| By Cangse Sanren | Part of the Phoenix Rising continuity. |
Lord Roku Hira'a was the Fire Nation-born Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Kyoshi and preceding Avatar Aisling Soren. He is also the Fire Nation Avatar predecessor of his grandson, Ozai. Roku was the ex-boyfriend of Fire Lord Sozin, the husband of Melody, father of Serafina, and grandather of Ozai.
History[]
Early Life[]
Roku and his then-boyfriend, Sozin, as teenagers.
In his early years, Roku and Prince Sozin were the best of friends; they seemed to spend a lot of time together, doing activities such as practicing their firebending. They were so close that Sozin was able to immediately recognize Roku's crush on him, encouraging him into starting a romantic relationship together. They also shared the same birthday, which they celebrated together.
During a party celebrating his and Sozin's sixteenth birthday, Roku was informed by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar. Before Roku left the Fire Nation to master the other three elements, Sozin came by to talk to him and was informed by Roku that the Sages had told him not to bring anything with him on his travels, as the Avatar required no worldly possessions on his journey. After learning this, Sozin gave him the headpiece worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, hoping that he was at least allowed to have that. Roku took the headpiece gratefully and wore it for the rest of his life. Right before he left, Sozin left Roku with a kiss on his lips and a whispered, "even if [we] drift apart, I will always love you, Ro,".
Avatar journey[]
Mastering the other elements[]
Roku and Gyatso training together at the Southern Air Temple.
After learning of his identity as the Avatar, and with a possession to remember his love, Roku began his journey to train under masters of the other three bending arts. Following the cycle, he needed to learn airbending first, so he traveled to the Southern Air Temple. While there, Roku became good friends with a young Air Nomad named Gyatso, who would, in his elder years, become the guardian, father, mentor, and friend to Master Aang.
During one of the airbending lessons, which involved the students taking off with their gliders, Roku showed off by performing a loop. When Gyatso tried to upstage him by air-surfing but fell, Roku came to the aid of his friend, though their combined weight proved too much for Roku to control and they crashed into the other students standing safely on the ground, which resulted in all of them bursting into laughter.
After years of practice, Roku finally mastered the art of waterbending.
After training for several years, Roku finally mastered the art of airbending and traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending from a master who lived there. This task was particularly difficult for Roku, as water is the natural opposite of fire. However, years of training combined with his sheer determination and resilience, enabled him to duel his master and stand his ground. During one of these confrontations, Roku took the brunt of a water blow and ended up in the ocean, but popped back up to stand on an ice platform and swept his teacher away with a tall wave of water, crashing into the pinnacle of the chief's palace, a good distance away.
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