I had managed to find myself a place where I could sense a lot of spiritual energy as well as water. The small open grove was rimmed with trees, a pool of fresh water sitting like an open eye at the centre where animals came and drank from it, however as I pulled off my boots and untied the wrap around my waist, I listened to the clunking of the three stringed belt and all the beads it carried as I dropped it to the floor next to my shoes, soon followed by my light coat so that I stood in just smooth navy leggings and my water tribe crop shirt.

Wading into the water I sighed contentedly, almost instantly feeling more peaceful as I began to move and flow with the water, my entire body smoothly flowing from one movement to the next almost like a dance. The water responded to me, spiralling around as I mimicked the movements I had seen Unalaq do with that spirit and I was pleased to see that it was working, two streams coiling upwards before they began to shift and change a little, following the guidance of my hands as they weaved and waved like twin ribbons. Springing forwards with a splash my back arched gracefully, one leg bent whilst the other flicked backwards with my arms stretched wide like wings, my eyes closed as I revelled in the sensation of control and peace.

When I landed the water rushed upwards and folded like flower petals, swirling around me and blooming with the water ribbons continuing to dance with me as I began to laugh and smile, dancing and playing in the water. For the first time in a long while, I actually felt a true sense of freedom. It made me happy to dance like this away from prying eyes, away from anyone who might judge or laugh. Smoothing my hands upwards and working my fingers the water began to freeze in a beautiful ice design of a huge lotus flower which I stood upon, several streams of water shooting upwards and spiralling like a vortex until finally I stopped, holding a final position as the water rushed down and created a dazzling spray which caught the light and created a splendid rainbow over me.

Korra would have probably laughed and called it girly, but dancing like this made me happy. Melting the lotus flower I dropped back into the knee deep water and returned to get my things, unaware that my mother had been watching me all the while, mouth slightly agape and when I looked up to see her standing there, I froze instinctively. "That was…where did you learn that?" Kya asked me as she softened, trying to smile warmly at me but I simply brushed her off, bending the water off my clothes so that I could pull my boots back on.

"I just made it up, no big deal. You shouldn't spy on people it's rude." Yanking on my boots I wiggled my toes before reaching for the wrap skirt.

"Kanna…" Hesitantly my mom reached out to me, brushing her fingers against my shoulder. "I don't want you to be angry at me forever. It hurts seeing my only daughter pull away from me, please, won't you give me a second chance? I want to make things right between us. Just tell me how to fix this."

"You can't just fix something like this." I informed her bluntly, finally turning around and meeting her gaze and I had to swallow back the lump in my throat when I saw the pain in her eyes. "I'm angry, mom. I'm so angry that I hardly know what to do about it! You just left me for two years and didn't even seem to care, you can't fix it, not unless you can turn back time and stop yourself from running away!" With the gnawing uncomfortableness in my stomach I shook my head. "You left. You just…left and this time you didn't come back. Why? Why didn't you come back? I missed you so much but I didn't even know where to find you so I could write, you didn't even write all that often…it's like you died the same day dad drowned. I feel so alone without you guys…why'd you both have to leave?"

Suddenly my mom had her arms around me and I was sobbing into her, gripping on so tightly I was hurting my own fingers but I didn't care, letting go of everything and as we both dropped to our knees, my mom continued to hold me close and ran her fingers through my braids, hushing me softly and rocking me from side to side like a little child. "I'm sorry Kanna, I'm so sorry. I'm going to make this up to you I promise, it's alright now. Mommy's here, you're safe…" She cooed softly and started to sing me a lullaby, one she always used to sing when I was a little girl before I went to sleep. It was nostalgic and brought back fond memories, calming me down until I was able to dry my face.

"Ugh, tear-bending." I joked weakly and mom laughed at that, pulling back as she rubbed my cheeks dry.

"No wonder you and your uncle Bumi get on so well, similar sense of humour." She smiled at me lovingly before she took my hands in hers. "I know this is going to take a while but we're going to work through this. I'll do better from now on, okay? You don't have to work things on your own so you can depend on me a little more. I'm still your mom first and foremost before anything else and you're my special little water lily, my ocean princess and I'm very proud of you. I haven't seen you water-bend like that in a long time, if ever. You've really come so far in conquering your fear of water, you should be happy with your success."

"I still can't control bigger bodies of water like the ocean, and I still can't swim and I hate water being splashed in my face, but I guess I am better with it than I used to be. Fresh water doesn't fight back like the ocean does. Crazy huh?" Mom smiled at me again, tucking some of my braids behind my ear before leaning forwards and kissing my head.

"We'll figure it out together. You and me. How about a little sparring match? I'm sure your old mom has a few tricks up her sleeve that you don't know about yet." Instantly I brightened at the idea of sparring with my mom, eyes becoming glisteningly bright and lively as I beamed.

"Absolutely! Winner gets bragging rights, deal?"

"Deal!" Bumping fists we both leaped back from one another, taking up our stances and I smirked slightly to see that we were almost identical. "Okay, I'm ready!" The clash of water was enough to make the lemurs screech and fly for safety, the kids and my uncles also coming to investigate before watching as mom and I battled against one another fiercely. Despite her age my mom was still as ferocious as she had been in her glory days, easily deflecting my attacks and I carefully learned from her movements as she sent a hurl of icy hail at me so I back flipped repeatedly to escape before jumping up and kicked out a leg, the wave of water creating a spiralling slide which I glided down before I then pulled it back to water and returned fire with my own attacks.

In a strange sort of way, I guess this was how mom and I bonded again. What we couldn't say with words we exchanged through water-bending blows, the two of us learning and adapting at a fast paced rate whilst the kids all cheered and yelled their support for either myself or my mom. It was great fun and after mom finally knocked me on my butt for the final time she came over and smirked over me, hands firmly placed on her hips before she laughed.

"Bragging rights are all mine!"