Thanks, VividDreamer, drpepperfreak! And thanks twice, VividDreamer. XD Please, do reference. I'd love to see where you go.
Chapter 7. Thanks again for reading, everybody, and most especially for commenting!
7: The Old Ship
Korra had a short break with the end of her formal Waterbending training, and then she moved on to Earthbending. To facilitate Korra's bonding with her new teacher, the White Lotus asked Katara to take a vacation. The timing was good. Pema was about to give birth to her second child.
It was wonderful seeing Tenzin and Pema again. Katara was surprised to see Jinora tethered down in her trundle bed, but then she realized what it meant—and cried with joy. Jinora was an Airbender, the first of Aang's grandchildren to be so. Tenzin was a sun of pride, he glowed so much. He looked a little less serious. (Serious, uptight, worried, less something—and more something else.)
Still, it was just a visit… Katara wasn't going to stay in Republic City for long. She couldn't; there was the rest of Korra's training to see to. Katara stayed with her son and his family as long as she felt she could, then headed once again for her first home, the South Pole. Her plan was to go home, gather a few things, touch base with the White Lotus, and head to wherever Korra was.
"Wherever Korra was" turned out to be right where Katara had left her—the South Pole. Katara had thought that the White Lotus would establish a new base camp in the Earth Kingdom, or better still, migrate around the Earth Kingdom as Aang had, learning its culture along with its bending style. But no; Korra hadn't been moved. The White Lotus had shipped in earth along with the Earthbending teacher.
"I guess they'd rather bring the mountain to Kyoshi than bring Kyoshi to the mountain," her friend Rava observed, chuckling at the whole thing.
Katara found the metaphor slightly flawed—from what she knew of Kyoshi, the Earthbender Avatar would have brought the mountain to herself on her own, never mind any nonsense of having people bring it to her—but she did agree with Rava's point. Bring earth to the South Pole? Really? Not to mention it was terrible to lose the opportunity of having Korra learn Earth Kingdom culture firsthand from some of the Earth Kingdom's people.
"Korra is still young, Master Katara," Pesut said in answer. "She's only ten years old. We're better able to protect her by bringing earth here for her."
"I know she's only ten years old," Katara said. "And that's precisely my point! She's missing the chance of getting to know the people of the Earth Kingdom as she grows up! That's invaluable to her learning as the Avatar. I think she'd be well-protected enough with enough of us around."
"Teachers and artists have been brought here from the Earth Kingdom." Pesut adjusted his glasses. "Korra will have plenty of opportunities to learn of the Earth Kingdom's culture—if she avails herself of them."
Katara waved that off. "Pesut, that's the same as going to a Water Tribe restaurant in Republic City and being told by the staff you're at the South Pole. Would you rather sit in a class and be told about something, or go there and actually experience it? It's a veneer of culture, not an immersion—an immersion Korra needs! Let me take her, now and then, along with some people from the White Lotus. Or at least let someone take her!"
Pesut was unmoved.
"She is too young."
The dignified Katara of present day wouldn't allow it, but inside, the Katara of the past all but had steam coming out of her ears.
o o o
Eventually Katara cooled down enough to see the virtue in taking her time with that argument. There were battles and there were sieges, as Sokka used to say, and it was important to know which to conduct. This siege she would conduct as she saw fit—and most certainly, the rocky skulls of the White Lotus leadership would take time to penetrate.
She missed Sokka. He would have seen her point.
All the same, she still was part of the group educating the Avatar, and so she was allowed time with Korra for continuing her training. Korra was very glad of it.
"Augh! Man! Just how slow can they go with Earthbending training? I mean, 'move a rock'. Really?"
Katara smiled, looking at Korra as they walked. "Isn't that what they're supposed to do?"
"Yeah, but… he wanted me to move a—rock. A—rock. I'm the Avatar! Of course I can move a—rock! I've been doing it since I was a kid! Show me something I don't know!"
"Well, from my point of view, you are still a kid—" Korra made a face, "—and maybe your teacher isn't familiar with you yet. After all, Aang didn't know how to Earthbend right from the start."
"That was Aang. This is me! I know how to Earthbend already!"
"Well, maybe he'll pick up the pace tomorrow."
"He'd better."
"I'll talk to him."
"Good."
Katara and Korra were walking along one of the expanses of snow and ice outside the cluster of Water Tribe villages and, more importantly for Korra, outside the White Lotus compound. Naga ambled around them, plowing through snowdrifts, chasing seagull pigeons. She had tripled in size under Korra's care, and she was surprisingly well-behaved.
