Earth

Fire

Air

Water

Only the Dual Avatars master of all four elements can bring balance to the world.

Book III: Change

Chapter II: Rebirth

The sky is only lit up by the stars as the airship seemingly glides above the clouds. Wan in his room with a small candle continues to write his thoughts in his journal on a small brown desk wearing black sweats, shirtless.

New airbenders around the world. I wouldn't believe it myself either. There's not much to say other than finding other airbenders who want to come is like pulling teeth. And I mean not literally, but people have their own lives and much more and to uproot it. I wouldn't be happy if I was in their predicament, they have to change their habits, even their entire lifestyle. I feel at fault for this since I changed my mind and kept the portals open. But on the other hand, It's restoring a long lost nation and the world's elemental balance….

Wan is soon interrupted by a small knock. The first avatar closes his book while sitting. He opens the door to see Korra in a white tee shirt and grey sweatpants with her hair loose. "Hey." Korra's eyes widen as she looks at Wan's shape. Wan blushes out of embarrassment "Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to come this late." Wan shuts the door as he lets Korra in. The female Avatar chuckles a bit, closing her eyes, "It's alright Wan."

"So!" Korra flops down on his bed, Wan shakes his head with a soft smile, "Whatcha doing?" Wan gives her an amused questionable expression, "What are you doing up at this time?" Korra pouts a bit, crossing her arms, "I don't know, talk?"

Wan sighs as he sits on Korra's left side, Korra lays back, admitting her thoughts, "A lot has happened, and we should talk about it since well, you regained your memories and we reopened the portals and other things in that spectrum," Korra sighs. Wan slumps as he rests his chin on his palm. "Is it bad that i don't feel anything? You know about the airbenders. I don't think this is the best thing ever but also not the worst thing ever. I'm just neutral," Wan shugs as he looks at the wall. Korra sits up, glancing at her partner, listening to him intently. "On one hand, it's restoring balance but this is uprooting people's lives."

"I never thought of it like that," Korra mumbles, "I just thought more people would be excited about coming with us…"

"So, what did you really come here for? I know you didn't come here late at night just to talk," Wan smirks knowingly, She was too easy- always a sucker for sharing beds. Wan started the trend but over time Korra would ask to sleep on the opposite side for someone to share warmth with. Korra has a slight blush on her face, "Can I sleep with you?" Korra asks a bit shyly. Wan nods and gives her a pillow. Before the duo go to sleep fully, Wan blows out the small candle with a light blow.


After another long day of rejections from nearly every new airbender, Wan sighs as he crosses off another part of the map. "Okay, so Tenzin, you've confirmed that you are a bad salesman," Wan sighs, "No new airbenders joining." Tenzin grunts as he crosses his arms, pouting. "Ugh, I really thought I had that last guy. Who doesn't want a bison as their best friend?" Tenzin complains to the group. Bumi glances to his brother smiling, "It's okay Tenzin, I still want to be an airbender."

Korra stands up from her chair, "Okay, we've tried it your way, and people just don't seem to be responding. It's time for a little tough love." The female Avatar punches her fists with a cocky smirk, Wan looks at the female avatar with fear, not for himself but for the next airbender. "By tough love you mean beating them into submission?" he mumbles with a bit of sass in his voice, Korra cross her arms looking at Wan, who seems concerned. "Well, no," Korra replies defensively. "Translation: yes," Wan smirks.

The dual avatars and bending brothers knock on the door and are answered by a middle aged woman who gasps in shock for a moment, Wan and Korra put on a small smile. "Are you the Dual Avatars?" the woman asks. "That's us," Wan replies, the woman lets them in and guides them into the main room, while talking, "When my son got airbending, my husband and I were so happy. We thought this could open a lot of doors for him, maybe he could finally move out of the basement." The woman chuckles, elbowing her arm slightly at Korra, Wan chuckles as well, and asks a bit awkwardly, "How old is he?"

"He's twenty-two, and you know, still just figuring his life out." Wan whistles as his pitch goes down a bit. "Okay, ugh, well-" Korra steps in smiling ecstatically, "Well, I have a great opportunity for him. We're looking for airbenders to join us at the Northern Air Temple!" The woman squeals in excitement, "Ah, that sounds wonderful! I'll get him." Her tone changes in an instant to a more authoritative one, "Ryu! Get up here!" She once again smiles at her guests.

Korra gestures to the boys with a thumbs up, Wan replies with a thumbs down earning an elbow nudge from Korra. Ryu walks into the living room, looking like a slob and with a pink slipper on one foot. Korra smiles, stretching her hand out, "Hi, I'm Korra." Ryu glances to the side, uninterested in what the female avatar has to say. "So you're like the Dual Avatar or something. Big deal. I Heard you talking to my mom, and I'm not interested." Wan quickly sees Korra getting impatient, then before he can intervene Korra grabs the man's shirt, and throws him down on the seat that the airbender furrowed. Wan sighs, "Here we go."

The female avatar slams her hand on the table, "You're an airbender now and you have a responsibility as a citizen of the world."

