Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Both belong to Nickelodeon, Michael DeMartino, and Bryan Konietzko.

The mid-morning sun fell on Kyoshi Island and the statue of its namesake as it had for centuries. The natives didn't notice the sun or the statue they passed by, their focus on the time on their pocket or wrist watches. The young man by the statue's base, on the other hand, hadn't paid attention to how much time had passed. He didn't really pay attention to anything.

He sat on the grass, hands resting in his lap. He pushed aside the itchy feeling on his legs, along with the buzz of a Satomobile engine and the soft wind breezing by. He focused on his breathing, on his state of mind, and on his inner self. As he was taught, he kept his aim on being calm like water.

Sadly, he was anything but calm. There was the slight irritation, the tiniest irksome that stopped him from reaching his goal. And that irksome thing was only he could see:

She stood in the empty ocean, her dark hair blowing in the wind…

He squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to block out the image like his teacher had taught him. He tried to focus on something, anything to keep the woman away. His efforts were rewarded with something else:

… her Water Tribe outfit, once newly made, was torn in several places…

A frown cracked his calm façade. He was not supposed to be seeing that. Not again. "Come on…" he whispered, hoping to be free of the image. His hopes were rewarded with the opposite:

… and though her back faced him, she slowly turned with that expressionless face and those dead eyes…

At last, he opened his eyes and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Ugh, I not again," he murmured to himself. After running a hand through his dark short hair, his gray gaze slanted up at the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. "There has be to another way to do this."

The statue didn't answer him, but someone else did. "Meditating again, Mushi?" said the man whose brown head of hair suddenly loomed over.

A startled Mushi jumped, placed a hand on his thumping chest, and whirled to the stranger. "Sifu Niko, don't do that!" he exclaimed.

Keeping his back in a hunched position, Niko shook his head and laughed. "I don't think I had any other choice. You were doing it again…" he told his old student. "… I swear, you are too tense sometimes."

"I'm not tense!" Mushi snapped up.

Holding his hands behind his back, Niko frowned down. "Don't start with me, Mushi," he said. "You've been at this statue all morning. I don't know what has gotten through your head but stressing over it will do you no good. You need to relax."

"I told you, I'm not-"

Mushi's stopped as something jabbed at the back of his neck. The joints in went crick-crack, and the shoulders spasmed from the built-up tension now trailing down Mushi's spine. All of it happened so sudden that he never noticed his own lanky body shaking like a leaf on in the middle of autumn.

Once the feeling faded, a far more relaxed Mushi turned to a smirking Niko. "Well?" the older man asked as his hand returned to behind his back.

Mushi sighed and uncrossed his legs. "Okay, you win," he grumbled and grabbed his coat lying beside him.

The younger man didn't complain as Niko led him away from the statue and into the paved street. As annoying as the older man could be, Mushi found Niko to be endearing. Niko had taken personal interests in all his guests. It wasn't hard, seeing how Kyoshi Island kept a population less than two thousand. When he arrived a few months ago, the atmosphere took Mushi by surprise with the fewer Satomobile, one or two telephone lines, and the additional rows of modern buildings to the centuries-old wooden houses.

Niko, the governor of it all, stopped to let a new Satomobile pass by him. "Close one," he breathed in relief. Eyes glaring after the vehicle, he went on and mumbled, "I swear, I need to set up new laws. I can't have these junkies drive wherever they want."

"Maybe you need a new road," Mushi suggested offhandedly. "I think that's one way to help deal with traffic."

"We have one road already. No need to make another one!" Niko huffed then changed the subject. "So, do you wish to tell me why you're at the statue instead of being with your friends?"

At that, Niko turned to a quiet Mushi with a flourish of his long green jacket. His patient stare was the opposite of Mushi's pursed lips. "I don't think that's a big deal. You always said I need to focus more, so I just thought I'd try some techniques you gave me."

Now, it was Niko's turn to frown. "I know you wish to work hard. You have shown that over the past few months, but today is your last day here, Mushi. You should be with the other students, laughing with them. You may not have the chance to ever see them again."

Mushi shouldered his coat in uncertainty. Admittedly, he hadn't been very sociable with the others. That was obvious as those students, dressed in the same forest green gi as Mushi's, rush past their mentor. "Maybe…" Mushi said, eying his fellow students, "but I'm not sure if they'll ever miss me."

"They will," Niko assured. "You just need to give them a chance to know you first."

"I…"

If Mushi had anything to say, he stopped it and drifted his eyes to the side then up. On the cliff above stood a girl with soft brown hair tied into a bun. Mushi had seen her over the past few days, always at a passing glance. Then, and now, he watched saw the girl take a typical Earthbending stance, right arm up and right leg forward to raise a boulder from the cliffside itself.

"Mushi? Mushi…?" Niko had said to the side, but Mushi was too busy with the spectacle to listen.

Swerving to the side, the boulder levitated a foot into the air before splitting into two tinier halves that orbited each other. There had been the "oohs" and "aahs" of the spectators–all of them nonbenders who had been part of Mushi's class. Mushi was more interested in the Earthbending girl. Her form was near perfect, her expression the epitome of calm he wanted. The girl herself could've been from another part of the Earth Confederation-maybe Zaofu. Her outfit was a mix of green and blues, so it wasn't easy to tell.

"You know, you could go always talk to her," Niko whispered to him, rather cheekily.

Reality fell back on Mushi and his hopes, pushing down his lips into a frown. "Thanks for the advice, but I don't think I have the time now. I have to get going."

"Always the spoilsport. I swear, you're like my wife sometimes." Niko sighed. He paused, as if remembering something important. "Oh, one more thing. I have a gift."

Niko reached into his jacket, and Mushi froze at the present held out to him. It was a tiny statue, no bigger than Niko's palm. The piece of wood had been finely sculpted and chiseled into a woman. With that strong physique and shoulder-length hair, she held a posture that proclaimed strength and confidence. Those things alone Niko perhaps hoped to encourage Mushi.

Mushi, holding back a frown, hesitantly reached out to touch it. "It's…" he said, swallowed, then finished, "… it's well-made, sifu."

"Good. I spent hours working on it. I think it's something that may help you on your way back home," Niko smiled and pushed the token into Mushi's hand. "Please take it."

"I'm not sure, sifu," Mushi said and tried to push the token back.

Niko pushed the token back. "I insist. Please."

"Sifu, I can't–"

"If you don't take it, I'm going to give it to that girl over there and say how my ungrateful student didn't want it," Niko said with that oh-so innocent smile of his.

The mental manipulation pulled down at Mushi's lips. It took everything he had to not frown as he at last accepted Niko's gift. The governor, unaware of Mushi's inner conflict, smiled and said, "Be safe on your journey. May Avatar Korra's spirit guide you."

Mushi unknowingly tightened his grip around the token. "Thank you, sifu," he forced a smile and pocketed it.

Mushi let that smile disappear once he turned and put on his long coat. He didn't want his mentor to see it and ask what was wrong. There was no need for that. After all, he had to get going.

AN: Alright. This is a little piece of an idea that's been going on and off my brain for a while. As you can tell, this story is a fanfiction of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, specifically a sequel to both series. While I do have an idea of how it starts, progresses, and ends, I'm not 100% sure how the final story will turn out if I ever publish it at all. If I ever do, I hope the hard work will be worth it. Until then, take care.

Raika out.