Thanks, Irako, VividDreamer, NofriendsInc, Lara Croft! (And glad you're back, Lara! :D)
I wish I had thought of that, Irako. That is a spot-on analysis with regard to Korra being a prodigy, and while it was in the back of my mind while I was writing, it wasn't in my mind in that particular way. I'm tempted to have a wisened-up Azula come visit her now, with a warning. I think I have had Katara trying to "apply the brakes" some and teach Korra some "soft skills", and there will be one other story head where brute force on Korra's part, um... doesn't work. XD
When I wrote "Fire Burp", I saw Korra as a powerful, willful little child who probably would have fire burped through a South Pole's worth of water, but she stopped because she was forming a good respect for Katara and because Katara was playing by the rules-so Korra, by the rules, felt she should acquiesce. I didn't get into things as much in the full story, but I didn't see Korra's Earthbending and Firebending Masters establishing the same kind of relationship with her that Katara did, and so Korra didn't gain the same level of respect for them as she does for Katara. She does respect Katara and Tenzin, and she loves her parents... Gosh, disciplining Korra would have been a task in itself. XD I would think Korra would have some respect for Lin, after everything that happens, but the rest of the force... oof. Not so good.
I hope that Mike and Bryan are setting Korra up for a journey, since because she's so good at "conventional" bending, she now will find herself in a place where it's not of much use. I hope. Thank you for that great review, Irako.
I also felt there was one other kind of bending that Katara must touch on while Korra's in her care, so... Chapter 8. And thanks again for reading, everyone, and most especially for commenting.
8: The Dark Side of the Moon
The days and seasons came and went as Korra continued her Earthbending training. Katara was surprised at the changes coming over Korra, although in hindsight she wondered why she had been. Angry and willful before, eleven-year-old Korra was now stubbornly buckling down, engaging in her studies. She was the Avatar. She was going to deal with it. She was going to shoulder the load. That's who she was, and that was that.
Of course, there were also days when the volcano named Korra took control, and those days weren't as smooth. One outlet Korra had was her Earthbending training, and Katara didn't envy Korra's Earthbending teacher at all. She was glad she wasn't in a place where someone could throw rocks at her.
However, that didn't mean that Korra's Earthbending teacher couldn't throw rocks back.
Katara looked up from the book she was reading to find Korra limping into her training room. "What happened to you?"
"Nah, nothing much. I think I finally got through to Master Su Lao, though." Korra gingerly lifted her bad leg. "He doesn't like having rocks bent at him. He bent them back at me." She lowered the foot. "I wasn't ready."
"I should say so." Katara put down her book and came over. "What made you do that?"
Korra shrugged. "I wanted more Earthbending action than he was giving me." She grinned. "I got it."
"Well, let that be a lesson to you." Katara knelt down. "Let me take a look at that foot." She started taking Korra's mukluk off.
That made Korra uncomfortable. "Really, Sifu, you don't have to do that—I was gonna see the healer after training—"
"I might as well save Tala the trouble—and save you from having to explain how this happened. Now sit down."
"What?"
After getting Korra to sit down, Katara took off the young Avatar's mukluk and stocking. She felt Korra's foot all over, gently but firmly, then checked the leg. "Hmm, just a bruise. That's good. Nothing's broken." She bent some water out of a nearby bucket and held it around the bruised ankle. She focused.
"Sifu, honest, I do wash my feet, you don't have to—hey…" The bruise began to fade, and the tightness on Korra's face gave way to wonder. Then she smacked herself in the head and smiled. "That's right. You're a healer, too!"
"Yes, I am. I was going to save this for some of your later lessons… but for someone like you, who leads with her chin—" Katara tweaked Korra's chin with her thumb and forefinger; Korra drew back, smiling. "—Teaching you how to heal yourself might be a good idea."
The water drained the bruise of the rest of its color. Katara bent the water back into the bucket.
"That's really cool," Korra said.
"I think it's best to have you feel the effect of the water as I'm doing it; it's hard to describe. I learned myself by accident, and then later I learned the full technique at the North Pole."
"Yeah? How'd it happen?" Korra drew her legs up to her chest with her arms, bare foot and all. "How'd you learn by accident?"
"It wasn't fun, I can tell you that." Katara grimaced. "I'd gotten burned by accident, and I ran to the river to put my hands in some water. I just wanted the cool water to take my pain away, and the next thing I knew… it had."
"How did you get burned? You're a Waterbender."
"That's the not-fun part. Aang did it. By accident."
Korra was astounded. "Aang did it? But he loved you!"
"Well, this was before—I mean—oh, I'm not exactly sure anymore." Katara smiled. "It could be he loved me even then and I didn't realize it. I don't know. Certainly he didn't mean to burn me. It was a few months after I had first met him, and Aang was trying to learn Firebending from Master Jeong Jeong in the Fire Nation."
"Jeong Jeong?" Korra frowned. "But Avatar Aang learned Firebending from the dragons, and from Fire Lord Zuko."
