spark || lin beifong

Chapter II - Introduction Part 2

Aang smiled at their interaction, glad to see they were getting along. He wasn't sure what he'd do if there was some tension between the two young souls in his household. "Well, it seems you two are getting along nicely. Come, Leia, I'll show you to your room."

Leia nodded and gave Tenzin a wave before going after Aang. Tenzin was left alone in the training grounds with thoughts of the young lady but was quickly interrupted by a voice in his head scolding himself. He inhaled deeply and started another series of stances.

-

Leia was halfway through unpacking everything from her trusty duffel bag when an acolyte comes by her room and calls her for lunch. She thanked the acolyte and proceeded to the dining area.

She ended up sharing a table with both Tenzin and Aang. They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Aang spoke up.

"So, Leia," he started, catching the attention of the watertribe teen, "why exactly did you want to come here to Republic City? I know from Katara that you were here to study, but how come? Isn't the education offered in the south enough for you?"

Leia looked at Aang as if he asked a rhetorical question before she gathered herself to answer. "I see Katara hasn't mentioned everything about me yet." She says with a cheeky grin.

"What do you mean?"

"Did she ever mention just how curious I am all the time?"

Aang seems to think for a moment before shaking his head.

Leia sighed and bit into a small dumpling before she spoke. "I've exhausted all of the south pole's knowledge by the time I was 12. The next four years of my life was spent sort of 'on the field', if you get my drift?"

Aang looked at Tenzin who simply looked back at his father with the same clueless look. Leia pouted but started tk explain either way, "I was discovering things on my own. I tried characterizing animals at home. I even did a lot of penguin and seal watching! Did you know that male penguins are the ones to take care of the egg after females lay them? I know, it's kind of opposite to what we know birds do in every other part of the world. I think I made a bunch of dichotomous keys before I finally decided it was time to learn waterbending since I had nothing else to do."

Leia then realized she was partially rambling and went straight to answering Aang's question, "I wanted to come to Republic City because I felt that there was nothing else to do in the South. I wanted to learn more about anything, everything! Where else to start than a place meant to be a melting pot of cultures?"

Aang had his eyebrows raised and was partially questioning why his wife didn't tell him he was housing someone so... inquisitive and curious.

Tenzin on the other hand was looking at Leia with awe and was quite amazed at how someone so young seemed to know so much at such a young age.

"Wow, that's quite amazing, Leia. How old did you say you were again?" Tenzin spoke up for the first time since lunch began and this surprised both Leia and his father.

Leia smiled at him, glad she wasn't annoying him this early on into her stay at Republic City. "I didn't. I'm 16!" She was also glad he didn't seem as shy as he was an hour ago.

Tenzin and Aang's eyes widened and it was only then that Leia truly noticed the differences between their faces. While one would naturally like to declare that Tenzin is the spitting image of his father just as how Leia did an hour ago, it seemingly isn't the case as Tenzin had a fair share of his mother's attributes. She smiled at this realization along with the priceless looks of surprise etched on the father and son's faces.