Rebirth - Part 2

The team soon reached the next town where another new airbender lived. Korra knocked on the door and a few seconds later it slid open to reveal a middle-aged woman who gasped in excitement.

"Oh, are you the Avatar? And you're Master Elira? Come in, come in" The woman quickly invited the Krew into her home, the team happily walking in.

"When my son got airbending, my husband and I were so happy. We thought this could open a lot of doors for him, maybe he could finally move out of the basement" The woman nudged Korra before laughing.

"How old is he?" She asked, chuckling along with the woman.

"He's twenty-two, and you know, still just to figuring his life out." The woman replied

"Well, we have a great opportunity for him. We're looking for airbenders to join us at the Northern Air Temple." El informed

"Ah, that sounds wonderful! I'll get him" The woman squealed in delight before yelling aggressively down the stairs "Ryu! Get up here!"

The Krew gave each other hopeful thumbs up, before Ryu entered the living room, with his hands in his pockets, looking bored.

"Hi, I'm Korra, this is Elira" Korra held her hand out to him as El waved with a kind smile.

"So you're like the Avatar or something. Big deal." Ryu rudely ignored Korra's hand, looking away.

Korra and El exchanged an awkward glance. Was this guy for real?

"Uh, we just wanted to talk to you about an opportunity" El stated

"Yeah, I heard you talking to my mom, and I'm not interested" Ryu rolled his eyes, going to walk away.

"Well, you're gonna be interested." Korra snapped, finally losing her patience

She grabbed Ryu by the collar, airbent a chair out from under a table, and threw the young man into it.

"You're an airbender now and you have a responsibility as a citizen of the world." Korra slammed her hand down on the table.

"Whatever. I didn't ask to become an airbender, you know." Ryu continued to look away, looking disinterested

"Well, I didn't ask to be the Avatar, but I am, and I'm fulfilling my duties." Korra scoffed

"So? You don't have to."

"Yes, I do have to."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do!"

"...No, you don't."

Korra sighed in frustration "Well, if I didn't embrace my role, then our entire world could be thrown into chaos. Think about that! Is that what you want?"

"Maybe"

"No, it's not!" Korra yelled

"So what? Who cares?"

"Everyone cares!"

"I don't care."

" Yes, you do!" Korra slammed the table again

"...No, I don't."

"Well, you're about to care, you little slacker, because you're coming with me!" Korra grabbed Ryu by the collar and started trying to drag him out of the house as her friends watched in shock.

" Stop pulling on my collar! You're stretching it out! Mom, are you just gonna let her take me?!" Ryu held onto the doorframe, refusing to go outside.

"I think it's a great opportunity. Just try it for a week and see how it goes." Ryu's mother smiled, trying to push her son out of the house.

"No! Let me go!" Ryu suddenly released a blast of airbending from his hands, propelling himself and his mother back into the house while Korra was left at the door, holding on to the two halves of his ripped jacket.

"That's it!" Korra went to storm back into the house but Mako and Bolin each grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her away.

"Korra, enough! Let's just get out of here!" El said as the Avatar struggled

"So nice to meet you! Good luck with your son!" Bolin called over his shoulder as they left the house, pulling Korra along with them.

*

Far away in a secluded Fire Nation prison, littered with White Lotus sentries, several levels of catwalks surrounded the inner edges of a large octagonal building. The structure was positioned above a vast pit of lava and a single cage was suspended with wires resting in the centre of the building, floating high above the bubbling lava below. The small cage was braced with metal bars and inside, a woman with long, black hair and no arms sat in the centre.

"We're under attack!" "Look out!"

The cries of the sentries made the woman look up in interest, seeing large blasts of fire from one above her.

Two sentries were thrown off of their platforms with blasts of airbending from Zaheer.

Landing next to Ghazan, the earthbender threw up a barrel and Zaheer kicked it towards the cage, slicing it open with airbending.

Water gushed out, falling into the cage. The woman stood and spun around, waterbending the falling water into a pair of tentacle-like arms, occupying the space where her non-existent arms would normally be.

She knocked open the door of her cage and used the water to climb up.

A sentry shot fireballs at her, but she dodged, using her "arms" to swing herself to the higher platform, knocking a sentry off the catwalk.

Dodging more fire blasts, she propelled herself higher, landing on the platform above her where Ghazan and Zaheer were fighting.

She froze the end of one of her water arms into an angled piece of ice and used it to hook the neck of a White Lotus, hurling him off of the platform, whilst simultaneously grabbing another White Lotus member and slamming him hard on the metal platform.

