Erin the Weakling
A major philosophy that all KND were quick to learn was simple biology. All sectors were balanced between strong operatives and weak ones, and a common misunderstanding was that all missions were won with strength. The wisest sectors knew that everyone's talents contributed, but it didn't change that strong operatives were the most popular and relied upon in any mission. In training, kids were quick to discover their best talents, and simply mastering one talent was enough to graduate, but the strongest cadets always showed off the most and earned the most praise.
Part of their strength or talent had to do with parentage. Many of their parents were former operatives, and the strongest parents gave birth to the strongest kids. If a parent's talent was superior to their partner's talent, it was believed that the child would inherent that talent and carry on the better genes.
Erin Horvitz wasn't born with that privilege. Gasping heavily, her frail arms stroked the water, her fragile feet kicked backward, but the waves were too strong for her. Starting from the beach, she was determined to swim as far out to sea as possible, but her body wouldn't let her. Her little heart was giving out on her, and water muddled her eyes, which were already blurry without her glasses. She was finally beginning to slow down and sink, and the sea would totally claim her in no time.
A pair of hands gently grabbed her arms and lifted her upright. "Alright, let's take a moment to catch your breath and try again." her mother said, putting Erin over her shoulders and swimming back to shore without losing an ounce of breath. Erin had only swam 20 feet from the beach, and such a distance was nothing to Melody. Upon returning to shore, Melody sat Erin on the sand, her daughter gasping. "Honestly, Erin, how many times do I have to tell you before you get it right?"
Looking up at her mother made Erin feel even scrawnier. She had one of the strongest and prettiest builds in town, emphasized more by her white two-piece swimwear. Compared to her, Erin had the build of a popsicle stick figure, and her orange one-piece completed the look. Her bones jittered with any physical activity. Coupled with her buckteeth, stuffy nose, and brown hair, she mirrored her father more than her mother. "It'll be easier if I use waterbending."
"The best way to master bending is to exercise without your bending. Get to know your element the normal way. But more importantly, don't let Noka beat you!"
"Look, Miss Melody! I think this is a new record!" They looked out to sea, where another girl zoomed around the waves like a motorboat.
"Mrs. Horvitz?" They were approached by Mack Strongarm, who stuck to his normal white shirt and blue jeans instead of a swimsuit. "Your husband needs help finding the mail key."
"Sigh, I knew he would lose it. I'll be right back." Melody left on that note.
Mack sat beside Erin, smiling as he handed back her round blue glasses. "These yours?"
"Who else?" Erin chuckled, putting her specs back on to restore her view of the beautiful ocean.
But what she saw instead was a giant grin on a tan face, which had spontaneously appeared out of nowhere. "Didja see me, Erin?!" Noka asked.
"AAAH!" Erin was blown back against Mack by no real force.
"I swam out a whole hundred feet!" Noka stretched to full height with a proud pose. "Where'd your mom go, I wanna know what she says!"
Wearing a two-piece swimsuit with an ocean waves design, Erin could easily picture Noka becoming a model in her adult years. She had tan skin, chocolate hair in long pigtails, and sharp blue eyes. She was 11, a year older than Erin, but a head taller. Noka Asahina was confident in everything she did, for she had the strong, tall, and pretty body to carry her. "Uh, she went somewhere." Erin replied.
"Hm?" Noka felt sadness in her voice. "What's the matter, Erin?" She sat with her friends.
"It's just, my mom has all these expectations for me. I feel like she's disappointed because I'm not strong like her."
"Who could ever be disappointed in YOU, Erin?!" Noka gasped, grabbing her leader's shoulders and shaking her. "You're one of the sweetest, cutest girls I know! Who cares if you're not strong?!"
"Aaaaah! You can say it without disorganizing my organs!"
"Ease down, Noky." Mack said, pulling her hands off. "Your mom's not disappointed in you. We all made the choice of being operatives, so our parents' job is to train us. Your mom's no different from mine or anyone else's."
"But my training just feels so pointless. Just look at all the other strong operatives. Christina, Joto, Karma, Jason… all of them are so strong without even trying to be, because they were born to strong moms or dads, but I didn't get my mom's strength. And look at you, Noka. Your dad's an Adabatian and your mom's a Fanalis. It's no surprise you'd be super strong and great at waterbending. Watching you just makes me feel worse…"
"I'm so sorry!! I never wanted you to feel bad!" Noka shouted, as sensitive as always. "Okay, I'll stop! I'll start doing bad in training, I don't want you to lose your confidence!"
"No, that's not what I wanted! It's just… you two do all the work on missions. Noka beats up all the enemies, Mack thinks up all the strategies… The only reason I'm your leader is because I'm Melody's daughter, but I feel more like a sidekick."
"That may be Noka's reason, but I don't really care about that." Mack replied. "I just think you make a better leader. You're a nice girl who's comfortable to be around."
"Yeah, I think so, too!" Noka stated. "Plus, you're way smarter than me! You always tell me not to do something dangerous, but I do it anyway, and I totally get wrecked! If I was leading us, I would seriously die! And, prob'ly you guys, too. The point is, I would be lost without you!"
"Huhu… thanks, I guess. I mean, I can never tell you to stop in time, you're always so fast…"
"Then I'll slow down from now on! Anything for you!" Noka grabbed her friend in a hug.
"Ack! Okay, please, let go!" Erin always felt her weakest in Noka's hugs. There was no escape on her own, and she might suffocate in 20 seconds if Noka wouldn't let go. She caught her breath and rubbed the sore spots. "Well… 'guess I better try again." Erin pushed herself up and walked to the sea, her team watching as she submerged and swam for open waters.
When Melody returned, she was surprised to see that her daughter had gone to sea on her own. "I thought she would wait for me to come back."
"'Guess she got a little impatient." Mack replied.
"Your daughter's so amazing, Miss Melody!" Noka cheered, fists balled in excitement. "She's determined to make you proud! I wish I could be as weak as her and know how she feels!"
"Te he…" Melody chuckled. "She shouldn't worry about making me proud. She should worry about you guys. She needs to be strong enough to help her team when they need it. When I'm not around, you guys are her teachers, you know."
"She's plenty strong already!" Noka beamed. "But if she's not strong enough, I'll give her some of my own!"
"And there's plenty of brain in here if she needs a spare!" Mack grinned proudly.
"Hehe… then you better take good care of her."
Erin kept swimming, more determined to reach the horizon. She couldn't keep relying on her teammates to win everything. It wasn't enough to have niceness or caution, she had to be strong, too. Even if she could never have beauty, smarts, or muscles, she would still try to swim as far as possible, to keep up with them as best as she could.