A/N: I will occasionally allude to Saph going to therapy, but I don't actually show it. This is partly because 'Duet' already puts a heavy focus on Koko and Valen's individual therapy sessions, so I gloss over Saph's in this fic both to avoid repetition and to drive the plot. All you need to know is that it's happening in the background and what she learns there helps her cope with the difficulties in her life.

The light was coming from the kitchen. A chair scraped and Saph knew there was no escape. She was in big trouble.

"Saph?" Jojin's hopeful voice called, just before he came around the corner in a rush.

"Yeah," she managed. "It's me."

The relief on his face caused a surge of guilt, but instead of the stern words she was expecting, she got a big bear hug. For a few comforting, warm seconds, fatherly love was the only rebuke.

And then the hug ended with reluctance on both sides. Jojin lifted his hand, which held a small black device, brought it close to his mouth, and said, "She's back. Everything's fine."

There was a faint crackle, followed by a man's voice: Understood.

Jojin lowered the device and sighed; he looked so tired. "What were you thinking, Saph?" The question wasn't angry, yet still harsh and full of pain.

But she was so tired of being treated like a fragile child. "I know how to defend myself. There are no blue sages here. You don't have to protect me from every little thing and keep me supervised every second of every day. I just– I just wanted to have a little fun. A tiny bit of freedom. Do something besides study and train."

"And sneaking out in the middle of the night was the best solution you could think of?"

The guilt peaked and she swallowed hard. "Is– Is Mom still asleep?" she asked instead of answering.

"No, of course not. Do you think I'd try and hide this from her, after everything that's happened? She, Koko, and the guards are out looking for you. I remember you asked me earlier about visiting Shylo. Is that where you went?"

"Yeah…"

"You didn't do anything…unsafe, did you?" he asked with some reluctance.

Saph's mind immediately went to Shylo flying her home. "Define 'unsafe'..."

Jojin's brows shot up and his face went red. For a second or two, he was apparently speechless. "Do– Do you really need me to spell it out? Ugh, Spirits," he muttered. "I'm not ready for this talk."

Momentary confusion gave way to utter horror. Realization dawned in Saph's mind and her face flushed with mortification. "Ew, Dad, no! I didn't– That's not what I meant! Gross. Why would you think that?"

"You're almost sixteen," he said gravely. "And you snuck out in the middle of the night to see a boy. It's a reasonable thing for me to assume. Mom and I were younger when we had you."

"Ugh! I know that!" It was the absolute last thing she wanted to think about. "Can I just go to bed? Please?"

"Absolutely not." He took her hand and pulled her into the living room, gently but firmly. "We're going to sit here until Mom gets home."

"Great," she grumbled as she plopped down on the sofa, arms crossed belligerently. "Now I get to get yelled at again. That's all my life is now. Sleep, eat, study, train, and get yelled at."

"That last part could be avoided if you did as you were told."

"I'm doing the best I can," Saph said quietly, tears welling up in her eyes. She briskly rubbed the moisture away before it could fall. "I didn't mean to airbend in front of those people. I just made one little mistake and got in huge trouble for it. If it doesn't even matter what I do, or how hard I try to do what everyone wants, then why bother trying?" She looked up at him. "Doing what everyone tells me to do is making me miserable. I actually had fun tonight. I got to spend time with my friend, who I've barely seen since we got here, and we talked and laughed and ate junk food. It was nice. It made me feel like a regular kid again."

Jojin sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I know this isn't the life you imagined for yourself. It's not what I imagined for you, or for us, either. And I'm glad you had a good time, but you need to try and understand what it's like for us to wake up and find your bed empty. It feels an awful lot like waiting hours and hours for you to come home. Except that first time, you didn't."

Real tears streamed from her eyes as the weight of his pain and fear hit her. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "I won't do it again. I promise."

He pulled her into a hug. "I know. And I'm sorry you're feeling so pressured. I'm even more sorry that I'm powerless to do anything about it."

They sat like that for a minute or so until Saph was able to calm down. There were few things she hated more than disappointing him, but at least this talk had cleared the air a little.

"...Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Is– Is everything okay between you and Mom now? Like, really okay? Back to normal?"

