2). A leaf under the wind(part 6)

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"I think I'm doing it wrong."

Korra spoke as she opened her eyes after twenty minute of meditating. Today Tenzin's training started with meditation practice at the pavilion by the cliff. Beside her were Jinora and Meelo who were with her as a part of their own airbending training. And Ikki who joined them because she had nothing else to do. Naga lay waiting her master outside the pavilion, she won't miss the opportunity to be with both of her masters.

"There's nothing to do. Let your mind and your spirit be free, for air is the element of freedom." Tenzin explained calmly, before adding. "As I told you, you have the instinct of earthbender which is troubling you in your psychical training. We need to help you synchronize with the nature of air element before we go any further."

"You know, this is exactly what I fear practicing airbending would be." Korra groaned. "I was worried I might accidentally summon my past lives to give me advice I didn't ask for. It's a good thing this island isn't too strong in spirit."

No one noticed Jinora shifted uncomfortably at Korra's last sentence.

"Please, Kairi. Look at Meelo, he's able to meditate peacefu-."

"He's asleep."

"What!?" Tenzin jolted at Korra's blunt reply. He took a closer look at Meelo who had a greenish bubble suspended under his nose. The boy was both drooling and snoring. "Well, at least he has the relaxing part down." He glanced to the other two kids. Ikki was in the same state as her brother and soon fell flat on the ground, so only Jinora remained in her sitting position.

"Whatever. None of this airbending stuff seems to work on me." Korra comment.

"I know you're frustrated, but these teachings will sink in over time. Then one day, they'll just click." Tenzin resumed his meditation.

Korra let out a heavy sigh. She was considering got up a go get some lychee juice, but that would be rude and disrespectful to their agreement. As boring as this session was, the Avatar decided to endure.

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The night finally came. Korra took the ferry to the mainland as soon as the last light of day disappeared behind the horizon. Upon the dock, she found Asami waiting for her beside her moped.

"Glad you could come," the heiress greeted with a smile. Korra nodded her head a little while crossing her arms behind her back, tried to look both casual and cool.

"Good to see you too. Asami. I hope I didn't keep you waiting?"

"Not at all. You arrived just in time." Asami handed the spare helmet to Korra before they got on the moped and drove to the arena.

"By the way, Kairi, you're staying at the Air Temple Island? " Asami asked along the way.

"Yes. I'm staying with my cousin, Officer Lin Beifong."

"You are Beifong's relative?"

"A very...VERY...distant relative." Korra faked her bored voice. "My family came from the Beifong family about three or four generations ago. It's actually my father that tried to sort our family tree and accidentally found out the connection."

"Oh? Is this...a reason you came to Republic City?"

"You're correct." Korra grunted in her throat. "My parents want me to cash in on the Beifong's fame by reuniting the family. They sent me here to become Lin's pupil and, hopefully, joining the Republic Police Force. "The disgust in Korra's voice was half acting and half sincere. After all, she did despise her parents.

"But...you're a non-bender."

"I'm a decent enough fighter that my parents thought the police force would give a pass if I had the Beifong name on me."

Asami couldn't help but think that that plan sounded desperate to some degree.

"So...you're actually on your way to become a police officer?"

"Absolutely not!" Korra rose her voice with a vicious smile. "I told you, I'm a mercenary through and through. I already talked to Lin, and she isn't happy with my parent's plan either. So I intend to just hanging around the city for a while and then go home to tell them that I failed Lin's training. Mom and dad will have to deal with it, and I go back to being a mercenary." The Avatar chuckled a little. "Lin was kind enough to let me crash though, or she just wanted to keep an eye on me because of my first day incident with the Triple Threat Triad. Either way, it's saving me a lot of money while I'm here."

They arrived at the arena's parking lot just as Korra finished her story.

"I think I now know why you don't want to talk about your family's business." Asami commented while they walking through the front door. "It sounded very...complicated."

"An unnecessarily kind word, Asami. Just call it what it is, 'shameless'." Korra waved her hand to dismissing the thought. "But don't let my parent's scam ruin this evening. Let's just enjoy the game."

"As you wish. Sorry if I pried too much."

"Who could resist the charm of this mysterious but charismatic mercenary." The Avatar rose her chin proudly. "Oh, what dark dramatic secrets I bury beneath my laid-back personality." Asami tried to hold back her giggle.

Before they entered the stadium, they were approached by three people in the hallway. The three young men around their age with a look of cockiness all over their faces. The person with long hair and cynical eyes seem to stand out most of the three. They stood blocking Asami and Korra.

"Well, hello beautiful. What is a pretty lady like you doing here tonight?" the long haired guy asked Asami with a creepy smile.

"We're in pro-bending arena, so...of course, we came here to watch a wrestling match." Korra answered. She knew where this was going.

"Charming." The guy only glanced at her before continued speaking with Asami. "You know that there is no match playing tonight, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Asami replied with caution. She then notice that Korra just stepped up to stood in front of her.

"Not the one worth watching anyway." He grinned wider. "You're better off doing something else than watching these amateurs, maybe have some quality time with us Wolfbats instead?" His hand moved to grab Asami's. But Korra quickly shot out her hand to catch his and shook it with a smile.

