Uncle Tenzin, eager to get started, began teaching the new group of air benders we'd found as we travelled to the Northern Air Temple. It was pretty boring after a while, since I'd already seen Korra's teaching process and the lectures weren't getting any more interesting. At least we could tell when we were getting close to the temple as more spirits could be seen around us, and when the airship finally landed I was happy to put my feet on solid ground again. "Ah! That felt like forever. Uncle Bumi! Jinora! Kai! Let's go have some fun!" I suggested with a cheer, waving and pointing towards the mountainside where I knew of a path that would take us down to some fun places to walk and play but Tenzin cut that short.

"Not now Kanna, we're not here to have fun and play. We are here to learn about Air Nation culture, and we begin today's lesson with an uplifting meditation session focusing on breathing exercises." There were a lot of audible groans as I put my hands on my waist, turning to look at my uncle with an arch of my eyebrow.

"Come on Uncle Tenzin, everybody just got here! Wouldn't it be much better if everyone could have some time to explore the temple and become familiar with their surroundings? You could give a tour, and Jinora can help too since she knows everything about the place." I reasoned with him, bartering and debating for a while longer until Tenzin finally accepted. Kai grinned at me, leaning over and hiding his mouth behind his hand in order to whisper to me.

"Nice going Kanna, now let's get out of here!"

"Sure thing scamp, just keep out of trouble okay? No more running off." He grinned at me cheekily before he grabbed Jinora by the hand in order to check out the temple. I'll admit it was nice to be back here again, I always enjoyed visiting the temples since they were always so peaceful and the spiritual energy was exceedingly refreshing. The spirits all gathered around me as I meditated on a grassy ledge overhanging the mountain, with a waterfall to my left as I closed my eyes and just breathed it all in.

One thing I did have to acknowledge my mom was good at, was her spiritualistic side. Although water bending wasn't the same as air bending, it was still possible for us both to share in spiritual similarities, though ours was used mainly for healing. I hadn't managed to get myself into the spirit world yet, but I could feel myself getting closer and closer the more I tried. The air bending training was going well, from what I could tell, though not everybody was as enthusiastic as the Air Acolyte who'd developed the ability, eagerly studying and training as he was already used to this kind of lifestyle.

Observing the newcomers from a perch high above them, one leg hanging over the side and the other tucked up against my chest, I heard them groan several times at certain things that Tenzin told them, such as requiring to follow a vegetarian diet and that they could only get their own bison after years of hard work and special training. Part of the reason why it was going to take such a long time to give a bison to each bender was because there just weren't enough of them around at the moment. There were herds being looked after at each of the four temples, but most of them were wild. It was going to take time to train them properly. I couldn't help but think that this ancient culture, although important and needed to be preserved, didn't have as great a place in the world today as it did two hundred years ago. Things were more modern and people had their own interests and things they liked, such as worldly possessions. Worldly possessions was a huge thing.

Although the air benders were coming back, would they really be willing to give up everything to live just like the monks did back when Grandpa Aang was young? I don't think Tenzin will willingly accept that things won't be exactly like they were back then, maybe I'll have to think of a way to talk to him about that. I mean, with the Air Acolytes, it's not a huge deal if the Air Nation aren't as unified as they were before, right? If babies are born air benders, they could be raised like air nomads which would make it different for those who grew up with normal lifestyles. Tenzin is going to have to adjust and accept that some air benders won't want to live this way, only problem was, Tenzin wasn't exactly the accepting type. If he wasn't an air bender, I could easily see him being an earth bender he was so stubborn and rigid.

"Dad!" Being roused from my thoughts by hearing my little cousin Meelo's voice, I looked down to see two sky bison flying towards the lesson area with a whole bunch of people on their backs, including my family. Oh great, mom's here. "We brought you more air benders!" When they landed, everybody had already gotten up from the lecture in order to meet their fellow air benders and I smiled as Ikki and Meelo floated off the bison on little gusts of air.

"Ikki! Meelo!" I waved, getting up from my perch and several people looked up at me, my cousins yelling loudly.

"Kanna! What are you doing up there? Come down here!" Ikki waved, springing up and down as Meelo swung his arms then shot himself up into the air where I distinctly heard him break wind as well. I guess he still has that problem.

"Kanna! Look at all the people I brought!" Meelo told me excitedly as he floated up before me, making me laugh as I held onto a tree branch which had grown out of the rock face.

"You did a great job Meelo, I'm coming down now so just hold on." Meelo dropped lightly back towards the ground, more than thirty feet below my perch but there was a pathway cut into the mountainside so I just ducked under the branch of the tree and started to go, going down lower before I jumped off and my cousins all caught me as they circled, bending an air sphere to catch me and we all laughed as I was made to float on the air before going up and down, somersaulting and flying before I landed on my feet then held out my arms. "I missed you guys!"

"We missed you too Kanna!" Ikki said sweetly as both of them gave me hugs, telling me all about their hard work helping the new air benders train.

"That sounds like such a big responsibility, you guys are really growing up fast. Great job!" I praised, rubbing their heads as they beamed at me before I stood up, overhearing my uncle, Aunt Pema and mom talking after Tenzin asked how everything was in the city.

