Long ago, before the 100 Year War, when the Four Nations lived together in harmony, the Southern Air Temple was known for its beauty and home to generations of legendary airbenders. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out nearly all of the airbenders, except for one – Avatar Aang.
Nearly 180 years later, The Southern Air Temple finally re-settled with airbenders and acolytes, and the Future Industries Airship sailed south toward it.
Asami stood in the cockpit of the flying ship and Korra, Kuvira, and Bae lounged around, looking outward at the thick clouds and jagged mountain rage appearing ahead.
"My navigation tells me that's the Potola Mountains, which means we're close." Asami confirmed her coordinates.
"Thank the spirits! I need my feet to touch land. I never rode in an airship before, and this Earth Nation gal is already missin' good 'ol earth," Bae said.
"Hate to break it to ya," Korra said. "But where we're going, there's a lot more air than Earth."
Kuvira and Bae gave each other a look. Neither had been to the Southern Air Temple, and neither knew what to expect.
"Use to be the only way to get there was a flying skybison." Korra crossed her arms leisurely.
"That was then baby," Asami said. She smirked and flipped a switch and gripped the steering wheel. "Hold onto your butts."
"What do you m–" Bae started to ask, but then found herself gripping a nearby rail with all her might as the airship angled sharply upward.
The ship soared up, up, up, past the clouds along the immense Potolas until they evened out again and came upon a temple with tall white and blue spires carved into a mountain.
As they approached, they saw families of skybison and flying lemur monkeys circling about the area. Below were tiny figures – humans and air animals and spirits aplenty going about their business.
They landed on an open plot of land to Kai and Bumi waiting to greet them.
Jinora and Opal watched from atop a spire and out of general sight of the arriving party. The young airbending master had given Opal a day quest to procure an herb from a nearby valley.
Though surprised, both of the young women were excited to see the airship pull in. Because the temple was remote, it took awhile for information to reach them and Korrasami could not phone or send a telegram before arriving on such short notice.
"Master Jinora, I'll say hello to Korra and Asami and whoever is with them before I head to the valley," Opal said.
"Sounds good to me. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jinora when it's just me and you?"
Jinora, wise in her youth, was petite in shoulder-length hair and sky-blue airbending tattoos encircling her body and pointing down her forehead. They both wore form-fitted modern airbender jumpsuits, though Jinora's was decorated with a sash to signify her status as not only a master airbender but Headmaster of the Southern Air Temple.
They watched the ship land. The door opened slowly and Asami followed by Korra walked out and greeted Bumi and Kai with mutual bowing before the Avatar scooped the men up in a tight embrace, their feet dangling in the air. Bumjun, Bumi's flying bunny spirit companion, hovered around them.
Moments later another figure strode out. Opal did a double-take, squinting because the figure's gait was familiar. Her chest tightened – she recognized that swagger, but then again, this person was different. She couldn't quite make out the face, as it was obscured by a hat. Not until the figure lifted it briefly to comb her fingers through her hair before replacing it.
Opal and Jinora gasped. Kuvira! While Jinora had just as quickly regained her composure – the surprise a fleeting thing, the rustle of passing wind – Opal felt faint. She tucked one side of her bob behind her ear and bit her lip, her big eyes fastened to the scene below and her emotions stirring up all sorts of confusion. There Kuvira was after all this time, alive, in the flesh.
Another figure emerged. This one short and attractive with wild curly hair hobbling about on sea legs. She made a ruckus and everyone below turned their gaze toward the little woman and laughed with her, even Kuvira under her enormous hat. Opal noticed this especially. She watched as the woman braced herself onto Kuvira's arm for balance and how Kuvira assisted by hoisting her up and sharing eye contact with the woman all the while.
Opal took a step back as if struck in the gut by an invisible force.
"Actually, Jinora. I'm going on that mission first."
Sensing something was amiss, Jinora didn't press the issue but nodded at her friend.
Meanwhile, Juicy lay on the grass directly below cuddling with Korra's skybison, Moo. The two had pair-bonded and were practically inseparable, that is, until Opal had called upon her companion for important missions.
"Juicy! Yip Yip!" Opal called from above.
The skybison recognized his beloved human's voice and perked up immediately. He noticed something amiss in her tone but was nonetheless thrilled to spend time with her. With that, he licked his snotty nostrils, cuddled his sweetheart one last time, and lifted off to hover at the window of the spire where the two women stood.
Opal hopped on and Jinora stood at the edge of the window. They took off in their respective directions, Jinora gliding down below in her winged jumpsuit, and Opal flying off to procure an herb.
"Kai, you're so tall now!" Korra said after she put them down.
