You & I

First Encounter

Y/N's POV

Trumpets fill the streets, it sounded like people were marching; my arms stretched above my head and I brought myself to stand, I turned to my window where I could see men with spears marching through the town.

I quickly jolted up and ran through the hall towards the front door and swung it open. My parents stood there, my father shot me a scolding glare, as if to say "get back inside!"

I ignored it, I was curious as to what was going on, was this some sort of parade? A flyer landed by my feet, I bent down to pick it up and fixated my eyes on the paper as I stood up again.

JOIN THE UNITED FORCES, YOUR NATION NEEDS YOU!

ALL BENDERS AND NON BENDERS WELCOME!

SIGN UP IN THE COURTYARD OF THE FIRE PALACE!

As I shifted my gaze from the flyer to the street, my eyes met with one of the soldiers, the general, who also happened to be the fire Prince, Iroh. His eyes quickly darted away from mine and he continued marching.

I lived in the fire nation, a small village near the palace where we honoured the traditional way of life, unlike in republic city where they were constantly developing new technologies. Things had, however, changed from the way our nation used to be, our country's benders were predominately made up of fire benders, but there were also water benders, like myself, and earth benders living among them.

After the parade had left, I freshened up and dressed myself, I wore a red dress with gold accents accompanied by dark burgundy trousers and a matching belt. I also wore traditional fire nation shoes, slightly pointed, and matching my dress.
I pulled half of my H/C hair into a small bun at the back of my head and let the rest of my hair flow freely.

I grabbed my basket from the kitchen and started towards the stream. My favourite part of the day is when I gather fruits from the stream, it gives me a chance to practice my waterbending.

In my village, it's considered improper for girls to practice bending for anything other than simple housekeeping and healing, after the Great War, the situation revolving around Fire Princess Azula had my village convinced that women could not be trusted to be benders in combat. It wasn't like that everywhere though, most of the fire nation disagreed with the sexist theory that Azula's instability was rooted in the fact that she was female, but my village was made up of very strong believers that it was true and since the end of the war, the women of my village have resorted to becoming homemakers.

When collecting fruit from the stream, I'd bend water into sharp icicles and launch them towards the fruit, cutting the stem. My aim had become impeccable after many years of practice.

So I begun, slicing the dragon fruit clean off of the branches. As I turned to the tree behind me and launched an icicle, I froze and watched as the fruit landed right at the feet of General Iroh.

I bowed and apologetically exclaimed:
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, your majesty, I was just- uh- gathering fruit for my family, I hope you can forgive me"

He looked me up and down and then reached down to pick up the dragon fruit in front of him. He then turned to the tree to observe the icicles that pierced the bark, he then trailed his eyes down to the ground below the tree, seeing every piece of fruit was cut perfectly from it's stem.

He then turned his attention back to me, who was still bowing.

"You know, Miss, the united forces could really use someone of your talent"

I then stood up straight, scratching my arm.

"Oh no, I'm not a fighter, and I'm not much of a powerful bender anyway"

He smiled, "you know, you don't need to be a good bender to fight"

I looked out towards the stream, thoughtfully, he continued to look at me, perhaps waiting for a response. After a few moments he concluded that he wasn't going to receive one and turned to leave.

All of my life I've been trying to form the image of a perfect girl, in my village. Strong girls like the idols before me, master Katara, master toph, the Kyoshi warriors... they aren't appreciated, I'm expected to be a "girl", be gentle, water bending girls are healers, pick fruit, cook, be a home maker. I'll never find a lover if I can't act like a wife. I'd had enough of that suffocating lifestyle.

"Wait"

He raised an eyebrow, turning to me.

"You really think, I could be of use to someone in the united forces?"

He looked at me, plainly, he stretched out his hands and blasted a fire ball in my direction. Quick on my feet I bent water out of the stream and it evaporated as it blocked the fire.

He smirked, "I'll see you at sunrise then, miss-?"

"Y/N, my names YN"