Chapter Text
Willow knew how to fall when a rock threw her off her feet, so at that point it didn’t even hurt when she lost the match. She knew she was losing, anyway, just like everyone else watching. Honestly, not even Skara, the girl she had been fighting against, had ever thought she had a chance. Just like that, in like half a minute, the match had been over and she had lost.
Skara helped her to her feet and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry,” she said, “are you okay?”
“Yes, don’t worry,” Willow said, going back to the place she was supposed to stand in while it wasn’t her turn to compete.
It was cruel to have her there, waiting, when she had had one chance not to be expelled and had failed so miserably. And she couldn’t even blame Skara for ending it so quickly, since they both knew she would be expelled otherwise and Willow would much rather it be quick than have her embarrassment dragged out for longer when everyone knew how it would end.
So she just watched, at that point unimpressed, as Amity Blight won against two of the best students without any effort. She was the best student, and despite being Willow’s age, she could easily stand up to two seventeen-year-olds, and she could stand her ground (despite eventually losing) against three.
Willow knew her dads wanted her to be like her—everyone would want their children to be like her—but how was she supposed to do that? The Blight siblings were just very good earthbenders, their whole family was, and how was Willow supposed to compete against that? She didn’t have those genes, that power. She could barely even move a pebble.
As soon as the class ended, Willow left, really not wanting to hear the teacher telling her how she was expelled despite how many chances she had had at staying. She had to go home and tell her dads how she had lost yet again, and that time was actually the last time…
She could always hold on for a little longer, though. They wouldn’t worry if she was an hour or two late, she could walk around for a while, maybe try to practice to see if she could beg her way back into bender school instead of being sent to the non-bender one. Maybe… maybe she could manage something, who knew? Maybe she was just bad because she was nervous.
She found an empty and quiet plain just outside the city, only rocks around for as far as her eyesight could reach, not like that was very far. The city wasn’t even on sight, not because it was far, but because of a small hill standing between it and the plain. She could practice there without anyone interrupting, without anyone pointing out her flaws, without anyone making her nervous.
So she followed all of the steps, trying to move rocks, break rocks, create rocks, change rocks, copy rocks, just… rocks. Really, anything, all of the steps, one by one, just like the teacher and Amity did. But it didn’t matter, because she was a horrible bender regardless, barely managing to kind of do it.
If she tried to move a rock, she could maybe manage to get it rolling and then gravity did the rest. If she wanted to create it, she could maybe raise some dust and then start coughing. If she wanted to break it, she could maybe crack it a bit and then…
…apparently fall in a hole—or more like a cave—underneath. Dust flooded her throat as she screamed, so she ended up coughing, but soon she got on her feet, looking around. The hole wasn’t that far up over her, the fall hadn’t been too bad, but she couldn’t reach it, so she couldn’t get herself out. If she wanted to get out, she would have to find a place where the ceiling was lower so she could try to break it and exit that way.
Willow started walking, trying to stay calm. She was just next to an earthbender city, she could not die in that cave, it was simply impossible. She just had to keep walking, eventually she could find a crack, a low ceiling, something that would let her get out, something…
She stopped dead in her tracks, staring right ahead of her in awe. That cave wasn’t just a mere cave, it had at some point been… a temple or something of the like. It must have, because ahead of her was an amazing statue of a girl around her age with old firebender clothing, her short hair combed like fire itself, her hands palm-up like she had been about to bend fire to her liking.
While Willow had known everyone in the village had moved there somewhat recently, after the firebenders had disappeared and the waterbenders had started taking land in the mainland because of their growing empire, it was still strange to see firebender culture so ingrained in the ground—literally.
A crack made her turn at once, startled, and without meaning to, she earthbended. She heard something breaking behind herself, and glanced back to find a cloud of dust where the amazing statue had once been.
“Willow!” someone said from where the crack had sounded, and she turned again to find, surprisingly, Amity there, staring at the cloud in horror. “What did you do? That was old!”
“You startled me!” she defended herself. “What are you doing here?”
“I train here,” she said. “I saw the hole in the ground and went to investigate. How could you break history like that? Do you know—”
“Yes, I know!” Willow insisted, getting increasingly annoyed. “Maybe you should learn not to sneak up on people.”
