Shine of the morning has barely risen, and the Airbending Family plus the Avatar are back to meditating. Determined to avoid yesterday's disaster, Korra focuses her mind on things that puts her in a happier place: her short-lived childhood with her parents, the few times she got to be with them after she begun training, meeting each of her little siblings for the first time, the letters and photos she got while living in other nations. Her mind drifts, to the thoughts she recurrently finds herself wondering…
If she had stayed home, if she didn't have to sacrifice her ties to her family, how different would her life had been? Could she have learned to cook from her mother? Go hunting with her father? Sew dolls with Nilak? Play battle with the triplets? Babysat Kanami? Would she have become a completely different person than she is now?
The inquiry of what-ifs starts weighing heavy on Korra's heart. Quietly she stands and walks off of the pavilion, never glimpsing at Tenzin and the children all looking after her.
Tenzin keeps an attentive eye on the young Avatar. "She lasted over twelve minutes."
Jinora looks to her father. "I wonder what she could've been thinking about."
Naturally empathetic, Ikki notes. "She seemed happy and sad at the same time."
For once, Meelo didn't fall asleep. "Even a general has a moment of weakness." He sagely nods.
Tenzin then instructs his children to finish meditating. While much younger than Korra, they represent the rebirth of Air Society. Also, what better way to integrate the new Avatar into the way of an Air Nomad, than having it shown through a more youthful perspective?
Returning to the spinning gates, Korra couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by her behavior the day before. "Look, Tenzin…" She works the nerve to look towards him. "… About yesterday, I'm…"
Tenzin merely shakes his head. "You do not to need to apologize, Korra. If anything, I should be the one apologizing."
"Huh?" This leaves Korra flummoxed.
Quietly he continues to lead them to the gates. Once they stand before the ancient relic, Tenzin performs a simple thrust of his palms and the panels begun spinning. Only this time, they spin much slower.
"I fear I have made an error." Tenzin turns to the confused Avatar. "Upon the first lesson, I adjudged that you could begin with the same level as an experienced airbender. I overlooked that you are indeed a novice to this, and thus before you could follow the current of the wind, you should have started with a breeze."
"B-But…" Processing what's being said, Korra immediately objects. "But I can handle full force! You don't need to dumb it down, I don't need it. I can brave the wind and beat it!"
"It's not about dominating, it's about adapting." Her mentor exhorts, silencing her. Tenzin calmly exhales. "You must grow into the natural sway of the most intangible element. You must break the mould of resistance and fighting back, and recreate it with patience and willing to follow."
Naturally her guts is against this practice. For so long Korra had to endure and struggle to meet her potential and then break beyond it. To do something as opposing as bending to the element's will is unheard of to her. Yet…
"Alright." She wants to airbend more than she wants to argue. Standing before the gates as they spin with a lulling leisure, Korra pushes herself to see this no longer as an obstacle, but a labyrinth. Its rotating passages encouraging her to trust the air to guide her through unscathed.
Carefully she steps through the first opening, and begins her steady dance. Though unwilling to admit, she acknowledge the slowness is much easier, she could focus on her movements more than avoid getting thwacked. Yet there are still stumbles here and there, as well as more than a few close calls, albeit graceless, Korra exits the airbending artifact like an airbender for the first time.
Taking deep breaths, the new Avatar is startled by the sudden cheers of the children. Peering at them, she first notices Tenzin's approving smile, and as the children rushes to pounce her, Korra feels she's finally taking the right direction.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So sorry it's been awhile fellow readers! Ringing in the new year hasn't exactly been one of cheer and bliss. To put it simply, my grandfather died. What's troubling is that I never got to be close to him, he left my grandmother to live with his mother, my great-grandmother, and when she died it was only a matter of time. The sick joke is that he stopped drinking a few years before, which so many of us didn't know. I'm stuck wondering why he didn't try to connect with us - his family - though my mom, his daughter, tried to explain that people plagued with guilt would feel they don't deserve to even try for a second chance. In essence, I get it, but I'm still angry at him for not even calling me once and awhile.
Now we're dealing with another loss, this time from a family friend, but the tragedy is just as heavy. Overall, I still want to learn to write consistently and upload at least once each week, whatever the story may be. It's therapeutic in a way, and a much needed distraction. Hopefully the rest of the year would soon be much brighter, and I'm hoping watching Black Panther - once it's finally out to the public - would be the start of happy days.
Expect plenty more from me this year and many years onward. I have absolutely NO intentions of leaving.
And even though it hasn't really been so for me, Happy New Year guys!