Day 4 – Frozen
"Mommy I'm cold!" Korra held in a laugh. The little girl currently riding on Korra's back looked a lot like Korra. She smiled like Korra, dressed like Korra, and even bent like Korra. But her personality, especially a tendency to whine, was just like her father.
"Arka" Korra warned. Her daughter bounced impatiently. Korra couldn't help but smile at that one, keeping up her pace through the snow. Although Naga was getting on in years, the wolf bear dutifully accompanied Korra through the snow.
"Why couldn't we go with Uncle Tenzin and daddy and Nilak?" Korra made sure to bounce her daughter as she walked. When she was even younger Arka would giggle every time her mother jostled her. Now, she just seemed upset.
"Mommy stop! I want to go on a flying bison like daddy. The South Pole is cold. I want to go home." Korra did stop. She could sense Arka's frustration. Sighing, she let the little girl down, and then plopped unceremoniously into the snow. Arka was quick to follow her, burying her face into the fur lining Korra's outer coat. Sure enough, a few tears followed.
"I just want to go home mommy." Korra could barely hear her, Arka's voice was so muffled. She wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"Arka you are home. Republic City is where we live because of your dad's duties to the city. And you know I have duties to all four nations. But we're water tribe, it's in our blood. This is your home Arka. Don't you feel it? You're in your element here." Arka leaned back, sniffling.
"Nilak said it would be fun. He wanted to walk with you. I don't like it." Korra sighed. It was true. The first time their family had visited the Southern Water Tribe, Nilak had made the trek with his dad. By the time Korra had arrived, he was bursting with exciting stories to tell of what he'd already seen and how he felt. Indeed, Korra always felt happier once everything disappeared and gave way to snow. Still, Arka was always more hesitant than Korra, a bit less willing to try new things.
"Don't worry Arka, you'll love it here." By the time they arrived at their home within the Southern tribe, Arka's hesitance had given way to boredom. Much to Korra's surprise, the boredom did not give way easily to excitement.
Arka didn't want to do anything. The four year old didn't want to play with the polar bear wolf pups that someone had recently rescued. She didn't want to meet the other little Southern Water Tribe children. She didn't want to play with her grandmom and granddad, or even Nanny, her affectionate name for her dad's mom. She didn't want to go penguin sledding or even fish with her dad. But most troubling to Korra, Arka didn't want to bend.
Admittedly it wasn't like the four year old was capable of huge feats of bending. But while Nilak split his time evenly between training with the Southern Water Tribe Warriors and the children around his age that were benders, Arka would only do things with much prompting. The first few nights she'd gone as far as packing up her little backpack and standing by the door refusing to move until they went home. Korra was at her wits end with guilt and panic. It was that, more than anything else, that made her turn to her husband.
"Tarrlok it's not normal!" She spoke lowly, as both Arka and Nilak were in in bed in another room.
"It's a strange environment for her Korra. The last time we came here Nilak was her age and she was just a year old. We don't all rush into new things."
"But this is her home. It doesn't bother you that she doesn't even connect to this place as a bender?" Tarrlok sighed. Without warning, he reached over and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her into his lap.
"How do we know if she's connected as a bender? Yes, mini-me took to it right away, but Nilak is an exceptional talent. He gets that from me. And that instinctiveness, that immediate passion for it is all you. Maybe Arka won't just jump into this but so what? Even you haven't liked everything that was good for you right away. Remember how much you hated air bending at first? Remember how much you hated me? I suppose we're all just lucky you wanted to be the avatar or even now you might be telling us you could only bend water!" Korra accepted the teasing, leaning in for a kiss.
"You're still worried." Tarrlok sighed, pulling back and surveying his wife.
"Maybe we need to go to the Northern Tribe? Not necessarily exactly where you're from but, she's just, she looks like me but she thinks like you. Maybe that's why?" Korra sighed. She watched as Tarrlok stood, but she didn't realize what he was doing until he'd already returned with a sleepy Arka in his arms.
"Tarrlok what are you doing?" He waved her off. Korra watched, amused and concerned, as he dressed the little girl in her snow gear. He did the same to himself and the two of them set out.
"Tarrlok!" Korra called after him. He turned, and she was surprised to see his giant grin.
"We'll be fine Korra. Go to bed. I've got her." Korra sighed. She didn't understand what Tarrlok was trying to accomplish, but nothing she'd tried to get Arka to do had worked.
The next morning, Arka seemed visibly happier. Neither Tarrlok nor Arka would tell Korra or Nilak about their adventure, but Arka was beaming. She consented to play with her grandparents, and even went to a healing lesson with the other little girls her age. That night, she eagerly bundled up, and Tarrlok and Arka set out once again.
The pattern continued for days, the two being just as secretive. During the day Arka was excited to do everything she had once scorned, but she refused to tell her mother what was happening.
Then, one night, instead of bundling up Arka hopped into bed with her mom.
"Mommy get ready!" Arka demanded. Korra sighed, but complied. In the other room Nilak had gotten a similar treatment. Korra and Nilak dutifully joined their family, and the four of them set out in the cold.
"Where are we going dad?" Nilak asked. He was clutching Korra's hand, which amused her to no end. Nilak was normally the bravest of her children, always wanting to set out on his own. Evidently, he felt just as at odds as she did.
"Shh!" Arka ordered. Now she was the one running ahead, glancing behind her every once in a while to make sure her family was following. Together, they walked about two miles. They got away from everything, until there was nothing but snow. The sky was black, nothing visible but the moon. Korra knew when they'd neared their destination. Arka ran back to her mom, tugging her forward.
"Mommy look." At first Korra couldn't believe her eyes. There in front of her, were four crystalline figures. The largest one had broad shoulders and thick hair. The second largest was beaming, her ice eyes glistening. The third largest had his arms crossed, trying to look serious. The smallest was between the two largest, holding one of each of their hands.
"It's us. Daddy helped me make it. I bended it. I did it!" Korra was only half listening. There, in ice, her family was immortalized. She reached out for Tarrlok, pulling him closer to her.
"Mommy, they're never gonna melt because the South Pole was made for water benders. They'll be here forever." Without thinking about it, Korra reached up and kissed her husband. They pulled each other closer, knowing that their children would be distracted.
"I love you." Korra breathed, the second they broke apart. In that moment, the two of them felt like they were in a spell.
"Mommy, what's it feel like to be frozen?" Spell broken.