"Oh, dad, PLEASE!"
The three oldest earthbending kids where hanging on their father, a pleading look on all of their faces. The extended airbender family, which now even consisted of an earthbender, a firebender, a nonbender and the universal bender, had gathered for dinner on Air Temple Island. Just some seconds ago, Korra had voiced her newest idea: "Can I take the kids penguin sledding over the weekend?"
Now Tenzin thought on that. "I don't know, Korra", he said, "the world IS pretty safe right now, so you could have a little vacation. But babysitting the kids will hardly be relaxing for you." - "Oh please dad", Ikki tried to persuade him while hugging him fiercely, "it's only a weekend and we will be very good and always do our chores and mediate and not fight and I will not tell Meelo that he stinks anymore...for two weeks."
She probably would have blabbed for a bit more, but Pema laid her hand on the little girls shoulder. After her daughter was silenced, she spoke up: "Tenzin I think that's an amazing idea. We could give Rohan to your sister and would finally have a weekend to ourselves." As if he needed some more arguments, Korra added: "And we could live with your mom, or my parents, so that they could help me with them."
"You mean they should cook for you", Bolin said, "a weekend is plenty of time to starve the kids with your cooking." The Avatar stuck her tongue out at that. "If you want to, I could come", Asami said, "I have plenty of experience with sitting children." - "You do", Mako asked with a raised eyebrow and tried to not think about why the CEO of Future Industries always happily dropped everything when Korra decided she wanted to go somewhere.
Asami puffed her chest (not that this was necessary): "Well, I've sitted Korra for a whole year and look at how happy she is." Korra's grin did not waver, even though the joke was on her expense. Pema looked at her husband: "I think we can trust her." The kid's started to cheer and hug their parents.
"I don't know, Pema", Tenzin though aloud, "taking care of someone who can't sit still for five minutes is a tough task." - "Oh come on", Asami said lightly, "your kids aren't that bad." - "I wasn't talking about our kids." The Avatar pouted at him, but proved him right by jumping to her feet even though her bowl was still half full: "So when do we leave?"
"The important part for penguin sledding is the wardrobe", Korra told her pupils sometime later in the arctic cold of the Southern Pole. All of them wore traditional Water Tribe clothing, even Asami, who a) did not like the color at all and b) was still cold.
The Avatar explained: "You see, normally you smell like human. And humans eat otter penguins..." - "No we don't", Jinora stated, matter-of-factly, "we're Air Nomads. We don't eat meat." - "Well, they don't know that", Korra had an irritated facial expression and was giving her oldest child the evil eye, "these garments hower smell of fish and the sea..." She smelled her cloth. "...and freedom."
"Mine smell like sweat", Asami complained after smelling what she was wearing. She had gotten one of the garments that Korra's parents had insisted on keeping since she would grow into them eventually. Since she did not care much for style, she might have even worn them once or twice.
"Mine smell like fart", Meelo stated, a green cloud escaping from the back of his trousers, which made his middle sister gag: "Ewww... Meelo, you stink." - "You told dad you wouldn't say that", Jinora reminded her, which made the other girl angry: "Don't you dare tell dad or I will tell him..."
"Girls, calm down", it was Asami, kneeling next to the children, "just listen to what Korra has to say, so we can go back inside where it's warm."
"Anyways", Korra said, trying to get back to topic, "the penguins will not recognize us as humans. That's where we get them and start sledding." She turned her back, now overseeing the colony of penguins in the plain below. "It's probably for the best if you try to find yourself a female, they're usually more mild mannered, since the males care for the children most of the time."
She started strutting through the snow. "Uh, Korra", Asami struggled with her words and the snow, while the kids just glided over it using her bending abilities, "have you done this before? Because monogamous birds don't have a gender dimorphism." Korra looked at her confused. "That means males and females aren't distinguishable", Jinora explained and after her brother looked at her weird: "I just finished reading the story of a famous biologist."