“Firebenders left behind that statue and yet—”
“Are you even listening to me? It’s not my—”
A sudden loud flash interrupted them. A lightning, Willow realized, turning to where the statue had once been to find the girl represented on it there instead, her clothes bright red and despite the dust covering her. Her expression was stoic as she glanced between the earthbenders, her fingers still smoking from the lightning, but then suddenly she grinned widely and yelled, “Yes!” throwing her fist in the air in excitement.
“What…” Willow said, confused.
“Did you see that?” the girl asked, still glancing between them. “I made lightning, how cool is that?”
“You’re a… firebender?”
She frowned. “Well, yes, but not just any firebender,” she said, then stood straighter, looking forward. “I’m Luz the Avatar, Warrior of Peace.”
“The… Avatar?”
“So, Avatar ,” Amity said contemptuously, crossing her arms, “how did someone so powerful end up earthbended into a statue for almost half a century?”
Luz frowned at her, her grandiosity gone. “Wait… what?” she asked. “I… no. Half a century? But… my mom.”
“It’s been, what, forty-three years since the waterbenders eradicated the firebenders?” Amity continued, oblivious to the way Luz hugged herself and fell to the floor, putting on her hood and curling up. “And the Avatar died with them, so… what? Are you supposed to be immortal? I don’t think that’s one of the Avatar’s powers, is it?”
“I’m… alone…?” Fire and rocks alike were starting to rise around her, like a protective shield. “Mom and… and my mentors and… and…” She breathed in deeply, the fire dying down and the rocks returning to normality. “No, it’s fine,” she said, “it’s fine, they must have just hidden away, they’ll be somewhere else, I just have to find them.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“Amity,” Willow intervened, slowly approaching Luz, “regardless of her being the Avatar or not—which I think she is, judging by those rocks and that fire—she’s still a firebender and you still just told her all of her people are dead. Can you think about anyone other than yourself for a moment?”
The girl glanced between her and Luz, but finally shrugged and looked away, crossing her arms. “Whatever…” she said.
“Luz,” Willow continued, carefully putting her hand on Luz’s arm, ignoring how hot it was, almost unbearably so, “I know this may be difficult for you, but we have to get out of here. After so much earthbending, I don’t know how stable this cave is, I think it’s better if you follow us into the city while you decide where to start looking for your family.”
She nodded slowly, getting up with Willow’s help and then absently followed her up to Amity, who rolled her eyes but regardless earthbended them out of the cave. Without another word, she started heading back into the city, so Willow took Luz’s hand and walked in the same direction, though at a considerable distance.
Once in familiar territory, Amity went back into school for the afternoon and night practices Willow knew she took, so she took Luz to the center of the city. “We have to get you cleaned,” she said, “and maybe find you new clothes, those are… well, they draw a lot of attention to you.”
“My mom bought them,” Luz said, her eyes lost on the floor, “I won’t throw them away.”
“Okay, we can dye them—”
“No.”
“Okay…”
They were lucky the Water Empire had no interest in their city, because otherwise Luz could get them in some very serious problems if she cared so little about hiding who she really was. Willow didn’t know whether the waterbenders knew they hadn’t killed the Avatar, but she was fairly sure they would kill her if they found out where she was.
Willow’s home was empty, so she guided Luz to the bathroom and gave her everything she might need, waiting just outside until the girl finally left, looking completely different from before.
While her clothes were the same, they looked far redder and newer, and she had put them on differently, making them look more casual. Her hair, almost standing up before, was combed back, making her look a bit younger, a bit more calm. Her skin had been covered in dust before, but now it was completely clean, taking away that savage image she had had before. If only her clothes were more like green or something, she could pass as just another random kid from the city. Except maybe for her amber eyes, that cleared any doubts about her being a firebender. Willow had seen paintings and read descriptions, but… it didn’t come even close to the real thing.
“Thanks for… all of this,” Luz said, looking away uncomfortably. “I, eh… Can you show me to, like, an inn or something?”
“What? No,” WIllow said, shaking her head, “I’ll just ask my dads if you can stay here, I’m sure they won’t have any problem. Though I did just get expelled from bending school…”
“Oh, that’s fantastic!” Luz said, and when Willow frowned at her, she waved her hands and added, “I mean, sorry and all that, but it gives us the perfect opportunity: tell them they didn’t expel you, they just sent you to special classes, and I’m your teacher. You know, apart from fire, earth is the element I’m best at. After all, Azura was an amazing earthbender.”
