Chapter Text
Small Fish in a Big World
Book 1: Decisions
Chapter 1: Tests and Telegrams
Korra walked away from her firebending final out of breath and sore, but still full of nervous energy. The masters had to pass her—they had to. She'd been perfect.
In her head, Korra replayed each controlled breath and every restrained strike, the ways she'd anticipated her opponent's attacks and how she'd countered them with the appropriate defenses. She also remembered catching glimpses of her examiners throughout the fight, their faces expressionless as they watched her and took notes. Whatever they'd been thinking, they didn't want her to know. And that meant it was probably something bad.
Korra shook her head to clear away these spiraling unproductive thoughts. The masters would either give her a pass or force her to continue her firebending training. Which they might, if only because she'd never actually done any airbending and might not actually be capable of it and therefore was not really the Avatar--
“I am the Avatar.” Korra clenched her fists at her sides and went over the evidence: bending multiple elements, passing the toy test, having her birthday correspond with the day of Avatar Aang's death, and so on.
She unclenched her fists and continued her walk around the perimeter of the White Lotus compound, looking for something to do.
Not more training, she wasn't in the right headspace. Not studying either, since she wouldn't be able to focus. Maybe strike up a conversation with one of the White Lotus? Or perhaps go see what her parents were doing? They always had things to be done around the house.
But they would all want to talk about the test, and she wouldn't be able to resist, like picking at a scab.
Korra smiled as she remembered the one person who wouldn't bring out the worst of her in that way, who could distract her from her worries. She broke into a run, slipping a little on the wet stones as she rounded a corner.
“Naga!”
The polar bear dog bounded out of her stall in the White Lotus stables and bowled into Korra, knocking them both to the ground. Earthbending softened the landing and the two tousled for a moment until Naga rolled onto her back and let Korra rub her belly.
Before long, Korra's worries were forgotten, as she brushed Naga's fur, trimmed her nails, and worked on the tricks Naga was learning.
ccoOoɔɔ
An hour or so later, Katara and the other masters found her in the yard outside the stables, led by Master Naakyo, the leader of the White Lotus. They were as serious and stone-faced as ever, but looking at Master Katara's eyes, Korra thought she saw a hint of a smile there.
Korra stood, rocking from heel to toe, barely able to contain her own grin as Katara caught her eye and gave her a wink.
“Avatar Korra,” Master Naakyo said, managing to sound as stuffy and ostentatious as though he were standing before a royal palace instead of a dirty stable full of animals and their droppings. “Today you have demonstrated a competency in the art of firebending that only few achieve. You have become more than proficient in all but the most advanced traditional forms, and proven yourself controlled, restrained, and capable in combat. It is my honor to pronounce you a true master of the art.” He and the other masters bowed to her.
Korra's smile grew as Naakyo made his announcement and she couldn't help laughing aloud from pride and relief.
“Does this mean I can begin training with Master Tenzin?”
Naakyo's face turned sour as he straightened from his bow, but Master Katara spoke before he could reprimand Korra for not giving the appropriate, grateful, humble response.
“We can send him a telegram today.”
Korra hugged her waterbending teacher, thanking her as Katara gently patted her back.
“It’s a long journey from the United Republic, so it may be some time before Tenzin can join us,” Katara reminded her, but this did nothing to dampen Korra's excitement. Finally, she was going to learn airbending. Finally, she was going to be a real Avatar.
ccoOoɔɔ
Korra stood in her parents' home, a telegram pinched between her cold fingers, heart sinking.
Am unable to leave city now STOP will train when able STOP apologies STOP
Korra groaned, putting her head in her hands as her mother took the scrap of paper to read it again herself.
“Oh, Korra,” Senna said, rubbing her back. “This isn't so bad. Think of it as a vacation. You've worked so hard on learning the other elements, now you can take a break.”
Korra just shook her head, as Senna gave her one more pat then got up to resume tidying the house. Korra listened to the small sounds of her mother moving about, soothed a little by her calm words, but still upset.
“In fact, a real vacation sounds nice,” Senna continued. “You, me, your father, we could all go to Qanniq, visit the market and the skating rinks...”
“I guess,” Korra said, aware that she sounded like a grumpy little kid. It made sense that Tenzin couldn't just pack up his life and leave in an instant, he was an important governmental figure in the United Republic. But knowing that didn't make her feel any better. She wanted to learn airbending now, as selfish as that made her sound.
“There's my girl,” Senna said. “Help me peel these sea kumquats?”
Korra dragged herself away from the table and lurched over to the hearth to help.
ccoOoɔɔ
Days passed and Korra found herself growing more and more bored with every moment. She found things to do of course—visiting the city, going hunting, and studying in the not-unimpressive White Lotus library—but she knew in her heart all she was doing was waiting. She was killing time when every day she wasted was another day the world spent without a fully realized Avatar.
And so, about a week after receiving Tenzin's telegram, Korra approached Master Katara in the village's healing hut. It was a large building, larger than any one home, and full of medical equipment and staff attending to the patients. People came here for healing from miles around, to receive help from one of the best healers in the world.