"I'm coming to that. We were on our way to the North Pole, and passing through the Fire Nation we found a Firebending Master, Jeong Jeong. Aang felt he had to learn Firebending sometime, so that was a good time to do it." Katara shook her head. "It wasn't a good idea. Aang lost control of the fire he was bending, and I got burned. On the good side, I did find out I could Waterheal—but it gave us all a painful lesson in doing things in balance, under control. I have to wonder if Aang as an Airbender was meant to learn Fire last, so he could control it."
"I heard that the Firebenders really got powerful when Sozin's Comet came around." Korra laid her head on her knees. "What was that like?"
"Terrible. Absolutely terrible." Katara was grim. "I was with Zuko when he confronted his sister, Fire Lord Azula. I have rarely felt so helpless. Zuko and Azula fought with rivers of fire they made with their own hands; it was amazing the Fire Nation Capital wasn't destroyed. Then when Azula brought Zuko down with lightning… you want to talk about terrified? That was me."
Korra grinned widely. "But you brought Azula down with Water."
"Yes, I did." Katara smiled. "I was lucky and I was able to think straight for just long enough. But yes—freezing water caught Azula… and saved my life. And then afterward, Waterhealing helped Zuko recover from Azula's lightning."
"So you can freeze people with it and you can heal people with it. Can you do anything else with it?"
Katara made to reply—then stopped.
Korra grinned. "Well? Go on."
"There is. It's the most powerful form of bending I've ever known, and the most dangerous." All the humor was gone from Katara's face.
Katara looked at Korra. "You know that our Waterbending is stronger at night, stronger still when the moon is full. On such a night a Waterbender from the Southern Tribe, the second to last besides me, taught me about Bloodbending—and then used it on me in an attempt to get me to use it. It worked. I had no choice."
She looked down, hands in her lap. "In Bloodbending you are literally bending the water in another person's body to make them do what you want—whatever you want. The feel of having someone Bloodbend you is terrible. You have lost control of your own body, and there is nothing you can do about it. The feeling of Bloodbending someone else is even worse." She slowly clenched her hands into fists. "That feeling of control crawls inside you. It was one of the most evil things I have ever done." Katara closed her eyes. "The first time I did it, I had no choice. Someone was using Bloodbending against me, so I Bloodbent back in self-defense. The second time…" She shook her head.
After a moment filled with dread, Korra found her voice… but even then, she spoke softly.
"I think you should teach me Bloodbending so that nobody can Bloodbend me."
"No."
"But I—"
"No!" Katara glared sharply at Korra. "I will not teach you Bloodbending. Years ago someone else learned Bloodbending and used it in Republic City. They used it on Avatar Aang—but he was able to get into the Avatar State, and that broke the hold the Bloodbending had on him. He took that man's bending away from him, as he did with Fire Lord Ozai."
Katara softened her gaze. "I was tempted to teach Aang Bloodbending then, so it wouldn't happen again, but if I had…" Katara grew fearful. "Korra, there is such a temptation in using Bloodbending, to control someone else completely. It will corrupt you, and I don't want that to happen." Tears came to Katara's eyes. "I don't want that to happen to you."
Korra wanted to ask again, to tell Katara she could control it, that she could resist the temptation… but the look on Katara's face was so fearful, fear mixed with horror. Her Sifu, calm, wise, reasoned, always ready with an explanation… afraid.
She had never seen fear on Katara's face before.
It broke any argument she had.
She shuffled over to Katara and hugged her. "All right, Sifu. All right."
o o o
The memory of that conversation faded as Katara thought of other things during the day, dealt with other things, so that by day's end, the thought was very faint. As Katara readied for bed that night and blew out the lamp, though, there was a soft blue glow in the room.
"Aang." She smiled. "I'm glad you came tonight."
Me too. He smiled in return. Is there a time when you're not glad?
She shook her head. "Not that I can think of."
Same here. He smiled about that, then grew serious. I sensed you were troubled today.
"I was." She grimaced. "Bloodbending came up when I was training Korra today."
Oh.
There was silence for a moment, then Katara shook her head again. "I can't tell you how often I've wondered about my decision… whether I should have trained you or not. Whether I made the right choice."
I trust your decisions. I always have.
"Yes, but Yakone learned from someone… maybe even from Hama. There could be others out there. But it's so…" She grew fearful. "Aang, I really worry for Korra. I really do. If I teach this to her… I don't know what it'll do to her."
Yes. And every Avatar after her will have the potential for the skill. Aang nodded, serious. It's certainly something no Avatar has had to deal with before. And as for suppressing the knowledge… He looked at the floor. Killing Hama would have done it from the start, but…
"You could no more have done that than you could have killed Ozai. I know."
After a moment, Aang smiled. I trust your judgment. It has been wrong, but far more often it's been right.
Katara sighed. "I wish I had your confidence."
Aang came over to her on the bed and hugged her.
It wasn't a "real" hug, really, as he was in a world separate from hers, but she still felt something… something within her arms, something holding her. She looked into the light of his being with a sad smile.
He returned the smile, and its sadness, kissed her lips… and faded, leaving her in the darkness.
