’s work. She stared up vaguely in question.
“You’re thinking too loudly!” She heard Li call from across their small camp, the smile audible in her voice. “Yu needs complete silence to complete her work.”
Fighting off a quirking grin, Y/N attempted to quash her thoughts in favour of studying Yu’s face. Beyond the white of the Kyoshi makeup, she had a soft, round face. Brown eyes, deeper than the pine that faced them had a determined glint in them. Black hair was twisted into two buns on the top of her head, no wisps to be seen beyond her Warrior headband. Every part of her uniform was pristine.
Climbing off of her with surprising agility – Y/N knew that her legs would be near dead after being sat that still for that long – Yu stood up, ready to leave for their journey. With far less grace, Y/N clambered up from the dirt, nearly falling back into it face first. If it weren’t for the swift save of Suki’s arms, perhaps she would have ruined Yu’s handiwork.
“Watch yourself,” Suki grinned, pushing her up back onto her feet. “We wouldn’t want Yu to have a breakdown now, would we?”
A breathy laugh escaped her rouged lips. Steady on the earth beneath her feet, Y/N joined her friends in collecting up their supplies. The plan was simple; they would traverse through the wooded land and beyond deep into the Earth Kingdoms, finding and crushing Fire Nation efforts on the smaller scale. If they could cut off supply lines, perhaps they could cause enough disruption to stunt the schemes of Ozai.
There was an air of comradery that seemed suited to the day. Sunlight filtered through the trees, spotting the mossy undergrowth with sunbeams tinted with chlorophyll. It seemed to seek her skin, reaching for the firebender’s fingertips like primal flame. She woke with the sun, and it tracked her throughout her day.
The heat became more intense, however, and the Warriors became more and more grateful for the shade that the forest blessed them with. It was Suki’s decision to stop and rest, to recuperate as the sunshine became unbearable for those unsuited to heat. With a soft smile Y/N watched as Yu foraged a nearby berry bush, her little finger wrapped around Li’s. There was something about hand-holding that she found especially tender. They were so openly affectionate that it made her heart hurt.
“Huh, must have been some fight.” Li chuckled with some derision, holding something in her other hand with care.
Y/N didn’t think much of it until Suki stepped forward. “Wait, let me see that.”
And in Li’s hand was the key to Y/N’s new journey: bison fur.
A sharp gasp escaped her lips as she stumbled to her feet, snatching some more fur from below the brush. The coarse texture made her fingers itch, summoning a twitch in her nose. Forcing down what would only be a very violent sneeze, Y/N called out Appa’s name into the empty depths of the forest, following the trail of cream fur deeper into the flora. Suki, too, shouted after the bison, hot on her trail. The ground steepened. Y/N’s calf muscles burned with the effort it took to scale the out of the compact woods and into an open area.
A large stone structure stood, lonely as it basked in the sun.
Tentative, Y/N took a step forward and peered into the structure. Spirits, she cried. Slapping her hands over her mouth, she took in the sight of Appa in manacles, looking hungry and scared. Quills from some kind of attacking creature were still embedded in her skin, slight welts rising from where they had struck.
In abject horror, she turned away. “Suki…”
“Y/N, it’s okay,” The Warrior said, voice soft, arms snaking over her shoulders, her embrace warm. “We’ve found him, so now we can help him.”
“Okay,” Y/N sniffled, dabbing tears off of her face. “Could you fetch Yu, see if she has any fruit spare?”
Suki nodded, eyes fixed on Y/N. Gentler than the breeze from her golden fan, she brought her thumb up to her face, wiping away a run-away tear. The air was knocked swiftly from Y/N’s lungs. Before she could process that moment, the Warrior was already sprinting back down through the woods.
Taking a calming breath, she stepped back towards Appa. Igniting a finger, she held it in front of her, wanting to see the face of an old friend. He roared and she cried some more, hushing him like a mother would sooth an infant. She smiled as the flame shifted from a harsh red to a more subtle yellow, the same golden hue of nomad robes. Though he was skittish, it seemed to be enough to quash Appa’s anxiety.
