The snow crunched under my boots as I herded the penguins that had got lost from their flock back to their home. I was taller now since I was now five years old and I took my responsibilities very seriously. My mother had left to travel the world again, so I was helping Gran-Gran with her chores as I stayed with her. I had noticed these penguins near the village and had decided to take them back, so with a staff in one hand I clucked my tongue and directed them over the snow dunes towards the rise where they would find their family again. "Come on Mr Penguin, you're almost home." I encouraged as one began to lag behind, complaining with loud burst of sound which made me giggle. "Are you hungry? Here you go, I brought some fish with me."
Once I had fed the one they all wanted food so I gave them each a small fish before encouraging them on, using the staff to part the snow so that I could walk through as it was particularly deep in places and the staff helped me to measure the depth so that I would not get stuck. It did not take me long to get them back to their flock and once they were happily waddling back to their family I stopped and smiled proudly. Hopefully they won't get lost again. "It can be quite scary being away from your family, isn't it?" I questioned the penguin next to me who was pruning its feathers. It squawked at me before waddling off, making me smile. "Take care now!" With a wave I made to turn back, however the ice I stood on suddenly cracked, making me freeze in terror before suddenly it dropped.
Without thinking I screamed, lunging for the side of the ice and managed to catch a hold of it, however as my legs brushed against the water below, I shrieked again. "Mama!" Fear pounded through me as I tried to pull myself forwards, furious that I had not noticed the black ice underneath the powdered snow to signify that it was thin. "MAMA!" With my feet waddling wildly and my tears streaming down my face, I did not notice anyone approaching until they were stood directly in front of me.
"Why you crying like that?" I blinked, looking up at the girl my age and recognised her as Korra, her fists placed firmly on her hips as she looked down at me like I was a strange new creature she had discovered.
"Because I don't like the water! It's scary!" I wailed, clawing and struggling to get back up. "I'll drown if I fall! I want my mama!" Bawling tears shamelessly I remembered the feel of the water's wrath, its freezing touch and how it made your chest burn when it refused to allow you air. Korra frowned again before suddenly grinning.
"Okay! I'll help you then because I'm so nice." With a sudden stamp of her foot and a rush of her hand upwards, the water below shot upwards and pushed my legs up with a suddenly whoosh of noise, sending me over my head to then land flat on my back as Korra then pounced on me, grinning broadly. "Now that I saved your life, you have to be my friend forever because you owe me!" She grinned, toothy and vibrant as I stared up at her in awe. "You wanna go penguin sledding with me?" I was still a little shaken, but I found myself nodding my head as Korra then gripped my hand and hauled me to my feet, our small heights almost equal as she laughingly dragged me over to the flock. "Come on! This will be our first day as best friends, so make sure you don't fall behind or you'll be a loser forever!" Childishly I rose to the challenge.
"Will not! You'll be the loser!" As if all previous fear and panic had been forgotten, I captured a penguin by bribing it with food before I then went sliding down the slope, Korra wildly screeching with excitement as she caught up to me, arms lifted up into the air before she then leaned down and sped up, overtaking. I refused to be left behind so I leaned further down too, urging my penguin to go faster until all at once we were sliding down an ice tunnel, spiralling over the walls and circling around one another before suddenly the penguins cawed in warning and stopped, sending us flying overhead at the end of the tunnel and straight into a snow mound, our startled cries echoing outward as we crashed into the snow.
For a moment I blinked, letting everything catch up to my slightly exhilarated brain before I popped my head out of the snow, shaking it off my hood as Korra did the same and we looked at one another. For a moment we stared before all at once we were laughing, jumping back into the snow to make angles as we beamed happily up at the sky. That was the first day I met Korra and ever since, we were inseparable. Since she was the Avatar, my grandmother Katara had the responsibility to train her and as we grew, Katara tried to persuade me to train as well.
"Water can't hurt you so long as you're the one controlling it, little water lily." She told me fondly as she patted my head. "Just try it. Feel the emotions flowing through you and let them channel into your bending." She guided so I exhaled deeply and obliged out of respect for her. I bit down on my lip as Korra laughed, effortlessly forming the water to her will and I flinched a little out of fear before lifting my hands. I went through the movements that my grandmother had taught me, closing my eyes to concentrate better however the moment I felt the pull of the water, it were as if it were suddenly dragging me back under again. I could feel myself being submerged and overwhelmed, the breath being choked from my body and the fear rising in my chest. "Kanna!" With a flash I opened my eyes and shrieked in horror, seeing the malformed and twisted shape the water was taking before me, shards of ice spiking outward dangerously before they flew off in all directions and my grandmother had to quickly seize control to keep them from breaking anything or hurting someone. I dropped my hands and the water fell back into the basin where I let it lie.
Panicked breaths filled my lungs, trembling as a cold sweat hung over me. "Hey Kanna, what's the matter? Do you find it difficult? Just watch me and you'll be fine!" Korra beamed, trying to be helpful however when she playfully sent a splash of water at me I screamed, flinging my hands towards it to keep it from touching me and instantly it hissed as it froze into ice, cracking with a huge split before crumbling to the ground in large chunks.
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" I wailed before racing away, wanting to escape all this water-bending nonsense. "I hate being a water-bender, I hate it!" My grandmother stared at me in shock as I ran away, refusing to listen as she called after me. I ran as fast as my little feet would carry me, pushing through the snow and I did not stop until I was back at my own house and had firmly shut the door behind me. It was cold and empty but at least it was safe. I'll hide here for a while where neither Korra nor Katara can bother me with their stupid water-bending practice.
