Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor do I own any part of Legend of Korra.

I do not make any money from my writing here; I just want to share my ideas and my writings.

The "new characters" I have created have come completely from my own ideas; any resemblance to other characters created by other authors is purely coincidence.


"What do you want me to do?" asked Tarrson, still trying to wrap his head around what Aang had told him.

"You must relay my message to the Order of the White Lotus. Make sure that Meelo, Zulin, Hattamen, and Oakrin are present when it is discussed," said the old Avatar hurriedly.

"Oakrin?" asked Tarrson. The mention of his nephew's name confused him further.

"Yes. I interrupted his mediation earlier today. Tarrson, we do not know when we will be able to send an Avatar spirit into the physical world again. You must pass on our warning."

"Of course I will," replied Tarrson.

"I must go now," said Aang's spirit, standing. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Tarrson" said Aang's spirit as he disappeared into the air.

Tarrson remained sitting long after Aang disappeared, thinking about the warning. He'd always suspected that there were more realms of the spirit world, but Aang confirming this shocked him nonetheless. "An entire realm full of past Avatars; what I would give to spend just a moment there" he thought to himself. His then turned to the realms of dark spirits – entire realms full of inherently evil spirits. How could this world survive an attack from such a foe? Avatar Korra had struggled to deal with one.

Tarrson yawned loudly. He could no longer ignore how exhausted he was. He had a long day of travel, a long meeting, and an encounter with a deceased Avatar. He rubbed his face, yawning again. "I should probably get some sleep," he thought to himself. He figured there was only an hour or so before dawn and stood up. Wearily he headed back towards the main building of the Temple, thinking only of sleep.

Nella awoke with the break of dawn. She dressed and showered within the hour and checked on Oakrin in the room next to hers. He was still sleeping; a scroll lying on the floor. Nella assumed he had fallen asleep reading again. She quietly closed his door and proceeded out of their section. The Air Temple was large. Currently only her family and a few air acolytes lived at the Temple. The family lived in the upper floors of the main building while the air acolytes lived in the southern most building. Her parents shared the next section over and her Grandfather lived on the floor above them. Tarrson was staying in an empty room on Meelo's floor.

On her way to the training grounds she swung by the main kitchen and grabbed some rice-cakes. She ate them while she walked. Upon arrival at the training grounds she sighed. The targets from yesterday were still strewn in the tree. She whipped up a few air currents and began fishing the targets out of the tree. When she had succeeded, she stacked them and carried them to an abandoned section of the Temple. Nella threw the targets on a pile of ashes, partially burnt logs, and targets. She pulled a match out of her pocket, struck it on a rock, and lit the kindling. She nursed the small flames until they grew into fierce tongues of fire that engulfed her targets. She used her airbending to keep the smoke out of sight of the main building. Her secret burned in front of her for the next two hours.

As she extinguished the flames a blue rabbit flew up behind her. She turned. "Bum Ju!" she exclaimed. Her great-uncle Bumi's favorite spirit rabbit looked at her affectionately. She reached out to stroke the spirit rabbit. He squealed in excitement. A sound from the bushes startled the spirit rabbit and he flew away. "Stupid flying-lemurs" she mumbled to herself. Nella whipped up some more air currents and scattered the ashes.

Nella walked back to the training grounds. It was late enough now for her parents and brother to be awake, so she grudgingly worked on basic airbending forms instead of working on her air dart in the off chance that her father swings by. She considered these exercises pointless. She knew that her skill was far beyond what her father believed. Still frustrated she continued working on basics.

She messed up her footwork on one of the forms and the desired air current didn't move. Angry at the screw-up she groaned loudly. "I'm so sick of this!" she shouted at nothing in particular and hurled an air dart at the nearest tree, stripping some bark off. She didn't notice and remained standing, looking off into the distance.

"Sick of what, Nella?" asked a familiar voice a ways behind her. Nella froze. It was her father. She couldn't let him know how fed-up she was with his basic exercises.

"I'm sick of ... not knowing who the Avatar is" said Nella to her father after a brief moment of hesitation. "What a pathetic cover," she thought to herself.

"Well you can ask your uncle, he knows all about it," said Metaang bitterly.

"So the Order chose Uncle Tarrson," said Nella, mostly to herself. She saw the disappointment etched on her father's face and walked towards him. "I'm sorry, Father. If it's any consolation, I know you're a great teacher," she told him in a comforting tone. "Look at how much you've taught me!" she added with a smile. He smiled back slightly, still looking upset.

