Korra leaned just outside the doors which Azula waited outside every morning. It was a sombre day, the clouds covering every inch of the normally bright blue sky. It was coming close to summer, Korra could tell. She had mastered the technique of conducting lightning to the most powerful bolt of nearly anyone on the island. Tatsuo and one or two others were capable of more, but Korra reckoned she could blow up an entire house now, if she really wanted to, with one strike. The training sessions recently had become a breeze, so Azula had finally decided to move on to the third of the four stages of Korra's training.
Tatsuo walked up to the top of the stairs, greeting Korra with a short nod. Korra begrudgingly returned it, then faced the doors. The general treatment she'd been getting hadn't changed since the fight with Shinji, except now maybe it was a tiny bit more subtle. People still resented and loathed her, including Tatsuo, but Korra had managed to tune out any glares.
It did hurt, but Korra didn't once dream of letting it show in front of them. She'd learnt that before the Agni Kai, Shinji had been a well-enough respected firebender on his way to becoming a combustion bender, but he'd ran off in shame after that fight. Somehow, she was partly to blame for that.
Serves the little wanker right! Korra thought.
"Who do you resent most in the world?" Tatsuo asked suddenly as he stood in front of the doors. He inhaled deeply through his nose, then stared at the hole which he opened for Azula every morning. He exhaled sharply, a tiny yellow bullet zooming into the gap. It exploded inside, starting the mechanism which opened the doors.
"What?" Korra asked, blinking. "Why?" Her mind started to flood with numerous options, most of them from the island. But only one firebender fitted the bill. She didn't like anyone on the island one bit, but to resent them was a bit strong. The man, the father of her child, though. She definitely resented him.
"You'll have to think of it when you're down there," Tatsuo told her. "Just to get the ball rolling." He led the way to the elevator, shutting the doors behind him. Although they wouldn't be spending time together if either of them had their way, they were both a lot more relaxed than their first day together. The silent journey down on the elevator was more awkward than tense, compared to the only other time Korra had gone down here.
It was mid-day, the only time Azula had broken the strict training regime. There would be very little firebending today, according to Azula. They were going to meditate, supposedly. Korra welcomed the change, but she didn't get ahead of herself; Azula's training nearly always left her exhausted by the end, no matter how easy or difficult Korra found it. The water tribe girl fiddled with her Fire Nation bun as the elevator ground to a halt.
"Isn't this meant to be a volcano?" Korra asked out loud. She hadn't meant to speak, but surprisingly, Tatsuo answered it without too much trouble.
"The last time it erupted was nearly two hundred years ago," Tatsuo answered. "That was supposedly one of the worst natural disasters the Fire Nation had seen in its history, so it's safe to say that the volcano is dormant."
"Why is it so hot down here, then?" Korra asked.
"How the Master likes it," he replied curtly, and started to walk forward very quickly. Korra followed, shaking her arms to work off some of the energy her anticipation had built up.
Tatsuo waited in front of the doors, and gestured for Korra go in without him. Korra strolled forward, not letting the chamber intimate her. She pushed them open, already finding it a bit hard to breathe with the temperature down here, and walked inside to Azula's living quarters.
It was still as eerie as the last time Korra had been in there. Blue candles lit the room, and the tapestries even looked a tiny bit more demonic than before. It was the type of place the devil would call home. In the centre, Azula stood on the raised platform with a mannequin right behind her. She was in the middle of tying her hair back into a bun with just a hairband. Korra was amazed at how flexible Azula was even at nearly ninety years old.
You have to stay sharp to run this place, I suppose, Korra thought. Azula indicated with her head for Korra to come over, which the young mother did.
"What's the dummy for?" Korra asked. She hadn't been told anything the day before apart from when and where to be.
"I'll tell you later," Azula told Korra. "Right now, I want you to pick any random candle in the room, and double the flame's size. No questions, just do it." Korra was a little confused, but she didn't bother challenging it.
