Their sparring continued for so long that Korra lost track of time. When the sun had begun to set on the horizon, Tenzin released Korra from the hold he had on her, for he had just put her into a painful headlock, and backed away from her, panting.
"That was very good sparring, Korra," he said, bowing. "Did I reach my goal of exhausting you?"
Korra couldn't lie: if the weariness in her muscles was not exhaustion, she didn't know what was. "Indeed you have, master." She conceded bowing back.
Tenzin laughed. "That is good. I was worried that I'd only succeeded in tiring myself out."
Tenzin was obviously well worn. His chest heaved with heavy pants as he tried to draw in enough air to feed his overworked muscles. All of the skin that was exposed to Korra's eyes gleamed with a sheen of sweat. It was a mesmerizing sight. Korra imagined what it would be like to touch those glistening muscles, and the thought did much to make her forget her own pained body.
Tenzin snapped her out of her reverie with a dismissal. "You can go and rest now, Korra. You fought well and deserve to recuperate before dinner is served. But don't get too far gone in sleep, because after supper we will be returning to the training grounds-"
"For what?" Korra whined.
"Did you forget the purpose of this afternoon's exercise that quickly?" Tenzin questioned her. "We were sparring in order to get your overactive body out of the way of your dormant spirit."
His point made, Tenzin began to walk back toward the Air Temple compound. He had an obvious limp, and was rubbing out an ache in his left shoulder as he walked. When Korra called his name, it was soft, but she knew that he'd heard her when he stilled. He said, over his shoulder, "Yes, Korra?"
She mumbled, "You seem to be pretty beat about that and all, but I thought that maybe instead of going to take a nap, we could stay out here? You could tell me stories about Avatar Aang and in return I could massage that hurt shoulder for you?"
He considered her offer, a pensive look crossing the features of his face as she could see over his shoulder.
"Alright."
Together they sat in the grass beside the sparring mat, facing the setting sun. At first, Korra sat on Tenzin's right side as he described the ways that his father had gone about imparting important lessons on the art of airbending-the most ridiculous tactics apparently yielded the deepest understanding-but the angle was awkward for Korra, seeing as Tenzin was quite a few inches taller than she was.
"Maybe you could lie down with your head on my lap so that I could better get to that shoulder." She suggested after a while. Tenzin was so into the story that he hardly thought about it before agreeing that that was a good idea and reclining onto Korra's crossed legs.
Korra was rewarded with a complete view of Tenzin's body, laid out before her eyes. Though he was in his forties, he had wonderful abs; abs that rippled in pleasant ways as he spoke. He seems pretty into this story, she thought. I wonder if he'd notice if I started massaging his ab muscles too...NO, Korra. Learn some self control. She contented herself with just looking.
Believe it or not, even more than she enjoyed looking at Tenzin's exposed torso, Korra loved the way that Tenzin looked as he regaled her with fond memories of his father. His face seemed to light up in a way that Korra never got to see otherwise, taking years off of his appearance.
At length, his narration segued into tales of Aang's fairness and courage in everyday life. "Often times, you remind me of him," he told Korra. She was shocked. She'd constantly been reminded of how much her temperament differed from that of the former Avatar. "How so?" she asked.
Tenzin's answer was solemn, sincere. "You are one of the most courageous people that I know."
His words touched Korra deeply, and she responded with far more love in her voice than she would have liked, saying, "Well, you are one of the most amazing people I have ever known, Tenzin. Not just in this life, but in all of my lives, I'm sure. Just...Amazing."
Her master visibly tensed in her lap, wasting no time in sitting up and preparing to stand. As he stood and dressed again in his fine monk's robes he cleared his throat and said, "We really ought to get in to dinner. I'm sure Pema and the others are waiting for us at the table, and besides, we have moonlight meditation to look forward to."
Korra looked toward the ground as she stood to follow Tenzin. "Yes, master," she said, her heart full of sadness, before following him inside of the compound.
