Chapter XXVI: Downtime

Nina, Yu, and Kohta watched as the balloon slowly drifted away. "Do you think they'll come back soon?" Yu asked. Nina walked a short distance away, and stretched herself out on the ground, replying, "I'm sure they will." Kohta looked over at her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm relaxing."

"What we should be doing is preparing for the invasion."

"Well, shouldn't we wait until they get back?" Before Kohta could respond, Yu said, "I think Nina's right, Kohta. We can't really do anything until Jin and Toph come back. And besides, considering everything that's happened, I think we all need to unwind a little." He sat down on the ground next to Nina. After several moments, Kohta sat down next to Nina as well. "Well, if you two insist."

"That's the spirit," Nina said. "It'll be nice to have a little break; it hardly ever happens. So we should enjoy it."

Some time passed, and the three of them set up their camp. When it was done, the three split up: Kohta went to train, Nina relaxed on the soft sands of the beach, and Yu had wandered off by himself. Nina looked over at Kohta; he was still training, manipulating numerous streams of water, seemingly effortlessly. She also noticed Yu had returned; he was hunched over, staring at something on the ground intently. Curious, she stood up and went to see.

As she approached, she saw he was staring intently at a puddle on the ground. When she was behind him, she asked, "What are you looking at, Yu?" He jumped slightly, but after a moment, replied, "I was thinking about something."

"What?"

"Well, I was thinking about what I should do with my hair." He looked into the puddle again. "I thought about cutting it off, but I like it."

"If you ask me, I think you should keep it." Nina bent down and took a piece of his hair. "But you should trim it a little. It'll look better."

"You think so?"

"Sure. I have a pair of scissors you can borrow. I'll be right back." She left, and returned a few moments later, handing him her scissors. He took them, and stared back into the puddle, trying to decide what to do. Yu remained motionless for several minutes until Nina asked, "Do you want me to help you?"

"Uh… yeah." He handed back the scissors, and she started working, trimming back his hair. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Yu asked, "Can I ask you something, Nina?"

"Sure."

"Why are your eyes yellow? Is that normal?" Nina stopped for a moment, surprised that he had even noticed such a small detail. She replied, "Don't worry, my eyes are just fine. My mom used to tell me that it meant my family was royalty before the war."

"Royalty? You mean like the Fire Lord?"

"Maybe. It doesn't really matter though."

"Of course it does. I mean, if you're the Fire Lord--"

"Did you forget about the war? Even if I was the Fire Lord, it isn't like there's a Fire Nation left to rule, you know." She finished cutting his hair. "Okay, I'm done. What do you think?" Yu peered into the puddle again; his hair was a little bit shorter now, but it looked… cleaner, somehow. He ran his hand through it. "Wow. This isn't too bad at all. Thanks, Nina."

"You're welcome."

Night soon came. The three gathered firewood as the sun began to set, and Nina lit it with her firebending. Nina and Yu sat around the fire, while Kohta slinked off somewhere. "Why does he always go off by himself? Do you think he doesn't like us?" Yu asked. Nina thought for a few moments before replying, "I don't think it's that. I think Kohta just likes to be doing stuff. He'll probably be like this until Toph and Jin get back."

"Do you think they'll be okay by themselves?"

"Please. Those two have been taking care of themselves long before any of us met them. I'm sure they'll be fine." A few moments later, Kohta returned, holding several, obviously dead animals. "Where did you go?" Yu asked.

"I was finding food," Kohta replied, sitting in front of the fire.

"You know, you didn't have to. We have food with us."

"I know. But I think we should conserve our supplies, at least for tonight. Tomorrow, we can see if there is a town nearby where we can buy supplies." He took off his parka, and laid the various animals he'd caught down on it: several fish, two birds of some kind, and a snake covered in what appeared to be spines. He thought for a few moments before grabbing the snake, stabbing a stick through it, and holding it over the fire. Nina tentatively reached for a fish before poking a stick through it and holding it over the fire as well. She and Kohta looked on in surprise when Yu did the same; when his fish was over the fire, she asked, "I thought the Air Nomads didn't eat meat."

