All she ever wanted to be was a hero.

 

The dream of 10 year old Jung Yerin was to be a hero and to help make the world a better place. But the only thing in her way was her average-ness. She was average in almost everything she’s done so far, school, friends, sports, the only thing she excelled at was her earth bending. Even then, her mother didn’t like her bending as she couldn’t stand the fact of her daughter getting hurt or, even worse, bringing dirt and mud into the house.

 

Yet Yerin still hoped and dreamed that one day she will be able to be a part of something bigger.

 

Which is why it came to such a shock to her when the White Lotus organization came to the town square in her hometown, the middle walls of Ba Sing Se. She dropped everything, made an excuse to her mother, and quickly ran towards town square. She rarely gets to see anything new or special but whenever there is something up, she’s always there, this was no exception.

 

They were stood in a small group, people already gathering in front of them to hear what they were going to say. Yerin managed to squeeze her way past the growing crowd of people to the front and giddily jumped in excitement as they began to speak.

 

“We are the organization of the White Lotus. There have been reports of a supposed new avatar looming around these parts and we have come to investigate. Now, would any of you like to point us into the direction of this person?”

 

Yerin didn’t know that there were any avatar reports made but she had suspected that some of the kids at her school showed signs, they excelled at earth bending and showed interest at being the avatar. So, she began to raise her hand, only to be squished to the back of the group as more people began to get excited and give their own stories.

 

Yerin whined and tried to jump up to get the group’s attention yet only failing as she kept trying. Yet in a moment of desperation, she pulled off something she never thought she was capable of.

 

“Hey!! I know someone!!”

 

As Yerin let out a last yell, a bubbling feeling in her stomach began building up and a sudden heat shot through her chest and up her arm to her raised hand.

 

“HEY!!”

 

And from her palm, a flame shot out.

 

And the entire town square went dead silent. 

 

“Who...what was that?”

 

An older lady from the main group spoke up as they all looked towards the direction of where the flame was shot. The crowd parted and in their line of sight, a small girl was seen with her eyes closed tight, standing on her toes, and a hand raised as high as she could. Yerin.

 

“You, little lady, come forth.”

 

Yerin opened her eyes and saw what was happening and cautiously walked through the gap the crowd had made for her and towards the older lady who called for her.

 

“What’s your name, little one?”

 

Yerin cleared and spoke up in a clear voice despite her growing nervousness.

 

“Jung Yerin. My name is Jung Yerin and I’m 10 and a half years old.”

 

The woman giggled and bent down to get closer to Yerin. She had wavy grey hair and green eyes that Yerin thought were very pretty. She held out her hand for Yerin to hold and smiled as she felt the small hand in hers.

 

“Did you shoot that flame?”

 

“I...I don’t know how it happened. I only bend earth, I never felt anything like that before..”

 

The woman nodded with a smile and stood up, still holding Yerin’s hand in her own. She had a kind look in her eyes, as if she knew Yerin already.

 

“Could you show me where your mother is, Yerin?”

 

“Yeah! It’s this way.”

 

And so, Yerin lead the woman and the rest of the White Lotus group towards her small house where her mother was busy cleaning the floor after another one of Yerin’s earth bending days. The woman saw the group walk up to the front door and immediately knew who they were. She stood up, dusted herself off, and opened the door quickly.

 

“Yerin? What are you doing? I’m so sorry, my daughter gets into trouble sometimes.”

 

Yerin’s mother tried to pull her away from the woman’s grasp but the older woman only held on firmer and looked at her in confusion.

 

“There must be a misunderstanding, she took us here because she just bended fire in front of us.”

 

“What?! Yerin, is this true?”

 

“Yeah! I raised my hand and ‘fwoom!’ there was fire! Isn’t that cool, mom?”

 

The woman was at a loss for words, the only thing going through her mind was ‘did she get burnt? did she get hurt?’ She didn’t even process the fact that she just bent fire as an earth bender. 

 

And then it all hit her at once.

 

She remembered the weird instances where she’d see smoke coming from her hands and feet as she was bending earth and held her hand to as she looked back up to the older woman.

 

“My...oh my...no, it all makes sense now...she’s done something like this before..”

 

“May we enter your home? We’d love to speak with you about this.”

