The time after the party does not fly by. I find myself practicing my waterbending and going to the Spirit Oasis to mediate more. Kavik has been attending to royal duties or something, he never gave me a straight answer on exactly what he was doing just that it was boring and necessary. My other waterbender friends all have lives, with families and jobs, and I don't feel right interrupting them.
One evening as I sit there in the oasis enjoying the warmer weather I find myself realizing I was bored. Visiting the North Pole was nice and very relaxing but I find myself missing my friends and being able to practice earthbending. Believe it or not, even being able to help people as the Avatar.
I watch the two spirits who have taken the form of fish swim in a never ending cycle and sigh out loud.
"Bored?" Kavik's voice asks me. I turn around pleased to see him, even if our last encounter was kind of awkward. I felt bad because he deserves a reason as to why I can't marry him but I can't bring myself to talk about Levi right now.
"A little, it is nice to be home, but it is like I don't have a life here now," I confess to him.
"You could have a life here now. My father would happily arrange our marriage," he says bringing up the dreaded topic.
"Listen Kavik, you are such a good friend but I can't give you the love you deserve right now. While I was on my Avatar journey, I fell in love and he isn't alive anymore. I can't move on from him though," I finally tell him. He doesn't seem shocked, which surprises me.
"I figured it was something like that. But don't you think with him dying he would want you to be happy. Don't I make you happy? Doesn't the idea of having the power of the Avatar and the power of the Northern Water Tribe Chief entice you? Do you think he would want you wallowing and not doing anything with your time?" he asks me. I am shocked by his words. He said it with so much force.
"That is why I want to do something to help people or at least check with the White Lotus to see if I have any Avatar duties," I tell him.
"Oh speaking of the White Lotus, I believe they sent you a letter. I have it here somewhere," he says reaching into one of his many pockets. I give him a questioning glance.
"Why do you have my mail?" I can't help but ask him.
"I ran into the post man wondering the halls looking for you. I figured I would offer taking it since I was coming to find you anyway. He seemed very busy," he tells me handing me over the letter. I look at the return address and the seal and it is indeed from the Republic City White Lotus.
"Well that was nice of you," I tell him. I open the letter and read what they have to say.
Dear Avatar Nadia,
We at the Republic City chapter of the White Lotus hope this letter finds you in good health. We are writing to let you know that the city board of Republic City wishes to hold a festival in honor of finishing up clean up from the attack by the Red Lotus. The festival will include rides, games, food, and shows. The entire city is invited to join in the festivities. They wish to have both the Avatars as special guests. You are welcome to bring anyone with you. We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
The White Lotus
"What does it say?" Kavik asks me.
"They invited me to a festival held in Republic City as an honored guest. Not the exact thing I would have chosen to do as the Avatar but I suppose it is something. Then after I could always ask the White Lotus if they have any other jobs for me," I think out loud.
"So you are leaving the North Pole then," Kavik sighs while leaning on the bridge's post.
"Well yeah, I would have to so that I could attend," I work through the logic with him giving him a confused glance.
"Would you come back?" he asks.
"What?" his question surprising me.
"Would you come back to the North Pole after?" he asks me again.
I don't know what answer to give him. Would I come back? Probably eventually, my brothers are still here. No matter how much I love adventure, I find the North Pole relaxing. But I think my role now is the Avatar and that comes first. I can't just abandon the people not like I feel like I abandoned Levi.
"Why do you ask?" I decide to ask him.
"It is just that I would miss you and I think the North Pole has been good for you," he tries to convince me. I find it sweet that he admits that he would miss me. But I find his insistence on staying here a little obsessive.
"Oh Kavik that is... sweet. How about you could come with me? They said I could invite anyone I wanted, it is an open event. You could meet my friends and my relatives. Have a chance to explore a different city. We could have one last night of fun before we go our separate ways for a while," I say trying to comfort him on this fact.
"Really?" he asks. He looked really excited when I said he would get to meet my friends.
"Yeah, it would be good for you to get some experiences outside of the palace let alone the North Pole!" I exclaim.
"I'm not the complete shut in I used to be you know," he laughs at my exclamation.
"I know I know. So what do you say?" I ask him.
"I would love to go to Republic City with you," Kavik tells me.
Within the next couple of days, we were both packed and ready to go. His father seemed quite happy that we were going to Republic City together for some reason. The boat ride was long but we kept entertained by sharing stories of our adventures. I told him all about Serefina, Terra, Drake, Dante, Levi, the Air Temple, Boulder and Ba Sing Se. He told me about how he joined the army for a wider range of experiences, training, working with his father, reading some really cool and old scrolls from Avatar Aang's and Avatar Korra's time, and his waterbending training which has come along really nicely.
