Avatar: Legend of Korra fic / A Natural Firebender
Fandom: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Title: A Natural Firebender
Summary: No one had to tell her that she was the Avatar.
Word Count: 808 words
Rating: Gen
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I know nothing, and it shows!
Obviously headcanon abounds!
No one had to tell her that she was the Avatar. All it really had taken was one particularly freezing lesson in Waterbending basics where her inability to wait and listen to her Sifu before practicing a new move had resulted in her being turned into a patient student. As an icicle.
When Sifu had finally thawed her free, she was dismissed. Resentful, she hadn’t taken the time to warm up before stalking home and instantly regretted her decision a few paces out into the snow banks that were at their deepest in the dead of winter. She raced the entire way home, blatantly wishing she was nothing more than a Firebender. She was so sick of the cold, so sick of every nerve being frozen stiff.
She stared forlornly out at the few Firebenders she passed, the ones that had come out to the South Pole in another diplomatic venture. Even when she came home and warmed herself properly with a warm drink in front of a strong, blazing fire, she never wanted to move from its warmth. She gazed at the flames in rapture, pouting sullenly at them.
When she had set aside her drink though, she suddenly climbed to her feet, puffing out her cheeks in determination. She lined up her body in hopes of copying a stance she’d seen a Firebender use. It was a poor imitation and so were her quick, jabbing movements, but she kept at it for the next hour, half play-acting that she was in fact a Firebender. And then it just happened. She gave a battle cry, fist reeling out with the smallest burst of a flame.
Her mother who had been half-watching her amusedly suddenly jumped to her feet, staring wide-eyed at her.
Korra was already launching herself at her legs, demanding, “Mom, mom, mom! Did you see?”
Her mother steadied herself, setting Korra down. “Yes, yes I saw, Korra,” she said listlessly before scooting her out of the room. “Why don’t you and Naga go play outside? I need to talk to your father right now.” She almost bolted straight away but first she settled to the floor with nervous hands as she tugged down on Korra’s shirt. “And for goodness sake, Korra, try to keep your belly covered. It’s cold out there.”
Temporarily put out from the weak response, Korra went to sulkily find Naga as she pulled on her fur coat. The polar bear pup was the same age, and they’d been companions and best friends as long back as the five year old could remember. When she saw her faint white outline reclining in the drifts of piled snow, all her excitement came back in full force. The result was a full on assault as she threw herself in a tackle against Naga.
She immediately burrowed into her fur coat, enclosing herself off from the harsh wind. Naga gave her a withering stare as Korra snuggled in further. Giving an exasperated, warm growl, Naga decided to be generous with the small human pup. The precocious creature had no warm fur of her own and she was visibly shaking whether from excitement or cold or both. So Naga let her suck away a bit of her warmth as she settled back around the girl.
Grinning irrepressibly, Korra rubbed her face against Naga’s soft underbelly.
“Naga!” she exclaimed. “I Firebended! Just a bit, but I swear I did. I’m sure my mom saw, so you have to believe me.” She hugged Naga fiercely, causing the polar bear dog to give a small protesting yelp and nip at her hood.
“Naga!” Korra protested. “You don’t understand.” She paused, breathless, her cheeks aglow with childish excitement. She spoke the next words in a quiet, bright eyed whisper, “I think I’m the Avatar!”
Naga stared at her dolefully, yawning.
“Nagaa,” Korra whined, drawing the name out into three syllables. “Why can’t you have a better reaction?” She peeked her head over Naga’s shoulder and stared up at the starry sky. “Just imagine. I could be the Avatar and then I really could be a Firebender. Then the other Waterbending students wouldn’t make fun of me anymore for wanting to learn it so badly.”
She suddenly clutched Naga in a tighter embrace. “But that means I’ll have to leave home, doesn’t it?” She sat up, staring into Naga’s black eyes imploringly. “Naga, you’d go with me if I really was the Avatar, wouldn’t you?”
Naga cocked her head, breathing her hot breath across Korra’s face before digging her nose into Korra’s shoulder. Korra smiled, embracing Naga around the neck.
From the distance, she could hear her mother calling her back. Naga suddenly dipped down and forward with her ever rarer puppyish energy to push Korra onto her back. Korra sighed, content, as Naga carried her home in quick, precise strides.
Note: This has been an installment of my senseless headcanon. It’s just that since Korra so obviously has a proclivity for Firebending, I can’t help but think that that is what she wanted to do all along as a kid. I can see her begging her parents nonstop to quit with the Waterbending teaching once she found out she was the Avatar so she could learn Firebending from a real teacher already! Also, I imagine Naga as being the more rational and long suffering (with love) friend who has to put up with Korra’s antics.