He pushed her to arm's length and smiled. "We're fine. We've been together for more than twenty years and have gotten through lots of fights. I admit that this was a bad one, and I still have some work to do to regain her trust." His expression grew more serious. "And you'll need to do the same, with us."

His calm reproval was somehow worse than yelling. Saph felt keenly how she'd broken something precious and how hard it would be to fix it.

Of course, the tongue-lashing she got from her mother a few minutes later wasn't pleasant, either. It wasn't loud, since Lia was sleeping, but that didn't make much difference. Mara was well-practiced at quiet fury. Saph was used to it—now more than before—and the only really terrible part was an extremely blunt question about what she'd been doing with Shylo.

But eventually, everything was said, the punishments laid out, and they all went back to bed. It was nearly four in the morning by then. Saph closed her eyes and was almost immediately shaken awake by her mother. That was how it felt, anyway.

"Lia's up now, so that means you are, too. And I've got a list of chores for you to do before you go to school. And if you're tired, don't expect to get any sympathy from me."

Apparently, Koko was of the same opinion, Saph learned that afternoon. While neither of them actually said anything about the incident, it was immediately clear in how Koko handled the training session that Saph was being punished for her reckless behavior.

As a sort of self-imposed penance, she didn't complain. Not aloud, at least. In her head, she was cursing Koko with every rude word she knew. And when it was finally over, she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Why did you have to leave early yesterday?"

The flash of annoyance in Koko's eyes was oddly gratifying. "Let's just say you're not the only rebellious teenager giving me headaches."

The next day, Saph received a delightful surprise at lunchtime. "Nani!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? What's that?"

"It's a picnic basket. I've pulled some strings and arranged for you to have lunch with me at the park." A fond smile, full of pride, lit her face up. "It's time you had your first waterbending lesson."

"Okay, let's go!" Such was Saph's excitement that she almost left without any of her schoolwork.

"Don't you need that stuff?" Nani asked, pointing at the table.

Saph turned around sheepishly and was met with a wry half-smile on the face of today's tutor—a young woman named Mataya who taught biology and was actually pretty okay.

"How's she doing?" Nani asked her.

"Not bad. There's a lot of material to cover, but we've got a good start. Although I'm seriously questioning this curriculum the Council is pushing on me…"

"You two know each other?" Saph asked while she gathered her things.

"Mataya volunteers at the medical center," Nani explained. "I recommended her for this job. Figured you needed at least one teacher who wasn't a stodgy old academic."

"I think the Council is trying to turn me into one," Mataya muttered. "Nothing even remotely related to practical sex ed in the topics I'm supposed to cover."

Saph stood up straight and made a face, but Nani just laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, I covered all that years ago. You can do a refresher if you want, but be prepared for stubborn silence and a tomato-colored face."

"Nani…" Saph complained, already embarrassed.

"See what I mean?" But a moment later, she turned back to Saph. "Alright, alright, you can stop glaring at me. After your little adventure the other night, of course I have to tease you. You didn't think you were going to get off so easy with me, did you?"

"Wow, I'm so lucky," Saph said sarcastically, though she was fighting a smile. "Most people have two parents who punish them when they do something wrong. I've got"—she paused to count on her fingers—"nine."

"I think the Council just counts as one," Nani said with a chuckle. "Now, do you want to stand here complaining, or do you want to go eat lunch?"

Saph didn't need to be asked twice. Half an hour later, they were sitting in the grass in a secluded corner of a park.

"How do things grow here without the sun?"

"The orb mimics the sun with the full light spectrum," Nani said. "Beyond that, I couldn't tell you. Nik could give you a more scientific explanation."

"I probably wouldn't understand it, anyway."

While they ate, Saph caught her up on the last few days. Although knowledge of her adventure had spread, there was one detail she'd kept to herself so far.

She leaned in conspiratorially. "Shylo took me flying."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I didn't tell Mom and Dad because I didn't want them to be worried. Er, well, I didn't tell Dad because I didn't want Mom to be worried, 'cause I know he'd just tell her."

"What was it like?"

"Amazing! I can't wait until I'm ready to have my own flight suit!"

"Mm, well… Don't get your hopes up. Between the Council's firm grip on you, and your recent rebellion, I doubt it'll happen before you turn seventeen." Nani put the empty containers back in her basket and patted the pouch of water that hung from her shoulder. "Forget about that, okay? Today you're going to become a waterbender."

