Daiyu breathed in the salty sea air as the ferry cruised through the bay towards Air Temple Island. She held a white box of bread and other treats securely, careful not to drop it as she leant against the deck's railing.
The weather was agreeable, so she left her favourite coat at home in favour of just wearing her usual sleeveless crop top; beige in colour, with green piping along the cheongsam collar, and a gentle panda lily was embroidered on the front right of the shirt. She completed the look with a pair of high waist cargo pants and sturdy leather boots. Her pants had several pockets which held tools and supplies ranging from bandages to throwing knives. Daiyu prided herself on making her outfits both stylish (the kind of stylish that at times was a little risqué for Republic City) and functional.
The wind blew a few strands of hair out of her slick high ponytail as the ferry docked at the island. She raced over to be the first off and was met by a familiar face.
"Hello Miss Beifong," Han, an older air acolyte, greeted. "Here to visit the children?"
Daiyu rolled her eyes. Han always asked her this question with a tone of hope whenever he was on welcoming duty. As if he wanted her to say more. As if he expected more from her. Just like every other acolyte on the island.
It might be petty because she did it partly out of spite, but Daiyu wanted to make sure their expectations of her, whatever they were, were never met. She knew she did not need to meet them. They did not deserve more from her.
The teen ignored the feeling to speak her mind and pressed on. She shook her head in reply to the older man's question. "Yes, but not entirely."
Han's eyes brightened.
"My mother said the Avatar's on the island." Daiyu looked at the island over Han's shoulder, avoiding his eyes. "I wanted to meet her, but I assume she might be busy?"
Han's hopeful attitude deflated. "Err, yes. Avatar Korra is engaged in her first air bending lesson with Master Tenzin, and the children are with them as well."
"They'll be at the air gates then? Here," Daiyu shoved the bakery box into the acolyte's torso, nearly laughing as he immediately threw his arms out to catch the box. "Makes sure this gets to Pema? It's for the kids." And she began to walk away.
Han looked at the teen and box before calling out. "But!—"
"Thanks, Han!" Daiyu waved back, before taking off at a faster pace, no longer in the mood to deal with any more acolytes.
She navigated the island with ease, stiffly bowing to every acolyte that greeted her before she found herself at the steps that lead to the air gates.
But no one was there.
That was not too odd. Perhaps Tenzin had taken the Avatar and the children to the meditation pavilion or had taken a break. Either way, if this was the Avatar's first lesson in air bending, then it would not be long before they returned.
Seating herself at the top step, Daiyu relaxed. Air Temple Island may not have been her favourite place in the world, but it was a great getaway from the smog and congestion of the city. Despite that, she had always preferred the city, where a million things were happening all at once but it still ran day-to-day like a well-oiled machine. The island had many wonderful qualities, but the place as a whole was too tranquil. Too still.
One of the island's best and least tranquil qualities ran up behind her and interrupted her thoughts.
Turning quickly, Daiyu caught the blur of orange and yellow that zoomed towards her. A warm feeling erupted in her chest as she felt a pair of little arms wrap tightly around her shoulders and a face bury into her neck.
"Dee-Dee-Dee!" The little boy chanted before pulling back to face the teen, an angry pout on his face. "Dee! Where've you been? You've been gone for ages."
"I wouldn't say I've been gone for ages, but it has been a while huh?" Daiyu sighed and knocked her forehead lightly against his. "I'm sorry Meelo."
Meelo, her little tornado, nodded his head furiously. "You better be! But I forgive you."
"Stop hogging Dee!" Another voice exclaimed. Ikki raced over to them, squirming her way into Daiyu's arms to be apart of the embrace with Jinora close behind.
"Whoa! There's plenty of me to go around." Daiyu laughed, freeing an arm to wrap it around Ikki. "How are you Ikki?"
"I'm good!"
"And the bison?"
"They're good too! Accept Ylang-ylang, she accidentally bit on a thorny bush and now her tongue is sore."
"Poor Ylang-ylang."
"Wow Dee, you've got new tattoos," Jinora said excitedly, pointing at the teen's arms. Ikki and Meelo 'ooh'ed as Daiyu presented her upper arms to them. Since she had finished her back, she decided the next place to cover in tattoos would be her arms. On her right shoulder was a full moon in a thin, black line work style and on her left shoulder was the sun tattooed in the same way. The new tattoos were located underneath, and they contrasted greatly by being in solid colour.
Underneath the sun was a red dragon that coiled around her bicep and took up the rest of her upper arm. Its head laid directly under the sun tattoo, bright yellow eyes glaring menacingly outward. Beneath the moon were two black and white koi fish that represented Tui and La, circling each other around her arm as they did in the oasis in which they dwelled.
"Cool tats." A voice called.
Daiyu took her attention away from the kids to look up, and grey eyes met cerulean blue.
I'm not passive but aggressive
Take note, it's not impressive
With a frustrated sigh, Korra followed Tenzin and the children back to the air bending contraption. After she failed the first session, Tenzin let her take a break and suggested they go to try once more before they ended training for the day. She feared her training would become a cycle of try, fail, repeat for the next few days, if not forever.
The atmosphere around her and Tenzin was tense, it was obvious they were not on the same page when it came to training. The kids were oblivious to the tense atmosphere as they skipped along ahead of them. But they all stopped when Meelo stilled, eyes becoming wide.
"DEE!" Meelo yelled excitedly and rushed towards the air gates at full speed. The girls let out their own gasps and squeals as they formed air scooters and zoomed away, eager to get to catch up their brother.