Now that all the sentries were defeated, the woman stood up as Zaheer and Ghazan ran up behind her.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see your ugly mugs again." She smiled

"Great to see you too, Ming-Hua," Ghazan said

" I'm flattered. You busted me out before that girlfriend of yours." The woman, Ming-Hau, smirked at Zaheer.

Zaheer smirked back "We're getting her next."

*

"Well, I guess we should just go to Ba Sing Se and try our luck there." Tenzin sighed, looking dejected once the Krew had returned to the airship.

"I don't know what to do. I just thought more people would be excited about coming with us." Korra frowned

"Well, maybe you gotta do more to get them excited. You need to add a little razzle-dazzle" Bumi suggested

"Yeah, razzle-dazzle! We could put on some sort of airbending street performance!" Bolin grinned

"That's a great idea!" El added, smiling

" I was gonna say we could cover Tenzin's robe in sequins, but that's even better!" Bumi said

"Wait, can we still? It would get people's attention, plus..." Elira giggled, looking at her father "It would be hilarious"

"We are not covering my robes in sequins" Tenzin sighed making his daughter pout

"A street performance may sound ridiculous, but it could work," Zira said

" I'm willing to try anything at this point," Tenzin replied 

"Anything but sequins" He quickly added, seeing El about to chime in again

"Alright, no sequins. So what's the plan?" She grinned at her boyfriend

" Yes! That is the kind of enthusiasm I like to hear!" Bolin exclaimed

*

Soon they had reached the next Earth Kingdom town, made up of sandy-coloured rock and a crowd had already gathered to watch the airship. Zira was watching from the deck as Bolin stood closer to the crowd with a megaphone and wearing a fake moustache.

"Come one, come all to witness The Amazing Airbenders! The airbending show that will leave you breathless ... with wind! First up, the tattooed master himself, you know him as the son of Avatar Aang, he shaves every hair on his head, every single day!" He gestured to Tenzin stood on the ramp with his back to the crowd.

"It's the one, the only guy with an arrow pointing to his nose, Tenzin!"

Tenzin turned to face the audience, whilst removing his shirt, causing El to quickly cover her's and Jinora's eyes with her hands.

Tenzin airbent a large wheel and drove it around in front of the awed crowd, who began to cheer as he stopped in the middle of the half-circle created by the audience and threw his hands up in the air.

"Now, now, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet. I have some serious news. We've heard that an escaped firebending convict has been spotted near here" Bolin announced and the crowd began to murmur nervously.

Mako, who was standing in the crowd with his arms folded, straightened up and began to walk out of the crowd.

" Now, I don't want to panic anyone, but if you see a firebender with a red scarf-"

"I see him! He's right there!" A crowd member pointed at him.

"I am the escaped convict, and you will all reap my fire." He said, stiffly before pausing and letting out a small blast of fire from his fist into the air causing the whole crowd to gasp.

"Oh no! Who will help us?" Bolin called

"I will. With my airbending skills!" Korra declared, stepping forward and catching Mako in an airbent tornado, making him cry out.

She let him go and he fall, but she caught him with another airbending blast and brought him up in another tornado.

"Ah! Hey! Let me go! This is not what we rehearsed! Korra!" He yelled

El burst out laughing at the sight. She looked over at Korra also laughing, seeing her glance over her shoulder at Asami who started chuckling. El watched the two for a second before Oogi and Pichi soared through the air above them.

"With the power of airbending, even these beasts can float! Like a feather" Bolin commentated as Oogie did a barrel roll and Pichi did loop de loops.

"Look what can be done in only a few short weeks of practice!" He continued as Bumi then stepped forward and began showing off some air blasts.

Elira looked down at her sister, nodding at her and Jinora took to the skies with her glider, flying over the crowd who gasped fearfully, seeing how young the girl was.

"No no, don't worry folks. She might be young, but she is in full control!" Bolin commentated as Jinora softly landed on the peak of a tall fountain.

"And finally, saving the best till last. She's beautiful, she's graceful, she smells like wildflowers with a smile so bright it rivals the sun--"

"Bolin, you're sweet, but could you hurry up already?" El called

"Right, sorry" The earthbender smiled sheepishly "Everyone, give it up for Master Elira!"

At her cue, El took to the skies. The crowd gasped as she flew high into the air before closing her glider and letting herself fall back to the ground, twirling, spinning and flipping as she went.

Just before hitting the floor, El snapped her glider open once more, causing the crowd to cry out as she flew up over their heads landing gracefully below Jinora on the fountain, adding in a little twirl as she did.

"Show off" Jinora laughed as the crowd cheered

El simply poked her tongue out at her before they re-joined the others in front of the crowd.

*

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you or anyone you know is an airbender, please, send them our way! Master Tenzin, Master Elira and Avatar Korra would love to teach them all they know!" Bolin finished.

