"I'm sorry Tenzin! I can't help that I have good and bad days with Airbending!"
I sat up, hearing the shout all the way from the beach. That can't be good, so I got up and went to see what the fuss was about. What I found was a literally steaming Korra and a red-faced Tenzin staring each other down.
"What's going on?" I asked gently pushing the two apart.
"Korra's slacking off with her training," Tenzin huffed.
"Am not! I'm just having an off day! You can't say you've never had one of those!" Korra shot back lividly.
"All right. Yelling won't solve anything. Now everyone take a few deep breaths," I instructed. When they didn't comply, I narrowed my eyes. "Do it."
Tenzin listened, the redness fading after about three. Korra, however, continued to glare, steam still rising from her skin. I took her face between my hands, locking our eyes.
"Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out."
In this position, it didn't take long for her to calm down, her body heat returning to normal.
"Good. Now that nothing has the risk of catching on fire, how about we talk about what's going on. Let's start with Korra since it seems that she's the one having trouble."
"Tenzin thinks I'm slacking off, but I'm doing the best I can. Airbending is still hard for me and he doesn't seem to get that. It's like he holds me to the same standard as a natural born Airbender, and I'm not! Aang might have been my past life, but he's not me!"
"You're completely right. You aren't Aang. You are Korra. You just have the Avatar spirit, and that grants you the ability of bending all of the elements. That doesn't make you into any of your past incarnations. If it did, you'd be a master, though you'd have multiple personality disorder and be bipolar." She smirked at the last bit. "So Tenzin, do you still think that she's slacking off?" I inquired, looking at my nephew.
"Not completely, but I don't understand how she could do so well one day with you, and then barely be able to Airbend today," he responded. It clicked for me then.
"Korra, have you told Tenzin anything?" I asked, knowing she would understand. She shook her head. "You might want to. He might be a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes—" he shot me a look here "—but he's still one of the most understanding and unbiased listeners I've ever met."
Korra gnawed her lower lip, uncertainty shining in her eyes.
"You can talk to me Korra. Now that I know something is bothering you, I understand why you are having trouble. Communication is a big part of training. It lets me know what you need help with or why you're having trouble with something. I apologize for losing my temper earlier," Tenzin said with a little bow of the head.
"It's fine Tenzin, and it's not that I don't trust you. I just don't want you to do anything to him," Korra replied with a smile.
"Who?"
"Mako."
"You should probably sit down," I mentioned.
...
"He what?"
"Calm down Tenzin! You're going to hurt yourself!" Korra exclaimed grabbing his arm.
He took a breath, then said, "All right. Go on."
"He told me that he didn't want his child to be without a father, and he thinks that marrying Asami will ensure this. I understand the father part, but I don't understand why he went and picked her over me again. It's almost like he planned this all along."
Ah. So that's what's been on Korra's mind.
"His intentions might be good, but the way he is executing them is wrong. He is still young and doesn't know better. You deserve more Korra, and if he left you for Asami, then take it as a sign that there is someone better out there for you, waiting. Don't overthink this," Tenzin said gently, though his voice implied that he wouldn't mind blowing Mako off a cliff at the moment.
Korra allowed a small smile. "Thanks Tenzin."
I stretched and sighed, pushing myself to my feet. "Now that we've had our heart-to-heart, how about you try Airbending again Korra? I have a feeling that you'll do better than you were before," I suggested. She nodded.
Her Airbending had improved after our talk, though not by a whole lot. At least it was something.
"All right Korra. That's enough for today," Tenzin finally said. She bowed to her master and followed me back to the main house.
"Don't worry. You'll be all right," I assured her. "It stops hurting eventually."
"When?" she asked with a sigh.
"For me it took a long time because I was alone, but because you have friends, sooner than you think," I replied threading my fingers through hers. She gave my hand a squeeze. I decided to change the subject. "So what do you want to do now?"
She opened her mouth to reply, but another voice beat her to it. "Why don't we go out tonight?"
We turned to find Tahno leaning against a nearby tree.
"Where?" Korra asked.
Tahno smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see Uh-vatar." She cocked an eyebrow. "What? Is the all-powerful Uh-vatar scared?" he taunted, getting the exact response he was looking for.
"Oh please. I can handle anything!" Korra scoffed.
"Great! Meet me at the pier in about three hours. And put on something a little more…fitted." And with that, he sauntered off to get ready for whatever he just planned for us.
Korra glanced at me. "Fitted? What does he mean by that?"
I had to laugh.
After a bit of a rant on how perverse Tahno was, Korra plucked one of her nicer tank tops that hugged closer to her body and a pair of slightly less baggy pants.
"This is all he's getting," she huffed tugging the fabric into place. I laughed again.
