Fluid Earth

At 17 years old, Avatar Nyssa was nearly a master of all the elements. Years on the run made her home her skills in a truly unique way, but it prevented her from truly mastering her most hated element.
Earth.
After reclaiming her home from the three nations who invaded, Nyssa set off to truly master earth. Despite spending nearly a decade working on all of her bending, she's not convinced anybody could truly teach her Earth... Until she met a pretty blonde girl (and her non-bending best friend) in the tiny backwater fishing town of Star Ling.
Avatar/Airbender Nyssa. Earthbender Sara. Nonbender Oliver. Firebender/Ra's Al Ghul Talia.

Notes:

PLEASE READ OF THIS STORY PROBABLY WONT MAKE SENSE!
Hi everybody, welcome to one of my many unfinished stories. This is actually arc 2 of my Avatar Nyssa story, because Arc 1 is not but written completely. There is an arc 3 but only partially written.
Here's some more info that you probably need to know:
Ra's Al Ghul - Airbender, Nyssa/Talia's dad, Dead. Former leader to League.
Nyssa's Mom - Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. Refused betrothal necklace from Ras. Had Nyssa in Northern Water Tribe but gave her up when she was discovered to be an Airbender as a baby.
Talia's Mom - Fire Nation Princess. Gave Talia up as a baby because Talia is a bastard/to save face.
Nyssa - Avatar, Airbender. Learned to bend every element as a child (in order) after accidentally producing fire before the downfall of the League. Lived on the run as a kid with just Talia for many years.
Talia - Firebender, new Ra's al ghul. Overprotective older sister. Likes to give her little sister shit. Taught Nyssa firebending.
The League of Assassin's is the League of Shadows. They live to serve the avatar. They will act in place of the avatar if they avatar is unavailable. Duty is to help facilitate training of the avatar, and take care of the less desirable things in order to make sure the avatar is in good standing with everybody. Nyssa is the first avatar to be born to the league. Every other avatar has had to find the league, or the league has had to find the avatar. Nyssa first time that they actually had the avatar as a child.
The Avatar before Nyssa (Jade) was poisoned in Ba Sing Se, as part of an elaborate plot against something that it's not even the Avatar knows. She was close to finding some sort of very bad conspiracy and they killed her before she could.
That's several years after the death of the previous Avatar, the nations (excluding Air Nomads) found the location of the league and attacked. This is because they realized the league had the avatar. The nation's managed to frame the league for killing the avatar and holding the new Avatar hostage. The nations took the children that lived with the league into "protective custody" hoping that one was the avatar. This is not the case, and the avatar along with the next heir to the league escaped the attack.
Nyssa and Talia spent their childhood on the run, basically becoming bandits all across the Northern Earth Kingdom and stealing a bunch of shit. They also do minor avatar things, because Nyssa is very good with spirits. She also picks up her own little styles of bending which are non-traditional. They reconnected with old league members after several years of being on their own, and Nyssa resumed Avatar training. Over all, Nyssa has mastery over most non-traditional bending styles. She cannot bend metal. But she can bend almost everything else outside of the traditional elements. Non-traditional bending came easier to her than traditional bending, so she locked into it very hard and that's why she bends non-traditional elements so well.
And the league retook their home, Nyssa went into the avatar state and nearly killed her mother. She has abandonment issues. She was fully in control of herself, as she mastered the Avatar state very young, but she was just very angry and really wanted to kill her mom. She's never lost control, at least not after mastering the avatar state, and she's terrified of entering that avatar state for fear of potentially losing control. So she rarely enters the avatar state unless she needs to.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Nyssa hated the Earth Kingdom. Ever since she was a child, she hated most things associated with the Earth Kingdom. It was beneath her, quite literally given that she was an airbender. Earth was a constant battle that she never won, and it remained the only element she had yet to master as the Avatar. The only way Nyssa could bend earth well was to reduce it into sand, mud, or lava. Sand moved like air and mud moved like water, and lava felt like fire . They were something Nyssa could connect with on a spiritual level... But Nyssa still hated the desert and swamp. She spent several years training all over the Earth Kingdom to hone what little earthbending abilities she had, and while sand, mud, and lava moved in a way Nyssa deemed "right", she was still a very disappointing earthbender.

Her need for improvement was what brought her to this town, far south of Ba Sing Se, right on the edge of Chameleon Bay. The town itself was at the base of the mountains that lined the bay, while Nyssa was at the top of the mountain, looking down over the earth before her and out to the ocean. Part of her was convinced she could make out the island that housed "her" temple, the Eastern Air Temple, but it likely wasn't true.

"This is a waste of time," Nyssa grumbled, leaning into Yingling's creamy coat. "I have spent years in the Earth Kingdom and I have yet to find anyone who can help me earthbend. Perhaps I am not meant to bend earth in a traditional manner."

Yingling shifted with a groan, knocking Nyssa off her and back into an upright position.

"Sand is earth!" Nyssa protested. "And I mastered sandbending! Mud is earth and lava is earth! I have mastered all of these!"

Yingling just shook her head, as if to say that Nyssa only mastered each specialty because she could call on the other elements that mix with them in order to succeed.

"No one asked you," the young woman grumbled, though she knew the bison was right. "At least I can bend the earth."

Barely , Talia's sarcastic voice sounded from Nyssa's subconscious.

Sighing, Nyssa fixed her bandana so it covered her forehead. Now that the world knew the Avatar was a dark skinned airbending woman, Nyssa had to be careful who saw her arrows. There were very few dark skinned airbenders, and even fewer were teenagers her age. To be honest, Nyssa was likely the only dark skinned airbenders her age which only made her more recognizable. Others were either a few years older or a few years younger than her.

"Meet back here tonight, okay?"

The bison groaned before lifting off and heading south, undoubtedly back to the Eastern Air Temple. Nyssa wished she was following her companion, but the League demanded she learn earthbending properly. The world needed a fully trained Avatar, not a teenager with horrible patchwork training.

Grumbling, she set off down the mountain. The paths were well worn, either carved with earthbending or just from years of constant use. Despite that, Nyssa didn't encounter another soul until she was far closer into the town. Armed with a simple backpack and her staff, Nyssa knew she looked like a traveler, and possibly a very experienced traveler.

The people in the small town were friendly, which Nyssa appreciated. They had no inn, though, so Nyssa would likely be spending the night with Yingling. She wasn't bothered, though. Sleeping with Yingling was normal to her, and brought Nyssa great comfort. Still, no inn meant she needed a new way to get information.

It didn't take her long to find a small tavern. She quietly entered and made her way to the bar, in hopes of finding a decent meal.

"What can I get you?" A young woman, likely Nyssa's age, asked the young Avatar. She had beautiful golden hair and the prettiest eyes Nyssa had ever seen. The Avatar was not expecting to see a woman of her beauty in a dingy backwater village such as this. She expected this woman to be in Ba Sing Se's upper ring at the very least.

"Uh. Hello?" The girl asked again.

That was when Nyssa realized she was staring like a bumbling idiot and she actually needed to speak.

"My apologies," the Avatar said, trying to keep her cheeks from flushing, "Do you sell food at this establishment?" Nyssa asked the girl. "I have just been traveling for some time and would appreciate a real meal."

Not her best excuse, but it worked.

"Not too often we get travelers! Yeah, have a seat, I can get something whipped up for you!" She led Nyssa to a spot at the end of the counter, coincidentally close to a stool on the blonde's side of the counter. "Let me get back with a menu. Or I could rattle off what we have, whatever works."

"A menu would be most appreciative," Nyssa answered, "I fear I have been on the road too long that sometimes words fly right by without me realizing," the airbender explained. It was an absolute lie, but a menu would keep her from staring at the beautiful blonde like an idiot.

"Of course! You must be exhausted! I'll be right back!"

Nyssa just nodded and turned her attention to the wooden countertop. She placed her arms on top of it, and rested her cheek on her fist. On the wall next to her, Nyssa leaned her staff and placed her backpack on the ground at her feet. For a moment she was studying the wood grain, and then the next minute a menu was slid across the counter. The airbender blinked a few times before lifting her head and looking back at the blonde.

"Oh, thank you," Nyssa said, looking back down at the sparse menu.

"You must be tired," the girl joked back.

"Yes, I think I am," Nyssa agreed, shocked that she hadn't heard the woman approach. She didn't even feel the air move next to her, which was odd. Apparently staying up several nights in a row had compromised her abilities.

At least she was out of the League's prying eyes, so she might get a few good hours of rest.

"Want some tea to wake you up?" The girl asked.

Nyssa wanted to say yes, but she remembered that she had limited funds. She reached down to pull her bag up and rustle through her coin purse. As she pulled out the bag of coins, a pale hand pressed into hers, halting her movement.

"The tea's on the house," the blonde told her with a kind smile. "I was going to make some for myself and I can never finish a full pot before it gets cold."

Nyssa smiled at her, "that would be much appreciated."

"Sounds great. I'll go whip something up when you decide what you want to eat."

Right, food. Nyssa did need that. Her eyes flickered down to the menu. A quick read through told her that they were a fishing town and most of their food centered around fish. There was very little without fish.

"Would it be possible to have congee without the fish?" Nyssa asked the woman.

"Not a fan of fish?" The blonde asked her curiously.

Nyssa shrugged, "I suppose my time around airbenders gave me an aversion to eating meat. The last time I tried, I grew quite ill."

It wasn't a lie, either. She spent most of her life eating a strictly vegetarian diet. When she and Talia were on the run, it was the only time she ate meat and it was because she had no choice. The first few times, Nyssa vomited the meat but after repeated exposure in small doses, she began to stomach it. Now she opted out of meat eating whenever possible.

The blonde's eyes went wide, "you stayed with airbenders! Wow! Uh, yeah! I'll be back!"

Nyssa offered the girl a small smile as she disappeared into the back of the tavern. Her head returned to its original spot, propped against her fist, and slowly Nyssa's body angled itself so it was leaning mostly against the wall next to her. She closed her eyes for a second, and it really was a second. But, once again, the blonde girl managed to sneak up on her again.

