Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Episode 4: The Voice in the Night Part 2

Air Acolytes anxiously watched Ikki and Meelo as they roughly handled the buttons on the luxurious Satomobile that sat neatly at the top of the hill path that led straight to the port that it came in on. Pema had stepped away for a moment, leaving them with her most rowdy children, and considering what happened the last time they were in charge of the kids, they were worried. Understandably so, too, a large part of the rooms on the west side of the Air Temple still had yet to be completely re-built.

"Out of the way Daddy, we're driving here!" Ikki grinned. Tenzin's eyes drifted across the flashy car and to the large red bow on its hood and shook his head with a deep sigh. "Beeeeeeeep beebeebeeeeeep!"

"Beep-beep!" Meelo copied his sister's sounds as they both jerked the wheel around. The Air Acolytes instantly reached out, their faces in deep grimaces as the kids continued to have their fun with the car.

Passing by the acolytes, Tenzin gave them a sympathetic look and muttered, "Thank you, but there is no need to worry. They can run the car off the hillside if they wish." He solemnly nodded at them, the acolytes recoiling back into calmer positions as their faces visibly relaxed. Tenzin continued his trek further into the island, coming upon Korra who was practicing airbending stances on a round platform with a yin-yang symbol decorating it.

"Hey, Tenzin," Korra smiled, her face not looking away from the stances she was working through.

"Hello, Korra. I see Tarrlok's gifts are getting more and more extravagant."

"Yeah, that guy doesn't know how to take 'no' for an answer," Korra sighed, blinking back thoughts as she tried her hardest to stay focused on her hands as she weaved them around her body.

"Korra, are you...doing alright?" Tenzin asked, making his way down the stairs that fell towards the platform. He rolled his shoulders, watching as Korra followed through with her stances incredibly well except for the slight waver in her foot's balance as he spoke to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Korra said. She paused her training for a moment to catch her breath and quiet anything that had come up when Tenzin asked her that question.

Taking a seat on the stairs, he pointed at the spot next to him and sent Korra a warm smile. "Why don't you take a break?" Per his suggestion, Korra walked towards Tenzin, taking a much-needed seat next to him as she stared out over the bay in front of her. "I am glad you turned down Tarrlok, but I just want to make sure your decision was for the right reason." Tenzin turned to face Korra, a serious expression lining the depths of his face as Korra struggled to look back at him. She was mulling over a good answer to give him, the immediate ones brimming on the edge of her tongue being ones that she didn't want to tell anyone. Or more accurately, ones that she didn't want to tell anyone here. It was odd being in a place where people you were closest to aren't readily available to you.

"I'm just really focused on my airbending right now, is all."

"Right...that is what you said. You know, Korra, it is okay to be scared. Nearly the whole city is frightened by what has been going on. The important thing is to talk about our fears because if we do not, they can throw us out of balance." Tenzin's brows drooped as Korra looked away from him, her dejected face not noticeable to him, but somehow he knew it was there. She folded her arms across her legs and buried her head into them, looking out of the corner of her eye at Tenzin as he stood up and began walking away.

"I'm always here for you if you want to talk."

Later, Korra found herself pretending to sit idly by on a balcony railing as she read her mother's words over and over. She tuned out Ikki and Jinora who were laughing wildly in between their moves in their game of Pai Sho that they were playing on the ground-flower underneath her. The letter faintly smelled of burning Arctic willow, the familiar feeling of a warm fire fueled by the willow's twigs while playful screams danced around it.