Kai chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yea, I guess I wasn't done growing." He sported his signature messy bowl cut and looked at her with innocent eyes that meant mischief.
"And Bumi, looking fit as ever." Korra shadow boxed playfully toward Bumi's abs.
"Who me? This old bag of bones?" The old man grinned, baring his sparkling white teeth and exhibiting his body with muscle poses.
"I can see who Meelo takes after," Korra jested.
Asami and Kai joined in laughing and bantering as Kuvira and Bae stood behind. Kuvira had been watching a flying skybison and a figure resembling Opal sail off in the opposite direction. Her heart simultaneously soared and sank.
"Aren't you going to introduce your friends?" Bumi said. He sized up the stranger in the cloak and hat in particular. "Hey, wait a sec. You're K—"
Korra cut Bumi off. "Guys, this is Pang. And next to her is Bae."
Kuvira tried to keep her face obscured by the brim of the hat, nonchalantly though, as she and Bae bowed.
"By the way," Korra continued. "We'd like to speak to Jinora if possible."
"It's possible," Jinora's voice sounded from above as she glided down. She landed and gave Korra and Asami a hug and they also exchanged bows.
"Master Jinora."
"Avatar Korra."
The two old friends giggled. Jinora joined Kai and entwined their fingers and they exchanged glances as if in on a never-ending inside joke with each other.
After a spell, Jinora remembered the guests. She had known since perched on the spire that the taller stranger was Kuvira but remained tight-lipped of her knowledge. For the sake of neutral jing until she figured out what was going on, she played into the charade.
"Welcome, I'm Jinora –"
"Master Jinora," Bumi interrupted, clearing his throat.
"Yes, Master and more or less the boss around here," Kai said. He winked at his girlfriend, who elbowed him playfully.
Straightening up but maintaining a relaxed demeanor, Jinora continued:
"Like I said, welcome. How about I show you around?"
They nodded and followed their tour guide. Getting around was easier said than done, the non-airbenders found, as the levels were separated by steep trails and spiraling stone stair cases, which airbenders used to hop up 10 and 20 at a time. The rest had to climb those fuckers one by one, which is what the air acolytes and visiting dignitaries did anyway. No one was above fair treatment here, unless of course they could bend air.
They stopped at a field dotted with scores of twenty-foot pillars and two targets on opposite ends.
"This is the field where Grandpa Aang used to play airball as a kid growing up here," Jinora said.
"Grandpa Aang?" Bae whispered to Kuvira, but Jinora had heard her and replied:
"Pardon me for not explaining. Avatar Aang was my grandpa and –"
"The last airbender," Bae said. "Whoa. So you're like, super spirity huh?"
"Well, not everyone related to Grandpa Aang is spirity, right Uncle Bumi?" Jinora looked at her uncle and cocked an eyebrow.
Bumi laughed heartily, slapping his knee, "Yea, like my dear brother Tenzin."
Bumjun was perched on his shoulder, also laughing with its little spirit wing-ears bouncing along.
"Who is my father and Avatar Aang's son," Jinora continued. "I know, it's a lot. And don't worry, you won't be quizzed on this."
Bumi and Kai decided to play a few rounds of airball. Bumi was feeling confident in his advanced age after getting the hang of airbending, but Kai was a young prodigy and a prankster. Bumi was in fact doomed.
Kai kissed Jinora on the cheek, causing her face to flush red momentarily before he bounced off to play airball with Bumi, leaving the women.
They continued walking past Air acolytes studying, gurus who had come down from the mountains meditating, and airbenders practicing basic forms or air scootering around.
Korra felt a familiar tingle when they stopped in front of a statue of an ancient airbending monk sitting in lotus position on one of the balconies. She closed her eyes and bowed deeply in front of the statue of a man with half-closed eyelids to signify a face of calm and serenity.
"We must not concern ourselves with what was, we must act on what is," Korra found herself saying, though the words were not hers. Tears trickled down her face.
"Who's that?" Asami said.
"It's –" Jinora began.
But Korra cut her off: "Monk Gyatso." She wiped her tears with the back of her forearm. "I feel him. I mean, I felt Aang remembering him – this was Aang's master. Wow."
Korra hadn't experienced an immediate connection with a past Avatar in a long time, not since before harmonic convergence.
"We originally settled at the Northern Air Temple, but I felt called to the South because here's where Grandpa Aang's spirit is the strongest. The other Avatars too," Jinora said, placing her hand on Gyatso's shoulder.
"Do you talk to Aang?" Korra asked.
"Sometimes." Jinora looked down at her feet. Her humble answer downplayed her strong connection with spirits. "Which leads us to our last stop for now."
