Jiji was gone.

Honjo hunched over his school desk, trying his best to ignore the empty spot beside him as he drew in the margins of his workbook. He was smart enough not to ask questions, but that didn't stop him from chewing on the end of his pencil anxiously. What the hell happened, Jiji? Where did you go? And why didn't you take me with you?

Not that he wanted to get involved with that kind of violence. But three days of history lectures without someone to mess around with were starting to wear him down, and he could bet on his lucky jade that Jiji would be having adventures. Not the way I'd do it. But they got out. It was interesting that no-one had even mentioned Qí. After all, she must have done most of the damage. He doubted Jiji could lift a train, and anyone looking out the east side of a tower window that morning could see the wreck of the locomotive out at the docks. There were rumours flying left, right and centre, fanatical stories of dark spirits and explosions and fire nation terrorists… I just want to know why, honestly. Adventures set aside, Jiji had it all- a top-class bending Sifu, the fancy house on the hill, he was the son of the Great Uniter herself, for Guanyin's sake! Why the hell would he run? What could possibly have driven him to that level of insanity?-

"Honjo! Pay attention!"

Ugh. "Apologies, Sifu Horikoshi." The grey-haired teacher considered him for a few moments before turning back to the board and marking きろ ほんじょ in the corner. "See me after class, Master Kiro."

Honjo grumbled under his breath and went back to his math, running through a set of calculations for a machine he was drawing. Who even cares about history class, anyway? All these people are dead. The future is much more interesting.

He eyed the smooth silver lines he'd sketched. Very interesting indeed.

It felt too early to be awake. Asami opened her eyes slowly and felt the breeze on her cheek, finding herself surrounded by tall, swaying moonflowers as tall as her chest. The sky was still dark, but as unfamiliar as this place was, she felt safe; everything was touched gently by the light of the moon, shining like polished silver, leaving her feeling light and warm amidst the weightless white flowers. The summery air folded around her like cozy origami, enveloping her and drawing her out into the field. She felt very short for some reason, but far happier than she'd been in a very long time, reaching out her fingers to touch the moonflowers and blinking with surprise when they began to glow. They're so pretty!

" 'sami!"

She looked around to see a small, grinning figure running towards her through the field, leaving a trail of light behind her familiar face. "Korra!" She barely got a second to react before she was barreling into her, tiny arms reaching around her, barely managing- wait. Asami pulled back suddenly, staring at her hands and squeaking with alarm, "I'm tiny!"

Korra giggled, the moonflowers gleaming like lanterns. "We both are, silly! Look!" She held out her arms, her tiny belly poking out from under her shirt. She looked barely four, chubby-cheeked and grinning mischieviously.

This is a dream. It has to be. A harsh voice spoke from the back of her head, ripping her down from her elation. She felt cold. "You're dead."

The grin faded from Korra's face as she dropped her arms down again, shifting her foot in the grass, "Kinda, yeah."

"No." Dream or not, she doesn't get away with this. "Not 'kinda'. You're dead, Korra. You are." Her chest hurt, and the moonflowers were turning dark again.

Korra was shaking her head. "Not here I'm not. This is the spirit world, 'sami. I'm a spirit."

"Huh?"

It made sense, in a way. But she didn't care. "You're dead! You're dead!" She stomped her foot, feeling waves building up in her chest like a tsunami. "You're not a spirit! You're dead!" She curled up in the grass, the tsunami surging up her throat and threatening to spill out her eyes. "You've been dead so long."

Korra hesitated, moving over cautiously before kneeling down beside her, " 't's okay, 'sami. I'm here now."

The tsunami hit, crashing over as Asami launched herself at her, grabbing and pulling at her hair, "You left me behind!"

"Ow, ow! Asami, you're hurting me!"

"You h-hurt me for eleven years!"

Another voice joined the fray, and suddenly careful hands were scooping each of them up, holding them apart. "Children, children, what is all this noise? It does no good to fight like this between friends."

Korra looked up at the old man gratefully, rubbing her head, " 'sami pulled my hair."

"You died!"

Iroh smiled good-naturedly, letting Korra climb up to sit on his shoulders and holding Asami gently. "It seems you two have a lot to discuss, but perhaps it is best done somewhere you won't crush the moonflowers, hmm? Let's go talk this through over a nice cup of tea."

Asami wiped her running nose on her sleeve, nodding silently as Iroh ambled off through the flowers. He felt warm, and cozy, like Dad before- before all the bad stuff happened.

