"Is anyone going to ask me what I want?" Saph asked in a quavering voice.

All eyes fell on her, but it was Koko's gaze that held her.

"What do you want?"

Her question rattled around Saph's mind. No answer came out of her mouth—just a shrug and a pitiful request to have some time to think about it.

The problem was that she knew exactly what she should do. She knew the right answer, if the right answer was to be wise and brave and bold, but it definitely wasn't what she wanted. Saph—not 'Avatar Sapphire', but the teenage girl named Saph—was not a responsible and mature adult. She was still just a kid, not even sixteen yet. That was creeping up, to be sure, but what did it even matter? Sixteen wasn't so much different than fifteen. She wouldn't suddenly become a strong, capable Avatar when that day arrived.

She was afraid. She was terribly afraid and so was the rest of the world. Jinora, who was certainly the wisest person she knew, had said that she needed to bring hope back into the world to have any chance of being a fully realized Avatar.

The remainder of the Council meeting consisted of a heated debate on how, when, and where to let the world know that the Avatar had been found. And whether or not it was worth the risk to allow Saph outside of the city—under supervision, of course. Would Oldtown really be safer than anywhere else, once the world knew? That was the big question none of them could seem to answer, and the meeting ended without any concrete decisions being made.

Despite the fact that she'd barely participated, Saph was completely drained when the session was over. Her parents still hadn't come back, and she was just about to leave the room to look for them when Koko walked over.

"Your dad asked me to take you to Nani's house."

"What? Why?"

"He didn't say."

Saph knew, of course. Or at least suspected that her parents wanted to talk without her around. She'd never seen them have such a serious argument. Of all the other things to worry about in her life, this seemed like it should be trivial. And yet it made her stomach churn. Things were spiraling out of control and there was nothing she could do about it.

"My mom's really mad…" Me being the Avatar is ruining everything. "Is it my fault?"

"How would it be your fault?"

Saph shrugged. She only knew what she felt, and right now she felt like she was the problem. Temporarily banned from her home.

"Well, it's not," Koko said. "Anyway, let's go. I don't want to spend any more time in this room than I have to."

The walk to Nani's house was quiet at first while Saph stewed over what had happened during the meeting, but the middle of the city was so busy and noisy. People coming and going, a frenzied combination of pedestrians, rickshaws, and small vehicles that made high-pitched whines. It was hard to think straight, and all that came to her mind were questions.

"What did that woman mean when she called you 'Protector'?"

"It's an official position," Koko said, for once not visibly annoyed about Saph's unquenchable curiosity. If anything, her thoughts seemed far away. "Avatar Bodyguard."

"But why did that upset my mom so much?"

The answer to that question did have a brief hesitation. "It's complicated. Legal technicalities. She's very sensitive about feeling powerless when it comes to you. Always has been."

"Did– Did they really sign me away just to get into the city?" She refused to believe they would knowingly do such a thing. "I know they didn't know I was the Avatar yet, but they knew you suspected."

"Every adult has to sign that agreement to live in the city. Even I signed it, years ago. It has a bunch of other unrelated stuff, too. I doubt Mara was able to understand much of it, with the way it's written. Legalese."

"But Dad probably knew…" Saph muttered under her breath. She no longer knew whose side to be on. They were coming up on the residential area, finally leaving behind the bustle of the downtown, as well as all the watching eyes that followed them. People always stared at Koko. "My mom doesn't like you, does she?"

Koko glanced at her with one eyebrow arched. "What was your first clue?"

Rather than answer what sounded like a rhetorical question, Saph asked her own. "You were coming to Dao-Shu to teach me firebending, weren't you? And Mom didn't want you to. Then she had to ask you to rescue me, and she didn't have any say when I decided to go to Oldtown—and then Republic City—with you. And she followed me to Jupa, then here, waiting and wondering what was happening to me. And now…" She couldn't finish; the thought of it all filled her with guilt and shame.

Her mother's words echoed in her head: My fear is justified.

Nani wasn't home when they got there, but she arrived about thirty minutes later, all in a rush, actually panting.

"Did you run here?" Saph asked, amused.

"I heard about the Council meeting. I didn't want you to be here alone."

"I wasn't." She tilted her head, puzzled, and pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Koko's here. In her room."

"Well, yeah. I just meant I wanted to keep you company." A sly smile quirked at her lips. "Or did she talk your ear off while you waited for me?"

"I can hear you!" Koko called.

As often happened in Nani's presence, some of the tension and worry melted away. They both burst into giggles at Koko's response to the teasing.

"Where's Shylo, anyway?" Saph asked, choking down a final laugh. "I thought he was staying here?"

