Just Like the Good Old Days
I don't own the Legend of Korra.
Making Friends, Sort of
Korra's POV:
It was early in the morning, I really hate the morning, and we had all gathered for breakfast. I was reading the newspaper's articles about Pro-Bending, which I think is totally awesome. Noak and Tenzin didn't seem to care, what's their deal? Tarro listened, but I think he wasn't as enthusiastic as I was. Later, we started my Airbending practice. I felt like such an idiot. It was so embarrassing to make a fool of myself in front of the guys, I could hear Tarro laughing, and I could sense that Noak was probably laughing on the inside. It just made me so mad with myself. I'm the Avatar! How could I not get this? This is so humiliating.
Noatak's POV:
I had to admit, it was pretty amusing seeing Korra attempt to overcome the Airbending gates. I would never laugh at her directly though, unlike Tarrlok who was cackling like a hyena-monkey. I knew she was embarrassed, of course she would be, she is the Avatar, and the Avatar needs to master Airbending. I flashed back to when she defeated me in that other life; it seemed so hard to believe that she couldn't Airbend when that was the very element she used to send me through that window.
That evening, Korra was trying to Airbend at a newspaper that she had hung on a wire. When she didn't Airbend, she got frustrated and set the paper on fire.
"Aargh!" She exclaimed. "Maybe I'm just not cut out to be an Airbender, huh, guys?"
"You'll get it eventually, Korra." I reassured her. I knew better than anyone that she would learn Airbending. "You just need to be patient."
"You're starting to sound like Tenzin, Noak."
Just then, we all heard the sound of a Pro-Bending match on a radio. Korra led us over to where several of the White Lotus sentries were listening. I hadn't really cared about Pro-Bending; though I was surprised that Tenzin was against it, seeing as how Korra was on a Pro-Bending team in that other life. However, our little reverie was interrupted when the radio suddenly cut off and Tenzin called us down.
"You shut it off at the best part!" Korra and Tarrlok complained. Tarrlok didn't seem to be interested in Pro-Bending at first, but while we were listening he had become very absorbed in the match.
"I thought I made myself clear, I don't want you listening to this distracting nonsense." Tenzin said.
"To be fair," Tarrlok retorted with his usual politician's swagger, "it's their radio." He pointed to the sentries. "And besides, you said we couldn't watch a match, you never said anything about listening to one." Korra snickered in response to Tarrlok's reasoning; he really had run circles around Tenzin with logic.
"You-You know what I meant! Anyway, shouldn't y-Shouldn't you three be in bed by now?"
Tarrlok's POV:
When we agreed to stay with Korra, we promised to go through the whole Airbending training with her, and that includes meditation. Noatak didn't have any problems with it, of course he didn't. Korra and I, on the other hand, were having immense difficulty focusing.
"I think I'm doing it wrong." Korra stated.
"There's nothing to do." Tenzin responded irritably. "Let your mind and your spirit be free, for air is the element of freedom."
Korra started chuckling and I joined in when it dawned on me why it was so hilarious.
"Is something funny?"
"Yeah," Korra answered, "you're telling me to embrace freedom but you won't even let me and the guys listen to the radio. And forget about leaving this island."
"Please, Korra. Look at Meelo; he's able to meditate peacefully."
We both turned and saw the little Airbender drooling and making snot bubbles, it was really disgusting.
"Actually, I think he's asleep." I pointed out.
"What?" Tenzin said with surprise. "Well, at least he has the relaxing part down." Tenzin then shifted his gaze to my brother, who was completely motionless but obviously awake. "Noak is doing a good job at meditating, he's completely focused and not distracted."
"It would be easier if people weren't talking." Noatak said, surprising us. So he was listening.
"Whatever," Korra stated, "none of this Airbending stuff makes any sense to me."
"I know you're frustrated," Tenzin continued, "but these teachings will sink in over time. Then one day, they'll just click."
Korra tried once again to meditate, it only lasted a few seconds and she gave up.