When Y/N found out who hurt him, she wouldn’t even offer them the dignity of an Agni Kai.
The dank structure illuminated by a single flame, Y/N worked swiftly to remove the quills. Though he fussed and whined – only encouraging more ‘tear bending’ from her – she was quick in making sure his welts would go down and his skin was clear. The manacles were another issue; yes, she could easily melt the metal, or with enough force kick through smaller parts of the chains, but it would likely spook Appa. Her best bet was her fellow Kyoshi Warriors.
“Y/N!” Suki called, creeping towards them slow and calm. “Yu found some apples.”
Resting her forehead briefly on Appa’s, Y/N stepped out of the shadows to approach her human friends. Feeling brave, the bison reared his head out too, following the scent of fresh fruit. The humans were careful around him, staying low and quiet. Only Y/N and Suki could approach him fully, Appa only allowing Yu close because of the food in her arms.
Soon all of them could approach him as he began to gain their trust. Y/N muttered kind, soothing words to him, hand brushing over his nose, scratching below his ear. Calmer, he licked all of Yu’s hard work off her face – not at all angering Yu, leaving Li to give her a warm, preventative cuddle.
The giggling and cuddling soon halted though as thunderous thudding closed up behind them. Pulling a frown onto her face, Y/N heard the tell-tale calls of the mongoose lizards; the people who had found them were Fire Nation. Side-stepping in front of Appa, she shielded him from the three girls in front of them. She recognised the two from their last encounter – Mai and Ty Lee – but the third sent a chill down her spine.
“My, my, you’re easy to find.” The grin on Azula’s face was sharp, her teeth lined like pearly knives. “It’s really astounding my brother hasn’t captured you yet.”
In a defence position, the Kyoshi Warriors had their fans out, ready to strike. Suki stepped forward, face carved with the righteous fury of an ancient spirit.
“What do you want with us?”
Azula let out a cruel laugh. “Who are you? The Avatar’s fan girls?”
As Ty Lee clicked onto her joke with jovial praise, Y/N scoffed. “Good one, Princess! I’m glad to know someone who needs the affirmation of others to function has so much power in her nation!”
“And you are?” The princess scoffed, her golden eyes narrowing into deadly slits like those of a serpent. “You do look familiar though, I do admit. Have I come through your back-water village at some point and steamrolled your home?”
“If you’re looking for the Avatar,” Suki stepped forward again, anxious as she cut Y/N off, “You’re out of luck.”
A moment of opportunity. Y/N saw the ravenous glint in Azula’s eyes as she leapt off her steed, a fury of flames aimed directly at Appa. Taking a protective stance, she was welcoming of the great shield of fans blocking the attack. Her lackeys followed suit as Ty Lee and Mai, too, jumped into action. The ensuing battle happened so quickly.
Fury bubbled in Y/N’s stomach as she watched Yu be pinned to a tree by her sleeves, held there by a pair of Mai’s blades. A distressed yell escaped her as she narrowly avoided a third, piercing the tree right in front of her throat.
Growling, Li went full throttle as she swung at Mai, fans forgotten, fists ready to cause indescribable pain. However, as Li and Yu come as a pair, Mai had her back up. Their fight was forgotten, however, as a surge of blue fire pushed against Y/N, the heat like nothing she had experienced.
Before she could bend the flames away, Suki jumped in front of them, deflecting the blast with her fans. Y/N screamed at her to move, but she was rooted to the ground, a force of nature. Spirits, she was so stupid and beautiful.
“Go, the both of you!” Suki yelled, swinging her sword at Azula.
“No!” Y/N cried, moving to her side. “I won’t leave you here!”
Face scrunching up in frustration, Suki shouted, furious. With a flurry of attacks, she had Azula on the back foot, and as Yu joins in, free from Mai’s knives, the princess is forced into a retreat. As the Warriors and nobles fought all around them, Suki took a moment in the midst of the chaos – a quiet moment.
Grabbing the back of her neck, Suki pulled Y/N’s lips to hers. A quick, desperate kiss with those soft lips had her unravelling. As she moved her face back to look at her, the Kyoshi Warrior nodded, gaze suddenly sad.
