𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒

❝ I never thought a little time and space would turn into miles and worlds apart ❞

Portia had a lot on her shoulders. Not only was she a descendant of the goddess of the sea, Sedna, peacefully living amongst others who were one and the same, she was also the daughter of their pod's—named Kiviuq—leader, tasked with ensuring that, while their existence may not have been a secret, their presence remain as it had always been for as long as anyone could remember—respected but separate.

Living in the sea had been unanimously seen as quite the gift, swimming through the waves while long locks of hair flowed behind them, until they received word from another pod that the Avatar, the balance between the bending nations and mankind and spirits, was gravely injured, and was unable to continue her duties as the Avatar.

In addition to being able to live underwater, a select few of Portia's people were gifted with healing abilities, and it was this reason of her father's summoning to the surface—pleas to do whatever they could for her in the hopes she would bounce back and resume her duties as the Avatar. As a student under her father's tutelage, Portia found herself accompanying him until their efforts were deemed in vain, thanked for their time but disappointed nonetheless.

It was then that Portia began to befriend Korra, rising to the surface far more often than before to sit beside her and offer what was, more or less, a shoulder to cry on in her darkest hours. As time wore on and their needs began to deviate, their separate paths began to unfold, with Korra needing to figure out just who she was without the demands of being the Avatar looming over her head and Portia wondering just how much power she wanted to hold. Because at the end of it all, every person was deserving of a chance to find out what they really wanted in life, even if it meant growing apart from the people they had grown to love along the way.

○ ○ ○

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓

kida nedakh as portia

❛ the healer ❜

janet varney as korra

❛ the avatar ❜

kashekim nedakh as amren

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

I genuinely didn't think this fic was gonna see the light of day for a good while because I was just so stuck on how to work with what I wanted to happen with the story line, but then the big brained skytwea gave me the idea of Portia being a healer which cleared a whole bunch of stuff up! All this to say it wouldn't really be dropping now without her so yeah!

Up until a couple days ago I was basically like "maybe I'll see what Portia's gonna do as I go along" but then something came up and now I get to talk about the corruption and industrialism and the treatment of the environment (Varick in particular) so get ready for that, I know I'm psyched

𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖑𝖆𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖗

So before we begin there's a few things I want to touch upon, because they're both very important and relevant. We all know that the Southern Water Tribe was based on the Inuit people, and the merpeople that Portia is descended from (all the merpeople in the story in general, really) are ancestors of the Inuit goddess of the sea, Sedna. I'm doing my absolute best to do as much research as I possibly can, but please keep in mind that there are some things that I cannot just look up online. A good example of this, based on my findings (or rather lack thereof), is a reliable English-Inuktitut translator, which is the oral Inuit language.

Going off of that is the name of Portia's tribe in particular: I used "Kiviuq", who was a legendary hunter in Inuit storytelling, and while I hope this is not disrespectful or offensive in any way, I am not a part of the Inuit people, so I am not in a place to judge what is and isn't offensive. However, if you are, and if I do or say something anything even remotely disrespectful, please talk to me and I will remove it immediately.

The other thing is that this fic takes place during the time period where she's healing from the trauma done by Zaheer and I'm gonna say it right now, Portia isn't just gonna swoop in and heal Korra or romanticize what she's going through. Not only that, but she's also in a very dark place and in a very vulnerable position which is why their's will be a platonic relationship.

𝖉𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔

creeveycolins skytwea for letting me ramble on about Portia and her story and helping me out with the plot, you have no idea how much I appreciate it (and also Joyce for making me this really dope sign off that I can hardly take my eyes off of)

JUNIBENDERS for convincing me to put this up in the first place and getting me into writing for this universe to start with, something I never even considered doing until she bullied me into it, so thanks I suppose mwah

EVANSTAN for making the bombass cover and totally flooring me with her graphic skills, like please take a moment to stare at it in awe I know I did

MANDADLORIANS SOKKACITY sokkascock firelordappa bumiaangs dawngrangers argentsvogue and everyone else I forgot to mention for putting up with me and over all being so supportive and sweet it means a lot!

I hope you enjoy!