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Chapter Text

The last thing Loid expected to find when he was sent on a fishing trip was a colossal iceberg. Not that he should’ve expected a normal fishing trip after the luck he’d had over the last year. 

Everyone in the Southern Water Tribe thought he was the luckiest man alive - after all, he was the only soldier left from the Tribe after the Fire Nation attacked. 

What they didn’t know is that he was a coward. A grown man who’d gotten his friends killed and had only escaped by the skin of his teeth. His bending was the only thing that saved him from certain death; he was sure of it. His mother, a healing master, had taught him the basics before she’d…passed, and so he was able to heal the burns they’d made all over his body with their bending. But not the scars.

When his battalion had been burned alive by a particularly cruel firebender, Loid had played dead. His friends had died right next to him - he saw the light fade in their eyes. He saw everything the Fire Nation was willing to do. 

So he’d played dead. Like a coward. Instead of standing his ground and avenging his friends, he’d ran as soon as he had the chance, not even looking behind him to see if there were any survivors. 

There weren’t any now. He knew that much. 

So of course all of this weighed on his mind, distracting him enough to crash the stupid boat into the side of a glacier. Which sprung a leak, because of course it did. So while he tried to find some way to patch the leak until he could make it back, he didn’t notice the glowing iceberg behind him. 

Loid was a single-minded man. He tended to focus on what was in front of him. That was a flaw. 

When he cursed the boat for not complying with his orders, somehow, his bending (he didn’t have another probable cause) made a crack in the gigantic iceberg. He turned around at the sound, cursing his terrible, terrible luck, and before he could properly freak out at the possibility of an iceberg falling on top of him, he saw a child inside of it. 

The leak was forgotten as Loid paddled the boat forward with an oar. A young girl, trapped in the ice. She couldn’t have been older than five or six. And she wasn’t nearly dressed enough for this cold weather - she wore a simple orange tunic with a yellow garment underneath. He had never seen that clothing before. Could it be? An…air nomad? Those hadn’t been heard of for nearly a hundred years, after the war with the Fire Nation had begun. And what would she be doing down here? There had to be some explanation for why a child would be hidden in the ice--

Oh no. The legend. Loid hadn’t fully considered it true, but it was said that when waterbenders were abundant in the Tribe, decades ago, they’d hidden the Avatar in the ice to protect her until she could be hidden elsewhere. But when the waterbenders were targeted by the Fire Nation…her location was lost. Buried with the men who had harbored her secret.

Loid stepped out of the boat onto ice, transfixed by the sight. His hand reached out to touch the iceberg, the small girl trapped inside. He needed to save her. If this was the Avatar, she was their only hope. 

Her eyes opened. Loid, burying the dread pooled in his gut, focused all the energy he had into breaking the ice. He’d never been formally trained, as waterbenders were taught to hide, but he could feel the power surging within him as he focused on the girl in front of him. I need to save her. I need to save her. I need--

The ice cracked. Loid reached in and pulled out the girl. She shivered in his arms, and looked up at him. “Who’re--you? Anya is…Anya is tired…” 

Loid frowned as he felt her body temperature through his gloves. She must’ve been in the Avatar state to last this long, but that was clearly a lot for this young girl to handle. 

And then an enormous tongue slobbered all over him, and a booming “Borf!” sounded out of the iceberg. The girl looked up at the sound, eyes going wide. “Bond! What happened? Anya’s so sleepy, she forgot.”

An enormous, gigantic wolf-like thing came out of the iceberg. Anya --he’d realized by now that was the girl’s name-- wiggled out of his arms and ran to her giant. “Bond! Anya’s sky-doggy! Anya’s so glad you’re here too!”

Loid’s stomach hurt. “A--A sky dog?” He honestly hadn’t thought these were real either. He’d heard of giant beasts that the air nomads traveled with but he’d never expected one to be so…big.

Anya nodded. “He can fly, stranger-man! Can we get peanuts? Anya’s hungry!”

Loid stared down at this gremlin of a child. Who was clearly the Avatar who had been missing for a hundred years. He was going to get an ulcer at this rate. 

“Let’s…go back to the village. We don’t have peanuts, but we do have food. Can…we ride the sky dog? That would be faster.” Loid looked behind him to find his boat, and found it completely gone. “I…also lost my boat. Just my luck.”