Nyssa's eyes snapped open when a hand lightly touched her shoulder. Her hands whipped out and for a split second her eyes nearly flashed bright white before she realized where she was. Nyssa blinked twice before she saw several stone plates hovering by the blonde.

"Sorry for startling you," she offered with a smile.

With a gentle and fluid movement, the stone plates settled down on the wooden countertop.

"You are an earthbender," Nyssa stated as a cup of tea appeared before her.

"As are you," the girl returned, placing the stone teapot and another cup in front of her. The blonde pulled up a stool on the other side of the counter and sat down across from Nyssa. "I'm impressed you managed to launch the plates and cups at me without spilling any of the tea. You must be pretty good."

That made Nyssa laugh, "on the contrary, I have been told my earthbending is dysmal at best."

It was the blonde's turn to laugh, "well you could have fooled me. Careful, the tea is pretty hot."

Nyssa nodded. She could deal with hot tea. Without hesitating, she picked up the still warm cup in her hands and slowly sipped. Her taste buds were filled with the taste of peppermint, and the woman brightened.

"You looked like you could use a little pick me up," the blonde offered with a small smile.

"You were right," Nyssa answered, as she let her face sit in the steam coming from her cup. It was rejuvenating. "I appreciate your care…"

"Oh! Sara! I'm Sara! Sorry, I'm just so used to seeing regulars that I hardly need to introduce myself," the blonde, Sara, said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sara," Nyssa said with a smile. "I am Nyssa."

"Nyssa," Sara repeated.

At that moment, Nyssa learned that she really liked how her name rolled off her tongue.

"A lovely name for a lovely traveler," Sara told her with a flirty grin.

Nyssa felt her cheeks grow warm, and she just opted to hide her face behind another sip of tea.

"I like your necklace," Sara commented, realizing she might have gone too far.

Nyssa looked down at her necklace. The necklace her father made for her mother. Ever since his death, Nyssa refused to take it off. It was so much a part of her that she often forgot about it being its own entity.

"Thank you," Nyssa answered, not sure how to go from there. In her defense, she had very little experience dealing with people her age.

That didn't seem to deter Sara, though.

"So what brings you down here to Star Ling?"

Star Ling, Nyssa realized that was the name of the little village.

The woman shrugged, "I will know it when I see it," she answered vaguely. "I hope."

Sara laughed at her. "Well I hope you find whatever it is!"

So did Nyssa. But if she didn't, she's pretty sure she just found something better.

Sara could bend . Never had Nyssa seen such an impressive earthbender in her life, and she was surrounded by some of the best benders in the world.

"Are you spying on me?" Sara asked one afternoon. She was practicing out by the beach, and only just noticed the young traveler.

Nyssa was living in Star Ling, and performing odd jobs for people in order to make enough to eat at Sara's tavern. It was owned by the son of the current Earth Queen, Moira, but the son liked to keep his distance from Ba Sing Se. Sara was a childhood friend of his, her family was from the city but she ran away with the Earth Prince even though the boy was courting her sister. Both just wanted a taste of freedom which is why they fled together.

Now, Sara and Prince Oliver lived a quiet life in Star Ling with their little tavern, and no one seemed to have found the two. It was ironic considering everyone in Star Ling knew exactly who they were, but no one seemed to have alerted the Earth Queen so the two remained. It seemed like the citizens of Star Ling liked the two older teens, so they kept them around.

"You make it terribly easy to do so," Nyssa answered from her spot in a thick branched tree.

Nyssa had the misfortune of running into Oliver and recognizing him. The only reason Nyssa knew about their story is because Oliver mistakenly thought she was an agent of the Queen trying to take them back. After assuring him that going to Ba Sing Se was the last thing she wanted, and proving that her earthbending was dreadful, she was allowed to know their full story despite being a traveler.

"With the way you move around, I'm surprised you're not an airbender yourself," Sara commented, pulling out of stance. "You would make a very good one."

"I suppose that is what I get for having a father as an airbender," Nyssa answered, "and it explains my dreadful earthbending."

Sara's eyebrows shot up, "your dad is an airbender?"

"Was," Nyssa answered in a clipped tone. She didn't need to dwell on her dead father any longer than necessary. Such thoughts always brought her distress.

Sara nodded. She approached Nyssa's tree and looked up to the woman.

"Want to learn?" She asked, calling the earth up from the ground and letting it dance around her palm.

Nyssa looked down with an eyebrow raised. "You know I am dreadful, correct? You witnessed how dreadful I am."

"That's because you're trying to bend it like an airbender, not an earthbender."

"That is what they tell me," Nyssa answered in a sarcastic tone. "My body does not move in a way the earth likes. To move like an earthbender feels wrong. It is too rigid, unyielding. It requires domination over cooperation and—"

"You're thinking about it wrong, then," Sara answered, interrupting Nyssa.

"How so?"

"Come down and I'll show you."

And Nyssa couldn't find it in herself to say no. She's been hypnotized by the blonde earthbender and not even the spirits could keep Nyssa from following her. The airbender flung herself from the tree with grace only an airbender could have and Sara noticed.

"Show off," She teased.

"I try," Nyssa answered with a smile.

"Alright. Let's see what we're working with," Sara said, "get your shoes off and come at me. We can spar. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you!"

Nyssa glanced over to the beach and then back at Sara. While she couldn't take Sara on in a proper earthbending rumble, she did have one advantage. She dutifully removed her shoes (thanking the spirits she made special trousers to cover the arrows on her feet), putting them with her bag and staff, before eyeing the sand once more. Grinning, the Avatar took her place at the edge of the sand.

"That is your first mistake," Nyssa declared with a grin, picking up the sand and sending it at Sara using a sand whip.

Soon their battle turned into a flurry of sand and stone. Sara would throw rocks Nyssa's way, and the Avatar would disintegrate them before they could hit her, only adding to her massive stores of sand. Even when Sara hid herself in a massive ball of earth, Nyssa was able to wear it down rather quickly. The battle only ended when Sara hid her body in the earth again. Like last time, Nyssa went for a full assault to wear it down, but this time when she did, Sara was nowhere to be found.

At the last second, Nyssa felt the sand shift under her feet. The Avatar leapt back towards the ocean, already calling the ocean to her so she could freeze it under her bare feet. She managed to get airborne with some help from her airbending, but it wasn't enough. A massive slab of earth came towards Nyssa, and the woman instinctively called the sand to break apart the slab. Unfortunately, Sara took that into consideration and was able to turn that to her advantage by sending a follow up stone slab to knock Nyssa out of the air, and use the broken stone pieces as very pointy projectiles.

Nyssa landed in the ocean water, hard. If she didn't call the water to bend, she would have absolutely landed in the sand so she was thankful for small mercies. However when she came up for air, she had several jagged stones aimed at her body, ready to kill.

Before she could really process that she lost, a wave crashed over her head, submerging her in the water once again. With some very unladylike sputtering and flailing, Nyssa resurfaced to hear Sara cackling at her.

Gone were the jagged stones, but Nyssa knew she still lost. She didn't know what was more embarrassing, her terrible earthbending, losing, or the damn wave. The Avatar sat up and glared at Sara, but there was no anger in her gaze. Shen couldn't find it in herself to hold a grudge, given that Sara was already wading out to help Nyssa to her feet.

"Good fight. I still beat you," Sara told her, extending her hand to the wet avatar.

"Did you?" Nyssa asked her.

"Huh?" Sara didn't get a chance to contemplate Nyssa's words because the girl in question pulled Sara right into the water with her.

"Nyssa!" Sara yelled as Nyssa hightailed it out of the ocean, laughing loudly.

Even if she didn't learn earthbending, at least she was enjoying herself.

"You're the first sandbender I've met," Sara told her at the tavern, known as Verdant, one night.

"Picked it up in the desert," Nyssa answered in between bites of noodles. "I always carry sand on me so I can turn rocks into sand. But I have not figured out how to make sand from a rock."

Sara looked at her and then disappeared. Being one of the few staff employed at Verdant, Sara was always off trying to take care of all the regulars. So, Nyssa was used to Sara vanishing and popping back up again. This time when she returned, she held a rock in her hand.

"What makes sand easier to manipulate?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"It is more fluid and free. More malleable in a way." Nyssa answered, "most of my life is centered on airbending teachings. And sand allows me to channel much of what I know from my time with the nomads."

Sara dropped the rock on the counter.

"Mold it," she ordered.

"It is a rock," Nyssa answered, "rocks cannot be molded."

Determined to prove her wrong, Sara tossed the rock in the air, and let it float above her palm. In one sharp motion, she moved both her hands out and the rock was now broken apart into the tiniest of pieces that Nyssa had ever seen. It almost looked like sand, but grey.

"Earth has its own fluidity," Sara explained, "it's like the ocean. There's many drops of water in the ocean, and there are many grains of sand in sandstone. Earth is just more solid than what you're used to, but you can break it down to its most basic form, be it dirt, sand, or a bunch of tiny rocks."

Sara brought her hands back together, gathering the sand back together. With a tight squeeze, the rock reformed like new and Sara placed it on the counter.

"You just need to think about it differently."

Nyssa blinked at Sara.

"How long did that take you to figure out?" She asked, grabbing the stone from the counter. She held it up and then looked up at Sara.

Ever since they started sparring with each other, Nyssa noticed that Sara rarely bent sand. She left that to Nyssa. Instead, Sara would usually mold sand to one large slab of earth, while Nyssa danced with the sand like it was air.

"Too long," Sara mumbled as she rested her elbows on the countertop. "Beginning earthbenders are taught by bending pebbles and things like that. So sand is usually easier for beginners, but that skill usually dies off when you begin working your way up in earthbending because you start thinking about the earth differently. It was a painful few days trying to rethink everything I know." Sara explained, "But you're different from me and other earthbenders. Sand to you is like air to airbenders."

Nyssa nodded at that. Sand was the closest thing to air and water that she could find, and she was very good with air and water.

"Not that I've actually met an airbender, but judging by what you say about them, I'm guessing I'm right."

"It is an apt comparison," Nyssa answered.

"Yeah well if airbenders feel and control the air all around them, then by that logic, you can feel and control all the sand around you in a similar way."

