Chapter Text
"Wake up, Bubba! We've got a long trip ahead of us, come on!" Sokka shouted above you, making you groan and roll over to face away from him.
You thought your plan worked, until he bundled all of your blankets around you and turned you into a burrito. "Papa Sokkaaaa!"
You heard him stifle a laugh as he hoisted you up and onto his shoulder. "Granny Suki is waiting for us, kiddo. Best not make her wait too long."
You grumbled and reluctantly agreed, unrolling from the burrito after he'd set you down and got dressed. You were on a trip with him and Suki for the summer, having wanted to get away from Republic City. Your mom had received a letter from Sokka's pet hawk and most of it just consisted of begging about spending time with you.
So there you were, walking through the woods of Ember Island and listening to Suki's explanations of the different kinds of life that lived there. Soon enough, you all had sat down for a beach picnic and horse-played like children.
You didn't know how or when it happened, but you and Sokka held tree branches and used them as play swords. "I am Melonlord Junior and you shall bow to my will! HAHAHAHA!"
Sokka held his stick up. "And I am Captain Boomerang!"
Somewhere in the near distance, you could hear Suki giggling from the shear ridiculousness.
You charged at your papa and after you both broke your sticks, he picked you up above his head and spun you around, making you howl with laughter. Unknown to any of you, an artist had been watching the scene with a gentle smile on her lips and started painting the beautiful memory. Once she was done, she handed the portrait to Suki.
"A gift for your gorgeous family. Have a good vacation."
Suki thanked her profusely, only to find that the older woman had completely disappeared. Face contorting in confusion, she turned back to the painting, barely hearing you two sit next to her.
"Granny, what is that?" Six year old you asked, leaning into her side as you studied the piece. "The colors really pop out."
Suki and Sokka exchanged loving looks before glancing down at you. Wonder filled your eyes as they moved from the painting to the sea. You reminded them so much of Kolu and how happy he'd be to see you growing up. They never refused to take you and loved you to death. Whenever Lin was on a dangerous case or just too buried in work, she'd send you to them or her closest friends and family because she knew you'd be taken care of properly.
Pride shone in Sokka's eyes as he gazed upon you. "You're gonna make everyone proud one day, Y/n." He whispered.
You looked back at him and gave him one of your signature smiles, and that alone became Suki's most cherished memory. Spirits, how she loved the both of you.
***
The morning luckily came quickly and with you feeling well rested and very refreshed, you and Kya decided to continue your journey to Ba Sing Se alone. You'd asked the other earthbenders if they wanted to join you two, but they felt it safer to remain with the survivors in case an attack happened there. It took more than a few days to get to the capital, but it was okay because once you got there, you saw Opal and a very snotty bison.
She was actively scanning the area and you assumed she was looking specifically for you and Kya. So, as soon as her eyes met yours, she froze.
"Look what you did, Bubba! You broke her." Kya laughed next to you, causing you to lightly elbow her as you walked up to your cousin. She'd grown just as much as Junior and she was such a beautiful young woman.
Once you were right in front of her, you smiled and watched her eyes fill with tears. "I'm assuming you received the letter from your brother, cousin?"
She opened and closed her mouth a couple times before giving up and just launched herself at you. You cried out in joy and spun in circles with her in your arms, making her laugh through her tears.
"Where have you been, Y/n?! Nobody could find you no matter where we looked!" She pulled away from you to see what changed. "And you have so many scars!"
You smirked and hummed. "No one could find me because I wasn't in this world, Opal. I was taken somewhere else where I was adopted and trained. I will tell you the rest after I've told my mom. Can you take me to her?"
She enthusiastically nodded, grabbing your hand and leading you and Kya to her bison. "This is Juicy and he'll be the one to get us to the Fire Nation, where aunt Lin is. Y/n, she'll be beside herself with happiness, I swear! This is a reunion we've all been waiting to see."
Elation filled you and you felt so reassured and excited.
"I have some tasks to run before we head out. Right now, we're looking to stay for another day or so." Opal said as she retrieved a duffel bag from Juicy. "While there hasn't been any attacks since aunt Lin and Korra left, there's still a lot to do in terms of rebuilding."
You nodded in understanding, something you'd been doing a lot of lately. "Let's get started then, huh? You in, Kya?"