"Alright," Korra said, and chose the closest candle to her right. She narrowed in on the tiny source of heat, getting a feel for its pulse. When she was confident that she had pinpointed it, she took a small breath in. The flame doubled in size immediately, but the colour changed from blue to orange. Korra tried to reverse the colour back, but she didn't know where to start. After a few seconds, she looked back to Azula, expecting to be scolded. But surprisingly, she wasn't.
"As I thought," Azula commented. "Ignore that candle, and sit down opposite the mannequin. You're going to be meditating for this session, on what you hate the most in the world."
"What does that have to do with my training?" Korra asked as Azula blew the odd coloured candle out.
"Sit down in the Lotus position, or whatever position you like to meditate in, and I'll tell you," Azula informed Korra. Korra did as Azula ordered, getting comfortable opposite the mannequin.
"I'm ready," Korra announced, rolling her shoulders back.
"Good," Azula said, setting the tone. "Now, remember how I told you that this would be the third instalment of the four parts of your training? I'll elaborate on that a bit. Creating a wall of fire is the first of three techniques combined in combustion bending.
"The abrasive, sudden eruption of power relates enormously to the explosion in combustion bending. The distance involved shows how far you can send a 'bullet' as we call it, although it's more like a rocket. The explosion is prolonged until it hits it target.
"The second part," Azula continued, walking around the platform with her hands behind her back, "is your training with lightning. That dealt with teaching you how to separate the negative and positive energies to use one to fuel your power. It also dealt with you learning how direct an incredibly dangerous current of energy, and use it to your advantage."
"What's the third part?" Korra asked. "Will it take as long as the other two to learn?"
"Depends solely on the person," Azula answered, "but no, it won't. Now tell me who you hate most in the world, and why."
"Hold on," Korra said, looking directly at Azula, "why should I do that?"
"Do you really need an explanation for everything?" Azula questioned.
"For something that personal, of course I do!" Korra exclaimed. She heard the elevator rumble as Tatsuo travelled back to the top of the mountain. Korra frowned, wondering why they were being left alone.
"What's the matter now?" Azula demanded.
"Why isn't anyone watching us?" Korra asked. "And don't try to avoid my other question either."
"These are my private quarters," Azula answered. "I don't let just anyone in here for a prolonged period of time. Only my students, Tatsuo, and others who have mastered combustion bending, may come down here. I declare them worthy of being combustion benders, and allow them to get the tattoo painted on. Tatsuo just left because he's got plenty of other things to be doing.
"As for your first question," she went on, "the third technique of combustion bending involves your brain. Outsiders observe combustion bending as firebending with your mind, but that's closer to the truth than they realise. You need to harness your most prominent negative emotion, and project it out of your head in the form of firebending. That pure moment of concentrated hate is what combustion bending is. You could apply the same logic with love, probably, but combustion bending is a tool used for murder and destruction. If you go soft, you definitely won't have the conviction to blow your opponent up. Any more questions before we start, to get them out of the way?"
"Yes," Korra told her teacher after a moment's hesitation. "First of all, how many people drop out, and when will you teach me how to create blue fire?"
"Barely any," Azula told proudly Korra, holding her head up high. "We have an extremely strict filter that goes into selecting students. Being a talented firebender isn't enough. They need to have a passion for the Fire Nation, an unwavering spirit of patriotism. Spies barely ever keep up the commitment, and we have crushed any that manage to make it through. Any so called 'drop outs' are actually kicked out because of bad behaviour, generally. Tatsuo enforces most of the disciplining."
"What about Kenichi Shinoda?" Korra asked, remembering that he could apparently create blue fire.
"Kenichi Shinoda," Azula repeated slowly. "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while. He was a disgrace of a student, always trying to one-up others. He claimed that he could defeat me in an Agni Kai, if I remember correctly. Ballsy, but could never back up his words. There were about sixty firebenders I could think of at the time who were stronger than him, including myself, of course.
"I humiliated him in a few seconds," Azula relayed "but killing him was a mercy, so I severed off a few of his fingers to set an example of what happens to those who think they can kill me. He couldn't even combustion bend, for crying out loud. Ran away with his tails between his legs."