Lucky for him, Anya was more than happy to let Bond take them to the Tribe’s village. All Loid had to do was find some way to explain himself when they got there.

------

“The answer is simple. You must train her in waterbending,” Brantz insisted. “You’re the only waterbender left that we know of.”

“What?! But-but I was never formally trained.” Loid looked around to the other elders of the Tribe, but they all nodded in agreement to Brantz’s suggestion. “No, I’m--I’m--”

“You’re more than qualified,” Monika insisted. “Your service in the last battle with the Fire Nation proved that. And look at you! Barely a year and you’ve recovered!”

Loid resisted the urge to retort. Not enough. Instead, he looked down at the young girl who insisted on holding his hand, the Avatar. She was looking up at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

He looked back up at Monika, the highest-ranking woman in the Tribe. “I…I’m sorry, but I can’t do it.”

Anya sniffled down at his side. “B-but stranger-man!”

“I told you my name is Loid. And I’ve got no business training anyone, much less a toddler.” He looked down at her, narrowing his eyes. Her lip quivered. Oh please don’t cry…I can’t handle hearing children cry.

“P-Please, Mr. Loid?” Anya’s little green eyes looked up at him, eyes so peculiar in the water tribe, and so big and so glassy, and--

“Alright, fine. I’ll take care of her until we can get her to an actual trainer.” Loid looked back up at the elders. “Is that satisfactory?”

Monika and Brantz looked at each other. “The only trainers there could be would be in the Northern Tribe. You’d have to take her there.”

Loid felt the bags under his eyes grow darker. “Fine, fine. I’ll take her.”

---

Loid couldn’t take care of a child, this was ridiculous. Even if said child had clearly imprinted on him after knowing him for less than a day. He’d just take her up to the North and leave her with someone in much more capable hands. He couldn’t take care of a child.

He sighed, making an extra pile of blankets for the girl. “You can sleep there for tonight. We’ll have to leave in the morning.”

“Okie!” Anya crawled into the blankets. “How far away is the North?”

Loid sighed. Genuinely, he wasn’t sure. He’d probably have to connect with the White Lotus to get enough information to actually get there. His old friend Franky, an eccentric inventor from the Earth Kingdom, definitely had a map. He’d had one all those years ago when he was passing through the South and they’d met. And surely the White Lotus, led by Sylvia Sherwood of Ba Sing Se, could get him passage if he requested it. But it was at least a month’s journey, and he had no present way of contacting any of them.

“It’s…far. How long can Bond fly without stopping?”

Anya hummed. “Mm…prob’aly ‘bout four hours. He’s gotta eat lotsa food to fly for longer.”

Loid hummed his thanks, settling onto his own cot. Now he just needed to do the math. If Bond needed to stop for food every four hours and they needed to find enough food to actually feed him what he needed, they’d probably have to do a lot of hunting and foraging. That said, he should probably take his hunting weapons if nothing else, and an extra fishing spear--

His calculating was cut short by a warm presence grabbing hold of his tunic. He flinched, before looking down and seeing it was Anya. As she crawled next to him, her blankets came with her, a gust of tiny breeze causing them to follow behind her. 

He was amazed, for a moment. Real airbending. 

So, he relented and let her sleep next to him. It was only for one night. He just needed to make sure she made it to the North safely. 

---

Well, they were not off to a great start, considering that a Fire Nation ship was already invading the village. Loid was definitely getting an ulcer. 

The rude wake-up call was the sound of screeching metal against ice, and all Loid was able to do before he wrapped Anya in a spare coat a neighbor had given him and ran for Bond was grab his bag of weapons. No goodbyes, no good-lucks. It was entirely too risky. 

Before he could get there, a Fire Nation soldier blocked his path. His eyes narrowed. He reached for the bag of weapons on his back, but before he could, a gust of air had knocked him back. The soldier fell back, probably more out of surprise than genuine incapacitation, and Loid ran. 

“An airbender! The Avatar!” Anya giggled from inside Loid’s arms. He glared down at her. So much for laying low. 

He half-threw her onto Bond’s back and then pulled himself up. Anya sat up, blue coat falling off of her to reveal her orange tunic, and grabbed Bond’s reins. “Okay, doggy! Let’s go! We’re on the run, like bounty hunters!”

“How in the world do you know--” Loid began, but then promptly remembered that she was the Avatar and had probably dealt with that before getting frozen. “Ah. Nevermind.”