The Avatar laughed and kept stomping, she liked that more than bending: "Shows what you know, Miss Sato. Otter penguins are mammals." She stood still for a moment, making her best friend run into her. She huffed: "They're birds!" - "So how come they can't fly", Korra had turned around and now shoved her friend playfully. The CEO of Future Industries would not take any of this and shoved back: "A lot of birds can't fly!" - "So? Name one!"
"Ostrich horse", Meelo quipped in, but got a nasty look from his biggest sister: "Ostrich horses are mammals, too." The Avatar sighed and started moving again, then continued: "And YES, I went penguin sledding a lot of times. Always got in trouble with the White Lotus, though."
"Did grangran punish you", Meelo asked, flying around them on an air scooter with a morbid fascination plain on his face. Korra flashed him a big smile: "Actually, Katara always got me out of punishment. She taught me how to sled." Her voice got a bit quieter. "She said it reminded her of Avatar Aang."
They walked (and flew) for a while in silence, until Korra decided: "Kids, now you have to walk, so you won't startle the penguins." The airbenders dropped down and started walking behind Korra, so they could walk in the grove the other girl created.
"So the thing about penguins is: The parents take turns hatching the egg, with most of the work being done by the male", Korra explained and turned to wink at Asami, "sounds to good to be true, I know. The parent that isn't sitting on the egg is getting food, sometimes they even share. It's really disgusting." Korra stuck her tongue out in disgust, even though nobody could see it since she was the first in the bee line. "You know what's not disgusting?" She turned around and stopped again, this time making three airbending kids walk into her. All of them fell over on the ground and laughed.
Asami could not share the good mood, she just walked around them, determined to make the activity (and therefore, the cold) end more quickly. After they had stood up and started walking again, Korra bent down to the kids: "Otter penguins mate for life! If their mate dies, they will be in grief for some time and not take a new one until they die." - "Oooh", Jinora and Ikki swooned.
The first penguin was only meters away. Asami had a determined look on her face, as she pointed towards two otter penguins who seemed to rub their noses together. One of them was sitting on an egg, she pointed on the other one: "Can I have this one?" - "You can", Korra said a bit unsure, "but it's a male." - "So the other one one is a female", she recapped and tried to find something that differentiated the two animals.
Korra laughed loudly, but quickly stopped herself to a low chuckle: "No, that's a male, too." - "But they have an egg together", Ikki stated, as the other two kids she was in total awe. The Water Triber just grinned: "They're just like us, actually. Each colony has some same sex couples and when some of the other penguins die, they hatch their eggs or adopt their chicks."
"How exactly is this 'like us'", Jinora wanted to know, she was a sceptic, "if you'd tried something like that in Republic City, you'd probably end up handcuffed in front of Chief Beifong."
Korra's eyebrows shot into the air and her mouth curled into a mischievous smile. Only when Asami's snowball hit her square in the face did she realize that Tenzin's oldest daughter must have meant that sentence in an entirely different way than she understood it.
She wiped the snow and water of her face and looked at the girl: "What do you mean?" - "It's frowned upon", Jinora explained, unsure what the Avatar had been thinking earlier. "Why?" Nobody dared to answer the Avatar's question.
It was not until long that each of the children had been able to catch themselves a nice female otter penguin, and now they were sledding far and wide, laughing loudly. Korra was still in the process of getting Asami to try it herself.
"I don't know… isn't this dangerous", she asked, looking at the jumps the airbender children were doing with their animals, "I'm a nonbender, you know." - "You'll be fine", Korra told her while holding out two fishes to catch two other otters, "just stay with me, I'll protect you."
Suddenly Asami's face changed, but Korra could not decipher the emotion that was now present, so she tried her best at being gentle and insightful: "What?" - "I don't think telling the kids about the penguin adoption was a good idea", came the quiet reply.
The Avatar raised an eyebrow: "But… why?" While Asami thought for a bit, the penguins snatched the fishes and waddled away. "You know it might be better for me to sleep at Katara's, instead of you parent's", came the answer that was not actually answering anything, but instead left Korra with a lot more to think about.
