The moment Hanuel stepped out of the airship, she was met with a cacophony of cheers.

For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the noise of the crowd, but she composed herself. They were here to see her- their avatar. She couldn’t let them down by shying away from them.

As Hanuel walked the stretch of path between her personal airship and the palace, she waved to the crowd around her, held back only by rope barriers and some very stressed out guards. It wasn’t long before Hanuel arrived at the palace doors, where Yu Yan was waiting for her.

Yu Yan, Hanuel’s personal manager, was a thin, small woman in her mid-thirties, with bright makeup and artificially dyed and curled hair. She had practically raised Hanuel since the discovery of her avatarhood seven years ago, and despite her somewhat snooty personality, there was no one Hanuel would’ve rather seen upon coming back to Ba Sing Se.

“Come on, Hanuel,” Yu Yan said as she directed Hanuel into the palace, though the avatar continued to wave at the crowd.

“Come on, Yu!” Hanuel flashed her manager a smile. “I haven’t been home in months! They want to welcome me home!”

Yu Yan sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll meet you inside. Your friends are in the parlor in the west wing” She said before heading inside.

Almost as soon as Yu Yan had disappeared inside the palace, Hanuel’s attention was brought to a man in the crowd. Clearly a reporter of some sort, this man wore an expensive gray coat and carried a microphone. He was accompanied by a bored-looking cameraman trailed close after him. Both men had noticeably dark brown eyes, uncommon in the UDES.

“Hello, Avatar!” The reporter held out his hand as he crossed over the velvet ropes, flashing a badge of some sort to the guards, who only looked more annoyed at his presence. “I’m Shota Shinobi, with the Republic City Inquirer, and I’d like to ask you some questions if I can have your time?”

Hanuel smiled and nodded. From what she knew, the Republic City Inquirer was one of the biggest newspapers in the United Republic, it was a bit strange that their reporters were all the way out in the UDES.

“Fantastic!” Shota exclaimed. “Avatar Hanuel, how does it feel to be back home after months of diplomatic training in Gaoling?”

Hanuel looked to the camera as Shota angled his microphone towards her. “It’s great! I;m excited to be back in Ba Sing Se, and I’m ready to get to work doing avatar business!” She laughed.

Shota had continued to interview Hanuel until she managed to break away from the crows under the guise of needing to attend a meeting. In part, it was true. Shota, and by extension the general public, didn’t need to know that she was actually just going to reunite with her friends.

The quiet inside of the formerly-earth kingdom palace was refreshingly quiet, the gradious, empty hallways a much needed break from the revelry outside. Hanuel loved being the avatar, she loved being loved, but even someone like her needed a break from it sometimes, if for no other reason than to give her ears a break.

It wasn’t long before Hanuel reached the parlor on the west wing, and just like Yu Yan had said, her best friends were there waiting for her.

Mikah and Jitsuko were opposites, not just in element but in about every possible way. Mikah was tall, with broad shoulders and warm brown skin. He wore his hair in a loose low ponytail, with two braids in the front framing his face in a traditional northern water tribe style. His blue eyes seemed to look at nearly everything with kindness. Almost everything about him radiated a sense of softness. On the other hand, Jitsuko seemed to be composed almost completely of angles. From her metallic hairpiece to her fire nation shoulder armor to her glasses, Hanuel could compare her to a dagger- small but dangerous. Both being nobles of their respective nations and prodigies at their respective elements, they were the perfect companions for the avatar.

Mikah greeted Hanuel with a hug as soon as she walked through the door. Jitsuko soon joined them. “Hanuel! You’re back!” The waterbender exclaimed.

Hanuel laughed as she broke from the hug. “It’s so nice to see you guys again!”

“How was Gaoling?” Jitsuko asked as they all sat down on the fancy couches in the parlor.

“Ugh, it was terrible” Hanuel groaned as she leaned back. “Apparently ever since my folks all moved to Zaofu, Gaoling’s just full of a bunch of boring old rich dudes who haven’t smiled in thirty years and have nothing better to do than boss people around.”

