The Decision
The next morning was a Sunday although I couldn't sleep for the entire night. I was too busy calling around about this year's four-nation meet because I was behind anyway. I also couldn't sleep because of the elephant in the room, which I still couldn't believe was right there, resting in my guest room hurt because of my lightning, after centuries! The Avatar...in my house. Woah.
I got up from my bed and went upstairs to the terrace via a door then entered an adjoining room next to it after unlocking the door with a key. I entered and closed the door then turned on a light. The floor had a rug with the fire nation insignia on it and it was shown around the room on a couple of walls and the table at the corner. The rest of the space was filled with cabinets and shelves of files and papers everywhere. These were all old documents of our lineage, our clan and many firebending scrolls that were ancient as time. Yes, they all were just dumped here as soon as we went underground.
The middle of the room was still spacious, and I sat down on the rug with the fire nation insignia on it and meditated for some time. After a while, I went down to the kitchen and saw my 43-year-old housekeeper Shailaja placing two cups of coffee on the bar counter. I sat down on a chair and took a sip. She stood in front of me with her arms folded waiting.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Where is Kova?" she asked.
Right. Forgot to mention that she is also a firebender. Shailaja has been my housekeeper since the past ten years. She was hired only by my parents. Nobody else in my family knows about her. She doesn't bring her spirit with her usually to my place. But I have met her a couple times. She usually prepares a few meals and stores them in the morning then cleans the house and leaves. Again, in the evening, she drops by to check on things.
"He decided to take a trip down South." I replied.
"And him?" she asked, eyeing behind me.
I turned around to find Dev coming towards us.
"Hey..." he said, nervously.
"Shailaja. This is Dev. Dev. Our housekeeper. Shailaja." I said, while taking another sip from my coffee.
"Ahem..." Shailaja made a noise.
"He's my student." I said.
"Seriously? I've been telling you to tutor my kids and you said you didn't like teaching, Asin. Really?" she asked, in disbelief.
"I really don't like teaching. But I have no choice when it comes to this guy. And that's all the Fire lord will tell you." I said.
"Don't tell me any further then, my lord!" she said, while raising her hand and leaving through the kitchen door with her purse.
I kept my cup in the sink and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Come with me, Avatar. I want to show you something." I said and left upstairs.
He came behind me. We went out the door towards the terrace and I unlocked the adjoining door. He looked around at the view and tried to find a window near that door.
"What did you want to show me?" he asked.
I opened the door to the room and beckoned. He entered and I turned on the lights after shutting the door after us. He was wide-eyed at the amount of heirlooms and items with the fire nation insignia on them! He walked around and felt one insignia carved on the wall. A tear came out of his eye unknowingly and he wiped it.
"What is all this? Why do I feel happy?" he asks, still looking at his finger that wiped the tear then at me.
"This is an important collection of fire nation knowledge and history. A quarter of it is my family and clan history documents but the others are antiques from the previous fire royals. A few things must also be from the previous Avatars as well. I don't know about some of them, but I do know most. Maybe you have hidden memories of this." I said, while covering a yawn of mine.
He continued to look closely at all the pieces around the room for a while. I yawned once more and sat down on the rug. He sat down in front of me.
"So, do you know why you don't have a spirit like Kova with you?" I ask.
"No." he said.
"It's simple. Your spirit is inside you. Her name is Raava, I think. But as far as everybody knows, Raava only has memories of all the Avatars after Avatar Korra. Kova might be able to help you reconnect to them but don't get your hopes up." I said.
"Why not?" he asked.
"The distance between our world and the Spirit world has grown too far. There used to be a time when benders didn't need spirits to be here to supply them power. That's how close it used to be. So connecting with Raava is unlikely." I said.
He nodded while looking down. There was a pause.
"Did you ever enter the Avatar State?" I asked.
"I think I did once. A year ago, during the floods." He said.
"Was it because you lost your family?" I asked.
"Yeah, I saw them at the morgue so..." he said, with his fists closed firmly.
"Okay. All right." I said, quickly.
I didn't want any type of scene in this room. I guessed correctly since last year a huge flood occurred in the North-eastern state of Assam and landslides followed as well. Hundreds of people were injured, many dead and there was a high amount of property damage.
"So! Here's what's going to happen. This year's Four-Nation Meeting is going to be held by me and I've chosen a place in Peru, South America. They have even agreed to send their representatives." I said.
"What's so special over there?" he asked.
"It once used to be Republic City. Now there are only ruins. I chose that place so that you can get some help too. A Spirit Portal used to be there. Rumor has it that some radioactivity can still be found." I said.
"Radioactivity?" he asked, puzzled.
"In terms of us, I meant residual spirit energy." I explained, reminded of how out of touch he is from the bending society.
"I've never been there. How can I even find- "Dev started.
"You've never been here either." I said.
"What's so important about Raava?" he asked.
"Raava is the one to hold every memory of every Avatar. That's how the next one remembers them. We must go there and try to get Raava to sense it. Maybe then your connection can come back. Avatar Korra can also be someone to try connecting to first as well." I said.
"It's so unreal to me right now. I can't seem to believe this." He said.
"A spirit is inside you to help you bend all the four elements, right? Can you believe that?" I asked.
He didn't answer. He seemed nervous around the word Avatar. I don't want to believe this huge thing that's happening right now, but my eyes couldn't deceive me. I knew what I saw yesterday and before anything odd happens, I must help the Avatar become capable to defend himself. Or else he'll be in trouble.