Willow frowned. “The previous avatar?”
She nodded excitedly. “The best avatar in history, at least until I actually make something great with my life.”
“You know a lot about her?”
“Oh, yeah, we used to talk a lot! You know, Avatars have connections to their past lives, so I can talk with previous avatars. It’s just easier if it’s, like, closer to my time, so Azura and I are, like, best friends or something. Seriously.” She looked around. “Anyway, so your parents don’t suspect, I think it’s best if I do actually teach you earthbending. Ready for your first lesson?”
Willow’s dads had ended up being very nice men, and while they had been a bit disappointed at their daughter failing that exam or whatever it was, they had been happy to learn Luz was teaching her so much. Saying she was from another city and had gone there for just a short while had also apparently been enough to explain her strange clothing, and so they had taken her in without hesitation.
Luz didn’t mind sharing a room with Willow, but it was one strange room, filled with so many plants. In her Fire Nation town, Luz hadn’t seen that many plants, since they were a bit of a fire hazard. People particularly didn’t have plants in children’s rooms, just in case they were firebenders and accidentally firebended themselves into a fire. Still, she guessed things were different in the Earth Kingdom, so she just went along with it. She was old enough not to firebend because of a nightmare, anyway, so nothing would happen.
A pebble thrown to Willow’s window made them both look outside, and Luz soon recognized Amity’s green hair, along with… other two green-haired teens, though they were older and their hair was darker. The boy was keeping watch as the girl earthbended Amity to window-level, and as soon as Willow opened and let her in, the other two scurried away.
“What do you want?” Willow asked.
“I came to apologize,” she said, not looking at anyone in particular. “It was insensitive of me, telling you about the Water Empire invasion like that. I’m sorry, Luz the Avatar.”
“Are you just apologizing because I’m the Avatar?” Luz asked.
Amity looked at her in surprise. “What? No.”
“Really?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “Then apologize to Willow too.”
She glanced at the girl. “What for? I didn’t do anything to her.”
“You did, you were a jerk to her about her earthbending. Apologize.”
Amity’s face turned red with anger, but she nevertheless turned to Willow and said, “Sorry I blamed you for breaking an old statue that wasn’t a statue.”
“Eh… good enough.” She leaned on the wall, tilting her head. “Did you come here just to apologize?”
“No, I come to help. What can I do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t think I need your help.”
“Oh, okay.” She turned to the window, but then hesitated, glancing back at her. “Can I ask how you ended up an underground statue?”
“Eh…” Luz said, looking away uncomfortably, “well, it’s actually… embarrassing. My mentor had forbidden me from trying to bend lighting, but… I really wanted to try it, so I… I hid away and tried and… accidentally earthbended myself into a statue.”
“Really?” Amity asked, clearly disappointed.
She shrugged. “What can I say? I really wanted to bend lighting.”
“Is earthbending really that similar? I’ve never heard of anyone—”
“Well, now you have.” Luz crossed her arms. “You know, once I’m a famous avatar, I’m making sure history remembers you as the girl who was mean to the Avatar after she just woke up.”
That seemed to do the trick, because she at once raised her hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m sorry, I just—” A pebble hit the window again, and she looked outside at once, finding the girl who had walked her there outside. Amity sighed, but glanced back inside and said, “I have to leave. But if you need anything, Willow knows where to find me.”
“Sure. Bye.”
Amity waved goodbye and jumped out of the window, though the other girl earthbended her to safety, and soon they both ran off.
“Well,” Willow said, lying down on her bed, “I think we should go to sleep now. When you think of what you want to do, just tell me, my parents will be fine with you staying here for a long while.”
“Thanks, Willow,” Luz said, lying down on the mattress her parents had gotten for her.
Luz knew what she wanted to do, though. The Water Tribes had killed everyone in her nation, everyone but her, and all because…
She was a disappointment, the worst avatar to ever exist, but she could redeem herself if she took her revenge, if she killed everyone at the Water Tribes. But… she couldn’t make that decision alone, she couldn’t afford another bad decision. She needed help.
