The Little Airbender

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When the little Airbender and her group arrived back at the house, everyone stood up to await their response. "Did you find the kid?" Beifong asked. Korra bit her lip and Tenzin nodded. Everyone leaned forward.

"Well, what happened? Why didn't you bring him back?" Jeong Jo took a step forward. "Is he ok?" Bumi shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, he seemed happy enough." Everyone looked confused. Bumi continued. "The Queen sent for him, and when he showed up, he told us how happy he was to be working for the Earth Queen." He continued to describe the conversation, and the others pipped in whenever he missed something.

"And when we asked if he was an Airbender," Korra took up the story. "He got all nervous and flustered, like he either didn't want the Earth Queen knowing we know, or he didn't want the Earth Queen to know at all."

Jeong was shocked. "But he loved Airbending. It always brought him joy to do it around the house. He never denied his bending status, in fact he was always proud of it. There must be something more going on." Everyone nodded. "But how do we figure that out?" Mako asked. "I mean it's not like Hou-Ting will just let us waltz into her palace and allow us to talk to Kai again. She's probably already suspicious enough as it is." Everyone took to their thinking faces, but Jinora had an idea.

"Let's think about this in the morning." She offered. "We're all tired and annoyed; a full night of sleep could really help us all. Beifung nodded. "Jinora brings up a good point: we're all tired right now, but I'm sure we'll be better in the morning." Everyone made sounds of agreement and walked upstairs to their rooms.

Jinora walked into her room, then looked around for something useful. "Korra!" Jinora stuck her head into Korra's room. "Do you have an extra blanket? I'm cold." Korra just smiled and tossed her a blanket. "Thanks!" Jinora gave Korra a winning smile and ran back to her room, feather-light feet silent on the wooden floor.

Jinora shoved the new blanket and a pillow underneath her blanket and fixed it so it looked like a body. She left a note under her blanket that said, Gone to the palace courtyard in the off chance she doesn't come back. But she will. She had a feeling.

Jinora opened the window and jumped out, landing gracefully on the grass without a sound. She opened her glider and soared off.

When she reached the courtyard, she found Kai sitting on a bench underneath a tree. It was dark, so she had a hard time spotting him, but when she did she noticed he looked very nervous.

"Hey Kai!" She touched down on the grass light as a monkey feather and closed her glider. Kai shushed her. "Shhh! No one is supposed to be out in the courtyard after hours! If we get caught we're in so much trouble! I never break the rules so I can't get in trouble now! Not when Her Majesty likes me so much." Jinora nodded a little skeptically. Jeong Jo talked about a mischievous, fun-loving kid. Not a stick in the mud. Jinora sat next to Kai on the bench.

"Ok.... So Kai, tell me about yourself. What do you like to do in your free time?" Kai's smile returned. "I like to hang out with the other people in the palace. Where I work, there are a dozen people who all love the Earth Queen just as much as I do!"

So there are a dozen more Airbenders.

"What do you do for the Earth Queen?" She pressed, trying to get him to reveal something. Kai laughed.

"I just work for her. Whatever she needs. I am at her service. Me and the others. We are always on standby for her, training to be ready for anything she might require of us." Jinora nodded, thinking. She must be training the Airbenders for some kind of military or task force thing.

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