The next morning started with the family's routine meditation. Everyone gathered on the pavilion to inhale, exhale, and repeat. Bumi, Korra and Ling were no experts- the first two being too high energy, the latter unsure of what exactly to do.
Ling had been given an air bender's outfit that was too big for Jinora. While Ling was certainly short enough, she was on the heavier side, as opposed to her tiny cousin. That was another thing that made her feel out of place- Ling was plump with long dark hair while the other airbenders were brown-haired, lithe and willowy, as if the wind could blow them away at any moment.
"Just breathe in through your nose, and exhale slowly." That was the advice Tenzin had given her. "Focus on your thoughts" was another thing he suggested. "Be the leaf" was Meelo's advice.
After what seemed like an eternity, the meditation session was over. Korra and Bumi both gave audible sighs of relief as they stood up. Privately, Ling was glad it was over as well. But she needed to be more like Tenzin and Pema's children: quiet, focused and, well, ideal airbenders. Well, at least Jinora was that way. She was everything expected of her, any family's dream. She was what her own family would have wanted. But the child they were dumped with was anything from obedient and hardworking. Ling was rebellious and had been a boisterous child. But one too many scream filled lectures from her grandfather and ten too many slaps across the face from grandmother resulted in two personalities: the demure child at home who held her tounge and spoke only when spoken to, and the adventurous, honest-to-a-fault girl who came to life when climbing the forest's highest trees, scaling the masts of the sailor's ships ported in town (being an airbender helped with this), and secretly creating wind currents in the dark of her attic bedroom.
"You'll end up just like your mother!" Ling's oldest uncle had snapped at her when she was a young child, after she had knocked a pile of dishes over, shattering them to the ground. "You never think about what consequences your actions have on others, and neither did she! And look where she ended up."
So Ling never truly fit in among her older aunts and uncles and younger cousins. She was the offspring of a dishonored daughter. She didn't turn out as they expected. And the fact that she had to hide her abilities did not help the matter. But here she was expected to naturally pick up the art, as one of the few in the world with the ability. And she was sure she would fail.
"Don't sweat it, Ling," Korra said, putting her arm around the girl as they walked towards the training grounds. "Anyone could tell you I was terrible at the whole airbending thing. It took ages plus an Equalist attack for me to finally unlock it."
Korra's tale did not reassure Ling. She, after all, was the Avatar who mastered the other three elements without difficulty. And Ling had never had any instruction on airbending, other than the few tricks she had figured out herself.
Still, she persevered. That afternoon during training, Ling stood in front of the airbending gates, where she was expected to maneuver easily through without getting hit by the panels.
"See, it's not that hard!" Ikki shouted as she jumped out from it. "Just try to shuffle your way through it!"
Ling took a deep breath. Tenzin shot a powerful wind in the direction of the gates, and, after a moment's hesitation, Ling stepped forward.
And within an instant was hit by the panels.
Jinora helped her up as she stumbled out. "Don't worry," she reassured her. "It takes time."
"I'm going to be bruised up so badly because of this," Ling groaned.
"You need to flow with the wind more easily," Tenzin told her. "A key principle of airbending is being able to switch directions at a moment's notice after meeting resistance."
He shot another blast of air through the gates. Ling positioned herself in front of the gates, and tried once more.
After making it perhaps half a foot further in than in her previous attempt, she was struck by the panels, and stumbled out.
"Well, isn't the third time the charm?" Ikki asked hopefully.
"Let's hope," Ling breathed. This time, she had relaxed her muscles due to their aching feeling. She took a deep breath, and stepped into the panels.
And this time, she made it through.
"Woohoo!" all three airbender children shouted. Even Tenzin smiled and uttered, "Well done."
Ling grinned. She was making progress. She wasn't expected by everyone to fall flat. She was succeeding. She was, literally and figuratively, flying.