◇ Aiya ◇
I was braiding my hair when I heard heard a knock on my door.
"Aiya, can I come in?" I heard my older sister's voice on the other side of the door.
"Yeah," I replied and the door opened.
Asami stepped inside of my room and laid down on my bed, her long black hair sprawling across my blanket.
"I am so stupid," She stated and I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Why? What happened?" I asked her.
"I kind of ran over this guy-" She began and my eyes widened.
"You ran over someone?!" I exclaimed in shock.
"Well, I didn't run over him. I hit him with my moped. It was his fault though. He ran in front of me without looking," She said.
"Is he okay?" I asked, getting worried.
"He's fine. I asked him out to dinner tomorrow. We're going to Kwong's Cuisine," She said, sitting up.
"So, you ran over a guy and then asked him out to dinner. And he agreed? Jeez, Asami. Only you would be able to do that," I said, smirking at her.
She rolled her eyes at me.
"Oh, and did I mention that he plays for the Fire Ferrets?" Asami added.
"He plays for the what now?!" I nearly fell out of my chair from shock.
"Is it Bolin or Mako?" I asked her.
"It's Mako," She replied.
"Oh, well I think Bolin is better," I said and she shot me a glare.
"Don't be mean, Aiya," She said, standing up to leave.
"I'm not mean, I'm just voicing my opinion," I said and she shook her head at me before leaving my room.
♤ ♧ ♤ ♧
The next day, I was busy taking care of my dad's employees when I heard three pairs of footsteps behind me.
"And this is my younger daughter, Aiya," I heard my dad's voice behind me.
I turned around to see Asami, my dad and, surprisingly, Mako, standing infront of me.
"Oh, hello," I said, awkwardly.
"Hello, I'm Mako, nice to meet you," Mako said, reaching out to shake my hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too. You're a great bender," I told him and he smiled at my words.
"So, Mako, I understand you're dirt poor," My dad suddenly said.
My mouth dropped open at his words and Mako looked embarrassed.
"Young man, it is nothing to be ashamed of. I too came from humble beginnings. Why, when I was your age I was a mere shoe-shiner, and all I had to my name was an idea . . . the Sato Mobile. Now, I was fortunate enough to meet someone who believed in me and my work ethic. He gave me the money I needed to get my idea off the ground and I built the entire Future Industries empire from that one selfless loan," My dad said, looking around the factory proudly.
"Dad, stop bragging. Just tell Mako the good news," Asami said.
I frowned. What good news? Why was I never told anything?
"What good news?" Mako questioned.
"Well, Asami passionately told me all about your hard-earned success in the probending arena, and about your team's current financial stumbling block. Now I'd hate to see you lose your chance at winning the championship just because you're short a few yuans. That's why I'm going to sponsor the Fire Ferrets in the tournament!" My dad told him.
"Are you serious?" Mako asked, shock written all over his face.
"He's serious. My dad's going to cover your ante for the championship pot," Asami confirmed.
"That- that is good news!" Mako exclaimed.
"There's just one catch. You all have to wear the Future Industries logo on your uniforms," My dad said.
"I'll tattoo it on my chest if you want, sir! Thank you both so much. I promise, the Fire Ferrets will make the most of this opportunity!" Mako said, shaking my dad's hand.
After Mako left, my dad turned to Asami and I.
"There's a gala in honour of Avatar Korra tonight and we're all invited. Get ready as soon as possible," He said before walking away.
"I love galas!" Asami said, smiling at me. I let out a groan.
"I hate them. What's so special about this Avatar girl anyway? Why is she getting a whole gala in her honour?" I said.
"Don't be like that Aiya. I bet she's really nice."
♤ ♧ ♤ ♧
"Which dress is better?" Asami asked me, holding up two dresses. One was a maroon colour and the other was dark green.
"The maroon one, it makes your eyes stand out more," I told her.
"Are you only saying that because it's true or because you want the green dress?" She asked me as she handed the green one to me.