"Severed?" Korra repeated, taken aback. "That's a bit-"
"No-one asked for your opinion," Azula informed Korra bluntly. "As for blue fire, that will come after you complete this mental stage. Now, prepare yourself emotionally, it won't be easy." Korra opened her mouth to speak, but Azula kept going. "You've asked plenty of questions!"
"Fine," Korra muttered, stretching a little before settling down. She opened her ears fully, ready to take in everything Azula told her.
"First of all," Azula began, sitting down in a fold up chair. "Tell me who you hate most in the world, and why."
"Do I have to-" Korra began.
"Yes!" Azula demanded. "It is essential to your training! Close your eyes too!"
"Fine, a man called Mako," Korra answered cautiously, but she decided to put a tiny bit of faith in Azula, given how much she rambled on about being a great teacher. Korra gently shut her eyelids. "He was the father of my daughter, but he rejected her."
"That's unforgivable," Azula stated clearly, and she seemed to mean it. "Despicable. Only an evil man would do that."
"Well, we were drunk when I got pregnant," Korra replied, not sure why she felt defending Mako. "I genuinely don't think he remembered the night. I sensed for his heartbeat, and it didn't pick up when he told me that, meaning that he wasn't lying. It meant that he genuinely believed what he told me."
"What type of job did he have?" Azula probed.
"I think," Korra said, "a detective or undercover cop. I'm not too sure."
"You can't make it in those jobs if you're not a good liar," Azula countered. "You probably used that earthbending gimmick to sense for his heartbeat?"
"Pretty much," Korra answered, shifting uncomfortably. She didn't like where this conversation was going.
"I told Toph Beifong to her face that I was a platypus bear when I was just a teenager," Azula bragged, "and she admitted that she couldn't detect any change in my heartbeat. A trick to lying about something is believing the lie yourself to add emotion to it. He definitely knew at some point that he was the father, but convinced himself that he wasn't. Do you want to know why?"
"Why?" Korra asked.
"He didn't want to take on the responsibility of his own child!" Azula told Korra. "Your emotions have probably deceived you because you want to believe that he was just confused. He might have had a little good credit in the bank if you knew him before. Did you know him before that?"
"He used to be my ex, but after we broke up we were still good friends," Korra admitted, feeling a little nauseous.
"You see!" Azula exclaimed. "He was always bitter over you! I can see that you're a very good-looking young woman, with a strong personality, but all he saw was your body! He wanted to get with you because all he cared about was how attractive you are! That's hollow, and no man, or woman for that matter, deserves to be let off so easily after that. All he saw from Kalla was that she was extra baggage!"
Korra's heart skipped a beat. Azula had just struck a deep chord with her. Korra had always tried to be optimistic about things, but Azula was giving her honest assessment of the situation she just learnt about. Korra had no reason to believe that Azula was being nice to her about it to help Korra feel better, because she berated Korra at every chance she got. It wouldn't make sense for the old woman to suddenly start being kind.
"Well..." Korra said, as her opinion of Mako suddenly started to change. His good traits were being stripped away unceremoniously, and she started to view him in a different way.
"I want you to acknowledge the hurt he has caused you," Azula ordered Korra. "Identify four different emotions that he caused you to feel about him when he rejected your daughter. I'm sure there are plenty more, but the four strongest."
"I suppose…" Korra started, her eyes still shut. "Anger."
"Not just anger," Azula informed her. "Rage. Anger is passive, anger can be flipped with a simple treat to trigger dopamines, the happy hormones. Anger is temporary, and there's no great cause behind it, just a momentary inconvenience." Korra thought about this, and elaborated on it. She didn't know too much about hormones and whatnot, but Azula was getting her message across perfectly.
"Furious!" Korra corrected herself. "I'm not angry, I'm furious with him!"
"That's right," Azula encouraged, standing up and putting a hand on Korra's shoulder. "Don't sugar-coat it. What else do you feel?"
"Distrust," Korra said, searching deeper in herself. "Betrayal." A drop of sweat trickled down her forehead.
"That's it!" Azula whispered in Korra's ear. "Don't let up. Don't give in to his venom!"