Relatively, that is. Korra had tied her up to an igloo so that she and Katara could go walking. Naga had wound up dragging the igloo along. That had taken some repair and more than a little explanation.
"And another thing," said Korra. "Why do I have to sit still so long 'contemplating the Earrrrrrth'?"
That was a surprise. Katara frowned. "What?"
Korra sniggered. "Seriously. Near the end of every session with Master Su Lao, I have to sit nice and quiet in the corner and think about the Earrrrrrth, how it was forrrrrrrmed, think about the layerrrrrrrs…"
"Oh. That."
Korra gave her a funny look. "That what? You know about this?"
"I do," said Katara. "Master Su Lao's concerned about your spiritual health."
"My what?"
"He feels that since you can't bend Air, you may need more help with the spiritual side of bending."
"The spiritual si—" Korra looked annoyed. "Sifu, I don't mean to complain, but—"
Katara smiled. "Oh, you mean to complain."
"Okay, I do, but… I feel like Master Su Lao is trying to slow things down. Like with this! 'Spiritual side of bending.' What is he talking about? It's weird!"
Katara considered her words. Fortunately a seagull pigeon flew by low enough and slow enough that Naga thought she could catch it. She bounded after the bird, showering Katara and Korra with kicked-up snow.
Korra sputtered snow out of her face. "Aw, Naga, ya big goof! Come back here!" Katara laughed, and Korra joined in. Naga just enjoyed chasing the bird. Eventually she came back, birdless but panting and happy.
They walked further along the ghostly ice.
Again Korra exhaled. "I feel like I'm stuck in a cage all the time. I get to go home maybe once every few days, and when I do? Pffft! I can't do anything. I can't even play with my friends."
Katara's eyes widened slightly. "You can't play with your friends at all?"
"Well, I can play with them, but not play play with 'em. I can't do anything rough." She made a face, and her voice took on a mocking tone. "The White Lotus wouldn't like it."
"I see." Katara hid a smile.
"And when I do get back to the compound—teachers, teachers, teachers. Stuff to write, stuff to read, stuff to make, stuff to remember, stuff, stuff, stuff! How am I supposed to remember all this?"
Katara sighed and looked skyward. "I warned them about that."
"You what? You did? Then why didn't they do something about it? You're Sifu Katara! You're the Avatar's wife! I'm just a kid! How can I remember all that?"
Katara couldn't help but smile. She put her hands on her hips. "Oh, now you're just a kid again, huh?"
"I am! How can I remember all th—" Then Korra stopped, realizing what she was saying. Her own hands went to her hips, and she frowned at Katara. "You know what I mean."
"Okay." Katara smiled, and considered. "To answer your questions, Avatar Korra…"
Korra nodded. "Yeah."
"When you were born, several of us got together to talk about what we should do for the next Avatar. We didn't know who you were yet or how you'd be, but we all agreed you should be well-educated."
"Aw, man!" Korra threw her arms down. "You mean I gotta be a Scrollbender too?"
"Sometimes." Katara smiled. "As the Avatar, you will be the arbiter of what is right and wrong in cases where there is no clear authority—and sometimes even when there is."
"'Arbiter'? What's that?"
"The decider. The one who's in charge when there's a dispute."
Korra grinned. "Yep. That's me."
"So to do that, you have to know as much as you can—not just how to bend Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, but everything about the Bending Nations. What it is that makes them who they are, why they live the way they do—so that that way, you can make the best judgment possible."
Korra stopped, blankfaced. "That's… a lotta stuff."
Katara nodded. "It is. I know we can't teach you everything, but we can give you a head start. It takes a lifetime of learning, most times. But we can teach you how to read and write, as well as as much as we can about the world."
Korra was still stunned. "That's a lotta… but when am I… how am I gonna… when am… when am I ever gonna get a chance to be me? Just me? When am I ever gonna get the chance to have fun? To do stuff I wanna do? When am I—"
Katara laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked into Korra's eyes. "You're not alone in this, you know. That's one of the reasons I'm here."
"Whaddaya mean? You can't learn all this stuff for me!"
"No, I can't. But I do know that while that's part of what being the Avatar means… that's not the only part. You're human, Korra. You're supposed to be. And part of being human… is having fun. Taking a break. Not be all-Avatar, all-the-time. If nothing else, I can try to explain that to the others, and intercede for you."
