One year later….
Yang stood outside the Mother Superior's quarters, fidgeting with her hair out of anxiety. It was rare for a student to be called to the Mother Superior unless they were in trouble, and Yang wondered what she'd done. She'd excelled at the forms she'd been learning, and she was always respectful toward her teachers. And she did her best to avoid conflict with the other girls, knowing full well that some were jealous of her progress. She had no idea what was wrong or what she did.
"Mother Superior?" Yang said as she slowly opened the door.
"Yang! Come in," the Mother Superior, who had her back to the door, said. She turned around as Yang entered the room and closed the door behind her. "Have a seat."
Yang walked toward the Mother Superior and knelt down on her knees. She was still completely confused as to what was happening here.
"First off, I want to congratulate you on your progress as an airbender. Lanu tells me you've just about mastered the final form that you'd need to have your arrow, if you wanted it," the Mother Superior said, smiling.
"I…don't," Yang said, meekly. "I belong to the world, not just one nation."
"Understandable," the Mother Superior said. "Truthfully, only Air Nomad Avatars tend to wear the arrow, and that's mostly because we don't reveal their status until they've mastered airbending."
"Was that why you wanted to speak to me? To congratulate me?" Yang asked, still confused, but far less anxious.
"Unfortunately, no," the Mother Superior said, which caused Yang's anxiety to build once again. "Lanu tells me you're struggling with the spiritual aspects of airbending. And if we don't help you now, that will only become more of a problem over time as you master the other elements. You HAVE to get in touch with your spiritual nature, or you'll never be able to control the Avatar State."
"But how do I do that?" Yang asked. "The movements, the control over air, it's easy. But I just…don't understand how to do the spiritual stuff. I don't even know how to meditate!"
The Mother Superior stood up and extended her hand. "Come with me," she said.
Yang took the Mother Superior's hand, and she led Yang down to a cave at the base of the mountain. There was a waterfall in the back of the cave, and there was moss growing on the rocks all around them. It was hot, but not uncomfortably so.
"This is the cave that Guru Pathik helped Avatar Aang open his chakras to allow the cosmic energy flow through him," the Mother Superior said. "It is a place of great spiritual energies, and I hope to use it to help you with your…block."
"How so?" Yang asked.
"Well, I've mastered the art of spiritual projection. With your cooperation, I can use it to determine what's causing this block," the Mother Superior said.
"Then how do we start?" Yang asked.
"Well, first, I need to teach you how to meditate," the Mother Superior said kindly.
"Oh," Yang said, dejectedly. She'd never understood what her teachers meant when they said to "clear your mind", so she just closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Sometimes, she even fell asleep, though that was rare.
"Just have a seat," the Mother Superior said. "Close your eyes and focus on your breath."
Yang did as she was told, and as always, her mind began to wander within a minute.
And almost on cue, the Mother Superior spoke up, though she didn't admonish Yang. "Don't beat yourself up if your mind wanders; just recognize that it's happening, and then refocus on your breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In and out."
Yang tried for several minutes, but she was getting increasingly frustrated at her wandering mind. It wasn't supposed to be this hard, was it?
But the Mother Superior was patient. Any time she saw Yang fidget, she calmly reminded her to focus on her breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. And after what seemed like forever, but was likely only a few minutes, the Mother Superior changed tactics.
"Okay, now I want you to slowly open yourself to your surroundings. Listen to the water coming down the fall," the Mother Superior said.
This was easier. No longer having to focus completely inward, Yang was beginning to feel comfortable with what was happening. And as the Mother Superior gave Yang other things to focus on, Yang became more and more at ease.
Eventually, the Mother Superior told Yang to open her eyes, and Yang noticed she was caked in sweat. And she knew it wasn't from the heat, since the Mother Superior was completely dry. No, it was from the effort Yang was putting in for her to get this.
"You did well for your first time," the Mother Superior said.
"Are you kidding?" Yang said, frustrated. "That was nerve wracking! I had no idea what I was doing the whole time!"
"But there were moments, however fleeting, when I saw you sitting there peacefully," the Mother Superior said. "It doesn't matter that your mind was wandering, or how many times it happened. It matters that you were able to recognize it and calm yourself."
"Is that why you let me listen to other stuff toward the end?" Yang asked, beginning to stand.
"Yes," the Mother Superior said. "But that was more about bringing you back to the physical world than anything else."
"Okay," Yang said. "So, what do we do from here?"
"I want you to meet me after the evening meal tomorrow," the Mother Superior said. "We'll keep doing this until you're comfortable meditating. Then I'll use my spirit projection to see if there are any problems, okay?"
"Okay," Yang said, bowing before the Mother Superior.
"Now, you can do whatever you wish now with your free time," the Mother Superior said, returning the bow.
"Yeah, I need to go feed and play with Paka," Yang said, smiling. "He needs his 'Yang time' for the day."