"How are we ever gonna clear away all these vines?" Korra whined firebending the vines in frustration. The spirits that were hovering around the Avatar, Rohan and his Dad scatter in fear at the fire bending. The vine however just grew back just as fast as Korra had burnt them away; they had taken over a significant portion of downtown near where his old middle school had been since harmonic convergence. "Ugh, I don't get it. I can vanquish Vaatu but not a bunch of stupid vines?" She groaned, kicking a vine and storming off. His Dad just sighs and shakes his head.
"I'm sure you'll find a way." Rohan tried to sound upbeat but he was not convincing even to him. He was as fed up with this as Korra, but he had given up on the situation unlike everyone else. Jinora hadn't even bothered coming this time; she thought it was a good thing because it was a sign they were now connected to the spirit world.
"Why do you want to get rid of them? You changed the world. We're connected with the spirits again. The wilds are their home." Rohan would not go that far as to want them around, but he was increasingly agreeing with her that they were not a high enough power to get rid of the new spirit wilds no matter how much everyone else wanted them to.
Jade on the other hand took the pragmatic stance of "I don't think that the people who used to live here are as excited about it as you are." Unfortunately for them she was right as everyone in the city wanted the vines gone. Korra pushes aside a bunch of vines, and Rohan shields his eyes against the glare of the sun as they walk back into Republic City.
Korra opened her staff. "I gotta go face the press and tell them I still don't have a way to get rid of the vines." Korra sighed "This should be fun." She grumbled darkly.
"Do you want company?" He asked.
"Nah don't bother, no need for both of us to get chewed out by Raiko." Korra muttered, taking off. His father who had been silent almost the whole time sighed again.
"I'm afraid, your sister may be right." He finally said to him. "I don't think we can do anything if the spirit vines don't want us to."
"Yeah, but who's going to convince Raiko of that?" Rohan snorted.
Lin was not happy to be here. Why she hadn't made one of her captains come to this damn press conference was beyond her. Yes it had been right after the meeting to the new president's cabinet to which she had to be present and at the time she had thought it was more practical but practical was currently being beaten out by the headache Korra and mainly Raiko was giving her. She had known it was not good news from the look on the young avatar's face when she landed and promptly toon them out so as to not get anymore irritated. She hadn't been expecting good news from Korra. Jinora had already said the vines were here to stay and Tenzin had not been optimistic about the chance to remove them either. But Korra's hot headed only slightly smothered teenage attitude meeting Raiko's strong man politics was a disaster and they had yet to have a meeting without arguing on cue Korra snapped at him.
"Look, Harmonic Convergence was just two weeks ago. I just needed a little more time to get everything back to normal." She said through gritted teeth.
Raiko ignored her continuing to talk over her to the press. "The Avatar has put us all in a very difficult position, but my administration-"
Which unsurprisingly did not go over well with said Avatar. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I put you in a difficult position by fighting the giant force of pure evil that was going to destroy the whole world?" She asked sarcastically. "Maybe your administration could have handled that." She snapped at him.
Lin sighed, stepping forward to put a stop to this before it got out of hand in front of everyone. "That's all, no more questions." She ordered Separating the pair. Raiko glared at both of them and stormed back to his office as Lin escorted Korra off stage. Asami came up to them which Lin was glad for, so consoling the kid could be her problem.
"This is a disaster." Korra groaned.
"Don't worry, we'll figure something out." Asami put had on her shoulder comfortingly.
"Easy for you to say. You don't have my poll numbers. Eight percent approval? Who are they asking?" She moaned.
"You can't take that to heart. People are just frustrated." Asami tried to comfort her.
"I don't blame them. I should be able to fix this. I'm the Avatar." Korra said, almost dejected.
"Alright, enough of that." Lin said cut off Korra's self pity. "Come dinner's going to be served soon and we're already running late." She was right they were late to dinner but not that late judging by the look of things when they entered.
"It's not a joke." Bumi whined as they walked in. Korra and Asami went and sat down with their friends and her kids at the other end of the table. She sat down next to Tenzin and could tell how much of whatever crazy story her brother in law had just told had irritated him by the way Tenzin kissed her. Lin was still deciding if she really wanted to know what happened when she overheard Korra ask her kids and Bolin.
