"I know that none of you chose to become air benders, but now, you do have a choice. We can relocate you somewhere safe or you can come with me to the Northern Air Temple to live in peace and train as Air Nomads." My Uncle Tenzin was addressing the air benders as we'd stopped for a break after getting far enough away from Ba Sing Se to deem it safe. "You are no longer anyone's property. What path you decide, is up to you." The air benders all contemplated for a while, sitting on the grass in front of my uncle before one of them stood up and raised his hand in volunteer.
"I want to go with you." Then it was like a knock on effect, air benders getting up one after the other in order to choose to go with Tenzin, wanting to learn and train to become real air benders. From the sheer emotion in my uncle's face and the tears of happiness he was beginning to shed, I could tell that this was the moment he had been waiting for his entire life so I understandingly placed my hand on his back, sharing in this moment with him. It was getting late, the sun starting to set but now it was time for us all to split up, and I had decided to go with my uncle to the temple and watch the training of the new air benders.
"Good luck at the Northern Air Temple. I'll send more air benders your way when I find them." Korra said to Tenzin who warned her to be careful and safe, making her smile ruefully. "I'll try. Seems like where ever I go, I make a new enemy."
"But you made some new friends too. You did well, Korra." After the student and teacher had shared a hug, it was then my turn.
"Guess this is it for a while. You better keep a level head Korra, or I'll be mad if I find out you got yourself in a whole lot of trouble somehow." I warned her pointedly before we dove in for a hug. "I'll miss you."
"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Korra asked me whilst we still hugged so I laughed and pulled back, holding each other by the arms.
"You know what Tenzin is like, he'll get all overly invested in training the new air benders and will try accomplishing ten years of work into a single day. If I'm not there to keep him from running them ragged, then we might not have any air benders left by the time you get back." I reasoned rather sensibly and Korra acknowledged it was a good point but all the same, I tightened my grip on her arms. "But this Zaheer guy, he sounds dangerous Korra. You have to keep a low profile for now. Don't introduce yourself as the Avatar, try to be as discreet as possible so that they can't track your whereabouts and try and take you by surprise. Do not engage with them until you know your enemy, then we can plan a counterstrike so they know not to mess with us." I instructed her worriedly, wanting to at least try and put it into her head to be cautious rather than diving head first into a fight. "Be safe, fight smart, and give them hell when it's the right time."
"You got it Kanna." Korra promised. "I'll be as unnoticeable as possible. It shouldn't be too hard, I doubt everybody's going to know my face and Lin's ship is a lot smaller so it shouldn't be too out of the ordinary. I'll be fine. Besides, Asami, Mako and Bolin are going to be there with me." She reasoned so I relented, thinking that if anybody could keep Korra out of trouble, it was Asami and the guys wouldn't let anything happen to her. We hugged once more before Naga then pushed in, wanting a hug too so we laughed and I wrapped my arms around her neck as she pressed her head into my back.
"I'll miss you girl. Take good care of Korra for me, okay?" She barked in answer so I scratched her ears before turning to the rest of my friends. We all hugged in turn, Bolin almost crushing my ribs with emotion as he sniffled.
"It's not going to be the same without you Kanna!"
"Easy there Bolin, let me breathe a little." I laughed, freeing myself slightly before hugging him properly. "It's not going to be for long, you guys will be joining us at the Northern Air Temple sooner or later with more air benders. I'll give you guys a tour when you get there, there's a lot of history, but some really awesome places to explore." I promised them, ruffling Bolin's hair as he looked at me tearfully. "Aw come on Bolin, don't cry otherwise I'll start crying, then Naga will get upset, then she'll howl for hours on end and nobody needs that."
"But how can we be Team Avatar without everybody together?" He whimpered softly so I couldn't help but smile at him, rubbing his face affectionately to wipe away the rather comedic tears he was shedding.
"You guys are the recon team and I'll be holding down the fort. It's a two team divide and conquer formation. Sound good?" Accepting this a little better, Bolin hugged me again and seemed to have no inclination to let go anytime soon so Mako dragged him off me and made him board the airship, giving me time to breathe. "Thanks Mako."
"No problem. Take care Kanna, be seeing you." And with a casual dip of his head, Mako boarded after his brother, making me laugh at his dynamic contrast to his brother. That just left me with Asami, so the two of us hugged each other.
"We'll miss you Kanna, Bolin's right. It won't be the same without you." She said to me with warmth as we pulled apart so I jokingly smiled and pushed a hand through my hair on the unbraided side.
"Aw jeez, you guys are making this way too sappy. It's not like we're never going to see each other again." I said before relaxing. "But I'll miss you too. Keep them in line for me, hey Asami? Make sure these kids don't run too wild."
"You got it." We shared a laugh before Lin impatiently yelled for us to hurry it up so with a final wave, I turned around in order to go back to the larger ship where my uncles were waiting for me. Once I had reached them I turned and looked back, seeing my friends all waving to me as the airship took off so I lifted my hand, partially waving and partially reaching out to them. Damn it, I miss them already.
"Come on sweet muffin, let's get going, eh?" Bumi said with a nudge so after taking a deep breath, I nodded my head.
"Yeah, let's get going."
