Rebel Spirit - Part 1

Six months had passed. The Equalists were gone. Amon was gone. Peace had come to the city. The council had been disbanded and the United Republic elected its first president. Things were peaceful on Air Temple Island too. Well, as peaceful as it could be with three kids, two teenagers, a baby and an erratic retired United Nations commander currently living there.

Zira had gone back to the Fire Nation for a while with Katara, promising she'd meet up with them at the Glacier Spirit Festival in the South Pole. 

The arena had been opened again, much to Elira's delight, but things weren't exactly like they were before. Asami had taken over Future Industries now that her father was in jail, Mako had gotten a new job in the police force and Korra was focusing on mastering her newly revealed airbending. Leaving Bolin and El to scrounge up some replacements. 

"Iiiiit's pro-bending night in Republic City, and have we got a doozy for you! Fan favourites, the Fire Ferrets, are about to take on hot newcomers, the Rhino Lions!" Shiro announced making the crowd cheer as El stood in the locker room with Bo and their new teammates. 

Bolin had his hands on his hips, trying to look stern while El stood next to him with her arms crossed. Behind them,  Pabu and Pichi were perched atop the railing separating the player's locker room from the playing field.

"Now we all know that our last match was garbage. Terrible!  Even Pabu could've done a better job" Bolin gestured to his fire ferret who walked up to him and puts his paws on his master's side while squeaking.

Bolin took on a more confident and proud posture; speaking in a more cheerful tone " But that's in the past because when you back a Fire Ferret in the corner, well mister, he comes out fighting!"

 Bolin confidently raised his fist before his body, while Pabu hissed, arching his back. He pointed toward the arena " So, let's get out there and bend like there's no tomorrow. Are ya with me?" 

Elira glanced at their new teammates. The male waterbender, who somewhat resembled Mako, was sitting dejectedly on the bench, while the female firebender, who somewhat resembled Korra, stood awkwardly next to him. She glanced down at her teammate, holding her elbow. The only reaction of either of them came from the waterbender, who rubbed his nose while sniffing.

The airbender frowned, turning to look at her friend whose excited expression had fallen to a sad one, pensively glancing to the side. She placed a hand on his shoulder making him turn to her. 

"Hey, you got this, dirt brain. Yes, your last match wasn't what we hoped for, but learn from that and improve. You can do this, Bo. I know you can" Elira encouraged with a closed eye smile. 

"What would I do without you, airhead?" Bolin smiled back 

"Be late for your next match?" The girl teased, ignoring how her cheeks flushed red as she took Bolin's helmet from his hands and secured it over his head. 

"Good luck out there, guys. I'll be rooting for ya" She waved as the team made their way out into the ring. 

The Fire Ferrets and the Rhino Lions lined up before each other in the ring. 

As the starting bell rang, both teams readied their respective element. 

"Come on, Fe--" Elira didn't even get to finish her cheer before a loud crash was heard. 

She watched, grimacing, as Bolin, followed by his two teammates, were knocked over the rim into the water, each being hit by their respective element. The buzzer sounded, signalling a zone line has been crossed.

"Ooh, the Fire Ferrets go down in the water, and right into the record books for the fastest knockout in Pro-bending history!" Shiro announced as down in the water, Bolin pulled his torso on the platform, putting his head down, defeated and  sighing in disappointment

"Where's Mako when I need him?" 

*

The next day, Elira was sitting outside the temple with Pichi, writing in her notebook again when she was suddenly tackled by her siblings and Korra challenging her to an airscooter race. 

Of course, she accepted.

As they flew up the stone steps, Ikki was in first with Korra and Elira trailing close behind her, followed by Jinora then Meelo. 

They took a turn, heading toward the buildings, they raced into the open corridor, where Pema was walking, holding Rohan and some groceries.  Startled, Pema threw the vegetables in the air, as she span in between the racers.

"Sorry, Mom!" Elira yelled as they zoomed past. 

When they were gone, Pema thankfully managed to catch the food again and stared after the kids in surprise.

The racers swiftly turned around the airbending training gates; causing some of the panels to start spinning as they passed by, before jumping off the platform. 

