[Originally titled 'Avatar: The Flying Man']

Description: Eight years after the fall of Kuvira, President Jhu Li Moon struggles to keep the Republic afloat as the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom recall key specialist citizens. Meanwhile, surges of airbenders continue to expand Air Temple populations as Air Temple Island strives for independence to become the capital of its nation, the Central Air Temple.

WORDS: 5K

.

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

.

CHAPTER ONE - SURPASS MEMORIES

193 AG

"We're so sorry," Jinora sobbed. "Please, we didn't mean for-"

Korra let go of Jinora's wrist, flinging it away as aggressively as she had held it. "It's not my forgiveness you need," Korra told her, and she turned her back to face the sleeping boy in the hospital bed again, praying to Raava for his quick recovery. Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Rohan saw him then, his peaceful face, and what had remained of his right arm. The stump was covered in bandages dyed dark-reddish-brown from the seeping wound. The beeping that indicated his stable heart-rate became deafening. Korra's words were equally piercing. "When he wakes up, he's going to Ba Sing Se," she said, "where he belongs."

Jinora gasped an asking breath. She had heard what Korra had said, but it couldn't be.

"No," pleaded Rohan. "You can't-"

"That's all," Korra said flatly, coldly. "Leave."

ELEVEN YEARS PRIOR - SPRING 182 AG

EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF KUVIRA

TWENTY-NINE DAYS BEFORE THE REPUBLIC CITY SUMMIT

THE DAY OF THE MEETING IN BA SING SE

Korra washed her face. Whenever her hands slid down her cheeks revealing her eyes, she felt ten thousand lives looking back at her.

She took a deep breath. And started applying her make up - something she never thought she'd catch herself doing.

But it was only to cover up that scar on her temple, the only remnant of an... altercation that she'd rather forget about.

Once she was completely scarless, she was herself again.

The Firelord had been feeling uneasy all morning. Her father's vengeful ghost had visited her many times during the night, condemning her. She knew it was impossible, but if her father somehow did have the ability to contact her beyond the grave, she knew he'd most likely use it to torment her.

She needed her drink.

She went for a sip as a servant entered the Firelord's office. "All preparations have been made," he said bowing. "Are you ready to leave for Ba Sing Se, Firelord Izumi?"

"Yes," she blurted promptly. "I'll be out shortly." And the man left without raising his head. That was close, she thought as she brought her glass out from under her desk. She had almost been caught drinking before a meeting. Gossip was rife in the capital, she would have to be more careful.

She gazed upon her great country through the window. "I'm sorry, Father," she said, hoping he could hear, wherever his spirit resided, "but your affection for the Avatar blinded you. The people of the Fire Nation rely on me now. They must come first. Always." She swirled the drink around the glass and swirled the drink around her mouth when she drank. "Everyone else can burn."

The White Lotus balloon landed. Spectators awaiting the landing nearby might have been blown away if they weren't airbenders.

The fully-realised Avatar tended to make quite an entrance. It had been a long time since Tenzin saw Korra in her plain clothes - this wasn't one of those times, however - she had another important meeting to attend. Three of Tenzin's children stood by to greet her, but one of them couldn't wait for her to walk over to them.

"Korra!" The boy ran into her.

"Rohan- Oof!" Korra returned his affection. "Ikki, Meelo!"

"Korra, we missed you," Ikki said, walking up alongside Meelo.

"I missed you guys too."

Tenzin smiled walking to them. It gave Korra a chance to compare Tenzin's height to Ikki's – she was almost as tall as him. Ikki's pretty tall, huh. Jinora was even taller. Kai can't be happy about having a girlfriend who's taller than him, she thought before she remembered that they weren't seeing each other anymore. Her regretful expression was apparent. "Where's Jinora?" she wondered.

"Probably meditating." Ikki made it seem like a bad thing, well it might've been in Jinora's case, too much of anything could be bad.

"That's all she ever does!" Rohan complained.