"Well, good!"
"And speaking of interceding…" Katara made to go on, but lost the words she was going to use. She sighed. "This isn't going to be easy."
Korra looked over, uneasy. "What isn't?"
"The whole matter of spirituality. It means different things to different people."
"Sifu—that doesn't help very much."
"I know." Katara opened her mouth to say more, then shook her head. "Someone like Aang's Guru Pathik might be able to explain—although come to think of it, the way Aang put it, Guru Pathik could describe how to get there, not where it is you're going…"
"Sifu, I don't understand! What are you talking about?"
Katara smiled sadly. "That's the problem. As the Avatar, you're the bridge between our world and the Spirit World, but how to form that bridge is an intangible thing. To describe it is a real problem; you have to have been there. And 'there' varies from person to person, making it even harder to describe. Master Su Lao and others think that because you can't Airbend, you need to strengthen your spiritual side, so they're trying to teach you how to meditate."
"But that's something your son Tenzin can help me with! Why are they doing it?"
Katara nodded. "That's partly my thinking too. In addition to which, I feel spirituality is something you have to experience for yourself. I can tell you what I think about it, but that's what I think. It may not tell you where you need to go. But as I said, others don't feel as I do."
"So why can't you—oooo! What's that?"
Katara was glad for the break. Then she saw what Korra had reacted to, and she almost wished Korra had kept on talking.
In the distance there was a faint outline of a ship.
"I'm gonna check it out." Korra started running toward it.
Katara reached out. "Korra, wait!"
Korra stopped. "Why? It's just a ship."
"Yes, and I want to go there with you."
"Why?" Korra turned impish. "Is it dangerous?"
"It was, once. Aang and I got trapped in it. And there could be more traps in it, even now. So wait for me."
"Oh, all right." Korra slowed down enough to let Katara keep pace. Barely.
The ship was more deteriorated than when Katara had seen it last, she saw as it came into view. The polar winds had finally claimed the flag that had flown at the mainmast, and the ship's superstructure was worn away in several places, gnawed on by decades of wind, water, and salt. It looked slightly melted under the elemental assault. Still, there was no question in Katara's mind as to what it was.
That wasn't true for Korra. "It's a ship. So what?"
"That is the remains of a Fire Nation warship. Waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe caught this ship in the ice, back during the War over a hundred years ago."
"So you helped 'em catch it, huh, Sifu?"
"No…" Katara took a playful swipe at Korra, who danced back and laughed. "This happened a long time before I was born. It was still here when Avatar Aang came to our village for the first time."
Korra rolled her eyes. "Obviously."
"Aang and I had just finished penguin sledding when we came up to this ship, completely by accident. He wanted to explore. I didn't. He said, 'If you want to be a bender, you have to take risks.' I was just learning how to bend Water back then. I followed."
Korra's impishness was back. "Why? Did you like him?"
Katara glared at her with a smile. "Not yet. Not like that." Korra laughed. "I felt that he was a full-fledged bender and I wasn't, so he knew more about bending than I did." Katara shook her head. "It was foolish."
"Why?"
"We got trapped inside the ship and set off a booby trap, and the trap set off a signal flare, alerting Prince Zuko to where we were." Katara looked skyward. "Of course, if that hadn't happened, Zuko wouldn't have taken Aang, we wouldn't have chased Zuko, Aang wouldn't have had to break free, and a lot of adventures that followed might never have happened. But perhaps Zuko would have found us anyway." Katara looked at Korra and smiled. "He was very persistent."
"Yeah, I heard about him."
"I bet you did. Still, I was so starstruck then. Aang was the Avatar. The one who would bring balance to the world and end the war. He was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. A real bender. And I followed him right into that ship."
Katara returned to Korra. "I learned later on that being a bender didn't automatically mean that you have to take chances… and that sometimes the Avatar can charm the socks off you if you're not careful." She gave Korra a poke.
"Hey!" Korra giggled. "So is that why you brought me here? To teach me a lesson about your Avatar?"
Katara shrugged. "No. It just worked out that way. I didn't plan on us coming here."
"Huh." Korra folded her arms, unconvinced.
Katara thought for a moment, unsure of what to say next… then a smile grew on her face.
"However… you say they didn't let you do any rough stuff when you're home, right? Nothing they think is even slightly dangerous?"
"Yeah…?"
Katara smiled. "How would you like to go penguin sledding?"