"Dee?" Korra asked aloud and turned to her teacher, who had become slightly nervous for some reason.
"She's . . . a friend of the family." This was all Tenzin said before heading down to where his children were. Korra stayed behind for a moment. She had never seen Tenzin act that way.
She caught up to him and found the children crowded around a young woman seated on the steps opposite the air gates. They were all poking at her arms, which depicted some very interesting tattoos.
Korra caught a close look at the coloured tattoos, which were both some of the most detailed markings she had ever seen.
"Cool tats."
The girl looked up, her familiar grey eyes seemed to analyse her before a half-smile graced her pretty face. "Thanks, they just healed last week."
The girl stood and approached, with Ikki and Jinora grabbing onto her hands and Meelo attaching himself to her leg. She was around Korra's age and was quite tall, closer to Tenzin's height than hers. Her limbs reminded her of the branches of the willow trees she once read about, thin and graceful. Her grey eyes were round and intelligent, lined with heavy kohl. She had an air of experience about her, like she was one of those mysterious older teens you would either want to be friends with or avoid them because they had a crazy reputation.
"The guy who did them used a new set of needles developed for blending colour and shading." The tall girl explained, smiling down at the children who insisted on hanging off her. "I couldn't decide what to get, a dragon or the koi, so I got both. Which do you prefer?"
The children shouted their answers, and Korra used this time to stall hers. The Avatar felt that, though simple and opinion based, this was not a question she wanted to answer incorrectly.
Korra pointed to the girl's right arm. "As awesome as dragons are, I like the koi better."
"Because you have a stronger connection to them, makes sense." The teen grinned. "It's nice to finally meet you, Avatar Korra, my name's Daiyu."
"And we're the only ones allowed to call her Dee," Meelo announced proudly and received a head rub from Daiyu.
Korra bowed. "It's nice to meet you too."
Tenzin, who had not spoken the entire time, cleared his throat. "Erm, yes. It has been too long since we've seen you, Daiyu."
Korra finally took notice that Daiyu's presence was making Tenzin uncomfortable, but the other teen either did not notice or did not care. That raised a few red flags.
Daiyu's smile softened. "I know, I wanted to swing by and spend some time with these three darlings, plus my mother told me the Avatar would be staying here—I thought I'd come say hello."
Korra tilted her head in confusion. "Your mother?"
"Yes, you've met her actually," Daiyu added, and suddenly the Avatar felt like she was on trial. "She interrogated you after you destroyed all that property on your first day here."
Korra's body straightened up in surprise. "You're Chief Beifong's daughter?"
Daiyu relished her reaction, her half-smile turning into a full-blown smirk. "You know, you were only in the city for a couple of hours and you managed to get on the Chief's bad side just like that! That has to be a new record of some kind."
The Avatar huffed, her opinion of the Police Chief's daughter doing a complete 180o. "Yeah, well—! Your mother's a piece of work."
Tenzin snapped at her. "Korra!"
"Wow, I've never heard that one before," Daiyu said sarcastically with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.
Tenzin cleared his throat, looking between the two girls who now glared at each other. "Now now, I believe we should return to the matter at hand."
"Korra's trying to learn how to move like an Airbender." Jinora supplied.
Ikki kept tugging at the older teen's hands. "But she keeps getting tossed around by the air gates."
Meelo started wiggling. "She hasn't learned to be the leaf!"
"Well, of course, she hasn't; it's only her first lesson, right?" Daiyu asked and the kids nodded. "It took Jinora a while to learn too, but she did. Of course, she has a natural finesse that Avatar Korra seems to lack, but all it takes is time. Before you know it, it's easy as pie."
Said Avatar's jaw clenched. What was with that dismissive tone Daiyu used when she was referring to her? Why was this girl trying to get a rise out of her? Korra should have expected it, this was Beifong's daughter, and as they say—the apple did not fall too far from the tree. "Easy as pie? Maybe you should show me how it's done then if it's so easy."
"I said it becomes easier over time, but if you need a demonstration to better grasp what you need to put into practice, I'd be happy to supply one." Daiyu looked smug as she stepped away from the children but tugged Jinora along with her towards the gates. "'Nora, if you wouldn't mind."
Jinora settled into a low stance before sending a gush of wind towards the gates, causing them to spin at a high speed.
Korra watched as Daiyu took a stance of her own. One leg stretched out, her foot formed a point and with an arm raised above her head, Daiyu spoke again without turning to face her.
"Watch and learn, Avatar." And with that, she twirled into the spinning gates.
Korra watched on in shock as the teen made her through as if it was nothing. She only managed to catch glimpses of Daiyu, but each time it looked as if she was dancing. Her movements effortless and as free as the wind. In no time at all Daiyu made her way out and rounded the gates to the cheers of children.
"Come, kids, I think it would be best if we left your father and Avatar Korra alone to focus on her training." Daiyu stared her down, and Korra wished she could punch that smirk off her face. "It looks like she still has a lot to learn."
The kids ran over to the tall teen and Tenzin opened his mouth, about to protest, but in the end said nothing. As the four walked away, Daiyu called back.
"I'll see you later Avatar Korra," There was laughter in her voice. "I'm not done with you yet."
When they were barely in sight, Korra whipped around to face Tenzin. "What the heck is her problem?"
Tenzin did not reply, but his eyes held a faraway look as he stared after his children and the family friend they were so enamoured with.
Song: The Kids Aren't Alright | Fall Out Boy