"You're obviously not interested in him I see."
"Spirits no!" she exclaimed wrinkling her nose. I snickered some more.
"I'm going to go change too. See you in a few minutes," I said walking out of her room. "Oh! Why don't you see if Bolin wants to tag along?"
"Great idea!" Korra called after me. That way she wouldn't be courted too much by the over-zealous Tahno.
In the end I decided on a similar outfit to Korra, though my pants were a little more form fitting. Studying myself in the mirror, I decided that, for once, I wanted to show off my silver eyes, so I grabbed a violet ribbon and tied my ebony hair back. That'll do. Since there was still time, I decided to check on Asami before we left. She hadn't been feeling well earlier.
"Asami? Can I come in?" I called softly as I rapped on her door.
"You can come in," was her reply. I cracked the door open and slipped through, closing it behind me.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, walking over and sitting on the bed beside her.
"Better," she replied sitting up and stretching. Her stomach was beginning to poke out slightly now, making me smile softly.
"You know, I've helped a lot of women give birth, but this is the first time I've been able to see the beginning stages of pregnancy. It's quite touching," I mentioned.
"Yeah. Touching. Don't forget nauseating and annoying," she grumbled in response.
"I wonder…" I drew some water from the air and began to run it over her stomach. "Maybe I can help ease some of your symptoms. I'm not sure, seeing that I've never really had this chance, but it's worth a shot."
Whatever I was doing seemed to be working, for she sighed contently and laid back again, closing her eyes. "That feels good."
"Then it must be working…though I have no clue what I'm doing," I replied.
"Well whatever it is, don't stop," Asami mumbled.
"No problem."
At some point Asami fell back asleep, enabling me to slip out quietly to go meet Korra and Tahno at the pier. As it turned out, I was right in time and Korra had convinced Bolin to come with.
"So where are we going again?" I asked the slick Wolfbat. All he did was smirk.
It was a club. It wasn't the worst club out there, but it was still pretty raw. There was a sea of writhing bodies on the dance floor, the smell of sweat and perfume saturating the air along with alcohol. Korra and Bolin's eyes flew wide.
"We can't be in here!" Bolin squealed, his eyes darting around frantically as he took in the scene before him.
"Aww, is the little Fire Ferret scared?" Tahno taunted, instantly earning a glare from both of them. "C'mon. It'll be fine," he assured nudging the two forward.
I didn't even hesitate in going to the bar to grab something sweet. "See? Sorami has the right idea!" I heard Tahno say above the music. I smirked and sipped the drink now in front of me. No alcohol. Good. Korra stiffly sat beside me, her eyes still wide and flicking back and forth.
"I thought you'd like this sort of thing. Wild and free," I mentioned elbowing her in the side.
She shifted uncomfortably, her expression less than pleased. "I didn't expect he'd take us to a club. Tenzin's gonna kill me if he ever finds out!"
"Who says he has to find out?" I challenged deviously. That brought out her usual smirk.
"Hard to believe you're related to him," she responded stealing a sip of my drink.
"After a couple centuries you learn to just go with the flow. He's a little bit of a stickler, so I don't see any reason to get his cloak ruffled with telling him what we do," I explained.
Just then Tahno came over and ordered a round of drinks, these with alcohol in them. He downed his instantly, causing Bolin to do the same as to not look bad. Korra hesitated a split second before copying their action, the alcohol taking her slightly off guard at first. Once she got used to the feeling, though, she asked for another. I had a feeling that this would get very interesting very quickly.
After about four more drinks each, Bolin was seducing girls and Tahno and Korra were dancing. From where I was sitting, I could monitor all of them to make sure that none got into trouble, as well as have a clear view of the exit in case I had to get us out of there fast. You can never be too careful in the city.
I glanced over at Bolin, smirking as he lolled his head onto a busty blonde's shoulder, a goofy grin on his face as he slurred some sort of compliment. The blonde giggled, blushing. Evidently there was no need to be sober to be a charmer in his case.
I looked back at Korra and Tahno, only to find that Tahno had been dragged into a sloppy make-out session with some random chick, leaving Korra alone and slightly lost looking. Sympathy tugged at my heart, so I went to keep her company, unfortunately slightly blocking my sight of Bolin in the process.
I came up behind Korra and lightly placed my hands on her hips, swaying to the music with her. She jumped a little, but when she realized that it was me, she relaxed, her body perfectly conforming to mine.
"You know, you never really seemed like a sister to me," she mentioned as we danced, her words only slightly slurred.
"Is that so?" I asked, a tad disappointed. I was hoping to eventually have that sibling bond again.
"No. You're more like a really close friend. It's strange, though. I feel different around you than I do with Tahno or Bolin or even Mako back when we were dating. I feel drawn to you."