El bounced on her feet slightly, watching in anticipation as the crowd began to disperse. Preying that one of them would want to join. Suddenly, a young boy around Jinora's age ran up to the group.

"Hey! Hello. If you're looking for airbenders, you just found one." The boy demonstrated some airbending abilities before looking back at the group "I wanna join you guys."

The group immediately smiled with excitement

"Get outta town!" Bolin cheered.

"We got our first recruit!" Elira jumped up and down with glee.

"Just to be totally clear, we're going to be heading to Ba Sing Se, then the Northern Air Temple to live as nomads and rebuild the Air Nation. All that sound good to you?" Korra explained to the boy

"Yeah, Ba Sing Se, rebuild the temple, Air Nomad what-do-you-do, I'm in. Let's go right now." He grinned

"This is going to be so great! You going to love it, er ... ah ... real quick, what's your name?" Bolin asked

"Kai. So when do we hit the road?"

"Hang on a second Kai, where are your parents? We can't have you come with us without their permission" Tenzin stated

"My parents are ... gone" Kai looked down

"You're an orphan?" Elira frowned, sharing a sad look with Bolin

"It happened about a year ago. My home town was raided by outlaws, but my parents fought back against them. I was so scared, but they told me not to worry they would protect me, and they did. My parents saved me and the entire village, but they died in the fight. Mum and pap meant everything to me, they were my whole life. Ever since then, I've been on the run. Those same outlaws are still after me." Kai explained

"Well, you don't have to be on the run anymore!" Bolin looked to the rest of the group "Right guys? Tell him."

Elira knelt to Kai's level, placing a hand on his shoulder

"I'm so sorry about your parents. I know we could never replace them. But we are here for you." She smiled and Kai smiled back

"We'll keep you safe, come on." Korra gestured for Kai to follow them onto the ship

"When you board this airship, you're going to leave your old life behind and start a new path. That's big brother advice. Just think of me as your big brother" Bolin placed his arm around Kai who smiled at him as they walked onto the ship.

*

After everyone boarded the airship, Mako was passing by a window when he noticed a group of motorcyclists in official-looking uniforms pulling to a stop outside their airship.

"Guys! I think we got trouble."

The whole group stopped and turned around as outside the lead motorcyclist got off his bike and took his helmet off. He walked up to the airship and took his glasses off.

"Release the boy, or we'll take him by force." He clenched his fist as the other motorcyclists each earthbent a rock from the ground and got into a fighting stance.

"The outlaws! They're here ... Uh, let's get out of here" Kai grabbed onto El's arm who looked down at him.

"We are not running away from anyone." The airbender then turned to Korra "You want to handle this?"

"Gladly" Korra went and opened the airship door, glaring down at the outlaws "If you want Kai, you'll have to go through me!"

Korra jumped out of the airship's door with airbending as the outlaws threw rocks at her. She easily destroyed them with her airbending before rolling on the ground and airbending at the outlaws, knocking them all over.

The leader soon got back up and earthbent at Korra, who dodged the attack and knocked him down with a tunnel of earth, sending him crashing against the fountain.

"Your days of harassing an innocent boy are over. You outlaws are going to prison." She declared, standing back up

"Outlaws? Innocent boy? I'm a sheriff and these are my deputies" The leader glanced down at his badge on his uniform. "And this kid is a thief. Whatever he told you was a lie, we've been chasing him for months."

Korra looked over her shoulder as the others came off the airship.

"Where's Kai?" She asked, not seeing the boy amongst the group.

"Right here, I found him slipping away." Mako walked toward her, holding Kai with one hand and a sack with the other.

"I was just going to the bathroom," Kai explained

"With your stash of gold?" Mako threw the sack toward the sheriff, spilling out jewellery and gold as it hit the ground.

"I told you, I found this on the road."

"Enough with the lies kid. I want the truth." Mako scowled

"The truth is, he's the outlaw. He spent an entire life in an orphanage, got adopted by a real nice family six months ago" The sheriff explained as his deputies took Kai from Mako "And how did he repay them? By taking their entire life savings. We've been after him ever since."

"Is that true?" Korra asked Kai

"The person who stole that stuff was the old me. Once I got airbending, I changed. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like airbending choose me for a reason like I'm a new person" The deputies began to drag Kai away along with the sack of gold "I'm sorry! Please, you have to listen to me"

Elira shared a sad look with Bolin as the earthbender wrapped his arms around her.

"Are, are you taking him back to the orphanage?" Bolin asked

"No, he's headed to jail." The sheriff replied

Elira looked down in thought. Kai may have lied to them, but he was only a kid. She glanced over her shoulder at her grandmother. Zira nodded at her with a small smile.