Nyssa nodded again. That was also true. She bent sand the way she bent air and it showed. After all, sandbending was rather similar to airbending.

"So being able to take a bunch of itty bitty rocks to control is way easier to take than one big rock. Itty bitty rocks are more like little air pockets all around."

"I suppose that makes sense," Nyssa replied.

"Right! So you just need to learn how to take a rock," Sara gestured to the rock in Nyssa's hand, "and find all the itty bitty rocks in it. And then bend them, without breaking them. Be like, I don't know, a waterbender with ice or something."

Nyssa blinked. That oddly made sense.

"So yeah. Feel for the tiny rocks. The earth is as fluid as you make it. I gotta go take this order out. Be right back."

Nyssa watched the blonde disappear back to the kitchen. Most of her earthbending education consisted of trying to dominate the earth, force it under her control, and remaining rigid and unyielding, Sara flipped all that nonsense on its head and tossed it out the window.

"The earth is as fluid as you make it," Nyssa mumbled to herself, idly rubbing at the cool stone on her necklace.

Maybe, just maybe, she would find what she was looking for in the small fishing village of Star Ling.

In the weeks after Sara's revelation, Nyssa began to understand how to bend earth. Much like the other three elements, it had its quirks, and one needed to be a little more forceful, but they now had an understanding.

"See, Yingling, I told you I knew what I was doing," Nyssa told the bison as they rode out a rainstorm from inside a cave Nyssa hollowed out with her newfound earthbending abilities.

Nyssa's clothes were hanging from a line that was attached to stone anchors Nyssa bent out of the wall. With all the rain, she was able to wash her clothes and now they were hanging over the fire to keep warm. Nyssa found no need to go into town for work thanks to the storm. Instead she spent her time practicing her earthbending. Sara seemed quite pleased with herself when Nyssa showed up to their daily training, increasing by leaps and bounds. The blonde felt like quite the teacher, and Nyssa wasn't going to tell the blonde that she's learned earth hundreds of times and the reason she's picking it up so quickly is because she's the Avatar. That would dash her jubilant spirit, and Nyssa wanted nothing more than to keep a smile on her face.

"Nyssa!" Speaking of the blonde, only she seemed stupid enough to go trekking up a mountain during a storm.

"Yingling!" Nyssa hissed, "hide!"

The bison looked at her like she was insane. Which, Nyssa belatedly realized, she probably was. There was no way Yingling was going to go out in this weather, it was a stupid thought. Flying in a storm was a dumb idea.

The airbender groaned and quickly found her bandana. She wrapped it around her head as fast as she could, and fixed her hair. Nyssa glanced at the bison, who grunted in response.

"Good enough," Nyssa answered, adjusting the bandana some more. With an impressive display of airbending, Nyssa snatched her long sleeved shirt and gloves from off the clothesline and stuffed herself into them.

Once her tattoos were sufficiently covered, Nyssa approached the mouth of the cave.

"Sara!" She shouted out, trying to locate the blonde.

"Nyssa! Where are you!" Sara shouted back.

The Avatar opened her mouth to shout when she was struck with a better idea. She raced to a woodpile in the corner, grabbed a stick, and lit it on fire before rushing to the mouth of the cave.

"Over here! I have fire!" Nyssa shouted, waving her flaming stick.

"Awesome! Be there in a sec!"

Nyssa waited for the blonde at the edge of the cave and soon enough a bright yellow head could be seen racing up the path. She wasn't running, though, she was riding a stone.

"There you are! I thought that the storm had— by the spirits is that a flying bison?!" Sara asked as she jumped off her rock and walked out of the storm.

"This is Yingling," Nyssa answered. "Come, change out of your wet clothes before you catch a cold!"

Nyssa practically dragged Sara into her cave and practically tugged the blonde's shirt over her head.

"Geez if you wanted me naked, all you had to do was ask," Sara said with a flirty grin.

Nyssa halted in her actions and turned to look at Sara in shock.

"What?" The blonde asked, already shucking her pants.

Nyssa should not have looked. She really shouldn't have. But now that she was looking, she couldn't stop. There was a part of Nyssa that always knew Sara was strong, after all, she was an accomplished earthbender. But she typically kept her arms covered and Nyssa was eternally grateful because if she saw Sara's very well defined and muscular arms every day, she would not be able to function at all.

Sara was incredible. Not just her arms, either. Her legs looked sculpted by the spirits themselves and her abdomen was soft yet incredibly toned much like Nyssa's. In all actuality, Sara's body was quite similar to the Avatar's, sans tattoos and paler and shorter. If Nyssa thought about it, Sara might have more muscle than her, and that was not a horrible thought.

"Well damn, remind me to strip the next time you keep trying to get a leg up on me," Sara said with a very flirtatious grin.

Nysss shook her head and returned to her task of hanging Sara's shirt. She also took Sara's pants and hung them on the line, but not before offering the woman some dry clothes.

"Thanks," Sara answered and she slipped into a pair of slightly too long trousers and a cut off shirt. "Never seen you wear this before," she commented as she slid the shirt over her head.

"I sleep in that," Nyssa answered.

Sara hummed, "what I wouldn't give to see that."

Nysss shot her a look that Sara just laughed off. In the corner, Yingling snorted as if to laugh at Nyssa.

"Hush, you," Nysss ordered the bison, but not even she could control Yingling and her sass.

"You have a flying bison," Sara said, settling down not too far from the fire.

Nysss took her usual spot, curled into Yingling's side, "Yingling is her own bison," Nyssa told the blonde, "but she tolerates me, yes."

Yingling groaned as if to emphasize that she only tolerated Nyssa.

"You love me and you know it," Nyssa growls to the bison.

"Cute," Sara replied, "didn't think Airbenders gave bison to anyone, though. Thought only airbenders could have one."

"Yingling was one of my father's bison, Ubu, pups," Nyssa answered, "she decided she liked me enough to stick around."

"Well nice to meet you, Yingling."

The two enjoyed their time in the cave. Sara was impressed Nyssa was able to carve this from the mountain in a matter of weeks. Especially with enough support to keep it from collapsing on them. This was the first time Sara realized Nyssa was living in the wild and not a house.

"Do you two always rough it like this?" Sara asked.

"Far worse," Nyssa answered, "It would take me far longer to make a cave with just sand."

Made sense to Sara.

"What brings you out here?" Nyssa asked after a moment.

"Oh!" Sara brightened, "I wanted to see if you wanted to try mudbending! Since you're much better at sandbending than the average earthbender, I figure bending mud might be easier for you because it's not like earth."

Nyssa nodded, knowing that the blonde's words made sense.

"I have been able to bend mud," Nyssa told the blonde. "And unless you are prepared to fight a losing battle, I would not challenge me to a match," she added in a playful tone.

Mudbending was one of the many ways they tried to introduce Nyssa to earthbending when she was young. Unfortunately, she latched onto the water component and usually bent mud the way she bent water, so it was not very helpful. Between mud and sand, Nyssa's earthbending capabilities were quite lacking until Sara. She could bend all the substyles of earthbending to include lava, but not actual earth.

"Oh, you're on!" Sara declared, already jumping up.

Nyssa laughed as the two raced out into the rain, eager to best the other. Unfortunately for Sara, Nyssa was a far better mudbender than the earthbender.

"Oh come on!" Sara groaned as they raced into the cave to escape the storm, "you're a master of sandbending AND mudbending? What other skills are you hiding from me?"

"Lava," Nyssa answered without meaning to.

"LAVA?! YOU CAN BEND LAVA?!" The blonde hollered, now facing Nyssa.

Nyssa grinned sheepishly. Yingling made a noise to tell Nyssa that she was an idiot. In Yingling's defense, Nyssa was an idiot when it came to the blonde.

"I trained close to the Fire Nation once upon a time. There I learned to bend lava. That was after the mud and sand," Nyssa answered vaguely.

"You are a strange woman, Nyssa," Sara told her, stripping out of the borrowed clothes from earlier. They would need to be washed since they were covered in mud, but at the very least they needed to be dried.

This time Nyssa managed to avert her gaze quick enough and she focused on passing Sara her original clothing. It was slightly damp, but better than their soaked clothing.

"Thanks," the blonde said and she dressed. "Aren't you going to change?"

Nyssa was about to wave Sara off, and say something about bending the water out of her clothing, but stopped when she remembered she had a cover to maintain.

"Yes?" She said after a moment.

"Well?" Sara asked, staring at her in confusion.

That's when Nyssa realized she needed an excuse and quickly.

"I have scars," she finally said as if that was a good explanation. "From childhood," she lied. "I was hit by lightning from a bender and it scarred me horribly."

Sara's eyes went wide in shock.

"How did you survive?" She asked softly.

"We do not know," Nyssa answered with a shrug. "But I do not like to change in front of others because of my scars."

"Say no more!" Sara wasted no time turning around and covering her eyes for good measure. "I won't look, I promise."

Oddly enough, Nyssa felt like she could trust her. She quickly changed clothing, opting for her old airbending trousers and a simple red shirt. Her exposed arms were covered with her usual black coat, completely with gloves. Somehow her necklace survived the mud pelting, for which Nyssa was thankful. It meant she didn't have to wash it.

"Thank you," Nyssa said, waking over to tap Sara on the shoulder, indicating she was changed.

Sara turned around and smiled, "of course. I never want you to feel uncomfortable around me."

"I never do," Nyssa answered honestly. If anything, Sara made her feel like a proper teenager. Sara let her enjoy the life she was missing thanks to her being the Avatar.

"Even with my flirting?" Sara asked her.

It was rare that Nyssa was brave. She was more cautious than anything, which came from years of being on the run. But tonight she was feeling brave. Maybe she was still riding the high of winning their spar, for once, or maybe it was pure teenage stupidity. Either way, the next words out of her mouth was something Nyssa would never say under normal circumstances.

"Who said I did not enjoy that?" Nyssa asked, her tone dropping rather low.

For once, it was Sara's turn to look perplexed. It lasted all of a few seconds before pale hands grasped Nyssa's hips and pulled. Blue eyes met honey brown, and their foreheads rested gently against the others. Nyssa was slightly taller than Sara, but not by much.

