Present Day

"It's been sixteen years since Avatar Korra's passing. Is it possible that Vaatu destroyed the avatar cycle as well? Will the four nations no longer have their 'bringer of peace' or 'bridge' of spirits? After searching for a decade, whatever people searched for the avatar have quit for over five years now. The Earth Kingdom has no recorded avatar. If there ever was an earthbending avatar, he or she must have died at birth! Without the spiritual leader, it looks like Republic City's descent into chaos will expand further than Avatar Korra could've imagined."

One Year Ago

"Mmm, honey, could you pass me some more rice? This is the best bowl I've had all day!" an airbender of forty-four years says with enthusiasm.

The man, named Tashi, is a well-known airbending master housed in the Southern Air Temple. He shares his large, one-room apartment with his wife, Igme, and his second child, Yang. Tashi's wrinkling face smiles as he eats his rice with chopsticks.

His wife, about forty, comes over with another bowl of rice. Igme is beautiful; her sleek brown hair is long and curves inward about the hips like a small cape. Her skin is a tanned white, though it is beginning to stretch with age. Both parents have blue tattoos occupying their bodies as a sign of their dedication and mastery of the airbending ways.

"I wonder how Yang is doing in class today?" Igme asks while going over to wash dishes.

"He's blowing them away!" Tashi jokes, but Igme only groans.

"Enough with the terrible jokes," she says with a shake of the head and a smile on the lips.

"I can't help it, it's like I'm breathing them!" Tashi bangs his fist on the table and laughs deep in his throat. He sighs in the recovery from his fit and looks up at the doorway to see a feeble man staring at them.

The man has long, gray whiskers like an old cat would. His eyes were tired and his arms were always bent inwards, bearing a clipboard as if it was an extra appendage. He stands erect as some sort of metaphor for his status—the Statue Of Aang's equivalent. His presence causes Tashi to get up from the table and Igme to walk over from the sink.

"Yeshe, my man! How's that old ba—wife of yours treating you?"

"Excuse me," the man inaudibly says, almost as if he waved the previous comment away, "I need to speak to you about your son's…progress."

"Alright…what of it? How is my boy doing? I bet he's blowing you away!"

"You already used that joke, dear," Igme reminds him with a point in the air.

"Yeah, but he didn't hear it," Tashi mutters.

"He's not blowing anyone away, Tashi," the man says solemnly.

Tashi and Igme exchange glances for a very long moment. Tashi opens his mouth, but only a mildly depressed expression replaces it. He sighs and pinches the skin between his eyes. He sits back down in his chair and feels the emotions coursing through his veins. As such a proud bender, he forces his tear ducts to block any excrement.

"I told you to give Yang a little push," Igme pipes up. "All he needs is a push."

"Even at fifteen, your child can't blow a gust of wind at anything—not even his tormenters. Igme, Yang can't airbend. Some of his peers are years away from gaining tattoos. Believe me, he gets pushed," the man, his eyes now staring at the floor beneath his feet, says with regret.

. . .

During recess, some of the airbenders play a game of airball. Random children step on tall, skinny poles of wood and control the air to levitate a ball of assorted, crescent-shaped holes above their hands. One kid slams the ball over another's head and knocks it in the goal with a gust of wind. The area is filled with laughter and excitement.

Out in the side, sitting on the steps up to the temple, sits a boy of about fifteen. His hair is brown and spiked in two places at the end, almost like one of those plastic forks, but with two prongs. His irises are a deep jade. He has a look of frustration upon his face, obviously from his issues of control.

"Yang?" a voice asks with a hint of caring in her voice.

"Oh, hey, