Waves lapped against the dock, the steady roll seeming to tell the world around them to hush. Korra stood at the edge of the pier, looking out over the water, waiting for the boat that was carrying her parents to the island. Tonight, she was going to tell her parents about her and Asami. She told herself there was nothing to worry about, she knew her parents loved her. Her father had nearly gotten himself killed on multiple occasions trying to help and protect her. Nothing about their relationship was going to change.
The Water Tribe has a reputation of being traditional when it comes to relationships. Asami's words sprang to her mind unbidden. She didn't know of any women from the Southern Water Tribe who married other women, and the Northern Water Tribe had given itself a heart attack over the idea of merely having a woman as chief. At least, it had in private – those with the temerity of suggesting that Eska couldn't be co-chieftains with Desna to her face quickly found moral panics the least of their worries.
But she didn't know that many couples from the Southern Water Tribe at all. Just because she hadn't met any same-sex couples didn't mean they didn't exist. She had lived in the White Lotus compound nearly her entire life, so it would be completely natural for her to be ignorant of people's personal lives. Even when they weren't traditional, the Water Tribe was undeniably private. The tribes had mostly stopped wandering the frozen wastes following the hunt, but they'd never completely abandoned the privacy that families enjoyed when separated by miles of ice and snow. And she'd heard a few euphemistic rumours of men 'keeping warm on the hunt.'
Yet she knew it didn't matter what an ordinary Water Tribe member thought of her; it mattered what her mother and father thought of her, and that meant what the chief of the Southern Water Tribe thought of her. He had always denied it, but she could tell he had tried to hide her away when she was healing from Zaheer's poison. It probably wasn't even intentional. After thinking he'd lost her, he wanted her safe under the care of her family, and she wasn't interested in being rolled out as an ornament at a ceremonial feast, so she naturally found herself hidden away.
"Something on your mind?" Tenzin's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Without realizing it, she'd been pacing the length of the pier, turning the water frothy with anxiety.
"Just a bit anxious for my parents to get here," Korra said, turning to face her mentor.
"Perhaps some meditation will help," he said, more joking than serious, knowing Korra's general impatience with mediation, "or perhaps someone to listen would help more."
Korra hesitated, she did want someone to listen, if to do nothing more than tell her that she wasn't crazy to worry. But her problem was a problem because she was nervous about telling people about her personal life. If she could easily tell Tenzin what was bothering her, she wouldn't have a problem in the first place. "I'm not completely sure you'd understand."
"I see. Incidentally, there's some else I wanted to talk to you about. I happened to hear a particular piece of information from Pema."
She knew Tenzin meant well, but she was too preoccupied to be concerned with the latest news about the Air Acolytes or Tenzin's kids. "Oh, yeah?" was all she managed in response.
"Well, as it happens, what I heard is also something that I might be able to provide some perspective on." Tenzin paused, but Korra gave no further response, so he started to stutter as he continued, "I think it's fine, but if it's a secret, that's great, wait, no, that's not what I mean, it's great, but if it's a secret, that's fine."
Korra turned to face Tenzin, "What are you even talking about?"
"Are you and Asami dating?" The words spilled out of Tenzin's mouth in a jumble.
It felt like the air had frozen around her. Every nerve in her body was telling her to run, to dive into the waters of Yue Bay, to swim as far away as possible. She wanted to tell people about her relationship and hadn't had any trouble when they told Bolin and Mako, but that situation was completely under control, when she had Asami by her side, and no fears of rejection looming over her shoulder. "You're not supposed to know that!" she shouted back, inadvertently confirming Tenzin's question.
Tenzin glanced at the waters, which were starting to crash violently against the pier. "Korra, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Please let me explain." He waited as Korra took a few slow breaths and nodded for him to continue. "Pema told me that you and Asami were dating and I wanted to confirm it with you before everyone else arrived. If you want to keep it a secret, I understand, and I will not share it any further. But if you do want some advice, I may be able to help."
Even after a few breaths, Korra's anxiety still slipped a note of pique into her words, "What would you know about this? I'm sure everyone loved the idea of Avatar Aang's and Toph's kids dating, and who would bat an eye at you marrying an Air Acolyte? They're pretty much kept around here for you guys to marry and have more airbending kids with."
Tenzin winced at her words. "You know the Air Acolytes are here of their own free will; they choose to come, are valued members of our community, and can leave if they so desire." Korra folded her arms across her chest. "But that's not the point here, you're right that it's not an issue I've faced personally, but it is one that my family has faced."
"What do you mean 'your family faced this issue?'" Confusion clouded Korra's face.
"You don't know? Kya's gay."
