𝑾𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 1)

Jade

Fourteen years ago, a young woman born in the Northern Water Tribe decided she was sick of all the snow and ice of her homeland. She made the choice to leave and see as much of the world as she could, with the eventually obtained permission of her extremely hesitant father of course.

It was a long journey full of homesick feelings and sights that she had never imagined witnessing before. Buildings that weren't made of nothing more than ice and snow and places where she didn't have to wear her warm fur coat.

Despite the war that was going on with the Fire Nation, the world still somehow managed to have been a beautiful place in Nimeda's eyes.

When she had first left her home, she had hoped to one day make her way all the way across the world to the South Pole. Of course, even her friends and family who were well aware of her stubborn nature doubted she would make it all the way to the other side of the world. And, as it turned out, they were right.

But Nimeda hadn't stopped because she had given up. It was something specific that stopped her journey.

Or, rather, someone specific.

Nimeda met Kueng and, though she hadn't believed in love at first sight for the majority of her life, she fell in love with him the moment they met. She hadn't known what it was, but she'd found herself unable to leave him and the small village where he lived. It became her new home.

Two years later, Jade was born. At the young age of an infant, she didn't have the mind developed enough to remember her mother, who grew sick and passed away not too long after the birth of her daughter. The young girl grew up in the small village with her loving father, who made sure never to miss a chance to tell Jade stories of her late mother. 

Then, when she was four years old, she showed signs of being a bender. Considering neither her father nor her mother had been benders themselves, it came as quite the surprise. Especially when a large bubble of water had dropped on his head in the middle of her bath. 

Living in a small Earth Kingdom village, growing up with the knowledge of being a waterbender was tough. There was no one around to teach her how to control her abilities, and no matter how often she practiced, she couldn't find the proper technique. She appreciated her father's encouragement despite how often she soaked the furniture in their small home, but it was still difficult. 

Then things went downhill. 

As a young girl, Jade never quite understood the war that was going on with the Fire Nation. That is, until a group of Fire Nation soldiers stormed and destroyed her village one day. She and thirty other villagers were left to escape, becoming nothing more than refugees suffering the consequences of a war where they were nothing more than innocents. 

They eventually made it to Omashu, where they became citizens once again and started their lives once more. They could not have been more grateful for the gracious King Bumi, who didn't hesitate to give them all a place to stay after all their misfortune. 

Jade was thankful to King Bumi every day, and she would never not be thankful to him and the wonderful place that was her new home. Of course, that wasn't the last of her misfortune. 

Like any other refugee, Kueng was in need of work. So, he took a job as a delivery man. It was quite the job, especially considering how much easier being an earthbender would have made it, but Jade had never once heard her father complain. She was so proud of him. 

Then, one day, he accepted a job that took him outside of Omashu. Once again, though he was well aware of the fact that an earthbender would have been much more suitable for the job, he still took it. Accompanied by an earthbending friend of his, they left an eight year old Jade in the care of the neighbors. 

He never came back. 

Jade never knew exactly what happened to her father, but when his partner returned a week later, injured and burned and full of sadness and grief, she was able to infer enough. 

Four years later, putting her saddening past behind her but never forgetting, Jade continued to live her life in Omashu, under the care of the last person ever to see her father, his best friend. She enjoyed every peaceful day to the fullest, despite sometimes wishing things weren't quite so peaceful. 

Of course, had she known the adventure that was in store for her, she may not have wished for that so soon.