"What's up with him?"
Unfortunately for her chances at clarity on the whole situation, Bolin answered. "Bumi says he airbent earlier, but he can't now. Oh, and I guess he's not very good at knitting either." Lin decided then that she didn't want to know and the best course of action was to eat her dinner and ignore her family and the Avatar's friends.
"Oh, did you see that? I think the napkin moved!" Bumi practically bounced next to Kya.
"You blew on it." She retorted annoyed
"Wait!" Bumi nearly yelled, holding up his hand and closing his eyes thinking, "Maybe I can only do it when my life is in danger. Bolin, bend a giant boulder at me." Lin glanced over to look at her husband who was massaging his temples.
"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea." Bolin said, hesitantly trying to dissuade him.
"If you break it, you fix it" Lin warned indifferently not looking up from her dinner.
Tenzin though had had enough and slammed the table."No one is bending giant boulders!"
Rohan had other ideas though, "Look alive, Uncle Bumi!" he cried, hurling an empty plate at his uncle. Bumi looked up in shock and Lin could see fear flash across his face as he looked away, stretching out his hands, but the plate stopped. In. Mid. Air. A bubble of air moving around the plate levitating it in front of Bumi.
"I told you!" Bumi yelled as he starred, as shocked as everyone else. The plate dropped back to the table breaking as he lost his concentration.
"Unbelievable." Tenzin half whispered. "You're actually an airbender." he said still not really believing it and Lin couldn't blame him she couldn't either. Bumi was not supposed to be an airbender.
"Wait 'till I tell Mom, she's gonna love this." Bumi said excitedly.
Lin had rarely been rendered speechless in her life, but this was one of those times. She finally looked over at Tenzin who staired dazed at his older brother.
Rohan was the first to recover. "Yeah Uncle Bumi!" he cheered. That broke the spell and Bolin, Jinora and Korra all began peppering him with questions. Her Kya and Tenzin were all still stunned at the fact that Bumi just airbent. The teens and Bumi were already getting up though, something about trying to get him to airbend again.
That snapped Lin out of her daze. "Can you make sure no one gets hurt?" Lin asked Kya. Kya nodded, sparing a glance at her little brother and leaving Lin and Tenzin alone. Lin wasn't sure exactly what to say to him. Tenzin slowly dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face and shaking his head slowly still in disbelief. Lin just draped her arms over his shoulder resting her head against his shoulder. She didn't know what to say to him.
"I can't believe it." was all he said. She nodded her head in agreement. "How?" he asked, turning to look at her and she had to let go of him.
"I was going to ask you, do you think being in the spirit world could have done it?" She asked.
"I have no idea." Tenzin admitted shaking his head for the hundredth time today. He leaned forward this time so his forehead rested on her shoulder. "Bumi can airbend." he laughed. "Bumi is an airbender." Lin felt a smile tug up on her face. "Who would have thought."
There was a crash outside and Lin kissed his head. "Come on, let's go make sure he stays that way long enough to learn." she said, pulling him up with her. She knew he was not done wrapping his mind around this yet, and neither was she they could talk tonight about it, for now making sure the house wasn't blown over was the priority.
"Um, Captain?" Mako's hesitant voice asked from the door for Jade's office.
"Yeah what's up Mako?" Jade asked, not looking up from her reports. She glanced at the clock, she was still hoping to get out of here by 6 pm. "Why do you have a blackeye?" she asked, finally seeing his face.
"Um, I know this is going to sound crazy but I was hit by a door." Mako said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You were hit by a door?" Jade asked, sitting back in her chair. "That's crazy because…."
"Um, the man airbent it at me?" Mako said sheepishly.
Jade stares at him for a second before laughing. "Okay, go tell Lee he's going to have to try harder than that." She said waving him off and going back to her paperwork. Lee, Mako's supervisor, and a lot of the officers always tried to put the rookies up to something. But he'd have to get a shiny that lied better than Mako if he wanted to make that one work on her.
"No he didn't put me up to this. I was actually supposed to buy Tommy flowers and say they were from Rui. That doesn't matter." He said quickly, shaking his head. "He did airbend. I wouldn't have believed it either if the door hadn't literally hit me in the face." Mako said again.