Anya giggled, and Loid held tight onto the saddle as Bond flew up into the sky. As they ascended, he heard the cries of The Avatar’s escaping! and An airbender! and could only chuckle to himself. “Good job, Anya,” he said quietly, and her green eyes looked back at him, soaking in the praise. 

Loid turned to check their inventory and calculate when their next stop would be. He had a vague understanding of the shape of the South, mostly from his time fighting the Fire Nation. He knew it was about a week’s journey to the edge of the landscape. After that, it would be ocean for a while. Anya likely knew the location of wherever Air Temple she’d come from, so he had that in his favor, but not much else. 

There was also the issue of drawing suspicion from others. A man traveling with a young girl he was unrelated to would be attention enough. There had to be some sort of…

He blinked. An idea. “Anya, please call me your father from now on. It’ll make us less suspicious to other people as we travel.”

Anya turned back, tilting her head. “Why? Anya doesn’t have a Papa. Anya used to have a Mama, but then she went to the Temple.”

Loid grimaced. He knew of the traditions of the Air Nomads, but…it still didn’t feel good to be an orphan, no matter which nation you came from. 

“Look, it just…makes things easier. I’m your Papa now, alright?”

“Okie,” Anya said, and went back to steering Bond. “Uh…Papa,” her voice sounded awkward when she said it, but not disgusted, so that was a win, “Where should Anya tell Bond to go?”

Loid frowned, looking up at the sky. It was about…midday. But not quite. The sun wasn’t completely even in the sky, so he could tell which direction it had come from. “North.” He oriented himself and pointed over Anya’s shoulder. “That way.”

Bond gave a resounding “Borf!” to show he understood, and they were on their way. Loid slid up beside Anya, finally taking in that he was letting a toddler steer the dog. 

“Uh…you sure you can do that, Anya? Need help?” He hummed, watching as Bond moved in the direction Anya pulled the reins into. 

“Anya can do it! Anya and Bond have been friends since Anya could talk!” She leaned down to hug the creature. “He knows Anya perfectly.”

Loid nodded. “Alright. You seem to know what you’re doing. Would you mind teaching me how to steer him for when you sleep?”

Anya leaped up. “Okie, Papa! Here, watch!”

If you told Loid a year ago that he’d have (temporarily) adopted a five year old Avatar, and she’d be the one teaching him how to fly on a sky dog, he probably would’ve fainted. Loid was lucky his present self was more apt to ulcers. 

Chapter Text

Although Anya was quickly learning the forms of waterbending and seemed to be a proficient airbender, she clearly had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. This, to Loid’s chagrin, became a thorn in his side like no other.

“Hey Papa! Look! Anya can fly like Bond!” Not even a day at the nearest Air Temple and Anya was already trying to show him all her tricks. Loid rolled his eyes and looked up from his mapmaking in the sand to see--

“Anya! What in Tui and La’s name are you doing on the edge of that cliff?!” Loid was about ready to tear his hair out with this girl. “Get back down immediately!”

Without missing a beat, Anya said, “Okay, Papa! Anya will get down.” Loid exhaled a sigh of relief, before watching her jump off?! With some sort of airbending trick that Loid had to admit was quite fascinating, as the wind gushed under her arms and lifted up the sleeves of her clothes, she floated down easily to land right on her two feet. “Ta-da!”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Loid grumbled, walking over to scoop her up in his arms. “Stay in my sight.” He set her down next to him and Bond, and continued ruminating over where exactly they were at the moment. Loid wasn’t exactly an expert in geography, as he never really thought he would need to know much else aside from the South Pole. It wasn’t like he’d ever expected to take a vacation tour of the four nations, considering one of them was gone except for Anya, and another was making short work of everyone else. 

“Whatcha doin, Papa?” Anya sat down next to where he was squatting, mumbling to himself. 

“Trying to figure out where we go next. I have some connect-- friends in the Earth Kingdom, so I figure if we need to, we can talk to them.” His eyebrows furrowed. He still had no idea how he could reasonably get letters to anyone. Since they were travelling by air and not sea, there wasn’t the usual avenue of mail-trading he’d grown used to as a Water Tribe warrior, and he didn’t know how the other nations tended to--

“Why are you always planning and thinking, Papa? Should Anya also be planning and thinking like ca-clack?” Anya made a clicking noise with her teeth and giggled. “Anya usually just goes as she goes.”