"Tell me to stop," Sara whispered, her eyes flickering down to Nyssa's lips.

"Why would I do something so foolish?" Nyssa breathed out, still trying to be brave.

"Thank the Spirits," Sara breathed before one hand tangled with black locks and pulled Nyssa right where she wanted her.

There, in a cave carved out by an earthbender in training, bathed in the glow of a slowly dying fire, Avatar Nyssa had her first kiss.

Kissing was amazing and anyone who said otherwise clearly never kissed Sara Lance, which was their loss because Nyssa was not willing to share the blonde's kisses.

"When are you just going to move in with Sara and Oliver?" The captain of a small fishing boat, Dig (Diggle, but he called himself Dig), asked the woman as she wandered aboard his fishing boat that morning.

When Nyssa finished more odd jobs, she began seeking work on boats. Her knowledge of shipping was limited to Water Tribe styles she learned during her time with Owal, but Dig was always happy to see another person other than him with Water Tribe knowledge.

Dig never lived in any water tribe, his parents were former pirates that were captured when he was young. He managed to escape capture with their destroyed boat and landed in Star Ling. Much like Nyssa, he worked odd jobs to earn money to fix the ship, and once it was seaworthy, he started working an honest life as a fisherman. Being a former traveler, he took to Nyssa and welcomed her help on his ship even though she refused to do any fishing herself.

"I am a nomad, Dig," Nyssa answered with a shrug.

"Even air nomads have a temple to come home to," Dig pointed out as the secured lines.

They weren't sailing today, as Nyssa and Dig were pretty sure a storm was rolling in. Instead the two were securing everything for the upcoming storm.

"I like my cave," Nyssa finally said.

"I'm sure Sara's bed is warmer than your bedroll," he teased while elbowing her playfully.

Nyssa smiled and elbowed him back just as playfully.

"Ready to go, Cap?" A crewman asked as he and most of the usual crew raced aboard for a good day of fishing.

"No sailing today," Dig answered, "Bad storm coming," he pointed to the slightly cloudy skies. The clouds were small and puffy, but Nyssa and Dig believed they would only grow in size.

"But Cap'n! This is one of the last days of the Tuna-Snook run!"

This was true. Tuna-Snook sold for high prices and it meant a pretty pay day for everyone on board. Especially because they would take their market all the way in the bay to sell their catch. Oftentimes their fish would be taken into Ba Sing Se which always meant good money.

Naturally, Dig refused to go out. Still, the crew pressured and pressured him.

"Fine!" The man yelled, "but if it gets worse, we're leaving!"

The crew cheered and soon enough, Nyssa was up in the Parrot-Crow's nest to keep an eye out for fish. After enough "accidents" with her falling overboard, she learned the currents in the area and the best places to fish. Other fishermen knew these areas, but they didn't have a waterbender on their side. Of course, Dig didn't know he had a waterbender on his side either, and Nyssa kept it like that. From the Parrot-Crow's nest she could see quite a bit, and bend without anyone spotting her.

"Keep an eye on the weather!" Dig implored as they ventured further out to the bay.

"Aye, Captain!" Nyssa yelled.

That was a few hours ago. Already the men had a good haul, certainly enough to sell for a tidy profit, but the men were greedy, and even with Nyssa shouting down about danger, they still would not move. Especially since the sky still looked oddly calm…

It was this stupidity that led to Nyssa's current situation, being thrown overboard as waves crashed into the ship. Being an airbender and a waterbender could only help her so much while keeping her cover hidden. The water felt like ice when she hit, freezing. If she was thrown overboard, Nyssa had no doubt the men were fairing almost as bad as she. At least Nyssa had her staff with her.

The Avatar resurfaced and took a massive breath of air. The water muted the sounds of the storm, but above the waves she could hear the cries of terror as the men raced about to try and stay aboard. They all were able to tie lines to themselves, leaving Nyssa as the only one without a line. This was, of course, by her design so she could get out of a sticky situation just like this.

"I cannot believe I am about to do this," Nyssa whispered to herself as she watched her ship.

The Avatar dug through one of her coat pockets and pulled out an old bison whistle. Shiva gifted it to Nyssa years ago to call Yingling. With any luck it would work during the storm. Nhssa took a deep breath, especially for an airbender, and blew as hard as she could, hoping Yingling would hear her call for help.

Just in case, she took another deep breath and dove under the water. With waterbending, she propelled herself through the choppy waters. Once far enough, she shot out of the waves, opened her glider and began soaring across the wind currents.

A loud cry alerted Nyssa to a very familiar bison flying around the bay. Yingling! Nyssa was relieved that the bison heard her cry and glided over to the bison with about as much grace as could be expected during a storm. Her landing was less than desirable, since she practically crashed on Yingling's saddle.

"Thank you!" Nyssa yelled to the bison as she shucked her bandana, coat, shirt, gloves and shoes.

She was left standing in an orange bandeau along with her airbending trousers and her necklace. It wasn't much, but enough to hopefully keep people from seeing the similarities. She probably should have removed the necklace, but Nyssa doubted that anyone would get close enough to see it. The Avatar shoved her clothes into her saddlebags before jumping up to Yingling's head.

"Go lower! I need to see the ships!" Nyssa told the bison. "When we get close, I will enter the Avatar State and open the clouds for you to fly away!"

Yingling made a sound, indicating she understood, and dove down for Nyssa.

Surprisingly, Dig's ship was not the only one on the water. It seemed like several others were caught by the Tuna-Snook run. All the more reason for Nyssa to save them.

"I can do this," Nyssa whispered.

She attached her staff to Yingling's reins, before rising to her feet. The Avatar took a deep breath in, held it for a brief moment, and then released it. In the back of her mind she realized this would be the first time she would enter the Avatar State since The Reclamation, and that ended poorly.

"I can do this," Nyssa repeated, tilting her head to the sky.

The rain pelted her face and thunder crackled above her. Then, Nyssa felt it. She felt the way her skin tingled, and the tiny hairs on her body shot up. Lightning! She leapt off Yingling without a second thought to catch the lightning with her body. Talia taught her how to redirect lightning, and she did it several times, but this was the first time she redirected lightning not from a bender.

The white-blue heat coursed through her veins as the lightning moved through her arm, down to her stomach, and back out the other hand. When Nyssa shot the lightning out of her other hand, the sky lit up as she shot it into the clouds. And then she was falling.

Brown eyes closed, and glowing white eyes snapped open, halting her fall completely.

The Avatar State was always a fearsome thing to behold, that's what Talia always told her. Even as an adult, to witness the Avatar with glowing eyes, and this one with glowing arrows and her native element swirling about her was enough to terrify even the strongest of benders. Here she was, the Avatar of seventeen years, with thousands of years of power at her fingertips. Nyssa knew how terrifying it could be, but she, like most of her past lives, was bound to her duty, her duty to balance the world and keep everyone safe.

A massive pillar of earth shot from the ocean as Nyssa called up the earth for her feet. The air ceased swirling about her as she gracefully moved through her katas, bending water and air to dispel the storm clouds and ease the rough waters. She gracefully deflected and redirected lightning away from the ships in the bay, while giving them strong winds to usher them on their way.

To watch her bend with such fluidity and mastery was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and many would never see the raw power of an Avatar in their lifetime. Sailors from all ships clamored to catch a glimpse of the mysterious airbending Avatar as she worked from her massive pillar in the middle of Chameleon Bay. Whispers of her power came from survivors of The Reclamation, and they had spread across the world. Now, nearly a year later, the Avatar made her first appearance; showcasing the same mastery and power the soldiers only whispered about.

As the storm died down around them, that same white glow that distinguished the Avatar from all others faded, leaving a teenage girl, laughing and whooping in glee as she moved through her bending forms. There would be many accounts from that day, all saying many different things, but one thing they would agree is that she looked happy and free .

When the waves calmed, and the clouds vanished from sight, Nyssa looked over her work with a smile. She approached the edge of her stone pillar to look down at the ships, to be met with loud and victorious cheers. Cheers that celebrated her, and her first real rescue. Yingling landed behind Nyssa, ready to take her back to Star Ling safely, but Nyssa stayed to watch over the ships. She watched as the sailors waived to her, and she waved back, with her arm high above her head and overly dramatic movements. The sailors aboard the ships cheered as she waved, making Nyssa smile and laugh even more than before.

She did it. She went into the Avatar state. She saved the sailors in the bay, and she didn't lose herself doing it. And that felt good.

"Let us go flying, Yingling," Nyssa said to her companion, turning around.

She kept up to grab her glider free.

"Come now, Yingling. Just like we used to!"

The bison didn't even wait for Nyssa to unfurl the beautiful blue and orange glider, as she lifted off the second Nyssa stopped talking.

"Wait for me!" Nyssa yelled, leaping from her pillar and chasing after her longest friend.

The two weaved around each other, zipping between ships, and swirling through the air with glee. Nyssa's laugh could be heard ringing out across the bay as she flew. The young Avatar looped around ships, always keeping enough distance to obscure her features, or going too fast for anyone to see her clearly.

But, all good things had to come to an end, and as the last few ships hit safer waters, Nyssa finished her flight. She found Yingling again and peeled away from the ships.

The last anyone saw of the young Avatar was that haunting white glow as she lowered the massive earth pillar back into the ground.

"Head to the Temple," Nyssa told the bison. "You need to lay low for the next few days."

Yingling didn't argue with Nyssa, but she was sad to part ways.

The Avatar dressed herself in her Earth Kingdom clothing and once she and Yingling were out of sight of the ships, she left Yingling to return home to Star Ling on her glider. Nyssa had to be careful, making sure to fly low to the ocean, to avoid detection. And, once close enough, she used her waterbending to dive under the water while closing her glider, and propelling herself the rest of the way back.

Nyssa emerged from the water unable to touch the ground, but seeing the shore was close. With a sigh, she slowly paddled to shore, grumbling about how her muscles ached from her latest endeavor. She realized once she could touch the ground that she needed to begin going through her forms, for every element, daily in order to keep up her skills.