For the second time in minutes, Korra nearly fell off the pier in surprise. But after a moment's reflection, it made a lot of things make sense: the young adulthood spent traveling the world 'finding herself' as Tenzin described it, remaining unmarried even into her later years, working as a meditation instructor for Southern Water Tribe women, the hiking trips Kya had always brushed off as 'adults only.' "I never knew," she said slowly, sudden clarity brightening her face.
"It's true. She told us when she was young. I was barely old enough to remember"
"How did your family respond?"
"Mom and Dad were completely supportive. Of course, they probably thought it was a bit of childhood rebellion and were still surprised the first time she brought a girlfriend home for dinner, but that didn't change how they treated her. As for me," Tenzin said and shrugged, "I grew up seeing the people around me treat it as completely normal. It wasn't until I was quite a bit older that I realized anybody even could see it differently. If anything, the only person put out by it at all was Bumi, and he was just upset that he couldn't play the intimidating older brother to Kya's boyfriends"
Korra was at a loss for words. "I can't believe she's hidden this for all this time. She lived in the Southern Water Tribe for my entire childhood and I never knew."
"She's never actively tried to hide it, but as she's grown older, she's stopped going out of her way to share it with people."
A sudden thought hit Korra like a bolt of lightning and her voice turned urgent, "Tenzin, did my parents know that Kya was gay?"
"I can't imagine they wouldn't have known. They spent plenty of time with my mother during your training, so surely would have grown to know Kya as well."
It felt like a thousand sky bison lifted off from her back. Not only was there an openly gay woman living in the Southern Water Tribe, her parents knew and were friends with that very woman. She had been making mountains out of badger mole hills. She ran forward, closing the distance between her and Tenzin, wrapping her arms around him in a relieved hug.
"Korra, I'm sorry. If I had known you were unaware, I would've told you that first."
"Tenzin, don't you see? This is the best news you could've given me! I was all worried over nothing. Promise you won't tell anyone else, but Asami and I are going to tell everyone about our relationship after dinner tonight!"
"I see, so that's why you were anxious about your parents' arrival. You didn't know how they would react to the news."
Korra released Tenzin and turned back to the again-calmed water, slowly walking towards the end of the pier. "I guess I was scared they wouldn't accept me."
"It's not wrong to feel afraid Korra, you told me once that through suffering, you were able to find compassion. Through your fear after you were poisoned, you were able to find the strength to follow Zaheer into the Spirit World and save my daughter. And through loss, you and Asami were able to find love. Hold onto what makes you powerful Korra, and remember, your relationship with your parents survived learning you were the Avatar, so it has a good chance of surviving this."
"Thanks Tenzin, I'll try to keep that in mind. Hopefully Kya comes to visit soon, I'd love to hear her stories."
Before they could talk any farther, the rumble of Water Tribe drums caught their attention, announcing the arrival of Tonraq and Senna's ship. In the capable hands of a master, the ship seemed to glide over the water, stopping precisely at the dock as though it was a Satomobile on the test track. Young sailors leapt over the side, landing on the pier with ropes to secure the ship. They paid no notice to Tenzin or Korra, carry out their work with the focus and ease of naval discipline. In a few minutes, they had the ship lashed to the dock and the gangplank ready for passengers to disembark.
As was tradition, Tonraq paused to clasp arms with the ship's captain, acknowledging his mastery over his domain. Then he took Senna's arm and walked down the gangplank. Their feet had barely touched the dock when Korra ran over, throwing an arm around each of them. "Mom! Dad! I'm so glad you're here! I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too sweetie, I wish we could come visit more often," Tonraq said, putting an arm around his daughter.
"Your father was so eager to see you, I had to stop him from going over the side with the boatswain's crew," Senna added, eliciting a muffled laugh from Korra.
"I'll have you know I could've had this boat tied down in half the time as these landlubbers all by myself."
"I'm sure you could honey."
Korra took a half step back, still resting her hands on her parents' shoulders, "Come on, dinner's almost ready, and Pema's been cooking all day, so it's going to be great! I can't wait to tell you all about what's happened since you left."
Her father smiled. "Lead the way Korra."
Nobody was going to move again for hours. Nobody doubted Pema's skill as a chef, but she had managed to outdo her sizeable reputation. For hours Air Acolytes had streamed in and out of the room, bringing endless dishes of all shapes and sizes. Bowls of bubbling noodle soups with heady aromas of broth sat next to baskets that once held neatly rolled dumplings of sprouts and mushrooms. The sharp tang of ginger and onion mixed with the gentle wholeness of freshly-baked bread. Peppers, cabbages, and sweetroots lay glistening under melted butter, while mounds of rice had been eaten away to nothing underneath spicy sepen, thick vegetable gravies, and sweet fruit preserves. Balls of tsampa and loaves of balep soaked up the remaining sauces until every drop found their way into someone's stomach.