She had so much pride in her eyes that Saph's grouchiness melted away, though eagerness was tempered by the doubts she hadn't been able to banish.

"I hope I can get it as easily as airbending…"

"I'm surprised you haven't tried yet."

Saph picked at a stain on her pants. Nani was someone she could usually share her deepest insecurities with, but only half the truth came out of her mouth. "I wanted you to be the one to teach me."

"Oh, stop…" Nani said faintly, though she was smiling. "You're going to make me cry."

They both laughed to dispel the sentimental mood. Finally, Saph took a deep breath and let it out forcefully.

"Okay. What do I do?"

"Well, waterbending is pretty much the polar opposite of firebending–"

"Great..."

"But that doesn't mean they're entirely separate from each other." She got to her feet and motioned for Saph to follow. "Do you remember me teaching you this?"

What she demonstrated was one of the earliest moves Saph had adapted to her firebending: A bit of water flowed from the pouch to hover over Nani's hand, then began to spin in a tight spiral that formed into a funnel. It wasn't for fighting, but for fun. Something nice to look at and play with.

Saph smiled and made her own little fire tornado. "Of course I remember. Lia loves it when I do this. I still use it to entertain her."

"Well, what I never told you before is that Korra is the one who taught me this, when I was just a girl."

"Really?"

"Mhmm. She, Asami, and my parents sometimes looked after each other's children. Korra would always practice bending with us when she was around. She made up a game where we had to see who could keep their tornado spinning the longest. Of course, Koko usually won," she added with a laugh, "but only because she cared the most about winning."

"Korra told me that. That Koko always had to be the best."

A strange expression crossed Nani's face, though it quickly relaxed into a wistful smile. "How amazing it is that you're able to talk to her. It's a nice reminder that she's not really gone. Not truly."

"I haven't been able to talk to her since I left Republic City." Saph admitted. "I've tried and tried."

"You'll find her again," Nani said cheerfully. "But let me finish my story, because it has a point." The water funnel began to pick up speed and move away from her until it hung in the air between them. "Once the game was over, she'd make a bigger one around her body that had all the elements spinning together."

Saph understood what she was meant to do. A sharp gesture sent her flame to meet the water and spin around it. The two elements danced together, manipulated by their owners, until the water began to steam.

"Quickly, before it evaporates," Nani urged, reaching out. "Give me your other hand. Now, like this. See?"

The heat inside the water was palpable. Saph could feel it radiating into the air, making it expand. Nani's hand slipped away from hers and for just a few seconds, Saph took hold of the spinning, spiraling water. The gesture was gentler and slower than what her other hand was doing with fire.

The sound of a laughing child in the background disrupted her focus and the water splashed to the ground. Nani clapped excitedly, beaming at her.

"You did it!"

"Heh. I did it!"

"And you didn't just bend water, you bent two elements at the same time!" There was so much pride etched into the lines of her face. "Amazing."

Embarrassed now, Saph looked away with a crooked smile. "I only did it for a second…"

"On your first try!" She paused for a second before adding, "Koko told me you got one of her master-level techniques on your first try, too. When she was taking you to Jupa."

"Master? Wait, do you mean the thing with the grass?" She bent down and picked up a handful. A few seconds of intense focus set it alight. While she still hadn't achieved instant incineration, lots of practice had helped her improve since that first attempt.

"Korra invented that technique," Nani said softly. "Koko was shocked when you got it right away. She spent months of dedicated practice trying to achieve the same thing you did."

"Really?" That was certainly a huge revelation. Too huge. Surely that wasn't true. Nani was just trying to make her feel good about herself. "But…she's like the greatest firebender in the world!"

"Maybe. Probably. But she was never a prodigy. Things didn't come naturally to her like they do for you. Like they did for Korra and Anisa. Koko is just insanely stubborn and determined."

"What about you?"

"Hm? What about me?"

"Did waterbending come easily to you?"

"Healing did. Fighting…not so much," she added, chuckling. "Koko and Anisa always wanted to spar, but I just wanted Korra to teach me healing."

