Disclaimer: I do not of The Legend of Korra and I don't claim so.

Korra was floating on the surface of the water in only her underwear. She was in the bathhouse, one of the biggest buildings on the Air Temple Island. The man who worked there had given her one of the rooms for her own, against which she had protested, but the 'You are the Avatar' argument was airtight for him.

After an hour's break from the airbending gates and some meditation with Tenzin and Jinora, she had managed to calm herself down a bit. But only a bit – the memories that she wanted to forget, the ones that had been stuffed at the bottom of her mind, had resurfaced.

"Da hell is this?" Korra asked Shailesh when she got on the square destined to train earthbending. It was usually a pretty messy place, as they didn't bother themselves with cleaning it and the two older masters rarely ever showed up there. But this time it was different. The earthen walls were soaring up from the ground, spread in regular distances from each other. Both between and around them, the square was flat and clear. Korra came a little closer to the strange construct and asked her master, "What are we doing with them?"

"What are youdoing with them?" Shailesh corrected her with a smile. "And the answer is: a simultaneous dodging exercise. A tad different from what we normally do, but some diversity never hurt anyone."

With a move of his foot, he made the walls spin.

Korra clenched her fists so hard that she almost pierced her skin with her nails. It had been nearly six years ago when she had attempted this training for the first time. And she had failed at it, disappointing herself and her master even though he had never shown it.

"What is happening?" A calm voice sounded in the air. Korra turned her head a little and looked at the waterbender next to her. The elderly man was almost completely bald, and his face was wrinkled. He was wearing the green uniform of the Jade Lotus. It made him look just like one of those sages from the books Korra had read as a child.

The thin old man was leaning down over her, sitting on the surface of the water. His skinny hands circled over the girl, keeping the water swirling around her, transferring his healing. The Avatar didn't mind few bruises here and there, but when Huang, the man that was in charge of the Jade Lotus' agents protecting the Island, saw her, he had practically ordered Korra to get treated. And thus, one of the three healers present here was now taking care of her.

"It's nothing," the girl replied quickly. Too quickly. "I just remembered something… unpleasant."

From the tone of her voice, the waterbender concluded that Korra didn't want to expand on the topic and simply smiled at her comfortingly. Korra tried to return the gesture, but it didn't go very well.

With a few more moves, the man finished his task and rose.

"Thanks." Korra nodded her head.

"It was a pleasure." The healer bowed gently and left the room, hobbling a little.

For a few more minutes Korra remained in the bath, staring mindlessly at the ceiling and thinking about Shailesh. She remembered that every now and then, he would give her some strange tasks unbefitting earthbending lessons. And she usually struggled with these tasks greatly.

" 'Diversity', my ass!" Korra smacked the water furiously.

For she realized that those were airbending exercises that her master smuggled into his teachings. But he didn't want to upset the Avatar about her lack of this ability, so he had hidden their true nature before his pathetic apprentice.

Korra inhaled deeply and covered her face with her right palm. She was very uneasy, to the point when she felt like puking. It took all of her willpower to breathe calmly, as she tried to suppress the panic which was slowly but continuously growing in her.

Korra sank her face into the water. She let her head got completely covered and for a few seconds she was just floating motionlessly in the water.

"You are in the hands of the best airbenders in the world." The Avatar tried to reason with herself. "If they can't teach you, nobody… AAARGH!"

Korra raised her head abruptly to interrupt this thought and left the pool quickly. With a single fluent movement of her hands, she waterbent herself dry. Her clothes were folded on the side of the bath. One of the Air Acolytes, a boy named Mako, had washed them, and Korra reminded herself to thank him for that later. She wouldn't have been able to stand wearing sweaty clothes right now.

The girl got dressed hurriedly, took a deep breath to calm herself down, and left the bathhouse, heading to the airbenders' house.

Walking quickly, Korra looked around her – she desperately needed something to keep her mind off the airbending. The odd architecture wasn't enough for that now, but fortunately there was something else that bothered her about this place. Meeting with Huang had made her realize that this Island was also under White Lotus protection, just like the compound in which she had lived up until now. But in here, she could not notice even a single guard. The acolytes she was passing by greeted her respectfully, and Korra tried to respond to every one of their greetings, at the same time wondering if they were Lotus agents in disguise.

After less than two minutes of the hasty walk, she got to the airbenders' house. For a few seconds she stood before the door, looking at it with unseeing eyes and breathing deeply.

"Calm down," Korra ordered herself. "You can't let them see you like that."

After almost a minute of standing still, she finally collected herself enough to turn the door knob. As she entered the house, she was welcomed by the smell of a fish that she recognized as tuna mackerel.

"Somebody here is ambitious." Korra raised her brows slightly. "Did Jinora cook it? I can't really imagine…"

Korra entered kitchen and came to a dead stop. Tenzin, wearing a bright blue apron, was dancing around the cooker, watching over fish frying on the skillet, boiling rice, and mixing salad at the same time. A delicate cloud of the seasoning was flying above the fry pan, kept in the air by the man's bending, and was slowly adding itself to the dish.

