A/N: Okay, so I went with a more obvious interpretation for the next prompt, "Mirror." Is anybody really surprised I went with Eska and Desna? Anybody? Fine, so I'm not winning any originality points...but hopefully I put a unique spin on their portrayal. Anyway, I've always kind of wondered how Eska got away with being a female Waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe. Here's what I think happened.

Enjoy!

February 23rd, 2015

"Mirror"

It was a game they played sometimes. Eska and Desna faced each other, silent and unblinking. The pool of water lay between then, pristine and clear, reflecting their expectant faces back up at them.

"You take one side and I'll take the other."

"Agreed."

They only had a few more hours to get it right. The sun would be rising soon, and then the attendants would come for them. They needed to have this memorized down to the most minute detail. There was little need for words between the twins now. During moments like this, they were united, mind and body.

The prince and princess moved in tandem, raising their arms and pulling the unseen current of chi with their combined strength. The water snaked into the air, circling around and following the flowing and graceful sway of their arms. Though they didn't speak, there was no confusion on where the water was meant to go.

Their eyes locked from opposite sides of the pool. There was a hint of a smirk on Eska's lips; Desna followed suit half a second later. Mischief hung in the air between them as the water continued to circle round and round. They watched and waited for each other to attempt breaking the symmetry of their bending.

However, before they could really test each other's limits, there was a disturbance from the mouth of the hallway.

"Children?" It was their mother. "Why are you not in your beds?"

Their expressions dulled into something neutral as they ended their game, though their hearts were stuttering out a more frantic rhythm. Slowly, they brought the water whip through one more cycle around them before lowering it passively back into the pool. Their eyes met again in consternation; they were certain they had been quiet and it was inconceivable that they had been caught. Eska's brow furrowed slightly and Desna shrugged in reply.

"Were you both Waterbending again?"

They hesitated for a beat before turning towards her in unison. "Good morning, mother," they replied.

The silence was loaded as the woman groaned into her hands. She looked exhausted, a detail that made the siblings steal glances towards one another. Their mother must have been up for hours looking for them, and an unspoken moment of guilt passed between them. The worry and frustration in her eyes made them both step back defensively, moving closer together.

"This is forbidden. Our tribes ways do not allow for women to learn combative Waterbending, which you both know. If your father were to find out..."

But father probably would never find out. Between his duties leading the tribe and his own private studies into the ways of spirits, Desna and Eska rarely saw him anymore. They both stared attentively at their anxious mother, waiting for her to put words to her thoughts.

"Tomorrow, Eska, you will begin your lessons in healing," she finally sighed. "Desna, you will be learning your beginning forms under Master Amaruq. And if either of you are too tired from your late night stroll to pay attention, it will only be your own faults."

The twins didn't react. They both already knew the beginner forms by heart and had the more advanced scrolls stowed away in their packs. It was not hard to get access to them. Hardly anyone paid Eska and Desna any mind under normal circumstances, so it didn't surprise them that no one noticed them slipping into father's study and coming out with the scrolls.

Most of the time they only had each other and those dusty old scrolls.

"It is time both of you started putting your minds to your future duties," their mother continued to lecture. "Desna, you need to focus on preparing to become our chieftain one day," she said, pausing to nod in Eska's direction. Then she turned to Desna. "And Eska,I don't ever want to catch you meddling in forbidden forms again. No man wants such an aggressive woman for a wife. You'll scare away any suitor that comes near you if you keep this up."

Neither sibling appeared the least bit perturbed that she had gotten them mixed up again. Instead, the corners of their mouths curved upwards in a sphinx-like manner. "Yes, mother," they replied.

She hesitated, puzzled by their complacency. "Very well. Then, back to bed."

She gestured back down the passage from whence she came, leading back to the interior of the palace. Without further prompting, the twins walked past her, side by side. Their smiles only grew wider, something that wasn't missed by their flustered and well-intentioned mother. However, there was very little she could do about their silent rebellion, and before she could even decide if it was a rebellion at all the twins had completely left her sight.

Their postures were slouched from several nights of craning their necks to peruse the illustrations in their scrolls; however, at that moment they felt like they had won a battle of wills, and that made them feel rather tall.

"Mother is misguided if she thinks she can pawn me off to some stranger," said Eska quietly. "If we could convince father of our combined talent, maybe he could be convinced to let me...to let us continue our studies together."

Desna didn't comment. As they passed by a window, they found themselves bathed in the pearlescent glow of the full moon. Together, they peered outside and spied the tiny form of their father meditating in the spirit oasis. Was it really a good idea to place their hopes in someone who was never around? After all, if it was one thing the twins knew about their father, it was that he placed a lot of value on traditions. The ways of their tribe have existed for thousands of years, and those traditions demanded that the siblings go their separate ways.

Perhaps there was a much simpler solution for them.

"There is nothing to fear. They cannot forbid you from bending if they cannot tell us apart," he finally to his sister.

She grinned. "And if they cannot tell us apart, we'll have to remain together."

Clandestinely, they clasped hands under the long sleeves of their royal robes. Their expressions were a perfect mirror of one another...satisfied and triumphant.

A/N: Just to clarify, totally going with a theme of codependency in this one-shot. The twins have been together their whole lives, and in the show we rarely saw them separated. Bolin had accepted them as a package deal when he asked Eska to stay with him in Republic City, and the creators themselves even poked fun at twins' relationship in Book 4 when they were "accidentally" booked in the same hotel room with only one bed. Did anyone else get the vibe that Eska was lying when she told the clerk that Desna would sleep in the tub?

No, I don't think their relationship is romantic. But they definitely display a remarkable and almost troubling level of codependency, and I wanted to explore that with this prompt. What lengths are Eska and Desna willing to go to in order to remain together? Their unity is their greatest weapon against the rigid traditions of their tribe. Incidentally, I got the idea for this from the TV Tropes Legend of Korra Fridge Brilliance article. At one point, it questioned how Eska was allowed to master Waterbending, and speculated that (either times had really changed since Katara swept through the Northern Water Tribe, or) they just couldn't tell Eska and Desna apart, so they just shrugged and trained them both.

It's my personal headcanon that this was entirely intentional on the twins part. Perhaps that even explains why they seem to go out of their way to be creepy and intimidating. It keeps other people away, and they don't have to worry about anyone coming between them. Only once they hit their teens, they forgot how to turn the creepy off.

Okay, enough said. If you guys liked, leave a review. I'm curious to see what you guys think of these, but no pressure. There's probably a really important thing you should be doing, anyway. Shame on you for procrastinating on that important thing, reader. Shame on you.