Jade could tell he was serious about this or a very good liar as she recovered her foot in metal. "Explain to me exactly what happened and why I should believe you?" She sighed, rifling around for a clean sheet of paper. The more he talked the more Jade believed him and didn't at the same time. "And he got away?" she asked, already guessing the answer.
"He got away. I put a bulletin out on him though." Mako told her.
"Have it upgraded to all points and have a note on it saying to contact me or chief if they spot him. As you just found, not trained airbender's bending can be, ah, temperamental." She told him, making a face. She had plenty of memories of almost getting hit in the face by some flying household object as a kid. "Do you want to come with me to the island? I could use the back up in explaining this one to my parents." Jade asked, rubbing her face.
"Um I'll stay here to uh see if anything pops up." Mako said.
"Oh yeah that right, you're still fighting with Korra and them." Jade said finally getting up. Mako looked at her surprised like her brother and sister hadn't talked her ear off about Mako somehow getting on Korra and Asami's bad side over being overly critical or something Jade had stopped listening at that point. "Well let me know." She said heading home. If Mako want to be stubborn he could be didn't bother her any if he was too stupid to realize pissing off his best friend and ex girlfriend, he was never going to win that argument. She had other problems like figuring out how a middle aged man was now an airbender. Jade sighed to herself the answer was probably some spirit possessed him or something knowing her luck. To her surprise everyone was outside when she got home and Bumi was running away from Rohan and Korra bending at him.
"Don't run away, Bumi!" Jinora called. "That won't work!"
"Why? That's all I see Tenzin do!" Bumi yelled back dodging a fire blast. Jade chuckled at that as did everyone else even Rohan stopped chasing Bumi to laugh as their father gafuad. Jinora spotted her first, which was a surprise. Usually her parents would be more alert but they weren't talking quietly to each other next to Kya on the stairs.
"Heyya Jade, you won't believe what happened." Jinora said to her.
"Oh I could say the same to you." Jade warned her. She watched Bumi wave his hands around some more. "What? Invisible spirit monster attack?" She asked sarcastically nodding at Bumi.
"You won't believe this. Bumi just started airbending." Jinora told her. Oh boy, maybe Mako was right, Jade thought. Personally, she still thought he was wrong or there was some other explanation for it.
"I have been noticing a change in your aura lately." Kya called to Bumi.
"And you didn't tell me?" Bumi said, exasperated still tried to airbend again as her parents walked to them.
"I'm afraid he's not the only one." Jade told them all.
"What" her parents said surprised.
"Mako got a call tonight. About a guy who just started airbending out of nowhere." Jade explained. Her mother eyes narrowed and crossed her arms slipping into cop mode to analysis the situation.
"You mean there's another one? Where is he now?" Her dad questioned her more enthusiastic about hearing about the new airbender.
"He blew a door down on him and got away. We got an all-points bulletin out on him right now." Jade told them.
"We'll have to go looking for him." Korra said, sounding determined.
"Well, nothing we can do tonight," Lin interjected before the teens got to excited. "There's still food on the table kid, help yourself. Tomorrow, we'll find the airbender and go from there."
Korra was so excited the next morning when she work up. New airbenders! She could feel herself rejuvenated just by the thought of something else to do other than the stupid spirit vines. Her, Asami, Jinora, and Rohan all set out looking for the new Airbender.
"Me and Jinora we'll fly around and see if we see anything. Mom and Dad think he wouldn't be able to control his bending at all so be careful." Rohan told Asami and her.
"Yeah if how often you nearly hit me in the face is any to go off of" Jinora ageed with Rohan. "we'll need to very careful about random flying objects and don't frieghten him, that always made it worse."
They walked up to Asami's satomobile as the airbenders took off. "This is so exciting! New airbenders in the city. I bet we can find that guy before they do."
"Yeah totally," Asami agreed throwing her the keys .
" You know I'm not very good at this." Korra warned her incase she forgot the last time Korra had drove her car and nearly broke it.
