Chapter 3: A Good Start
...
"I don't understand."
"Well, it's not incredibly complex you see, after grants, scholarships and your loans all add up, you still owe this amount of money." The man pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose before pointing at the sum with his pen so Korra could see it.
"I get that," she said raising her hand in annoyance. "What I don't get is, this school is known for satisfying ninety-eight percent of its students financial aid requirements. So why isn't there anything out there that can take care of this?"
"Ah, well yes, about that, you see," he cleared his throat. "You are a part of the demographic of students whose parents make enough that they can afford to contribute to your education."
"But they can't contribute. That's why I chose this school."
"According to the information you submitted on your application…" the man coughed into his fist and turned to his computer and clicked through some things. "Ah, yes, here it is," he turned the monitor so she could see it. "Your parents should make enough that the financial aid we give you is enough."
"But I'm telling you it's not. You have to fix this! I'm not a bad student, ask my professors, my TAs! I deserve to be here! This isn't right- you can't just deny me an education because I can't afford it!"
The man blinked at her for a moment then shrugged. "Well, have you signed up for work study?" Korra could not help but think how gross he looked, with the shiny bald spot at the top of his head, and his thinning hair. The air conditioning was on and running through the whole building yet he is forehead was slick with a thin layer of sweat. The more she looked at him the grosser he became.
"Everyone signed up for work study. There's not enough work for everyone who's signed up for work study." She huffed exasperatedly. "Come on, please, you can't do this. I need to come back next semester. What am I going to do if I don't? I need college! Please!"
The man shook his head and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose again. "There's really nothing I can do. According to this, your parents should be able to pay-"
"They fucking can't!" she yell, slamming her hand down on the desk. "Do you think I'd be here begging you for a solution right now if they could?! My parents work hard, but they don't just have that kind of money lying around!"
The man blinked that infuriating blink and cleared his throat again. "They have no college fund, no savings, no-,"
"You remember the fucking recession that hit a few years ago?" she said impatiently. "Both of my parents lost their jobs. In order to keep me fed, and clothed, and housed, my parents had to liquidate all of those funds. Okay?"
The man raised his eyebrows and ran his hand through his thinning hair. "Well…" he said. "It says here that they should be able-,"
"Okay, you know what," she violently shoved her chair out and swung her backpack over her shoulder. "Thanks for nothing."
It was utter and complete bullshit. Her parents didn't make enough that they could pay for the rest of her college, but they made too much that the school would not give her a full ride.
"This is bullshit!" she yelled, kicking a trash can outside the building and sending it rolling through the sidewalk. A few onlookers glanced at her in surprise then scurried off before she erupted even more. Her breath heavy, Korra shouldered her backpack then stalked away. Not wanting to return to her dorm, she walked off campus towards the botanical gardens to calm down.
She could always go back home, and go to community college... the thought made her growl and clench her fists. "This is such bullshit…" she muttered. Back in high school she had played basketball, and run track and field, and she had been really good at it. But when she had applied for colleges she had decided against applying for sports scholarships, because she had wanted to focus solely on school. She had trusted that she had made a good choice in university, but now, she regretted it hard. She walked up hill through the botanical garden, past flowers, shrubs, bushes, through trees, for about an hour until she reached the top. The sun was halfway through setting on the horizon and Korra looked out at it and sighed. Sunsets here were amazing. The red mountains on the horizon glowed gold in the light. The sky erupted in a symphony of red, violet, and orange hues. The city lights reached up into the sky and twinkled like stars. She loved this school. She loved this city. She had made so many wonderful friends and was gaining so much. Her heart ached, and she sighed again, and sat down in the dirt. A cold wind born from an earlier cool breeze picked up and blew right through her. She shivered, suddenly conscious of her bare arms as goosebumps appeared on her skin. One drawback of going to school in the desert was cold nights. It being the middle of December, she could feel the threat of winter caressing her skin in that breeze. She blew into her hands and rubbed them together, then hugged herself.
What am I going to do... she mused sadly. She had to accept that she wasn't coming back next semester. So what was she going to do? She couldn't just return home and go to community college; it would hurt her pride too much. As the sun set, she racked her brain for ideas. From somewhere stashed away in the memories she had not deemed incredibly important, the image of a man in his dress uniforms entered her mind. She thought back to that day, towards the end of the school year when the man from the Marine Corps recruiting center had visited her homeroom. She had not paid much attention back then, but one thing had resonated with her… "Serve at least three years, and the military will pay one hundred percent of your tuition, to whichever school you go to."