 

======

 

The group was preparing to leave, it was now the late evening and Yerin was getting tired. It was now time to call it a night. They’ve come to the conclusion that Yerin indeed was the next avatar, much to her mother’s worry and confusion. Yerin on the other hand was ecstatic as she finally felt she had something special to do, that she herself was special. They made plans to return the next day to discuss relocation but before they could leave, the older woman from before kneeled in front of Yerin and held her small hands in her own pair, looking at her with fond eyes.

 

“My name is Asami Sato, I’m one of the main directors in the White Lotus group. I was also married to the past avatar, avatar Korra.”

 

It all clicked for Yerin, the fond looks and the kind eyes. She knew she knew her from somewhere, there was that sort of connection there. And so, without thinking, she threw herself into her arms and gave her a tight hug. Asami couldn’t help but tear up and hug her back just as tight as she rubbed her back.

 

“It’s been such a long time..”

 

“I knew I felt like I’ve seen you before!”

 

Yerin parted the hug and saw Asami stand up, she couldn’t help but smile as she looked into those green eyes.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow!”

 

“Of course, Yerin. Goodnight!”

 

“Night night, Asami!”

 

Asami let out one last giggle as she let a tear fall from her eye and she turned around to join the rest of the group. Yerin’s mother closed to door and immediately turned towards her daughter.

 

“Yerin...you know what being the avatar means right? This means you’ll be in much more danger than before and...and it means I’ll be away from you while you train.”

 

“Oh...well I know that! But it means I get to help the world too! I get to be a hero!”

 

Yerin’s mother couldn’t help but smile, even throughout all the hardships, Yerin always knew what her goals were and she knew then that although it was scary and highly dangerous, Yerin would be okay.

 

“Will you miss me?”

 

“Of course! A whole bunch!”

 

“Will you write to me and stay in touch?”

 

“Everyday!”

 

She smiled and hugged her daughter tightly as she spoke quietly in her ear with a shivering tone, trying not to cry.

 

“Can you promise me you won’t get hurt?”

 

“I promise, mommy.”

 

“Good...good, Yerin..”

 

======

 

“They found the new avatar? Of course...of course they did..”

 

The woman stood up from the table after turning off the radio and began pacing around the room. She was young, in her early twenties, but had a look in her eyes that showed she’d been through a lot already in her life. She then abruptly stopped.

 

“I’ll make them pay. For what that water bender did to me and my family. They’ll pay!”

 

She grabbed a ripped paper from the table and and ran out of the room after making that last vow that she would engrave into her heart for as long as she could.

 

======

 

Yerin sighed and gripped onto the straps of her backpack tighter as they arrived at the ship that would take her and the White Lotus group to Republic City. This would be the last time Yerin would see her home country for years and so, she took it all in to try and remember it.

 

“Alright, Yerin. Be good, okay? I packed you something for the road since I know you get hungry on long trips.”

 

Yerin nodded with a smile at her mother before the woman came closer to engulf her in a big hug. Yerin smiled and hugged her back as she tried to hold back tears.

 

“Stay the same, baby. Whenever you get back, we’ll be here waiting for you.”

 

“Okay, mommy.”

 

“Please don’t get hurt, Yerin. Please promise me you’ll stay safe.”

 

“I promise, mommy.”

 

She parted the hug and gave Yerin a kiss on her forehead before holding her hands tightly in hers. She kissed the back of them and let go to wipe her tears.

 

“Alright, you can go now. Please be careful. I’ll miss you so much, my little girl.”

 

“Bye bye, mommy! I love you!”

 

Yerin kissed her cheek and ran up the ramp and into the ship where Asami and the rest of the White Lotus was waiting for her. She held Asami’s hand and she waved goodbye to her friends and her mother as she ship door closed.

 

“It’s your official beginning of your journey, avatar Yerin.”

 

Asami said as she looked down to Yerin who had an excited look on her face. The young girl smiled and spoke up as they walked more into the ship.

 

“Avatar Yerin...I like that title..”

 

“Well, get used to it! Everyone’s calling you that now.”

 

Yerin smiled even brighter and held Asami’s hand tighter as they reached the deck of the ship and saw the crystal clear blue sea ahead of them. 

 

So much would change now.