"Yeah…" Korra said, grabbing the top of Rohan's tattooed head and giving him a menacing smile. "And maybe you should be practicing your meditation too." Korra knew of Rohan's notorious impatience. The youngest sibling was always the least mature.

Rohan knocked Korra's hand away. "Meditating is for chumps!" he declared.

It brought back memories of when she was first learning to meditate. In light of those uncomfortable memories, Korra thought she should give the boy a break, considering his age and his mastered airbending - he had earned his blue arrows before even Meelo.

And if she was honest, she would admit that she had been unable to meditate into the Spirit World herself for years. The last time was probably back when she finally reconnected with her past lives again. It seemed so long ago hassle of it all might've put her off.

"Well," Tenzin said after a sigh. "It won't hurt to check her room first." He turned to lead Korra to her room, even though she already knew where it was.

"Tenzin," she called on the way. He didn't stop, so Korra jogged a little to catch up. "Tenzin, you sure about this?" she asked quietly. "With the way Jinora's been lately… maybe… maybe she should stay here…?"

Korra was here to take Jinora along with her to the political meetings. Jinora was to shadow the Avatar and gain as much political knowledge and diplomatic skill as possible. That was the goal.

"Jinora will have to take over after I step down from the Chair. She's not a child anymore, Korra" Tenzin told her. "She needs to stop acting like this and learn to take more responsibility." He was always more stern with his first-born than his other children, but Korra could sense that Tenzin was acting a little more uptight than usual. "And…" he hesitated, "You're the only one she seems to want to talk to nowadays."

Korra grabbed her arm. She knew that Tenzin didn't mean to sound so spiteful, but that last comment had just a hint of envy in it, and it hurt her a tiny bit. It's not like she was actively trying to steal Jinora away from her family or anything.

Jinora was definitely the most mature, most capable and most knowledgeable sibling, and as much as Korra hated to admit it, her talents were going to waste. She was always a little carefree, but recently it seemed as though she had decided to almost completely detach herself from the physical world. No one knew this more intimately than Korra herself, having seen Jinora the most out of anyone in recent years – other than Asami. If this had been a couple centuries ago, it would have been no problem if Jinora spontaneously decided to become a hermit, but in this era in particular, she had responsibilities.

Korra noticed that Tenzin had opened Jinora's door without knocking. She took a peek inside anyway – and it was a mess. She glanced at Tenzin, who she realised had shown her this purposefully. "What's this? She's not even cleaning her room?"

Another a heavy sigh from Tenzin. "You see now what I mean. You need to do something, Korra. You need to talk to her." He walked inside towards her wardrobe. "She's probably meditating on top of the tower."

Though it wasn't the only tower on the island anymore, Korra knew the one, the once lone tower on Air Temple Island was very tall. Korra remembered the days when the walk up the spiralling stairs would tire her legs – she's come a long way since then.

"You're going to need this," he said, handing her the glider that had leaned against the wardrobe.

"This is Jinora's. She's wearing her uniform?" Korra asked optimistically.

Jinora hadn't been on an official Air Nation outing for a while. She couldn't reach the top of the tower without either her glider or wingsuit. But both were in her room, as Tenzin had made clear by presenting Jinora's wingsuit to Korra.

"Then… how did she get up there?" she asked.

Tenzin gave a bittersweet smile.

"Oh," Korra realised. "She, uh… she did it, huh?"

Korra couldn't help but compare Jinora to the last spiritual airbender who had freed himself from earthly tethers and achieved flight as a result.

She gave Tenzin a nod and flew out the window.

Tenzin had returned to see Grand Lotus Ranlok disembarking from the Avatar's airship. He was a slightly bigger man, wearing a formal White Lotus suit with blue accents. His hair started from about the top of his head and connected to his thick beard. The hair he had left was long and it was tied back into two white tails that reached the middle of his back. He was looking around for someone and walked to greet him when he spotted him.

