Summary: Nila is a waterbender but she has never been to the Northern or Southern water tribes. Her parents were travelers and ended up in Republic City to raise Nila. Now an adult, Nila meets the avatar and joins the team in fighting Equalists. Set in Book 1: Air.
Retelling of Book 1: Air but with an OC inserted into the story and in a different point of view. (Don't worry, it won't be the exact scenes from the show.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra they belong to the writers and creators.
Prologue
"Nila, come here please." A soft, gentle voice called to me, my mother. She was a kind, gentle woman with soft blue eyes and dark hair like many of the natives from the water tribe. She never told me if she was from the Southern or Northern tribe and I never asked. It seemed like it was a painful memory because of the way her eyes would become cloudy.
She settled me on her lap at the dining table in our small apartment in Republic City. Father sat across from us. He was almost the complete opposite of mother. Where she would talk herself out of situations, he fought his way out. Literally and metaphorically. He was never this way with me though, he became downright sweet when I was with him. The only similarities they shared were dark hair and blue eyes. He was also from a water tribe.
"We need to tell you something, dear." Mother spoke again as she wrapped her arms around my small, childish frame.
Unease bubbled within me. They were being awfully glum which very seldom occurred.
Father spoke now, "Your mother and I have to go away for a little while. You'll be staying with Auntie Yumi." Auntie Yumi was not actually my aunt, she was a close friend to my parents, she lived in the apartment next door with her cat, Sake. Being a child, I was confused, I did not know why they had to go away nor was I able to comprehend it. My eyes peered up at mother first, she was smiling but it held no happiness, then I met my father's eyes, his face was stoic.
"Why are you going away? When will you be back?" My childish voice cracked with questions.
Seconds of silence passed as my parents looked at each other remorseful. "We do not know, little glowfly."
Little glowfly was a nickname my father gave me, he told me the glowflies were much brighter than a normal firefly, then he related that I was the bright, radiant light in both his and mother's life. He said they lived in swamps near Ba Sing Se, in the Earth Kingdom.
I did not quite understand it but they kept using the nickname, and I liked it. "We hope it will not be long but Auntie Yumi will take good care of you until we come back." My mother tightened her arms around me in a hug.
"But... I do not want you to go away. Can I come with you?"
"This is a trip only your mother and I can take, Nila." Father said quickly, startling me. Mother shot him a warning glare.
She tugged at my shoulders until I turned around in her lap to face her. "Listen, there are things that adults have to do, responsibilities, and you will understand one day. But we will be back." She put one hand on my head and the other on my back into a hug, I clung to her tightly.
My father stood and joined in the hug as well. A knock at the door interrupted the moment. Father left us to answer it, after a few minutes he came back to the table with Auntie Yumi following. I smiled politely at her as she did the same. "Nila, it is time for us to go now." My father said.
Tears began to form in my eyes, mother's arms tightened around me one more time before she gently took me off her lap, she stood and grabbed a satchel that I had not noticed was slung on the back of the chair. Now that I saw it, there was another one on the back of the chair father had just been seated in. Now, a single tear fell from my eyelid.
"Do you really have to go?" I sniffled.
"Yes, little glowfly. Here," Mother dug around in her satchel, when she found what she had been searching for she held out her hand and crouched to my level, "I want you to have this." She opened her hand revealing a necklace.
The necklace was fairly simple with just a pendent of a crescent moon with three horizontal lines. I recognized the symbol as the water tribe emblem.
"Can you hang on to this while I'm gone? It belonged to my mother and has been in many generations of our family." She smiled at me, laughing softly, I must have looked confused. "This will be a reminder that your father and I will return. Promise."
She wiped away a tear with her thumb, I nodded solemnly, then she kissed my forehead and stood straighter. "Goodbye, little glowfly." Father and mother said before I watched them walk out the door.
That was the last time I ever saw either of my parents.
A/N: Please leave a review with any thoughts and/or criticism! Thank you for reading. n_n