"What will I do for three months?" he asked.
"Did you complete the 11th grade? We can get you into my school. In my class." I offered, while standing up and dusting myself.
"Wait a second! We're the same age?" he asked, realizing.
"Yes, we are." I replied.
"How do you know so much?!" he exclaimed.
"Every Fire lord has to. It's sacred." I said.
"Is there really no way to get Raava with every memory?" he asked, after a pause.
"Am I really going to have to tell the whole story?" I asked, condescendingly.
"Of course, you do. You Royals never share this with anybody." He said.
"That's not my fault. I've only been Fire Lord for two years. If you keep up with that attitude just because we're the same age, you can leave my home. I feel like you're not accepting your situation as the Avatar. You're only asking me questions about your history. But not about how you should handle yourself now." I said, folding my arms and scoffing.
"My Avatar history is just as important!" he said.
"Do you really think you can comprehend it all in a day? I'm finding you impulsive. That's not good for firebending!" I stated, out loud.
There was a long pause.
"I'm from a small town. I have nobody to tell me anything about firebending, let alone about the Avatar. I need more than just a firebending master." He said and folded his legs to a kneeling position while looking down out of respect.
I was shocked. He was listening to everything I was saying, wasn't he? And I shouldn't easily get annoyed either. I went to a cabinet and opened it. I took out an old notebook and closed the door then sat back down in front of him. He was still looking down, but I opened the notebook and started flipping through pages.
"So, the Water tribes were divided into two: The North and South. Avatar Korra was in the South when she met the Northern Water Tribe Chief and first learnt about..." I started.
I started explaining how Vaatu and Raava existed, the creation of the Avatar state, how Chief Unalaq showed his true colours and finally how things worked now. In general, most of the Avatars after Korra never proved to be better than their predecessor. People have also noticed how from the next Avatar after Chang, the rebirth cycle slowed down. It took two decades for the one after Chang and now I think it's been more than a century since Sri. Kova might know better.
Ugh...teaching sucks.
"How will I know if I'm ready or if I've become successful?" asked Dev, while we were eating lunch downstairs.
"You'll know yourself. Try to get into the Spirit World first." I said.
He nodded and we continued to eat until suddenly Dev dropped his spoon on the plate.
"Oh my god!" he exclaimed. "I didn't even ask your name!"
I put my spoon down and put forth my right hand.
"I'm Fire Lord Asini Sunera." I said, with a small smile. "Nice to meet you too."
He shook my hand but didn't let go yet.
"You can't expect me to address you like that in public, right?" he said.
"Just call me Asin." I said and pulled my hand back and continued to eat.
*
"Hey! What the- "Dev groaned while shielding his eyes from the light that I turned on at midnight.
"We have to go train now. It's safe at this hour." I said.
"Oh...god!" he said, while getting up quickly.
We left the house towards the empty side of the plot that I trained in but immediately hid outside the wall as we saw a few old drunk-looking men leaning over their bikes and talking loudly and cackling with laughter.
"Dammit!" I said.
"Does nobody live there in the homes?" whispered Dev.
"Only one old, retired Colonel. But he doesn't usually bend. This land has always been used by my family. I don't know how to get rid of them now." I said, sighing.
Dev looks around them and observes the sky with a thought.
"I can try something. Shall I?" he suggested.
I plopped down behind the wall.
"Be my guest." I replied.
Dev stepped back a bit from the wall and raised his hands. In a minute he created a gust of wind, making a small tornado. Seeing that, a couple of those men ran away immediately in fright but a few adamantly stayed. The tornado slowed down but was still controlled with one hand of Dev's. with the other he pulled a couple of clouds together and compressed them a little. Immediately I get up and shot a bolt of lightening and got their attention up towards them! Dev pressed the clouds even more together and suddenly they burst! It rained heavily upon them for 5 minutes at which they ran away from the area due to no shade!
"Still think I can't handle myself?" said Dev.
"The cloudburst idea was the best one. The tornado wasn't necessary." I replied, while getting up and dusting my knees.
We went to the ground and stood opposite to each other.
"We can start with basic firebending. I can't go that far with you until after the four-nation meet. Everybody gets a decision here." I said.
"Then why bother waking me up at night?" he asked.
"I don't like that tone." I said while pointing.
"You don't like me." He said.
"That's true. So, let's start with a few drills. Then Kova can take your time with meditation when he gets back." I said and we began.
His normal punches and kicks needed a lot of fixing. He literally has little to no training experience. I felt slightly sorry for that because the Fire Nation Royals disrupted the networking between benders. And it was my Grandfather's order and my Mother's order to keep it that way.
"How did you absorb in my fire yesterday?" asked Dev, while we walked back to the house.
"If it's your own power then it can stay inside. Unlike yesterday, I held in your fire just for a few seconds and let it out again." I explained.
"Amazing." He said. "You have to teach me that."
Honestly, who knows what I'm going to be allowed to teach him. Only in the four-nation meet will we be able to find out. Hope Dev feels more comfortable to call himself the Avatar because clearly, he's still scared of the responsibilities that might come his way. I can't just tell everything yet. I don't know what to feel or if I should have faith in him. And I don't know if the worse case happens where everyone decides to keep Dev hidden just like the rest of us. Time will tell really.
***