Chapter 3: Chapter III

Today we were treated to an odd mix of rice, cheese and a black sauce for breakfast that was a staple of one of the White Lotus guards who had taken up residence on the island with Korra. I was not terribly impressed with it but it was good to see the Air Acolytes and White Lotus sharing duties and eating together. Forming common bonds and sharing things about oneself led to a pleasant workplace environment for everyone after all.

“Let’s get started on your first day Korra, we will do some stretches and go though some basic forms before I introduce you to the gates.” I raised an eyebrow, the gates were a good idea for Korra considering it was one of the few Airbending training tools that did not actually require you to Airbend. That fact made it very popular with air acolytes, people who strived to preserve airbending culture from all around the world.

Still, it was very early to present the gates to Korra when she only knew the very basics of airbending footwork. The gates were a very kinetic type of education tool that were arranged in such a way to prevent predictability in the paths through them. They harshly punished moving too slowly or too quickly with different demands every time.

“Well good luck Korra, I will see you in the afternoon for meditation.” I said getting to my feet and stretching a little. I would have run Korra though airbending forms for a few weeks while getting to grips with her mentality before involving anything like the gates. Tenzin obviously thought that Korra was ready for accelerated training. She was a master of the other elements apparently even if ‘master’ meant very different levels of competency depending on the art.

“You’re not joining us?”

“No, I have to help unload the supply ferry today and then run a few errands.” Tenzin nodded and got to his feet. If he felt confident in his curriculum then who was I to argue?

“Jinora, Ikki and Milo will be joining us however Korra, Tenya will be free to help you train tomorrow.”

“Okay, see you later Tenya.” I bowed my head and made my way to the docks where some of the White Lotus guards were waiting for the ferry to finally show up. I was going to have to have a talk with Pema, as the matriarch of the household she managed things like this and the ferry had been late consistently for weeks.

I turned on my heel and made my way to find my stepmother and collect my glider staff, no sense wasting a trip after all. I found the woman relaxing in one of the many gardens that were scattered about with her feet in a cool pond with her head on a pillow and a thick book covering her face to keep the sun out of her eyes. An entirely sensible use of her time considering her advanced pregnancy.

“Pema.” I greeted her as she picked up the book and looked over at me with a tired smile.

“Good morning.”

“Can I get you anything?” I offered and she shook her head. “I came over to chat about the ferry.”

“The ferry?”

“They are late again, this is the fourth time they have not met the established schedule and it has become a pattern for them to be up to an hour later then they agreed to.”

“Oh Tenya, what am I going to do with you…”

“Pema?”

“Is it upsetting you that much?” I crossed my arms.

“They have a contract with the temple and are fairly compensated. They need to perform the role they are paid for or we will have to terminate the contract and find another ferry to transport supplies.” Pema put on a more serious face as she rested her hands on her belly.

“That’s going to cause so much hassle for the people here Tenya. Look I will think about things a bit later I just want to relax today.”

“Of course Pema, thank you.” I turned to leave only for Pema to speak up.

“One more thing, we are having a family night Tenya. With Korra tonight so she can feel like a part of the family.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” She nodded.

“Can you pick up some treats for the rest of the kids when you are in the city?” I crossed my arms and looked at the woman.

“Just for the kids?”

“Okay okay, can you pick something up for me too? I am feeling a craving for something minty.”

“Sure, I know just the thing.”

“I knew you would. Thanks Tenya.” She relaxed in place again as I made my way though the temple estate and back to the docks.

---

Republic City was rarely quiet but I was lucky this morning it seemed as I passed over the sparsely populated streets, rapidly making my way through the air weaving around the tall buildings that created a messy network of air currents that had to be navigated to avoid slamming into the stone and glass constructs all about me.

Reaching my destination, I quickly folded my glider staff up and allowed myself to experience that incredible feeling of letting gravity carry me, the sensation of my gut tensing from the mix of excitement fighting against the less evolved part of me revolting against free falling.