"Chairman Tenzin!" he exclaimed. "My old friend, how long has it been?"

"Too long," the Chairman of the Air Nation said, returning his smile. "I believe the Avatar has a couple of hours until she needs to take off for Ba Sing Se?" He caught the attention of one of the servants before the other man could answer. "Tea!" he ordered. "In the courtyard, please."

"Right away." The servant bowed.

The two chatted on their way to the other side of the island until they reached the garden pagoda which they sat inside. The tea arrived earlier than the guest had expected.

"Thank you."

They reminisced for a while. Eventually the topic of conversation had crept its way to current affairs.

"Yeah," said the casually-spoken Grand Lotus. "It's pretty worrying. To think that your great father and Firelord Zuko's legacy could be besmirched like this."

"And by Firelord Zuko's own daughter, no less!" Tenzin said before taking another sip. The relaxing tea did little to calm him down. "Ever since Firelord Zuko's funeral she has been nothing but selfish. I don't know how a country so fixated on honour can endorse such a dishonourable Firelord. You know, I really do believe that Korra has become a fully-fledged Avatar, in every sense of the phrase, I honestly do, but… I think this is too much for even her to resolve."

"Let's just hope that Korra can get those two to sign the new International Law Agreement because with the Republic City Summit so soon… things aren't looking too good. Even with the both of us there to support Korra, it's not like the White Lotus or the Air Nation have much power in this situation, anyway. And King Wu ain't gonna budge from under the Firelord's thumb, that's for sure."

"King Wu." Tenzin scoffed. "You haven't met the King yet have you?"

"It is a Kingdom again?" The waterbender asked facetiously, causing Tenzin to snort.

"You know, I actually thought he'd changed." Tenzin shook his head, disappointed in Wu's recent decisions. "Now he's dancing for the Firelord like a flame in her hand."

"I hear," the white haired man leaned in closer, apparently to disclose some delicate news, although there was no one else around to hear it, "that there's rumours about the Firelord intending to marry him."

"What!?"

"Just rumours," he emphasized. "I mean, why would she wanna do that? It would be considered an act of disrespect toward her late husband."

"Yes, but," Tenzin held the bridge of his nose. "If the rumours are true, it would be the first step towards an official Fire-Earth Alliance." He raised his head. "And who do you think is going to steer that ship?" he asked rhetorically. And then he went quiet. Remorsefully, he said, "But I'm not blameless myself." His guest raised an eyebrow at that. "None of this would have happened had I not declared Air Temple Island independent."

"Nonsense!" the other man declared. "That did nothing to influence the Firelord pulling out of the Republic. Besides, I'm sure your dad would've wanted you to focus on the Air Nation, had he known it would've come back so soon. Realise your dream, Tenzin - make the Central Air Temple out of this island."

His words were often uplifting, Tenzin found, and his company comforting.

They began to talk of more pleasant things...

After some time,

Another servant came to pour more tea. As she went to pour, the waterbender mischievously flicked his finger under the table and the tea had spilled on Tenzin.

"Oh!"

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry, my apologies, Master Tenzin!"

He stood up. "It's fine, really," he said warmly. "Excuse me," he said to his old friend. "I'll have to change."

"Of course," replied the teabender.

The servant watched him walk off and bowed to the guest before doing the same.

He was sitting alone now. He made sure that no one was present before reaching in his pocket for a small bottle of… something. He emptied the bottle into Tenzin's teacup. There were no teaspoons, he would have to stir with his finger. Ugh.

'The only other person who could do it is… is you…' he remembered a young woman say to him. 'But the Red Lotus needs you, you're an important asset, my father's going to want you by his side. Let me do it.'

'You think your father doesn't want you by his side more than me? You think he's gonna want me by his side after I let his daughter sacrifice herself? The answer is No!' His words echoed through his head. 'This is the last I wanna hear about this.'

"Now," Tenzin said as he returned in fresh clothes, "where were we?"

