Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra. All rights go to the creators. This story is based on the song Whose Destiny? which you can find on YouTube. I also do not own rights to that.
Author's Note: I originally wrote this story for a fanfiction contest, and then I forgot where I found that contest. Sooooo . . . here it is! This is a "barely edited" version, so all critique you can throw at me is welcome. I am writing this story on the go, too, so there are sure to be many plot holes, contradictions, and such. Feel free to point those out, and I'll fix them as soon as I can.
So, anyway, thanks for checking this out. I hope you enjoy!
Whose Destiny?
"What is your name?"
"Taya."
"Your age?"
"Seventeen."
"What have you mastered?"
"The four elements."
"And what is your mission?"
"To kill the Avatar."
Whenever I would question my role in this world, my master would say, "To have balance, a scale must have two weights, two means, two ends, two opposing forces."
He's right. Earth has Air. Water has Fire. Aang, the current Avatar, can control the energy magic that is within us all. Therefore, he is not balanced, for what is energy's opposite? The Avatar cannot bring balance to the world, because he is not balanced himself.
In all of my memories, I have been told that I am the true Avatar. The only one who can balance the world, because I am balanced. Even in my first memory, my master told me this.
"Taya," he said. "You do not have the Avatar State on your side, and because of this, you will become a greater Avatar than anyone before you. You will master the four elements, and you will kill the Avatar. That is your destiny, Taya. Learn it, memorize it, believe it."
My purpose in this world is to kill the Avatar. To become the new Avatar. An Avatar who has been balanced, who has mastered all four elements, who has been taught by the greatest master ever to live.
I believe in myself.
Or do I?
I know my master means well. He does everything for me, to help me become the best I can. I have known nothing else but his face. How can I doubt him?
But every now and then, I question myself. I question my role in this world.
I don't feel like an Avatar. I don't feel like a killer.
How can I do both?
The master hands me his glider. "You will need this," he says.
"I cannot take this!" I say. "It is yours."
"No," he says, "now, it is yours. You will need it on your journey to your destiny."
I breathe in deeply, and take the glider. I admire its smooth wood, the carvings and swirls in the side, proclaiming the Air symbol. I flip it and the wings snap out, glorious and red and each four feet long. It is beautiful.
The master lifts my chin up and looks me in the eye. Gray eyes into black eyes. I study his wrinkled face, the lines on his forehead, in his chin, around his eyes. I have dedicated my life to please this man.
My destiny is coming to fruition. I feel it pulsing inside me, pound, pound, pound, a never-ending heartbeat. I will live forever with this destiny inside me.
I nod to my master, clasp my hands together, and bow, my last respects to him. "I will finish this, Master. I will not disappoint you."
And he says, "I know. Go, do well, Taya. I believe in you."
He believes in me.
(Or does he?)
I believe in myself.
(Right?)
I turn around, and leap off the cliff, the glider spreading out and sending me through the air. The speed is exhilarating, the thrill undeniable, the adrenaline rush incredible.
I kick my legs, and a shoot of wind pushes me forward, faster, faster. I pass a pool of water, wave my hand, and the water rushes up to greet me. I soar over a mountain, thrust my hand forward, and rocks tumble to the ground. I reach a forest, swing my leg upwards, and it burns with blue flames.
I have mastered all four elements, an ability that people think only the Avatar can accomplish. But people have forgotten. They have forgotten the old ways. Who first taught people to Bend?
The moon, the badger-moles, the dragons, the sky bison. Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My master learned all these things from those iconic symbols, and from them, he passed his learning onto me.
People think only the Avatar can master the four elements.
They are wrong.
I am here.
I look up and see the Southern Air Temple before me. It is beautiful, even I have to admit that, but I am not here to see sights. My master's sources say that the Avatar is here.
I land on the temple's ground and crouch down. The Avatar can be anywhere; I cannot be seen before my time comes. I slip behind a statue of some monk, and I wait. The Avatar will have to pass this way to leave this temple. I will wait as long as I have to. Patience, after all, is something else I have mastered.
It takes less time than I expect. A few hours later, as the sun starts to sink, I hear footsteps. Light, barely a whisper, and I know they are the Avatar's. Only an Airbender can walk like that.