Well before I would become an unfortunate stain on the pavement I reached inwards and touched upon the ever-present energy thundering though my body bringing the power from my core to my hands and feet. Throwing myself into a roll while in mid air was more of an art than a science if only because there was never a good way of doing it. I just sort of wiggled myself into position and allowed the swirling momentum carry my power into a concentrated air brake that extended just beyond the material, letting my feet touch the ground utterly silently.

A smartly dressed man calmly walked around me after inclining his hat, this area of the city was filled with people with places to be and while it was far from mundane to see an Airbender fall out of the sky it would be unbecoming to make that much of a fuss. I joined the sparse throng of pedestrians and made my way around the block to the awkward to reach bank. I could have gotten closer in the air but there was a nasty updraft that I avoided in this street.

I parted from the thoroughfare and made my way up a set of marble steps that marked the ostentatious entrance to the city bank.

“Hello again miss Tenya, how can we help you today.” One of the young men and women posted at the entrance of the bank was quick to approach me and I asked him to check on my appointment. I was led to a small sitting area and asked if I would like tea prepared for me and asked for water instead.

The tea here was terrible.

“Well now, what brings an Airbender to a place like this?” Wonderful someone wanted to bother the monk apparently. I quickly made sure my face was not displaying any displeasure at not being simply left to relax before my appointment and looked over at the person bothering me.

“Mister Sato! What a surprise to see you.” He seemed taken aback but recovered quickly.

“Ah you have me at a disadvantage…”

“Tenya.” I offered him my hand and he quickly took it displaying a firm grip.

“Well, Tenya it is a pleasure to meet you, I am quite surprised that you know who I am.”

“I try to keep myself informed about the goings on in the United Republic Mister Sato. Your company certainly demands attention.” He blinked before letting out a short laugh.

“I never expected my company to be so… Interesting to the Air Temple.” He looked around as if he was waiting for something as I took a quick sip of water.

“Well, I was actually just reading yesterday about your new aircraft development.”

“What?!” I raised an eyebrow at him, was he unaware of the article? I supposed you can’t expect the head of a massive corporation like Future Industries to know everything going on.

“I read about it in the Yun-Campus.” I said as he lent back into his chair.

“Oh, I see, I had… Forgotten about that.”

“It’s a very bold move.”

“What do you mean?” He retrieved a handkerchief to dab his forehead.

“The investment into aircraft, it’s a novel mode of transportation without any established markets but you have dedicated an incredible amount of money into the development of aircraft. Its an impressive display of forward thinking.”

“H- I thank you.”

“Honestly you normally see such novel technologies being employed in war and it is very comforting to see the free market pushing forward without the need for any conflict.” He quickly sat up straighter and cleared his throat.

“We at Future Industries are of course entirely opposed to any of that sort of thing.” It was so nice that many people in this world understood that. I supposed that being at war for a hundred years enlightened people to the pointlessness of armed conflict.

“I am glad to hear that, I wish everyone in this city agreed with our pacifist principles.” I said wistfully as my thoughts were clouded with the Equalist propaganda I had forced myself to consume in my studies.

“What do you mean?”

“Criminals, ideological extremists. The usual crowd who upset a peaceful society for nefarious ends.”

“You’re talking about the Equalists.” He looked me in the eyes clear concern on his face.

“Exactly. It’s unfortunate that so many people have been taken in by a group clearly twisting genuine concerns into violent outlets.” His gaze hardened at my words clearly equally as concerned about the state of the city as I was.

“Daddy!” Before Sato could respond we turned as a leggy woman with stunning green eyes strutted up to the seating area. She had a face like a flower and I found it hard to part from it. Something dignified like a rose perhaps.

“Ah Asami. Done already? I’ve not been seen to yet I’m afraid…”

“No worries, I was just checking in.” Her sharp gaze turned to me and then her lips formed a perfect half smile and she lent forward to offer me a hand. “You can introduce me to your friend dad.”