Korra and El were now neck and neck, just barely behind Ikki still in the lead. 

The two sisters confidently smirked challengingly toward the Avatar. 

 Korra smirked back at them before starting to focus. Her eyes began to glow as she entered the Avatar State. Using the extra power, Korra pulled ahead of Ikki and Elira as the sisters watched in shock. 

"Hey! No fair!" El called out as they followed behind her towards a paifang gate where Bumi was waiting for them with a flag. 

Korra sped underneath the gate and was flagged the winner. Bumi started coughing due to the thrown up dust, as an angry-looking Ikki zoomed by, followed by her sisters and brother.

" The Avatar is the winner!" He yelled enthusiastically, as Meelo passed him. 

Korra stood back up and her eyes ceased to glow as she exited the Avatar State. She turned around, her hands propped on her hips, and smirked smugly as Ikki and El stormed over to her. 

"Are you kidding me, Korra? I want a rematch" Elira pointed at the Avatar 

"Yeah, no fair! You can't go into the Avatar State to win!" Ikki whined

Korra just stuck her tongue out at them, blowing a raspberry. 

"You did what!?" Tenzin's voice yelled from behind them

"The Avatar State is not to be used as a booster rocket!" He scolded, walking toward them

"And you, young lady" He turned to Elira, " Your room looks like you let loose a band of wild Hog-monkey's in there. I thought I told you to organise it" 

"I did organise it" Elira shrugged

"Cramming everything into your closet or under your bed is not organising" Tenzin huffed

"I know where everything is, so what's the big deal?" Elira argued

"It's a mess"

"It's an organised mess"

Tensin sighed in frustration, deciding to leave it for now seeing as he wasn't going to get through to his daughter, and he turned back to scolding Korra.

"Korra, you are toying with a dangerous power that you obviously do not appreciate!" 

"It's the Avatar State and I'm the Avatar. Who appreciates it more than me?" Korra scoffed 

"Clearly you need more training to grasp the depths of your spiritual connections, not to mention that you're still a long way from mastering airbending." Tenzin scowled

"I have mastered airbending!" Korra turned and emphasized her statement by directing several air blasts at the nearby trees, sending leaves floating. "Punch punch punch!" 

She turned back to Tenzin with her hands on her hips, smiling smugly "See? Mastered" 

"Looks pretty good to me." Bumi cut in, looking impressed 

Tenzin sighed, turning to his older brother "Is it too late for you to unretire from the United Forces?" 

"The paperwork's gone through, little brother. From now on, it's 24/7 Bumi time!" Bumi grinned, pinching Tenzin's cheek making him scowl as Elira snickered behind her hand. 

Tenzin made him let go and walked up to Korra again "You've mastered Korra style airbending, now you need to master real airbending. Hopefully, our visit to all the air temples will give you the inspiration you need to look more deeply into your studies" 

Tenzin held up a scroll and opened it to reveal a map. The locations of the air temples were marked with airbending symbols and a small chibi-style image of Tenzin's face smiling with a thumbs up pose had been drawn onto the map. 

Elira let out a loud groan "Dad, do I have to go? I've seen them a million times. Plus, the Acolytes there are always going on about how I'm gonna "Provide the world with another generation of airbenders" It's really annoying, not to mention weird" 

"Can we see where Grandpa Aang was born?" Jinora asked excitedly 

"How many lemurs can I have?" Meelo then questioned

"I wanna get tattoos! But instead of arrows, I want lightning bolts!" Ikki grinned 

"You can't get lightning bolts" Jinora frowned 

"Yeah, that doesn't even make any sense" Elira added 

"You don't make any sense!" Ikki yelled angrily 

"Fight, fight, fight!" Meelo chanted as his sisters glared at each other and Ikki and Jinora pressed their foreheads against each other, growling. 

"No one's fighting!" Tenzin stepped forward to separate his youngest daughters "We are all going and we're going to have a wonderful time! Now that the president is in office and I'm not needed on the council, I can finally relax with my family and give Korra the attention she needs" 

Korra rolled her eyes "Great, more attention." 