The gray-haired woman chuckled and didn't hesitate to pull both you and Opal into her sides. "Who me? I wouldn't miss this bonding trip for the world!"
***
By the end of the night, you three were exhausted out of your minds. Opal helped clean most of the streets, while you used your earthbending to help reshape homes. Kya went in between and helped with medical things on the side. It was a good day.
Later that night, you and Opal sat in the living room of a loaned apartment reading various letters sent from around the world. All of them were about the invasion of the aliens.
"Apparently, Kuvira will be here with supply caches for the citizens in the next few hours, unfortunately." Opal said, still reading through letters.
You sighed and set yours aside, fixing her with a look. "What happened between you two, little cousin? Her being power-hungry is one thing, but you always used to hate having her around and I realize that I never really paid attention to that small feud."
At your words, she also set hers aside and avoided your eyes as she spoke. "I always felt as if she was everyone's favorite kid, even though she was technically never a Beifong. With me not having any bending at the time, she seemed to take up all of mom's attention and yours whenever you'd visit. I'll admit, I was jealous of her as a kid, but I never hated her. I guess it was because we had nothing in common, at least that was what I convinced myself." She paused for a moment, thinking of her next words.
"After your disappearance, she turned to me for comfort and we trauma-bonded over your loss. And as we got older, we became closer, almost like sisters, but that favoritism still put a thorn in our growing relationship and it came to a heed when she left with Baatar and half of Zaofu's forces. She hadn't asked me to join her and it made me feel like she resented me and in fact, didn't want me around. I'd felt...abandoned and unwanted, especially once my mother closed herself off because her actual pride and joy turned her back on Zaofu...and us."
You watched her with a solemn expression and scooted close to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Aunt Su loves you with all her heart, Opal. There would be late nights where I'd be hanging out with her and my mom, listening to them talk about their accomplishments while I'd draw ridiculous things. The one person your mom talked about most was you. I can't speak on later years, but the way she'd speak of you, it was as if she knew you'd automatically bring our family name the honor it deserved. She never cared that you couldn't bend, she only cared that you found your true way in life and no matter what you did, she'd be proud. Is it so hard to believe that she saw both you and 'Vira as her pride and joys?"
You watched as the gears turned in her head, her eyes watering a little and small smile played at her lips. "You really have a way with words, you know?"
You chuckled. "I got that from papa."
She laughed with you and wiped her tears away. "He and grandma Suki loved you more than you know."
Thinking back to your coronation, you felt tears of your own form. "Oh, I know. Speaking of, how did he...pass away?"
"At first, grandma Suki told us he'd died of old age, but there were traces of poison in his body and she'd tried tracking his suspected killer down."
You frowned in confusion. "Did granny ever find the killer?"
Opal shook her head sadly. "Suki lost the trail along the way and had no choice but to go back to Kyoshi Island. She's still very much alive, you know."
You beamed. "I bet she doesn't look a day over 40."
"She doesn't." You both started giggling uncontrollably, with you wiping your own tears from your face.
"Granny's just as much of a legend as Avatar Kyoshi was, that much is clear." You said, standing up and stretching your limbs. "We should head to bed soon. Have you heard from Kya at all this evening?"
Opal threw you a concerned look, also standing up. "No, which is strange. She said she'd meet us here by sunset." You both looked out of the window and saw how carried away you'd gotten with reading the letters. The moon was high in the sky.
"Shit, where did you last see her? Last I saw her, she was headed towards you." You said as you went around the room grabbing your equipment. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Opal agreed. "Last time I saw her, she was being led away by a strange group of...oh no, how did I not notice?!"
Alarmed, you turned to her. "What? What didn't you notice?"
"The group wasn't normal. The way they walked and the way they held onto Kya's arms...I thought they were elderly people but -"
You put a hand on her shoulder and nodded toward the window. "Get your glider and do a quick survey of the area she was headed in. If she was led away by those beings, we're going to need help."
She nodded and did as she was told, while you practically ran to the front door. In your panicked state, you didn't see the body outside of it until you ran into them and knocked them down.
"Oof, sorry about that! Here-" You held your hand out and once you helped the person up, all you could do was stare at the emerald green eyes for a solid minute. And once you found your voice again, you muttered only one word.
"'Vira?"