Origins

Prologue: The Gift

Korra didn't feel like training or working on her Airbending today. After half a year in Republic City, she thought that she would have at least made a blast of air by now. Unfortunately, she still has been unable to Airbend. Tenzin always told her that these things could not be forced, but she just wasn't used to not accomplishing something right away. It wasn't in her nature. To be completely honest, the Avatar considered herself a failure. She was so used to excelling in anything related to bending that she was unsure of what to do now that she was upon her first stumbling block.

Korra was never a very spiritual person due to her parents not being very spiritual. It wasn't until she began her Airbending training that she realized that spirituality was a requirement when it came to becoming an Airbending Master. This was an enormous disadvantage on her part. Spirituality is never something that can be forced onto a person. Korra had no idea what to do and felt helpless. She cringed. She hated feeling so useless.

"Hello, teammate!"

"Hey, Bolin," Korra said with a wave. "What are you doing on Air Temple Island?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing after your little blow-up the other day," Bolin said with a sheepish look on his turned face.

The Avatar cringed as she recalled what happened yesterday during Pro-bending practice. After seeing Asami and Mako share a small kiss during a break, Korra—being the hothead that she is—ended up destroying some of the weights in the gym. None of her teammates knew what was going on with her outside of the gym, so they thought Korra just had an explosive, and jealous, reaction to the kiss. That was a part of it, but they didn't know she was beginning to feel the pressure of living under Avatar Aang's shadow and being the Avatar during a very unstable period in Republic City history. With Amon and the Equalists spreading terror throughout the city each day and her Airbending being nonexistent, Korra had had enough and basically cracked when she saw them kiss. Now that she thought about it rationally, she felt embarrassed for allowing all the stress in her life to spill over into what should have been a fun and productive day at the gym. Also, it didn't help that Mako and Bolin were there to witness everything. Everything was just great.

"I'm fine," Korra lied through a smile.

"I think I've known you long enough to know when you're lying," Bolin said after a chuckle. "Look, I know you have a lot on your shoulders with, y'know, Amon still running around the city with his chi-bockers and all. You haven't been as goofy and, well to be honest, happy the past couple of days. So, I decided to drop by to cheer you up!"

"Thanks, Bolin," Korra murmured with a slight blush.

"Also, I wanted to give you a little something-something."

"Oh?" Bolin definitely had her attention now.

"Ta-da!" Bolin exclaimed as he presented Korra with a book.

"A book? Thanks, Bo." Looks like something Jinora would really enjoy more, though, she thought. It's not like she didn't like reading, she just never had a lot of time for it for as long as she could remember.

"I think you'll really like it! It's a book about the Avatar!"

Korra was intrigued and looked down at the cover. She read its title aloud, "The Avatar Spirit: On the Ancient History of the Spirit of Our World." Despite knowing of her status as the Avatar since she was 4-years-old, it always blew her mind when she sat down and realized that she was the vessel of the spirit of the planet and a mortal girl at the same time. So long as there was a world, a part of her would always be alive somewhere long after she dies. She smiled. That thought comforted her.

"I have a lot of time. Want to sit down and read with me, Bo?"

"I'd be glad to!" Bolin said with a huge grin. "I actually read the first few chapters on my own and think you'll really love the first Avatar. She actually reminded me of you so much that I started freaking out!"

Korra laughed as Bolin sat down next to her under the shade of the pavilion. With the sound of the waves and the squeaks of the ring-tailed winged-lemurs in the background, this was a perfect day to relax with a friend.

The Avatar let out a smile before reading, "Okay, chapter 1."