266 AG - Fully Realized Avatar
“Let’s see… eggs, flour, ooh Niva loves those seaweed wraps…” Lavi muttered as she perused one of the stands.
Street food was an unusual concept to Lavi. Growing up in a small village, and travelling around to other villages, the most you had were market stalls and a single tea house. There weren’t enough people to serve food on the street when everyone was at an inn. So people cooking and serving food from stands was one of the few things in Republic City that either her or Niva liked.
Niva more than her. That girl could put away a five pound fish on her own.
She placed the yuan on the stand, much to the vendor’s delight.
“Thanks so much. You enjoy those wraps, sweetheart,” the older woman said warmly.
“Of course,” Lavi said, inclining her head before making her leave. She made it to the corner of the block before another figure skidded to a halt on her right. Lavi turned to see a young woman with slicked back hair and slightly baggy clothes looking at her with wide eyes.
“Um, excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to be Lavi, would you? The Avatar’s Keeper?”
“Yes, that’s me,” Lavi said. “And before you say anything, the Republic Press was lying their ass off.”
“I knew it!” the woman said, punching the air with a wide smile before pulling a pen and pad from her large pockets. “Shuna Xing. Chief writer and editor of the Grapevine. It is a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
Lavi arched a brow. “The grapevine?”
“A humble but ambitious publication working independently to give the people of Republic City the real scoop of what’s going on!” Shuna said enthusiastically. “I don’t suppose I could bother you for a few questions?”
Lavi hummed uneasily and glanced back in the direction of her and Niva’s apartment. Talking to the press had gone so badly the first time that Niva stopped giving interviews immediately. However, the last thing she needed was a gossip rag finding out where they lived.
“Alright, just a few,” she said.
“Yes! Thank you!” Shuna cheered, clicking her pen. “So, first off, you said that the statements the UR Times published about you were false. I can quote you on that?”
“You may,” Lavi nodded.
Shuna scribbled that down on her pad. “Good good. Now, several key sources have gone on record crediting you to be a formidable combatant against many powerful benders despite not being a bender yourself. Can you tell my readers how you managed to accomplish this?”
“Practice,” Lavi said. “I mean the most dangerous are firebenders because they can burn you. The trick to beating an earthbender is to be slightly stronger than the earthbender. Waterbending and airbendering, it’s water and wind. Enough conditioning and it can’t touch you.”
“Interesting,” Shuna said, hastily scrawling down Lavi’s words. “Do you take pride in the fact that your techniques have put you on comparable footing with the Avatar herself?”
“My pride is reserved for Niva. I’m as strong as I need to be for her sake,” Lavi said.
“...Ah. Understood,” Shuna said, making a hasty note of that. Skipping a few steps forward, she turned to face Lavi, walking backwards as they went. “So, do you have any future plans to continue stepping out of your sister’s shadow?”
Lavi chuckled. “It’d be hard to do that. She’s the Avatar. Everyone’s in her shadow.”
A small chuckle escaped Shuna. “True true. Still, most people would say being stuck in their younger sibling’s shadow like that would sting, no matter who they are. Besides! You of all people may have what it takes to go toe to toe with her! That’s not nothing!”
“I guess, but to go toe to toe with Niva I’d have to want to fight her in the first place,” Lavi shrugged.
Shuna blinked owlishly, looking genuinely confused for a moment before she shook her head. “Well, um… Miss Lavi, what would you say to those Republic citizens who believe you might… resent your sister for being the Avatar?”
“Resent? I couldn’t be more proud of her if I tried. I told her when she started training she would be a great Avatar, and I was right,” Lavi said.
Shuna just stared at Lavi for a moment. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on her expression. As though to search for any signs of dishonesty. A slight furrow formed between her brow as she took down another note. “So… you don’t feel it unfair that you had to spend years of your life training as hard as you could for the skills you have only for your sister to just be gifted with untold cosmic power?”
Lavi snorted. “Are you high? Niva had to train really hard to be as powerful as she is. Untold cosmic power is worthless if you can’t control it. She worked really hard to master the four elements.”
The self proclaimed reporter only looked more lost than ever. “So… her being the Avatar and you being a non bender was not the crux of any… insecurity? At all?”
“No,” Lavi said.
“...Huh,” Shuna said, looking down at her notepad. “Um… okay. I think that just about covers it then.” She tucked her pad and pen back into her pocket before offering a deep bow. “Thank you again for your time, Ms. Lavi.”
“No problem,” Lavi smiled, turning away and heading around the corner. Once she was out of sight she sighed with relief. “That was painless. Though what was with her fixation on resentment?”
“Resentment, you say?” Niva asked before popping a seaweed wrap into her mouth. “Mmm, so good!”
“Yeah,” Lavi nodded, placing the kettle on the burner. “It seemed like she considered me being jealous of you as a foregone conclusion or something.”
“Hmm,” Niva hummed before swallowing. “Maybe she was trying to look for drama in a different well? 'Cuz the Republic News is always publishing stories about… the other thing.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Lavi said, taking a swig of her waterskin. “Republic Press takes one look at me and thinks ‘oh she must be abusing her sister.’”
Niva gave her a sympathetic smile. “Aww, don’t worry Vee. I don’t think they really assume that about you. They’re just printing baseless accusations to sell more papers.”
“Because that’s so much better,” Lavi groaned before plopping down onto the sofa next to Niva.
Niva leaned against her, eating another seaweed wrap. “Sorry,” she said, laying her head on Lavi’s shoulder. “Guess I shouldn’t have gushed so much in that interview.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Lavi said, lifting a hand to stroke Niva’s hair. “You can’t control anyone else choosing to be jerks. I don’t plan to stop singing your praises and neither should you.”
Niva cooed and snuggled under Lavi’s arm. “Alright.”
Lavi smiled and kissed the top of Niva’s head. There was a time when Lavi had been mentally preparing for the day when Niva would leave and she would probably never see her again. That day never came. Instead she got to travel the world with Niva, watching her grow from a chronically terrified girl into a powerful and confident Avatar.
Resent Niva, what a ridiculous notion.