I'm pretty sure she was just thinking aloud now, but I answered anyway. "Well I'm technically connected to you through Aang since he was my brother."
"No, it's not that. It's like…I don't know! It's like how I should have felt with Mako, but I never did," she tried to explain, becoming slightly frustrated when words eluded her.
"Like…you love me?" I provided, the thought just dawning on me.
"Kinda. I guess so if that's what you want to call it. I want to be with you," she said, turning in my grip so she was face to face with me.
"Are you sure it's not the alcohol talking?" I asked, wanting to be completely sure before allowing myself to really think about this.
"No, I'm being serious," she stated, her eyes proving this despite the minor glaze that the alcohol left.
"Have you ever felt this way for a girl before?" I asked, showing her that I wasn't put off by her confession.
She shook her head. "I've never felt like this before."
I pursed my lips, thinking how to put this so she'd be able to make absolutely sure she felt this way before jumping in head first. Korra had other ideas, though, and before I could react, her lips caught mine in a tender kiss, sufficiently erasing any previous thought from my mind.
I'm not going to lie. I've been with females before, and I found it to be pleasurable, but when Korra kissed me, their affection seemed like a fading cinder compared to the sun. Her kiss brought something to life that I hadn't felt in years, and it ended all too quickly. I opened my eyes as her lips retreated, gazing into her endless cerulean blue irises. Those beautiful eyes reflected a future that promised love, happiness, and…and… I sighed, leaning my forehead against hers. It would never work. She was the Avatar. She had a duty to the world. How could this ever work? Her soft lips pressed against my temple. A promise. I looked up at her again, searching for something now, though I didn't know what. Her smile seemed to assure me that everything would be all right, so I would just have to believe it for now.
Eventually I decided, as the only sober one left in the group, that it was time to go back to the island.
"Come on Korra. It's time to go," I said, raising my voice to be heard over the music.
"Do we have to?" she slurred wrapping her arms around my waist.
"Yes. You're going to need your sleep if you want to survive your hangover tomorrow," I replied with a devilish smirk. Disliking alcohol has its perks.
"Fine," she huffed, though she didn't remove her arms. I ended up having to untangle myself from her and grab her hand so we could fetch the other two.
Weeding Bolin out from the group of girls proved to be a bit of a challenge, but it was nothing compared to tearing Tahno away from his make-out session. In the end I had to physically remove him from her lips in order to get us out.
"You're no fun," he whined as we walked. Well…I walked. The rest of them stumbled a bit.
"You'll be thanking me tomorrow when I help you with your hangovers," I retorted with a smirk. Tahno rolled his eyes.
"She's right, don't harp on her," Korra scolded playfully, draping her arm protectively over my shoulder.
"Ah I'm just teasing," Tahno returned, bumping his hip into Korra's. It's a good thing that I was there to keep us all balanced!
"You're quiet Bolin," I observed. "Are you all right?"
"Hm? Fine," he replied distractedly.
I took a closer look at him, just to be sure. What I noticed was he kept stealing glances at Tahno. Korra wasn't the only one interested in someone of the same gender. I smiled knowingly and let the topic drop, allowing Korra and Tahno to return to their good natured banter.
The next morning I was woken by soft knocking, which was unusual. Normally I was one of the first people awake.
"Sorami?"
That was Korra. Something had to be wrong. I practically flew to the door.
"What's wrong?" I asked, almost instantly realizing that my reaction was a bit over-shot.
"I feel awful," she moaned. I stifled a snicker and led her into the room, closing the door behind her.
"Welcome to the bottom of a glass of alcohol. Included with the prize is as follows: dry mouth, pounding head, dizziness, nausea, and more!" I crowed, imitating an announcer.
"Oh shut up," she grumbled in response as she flopped onto my bed, throwing an arm over her face. This time I did laugh, sitting beside her.
"Do you remember anything from last night?"
"Not really. It's all one big blur," she replied. That was a little disappointing. I was hoping to see if she actually meant everything she had said about loving me.
"Well I can't really fix memory loss, but I can help with the headache." I didn't waste time in drawing up water and gently massaging her temples. After a few moments of this, she began to relax. "Better?" I asked softly, never ceasing in my healing.
"Much," she responded with a sigh.
"Good. Just a few more minutes and you should be good to go," I informed her.
"Thank you," she said earnestly, cracking open her eyes.
I smiled, hoping it wasn't giving away the sudden sadness I felt. "Any time."
And here is the first main conflict. Like I said before, this segment will be different than the last. Sorry if you don't like the romance-y thing. I'll try to not make it the center of attention, but sometimes things don't go as planned. Anywhoo, I still hope you enjoy my writing and keep coming back to follow the story :)