Jinora led the other women to a semi-secluded area and came to a closed set of double-doors adorned with a maze of twisted pipes as a lock.
"The Hall of Avatars," Korra said, gazing at the doors and grazing her hand along one of the pipes. "Shall we?"
"Asami, Bae, and… Pang," Jinora said. "Wanna see something neat that hardly any outsider in history has ever beheld?"
"No thanks, I'm good. Rather watch dust settle," Bae teased. "Are you kidding me?! Of course I do!'
Kuvira remained silent. Nodded.
The two airbenders took deep breaths and made circular movements with their arms, generating a coordinated swirl of air that broke off and filled the respective pipes. The massive doors creaked open and light from the outside spilled into the dark hall.
They stepped inside and beheld a mesmerizing wonder of the world – statues of every Avatar going back a thousand generations with Avatar Aang at the front.
Everyone was awestruck, but Kuvira was particularly struck by the seven-foot tall statue of the last Earth-bending Avatar, Kyoshi. It was not lost on Jinora and Korra that Kuvira was entranced with the statue.
"So this is the great Avatar Kyoshi," Bae said. "She's, she's beautiful."
"And much more," Kuvira added.
Korra put her hand on her chest as if to call upon Raava's spirit within her but as soon as she felt something stir, she quickly quelled it and decided to move the party's purpose along.
"Kuvira is here on important business," Korra began, though when the words left her mouth, she realized her blunder. "I mean Pang. I mean… awe crap." She slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand. "
Bae, Asami, and Kuvira stopped frozen. Bae slowly turning her head to Kuvira whose face flushed crimson red.
"Bae, I can explain. I was going to tell you –" Kuvira pleaded. She took a step toward her traveling companion.
"Tell me what?" Bae said, incredulous and suddenly feeling claustrophobic in the high altitude.
"I'm not… who you think I am. I'm not Pang. Because I'm…"
"Kuvira, the woman who killed my husband," Bae said finally, taking a step back and then another and another until, face full of tears, she turned around and ran away.
"Wait!" Kuvira yelled back. Her spirit about jumped out its body to follow, but her body stayed put.
Korra rubbed the back of her neck and Asami went over to comfort her, leaning in and kissing her cheek as if to communicate silently that it was OK she messed up.
Kuvira fell to her knees and sat in silence and Jinora approached the former Great Uniter, hovering over her.
"I've known who you were from the moment you stepped off the plane, but I was listening and waiting, much like your idol, Kyoshi," Jinora said with an air of authority nodding toward the statue next to them. "And I know why you're here."
Kuvira and Korrasami sharply turned their heads toward Jinora.
In unison, they all said: "You do?"
"Yes. I talk to spirits, you know. I hear things. Sometimes I picnic with Grandpa Aang and Iroh. No big deal." Jinora shrugged. "But big deal – the Harvest Moon. It's coming up in one week." She looked from Kyoshi to Kuvira and finally to Korra.
Kuvira stood and addressed Jinora with humble honesty, bowing deeply from the waist.
"My apologies, Master Jinora for not being up front with you. I know I'm a fugitive, but I would be honored if you received me here to discover my destiny." She pointed at Kyoshi's statue. "I was called to speak to Kyoshi on the night of the Earth Moon."
Jinora considered her words before speaking. "As an Air Nomad, we believe no person is beyond forgiveness, and if it's true what they say about you – that you maimed yourself, I can't help but wonder how badly you want it."
Kuvira didn't know how to respond. Perhaps at first and on the surface, she sought forgiveness, but as she walked those months in self-styled purgatory, she found glimpses of emptiness, and so in the end all she wanted was to be, to burn away the restlessness. It occurred to Kuvira that what she just said about her destiny sounded silly.
Jinora smiled as if sensing this realization, continued: "You may stay as our guest – all of you. And on the night of the Harvest Moon, you will speak to Avatar Kyoshi." She bowed to seal the deal and Kuvira reciprocated but Korrasami did not.
"Actually, Korra said, shuffling her feet. "Asami and I have to get back, right Sami?"
"Hmm? Well, it's not urgent, we could…" Asami caught on to Korra's ruse by her pleading gaze and corrected her statement. "Oh, yes. We have business stuff."
"You see?" Korra said with her arms Akimbo. "We really must be going – right away."
She took Asami's hand and turned to go.
"Are you sure? You just got here," Jinora said.
"Korra, wait!" Kuvira noticed she had spent a bulk of her time here at the Southern Air Temple watching all of her friends from run from her.