"She was a good healer?" Saph asked, though she quickly realized it was a dumb question. "Oh, wait. Heh. I guess she must've been."

"One of the best," Nani said with a nod. "She learned from the greatest master of her time, as did I. But even that wasn't enough for her." There, Nani's voice fell off and her eyes focused on some place far in the distance. "Valen told me about how you healed Koko. What you did—it's a technique that's meant to be done by a team of three highly specialized benders, used in emergency rooms to revive someone with a serious injury. Korra studied with the foremost experts and learned how to do it on her own."

She seemed sad now, though Saph wasn't entirely sure why.

"You must really miss her," she guessed.

Nani blinked a couple of times, then shifted her gaze back to Saph. "Hm?"

"Korra. You must miss her."

"I do. Very much." She lifted her wrist to check her watch. "Oh! We need to go. Koko's expecting us."

They packed up the rest of the picnic and headed over to the gym. Inside the spacious main area, many had stopped whatever they were doing to watch Koko and Valen spar. Flames raged and stone discs hit the safety nets, all faster than Saph could keep up with. What Valen lacked in agility, he made up for with solid defenses.

Still, he couldn't seem to match Koko's stamina—even in her still-weakened state—and was eventually knocked off his feet. Saph jogged over as Koko held out her hand to help him up.

"That was some fight," Saph said to her. "Nice to be reminded that the way you spar with me doesn't come close to how you actually fight."

"That's because I'm trying to teach you, not kill you."

"Clearly, she doesn't have the same concern for me," Valen joked.

Koko's face remained stoic as she said, "If I were trying to kill you, you'd know it."

"You say to the person who could create a pool of lava under your feet."

"Not if I blow your head off first."

The snappy comeback produced an odd reaction in Valen: He swallowed hard, a little paler than before, and let out a weak chuckle. Surely he wasn't actually intimidated by the empty threat?

"She doesn't really mean it," Saph assured him, knowing how hard it was to interpret Koko's unique sense of humor.

But to her surprise, he threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh, I know she doesn't mean it."

Saph glanced back and forth between them, now confused by the banter. He seemed amused but also faintly embarrassed, while Koko's lips were pressed into a thin line, brows furrowed with petulant annoyance. Meanwhile, Nani was trying—and failing—to hide a smile.

"C'mon, Saph," Koko said abruptly. "Time to get started."

She started walking away without another word and Saph said a quick 'bye' to Valen and Nani before hurrying after her.

"What was that all about? I feel like I missed the joke."

"Trust me, it wasn't that funny. Stupid and immature."

Saph sighed and gave up; she'd have to ask Nani later.

"Do it again," Opal said, calmly but firmly. "You're developing some bad habits, trying to take shortcuts. That'll only make more advanced forms harder."

She was speaking not just to Saph, but to Shylo, as well. He'd shown up halfway through their lesson and asked to join. Perhaps he was regretting that now.

"I'm not flexible enough for this," Saph muttered to him.

"Me neither."

Opal heard. "Then I guess we need to spend more time on flexibility exercises."

Saph groaned. Those were so boring. At least training with Koko was exciting, if exhausting. Lately, she had started challenging Saph with harder and more advanced techniques. Opal hadn't even gotten around to sparring yet.

The last hour of the lesson was slow, deliberate yoga poses. Saph was drenched in sweat by the end of it.

"I can't believe training makes me look forward to homework," she joked with Shylo after Opal left. There was still an officer there, of course, waiting to take Saph home. But she wanted a few minutes to socialize.

"Homework, schmomework. What am I ever gonna do with algebra?"

"Nothing. We'll never use that. It's stupid and pointless. I'm the Avatar. I should be learning things like how to get people to like me and listen to me. How to read people and understand them."

"Okay, let's try it now." He put his index fingers on his temples and peered at her with a dramatically intense gaze. "What am I thinking about?"

Saph laughed at his antics. "I meant reading body language. Oh! I've got a question for you, actually." She turned to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. No one was nearby. "Koko said something to Valen yesterday, and they and Nani acted like it was some embarrassing joke, but I didn't get it. Lemme try to remember what they said…"

She paused for a moment, eyes closed, and recalled the scene aloud. Afterward, Shylo snickered.

"Kinda sounds like they were flirting."