"Nyssa!" She heard someone cry when she literally crawled to shore.

She didn't have time to react before strong arms encircled her and pulled her the rest of the way out of the ocean. Initially she tensed, prepared to fight if she needed to, but the familiar smell of peppermint tea and spiced ale made Nyssa go completely limp. Her face nuzzled against the soft skin of her captor's shoulder and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am fine, Sara," Nyssa hummed into her.

"Thank the Spirits!" Sara whispered to her. "I thought I lost you! Come on, let's go home and get you cleaned up!"

Nyssa hummed in agreement, and squawked a little when Sara picked her up again. Her legs wrapped around Sara's waist, and her head went back to nuzzling into the crook of Sara's neck.

When they walked to Verdant, Nyssa realized something.

She was always home, as long as she had Sara.

Nyssa awoke with the sun, she always did. Even as a child, she awoke with Talia. Many assumed it was because Nyssa was Talia's little shadow, but when she bent her red flames at four years old, they learned it was because she was the Avatar.

The Avatar opened her eyes to be greeted by blonde hair. Sara.

The blonde slept in often, but she slept lightly. Nyssa learned the hard way that there was no escaping the shared futon without waking Sara.

"Go back to bed," she heard Sara grumble. The blonde grabbed Nyssa's gloved hand and pulled it in a way that had Nyssa pressed right up against her back. "Too early."

Nyssa grinned but settled back down in the bed.

"Just a little bit," Nyssa conceded, closing her eyes and getting comfortable.

When she awoke again, Sara released her arm and Nyssa was able to slip out. The blonde mumbled in annoyance but she let Nyssa get up. She learned not to interfere too much with Nyssa's training, just enough to gain maximum cuddling time.

As quietly as possible, Nyssa changed out of the nightclothes Sara kept at her apartment for Nyssa. After several months of courting, and having no place to stay during the winter months, Sara and Oliver took it upon themselves to have some clothing for Nyssa at their place, and her own futon. Of course, Sara and Nyssa pushed their futons together for maximum cuddling… and other fun.

As Nyssa pulled her shirt over her head, she grinned as she felt her sore limbs working. Despite refusing to remove her clothing for Sara, the blonde somehow made it work. While she might not be allowed to take it off, it didn't mean her hands weren't allowed to wander. Usually Sara would pin Nyssa to the wall and watch her come undone all while leaving her clothes on.

The Avatar put her clothes on quickly, before crawling back over to Sara. She gave the blonde a gentle kiss, which she sleepily returned, before slipping out to train.

It was midmorning when Nyssa left the apartment over Verdant and raced towards her mountain training arena. Following the storm almost a month before, Nyssa was determined to keep up on all of her training to the best of her abilities. Early morning training called for firebending and airbending. She would usually wrap up her forms by late morning and would go to the market to get some food for the two (or three, if Oliver was home) of them.

"Hello Yingling," Nyssa greeted the bison as she joined the Avatar part way through her airbending.

Nyssa sped through her firebending as quickly as she could without sacrificing quality for timeliness, and now she finished her morning meditation and was trying to mess with new airbending ideas.

The bison responded, sounding happy to see her. As much as Yingling was happy to go be with the bison from the Eastern Air Temple, she never strayed from Nyssa too long. On days Yingling returned, she and Nyssa would sleep together under the stars like they did when they were young.

"I had a thought for a new technique," Nyssa told the bison, "based on the water tribe's past time of surfing."

Nyssa unfurled her glider, but instead of gliding under it, she sent a gust of air and attempted to stand on it. The Avatar didn't make it very far before nearly crashing into a tree. She managed to jump, taking her glider with her at the very last second.

"As you can see, it needs work," Nyssa said. "But if I can craft a gliding board, it could be interesting. I could propel myself with air while still bending the other elements, and I would not need the Avatar State as often."

Just because Nyssa successfully managed to enter the Avatar State last time without panicking, didn't mean it would always be that way. She needed more options and standing on a glider instead of holding a glider would allow her hands to be freed.

"It would not be so versatile as my glider," Nyssa conceded.

She had more maneuverability on her glider, at least right now. Until she could create a new form of glider, she would have to hold off on her idea. Her glider was too thin to stand on while turning. She would need something thicker, but still caught the wind currents.

And perhaps food holds.

"I will have to mull this over," Nyssa said. "Come, let us go through our forms together."

Airbending with Yingling was always fun. And it usually ended in a playful air battle between the two of them.

"Cheater!" Nyssa declared with a laugh after Yingling knocked her into a tree.

Nyssa was trying to jump onto the bison's back, but Yingling used her tail and sent a massive gust of air that knocked the Avatar back into the branches of the closet tree. It was fine. They were having fun.

"Do I want to know?" The familiar voice of Sara sounded.

Nyssa, still in the tree, looked over at the blonde who was approaching with a basket of food.

"We were playing," Nyssa answered, adjusting her clothes to make sure everything she needed to hide was covered.

While their relationship was still a little new, Nyssa knew it bothered Sara that Nyssa covered herself. Nyssa said she had lightning scars that she was very self-conscious about, which was not a complete lie but not completely true. The Avatar had many scars all over her body, including lightning scars from when Talia tried teaching her to use lightning, but she never quite cared if people saw them.

"You look like you lost a fight to a tree," Sara joked and Nyssa jumped on Yingling's back and slid down her tail.

"I think I lost a fight to a bison," Nyssa answered with a shrug.

"Get any good training in?" Sara asked her.

Nyssa shrugged. Training was training. She wasn't trying to master her elements, she was trying to invent techniques and maintain skills. It was harder to test herself without another person to spar with. She had Sara for earth and usually he had Talia for fire, but Talia was busy at Nanda Parbat. Airbenders didn't usually fight, and only a handful of nomads would try to fight her. The rest of the airbenders at the Eastern Air Temple would defend, and only push back when Nyssa had them cornered. Nyssa could go to the swamp for waterbenders to fight, but short of going to the poles, her waterbender options were limited.

"Want lunch?" Sara asked, holding up the basket she carried up the mountain.

"Sounds lovely," Nyssa answered with a smile.

They, along with Yingling, settled down for a picnic. Sara and Nyssa curled up next to each other, happily leaning against Yingling. Much to Nyssa's surprise, she realized Sara brought food for Yingling. She also had a large bag on her back which contained fruits and vegetables for the bison to munch on. It wasn't enough for her, but Yingling seemed to appreciate the gesture.

"How did you know Yingling returned?" Nyssa asked as she ate her vegetables and rice.

"You always stay out later when Yingling comes back," Sara explained. "I thought you two would be out flying, but with how overcast it is today I can see why you didn't."

After the storm, Yingling put her foot down about flying in inclement weather. Nyssa didn't blame the bison, and knew it was stupid, even if Nyssa was the Avatar. Nyssa herself didn't even try to go flying if the weather looked questionable. It was too much to risk.

Nyssa nodded thoughtfully, before putting down her chopsticks. She reached into the bag and pulled out a head of cabbage. Without hesitation, she tossed it Yingling's way and the bison used a clever bit of airbending to suck it right into her mouth. That trick always made Sara giggle and she loved tossing food at Yingling to see if the bison would catch it.

"Perhaps the next time it is nice, we can go flying," Nyssa suggested.

"You say that every time, but we've never gone," Sara joked.

This was true. If Nyssa got Sara in the air and out of Star Ling, she probably wouldn't bring her back. It was selfish, Nyssa knew, but she missed home and she didn't want to be away from Sara. So she never took the blonde flying.

"You always have to work," Nyssa pointed out. It was a weak argument, but it was the best she had.

"I guess that's true," Sara finally agreed with a shrug.

And then they fell into a casual silence. The two watched the town below them, and the ocean that surrounded it. Star Ling was situated on the edge of a peninsula that saw quite a bit of traffic going into the Earth Kingdom. While it was rare for many of these ships to dock in Star Ling, given that they were so small and on the far end of the bay, the Star Ling fishermen and merchants would often go out to the larger ships to barter and trade supplies.

The only travelers that came to Star Ling usually came to seek passage to the Eastern Air Temple, as only the residents of Star Ling knew the path. The Air Temple was guarded by a natural reef which made it difficult for large ships to enter, but the small vessels in Star Ling could pass through with ease.

Nyssa was thankful for the small town, as it was the perfect place to hide. Here she didn't need to be the Avatar, she was just Nyssa. Of course, not that anybody knew she was the Avatar, but still… Being Nyssa was nice.

Though Nyssa appreciated that the little town was trying to make a little monument dedicated to her "heroic" rescue of the ships during the storm. They had a local artisan try to carve something out of earth and Nyssa had to resist the urge to say anything. She didn't need a statue or anything. This was her duty and it was a great honor to do it.

Though she was interested to see the end result of the sculpture.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Sara asked, breaking the silence.

"Excuse me?" Nyssa asked, looking over at her.

"You heard me," Sara said.

Nyssa furrowed her brows, "what would make you think that?"

Sara gestured to Nyssa's gloves, her trousers, and black coat she always wore. "I know you're self-conscious, but you know I don't care about your scars, right?"

Of course Nyssa knew that. But she really couldn't say that because she knew exactly how that would go, and Nyssa couldn't reveal herself to Sara. Not yet. Not ever, if she was being honest, but Nyssa hated thinking like that.

The teen sighed and placed her finished carton of food next to her side. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them with her arms.

"You know how Yingling has her scar?" Nyssa asked quietly.

"Yeah," Sara mumbled. It was the most recognizable part about the bison. The sharp line of white fur dramatically clashed with the dark brown of her arrow.

"We were both caught in the same attack," Nyssa said softly. "They invaded our home. Our town, if you will. It was not a town, though, often too small for maps to care about. We were undesirable . A community with people from all four nations, living together in harmony. It was a place where you were free to live and love, regardless of gender and nation. We had many mixed families, like mine, with parents from different nations, and the three nations did not want that."

"Three nations?" Sara asked.

"The air nomads did not care. Love is love and they have always believed this," Nyssa answered with a smile.

"Oh…" Sara mumbled.

"Soldiers from all three nations attacked my home," Nyssa said, "killing almost everyone, including my father."

