Yang opened the door to her house and was surprised to see only one of her packages sitting at the bottom of the stairs. Had they not been delivered yet? She'd been assured that they would be by the time she got back. What happened?
"Miss Yang!" Yenzing said as he came into the room. "You're back! I took the liberty of bringing your packages to your room, though the one still sitting there was far too heavy for me."
So that's what happened, Yang thought as she picked up the box. It was indeed heavy, so it must be her weight set. "I'll take this downstairs. I don't want to drop heavy weights on the second floor."
Yenzing chuckled, and then spoke again. "I'll prepare some tea while you do so. I'll meet you in the kitchen."
A quick trek up and down the basement stairs with such a heavy package left Yang out of breath as she walked into the kitchen. The amount of weight that Yang had bought was impressive even for a woman of her size and stature, and it took a lot out of her to just get it down the stairs. Yenzing, having used the electric kettle to heat the water, handed Yang her tea, and both set down at the table.
"So, how was your day?" Yenzing asked.
"Interesting," Yang said as she picked up her tea. "On one hand, I got to see Republic City through the eyes of an adult, going places and doing things that I'd have never seen as a homeless kid. Even got to see Air Temple Island, like I wanted." Yang sipped her tea and continued. "On the other hand, I saw how hostile this city is to the homeless. I've seen a ton of spikes in places I used to set up camp, and so many benches have added 'arm rests' to prevent the homeless from sleeping there. And that blue light bathroom at the mall was just painful to look at."
"Blue light bathroom?" Yenzing asked. "How is that hostile to the homeless?"
"First off, they can't be cleaned properly. The blue light obscures body fluids like urine and semen, so unless maintenance has a 'cleaning mode', they're always going to be disgusting. All because they're to be used as a 'deterrent for drug use', but if someone's needing a fix that badly, they'll shoot up no matter where they're at. But since they can't see their vein, they can't hit what they need, and could hurt themselves worse and get nasty infections that'll do far more damage than their drugs ever could," Yang said sadly.
"Wow, I hadn't realized…" Yenzing said, not knowing where to go from here.
"How bad it is for the homeless? Well, you don't know what to look for," Yang said. She smiled and continued. "But it's okay. You know now. And most importantly, you care."
Yenzing smiled, and changed he subject. "So, I heard you trained with the Kyoshi Warriors?"
"Oh yeah!" Yang said excitedly. "My earthbending teacher Sho Geng took me there and said I should learn some non-bending forms of martial arts. And let me tell you, the Kyoshi Warriors were so nice and eager to teach me."
"Teaching the Avatar her own fighting style back to her? I'd have been eager to do that too," Yenzing said, smiling from behind his teacup.
Yang smiled, having not thought of things that way before. Yes, she and Avatar Kyoshi were technically the same person, in the sense that she and any of her past lives were the same person. Some of those abilities came naturally because she'd created them in a past life. But others… "I'm actually surprised at how much non-martial training I got there."
"Yes, the Kyoshi Warriors have added a lot of infiltration and sabotage to their skills," Yenzing said. "And you probably didn't the use the gun range, either."
"How'd you know about the gun range? Have you visited there before?" Yang asked, confused by how much Yenzing seemed to know about the Kyoshi Warriors.
"Actually, I'm from there," Yenzing said.
"Oh, so that's why you know a lot about them," Yang said, smiling warmly.
"Well, that and I am one," Yenzing said. "Or rather, was. I'm retired now."
"I thought the Kyoshi Warriors were an all-female group," Yang said, curiously.
"Generally, yes, but men can join if we're skilled enough. In fact, I'm only the 4th man to join them full time since they were formed," Yenzing said. "The rules for our behavior are different than our sisters, though."
"In what way?" Yang asked.
"Well, I was told right from the start that I'd never lead a team, no matter how experienced I'd be. It would look poorly upon a team that's job to protect and empower women to be led by a man," Yenzing said. "And off our island, I'd need to use my 'maleness' to the benefit of any woman I encountered."
"How so?" Yang asked.
Yenzing rolled his eyes. "That's right, the Avatar wouldn't experience sexism the way other women do," he said. "Well, women aren't always held in the highest esteem outside Kyoshi Island. I mean, the fighting style is build around using your opponent's strength against them, since men are generally stronger than women."
"But what would 'using your maleness' mean outside Kyoshi Island?" Yang asked.
"I'm to be man who comes to the defense of a woman in trouble, either physically or emotionally. Use the perception of me being a man to keep women safe from…the less than savory things that men do to women," Yenzing said.
Yang immediately understood what Yenzing meant. She'd heard about the "man or bear" thing, and how many women, bender or not, said they'd feel safer around a bear in the woods rather than a man made Yang understand how dangerous men could be.
"Well, that explains a lot about you," Yang said, bringing herself back to the moment. "Like how you always seemed on high alert whenever we were out. You were watching over me."
"Of course," Yenzing said. "You were my most important charge, at least until you left for training."
They continued to talk for a few hours, both about Kiyoshi Island and their warriors and other things, and eventually, Xiaolong entered the kitchen.
"Yang, how was your day in the city?" Xiaolong said, sitting down next to her.
"Pretty good," Yang said as Yenzing stood and poured Xiaolong his tea. "Though I need some advice."
"About what?" Xiaolong said, nodding in approval to Yenzing.
"About how I want to handle being the kind of Avatar I want to be," Yang said. "I saw a lot of things in the city that reminded me of how important tackling the homeless crisis is." She relayed her experiences during the day, and Xiaolong quietly listened.
When Yang was finished, Xiaolong spoke up. "Well, I could call a press conference so you can address the world, but I'd suggest you talk to the world leaders first. Get them on your side before you start to tackle the billionaires."
"Pit one set of people in power against the other," Yang said, smiling.
"Not exactly," Xiaolong. "A lot of world leaders are in the pockets of billionaires, if they're not billionaires themselves. But if you go directly to the leaders of the 5 nations, you'll be able to get a read on the level of corruption at the top."
"And I can fly to each nation's capital really quickly," Yang said, starting to mentally plot out her path. "Show off what I'm capable of before any discussion takes place."
"Exactly," Xiaolong said. "After you speak to President Zhao Lu, I'll set up the press conference outside the Capitol Building for a week after. That should give you time to meet with the leaders of the other nations before addressing them all."
"Then I'll start tomorrow," Yang said, sipping at her tea. "I just hope I won't have any problems actually seeing them."