The landscape in her mind was nostalgically similar to how that city had been back when it had belonged to the Fire Nation, but she kept herself together, just looking around for Azura, and finally found her standing just there, her expression filled with grief and pity.
“I know you’re against revenge,” she said, “but I have to do it.”
“I know,” Azura said. “But, Luz, you can’t do it alone. Go to the Eastern Air Temple and ask for the Air Nomads’ help, and then—”
“The Air Nomads won’t help, they’re pacifists.”
“Don’t you trust me?” the woman said, approaching her slowly. When Luz nodded, she continued. “Then do as I say. You will need to master all four elements, or else the Water Empire will defeat you without problem.”
“The Water…” She frowned. “You mean the Water Tribes.”
“A lot has changed in so few decades, and you didn’t even notice.” Azura put her hands on Luz’s shoulders. “Ask about the Water Empire, ask about the Air Nomads. And then leave that city and gather forces, the Water Empire’s restless expanse is growing faster and faster. If you take too long, you won’t have any chances against them.”
She nodded, backing away. “It’s my fault, is it not? I should’ve saved my people when they invaded us, I should’ve—”
“Don’t beat yourself up over that, child. You can’t change the past, but you can work toward a better future.” She smiled at the girl, but it was filled with a sadness Luz felt too. “Now sleep, Luz, you have a long journey ahead of you.”
It wasn’t too often that Emperor Belos called Hunter to his office, or rather it wasn’t too often that he did so in the middle of the night and without Hunter being aware of any mistake he had made recently. But Darius simply shrugged at his questions, clearly annoyed at being treated like a mere messenger, so Hunter followed in silence despite how oppressive that felt in the great temple at that hour, when their steps almost seemed to echo despite how difficult that was in the snow.
Once they were in front of the office, Darius just opened the door and left without a word, so Hunter came in.
“Hunter,” Belos said, looking up from the scroll he had been writing on, “good, you’re here.” He got up from his chair and approached the boy. “I need your help with something, but it’s very important and very secret, do you think you can do it?”
“Of course, Uncle,” he said. “Whatever it is, I won’t fail.”
“Good.” He went to the window, looking out. “The spirits speak of a firebender in the Earth Kingdom, in a city our forces haven’t reached yet.”
“A firebender?”
“Yes, it seems like one escaped our cleansing.” The emperor turned back to Hunter. “We can’t let this be known, though, particularly since said firebender could very well be the Avatar.”
“That would explain,” Hunter realized, “why the Avatar never reincarnated as an Air Nomad, but… how did she escape?”
“I don’t know, and that’s why you have to find her. Bring her to me, alive, so we can cleanse the world from fire. I’ll give you a boat and its crew so you can travel to the mainland and look for her.”
“Of course, Uncle. I’ll bring her here.”
“Good. Pack whatever you may need, you’re leaving in half an hour.”
“Half an… Of course, Uncle,” he repeated, catching himself on time, and when Belos waved him away, he left.
Half an hour was not nearly enough time to think of everything he could need on his quest to find and fight the Avatar, but he would have to make it be enough time anyway, because he couldn’t afford to fail on his first real mission.
The Avatar… a middle-aged woman from the Fire Nation, the last firebender. Could Hunter really succeed? He was a great waterbender, that was true, but many better ones had failed back when the Avatar was still his age, so how could he—
No, it didn’t matter how, he would succeed.
“So you’re out on your first mission.”
Hunter turned around at once, finding Darius by the boat he was supposed to board. “Not my first mission,” he rectified, “just the first one in the mainland. Are you coming with me?”
He chuckled. “No, I’m not. The Emperor doesn’t want me to intervene on your test, and I don’t want you dragging me down with your failure.”
“I won’t fail,” he assured, “and when I capture—” He cut himself off before revealing the information, though, ignoring Darius’ surprised frown. “When I succeed in my mission, you will regret not being able to share my glory.”
“I’m sure I will, little prince.” He fixed his cape and headed back into the temple. “Good luck out there, the mainland is not how you think.”
Despite having known that man for as long as he could remember, Hunter was still not quite sure when he was genuine and when he wasn’t, and while he normally preferred thinking the best of everyone from the Empire, he wasn’t naïve, he had grown up seeing the betrayals anyone could do with the right amount of power in line.