Chapter Text
Prologue
Water, earth, fire and air.
Many years ago, the four nations lived in harmony and the age of the Avatar was golden and prosperous. Avatar Seeder had lived a long life as a defender of peace and was recognized by many as having a great connection to the Spirit World. Living up to her element, many would say that she also had her feet firmly planted on the Earth. She was fair, but kind. Strong when she should be and humble all the time.
For the Earth Kingdom people, Avatar Seeder was a complete pride. Her diplomacy and wisdom brought order to the troubled lands of the kingdom. By being the largest nation, with a large territory to administer, the Earth Kingdom long suffered times of corruption and misappropriation of assets from the public coffers by the different governors. Although the Earth King was the highest authority, such a vast kingdom depended on small and large officials scattered throughout the territory. Nothing and no one promised that the majority would be honest, enriching themselves at the expense of the poor and hungry people. But everything changed when the young Avatar came of age and the Earth Kingdom and the other nations began to be governed under her supervision.
So then, the Avatar's cycle was eternal and followed a strict and immutable order. The era of the Avatar Seeder had come to an end and, with her peaceful death, the beginning of a new era was about to begin.
The next Avatar was to be born among the citizens of the Fire Nation. The day Avatar Seeder died, the Fire Sages began their search for the boy or girl who would be the successor in the cycle. This was an extremely meticulous task, since there should not be a single mistake in finding the new Avatar. There were records of Avatars lost for years, in a world plunged into chaos in their absence, due to the negligence of the power figures charged with finding, raising and training the master of the four elements.
It didn't take long for the Fire Sages to find the girl who, in their words, was the most special and important girl in the entire world.
Born on the same day that Avatar Seeder died, in a low-class family on the outskirts of the capital, Katniss was the name of the baby who, in the future, would be the greatest figure of power in the world.
Because the Avatar was like a god in the eyes of many. Spiritual power and material power at her fingertips. Raised and trained by the best elemental masters in the world. Educated in politics and diplomacy; the art of war and peace. A comfortable life was a guarantee for those born with the Spirit of Raava within them. Or at least that was the popular perception about the little girl who would one day grow up to find herself facing a world that was anything but perfect.
Year 23 of the Avatar Katniss Era
Present Time
One, two, three. Katniss breathed fire, using her fists to channel the fiery, vibrant energy in a perfect sequence of control over her element. Propelled by the flames, her feet left the ground and she jumped on the head of her opponent, who was none other than the heir to the throne of fire and her best friend: Gale.
In a well-calculated dance, the two friends moved, throwing flames and dodging them at the same time. There was perfect synchronicity in the friends' elaborate practice.
The battle didn't end until Katniss knocked her friend down. Gale lay prostrate on the ground for a long time and Katniss feared she had gone a little too far with her strength. But, he was the future Fire Lord. He had to be better than that. Katniss was about to check that Gale was still breathing when he spoke from below.
“It's not fair to have to train with the master of the four elements,” the young prince complained.
“Well, your father and I agree that the world is not a fair place,” Katniss replied dryly.
As the Avatar, Katniss worked closely with all the world's leaders. She was never good with words, but her actions made her someone trusted by the rulers of the four nations, especially the current Fire Lord, with whom she teams to reduce poverty in the nation and achieve greater opportunities for social growth among the citizens. The Fire Lord could be very righteous and take the matter of honor to extremes, but he had a good heart.
“So now you agree with my father, Catnip,” Gale said with notable sarcasm as he stood up and dusted off his pants, looking away.
Katniss rolled her eyes. So that's it, thought the young woman.
Gale was referring to the Fire Lord's failed attempt to get the Avatar and the nation's prince to marry. That type of proposal was quite common in the past, where many avatars of the Fire Nation married their rulers or members of the royal family to strengthen the lineage and raise the honor of the families and their clans. Or at least that was the belief and idealization among the fire sovereigns.
The Fire Lord thought that this task would be simple. The Avatar was the prince's best friend and the prince had feelings for the girl. The only problem was that Katniss didn't look at Gale that way, but rather as a brother. Someone very trustworthy and for whom she felt loyalty.
When Katniss first rejected his marriage proposal at age of twenty, Gale felt so betrayed that he did not speak to her for weeks. That hurt Katniss, but she understood that her duty came first to the world. In her life, where politicians came and went with their problems and spirits filled her with requests, romantic love was not and should not be a priority.
The second time Katniss rejected Gale was when they were both twenty-two years old. That's when Gale finally gave up. However, the Fire Lord still held out hope that the young Avatar would change her mind when she was older and the burdens of life would force her to settle down at some breaking point.
