Present, circa Episode 4
Air Temple Island
A week later, Korra joined Tarrlok's task force, and foolishly challenged Amon. After Korra's narrow escape, Ryoku became a constant silent presence beside Korra. Her manner didn't ever change, but the Fire Ferrets could tell that Korra's actions had worried Rio when she spontaneously attended their practices, despite Mako's distrust. She never offered any advice, but every once in a while, Korra would look over at her silent guardian and find a small smile on the girl's face.
It was dark, even for a December evening; the stars were hidden by a heavy layer of clouds. The light from the lamps dotting the paths of Air Temple Island was weighed down by the resolute black of the sky, and hid close to its sources. Every once in a while, a flying lemur would circle one of the lamps throwing fantastic shadows on the ground before it disappeared into the shadows in search of food. One such lemur was just dramatically making its entrance when it ran into Ryoku's head.
"Watch it, Jeffrey!" she snapped, detangling the stunned lemur from her hair. "What is it with you and sitting on my head anyway?"
The lemur purred and dug in its small hands, nesting contentedly, and ruining any semblance of order in Rio's coiffeur.
"Talking to lemurs again, Rio?" Ikki giggled,
"Of course, all of the flowers are asleep." Ryoku said by way of explanation.
Ryoku took the basket of fruit from Ikki and lifted it so that the taller Ginorra could fill the feeder with both hands. "So… what were you girls giggling about back here?"
Ginorra answered dreamily, "We were talking about how much Korra loves Mako, and how she might go about winning over his heart."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, whatever…" Korra muttered, looking away, a momentary melancholy on her face.
"Well, I'm of no help in the romantic department," Rio said airily,
"Beating up chi-blockers is more your thing, huh?" Korra snipped. The question of Rio's dubious past was still a slight bone of contention in the days after their escape from the Equalists.
"Really, Rio? Why?" asked Ikki curiously
"I'm just a hopeless romantic with horrible track record, Ikki, that's all" Rio put down the empty basket, and patted Jeffrey on the head, causing him to purr and jump back to her cranium.
"Have you ever been in love, Rio?" Korra asked as she looked up at the starless sky.
Ryoku paused, leaning against one of the gnarled trees, "Yes."
Korra sighed, "What was it like?"
"It was… very complicated."
"Well, that helps a ton," Korra whined. "Who were you in love with?" Her imagination was held captive by the mysterious past of her friend.
Ryoku shifted uncomfortably, petting the lemur in her arms. "It's… complicated."
"Aww… come on, Rio!" Ikki tugged on Rio's sleeve, "Tell us!"
Ginorra sighed rapturously, "What did he look like? Was he romantic?"
"Definitely not," Rio smiled, "He was tall, and he was handsome, but I remember most that he was kind." Upon seeing the looks on Ikki and Ginorra's faces, she resolved to escape as soon as possible, for fear of letting everything slip. Pausing in her motion, she turned to face Korra,
"Korra?"
"Yeah?"
The lamp light flickered over Ryoku's face, throwing half into darkness and half into light, and illuminating the stray strands around her head into a halo. She looked old somehow, even though her face was young. "This guy you're crazy about, even he likes someone else… just make sure he's worth it- or you're hurting yourself for nothing."
Korra was slightly unnerved to see a small, sad smile on Ryoku's face as she walked away, waving farewell.
"Korra!" Ikki interrupted, "Why don't we ask mom what she thinks?"
…
The next day Korra expected Ryoku to come to their big game, but instead of following her to the arena, the gardener said that there was somewhere else she needed to be, and that she wouldn't be at the match. Korra had felt almost disappointed, but then as the Fire Ferrets proceeded to trip over themselves, she was glad that the enigmatic gardener hadn't come to watch. Still, Korra was proud of the way they had straightened themselves out and won in the end.
As the days wore on, Ryoku was gone more and more often. The elements garden slowly took shape, morphing from piles of dirt and tools, to organized hillocks of material and orderly landscaping. Even though she frequently disappeared, Ryoku took interest in Korra's training. She would watch as Korra struggled with air-bending, and occasionally offer an encouraging remark. As hard as Korra and Ikki tried, they couldn't seem to pry any information from the gardener regarding her past. However, as the final match against the Wolf Bats approached, there was a thaw in Rio's distance. One day she showed up at one of the Fire Ferret's practices.
"Hey, Rio!" Bolin exclaimed as Rio followed Korra through the gym door.