Bumi began laughing "Hah! Relax ... I'd pay money to see that. Maybe I'll tag along just to see "Vacation Tenzin"

"You're not invited." Tenzin scowled 

"Before we go on your dad's study trip, we're gonna have some real fun in my home town at the Glacier Spirits Festival," Korra told the kids" They've got rides, games, and all kinds of fried food on sticks"

"Yay!" The kids cheered and began running around Tenzin yelling in excitement. Elira laughed and joined them.

"Yep. There's Vacation Tenzin. And you can't stop me from going to the festival, Mom already invited me" Bumi smirked, throwing his arm around his brother who scowled in annoyance.

*

After a relatively peaceful boat ride, they soon arrived at the South Pole. 

"Gran-Gran!" Elira and the kids yelled, running down the ramp when they saw Zira waiting for them at the end of the ramp along with Katara and two other women.

One Water Tribe, Katara's youngest daughter, Kya. And the other Fire Nation, Zira's only daughter, Ursa.

"Oh ... you've all gotten so big" Katara chuckled, as she and Zira hugged them

"Kya, it's so good to see you" Elira turned to smile at her older cousin

"It's great to see you too, El" Kya smiled "Now where's this earthbender boyfriend I've been hearing so much about?" 

"He's over there" Elira blushed, pointing at Bolin over her shoulder as he greeted Zira with a huge grin  "And he's my best friend, Kya" 

 "That not what Aunt Zira's been telling me," Kya smirked playfully ruffling Elira's hair 

"Kya! Quite it!" The teen groaned making her siblings and cousin laugh. 

Ursa coughed jokingly off to the side "Oh, don't mind me, just waiting for my hug from my nieces and nephew who I have not seen in months"

El and the kids giggled before giving their aunt a hug

"We missed you, Aunt Ursa" Jinora smiled

"Ohh, I missed you, too. Your father doesn't bring you to visit nearly enough" Ursa smirked walking over to her little brother with Ursa as he, Pema and Bumi walked down the ramp. 

"He's probably scared we'll beat him up like when we were kids" Kya lightly punched Tenzin's arm playfully.

"I'm not scared of you ..." Tenzin declared, scowling at his sister and cousin before rubbing his arm where Kya had hit him. "...anymore..." 

The two women laughed as Tenzin scowled "Where's Uncle Zuko and Aunt Azula? I thought they'd be here"

"They decided to stay at home" Kya replied before laughing when she saw Elira and Bolin goofing around, throwing snowballs at each other. Elira threw one at Bolin, laughing as it hit him before shrieking as he suddenly grabbed her and spun her around. 

"Would you look at that? Our little Ellie's not so little anymore" 

"Which means you're getting old, Tenzin. Any grey hair yet?" Ursa teased, smirking at her brother 

"You-You're older than me!" The airbender huffed which only made the two women laugh harder. 

*

"Wow! El, look at all these people that came out to greet us." Bolin grinned, seeing the crowd waiting on the docks. 

"Um, Bo, I think they came to see whoever that is" Elira pointed to a large and ornate Water Tribe ship docking on the other side of the pier. The crowd clapped and cheered for whoever was on the ship. 

"The great chief of the Northern Water Tribe comes to grace us with his presence. Hooray" Korra's dad, Tonraq, grumbled sarcastically. 

"Just relax Tonraq, he'll be gone soon enough" Senna put an assuring hand on his arm

Elira turned back to the ship and watched as a man, Chief Unalaq, and two teenagers ( presumably twins since they looked exactly the same) departed the ship walking down the plank to the pier, accompanied by guards

"Whoa! Who are the lovely ladies?" Bolin smirked

"That's Eska and Desna, the chief's children. Desna is a guy" Korra replied 

Bolin's eyes widened in surprise "Oh, no, sure, I knew that" 

He leant over to whisper to El "Uhhh ... and which one is Desna?" 

Elira snorted softly "I think the one who's not wearing make-up. But I could be wrong" 

Unalaq and his group approached and the chief bowed to Korra. 

"Good to see you again, Avatar Korra." 

" Good to see you too." Korra bowed back 

Unalaq then glanced up at Tonraq. 

"Tonraq." He greeted coldly 

" Brother," Tonraq replied just as cold 

"Awkward" Elira muttered sharing a glance with the boys. 