"Just to sleep and eat," Nani said with a smirk. "He gets restless. I think being underground is starting to get to him."

"Yeah, he mentioned that."

"Don't worry. As soon as the train is up and running, he can go to the surface whenever he likes."

"Lucky him," Saph grumbled. "The Council's got every hour of every day planned out for me."

"Speaking of which, any bending yet?"

"No." Her shoulder slumped. She'd never gone this long without her bending. "Koko thinks it's because I spent so much time around Jinora."

"That makes sense," Nani said, giving her arm an encouraging squeeze. "I'm sure it'll come back within the next day or so. In the meantime, I've got something I want to show you!"

Saph followed her to her bedroom and watched curiously as she retrieved a small cardboard box from her closet. It was old and dusty, and had what looked like a faded picture of a shoe on the side of it. Inside were a bunch of photos.

"Have a look at these," Nani said with an excited grin.

Saph sat on the edge of the bed to peruse the pictures. Most of them featured a young girl with her family and friends. Many faces were vaguely familiar, though she could only put names to a few. "Is this you?"

"Yep. I wanted to show you these when you were here before, but I couldn't remember where I put them. Amazing how much stuff I've accumulated in the last decade."

The photos appeared to be organized chronologically, allowing Saph to have the heartwarming opportunity of seeing Nani grow from a child to a young woman. To see her experience life in Republic City, and then Zaofu.

There was another face Saph knew well, though it was different: Koko. Wow. She's just a gangly kid. So young and happy. The years passed and both girls slowly became young women.

Yet another familiar person appeared soon after. "That's Korra!"

"Yep. And that's Anisa, Koko's sister. And Asami, their other mom. Koko's birth mother."

"I can tell. She looks like if Koko wore makeup and let her hair down. She's so glamorous." The next picture had a face that made Saph stop and squint. "Is that– Is that Valen ? You two look pretty cozy, there…?"

"Heh. Yeah. We actually dated briefly."

"What?!"

"Just for a few months. It wasn't serious. We stayed friends after."

Saph furrowed her brows in confusion, remembering what Nani had told her before. "I thought– I thought you said you didn't like men that way?"

"Ah, well…" Nani chuckled and rubbed her hands on her thighs. "I didn't know it, at the time."

"Oh." Something clicked in her mind, perhaps because she'd just spent several minutes looking at pictures of Nani and Koko together. They were so close, always. Best friends. Saph prepared to ask something but stopped herself at the last second, worried it might be too personal. Instead, she asked, "Did you ever have a girlfriend, once you realized?"

"Never got around to it."

"Well, Koko's your best friend, right?" Saph said in a low voice, forcing a laugh to play the comment off as a joke. "Maybe you could ask her."

Nani gave her a faint smile that had a reproving edge to it. "No."

"I was just kidding, anyway…" Saph looked at the picture of Nani and Valen together and had another thought. "Did he date her, too?"

The soft snort she got in response was unexpected.

"What? What's so funny about that?"

"Heh. Nothing. No, they never dated. Why do you ask?"

Saph wasn't sure whether or not to believe her. "I dunno. They just act like they have some weird history. And they argue a lot."

"Koko argues with everyone. Anyway, we've all known each other since we were children. Valen and Nik were always thick as thieves and they both got on her nerves a lot."

"Nik and Valen? Friends?" Saph let out a brash, disbelieving laugh. "Sorry, that just sounds so weird. Valen is so mature and responsible. He's such a– a dad."

"Because he actually grew up, unlike Nik." Nani rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. "But keep looking through the pictures. You haven't gotten to the best part yet."

Saph complied and soon saw what she meant. A tiny baby began to appear, often sleeping or being held by Nani or Koko or one of the Beifongs. Jojin was in a few pictures, but there was a noticeable lack of Mara.

The first one Saph saw with her mom in it made her eyes fill with tears. Mara sat cross-legged in an armchair, cradling baby Saph in her arms and apparently unaware that someone was taking a picture of her. A child holding a child. There wasn't love or tenderness in her gaze—only despair.

Nani's fingers appeared over the photo and pulled it out of Saph's grasp. "I meant to take that one out," she said softly.

Saph brushed the moisture from her eyes before it could spill out. "I always knew they were young, but actually seeing it… I never pictured it like that."

"Please, don't judge her too harshly. She was in a dark place when you were a newborn. Trauma and grief on top of all the hormones. It wasn't her fault. I only kept this picture so that I'd never forget her strength and resilience."