There was a long, awkward pause until the CEO noticed that her friend would not be able to ask coherent questions, so she tried to explain: "You know, it kind of explains a lot, you knowing all this stuff about same sex otter penguins and being a Water Tribe member and…" She trailed off while Korra's narrow her eyes to slits.
"You think I could be in love with you", she asked, a blind guess at what her friend was trying to tell her. Asami nodded clumsily (with "clumsy" being a really nice word for it), so Korra repeated: "You think that the gal who pinched your boyfriend… twice… would be in love with you?" The nodding stopped. "And you think I would just ravage you while you were sleeping at my house?" Asami opened her mouth, then closed it, then finally said stodgily: "You know, that IS kinda your style. Running your head against a wall…"
"You know what, Sato? Maybe it IS best for you to sleep at Katara's", Korra spat angrily and threw some fishes at her friend. Then she stomped away, caught an otter penguin and sledded to play with the children. Asami on the other hand decided she did not want to sled today (or ever), and stared angrily at the fish at her feet for a whole while.
"I'm so tired", Meelo said even though his half-asleep body was carried by Korra. She tried to smile at him: "Don't worry, little fellow, only a few more miles." - "I wish we had Naga with us", Jinora said, trotting exhaustedly next to the Avatar, who just focused her smile at her: "She would have scared the penguins. We're gonna be home soon." - "Are we there yet", Ikki questioned, not even able to blabber like she used to. The Avatar groggily answered: "Almost."
When the sun started setting, they arrived at an hill summit, overseeing a plain and the city beyond. "Now it's getting easier", Korra told them, while waterbending (or earthbending, they could not tell which element she was raising in the underground) a block of ice out of the ground. With military precision she melted two sleds out of the ice using nothing but flames. A kick split them from the ground.
"You know, you're special", Jinora told her, while she was still working on the sleds. The Avatar took the time to look at her with a questioning look, so the girl told her: "You're the first avatar to not prefer her native element." Another wondering glance was the response. "I'll show you."
She moved over to her older friend and laid her hand on hers, then said: "I took your bending." Korra just grinned and instantly ignited two flames in her hands. "See, that's what I meant", the oldest airbender kid told her, "you instinctively choose fire over water." She raised her hands and pointed at the ice and snow around her. "Even though water is everywhere, while most firebenders would find it hard to ignite in this cold."
"Can't this wait", Asami told the two on the verge of freezing to death; an objecting ignored by Korra when she replied: "So is this good or bad?" Jinora just giggled at that and helped her to place Meelo on one of the sleds, with Ikki behind him to hold him. Afterwards, she stated: "Neither. Other avatars didn't know they were THE Avatar until they were 16, so you and grandpa Aang where the first to even KNOW other elements when you were kids. You're just preferring the element that comes most natural to your character."
"Can we go now", the CEO of Future Industries interrupted again, rubbing her hands together for warmth. The Avatar could not help but feel sorry for her (former?) friend, so she answered with an awkward smile: "You want me to make you warm? You heard it, my character is hot!" - "I'll pass", Asami stated in an icy tone of voice that made their surroundings seem like a tropical island.
"Just get on the sleds and lets go", Korra stated a bit bummed, "we'll propel them with airbending!"
It was going to be a feast. Anikka, the mother, had prepared a wide variety of meals and served them on the flat table. She was now calling her family making sure the decoration of the round main room was flawless. It was to be a nice evening.
Since the hut was so small it was not long until her husband Kutak and the three children arrived. They sat around the table and said a small thanks to the gods. "Anikka, the food smells amazing", Kutak told his wife with a wide smile.
That's when a sled burst into their living room through the ceiling.
No one less than Avatar Korra and the next airbending master tumbled through the living room. The water tribe girl was the first to get up on her feet and bow in respect: "Anikka, Kutak, kids." She looked at the big hole in the ceiling. "Sorry for crashing your home. Again."
The parents of the family sighed in despair, while the children went to hug the Avatar like an old friend. "Korra, nice to see you", Kutak told her, but it did not sound honest, "custom demands that we invite you to our meal." Korra had not listened, she had tried to bend the home into shape, even going so far as to try to hang up the warrior shields again after fixing the wall.