"Yeah, it's not sinking in yet. Come on, Tarro; let's go get a glass of lychee juice."
Korra and I got up and left. I was relieved to get away, it was so boring. We should be out fighting Equalists, not sitting around meditating.
"Korra! Tarro! The meditation's not over yet!"
"Man that was boring." I said.
"Yeah." Korra responded. "I really don't get the point of sitting around doing nothing."
"Doing nothing is a waste of time."
"Tell me about it." Korra then stopped. "Hey, how 'bout we sneak out to the Pro-Bending stadium tonight?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, do you think Noak would be interested in coming too?"
"Probably not, but knowing him he'll follow us, tell us we're idiots, and then stay throughout the duration of our adventure to make sure we don't do anything stupid."
"That does sound like him. So, where should we meet?"
Noatak's POV:
I knew they were sneaking out. Just because I don't Bloodbend anymore doesn't mean I'm not able to figure out what those two are up to. Not surprisingly, they were expecting me. Korra gave me one of her bone-crushing hugs, and whispered a greeting, and the three of us made our way through the water to the Pro-Bending stadium. We propelled ourselves to the stadium, using our Waterbending, and launched ourselves up to land inside an open window. We quickly Bended the water off ourselves and began to look around. The last time I had been at this arena was not a memory I liked to think about. Unfortunately, while we were walking, Tarrlok and I must have gotten distracted, because Korra seemed to have vanished. Tarrlok shook my shoulder.
"Noatak, where'd Korra go?"
"I was just wondering the same thing. Weren't you supposed to keep an eye on her?"
"Why are you pointing the finger of blame at me? You're the one who tagged along to make sure we'd be okay!"
"Look, let's not argue. We should just focus on finding Korra."
"Excuse me." Came a voice; we turned and saw someone that neither of us knew exactly, but we had seen him with Korra in that other life. It was the Firebender, I couldn't for the life of me remember his name, but I do remember almost taking his Bending, twice. The first time he got away by shooting me full of lightning, the second time he got lucky because Korra unlocked her Airbending. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't particularly like him. "What are you doing back here?"
"We're…" I tried to quickly think up an excuse, I ended up deciding to tell the truth. "…our friend wandered off and we've just been looking for her."
"Well, it's not smart to be hanging around back here. If Toza sees you, he'll call security. Better come with me."
We followed him to a door, outside which there was another person waiting.
"Mako," the other guy addressed the Firebender, "who are these two?"
"Just some guys looking for their friend, Hasook. Come on, we've got a game." He turned to us. "I just have to play this match and I'll help you find your friend."
It turned out he didn't need to help us, because Korra was already inside the room.
"Korra?" Tarrlok and I inquired. She turned, when she saw us her face lit up with relief and she ran over to hug us.
"I was wondering where you two knuckle-heads wandered off to." She said.
I repressed the urge to retort that she was the one who wandered off. The boy she had been waiting with came over.
"Oh, so these must be those friends that you told me about." He said. I recognized him as the other boy that Korra hung out with in that other life. "I see you two have already met my brother Mako."
"Mako?" Korra inquired as she turned to the Firebender. "Wow, I-I heard you playing on the radio."
"Come on, Bolin, we're up." Mako said, ignoring Korra.
"I guess I could meet him later."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Bolin said to her, "my brother just gets real focused before a match. Okay, I gotta go, wish me luck. Not...that I'll need it."
"Good luck. Knock 'em out!"
I couldn't help but feel jealous; it was so obvious that that Earthbender was trying to impress her. As we watched the match, I found myself becoming fascinated by it. I couldn't believe that this was something I had tried to destroy, there was such an art to it, it was…thrilling. Before I even knew what had happened, I was standing beside Korra and Tarrlok cheering for the Fire-ferrets. The Fire-ferrets won the match thanks to that Mako person, when Korra congratulated him he just brushed her off like she wasn't important. I found myself really not liking that guy. Naturally, Korra was still impressed by Pro-Bending and asked Bolin to show her some moves. This, of course, led to her revealing that she is not only a Waterbender, but an Earthbender and Firebender. Bolin must be very obtuse because he couldn't pick up on what was so obvious, but his brother wasn't so ignorant.