Ryu scoffles, "Whatever. I didn't ask to become an airbender, you know." He crosses his arms, Korra retorts, "Well, I didn't ask to be the Avatar, but I am, and I'm fulfilling my duties."

"So? You or him don't have to."

"Yes we do." Korra's patience is running thin. Wan sees it from a mile away; his partner keeps arguing with the air slacker. "Well, you're about to care, you little slacker, because you're coming with me!" She grabs the man by the collar and pulls him, "Korra!" Wan shouts, Ryu's mother joins in at the doorway while Korra is pulling Ryu, she is pushing him forward. Ryu uses his airbending to push himself away from Korra, landing on his mom, in the process ripping his shirt. Korra throws the torn jacket to the ground. "That's it!"

Wan picks up Korra and puts her over his shoulder. The female avatar screams and tries to hit Wan, "LET ME GO WAN! LET ME GET THAT LITTLE SLACKER!" Wan bows as best as he can to Ryu's mother, "It was a pleasure meeting you." Mako and Bolin look on in shock. The dual Avatars walk back to the airship, Mako and Bolin just watch, not saying a word at the two. "Kor, I'm sorry but I'm not going to let you beat the crap out of Ryu," Wan says. "Put me down, Wan." Korra sighs, "Please."

"Are you not going to lunge at that guy?"

"No." Korra huffs, a strand of her hair goes up with the puff of air and goes down.

Wan gently puts the water tribe avatar down on her feet. Korra huffs again as her feet touch the ground.


Everyone in the air ship either looks exhausted or completely dejected. Wan lays back on his chair, and yawns as Tenzin says, "Well, I guess we should just go to Ba Sing Se and try our luck there." Wan groans as he covers his face. "Maybe you gotta do more to get them excited. You need to add a little razzle-dazzle," Bumi adds, making a little flare with his hands. Bolin chimes in quickly, "Yeah, razzle-dazzle! We could put on some sort of airbending street performance!"

"That sounds completely dumb," Wan blurts out, but then shrugs, "but it just might work."

"I am willing to try about anything at this point." Tenzin closes his eyes, Korra nods in agreement. Bolin he leans over to the table grinning, "Yes! That is the kind of enthusiasm I like to hear!"

"This is going to be a disaster." Wan mumbles as he closes his eyes.

Later on, the airship stops by an earth kingdom village, which has a relatively small population and is mostly covered in sand. The crowd begins to gasp as Bolin with a microphone begins to walk out with a fake mustache. With a bit of flair to it, he puts on an entertainer impresion, "Come one, come all to witness The Amazing Airbenders! The airbending show that will leave you breathless...with wind!~" he pipes up, gesturing with his hand. "First up, the tattooed master himself, you know him as the son of Avatar Aang, he shaves every hair on his head, every single day!" Tenzin takes off his robe-like shirt, as he turns to the audience. "It's the one, the only guy with an arrow pointing to his nose, Master Tenzin!" Tenzin bends an airwheel, drives it around in a half cycle and stops, the crowd gasps in awe and cheers. Tenzin throws his hands up in the air to the crowd.

"Now, now, ladies and gentleman, ladies and gentleman, please be quiet. I have some serious news. We've heard that an escaped firebending convict has been spotted near here." The crowd begins to murmur a bit nervously. "Now, I don't want to panic anyone, but if you see a firebender with a red scarf-" A little girl gasps and points to Mako, "I see him!"

Mako on cue walks out crossing his arms, and with the most stiff and bored impression says, "I am the escaped convict, and you will all reap my fire." Mako sends a small blast of fire up in the air, the audience gasps. "Who will save us!?" Bolin shouts, Korra then walks up, "I will, with my airbending skills." Korra catches Mako with an airbending tornado, but then catches him as he falls. "Ah!' Mako falls stiffly, the crowd cheers and the show goes on letting Oogi, Jinora and Bumi show off some of their air qualities.

"What's that!" Bolin points to a nearby building, the crowded mumbles as they look up. Wan sighs as it is now his cue, he flies around with his cloud for a little while. "This man can fly with a cloud!" The crowd gasps in shock. Wan lets his cloud dissipate and does a backflip with some airbending, letting it soften his fall. The crowd gasps and cheers, Wan walks back to where Korra and Tenzin are. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you, or anyone you know is an airbender, please, send them our way! Master Tenzin, Avatar Korra and Avatar Wan would love to teach them all they know!" Bolin announces, Korra nudges Wan playfully with her arm, "Show off." Wan blushes a bit, "Hay, it's all for show," Wan winks.

The crowd disperses, but a young boy runs up to the group. He is tanned with green eyes and is wearing normal earth kingdom attire. "Hey! Hello. If you're looking for airbenders, you just found one." The boy bends a gust of air, "I wanna join you guys."

"Wow, we got one," Wan mumbles rather surprised, Bolin excitedly says, "Get outta town!"

Korra turns to Wan, "We got our first recruit." Wan smiles a bit as he goes up to the boy, "Alrighty, well then, we're going to be heading to Ba Sing Se, then to the Northern Air Temple to live as nomads and rebuild the Air Nation. Is that okay?"