She wondered if that was true. If it was… three years isn't long. She would be twenty-one by the time she got out. Then she could go right back to uni and not have to worry about anything. There must also be a lot of other benefits to being a veteran on top of the free college… right? She thought of how on the airplane flight over here, there had been five service members wearing their dress uniforms. Before takeoff the flight attendant had pointed them out and called for a round of applause for the country's heroes. They walked so straight and tall, and looked so proud, like they were a part of some exclusive club. It couldn't be bad… being hailed as a hero wherever she went. She smiled, a slight, small smile. Maybe… The idea grew in her mind, and as the sun set, her heart began to race excitedly. It's just three years… I could probably even go to school while I'm in the service. People do that right? Yeah, it won't be so bad… Just another experience I could add to my storybook life…
…
"You know… you don't have to do this."
"Yes I do."
"No, I mean you don't have to bribe me. I'll do it."
He sighed. "I'm just… I'm so worried about her."
"I know."
"I feel like this is all my fault."
"No…"
"It is. I should have done so many things differently. She would never have had to-,"
"She's alive. She's safe. She's loved. That's all you need to focus on right now."
"I just… I want her to be the way she was before. I know that'll never happen but… it breaks my heart every time she..," he choked.
She patted his arm knowingly. "I know."
"You can help her?"
"I'll do my best. I promise."
He smiled and nodded. "Thank you Katara."
She pulled him into a hug. "Anything for you, Tonraq, my dear."
…
She awoke to the tide stretching up to kiss her feet. The first thing she knew, the sand was cool beneath her, but the early morning sun was warm above her. Her eyelids fluttered open. The firs thing she saw was her dog, resting protectively beside her. When Naga saw that her best friend had opened her eyes, her tail thumped the sand and she licked Korra's face gently. Korra smiled, feeling… peaceful. Still. She sat up and stretched, then rubbed the back of her head as she looked around her.
"Well…" she said after a minute. "Either we're still asleep... Or it wasn't a dream." She patted Naga's head then the two of them stood and walked back to the house. Upon entering, as she breathed in she smelled something impeding on the scent of the ocean. It was a warm smell… coffee? Something else… pancakes? Hesitantly, she went to the bedroom door, and with a hand on Naga, she walked through the dim hallway. The sound of oil popping filled her ears, and when she rounded the corner she came upon a cozy sight. A round wooden table in an open dining area was flooded with warm early light pouring through the open glass sliding doors. Here was just as simple as the bedroom she had just emerged, a bowl of lilies decorated the table, the same simple white curtains framed the sliding door and billowed gently in the breeze. In the kitchen there was a little figure with a white bun at the nape of her neck and loops of hair framing her face.
"Good morning Korra." Bright blue eyes lifted to meet hers and a warm sweet smile lifted her aged face. Korra studied her for a moment. There was something so familiar about her, but she just could not place it.
"Good morning…" she said slowly. "Uh… do I… do I know you? I hit my head recently and… well my brain's been pretty fucked up so… if you're like my grandma or something I'm… I'm really sorry."
The old woman chuckled. "Well," she put her hands on her hips. "It's been a few years. You were not so tall the last time I saw you; goodness you're even taller standing than you are when you're laying down!"
"So… you are my grandmother?"
She laughed this time and shook her head as she continued with breakfast. "No dear, I'm an old friend of your family's. My name is Katara."
"Oh…" it sounded familiar. She hoped she hadn't simply forgotten this woman, and that she had just been far too young to remember her. "Hi." She said awkwardly. "Um…" she gestured to the room. "Do you… do you know where… is this your house?"
Katara shrugged as she plated the food. "For now, you could say that."
"What does that me-,"
"Are you hungry?" she interrupted. "Your father told me, you like a green juice first thing in the morning." She picked up a tall glass filled to the brim with a beautiful green liquid and walked it over to Korra.
"Thank you." She accepted it gratefully and took a small sip. It was delicious. She drank it quickly and when she finished she felt brighter almost instantly.
"There! Now, I made some breakfast, no doubt it's what woke you. These pancakes are filled with good stuff; flaxseeds, coconut oil- they're vegan." She smiled. "My late husband… well, he never ate meat or anything from animals and…" she sighed fondly, a look of reminiscence in her eyes. "Well, he influenced me a lot. I haven't had any meat products in…" she calculated in her head. "I'd say almost forty years."
"Is that not sausage?" Korra pointed.
Katara shook her head. "It's soy."
The younger woman wrinkled her nose.