“Korra? What is it this time?” Katara barely glanced up from her patient, her attention focused on the lightly glowing water flowing beneath her hands. An old man with swollen ankles sat on the bench before her, face tight with pain. “Unless it's something life-threatening, you'll have to wait.”
Korra shook her head. “Katara, can you talk to Tenzin again?”
“To ask him what?”
Korra shrugged, watching Katara work. “To tell him he doesn't have to stay here indefinitely. Just a few weeks. A month or two to get me started. Or even just send some scrolls in the mail.” Her earthbending teacher had done just that to give her a jump start.
“You never showed this much eagerness for my healing lessons,” Katara said, still not bothering to look up. Her patient however did, glancing awkwardly between Korra and Katara.
Korra caught the old man's gaze and rolled her eyes. “Katara, please?”
“I don't know why you think I can convince him any better than you could yourself. Go. You know where the post office is.”
Korra bowed and rushed out of the healing hut, whistling for Naga as she raced for the post office.
The post office was a low-slung structure, built mainly to serve the needs of the White Lotus members living at the compound. It was drab and smelled like bird droppings, but it more than made up for it by having a functional telegraph machine. The next closest one was in Qanniq, half a day away!
After a little prodding, Korra managed to wake up the sleeping operator and have him send a message to Master Tenzin.
Tenzin, when can you come for short stay STOP if not soon please send scrolls in mail STOP
“Anything else, miss?” the operator asked after tapping out a complex rhythm of dots and dashes. He was an older man, balding, with a crown of fluffy white hair that bounced as he moved.
Korra shook her head. “How long before he replies?”
The telegraph operator clicked his tongue. “Well, could be an hour, could be a day or a month or never. We've sent the message out there, now all's we can do is wait,” he said, flicking his fingers as though throwing something into the void.
“But how long do you think it'll be?”
“Message to someone important, like Master Tenzin? Probably a day, maybe two. Anything else?”
Korra glanced at the sun outside, gauging the time, then back at the old man and his machine. “Do you think... you could teach me to read these?” she asked, indicating the pile of ticker tape messages covering the operator's table.
The old man's fluffy white eyebrows went up in surprise.
“I might. Do you know the fire syllabary?”
Korra nodded. “And the earth characters and the water alphabet.” She even knew a few of the air glyphs, though it was so rare that she ever used them she basically had to relearn them every time she saw them.
“Good. Since the telegraph was invented in the Fire Nation, it's convention to use their system. Now each mora can be expressed as a set of shorts and longs. Dots and dashes, if you will. For example, this is the mora ba.” He tapped three times on the table. “Once you've memorized the code for each mora, all you need to do is transliterate your message into the fire syllabary and express that as code.”
“Huh.” Korra sat down next to the operator, staring at a table of mora and codes he passed her. “But the two languages are so different.” So different in fact, she still had a hard time understanding her firebending teacher, even after two years of instruction. “How are you supposed to write the Water Languages with fire letters?”
“Mora, not letters,” the operator corrected. “Mora represent syllables while letters are strictly a single sound. Do you want me to show you?”
Korra happily agreed, and spent the next few hours learning how to encode messages and how to use the telegraph machine to send them. By the end of the session, she did not quite have either skill mastered, but she promised she would return tomorrow to continue the lesson.
And, Korra thought to herself as she walked home again with Naga, I won't have to wait if Tenzin's message arrives while I'm there.
ccoOoɔɔ
Two days passed before Tenzin replied.
Will send scrolls soon STOP cannot leave for foreseeable future STOP many apologies STOP
The telegraph operator allowed Korra to decode the message herself. Once she had figured out its contents, she had to restrain herself from crumpling or burning up the paper, and tried to focus on the silver sandwich. She would be getting some scrolls sometime soon, and Tenzin did mean to teach her eventually, even if he didn't know when.
She stuffed the paper into the pocket of her coat and thanked the telegraph operator before asking, “How long does it take a letter to get here from Republic City?”
“Three weeks, maybe four.”
“What about newspapers?”
“Three weeks, maybe four.”
Korra clenched her fists and tried to be patient with the old man. “Do you have any here?”
“Not right now, no. But one of your White Lotus friends gets a paper every week.”
In an instant her mood brightened. There was only one White Lotus member from the United Republic: Raijin the earthbender.
“Thanks, perfect, gotta go!” Korra shouted as she dashed from the post office and out into the village.
The doors to the White Lotus compound were impossibly slow. Korra danced on the spot, waiting for them to open. She could have launched herself over with earthbending, or climbed up the wall with ice, but she had learned from experience that neither the White Lotus or the villagers living just outside the compound appreciated that.
Finally the doors opened just enough for Korra to squeeze through. “Raijin! Has anybody seen Raijin?”
A couple minutes later Raijin came running down from the eastern watchtower, confusion and worry in his green eyes. He was a tall, muscular young man, handsome despite being ten or more years older than Korra herself.
