As I Fall: LOK

Chapter Two

The snowy South Pole was in direct opposition to what Haitana deemed suitable weather.

Cold wind turned her ears and the tip of her nose a crimson color, and even her thick cloak could not protect her from the unrelenting subzero temperature.

Every time her feet made that crunching noise as she sunk into frost covered snow, she shuttered a little bit, trying to control her breathing and regulate the heat in her body.

Master Tenzin's family reconnected, as Mako met Korra's parents for the first time, and Haitana, Bolin and Asami stayed huddled behind the group— like a waddle of penguins. "Need... to... get... warm..." Bolin chattered through his teeth as he grasped at Haitana like she were the sun in that very moment. "Do some firebending, hurry," he complained to her.

"If you keep thinking about it, you will only feel colder," Haitana whined back, uncomfortable with the two holding onto her so tight.

Asami's shivered as a gust of wind threatened to knock them unsteady. "Come on," she whispered, tears almost coming out at the sheer thought of how low the temperature was. "Just one little flame?"

"Ughh," Haitana started, groaning at their constant complaining, before igniting a flame in the palm of her hands. Holding it there she contained the fire, a small flickering light that caused both Asami and Bolin to almost lean face first into it.

Bolin sighed in satisfaction, feeling the flames beam onto his frozen face. "That's the stuff," he let out dreamily, before Haitana closed her hands and extinguished the fire. "Hey!"

Before the earthbender could whine about the sudden loss of warmth, Haitana pointed over to giant ships approaching from the ocean— trying to explain why she averted her attention from their need to escape to cold. It seemed Bolin was too preoccupied with the sudden cluster of people who approached, however.

"Wow! Look at all these people that came out to greet us," Bolin said, amazed at the new gathering of bystanders, which made Korra roll her eyes at his childlike naivety.

"Uh, no. They came to greet them," the Avatar corrected, pointing as the Water Tribe ships neared closer. The crowd cheered as they steamed into the harbor, and Haitana huffed, as that was what she was trying to show Bolin in the first place.

Letting go of her two friends, the zoologist squints her eyes to the ships— trying to see what everyone was so in awe about. But, just as they approached, an arctic hen, that was perched above the flag pole, made a call and started flying over head of the group. "Hey! Look at her!" Haitana said joyfully, pointing up to the bird as it started flying away. "Wait up!"

Chasing the animal across the village of the South Pole, she left behind her friends without second thoughts. They didn't pay much mind to her leaving anyway, since it had become a common occurrence— Haitana chasing animals that is.

The arctic hen swooped down, almost within the girls grasp, before it beat its wings once more and flew over a building. Getting tired of the cat and mouse game, Haitana pulled out a lure— it was a leather strap with fake wings and feathers attached— and started spinning it in the air with calculated movements. The animal caught sight of the fake prey, and caught it, allowing Haitana to bring it back down to her.

"Good job," she commented the bird, opening a fist full of feed for the arctic hen to eat. "You're just a baby, aren't you?"

The bird let out another call, perching on her cloak covered shoulder, before nestling her head into Haitana's hair.

A giggle sounded from behind the girl, startling her out of her little trance, and when she whipped around her face beamed with a great smile. "I should have known I would find you with some kind of animal," she said quietly. "Just like your father, you are."

"Mom!" Haitana squeaked out, before engulfing Roma in a hug and scaring the bird off of her shoulder. "You're here? Already? I didn't see you when—"

"Yes, well, I tried to ask your new friends where your whereabouts might be, and then they told me you chased some bird across the village, so I knew it had to be you," Roma laughed out, causing her daughter to rub her neck in a sheepish embarrassment. "It's so great to see you again, my dear. I've been so worried about you since you left— you've gotten yourself into quite some trouble."

Haitana sighed, holding her mother's hands in comfort. "I know," she agreed. "But I'm okay. There is a great satisfaction in helping others."

"Oh, trust me," Roma began, almost rolling her eyes. "You're father is keen on mentioning all of your help to anyone he comes in contact with. You're quite famous on the island now."

Letting out a false laugh, the girl shrunk into herself— embarrassed with the new information. Of course she wanted her father to be proud, but bragging about what she had done... it seemed a little excessive. After all, she had just been in the right place at the right time— it wasn't skill, or practice, or heroic... it was just plain luck.

"He's by our hut," Roma mentioned, pulling along her daughter so she could reunite with her father too. "He's been very eager to see you again. I think he is convinced that lots have changed in just mere months."

The two women, almost strange clones of each other, stepped through the snowy reflection on the surface. Wind almost sounded like a beautiful tune, whistling in their ears.

When Haitana approached the hut her family was staying in, she couldn't prevent her composure from dropping. Yes, her father was there, looking like she had always remembered him— smiling, laughing, but... he was also conversing. That laughter, it wasn't for naught, it was caused by someone: General Iroh II.

Confusion overrides all her senses, seeing the two talk like they had known each other their whole life. Just as she was about to question her mother, and turned her head to the side, the realization settled upon her— her mother had already went inside to escape the cold.

Releasing a baited breath, Haitana took a step towards the two men, trying to solve this strange occurrence. "What's going on here?" She questioned accusingly, before Elian had turned to her with a joyous grin.

"Ahh, Haitana," he said happily. "Would you look at that. A true hero, indeed," Elian commented, finally embracing her in a warm hug.

Haitana shrunk under his grasp, turning red at his statement. "Not a hero," she mumbled. "Stop telling people that." Glancing back over to Iroh, who had a ghost of a smile upon his face, she furrowed her brows to him. "What are you doing here? And how do you know each other?"

Iroh almost seemed offended at her accusatory tone, backing up at the sheer harshness of it. The last time they had talked went well; what had changed to make her so defensive? "I can't talk to my old fire-bending master? How do you two know each other?" He shot back, confused.

Looking at Elian, Haitana's forehead wrinkled with the peculiarity of it all. "Firebending master?" She questioned, baffled. "He's my father. What are you talking about?"

Elian placed a hand over her shoulder, trying to ease her worry. "Haitana," he started slowly. "You do know I have taught other people firebending, right?"

"What!" She argued back. "No! I didn't know that! When would you even have the time?"

A chuckled sounded from deep within his root, shaking his head, humored at his daughter's bewilderment. "Where do you think I went when I'm not on the reserve? Surely it can't be that surprising."

"You taught him," Haitana jabbed her finger in Iroh's direction. "Firebending? This is ridiculous. I'm going inside."

It was childish indeed, but something in Haitana lit ablaze in finding out that her father, the man who taught her everything she knew, also taught other students. Maybe it was selfish, no, it was incredibly selfish, but confusion and agitation ran thick through her veins. Of course, her and Iroh had made amends, but it still didn't stop this from getting under her skin.