Hey! So I'm excited to introduce you all to this fic which is a clexa twist on the Avatar story. My friend is in the middle of creating some fanart for the fic as well so if you would like to see that please visit us on tumblr: lexaterra. Or for any questions about the fic.
Obviously I don't want to give too much away so I'll leave you to enjoy the first chapter but don't forget to let us know what you think, thank you all for giving it a go.
BOOK ONE: CHAPTER ONE
"Avatar?"
Lexa lifted her head from where she was kneeling on the floor, her eyes widened at her mother's shaken words. Time seemed to have stopped.
She didn't even know what time it was, all she knew was that her mother had woken her before the sun had risen to huddle her under a cloak and they swiftly journeyed to the fire temple. Her father had been waiting by the temple doors with a worried look etched onto his face. And with her mother's comforting hand placed gently on her shoulder, she was lead inside before anyone could see them.
She had no clue what was happening. She had only visited the fire temple on special occasions and as far as she knew there were no celebrations due. Her parents had led her into the great, high ceilinged Sage's hall and together knelt down in front of the high Sage, who stood before them at the altar.
Lexa, still half asleep, didn't fully comprehend what was happening. She- a young eight year old, currently in the middle of her studies, learning fire bending from her tutor Anya and being groomed as the future leader of the fire nation couldn't politically be the Avatar; as far as anyone knew no Avatar in history had ever been in line to the throne. They were there to bring balance to the world and could not have any biased opinions on the four elements. She couldn't be the Avatar. She certainly hadn't expected this news.
Her mother's voice may have faltered but the hand on Lexa's shoulder remained firm and reassuring as the information began to sink in. The Sage standing above them dipped his bald head in respect to the leader in front of him but when he raised his gaze again he had eyes only for Lexa. His next words were for her;
"The last Avatar died the year you were born. The search for the next Avatar was delayed due to the uprisings however when the tests began last year I suspected you from the start, as did many others. I… regret… not pushing the subject earlier-"
"Why?" The rough voice of Lexa's father cut in. The young brunette raised her head to shift her eyes to her father. To anyone else he would seem his usual stern and emotionless self but to Lexa he was the concerned and loving father she knew. He was terrified for her but he hid it well, "Why did you not tell us sooner? We could have protected her."
"Protect her?" The Sage's gaze hardened. "You mean stop it! You cannot stop this Fire Lord Ryker, this is her destiny and she cannot run from it no matter how much you may want her too… This isn't a decision for you to make."
Lexa gaped at her father who challenged the Sage with his fiery eyes. Her mother raised her free hand to squeeze his shoulder and his eyes softened as they met hers. Lexa had watched her parent's converse with looks before. They did it in a way that shut everyone else out; a way that made them isolated and alone in their love. There was only beauty in that isolation and Lexa had spent nights praying she would one day find that kind of love in someone. Now though they stood together conversing, not in love, but in fear. Fear for her. Fear for who she would be… is.
Afterwards her parents accompanied Lexa back to the comforts of her room and sat either side of the bed as she fell asleep. Despite all that had transpired that night she didn't feel the fear she expected to course through her… Instead there was a sense of peace, peace at understanding herself. But Lexa is just a child and the world is in a state of calm. Being the Avatar was simple when the world had no troubles. She had been half way between sleep and consciousness when her parents finally voiced their fears.
"What do we do?" Even in whisper her mother's fear pierced through the quiet night. There was a shift on the left side of the bed and Lexa knew her father had got up and begun to pace. He always paced when he was stressed. Her mother smoothed the skin on the back of Lexa's hand in an attempt to soothe herself.
A rough sigh cut through air.
"I don't think there is anything we can do. You heard what the Sage said, this is Lexa's destiny, and we can't change what fate has in store for her."
"Yesterday you didn't believe in fate, Ryker… Maybe we can change Lexa's?" The hope in her mother's voice caused an ache in Lexa's chest as she attempted to keep her face neutral, "Ryker…"
"Kiara, please… For Lexa, we need to be calm. We can't send her away and hide her from the world. We're better than that and so is Lexa, she's young but Lexa knows where her duty is to her people. The only thing that's changed now is that her duty is on a much larger scale." There were sounds of movement as the bed shifted again and Lexa assumed her mother had stood for her father to pull into a hug. Things were silent for a long period and Lexa began to drift off again until her mother spoke again, voice muffled slightly, but still distinguishable.