Loid pinched the bridge of his nose. “I…I don’t know, Anya.” His head was starting to pound, and the ever-present churning of his stomach seemed to boil like a never-ending stew of acid. “I don’t know how to do any of this.”

Anya grabbed his arm and pulled him up (well, pulled his arm up and he just happened to pull the rest of him up at the same time for no particular reason) with a sudden burst of energy. “C’mon Papa! Anya knows how to make you relax! Let’s train!”

“No, Anya, Papa doesn’t--” He stopped himself, a faint flush on his cheeks as Anya looked up at him with stars in her eyes. Clearly the weeks spent alone with only a child who spoke in third person (and her sky-dog) were starting to wear him down. “I-I mean, I don’t feel up to train at the moment. It’s a miracle we made it here and I need to make sure--”

Anya stuck her tongue out at him. “C’mon, Papa! Anya needs to test your epic waterbending skills!” Her little hand yanked at his wrist, and he saw no other reasonable response but to submit to her antics. She was the Avatar, after all.

She pulled him to a pond she must’ve found while exploring the old Temple, and let him go. “Look, Papa! Anya’s been practicing!” Twisting her arms about, she made a swift water whip and pulled it up to about her height, eyes squinted in concentration. 

It…was frankly, adorable. The softest part of Loid’s heart ached at the thought of how he might’ve grown up, surrounded by other waterbenders. He bit back a smile. “Good job, Anya.”

“Now show Anya your tricks, Papa! All those cool warrior moves you did when you fought against the Fire Nation!” Anya practically bounced up and down, little hands curled into excited fists. 

Loid’s breath caught. “I…I didn’t tell you--”

“But the elders did, when they made Anya’s protection your mission!” Anya shot back, and Loid was struck by her perception once again. How could she have remembered that? She must’ve been under so much more stress than he was at the time, and…

“Ah. I see, Anya. Well, I suppose I can show you one or two that my mother taught me.” Loid’s eyes crinkled in fondness despite himself. “I didn’t use these against the Fire Nation per se, but…”

He looked back down at Anya, and she smiled so wide he couldn’t help but oblige.

He shifted his stance, closing his eyes and attempting to remember his mother’s instructions all those years ago. Feet apart, center of balance low, my love. Focus on your target, but relax. Waterbending is as easy as breathing. Feel the gentle pull between the moon and the water and inhale, exhale.

In with one breath, out with the other. He pulled the water out of the pond and held it there as a whip, for just a moment, before flicking his fingers and forming a circle around little Anya, swirling the water round and round her. He opened his eyes to see her running her fingers through the tiny stream, little green eyes sparkling with delight. 

He pulled the water up into a snake, spinning it back into the pond slowly but surely. His arms trembled slightly, and it was hard to remember exactly where to tug the droplets to keep them in place, but it was all worth it to see Anya’s excite--

To teach the Avatar as much as he could before he left her in more capable hands. He had to remember that. His life wouldn’t be airbenders and sky-dogs for any longer than it took them to get to the North. 

(And if his heart ached at the idea of being apart from her, that was merely an effect of isolation. Not fondness for Anya in particular. Nothing more than the idea of returning back to his former loneliness.)

“More, Papa, more!” Anya ran up and hugged his leg. “Wait-wait-- teach Anya that one! It was so cool!” She unlatched herself and stood at his left side, then adjusted her feet to match his stance. 

Loid chuckled. “Not so fast.” As if catching himself, he cleared his throat and examined her posture, eyes narrowing into the same calculated stare he took when navigating. “Left foot forward.” Anya’s little foot scooted forward in the sand. “Keep your back straight.” His hands gently reached down to place a hand on her shoulders, pulling them into the proper position. “Lean forward, but bend with your hips, not your back. You need core strength to make sure you can keep the water moving.” His hands retreated, and she nodded firmly. 

“Alright, little Avatar. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

---

As if Anya wasn’t enough for Loid to handle, soon the Fire Nation had sent dozens of bounty hunters their way. Most of them he and Anya could run from, but Loid knew that wouldn’t always be the case.

Really, the only thing he and Anya had that they didn’t was stealth. It wasn’t a lot, but Loid had done more with a lot less as a warrior, so he could make do. 

However, that didn’t mean Anya was at all happy with it. 