Sara's eyebrows shot up. She gently placed a hand on Nyssa's shoulder and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry…"

"My father sent me off with a family friend, but while we tried to escape, we were attacked. They had a bender who could bend lightning… Everyone was hurt, but we still managed to escape, but we all bear scars from that night…" Nyssa told her, "and I keep mine covered. Seeing them reminds me of my father's death and it hurts to remember it."

Sara nodded, and then gently pulled Nyssa so the young Avatar was curling into her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I shouldn't have pushed."

"You did not know," Nyssa told her.

"I'm still sorry for pushing you. I should have waited for you to be ready to tell me," Sara mumbled into the top of Nyssa's head.

Nyssa shrugged, "I probably would not have said anything if you had not pushed," she answered honestly. "I have been told that I sometimes need to be pushed to do anything outside of what I am comfortable with."

Sara laughed a little, "well I'm sure I'll push you plenty. You just tell me when I'm pushing too much, alright?"

"I think I can do that," Nyssa answered with a smile, and she happily curled into Sara.

Star Ling might be small and insignificant, but to Nyssa, it was wonderful.

Nights at Verdant were always fun. Especially following a good fishing haul. Nyssa, like any good sailor, was blowing her payday on as much food she could stomach. Courting one of the two owners usually got her more food than the rest of the sailors on Dig's ship, and they bitched about it constantly.

"Oh come on, Sara! You spoil that girl! She ain't even do anything anyway!" A sailor barked out as Sara refilled his glass of ale.

"Yeah! She just falls overboard half the damn time, and sits up in the Parrot-Crow's nest doing Spirits-knows-what the rest of it!" Another agreed.

"She also packs fish better than the rest of you lot and half the reason you have all that coin to blow," Dig barked at them after taking a swig of his own ale.

Nyssa just looked over at the sailors with a smug look on her face while she ate her stir fry. Sara always gave her a healthy portion of food in order to 'keep her energy up'. Nyssa never said no to being a little spoiled by the blonde, and it was fun to annoy the other sailors.

Having a lot of coin meant the drinks were flowing rather freely. With the vernal equinox approaching, it meant they were only getting more fish and more coin as the fish migrated for the summer. It also meant Verdant was packed.

Nyssa, seeing that she was dating Sara, always had a spot at the far end of the bar. It was where Sara's stool sat and when she took a break, she and Nyssa would share a little meal together. No one took Nyssa's spot. She even had her name carved into the bar, declaring that spot to be her spot and hers alone. It was absolutely childish, but Verdant was owned and run by two teenagers, so childishness was expected.

It was nights like these that the entire town packed the bar and the street. Verdant was lucky to be located right on the town square, which just gave even more room for people to drink and spread out.

That night Sara was one of nearly a dozen workers at the bar. Even Oliver was around, taking orders and chattering happily with the patrons. Everyone loved hearing about Oliver's adventures, and Oliver would indulge them to a point.

And then at some point, everyone would get drunk enough to start singing. Most were sea shanties, and the men always had fun singing the raunchiest of songs in an attempt to make Nyssa uncomfortable. Unfortunately for them, Nyssa lived life surrounded by League members and they were just as raunchy as sailors.

Instead, Nyssa and Sara just gave each other a look. Oliver noticed the two and smirked. As the men finished their song about touching a woman on various parts of their body, Sara started her own song.

"Oh you hear a lot of stories 'bout the sailors and their sport, about how every sailor has a girl in every port." The blond belted out, sitting on the counter next to Nyssa.

"But if you added 2 and 2 you'd figure out right quick, it's just because the girls all have a lad on every ship!" Nyssa finished with a grin.

Soon the other women around joined in on their own raunchy song about how women fuck other women better than men ever could. Unlike the men, the women were sober enough to harmonize with each other a little.

"So next time you're with a lady and she takes you to her bed, be sure to please her well, and remember what we've said! For if you do not treat her right, then know that this is true, us ladies all can have our fun without involving you!"

The ladies finished their song with a round of applause from all the women around. The men naturally balked at their song, since they didn't think the woman could be as dirty as them.

"It can get worse, boys," Sara declared to them. "Don't start a war that you won't win!"

The female sailors grinned as if to silently agree with the blonde woman, Nyssa included. She was thankful for Sara and the other women sailors for teaching her their own raunchy songs. It was always fun to sing them to make the boys uncomfortable, and it was even more fun to make up their own songs to outdo the boys some more.

"Alright, alright!" Oliver chimed in, "keep it clean you all!"

And so raunchy songs turned into clean sailing songs. Stringed instruments were pulled from under the bar, tuned, and soon enough the entire tavern was jamming. It didn't take long for the tables to be pushed closer to the wall, and dancing broke out. The sailors tended to dance with the sailors from their ships, but as more drinks began flowing, the ship alliances began breaking and people were finding partners everywhere. Genders didn't matter here in Verdant, only if you could dance.

Nyssa accepted a few dances from her fellow crewmates, and even a dance with Dig. Many of the songs had specific dances, all of which Nyssa learned in her many months in Star Ling. The steps were simple, especially for an airbender, so Nyssa always showed off her dance skills on nights like these.

"Someone's having fun," Sara commented as she placed a cup of spirits in front of Nyssa.

"I like to dance," Nyssa answered happily before taking a massive swig of alcohol. She rarely drank, but Sara had no problem getting Nyssa a little tipsy. The blonde found tipsy Nyssa quite cute. "Dance with me!" Nyssa chirped out happily, her cheeks turning the slightest bit pink.

"I'm working, pretty girl!"

"Dance now!" Nyssa declared, "the drinks can wait!" She reached across the bar and latched onto Sara's free hand, pouting.

Tipsy Nyssa was very adorable and Sara's resolve crumbled fairly quickly. She passed off her work to Oliver as she hopped over the bar and dragged Nyssa off to the makeshift dance floor.

The two danced their night away. Neither could keep their hands off each other, holding hands or pulling the other as close as they could while still being able to execute the proper steps for whatever song the musicians were playing at the time.

At some point Nyssa managed to pull away from Sara for long enough to get lifted onto a table to dance. That was for one song that only Nyssa knew, which was a common dance song known by air nomads. The style of dancing was very different from the folk songs of the Earth Kingdom, which was why the men lifted her onto the table so everyone could watch her as she performed the foreign dance for them. After, they went right back to their folk songs and Sara had plenty of fun spinning Nyssa all over the tavern. Nyssa could take the spinning like a champ, and she happily followed Sara's lead all night.

"You love this, don't you?" Sara yelled over the music.

Nyssa smiled, "of course!" She declared.

Sara laughed and spun Nyssa towards her. "You would hate Ba Sing Se parties, then! Their dances are too stuffy and uptight!"

Nyssa flipped so she was side by side with Sara and they danced some more. "All of my dances are like this!" Nyssa told her. "Air nomads are not this tipsy, though!"

"Well you'll have to take me to dance at an air temple, then!" Sara declared.

"I shall!" Nyssa promised with a laugh.

The song ended and the tavern gave a round of applause to the musicians. It was at this point when Oliver signaled to Sara that he would cover everything, so Sara decided to drag Nyssa out of there. The Avatar had no problem leaving, especially when Sara pulled her into a deep kiss in the middle of the tavern. Their kiss was met with many whistles from the other sailors around.

"Oh fuck off!" Nyssa barked before pulling Sara into another, deeper kiss. In her defense, she was tipsy and she really liked to kiss Sara.

The blonde laughed at her after pulling away, and dragged the Avatar out the backdoor and up the steps of the building to enjoy the rest of the night with her.

Most of the time, Nyssa took work in a fishing boat. The local fisherman loved her because she had a sixth sense for where the fish were and they always returned that day with more than enough fish for the town and to trade to the surrounding areas. If she wasn't an earthbender, many would swear that she had some water tribe in her because no one could be that good.

"Good haul?" Sara asked and she helped Nyssa unload.

When she wasn't working, Sara would wait for Nyssa to come back from the sea and help her unload so they could go train. It's been part of their routine for months now.

"As good as usual," Nysss answered, "Dig is planning on taking some of our catch further up the bay to sell."

"That will be good for all of you," with every completed row, they packed shaved ice around the fish to keep them to last longer. Nyssa mostly handled the ice while Sara sorted the fish because Nyssa laid ice down faster than she could fish, while Sara laid fish much faster than ice.

It always seemed like fish packed by Nyssa and Sara lasted longer too, so more often than not, if the town planned to sell fish elsewhere, Sara and Nyssa had the task of packaging them so they could last longer. Of course, Nyssa was cheating and using her waterbending to help freeze the fish, but no one needed to know that. They got so good that some of their fish was being sold in Ba Sing Se, which was impressive.

"I do love a good pay day," Nyssa answered with a smile.

"So you can blow it all on food at Verdant," Sara teased her.

"You know me too well."

The blonde laughed and they finished their packaging. With each bin packed, ship hands would take it back to the ship so they could go north for trading. Nyssa never went on the trading vessels because she needed to be training with Sara. Having been in Star Ling for the last six months, Nyssa improved her earthbending by leaps and bounds. She was nowhere near a master, but she was giving Sara a run for her money.

"Man, I don't know what we're going to do without you," Sara told her when they finished their work for the day. "I know you said you're going to leave for the Eastern Air Temple just before the Solstice, but I wish you didn't have to."

Nyssa shrugged, "I should have left months ago." That was the truth. Talia was giving her grief for spending so much time in the little fishing town. After all, the world needed its Avatar and Nyssa was very close to abandoning her responsibilities to live some silly domestic life with a blonde earthbender.

"Is Yingling coming back tonight?" Sara asked her.

Nyssa shook her head.

"Want to crash with me?"

"Sounds lovely."

It was becoming a regular thing, staying with Sara. Yingling didn't seem to mind ditching Nyssa for more fun things to do, and Nyssa didn't mind their late night tea and silly conversations. It made her feel like a real teenager for once, and not the Avatar.

Nyssa made her way over to Dig, a former Earth Kingdom soldier turned fisherman, and collected her pay for the day. The man promised more for her if they sold their excess fish in other ports that day, and bid her farewell. Knowing that Dig would be off trading for the next few days, Nyssa realized she had more time to practice bending.

