Published April 24, 2014

I'm so sorry this has taken so long! I don't really have a good excuse—besides starting college, and seeing the new season of The Legend of Korra, and giving up fan fiction for Lent. And mainly I didn't know how to orchestrate Jinora's act. In any case, I hope you enjoy it now!

Song: "Cave Jivin'" from Avatar: The Last Airbender soundtrack, "Firebending Training" from The Legend of Korra soundtrack

Chapter Four

"The Crowd Goes Wild"

The circus show started according to its usual program. The animal trainers paraded their camelephants around the ring, and had the tiger-seals and turtle seals do tricks with balls and see-saws. There was even an wild animal tamer who showed off his fearsome elephant mandrill and armadillo lion.

Jinora watched from behind the curtain that separated the preparation area from the main tent. The makeup on her face felt foreign and fresh. She had looked in a mirror to confirm that she didn't look like one of the circus' clowns, but found that her skin tone was more orange than usual. Jadani had assured her that the electric lights would subdue the color.

"Are you nervous?" She let the curtain fall and faced Jadani, who smiled sympathetically at her. Jinora shrugged. She knew she ought to be nervous, but somehow the feeling hadn't hit her yet.

"You shouldn't be," Jadani said. "You'll do great. The people out there will talk about this for years, and you'll remember it for the rest of your life."

Jinora managed to smile in gratitude. Just then Ringmaster Kunyo passed by them. "You're on in exactly two minutes," he told Jinora, before stepping through the curtain. The tamers herded the animals through the passageway, and then Kunyo began the transition between acts.

"How about that, folks? Thank you!" Once the crowd had quieted their applause, he began. "Now, I have some bad news, but I also have some good news that will more than make up for it! I regret to report that our acrobat team will not be able to perform tonight—"

As expected, this announcement was met with groans and outcries and even booing. But the ringmaster held up his hand for silence. "But in their stead, we have an exceedingly special guest performing tonight."

Jinora tried to breathe deeply, almost as if she were meditating—except that now she couldn't slow her thoughts and actions, she would have to be active and full of energy. She would smile confidently and wave to the crowd before starting the routine she'd planned.

"She's one of our city's living legends, gracing our circus—and the world—with her presence. No, I don't mean the Avatar," he said in response to some murmurs in the crowd. Jinora rolled her eyes, feeling a twinge of annoyance. "This is a rarely-seen local celebrity, part of a new generation of world leaders, one of the world's last airbenders. Please give your attention to Jinora of the Air Nomads!"

Two people pulled the curtains to the side, allowing Jinora to make her entrance on an air scooter. Kunyo stepped aside so she could go to the center of the ring, landing on a small stand in the center. She heard their applause right away, but it took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the lights that were shining on her.

Pausing and looking at the crowd was the wrong thing to do. Their applause quieted too quickly, and then they were looking expectantly at Jinora. Fear took a firm, suffocating hold as she realized that this wasn't the first time she'd been overwhelmed by a crowd of people looking at her.

The last time she had been in a show, she'd been gagged and tied to a pole, and the audience consisted only of people who hated her, who wanted to witness her failure.

Jinora tried to breathe evenly. These were people who may or may not hate her, but who were expecting her to entertain them. That was all she had to do.

Just pretend Ikki and Meelo are doing this with you, and Skoochy's cheering you on.

She had done harder things than this. Besides, none of these people had seen airbending before, so they would probably be impressed with anything she could do. And she could do quite a lot, considering how young she was.

The circus's instrumentalists started playing some old-fashioned Fire Nation music. Personally, Jinora thought it sounded too fast for an elegant airbender. It made her want to go faster, and that would increase her chances of messing up. No, she would take her time, and they could slow the tempo if they saw fit.

She began by going through the basic forms, movements that she had memorized and practiced countless times. Done with music, it was almost like dancing. She could lose herself by concentrating on what she was doing rather than who was watching her.

After a minute, she started spinning her hands to create small spirals and gusts of wind; since the audience couldn't easily see the air moving, she sent a few spirals out so they could feel it. Another minute later, she stopped moving around the ring, but continued forming a ball of air in her hands; then she pushed it down and balanced herself on the air scooter.

The spectators marveled that she was able to sit in midair, even stationary. Jinora smiled, a bit more confident now, and circled the ring twice, letting the crowd see her on all sides. Then, she landed on her feet next to one of the circus tent poles. She did what she had done for Kunyo, running across the ring and up the length of the opposite pole. She wished, then, that she could ride an air funnel the way she had seen her father do once, that would be more impressive, but this was all she could manage for now.

