A/N: Here it is, the fic I've been promising I'd write pretty much ever since I finished the last one! This was originally going to be a long oneshot, but I realized that that wasn't going to work. Thus, it's a chapter fic! I can't make any guarantees for consistency of chapter length, or even number of chapters it'll be divided into.

For as long as Eska could remember, Mother had told her stories about Yue; about how kind and obedient and selfless she was. According to Mother, Yue had been devoted to her betrothed, despite it being an arranged match. Her one ambition in life had been to be a good wife and raise many children, but she had gladly sacrificed her life to save her tribe. Mother said this was what every young lady should strive to be. It wasn't long before Eska utterly despised any mention of Yue. She had created an impossible standard to live up to. And what was worse…Eska was actually related to her! Yue had been Eska's great-grandfather's niece. So that made the pressure to be like her even greater.

Sometimes, Eska would see the moon through her bedroom window and would glare at it and try to telepathically transmit all of that hatred. Unsurprisingly, she never got any answer.

Their parents had decided to raise their children with relatively little assistance from servants, and Eska grew to dread any time she had to be around her mother. It seemed like everything Eska did, Mother found fault with it in some way. Especially since she had what Mother called "difficulties." When she was young, Eska hadn't spoken until she was three, and had also had other developmental issues, and Mother made it clear she was a disappointment.

"Stop that," Mother would snap as Eska covered her ears when there was a loud noise.

"Why are you so clumsy?!" Mother would say in exasperation as Eska messed up her sewing yet again. (When she got older, she learned that Desna not only liked sewing, his stitches were much neater, so he was more than willing to secretly do Eska's work for her.)

And on and on. "Look at me when I talk to you!" "Stop mumbling!" "Don't pick at your food!" "Why can't you be more like your brother?" "Why can't you just behave for once?!"

Mother was unable to actually hit Eska due to her infirmity, but she more than made up for it with her words, her mouth twisting in anger as she sat in her wheelchair. And Eska couldn't even get away with misbehaving in front of the servants, since they all reported back to her parents.

Which was why Eska much preferred to spend time with her father. True, he was cold and distant, but he didn't concern himself much with how she behaved as long as she kept her mouth shut. In fact, he hardly even spoke to her at all. And Eska was fine with that. She'd never been good at talking.

Life in the Northern Water Tribe could be-and often was- monotonous. Both children had had their toys and games taken away at a young age, since Father saw these things as frivolous. When they weren't studying, or reading approved books, they were expected to sit quietly and not cause trouble. Bending practice was the one time Eska could truly feel at ease; the one thing she could understand in this confusing and stifling world. With bending, she learned how to be so in sync with her brother that they rarely needed to use words to communicate. Plus, it was one of the few times her back didn't hurt to some degree…both twins had inherited less severe versions of their mother's spinal deformity.

Mother, of course, hadn't wanted Eska to practice bending, but Father had insisted that the twins learn both combat and healing. Eska didn't question his reasons.

As she grew up, Eska retreated into herself even more. Her mother was pleased at first, because she thought she was finally making headway. It was soon apparent, however, that Eska was still "difficult"…she was just being difficult more quietly now.

Eska had been a late bloomer (as had her brother), so she didn't start bleeding until she was nearly fifteen.

"Oh, thank the spirits!" her mother said as she was wheeled into Eska's room…the attendant discreetly left to wait in the hall. "I was starting to think there was something wrong!"

As if Mother didn't find enough things wrong with her already! But Eska only said, "I would have preferred you to inform me of this event beforehand, Mother." She was still recovering from the shock.

Mother let Eska's backtalking pass this once. Instead, she launched into an explanation of how this meant Eska could bear children now, and an overview of how that was achieved.

Eska's eyes widened, and she said flatly, "Well, that sounds perfectly horrid."

Mother went on as if she hadn't spoken.

"And you should never, ever do this outside of marriage. Do you understand me? You will ruin yourself if you do that. They may do things like that in the South, but here we have morals and self-respect."

"I have no intention of doing such a thing," Eska answered, and it was the truth. She left out that she had no plans to do it after marriage, either.

Her sixteenth birthday should have been a joyous event. Not that Eska had much use for joy, but at any rate she was legally considered an adult in the Northern Water Tribe. For all intents and purposes, though, the only thing that changed was that she could marry now.

This was especially important because Desna had some sort of deformity that made him unable to have children of his own. Eska had never asked him exactly what it was, of course-that would be too rude even for her-so she had to take her parents' word for it. And since Father's only brother had been banished, if the direct family line were to continue, it would have to be through Eska's son.

