Tenzin approached Korra's room cautiously as he knew that she was not a morning person on the best of days, 'the morning is evil' as she has frequently put it. And with her failures in trying to learn the basics of Airbending over the last few days she was no doubt going to be in a rather frustrated mood.
But he was proven wrong as just as he was about to knock on her door she opened it, freshly dressed and well rested judging from the content smile on her face. She stretched her arms over her head "*Yawn* Good morning Tenzin." she said pleasantly as she walked pasted him to the dinning room for breakfast.
Tenzin was somewhat stunned at this, but recovered quickly to follow after her "Good morning Korra. I trust you slept well?" he inquired politely.
"Very well. Best night sleep I've had in awhile." she answered honestly. Her gentle smile increasing slightly thinking about her both her date and dream from last night. Both of which involved her being in the arms of a certain upcoming Pro-Bending champion. Only in her dream things ended in a more..exciting way.
"Glad to hear it." Tenzin said happy for her before turning solemn "Now Korra I know the last couple of days haven't been as..productive as either of us would have liked." he said carefully "But I just want to take this time to remind you that Airbending isn't about brute strength and aggression, it's about using passive resistance in response to aggression. There is flow it, a rhythm if you will. You must surrender yourself to that rhythm and allow it to guide you through the gates."
Tenzin had tried to explain this to her many times already, but it has always gone completely over her head. But her experience last night made her pause to really think about his words. "A rhythm huh?" she said quietly to herself cupping her chin in deep thought.
"Korra?" asked Tenzin puzzled.
"Hey Tenzin, do you guys own a record player by any chance?" she asked with a brainstorm forming.
"We do, why?"
"I have an idea! I'll tell you all about it after breakfast!" she said while racing down the hall, eager to try out her idea.
Tenzin blinked rapidly at her curious behavior, but as he smelled his wife's delicious cooking he power walked to join her.
(1 hour later)
Korra stood before her old nemesis, The Spinning Gates, with a determined fire in her eye. She looked over to Jinora who had the record player ready and gave her a nod. The young Airbender placed the needle on the vinyl and a soothing orchestra filled the courtyard as Korra closed her eyes and let the melody flow through her. She slowly swayed over to the gates and with the grace of a ballerina she spun, twirled, cartwheeled and flipped through the gates without touching any of them once.
As the music faded out and the gates stopped spinning a slightly out of breath Korra was greeted with a standing ovation from Jinora, Ikki and Meelo while Tenzin was frozen in astonishment.
"That..that was incredible." Tenzin whispered in awe.
"Beautiful!" Jinora added with wonder.
"Amazing!" Ikki squealed with cheer.
"Wow!" Meelo exclaimed.
Korra blushed slightly at all the praise, but was very happy to finally be making some progress in her training. "Aw shucks guys, was it really that good?" she asked modestly.
"It was better then good!" Tenzin said just as happy at Korra's performance as his children. "Your training method was rather unorthodox, but creative thinking is heavy encouraged in Airbending. Tell me, how did you come up with the idea to use music to help you?"
Korra was unsure of how to answer that and was even tempted to lie, but she thought better of it and decided to just tell the truth. "Before I say anything Tenzin, I want you to promise wait until I'm done explaining and try your best not to be mad." she pleaded to her master.
Tenzin had a bad feeling about this, but his curiosity over her sudden leap in skill needed to be satisfied "Very well, I promise."
And so Korra told him about all that she did last night while make it very clear that nothing really big happened between her and Bolin. Needless to say Tenzin was not happy to hear that Korra disobeyed him in leaving the island, especially at night to go see a Pro-Bending match. And then she apparently went on a date with some boy named Bolin?! His fatherly instincts kicked into high gear upon hearing this.
Tenzin took in a deep breath "Korra..I am very disappointed that you disobeyed my wishes for you to stay on the island and I made it very clear on my thoughts on Pro-Bending." he said as calmly as he could.
"I know Tenzin, but-"
She was cut off by Tenzin raising a stern hand "I let you say your peace Korra. Now I will say mine." he said with his tone not changing. Korra was silent as he continued "I'll be honest, I was beginning to lose my patience with not just your lack of progress but also in your attitude. And ordinarily hearing this last stunt you pulled on top of all that would've been the last straw before I would lay down the law." he said with his tone getting progressively harder, causing Korra to tuck into herself meekly. "However," his tone then became warmer "it's clear to me now that perhaps I need to apply some creative to my own teaching methods. My father once told me that if a teacher is unable to learn with their student, then they are not meant to teach."
Korra blinked in surprise at this and a hopeful smile appeared on her face "So, does that mean I can see Bolin's match tonight? I promised him I would be there."
"You can, on the condition that you will take your training more seriously. And in return I will allow you more freedom, but within reason."
"Deal! In fact why don't you come see the match with me? I think you will actually like Pro-Bending if you give it a chance." she offered.
"Yeah daddy, can we all come too?! Can we?! Can we?!" Ikki asked bouncing up and down with excitement with Jinroa and Meelo joining in. Jinora wanted to meet Bolin while Meelo was joining just for fun.
Tenzin sighed resignedly "Very well." Korra and the children cheered as they joined together in a group hug. When the group hug ended Tenzin then went back into teaching mode "Now Korra, let's see if you make it through the gates without the music."
"Right!"
(Later that night)
When Tenzin agreed to take his family out to see a Pro-Bending match he did not expect it to be this nerve racking as apparently The Fire Ferret's Waterbender was a no show and Korra volunteered to step in for them, much to Mako reluctance. It was a rough match to say the least as while Korra was a very skilled bender she wasn't very familiar with the rules of Pro-Bending, her inexperience causing them to lose two rounds. She even Earthbended at one point during the match revealing herself as the Avatar. But she was able to continue as long she only bends water. And luckily for her all of her Airbending training from today was really kicking in as during the last round she became untouchable as The Platypus-Bears exhausted themselves firing at her, allowing Bolin and Mako to deal a Knockout, wining the match.
While he wasn't happy with it at first, Tenzin had to admit that Pro-Bending was a lot fun to watch. Especially when it gave him the opportunity to see his student put what he taught her to good use. And his family had a great time too, cheering Korra on.
And now at the fighter podium after celebrations had died down and Mako had stepped out to give them some privacy Bolin and Korra now found themselves trapped in an awkward silence.
"So..about last night.." Bolin started "I just want to make sure I'm not getting any mixed signals here. Are we a thing? Are we just friends? Or..?"
Korra thought long and hard about how to answer. She had never felt this way about anyone before and didn't want to screw it up. She knew Bolin was a sweet guy, strong, funny, dependable and handsome. Qualities any woman would want in a man, but she never dated before and didn't want to break his heart if they didn't work out. He didn't deserve that. So after giving it much thought she decided..
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author