I close my eyes, and clench my fists together. The Avatar is good, and he has the Avatar State on his side, but I have learned from the original sources, and I am balanced. The Avatar can never be balanced.
Opening my eyes, I spring from my hiding spot and launch myself onto the Avatar. He cries out in surprise, and leaps out of the way, using his Airbender reflexes. But I am also an Airbender.
I make my first move and send forth a gust of air that whisks his robes over his face. When he's able to untangle himself, his eyes are wide. He thought he was the only Airbender alive . . . He thought wrong. . . .
"W-who are you?" he gasps.
I have considered many smart sayings to this question: "Your reckoning. "The bane of your life." "The one who will end you." But I say none of them.
I jump up and when I land, I press my hands to the ground. The stone ripples beneath my fingers and race to the Avatar. He snaps out his glider and flies up in the air before the ripples reach him. Just as I had expected. I know the Avatar's ways. I have studied him like I have studied learning the elements. He eludes, evades, and escapes. I charge, challenge, and confront. He cannot kill; this is what I was taught to do. This is what the master always told me was my purpose.
"Whatever you're doing," he shouts up in the air, "you don't have to do. Please! Let's talk!"
I am not here for talking. I cannot talk. I have to do this.
My breath comes in gasps now, and my heart speeds up. What is happening to me? This has never happened before.
I snap my glider out and take a running-leap into the air. His surprise increases. We face each other in the air. He studies me; I study him. I look at his yellow and orange clothing, his shaven head, the arrows on his forehead, arms, and legs. He is fifteen years old. It has been three years since he defeated Fire Lord Ozai, three years for him to master the elements.
I have had my whole life. My whole life to have been told . . . what my destiny is. My whole life to decide . . . what my destiny is.
I punch my hand toward him and a tongue of fire erupts into the air, singeing wind, and burning the ends of his clothes. With a gush of air, he puts the flames out and soars away from me.
I fly after him, continuing to throw flames at him. The fire heats the air and I start to sweat, droplets running down the side of my face.
"You cannot hide forever!" I say, and my voice cracks from the heat.
He responds with: "Please, whatever's wrong, I can help you! You don't know what you're doing!"
"I know exactly what I am doing!" I do. I really do. How can I not?
I draw my legs up and, with as much power as I can, kick them back. The gust of air sends me spinning forward. I have almost caught up with the Avatar now.
He stops flying and just floats in the air, turning around to face me. "I can help you," he says. "What you're trying to do . . . it's not going to help anything."
"It is my destiny!" I yell. For some reason, I can feel tears at the edge of my eyes, almost slipping out.
"Your destiny is to kill?" he asks softly. The wind buffets around us and I almost lose his words within them.
"My destiny is to kill you and become the new Avatar," I snarl.
I have an opportunity. H is not flying away. I can kill him now.
But I am not doing that. I am stuck, unable to do anything.
"If you really wanted to kill me," he says, "I'd already be dead." He shakes his head in amazement. "I've never seen someone like you. You're amazing."
"Flattery will not help you here."
"I'm being honest. However you were able to master the four elements, I believe that you can stop this. Killing is not the answer. Killing me won't help me. You have the power to change. I believe in you."
I believe in you.
He believes in me. The Avatar, Aang, believes in me. Taya, seventeen years old, master of all four elements. She is believed in.
It takes me a moment to realize I am sinking, forgetting to Airbend to keep myself in the air. I let myself sink to the ground, where I kneel, and cover my face in my hands. The Avatar lands beside me and places his hand on my shoulder.
"I know this is hard," he says, "but I believe in you. I believe you can change."
He seems to sense that that is my trigger phrase.
All my life, I have been told of what I can do, what I should do, and what I will do. Never have I made a choice for myself. Is now that time? Can I defy my master and do something for myself only?
I look up at the Avatar and he smiles. I have never seen someone smile before.
I clear my throat and say, "I will change.
"I believe in myself."
His smile widens, and I realize that I like smiles. I try it myself, widening my lips, showing my teeth. It is a nice feel.
"Come on," Avatar Aang says. "I want you to meet some friends of mine."