"Do you work tonight?" Nyssa asked after collecting her pay, bag, and staff.

"Just a little bit," Sara said, "I'll open but I have relief coming later, so I figured we could get practice in after my shift and then go to bed."

Nyssa nodded and the two walked towards Verdant.

Both Sara and Oliver lived above the little tavern, each with their own room. Oliver tended to travel more often, leaving the actual day to day operations to Sara. But Sara seemed fine with that.

"Hey," Oliver offered the two as they made their way up the steps into the living quarters. He was standing in the small living room with his travel pack against the wall and his travel clothes hanging up. He clearly just finished his laundry, judging by his lack of shirt. Though, Oliver rarely wore a shirt unless he was working in the tavern.

"Hope you don't mind but I'm hosting someone tonight. She's been helping me on my travels and teaching me a few tricks to keep me alive." He added before going back to his work.

Oliver, like Sara, also had blonde hair and light eyes. His hair was longer and tied back in a style similar to the water tribe wolf tails. He was not an earthbender, but he was very skilled using a bow and arrow more than anything. When he was around, he and Nyssa would shoot targets together and sometimes go bowfishing, though Nyssa was not a fan of fishing in general and she hated killing. Even on a ship she would tell the fishermen where to cast but she did not cast or reel in the catch. Dig and Oliver seemed to respect her preferences about not taking life, and rarely gave her shit for it. After all, they knew of her air nomad heritage.

Oliver was always vague about his travels, at least when Nyssa was in the room. But every time he returned, he would always bring her a small gift. The last time he returned with beautiful fans that he thought could help her sandbending. The time before that was a nice new waterproof bandana for her hair to protect her hair from getting soaked on a fishing boat. The gifts were always small and thoughtful, which Nyssa appreciated. If all royalty was as down to earth and kind as Oliver, Nyssa would likely have no problem publicly assuming the mantle of Avatar.

"Nyssa and I will just crash in my room tonight," Sara said, "we can cuddle."

"Was your trip fruitful?" Nyssa asked as the two made their way into the little apartment. Nyssa hung her bag on one of the few hooks they had, the one specifically installed for Nyssa's bag, before heading further into the living room.

"It was. We encountered some nomads and I got you these," Oliver quickly hopped over to his bag and rummaged through it. After a moment, he pulled out a set of beautifully crafted prayer beads much like the ones found in the Air Temples.

"Oliver," Nyssa breathed out, not quite knowing what to say.

"Instead of having the air nomad's symbol, they had all four," he explained as he handed it over to her.

True to his word, Nyssa saw all four elemental symbols carved into the large guru bead. Without hesitation Nyssa slipped them over her head and smiled. It was the first time since arriving at Star Ling that she felt so connected to her people, and Oliver had no clue.

She probably looked a little silly, with two necklaces on, but she didn't care.

"I figured since you were so well traveled that you were more of a mix of all the nations instead of just one," Oliver explained, "but boy they were not willing to give those up. It was only after Talia talked to the Nomads did they—"

"Come again?" Nyssa asked, tearing her eyes away from the beads.

"Huh?" Oliver looked up at her.

"That name."

"Talia?" Oliver asked, "She's my sifu. And staying here tonight. I think she's in the market now, though. She offered to make dinner for us."

Nyssa just blinked. She refused to give away anything else, not knowing what Talia had told the young man.

"In that case, I shall go practice some bending while you two prepare to open," Nyssa declared.

"Okay!" Sara chirped, "see you up the mountain?"

"See you then," Nyssa agreed.

She left with her staff and hightailed it up the mountain where she and Sara had to move their training. With Nyssa getting stronger and stronger, they needed more space for her to get creative with earth.

Getting to the top of the mountain wasn't hard, even without airbending she used a stone slab to race up the mountain quickly. Once at the top, Nyssa got to work setting up a small fire. If Talia was here, she would want to speak with Nyssa. Privately. Using her fire, Nyssa sent up a smoke signal that only League members knew, and began going through her basic earthbending moves as she waited.

"You actually look like a real Avatar," the familiar voice of her sister rang out about twenty minutes later.

Nyssa turned to see her sister dressed in simple traveling clothes walking towards her. With a simple shift of her feet, Nyssa managed to trap Talia's feet in earth, causing her sister to lose balance and fall. Nyssa released her feet before she could do any damage to the woman, and laughed as she hit the dirt.

"I deserved that," Talia groaned, picking herself back up.

"You did," Nyssa agreed.

The two met in a long embrace, laughing at the situation.

"What brings you here, my Lady?" Nyssa asked when she pulled away.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you and Shiva is too recognizable," Talia explained with a shrug. "Now, show me what my Avatar has learned in these last several months."

"With pleasure."

The two retreated to opposite sides of the training area. Nyssa removed her bandana and used it to braid her hair back. A battle with Talia required her to be sharp. After, she removed her shirts leaving her clad in a simple bandeaux that held her breasts back. Nyssa forwent shoes, finding it easier to feel the earth if she had her feet bare.

"Hurry up!" Talia yelled at her. "You are still slow!"

"I do not see you attacking yet, so I will continue to take my time!" Nyssa fired back.

"I have honor," Talia answered back, lighting her hands up.

Nyssa grinned and slid into a very familiar airbending stance.

"I hope you can provide me with suitable entertainment," Nyssa barked out.

"Oh, fuck off."

And the battle was on. Talia came at Nyssa with all the power of her fire, and Nyssa didn't bother to hold back her bending. So far, Talia was one of a few benders she could fight using all her elements without having to hold back. As Ra's Al Ghul, Talia had to be a master of her craft and able to withstand an Avatar off their path. Such was the duty of Ra's Al Ghul.

"I see you picked up new tricks!" Nyssa yelled, jumping up to escape a flaming arrow.

"As have you! Your defense is improving," Talia yelled, moving closer with added force from her fire to attack Nyssa. "But not enough!" She came in with a flaming punch, only to be launched in the air thanks to a pillar of earth from Nyssa. Normally it was Nyssa that went airborne, so this was an odd turn of events for Talia. She recovered by forcing fire from her limbs to right herself before dropping down to the ground and looking for a way through Nyssa's new earth defense.

"That was new!" Talia told her once she was on her feet.

"Thought I would remind you why you love flying," Nyssa replied with a laugh.

Talia couldn't help but laugh at that. She did enjoy flying with Nyssa.

"I will have fun breaking your new defense!" Talia declared, already channeling her lightning.

"Be my guest!" The Avatar chirped, throwing up a thick earth wall.

The lightning struck leaving a massive explosion of earth that Nyssa used to her advantage. Much like Sara had defeated her before, Nyssa adapted and sent her flurry of tiny jagged rocks at Talia. She stopped them as the jagged edges dug into her sister's skin, as to not hurt her too much. They stood at an impasse for a brief moment before Nyssa lowered the rocks.

"Good strategy," Talia told her, pulling the young Avatar into a hug.

"I know," Nyssa declared with a smile. She returned the hug with vigor and refused to let go for several minutes. Being away from Talia for so long was always difficult, even as a child she hated being so far from her older sister.

Despite being the older sister, Talia was the shorter of the two, with Nyssa having shot up to her current height only three years before. They liked to joke that the Avatar was a late bloomer. They meaning Shiva and Talia, Nyssa was not fond of being the butt of their jokes.

"Did you like my gift?" Talia asked when they finally pulled away. She pointed to the prayer beads Nyssa still wore over her neck.

"They are lovely," Nyssa answered.

"They're rosewood," Talia explained, "to help fight negative energy and promote emotional healing."

Nyssa raised an eyebrow to her sister, wondering how Talia knew that.

"We spoke," Talia explained, holding up her own rosewood beads on her wrist. "They were of the Northern Temple and revered Father. We have Northern Air Temple support along with Eastern, now."

That put Nyssa at ease. She knew Talia was going around and spreading League influence through the four nations. To hear half of the air nomads would support Nyssa when the time came was relieving. Now that she was well on her way to mastering Earthbending properly, Nyssa would make her appearance to the world and fix what broke during Jade's time as Avatar.

"You have come to test me, and collect me," Nyssa realized a little sadly.

"I have," Talia answered with a nod. "You have exceeded my expectations and your presence is needed as we plan our move on the Southern Water Tribe."

"As you say, my Lady."

Talia smacked the back of Nyssa's head. "Get over yourself, Avatar Nyssa."

Nyssa retaliated with an elbow to Talia's gut which turned into an all out grappling match between the two. Despite being teenagers carrying mantles too large for their shoulders, they were still teenagers and sisters. And the sisters fought. A lot.

That was how Sara found the two, grappling on the ground and kicking up dust.

"Nyssa?" She called out, resulting in a massive stone wall blocking the sisters from Sara's view.

"Give me a moment, Sara!" Nyssa yelled. "Get off me!" She hissed to her sister.

"She does not know?" Talia hissed back.

"No! Now release me so I can dress!" Nyssa whispered as she tugged away from Talia's grip.

"Can you seriously not escape?" Talia asked, judging her little sister.

Nyssa glared at the older girl, then with some clever airbending she slipped out of Talia's grip and kicked her backwards for good measure. From where Sara stood, she saw Talia go flying backwards and landing on her back.

"Bitch!" Talia barked at her sister.

"It takes one to know one!" Nyssa hollered back from behind her stone slab.

Talia rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Sara. And then back to Nyssa. "Are you planning on introducing me to your little friend?"

"You can speak, can you not?" Nyssa asked, as she pulled her long sleeve shirt back over her frame. "Introduce yourself!" She barked and she tied her bandana over her forehead.

"Someone needs more etiquette training," Talia muttered as she stood up. A small pebble went flying and smacked Talia in her butt.

"I heard that!"

"As I intended!" Talia barked back, rubbing her butt. It was a good hit that Talia didn't expect. She was still having trouble wrapping her head around the idea that Nyssa could actually bend earth. Properly! She never expected that.

