Chapter Nine

Raiden

~~~~~~~

I walked past Tenzin's little house, towards the fountain. A second later, a messenger falcon swooped down and landed on my shoulder. Surprised, I gently picked him up, setting him on the ground and opening the small cylindrical letter holder. Pulling it out, I began to read.

Hey, little brother! It's Iroh. I hope you're liking your stay at Air Temple Island. Stay out of trouble and write back, okay? I need to keep tabs on you. You getting into trouble probably isn't the best idea right now.

Grandpa misses you. He doesn't like to talk about it, but Mom told me he really wants to see you. Whenever you get the time, go to the palace.

Iroh

I folded up the letter, stuffing it in my pocket. I hated when Iroh did that. He just sent a letter, acting all great and older brotherly. I hated it.

He told me to be here and I was missing out. The probending season was starting soon, and who knew when I'd get back? My two teammates, Takumi and Aki, we're probably wondering where I was and why I wasn't inviting them over the the apartment anymore. It was frustrating, trying to balance two lives at the same time.

And then grandpa, who liked to disapprove of what I was doing, always saying I should use my bending for 'the greater good'. He was my grandfather and I respected him, but he'd brainwashed way too many people with that same sentence over and over again for me to actually want to meet him now.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching me. "You're Zuko's grandson, huh?" A girl said. I stood up, turning to face her.

"Avatar?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you. I didn't know Iroh had a brother."

"I like to lay low," I said with a laugh. "Really though, I'm a probender." I wanted to brag. I could brag as much as I wanted. I didn't care what people thought.

Her blue eyes flashed with recognition. "I knew it. I recognized you from somewhere. I saw you fighting against Mako once when I went to watch him!" She put a fist against her hip, shifting her weight on her other leg.

"That's me," I said. I knew what was coming.

"He beat you, I remember."

And there it was. I rubbed my face. "That he did. But that was when I first started. I'm really good now, trust me," I said. "I haven't lost a match in three years."

"That's great," she said, and I could tell she meant it. "Really. I actually started probending with Mako in the beginning," she said. "It helps keep your mind off of more important things."

"Probending is important," I defended.

"Sounds like you're pretty serious about this, huh? That's cool. Hey, I'll see you around, okay?"

I nodded, running a hand through my hair. She walked away, leaving me alone.

"You aren't as impressive as you think," a voice said behind me. For the love of- people needed to stop sneaking up behind me.

Unfortunately, I knew exactly who this was. "I'm not?" I said with a scoff, turning towards the hater, Aimi. "Why would you say that?"

"Probending is not important. It's a hobby."

Suddenly, I was glad I'd beaten her up during our sparring session. Her lower lip was still slightly swollen, a light bruise around her left eye. She was trying to get me back. Unfortunately, It was starting to work.

"And what makes you sure about that?" I asked spitefully. "Have you ever tried it?"

"No, but I've seen and heard enough. Anyway, keep in mind that you're unimpressive because that is the real truth." She turned to walk away, her long, straight hair flipping over her shoulder as she did. Before I could stop myself, I walked towards her, grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face me, leaning close enough to see my reflection in her eyes.

"Why," I said with utter confusion, "do you loathe me so much?"

Her lips formed an 'O' shape, but her surprise didn't last long. She wrenched herself from my arms. "I have my reasons."

"I didn't hate you when I first met you," I said in anguish. "But now you're making me hate you."

"Good. I'd love a proper rival."

"Good."

"Good."

"Great," I said, turning away from her. "Goodbye."

"You can't run away from me that easily," she added with a smirk. "I'll beat you next time."

Was it legal to hit a girl? Because that's where I was headed. "Watch me." 

She laughed, her voice loud and mocking.

Suddenly, I turned around and exploded, "It's not my fault your grandma wasn't good enough for my grandfather!" Her face blanched. I regretted those words. Oh, schist.

I watched plain fury rise up inside of her, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, my jaw in extreme pain.

"I'm not usually the type to get physical," she breathed heavily, standing over me, "but you did not just say something that low. And for the record?" she bent over me, her nose inches from mine, "I don't care if you hate me. You say one more thing about my grandmother and I will skin you alive." 

And then she stormed away.

I sat up, rubbing my jaw. I completely deserved that. I didn't mean what I said. But I already knew how she felt towards her grandmother, and I'd just made her hatred towards me worse. And I completely knew that, if I didn't make things right with her, my life would be miserable for the time I was staying here.

I stalked back towards my room which I was sharing with Mako.

♤♤♤

The next day, I was called again as a spar partner against Aimi. Opal, her initial partner, was back with her mother in Zaofu for something important.