"Both," I replied and she rolled her eyes with a chuckle.
I then took out a candle from my bedside drawer and put it on my dresser.
"You want to see a trick?" I asked Asami.
"Uh, sure?" She responded, her voice uncertain.
I lifted my hand up and lit the candle with my firebending.
I then stepped away from the candle and I looked at it intensely. The fire began to grow and then shrunk before growing again. Asami stood up from the bed and walked over to me.
"Why didn't you tell me you could control fire with your mind earlier?" Asami asked.
Before I could reply, the door opened and our dad appeared in the doorway.
"Girls, are you ready- who lit that candle?" He asked us, even though he already knew the answer.
"I did," I admitted.
I didn't bother asking him if he wanted to see my new trick. For some reason, our dad had always disliked bending. He even stopped speaking to me for a week after I found out I was a firebender.
"Aiya, remember what I told you? No firebending. It's dangerous and you can get hurt. Remember what happened to your mother?"
Silence filled the room and the atmosphere turned cold.
I looked down at the ground and our dad sighed.
"I'm sorry, Aiya. But I just don't like when you firebend," He said.
"No, it's okay, I understand," I said.
He smiled at us before turning to leave.
"Now, hurry up girls, we're leaving in a few minutes."
♤ ♧ ♤ ♧
When we got to the gala, all I could see were flashes of cameras as the paparazzi took photos of us. My dad was an important person in Republic City, so there were many eyes on us.
We stepped into the building and Asami quickly walked off, leaving our dad and I alone. We walked towards the buffet and were immediately met with Councilman Tarrlok and a muscular brunette with blue eyes wearing a navy coloured dress.
My eyebrows slightly lifted from surprise when I realised she was the Avatar. I've seen her in the newspapers, but she looked much different in person.
"Korra, it is my pleasure to introduce Republic City's most famous industrialist, Hiroshi Sato," Tarrlok said.
"It's nice to meet you," The Avatar said.
"We're all expecting great things from you," My dad said.
"Right. Greatness," The Avatar mumbled to herself.
"Hey, Korra," I heard Mako's somewhat familiar voice behind us. I turned to see Asami, Mako and Bolin walking up to us.
"Hey, Aiya. Nice to see you again," Mako said, smiling at me. I smiled back politely before turning back to Korra and Tarrlok.
Korra's eyes scanned over me and an unimpressed look appeared on her face.
I looked back at her with narrowed eyes but didn't say anything.
"These are my daughters, Asami and Aiya," My dad introduced, as if just noticing that I was standing next to him.
"It's lovely to meet you," Asami said, smiling at Korra.
"Yeah, real pleasure," I added, not trying to hide the sarcasm in my voice.
After that look she gave me earlier, I wasn't going to bother being nice.
"Mako told me so much about you," Asami told Korra.
"Really? Because he hasn't mentioned you at all. How did you two meet?" Korra asked, nearly demanding an answer to her question.
"Asami crashed into him on her moped," Bolin told Korra, appearing next to her.
A look of concern appeared on the Avatar's face.
"What? Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine- more than fine. Mr. Sato agreed to sponsor our team. We're back in the tournament," Mako told her.
"Isn't that great?!" Bolin exclaimed.
"Yeah, terrific," Korra said, sarcastically. Seriously, what was that girl's problem?
"Well, I'm going to go get something to eat. It was terrific meeting you, Avatar Korra," I said, walking away before my dad could stop me.
After I got my food, I sat down at a table and began to eat.
I then heard the chair next to me move and I looked up to see Bolin sitting down next to me.
"Mind if I sit here?" He asked.
"Nope, sit right down. I could never miss an opportunity like this," I said, smiling at him.
"What opportunity?" He asked, confused.
"One where I could meet my favourite probender," I said.
His eyes widened.
"I'm your favourite probender? This is a dream come true! I can't believe this. I think I'm going to faint," Bolin said.
"Please don't faint. I don't want you going to the hospital and missing your next game," I said and he smiled.