“Go get our idiot,” She laughed breathlessly. “He’ll need you.”
A watery laugh left Y/N’s mouth as Suki pushed her towards Appa. Spirits, she was confused – and happy. How she could be happy leaving her dear friend behind was beyond her in that moment, but she was somehow. As she scaled the bison’s back, Y/N called out the famous yip yip and away they went.
Looking over the battlefield, Suki had returned to duelling Azula. She was regal, a tempest in her attacks. Yu and Li were pinning down Mai and Ty Lee with a flurry of attacks, supported by the other Kyoshi Warriors. Despite her retreat, Y/N was optimistic. The tides soon changed. For the briefest of moments, Azula caught Y/N’s eye, a malevolent smile stretching across her face. In quick succession, she blinded Suki and the Warriors with a great wall of pure icy fire, then pulling all her energy into her hands. A great bolt of lightning struck one of the trees, bringing it down with a massive crack. As Appa brought her further away from the ground, she heard screams.
“Suki!”
They were over water now. Y/N hadn’t stopped crying since Azula brought the tree down. Head hanging over Appa’s back, she watched her tears fall into the ocean, mingle with the salt water below until it became invisible to her eye. A small group of ships sailed below, and for a moment Y/N thought she saw Sokka on them. A trick of the light, she convinced herself afterwards, or the trick of a malicious spirit.
She let Appa continue on their path without question, unbothered by their nearing to what looked like an Air Temple. Was her idiot here? Maybe Appa knew something Y/N didn’t.
Knocked off his back, Y/N was ready to scold the bison, only to see the glee in his dark eyes. He was playing, just like a baby would play. As he jumped around the ruins of the Temple, she watched with a small smile. The man watching them, though, wiped it off her face quickly enough.
“You,” He said pointing at the pair of them, “Are struggling to find peace.”
Y/N snorted, taking a defensive stance in front of the bison. “What gave you that impression?”
“Come, Princess,” The man said, amicable. “We have much to discuss.”
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“We’re both warriors in our own right, and too good to be surrounded by stupid boys all the time.“
Crossing back over the Serpent’s Pass was easy. The heavy weight on her chest that pummelled her out of nowhere was infinitely hard.
Across the deep-water chasm, Y/N carried Suki, ignoring the strain on her calves and arms. Without the serpent or the extra people holding them back, the girls made their way over the Pass before night fell. The biting cold was not a problem either as Y/N kept a flame lit in her hand as the sun began to lower in the grey sky, enveloped by a cluster of clouds.
“I sent a message ahead of us,” Suki told her idly, adjusting her headband as they walked.
“Oh?”
The Warrior nodded. “The other Kyoshi Warriors will meet us back past the docks and into the wooded area westward.”
Nodding, Y/N focused on the ground beneath her feet. It was unchanging, dusty and sharp, as they began to exit the steepest climbs of the Pass, watching it plateau with little interest. If she could analyse the rocky path they were on, it would distract from the rocky terrain she and Sokka had metaphorically stumbled onto.
“Why did you invite me to come along with you, Suki?” Y/N said, her voice too loud in her ears after hours of endless silence.
Suki smiled at her. “Call it a hunch, but I think we’re like-minded people.”
“Because we’ve both had crushes on Sokka?”
“What?” She snorted, a massive grin now on her face. “No! What I had was a fleeting moment of ‘oh he’s cute’ and that was the end of that.”
“Oh,” Y/N said, flushing with embarrassment. “Well now I feel like an idiot.”
With a gentle nudge, Suki shook her head. “Don’t. We’re both warriors in our own right, and too good to be surrounded by stupid boys all the time.”
The joke summoned a low chuckle in Y/N’s throat, suddenly washing away the bashful feeling settling in her gut. Suki was easy to talk to, it seemed, but that ease with soon disappear. At the end of the journey, the she saw the other Kyoshi Warriors. They were in full garb, waiting.
