#but matthew and leon are firebenders!

[tkachuksoralfixation]

1st sentence ask game:

Connor is one second away from absolutely losing his marbles.

Been brainstorming this for a while and since you gave me a really amazing idea in the discord server i give you: avatar au

I did this game entirely wrong and just used the sentence as inspiration rather than as the first sentence.... And then this fic is 1.1k. so. Yeah.

Anyways! Ficlet under the cut 🥰

For a majority of the years he's spent hiding, Connor has experienced true peace. 

The destiny that was preached to him ever since he was old enough to understand the concept of fate and prophecies never quite faded away. Every day, he relives the pain, the guilt, the shame of running away. Initially, Connor traveled the world alone, nearly starving and surviving solely on dedication and foraging. He was incredibly lucky, after two years, to have found solace on Kyoshi island. 

It wasn't exactly a place, in Connor's mind, that he would seek out for his hiding. But the Kyoshi warriors offered him protection and their secrecy, along with a home, training, and anything else he could possibly need or ask for. And, well, Connor wasn't exactly in a position to deny their services. So, four years later, he's somehow managed to stay hidden while still keeping himself in decent shape. 

While he did run away from his fate, Connor did still believe it would eventually find him. That he still had a duty to avenge the Air nation. What he didn't expect, however, was that it would find him today. 

Grocery runs have become pretty standard for Connor in the past year. He travels by foot to the nearest village, picks up anything and everything he or the warriors need, and heads back to their secluded village. No problems have ever found him. The folks in the surrounding village never recognize Connor, and even if they do, they never ask. His privacy is protected on Kyoshi, and that's part of the reason he loves it so much. 

That is, until now, when he's on his usual grocery run, and a stranger shoves past him with complete disregard of the bustling streets around them. Normally, Connor would apologize and move on, but this guy stops and addresses him directly. 

“Watch where you're going, you flaming hog monkey,” the stranger snaps, his voice aggressive and rough.

Connor opens his mouth to apologize, but he freezes. The man before him stares at him with icy eyes, a vaguely familiar face glaring at him expectantly. Immediately, he's taken back to the day he ran, to the faces of the soldiers who infiltrated his home. The faces of uncaring, soulless puppets of the Fire Nation, wiping out his friends, family, everyone he knew. 

He's older, now. He's grown into a rather nice looking young man, and if Connor wasn't haunted by his past, he probably would've never recognized him. But he relives that night over and over again, and he has the faces memorized. This man is no different. 

Yeah. Connor is one second away from losing his marbles. 

“Well?” The soldier hisses, his face contorting into an intimidating frown. “Are you just going to stand there and look stupid? I have places to be.” 

Connor rapidly blinks, trying to tie his thoughts together. What is he supposed to say again? What even instigated this aggressive behaviour? Wow, it's hot outside today. Where the hell are his words? Why does his tongue feel heavy? He's fucked. Oh, spirits, the Fire Nation found him and they're going to torture him for the rest of his life, fuck, what is he supposed to do? He could run. He could easily take this guy out, probably. That is, if he's a regular soldier and not a firebender. If he was, Connor was fucked. 

Oh, Spirits, Connor is fucked. 

Thankfully, someone else interrupts their awkward encounter and snaps Connor out of his panicked state. Unluckily for Connor, however, it's another soldier. Fuck. 

“Could you stop disappearing on me, Leon? It's almost like you really don't wanna be around me,” the second soldier announces with a grin, clapping the first— Leon, he picks up— on the shoulder. He's the same height, with curly hair and a decent build. Yeah, Connor doesn't stand a chance against these two. 

“It's because I don't,” Leon retorts, still glaring at Connor, “I'm trying to get this idiot to understand he needs to watch where he's walking.” 

Connor swallows hard as the new guy's eyes drift towards him. The three of them sit in silence for one moment, two moments, then three. When a flicker of recognition ignites in the second soldier's eyes, Connor knows it's time to book it. 

“Um,” Connor quickly scans the area for the quickest escape route, “I’m really sorry for running into you. I, uh, I really do have to get going, though. Sorry, again.” 

Just as Connor goes to scurry away, the second man grabs him by the wrist. He whips around, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. No, no, no, this isn't happening. He can't let this happen. He can't get dragged away when he's finally found peace. Or maybe this is destiny finally catching up to him. Maybe he should give in and let himself be taken, face his fate head on. 

But he meets eyes with the second man. His face is kinder, the only lines on his face caused by the grin he currently wears. There's no animosity, no malice, not a hint of nefarious intentions in his body language. That confuses Connor. Shouldn't he know who he is by now? Shouldn't he want him dead? 

His question is answered in an instant. The soldier simply smiles apologetically towards him before he speaks. “Don't mind him, he's just cranky from the long boat ride,” he says, making light of the situation, “I'm Matthew, by the way. You seem familiar, do I know you from somewhere by chance?” 

And that's Connor's cue to leave. “Thanks, Matthew, but I'm positive you don't,” he quickly stumbles through the sentence, pulling his arm away. “I really do have to go. I'm sorry for running into you again.” He says it as confidently as he can, and then he's walking away as quickly and inconspicuously as he possibly can. 

As he walks away, he hears the two of them bickering still. He feels incredibly lucky as he takes the path back the way he came, keeping to the treeline to avoid being followed. There's no way Matthew will go very long without realizing where he recognizes Connor from. He remembers Matthew pretty vividly. He remembers his hesitant face, back then, young as he was. He remembers meeting his eyes, silently begging him to have mercy. 

And, well, that night didn't end the way Connor wishes it did. Somehow, though, he feels like what Matthew just did was a semblance of an apology. 

He knows he's lucky. 

He also knows it's not long before his location is no longer a secret.

#tkachuksoralcreations #hrpf #mcmattdrai #kind of? #i dont wanna tag the individual players so #anyways. to give a little context for this au #square and i decided that in this au there can be more than one avatar so that we could have more than one generational talent as an avatar #so far i only have Connor's storyline figured out (adjacent to Aang's) but I'll figure out who goes where later #but matthew and leon are firebenders! #Matthew's been on a journey to find Connor ever since he found out that the journey to find the last airbender wasn't to protect him #and that the massacre of the airbenders wasn't because they waged war on the fire nation #and leon is just there so he can prove matthew wrong and bring the airbender back on his own #but. well. they both kind of fall for the skittish guy that is the last airbender #huzzah #lmk what you guys think and if youd like to see more of this :) #it was super fun to write!