She did the same trick on the trapeze that she had done for Jadani and Kunyo; a few people gasped when she seemed to be falling; she propelled herself up with a downward blast of air; then she received a smattering of applause when she stood up straight on the platform, holding up her arms to show she was all right.

Down below, Kunyo held up seven fingers. She had seven minutes left, another half of her performance. To fill up more time, Jinora tried the trapeze again, only she was a bit more daring now that she was comfortable with it. She swung herself in a circle around the bar, and rotated so she faced one side of the tent after the other. Then, she tried something new: she lifted herself so she was sitting as though on a swing, then grasped her ankles behind her and leaned backwards; she was holding on to the trapeze with her legs, the backs of her knees resting on the bar.

It was at that point that Jinora started to get dizzy, seeing the ground move beneath her at such a strange angle, and realized she didn't know how to finish. She was still holding on to her ankles, and was afraid that if she let go to grasp the bar, the strength in her legs might give way. She didn't think she could flip herself up from here to the platform. If she fell by accident she might not react in time to keep herself from getting hurt … but if she fell on purpose, she might make it down safely.

The arc of the trapeze was shortening, but when it reached its peak Jinora let go of her ankles, straightened her body underneath the bar, and started to fall. It was frightening, and far too fast, but her hands were ready, and a moment later she hovered a foot above the ground, spinning the air below her.

"I'm okay!" she called out instinctively. When she looked up, most of the audience was shocked, covering their mouths or sitting on the edge of their seats. They looked relieved that she had caught herself. Jinora smiled, feeling relieved herself, and a little giddy at her success.

She decided to stay on the ground until the end of her act. She ran around and made a cyclone, and from some dark corner of the tent above her, Jadani dumped a bucket of confetti and flower petals so that the audience could see as well as feel the wind moving.

When Kunyo held up two fingers, the cadence of the music changed. Here was something almost graceful. Jinora slowed down, returning to her form sequence, which almost resembled waterbending in its slow, circular movements. She sensed when the music reached its final chord, and straitened up, bringing her arms down calmly in front of her to show that she was done.

The silence lasted for a split second; Jinora was just lowering her arms when the cacophony of applause broke out.

Jinora wondered if this was how Korra and the bending brothers felt whenever they won a Pro-Bending match. It was incredible and overwhelming, but in a good way.

They were cheering for her.

They were cheering for her.

They liked her. They liked what she could do. They were glad that she was an airbender.

Jinora couldn't remember feeling more proud of herself.

"Thank you!" she called out, waving as she walked backwards toward the curtain. Then she bowed formally, the way she had seen her father do, and went back through the curtain.

"I did it," she said to herself in awe, still facing the tent cloth.

"You sure did!" She turned and saw the other circus performers gathered behind her. Jadani had returned, and the animal trainers had been watching from behind the curtain. They were all excited, applauding and beaming at her.

"You were brilliant, Jinora!" Jadani praised.

"Thank you!"

"That was incredible," one of the animal trainers marveled.

"I can't believe it either," Jinora said frankly.

The next voice she heard was young, and familiar. "Good show, kid."

Jinora looked over the adults' shoulders, her face lighting up anew when she saw the other preteen. "Skoochy! You came back!"

"What, did you think I wouldn't?" Skoochy pretended to look hurt. Pabu chittered on his shoulder.

"Did you see me, just now?"

"I saw your finale. That was … pretty amazing," Skoochy said frankly.

Jinora thought her face might burst from smiling so widely. Skoochy's smile returned as well, though he shrugged casually. "Truth is, I'm kind of jealous."

Jinora blinked at him, her smile turning incredulous. "Of all the things you could envy about me, you're most jealous that I got to be in a circus?"

"Pretty much."

"So where have you been? Did you find anyone?"

"If I had, they'd be here too," Skoochy pointed out.

"Oh. Right."

"Sorry. But you don't really need them now if you can get home yourself."

"True." Jinora felt pretty good, not just from this personal high but from the assurance that she would be safely with her family again. But she still had cause for concern while her younger siblings were missing.

There was one act left until the show ended; then Jinora came out with the rest of the company, bowing again to the audience. She truly relished the applause this time, knowing it would probably be the last time she felt so loved and accepted among strangers.

In the changing tents, Jadani let Jinora use her vanity again, and helped her clean off the makeup. "Thank you so much for helping me," Jinora said.