"What? Really? Valen kinda laughed but mostly he looked embarrassed. And Koko was just annoyed. But not like really angry."

"Hah. She was probably embarrassed, too. If they were flirting, I doubt she'd want anyone to witness it."

"I still don't get how what they said was flirting."

"Uh–" Shylo laughed again, but there was an awkward edge to it. "No comment."

"Aw, c'mon."

"You're too innocent. I can't talk about that stuff with you."

"Please. If they said it in front of me, it can't be that bad."

"Sometimes normal words or phrases can also have another meaning. A sexual one. Maybe Koko didn't mean it that way, but Valen obviously heard it. Some urges are stronger than common sense. You probably don't realize it, because you're you, but she's extremely attractive."

Saph rolled her eyes at the patronizing comment. "I know that. Anyway, I thought you didn't even like girls?"

"I'm gay, not blind."

She barked out a laugh; he was so silly. "Well, if you notice anything, you gotta tell me, okay? I know we joked before about them being our 'parents' while we were traveling, since they argued a lot, but I didn't take it seriously. I think it would be nice, though, if they were together. I think they're both lonely."

Usually, Saph spent the end of her evening in a lotus position on her bed, meditating. Lia was typically asleep by then and the soft noises she made were no longer a distraction. But even so, the sessions never amounted to anything.

Tonight was different. Saph was extra tired from her training session with Valen and Zenya, which had been as futile as every other earthbending lesson. Failing always drained her, and so she decided to half-ass her meditation by lying down.

She stayed awake for as long as she could, focusing on her breathing. Empty mind. Set everything aside. No school, no homework, no sore muscles. I'm completely relaxed and my mind is clear.

None of that was true, but she did her best to convince herself. Fatigue mingled with her calm focus and made her feel like she was floating. Bodiless. A momentary sense of vertigo faded into a warm embrace.

For a little while, there was simply nothing but darkness. But it didn't feel like sleep. Saph was aware of time passing, though only vaguely. When her eyes finally cracked open, she was in the meadow.

And there was Jade, ghostly but recognizable.

"I've missed you so much!" Saph said with tears streaming down her face. She desperately wished she could hug her sister. Her lifelong best friend. Even reaching out to touch her would be better than nothing, but Jade was barely there.

"I can't believe I finally did it. It's so hard, Jade. I feel like you're on the other side of the world, even though you're part of me. That's what Jinora said—that you're always with me. And I try to remember that, but it's hard. I can't feel your presence unless I'm here. I feel so alone."

They strolled through the meadow and Saph looked around eagerly. How could this place be dangerous? Small Spirits, like the ones that had frolicked in the swamp, occasionally darted in and out of view. They were much more vibrant here. Was the rest of this world, outside the meadow, full of terrifying creatures?

"Can you help me talk to Korra?"

Jade had no answer, of course. But Saph tried. She tried and tried to reach deep inside herself, but to no avail. Everything felt so distant. Even Jade seemed like she might drift away in the breeze.

For how long she stayed there, Saph didn't know. It felt like weeks. She didn't ever want to leave. Her body felt no hunger, thirst, or fatigue here. No chi, either, but she was used to that from finding this place in her dreams all her life. It felt normal to her. The meadow was safe; she knew that in the depths of her soul. The real world faded into a memory, a story, and only this moment was real.

Jade's misty gaze pierced her and vague images swam into her mind: A big, old tree with golden treasure inside. Two dragons—one black, one white. Blinding light. Those were the only things she could put a name to; the rest were just impressions.

"You know, our birthday is coming up soon. Next month. We'll be sixteen. Not that it'll matter," Saph added in a doleful grumble. "All the adults who are in charge of me still just see a kid who can't make my own decisions. I'll probably be thirty before they let me off the leash."

Jade's gaze suddenly became more intense and Saph was filled with the impression that she was trying to express something about their upcoming birthday. But what?

"I don't understand. Why can't you just talk? I swear, between you and Zenya, my life is so frustrating. Only friend I've got who can answer questions is Shylo."

They relaxed in the meadow for a while longer, lying in the grass. Saph closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in her bed. The real world returned like a flood as regretful tears trickled from her eyes.

Later that day, she told Koko what had happened.