Looking down at my gloved hands I quickly hid them under my arms, crying to myself as I curled up in the corner. After a while I heard the door open quietly, a small crack of light appearing before all at once Korra pushed the door open. "Aha! I found you." She crowed, pointing at me before blinking. "Are you crying again? You're such a baby Kanna, you're always crying." She said to me so I sniffed and angrily leaped to my feet in protest.
"No I'm not! I'm not a baby!"
"Yes you are."
"Are not!"
"Are too!" We clashed heads, glaring at one another hotly before both at once we winced and gripped our foreheads, groaning in pain from where we'd hit one another. We both fell back onto our butts and sat opposite one another, Korra pouting. "Sorry I scared you earlier, I just wanted to help."
"I don't need help. I don't want to be a water-bender because it's dangerous." I said proudly as I rubbed my eyes dry. "From now on, I'm not going to water-bend ever again!" However when Korra looked at me, I was shocked to see how sad her blue eyes were.
"But Kanna, I really wanted us to learn together." She said, digging her foot into the rug and disturbing the dust. "It's lonely being the Avatar, no one else will play with me because they're scared I'll hurt them. You're the only one who doesn't run away." Korra told me before jumping forwards onto her hands and knees, pushing her face into mine. "You don't have to bend at all Kanna, but please at least learn a little with me! You don't mind ice, right? You can learn all sorts of techniques with ice and I'll be right with you! I won't ever let anything hurt you ever again Kanna, you're my best friend in the whole wide world! So please come back and at least watch me, please? I don't want to train with Katara all alone. She smells like an old lady." At that I couldn't help but giggle. My grandmother did use this strange seaweed oil that made her hands smell funny. "Please?"
"Korra, you're so mean! You know begging like that makes me feel bad." I complained, pouting also as she clasped her hands together and puckered her lip, eyes sparkling brightly and I did my best to ignore it, but I just couldn't. Groaning loudly in irritation I folded my arms. "Fine, you win. I'll come back and watch and maybe I'll learn something. But I'm not bending the water, not ever again!" However of course, Korra wore me down over the weeks and got me to try a little more each time. Eventually I wasn't afraid to bend small portions of water and I was perfectly fine when it came to bending ice, so my grandmother focused on that and even gave me her old water pouch that she used to carry around with her.
"Here you go, my water lily, carry this with you and you'll have water by your side wherever you go." She had told me as she presented the worn drinking utensil to me, recently fixed up but I stared at it with loving awe. "It has proven useful to me over the years, now it's yours."
"Aw Katara! Why don't I get something too?" Korra demanded loudly and I giggled, sticking out my tongue at her as I looped the strap over my shoulder so that it hung at my waist. Grinning in answer Korra yelled and attacked me with a full body tackle, making me laugh as we wrestled on the ground at Katara's feet, yelling at each other and pulling on one another's hair until Katara forcibly broke us up. Korra continued her training to become a water-bending master, however eventually they began to advance to styles and techniques which were too far out of my league. Huge bodies of water still frightened me, so I stopped training and merely watched as Korra learned with Katara. We both practiced healing and, like my mother and grandmother before me, I proved very good at it. In fact, it was one thing that I did better than Korra.
We were always together as well as Naga when Korra found her stranded in the white lands one night where we had snuck out to play with the polar bear dogs. It took some time to fully train Naga, but she was the sweetest and softest companion that we could ever wish for, though she was very particular with other people and often disliked strangers. With my mother so often away, it was Korra and Katara that I usually turned to. I am certain that it was because my father had died here that my mother struggled to return, however whenever she did I would always run into her embrace and hold her tightly to me.
On my tenth birthday, I was even given my grandmother's old necklace, which had been her grandmother's before her. My mother passed down the family heirloom to me and I wore it with pride around my neck wherever I went, though Korra would tease me for looking girly. That was one place where we differed. Korra enjoyed fighting and didn't care much for her appearance, however I tended to take more pride in it. My darker hair was always neatly pulled back from my face with two braids crowning my head with to smaller braids falling down in front of my ears decorated with tribal beads. The rest of my hair was always gathered back into a side ponytail that fell over my shoulder and stopped at my ribs, long and thick. I always made sure my clothes were clean and mended, taking extra care with them as I grew taller to make sure they always fit and usually I would end up mending Korra's clothes too as she often got them dirty or tore them somehow.
"I can't believe you tore this shirt again, I only mended it a week ago!" I yelled to her as she practiced her earth-bending technique, focussing on the firm discipline of the movements.
"It's not my fault, I have to get my hands dirty if I'm going to learn and that means being a little careless with my clothes." She answered simply so I rolled my eyes. So reckless and impulsive. I swear the only reason she was still alive was because I often told her not to do something and would argue her into the ground in order to keep her from doing something stupid. Suddenly I felt her arms being flung around me from behind, her bright grin flashing at me before she was giving me an overpowering hug. "Don't worry, soon I'll be learning fire-bending, then there won't be any clothes left for you to mend!"
"Don't you dare! I swear if you burn through all your clothes I'm not lending you any of mine! You hear me Korra?" I yelled but she was already running away with laughter as I suddenly got a face full of snow to the face. Growling in irritation, I flung her shirt aside and leaped up. "That's it, you're so dead Korra!" Our laughter rang through the compound as I chased after her, the two of us competing in a snow war until sunset where her tutors scolded us for being so childish, however Korra and I merely glanced at one another before together we formed a stance, stamping our feet in the snow and shot our hands forwards, balancing the pull of the snow that lay upon the roof before we pulled it down on top of the stoic tutors, making both Korra and I laugh victoriously before we then ran for our lives, furious earth-benders chasing after us.