“Ow! Papa! Put the needles away! You’re hurting Anya!” Anya twitched but didn’t move away from Loid’s pinning of blue and white fabric around her body, making a little dress he hoped would prevent people from recognizing her as the Avatar. The first town they’d been in had posters of them all over, as Loid discovered when he stepped in just after dusk to buy food (thankfully with an old cloak over his shoulders) and he wasn’t taking any chances with Anya. 

“I know, I know, but I already told you. You have to use some of my old clothes to blend in until we can get other clothes. And obviously mine won’t fit you unless I sew them into a shape that will.” Loid sighed, putting the pins down. “I don’t like it either, but it’s what we have to do.”

Anya frowned. “Anya doesn’t want Papa’s old stinky clothes! She wants to wear her orange robes!”

Loid’s left eye twitched. “You little-- Anya, I wash my clothes almost daily! I wash yours just as often and you’re always complaining!”

Anya glared up at him. “Papa’s trying to take away all of Anya’s air-ness. Make Anya into a water tribe girl.”

“What? No, I--” Loid sighed. “I just want to make sure you’re safe, Anya. It’s not that I don’t want you to keep your culture with you.” He pulled the fabric off of her frame, turning away. “I’m sorry.”

He picked up the pins with a hand, distress churning in his stomach. Did Anya really think he wanted to take away the last bits of her culture she still had? Of course he didn’t. He just needed to make sure she got to the North safely so that she could be trained by someone better than him. Stronger than him. 

She was a stubborn, bratty little girl but she was also the Avatar. The last airbender. The last air nomad left. The thought made him sick. She was all they had left and she wasn’t even a master. No one could train her now. She would never get her tattoos. 

Loid had to remember that. But he also had to keep her safe. How was he supposed to tow that line? 

Could he tow that line?

Before he could spiral any further, there was an Anya once again attached to his leg. “Anya’s sorry, Papa. That was mean.”

He sighed, reaching down to pat her on the head. “No, I’m sorry, Anya. I haven’t been thinking about how much you’ve lost because I’m so caught up in what we need to do next.”

Anya squeezed his leg harder. “It’s ok, Papa. Anya doesn’t want you to worry. Anya’s strong. She’s the Avatar!”

Loid froze. He shifted to face her, placing the fabric down at his feet, and Anya pulled away. He kneeled down to be on her level, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Anya. It’s okay. You don’t have to prove yourself to me, or to anyone.”

Anya’s little eyes looked glassy. Loid looked away when he saw her hands come up to wipe little tears off of little cheeks. “Anya…Anya’s strong. She has to be. She has to beat the Fire Nation. She’s the only hope.”

Loid looked back at her, staring into her eyes. “No.” 

She sniffled, looking back at him. “No?”

“Anya, you never have to be strong. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not.” He looked away again, hesitating as he found the right words. What could he, a coward, say about strength? He had none of the guile he needed to instill into this little girl. None of the confidence. But…he knew who did. “The role you have on your shoulders is a heavy burden, but you have to remember: all the past Avatars are with you, always. They will help you. I will help you, Anya.”

“They…they’ll never leave?” Anya’s voice sounded so hopeful. He forced himself to look her in the eyes again. 

“They’ll never leave, Anya.” But I will. Might. I’m sorry.

Anya smiled. “Okay, Papa.”

He scooped her up into his arms. “What do you say we go to the market in town this afternoon? I hear they might have some peanuts!”

“You gotta finish sewing, Papa! What about keeping Anya safe?” Anya leaned into his touch, resting her head against his shoulder. 

“That’s why I said this afternoon,” he shot back, ruffling her pink hair. He leaned down to pick up the fabric once more. “How about you go play with Bond until I’m done?”

“Okay, Papa!”

---

Chapter Text

Yor Briar of the Fire Nation was a skilled assassin, a protector of the peace of her people. Though she was merely a single woman among many skilled professionals in the Garden, she took pride in the fact that she was able to serve the Fire Lord in such a special way. 

And today was of course no exception. When she reported to the Shopkeeper, an advisor of the Fire Lord, she knew she was to receive a new assignment, but she had no clue just how crucial this assignment was. 

“You need to find and capture the Avatar,” the Shopkeeper said, in his calm and practiced tone. 

She gasped, hand flying over her mouth. “The Avatar..? But I thought the Fire Lord had destroyed the Avatar and his reign decades ago.”