"Gale, you know that my duty as the Avatar is to bring peace and balance to the entire world. Not just the Fire Nation. It's not about you, it's me who can't fully dedicate myself to ruling a nation. Not when the entire world needs me. Also, you know that you are my friend...", Katniss didn't get to finish the words she had learned and repeated like a manual throughout her life when Gale interrupted her.
“I know, Catnip”, the prince cut in. “I was just teasing you".
But Katniss knew his words were lies. However, she did not debate with Gale. After training, she was too tired to think about how to bring some peace between the two of them.
"I have to go. Prim is waiting for me." Katniss said as she gathered her belongings and left the castle's training yard.
As she walked through the halls of the palace, Katniss admired the beauty of the place. The Fire Nation spared no expense when it came to maintaining the luxury and wealth of the palace. Columns painted red and gold, uniformed guards stationed at every entrance, beautifully hand-painted pictures and paintings by ancient artists and dazzling gardens with water fountains and turtle ducks swimming in their ponds. Everything marked status, greatness and power.
Something Katniss would never be completely comfortable with.
Yes, she was the most powerful person in the world. But she didn't feel like it. Most of the time Katniss just felt lost in a world that was constantly telling her how she should act, what she should say, and who she should speak to. Only her keen sense of duty, her family, and her few impulsive actions made her feel like herself.
That and a certain earthbender…
But Katniss stopped where her rush of thought was going.
She could not afford several luxuries. A big group of friends, free time, a life without worries and obligations. And the boy with the bread was a luxury that, in her life, marked from birth by duty, she did not deserve at all.
Because she wasn't that good.
But she wanted to be for him.
Leaving the royal palace, Katniss entered the capital in search of her sister. Primrose was certainly one of the few good things in Katniss' life and she wouldn't miss the chance to have some quality time with her little sister.
Katniss went about her day as normal and the boy with the bread, the earthbender, was removed from her thoughts. There was no point on yearning for someone you couldn't have.
Year 18 of the Avatar Katniss Era
Katniss had spent most of her childhood and adolescence training with different masters. First, she learned to master her native element. Haymitch, an older man with a somewhat sullen nature, taught her to control the ferocity of fire and the life that emanated from it. Haymitch had a taste for spark alcohol that could be considered dangerous, but he stayed sober most of the time. He was an excellent teacher despite everything and his best advice rang in Katniss' ears whenever she was in trouble. “Stay alive,” the old mentor told her.
Then, she dominated the air. The nuns of the Northern Air Temple welcomed her with great affection and trained her in the art of the wind. Katniss really enjoyed her stay with the nuns, where she made friends with a girl younger than her named Rue. Rue had taught her how to use the air skateboard, songs where the wind lulled babies to sleep, and how to discover her taste for the most exotic sweets of the four nations.
Later, when she turned sixteen, she was taken to the Southern Water Tribe to learn how to bend the tides and water in all its forms: liquid, solid, and gaseous. Her teacher was not much older than her. A good-looking twenty-year-old boy named Finnick Odair. At first, Katniss didn't understand what someone so young could teach her. But, over time, Katniss understood that Finnick was more than just a pretty face, he was also an avid waterbender with an unconventional fighting style. However, Katniss spent many months training in the cold pole. It was to be expected: the opposite element to fire was water. Katniss came to feel incompetent for the role she had been assigned at birth, because what kind of Avatar couldn't control all four elements? Finnick taught her to trust more freely, to flow like water. For Katniss that was a challenge, but over time she managed to perfect her technique.
Then it was the turn of the Earth. At eighteen years old, she was on the verge of becoming a realized Avatar.
That's when Katniss got lost.
Johanna Mason was brutal, sarcastic and unfiltered. A tough, sharp-edged earthbender with an apparent hatred for Katniss and the image of the savior she represented.
Johanna would throw rocks at Katniss as a teaching method, repeating over and over again her famous phrase. “If you can't dodge it, at least learn to throw it back!”. At the end of the day, Johanna was excellent at teaching Katniss how to move even the most imposing mountain in the Earth Kingdom. Haymitch had once told her that her abrupt way of teaching was her way of showing respect to Katniss. She doubted it.
Katniss remembered perfectly that first night at Johanna's mansion in one of the farthest provinces of Ba Sing Se in the Earth Kingdom. There was a welcome banquet for the Avatar, although the hostess didn't look very happy about it. Johanna made scathing comments all night, and when she couldn't take it anymore, Katniss angrily got up from the table and left the room and all the guests. It wasn't the expected protocol, but Katniss had gotten tired of pretending that she didn't find the woman unbearable.
Katniss fled through the hallways decorated with different shades of green looking for an exit to the large garden of the house. The mansion was large, but not like a palace. Even so, the geometric design managed to confuse her a couple of times in her escape attempt.
She was about to return to the room where the dinner was taking place, when a voice called her in the darkness illuminated by the dim light of the candles at the end of the hallway.