"You're the Avatar, and I'm an idiot." Mako said.
"Both are true." Korra responded. I couldn't help but crack a smile.
Tarrlok's POV:
The next day, Korra's Airbending practice went worse than ever before. It finally resulted in her burning and smashing the Airbending gates. This, obviously, did not sit well with Tenzin, who started shouting at her. Korra responded by yelling that Tenzin was just a terrible teacher, and then storming off. Noatak and I followed after her, to try and reassure her that she would get the hang of this eventually, but she was so angry I don't think anything we said registered with her. I really don't like seeing her so upset. That evening, Korra snuck out, so we had no choice but to follow her. We all went straight to where we met the Fire-ferrets the day before; only the two brothers were there, and they looked very downcast.
"Hey, we didn't miss your match, did we?" Korra asked. "You guys look like you lost already."
"We might as well have." Bolin answered.
"Hasook's a no-good no-show." Mako added.
Just then, the referee opened the door.
"You got two minutes to come out ready to play, or you're disqualified." He said, and then left.
"Well, there goes our shot at the tournament, and the winnings." Mako said bitterly.
"Can't you ask one of those guys to fill in?" Korra asked as she pointed at one of the other players.
"Nah," Bolin replied, "the rules say you can only compete on one team."
"Well, how 'bout one of us? We're all pretty decent Waterbenders."
"Shouldn't you ask us before volunteering us for stuff, Korra?" Noatak said.
"Yeah," I added, there was no way I could do Pro-Bending, I would just end up looking ridiculous, "I'm not going out there."
"Fine, you big babies," she concluded, "I'll do it."
"But, you're the Avatar," Bolin pointed out, "isn't that cheating?"
"It isn't cheating if I only do Waterbending."
"No way." Mako protested. "I'd rather forfeit than look like a fool out there."
Noatak and I both exchanged looks, we knew how well the Avatar played for her team in that other life, this Mako guy must be a serious idiot if he's going to pass up Korra as a teammate. Soon, the referee came back in to ask if they were going to play or not; before anyone else could answer, Korra volunteered. You know, thinking about it, maybe those two should've told Korra the rules of Pro-Bending before they went out on the platform. I could just feel Korra's embarrassment each time she made a mistake. What neither of us expected, was Tenzin showing up. He really could've made his presence known in some other way than sneaking up on us like he did, and putting his hands on our shoulders like he had caught us doing something we shouldn't, which we technically were. I am surprised that Noatak didn't sense him coming; I guess he was too focused on the match to notice anything else.
"I expected something like this from Korra, but not the two of you. Come with me, we are going to get Korra and then we are all leaving."
We followed him down to where Korra was getting out of the pool after she had gotten knocked out of the ring. We went over and helped to pull her out, she was understandably shocked that we were there, even more so when she saw Tenzin standing behind us. This turned into an argument that ended when Korra declared that she didn't even need Airbending and that Pro-Bending was what she really needed to learn. Tenzin turned to us, but we weren't sure how to respond, so we just awkwardly stepped away and went back to where we had been watching the match. As soon as we got back, we saw that Korra had completely changed her fighting style; oddly enough it looked like she was using the Airbending technique that she had been trying and failing to learn. The result was that the Fire-ferrets won. Those two boys asked Korra to permanently join their team, and of course she accepted.
"Korra," Noatak said, "how are you going to explain this to Tenzin when we get back to the island?"
"Just leave that to me." She answered.
"He seemed pretty mad." I added.
"I told you, I got this." We didn't question her after that.
Hey, everyone. I want to thank you for being patient, I have officially started my classes so it will be tricky to update frequently, but please bear with me. Thank you for your kind comments, love you all, and see you soon.