"Don't worry, Ms. Sato, I'm going to make sure I'll play better than ever," Bolin said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Well, I hope so. Call me Aiya, by the way. Ms. Sato is much too formal," I said.
"So, Aiya, what is that you like about me so much? Is it my looks?" He asked, a smirk appearing on his face. However, it quickly disappeared at my reply.
"Not really, I'm not interested in men. But I do like your bending style and your jokes," I said, making him smile again.
"So, if you don't like men, then perhaps you're good with the ladies. Any tips I can use?" Bolin asked.
"Depends on the person. Who are you trying to impress?" I asked him, taking a sip of my drink.
"Korra," He replied, making me nearly choke on my drink.
"Korra? As in the Avatar?" I questioned.
"Yeah, Korra. Why are you so surprised?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I thought a nice guy like you would go for someone the complete opposite of Korra," I said.
"Korra's nice," He told me.
"Not to me, she isn't," I said.
"What did she do? Do I need to have a talk to her about being mean to my favourite fan?" Bolin asked.
"She keeps giving me dirty looks and she has this attitude that annoys me," I said. The two of us looked over at Korra who was already watching us.
She quickly turned away and I looked back at him.
"See! She hates me for no reason," I said.
"Hate is a strong word. You two just met. Maybe it's just a first impression thing." Bolin shrugged.
"I don't think so," I said to myself.
Suddenly, there was lots of yelling and I turned my head to see what was going on. Korra and Councilman Tarrlok were standing on the platform above the crowd of journalists and reporters.
"If you'd be so kind, they just have a couple of questions," Tarrlok told her, urging Korra towards the crowd.
"Avatar Korra, you witnessed Amon take away people's bending firsthand. How serious of a threat does he pose to the innocent citizens of Republic City?" One of the reporters asked.
My eyes widened. Since when could Amon take away people's bending? I've heard that he was capable of many things, but the thought of him taking away someone's bending made a shiver run down my spine.
I leaned my head on my hand as I curiously awaited Korra's response.
"I think he presents a real problem," She said.
"Then why have you refused to join Tarrlok's task force? As the Avatar, shouldn't you be going after Amon?" The reporter pressed.
"Well, I-" Korra began, but she was cut off by the flash of the cameras.
"Why are you backing away from this fight?" Another reporter questioned.
"What? No! I've never backed away from anything in my life," She argued.
"You promised to serve this city. Are you going back on that promise now?" A journalist asked.
"Do you think probending is more important than fighting the revolution?"
"How do you think Avatar Aang would have handled this?"
"Are you afraid of Amon?"
Questions were fired at Korra from every corner of the room until she finally snapped.
"I'm not afraid of anybody! If the city needs me, then I'll join Tarrlok's task force and help fight Amon!" Korra declared.
"There's your headline, folks!" Tarrlok announced, putting an arm around Korra's shoulder.
I rolled my eyes as the cameras began to flash and the crowd clapped at her words.
♤ ♧ ♤ ♧
The next day, I was in my room listening to the radio when I heard Korra's name again.
I was about to turn it off when I heard something that spiked my interest.
"Question for the Avatar. Amon remains at large. Why have you failed to locate him?" A woman's voice asked.
"You want to know why? Because Amon is hiding in the shadows like a coward. Amon, I challenge you to a duel. No task force, no chi-blockers, just the two of us. Tonight at midnight on Avatar Aang memorial island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this thing . . . if you're man enough to face me," Korra said.
My eyes widened at her words. This girl was either an idiot or overly confident in herself.
♤ ♧ ♤ ♧
A/N
First chapter is finally out! I've been wanting to write a Korra fanfiction for over a year and I finally caved and decided to do it.
I hope you liked the first chapter and I'll try to update this book again this week. Also happy Valentine's Day to everyone who's in a relationship (I'm not and I definitely won't be in one any time soon). I hope you enjoy your day with your partner while I watch the Champion's League.
~Daria <3
Votes and comments are greatly appreciated.
14/02/2023