Yu leaned back slightly and replied, "Well we don't, on principle at least. But it isn't like we can grow anything up in the mountains. And between changing your principles and starving to death, I think anyone would agree that change would be for the better." He pulled his fish from the fire and examined it for a few moments before looking at Kohta to ask, "You aren't really going to eat that, are you?"

"Well… why not? I have eaten arctic snakes before. Though I am sure this will not be exactly like an arctic snake."

"But it's all… spikey."

"I could just fish out the meat with a stick."

"Oh." There was silence between the three. Finally, Yu spoke again, saying, "I really hope Master Tenzin is okay."

"Who?" Kohta asked.

"Master Tenzin. He was my airbending teacher. He taught me everything I know. Well, almost everything."

"What happened to him?"
Nina took over the story. "Well, when Jin was at the Air Temple learning airbending, the Order found us. They captured us, along with everyone else in the temple."

"I heard from Jin how your group was captured, but I had no idea that the entire Northern Air Temple had been taken. To lose everyone you know, it must be unimaginable- your friends, your master, your parents…"

"I don't have any parents," Yu said.

"What?"

"I said I don't have any parents." Yu's voice lowered. "It's something else that made me different from the other kids there. It used to be that the Air Nomads separated a child from their parents after they were born, to be raised in another Air Temple. That's something else they had to change after the war. But even though most of the kids at the temple knew their parents, I didn't. Mater Tenzin was the one who raised me. But no matter how much I asked him, he wouldn't tell me about them."

"Well, what do you think?" Nina asked.

"Well… my guess is that since Master Tenzin won't talk about it, he must have found me outside the temple." He stood up. "It's getting late. I'm going to go to bed." He headed into his tent. Nina and Kohta sat in silence for a few moments before Nina said, "Wow. He never told us he didn't have any parents. I feel bad for him. But at least he had someone to raise him." Kohta asked, "What do you mean?"

"Back on Roku's Island, my mom raised me. Though you wouldn't have been able to guess, from the way I acted. She was always really sick, but she did everything she could to take care of me. I never really appreciated her for it though. Then, when I was about eleven, her illness got her."

The two were silent for some time before Kohta said, "My mother died when I was very young. My father raised me by himself. He taught me to be strong, so that one day, I would be able to lead my tribe. But two years ago, he and his hunting party were caught in a storm. They made it back to the island, but all of them fell ill soon after returning; they all gradually recovered, except for my father. Weeks passed, and he only grew worse. He knew he was dying. So he did everything he could to prepare me to succeed him. He told me all about the White Lotus and the Order, and initiated me. He died a week later. I remember the last thing my father said to me. He said, 'Son, I have done all I can. But I realize there are some things I can never prepare you for. But be strong, and always remember that you are a waterbender. Remember your training, and bend with the challenges life presents you, but never let them break you.'"

He fell silent. The silence remained between them until Nina stood up and made her way to her tent.

Nina awoke early the next morning. She left her tent; the sun had risen just above the horizon, bathing the sky in an orange light. Kohta was already awake, training by the water's edge. There was no sign of Yu. She approached him and said, "Good morning Kohta." Without looking back, he replied, "Good morning Nina."

"Where's Yu? Is he awake yet?"

Kohta let the stream of water he was manipulating collapse back into the ocean before he looked back replying, "Yu left at dawn. He said he was going to find a town and buy supplies." He turned back to the water and resumed his work. Nina sighed; if Yu had gone to find a town, it would just be her and Kohta. And from what she was able to gather in the short time she'd known him, he wasn't exactly the most talkative of people. So she sat on the beach, back toward him, and ignited a fire in her hands. She breathed in and out slowly, the flame's intensity increasing with each inhale, and diminishing with each exhale. It was a basic exercise, but one of the best for learning control and proper breathing.