"Disgust!" Korra said after another few moments of hard thinking.
"The little wretch!" Azula added, spurring Korra on. But Korra didn't say anything for another minute. "What's wrong?" she asked eventually.
"I'm not sure if it's healthy to be so negative about it," Korra responded honestly, opening her eyes and letting out a heavy breath. "I don't want to be toxic like… like him."
"You're not being toxic!" Azula urged her. "You're facing the truth about a man who doesn't give a damn about his own daughter. He's somehow managed to play himself as the victim, when it takes a woman and a man to create a baby! He's got the easy part of being a parent, nothing near the hardship of you, the mother! Open your heart up, and tell me one more emotion." Korra decided to do this.
"Anguish," Korra identified after another few moments of deep reflection. "Anguish. Sadness. I can't begin to describe how sad he made me feel. I cried so much!"
"That's all very natural," Azula said. "I bet that he couldn't even begin to understand the pain you went through."
"He always prioritised himself!" Korra added, her voice beginning to crack up. "Didn't he even remember how hard it was without his parents!?"
"What happened to his parents?" Azula asked, a strange tone in her voice.
"He only had his brother since they were eight, for crying out loud!" Korra shouted. Tears started to creep out of her eyes.
"Compose yourself, Korra!" Azula demanded. "His vileness still clings onto you. Cast it off!" It would've sounded a bit cheesy, but Korra clung on to every word. Her mind began to place Mako in the lowest category of people she knew. The place where her uncle and Tokuga resided. But that wasn't enough. Her undying love for Kalla trampled on him, until Mako was slowly seeping towards rock bottom. She wiped her eyes and swallowed the mucus building in her throat.
"I'm sorry," Korra apologised, her different views starting to click into place.
"Don't apologise to me," Azula said, "recognise that the only injustice done was from Mako to yourself. Or if that doesn't sink in, think of the injustice done to Kalla."
That really hit home. Korra started to breath heavier and heavier, struggling to contain the malice she felt towards Mako. She wanted to let her fury go wild. She felt Vaatu rising up within her, climbing on Raava to get higher and higher. She resisted his temptation though.
I won't let anyone manipulate me anymore! She vowed mentally, but still, the hate of Mako grew. It grew bigger and bigger. Somehow, Azula knew this.
"Fixate on how he hurt you!" Azula commanded, shouting. "Don't hold back! Let it flare up! Be like fire! Latch onto it and grow! Let your source of power grow like a fire burns wood. Blaze like fire!"
Korra opened her eyes, her blood boiling, and for a moment, just a moment, she thought that she saw Mako's face on the dummy. All of her hate focused on that.
"YOU DIRTY BASTARD!" Korra screamed, the turbulent candles suddenly flaring up into ferocious flames. She wanted the head to sizzle up in flames, dead, and her emotions took over for that brief second. A bullet of fire screamed out of her forehead and implanted itself into where the dummy's heart would be. It didn't blow up on impact, so Korra urged from her all heart for it to erupt violently.
It exploded, immediately tearing open a hole in the mannequin's chest and flinging it across the room. It crashed into the wall, smashing a vase on impact. Korra stared at it for a moment, confused, then she realised what she had just accomplished.
"I can… I can combustion bend!" she exclaimed emptily, exhausted.
"You can," Azula backed Korra up, coming out from behind a pillar. She didn't seem surprised though. "I want you to light a fire in your palm now. Think of your intense hatred of Mako when letting the flame burn. Don't say anything, just do it."
Korra wanted to snap back sharply in her current mood, but she decided to hold it in and just listen to Azula. He held out her palm and lit a fire, using her emotion as well to burn the chi. To her surprise, a blue flame appeared instead of an orange one.
"What's going on?" Korra asked, confused, but still very angry. She was a little bit irritated by everything at that very moment and time.
"You've unlocked perfect combustion, which is also commonly referred to as blue flames," Azula congratulated her, "and with that, you can now combustion bend. We'll start training tomorrow for actual combustion bending. This took about two hours less than expected, I'm surprised."