She felt more out of place than ever. Frowning, Y/N smothered the fire with her shame. A furious grey stretched over the atmosphere, the colour of smoke. Inhaling a deep, controlled breath, she tried in desperation to replace the pressure in her chest with warmth, and for a moment she succeeded. The blossoming fire lily of energy spread, easing the tension in her muscles, her intense scowl softening.
“Warriors.” Suki announced their presence with all the nobility of a Fire Nation general. “This is Y/N. She will be travelling with us for a while.”
A murmur rippled through the group as easy and detrimental as an ocean tide. Y/N had no real experience with other girls her age. Sure, when she had been to visit her father in the Fire Nation Palace, Azula had been welcoming, so to speak. By welcoming, she meant more that the princess seemed to want to add her to a collection. She seemed to keep friends like butterflies, pinned to a board by their wings. This would also be ignoring the age gap between them; the same could even be said for Toph and Katara.
This was going to be strange.
“Yes, she is a firebender, but I would trust her if I had to put my life in her hands,” Suki said, voice turning sterner, more sincere, overcoming the collective whisper of doubt. “You didn’t see her risk her life for the sake of others. Y/N is fierce, and she will fit in with us for as long as she needs.”
With that, Suki had finished. Quelling the uncertainty with swift decisiveness, Y/N couldn’t help but admire the leadership she was displaying.
Tents set up and food gathered, all that was left to do was set up a campfire. Rather than letting one of the Warriors ache over sparking flame with rock, the firebender ignited her forefinger, pointing it at the pile of dry wood collected and arranged with the neat discipline of a trained fighter. Y/N ignored the yelps of the girls around her as the fire hit the wood with fierce accuracy. Under the intense heat, the wood began to crack, splintering and cracking as loud as thunder. As it settled, no longer spitting like a vicious pygmy puma, the girls wasted no time lifting a cooking pot over the campfire.
“No meat in the soup tonight.” A gruff voice said, startling Y/N. “Is that okay with you, firebender?”
She looked at the owner of such a low voice; a tall, leggy girl was stirring different nuts into a broth, stoking the flames every now and then to keep it boiling. Other than a single braid that was slung over her shoulder, her head was completely shaved.
“I don’t mind,” Y/N smiled, swallowing her nerves. “When you travel with a monk, you get used to a vegetarian lifestyle.”
The Warrior looked at her with some curiosity as she continued crushing the shells off of the main ingredients for their meal. “Huh. The Avatar, I’m guessing. What’s he like?”
“Sweet,” Was the first word that blurted out of her mouth. “Young. Fiercely devoted.”
“Glad to know our saviour is sweet.”
“Hey, I also said devoted!”
The two girls stared at each other before bursting out with laughter. They sat there for a few silent moments. Y/N tamed the flames down to a simmering heat as her acquaintance stirred in some green herbs. It smelled divine, summoning images of pine, hiking in the rain, and home. Home was the strongest memory dredged up by the broth.
“I heard,” The girl said, a teasing smile playing on her pretty lips, “That you’re really here because you got into an argument with a boy.”
Perhaps if any of the other girls there had teased like that, Y/N would’ve lost her temper, but this one seemed kind. “You could say that we had a conflict of interests.”
“Those interests being fire and water?” She continued to joke, nudging Y/N’s shoulder. “I’m glad to know I’ll never have these problems with boys.”
Y/N furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t like boys,” The girl shrugged with an easy grin. “Girls, however…”
“Wait, that’s an option?”
Now looking as confused as each other, they were interrupted by another Kyoshi Warrior. This girl had her face bare of paint, her entire body beaming with pure light. Wrapping her arms around the girl at the pot, she planted a kiss on her cheek before looking up to see Y/N, who sat shocked.
“Li, are you already bullying this poor girl?” The cheery one frowned – as much as she could looking like sunshine personified.
“Of course not, Yu,” Li said, clasping her free hand over Yu’s. “I’m just enlightening her to the many possibilities that being in the Kyoshi Warriors has granted me.”