"Oh come on,You're the Avatar, master of all the elements. You should know how to drive. Besides, it's relaxing" asami pointed out. Korra didn't find driving relaxing at all but it was a challenge and she couldn't back down from it. She turn the key into the ignition and tried to drive key work try.
"Clutch! Clutch!" Asami yelled as Korra pulled forward lurching to a stop again as the gears grined against each other. "That's the brake. Let's try again. You ready?" Asami said after catching her breaths and losing her death grip she had on the door handle. The next hundred feet was stop and go until Korra finally somewhat go the hang of it.
"How long do you think Mako's going to hold out on us?" Korra asked. She wasn't mad at him anymore for not telling her and more or less lying about all of what had happened when she had lost her memory.
The car behind them honked their horn at their slow pace turns. "Well, Mako has never been the most ... "in touch with his feelings" guy, but he'll come around eventually."
"I just still can't believe I actually kissed him when I forgot everything. That's pretty embarrassing." Korra admitted blushing a little.
"Don't worry about it I went out with the guy." Asami told her lightly trying to make her feel better.
"Well, whatever happened with Mako, I'm glad it hasn't come between us. I've never had a girlfriend to hang out with and talk to before, except for Naga. This is nice." Korra admitted.
"Vine!Vine! vine!" Asami yelled as Korra swueved to avoid hitting a vine in the middle of the street.
"Ugrh," she groaned. "I wished I could just figure out how to fix that problem." she said exasperated.
"Did Tenzin give you any advice?" asami asked.
"He agrees with Jinora now, I changed the world and this was the result we all have to live with the changes now. There's no going back with out closing the portals and I know opening the portals was the right decision, I feel it." Korra told her.
"Well then the people of Repiblic City will just have to get used to the changes." Asami said smiling at her. Korra smiled back she was glad Asami had her back on this. Just then Jinora swooped down and landed on the back of the car.
"Go to the bridge, that's were the airbender is!" she told them. Korra stepped on it and mostly made it their in one piece with only one time Jinora had to airbend them to keep them from rolling.
Jade and Lin were already there. "Come down immediately, or we will be forced to take action." Lin warned the man at the very top of the bridge.
Lin nodded to Jade and she and a few metalbenders began ascending to the top of the cables of the bridge. "Stay back! I'm dangerous." The man yelled. He sounded terrified to Korra.
"Don't overwelhm him mom." Jinora advised her.
"I know but I don't have all day or all the time I want." She told them quietly her eye cutting towards the crowd of press and Raiko was standing among them. Jade's team moved in slowly the man lost his balance screamed waving his hands and generating a wind the knock the metalbenders off the suspension bridge but steadied him.
"Sorry" he yelled as the metalbenders shot cables out to slow there descend back to the bridge. Jade was the only one still on the bridge she had long since gotten use to airbender's attacks and spun around the bridge's cable and land back on top. Korra had seen enough though and flew up to the top of the bridge landing next to the man. Jade was below her ready to catch either of them if need be.
"Don't panic, I'm just here to talk." Korra told him.
"Please, I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to hurt anyone."He said and his voice quavered.
"Tell me about it. Rough day, huh? I'm having kind of a rough day myself. You mind if I sit down here?" Korra said crossing her legs. She didn't wait for a reply instead pushing on, "Look, I know you're scared. You've gone through a big change and its kind of my fault. But you're not alone, there are other airbenders and they want to help you. Actually, they are really excited to meet you."
"I don't want to be an airbender. Please, you're the Avatar, make it stop. Ahh!" He nearly teatered off the bridge.
"I'm sorry, I can't, but I promise you things will get better if you just give it a chance. Let me take you over to Air Temple Island and we can talk this through. Okay?" she told him gently offering him her hand. She could see his hesitation but he reached out his hand but lost his footing and fell scream ripped from his mouth. Korra dove after him as did Jade but Korra grabs him first. They land near she had left her friends and Lin, Tenzin had joined them too.
"Daw, this is Tenzin. He is going to help you." Korra said introducing them.
He bowed to Daw excitement in his voice. "It is absolutely my pleasure to meet you, Daw. I have never met a new airbender before. Well, at least not one whose diaper I didn't have to change." Jade comes up behind her and nudges her shoulder in warning at Raiko approaching. "So, is this the deal? We have crisis every other day now thanks to you!" he said angrily.