Sensing someone watching her, the airbender glanced around before her eyes stopped on one of the twins, who she guessed was Desna.

She had to admit, that even from a distance and with the look of constant boredom on his face, he was very handsome.

And he was staring right at her! Ignoring what was going on with his father and uncle. 

Elira looked around for a moment before turning back to the prince. He was still staring at her almost curiously. She waved at him with a small awkward smile. He continued to stare at her for a moment, his face remaining unemotional before he turned back to his father. 

"Okay, that was weird," Elira thought to herself 

*

Later that day, El was exploring the festival Bolin, playing games and going on the rides. 

"Man, I am starving," Bolin said as they walked through the busy street filled with people and festival fun. 

"I'm sure there's somewhere to get something to eat around here. Let's try over there" Elira pointed to a stand selling all sorts of fried food. 

They quickly ordered their food, Elira getting a vegetarian option which was a bag of zucchini fries. While Bolin got a fried arctic hen on a stick. A whole artic hen. 

"I bet I can eat this in one bite" Bolin smirked 

"Go on then, I dare you" Elira challenged, eating a fry. 

She began laughing and cheering on her best friend as he attempted to fit the whole hen into his mouth, only succeeding about half. The two both stopped however when they noticed Korra, Unalaq, and Tonraq staring at them from across the street. 

"What? Oh, it's so good." Bolin closed his eyes and clenched his fists in delight as Elira just laughed again.

"El! El! El!" Jinora, Ikki and Meelo suddenly ran over to them, tugging on their big sister" Come on! Come on! Come on!" 

 "Woah! How much sugar have you three had?" Elira laughed 

"Mom said we could go penguin sledging, but only if you came with us" Jinora smiled 

"Come on! Let's go already!" Ikki whined, pulling on Elira's hand, trying to drag her away. 

"What's penguin sledging?" Bolin wondered, taking a bit of his food. 

"We catch otter penguins and ride on their backs down a slope. You wanna come with?" Elira offered, whilst digging her feet into the ground to stop Ikki from pulling her. 

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Bolin grinned 

Heading down closer to the water, Elira let the kids catch their penguins themselves while she helped Bo before they all began trudging up a steep hill near the festival grounds.

"Uh, aren't we a little high up?" Bolin peered down the slope uncertainly.

"We'll be fine, just hang on tight okay?"Elira reassured, already sitting on her penguin.

"Okay?..." Bolin still looked a little nervous but climbed on behind the airbender and wrapped his arms around her.

Elira blushed slightly, but turned to her siblings lined up beside her and smirked challengingly "Race you to the bottom?"

The kids smirked back at her, accepting her challenge.

"Okay, ready? On your marks...Get set" 

"El, I'm starting to get second thoughts on this!" 

"SLIDE!"

The airbenders all immediately pushed off down the slope, whooping and cheering.

"Ahhh! No! El! Slow down! El! EEELLL!" Bolin yelled clinging to Elira for dear life as she zoomed down the slope laughing.

*

After Bolin had recovered from the penguin sledging, which may have involved a bit of vomiting, the kids wanted to go back to the fair. They got some snacks and went on the rides, before walking around for a bit looking at the games. 

Something caught Ikki's attention from the corner of her eye and she gasped in delight. 

"Oh my gosh! Look at that fluffy snow leopard caribou !" She pointed with a giant grin to a plush snow leopard toy hanging in one of the games "It's so fluffy!" 

"El, can we play for it?" Jinora asked 

"Please, El! Please! Come on!" Ikki and Meelo begged, tugging on her arms

 "I don't see why not" Elira chuckled and walked up to the guy running the game called "Snowball" 

"Excuse me, how much for the snow leopard?" She asked, pointing at the toy as the kids bounced around herexcited 

"Well, it is not for sale. But all you have to do to win it is knock down those bottles down. It's easy!" The guy gave a huge enthusiastic grin as he gestured to his game which was simply three pyramids of bottles placed on stands. 

Elira handed the man the money which he traded for blue throwing balls. Enough for 3 goes each. 

"Yay!" The kids cheered as they took their places, Bolin having to lift Meelo onto the counter so the little boy could see. 