“Tenya.” I quickly said before taking her hand as she placed her free hand over mine in a friendly grip. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.” She said, it seemed our handshake had gone on for just slightly too long and I quickly retracted my hands and put them together.

“Your father is an interesting man miss Asami, it’s rare to see such an inspirational success story.” Sato quickly cleared his throat as Asami looked between us then gave me a polite smile.

“Thank you.”

“Yes, we were just having an interesting conversation… w-why did you say you were here again?” I waved a hand at Sato’s question.

“Nothing all that interesting I am afraid, just checking in on some accounts.” I quickly took another sip of water trying to avoid simply ogling the uncomfortably pretty woman treating me to a profile view of her supermodel form.

“I see, nothing I have to worry about I hope?” He let out a laugh that I shared. I was well used to laughing at poorly worded jokes to curry favour, you never knew when a millionaire industrialist friend could come in handy.

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“I certainly hope not.” I joked, before I could share another pleasant word with the industrial genius’s daughter, she bid a retreat kissing her father on the cheek and strutting out of the bank. He caught me looking over at her with a concerned look.

“Miss Tenya?”

“You have a charming daughter sir.” I inclined my head in respect.

“She is indeed.” He suddenly looked lost for a moment and opened his mouth to speak before he was called away for whatever appointment he had. “Uh, well it was… nice meeting you Tenya, I hope your investigation goes well.”

“Investigation?” I asked.

“Sorry, the accounts you were checking.” Ah that is what he meant.

“I don’t expect to find anything unexpected but thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you mister Sato.” I stood up to match his bow as he somewhat awkwardly made his way to one of the many offices dotted about glancing back at me now and then.

It was visionary minds motivated by an environment that would reward risk and innovation that made the United Republic a worthwhile national entity. Even my monk grandfather the previous Avatar had pressured the council to avoid the pointless regulation of monopoly charters and merchant guilds that dominated the rest of the world at the time.

It was odd to think about the fact that Korra was the incarnation of Aang, I had never gotten the chance to meet the man proper, the only time I had seen him was when he had held me the day of my birth, he had looked tired then. Content to talk about the wonderous things he wanted me to see and making promises of the things we could do together even when his strength had been failing him.

He had held me for hours, long enough for me to have several naps in his arms as the day turned to night. He had been shocked when Katara had told him to go to bed as if the hours that had passed had felt like no time at all. I knew he had wanted to visit me again but that was the last time I saw him. I wondered how much of him was still inside Korra, certainly not as much as my past lives were inside of me.

I was pulled away from melancholy thoughts by an attendant with suspiciously neat and bright teeth leading me into an office where I could have a private moment with my finances.

---

I arrived back to the island well into the afternoon being greeted by several air acolytes who were pottering about one of the herb gardens. It was a somewhat morbid fact that a great many of the air acolytes who struggled to recover and maintain the air culture and history were fire nation nationals or fire benders themselves. I was firmly against any sort of ethnic or national guilt being ascribed to future generations but the fire nationals here were dedicated to a good cause.

No one should suffer genocide and no culture should be forgotten.

There was a bit of commotion when the Avatar stomped though the garden with a face like she had been chewing on a lemon.

“Ah Korra.” I began “How is your training going?” Might as well put myself in the line of fire, something had clearly upset her.

“I just don’t get any of it! I have no idea what I am meant to be doing and nothing Tenzin says helps me Airbend at all!” I gave her a sympathetic look but she just crossed her arms and looked at the floor childishly. Using the very most basic interpersonal communication skills I took a step forward and put a hand on her arm getting her to look me in the eyes before I spoke.

“Its your first day, no one expects you to become a master overnight.” From what I understood she had been a toddler when she had managed to bend earth, fire and water. I also heard from my grandmother that the first element she had bent had been fire leading to some unfortunate implications for her mother.