But she didn't seem to understand what Saph was actually feeling. Seeing these memories only made her feel worse about her own existence. Becoming the Avatar was probably one of the cruelest things she could've done to her parents, second only to being born in the first place. It didn't matter that those things hadn't been by choice.

She stubbornly pushed those thoughts away. This is my life. I shouldn't have to feel guilty for existing. The pictures that followed were happier, anyway. Most were of her now, slowly growing bigger and stronger. Making faces and playing.

And then there was one that made her laugh aloud: Koko was reclining in a comfortable chair—head lolled back, mouth hanging open slightly—with baby Saph curled up on her chest. Both appeared to be sound asleep.

"How old was I here?"

"About a year, I think. Check the back."

Saph turned the photo over:

Kiriko (19) & Saph (11 months)

"She visited Zaofu whenever she could," Nani continued. "If memory serves, you, your parents, and I all had colds. So Koko looked after you while we rested."

"Looks like she had a nap, too." Saph chuckled and turned the photo back over to memorize it. She's only a few years older here than I am now. "After she rescued me from the blue sages—the first time—I wondered why I felt so comfortable with her right away. Now I understand."

Nani smiled. "You two always had a special bond."

Because I'm the Avatar? Just like her mom was?

"You talking about me again?" Koko said. She'd appeared so stealthily and was now leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

Saph glanced up, a little embarrassed but also amused. "So how often did Nani rope you into babysitting me?"

"Do you mean now, or back then?" It seemed like a joke, but with Koko's deadpan delivery, there was really no telling.

Saph opted to play along and made a mock indignant noise. She held the picture up for Koko to see. "Were you snoring? It looks like you were snoring."

"I don't snore."

"Ah, you brought the book!" Nani said brightly. "Saph, take a look at this."

Saph reached out but Koko hesitated before handing it over.

"This is irreplaceable. You can read it when you come over, but it doesn't leave this house. Be gentle with it."

Koko was sentimental about a book? How strange.

"I will. I promise." The cover featured a middle-aged woman with gray hair and shining metal armor trimmed in gold. She looked tough. Severe. Confident. "Bent, but Not Broken," Saph read aloud. "A Biography of Lin Beifong." It was old and worn, the corners of many pages folded down, but overall in good condition—oft-read and well-loved. She looked back up at Koko, eyebrow arched with amusement. "I didn't know you liked to read."

"Only when I'm too tired to do anything else." She was already turning to leave as she said it.

Nani chuckled softly but her voice turned more serious when she spoke. "When you mentioned you were having trouble with earthbending, I remembered Koko had this. Lin was a great woman who went through a lot of struggles and strife. It's not a particularly happy story, but maybe it'll inspire you."

From the cover picture, it was clear this woman's life hadn't been easy. Everything about her was hard. Two slashing scars across her cheek gave her a fearsome appearance. But Saph already knew a little bit about that from the stories she'd grown up with. "This was Gran's sister?"

"Yeah."

Saph gasped, realizing something that had never even crossed her mind. "Zenya! She's Gran's…granddaughter?"

"Great-granddaughter."

"Huh. No wonder we're so close. She's practically family. Kinda feels like she knows it."

"She's just as much your family as you are mine," Nani said with a smile that made Saph all warm inside. "We're all connected."

A couple of hours later, Mara showed up. She was strangely calm. "Let's go," she said without preamble.

Saph didn't feel any need to argue. "Alright… Bye, Nani." They exchanged a quick glance full of meaning. In a louder voice, she called, "Bye, Koko!"

A muffled 'bye' could be heard from down the hall.

"We can go out for lunch together sometime this week, maybe," Nani said, though she immediately looked over at Mara. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah. Fine," Mara said. Her entire demeanor was neutral to the point that it made Saph nervous.

Neither said anything the whole way home. The only sounds were the noises of the city and their shoes slapping against the pavement.

Saph followed her mother through the door of their apartment to find it eerily empty and quiet. "Where are Dad and Lia?" she asked, apprehensive.

"They went for a walk."

"Oh. Is– Is everything okay?" Saph asked, voice shaking. "You and Dad still love each other, right?

"Love is complicated. It's full of pain. You love and you lose and you live in constant fear of losing more."

"Wait– Is this about Dad? Or me?"

Mara didn't seem to be listening. Her watery gaze was far away while she paced across the kitchen. "We thought we'd be safe in Zaofu. We thought that maybe, just maybe, our struggles were finally over. But I was wrong. It's never over. We're always running from something. It'll never end. It's only a matter of time before they find this place, too. And then we'll be running again."

What words could fix this? "I'll get stronger. I'll protect you and Dad and Lia. Then you won't have to be afraid anymore."