Mikah chuckled. “I know some northern water tribe noblemen who would get along with them. Old master Quma talked my ears off about ‘masculine tradition’ when I told him I wanted to be a healer.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there are grumpy old dudes everywhere” Jitsuko nodded. “Definitely seen my share of grumpy Fire Nation advisors who look like they were alive for the hundred year war.”

The door opened, and Yu Yan walked in, struggling to carry a mountain of paperwork. “Avatar!” She called out. “Prime Minister Mira requests your presence at a cabinet meeting!”

“Right now?” Hanuel asked as she stood up, although she already knew the answer.

Yu Yan nodded and Hanuel followed her out the door. As soon as they were outside the parlor, Yu Yan dumped a considerable portion of the paper she was holding into Hanuel’s arms then walked off, the click-clack of her heels echoing on the tile floor.

Hanuel was apparently late to the meeting, judging by how Yu Yan ushered her into the room, sat her down with all the required paperwork, and took her place at the back of the room.

“Avatar Hanuel Beifong, how nice of you to join us” Prime Minister Mira greeted from the head of the table. A nonbending woman in her early fifties, Mira was probably far from the beacon of democratic progress Avatar Korra and King Wu had envisioned when reforming the country, but Hanuel knew she had the nation’s best intentions at heart.

“We were just waiting for you to arrive,” Mira said. “If you’ll notice on your agenda, you’ll see we have a multitude of subjects to discuss that require the avatar’s input.”

Hanuel looked down at the papers Yu Yan had spread out in front of her and located the agenda. It included a list of topics including taxation breaks among the upper ring, the lack of employment opportunities created by the Si Wong and Foggy Swamp Relocation acts, and the growing crime rate in the southwestern UDES. As Hanuel read, Mira and one of the cabinet members started discussing the first item on the agenda- accessible transportation in the Coral Isles, a topic so dull Hanuel started to drift into a daydream.

“Avatar!” Minister Qiang snapped. Hanuel startled out of her thoughts and looked around, eventually making eye contact with Minister Qiang of the UDES military. From what Hanuel knew, the middle-aged man was a decorated war veteran- having served in the Earth Empire.

“Uhhhm…” Hanuel trailed off. She must’ve missed a question being asked.

“Minister Qiang asked what you think of the growing spiritual unrest in the Southern UDES?”

Hanuel started to panic. She didn’t have a prepared answer for this. “Uhhh…. I think with the help of the Air Nation, as well as improved natural conservation efforts, we’ll be able to make peace with the spirits.”

The answer was vague and optimistic enough that everyone seemed to agree, the discussion continued on.

After the meeting, as Yu Yan was packing up the papers on Hanuel’s side of the table, Mira approached Hanuel.

“Avatar,” the prime minister smiled. “Care to meet me in my office?”

When Hanuel looked back at her manager, Yu Yan gestured for her to follow the Prime Minister. Hanuel swallowed her anxieties and nodded.

Hanuel always hated Mira’s office. It was sparsely decorated, and always seemed cold, no matter what the weather was like outside of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

“How was Gaoling?” The prime minister asked, politely resting her hands on her desk.

“It was alright.” Hanuel replied. “I learned a lot, and Master Lei was able to help me refine some of my earthbending techniques.”

Mira smiled. “I assume your metalbending is still top-notch?”

Hanuel nodded, being born in Zaofu and being a direct descendent of the first

metalbender had definitely helped her skills in that regard. She also supposed that since Korra was also a skilled metalbender, that the ability had somehow transcended lifetimes. It helped her feel more connected to her past life.

Mira smiled. “I’d say it’s safe to say you’ve mastered earth and-”

“I’ll be moving on to fire?!’ Hanuel interrupted. She had been waiting for this moment for so long that she forgot the rules of etiquette that had been drilled into her for so long.

Mira raised a hand to silence her. “Patience. Firebending will come in time. For now, you will remain here, there’s some business I need you present for.”

Hanuel slumped down into her chair. “Alright” She huffed.

“Don’t worry. It’s only a few months. By the time the first snow falls, you’ll be off to the fire nation.”

Hanuel smiled. “Thank you.”