"That was your first time since Republic City?" Koko asked.

"Yeah. I couldn't find Korra, though."

But Koko still gave her an approving nod. Was that pride hiding in her eyes? "It's progress. Keep trying."

"What do you think it meant? With Jade making me think about our birthday?"

Koko made a pensive hum as they did warm-up stretches. "It's the day before the Winter Solstice. Maybe it has something to do with that."

"That's when the Spirit world and the physical world are close together, right? That's what Jinora told me."

"Maybe Jade was saying you'll be able to talk to Korra then."

Saph paused to look at her. Koko hardly ever expressed any emotions besides anger and frustration, but months of being around her had helped Saph notice subtler signs. During the rare times when Koko talked about Korra, her voice was flat. Face relaxed. It should be the opposite, but Saph thought maybe she understood now: The more vulnerable Koko felt, the harder she worked to hide it.

This is so pointless, Saph complained to herself while staring at the homework spread out on the kitchen table. Tonight, it was grammar: passive voice and active voice. Apparently, there were lots of 'wrong' ways to say things. But only when writing.

Her waning focus derailed when Mara sat down in another chair.

"Let me guess," Saph grumbled. "You want me to put Lia to bed? Because I'm never going to stop being punished."

Mara set a small black rock on the table. "Do you remember this?"

"No…" Saph said slowly, peering at it curiously. "What is it? Just looks like a black rock." Not as cool as my lucky rock that Zenya gave me.

"It was Gran's. A piece of a meteorite. She used to collect them."

"Oh." I stand corrected. Saph picked it up. Her heart felt suddenly heavy. She hadn't thought about Gran as much in the last few months. Not as often as before. There had been too much going on. "Why did she give it to you?

"It's the only thing I was ever able to metalbend."

"What?" Saph jerked her attention to her mother's face. "You can metalbend? Since when?"

"I can't, really. Just this. I've tried with all kinds of other things, but never could get the hang of it. Even this–" She plucked the rock from Saph's palm. It shuddered slightly, one side bulging outward the tiniest bit. "See? That's all I can manage."

"Maybe you just need more practice."

"I've been thinking about your problem with earthbending." Mara stared hard at the table as if it held all the answers. "I always wanted you to be an earthbender. When you were born, I figured you would be. I guess I was right, after all. And if anyone should be teaching you, it should be me."

Saph had considered that before, but there were complications. "When? The Council has every hour of every day planned out for me."

"You let me deal with the Council. For now, we'll just have to find the time."

"If you say so…" Saph had her doubts. She was already so tired all the time. Was this going to mean more training? Less sleep? Less something, that was for sure.

What actually ended up happening was that, the next day, Mara picked up Saph from the gym with their dinner packed in a bag.

"C'mon," she said briskly. "We're going to the surface."

"What? Really? Yes!"

Koko clearly heard but said nothing. Whatever she thought or felt on the subject was a mystery. She and Mara simply ignored one another.

Probably for the best. I don't want them to fight.

Seeing the sky and feeling the wind for the first in weeks made Saph actually tear up. It was a chilly evening, a dark gray sky threatening rain as the sunlight faded. Mara took her into the forest, just outside the town.

Unfortunately, those first ten minutes or so of being outside and walking through nature were the highlight of their trip. Mara had little patience as a teacher, Saph soon found.

"I can't do it!" she growled after half an hour of fruitless practice. Just like every other time before. "I'm exhausted from training all afternoon and I just can't do it!"

"Yes you can," Mara insisted. "You're just not trying hard enough."

"I am! I'm trying as hard as I can! But I can't 'feel' the earth like everyone says I should be able to."

"It's all in your head," Mara said firmly. "You're the Avatar. You can do this. There's no question. No doubt. Whatever's blocking you is in your head."

The rest of their time outside was more of the same until both were so frustrated that Mara threw her hands in the air and gave up.

"We'll try again another time," she said, "when you're not so tired and grouchy."

"I'm grouchy?" Saph muttered under her breath. I'm never going to learn this way. Why can't she see that?

"What did the Council say?" Saph demanded a couple days later as soon as she saw Koko. "My parents said they were going to a meeting with you this morning, but they weren't at home for lunch. My escort had to take me to the Beifongs'."

