Avatar Korra gasped for breath as Astraea looked down at her. "How'd you do that?" she demanded, leaping to her feet.
"Practice," Astraea answered, her eyes gleaming. "I'll teach you if you want."
Mako looked as though he wanted to learn, too. Astraea went over her combination slowly, making sure they understood every aspect of it, especially the hardest part at the tail end. When they had finished, she sensed her sister and Bolin before she saw them walking toward the group. Yue was bright-eyed for the first time in what seemed like forever. Astraea was suddenly mad at Bolin, even though he had helped the other sixteen-year-old out of some of her depression. Others would never know it at first glance, whereas he did. Yue was laughing about something that happened when they finally reach the others. Astraea forced her face into a stoic mask.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Korra commented.
Yue shrugged. "I like learning new things. How far did you get with Astraea?"
The eighteen-year-old abruptly felt left out, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. All her energy seemed to vanish into thin air; she suddenly felt exhausted as well. "Can we head inside? I'm not much good without rest." Jealous of her sister's ability to make friends so easily, she pointedly ignored the younger girl. Puzzled, Korra led the way across the compound to the houses.
Mako fell into step beside Astraea. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.
He sighed. "You know what I'm talking about. When Yue and Bo showed up, you completely changed. I know you want to protect her, but it won't get any easier if you don't let anyone else in." He met her glare with a calm gaze.
Astraea turned away. "You don't know what you're talking about," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear.
"I know you don't want her to leave you behind," he murmured before going to catch up to Korra.
You're an idiot, Astraea! she mentally screamed at herself. Mako is really nice and you almost blew up on him! He was only trying to help! It was true that she hardly let anyone in. Subconsciously she whispered: "I left her behind once. I'm not going back."
Yue caught up to her. "What's up? You have your thinking face on." She flashed a tentative smile.
"Nothing, little moon. Just deciding what we should teach Korra first," she lied. "Anyway – where's Asami?"
"With Pema and the children. She was pretty mad when I last saw her." Yue gazed proudly at Astraea, causing the last of her bitter anger to dissipate. "You definitely challenged her before."
Astraea only shrugged it off. "You know me. Sometimes I think; others I jump into a fight. I can't help myself." She smiled wickedly, and Yue laughed.
"You certainly know how to make someone feel uncomfortable in their own skin," she teased. "Only… it goes the other way, too. You can make people feel at home when you want to."
But I can't stop from hurting people in the process, she replied silently. Outside she took an air of authority; inside she was as confused as she had been in the first place. No matter how much she loved and protected her sister, some things were best kept secret.
And she was sure something was… off about Asami.