I'm back with the second story for the same prompts, as I said this one is a fusion with Avatar, so Merlin is a water bender and Arthur is a fire bender. I watched the show in my native language though, so if you're in the Avatar fandom and find something that doesn't make sense, I apologize. I read the comics in English though so I hope it's fine :)

If you never heard of the Avatar, let me tell you a few things so you can understand this fanfic better. The world of Avatar is divided into four nations - Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribes (Southern and Northern) and the Air Nomads. Some people, but not all of them, can control the element of their nation, which means they "bend" it. Only the Avatar though is able to bend all four elements and he's supposed to bring peace to the world. The first Avatar was called Wan (he lived 10 000 years ago) and he accepted the power to bend all four elements so he could fight an evil spirit called Vaatu that he'd accidentally set free. There is also a good spirit called Raava, who entered Wan's body to help him fight. Having Raava inside him made him the "Avatar" and after he died, Raava left his body and entered another person - another avatar. The Avatar reincarnates into every nation in order - earth, fire, air, water, earth, fire, air, water and so on and so on. The first show is called Avatar: The Last Airbender and it's about a young boy called Aang who was an airbender and found out he was the Avatar too soon - he was only 12. His teachers told him because there was a war coming, but Aang got scared and ran away, accidentally ending up in a storm above the ocean and trapping himself underwater in an ice bubble for a hundred years. That allowed the fire nation to attack all other nations - kill all airbenders, hunt down almost all waterbenders and try to take over the Earth Kingdom as well. The second show is called The Legend of Korra and is about Korra from the Southern Water Tribe, the next Avatar after Aang.

Alright, I think that's all you need to know. It's a great show, I really recommend it :D

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD

Merlin knew he was disobeying his mother when he ran away and went to the river. They'd been travelling for many years and now that they've finally settled down, they were supposed to be safe. Away from the Southern Water Tribe and instead deep in the Earth Kingdom. Merlin liked the forests around and also that the city was quite near them. He had to get used to his surroundings changing fast due to travelling, and now that they've finally had a home, he didn't want to stay there all day.

Instead, he discovered a river that ran through the forest and then along bare cliffs. There was a waterfall at the end, and for some reason, Merlin thought it was the perfect place to train his water-bending. He wasn't good at it because he was the only one in his family with this ability after his grandma died. She was a great water-bender. And that was why he needed to get better because so far all he could do was pour water into cups during lunch.

He ran away into the forest and reached the river, smiling when he put his hands into the water. It was cold and calming. Finally, he was alone and could try to test his abilities. So he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

With a slight move of his wrist, he created a wave. That wasn't hard, and he wanted to see what else he could do. So he put his hands out of the water and got into position that he saw on a waterbending scroll in one of the cities they travelled through. He moved his hands just like he remembered from the pictures and managed to raise quite a lot of the water into the air, creating something like a fat snake.

"Yes!" He exclaimed and kept the snake in the air. Then he transformed it into a ball of water so the river could continue flowing without him interrupting it, and with a flick of his fingers, he froze it. The ball fell down and splashed cold water into his face, but Merlin rejoiced.

That was the best water-bending he's ever done and he felt that he could still do better. Suddenly it felt as if he had all this power inside him and he didn't know what else to do with it than to unleash it. He stood up and moved his arms higher, raising the water in the air and grinning. He moved his hands down, expecting the water to do the same, but instead the ground started shaking and he fell on his butt, closing his eyes. When he opened them, there was a hole in the ground in front of him.

"What?!" He quickly tried to move away, looking at the ground and at his own hand. "This can't be true..." he whispered as he stood up and held out his hand again, trying to concentrate. The hole filled with loam and Merlin gasped. He couldn't be bending two elements... "Unless..." His eyes widened and he stepped away, shaking his head.

No, he was just tired. He went back to the river and put his hands into the water. Once again, he tried to move with the water and create a wave, and he succeeded, feeling better and not confused anymore. He was from the Southern Water Tribe. He was one of the last water-benders after the fire nation attacked and tried to hunt them down and imprison them or kill them. He could not bend earth and he was not the Avatar, he was just a normal 15 year old boy who was trying to help his mother and father settle down and live a happy life, away from danger.