The Earth Kingdom was in complete disarray.

King Wu didn't know if the past five years of constant flip-flopping from monarchy to federation to democracy to monarchy again was due to his advisors' incompetence or if it had been their plan to take advantage of the confusion all along. Wu had little power, he was a puppet to his council and a puppet to the Firelord – and he knew it. The Dai Li was virtually hers. The King's council could have been filled with the Firelord's own children, they favoured her so much. He felt like unbaked clay being played with by a toddler.

"She really has me by the balls here, doesn't she?" Wu asked his tailor who was currently checking the fit of his new suit.

"I-I really wouldn't know-"

"It's okay," he assured him. "You can talk freely. Be honest. Speak your mind. Please."

"Really, I don't think I'm fit to council the Earth King. I'm just a tailor."

"Of course." The King sighed. "Because my council is so trustworthy and reliable. They're really looking out for me, right?"

The tailor crouched down to see how Wu's trousers fit him.

"Well," the humble tailor wagged his head. "If I am to speak freely – with all due respect, she does have you by the balls."

Jinora had been sitting in the lotus position when Korra landed. She retracted the glider and called to Jinora who wasn't wearing Air Nation clothes - she had recently developed a habit of wearing slightly darker colours.

Korra called to her again. No answer. Ugh, is she in the spirit world? The last few years had been so chaotic in the real worl- physical realm that she barely had time to tend to her spirituality.

She looked over at her airship. Got a couple hours. Worth a shot. She shrugged and sat down next to her friend, mimicking her...

After a good amount of time, Korra's attempt at entering the spirit world had been cut short by Jinora's hug. Thank the spirits- I mean, uh…

"Korra," she spoke into Korra's collar. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time. We're not late, are we?"

"No, we have a couple of hours."

"Good. I missed you, Korra."

"I missed you too, Jinora."

Jinora wanted to stay there until they had to leave, but realised she was creasing Korra's formal wear. She returned to herself.

"I'm sorry about Kai," Korra offered.

"Yeah… It was just a matter of time. It was too much for him. I won't act like it wasn't completely my own fault…"

Korra knew Jinora well – probably better than anyone recently – and well enough to know that she wasn't actually that upset about Kai leaving her. She also knew that Jinora hadn't been avoiding her Air Nation duties due to the awkwardness between her and Kai – she wasn't the type of person to let things like that bother her – it was just a good excuse to distance herself.

"I pushed him away. I pushed everyone away."

Just because she wasn't upset didn't mean she wasn't at least regretful. Korra had to change subjects. In these situations, she tried to put a positive spin on things. "But, distancing yourself, it helped you fly, right?" Wow, that was the exact wrong thing to say in this situation, Korra thought. What's wrong with me?

Jinora looked down at her lap again. Jinora had become the third person in history to achieve flight and with a single comment, Korra had turned her amazing ability into a tool to judge her by, if she wasn't already judging herself, the self-aware person she was.

"By letting go of my earthly tethers, right?" she said quietly, barely audible through the wind. "It's not what I wanted, but, you take what you're given. Now I'm like him."

"No, no, Jinora, you're not," she assured, hugging her again.

"I think about him all the time," Jinora admitted. "I'm still afraid of him. He almost… he almost…" He almost killed you, she wanted to say, unable to utter the words. "I don't know what I would've done."

"It's okay." Korra reassured her, stroking her hair. "He's gone. He's never coming back. He won't hurt anyone else ever again."

After a long silence, Jinora broke it.

"You know why Kai left me?"

Korra wanted to shake her head, but Jinora's was right under it, so she muttered, "No."

"It's because I didn't feel anything when I was with him. It's like I'm just… empty inside. I feel so hollow and… shallow and… I can't do anything about it. It's not just Kai, it's… it's everyone. I don't feel anything when I'm with them and I can't keep pretending like I do, I can't keep lying, I can't keep up this… act so I just… I just push them away." Korra's grip on her tightened even further. "It's like this with everyone," Jinora continued. "Everyone except for you."