Once outside the Hall of Avatars and back near the statue of Monk Gyatso, Asami felt it safe enough to confront her girlfriend honestly. She stopped in their tracks and untangled hands.
"What's going on with you? Does it have to do with the Dark Avatar?" Asami said.
"It's nothing OK?" Korra tried to lie, realized Asami could see right through her and slumped her shoulders. "Ah, it's something. I don't want to hurt anybody. I don't want to… be a liability to the world."
Asami moved to embrace her Avatar, letting Korra's head nestle in her nape nook as she gently stroked her love's chestnut hair.
"Sometimes I feel irrelevant. Like the world doesn't need me anymore," Korra mumbled into Asami's chest.
This was not the first time Asami comforted Korra about her insecurities.
"The world needs you to be the Avatar of your time. You're not Aang or Kyoshi – different Avatars for different times and different needs," Asami said. "So whaddya say you join Kuvira in talking with Kyoshi? I'll leave you here and come back and get you – or you can take Moo home when you're ready."
Korra reconsidered. "Hmm… OK then. Maybe I'll see my past life and know how to do better in the present. Maybe she'll know how to deal with Vaatu," Korra found herself saying out loud, confirming the reality. "Or get rid of it at least."
Korra looked up and noticed a dark figure sitting in lotus position hovering at the edge of the balcony. He looked strangely familiar, though Korra had never seen this man in her current lifetime.
"I am Guru Patik," the old leathery man said from where he sat – on the air. "I could not help but overhear your conversation from where I was meditating and sent my spirit to you. Apologies if I scared you."
He smiled warmly, revealing deep-lined crow's feet at his eyes. He was dark-skinned and had a long white beard and eyebrows and was so thin, he seemed to survive solely on dewdrops and sunshine.
Guru Patik continued cheerfully: "I guided your previous incarnation, Avatar Aang, during the apex of the 100-year war. We are old friends."
"Wait." Korra said. "How old are you?"
Patik chuckled. "The real question is, where am I? Am I here at the Southern Air Temple, or meditating from elsewhere?"
Korra bowed to honor her past life's old friend and guide.
"Oh wise Guru, I beg of you, please tell me what to do about Vaatu."
"Do you really want to know that? It is always better to tell the truth, but only when the recipient is ready to hear. For today, you will not accept my answer. Let's start with the first truth - please ask me your other question."
Korra did not expect to hear this answer but she likewise knew the other question that burned within her long before Harmonic Convergence.
"Is there a purpose for the Avatar anymore?" she said, fearing but craving the answer.
In a friendly tone, Guru Patik replied: "The closer you get to anything solid, you eventually discover emptiness. There is no purpose for you, Avatar Korra. The world does not need you. It will continue long after the Avatar cycle has ended for good. And the Cosmos will endure long after the end of this Earth. All is simultaneously meaningful and meaningless."
Though Korra heard the old Guru, it was not what she wanted to hear.
"Thanks for that," Korra said, getting worked up. "And maybe I'll take my own bending too while I'm at it."
Guru Patik shrugged and just like that, dissipated into thin air.
"Korra, I don't think that's what he meant." Asami tried to soothe Korra by rubbing her arm.
Korra teared away. "No, I got it. On second thought, I wanna get back to Republic City as soon as possible. I gotta go see Tenzin."
"If you want baby," Asami said.
Kuvira and Jinora re-emerged from the Hall of Avatars.
"We've settled our arrangements," Kuvira said before noticing Korra's distraught appearance.
"Well, better get going," Korra said, trying to sound put together.
Jinora and everyone else saw through the façade. The Airbending master nodded. "I'm sorry to see you go, Korra. I've missed you, and I – I was going to say I understand, but I don't. I respect your wishes as the Avatar."
"Thank you." Korra turned to Kuvira. "And sorry I exposed your identity to Bae and potentially ruined your friendship."
Kuvira shrugged. "It was inevitable. I'll accept whatever consequence comes of this. She deserves it at least."
With that, Korrasami departed, leaving Jinora and Kuvira – former enemies and current acquaintances – alone.
"I don't know how to thank you enough for trusting me and for not – selling me out to President Moon," Kuvira said.
"Because she has every right to still be mad at you despite everything. And if I were being honest, so am I." Jinora sighed and crossed her arms. "But we Air Nomads are in the business of forgiveness. Just don't assume we forget."
Kuvira understood and it was settled – all except for Bae who had wandered off somewhere in the immense temple.
"I should see if Bae wants to kill me," Kuvira said after the dust between Jinora and her rocky relationship settled.
"Or you could do what wise Earthbenders do – listen and wait."
Kuvira knew the wise little airbending master was right, though the former Great Uniter had always been impatient.