The crowd around the enclosed ring roared. Korra stepped inside a routine she ha shorten familiar with. They called her K. No history or background just a broad-shouldered earthbender with cropped hair and a permanent scowl, stepping barefoot into a metal cage reinforced with stone slabs. The crowd didn’t care who she was. They cared about how hard she hit the ground and how hard she made others hit it. She had once been the Avatar but now in the dim lanternlight, Korra cracked her knuckles and waited for the bell.

The matches never lasted long. She fought like she had something to prove. As if she could just slam her opponent hard enough into the stone floor, it might silence the voice in her head. That the metallic echo of chains rattling or the swish of poison would go away with the crowd.

It was in a quiet coastal settlement, far from the Earth Kingdom’s capital, that she met you. You were known simply as a water healer. People came with broken wrists, fevers, childbirth pains.

Korra hadn’t meant to stay long. She came to you after a match gone worse than usual—but stayed when the comfort you brung was better than the fighting. Your hands hovered over her skin, cool water swirling at your fingertips. The liquid glowed faintly as it responded to your touch, weaving through her injured parts.

Even through Korras cold exterior you always treated her gently. She visited often and had slowly built a bond with you. It was nice having a friend again after not having anyone for so long. Despite this she didn’t fully tell the truth.

She never told you she was the Avatar. You didn’t see the weight of past lives behind her eyes. To you, she was just a stubborn earthbender who pushed too hard and healed badly. She didn’t want the judgement of disappearing on the world nor did she want you to see her any differently. Korra still didn’t feel like herself anyway so what was the point of throwing around a title she felt no use of anymore.

It was another rough night where the memories were too vivid and the hits were too hard. She found herself sat in your home as your water hovered over her. She watched the careful way you healed and the torn skin that slowly recovered. Korra noticed the glint of worry in your face, she always did, so she tried to make everything seem better.

“You should’ve seen the way the other guy left. I’m in much better condition.”