"No, thanks, I got to get the airbenders to Katara", she told them, "I'll send someone over to finish fixing this in the morning." - "As always", Anikka said with a better demonstration of a smile. The Avatar took the half molten sled in one hand and Jinora in the other and left with an clumsy smile, mumbling another sorry or two.
It was not until long until Korra had brought her four friends to her former waterbending master. Asami had stubbornly requested to stay there and even though she had been cold the entire time the first thing she did when she arrived at Katara's was to step out of Korra's cloth and threw them at her.
The Avatar was sad when she returned home and of course the first thing she did was to tell her parents what had happened earlier.
A knock on the door startled Senna, Korra's mother. Quickly she went to see who was visiting. To her surprise it was Asami, who was not able to look her in the eyes. She let her inside the small hut anyways.
"Can I talk to Korra", the girl asked, not looking at anyone in particular, even though Tonraq had just entered the room. He was the one to speak: "She's outside feeding Naga, maybe taking her for a walk." - "You can stay for dinner if you like", Senna added, so Asami disrobed and moved to sit on the still empty table.
"We heard what happened", Tonraq told her, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly. She did not need to guess where Korra got her physical streak from. His words however had not made her feel better in either case, but worse. She thought she would try her apology on Korra's parents first: "I'm sorry, I should not have said these things." Senna smiled at her lovingly: "Don't worry, Korra will not hold it against you, she's accustomed to such claims."
Asami looked at the two adults questioningly, but did not need to formulate a sentence, because Tonraq seemed to know what she was thinking: "Korra's very strong, very tomboyish. She's trained her whole life to be a warrior." He bobbed his head in an awkward laugh. "And evidently, the one thing that stuck while teaching her were gay penguins."
That was a new word to the heiress, nobody had ever dared to utter it in her presence, even though she immediately knew what it meant. "It doesn't help that she's pretty open about these kind of things, even for Water Tribe standards", Senna added while pouring some liquid into small bowls. Asami sniffed her bowl and distorted her face, then asked: "What do you mean?"
"Well…", Senna explained while looking at her husband for guidance, "better tell nobody you know, but Korra always had these… flashbacks." That was no news the the girl, so she opened her mouth to say so, but was interrupted. "Of Avatar Aang. Dating Master Katara", Tonraq added, "and 'dating' being the child friendly version."
Asami's mouth hung open - did he just tell her that… no, no way. At all. "Aaand of Avatar Roku being with his wife, Ta Min", Tonraq added unhelpful, "and of Avatar Kyoshi with Long Xin. And of Avatar Kuruk with…" - "I think I get it now", the girl's head was spinning and she was pretty sure it was not due to the fumes of the Southern fire water in her bowl.
Senna laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder: "We have to tell you: having a teenage daughter is no fun. Having one who get's flashbacks of her former self being with someone while she can't is the worst thing ever." - "Not that we don't love her no matter what", Tonraq added, and his wife repeated: "Of course we love Korra no matter what. But I think being in this compound with no real social interactions with anybody, forced to twell on her flashbacks without a connection to the avatars to talk to… it left her somewhat confused."
"Are you", Asami asked and finally downed her alcohol while immediately making a silly face, "are you trying to make me feel guilty?" The other two laughed and Senna went to pour more of the clear liquid in her bowl. "No, just try to understand her", she told the younger woman, and her husband added: "You're the one friend she loves and trusts more than anything. If you were to leave…."
Asami went quiet for a moment, but even though she felt sorry for her friend, she could not forget as easily. Senna excused herself to look after the food she was preparing, and Tonraq waited till she was gone until he told Korra's friend: "The great thing about Korra is: If she had a crush on you, you would know. She'd never be able to hide her feelings. And believe it or not, she would probably have tried to get with you already. And even if you aren't into it, she isn't one to bear grudges."
A big sigh escaped Asami's lips and she was about to question these statements when the door swung open. "Mom! I'm hungry", of course, it was the Avatar walking in. She jumped out of her boots and threw her parka on the floor before even closing the door. When she turned she finally saw Asami and a happy smile appeared on her lips.