She took a few steps towards Sara and then bowed her head to the woman. Sara mimicked Talia, though as she held her bow, Talia did not seem impressed. It wasn't until Sara bowed slightly lower than Talia, did the other woman seem pleased. While subtle, it told Sara that Talia was kind of important in some capacity and she needed to tread carefully.

"Since Nyssa lacks any common decency, allow me to introduce myself," Talia said, "I am Talia, her elder sister."

Sara's eyebrows shot up.

"I didn't realize Nyssa had a sister."

"It is most unfortunate," Nyssa piped up, now dressed. The earth wall was lowered and she returned looking as composed as she could, all things considered.

"You look ridiculous," Talia informed her sister.

"You are ridiculous," Nyssa fired back weakly, but she knew it was true. But how else was she to hide her tattoos?

"Wait, are you the same Talia that Ollie was talking about?" Sara asked.

"I am," Talia answered.

"Well he's back at Verdant, and he said you made some mean stir fry!"

"She does," Nyssa said with a shit eating grin, throwing her sister underneath the ostrich-horse cart.

Talia glared at her sister but she would get her back later.

"I dabble, but it would be my honor to cook for you, seeing as how you have tolerated my baby sister."

"I am taller than you," Nyssa mumbled.

"I can still beat you."

"I just won!" Nyssa protested.

"You will not win again."

"You say that every time and I still win," Nyssa pointed out, "especially now that I am improving with earth."

"You still can't beat me," Sara pointed out, interrupting the two sisters.

Both of them looked at Sara, and then to each other.

"You will duel her tomorrow," Talia ordered.

"... Yes, sister." Nyssa mumbled, knowing what that meant.

"Uh, okay," Sara said with a shrug, "we were supposed to spar today but it's getting late and looks like you two already beat each other up. It wouldn't be fair to fight now, anyway."

Talia waved her off, "she would be fine."

That had Sara looking at Nyssa confused, and Nyssa conveniently looking away from both girls.

"So food?" Sara asked.

"Food," the other two agreed.

"Stop holding back, Nyssa," Talia barked from beside Yingling, "we have places to go."

"Holding back?" Sara yelled and another barrage of earthen knives came at Sara. "What the fuck does that mean?" There was no denying that Nyssa was doing really well, but Sara couldn't believe that Nyssa was holding back on her.

She got her answer in the form of a powerful blast that knocked her into a tree. The blonde shit the tree, hard and wondered what the fuck hit her when she wasn't paying attention! She looked up at Nyssa, who looked like a completely different bender.

Gone was the shy teenager Sara would fight for fun. Instead Sara saw something that she only saw in her own father, and now Oliver. A battle look. Nyssa was studying Sara, and making minute adjustments to her stance as Sara tried to recover. While Sara knew Nyssa had seen some shit as a kid, she looked like a war-hardened soldier, not like the teenager she used to know.

Instinctively Sara threw up a wall of earth to try and buy her more time to recover and process these changes, but it was only blown to smithereens by a force Sara couldn't tell. Once the dust cleared, Sara saw it. Sparks. Nyssa had sparks flying every which way from her body. As Sara called up a massive stone to send flying at Nyssa, the other woman shot two fingers out and sent the sparks flying.

Lightning.

Nyssa was bending literal lightning! But that could only mean one thing…

Narrowing her eyes, Sara took command of the many stones that exploded from the lightning, and sent them flying towards Nyssa. A huge gust of wind pushed most of them backwards, but it still had the desired effect. Nyssa's bandana loosened and fell to the ground revealing the so-called scar on her forehead.

A large blue arrow.

Before Sara could take it in, another gust of air came at her. This one was strong enough to pin Sara to the tree behind her, ever so slightly off the ground. She couldn't move under the force of the gale-like winds, and Nyssa made sure Sara wouldn't be moving at all when she froze her hands and feet to the tree.

Ice? Sara and Nyssa trained at the top of the mountain for months now and there was no stream nearby. Where did she get water? Later Sara would be impressed how Nyssa made sure to keep her hands and feet from touching the ground, and only being encased by ice, but for now it was annoying. What was even more annoying was when she froze her mouth shut.

"I am sorry, Sara," Nyssa said as the wind died off.

Sara watched her and she looked like she hardly broke a sweat. Was this what Talia meant the day before that Nyssa could easily have taken her down? How much strength and power was the woman hiding?

Nyssa crouched down to pick up her bandana, but this time she simply tied it to her wrist, letting Sara get a good look at the bright blue arrows that contrasted with her dark skin.

Nyssa sent a nod at Talia who got Yingling up in the air and flying south towards the Eastern Air Temple. Once the woman was airborne, Nyssa directed her attention to Sara.

"I have to leave now," she said. Nyssa removed her trademark black coat, and then one of her many long sleeved shirts. It only revealed more dark skin, blue arrows, and an awful lot of scars. The amount of scars covering Nyssa was startling and Sara could see where she was hit with lightning as the scar spread from her stomach and down her body.

"These last few months were some of the best days of my life." Nyssa added, kicking off her shoes. That's when Sara could see the end of her lightning scar that came down her left knee to her left foot. The scar spread into the blue arrow on Nyssa's foot and leg which made it an interesting contrast between the rest of her tattoos.

"I will never be able to repay you for this," Nyssa said as she walked closer to Sara.

Then why was Nyssa leaving? Why not take Sara with her? Why hide who she was? These were all questions running through Sara's mind.

"I am so thankful you allowed me to be Nyssa for the last time," Nyssa whispered into Sara's ear as she halted just before the earthbender.

Soft lips brushed against Sara's cheek. The sensation was enough for Sara to close her eyes and enjoy the moment, no matter how short. But, as quickly as they came, Nyssa's lips left her cheek.

When Sara opened her eyes, Nyssa stepped back, giving Sara a good look at her. Clothed in only an orange bandeau, airbender trousers that ended at her knees, the necklace she always wore, and the prayer beads and bandana gifted to her by Oliver, stood the real Nyssa. The Nyssa that the world knew, but not Sara's Nyssa.

The real Nyssa closed her eyes, and when she opened them, her honey brown eyes were gone and replaced with a white glow that lit up around her tattoos (but not over the area where Nyssa's lightning scar was).

"Thank you, Sara Lance." Nysss said, with hundreds of other voices mixing with hers.

The Avatar slipped her shoes back on and then, she was one with the wind. Her staff, which Sara realized was an Airbending glider, unfurled and lifted Nyssa into the air. With a wave of her hand, the ice around Sara melted and she dropped to the ground.

The blonde wasted no time boarding a slab of earth in an attempt to chase Nyssa, but Sara was no Avatar. By the time she summoned her earth, Nyssa was already over the sea and catching up to Yingling, being propelled by wind enhanced by the Avatar State.

The blonde knew there was no catching Nyssa, even if she tried. Not even she could raise the earth from the ocean floor like the Avatar— like Nyssa did to save the sailors all those months ago. All she could do was sit back, against the tree, and watch the bright white light fade as it moved further and further south.

Sara didn't know how long she sat there, but a familiar voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"She really is the Avatar…"

Sara looked over to see Oliver looking not too shocked, but a little surprised.

"How long have you known?" Sara asked, her voice sounding hollow to her ears.

"Only after they left," Oliver explained, holding up a scroll. He walked over to her and leaned against the same tree she was leaning on.

He tossed Sara an unopened one, which she caught with ease. When she broke the seal, she realized it was a letter. A very long letter to her, from Nyssa.

"I don't have time for this," Sara whispered, rolling it back up. She would read it that night after her shift. "Let's get back," she grumbled as she rose and stalked back towards the path down the mountain. This betrayal was too much for Sara to deal with right now and she needed a distraction.

"Here," Oliver said, jogging over to her and holding out something in his hands.

Sara furrowed her brows and looked at the object. It was Nyssa's coat and gloves that she always wore. Originally she said it was to hide her scars, but now Sara knew it was to hide her tattoos.

She always knew Nyssa would look beautiful under those clothes.

"Thanks," Sara mumbled, slipping them over herself.

That's when Sara took a moment to survey the top of the mountain, and she realized where Nyssa got the water. She stole it from the plants. Everything, even the tree Sara was pinned to, was now dead thanks to Nyssa taking the water from the plants. Leaves and bits of grass were singed from the lightning strike, and there were still chunks of earth scattered about from the explosion.

"She really is the Avatar," Sara mumbled in awe. Who would have thought? Not Sara. After a second, Sara realized something and then she grinned, "hey Ollie?"

"Yeah?" Oliver asked, looking over to her in confusion.

"I trained the Avatar," she said in a gleeful tone. "We were Avatar Companions!"

Thanks to some twisted string of fate, the two most disgraced people in the upper crust of Earth Kingdom society somehow were Avatar Companions. To make it even funnier, one of them was the Avatar's Earthbending Master! To be an Avatar Companion, and even the teacher to the Avatar was a great honor that many fought for in the Earth Kingdom. Sara and Oliver knew that first hand, having witnessed the Earth Kingdom nobles and royals trying to figure out who would be given the honor to teach the Avatar when they found them.

The fact that they, literal runaways that disgraced their entire families, became her companions and master (for Sara) was ironic. Ironic enough to have both of them howling with laughter.

How fucked up was that?

When Sara and Oliver made their way back to Verdant, Sara rushed through her shift so she could read Nyssa's absurdly long letter. It took nearly an hour thanks to the poor candlelight and Nyssa seemingly coming clean about every little thing she lied to Sara about. There were many gaps in Nyssa's story, and she was not willing to give too much detail on many subjects, but it was enough for Sara to understand why Nyssa needed to hide. The world was after the Avatar, and it wasn't for a good reason. Nyssa was a target until she could protect herself, which explained her need to completely master earthbending, as opposed to her basic understanding of earthbending.

I promise I can explain more if you allow me the opportunity. I will be at the Firelight Fountain in the Lower Ring on the night of the Vernal Equinox. I hope to see you there.

While it was nearly a year away, Sara made up her mind. She was going back to Ba Sing Se...

Notes:

There's a lot that goes into this, and maybe I'll try to write part one for people to understand it. But I do have a part three that maybe I'll finish writing and post it lol. Hope you liked this ridiculousness!

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