Her parents were at least considerate enough to arrange visits with young men in the hopes that they might at least marginally click. The problem was that none of the candidates were in any way attractive to her. And now that she knew what happened during marriage, she found it even less appealing. She knew that she herself was not particularly good-looking by Water Tribe standards…she was bony and hardly even had breasts, while they loved women with curves and body fat to spare. However, men would overlook that if they could get the status of marrying a princess and being the father of the heir to the throne.

So she tried to make herself as unpleasant as she possibly could. She dressed in black, painted dark shadows under her eyes with her makeup, and slouched even farther than was usual for her. Once, with a particularly persistent suitor, she even had to resort to picking her nose.

"What is wrong with you?" Mother would screech. "Do you want to marry a man you've never met before? Because we can arrange that if you don't behave!"

"No. I want to marry on my own terms," Eska answered. Mother would be at a loss for words and go tattle to Father, who didn't seem to care either way. Only later would Eska know why.

This went on for four months. Then, unexpectedly, Father declared he was taking a trip to the South, and both twins were coming with him. He made trips there regularly, but hadn't taken them along in several years.

"Right now?" Mother asked. "Do you have to take both of them? Or can you at least wait until Eska's betrothed?"

"Both twins are coming," Father repeated, and that was that. Eska and Desna exchanged looks. Anything would be better than this matchmaking game.

The boat ride over was uneventful…and very boring. There was nothing to do unless Father summoned them, which he didn't. So the twins just sat in their room and either read or stared into space.

In fact, Father didn't speak to them at all until they were getting ready to disembark.

"I hope you understand how much trust I'm putting in you. This is an important mission, and you two need to be on perfect behavior."

"Of course," Eska and Desna said in unison. Father's idea of perfect behavior was a lot easier for Eska to understand than Mother's version, anyway. All they had to do was keep their mouths shut unless prompted.

After walking down the ramp…Eska was concentrating hard to stay in sync with her father and brother, and to not trip on her robe…she glanced at the people gathered before them as they walked past. Some of them were clapping and showing appropriate levels of enthusiasm, but many didn't particularly even look like they wanted to be here. How rude. Father should teach them to show proper respect.

She thought she even heard one man asking who the lovely ladies were. How dare he ogle women in the audience instead of paying attention to them?

Well, the South was every bit as backward as Mother and Father had always said. Father left Eska and Desna to their own devices for much of the first day. Having no idea what to do in his absence, they wandered aimlessly around the festival grounds. The lights and noises and smells were overwhelming to Eska. She wished they could leave and go somewhere quiet, but Father had told them to say there until he called for them. Her heart pounded, her head swam, and she felt dizzy. Several times she felt on the verge of panic, and it was all she could do to appear outwardly calm and composed. Desna seemed to know when an anxiety attack was coming on before even she did, and would squeeze her hand to distract her. She wasn't sure what she'd do without him!

Finally, one of the guards came back for them, and took them to some sort of mediocre palace for dinner. It was somewhat entertaining watching the Avatar arguing with her father, but the food was terrible. Eska had strong sensitivities, and there was only a small range of foods she could eat without gagging. After a few minutes, she gave up on her attempts.

Father's speech about the spirits was somewhat surprising. He had complained about the South's lack of spirituality many times, but he hadn't informed them he was going to actually take action. Then again, he hadn't informed them about much of anything.

Subsequently, that Varrick man went and made a mockery of Father's words. Eska should have been more outraged, but she was too busy fighting off a headache.

Despite Father's words against the festival, he left the twins alone there again that evening. He said that they had the night off to "enjoy" themselves. When he left, Eska and Desna looked bewilderedly at each other. How?

"I find Father's actions to be slightly disconcerting," Eska said.

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Desna answered.

Eska was about to reply, only to have her train of thought shattered when someone walked up to them and started shouting practically right into her ear! She was too shocked to comprehend the actual words, and made a noise warning him to back off.

He paused, but didn't leave. Instead he babbled about the North being his favorite direction. What did that have to do with anything?

Desna saved the day once again by calmly explaining, "I think he is trying to establish some kind of bond with you based on your geographic point of origin."

Well, Eska supposed she needed the distraction.

"Perhaps it would be interesting to spend time with a person whose ways are so rough and uncultured," she mused. (And, she realized, he wasn't bad-looking...she didn't vocalize that part, though.) She turned to this geographically-inclined stranger and told him, "You amuse me. I will make you mine."