"Listen, I know you're having a tough time getting used to these changes and I'm sorry for that, but you and everyone else are going to have to learn live with it. The vines and the spirits are here to stay." Korra told him firmly.
"Well, you know who's not here to stay?" He said Angrily. "You! I order you to leave this city. You've caused nothing but trouble since you arrived." The crowd gasps at the decision and Jade stiffened next to her.
But Korra could careless. "Don't worry, I was already leaving." She spat back at him.
She turned to her friends Tenzin and Lin. "I can see my path now. There are new airbenders out there and I'm going to find them and rebuild the Air Nation." She told them.
"Don't think we're not going with you. It's so exciting. Who knows who's out there now, discovering the gift of airbending for the first time?" Rohan said excitedly and Asami nodded next to him.
Tenzin sitting in the gazebo when Lin found him. He wasn't really hiding but he had want to be alone for a little while and he wanted to be here. The gazebo had been his father's favorite spot on the island to mediate. Aang had always said the energy here of the ocean flowing and the city in the background full of life of all forms and spirits now. Tenzin thought his dad would have loved it even more now. Now, Bumi was an airbender and a thought or a hope he must have had about his first born son at some point, but not only that Daw was also an airbender. Daw, who had no family connection to the late Avatar could airbender. It was a miracle.
That night she finds Tenzin sitting in the gazebo looking out over the water. "Hey" she says, sitting down next to him. "Are you ready not to be the only airbenders anymore?" She asked.
Tenzin nodded his head. "Lin, I can't believe it 170 years later we might be able to fill a temple with air benders, maybe even all of them." His voice was so full of hope and excitement that it made her smile.
"And you're going to lead them. Your father would be so proud, Tenzin. He could never even imagine this. The Air nation will never be extinct again." Lin said, nudging him with her shoulder. She was right all of the fear and pressure of successfully carrying on and keeping alive the air nation his father had brought back to life had taken a huge turn for the better, but it was also a huge change.
"I wish he was here, I'm so happy, but I'm scared too. How will I know how to lead an entire nation." Tenzin said his voice getting serious. Tenzin for all his foryes into politics had never actually had to seriously lead anyone. The position he had in the air nation to this point had never been question or challenged no one was there to challenge or question his position. Now he had to capably lead new airbenders into a completely new life.
"You'll be fine Ten. I know it." Lin said easily. She had all the confidence in the world in him and Tenzin not for the first time marveled in how she had that much faith in him especially when he didn't.
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I love you."
"I love you too." Lin returned leaning against him shoulder to shoulder. "What next?" She asked after a little while.
That was the thousand yuan question, with Korra's latest spat with Riako she wanted to leave the city to search out for other new airbender all over the world. Rohan had jumped at the opportunity and so had Jinora. All three were young and full of wonder lust wanting to explore the world. Tenzin on the other hand had no wish to leave Republic but under the circumstances he was tempted. He also knew that his wife was here and wouldn't be leaving anytime soon and leaving her behind was a non starter for him. "The kids are going to go find more airbenders and bring them back here to be trained." Tenzin said. It had been the preliminary idea that they had settled on for the time being there was undoubtedly kinks that need to be worked out of their plan though.
Lin took a deep breath. "Tenzin, you realize the island isn't big enough for more than ten new airbenders right? You need to take them to a temple where you'll have more space." She told him.
He looked over at her. "You're here Lin, I'm not leaving the city." he told her firmly.
"You can you know," Lin told him gently. "Tenzin this is huge. A little time apart wouldn't kill us at least until you get the kids set up. Beside I have time off save up. I can come to visit and you can come back home to me." She reminded him.
Tenzin pressed his lips together into a firm line. "I don't want to live apart from you, you know that. Jinora and Rohan are more than capable they'll have Korra with them too. I'll visting them occasionally." He told her.
Lin studied him for a long minute, it resisted the urge to squirm under his wife's scrutiny. "No, Ten you need to go at least until they're set up. I don't think you all realize how much work this is going to be. Believe me, it will be a huge undertaking no matter how much help you have." She warned him.