When Tenzin turned to get something from the wooden shelf on his right, he spotted Korra in the entrance, standing with her jaw dropped nearly to the ground. He raised his brow and asked, "What has happened, Korra?" He sounded a little bit sheepish. He knew what had happened.

"You are cooking?" The girl pointed at him.

"Of course I am." Tenzin snorted. "I am a parent, am I not?"

"No restaurant wants to deliver food here." Ikki giggled. She and her sister were setting the table. "That's why he learned it."

"That is only partially true!" Tenzin exclaimed jokingly and loudly and his daughter replied with a wide smile.

Korra giggled, much to her surprise, and caught Jinora's look. The younger girl had some anxiety in her eyes, but the Avatar grinned at her and waved her hand in what she hoped was a calming gesture. 'Don't worry, I am OK.' That was the message she wanted to pass, and it worked. To a degree. Jinora smiled at her, but somehow the Avatar felt that the airbender could see through her confident mask.

Korra sat at the table to avoid others looking her in the eyes. She only now realized how hungry she was – quite a few hours had passed since her afternoon meal in the Republic City. And the tuna mackerel smelled so good. Her belly rumbled, and she blushed a little.

"I told you to eat something before the meditation." Jinora tilted her head a little and looked at the Avatar, amused. Korra grinned at her but said nothing.

Soon the meal appeared on the table, and all four of them sat down. The fried tuna mackerel with the heavily seasoned rice and the salad from the edible seaweeds. Simply perfect.

Tenzin folded his hands and said, "I haven't cooked in quite a while. My skills might have gotten rusty." He sounded as if he was apologizing already, even though none of them had even started eating yet.

"If it tastes half as good as it smells, then it's a meal worthy of the kings," Korra smiled at him widely and took Ikki's plate to serve her, the youngest, first.

"Hey, give it back," the girl protested, reaching her hand to take the plate back from Korra. "You are a guest, you shouldn't…"

"I am not a guest." Korra pointed at her with the wooden shovel that she had used to take a fish piece from the fry pan. "I am family, remember?"

"It doesn't… Ugh." Korra put Ikki's full plate before her and proceeded to serve the other airbenders before finally taking some food herself.

"One aspect of airbending down," Tenzin joked at this sudden outburst of the good manners.

"Over nine thousand to go." Korra smiled at the man, appreciating the attempt to cheer her up.

They began eating, and the fun started. Tuna mackerel was known for two things – first, it required a skillful cook to make it even edible. Second – edible didn't mean easy to eat. All three airbenders loved this particular fish, and they prepared it for every special occasion, which the appearance of the new Avatar in their house certainly was. And neither of them minded that it was hilariously hard to eat.

"Shoot!" Jinora thought when her knife bounced off the slippery meat, and hit the pile of rice on her plate, knocking some of it on her shirt and table. "Maybe we shouldn't have given that to Korra as her first meal here. We are used to it, but it may be not funny to her."

The airbender turned her head to their guest slightly, trying to discreetly check if she was irritated, but Korra seemed absolutely fine. She was chatting with Ikki about the Air Acolytes' boys. It calmed Jinora a little, but then she saw Korra's plate and couldn't help but look at it bewildered. Tenzin noticed her reaction and followed her eyes. His fork froze midway to his mouth. Ikki and Korra soon realized that something strange was happening.

The Avatar was rather confused by their behavior, and she quickly looked down at her plate and clothes.

"Am I dirty or something?" she thought. To add to her surprise, Ikki was also now staring at her strangely.

"What?" she asked, worried that she had accidentally violated some of the airbenders' customs. "You will eat like a human, or you will eat outside!" was what Honna had always told her and Korra, whether she had wanted it or not, was taught everything about manners at the table. "Did I do something wrong? I am sorry."

"No, no," Jinora said slowly. "Just… continue eating… please…"

Korra gave her long confused look, but the girl only nodded. So the Avatar focused on her plate, feeling like the animal in the zoo. Her knife and fork moved with surgical precision, cutting the tuna mackerel as if it was the easiest thing in the world. All three airbenders inhaled sharply.

"What the hell, guys?!" Korra looked at their shocked faces.

After few seconds of silence, Jinora finally spoke.

"No, it's just…" The airbender smiled widely. Ikki started chuckling, and soon she was almost lying on the table, giggling manically. Even Tenzin had problems controlling himself and trying to preserve his calm face.

"What?!" Korra was starting to get seriously angry.

"You just… You just…" Ikki was having problems breathing, never mind talking. "You just eat… like a princess… It doesn't suit you… at all…" The airbender laughed out loud. "I am so… sorry! It looks hilarious!"

Korra looked confusedly at the three airbenders. Tenzin and Jinora were chuckling, barely suppressing their laughter, and Ikki was still trying to catch her breath. It was the first time she has seen them all so happy at the same time, and she suddenly decided to join the fun. The Avatar straightened on her chair and assumed a serious face, one of those that Honna had always made when she wanted to tease the other masters. She mustered all of her savoir vivre skills and started eating as dignifiedly as she only could.