I also imagine that a child that could throw flames about was just about the worst thing a mother or father could deal with. Truly the fact the fire nation’s infant mortality rate was so small spoke well of the fire nation parents.

“Clearly Tenzin does! The stupid flaps kept hitting me and all I got was ‘be the leaf’ as if that helps at all! Oh, and then he tries to bore me to death sitting around doing nothing! I never understood Meditation when Katara tried to get me to do it and I don’t get it now!” As if to punctuate her rant she stomped her foot, bending a pillar of earth for her to sit on as she pouted.

I fought back a sigh of frustration but at least the fact that she was not running away from me was a good sign, she clearly wanted to learn and wanted help but was not going about it in the most efficient way.

“So, you walked away during a meditation session.”

“It’s not working! I am just sat there doing nothing.” From the way her face puffed up while she pouted, she almost looked like Ikki getting told off.

“It’s to be expected that you would get bored while you are trying to meditate.” She quickly opened her mouth but I held up a hand. “It’s part of your nature as a human to rage against the feeling of doing nothing or wasting your time. It’s a survival strategy. It’s not something to be ashamed of but it is something that you can overcome. It will take time and effort to reframe meditation as a waste of time to something important to your growth but you know it will be well worth it.”

“You’re still not telling me what I am meant to do. Tenzin just goes on about freeing myself but he won’t even let me listen to the radio!”

“I can’t tell you how to go about learning to meditate, it’s something that you need to desire yourself. Anyway, you know that Tenzin is just trying to keep you focused.”

“…Yeah, I know.” She harrumphed.

“How about we go back and try to finish up that meditation session.” She nodded and got to her feet, stomping the earth back into the ground and leading me to the gazebo they were using. Tenzin looked surprised to see Korra and I, her exit must have been reasonably dramatic. I took my place next to Tenzin as was my right as master while Korra sat next to Meelo wh- Wait was he sleeping?

“Thank you Tenya.” Tenzin said quietly and I gave him a smile before I assumed a relaxed lotus position, I liked to mull things over that were in my mind before I entered true meditation and despite Korra and the children’s constant fidgeting I soon found the freedom that had been so hard to reach over the years.

---

The weeks that followed had seen Korra growing more frustrated with her lack of progress in the art of Airbending. It was not uncommon for her to snap or argue with Tenzin who at times struggled not to snap back at her and loose his patience.

Korra wanted results and Tenzin expected his teachings to get them. The fact that both of them were, in their eyes, failing was taking its toll. To make matters worse the Equalist rallies were becoming more disruptive and violent across the city and more and more Tenzin was being isolated from the rest of the council for his moderate stances to the crisis.

It had gotten to the point where I had asked Pema to find things for my younger siblings to do while Korra trained. Meelo and Ikki were disruptive enough to cause arguments alone and Jinora was not nearly as mature as she liked to act. It was best that they were not party to the shouting matches I had been struggling to prevent.

It was not a case of Tenzin simply being a poor teacher, he was trying a wide range of different exercises and training methods but they were proving to be ineffective at prompting even the slightest hint of Airbending from the Avatar. Even novel training I had suggested had proven ineffective.

At this point I had no choice but to simply argue that visible progress was not what Korra needed, we simply had to maintain her airbending training over the long term until it clicked. Korra had not taken that suggestion well, she had accused me of never expecting her to Airbend at all and ran off to her room.

“Your move.” Ikki said smugly as Meelo shifted on my lap looking over the pai sho board as he made an exaugurated show of thinking hard before reaching out a hand to pick up a piece. The weekly family nights were Pema’s idea and were normally effective at clearing the air after a frustrating week of training.

“Ehhhhh.” I intoned and my little brother quickly pulled his hand back and moved to another piece as Ikki let out a shocked gibberish sound.

“You are just using Tenya to win.” Ikki pouted.

“Excuses, excuses.” Meelo said in a supremely smug tone as he lent back against me with his arms crossed. “You just can’t deal wif’ my superior brains dear sister.” Ikki sneered at the pai sho board and quickly moved to pick up a piece.