The two teens then stood back and watched as the three kids hurled the balls at the pyramids. The ones on top were easy to knock down, but the bottles on the bottom barely moved when they were hit. Merely wobbling in place. Almost as if they were weighed down. 

The kids were soon out of shots. 

"Again!" Meelo cried 

"Please, El. One more time" Jinora added 

Elira sighed and handed the guy more money. She scowled slightly when she noticed he was smirking. 

The kids rearmed and took their places once again as Elira stepped back and crossed her arms. She watched with an eagle eye as the kids lobbed the balls at the bottles.

They all knocked off the top bottles off stands, even getting some of the bottom ones, but Meelo and Jinora were now out of shots. There was one bottle left on Ikki's stand. And she only had one ball remaining.

She took her final shot. 

It crashed into the bottle making it wobble, tipping slightly. 

The kids held their breaths, crossing their fingers. 

Finally, the bottle tipped and fell over. 

"I did it! I did it! I knocked them over" Ikki cried as her brother and sister cheered. 

Elira turned back to the game guy who was courting his money with a smirk. She coughed to get his attention. 

"My sister just won the game" She pointed at the bottle laying horizontal on the stand 

"No, she didn't" The man shook his head 

"Excuse me?" 

"What are you talking about?" Bolin stepped in "She knocked them down" 

"My sister won the game. I saw it with my own eyes!" 

"Listen, kid, let me explain something to you" The man placed his arm around El making both her and Bolin glare at him. 

"You see that little bottle? You see how it's not knocked off the stand. Do you know what that means, little lady? It means you don't get the leopard!" The man poked at Elira's shoulder. The airbender just glared at him.

"Uh oh, someone's got a frowny face. Boo! Better luck next time" He mocked, looking down at Ikki. 

The little girl glanced up at her big sister, almost in tears. 

Elira's eyes hardened.

"Okay. My turn" She growled, handing the smug-looking man more money and snatching a ball. 

She took a couple of steps back, tossing the ball in the air nonchalantly and smirking. Bolin and the kids stood to the side watching as she took her stance.  

She flung her arm forward with some assistance from her airbending. 

WHAM! 

The ball shot straight into the pyramid of bottles at high speed. Hitting them so hard the game shake shook and toppled the remaining two pyramids and the guy. He glanced up with wide shocked eyes at the smirking airbender. His smug look, gone. 

"Knocked over!" Elira cheered as the Bolin and the kids cheered, Ikki running to take the toy from the guy's shaking hands. 

"It's so fluffy!" Ikki grinned, hugging the plush. 

"That was awesome, El!" Bolin laughed as the kids ran around them yelling. 

 "Hey, no one messes with my siblings. That's my job" Elira continued to smirk, pointing at herself

*

After a few hours of playing festival games,  Asami found the two and asked if they would accompany her to an important meeting with some businessman. Being the good friends that they were, of course, they accepted.

They stood on the docks in front of a large, expensive-looking white ship.

"I'm glad you came with me to this meeting. Varrick is one of the richest men in the world, and he controls the entire global shipping business. So, you two are my assistants. Just stand there and don't say anything" Asami instructed

"Yes, Miss Sato" Elira smirked, jokingly bowing to her friend and Pichi copied her from where she was perched on her shoulder.

"No problem, Pabu and I are natural assistants" Bolin added, gesturing to the Fire Ferret as they walked up the ramp to the ship. "Man, this is nice! I got to get into this whole business thing"

*

Inside, the trio were led to a room full of people sitting in a circle on pillows, watching a Water Tribe man with his eyes closed and his fingers pressed against his head in concentration with a look of extreme focus on his face. A bespectacled young woman sat beside him writing on a notepad.

This was Varrick.

"What is he doing?" Elira whispered but Asami quickly shushed her.

Varrick suddenly snapped his eyes open with a massive smile on his face.

"Did ya see that? Levitation!" He laughed "I was a foot off the ground! Is that incredible or what?"

His audience began clapping and murmuring among themselves and even Asami clapped politely as the man stood up and bowed. 

Bolin scratched the back of his head, sharing a confused glance with El. 

