Ren and Tetsu followed Hira as she walked briskly. The baby bounced as she strode. They emerged from the dense foliage and came to a path. It cut through the trees like a thin creek leading them to a courtyard. The quad was encircled by trimmed plants. A well-maintained herb garden pressed up against a storied building, circled by a polished veranda the whole way round. The wood of the edifice was unpainted, left in its natural state. Small carvings sat along the eves. They stopped a few paces in front of a girl bending over something. She straightened and looked up.
"Oh, you found him," she said, looking up at Hira wiped her brow. Her eyes focused behind and she jumped.
"These are the Avatars," said Hira, gesturing with her free hand.
The girl's lips pulled down, but she bowed hair covering her face.
"This is my sister Nita," Hira said.
To the right came someone along the side of the garden two birds perched on his arm.
"That's my brother Kiran," Hira pointed.
"Nita, Hira, Myla, Kiran, and Pram," the speaker from behind them said. The boys turned around to see Jinora, walking towards them. "I didn't think this would have happened when I said you could walk around. Who caught you?"
Hira averted her gaze.
"Of course," Jinora sighed.
"It is nice to meet you," the woman named Myla said in a low voice. She wore glasses carved with small designs along the frames. "I never met the last Avatar."
Next to her, one of the birds perched on her brother's shoulder, a cobalt-grey, tugged on his shoulder-length hair.
A man came out of the trees to the left. "Well, this is a surprise." He had a dark brown beard spattered with white, while his hair remained a silver brown. "Jin, why didn't you tell us about this?" he said in a low voice similar to that of the woman with glasses.
Jinora narrowed her eyes. "They don't need distractions."
A few minutes later, they sat around a large low table with a large pot of tea and several dishes. Ren and Tetsu looked around. The designs were simple and practical. Small pockets of the room housed objects like thin intricate tapestries with an unreadable script, or lamps that could have been a hundred years old. Myla sat across the table near the center picking up a small dumpling. Her gaze shifted around the room. Kiran sat to her right and, next to him sat Pram with the baby on his lap. Pram had a healthy hue of dusty skin and a full head of thick hair. Nita and Hira bumped elbows on the other side of Myla. Nita took regular sips of tea and ate green fruit while Hira crunched on a raw vegetable.
At the head of the table, their father, Kan sat while Jinora inhabited the other.
The silence was broken by Tashi's crying. Pram picked up the child and stood. "Excuse me."
Myla took the opportunity to speak. "There is a tour this coming week," she said, looking at Jinora.
Her aunt remained mute for a beat. "That's good. Who is coming?"
"An academy from Kawa city," Myla said taking a sip of tea.
"We might need to cover everything in flame-proof covers then."
"They are all above the ages of eleven. They shouldn't have that problem."
"They still might sneeze."
Myla poured more tea for herself "I suppose you're right. I'll have that taken care of."
"So," Kiran said, leaning forward, "when did you find out you were the Avatars?"
Ren swallowed a bite. "When we were fourteen."
"Almost fifteen," Tetsu said.
Kiran tipped his head. "That's pretty late."
"The world is different now," Jinora said.
"It is," Kan agreed.
"It doesn't hurt. With the law of age, you would have had to wait either way," Myla said, looking toward the brothers.
The boys nodded. "A woman told us about that yesterday."
"Where are you from?" Hira asked, tugging at her sleeve.
"Baiyan," Renshu said.
"There's a quarry there right?" Myla said.
"An old one." Tetsu nodded. "How did you know?"
"I read in my spare time," she said.
"She's an archaeologist," Kiran said through a mouthful.
"I haven't finished my training quite yet," she said, her eyes forming half circles.
"That's amazing," Tetsu said.
"What's amazing?" a voice said from the left. A woman with graying hair braided down her back walked into the room carrying a few bags.
"Hi mom," Kiran said.
Hira turned her head. "Did you get any fruit?"
The woman dropped the bags and covered her mouth.
"Sorry." Kiran blinked. "Avatars." He gestured. "This is our mom."
Tears sprung to the woman's eyes. Her husband got up from the table and patted her shoulder.
She recovered and opened her mouth, "Why didn't you tell me they were coming?" she said to Jinora who sat tranquility eating a bean sprout. "I would've cooked!"
"It's fine Ikki." Jinora sighed. "You always make enough for seconds."
Myla got up and joined her father on the other side. "It's fine."
"I know it's just a day that doesn't come again!" she said.
Ren and Tetsu got up, bowing toward the woman.
Soon she sat at the table, cut fruit sitting on a large plate.
Ikki looked back and forth, a large smile plastered on her face.
"You must be tired of all these new faces. I hope my children have been courteous to you."
They nodded.
"That's a relief."
Jinora wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood.
"Leaving already?" Ikki said.
"We have training to do."
"I get it. You just don't want to see my face." The other woman teased.
Jinora's mouth quirked up, then down.
The short walk back toward the one story was silent. The noon sun shone down through the trees.
Jinora veered off the path behind the house and sat on the ground.
"Now show me what you can do, Tetsu."
"Me? But—" He closed his mouth and nodded. His eyes focused on a small pot with some water that had collected at the bottom. Closing his eyes, he bent the water out of the pot. A small stream of liquid mixed with residue and algae emerged and rose from the pot. He clenched his hands and formed a circle with the liquid. His lids relaxed, and the water splatter the soil. A few drops landing on a small cluster of yellow ferns.
"Impressive," Jinora said.
"Really?" Tetsu said staring at the spot of dampened earth.
"You have good control even if your power is not there," she said handing him a dark metal flask, veins of bronze in the metal sparking in the bright light, "since waterbending is the one that came naturally to you I don't think there is anything wrong with strengthening it. This is your water supply. Often there isn't an obvious or accessible source of water." She stretched. "Ren, can you tell me the central place in the body where air-bending comes from?"
Ren kicked at a stone. "The hands?"
"Partly. Along with the vocal cords."
"What about waterbending?" She looked at Tetsu.
Tetsu scratched the back of his head. "Everything...it feels like," he said stretching his arms in front of him and looking down.
"It's your blood so yes, in a way." She paused for a moment. "Firebending comes from your diaphragm and earthbending comes from your legs. So depending on where you are hurt, some types of bending will be affected more than others. The most important thing about bending is to not get injured. Now I'd like for you to see how air and water interact."
Ren drew a small whorl of air into his palms and Tetsu pulled out a small portion of water from the flask and let it hang in the air. The two looked at her and she nodded. The air fragmented the water, so it broke apart at a high speed, pelting Tetsu and Ren in shreds of water.
"Since water is heavy when accelerated, it can hurt. Air is so malleable that it can rarely be hinged."
"They cancel each other out," Ren said, slapping the water off of himself.
"Not quite. But I'm not the best person to explain it. You'll have to practice it yourselves. Tetsu, I called to ask about a watermaster for you."
Tetsu turned his head, eyes intent.
"There are two who would like to fight to become your master."
Tetsu's mouth turned down. "Fight?"
"At this point, teaching the Avatar is a stamp of achievement that is highly valued. Expect this in the future."
"That's crazy." Ren laughed.
"It's not really. The world realizes that the Avatar needs the best they can get."
"Where are they?"
"They'll be heading to Doku."
"Doku?"
She nodded. "We'll have to go there as well."