Disclaimer: I own nothing of Avatar, or the Legend of Korra. I never have, and I never will :P
Prologue~
The smell of smoke, the sound of screaming, the feel of rough hands seizing my arms, the taste of ashes. These haunt my dreams each night, follow my thoughts through the day. I have no family. They all died the day my house was torched by firebending thugs. I could have stopped them. I could have saved my parents and my brother. They were helpless, nonbenders. I should have stopped the fire. I can't firebend but somehow, I should have saved them. Instead, I was dragged out of the burning house by the thugs, intended for the underground slave market. Eight-year-old girls were highly valued. But the thugs never made it to the market alive. I killed them and ran from the ashes of my home.
Living on the streets was hard. There was no food for the first three days. The only water came from the city pond. It didn't taste good, but it was something. Then, just as I was about to collapse and die in a deserted alleyway, I was found by a pair of bending brothers. They took me in, although they too lived on the streets. They had a hideaway, and they had food.
Mako was the oldest of our trio. He was a firebender and I didn't trust him at first. But he took care of me and his brother, Bolin. Bolin was a year older than me and two years younger than Mako. Bolin could earthbend. The brothers told me their parents had died three years ago, and they'd been on the streets ever since. We did what we had to do to survive. I helped out however I could. I was small for my age, and rich folk were easily persuaded to spare some change for a malnourished little girl. We lived like that for five years before Mako and Bolin were found by an agent for pro-bending matches. They teamed up with a waterbender named Hasook, another street teen picked up by the agent. Through the pro-bending, Mako and Bolin earned enough to rent us a small apartment loft. They spent the next two years getting better and better at their bending, getting closer to a shot at the championship.
I was a burden to them now. They barely earned enough to cover the food bill and rent. Two days before their last match before the championship, I ran away. I knew Republic City like the back of my hand, and found my way to a job in a small shop easily enough. So, hidden away from the brothers who had cared for me for so long, I met the Avatar on her first day in the city.
She was everything I wasn't. She was tall, brave, confident… and able to bend. She was lost in the city and had to ask my boss for directions to Air Temple Island. I stood in the back of the shop, listening to the conversation. I knew who she was the moment she arrived, thanks to my gift. I can't bend, but I can sense other benders and their abilities. Korra's aura was very much like Mako's, strong-willed and outspoken. When she took on the thugs threatening our neighbors, I could feel the power rippling away from her. I knew her desire to protect the innocent was strong. She was gone soon after, chased by the metalbenders.
I want to be like Korra. I want to protect those weaker than me. I want to be brave and strong. But I'm not.
My name is Selena. I live in a dank corner of Republic City. I cannot bend. I am not strong. I am very afraid of the world. I can sense things others cannot.
And I am blind.