Korra sat on the cliff-top and looked over the sea, glad for once that she was alone. Usually she loved the company and attention that being the Avatar got her, but with everything that had happened lately, well she just needed time to think.

Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly. She felt herself begin to drift her mind calm and in control. The spiritual elements of being the avatar still gave her trouble, but today entering the spirit world felt easy, like slipping into a bath tub.

She opened her eyes to see Avatar Aang sitting across from her, smiling widely, but it wasn't the Aang she had seen in pictures or statues. He was younger, no older than twelve, and sat with his legs crossed like a child.

"Heh," he said, his smile growing even broader, "I'm a girl."

"Wait," said Korra struggling to maintain the serenity she needed, "where's your…" She mimed stroking her chin to indicate Aang's lack of beard.

"I'm still me," said Aang, "but I can appear in any form in the spirit realm. I guess you need advice from someone a bit closer to your own age for a change."

"My age? You're about eight, what do you know about anything that's happened to me."

"I know what it's like to feel like helpless kid when you're meant to be the avatar" Aang started, and he seemed to mature in front of Korra's eyes. He didn't change physically, but she saw something in her eyes that reminded her of Tenzin or Katara, someone who had been through a lot and come out stronger. "I know what it's like to have everyone relying on you and to have no idea what to do. I know what it's like to struggle when other's find it easy, and to fail, and to hurt the people around you. And I know that you're going to be a great avatar, that you already are a great avatar." Korra wiped her eyes and opened her moth to speak, but Aang was already slipping away.

" Wait!" She called after him. "Do you have any advice for me?"

"Don't grow a beard," his voice came faintly, as if carried on a breeze, "you can't pull that look off."

Korra opened her eyes, blinking in the sudden bright light, and pulled herself up, turning back towards air temple island with a new spring in her step.