"If we can't send her away we can at least protect her until she is older… My sister is still after my throne and if she was to discover that Lexa is the Avatar then she may finally strike against us."
Her father grunted in agreement and his tone was grim when he spoke again.
"Nia will eventually strike either way but Lexa being the Avatar means you no longer have a successor to the throne, which is a new problem in itself."
"What do we do?" Her mother whispered.
"For now we keep it between us. The Sage will tell no one and we shall tell only the few we can truly trust."
"Like who?"
"Anya should be told," He said and let out another tired sigh, "We can trust Anya to travel with Lexa when the time comes to master the other elements. For now, we keep it between us, go to bed, and try to act as if it is just another day when we wake up tomorrow."
Lexa listened as her parents moved to the door. Their footsteps ceased for a moment, as if they were looking back to gaze at her, and then the door closed behind them leaving Lexa alone in the darkness.
—
Lexa breathed in slowly and enjoyed the calming motions of the flames surrounding her rising and falling with her breathing. She kept with the routine, enjoying the feeling it created within her body and the tranquility of the world around her. No matter the pressure of her life or the hard day ahead, as long as she rose with the sun and meditated with the flames she was calm.
Having her eyes closed heightened her hearing and the approaching footsteps weren't lost on Lexa. She cracked her eyes open in time with her exhale and lowered the flames down to a dull light. The steps stopped behind her and Lexa took a moment to enjoy the sight of the morning sun emerged from behind the volcanic peak in the distance. This was her favourite spot for her morning meditation. Out on the deck of the training house looking over the grounds and courtyard where she would soon be sparring with Anya.
It was Anya that spoke first.
"I knew I'd find you here."
"They told you," Lexa closed her eyes and tightened her clasped hands in her lap.
Anya dropped down into the same meditation position on Lexa's right as the young girl opened her eyes and met the gaze of her mentor. She had expected the same fear and concern from her parent's face but instead she saw the same blank expression that Anya always wore.
"Are you ready to train?"
Lexa furrowed her brow. Her mother had tried to talk her out of training this morning and her father had attempted to bribe her with some of her favourite foods. She had expected Anya to reject their training but instead here she was acting like everything was normal. Lexa grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Anya smirked and stood from the floor, "Get up then little Heda. Fire bending masters don't waste the day."
—
TEN YEARS LATER
Lexa stood looking out over the bow of the ship. The crew was busy organizing the last of their supplies but her focus was on the palace gates that towered behind the crowds of people watching and waiting to send them off. After ten years of knowing she would one day have to leave to train with the other elements, it was finally happening but the excitement her younger self had once felt at the prospect of travelling was gone and replaced instead with the tension and pressure of being the Avatar.
"Glad to see you packed light."
Lexa glanced down at the small pack at her feet and rolled her eyes. Anya came to a stop at her side and kicked the bag as if in disgust
"We have a boat, and you know you can carry more than just a spare set of clothes, right?"
Anya raised an eyebrow and leant back against the bars of the ship as Lexa shrugged in response.
"Nothing survived the fire to bring along… besides the Sage said I couldn't take any personal belongings with me, he said it creates too much of a biased opinion. And the Avatar has to be balanced."
"Ignore him," Anya growled, "I've known Titus most of my life and I watched him teach the previous Avatar during her final few years. Titus is a bitter old man that believes he knows what's best but whether he likes it or not he is fire nation and his opinion is biased. You're going to meet a lot of Sages on your journey, Lexa, and each of them is going to have their own opinion on how the Avatar should be and how they should bring balance to the world."
Lexa's face dropped further and she dejectedly slumped against the bars, resting her chin against her crossed arms. Anya's face softened and she placed a reassuring hand on Lexa's shoulder,
"The truth is there's no set way the Avatar should be. Each Avatar has been different and each had their own way of doing things but even they can't tell you how to be you. That's for you to figure out on your own, Lexa. The Avatar has always been a mystery and the connection to the spirit world gives them unimaginable power. But your path as the Avatar is something you need to discover in your own way and in your own time."