"Look," I said, standing in front of her. Her fierce, dark eyes were narrowed as she put her fists up, "I'm sorry about yesterday." She slid her leg against the ground in a sudden crouch. A gust of wind knocked me onto my back, my breath whooshing out of my lungs. I crawled onto my knees, getting to my feet. "I didn't mean what I said." She punched air, and I ducked, the wind ruffling my hair. "Can we start over?" 

She answered me with a kick to the chest, a gust of air exploding around us. I wasn't really fighting back. I could definitely block all her attacks, but I just wanted her to hear me out.

"Aimi!" Tenzin's voice came into the clearing. "You're not firebending, you're airbending. Be graceful with your movements."

She grumbled under her breath, holding up her fists again. She reminded me of a probender, actually, the way she held herself.

"Where did you learn to kick around like that?" I asked her.

"My mom used to put me in-" she lunged out, and then continued, "in karate and self-defense classes." she ducked as I swiped my arm over her head, continuing, "Probably because of what a letdown I was, being born a nonbender."

"Let me just ask you one thing," I said, trying to make peace, rolling to the side as she attacked me, "Is anyone else in your family a bender?"

"My mom," she replied easily, surprising me. "She's an earthbender." 

"Aimi," Tenzin cut in again. "You know what's hard? Teaching someone techniques from scratch. It's like trying to make a child write an essay on a blank sheet of paper. You know what's harder? Teaching someone new techniques over ones they've already learned. That's like making a child write an essay, then making them erase it and write a new one over it," he sighed. "You've already learned all these attacks and skills. Try to let go of some of them. Imagine you're floating. Go with the graceful approach." 

She stopped, rubbing her temples. "Okay. I'm trying." She swiped her leg in the air.

"A little softer, Aimi."

She did it again, gentler this time. A gust of air rippled through our clothes. "I'm trying to ruffle a turtleduck's feathers by doing this, right?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "There's no power in that."

"And that's where you generate power," Tenzin smiled. "Airbenders make power where there is none."

"I don't understand what's wrong with the way I do it," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's not a peaceful way-"

"Who fights peacefully?" She butt in. "Look, I know they're graceful and all that, but I can't do it the way you do it."

"And that's why you need to learn. Follow me," he gestured. She followed him and so did Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo. Korra, who was watching, also followed them. So I decided to go and watch what was happening. 

♧♧♧

Before us stood these giant wooden door-like rectangles, about twenty or thirty of these thick doors in a circle shape. On the front, carved into each of them by hand, were the air nomad symbols. Around the edges were dark designs, carefully crafted symmetrically on each of these, exactly identical.

"This will teach you to balance your movements," Tenzin said. He pushed his hand outwards and all the doors started to spin, made so it looked like they were barely slamming in to each other. I could feel the bruises already on these poor airbending students. I turned to see Aimi's reaction, and I was not disappointed.

Her jaw was almost touching the floor as she stared at the moving doors.

"Be the leaf," Tenzin instructed, gently blowing a leaf through the doors. It wafted around, drifting as the wind pushed it, finally blowing out the end and settling to the floor.

"Do you give this example to all of your students?" Korra raised an eyebrow.

Tenzin gave her a look.

We watched as Jinora easily leaped in, doing a dance. She knew when to move and where to put her foot, spinning lightly and turning, jumping and dodging like a professional ballerina or dancer. She jumped out at the end, landing on a puff of air as she did a little show off-y leap.

I smiled at Aimi. "Good luck."

She scowled. I watched as she tried to jump in, hesitating.

"On the count of three," Korra said loudly. "One, two . . . " Aimi took a deep breath, her eyebrows drawn close, "three!" And she jumped in.

We all heard the painful slamming and thudding as she was thrown around like a rag doll, spewn out at the end. She laid on her back, staring at the sky.

"I'm not doing this."

"Oh, come on," Korra said, helping her up. "You know, when I first started this, I was so angry I blew this entire thing up."

"What?"

"Yup. Tenzin literally had to redo this ancient thing because it was charred by the time I was done with it," she chuckled. "But you know what? I went back and kept trying. And one day, I finally made it out without getting hurt. That's the day you'll know that you can be as light as air; the main goal of the airbenders."

Aimi rolled her eyes. "It's going to take me ages to do this, because I'll have to take time out while I visit the hospital to fix my broken bones."

I laughed. "You know, you're very opimistic."

"I try."

"I'm gonna go," I said. "Good luck." And I turned around, stalking off. What a brat. She'd been gifted with a special ability she was taking for granted. She made me so angry. Aimi didn't deserve to be an airbender. She didn't deserve to be here, with that attitude.

♡♡♡

;)

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