The boy nods, "Yeah, Ba Sing Se, rebuild the temple, Air Nomad what-do-you-do, I'm in. Let's go right now." Wan hums as he crosses his arms, the boy seems a little too eager on top of that, he has no parents around. Bolin jumps up for joy that his plan actually worked, "This is going to be so great! You're going to love it, er ... ah ... real quick, what's your name?" He asks, the boy responds quickly, "Kai. So when do we hit the road?" He asks eagerly.

"Hang on a second Kai, where are your parents? We can't have you come with us without their permission," Tenzin says. Kai downcasts, "My parents are gone."

Wan immediately feels his heart strings being pulled, and he looks at the boy with compassion, "You're an orphan?" Wan asks, Bolin feels the same as well. Kai nods, "It happened about a year ago. My hometown was raided by outlaws, but my parents fought back against them. I was so scared, but they told me not to worry- they would protect me, and they did. My parents saved me and the entire village, but they died in the fight. Mum and Pap meant everything to me, they were my whole life. Ever since then, I've been on the run. Those same outlaws are still after me."

Bolin wipes his tears from his eyes. "Well, you don't have to be on the run anymore," Wan nods, Tenzin adds on to this, while putting his hand on his shoulder "I'm so sorry about your parents. I know we could never replace them, but we are here for you."

"We'll keep you safe," Korra adds; the group walks on into the airship. Mako looks outside the window to see a bunch of motorcyclists. "Guys, we got trouble." The leader gets off his motorcycle and takes his helmet and glasses off. He walks up to the airship. "Release the boy, or we'll take him by force." The leader gives his signal, the rest of the men earthbend rocks from the ground in formation.

Kai pulls on Wan's arm, "The outlaws! They're here ... Uh, let's get out of here!" Wan pulls back, and walks out. "We're not running from no one." Wan walks out of the air ship cracking his fists and neck. "If you want him, you have to get through me first!" Wan announces, the men launch the rocks at Wan who easily deflects them, and sends them right back. He jumps from the door and begins to airbend the men back, knocking them over. The man earthbends at Wan, who punches the rock head on; at contact it splits into two. Wan knocks the man down with airbending, and he walks up to him. "You will never harm that innocent boy again, you outlaws are done!" the man glances at the First Avatar with confusion. "What! Outlaws? Innocent boy? I'm a sheriff!" Wan looks at the sheriff badge, he places two and two together quickly. He has been played like a fiddle. "And these are my deputies, and this kid is a thief. Whatever he told you was a lie, we've been chasing him for months," The sheriff explains.

Wan remains silent for a moment, then he harshly yells, "Where's Kai?" Korra moves back, saying, "Here he is," as Mako is holding Kai by the collar, he is holding a bag of valuables. "Right here, I found him slipping away." Mako explains, Kai panics, lying, "I was going to the bathroom!"

"With your stash of gold?" Mako retorts as he throws the bag to the ground, when it hits, gold and jewelry and other valuables come out. "I told you, I found this on the road!" Kai yells, Wan crosses his arms, "No one finds gold on the road kiddo. If you're going to lie and thieve around, do it right." Wan rolls his eyes at Kai, "So what's the truth officer?" Kai is arrested and the gold is picked up.

"The truth is, he's the outlaw. He spent an entire life in an orphanage, got adopted by a real nice family six months ago, and how did he repay them? By taking their entire life savings. We've been after him ever since."

"So that's why he was in such a rush to leave?" Wan shoots a glance at the boy, "Look, the person who stole that stuff was the old me. Once I got airbending, I changed. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like airbending choose me for a reason, like I'm a new person. I'm sorry! Please, you have to listen to me." Kai pleads. Wan doesn't want it but his heart melts for Kai, his pleads bring him back, so long ago, like he is seeing a reflection of his former self in the lion turtle. The boy has good in him, he just needs to be guided in the right way, and if what he said was true, then why not?

"Are you taking him back to the orphanage?" Wan asks, the sheriff looks at the Avatar, "No, he's heading to jail."

"Wait, you have the family's life savings, we can take Kai," Wan says. Tenzin walks up to him, "Do you really want our first member of the Air Nation to be a liar and a thief?"

"I was a liar and a thief, I stole from the lion turtle and I lied my way in," Wan replies, looking at Kai, whose mouth drops in shock at this revelation. "Wan, you were desperate." Tenizin argues, "Desperate or not, it's still lying and thieving," Wan sighs, "All the kid needs is a little push in the right direction. Besides, who better than us?" Wan smiles as he looks at the kid, "I think Kai has potential to be something better."

"Do you want this boy or not?" The chief says, a bit annoyed and ready to go. Tenzin strokes his beard, thinking for a while. "Yes, you can release the boy into our custody." Kai was released and he hugged Wan tight, "Thank you!"

"Don't make me regret it kiddo," Wan chuckles as he pats his shoulder, and Korra smiles at Wan. The first avatar feels something, a deep feeling bubbling up in his chest. He quickly pushes it down. His whole world stops in a moment, he hopes he won't feel it again, but her smile…Something about her makes him feel light...makes him feel so right.