One Last Lesson

There was something in the way she moved. He had trained countless acolytes the air-bending katas, taught his own children and his wife how to obey the current of wind and let it inspire their movements. To be the leaf. Effortless effort- Wu Wei. Existing without trying to exist, just being. Like breath, an unconscious fulfillment of need.

Every student brought their own strengths and weaknesses to the katas. Every student moved differently. Some tread softly, gracefully. Mildly like Pema or Jinora, just the barest of zephyrs. Others, like Meelo, were loud in their movements, a gust instead of a breeze. A blast of power, the violent side of air.

Korra—Well, Korra moved like a storm cloud on a lazy day. Soft but strong. Her steps were elegant and alluring with just the slightest hint of menace and determination affirming her toughness. Her tenacity and power were tangible in every manipulation of air.

She was the eye before the storm and the fierce hurricane. A cyclone of intense severity and a moderate summer's breeze, soft as a dream. As entrancing as her aura.

Korra was a tempest, a gale. Unable to be captured or tamed, a thing of fluttering beauty that would only slip through grasping fingertips.

She had mastered air-bending, tapped into the Avatar spirit. Won the hearts of a city and defeated a revolution all before reaching adulthood.

When she had been laid at his feet as a spiritual pupil he had found her frustrating, stubborn, and perhaps a bit lacking. Even while full of potential.

He struggled with her, words falling on deaf ears. Her youthful disobedience, distractions, and desires halting her progress.

But now... Now she was a woman and when she laid at his feet, vulnerable and sad. He couldn't help but hold her a bit tighter, his lips lingering longer than they should on the crown of her head, on her temple, her cheeks.

And when her head had tilted back and he had seen the dew of tears clinging to dark lashes, he was lost.

She was his undoing; he was breaking down, pressing his lips to hers desperately and reveling in the way she clung to his chest.

Here, alone in the meditation pavilion. Open air swirling through the gazebo, brushing over them and carrying all of the scents of Yue Bay.

Here, she became just a woman and he just a man.

She clambered into his lap, legs falling to either side of his hips as they tried everything in their power to get closer.

He thanked the spirits that Air acolyte robes were so loose because, as her hands fumbled with the tie at his waist and his fingers slipped under her shirt and up to her bindings, he knew that this wouldn't last long.

Her feet were already bare, in preparation for their now forgotten meditation session, and it was a small mercy. She was up and out of her pants in record time, her lips never far from his, her palms smoothing over the skin of his neck, his head. Fingers curling behind his ears as she settled back into his lap, tracing the blue outline of his tattoo.

Together, they managed to free him from his pants, shoving the waist band down just enough for him to spring free. Hot and hard, the tip of him already weeping with anticipation.

She hesitated for only a moment before lifting herself up and positioning herself over him until he could feel her wetness and all he needed to do was piston his hips upward and he would be sheathed inside of her.

He gripped her hips, her arms winding around his neck as she slowly sank down onto him. He groaned, wanting to use his hands to speed up her agonizingly slow pace.

But when he felt how tight she was and looked into the open expression on her face—red with excitement and shuttered with pain—he saw the truth of her inexperience.

And in this, he didn't find her lacking at all. He found her intoxicating. He wanted her even more- Because she had completed her time as his student. She would be leaving the City soon and this, this was one more lesson he could give her.

He could teach her—show her - one last thing, give her one last part of himself.

Strong hands splayed over her back as he twisted their bodies until she was lying on the wooden floor and he was over her, elbows resting on either side of her head.

Her hands were sliding under his robes, feeling the skin of his chest and stretching over the muscles of his back and shoulder blades.

"Tenzin," she whispered and he closed his eyes as a shiver coursed through his body. A searing current of electricity shocking down his spine until he was thrusting forward, drawn to her heat.

And as he pressed all the way into her, burying himself in to the hilt and swallowing her cries, he finally admitted to himself how long her had wanted her.

How many hours he had spent thinking of her, desiring her; how many hours he had spent in meditation, trying to clear lustful thoughts from his mind. Thoughts of umber and porcelain skin writhing together, thoughts of taking her as he was taking her now.

He was right when he thought that it wouldn't last long. He could already feel the fire lighting in his belly as he pumped into her. She was clawing at his back, screaming in pleasure and he wouldn't cover her mouth. He didn't dare, because she needed to free this buildup of emotions and he needed to hear her. Hear this music to his ears that would still ring out in memory from time to time, long after she had gone.

His only regret was that they didn't have more time. Time for exploration, time to come to each other completely bare and to learn every angle, every dip, and swell of each other's bodies.

This was it, this was their culmination as teacher and student and they were sharing one last passionate moment of appreciation for each other. Man and woman.

She arched under him, her body spasming as she came, one hand teasing her own breast while the other dug into his skin in painful rivets.

When she stilled, her blue eyes wide and her breathing shallow, he allowed himself to come. Thrusting into her effortlessly, like air, like breath. A natural flow of movements like the moon orbiting the earth; and then it was over, his head thrown back, neck straining as he emptied himself inside of her.

He fell into her arms, hands wrapping under her back as they held each other close. Their relationship had always been complicated, in many ways; and they may have just complicated it further, but she would be leaving soon and he would remain.

And one last lesson couldn't hurt.

There was just something in the way she moved.