"We appreciate your invitation, but we already bought the tickets. Let's go Asami." She released his hand and took Asami's. They walked past the three to the stadium with the creepy guy still staring after her. He chuckled cynically and walked away with his friends.

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The two took their seats in the stadium that was packed with people. The match was about to start and Asami asked Korra if she wanted any snack or beverage.

"I'm good."The mercenary answered as she scanned around to made sure there were no prying eyes on her client like in the hallway, but everyone seemed to focus on the platform where the match would be taking place.

Asami let out a deep sigh. She leaned in closer and whispered to Korra: "Ok, how much did dad paying you?"

"Excuse me?" The Avatar tried her best innocent look but the heiress just shook her head.

"Dad is paying you to hang out with me tonight, isn't he?"

"What makes you say that?"

"This isn't the first time he did this, you know. It's very embarrassing to know that people only befriend me because they got paid to be." Asami turned to the cheering crowd around her. "The way you protected me from those three guys. Is dad hiring you to be my bodyguard? Just for going to the arena?"

Korra was silent for moment. She could deny the claim, but Asami seem to hit all the points, and Korra doubted she would buy it. So she decided to come clean.

"You father didn't pay me to hang out with you. Asami." The heiress was taken aback by the seriousness in her voice.

"Oh? I..."

"I collect my fee after the job is done." Korra added, and Asami didn't know what to answer. The Avatar shifted to a more relaxed tone as she continued. "Your father wanted me to look out for you. Keep you safe. He felt like the city is dangerous at night, and I would agree."

"And I keep telling him that I can take care of myself. You think I couldn't have taken those three guys at the hallway? The Wolfbats would have been out of this tournament with a broken arms if you hadn't intervened."

"I'm just doing my job, Asami. Your father wants you to have fun, but he also wants to keep you safe."

"Well..." Asami looked at the platform where the ring announcer just about to introduced the two teams. "He certainly got one of those."

'And it's not the fun.' Korra could guess what Asami thought in her head. The mercenary pinched the bridge of her nose. Tonight wasn't going well.

They watched the match between the Fire Ferrets and the Tigerdillos. Korra occasionally glanced at Asami. The heiress clearly didn't enjoy the game as much as she should, but somehow she seemed really fixated on the match. It was obvious that Asami was rooting for the Fire Ferrets, but she didn't cheer when they scored, just calmly clapped her hands a couple of time while the crowd around them roared like thunder.

The match end with the victory of the Fire Ferrets, and Korra knew this night was gonna end on a bad note when Asami showed no signs of joyfulness what so ever. She just got up and walked among the people that exited the arena.

"Do you even like pro-bending, Kairi? Or was that just an excuse to come with me?" Asami asked while they were in a hallway, and Korra decided she couldn't let her client go home disappointed. She took Asami's hand a dragged her to a separate hallway that didn't lead to the exit.

"Kairi? What are you..."

"For the record, I prefer the Earth Rumble to the pro-bending. But I did this a lot when I watched the match with my sister." Korra smiled. She was able to navigate the route in this arena easily as it's built with a standard lay-out. They soon arrived at the door that Korra entered without knocking.

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In the room, the players of the Fire Ferrets were just in the middle of taking off their armor and talking to each other.

"You did more harm than good out there, Hasook. You almost cost us the match." The girl with bright red hair spoke to one of the guys who nodded guiltily.

"Sorry, I was distracted." Hasook admitted. The third guy with short hair who looked more cheerful chimed in.

"Come on, Azon! We won, didn't we?"

"Just barely, Bolin." The girl closed her locker. She didn't sound angry, just concerned. "If this is the best we can do, I doubt we will make it to the finals."

"I'll try harder next time. I promise." Hasook spoke up.

"Good for you, pal. Now could we at least celebrate this victory? We did win the match after all." Bolin tried to cheer up his team mates, when suddenly the door open and two figures walked in, one dragging another.

Korra smiled widely while Asami looked around, lost for words. The three Fire Ferrets looked back at them.

"Can we help you?" Azon asked.

"Good evening. I'm Kairi, and this is Asami. We're just the fans that want to congratulate you on your victory."

"We have fan-girls breaching in our locker room?" Hasook mumbled before licking his palm to set his hair straight. "Cool."

"N...nice to meet you all." Asami finally found her words. "You did an amazing job back there!"

"Thank you!" Bolin accepted the compliment.

"Maybe I didn't do as bad as you thought." Hasook smiled arrogantly, making Azon shake her head. The red haired girl turned to Asami and looked at her for a moment before asking.

"Asami? Are you Asami Sato, the heiress of Future Industry?"

"Umm, yes."

"Wow, I didn't know we have high-profile fans too. Glad you enjoyed the game, Miss Sato." Azon extended her hand and Asami accepted it. It looked like Azon was the most professional of the team.

"Like they say in the Earth Rumble." Korra whispered to Asami. "Don't call yourself a fan until you sneak into player's locker room."

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...to be continue...