Iroh carried them both overs the hills to his tea shop, Korra's legs swinging against his shoulders; his long, swaying gait lulled Asami into a fragile calm as he padded through the grass. The tea shop glowed with gentle gold light, hung with lanterns and chimes that filled the air with lightness, like the smell of applecherry blossoms. He set them down on the steps lightly, cracking his back absently as he straightened up, "What kind of tea would you like, Asami?"

"Ginseng, please."

His eyes crinkled at the edges and he winked at Korra, "She's a wise one. Good choice. Go in and find a table." He moved off towards the kitchens, humming cheerily to himself.

Asami bowed and removed her shoes, moving inside quietly and blinking with astonishment at the plethora of guests seated throughout the teashop. "Well don't stare." Korra trundled in behind her, little brown toes wiggling on the tatami floor as she pulled on a pair of slippers. "They're only spirits."

Spirits, indeed.

It was a surreal panorama, filled with solidified hallucinations much larger than life; by the window, a slender shadow-figure with stark white antlers, deep in negotiation with a formless swarm of crimson wasps; a tiny conference of brightly-coloured nymphs arguing over tiny cups of tea; a large round man sat at a table near the counter, dressed resplendently in deep emerald greens and gold, his tea poured by a fox that watched him with a glint of cunning in its eye. In the corner by itself, a large golden tiger reclined; its tail swayed hypnotically, hissing with jaded snake's eyes set above a pair of wicked fangs. These aren't like the spirits of Republic City, like any spirits I've seen in the human world.

"Here, 'sami." Korra passed her a pair of slippers before padding over to a table by the far window, kneeling down and looking after her expectantly.

The eyes of the room seemed to follow her as she pushed her feet into the slippers and moved over to Korra, the hairs on the nape of her neck standing on end. She sat down opposite Korra, looking at the strangely commonplace tea set on the table- it seemed normal, almost too normal, in the midst of all these spooky figures.

"Why are they staring?"

Korra seemed unfazed, holding out a menu for her to read, "You're not a proper spirit. You're a dream walker."

She took it absently, not really concentrating on the words, "So this is a dream?"

"More like a guided meditation." The teacups rattled a little as Iroh sat the tray down on the table gently, silk robes whispering over the floor as he sat down, "Deep sleep allows us to guide you here."

"So... what am doing here, Uncle? I've never been to the spirit world before."

He shook his head, letting the tea steep, "It is not my place to say. I feel that it would be best Korra explained to you."

"Oh yeah! 'Sami, you're not going to believe it! The new Avatar's a boy!"

"But Avatar Aang was a boy."

Korra grinned mischieviously, "No dumb dumb, I meant, he's an Earth Kingdom Avatar. A boy one. We set it up to trick Kuvira."

"Who's we? How did you do that?" She paused, looking at her hands, wide-eyed, "Why am I tiny?!"

Iroh chuckled and poured them each a cup of tea once it was brewed, "Children believe much more easily, Miss Sato. It's simpler to suspend your disbelief at this conversation if you are seeing it through a child's eyes. Makes it easier to tether you to this world, for a time."

She stared at him for a few moments, "I have no idea what you're saying."

" 'Sami, stop being silly. Uncle just told you. You're clever, I mean who else would've created those big machine bird things? You gotta understand."

"In dreams, our spirits float like balloons. When we are awake, they are tethered to the human world like one would tie it to a tree; just as you are tied here, now. You do not belong in this world, so you cannot stay here long; or you will be lost to the great wind. But for now, the storm is calmed, and we must take advantage of this opportunity."

Asami sipped her tea quietly, wincing when she burnt her tongue, "Ow! This tea is too hot, Uncle."

"That's 'cause it's tea, silly." Korra stuck her tongue out. "Anyway, me 'n the earth spirits made the new Avatar a boy so Kuvira won't find him."

"Did it work?"

She giggled, "She adopted him! She doesn't know he's the Avatar."

"Korra! She'll kill him! She killed you!" Tears started to well up in her eyes again. "And Mako. And Bolin. And Tenzin. You're all dead!"

Scrambling around the table to her, Korra cupped her hands around her cheeks. "I'm sorry! Please stop crying!" She squeezed her tightly, hugging her face, "They're all ok. It's kinda hard to explain where they are, but they miss you; I miss you. And Pema, and Lin, and Zhu Li and Varrick. All of you."

Asami sniffled a little, "I miss you too."