"But you weren't levitating" Elira spoke up

"Yeah, you looked like you were just sitting on a pillow," Bolin added as Asami gasped beside them, putting her head in her hands in embarrassment.

  The audience also gasped, turning to glare at the teens. Varrick looked shocked for a moment before getting up and marching over.

He stopped in front of the two, putting his hands on his hips, intimidatingly glaring at them as they leaned back away from him.

"Are you saying I wasn't levitating?"

Bolin gulped, sharing a nervous look with El. "Uh ... no?"

Varrick stared at them for a moment before turning to yell at his audience "Well, why didn't anyone tell me? Now I look like an idiot"

He pointed at a man sitting on the pillows, wearing a red hat "Swami, you're fired!"

The man glared at Bolin and Elira before bowing his head and retreating up the steps behind Varrick.

"Sorry" Elira called after him but was ignored as Varrick wrapped his arms around her and Bolin.

" I like you two, you're both real straight shooters, just like me. Miss Sato, they're with you?" Varrick turned to Asami who nodded, slightly stunned.

" Brought your tiger sharks with ya to do business, huh? Now that's moxie!" The man laughed" Get over here and pop a squat. Zhu Li, get some tea for my guests!"

Varrick pulled Elira and Bolin over, pushing them down onto a couple of pillows as three of his guests moved out of the way and his assistant, Zhu Li, ran around getting refreshments. 

"Thank you for meeting with me. As you know, Future Industries is looking for a partner to handle our shipping" Asami explained

"Sure! But first, you gotta check out my new venture! Moving pictures! Zhu Li, do the thing!" Varrick yelled to his assistant who was in the process of serving tea to Bolin and Elira.

At his yell, the young woman shoved the tray into Elira's hands and darted off to a projector

"You're gonna love this!" A moving image of an ostrich horse appeared on a screen behind Asami and Varrick. 

" Mind-blowing, right? " Varrick grinned at the trio 

"Yeah," Bolin replied looking impressed 

"Now forget that! That's the past! Shut it off, Zhu Li!" Varrick yelled and Zhu Li quickly turned off the projector. 

" Imagine watching this! Ginger, come over here and do your poses." Varrick called as Zhu Li came to take the tray from Elira. 

Bolin gasped in amazement as a red-haired woman, Ginger, dressed in a white fur coat, walked toward them. She dropped her shawl and struck a number of poses. Bolin and Elira watched her wide-eyed and Bolin was even drooling. 

"Bo, wipe your mouth" The airbender whispered, scowling slightly

Bolin quickly wiped his mouth with a small blush as Varrick got in the way of his view. 

"Spectacular! And, we tell a story; there's romance, action, some funny animal stuff for the kids" As Varrick ranted on, Bolin tried to look around him at Ginger and not seeing Elira look away with a frown. 

"You know, whatever! Thanks, Ginger, go rest your gams" Varrick leapt forward and sat between the teens, wrapping his arms around Bolin and El " How about that tiger sharks? We're gonna do big business with these movers as I call them" 

"Okay ... but I'm just concentrating on getting Future Industries back on track" Asami cut in politely "If we could hammer out a deal ..." 

"Stop!" Varrick held up a hand "Look me in the eye." 

The erratic man pressed his head to Asami, who was initially unsure of what to do, but quickly adopted a determined look on her face. 

After several seconds of staring, Varrick suddenly broke away

"We got a deal!" He yelled, pointing his finger at the ceiling, as Asami fell back from her cushion and the rest of Varrick's guests cheered. 

Zhu LI helped her to her feet and Varrick quickly shook her hand as El and Bo stood up. 

"We'll hammer out the details at the royal feast tonight." Varrick turned back to his guests "Now, who wants a rocket boat ride?" 

Varrick's guests cheered in approval before leaving the room with the odd inventor. 

"What just happened?" Elira muttered, looking stunned 

"Is that how business usually goes?" Bolin asked 

Asami suddenly hugged them both tightly, ruffling Bolin's hair "You two are natural assistants!" 

 "You are most welcome, Miss Sato" Elira grinned and playfully bowed again, speaking in a posh voice making her friends laugh.