She continued for some time before she heard the familiar sounds of blowing wind and a soft thump against the ground. She opened her eyes; sure enough, Yu stood nearby, a bag slung across his shoulder. He dropped the bag near the remains of their fire before approaching them to say, "I'm back. And I got everything we need."

"That's good," Nina said, but noticed he still had something slung over his shoulder. His body partly obscured it, but it was round, and shone in the light of the sun. She asked, "What is that?" He shifted, hesitant to reply, giving Nina enough of a glimpse to identify the object. She buried he forehead in the palm of her hand. "Please tell me you didn't buy a tsungi horn. Tell me anything but that."

"I did," Yu replied, ignoring her request.

"Why in the world would you buy that!? We don't need it!"

"Sure we do. Well, I do." He lifted the tsungi horn so he could slide it over his other shoulder, positioning it by his waist. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this." He took a deep breath. Immediately, Nina clapped her hands over her ears; behind her, out of her line of sight, Kohta did the same. But there was no sound. Nina opened her eyes cautiously.

Yu stood in front of her. His face was flushed, blowing into the horn with all of his might, but no sound emerged from the end. She said to him, "You wasted your money. That thing's broken." He slid the tsungi horn off and held it up, motioning for her to try. He approached and took the horn, before bringing the mouthpiece up to her mouth and blowing into it; the tone that emerged from the horn nearly made her drop it in surprise. As he took the horn back, she sputtered, "How… what…"

"It's a special technique for airbending. Master Tenzin figured out that I had a gift for it about a year ago and taught it to me. He called it soundbending."

"Soundbending? How does that work?"

"Well, Mater Tenzin told me that sound is made up of vibrations, and that certain airbenders can control these vibrations. They can completely stop these vibrations, amplify them, or compress them down to a focused wave, like this." Yu turned, and pointed the end of the horn at a large rock buried in the beach. Then, he took a deep breath and blew into the horn. Immediately, a narrow blast of air flew from the horn and punched through the rock with ease. Nina looked on, stunned; from her position, she could see the hole the blast had created.

"That is an impressive technique, Yu," Kohta finally said. "But I thought the Air Nomads avoided offensive techniques."

"They do. And I'll admit, these are some of the most dangerous techniques in all of airbending, but they can be used to incapacitate rather than kill." He then asked, "What about you? Do you know any special bending techniques?"

"In my tribe, there were some people who had the ability to control the water inside a living being. I have no talent for it, though. But I do know a special technique that allows me to heal the injuries of another."

"That sounds useful." Yu turned to Nina. "What about you?"

"I can make lightning. And that reminds me, I have to start training Jin to use that again."

"And I could teach Jin how to soundbend." He looked back at Kohta. "And you could teach him how to heal people." Kohta then replied, "I am afraid not. Only a certain number of waterbenders are able to learn how to heal others."

Yu rested the horn against the ground. "Ugh. I really hope Toph and Jin get back soon. All this talk of special bending techniques just reminds me of how much we have to do before everyone arrives."

The remainder of the day passed without incident. The third day passed much the same way. At sunset, as they sat around their campfire, Yu said, "I'm staring to get worried. Shouldn't they be back by now?"

"Well, it's not like we know where this Bei Fong place is. I'm sure they'll be back as soon as they can," Nina replied. She looked up at the sky, and immediately spotted something moving. "Wait. What's that up there?" The three looked up at the object; it was incredibly far away, but the shape was unmistakable. "The balloon," Kohta said. "It has to be them." Yu stood and jumped several feet into the air. "All right! They're back! Come on, we have to help them land the balloon."

The others stood up, and when the balloon drew closer, they rushed over to help. Yu grabbed a rope and tied it around a nearby rock, saying excitedly "You're back!" Nina tied down another rope and asked, "What took you guys so long?"

As the envelope of the balloon deflated, Jin hopped out of the basket and replied, "Sorry, things took a little bit longer than we thought they would. But we're back now, and we can start getting ready for the invasion."