It is mid-afternoon when we dock since the boat left very early that morning. The boat docked in the Republic City port and we got off. I started showing Kavik some of the major buildings and landmarks, when all of a sudden using my earthbending I felt someone running towards us.
In no time at all, I feel myself get pushed to the ground by a familiar mess of black hair and green-blue eyes. Out of the corner of my vision, I notice Kavik in a fighting stance. I laugh at the entire situation.
"Hey there," I tell her.
"Nadia, you are here!!" she screams in my ear. She finally gets off of me and helps me up only to pull me into a proper hug.
"It is good to see you again Terra. How was Ba Sing Se?" I ask her.
"I surprisingly loved it. I teach earthbending, I have my own apartment, and I was able to help them clean up." Terra tells me briefly, but that is when she notices Kavik who has finally dropped his fighting stance when he realized she was not a threat. "And who are you?"
"Oh, Terra this is Kavik, my best friend from the North Pole and Kavik this is my cousin Terra," I introduce them. When I say cousin, Kavik visibly relaxes and smiles.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Terra, Nadia has told me so much about you and don't worry all good things," he says shaking her hand.
She shakes his back but responds, "I think I heard about a friend in her letters but really haven't heard much of you, but it is still nice to meet you."
"So how long have you been in Republic City if you have been living in Ba Sing Se?" I ask her.
"I just arrived with Serefina and Drake about a day ago actually," Terra lets me know.
"So Serefina and Drake are already here. Where are they now?" I can't help but wonder.
"Probably making out thanks to my match maker skills," Terra informs me confidently.
I give her a questioning look but decide not to burst her bubble. It doesn't take long before we arrive close to the center of the city. That's when I notice Serefina and Drake eating lunch together. I am about to run over but Terra beats me to it.
"HEY! Serefina! Drake! Look who just got here!!" Terra shouts.
I give apologetic looks to the bystanders, but Terra's words make both of them look our way and I wave at them, smiling. Serefina gets up and runs over to me. We share a look for a second before we both mentally decide it is okay to hug each other at this point in our unique relationship and we can't help but laugh.
"It is good to see you Nadia. How was the North Pole?" Serefina asks me.
"It was nice to be home in a familiar setting but I was starting to get bored compared to our last few months," I chuckle.
"But you had a good time?" she asks still sounded concerned for me.
"Yes, I was able to catch up with my brothers, waterbending master, and my good friends from my waterbending training days. Speaking of which, Serefina meet Kavik, Kavik meet Serefina," I say gesturing to each when I say their name to the other.
His eyes widen in surprise and he looks Serefina up and down. He holds out his hand for her to shake.
"Pleasure is all mine to meet you Serefina. Nadia has told me countless stories of you these past few months, thank you for looking out for her as much as you did. I wouldn't know what to do if something had happened to her," he explains. She shakes his hand, and then he holds his hand out to Drake.
Drake shakes his hand back but much slower. "How did you say you knew Nadia again?" he asks.
"Oh, she lived with my father and I while she was training in the Capital of the North Pole since her family lives in a village. It would have been difficult for Nadia to make it to lessons on time every day if she was traveling an hour or so by foot each way, then not really having anyone from her class to practice with. We grew very close in that time," Kavik explains in an almost defensive manor.
"Right. Well it is nice to meet you," Drake replies.
"Likewise," Kavik answers.
"So Serefina, what did you do these past few months?" I ask her.
"I went to the Fire Nation, then the Air Temples, then Ba Sing Se for a couple days," she explains to me.
We continue to catch up on minor things that happened to us these past few months. I loved seeing Drake and Serefina finally together but it made me feel a little sad that I don't have a relationship like that... at least not anymore. Soon we all head to a small hotel for the night, since we didn't know how long we were all staying and didn't want to intrude on Terra's family we all agreed to stay at the same hotel. I make my way to the roof of the building and look at the stars. The stars I see now are different than the ones I see in the North Pole, but the night time sky still brings me peace. I hear the door to the roof open and feel Serefina's feet walk up behind me.
"It is a beautiful night," I tell her motioning for her to have a seat.
"How did you know it was me?" she asks, then realizes the answer to her own question so we end up saying, "Earthbending," at the same time. I can't help but laugh.
"So how are you holding up?" she asks me. I was hoping to avoid this all together but I suppose it would be nice to talk about it to someone who knew both of us.
"I feel okay, even good at times, but when I think about guys or see another couple I can't help but have my mind to wonder to what we could have been or at least what I wanted it to be," I confess.
"I had a feeling it was something like that. You know we are all here for you if you ever need us. But he wouldn't want you to be hung up and depressed over him. He would want you to be happy and you know it. Maybe it is time you found yourself a new guy. What about Kavik? He was handsome," Serefina lets me know.