The brunette smiled thankfully at her teacher, "I know there's a lot for me to learn and know it's going to take a long time for me to master all the elements but…" She bit her lip and gazed back over the fire nation gates.
"You don't want to leave," Anya nodded in understanding, "You don't want to leave your people."
Lexa let out a groan of frustration, "How can I? When my mother and father died I promised them I would protect our people but I can only do that if I'm here to stop Nia. If I leave then Nia is free to do as she wishes and cause more suffering… not to mention Ontari and Roan."
"Ontari is a mirror image of her mother," Anya agreed grimly, "But Roan is different, and you can trust him to do what he can to keep your people safe until you return. But we need to go Lexa. Nia doesn't trust you and whether you like it or not she is more powerful than you...for now. If we stay in the fire nation I'm fearful of what she might do… We will return Lexa, one day, I promise you that."
—
Clarke sat on the edge of the ice wall that protected the northern water tribe's border. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon and she smiled at the fresh morning air. Clarke was due back with her mother in the healing centre soon but she decided to push time as far as she could to enjoy the sun rise. Closing her eyes she smiled softly and took a long, deep breath of the crisp air.
"Clarke!"
Cracking open one eye she let out a frustrated sigh. Two ships were sailing towards the wall, the scout party that Kane sent out the night before had returned and she could see Octavia standing and waving at her from the front boat. It looks as though her morning of peace was over before it even began.
Standing up from the wall she brushed the snow from her clothes and grinned down at her friend with a small wave. Turning around she clambered down the steps and nodded to the water bending guards as they began to retract the wall for the boats to enter.
Clarke dropped down onto the snow beside the water and watched as the boats pulled in. Octavia was beaming at her as she clambered out first ahead of the other scouts.
"Good morning Clarke."
"Morning Octavia," She smirked as the younger girl passed her and nodded to the boy behind her, "Bellamy."
"Clarke," He grumbled and lifted up one of the boxes, "Want to help with these? Doesn't look as though Octavia is."
Octavia made a noise of protest from behind her; Clarke turned around and saw that her friend had her face stuck in a basket of fish. Bellamy rolled his eyes and passed Clarke a box of supplies.
"She complained the whole way there about being hungry, ate most of our food supply, then complained the way back."
Clarke let out a light chuckle and glanced back to where the guards were closing up the gate,
"Is everything still quiet out there?" She asked.
Bellamy raised an eyebrow as he forced a box into Octavia's arms and began leading the way to the supply house.
"You mean as quiet as when you asked yesterday? Yeah Clarke it is," he smiled at her blush, "Don't worry, I won't tell your mother you're interested in something other than healing." Bellamy laughed at the disgruntled look that crossed Clarke's face.
The blonde rolled her eyes at his teasing.
"Tell her what you want Bellamy, it's not like she doesn't already have enough motivation to try and keep me with the other healers every second of every day."
"You're a great healer," Octavia pointed out as she ducked under a stack of fishing spears being carried across their path, "I wish I could do half the things you can with water."
Bellamy frowned at his sister, "You can train with the others when you've learnt discipline."
"I've learnt discipline," Octavia grumbled, "It's you that's keeping me in your sights every second."
"I'm protecting you!"
"Sure, that's what you call it…" She scoffed, "Have you ever thought that maybe I don't need protecting?"
Clarke let out a huff and tuned out as the siblings continued to argue. It was an argument she'd heard before and Clarke knew how it would end; Octavia would eventually tire herself with the arguing and ignore Bellamy for a few hours until the two siblings eventually made up.
Octavia's mother died giving birth to her and Bellamy had taken it upon himself to protect his sister above all else. It was sweet and she loved them both but sometimes she couldn't blame Octavia for feeling suffocated by her brother's protectiveness. She was only a year younger than Clarke herself, who had a few months left before turning eighteen, but Bellamy still acted as though she was half that age. Sometimes Octavia didn't seem to mind too much, but when it came to practising bending Bellamy was particularly strict. He can't bend water himself, but their mother was a water bending healer and despite Clarke's own mother's attempts, it wasn't enough to save her. Bellamy didn't blame water bending specifically for taking away his mother but he was extremely cautious about Octavia practising it.
