I wake up with a smile on my face when I hear someone move off the bed and I instantly know it's not Bolin because I'm still holding onto him tightly. I unwrap my arms from around his torso and sit up to see Korra stretching her arms. I yawn softly as I watch her muscles move along with her limbs. She is probably the most muscular out of us all, but I guess that's what happens when you're the Avatar.
Korra turns around and her eyes widen slightly when she sees me smiling at her. I jump out of bed and sigh happily as I open the window to let in the morning air.
"Good morning, Korra." I say. She stands still with a raised brow as I move around the room, picking up a change of clothes to put on.
"Are you okay?" She asks cautiously and I can feel her gaze on me.
"I'm great." I say with a grin before walking into the bathroom to change. I run my fingers through my hair as I slide on my clothes and I smile widely to my reflection. I'm in charge of my destiny, not fear. I am Princess Ulazu, the first heat bender. The bender responsible for her own actions and not any future heat bender's actions. If they do bad, that is not my responsibility. Heat bending isn't what should be feared. You should fear the person who threatens to use it for harm.
I walk out of the bathroom to see Korra shaking Bolin's shoulder but failing to wake him. She looks up to me when she sees me reenter the room and she backs away from my boyfriend. I can tell by her expression that she is confused by my sudden happiness, but I just smile in response.
"Let him sleep. He's been stressing so much about me, he's probably exhausted." I say.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Korra asks and I can see the concern on her face. Bolin shifts and I see his eyes flutter open slightly allowing him to see Korra standing by the bed. He groans and buries his head into the pillow again.
"Korra, it's so early. Keep it down, would ya?" Bo mumbles against the pillow. I smile and walk around towards the Avatar. She watches me closely as if she thinks I'm about to break at any given second, but I allow her. After my breakdown and the state they saw me in, I really don't blame them. But I'm not letting this scare me anymore. I lean down to Bo's face and kiss him gently on the cheek before backing away.
"Sorry, Bo. We're going to go get some breakfast, want me to bring you back anything?" I say quietly not wanting to disturb him too much. At the sound of my voice he immediately sits up with wide eyes. He stares at me and I jump slightly at his sudden movements.
"Ula, are you okay?" He asks as he swings his legs off the side of the bed.
"Yes, but I'm hungry. You coming or not?" I ask with a laugh. He quirks his eyebrows as he takes in my happy expression and instantly I can tell he shares Korra's confusion to my change in mood.
"Umm, yeah, I'm-" He starts, but he stops as he continues to look at me, trying to figure out what's happening.
"Well hurry up, rock boy. I'm starving." I whine. He looks to Korra and I see her shrug her shoulders in response which causes me to groan playfully. I take his hand in my right whilst grabbing onto Korra's with my left and I start tugging them out of the room. They both gasp quietly as I jerk them to my side and they continue to share looks over the top of my head. I smile feeling truly happy for the first time in a long while. I know they think I'm acting weird, but I don't really care. I'm making the most of feeling like this.
"You didn't somehow find another way to get rid of your bending in the Spirit World, did you?" Korra questions hesitantly as I pull her and my boyfriend through the corridors.
"No, I didn't." I laugh at her query.
"So, umm, I'm guessing you know what was wrong." Bolin says as I hold his hand tightly.
"Yep." I say as I look up to his confused expression. "I'm taking control." I smile. I let go of both of their hands to open up the dining hall doors. I walk into the room and take a seat opposite Asami and next to Mako and I soon find Bolin joining me, leaving Korra to sit beside Asami. I notice everyone's attention on me as I sit down with a smile, but I try to brush it off. I know that they're just worried about me, I would be worried if I had to witness what they did.
"Princess Ulazu, I didn't expect you to be joining us this morning. How are you?" Suyin asks from the head of the table; Opal in the chair next to her staring at me as if I'm about to blow.
"I'm great, thank you." I say as I look to the woman. Like everyone else, she is watching me closely however, her look holds more guilt than the others. The chef walks in and places the food down in front of us and my smile widens even more than I thought it could as the smell of it enters my nose. I'm so hungry I don't really care what I eat, but having something that smells so good makes me ten times happier.
As soon as the plate lands on the table in front of me I pick up a fork and start to eat. I let out a happy sigh as the food touches my taste buds. This is probably the best thing I've eaten in a while. Maybe I just think that because I haven't eaten recently.
"Korra, I was wondering if we could have another airbending lesson?" Opal asks as we all start eating.
"Yeah, of course. Maybe we could do it after eating." Korra replies and my eyes widen as I turn to Mako.
"Mako, wanna do some training too?" I ask him and he raises an eyebrow as he looks at me. I shovel in another mouthful as I see a small hint of nervousness in his eyes.
"You sure you should be training at the moment?" He questions and I roll my eyes.
"What? You scared I'm gonna kick your ass?" I ask with a smirk after swallowing my food.
"We both know you're gonna kick my ass. But are you sure it's... safe?" He asks hesitantly, as if he is treading carefully around a landmine. My smile falters slightly which I know everyone saw, but I don't let it fade completely.
