Asami shifted her feet, going through the same moves she'd been repeating for the best part of the morning. She bent one knee and straightened her other leg, sweeping her heel along the sand as her arms pushed out in a throwing motion.
Korra watched off to the side and much like the engineer she seemed increasingly frustrated. "You have to commit to it-" the Avatar waved her hands vaguely. "You keep treating the moves like they're separate instead of a continuous flow."
"What does that even mean?" Asami took the bending scroll she'd borrowed from the library out of her pocket and pointed. "I'm just following the diagrams."
"That's my point- there's more to bending than just movements."
"Then why wouldn't they put that in the scrolls? You'd think after a thousand of years the fire sages would've had the decency to write everything down."
"They did, but-" Korra scratched the back of her neck. "I don't know, it's different for everyone- and you can't exactly write a feeling. You have to… feel it."
"Then tell me what I'm supposed to feel."
"I can't."
Asami groaned. How was she supposed to learn this without any clear instruction? All she was getting were vague metaphors and movements that apparently didn't even matter that much. She looked helplessly at Korra.
The Avatar winced. "Look, when you could sense your fire what did it feel like?"
It started here," -she tapped the center of her chest- "and then spread out to the rest of my body. But Korra, it doesn't feel like it's mine, not the way it does with you or Mako. I don't have that natural connection to my core, and if I want to get anywhere I need you to explain the things that might seem obvious to any other bender."
Korra paused, then nodded. "Okay that makes sense."
Asami smiled and sat down cross-legged. "So what did you mean by 'commit to it'?"
"Right!" -the Avatar joined her in the sand- "So firebending is about harnessing your chi rather than controlling it, because fire can never be completely tamed. The moves in the scrolls are about shifting the center of your chi from your core to your feet; hands or head."
Korra drew a little stick man in the sand and circled the parts of the body as she said them. "At the end of a motion there's a point where your chi is totally outside of your body, and that's when you produce fire. But if you hesitate or stop without pulling your chi back, it can be really dangerous."
"So I have to commit otherwise I lose control?" Asami thought for a moment, "But how do I shift my chi in the first place? Every time I've felt it, it was an overwhelming presence- how do the stances affect that?"
Korra paused. "Well if you imagine a bowl of water-"
Asami snorted.
The Avatar looked up. "What?"
"Sorry just," -she tilted her head to the side and smiled- "only you would use a water metaphor to teach firebending."
Korra grinned, "Well I am the Avatar. But yes, imagine a bowl." -she bent water out of the flask she kept at her side and into her cupped palms- "If your body is a container for spiritual energy, then the stances are like tipping that container so it can flow."
She shifted and let a small amount of water splash on the sand. "See? But if you aren't careful then.." Korra opened her hands.
Asami nodded. Granted, her explanation was largely metaphorical- but apparently that was just how bending worked.
"I think I understand." The engineer twisted her hands and looked away, "I suppose it just scares me. Whenever it flares up I feel like I'm going to explode- I don't want to hurt anyone by accident."
Korra reached out and took her hand. "You're not going to hurt anyone. Once the Equalists are taken care of we can go somewhere to do this properly, okay? There's plenty of time."
Asami squeezed the Avatar's hand and nodded. She didn't mention the chi-blocking techniques that were supposed to last for days at a time were starting to break down after only a few hours.
The engineer had hoped there would be a system to memorize and then she could be done with it. But no, bending was frustratingly emotional. There was no precision, it was all rounded edges and ancient texts. Things that almost made sense until you realized that the words being said weren't saying much of anything at all. Suffice to say, she wasn't a fan.
Of course, Asami didn't mention any of that. Spirituality clearly meant something to Korra- despite the Avatar's vocal frustrations about connecting to her past lives, she still saw the world in a way that the engineer simply couldn't.
She wondered briefly what she would have been like if her father hadn't done what he did. A pro-bender maybe? Asami had always loved to watch her friends down in the arena, maybe that was something she could try once all this was over.
A loud wiring interrupted her thoughts. She and Korra looked up to see an airship flying above them- the bright red of the Equalists painted across the sails. Of course, the council meeting was today. She should have known Amon would take advantage of Republic City's leaders all being in one place. The walls of the Air Temple blocked their view past the island, but it seemed they had more immediate matters to attend to.
Masked Equalists swung from the airship and dropped out of sight. They only had a few seconds to act before a fight broke out around them. Korra was already moving, running to the edge of the island and dragging water up from the ocean. Asami pulled her glove on and followed closely behind- they needed to get to Tenzin's family before the Equalists did.
As Korra rounded a corner she hauled the wave she'd been making over her head and into some unseen group of enemies. If the panicked shouts were anything to go by, the move had been rather effective- not that either of them stopped to check.
Asami sprinted to the front of the temple and froze. Her heart dropped, there were dozens of airships swarming Republic City. As she watched, several of them broke away and started heading towards the island. Except no, they were following something! Tenzin; Mako and Bolin sped across the water on a small sailboat bolstered by airbending. In a few minutes they would make it across, but they were pursued by more people than even the Avatar could fight.
Asami dodged away from a rogue Equalist trying to grab her. She twisted and slammed a hand into the back of his head, a quick burst of electricity rendered him smoking and unconscious.
Korra ran out of the house, quickly accompanied by Pema and the children. In response, Asami pointed towards the rapidly approaching sailboat and the Equalists pursuing it. "There's too many of them- we have to go!"
"I'm not going anywhere." Korra scowled, "I'm the Avatar- I'm not just going to just run away."
"Yes, you are." Tenzin came down in a whirlwind of swirling air, carrying Mako and Bolin under each of his arms. "I managed to send word to the United Forces before Amon took down communications, help is on its way- we just have to wait for it."
"But-" Korra looked like she was about to start an argument they didn't have time for so Asami just grabbed her hand and started running. "Call Naga!"
Moments later, Team Avatar was clinging to the back of a polar bear dog as it swam beneath the waves. Asami shifted as her core began to flicker, trying not to draw attention to herself she pressed her thumb against her neck and twisted. The chi-blocking move was simple and effective, but her neck was bruised from the repetitions.