"Too much of a hit to your ego to say you're impressed?" Korra sneered, standing up, but she wobbled uncertainly directly after she said that. She clumsily made her way over to one of the pillars and tried to regain her balance.
"It can take a lot out of you," Azula explained. "You have to build up stamina for quite a while before you can combustion bend without any repercussions."
"How?" Korra asked, her vision a little bit blurry.
"Hmm?" Azula asked.
"How come I couldn't unlock blue fire before?" Korra asked, slouching her back against the pillar for support. "I was always angry before, even if I didn't realise it."
"Unless you are born with it, like I was, which is very rare," Azula informed Korra, "you need a special type of drug, that only Tatsuo and I know how to make, to lift you off the ground." A moment or two passed before Korra realised what this meant.
"You drugged my food this morning?!" Korra interrogated.
"We've drugged it every morning," Azula revealed calmly, looking at her fingers. "Otherwise the training would've taken two years at the very minimum, even though you're the Avatar. I don't feel like waiting that long, and besides, the side effects are minimal for what we've been giving you most days, which are just keeps your concentration levels up. What we gave you today was just to make you more susceptible to emotion, and I have to say, it worked a treat."
"What are the side effects!?" Korra demanded.
"For what you had today, none, because you've only had it once," Azula stated without a care in the world. "For what we give you normally, there's an extremely low risk among women to become infertile. But you've already had a child, so it shouldn't bother you too much."
"INFERTILE?!" Korra repeated, astounded. She tried to march over to Azula, but fell on her knees. She looked up weakly at her master.
"Yes," Azula told her, walking up to Korra. "We won't drug your food anymore, if it's worth anything. There are no drugs that we know off that don't interfere with the combustion process and help boost your performance levels. There's two more things I need to say to you, before you head back to bed as well."
"Stop drugging my food, and what are they?" Korra asked, dreading what was coming next.
"You need to make a commitment to not forgiving Mako," Azula told her. "Otherwise, you will lose your conviction when combustion bending."
As soon as Korra's ears heard Mako's name, she instantly became triggered. She had been feeling drained a moment ago, but now the thought of him made her blood boil so much that she somehow found the energy to stand up again. She groggily regarded Azula as the old lady continued;
"If you let go off your anger, you won't feel the primal urge to blow him up," Azula explained. "Your ability of perfect combustion will likely fade too."
"Don't worry, I won't," Korra promised Azula, with no intention of breaking that promise anytime soon. "I suppose I have to uphold my end of the deal now. Will I give you your firebending back right now, seeing as I've learnt to combustion bend?"
"You're no combustion bender just yet!" Azula told her, then pointed to the tattoo on her head. "Until you get this, which means you've been deemed worthy by a true master, you will not claim to be a combustion bender!"
"But…" Korra said, making sure that she wasn't missing anything, "that means you don't get your bending back yet."
"People only judged by what they accomplished when they're gone," Azula declared, "and when you eventually go back to the outside world, everyone will know that you were taught by me, one way or another. I would much rather die without my firebending with a good reputation, rather than everyone remembering me as the shoddy teacher who barely taught the Avatar how to combustion bend." Azula crossed her arms defiantly.
Korra left the offer open for another few seconds, staring at Azula, stupefied. But Azula didn't take it, so she asked the one remaining question on her mind; "Is there any way to ensure that my combustion bending never fades?"
"There is one," Azula told Korra. "But I doubt you're capable of it."
"Tell me!" Korra nearly ordered.
"You won't like it," Azula warned, hinting that it was bad.
"I don't care!" Korra declared, raising her voice. "Tell me! It's no harm to just tell me!"
"Very well," Azula relented, rolling her eyes. "In my case, Zuko hasn't really ceased to torment me, so my grudge still holds very strong."
"Zuko?" Korra repeated. "You mean, Fire Lord Zuko?"
"Yes," Azula answered. Then she dropped the bomb;
"The only way to cement your ability of perfect combustion and combustion bending for the rest of your life, is to kill the one who you first despised to have your vengeance satisfied permanently."