"We will continue your training this afternoon, same time as always," Metaang said instead of thanking her for attempting to console him.

"Yes, father" responded Nella. She watched him walk away and let out a sigh when she judged he was out of ear-shot. She launched a few air-darts at the trees to calm herself, then went to vent to her brother.

"They chose Uncle Tarrson over Father?" Oakrin asked Nella when she had finished her rant. He wanted to make sure he had deciphered her fast stream of words correctly.

"Yeah, that's what Father told me" responded Nella, throwing herself on the floor behind her twin's desk chair.

The twins were in the study in the eastern spire of the Temple. Oakrin sat at his desk, thinking. Before he was interrupted by his sister he had been sifting through the some of the eldest scrolls, researching the spirit world. His desk was littered with these old scrolls and sheets of his own notes. Nella – still on the floor – had adjusted herself so she was on her back staring at the ceiling. The two of them often called this position her vent-spot; she laid there whenever she had something to confide in her twin.

"That's why he was miserable, Nell. You know how proud he is."

"Ugh, I got that part," moaned Nella. "What's confusing me is why he's been so irritable these past few days," she stated from the floor. She pulled some marbles out of her pocket and used her airbending to spin them quickly in circles between her hands.

"Maybe he's just been anxious?" theorized Oakrin, rolling his eyes at his sister's inability to sit still.

"Anxious…" repeated Nella, letting the idea sink in. She was still spinning the marbles.

"Yes. What if he's just been obsessing over the Order's decision? Think about it," said Oakrin, turning to face his sister. "Granddad came back a few months ago from the meeting. He and Father knew when the Order was going to announce the selected Masters."

"That makes sense," responded Nella, sitting upright and putting the marbles back in her pocket. "Father's irritability started a few days after Granddad returned." The twins sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about their father. During that time their mother walked into the study, looking for them.

"Oh good, you're both here," Kyshi said. Her children turned to look at her.

"Mom, Father told me about the Order's decision" said Nella, still sitting on the floor.

"Did he? That's why I was looking for you two," said their mother. "He's rather upset about it."

"I could tell," said Nella.

"You know your father. He just needs some time to get over his disappointment. He assumed the Order would select him."

"You're training session with him is going to suck" said Oakrin, uncharacteristically, causing his mother to laugh and his sister to glare at him.

Metaang was in the main kitchen, eating some of the leftover rice cakes. He was miserably disappointed by last night's discussion. Ever since his father had returned from his meeting with the Order of the White Lotus in Republic City, he had assumed they would select him. Now, he had to face the unfortunate reality of the Order picking Tarrson. Sure, Tarrson was a skilled bender – a prodigy they had called him – but Metaang had assisted his father resettle the Easter Air Temple. Metaang sighed; sulking in self-pity wouldn't change a thing. Metaang was about to stand up and look for Tarrson when he heard his voice from the doorway.

"Metaang, do you have a moment?" asked Tarrson.

"Actually, I was just about to look for you," responded Metaang.

"Oh, were you?" asked Tarrson, confused.

"Yes really. Tarrson," said Metaang with a more serious tone, "I truly am happy for you. You'll be a great mentor to the Avatar."

"Thank-you, cousin, that means a lot to me," said Tarrson. He walked over to the table Metaang was sitting at and sat down.

"What did you need to speak to me about?" asked Metaang.

"You remember what Sasim told me before he left last night, correct?"

"He said a lot yesterday, what part are you referring too?" asked Metaang, genuinely curious.

"The part when he said I could bring someone to assist me."

"Oh, yes. I remember," said Metaang, secretly hoping his cousin was requesting his assistance. "What about it?"

"I was wondering if you would allow Nella to accompany me to Republic City."

That was not what Metaang expected. "Nella?" he asked softly.

"Yes. Your daughter is a fantastically skilled airbender with a unique take on the art. I believe she could be a valuable assistant-mentor," said Tarrson. Metaang remained silent. "I would keep up her training, of course," he added hastily.

"Well," started Metaang, "I trust you. It's fine by me."

"I swear to you she will not come to any harm. I'll be off to find her now" said Tarrson. He stood up and bowed in traditional air nomad style to his cousin and walked out of the kitchen.