He accidentally stopped thinking about the water wave he created and it all dropped on him, throwing him into the river. Because he was a water-bender, there should not be a problem with that, but... Merlin couldn't swim.

"Aaah!" He screamed as the strong current carried him away, quickly leaving the forest and heading to the waterfall. "Help!" He yelled. He couldn't concentrate on bending the water when he couldn't even breathe.

Suddenly, he saw something move on the cliff. Then he heard a splash and in a moment there were two strong arms wrapping around his torso - someone was helping him out of the river! He had water in his eyes, mouth and nose and couldn't really see who his saviour was, but once he was on the ground again, he was determined to get a better look.

The man gently laid him on the ground and let him take a breath. Merlin was coughing water and it took a while, but eventually, he could breathe again without any problem. He sat up, rubbing the water out of his eyes, and felt something hot.

Fire.

His eyes widened and he quickly moved away, staring at the young man in front of him, whose hands were still pointed towards the flames that as if came out of nowhere. "You're... you're a fire-bender!" Merlin gasped. After all those years, when they finally thought they were safe, it seemed that they couldn't even find a home here. If fire nation had made it this far into the Earth Kingdom, then the world was truly lost. Fire Nation would win, and he would get killed because of his water-bending.

"Well, usually when someone like me saves someone like you, they get a thank you." The man raised his eyebrows and put his arms behind his back because the fire was already steady between them. "This will warm you up, don't worry. I'm not after you and I don't want to kill you because I saw you bending water." He continued. Then he smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Avatar."

"I'm not the Avatar." Merlin hurriedly explained and moved his legs up to his chin, putting his palms closer to the fire. It felt nice. He was shaking all over after all.

"I saw you bending earth." The man said with a knowing smirk on his face. "And I don't know about you, but water and earth are two elements, not just one. And because I don't think there is any Avatar out there in the world right now, it must be you then."

"No." Merlin said, trembling. The water was really cold. "It was a mistake, I can't bend earth."

The man rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say." He propped himself up on his hands behind his back and smiled at him. "So, what's your name? I'm Arthur."

"Merlin." Merlin said quietly. "Are you from the army?"

"No, I never joined." Arthur sighed. "I hid my abilities and waited until I could escape with my father and sister. Now we live in the city down there." He pointed to the city in the distance. They could see it from the cliff with the waterfall.

Merlin turned back to him with a doubt in his eyes. "So you live among earth-benders?"

Arthur shrugged. "They don't seem to mind. As long as my family and I don't mean trouble, we're fine." He smiled. Then he stood up and held out his hand. "Now, come on. I heard people talk about your house over there, I'll lead you back home."

"Thanks." Merlin took his hand and stood up, brushing off his butt.

"No problem." Arthur killed the fire with a little move of his hand and headed for the forest, together with Merlin by his side.

Maybe Merlin was Avatar, but he didn't want to think about that right now. The only important thing he wanted to tell his family was that they finally found a home they could feel safe in because he already made a friend. And then, maybe, if he really was Avatar and had to travel around the world again and learn to bend all the elements, at least he had a friend who would be waiting for him here or who would go with him to help him. Or teach him how to bend fire himself.

"I'm 15 by the way." Merlin smiled as they reached the forest.

"18." Arthur looked at him with a big smile on his face and shook his hand. "Welcome to the forest of Yu Dao."

I think in this fanfic it hasn't been 100 years since Aang ran away yet, but I guess Aang must have died in the water because Merlin sort of found out he's the Avatar (I just couldn't leave him with only water bending), which would make sense I guess because he's originally a water bender like Korra was. The Avatars in this fanfic would then be Kyoshi (Earth), Roku (Fire), Aang (Air) and Merlin (Water) instead of Korra. (I'm sorry if you're confused right now but I just love the world of Avatar too much.) Yu Dao is (or isn't yet, in this fanfic) a fire nation colony from the first Avatar comic trilogy "The Promise" which takes place immediately and then one year after the end of the show.

Well I hope you enjoyed it, even if you're not familiar with Avatar. :) Thanks for reading!