"Are we friends again", she asked, flopping down next to the startled Asami and drinking her bowl in a big gulp. The CEO looked over at Tonraq, who nodded in support, and said: "I'm really sorry for snapping at you." - "Don't worry, the cold got to you", Korra said while pouring herself another drink and downing it.
Asami had to blink once or twice (or even some more) until she understood. Shaken by how easy it was for Korra to forgive, she dared to asked the question she was dying to ask: "You sure you have no feelings for me?" Korra just laughed as if she had made a good joke, then took Asami's hand and told her in a calm manner: "Yes, Miss Sato, I have no romantic feelings for you whatsoever. Or any female." The Avatar thought for a moment. "Or anybody actually."
The other girl sighed in relieve and sipped on her bowl. "So", she questioned, "can I sleep here? With my best friend?" Korra seemed to really lighten up at this and she went to tell her mom in the kitchen (falling over the table in the process). Even Asami could hear how she frantically exclaimed: "Mom! Asami's staying with us!" And only a heartbeat later. "So when's food ready? I'm REALLY hungry."
Tonraq and Asami laughed in the living room upon hearing this, and toasting, they downed their alcohol.
It went on to be a long evening with lots of food and Southern fire water, until each of the twosomes retreated into their own rooms - Senna and Tonraq into their bedroom; and Korra and Asami into the former's child's room.
"So what do we learn from this", Senna's soothing voice asked the children in front of her. They looked like they were right from a picture book promoting multiculturalism: The oldest two had dark complexion, one with black and one with brown hair, the middle one and the toddler in Senna's lap had white skin with black hair. Almost all eye colors were represented: blue, red (twice) and green.
"That otter penguins mate for life", the girl in the middle spoke up. The smallest boy in Senna's lap looked at her questioningly: "That penguins adapt children." - "Adopt, Tonraq, adopt", the oldest girl corrected, "and we knew that, mom told us when she went sledding with us." - "I wanna go, too", little Tonraq said, tears already welling up in his green eyes.
"I'm sure your mother will take you when you're old enough", Senna told him while stroking his back, then she looked at the other children: "I'll ask you again: What do we learn from this?"
The children looked at each other questioningly. "That mom was cool once", the boy with the bright red eyes said, which made the two girls giggle. Senna sighed: "I don't think you get to complain about your mother. She's still pretty cool. She just has to put up with being the Avatar AND you dense kids."
All kids pouted at her grandmother, and if there had been a question about their origin before, it was now gone: These were original Korra pouty-faces.
"No, I told you this story because I want to show you: Lack of knowledge leads to hate and trying to understand somebody to love. True companionship triumphs over everything." She looked at them in anticipation; she knew her grandmotherly stories stunk, but she tried getting better - even if Tonraq would turn out to be the last of Korra's children, she had at least still ten years to practice them.
"Oh", the younger girl said in excitement, "this is about Katara waterbending at me!" Katara, evidently the oldest of them all, did not look pleased at all: "That's hardly my fault. I saw you slapping Tonraq!" - "I did not", the other girl started, then made a pause. Her brows furrowed somewhat as she remembered: "I wasn't slapping him. Well, I was, but not how you think. I'd never slap him!" She looked at her youngest brother: "Tonraq, do the thing!"
The young boy jumped from his grandmother's lap and put his hands together into a ball. When he opened them there was a small flame inside. The children's eyes went wide. "He's a firebender", the other boy said joyously. Katara added: "Mom will flip when she finds out!"
Now it was the younger girl's time: "Tonraq had shown me earlier. But he kinda ignited himself. I wasn't slapping him - I was putting the fire out." - "Oh", was all Katara said, then she went to hug her little sister, "I'm so sorry, sis." - "It's okay, you're just watching out for us", came the reply.
Senna stood up with a proud face. Her story might not have been good, but at least she got the message across. When she went to the kitchen her youngest grandchild followed: "Can I adapt a penguin like mommy?"
Well, three of four was still pretty good.