Tenzin grimaced, she would know. She ran the police department and academy for the better part of two decade now. He knew how of her time that took up just keeping it going. It was a lot of work and he also knew that Lin, Toph and Su relied on dozen of people to keep the Beifong conglomerate and estates up and running. He had heard stories all his life on tiring Republic City had been for his parent and their friends to start. Lin was probably right, she usually was. "We'll see." he said not wanting to think about that part of the new world anymore tonight. "But only until they get the hang of it." He agreed with a long sigh, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her as close to him as possible kissing her cheek.
"We'll make it work Ten, don't worry." Lin said softly into his jaw as she returned the kiss.
Zaheer opened his eye and took a deep breath of air. Ah, yes, so it was true there had been a shift in the spiritual energy of the marterial world. He had been curious ever since he had heard the spirits whispering about invaders in their world and a open bridge between the spirit world and the material world. Zaheer had been listening much more carefully and been much more wary when he was in the spirit world since that idiot Unalaq had let lose Vatatu with out so much a thought of what's next. It had been tricker than he could have imagined dodging the dark spirits and staying alive with the dark spirits attacking any invaders in the their realm. But the avatar, had vanquished Vatatu again and with him Unalaq, bring the world closer to balance than it had been in a long time, now properly connected to the spirit world as it should be. Much closer to balance he thought a triumphant smile crossing his face as he took another breath.
He heard the metal bridge to his prison extending and the boots of the white lotus guards clicking as they crossed it. A metal bender open the small door on his cell that was for food and water.
"You know the drill, Zaheer." The guard called.
"Of course." He said politely turning to face the wall, with his hands behind his head as he had done a thousand times.
"Hope you still like rice." The sentry sneered.
"Have you ever read the poetry of the great airbending guru, Laghima?" Zaheer asked patiently.
"What?" The sentry asked disgusted.
Zaheer sighed these simplitons, didn't have any respect for culture or wisdom. "Guru Laghima lived four thousand years ago in the Northern Air Temple. It is said that he unlocked the secret of weightlessness and became untethered from the earth, living his final forty years without ever touching the ground." he explained patiently. If people just took half a second everyday to reflex on themselves and to learn there would be no limit on what humans could accomplish, he thought, but instead people would rather go around the world like drones never questioning anything, never putting a foot different than where it was yesterday. What a boring existence, no wonder the world was a poor off as it was.
"Is that how you plan to escape? With something you picked up from an old airbender children's story?" The guard said mockingly.
Zaheer chuckled tohimself and shook his head, as he had thought the wisdom in the past would be lost on them. "Like all great children's tales, it contains truth within the myth. Laghima once wrote: "Instinct is a lie, told by a fearful body, hoping to be wrong."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the sentry asked in a bored tone.
"It means that when you base your expectations only on what you see," He says slowly lowering his hands and brushing off his trousers. "you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality." Zaheer summons the winds and throws his hands forward, slamming the sentry against the prison bars. He runs forward and turns the sentry's body, grabbing him by the neck. The remaining sentries prepare to attack, but do not attack unable to believe their eyes.
"Uh, uh, uh. You wouldn't want to singe your friend, would you?" Zaheer asked mockingly.
"How? You're not a ... bender." The guard said in disbelief.
"Nature is constantly changing. Like the wind." Zaheer told him aloofly with a sly smile. Zaheer pulls the keys off from the sentry. On unlocking the door, he airbends, slamming his hostage against the wall. He slides out of his cell, narrowly avoiding a guards firebending attack, before airbending them all off their feet. He leaps up and grabs the firebender, throwing him into the cell. Zaheer avoids an earthbending attack and leaps off a bent earth wall, before climbing up the wall with airbending. Perched, he avoids a fire blast and leaps behind the firebender, before throwing him to the cell with airbending. He runs up a wall, avoiding the attacks from the remaining two sentries. He airbends them off their feet, before airbending them into the cell. He quickly locks the cell.
"Now you might want to ration that bowl of rice. You've got three weeks until the next shift change. It's the dawning of a new age." Zaheer told them smirking. "The end of the White Lotus, and soon, the end of the Avatar." She had grown much since the last time he saw her he thought to himself, he would be glad to catch up with her it had been so long.