Bellamy ran supply shifts in between his own training with the northern tribe's army and, more often than not, Octavia wanted to join him. He was most opposed to that. Bellamy could accept his sister training with water benders to heal people but the idea of her joining the army had him permanently and firmly against it. Naturally that just proved to anger Octavia more. The two siblings always seemed to come full circle with their arguments.
"Clarke!"
She snapped out of her day dreaming and turned to see her mother, Abby, running alongside four other water tribe men all carrying a board with what looked like a body on it. She looked stressed and concerned.
"Clarke, I need your help!"
Clarke turned back to Octavia and Bellamy who had stopped quarrelling long enough to look worried themselves. Bellamy indicated for Clarke to give him her box of supplies, "Go. We can take these."
Clarke nodded her thanks took off after her mother who had disappeared into one of the healing rooms. She pushed aside the fabric that covered the entrance to watch as the body was lowered onto a pile of furs. As the men moved aside Clarke got a closer look at the body on the bed. It was a girl.
She masked her shock as Abby handed her some bandages.
"What happened to her?"
"We don't know," Her mother nodded for the others two leave until it was just the two of them left, "The guards found her by the south entrance. She was unconscious and bleeding from a deep gash across her back."
Clarke knelt down beside the girl's face and winced at the bruises that littered her skin, "It looks as though she was attacked."
"We don't know how long she was in the water," Abby's frown deepened as she moulded water to her hands and lowered it to the girl's chest, "She has a few broken ribs as well. I'll heal them first, before we turn her around to wrap the laceration on her back."
Clarke leant over to the corner of the room and stoked the fire.
"Did they stop the bleeding at least?" Abby nodded in reply, "Okay then, I'll try and elevate her body temperature until you're finished."
By the time the sun had fully set again Clarke was still tending to the unconscious girl. Her mother had left after tending to her back to assist in a birth leaving Clarke alone. She was sat in the corner watching the fire and trying not to let her gaze keep drifting back to the non-moving pile of furs in front of it. She had so many questions but the girl had yet to even wake at the moment, despite all their efforts.
A low groan sounded and Clarke looked up expectantly to see small movement. She stood up and eyed the brunette carefully as another groan sounded followed closely with what sounded like a name.
"..ya…"
Clarke stepped closer carefully and eyed the girl as her face scrunched in discomfort, "Anya…"
"Is that your name?" Clarke whispered carefully as she crouched beside her, trying not to scare the injured stranger, "Anya? Is that your name?"
The girl's eyes cracked open and Clarke was startled momentarily by the emerald green staring back at her, "Anya?" She croaked, "Where is she?"
Clarke let out a sigh, so that wasn't her name
"I don't know. You were alone when they found you."
"Anya's gone?"
"I don't know who Anya is," She cringed at how little she was helping, "I'm sorry."
The girl attempted to sit up but Clarke immediately pressed her gently back down onto the furs.
"You shouldn't move, we just about put you back together," She joked weakly.
The brunette narrowed her eyes at Clarke, as if studying her for a moment.
"Where am I?"
"The northern water tribe," Clarke said gently.
The brunette scrunched her eyes and let out another groan. She shuffled her right arm out from under the furs and stared at the bruised and battered palm. Whatever had happened to the girl she was certainly lucky to still be alive. If she had been left for much longer she ran the risk of freezing to death on the ice,
"What happened?"
"I was hoping you could tell us that," Clarke looked over to the corner where the girl's soaked travelling clothes were piled up- mere rags now, "We just found you on the ice already injured and unconscious… Where are you from?"
The girl flinched as a moment of panic crossed over her face.
"I don't remember… I got on a boat, with Anya, but I don't know why and… I don't remember anything before that…"
Clarke sighed softly and placed a gentle hand on the girl's arm. The brunette looked up at her and she offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile,
"Do you at least remember your name?"
"Lexa," the brunette swallowed and let out a shaky breath, "My name is Lexa."