"I'm not afraid for me, Saph. I'm afraid for you. "

"You still have to let me try."

Mara pressed her palms against her eyes for a second, then abruptly pulled Saph into a tight hug.

Having to witness this meltdown was unbearable. Never had she seen her mother at such a low point. Mara had cried when Saph came back, sure, but those had been tears of joy and relief. This was much different. Despite being a small woman, she'd always been a pillar of strength in their family. Firm and unbreakable, like the earth she bent.

"I can't lose you, too," she whispered. "I just can't. I'll literally die. A person can only take so much loss in their life."

Surely that 'too' had been about Jade. Right? And not about Dad… "You won't lose me. I've gotten stronger. Koko–"

"No," Mara said sharply. "Don't– We're not talking about her."

"Mom–"

"I'm serious! I can't handle it right now."

Saph recognized that stubborn set to her jaw and knew it was hopeless to press the matter. "Fine. Any other off-limits topics I need to know about?"

"I think we've covered them all." She sniffled, more in control of herself, then took Saph's hand and pulled her into the living room. "I want you to read something to me."

She picked up a thin stack of papers from the tea table and held them out:

Residency Contract for the Undercity of Oldtown

The paragraphs underneath were full of complex sentences and technical words—many of which Saph didn't understand or could barely pronounce—but she read it aloud while Mara listened in silence. Near the end, she reached the part they were both expecting:

"Section 5C. Should any dependent of which the Resident has present or future custody manifest as the Avatar, said custody shall immediately be transferred to the Council, and the dependent will become a ward of the City. This is non-negotiable and irreversible, and will only become void once the Avatar reaches the age of majority."

Saph stopped there. Continuing seemed pointless. She barely understood what any of it meant—just that it applied to her. "Why did you want me to read this?"

"I just wanted to be sure," Mara said quietly.

The next morning while Saph quickly shoveled in her breakfast, preparing for a long day of studying at school, Zenya let herself into their apartment and sat down at the table with a bright smile. Valen had brought her over for a few visits since arriving in the city, but this was the first time she'd shown up alone.

"What–?" Mara started, apparently speechless beyond that one word. Perhaps she was too tired to say anything else, eyes swollen with dark purple bags under them.

"We're gonna have to teach you how to knock first," Saph said to Zenya with a wry half-smile for her dad, who had been even more reserved than usual. She was pretty sure he'd spent the night on the sofa. "I'll take her back. I know she'll follow me."

"Go with them," Mara, who was busy feeding Lia, said to Jojin.

He didn't say anything but got up calmly. As expected, Zenya trailed along without complaint as they made their way down the hall to the opposite end where her own apartment was.

She went right in just as Valen emerged from the narrow hallway that went to the bedrooms.

"What–?" he blurted, frowning. "Where– Where did you find her?"

"She came over for a visit. Walked in like she owned the place," Saph added with a smirk.

"Shit. I didn't even see her leave. I thought she was in her room." He stalked over and grabbed her wrist to pull her down the hall. "Thanks for bringing her back."

Jojin leaned over to whisper in Saph's ear when Zenya began to complain loudly. "I think we better go."

"Yeah." Once out in the building's main hall, she said, "I hope he's not too hard on her. She doesn't understand."

"The only way to make her understand is to discipline her."

Saph sighed. Such a parental answer. "Are you and Mom still fighting?"

"Don't worry about it. We've had a lot of fights."

"Not like this." She stopped before they got back to their own apartment. They hadn't had a chance to really talk about it, just the two of them. "When you signed that paper—the one she's so mad about—did you know what it would mean?"

"I knew it didn't matter."

"What? What do you mean? Of course it matters! Otherwise, she wouldn't be so upset."

He shook his head soberly. "It's more complicated than that. We didn't give up any rights as your parents. We never had any, to begin with. Not here."

Saph suddenly remembered something from when they'd arrived in Oldtown:

"I'm sorry, but you're not in their file as a family member," the man had said to Koko.

"She's in mine."

"Koko," Saph blurted. "This has something to do with her, right? But then why is Mom so mad at you?"

"Because I understood what it all meant, and I didn't tell her. When we found out you were the Avatar, I kept putting off the hard conversation. Trying to find the right time with everything else going on. Then…it was too late."

"So just say you're sorry."

"I did. Multiple times. You know how she is. She holds onto things and bottles up what she's feeling. She just needs time." He looked at his wrist, which now had a watch strapped to it. "You need to get to school soon. C'mon."

With the end of the current term approaching—not to mention the fact that Saph had never had any kind of formal education—she was provided with private tutors to get her up to speed. The first day consisted of four solid hours of reading, writing, and grammar. Never in her life had she been so indescribably bored.