"The Council agreed to give you one day off a week."

"Only one?"

Koko arched an eyebrow—her go-to expression of mild disapproval, among other things. "Would you prefer none?"

"No. I just got my hopes up about two."

"You're welcome, by the way. It wasn't easy. I gotta say, your mom really has a mouth on her. She surely didn't make any friends this morning."

Saph rolled her eyes. "I don't think my mom has ever had a single friend besides my dad. And don't say Nani, because she doesn't count. She's more like a mother to her."

"I know. But believe it or not, Mara actually worked with me on this. We were on the same side, for once."

"My side?" she said with a cheeky grin. Cold as Koko could be, Saph knew there was a heart of gold in there. And she loved teasing her about it. "I know you care. It's too late to pretend like you don't."

"You're as bad as Nani. Now go do a warm-up jog around the gym."

Saph's mood couldn't be dampened. She just laughed and ran off, pleased despite the earlier disappointment. A whole day off was something to look forward to. Maybe she could spend it with Shylo and Zenya.

A few days later, the weekend finally arrived and she spent her last day of training with Nani. The gym had a swimming pool, which they apparently had all to themselves. There was even a sign on the door: 'Reserved'

"Are you looking forward to having some free time tomorrow?" Nani asked as they passed a thin stream of water between them.

The pool was warm, which Saph had been pleasantly surprised by. "Yeah! I was a little worried that Mom was going to make me train with her again, but she didn't bring it up. Dad says he's going to take me and Zenya to walk around downtown. And Shylo's coming too, I think." Since her original conversation with him, she'd been dying to have a chance to ask Nani about what he said. "Do you remember last week when we came here and saw Koko sparring with Valen?"

"After your first waterbending lesson? Sure. It was a memorable day."

"Well, they were talking, and she said something that seemed like it was a joke, but she was annoyed. But I saw you smiling. I told Shylo about it, and he said it sounded like they were flirting. What do you think? You know Koko better than anyone. And I think it would be nice. They'd be a good couple, right? They're both lonely."

Nani's immediate reaction wasn't quite what Saph expected. There was a soft sigh, followed by an expression that was almost wistful.

"I know you mean well, but don't get your hopes up about this. I wouldn't say it was flirting. Not intentionally, anyway. Best to just let it go. For now, at least."

Saph instantly latched on to that last part. "For now?"

"I live in hope that, one day, Koko will get over her aversion to emotional intimacy. So I watch and wait. Occasionally nudge." Nani smirked, a knowing look in her eyes. "Don't do that unless you want to make her mad. She's more patient with you, but I know I don't have to tell you that she'll show her teeth if you push too hard."

Saph grimaced. "I remember."

"Anyway, enough gossip. I swear, you bring out the worst in me."

The both laughed and returned their focus to waterbending, although Saph soon found something else to talk about. Being with Nani was always like that—her soothing presence made Saph want to express whatever was on her mind.

"What does it mean to be a master? Koko said Shylo couldn't be my airbending teacher because he doesn't know traditional forms. Is that what being a master is? It's not just being really good at bending?"

"It's about traditional forms, yes. Someone who learned the required sets and passed a test. For many, it's considered the beginning of true mastery. There's still a lot to learn after."

"Ugh, really?" Saph groaned, disheartened.

"Koko passed her mastery test when she was about your age. Do you think she stopped learning then?"

"I guess not…" The Council had briefly mentioned tests but acted like they were a long way off for Saph. Which was fine. The thought of such a thing was intimidating. "What about you? Are you a master?"

"Oh, no. That's for traditional combat forms. But I have other certifications for healing."

The obvious implication made Saph's heart sink. "So…will the Council eventually make me train with a master?"

"If they can find one," Nani said ruefully. "There aren't any here. The Council's already sent out scouts to try and find one." A second later, she added, "I don't know if I was supposed to tell you that. Keep it to yourself."

Saph chuckled. "You always tell me things you shouldn't."

"Yes, I know, I'm terrible. Call it practice. As the Avatar, you'll be told all sorts of privileged information. Keeping secrets will be a big part of your job."

"That sounds like fun, actually."

Nani laughed. "I'm glad you think so. But it's not the only part of the job. Let's get back to training."