"Kavik is part of the problem. I do like him but more like a really good friend. Before I left the North Pole, I think I liked him like that, but I could never see myself marrying him. When I got back and found him again, I still liked him but I still can't see myself marrying him this time for different reasons. Kavik has proposed to me multiple times and each time I dodge the question or run away to deny him. I feel bad but I don't think I love him, at least not yet."
"Not yet?"
"Given time, I may realize these feelings I have for him are wanting for us to be more than friends, but I am just not over Levi yet," I confess finally.
"Well, only your heart can decide that," Serefina wisely states. "I can't believe I said that, your sappiness is already rubbing off on me and it has only been a few hours," she says pushing me lightly. I genuinely laugh.
"Come on, we have the festival in our honor tomorrow. Let's turn in," I tell her offering a hand to stand up which she happily accepts.
We meet up the next morning to grab some breakfast then head into town. By the time we got there, everything was set up. It was amazing how quickly they put this all together since I hadn't really seen any signs of it yesterday. I see tons of booths with games, food, and things to buy. I love the little shops here especially, there are some booths that are clearly inspired by a particular nation and some that seem to mix them all and even a couple that don't have a clear nation affiliation.
"Come on Nadia, the officials want us up there," Serefina says while pointing to the stage.
"Oh gosh, do you think they will make you give a speech?" Terra asks.
"I hope not," Serefina mumbles.
"Nadia has practice, worse case she does all the talking," Kavik tells the group.
"What do you mean practice?" Serefina asks.
"I had to give a speech out of the blue at a Banquet in the North Pole," I inform the rest of the group who wasn't there.
"Wait really?" Terra asks.
"Sure did. It was weird," is all I say. Serefina and I head up to the stage and great the Council of Officials and the White Lotus who are already up there. We thank them for inviting us and express how happy we are that Republic City has completely been repaired since our battle. Within the hour, hundreds of people are in the square waiting for the opening of the festival. The council starts by making an opening speech.
"People of Republic City, friends, family, visitors, and anyone else who has honored us by joining. We are welcome to invite you to this festival to celebrate rebuilding Republic City after the battle between the Avatars and the Red Lotus. Please enjoy yourselves to your hearts content. Would the Avatars like to add anything before they signal the start?"
Serefina looks at me worriedly. We both know we should say something but we were not prepared. How hard was it for the White Lotus or the council members to warn us in that hour we talked about nothing before this. When Serefina doesn't say anything I step in quickly.
"I speak for both of us Avatars when I say that we are honored to be here. We wish that we could have helped more and we are sorry to have done this to Republic City, but it allowed us to unite as a people once again. It gave us common ground and a goal to set our minds to. It is all of you hard workers who should be honored today," I finish then look at Serefina.
She gives me a smile that I know says good job before adding something herself to the speech, "And what my fellow Avatar did not mention is to remember to have fun, everyone deserves a break. Let the festival begin!"
The afternoon is filled with fun, something I knew I needed. Terra dragged Kavik and I around to the games while Serefina and Drake ran off to do something semi-romantic. Kavik won me a cute stuffed polarbear dog, an animal I would love to meet but it only lives in the South Pole.
Terra entered a test your strength competition where you slam a hammer onto a scale and won, we couldn't help ourselves but laugh at everyone's shocked faces and Terra's reaction.
Serefina made us all try a traditional Fire Nation snack that was for sale so I ran ahead and made them try a Water Tribe snack. I chuckled at their reactions. "It takes some getting used to," Kavik tells the group.
I can safely say that we all had a great time it seems. It was nice to be able to experience the different cultures again and to see my friends again. It is weird to think that after such a short time, we have grown so close. I don't know if I could ever see myself staying in the North Pole for extended periods of time at this point, which is hard to admit. The place where I grew up and the place I never thought I would have the chance to leave. But I honestly think that.
We spend the rest of the evening enjoying ourselves.
"What should we do next guys?" Terra asks holding her prizes from the knock the milk bottles down games.
"Why don't we..."
"What if we..."
Their voices drift off when I feel Kavik pull on hand. He drags me away from the group and covers my eyes.
"I want to show you something I found while you were waiting to give your speech," I nod my head and smile. He leads me away until I can barely hear the festival goers talking.
"Okay, open them," he commands me. When I do, I am face to face with fairy lights lining a beautiful garden canopy of flowers from around the world from each nation. There is a bridge to overlook the river as well.
"This is beautiful," I whisper in awe. When I don't hear a response from him. I turn around and I see Kavik standing a few inches back from me.