"It's good! I promise. And very healthy." She sat in the chair Katara pulled out for her, then waited for the woman to sit at her own plate across from her before she stabbed the soy sausage with her fork. She sniffed it hesitantly. It smelled like a meat sausage. She took a bite. The taste and texture almost perfectly emulated real breakfast sausage.
"This is wild," she said to Katara with her eyebrows raised.
The older woman laughed. "I told you its good." There were also fresh juicy grapes and apple slices and Korra devoured those happily. With the pancakes Katara set out some gorgeous, purple, chia seed mulberry jam, which, she said proudly, she made herself, and some sweet pure maple syrup. Korra ate the pancakes with both and had seconds of everything, even of the fake sausages; she was ravenous.
After breakfast Korra helped her clean up. Naga was fed too and Korra asked curiously if the dog food was also vegan, causing another laugh to rise from her sweet old host. When the kitchen was clean, Katara took a hold of Korra's elbow.
"Korra my dear, would you mind helping me down to the beach? I'm old, walking through sand is pretty precarious for me, especially with these frail ankles." Korra didn't think there was anything frail looking about the old woman. Yes, she was old, yes, she had a very sweet way about her, but something told her that this woman was once fierce as hell, and even old age couldn't contain it. Nevertheless, she obliged, and the two walked outside down to the beach. The sun was still low in the horizon, the air was still cool. There was nothing to hear but the sound of seagulls and the waves on the shore. Korra breathed deeply.
"So… I'm sure you must be wondering why you're here with me?"
Korra nodded, though she felt she had pretty much pieced it together herself.
"Well. Like I said before, I am an old friend of your family's. I went to school with your grandmother. I haven't been back here in years. I came back to town just a few weeks ago, to visit my son and my grandchildren. Your father happened to run into me just a few days again as we were catching up, he told me all about you, and everything you were going through." She paused and Korra remained silent with her eyes trained on the horizon. "My husband… Aang. He fought in the One Hundred Years War. It was how we met. I was a healer on the front lines. Some of the things he had to… to do. To see..." she sighed as she journeyed back into her vast memory. "It was a lot. And when the war ended, he was just… a broken shell of a man. He just… couldn't go back to the way he was. He had nightmares, some days he would seem fine then suddenly he would retreat into his mind. Some days he wouldn't speak a word to me. Some nights I woke to him crying. He got angry often and we fought a lot."
A lump formed in Korra's throat as she thought about how she and Mako used to fight. "So what happened?" she asked.
"Well…" she gestured to the ocean. "This." She said. "This was his favorite place. I don't know if you've felt it yet, but this place has great spiritual energy. It heals. I'm not saying he came here and breathed some fresh air and suddenly never yelled at me again. But this…," she knelt in the sand and pulled Korra with her, grabbing a handful of the silky white softness in her hands and depositing it into the young woman's palms. "All of this. It was a good start."
Korra nodded. "I can't be here for too long." She said after a little while. "I don't like doing nothing. This place is nice but… I need school. Distractions."
Katara nodded knowingly. "Okay." She said, and smiled, tucking a stray lock of hair behind the younger woman's ear. "Come." She said standing. "We have a lot to do today. I want you to meet my son actually. He teaches at a school not far from here."
"What does he teach?"
"Oh… you'll see."
Ugh.. gross. Katara's husband Aang. I wanted to change it but I decided against it. Didn't want to fuck with your heads too much. And don't worry, Asami hasn't gone anywhere. I changed the rating for this from T to M because I have been writing little bits out that I want to insert in later chapters but they're pretty intense. But yeah, this is a Korrasami, that won't change. It will get romantic up in here. Just bear with me. Please.
Like I said earlier, this is based loosely off me; Korra is going to say the F word. A lot. Something I picked up during my time in the military and I never let it go. This one time I accidentally said it in front of a bunch of kids at a museum and out of embarrassment I stuttered, "Shit, I mean-! Fuck- Damn- Ass fuck shit FUCK-!" before I clapped my hand over my mouth and just... walked away (I have so many issues). My POINT is, I hope you don't have a problem with the F word. Because it ain't going away.
And omg there's this girl I am totally crushing on but I'm afraid she's hetero... ugh... she's so gorgeous and smart and funny and cute... UGH... guys, I am living this fucking fic like... ugh. UGHHHHHH. Okay, enough of me. Please review. I love reviews. Or don't review. I don't care. I am really sleepy. This is some sleepy typing... hhshaha... mmmkay Imma find some wine and go to sleep.
Oh, and sorry about all the mistakes and if it sounds bad, I'm sorry. I didn't edit it. I didn't even read it after I finished it.
