Chapter Text
Chapter Two: The Arrival
Despite all the efforts of Firelord Zuko and Avatar Aang, the Fire Nation was not a perfect place. One way these imperfections have shone through was the orphanage system. Children would be left in orphanages for their entire childhood, often becoming malnourished or depressed. The orphanages received state funding, which meant that they couldn’t accept donations or be privately funded, else they would be shut down or have their funding severely cut; an old policy left over from the days of Firelord Ozai that had slipped through the cracks of bureaucracy as Firelord Zuko was reforming the Fire Nation. As such, being a Matron or Patron of an orphanage was not an ideal position, so only the most devoted people or the worst people would get the positions. It was very unfortunate for one little Fire Nation girl that Matron Ima was the worst Matron in the country. She was mean, yelled, berated the children, and often just left them alone for hours at a time. Multiple times, Ima fell asleep in the middle of the day, not keeping an eye on who came and went. So, when Ima fell asleep, Asami took the opportunity to go exploring, to venture outside where she had never gone before.
Asami found herself in a dark forest. The trees here were bigger than anything she had ever seen before. The light of the moon crept through the leaves, as if it were telling her, Turn around, little one. Go back to bed. But Asami pushed on. She’d had a taste of freedom, and there was nothing on this Earth that could stop her now.
Off in the distance, Asami thought she heard voices. Deep voices in unison. Maybe I should go back, Asami thought. But her curiosity got the better of her, and she trotted closer. From behind this tree, Asami could see that the men were sitting in a circle, their figures dimly lit by candlelight. She could make out what the men were saying, though it still made no sense to her. It sounded like they were saying something along the lines of, “Vatuu, your time has come. Vatuu, return to us. Vatuu, your time has come. Vatuu, return to us.”
Maybe it’s time to head back. This didn’t seem like something that she should be watching. Besides, Ima would probably wake up soon, and if anyone was missing, all the children could be at risk of punishment. Asami carefully took a step backward......and promptly snapped a twig underfoot.
Every head snapped in her direction. “Who’s there?!” questioned the figure at the center of the circle. He was wearing maroon robes with silver lining, fancier than what everyone else was wearing. “Don’t be afraid, come out where we can see you.” Asami shuffled into the light. “What is your name, child?”
“Asami.”
“Well, Asami, can I ask why you came here tonight?”
Asami didn’t think it was a good idea to be answering his questions, but something about him kept her from holding her tongue. “Matron Ima left the door unlocked, so I wanted to go exploring.” Some of the men on the ground started whispering. “Matron-” “She doesn’t have parents-” “She’d be perfect-” “No one would miss her.”
“How adorable.” He inhaled sharply, “Well, Asami, my name is Xai Bau. My friends here are the Order of the Red Lotus. We have someone we would like you to meet. He will be here soon.” Xai Bau grabbed her shoulder a little too tight and dragged her to the edge of the circle. The Red Lotus’s chanting continued, the wind flapping at their robes, picking up until the candles blew out. There was nothing but the moon to illuminate their little clearing.
The ground in the middle of the circle started to grow dark, as if a shadow had been cast over the leaves, even though the sky was clear as crystal. Something like smoke rose slowly from the ground, curling like a scorpion-snake from a basket. A feeling of unease shrouded Asami, as if the smoke was somehow looking at her. She wanted to bolt, but her legs wouldn’t move. Her heart was beating out of her chest, her breath setting a land speed record. I have to run, I have to get out of here. I can’t stay here! The smoke loomed over her, it’s shadow a blanket, smothering all hope of escape.
Xai Bau held her shoulder even tighter now as the smoke crept ever closer. “Asami,” Xai Bau continued, “This .... is Vatuu.” With that statement, the smoke lunged at Asami, filling her lungs, filling her entire being, with its corruption and blight.
eyes. Fear overtook Asami. She wanted to run, she wanted to go back to the orphanage and forget this ever happened, but she couldn’t. Even if she was strong enough to rid herself of this weird guy’s hand, she couldn’t move convince her legs to move.
Xai Bau held her shoulder even tighter now as the smoke crept ever closer. “Asami,” Xai Bau continued, “This .... is Vatuu.” With that statement, the smoke lunged at Asami, filling her lungs, filling her entire being, with it’s corruption and blight.
Korra woke to the sound of knocking. Her bedroom was a mess as usual, with extra shirts and coats strewn about her floor. The orange and blue sky of the early morning peered through the open window. With a yawn, she turned to the water clock on the dresser, confirming her suspicions. She was supposed to be out the door and on her way to school a long time ago. There weren’t many Waterbenders in the southern water tribe, considering the Fire Nation captured all of them over the course of 60 years 100 years ago, but thanks to immigrants from the Northern Water Tribe and their children, there were enough for a small academy. Her parents, even though they weren’t Waterbenders themselves, were very adamant she learn Waterbending in tandem with her other schooling.
It’s not like she didn’t like the academy. She had a lot of friends there, and was among the best in her class. But she didn’t want to spend her entire day there for most of the year. She wanted to hang out with her friends, get in trouble with her parents; Stuff a normal 15 year-old does. Wait, no, 16. Today was her 16th birthday. Oh yeah, that’s right! Her parents said she could take the day off from school today. No school means more sleep for Korra! She rolled back over, pulling the blanket over her shoulder-
-And was promptly reawakened by the knocking at her door again. Oh, right, I have to get up. “Yeah?!” she shouted at the door. “Korra, honey, it’s time to get up.” replied the muffled voice of her Mother. “It may be your birthday, but that doesn’t mean you get to sleep-in all hours of the morning!” “Okay, I’m coming,” Korra groaned. She was too tired and her room was too cold for this.
