Archive of Our Own ^beta

You and Korra grew up together. Being Fire Lord Izumi’s youngest child, and in an attempt to give Korra a friend her age, you were tasked with well being her friend. Your great Uncle Sokka was afraid after the Red Lotus tried to kidnap the girl and her being condemned to her secluded life that she’d be robbed of a proper friendship. The young Avatar, eager to talk to someone her age, took to you quickly. 

And while at first you found it a bore to be tasked as the Avatar’s forced friend and unofficial babysitter, you soon grew to actually view the hot head as a friend. 

Unlike your mother and older sister, you were a firebender much like your brother Iroh. You grew up relatively close to Iroh despite the age gap of almost 10 years. You split your time between Korra’s sanctuary and your home in the palace in the Fire Nation relatively equally. 

Unlike your friend, you were relatively calmer than her, but nowhere near the level of your mother and siblings. 

Korra was as bright spirited as always, constantly pushing you out of your comfort zone. You trained endlessly with the girl, being one of the few who wasn’t afraid of the Avatar’s potential. 

Many of the White Lotus members she trained with either held back due to underestimating the younger girl, or as to not provoke her into a fight she would win. No matter what. 

When you were taught how to bend lightning, thanks to your great aunt, Azula, Korra had spent weeks trying to convince you to teach her. You always laughed it off and claimed when she mastered fire you would consider. (years later even after mastering all four elements you still find reasons, albeit petty ones, to not teach her purely just to see her get riled up)

You were her best friend. You knew everything about her and she knew everything about you. 

She knew that you, like many fire benders, had an annoying tendency to rise as soon as the sun did. Whereas she was often restless throughout the night. 

As a child it greatly annoyed you being ripped from your precious sleep because the girl felt the need to be awake seemingly running on endless energy. (you swore it was more than her being a natural waterbender)

Tonight was no different. 

You were having the sleep of your life. It was a long day of training, Korra getting all of the physical aspects of firebending, but chooses to neglect the more inner, spiritual side it can hold. (“I’m the freaking Avatar. How in the spirit world can you be more spiritually inclined than me ?!”)

You tried your best walking her through the basics of meditation specific for Fire Benders but she always got bored quickly. 

So here you were, peacefully trying to sleep the exhaustion from your bones. Only to hear soft knocking on your door. If you weren’t used to her lack of will to sleep throughout the night, and the way she knocked the same pattern every time, you wouldn’t have heard it. 

But alas, you did. 

You groaned as you rubbed your hand over your face, not even needing to open your eyes to tell it was late. You could feel the sun wouldn’t rise for hours. 

After hearing Korra’s knock again you let out a huff but did rise out of bed despite your entire core screaming to sleep. She had done this almost every night for the past few weeks and it was starting to weigh on you. You had stayed for the past month trying to prepare her for her upcoming firebending test. Per her request. 

She wanted you to be there, but how the hell did she expect you to even be awake for her test at this rate. 

You softly took careful steps across the room and opened the door, being met by the Avatar’s confident blue eyes staring at you. 

“Yes, Korra?” you grumbled despite already knowing what she’s going to ask. 

“Wanna go on a ride on Naga with me?” she had that lopsided grin as always. It wasn’t worth the battle so you just shook your head and retreated to your room to search for some slightly thicker clothes. 

You could feel Korra’s smug excitement from where you stood. 

That’s how you found yourself sitting at the end of a cliff viewing the sea. This was a frequent spot for you and Korra to visit. 

You laid your back against Naga, basking in her warmth as you rested your eyes listening to one of Korra’s many stories. One of the downsides of being a firebending and frequenting the South Pole is feeling physically weaker. The cold didn’t help but make you feel more sluggish. Like the harsh winds constantly wish to put out your internal fire. 

You let Korra ramble about whatever came to mind, as she subconsciously was bending a small sphere of water she grabbed from the ocean below. You didn’t know why she found such comfort in this little spot, but you knew if you questioned her she’d go on about some story that barely was related to the actual question. 

And you were exhausted. 

You opened your eyes, watching as Korra had taken up a moment of silence, something that was certainly rare. You observed, trying to see if she was just trying to find another story to tell. She spoke before you got the chance to question her however. 

“Do you think I’ll pass?”

This caught you off guard. The teen was endlessly confident, both in herself and her abilities. But you were also aware how hard she was on herself. 

“Of course you will.” 

You didn’t give much thought in your answer. You had no doubt that she’d pass her firebending exam. Her skills easily rivaled some of the best soldiers under your brother’s command. 

This answer didn’t seem to satisfy her though. 

“I meant as an Avatar.”

Oh. 

You sat up a literal straighter, taking a proper look at your friend. You noticed the self doubt clouding her face, overtaking her features. She seemed so small in that moment. 

“Why wouldn’t you?”

She took a pause, lifting her head from the water she was previously bending, letting it fall into the snow below the both of you. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, the moon’s light shining over her. Like many waterbenders, she looked stunning in the moonlight. 

“It’s just.. do you think I’ll be able to live up to Aang?” 

There was a beat of silence as you considered her question. It was known she struggled much more on the spiritual side and despite trying in secret, you knew she hadn’t been able to produce even a single gust of wind. 

You hummed softly as you closed your eyes. You had no doubt your friend would live up to the role she was bound to, and even more confident she’d become great. Maybe even greater than the airbender before her. 

“Why do that?”

Korra carefully opened her eyes, glancing over towards you, watching the subtle movements in your face. The way your jaw unclenched. The way the muscles relaxed throughout your body as if she hadn’t exposed one of her biggest insecurities to you. 

“Why not be greater?”

She swallowed thickly as she weighed your answer in her head. Did you really believe she could be better?

“Don’t worry so much about living up to your past lives. You’re no fun when you fret like that.”

She scoffed slightly as your teasing remark. 

“Just be the best Avatar you can be. That’s all any of us should ask.”

You opened your eyes and stared at her, as if trying to drive your point. It was received. Even if Korra was still unsure in herself, you unbridled confidence in her helped spark something within herself. 

She was determined to not let you down. 

“Besides, I don’t want you to be like him.”

You had turned away from her, instead turning towards Naga, scratching under her chin. 

“I like you being yourself, Kor. Not being the big mighty Avatar. Just you.”

Korra smiled softly and nodded though you didn’t see it. 

“I like you being yourself too.”