"Not as beautiful as you," he whispers to me but somehow it sounds like he is shouting. "I thought I would try somewhere different. To show you I am not afraid of change and compromise. To show you that other things matter to me," Kavik continues talking. He then pulls out a carefully sculpted betrothal necklace. It is small and simple but with beautiful traditional water tribe symbols that would look like swirls and waves to anybody else. "Nadia, you are the moon to my night sky. I could live without you, but my world wouldn't be nearly as bright or beautiful. Please Nadia, I know I have asked before, but please honestly consider me as an option. See me as more than a friend, as more than the son of the chief. I am getting desperate. Will you marry me Nadia?"
I look at Kavik and at all the thought he put into this. I put my hands to my racing heart.
"Kavik you are a brave man, a hard worker, and very caring to your people. Those are all important qualities, qualities I have always admired. When you proposed the first time, I was on cloud nine. I would have accepted your offer if I didn't have an urge to see the world. Now, I have seen the world and I could probably convince myself to live in the North Pole, but I still can't marry you. I do have feelings for you, but I am still in love with someone else. I know he would want me to be happy, but this life in the North Pole forever isn't that. I could never be your Madam. I am sorry Kavik," I tell him.
Kavik looks disappointed before putting away the betrothal necklace. "Right, of course your answer wouldn't change that easily. I am sorry for making you explain it to me again," Kavik says. "I think I am going to turn in for the night. Sweet dreams Nadia, I will see you tomorrow."
And I watch him walk away. His tone of voice sounded like one of defeat but he still holds himself with pride, like any future chief should. I decide to head back to my friends for a little while before going to bed myself.
I find my friend in the town center the next morning. We talk and eat breakfast and discuss what we want to do next.
"I think I am going to check with the White Lotus, see if the Avatar has any duties or requests," I tell my friends.
"Really?" Serefina asks seemily surprised that I am not going back to the North Pole.
"Yeah, maybe I will go back to the North Pole to discuss things with my brothers real quick but I can't seem to want to settle anywhere anymore," I try to explain. Terra then fills in for Serefina's confusion.
"You should come visit Ba Sing Se! See my apartment and Boulder! I could show you the sights and help with your earthbending training and so much more!"
"That sounds great," I tell her.
"So you don't think you will live in the North Pole anymore?" Serefina questions going back to our previous topic.
"Our grandmother always says that sometimes we have to leave home to truly find it."
"What?" Serefina asks again.
"I don't know and she is my grandmother," I whisper to Serefina. Terra only rolls her eyes at us before flicking some water from her glass at us.
"You did not just start a water fight with a waterbender?" I question her. Terra notices her mistake and quickly gets up to run away. I laugh and chase after her. While on my quest to find my cousin, I run into Kavik.
"Oh Nadia, I was coming to look for you," he tells me.
"This isn't about last night is it?" I question shyly.
"No no," he chuckles. "Don't think I have given up on you though. But anyway I was invited to stay in Republic City for a few weeks to discuss international relations with the Council. I think it would be good for the North Pole to work on their foreign relationships, even if we are more locationally isolated. Plus, it would give me some more experience being a leader and representing my people."
"That sounds like a fantastic idea!"
"It seems like it did us both some good. Even if my proposal didn't work," he chuckles.
"I am glad Kavik. I am glad you could come and that I could help you. You and your father have been such lovely hosts for me while I was in the city," I tell him.
"Oh man! My father, I was supposed to help him with some important documents! I won't be able to stay here any longer darn," Kavik says rubbing his neck.
"Well can't you just send him a letter to tell him you will help him when you get back?" I question.
"No these documents need to be signed immediately by two high ranking officials and these people who have been wanting to meet with him for months and are quiet impatient," he clears up.
I hesitate to offer but it feels like I should, "Well, if there was anything I could do to help you, I would do it."
"Wait, there just might be! I hate to ask this of you Nadia, but could you go to the North Pole to act as an official?" he questions excitement in his eyes.
"What? Me an official?" I exclaim.
"Yes, a North Pole born Avatar would totally count!" he exclaims.
"I don't know," I mumble rubbing my arm.
"I understand. I shouldn't even have asked you to do something so important. How rude of me. I know how much you wanted to get out of the North Pole," Kavik says looking let down.
"It isn't that I want to get out of the North Pole it is just that I wanted to feel useful. But if you really need me to go to the North Pole for you and your father, I would be happy to," It wasn't completely the truth but also not a complete lie. I should pay back the Chief for everything if I can.
"Really? Oh thank you Nadia. That means so much to me. And my father and the officials will love to have the Avatar's opinion!" he says spinning me around. I can't help myself by laugh.
"If you think so," I say with skeptisim.
"I know they will," Kavik tells me with confidence.
So just like that as all my friends left for their respective homes or nations, I headed back to the North Pole, quicker than I thought I would.