spark || lin beifong

Chapter II - Introduction Part 2

After a few more stances and cuts through the air, the young man then sent a gust of wind towards the contraption Leia had noticed. It was only now that she saw it clearly: it was a set of wooden panels mounted on sticks that could easily be used for doors. Each of the panels had intricate designs on both sides and had the symbol of the element air etched dead center. The wind the young man sent towards the panels caused them to spin on the axes of the sticks they were mounted on. The tattooed boy took a deep breath and Leia watched in full interest as he went straight for the doors.

Leia was mesmerized by his movements the moment he was in the midst of spinning doors one would expect to bash into the body of the younger monk. He weaved through each panel, spiraling and spinning through the aggressively rotating pieces of wood as if he was dancing.

Aang spoke up from beside Leia, having noticed her interest at the scene before her, "This is an ancient air bending training contraption. It teaches one to become one with the wind. The concept behind it is to be like a leaf that passes through the spinning gates, flowing in between the gates, turning when you meet resistance, and spiraling through them until you reach the end."

As Aang finished speaking, the young man comes out the other side unscathed and breaths out.

"Tenzin," Aang calls out and the younger man responded by turning his head and smiling at the Avatar.

"Dad," he responds, pleased to see his father. The man called Tenzin walks towards them and now that he's nearer, Leia notices the build of the younger monk. His state of undress lets her see the lean muscles that cover his arms and chest, and Leia could only think of one thing as a bead of sweat runs down her temple. It's so unbelievably warm here! Tenzin's in his right mind to train without any upper garments. It's unfair how men can simply remove anything that would cover their body from the waist up without being labeled as indecent! Her tunic seems suffocating to feel suffocating in the heat she wasn't yet used to.

"Tenzin, I want you to meet Telepyleia. She's going to be staying with us for a while," Aang started. Leia smiles and waves at the younger airbender. The young man then turns to meet Leia's eyes and attempts to smile, only getting to produce a small one, not returning the hand gesture. Leia decides not to point out the small blush that paints itself on Tenzin's cheeks. Wow, what a shy fellow.

"Leia, this is Tenzin, my son, and the second airbender in the family," Aang introduces, and Leia is quick enough to not miss the momentary frown that forms on Tenzin once his father mentioned the last part of his sentence.

Leia's smile doesn't waver as she held out a hand for the younger monk to shake, "Nice to meet you, Tenzin."

Tenzin stares at her hand for a while and Leia almost retracts it, fearing she'd overstepped a boundary of some sort. However, he meets her hand and grips onto it. "You too, Tele, uhm, pee-lay, uh, Lee-uh?"

Leia chuckles lightly at his struggle. This wasn't the first time someone struggled with her name. It was quite a unique one, even at home. Tenzin looks to the side, embarrassed and the pink in his cheeks grows in intensity.

"It's fine," Leia reassured the older man as she retracted her hand, "you're not the first one to mess up my name. It happens more than I'd like to admit. Teh-leh-pai-lay-yuh. You can just call me Leia, Mr. Tenzin." Leia adds the honorific in the realization that this guy was probably so much older than she was. He looked like someone in their 20's or 30's. His posture during training made him seem very mature, but his face and mannerisms when talking to his father were similar to that of a young adult.

Tenzin seems surprised at the honorific, "Oh, no need to address me with 'Mister'. It's weird. I'll call you Leia if you'll simply call me Tenzin."