“That’s the thing about it,” Shopkeeper said, his lips twisted into a wry grin. “The Avatar has a habit of coming back. He was last seen in the invasion of one of the rural villages of the Southern Water Tribe. We believe this Avatar is from that tribe.”

Yor’s hand slowly came down as she metaphorically chewed on Shopkeeper’s words. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked down. “Sir, do we know anything more?”

Shopkeeper shook his head. “Nothing more than that. We believe he is now on the run. And this is a rumor, but I’ve heard some say he carried a child with him. Whether that was his daughter or a hostage is unknown, but for the sake of peace, you must seize him, Thorn Princess.” His eyes bored into hers. “Are you capable of this task? Willing to take him down, no matter the cost?”

Yor’s blood boiled. How dare this man, Avatar he may be, bring a child into this mess? How irresponsible! She frowned, and then nodded resolutely. “Yes, I am.” She looked away, suddenly. “But do you mean that I must kill him, or bring him back to you?”

Shopkeeper smiled. “If we kill him, Raava will merely reincarnate into an earthbender, and all the hard work will be lost. You may maim him however you like, but bring him back alive.”

Yor considered this. “I don’t usually keep my clients alive, but…I think I can manage that.”

“Good to hear, my dear. Thank you for serving the Fire Nation.”

Yor stood up at attention at the dismissal. “Of course, Shopkeeper. Anything for the Fire Lord.”

“Report to McMahon for further instructions, Thorn Princess. Good luck.”

-----

She wrote Yuri a letter telling him that she was going on a vacation tour of the nations. Maybe it was wrong of her, the lying and all, but she’d been taken under Shopkeeper’s wing when she was young and a part of her didn’t know how not to lie to her younger brother. 

When Shopkeeper had begun her training, she became a maid at the Fire Lord’s palace, and she and Yuri had been given housing in exchange for their service. Once Yuri was old enough to take an apprenticeship under the Fire Lord’s ambassadors, he leaped for it and left her behind. 

Not that Yor minded. She had her work, and she helped Shopkeeper with his gardening when she could. 

She really did feel terrible about only leaving her brother a letter, but no one had answered when she’d attempted to visit him. 

Now that she was on the boat to her new destination, she felt bad for having only written a letter. Maybe she could have convinced Shopkeeper to give her a day or two to say goodbye to her brother.

The guilt pool curdled in her chest, just the same as it had when she’d first started lying to him. It hurt worse than the killing. At least she was only hurting bad people. But Yuri? He deserved better. 

With her head in her hands, she sighed and looked out at the grand expanse of the ocean. She hated water. It made her cold and damp and shaky and sick. A firebender had no place among so much water. 

Yuri had never minded the water nearly as much as she did. Yor always thought, maybe, it was because he was a nonbender unlike herself. He’d always looked up to her for that. She felt terrible that she couldn’t just teach him how to do it, but she’d tried her best to be a good parent to him. Even taught him some martial arts to help him if he ever got into trouble. Of course he never did; that was her angel of a brother. But a part of her still felt better that he could defend himself. 

She turned her focus away from her brooding and instead toward her new goal. Capture the Avatar and save his daughter. Or hostage. Whoever she was, Yor wanted to make sure she grew up safe, not with a terrorist like him. 

She clenched her fist. How dare he put a child in so much danger. She would save her. Of that, Yor Briar was sure. 

Chapter Text

To prepare them for their first in-town shopping trip, Loid had made Anya into the image of a sweet, obedient daughter with her father, going on an outing (which she mispronounced as “ooting,” but she was still only five). He’d managed to braid her hair into twin pigtails, a feat which she was unimpressed by but accepted. The one thing she’d insisted on was that she kept her little horned clips on either side of her head. Loid wasn’t sure what significance they had in Air Nomad culture, if any, but it wasn’t a ridiculous ask, so he agreed. 

Bond was, unfortunately, left behind at the camp. Anya was distraught by this, but it didn’t take much convincing for her to understand that he was simply too big (and much too conspicuous) to bring with them. She’d relented after hugging his neck with her little arms, planting a kiss on his fur. “Anya and Papa will be back soon, Bond! Don’t worry.”

“Borf,” the dog had responded, closing his big dark eyes to take a nap until they got back. 