"This is a team practice," Mako remarked snidely, "For the team."
"Who said I was here for the team practice?" Rio shot back, "I need practice too."
"For your chi-blocking?" Bolin asked nervously, edging behind his brother.
"Yeah, I'll just be down the hall." Ryoku brushed past Mako, "So don't get your knickers in a twist, ferret boy."
"Don't call me that!" Mako replied mechanically.
"Whatever, ferret boy."
"It's not even my ferret!"
Bolin looked forlornly at the door as it swung shut. "How come I don't get a nickname?" Korra snickered.
Bolin turned towards her curiously, "What?"
"I don't know if it's a nickname, but she kind of calls you a daisy…" Korra shrugged as Bolin groaned indignantly and Mako collapsed in laughter. "I have no idea why, but I mean it sort of fits…"
"I'm not a daisy!" Bolin wailed, "I'm a manly man! Right, Pabu?"
The ferret chittered. Bolin hugged the small rodent, "I knew you would agree with me, buddy!"
Pabu then leapt from Bolin's arms to avoid the sluggish medicine ball that was thrown at him.
"Practice, Bolin!"
…
"Watch out, Mako!" Korra cried as some debris from Bolin's earth-bending flew towards the fire-bender.
Quickly, Mako leaped out of the way, executing a spinning kick and charring the rock as he did so. Korra clapped,
"Nice one!" she grinned.
Mako flashed a rare smile: he had been working on the kick for some time. Then someone wolf-whistled, Mako turned around and saw Ryoku leaning idly against the gym doors.
She stuck out five fingers, "I'd give that a five for style and swift execution." She teased.
"I think it was a ten!" countered Bolin, "Mako was totally surprised when he kicked…"
"But his weight needs to be a bit farther back." Rio replied, "It was a good kick, but the torso can't be scrunched up if you want maximum force. Besides, if your weight is back, your balance and recovery is better, that would allow Mako to set up more techniques for a continuing line of attack, isn't that right, Mr. Hat-trick?" She raised her eyebrows at Mako expectantly.
He scowled, "Yeah, she's right, my weight needed to be farther back. Getting in more kicks is a better strategy than just one big technique…"
"Where'd you learn so much about fire-bending, Rio?" Korra asked.
Rio shrugged, "You forget, I trained in the Fire Nation military. I worked closely with all sorts of benders, so I know a lot about bending." She continued, "In the middle of combat, you never know who you'll be fighting against, or if they can bend, so it pays to be educated about many different fighting styles."
"Wow…" Bolin said, "Did you see a lot of combat?"
Ryoku smiled, "Yeah. I was drafted into the Special Forces when I was eighteen, so I stayed on the frontlines a lot." She picked up her gym bag from the floor, "Anyway, your offense is good, just work on your recovery time."
"Rio, where are you going?" Korra inquired as the black-haired girl padded towards the door.
"That's classified," Rio sang, "See you later, Daisy."
Bolin wilted.
A/N: Woohoo! two reviews! the rest of you are off the hook now, unless you've got some constructive criticism, in which case, type to your heart's content.
to Smg55: Merci beaucoup! I'm glad to hear that you like it, fear not: Rio is not dead... it's just that everyone she knew before her arrival in Republic City thinks she's dead...
to whitwhit1893: Merci to you as well, sometimes I forget that you readers don't have the whole story outlined in your heads like I do, ha ha. you mentioned that some events seemed random, so I tried to clarify things by including the time, relation to the development of the cartoon, and location of each chapter at the start. Also, the chapters follow a pattern of Ryoku's present, Iroh's present, and then Iroha and Ryoku's past. I may have slipped up, but hopefully the annotation at the beginning will help you out. Keep in mind that I'm leaving some things mysterious for a reason, it will all be explained by the end. If it's conventions editing you meant, I don't have a beta (That's what they're called, I believe), but my mother is a wonderful writer, and she might look it over for me. Hope this helps!
Au revoir...
8/4/14: so sorry everyone! I've spent the last month as an intern at a Girl Scout camp and on a mission trip, so I've been cut off from all technology... I would update before I leave for another week at camp, but in transit I lost the flash drive with ALL of my stories on it! Unfortunately, I won't be able to update until I find that flash drive. If I can't find it, I'll just have to start over from chapter 9, which sucks because I wrote a ton recently, anyway, that's the current situation. Thanks to all the new favorites!