“Uhhh.” Jinora winced from beside her sister causing Ikki to decide against it as Meelo pointed at his older sister.

“Hey butt out of it!”

“You did it first!” Ikki complained as I leant forward to whisper something in Meelo’s ear.

“MOOOM! TENYA IS HELPING MEELO CHEAT!” I did my best not to smile, I truly did. Ikki let out a frustrated growl as Meelo moved a piece and disrupted her entire carefully constructed strategy.

“LIER! IKKI IS LETTING JINORA CHOOSE ALL HER MOVES! SHE IS THE CHEATER!”

“Tenya, Jinora don’t help Meelo or Ikki cheat. Let them play.” Pema said half-heartedly with her nose in a mystery novel that was all the craze lately.

“I just don’t know how to get through to that girl.” Tenzin grumbled from next to Pema.

“Honestly Tenzin the best thing you can do for a girl at her age is to give her a little space.”

“Tenya was never like this.” He mumbled.

“I am far from representative of the typical teenage girl Father.” Pema nodded sagely as Tenzin slumped. He then looked over at his younger children.

“You must promise me that your teenage years won’t be like this.”

“Yes sir!” Meelo gave him a salute before giggling while Jinora had a slight smile on her face.

“I can make no such promises.” What a smartass. I reached forward to pinch her cheek as she let out a cry.

“Don’t demoralize our dad Jinora.” I was blindsided by Ikki jumping on my back and making the pai sho board fall over scattering the pieces over the floor.

“She’s attacking! Get her!” Ikki giggled as Jinora used my distraction to trip me up onto one of the mats with airbending before jumping on me and trying to pin me with the help of her sister. Meelo also joined them like the traitor he was and tried to tickle me by jabbing his fingers into my armpit while giggling like a madman.

“Careful don’t hurt each other.” Pema warned as I shifted under them for a bit before I called out a surrender. I wated for them to all stop trying to restrain me before rolling to the side, sending them into a heap of tangled arms and legs before poking Meelo in the belly and making him squeal in laughter.

Pinning Jinora and Ikki to the ground with some airbending while I could torture the traitor reaffirmed my position as the alpha sibling and after a while Meelo shouted out his surrender and I let him and the girls go firmly the victor.

“Okay go get a drink.” I said to them earning nods, the trio leaving with Jinora for refreshments. I turned to Tenzin.

“We have to concern ourselves with the stress first and foremost.”

“I’m listening.” He said still pouting.

“I think we should reduce the air training exercises to just a few hours a day and give Korra some chores to do or a hobby like gardening. We need to find a way to prevent needless resentment from building up inside of her.” If she was angry or frustrated, she was not going to be airbending regardless after all.

“She will just think we are punishing her… Ugh, why does this have to be so complicated. maybe we should try what you suggested at the start. Letting her see some of those stupid games might help put her in the right frame of mind. I still don’t like using them as a carrot, learning Airbending should be its own reward.” Pema hugged Tenzin and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Tenya, why don’t you go see how she is, she has been in her room for hours now and never even ate her dinner when I knocked on her door.” Pema’s suggestion was a good one so I nodded and got to my feet making my way through the house and to Korra’s room.

I knocked on the door only to receive no response from the sulking girl. I knocked again and asked to come in before I simply pulled the handle and braced for her to start shouting. It would be good to get that sort of anger out of her system.

The room was empty however. The window left wide open and perfectly framing the pro bending arena across the bay. I saw red and turned on my heel and marched into my room snapping up my glider staff before throwing myself out of my own window and sending an uncontrolled burst of air underneath me to catapult me into the sky.

This was too far even for her, after I had gotten Tenzin to consider letting her watch some pro bending, she snuck out on her own. Was she utterly ignorant of how dangerous the city was with the Equalists protesting almost every single day!?

I was going to drag her back home personally.

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