Now, as they were walking into the town, Anya had taken Loid’s hand. She whispered up to him, “Does Anya need a scary name? Like the bounty hunters?”

Loid sighed and looked down at her. “It’s okay. You’re Anya. You’d forget if we used a fake name anyway.”

She’d spluttered in disbelief, eyes blowing open in an expression of shock, but he’d merely rolled his eyes and kept going. 

As they walked to town, Loid considered the list of supplies he’d need. He had to have food for him and Anya, which was much harder than it sounded. Living in the South, he’d mainly gotten used to fish and occasional tiger seal or buffalo yak meat. 

Honestly, though, he ate what was put in front of him. Especially after the war, when food turned bland and tasteless and lost all meaning. Eating was more of a chore than a choice these days, so dealing with a picky child had confused him. Over the past few weeks, he’d noticed that Anya rarely ate any food she wasn’t used to, and he’d naively chopped that up to stress.

Now, though, he was met with a big problem - a little girl who turned her nose up at every piece of food - especially meat - that he offered her. 

“Anya doesn’t eat meat! Air Nomads are vegetarials!” 

“Vegetarians, Anya,” Loid told her every time, like an old refrain. 

“Anya doesn’t like that! Can Anya have peanuts instead?” Anya always attempted to make herself look cuter than she already was, which was almost impossible. But Loid needed to stay strong. He needed to take care of her.

The stress was nothing like he hadn’t handled before.

“Papa?” Anya’s little voice brought him back to the present, on the trail, almost entering the town. “Are you okay?”

He looked down on her with the most genuine smile he could muster. It was pathetic, judging from her grimace in response. “Geez, Papa. Calm down. Anya can handle it!”

“You’re five,” he shot back. 

“Anya’s six!” Her little voice was full of insistence. 

He rolled his eyes. “Didn’t the nuns in the Air Temple tell you not to lie?” 

“Papa’s lying too. Making Anya look like a water tribe girl.” Anya let go of his hand to cross her arms. 

“Alright, touché. Let’s just go get some food.” He scooped her up and set her on his shoulders. “You can help by spotting out food you like to eat.” He grasped her knees, holding her up steadily. “And not just peanuts.”

“Papa’s so unfair,” she grumbled. 

-----

Yor hummed happily as she stretched her legs for the first time since going on that awful boat. Maybe running at twenty miles an hour would be grueling for anyone else, especially after so long at sea, but for her it was relaxing. 

Seeing land again, and trees and animals and grass and being able to walk without swaying - it made her feel like a Fire Lord’s daughter. 

Well, at least it would have if she didn’t have an important mission to fulfill. The Avatar’s sky dog had been seen within a few miles, and Yor’s job was to scout the area for any sign of him. 

So far, she hadn’t seen much, but she was coming upon a town, if her map was correct. Maybe he’d stopped there. Probably to enact total destruction or something equally sinister, which Yor would have to thwart. 

She narrowed her eyes and ran faster. He wouldn’t get away with this, not if she could help it.

When she happened upon the town, she didn’t see anyone immediately out of the ordinary. Just normal people going about their business. She huffed in frustration. Clearly, he was a master of disguise.

Her eyes narrowed on a man and what seemed to be his daughter buying cabbages at a cart across the street. The young girl had pink hair and little horns coming out of her head, and both of them seemed to be dressed in Water Tribe blue. 

Wasn’t the Avatar from the Water Tribe? And didn’t he have a young girl with him?

She rushed forward, crashing into the cart as she went. The little girl barely dodged, and Yor shifted in front of her protectively. “I know who you are. Surrender yourself or die.”

The cabbage salesman ran off, screaming something about his cabbages, and as Yor assessed the damage, she realized that she had, in fact, nearly split the cart in half. She made a note to find him and apologize later, but for now she had limited time. 

She turned back to the Avatar, preparing for a fight, but to her surprise he was already running with the little girl in his arms. The girl waved and giggled at her from her perch over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She turned back, stunned, and confirmed to her frazzled mind that yes, the girl was indeed gone, and took off after him. 

Or, at least she would have, if it hadn’t been for the wind making the cart roll creakily in front of her. Yor growled and cut through the thing entirely with her fist, and took off running. 

“Stop! I am Thorn Princess, assassin of the Fire Lord, and I demand you to--”

She dashed down streets, yelling out her threats, but they were gone. 

So much for stretching her legs. 

---------------