Ki's life had been complicated.
Given up to a girls home at only one years old, she spent the past nineteen years growing up at a lodging house in Republic City without parents.
After the Earth Queen's untimely death, Ba Sing Se is left in chaos- lo...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The limousine slowed to a halt at Avatar Park, where dozens of people were waiting around a stage. They all fixated their attention on the shiny black vehicle as it idled in the sun.
There was a certain mystery surrounding who might step out of that car. Of course, by now people were aware of who Ki was, but they didn't really know who she is.
Mako swung the door open, looking around to see other metal bending cops patrolling the area. He let his guard down a bit, and glanced back at the girl who was shaking with nerves. "Come on," he said to her when she didn't move from her seat.
Ki only shook her head, staring up with scared eyes— like a lost pet. "I can't do it," she let out, barely above a whisper. "They'll hate me."
"Ki," Mako hissed; he could feel the anxious eyes settling upon the car, anticipating her arrival. But, when the girl showed her glossy eyes to the boy, his cold demeanor softened. "You can do it. They'll hate you more if they don't understand what you're all about."
Mako didn't know why he was being so advising with the girl— with Wu he would only demand him to stop being so stubborn or drag him out of the car. But, with Ki, it was almost like he could sympathize with her, like she was more human. It was a strange notion, indeed, yet that was the only way Mako could explain it. Ki was, simply put, more human than Wu was. She understood real life things and didn't live in a world of fancy restaurants and silk bed sheets.
Intaking a sharp breath, Ki nodded, taking the hand Mako was offering to help her out of the car. Immediately, she was blinded by camera flashes and the bright light of the burning sun on the outside.
It was an uncommon occurrence. The papers she once printed for the city would now headline her face across every front page.
As she settled on the stage, Ki folded her hands on the podium carefully— to scared that her legs would betray her as they felt like they were made of jelly.
Chief Beifong approached the girl before the conference convened, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, kid," she started kindly, but sternly. "President Raiko isn't here."
Ki wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean; she wrinkled her nose in her own bafflement, trying to decipher what Lin was implying. Like the Chief realized her words got lost upon the girl, she huffed. "Speak freely," Lin said. "Usually I would advise against voicing decisive opinions, but now will be your only time to do so. No matter what the President says, I have the Republic City police on my side. And I am on your side."
It was an uncharacteristic spout of concern that Lin had given to the girl. Why she even placed so much trust in her, it was unknown. But something in the Chief knew that this Princess was the only way to stop Kuvira from spiraling down a power hungry binge.
"Okay," Ki nodded with a new surge of confidence. Like an electric shock to her system, pride has coursed through her very being— she was gonna do this, and she was gonna make them like her.
Some of the police force had stood on either sides of the stage, and Mako, with Lin, had stood right beside the girl, expecting some form of backlash from Kuvira's supporters. Chief Beifong had called on reporters to ask questions, and so the day that changed politics began.
"Princess Ki, where have you been for the past nineteen years?"
Intaking a sharp breath, the girl leaned forward towards the microphone. "When I was only a baby, I was placed in the care of a girls home in Republic City. Since then I have grown up just as the other, fostered kids and made my own life here until discovering my Royal Lineage."
"What makes you think you can rule the Earth Kingdom then?" Another reporter cut in, making Ki reel back in surprise at the bluntness.
Almost as if it were in her blood, her next words played out like a beautiful symphony, surprising everyone in the crowd— and leaving them utterly speechless. "For centuries, the Earth Kingdom has been under the reign of the monarchical family, and in many instances royalty has reared is ugly head. This has caused the notion that kings and queens should be abolished, to which I disagree."
She unfolded her hands, holding them firmly on the podium to ground herself. "I may not have grown up like royalty; I might not know how to bow properly, or know how to spot the difference between different types of jewels— spirits, I mean I never wore a dress until this week. But, I don't think that this is a bad thing, you see..."
"I understand what living is like. I understand what it's like to have nothing, no one— to have little hope of the future to come. That is the difference between me and all my predecessors. I am not here to be some figurehead... I am here to serve my people in the only way I know I can. By being me. By being considerate, by listening, and by harboring everyone's opinions, even if they might not align with my own," she declares, tone becoming more confident as her spirit picks up. "I hope that you all can accept me as your Queen, so that I may do the best I can to help you."
The park was so silent that the only noise prevalent was the birds chirping in some far off tree. It seemed the wind had ceased to blow, and the world stood so still it could have been a picture.
Suddenly, like the words had marinated amongst the crowd, an old man wiped his eyes, kneeling on one leg. "All hail the Queen!" He yelled out.
Almost everyone had joined him in kneeling, "all hail the Queen!" They repeated with a newfound joy.
Ki stepped back, looking around the park in complete and utter shock. Had that really worked? All she had to do is be honest and they had liked her? It seemed silly to the girl. Ki's whole life she had been called names, a no good hoodlum, and just because she wore a Princess's crown, her thoughts were now important.
"What do you think about Kuvira?" A reporter shouted over the rest of the crowd, and in a millisecond they all adjusted their attention to hear her answer.
Ki gave a crooked look. "What do you mean?" She asked shortly, wanting to clarify what she was to answer and in which regards.
"She wants to unite the Earth Kingdom and remove the rule of the Monarchy. She says she will crush anyone who stands in her way. What do you think of her methods? Do you think you could unite the Earth Kingdom better then she?"
"Um..." Ki was taken back by the question, not expecting the bluntness. She remembered what Lin had said— this was the time to voice her true opinions. "When I was ten years old, a woman once told me something that stuck with me. She said, "whether you win or not is not important. There is no such thing. What is important is making the unknown, known"," Ki shook as she recalled the memory.
"I guess I understand what she meant now. You will never unify people through fear, through words saturated in the threat of violence. You, instead, can bring people together through inspiring them— through your actions," she now stood tall, becoming decisive on her own thoughts.
"The only way people can ever truly be unified is in a world where we can share our opinions without being scared of the outcome. Where we can have a dialogue and educate each other. As Queen, I will entertain every possible belief— no matter how radical— and I will never "crush" anyone for speaking against me. For it is with my whole heart that I believe the Earth Kingdom can become a better place, not through me, but through the environment I can create that allows people to be who they are, and say what they believe."