The occasion had also called for bringing out the stores of sky bison cheeses, from smooth and creamy spreads to the pungent fragrance of aged Ol' Eastern. Out of deference to their Water Tribe guests and to Korra's intense delight, Pema and her army of cooks had made their best attempt at Southern cuisine, grilling plump polar char and stewing rabbit shrimp and fatty slabs of chicken pork with cauldrons of hotroot soup, filled to the brim with thick, meaty noodles.
Then came dessert. The acolytes must have stripped every bush and tree on the island bare to make the cornucopia of fruits they carried out. Each juicy bite mixed with the delightful sweetness of buffalo yak yogurt and bumble fly honey. Piles of sel roti hid soft and doughy interiors under a crunchy, sugar-covered exterior. Bowls of sweetrice, pudding, and raisins rounded out the meal, wobbling under the weight of chocolate and cream onto people's plates and into their stomachs.
Cups of barley wine, smooth millet water, and Southern Fire had been flowing freely during dinner, and even as the room calmed into a happy stupor with cups of butter tea, the drinks still set tongues wagging as old friends caught each other up on their lives.
Bolin had taken centre stage, regaling the room with tales of his new job as a lavabending instructor. "Then, there are these three kids, and nobody else in the entire academy was willing to teach them. So they bring them to Bolin, lavabender extraordinaire. It turns out, these kids are all amazing earthbenders! Now oddly enough only one of them is actually from the Earth Kingdom, Akemi's family is mostly Fire Nation, and Kayuh grew up in the Southern Water Tribe. They really are the sweetest little kids and they've mostly stopped hitting me with boulders. They still do by accident, but that's all part of learning how to bend – when Mako was showing me the ropes back when we were kids, I hit him clean into Yue Bay and look how we turned out!"
Bolin slapped one hand down on his brother, who responded with a grimace and said, "I'm not sure that's going to sell them on your teaching style Bo."
"All I'm saying is that kids should have the opportunity to knock some people around with rocks. I'm not turning them into pro-benders, at least, not yet. And besides, they're all earthbenders, I would need to get a firebender and a waterbender to make them into pro-benders."
Opal reached up to tug on Bolin's sleeve and when he bent down, she whispered something in his ear.
As he straightened, his face grew marginally more serious and his tone somewhat more subdued. "But that's not what's been the best part. I've always been little bro Bolin my whole life and now I get to be the big bro to these three kids. I know I'm supposed to be teaching them about lavabending, but mostly we practice basic earthbending and then sit around and tell stories. I've feel like I'm really getting to know these kids, how Zhang misses all his brothers and sisters who live with his mom in Omashu, while he's here with his dad in Republic City, or how Kayuh tries to secretly dance when nobody is wataching."
"I'm so proud of him, it seems like he's really found a calling as a teacher," Opal said, smiling up at Bolin. Around the table, people murmured their approval, holding up cups to toast Bolin, and even Mako allowed himself a grin of pride for his little brother.
Bolin started to blush, although he was clearly enjoying the attention, "Please, it's all in a day's work for Bolin, lavabender extraordinaire!"
"Kid, you've really hit the big time!" Varrick's voice boomed across the table. "But what do you say we make this ten, no, one hundred times bigger! Movers, seminars, daytime talkers! Stand aside Beifong Academy, here comes the Bolin School of Rocks!"
"I think I'm going to take it slow, teaching three kids is hard enough, I couldn't imagine trying to teach three hundred!" Bolin said, making placating gestures towards Varrick.
"Ah, the in-depth, one-on-one teaching method, I like where your head's at! You just let me know if we can help you out. Zhu Li! Do the thing!"
"Yes dear," she said, with an amused smile at her husband and produced a pad and pencil seemingly from nowhere, jotted a few quick notes, then stowed them away just as quickly.
"Zhu Li, what's it been like being married?" said Jinora.
She paused, sharing a brief smile with Varrick, "Less has changed than you would expect. I still scrub Varrick's calluses and manage most of Varrick Industries' business. The only real difference is that now we only need one bedroom in our apartment instead of two and we, well," she glanced at Pema and Tenzin, sitting a few seats down, "do the thing." She reached over to take Varrick's hand, her fingers sliding delicately between his. "Actually, I've been trying to scale back our work lately and find people to take parts of it over. We've been talking about having a baby, but I'd want us both to be at home when it's young." Varrick turned and gave Zhu Li an unrestrained smile, no hint of guile hidden beneath his warmth.
"That's so romantic!" The talk of starting a family together set Jinora swooning and the table buzzing.
Korra glanced over to Asami. Through the whole dinner, she had held back, not having too much to drink and the weight of the impending conversation holding her back from fulling engaging in the conversation. Asami gave her a reassuring smile and Korra felt her heart flood with warmth and courage. She tapped her mother and father on the arm and leaned in, voice pitched low so only they could hear, "Dad, Mom, can I talk to you outside? It's important."