Korra could relate to a degree. Anyone who wasn't Asami or Jinora failed to make her feel any real feelings of affection anymore, but at least it wasn't crippling. "I'm not gonna pretend like I know what you're going through, Jinora. But you have to listen to your Dad. I know it's hard. I know it is, but, the Air Nation relies on you. Your work will set the foundations for your people for centuries, Jinora. You might be the most important leader in Air Nomad history. Do you know that?"

Jinora sniffed. "Mhm."

"Good. You're strong Jinora, really," she half giggled. "You saved the Avatar twice! There's nothing you can't do. Honestly."

Jinora wiped her eyes. "Thanks, Korra."

"Now," Korra pushed her away but held onto her shoulders. "What do you wanna wear? You weren't planning on wearing your emo clothes were you?"

. . .

Jinora had an idea mid-flight. "Hey," she nudged Korra. "Watch this."

She got up and walked near the front of the airship. Without assuming a proper stance, she brought her hands out in front of her and flexed the muscles in her fingers and nothing else. The ship began building speed, faster and faster until it doubled- no, tripled in speed.

"Hey!" called one of the pilots. "What's going on?" He turned around to see Jinora's smug face.

Korra was amazed. "I didn't know you could do that." She walked around Jinora with her arms crossed, examining her body to see if her calm demeanour was a bluff or if it really was this easy for her. "How long can you keep this up for?"

Jinora shrugged. "I'd say I could keep this up until we reach Ba Sing Se."

"No way!"

"I could but," Jinora put her arms down and the airship returned to its usual speed. "It's not like we're in any rush or anything." Jinora returned to her seat.

Korra rolled her eyes and followed her.

Grand Lotus Ranlok opted to set himself and his guards outside. King Wu had decided not to hold the meeting in the main hall, instead favouring a smaller room more suited for discreet discussions. The King sat next to the Firelord, standing behind them were their advisors, two each. Korra sat opposite them, Jinora stood behind her. And taking centre-stage on the table – the new International Law Agreement amendments, waiting, optimistically, to be signed.

The meeting lasted longer than Jinora had anticipated, but she didn't get bored, she was invested. Eventually the discussion reared its ugly head toward the Republic's unpaid debt to the Fire Nation.

"The Fire Nation has invested too much of its treasury into the Republic of Nations with little return. We'll take back what we're owed, one way or another," declared Firelord Izumi. "My father gave your predecessor everything he asked for, even long after Avatar Aang's death, my father continued to contribute to the Republic of Nations without any recompense. He even gave you his own grandson! My son! For what? As far as I'm concerned it's a blemish on his record! He's the Crown Prince!" The Firelord inhaled and exhaled. "But… in honour of my father's friendship with you in your past life, I am willing to let those many years of mistreatment slide if suitable compensations are arranged. But it is of my understanding that your democracy fails to put anything worthwhile on the table."

"Oh, our democracy?" Korra picked up on, spreading her fingers out on her chest, exaggerating her surprise as the Firelord's palm met her face in regret. "Is that the issue here? Our democracy? And how long has the Earth Kingdom been transitioning towards a democratic government?" She motioned towards the King.

Jinora noticed Korra's eagerness to jump at the chance to change subjects – and change targets for that matter as she directed her harsh but truthful words towards the weak King Wu, having been fighting an uphill battle against the well-practiced Firelord. Smart.

After one of his advisers had bent down to whisper something in his ear, Wu came out with, "There's many things to consider. It's a matter that must be handled delicately and-"

"Okay, let's just cut the lies, alright?" Korra interrupted. "The Earth Kingdom - or 'United Earth States' or 'Democratic Earth Republic' or whatever you're calling yourselves this week – could instate a democracy overnight! If this was last year I'd be talking to President Lee right now instead of you! You stay in this- this suspended state between monarchy and democracy to take the form of whatever government suits your needs at the time! You think we haven't wised up to that? As the Avatar, I've… I've let this go on for too long. Both of you."