“Katniss?”
She did not know that voice, but they said her name with such familiarity that it was inevitable not to turn around to the person. A blonde boy, apparently the same age as her, was watching her at the threshold of what seemed to be the kitchen of the mansion.
Porcelain vessels were neatly placed everywhere and a large cauldron was smoking over the fire. It smelled delicious.
Katniss didn't respond. It was normal for her that everyone knew her name. Katniss, the Avatar. Not Katniss, the lonely girl who didn't really know who she was. But people usually used to call her by her title and not by her name. It was almost as if she didn't have a name of her own. An identity that belonged to her entirely. She was all her past lives before the world, but not herself.
Katniss waited for the boy to form a sentence, but he just looked surprised. He was a bit in shock. Surprise decorated the expression on his face. Sure, he was just another fan of the avatar. There were thousands like him; people who wanted to hold the Avatar's hand. Receive her blessing. Get a little closer to her incredible power. Katniss sighed and was already turning on her feet when the voice stopped her again.
“Wait!” the boy shouted apprehensively.
Katniss turned around with a frown. She didn't like being given orders, much less a stranger in the house of a woman who she didn't like either.
“What?” she was curt. Suddenly, she felt defensive. She didn't like how the boy looked at her. As if she were something that could be broken with just one penetrating look.
The boy noticed her new resistance and stepped back a little, not out of fear, but to give the young woman space. His expression was not one of fear or respect, but of something akin to shame.
“I thought you would be at the banquet,” he said simply, his voice a confident whisper.
“Do I know you?”, she attacked in response.
The young man did not seem offended by her harsh words.
"No, but I do know you. Well, I don't think there's anyone on the planet who doesn't know you." He didn't mean it as a compliment. Now it was Katniss' turn to feel embarrassed. It was almost as if he felt sorry for her.
Katniss didn't like how vulnerable she was feeling in front of a stranger.
She began to move forward again, no longer caring what fate she would found. She just wanted to be alone.
“Katniss, wait!”. The boy ran after her and grabbed her hand tightly.
Katniss turned around angrily, and was about to yell at him to get away from her, but while being so close to the boy, Katniss found herself unexpectedly bewitched by his blue eyes. In the darkness they looked almost gray, yet they were so close that she could see the sky in their eyes with perfect clarity.
For a moment, Katniss' breath caught. But she recovered in a second and looked at the joining of their hands. Their skins of different tones; Katniss's hand small next to his.
Katniss didn't know why she was feeling so tiny and insignificant. That feeling was new for her. Complete and utter helplessness. Katniss hated it.
“Are you going to tell me what you want or are you just going to stand there?”. She finally responded, a little biting but sincere.
The boy hadn't realized he had so confidently grabbed the Avatar's hand. His cheeks turned red in the haze of the hallway and he quickly moved away from her. He put a hand on his blond hair and avoided the girl's gaze. Katniss thought he was not going to speak again when the young boy broke the silence.
"Are you hungry? I made some bread with seeds. Since you're not at the banquet, I imagine you haven't eaten at all..."
Katniss was about to decline the invitation when her treacherous stomach growled in sign that meant it needed to be filled.
The boy laughed softly.
Katniss couldn't help but notice how small wrinkles appeared in his eyes as the smile on his face reached blue.
Handsome was the word that would describe the boy as it best, but Katniss was embarrassed by the intrusive thought.
"No, thank you. I'm going to my chambers." The Avatar denied.
"Please, I would like to share it with you. There is also tea in the kitchen."
Tea. Something so simple, but it reminded Katniss of her little sister. Prim loved tea. She had a large collection of herbs to share with her family, friends and visitors. Jasmine tea, blue pea flower tea, peach tea, white silver needle tea and the list could go on and on.
“What kind of tea?”.
The boy smiled.
"Mint tea", he said.
"Mint tea is good for sleeping, it helps a lot to relax. Or at least that's what my sister says", Katniss commented. She didn't know why she was following the conversation, but it felt wrong not to.
"Well, your sister is right. I imagine it's been a busy day. Moving into the mansion, receiving praise here and there. I imagine you're tired, aren't you? How are you feeling?"
Katniss was surprised. No one had asked her how she felt in a long time, no one other than Primrose perhaps. The Avatar's feelings were not of political or public interest.
"I think I'll accept the tea and bread. If I don't take up your time, of course", she spoke.
"Not at all. I have offered it to you, besides, it is better to enjoy food and drink with someone". Laughter seemed to be the only ornament his lips wore. Always happy. Always pure. It was a magnet that attracted her.