Then Korra was at face height again, kneeling beside her, "I know you're sad. But we need your help. I have something important to tell you, really really important."

She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, nose running with snot, "Wha'?"

Iroh sipped his tea quietly, "Jianyu's headed to Kyoshi, to the White Lotus."

"So you lot need t' meet him there. He needs your help."

"How do I get there?"

"I believe my nephew can help. He does what is right in his heart, and I believe this is no different." He sat his teacup down, "I believe this will have to be enough talking for today. But you must make it to Kyoshi Island as soon as you can."

"I'll do my best, Uncle." She moved to pick up her own cup and blinked as her hand passed straight through it, starting to panic, "Why am I disappearing?!"

"You're starting to wake up. But don't worry, Uncle and I are watching over you all. We'll be with you every step of the way." She paused and smiled, "I'll see you again soon."

Everything went white.

The morning fog felt like a dream. Pema curled around her mug of tea as she watched the sun slowly turn the air candescent, lifting the mist up from the echoing depths of the canyon. She was alright, really; it had been a long time since she had last woken up choking, the sound of a city burning down crashing in her ears. The night patrollers were coming in and changing with the dawn crews, moving to change out of their dirty clothes. They'd need breakfast, and she'd go and help the acolytes in the kitchen soon enough, but early in the morning she just enjoyed having a quiet moment to herself.

...or not. She sighed inwardly as she heard footsteps approaching. There wasn't any reason for someone to be in the hanging gardens but to be looking for her. She loved the Western Air Temple and all, but it was so hard to find a quiet spot to herself; especially with the remaining members of the Air Nation zooming around on their gliders all day.

"I brought you more tea."

Ah, Lin. The former police chief had never quite shaken the habit of rising early, despite the loose schedule in the temple. She shifted over in her seat to make room for her, holding out her cup, "Thank you."

Lin refilled her cup before pouring her own, setting the kettle down on the stone floor and sitting beside her. Pema didn't question why she was down here. She was pretty reserved nowadays, when she wasn't training new recruits or directing retrieval missions for escaping deserters. They hadn't talked much before Republic City went up in flames, but all of the leftover bitterness from relationship spats was behind them, now; the silence they kept towards each other here was more out of mutual understanding, of having no words of comfort that hadn't already been said. Lin wasn't one for dragging up painful memories, and she was glad of that.

I still have Rohan. More than can be said for Lin.

The Air Nation was in tatters, true, but it still clung on by the fingertips. The White Lotus had given them the bending scrolls from their archives; though no substitute for a master, it kept the airbenders they had on their toes. There were still plenty of air acolytes who'd evacuated Air Temple Island that day, who helped keep the culture alive, and the temple maintained. She still had her son, and her adoptive nation. Lin hadn't been so lucky. The only other Beifong who hadn't been in the destroyed factory was Toph, and no-one had seen her in years; presumed dead, or captured. She'd been living in Earth Empire territory, after all, and it was highly unlikely that Kuvira would let her sit as an idle threat. So Lin was the last Beifong, and an enemy of her native country. It had been a cruel irony to swallow, remembering the sacrifice she had made years ago defending Pema's family against Amon. Impossible to return the favour, now.

They'd both lost enough to last them a few lifetimes.

She felt a weight settling on her shoulders and shrugged it off, sipping her tea. All things are transient, like the wind. No point worrying about the past unless it will help you change the future.

"Do you want some help in the kitchen?"

She shrugged, "Most of it was done last night, but you can help serve up if you want. The night crew is less likely to argue if you're there."

A snort answered. "They shouldn't argue if they're being fed."

"Maybe not, but they're tired and stressed."

"Aren't we all, nowadays."

She nodded quietly and sipped her tea as Lin fell back into silence. The fog cleared enough to see the sky above the lip of the canyon, scattered clouds like freckles lit up in glowing oranges and pinks. It was going to be a lovely day.

A/N:

Lou: We've taken a bit of a break from Jiji this chapter to catch up with some of the others :) Yes, Rohan is an airbender in this fic, following Katara's intuition. Pema has a handful looking after the Air Nation. Some of the new Air Nation who were turned into air benders after Harmonic Convergence survived the battle of Republic City, so hope is not all lost for air bending. And a new master might come from a surprising place.

There will be more of Honjo as well. All of the players are starting to take their places.

Pat: Sorry for the uploading delay, school's started back up for me so I've been very busy! See you all next week.
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