Tenzin held his left hand in his right behind his back as he followed the sounds of faint weeping that echoed through the halls of his home on Air Temple Island. They led him to a secluded balcony, shaded by the trees and far away from most of the other residents. A dark silhouette leaned against the railing with their back to the open doorway, but Tenzin didn't need any more information to identify the person in front of him.
"Korra?" he called out to her, though he wasn't entirely surprised to see that it was the Avatar standing there all alone. "Are you alright?"
The teenager whipped herself around, startled like a cat deer in the headlights of one of those god-forsaken Satomobiles. "Oh," her face relaxed and she exhaled the breath she'd been holding. She sniffled and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Hey, Tenzin. I'm fine, it… it's nothing." She shot him a reassuring smile, but he took note of the fact that it didn't reach her blue eyes, which were uncharacteristically bloodshot and dull.
"Are you sure? You seem upset," he observed, cocking his head to the side much like a confused dog.
Korra laughed half-heartedly in response. "That's the understatement of the year," she mumbled under her breath.
"What do you have to be upset about?" he asked her gently. "It's over, Avatar Korra. You saved the world." He was genuinely perplexed. All of Republic City was celebrating her victory, and he couldn't understand why she wasn't as overjoyed as the rest of them.
The teenage Avatar sighed and dropped her head into her hands, "Yeah, and now I'm the one who needs saving."
Her cryptic responses were beginning to eat at his nerves. "Korra, I cannot help you unless you tell me what's wrong," he said, raising his voice only slightly. He placed a hand on her shoulder as a meek attempt at reassurance. "You've trusted in me before. What's so different now?"
She lifted her head and glanced up at him, achieving eye contact. "You'd be so disappointed in me if I told you," the brunette whispered dolefully.
Tenzin led her over to a bench along the side of the small balcony. "Just tell me what's wrong. I'm sure it isn't that bad," he told her softly.
The seventeen-year-old took a deep breath. "I really screwed up this time, Tenzin," she muttered quietly and stared down at the floor. "I… I think I'm pregnant."
Tenzin had no idea what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. He gulped and tried to suppress his shock. The airbending master found himself flustered and unsure of what to say. He hadn't even known she'd ever had sex, let alone gotten pregnant.
Korra hung her head, "I shouldn't have mentioned it," she said quietly, fighting back tears. "I knew you'd be disappointed in me."
The bearded man sighed and looked back over at the dejected girl in front of him. "Don't go jumping to conclusions. I'm not disappointed. You just took me by surprise, that's all." He squeezed her shoulder. "Now, would… Would you like to talk about it? Or would you rather I left you alone to think?"
The blue-eyed Avatar looked back up at him. "Why not? I mean, the cat owl's out of the bag now, isn't it?"
Tenzin sighed. Even though he loved the young girl like his own, he had been hoping she wouldn't want to talk. He'd never been all that great at solving her romance problems, and this was completely out of the range of his expertise. Sibling rivalry? Easy. Broken toy? Piece of cake. Pregnant teenage Avatar? Uy…
He cleared his throat. "I'm assuming Mako is the father?" he asked awkwardly.
"Yes, he's the father," she nearly spat. "Oh, I should've been more careful…" She kicked herself for believing they'd be alright without protection that last time. She knew better, and now she was stuck in this mess. The worst part was that it was her own damn fault. The teenager wanted to crawl into a hole and die, she was so exasperated with herself.
The older airbender looked over at her, "Have you talked to him about your pregnancy yet?"
Korra shook her head morosely, "No, he probably won't even care. I mean, he won't even so much as glance in my direction now that he's back with Asami. Why would he want to be held back with some illegitimate spawn of mine when he has her?" The tears started up again at the thought of him. The permanent split may have been mutual, but that didn't mean he had to flat out ignore her. That hurt almost as much as seeing him with Asami…
"Do you plan on telling him at all?" Tenzin asked, slightly alarmed that she considered hiding her condition from Mako.
"I don't know… He deserves to know. It's his kid, too, after all. But he won't even look at me, let alone talk to me! How am I supposed to tell him I'm pregnant with his child if I can't even say one word to him?"
Tenzin gave the girl a sympathetic look. He could tell things had been strained between the two of them, but he didn't think it was that severe. "I'm not quite sure. That's something between the two of you, and it'll happen at the right moment."
The water tribe native nodded. "I guess you're right. I'll tell him in due time. I just don't know what I'm going to do until then…" She propped her chin on her knuckles.
"There are multiple options out there. Adoption, the alternative…"
She sighed. "I don't even know what would best suit me, and my position as the Avatar. I mean, how can I protect the world if I'm lugging around a huge lump?"
"Now, Korra, you come before any of your duties as the Avatar. Yes, you have more responsibilities than the average person, but that doesn't mean it has to interfere with your decisions." He knew the Avatar was under a lot of pressure to protect Republic City and the rest of the world, but she needed to be able to put her own life first. She needed to know that she was not just the almighty Avatar. She was her own person, and she should be allowed to do what she pleased for her own life, without worrying about the greater good. "Don't let your position influence your decision."
She nodded, taking his advice into account. "I know… I just – How can I have a baby here? I'm on the front page of the paper nearly every day. I'd become a pariah if word got out that I was having a child out of wedlock."
"I know how people talk," Tenzin murmured quietly. "But that doesn't mean you or anyone else has to listen to them."
"That's true. I guess I could go back to the South Pole and wait it out there. You know, out of the public eye. It'd definitely be less messy."
"That cannot be disputed," Tenzin chuckled, "but if you were to go through with it here, in the South Pole, or not at all, you would have support from all of us. No matter what you decide, we have your back."
Korra sniffled, "Who is 'we'?"
"Pema and I, the kids, your friends, your parents, and I'm sure much of the city would support you as well. You're very loved here, Korra."
Immediately, Korra's eyes filled with tears and she threw her arms around her mentor. "Thank you, Tenzin. You don't know how much that means to me," she sobbed into his robes.
He silently wrapped his arms around her in a warm, comforting embrace. "Of course, we all care about you very much. No matter your decision, you'll always have a home here."
The two stayed like that for the better part of an hour, as she wept into his shoulder and he attempted to provide as much comfort as he could. Seeing her in pain made his heart ache and he wanted to make it all go away, much like when he saw his own children suffer.
Their time was interrupted finally when Bolin found them not long after sundown. The young earthbender's eyes immediately widened with concern for his friend and he rushed to her, frantically asking what was wrong and begging for her to talk to him.
"She's not feeling well at all, poor thing," Tenzin explained to the boy, knowing that Korra wasn't ready to disclose the true cause of her woes. "Why don't you help her back to her room? She could use some rest."
The green-eyed sixteen-year-old raised an eyebrow, signaling his skepticism, but nevertheless assisted Tenzin in helping the extremely weak and exhausted Korra to her feet. Bolin shot one last look back at the airbender, but didn't say another word as he helped the Avatar out of the room.
Tenzin sighed and stuck behind another minute. He looked back over the balcony, and chuckled lightly. That girl really had become like one of his own…