It took airbenders almost ten minutes to finally stop giggling.

"'Night," Korra greeted Tenzin an hour later, after she had headed on the upper floor of their house.

"Going to sleep already?" He raised his eyes above the newspaper he was reading. It was today's edition of The Republic City Times and featured a large photo of the pro-bending arena at the first page. The large header screamed, 'Sensational - tonight's match between the Masked Cats and the Tigerdillos may go down in the history!' Korra appreciated that he hadn't started reading it while she was still in the kitchen.

"Yeah." The girl smiled weakly. "I had a crazy day, you know?"

Tenzin chuckled shortly. "Indeed you had. Goodnight, Korra."

The girl waved her hand and went upstairs. Somehow she remembered on which side of the hall her room was, and the quiet conversation coming from Jinora and Ikki's room left her only one option.

Korra flopped onto her bed, hiding her face in the pillow. She was yet to unpack herself, but right now she didn't really feel like doing it. The girl was really tired - the airbending training sucked out all of her strengths, physical and mental alike.

Korra was already falling asleep when a quiet voice sounded in her head.

"At least wear your pajamas." Her more pedantic side had decided to wake up randomly.

"I don't wanna. Too sleepy."

"You have only two shirts, you can't sleep in one of them."

"Fuck you…"

Korra rose from her bed and reached for her sack. She unlaced it and started to search through it with one hand, keeping a small flame above the other one. After a way-too-long struggle, she took out a pair of delicate pink trousers ("It's not like it's my favorite color, idiot!") and sleeveless top. She was about to undress herself when her eyes caught a glimpse of the golden light sparkling through the window.

The pro-bending arena shone in the darkness of the night, its silhouette reflecting in the waters of Yue Bay. Korra felt her throat tightening. She was so close. So close to this building that she had been dreaming about for seven years now. Tenzin's ban seemed so… pointless and unfair. But it was her master's order, and the one thing that she had always believed in was that she should…

"…Tell us to go fuck ourselves…" Shailesh's voice sounded in her head. Korra stiffened, feeling the storm of emotions suddenly arising in her.

"I don't think he was talking about sneaking out on the pro-bending matches," she thought, trying to suppress the excitement that had appeared in her stomach out of nowhere and threatened to spread to her entire body.

"What is the worst that could happen?" another voice in her head asked.

"Well, Tenzin can catch us and then…"

"And then what? We are destined to be the master and the apprentice." The voice of reason joined the argument, this time siding with the bad guys. "There is no other option. In the worst case scenario, we will have a half an hour lecture. Blah, blah, blah."

Korra inhaled quickly. It was true. Even if she broke Tenzin's rules, there was little he could do about it. He was forced to be her master, just as much as she was forced to be his pupil.

"He will have to understand." Korra's thoughts were unanimous now. "I am heading off!"

With a quick move of her hand, she opened the window.

Huang was sitting on the branch of the tree closest to the airbenders' house and was looking at girl slinking in the direction of the ocean – the second one this night. He had to admit that she was well trained – if he hadn't been warned that she might try to sneak out, he would have had a hard time noticing her leaving.

The earthbender followed the Avatar with his eyes as she walked to the edge of the cliff marking the end of the Island and jumped off into the water, not making even the slightest splash.

Huang waved his hand. Two other of Jade Lotus' agents appeared in his line of sight and dived into the ocean, following the Avatar. It was very unlikely that Korra would get hurt swimming and the threat of a sudden attack was almost nonexistent, but they couldn't afford even the slightest unnecessary risk when it came to protecting the Avatar.

The man sighed silently. If it was his decision, he would catch both runaways and escort them back to the safety of the second most guarded place in the United Republic of Nations. He preferred it when everyone under his care was in one place, at least at night, so that he could oversee their safety himself. And last few weeks weren't his favorite in this aspect.

Not to mention that he didn't like when teenagers disobeyed grownups. Allowing for that had a demoralizing influence on the youth, at least as far as he was concerned.

"But I have no choice, do I?" he asked himself.

Indeed, he didn't have one. "Let them leave, if they wish to do so." The Sky Lotus' orders had been explicit.

Huang sighed again. The presence of the Avatar was going to be problematic.

Okay. So that would be the end to the introduction to the airbenders and the airbending. I hope you liked it and that you are not yet lost in the number of 'color Lotuses'. I may throw cheat sheet somewhere, as there is like eight of them.

Leave a review if you feel like it and to the next chapter!

PS: This and previous subchapter were beta-read by Perilheart. She is a great help for me, both with my imperfect English and as story-flow advisor. I owe her fot that.

PPS: To DC – Well, even if we assume that Jinora with more training wouldn't overcome Tenzin, and for a second forget that she is nearly two times older here, her superiority is fact in this AU. And, please, don't double post reviews.