Had one step, one moment gone differently, we wouldn't be together today.
He never really believed in fate, or at least never counted on it. Why would cosmic destiny be so cruel to the many kids who were on the street just like they once were? Why would fate will him to loose his parents and become a father to his brother at the tender age of eight?
No, he never even thought of fate, of destiny. It was something saved only for those who had time to think in such abstract terms. What destiny was there for a street rat but to live, struggle and die?
It was a useless line of thought.
She came, that one night out of all nights. To the arena out of all of the places she could have gone. Through that back entrance, at the exact time Toza walked by to catch her. At the exact time my brother walked by. If it had been me I would have looked the other way.
Everything would be so different.
Everything he had, he had worked for by his own free will. She instead was assigned everything she had by destiny. Even her very concept of self, her identity. The very opposite of himself.
But she, strong yet vulnerable, fierce yet caring, the Avatar, yet still very much still Korra, was inexplicably intertwined into his life.
Can fate really explain our meeting? Couldn't it just be that it was a coincidence? But how could coincidence explain the way she came into my life and revolutionized it?
She took him out of his world of the mundane, the world where he could always be cool under fire and showed him a new one. One where he could use his gift to its full potential, where he had a reason to fight not only for himself and his brother, but also for so many others. Where he would meet the girl he could truly say he loved with the fire she helped him find deep within.
She gave him a destiny he wanted to fulfill, if he could ever admit that to himself.
Dad, mom, if somehow you two had a part in this "fate" or whatever, thanks. When I thought of red strings before, I just imagined the last thing I had from you falling apart. Now I think of it as what connects me to her and back to you.
I still think she is the only one with a great destiny to fulfill. I'm just glad I can be a part of it.