"I am in control now." I say with a small sigh relief. "I have the heatbending under control." There is a brief silence between everyonr and I take another bite of my food trying to maintain my positivity. I'm not sure whether they're quiet because they don't believe me or because they're eating, either way I just want someone to talk so I don't feel like I'm the issue.
"If Mako doesn't want to train, I'll train with you." Bolin says causing me to turn away from his brother and look at him.
"You will?" I ask with a wide smile and Bo laughs at my enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I haven't practiced my earthbending in a while. It will be fun to see if I can take you down." He says with a hint of playful competition in his eye.
"Oh, it's on." I smirk back.
——
I hear the faint sounds of Opal and Korra grunting as they practice their airbending, but my attention is solely on Bolin who stands opposite me. He wiggles his eyebrows at me as the wind blows through his hair and I suppress a laugh. I know that he's trying to throw me off with his antics, but I try my hardest to remain serious. My only issue is that I'm in no mood for seriousness.
I lick my lips in anticipation before raising my fists and bending fire towards my boyfriend. He dodges my attack easily and slams his foot against the earth, sending a wave of rocks towards me. I quickly bend fire at the rocks, using my boot to kick them away. I smile widely as I spin on my heel, sending an arc of flames his way. However, he is blocking the attack almost as soon as it leaves me.
"You're still way too predictable, dear." Bo calls to me with a playful grin. My mind instantly goes back to when I was helping the Fire Ferrets train for the Championship Tournament and him and I would have duels in a similar fashion. Sometimes I wish we could go back to a year ago when our issues were getting them through the tournament. Things just seem easier back then.
"What? I'm spontaneous now." I scoff as I avoid his attack and bend my own his way. He laughs as he easily moves out of the way of it.
"Just because you say you're spontaneous doesn't mean you actually are." He smirks back. I feel a mischievous grin tug at my lips as I straighten my posture and look at him.
"Okay, darling. I'll be more spontaneous." I say as I raise my hands. I start bending flames towards his feet and I immediately remove the heat from them so I don't hurt him. It feels strange to use heatbending in a fight like this, but I'm not going to let my fear of it take control of me anymore. This is a safe time to prove to myself that I'm okay. That heatbending is okay.
Bolin bends the earth up to block my attack, but before he can I grip onto his feet with the fire and start lifting him up in the air. He lets out a startled cry when he starts to rise which just makes me bend more cold fire onto him.
"Ula, put me down. Earthbenders are supposed to be on the ground." He says in a loud voice. I laugh at his panicked expression and I make sure I've got a tight grip on him. The last thing I want is for him to fall.
"Is this too spontaneous for you?" I question in between laughs. His eyes lock onto me and his once distressed face forms a smirk. He lifts his hand and bends the earth beneath me causing me to fall on my butt. He laughs back at me, but it is short lived when he realises that his attack has caused me to lose my grip on him. He starts falling back to the floor, and my eyes widen. I go to catch him with my fire, but air is suddenly bent towards him, slowing his descent. My head turns to see Opal running to Bolin's side and I feel my eyebrow rise slightly at her, but I stay silent unsure about what to say.
"Are you okay?" She asks Bolin as she puts her hand on his shoulder. I feel my happy mood slip slightly, but I cling onto it as I stand up.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He says with a smile as he jumps to his feet. I sense Korra join my side as we watch Opal and Bolin curiously. I didn't realise they had become close friends. I really should pay attention more.
"Have any of you seen Lin today?" A voice calls from behind us. I turn around to see Mako walking over. I look to each of my friends trying to read their expressions, and by the look of it no one had.
"Not since yesterday." Korra says.
"Has something happened?" I ask. Bolin moves away from Opal's touch and walks towards me.
"Her and Su had a fight and she fainted." Bo explains as he stands close to my side. Why is he so close? I'm not complaining, just wondering why.
"Maybe we should go an check on her." I suggest and the others nod. I notice Opal hesitate behind us before releasing a sigh. Maybe she was upset because we are leaving her out. I'm about to open my mouth to invite her with us, but she speaks first.
"I'll see you guys later for dinner." She says with a small wave before leaving. Oh, I feel bad. I turn back to my friends and I feel Korra's gaze on me, as if she is trying to make sure I'm okay.
"We should've invited her with us. I think she's upset that we're leaving her out." I say to them and Mako scrunches his face up in disagreement along with Korra.
"That's not why she's upset." Korra mutters to herself, but I catch it.
"Why is she upset?" I question and Mako looks to Bolin waiting for him to say something. But Bolin seems as oblivious to the reason as I am.
"Have we upset her?" Bolin asks. Korra releases a heavy sigh before wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
"Come on, let's go check on Lin." She says. She shoots Mako a quick glance as we walk back to the large building. I don't know why they're acting weird, but I let it slide. I'm more concerned for Chief Beifong. And so, I let Korra keep me close to her side as we go to find Lin.