"You mean like a boyfriend, or like a slave?" he asked.

Eska wasn't sure what a boyfriend was, so she just said, "Yes. Win me prizes." She had determined that winning prizes was a crucial activity in this festival, but she wasn't about to do it herself…much too undignified!

First, she made her new companion buy her some noodles, because she was starving from not eating any dinner, and noodles were one of the few things that were safe for her to eat anywhere. After that, she set him to work. He did an adequate job; at the end of the night, Eska's haul consisted of two small stuffed animals, assorted cheap knickknacks, and a larger stuffed turtleduck which she had been eyeing even before she met this boy.

"So, um…" he said as they were walking back to the sleeping area, his arms full with the acquisitions, "What's your name again? Korra said Desna was the guy…so you're…Eska?"

"That is correct," Eska confirmed.

"I'm Bolin."

"Oh," Eska said. There was an awkward silence. Had he been expecting her to say something else?

"You know, you're…um…really pretty," Bolin said.

Eska couldn't figure out how to answer at first. She wasn't pretty and she knew it. If he wanted to flatter her, he should try something more believable.

Finally, she snapped, "Of course I am!" and stalked off to her tent, leaving Desna and Bolin to deal with the prizes. As she was leaving, the latter asked, "Wait! What did I do wrong?" She ignored him.

After that fiasco, she probably would have avoided him for the rest of the trip if it wasn't for what happened overnight.

Instead of sleeping in a building like civilized people, Eska and Desna and Father all had to sleep in tents! Eska didn't know why Father didn't complain.

And these tents were not soundproof. This was especially a problem for Eska, whose hearing was exceptionally acute. Desna, on the other hand, could sleep through the worst blizzard.

She'd only just drifted off when she heard a commotion outside. Apparently a spirit had attacked the Avatar; Father took care of it quickly. Then, barely half an hour later, while Eska was trying to relax again, there was more noise.

All right, really, the nerve of people! She was a princess and would not endure such rough treatment. So she stormed out to give them a piece of her mind.

It didn't take her long to determine that the noise was coming from inside one of the other tents. It belonged to one of the companions of the Avatar… the male who wasn't Bolin.

So she snuck over soundlessly in the snow (a skill she had picked up from years of training), and…what was going on in there?

There were two people in there; she could tell that much. She recognized the Avatar's voice…why wasn't she in her own tent? The inside had been lit up enough to see shadows somewhat clearly. It looked like she was…sitting on something? And moving back and forth like she was on one of those tacky rides at the festival.

Right at that moment, the wind died down enough so Eska could finally make out what the Avatar was saying.

'Yes…Yes!"

Realization hit Eska like getting hit in the stomach with a water-whip during practice. Were they doing…what she thought they were doing?

She ran back to her own tent, too flustered to reprimand them for their noise as she'd been planning.

Once she was safely indoors (if one could call it that), she thought things over.

So. Now her respect for the Avatar had gone from low to virtually zero. Mother had been right when she'd said the Southerners were too undisciplined to wait until marriage. And they weren't even doing it the right way! Mother said that the woman was supposed to lie back and let the man do all the work.

Still…the Avatar had appeared to be enjoying it, and Mother had never said much about that. She'd mentioned that it might be pleasurable, but that this wasn't the point for the woman.

Well, whatever the case, Eska wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and forget she ever witnessed that.

A few hours later, Eska shot up in bed, breathing heavily. Her heart was racing again...not from panic this time. Her whole body tingled due to the dream she'd had.

This was getting ridiculous. She had never had a dream like that in her life! She realized that what she'd observed had rattled her, but to dream about a boy she'd never even spoken to until tonight? Absurd!

Although…although…

Eska gasped as she realized that this might solve all her problems. Once she calmed down, she thought about it more.

If she were to bring this boy home with her, and marry him, there wouldn't be any more annoying suitors! There was no law she was aware of saying she had to marry someone who was Water Tribe. He would be happy too, because he'd get to live in a palace and have servants to tend to his every need. And he could always visit with those he left behind. Eska recalled that he'd used the word "boyfriend"…that must be the word they used to mean a girl's betrothed where he came from. So she couldn't see how he wouldn't be amenable to the idea.

She suddenly realized that she'd been absentmindedly touching herself through her underwear. She jerked her hand away, annoyed at her lack of self-control.

With that, she settled back down and tried to finally get some decent sleep before morning.