This was a revelation to Y/N. It was her great grandfather who had spearheaded the criminalisation of ‘abnormal’ relationships, so she had never witnessed such explicit affection between two girls. It made sense though, why she never recognised her admiration of fellow women as anything more than friendship after a certain age. In fact, watching Li and Yu be so tender together reminded Y/N of an array of people she had considered close friends, those she would stare at a few seconds too long.
There had been a guard in Ozai’s palace with whom Y/N often walked the gardens when she would visit many years ago. Yes, she had been very young, but she remembered this woman with such intensity; she had these glittering gold eyes, as if someone had caught the sun in manacles and poured its blessing into her. She remembered, Princess Y/N, besotted with this woman and announcing to her that one day she would marry her. She startled at how panicked she had turned, and became sad when she never saw her again.
Even after her, there had been others she had admired; Jin who lived near her mother, Suki to some extent, and she was now realising how she had completely melted in front of Li.
But then there was Jìngyi and Sokka. Where did they fit?
“Sweetness,” Yu whispered to Li, “I think you broke the poor thing.”
“Hey, firebender,” Li said, brushing her companion off, “First bowl of soup fresh just for you.”
Numb, she took the bowl with a nod. “You can call me Y/N.”
That scent was back again as the pleasant nutty broth exuded heat. Swirling up in tendrils of steam, Y/N caught those glimpses of home again, but they were even stronger now – perhaps more melancholy and informed. But who was it she was seeing? Where was home?
Sipping a spoonful, her entire body warmed up in a way that could only be comforting. It was like the embrace of a fireplace after being caught in the rain. Spirits, it was good. It was definitely better than anything her and Katara had managed to cook up from the wilds. Watching her new acquaintances, Y/N realised their bond was forged in something other than affection; it seemed that Li was the cook and Yu the forager. Love, it seemed, could flourish somewhere that no one would ever expect it.
“This is lovely, thank you,” Y/N said with the utmost sincerity, bowing her head lowly.
Usually, she was all about etiquette, but the flavour and the sad pit in her stomach made her desperate to wolf the meal down. So many words to describe one bowl - splendid, delicious, homely – but Y/N could find none to describe how she was feeling.
“Tomorrow,” Li cut in past Y/N’s thoughts, “Yu and I, that being my Yu, will help you get ready for the journey ahead.”
Y/N allowed a small giggle to pass her lips at Li’s bad joke. “What do you mean?”
“If you’re travelling with the Kyoshi Warriors, you have to look like one!” Yu laughed, tapping her foot against Y/N’s knee as she took a seat opposite her.
“What, with the–” YN gestured to her face, mimicking the swipe of a brush over her eyes and lips.
“Yes!” Yu said, excited, “And with you uniform as well.”
“Is that okay?”
All three of the girls looked up behind Y/N’s shoulder to see a now bare faced Suki. Her red hair was tied back haphazardly in a pony tail, wisps of hair falling either side of her face. Out of any uniform whatsoever and in some comfy looking sleep clothes, she looked more relaxed.
Suki wasn’t looking at the other girls though. Suki was looking at Y/N.
“Oh!” Y/N flushed, sheepish. “Yeah, that would be great! Thank you for allowing me to travel with you.”
“Not at all,” She brushed off, taking a seat next to her on the ground, sandwiching her between her and Li. “Soup is going down a treat, girls. I’m sure we’ll all be sleeping warm in our sleeping bags tonight.”
A sleeping bag.
Oh no.
“Where am I sleeping, Suki?” Y/N asked, placing an empty bowl down on the ground – though it was refilled pretty quickly. “I mean, I don’t have problems with staying warm usually, so it’s fine if I don’t have a sleeping bag, but– “
“Y/N,” Suki interrupted, “You can have my sleeping mat and just lie between two of us just in case the winds pick up.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Crisis averted, Y/N thought as she dug through another bowl of soup. But what kind of crisis, she had to wonder. Crisis or not, she had no trouble getting to sleep under an ocean of stars, laid between Suki and Li. She felt comfortable – content, even – which was new. Perhaps she wouldn’t have too much trouble travelling with the Kyoshi Warriors after all.
And she’d hardly thought about Sokka all evening.
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