“Raijin, thank the spirits.” Korra put a hand on his shoulder, steadying herself a little as she caught her breath.
“What? What is happened?” he asked in his muddy version of the Southern Water Language.
“Raijin, I need your paper.”
“Paper?”
“Your newspaper from the United Republic.”
“Why is my paper so important you come in screaming my name?” Raijin asked, removing her hand from his shoulder.
“So. I passed my firebending exam a couple weeks ago, right? That means now I should be starting my airbending training with Master Tenzin, but, he can't come here right now, since he's some kind of important bigwig in the RC. So, I figured I'd find out what's going on up there so maybe I'll get an idea for how long before he gets here.”
Raijin did not look like he understood, so Korra simplified.
“I want to know what's happening in the United Republic.”
“Oh. I see. Yes, I can give you my newspaper. Please be waiting here with no screaming.”
Korra waited, practicing pulling water from the air like Katara had taught her, until Raijin returned with the paper.
“Thank you, Raijin!” she said, clapping his arm in thanks. “Are you going to want this back or can I keep it?”
“Is fine.” Raijin shrugged and Korra was off again, jogging to the White Lotus library where she could sit in silence and with good light for reading.
Really, Korra enjoyed reading. She enjoyed learning about interesting things, even if they were not immediately useful to the business of Being the Avatar—like learning the telegraph code.
But, more importantly, reading was a good distraction. Whenever she was consumed with worry about not really being the Avatar, books were there to keep her occupied and thinking about other things.
Sitting in a big, cushy library chair beneath a sunny north-facing window, Korra skimmed the headlines.
<Councilman Tenzin pushes for patience before rowdy Equalist crowd>
<House fire victims blame Triple Threat Triad>
<Letter to the Editor: A mother's thoughts on radicalization>
<New pro bending season lineups have fans rearing to go>
ccoOoɔɔ
Korra walked out of the library, blinking dazedly in the bright summer sunlight. Still trying to process everything she had read, she set out for the village to find Katara again, the newspaper tucked under her arm.
She found Katara behind the healing hut, practicing the basic forms she had mastered decades ago. Korra set down the paper and fell into step beside her, not wanting to interrupt the ritual.
“Did Tenzin reply to your telegram?” Katara asked, still flowing through the motions.
Korra held back a sigh. “Yes. He said he'll send some scrolls, but he still can't come.”
“Running a country is difficult, never ending work.”
“I wish he could just find somebody else to take over for him. If it's so hard, he probably deserves a break.” After so many years of training, Korra understood the importance of breaks, even if she was loathe to take them.
“I got a paper from Raijin, and from what I read, Republic City is a mess. Maybe all the councilors need a break.”
“Sometimes,” Katara said, her words slow and deliberate, “there is no one else.”
Korra almost argued back that in a nation of two million people, there had to be somebody else, but then reconsidered, thinking of where Katara was coming from. When Aang had defeated Fire Lord Ozai, he'd done it alone, even though he hadn't wanted to. Or how after the war, Katara had returned to her tribe to teach waterbending to the next generation because she was the only one who could.
And now Tenzin, the world's only airbending master, was basically the only one who could govern the United Republic, and the only one who could teach her, leaving him in an impossible situation. And he was choosing his nation because that was the more pressing problem. Korra could wait, while the people being robbed, extorted and killed really couldn't.
A thought struck Korra, so hard and sharp she lost focus and her stream of water splashed onto the ground. Katara paused and glanced at her.
“Why didn't I think of it before?” Korra slapped a hand to her forehead. “If he can't come here, and the city needs help, why don't I go there? Isn't that what the Avatar is supposed to do? Help people?”
“Korra...” Katara looked concerned. “You're not ready.”
Korra put her hands on her hips. “I've already mastered three elements, and the White Lotus has taught me a lot about being a leader, so don't tell me I'm not ready.” The only way to get more ready was to master airbending, and that wasn't going to happen if she stayed.
Katara put her hands on Korra's shoulders. “Korra, when I say you're not ready, that doesn't mean I don't think you should go.” Katara pulled her into a hug, and Korra found herself struggling not to cry with unidentified emotion.
“If we all wait for the moment when we’re ready, nothing will ever get done. Just know that you've got a lot to learn. The White Lotus and your parents might disagree, but I'll help you if they try to stop you from leaving.” There was something fierce in Katara's voice, a sharpness Korra would have been afraid to have pointed at her.
Katara let her go and Korra wiped her nose on the inside of her collar. “Do you...” she asked, hesitating, “Do you think you could come with me? You'd get to see your son and grandchildren.”
Katara shook her head. “As much as I miss them all, I have my own duties here. And besides, I don't think you want an old crone like me getting in the way of all of your adventures.”
Korra let out a choked laugh and wiped her nose again. She followed Katara into a private room inside the healing hut, where together they planned Korra's secret trip.
ccoOoɔɔ
Naga and I will be in RC in 20 days STOP can't wait to train STOP love Korra STOP
Korra danger for you in RC STOP do not come STOP