"Well, we had a little scare, but everything is okay. Zaheer infiltrated the Air Temple." Zaheer? He was at the temple? At my family's home? Frowning darkly I instinctively pulled all my cousins closer towards me, holding them close but they just saw it as me giving them another hug, not noticing my expression as mom continued.

"Everyone's fine. I fought with him, but he got away, and he stole some old necklace that had something to do with Guru Lak…schmeer." She butchered the name since it sounded like a difficult one to remember, but Tenzin recognised it immediately as I continued to listen in discreetly without their knowing.

"Guru Laghima."

"Right. You know, I can never keep all those gurus straight. There were, like, a million of them. Remember that long, boring story about the guy who never ate?" Wasn't that the story Tenzin had just been lecturing the air benders on? Ouch mom. Turning away from them, I ushered everybody into the temple, inviting them to get themselves settled and comfortable so that they could adjust to their new surroundings whilst Tenzin was distracted as one of the acolytes informed him that Korra was radioing them.

"So what did you do with Korra and daddy whilst you were away Kanna? Did you fight any monsters? Save a pretty princess? Tell me tell me tell me!" Ikki jumped into the air with an air lift, making me laugh as I caught her naturally and slung her over my shoulder so that she could listen and hang out for a while calmly.

"Nothing as exciting as that, but I did get to meet the earth queen, who is a horrible person, by the way. You know she tried to make the air benders in Ba Sing Se join her army?" Ikki gasped in horror as Meelo air balled his way in circles around us as we cousins talked. "Yep, that's right, so we had to go rescue them. It was Jinora who found out where they were, so we couldn't have managed it without her, and then Korra and your dad fought off the very bad earth bender Dai Li agents whilst the rest of us escaped."

"Like the Dai Li in the stories? The one where Gran-Gran and grandpa got stuck in Ba Sing Se looking for grandpa's lost bison Appa?"

"That's right."

"If I had been there, I would have given that queenie a piece of my mind!" Meelo announced, hopping off his air scooter in order to punch his little fist up into the air. "I would have defeated all the bad guys and made them bow to me. Meelo! The most powerful air bender in the world!" Proudly putting his fists on his waist and trying to look fierce, his sisters both giggled and I chuckled as I swept him up under one arm then tossed him upwards, Meelo naturally correcting himself in the air with some bending to turn himself around as I held my hand up still for him to grab hold of, allowing me to then lower him onto my back as well.

"I'm sure you would Meelo, but maybe wait until you're a little older before declaring yourself the ultimate air bender. There's still a long way for you to go before you've mastered air bending."

"Have you mastered water bending Kanna?" Jinora asked me curiously as she walked beside me. "You've trained with gran-gran and Korra, and Korra wouldn't have been able to go on to learn another element until she'd mastered water bending."

"Well, I guess in a way I have, Jinora." I said slowly, not really having thought about it before. "I mean, there's nothing I can't do with ice. In fact, I'm an expert in it and have even developed new art forms dedicated only to ice bending which have been taught to the generations after me in the south. As for water itself? I've mastered the forms, but I still can't bend water very well. Only small amounts, and only fresh water at that."

"Is it because of your fear of water?"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm ever going to get over that." I admitted as Ikki then veered forwards over my shoulder, pausing in her squabble with my brother so I pulled Meelo down to carry him in one arm as we continued walking.

"If you're afraid of water, then you need to work on mastering your fear. Daddy says fear holds us back from reaching our fullest potential. If you're letting your fear keeping you from water bending, then you're not allowing yourself to be the best you can be." I blinked at her, kinda surprised that came out of Ikki's mouth of all people.

"When did you get so smart all of a sudden?" Beaming at her I nuzzled her face before we all set about having some fun together since all us were finally all in the same place again until it was time for bed and I tucked the two younger ones in. Pema smiled, sitting with her children and cuddling Rohan so I whispered goodnight before leaving them to rest, yawning with a stretch after such an exhausting day.

"Kanna?" Hearing mom's voice, I turned around to see her emerging from the other end of the corridor. "There you are, I was wondering where you'd run off to." She said to me, giving a smile as I folded my arms and pointedly looked away.

"I was with my cousins."

"Yeah, Ikki and Meelo missed you a lot. Meelo wouldn't admit it, but he kept on looking in on your room like he expected you to be there." Unable to help it, I smiled, thinking how cute Meelo was despite him being a tiny tyrant at times. "I heard about what happened in Ba Sing Se with the air benders. You weren't hurt were you?"

"No I'm fine. It wasn't a big deal." Still being standoffish with her, mom just smiled and shrugged.

"Well so long as you're okay, I guess that's all that matters. Goodnight Kanna, sleep tight." Then just like that, she walked off. I was stunned for a while, just standing there dumbly. She hadn't tried to cuddle or coddle me, hadn't tried to talk like we were friends or even close, she just made some small talk then left. Was that even my mom? Totally confused, I somehow managed to drift back to my room, still thinking it over in my head and frowning deeply. What the heck was going on?