She didn't want to understand what was happening. With a wave of his hand, the boy guided her into the kitchen. She sat at a neat table, but without the luxurious details of the mansion's banquet room, and followed the boy with her gaze as he moved confidently throughout the room. He opened the oven and took out two golden loaves of bread with dark seeds toasted on their tops. Then, he poured the mint tea into two cups and sat down across from Katniss. There was no rigidity or formality in the young boy's treatment of her. Anyone seeing them from the outside would think they were two old friends and not two strangers.
Katniss didn't know how to fill the silence that seemed to possess them both. But she also didn't feel the urgency to fill the void. Instead, Katniss bit hard into the loaf of bread before her and a soft sigh left her mouth. The bread was delicious. And the boy noticed her positive reaction.
He gave her another smile. Seriously, where did he get all of them from? Each one was more perfect than the last.
“Do you like it?”, he asked.
Mouth full with the second bite, Katniss nodded, embarrassed at how hungry she was.
"I'm glad. I did it thinking about sharing it with the other kitchen helpers," the boy responded.
So he really had made the bread. Katniss had to give him credit. It was one of the best she had ever tasted.
“Do you work here in the kitchen?”, Katniss questioned.
"Yes, also in the stables. Johanna loves her ostrich horses with a rare passion."
"You mean Lady Mason? The woman who hasn't stopped being a jerk all night? She having love for something?". Katniss was truly skeptical.
The boy nodded
"She named one Mr. Haystack. She liked to watch him sleep on the straw."
“You have to be kidding me.”
"I'm not. Another one is called Moody Mane."
For the first time since arriving in the Earth Kingdom, she laughed loudly.
"Those are very bad names. For the sake of their reputation, I hope Johanna doesn't have children." Katniss scoffed. And it felt good to be able to make a joke every now and then. There wasn't much time for fun in her life, except maybe when she was with Primrose or Gale.
"Oh, no. That would be terrible," the boy agreed.
He had fed her, worried about her well-being and chatted so pleasantly with her but Katniss remembered that she still didn't know what his name was.
“What's your name?” Katniss asked curiously.
The boy seemed stunned by the question. As if someone as insignificant as him didn't deserve to share something so personal with the Avatar. Katniss was a good observer and noticed how he was putting himself down in his head. Katniss didn't like that at all.
“Enough", she said suddenly.
“Excuse me?”. He asked, confused.
“I am not a spirit or a god.”
The problem is that technically she was. Raava, the Spirit of Light, had reincarnated into her body. The power Katniss controlled was not entirely human.
“And what does it have to do with my name?”. For the first time, the boy seemed upset. Katniss considered it unheard of. She couldn't imagine someone like him being angry.
"You were putting yourself down. I saw it. You don't have to do it because I'm the Avatar. You don't have to do it to anyone, really. It's not fair."
In an ideal world, everyone was equal. But Katniss knew that the world was not the kind of fairy tale she used to tell Prim in her free time when they were younger. She knew that being able to control an element or not determined status. She also knew that class marginalization was real: the rich were more important than the poor peasant in the social pyramid. In the eyes of the world, she was more important than the boy whose name she didn't know.
In Katniss's eyes, he had to be more important than her because she was supposed to protect people like him. Servants. Low class people. She herself would have been from a poor family if she had not been the Avatar. But politics were dirty and the small corruptions were so many that they became as big as a man-eating monster.
“What's your name?”, she insisted.
The boy couldn't believe the interest she felt in him. With a resigned sigh, he answered.
"Peeta. From the Mellark family".
“Peeta”. Katniss repeated, testing the sound of the syllables of his name on her lips. "My name is Katniss. Katniss Everdeen". Then she extended her hand to him.
Peeta didn't make fun of her name, he didn't even claim that everyone knew her. He just took her hand once more and shook it firmly in a solemn gesture.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Katniss". He said.
“The pleasure is all mine, Peeta". She assured.
“KATNISS!”.
A third voice joined the conversation and in the blink of an eye, Katniss was being dragged by Effie back to the banquet hall.
Effie was one of her guardians and the one in charge of ensuring that Katniss knew how to address each member of the goverment in the different nations. Although she did not control any element, Effie was the queen of protocol and good manners. And, of course, Katniss was not.
"I can't believe you just walked out of the event! The Masons, the Beifongs, the Earth King's ministers and the rest. They're all here for you and you've trampled them like dust on the soles of your boots! Speaking of inappropriate attire, this is not the dress I picked out for you to wear tonight. What are those pants? Grass green is the trend among the ladies of the Earth Kingdom this season, Katniss!".
Katniss didn't try to defend herself against the waves of words Effie was drowning her with. She let herself be carried along the corridors to the living room with all the important people, but her heart and mind had remained with the boy with the bread who she had abandoned against her will in the kitchen.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will look for him and thank him for the bread.
She didn't even get the chance to taste the tea Peeta had made for her.