"Here's your weekly itinerary," the man said at the beginning as he slid a thin stack of papers over. "Subject to change as other bending masters are assigned. Travel times between your home, the school, and the gym have been factored in to meal times."

Saph looked at the top page with a sinking feeling in her stomach:

7:30-9:00 Wake up/Breakfast

9:00-13:00 Language Arts

13:00-14:30 Lunch

14:30-18:30 Firebending training (Koko)

18:30-20:00 Dinner

20:00-21:30 Homework

21:30-22:30 Meditation

22:30 Bed

The rest of the pages were similar, though it looked like each day would cover a different subject. Seven days a week. So far, Koko and Opal were her only bending masters. No Shylo, which admittedly wasn't a surprise. They couldn't give her anything that might be too much fun.

She groaned when she saw that one morning each week was reserved for 'therapy'. Great, not that again. I hope they don't make me write in a journal.

"Who's going to teach me earthbending?" she asked aloud. "My mom? Valen?"

"A master, I'd assume. It's not important right now. Let's get started."

The only glimmer of positivity was that, about three hours into the school day, Saph finally felt what she'd been waiting days and days for. Just as the first two times, it started with a rippling warmth through her veins that ended at the tips of her fingers and toes. She stood abruptly—earning a confused look from her tutor—and sent a stream of fire across the room.

"Settle down," the old man said with an annoyed sigh. "You can practice your firebending later."

But Saph did not settle down. She went through a complicated form to expend some of her pent-up energy, ignoring her tutor's glare, and finally returned to her seat with a relieved grin and resumed her work.

Another long, uneventful hour passed until she got to go home for lunch. That break was only forty-five minutes, then she was escorted to the gym for an afternoon of training.

"My bending came back! Finally!"

"Good. Let's get to work. And don't forget," Koko added, more quietly. "Firebending only. The Council isn't ready for the rest of the city to find out."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. They only said it about ten times during the meeting. If it matters so much, then why are we out here with other people?"

"So that you can learn how to focus in a distracting environment."

Unfortunately, Saph's relief at being able to do something more fun than reading textbooks and cramming useless knowledge into her head didn't last long. She realized quickly that Koko had been going easy on her before. Without the need to save energy for traveling and surviving, Saph was brought to her absolute breaking point with an intense workout that included not only forms and sparring, but also cardio and strength training.

"I really hate you right now," she complained with a groan, face down on the floor and drenched in sweat after running ten laps around the gym, which was nearly empty now.

"It was only a matter of time," Koko said lightly, not without some sarcasm. "You have a good role model…"

Saph slowly rolled over to stare up at the ceiling. She could easily guess who Koko was referring to with that comment. "My life is so screwed up. You and my mom hate each other. My parents hate each other."

"Please. They don't hate each other. You don't even know screwed up."

"But they've never–"

"Normal family drama. It'll blow over. Now get up. We're not done."

"Ughh. I can't! I've melted. All my muscles are liquid now." She lifted her head to look at Koko with her eyes narrowed. "I don't see you running laps."

"Need I remind you that I had a punctured lung a month ago? I think I'm keeping up pretty well, thank you very much."

"You're still brooding about that?" Koko asked the next day during another hard afternoon of training.

Saph huffed, both from fatigue and annoyance. "It's just weird. They keep acting like nothing is wrong, but I can tell. It's tense and awkward at home."

"Relationships are complicated. Just let them work out their issues and focus on your own life."

She idly wondered what Koko knew about relationships, anyway. "I don't know how I'm s– Hey! Watch it!"

"You need to be faster," Koko admonished when Saph barely dodged her attack. "Stop letting the conversation distract you."

"You're the one who's distracting me!"

"And you're letting me. Now focus!"

Koko refused to let up. Harder and harder she pushed, unrelenting in her attacks. Out of the corner of her eye, Saph noticed several people now watching them. That quick moment of diverted attention ended with her tripping over her own feet.

Just before she hit the ground at an angle that was likely to cause injury, instinct took over. One of Shylo's first lessons had been teaching her how to use airbending to break her fall.

The entire room went dead quiet. Everyone stopped and stared with wide eyes. Confusion swirled around the empty spaces between them.

What have I done…? Saph asked herself, swallowing hard when she saw the stony look on Koko's face.

Soon, whispers started up until they grew into a low murmur of overlapping voices.

"...you see that?"

"...airbending?"

"...the Avatar?"

I'm dead. I'm dead meat. The Council's gonna kill me. If Koko doesn't first…