The Firelord leaned forward in a challenging demeanour. "Be explicit with your words, Avatar. What. Exactly. Are you saying?"

Korra had gotten too heated. The Avatar was not to make any demands outright, this was a negotiation – Jinora knew that much, had Korra forgotten it in her rage? Jinora had to say something, she had to do something, she had to calm her down somehow. She went to put her hand on Korra's shoulder but before she could, the Avatar had stood up.

"I'm saying…" She loomed over the table, sliding the papers towards the pair before slamming her finger down onto them. "Your Avatar demands you to sign the agreement!"

Korra looked into the golden eyes of the Firelord, the only one who really held any power at all in this room, probably the entire world.

Firelord Izumi glanced down at the papers and back to Korra. She was collected throughout. "And if we don't?"

Going to war with the Fire Nation, what a laughable outcome that would be. She was looking at the mother of the one who led the United Forces, for crying out loud.

"Wu?" Korra, turned to him, almost pleading.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

Korra straightened her back and straightened her clothes, still glaring at Wu. "You call yourself a King? You're just a puppet." The last word had to fight its way through her teeth.

"This meeting is over." The Firelord stated loudly, standing up.

"And you," Korra directed her rage towards the most powerful person in the world. "Your father would be ashamed!" she spat, being lead out by Jinora. "And your grandfather would be proud!"

Izumi frowned at the words, even further than she had been. "Hmph."

. . .

Korra walked onto the airship and sat down with her head in her hands. Jinora sat and rubbed her back.

"It's like I turned back into my seventeen-year-old self again. I don't know what I was doing."

"Well, you've had a stressful… few years actually."

Korra came up and met Jinora's eyes. "I'm sorry. This was a mistake. I was supposed to be teaching you how to negotiate, not how to blow apart deals."

"Well, it's not like I didn't learn anything. I learned that pro bending isn't the most corrupt thing in the world."

"Tell me about it. I have no idea what to do." Her head fell again.

"Well, if worse comes to worst, we can always just move to the Fire Nation, looks like they're living it up over there."

Korra was annoyed that Jinora had managed to make her crack a smile in her current mood and punched her.

"Ow!"

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO - 167 AG

Princess Izumi entered the Firelord's office. He had his back turned, taking in the view of his great Nation. Izumi set down the pen and paper on his desk. "Father, just sign this and it'll be done."

Firelord Zuko took a while to turn around. When he did, he fixed his gaze onto his daughter and leaned his weight on the desk with his fists. Even at his age and height, he had the intimidating stature of a dragon. He finally broke eye contact and looked down at the paper, his eyes darting left and right before meeting Izumi's again.

"You set the coronation for next month." He said without emotion.

Was it a question?

"Yes."

He leaned slightly further, still trying to look inside of her mind through her eyes, still donning a blank expression.

Firelord Zuko had wanted to be different from his father and his father's father and had been working towards balance in the world, not just his nation. He felt that he, like the Avatar, held great power, which made him responsible for all the citizens of the world. This feeling of responsibility only grew with Aang's death.

Firelord Izumi, however, would be different – she would serve her people first and foremost – and she wasn't shy to let everyone know - her father, her son, the fire sages, the extended royal family, friends of the royal family, the common folk. At least she was honest about how she would rule, she didn't need to hide her aims, after all, her views were shared amongst most of the country. It was her father that was part of the minority. She needed not to worry, the crown would surely fall into her lap eventually. Next month, in fact.

The staring contest continued until the Firelord inhaled deeply - Izumi didn't know if her father would exhale air or fire. Luckily it was the former. He snatched the pen and signed the paper, throwing the pen down on the desk after he was done.

Izumi took the paper and bowed as she left.

.

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

.

Thank you for reading