Her feet slid off of the bed onto the cold, hard stone of her bedroom. She took her slippers off first thing last night, so they were on the other side of the room. The shirt draped over her dresser didn’t smell as bad as the ones on her floor, so she slipped it on, pulling a blue wool sweater on over the top to complete her look.
Breakfast was already set when she walked into the living room, a lovely array of otter-fish glazed with apple-infused honey paired with a mashed wildberry spread on toast. “Whoa! Where’d this come from? We never have anything this fancy.”
“2 reasons. Firstly, it’s my baby’s 16th birthday! Of course I’m going to do something special for my little girl.”
“And the second reason?”
“We should have some important guests arriving soon, so I wanted to make them something fancy.”
“I figured it was something like that. Who’s coming?”
“You’ll have to wait and see,” Senna said, turning her face away. That’s weird. Normally Mom can’t wait to tell me something this big. As she sat down at the table, Senna caressed Korra’s cheek. “Happy Birthday, darling. I love you, never forget that.”
“Thanks, Momma. I love you, too.” Korra took a forkful of fish-otter and took a long look at her mother. She was staring off into space on the other side of the table, a solemn look on her face. Korra had known her mother long enough to know that she was heartbroken about something. “Hey, is everything alright? You’ve got that look on your face.”
“I’ll be fine, honey. It’s nothing you need to worry about right now.”
With that, Korra dropped the matter. She had tried to pierce her mother’s emotional defenses countless times beforehand, and never once succeeded. As much as it pained her to leave the matter alone, if it was important for Korra to know, Senna would tell her when she was ready. They finished their breakfast accompanied by the silence of the morning.
“So, Korra, what’s on your agenda today?”
“Not a thing. To be honest, I didn’t even remember that it was my birthday until after you woke me up,” Korra said, chuckling. “Um, maybe you and I could wander the markets today? I’ve been meaning to try and get myself a new mirror. I dropped my old one last week trying to fix my bed-head.”
“That sounds-”
THUNK THUNK THUNK. There was someone pounding at the front door. “Oh, not so soon,” Senna groaned, heading towards the door. Senna opened the door and popped her head out. Korra could just make out that the person at the door was old, in a navy blue robe. When Senna noticed Korra was watching them, She ducked outside and closed the door behind her. Korra tried to mind her own business, but curiosity got the better of her, so she walked up and put her ear to the door.
“It’s......birthday. We have.......”
“No, please........just a kid”
“......Responsibility........ is the Avatar”
Korra had never been more confused in her life. Why were they talking about the Avatar? What did that have to do with her birthday? Her questions began to pile up, stack on top of each other, mix with other questions to make new ones. It was all one quagmire of confusion, and too much for Korra to handle from behind a closed door.
“Hey, Mom?” Korra asked as she opened the door. 4 pairs of eyes shot towards her. There were 3 old men on their doorstep, all in navy blue robes, a lotus flower embroidered above their hearts. “What do you want me to do with the rest of this otter-fish? Put it in the ice box?”
“Actually, could you leave it out? These are the guests I was talking about.” Senna turned to the guests. “Would you like some breakfast? It must have been a long journey from the United People’s Republic.”
“Yes, please, that would be lovely,” said the old man. He was very tall, and might have been handsome in his youth, but the years had clearly taken their toll on him. The wrinkles and scars were so numerous in his face it was hard to tell them apart. The other 2 men were of similar age, though they wore it much better. The youngest of the three was also the most heavyset, but he carried a certain confidence about himself that said he’d been through hell came out the other side kinder than he went in. The last guest was built like a goddamn brick house. A wall of muscle. If Korra had to guess, she would say he’d been a constant state of ketosis since he was 12 and would be dead within the year.
“So,” Korra began as they sat down, “What brings you three to the Southern Water Tribe?”
“You, actually. We have news to discuss with you.”
“Honey,” interjected Senna, “do you remember your favorite toys when you were younger? The hog-monkey and all that?
“Yes, but I don’t see how-”
“You aren’t the only child who has had those toys,” said the heavyset man, “In fact, many children before you have played with those toys. The most recent being Avatar Aang.
“W.....What are you saying?” Korra knew what he was saying, but she didn’t want it to be true.
“When you were a child, you chose those four toys out of hundreds of others. Every other Waterbending child in the world was given the same choice as you, but only you chose those four and only those four. Every Avatar since Avatar Kuruk has also chosen only those four toys.”
Korra’s head began to swim. “O-Okay, but that doesn’t mean that I’m-”
“Korra, I don’t like it any more than you do,” stated Senna, “The spirits know I would like nothing more than to let you live a normal life, do normal teenager things. But too many things fall into place here for what these men are saying to not be true..”
“Aang died at 9:59 in the evening 16 years ago, today,” stated the wall of muscle, “According to your mother, you were born at exactly 10:00 at night 16 years ago. I don’t know, but I think everything here matches too perfectly for it to just be one big coincidence.”
“NO! I’m not the Avatar! I can’t be the Avatar! I’m......” Korra sat back down into the chair and put her head in her hands. “I’m just Korra. I’m not some saviour.” Her hands were wet, and she realized she was crying. “ I’m not a great hero, I’m just me. Just Korra” Her mother was there next to her, arms wrapped tightly around her head. Korra buried her head into her mother’s shoulder. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to wake up and realize that this was all a dream, that she was still in her room, about to have an amazing 16th birthday with the best mother in the world. But it wasn’t a dream, or at least one she wasn’t going to wake up from.