"Oh, I didn't do much," the woman said. "But you earned it all."

Jinora had just come out when Kunyo came over to her, holding a small bundle of papers. "Here's your earnings, kid."

"Thank you." Jinora accepted the yuans. She recognized the face on the paper: her grandfather, Avatar Aang. For a moment she stared at the money; it was surprisingly light for something weighted with so much importance. It was really just a pile of paper. She wondered, now, how much it would actually buy her.

Skoochy sidled back up to her. "So, are you gonna spend that or what?" he asked, watching her with a funny look.

Jinora tucked the money safely inside her shirt. "Lead the way."

"Never give an airbender kid sugar," Korra noted dourly. They had splurged on a street vendor's cotton candy to pacify Ikki and Meelo, who complained that they were missing out on their day of fun by spending the time looking for Jinora. Unfortunately, it had doubled the siblings' already boundless energy.

No one they spoke to at the library had seen anyone matching Jinora's description. Korra wanted to find some excuse not to go to the police yet, because telling Chief Beifong that she had lost Tenzin's eldest daughter would be humiliating.

"There's the circus tent!" Meelo said, pointing at the structure just a few blocks further down the street.

"Ooh! Can Bolin take us to see the circus while you guys look for Jinora?" Ikki pleaded.

"No," Korra said flatly. "It wouldn't be right."

"But she might have thought to come here, since it was on our agenda anyway," Mako pointed out.

"Okay." Korra got down from Naga's saddle, walking alongside the boys. "We'll ask and look around."

A few passersby cast curious glances at the group, which wasn't strange considering it consisted of the Avatar, benders of all four elements, and the world's only tame polar-bear dog. One man in working clothes made a remark as he passed by: "More airbenders!"

Korra stopped short, placed her hands on her hips, and glared challengingly at the man. "You got something against airbenders?"

"No, of course not!" The man held up his hands, indicating innocence. "I'm just surprised. I thought they never left the island, and now I'm seeing them twice in one night."

"Twice?" Bolin repeated.

"Have you seen another airbender girl?" Mako demanded.

"Yeah. Wouldn't you know, if you're friends with them?"

"Where did you see her?" Korra interrogated.

"In the circus."

"Told you," Mako said to his friends, just as the man said, "She had a one-time performance."

There was a second of shocked silence before the children and teenagers started interjecting short exclamations. "What?" "Jinora?" "Performed?" "How?"

"I don't know how or why," the man said. "You can ask the folks who run the circus. They said she was just substituting for their usual show."

Bolin blinked. "Can they do that?"

"It sounds like they just did," Mako said.

"Let's not wait to find out," Korra said, mounting Naga again. Mako and Bolin stepped on too, and all five of them rode down the few blocks to the circus tent.

They left Naga outside while they entered the tent, where a few groundkeepers were sweeping up after the last audience. Korra approached a man carrying a crate across the ring. "Excuse me. Who's in charge here?"

He turned and tossed his head in the direction of a middle-aged man. "That's Kunyo, the ringmaster, over there."

To their surprise, Ikki recognized him. "Ooh, he was on the circus posters!"

The man didn't miss the group as they approached him. "Mr. Kunyo?" Korra stated suspiciously.

"Avatar Korra," he recognized, looking surprised. He bowed respectfully. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me about the airbender who just performed."

He nodded. "Jinora."

"Yes! Where is she?"

"You just missed her."

Korra looked furious. "What was she doing here? Why would she—why would you—"

"I'll tell you what happened. My acrobats are sick, so we needed a replacement act. Two kids, Jinora and a street urchin, came and said she could fill in. She showed us some tricks, and I agreed to let her stand in for the acrobats."

"Why would she do that?"

"She said she needed enough to pay for passage on the ferry," the ringmaster explained.

"The ferry," Korra said. Of course.

"So that's how much you gave her?" Mako surmised, looking at the ringmaster with narrowed eyes.

"No! I gave her minimum wage. And I didn't break any child labor laws—she only did one show, she was probably in the ring for twenty minutes total."

Korra nodded. "Thanks for your help," she said, and led the others out of the tent.

"That kid's something else, huh?" Bolin said, almost laughing a little.

"Actually, I might have expected something like this from you two," Mako said, looking down at Ikki and Meelo. "I thought Jinora was more … reserved."

"She's smart—and apparently pretty resourceful," Korra maintained. "She's trying to get home on her own. The ferry leaves the dock in less than an hour."

"But would she be able to find her way there?"

"I guess we'll find out," Korra said.