"Wait!" She called and the deputies stopped as she stepped forward " You've got the family's life savings, now let us take Kai."

"Elira! Do you really want our first member of the Air Nation to be a liar and a thief?" Tenzin questioned

"Tenzin, he's only a boy" Zira cut in "There is still time to help lead him down the right path"

"Gran-Gran's right, he just needs some guidance, dad. Who better to give it to him than us?" El argued, giving her grandmother a thankful smile.

"Do you want this kid or not?" The sheriff asked

Tenzin stroked his beard and thought for a while." Yes, you can release the boy into our custody."

Elira grinned as the sheriff's deputies let go of the Kai and the boy smiled, running over to hug her tightly. "Thank you!"

"Don't make me regret it" El smiled as Bolin and Jinora approached them.

"Welcome to the family, little bro." Bolin wrapped his arms around them in a hug and Jinora joined smiling as behind them Bumi went and hugged Tenzin, much to his annoyance and their mother's amusement.

The sheriff and his deputies drove away from the scene and the group walked back onto the airship. But as Kai went to go up the ramp, Mako stopped him turning his head around to get a better look at his face, and bent down.

"I just want you to know that I'm going to be watching you, kid. I know exactly what you're all about, 'cause I've been there. You don't have me fooled."

"Woah! Hey, lighten up" Kai backed away, putting his hands in his pockets. I'm turning over a new leaf, making a change. Don't you worry about me"

Kai headed up the ramp again where Jinora stood waiting for him with a small blush on her face.

"Hi, I'm Jinora" She introduced bashfully as, by the entrance of the ship, El stopped and turned around to watch them " If you need any help with airbending, I could show you what I know."

"Thanks, that's real nice of you." Kai smiled

"Jinora, we're leaving now" Tenzin called from the door making both his daughters jump

Jinora sent one last smile at Kai before walking into the airship. She immediately spotted her sister smirking at her

"What? What's that look for?" She asked

"Someone's in love" El teased in a sing-song voice

"El!" Jinora scowled, her face going bright pink as she looked around to make sure no one heard.

Elira just laughed, wrapping her arm around her little sister.

*

Back in Ming-Hua's prison, a White Lotus sentry stood on the higher tier of the prison, with an elderly man and woman beside him looking down at the empty cell. The man had a nasty burn over his eye.

"They came out of nowhere. I'm so sorry, Lord Zuko, Lady Azula" The sentry bowed his head

"How could you let this happen?" Azula hissed

"They caught us by surprise and Zaheer is an airbender now" The sentry revealed causing the siblings to look at him in horror

" No! This can't be." Zuko gasped in alarm "Do you have any idea the power these criminals possess?"

"Individually, they can take down any bender. Put them all together, they could take down the entire world. And now you're telling me that their leader is an airbender?" Azula questioned

"We can track them." The sentry declared

"We don't need to track them, I know exactly where they're going" Zuko stated, walking out of the prison with the others following.

"Notify the new chiefs of the Northern Water Tribe that an attack on their prison is imminent, and send word to Lin Beifong in Republic City. The Avatar must be protected" He ordered as they walked out onto an open platform, where Zuko's dragon, Druk was waiting for them along with an airship.

"And where are you going?" Azula questioned, about to board the airship but stopped as Druk lowered their neck and Zuko climbed on.

"To stop them" Zuko declared

"You're going without me. Let's face it, Zuzu, we all know I'm still the strongest" Azula smirked

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"No" Azula smirked again, climbing onto Druk who roared, stood up and took to the sky.

"We're going to need backup, you know?" Azula said as they flew away. 

"I know. And I know just the person" Zuko replied

*

Making a quick detour back to the capital city, Druk soon landed in the garden of a grand house and the two siblings dismounted just as an elderly couple came outside. 

"Zuko? Azula? What happened?" The man asked as his wife, a woman heavily dressed in pink, remained on the porch. 

"Shai, Ming-Hua's escaped from prison, as has Ghazan and Zaheer!" Zuko exclaimed 

"That's impossible!" Shai gasped 

"Not as impossible as we thought. Zaheer is an airbender now" Azula revealed 

"We're going to the Northern Water Tribe to stop them before they can release P'Li" Zuko stated 

"Well then, I'm going with you" Shai declared 

Zuko smiled "I was hoping you would say that, old friend" 

The siblings turned around to climb onto Druk again and Shai turned to his wife as she came up to him, looking worried. 

"I'll be alright, Ty Lee. I promise" He kissed her head before going to join the siblings. 

"I'll be home as soon as I can" He called as Druk stood up, spread his wings and took to the skies once more. Flying away into the distance.