isolated,, sokka

xiii.

7 years ago ;

zhavia panted from sheer exhaustion as sweat coated her body. her lips were chapped from the outrageous heat at the boarding academy for future firebenders and she leaned against the wall of the training arena to attempt to catch her breath. the academy she had been sent to was generally made for older students, who had more stamina with their benders, but they made an exception because captain zhao offered to be benefactor a large sum yearly.

they were a bit wary of having an eight year old around their dorm campus, but it was a smaller academy so they pushed it aside and allowed her to join. she fit easily in with the other benders, out fighting most of them and advancing without the need for any extra training. if anything, her age made her even more dangerous because the older kids were more wary on attacking her whilst the captain's daughter didn't hold any hesitance in fighting back.

the eight-year old had been using up every bit of her firebending potential for hours now, and all she wanted was to be sent back to her form. little spurts of fire left her hands as she dodged the attacks of her instructors. even they could tell the young girl needed her rest, otherwise she wouldn't be able to bend for days until she recovered. however, they were under the instruction of her father saying she had to learn at least one skill a day. otherwise, he and his massive bank account would leave the academy.

because they enjoyed the benefits from the added money from zhao, they followed his instructions and zhavia began training with their master benders immediately.

"now again!" master jin ordered with a snap of his fingers, signaling for the nine year old to get back into a fighting stance.

"i--" zhavia paused for a moment in hopes of catching her breath, "can we start this again tomorrow, sir?" she asked, hoping her heart rate could calm down a bit as she could feel it beating in her ears.

he narrowed his eyes, spinning his wrist around and sending huge blasts of orange fire in the direction of her small frame. zhavia gasped loudly and immediately spun around in order to keep the flames from hitting her face. she dropped lower and kicked her feet up in hopes of redirecting the fire he sent in her direction.

her eyes drooped slightly from the heat surrounding her, and she knew he was making it continuously grow the longer she refrained from blasting it back towards him.

she then used her feet and sent it towards him with a sudden rush of strength, using her back to jump up to her feet as he was pushed against the wall on the other side of the arena.

"you did it." a clapping voice was heard from next to her, and she furrowed her eyebrows slight and tried to look for the source of the familiar voice. she then glanced up, and in the visiting section on the balcony, she noticed her father standing there with a few guards nearby him.

"father? what are you doing here this late?" zhavia asked. she finally completed the drill, so she fell back against the wall to help catch her breath.

"i came to see your progress, and it turns out we boarded the dock to here just in tie." zhao shrugged his shoulders lazily, "i'm proud to hear that you're advancing so quickly." he smirked, looking over to where the unconscious master from before lay.

zhav widened her eyes, not even knowing that she blasted him unconscious. wow, he must've been really weak as a master if she did that with one half-energy move.

nevertheless, a light smile was on her face as she looked to her fathers proud stare. it was the first time that he's visited her since he sent her to the academy two years ago.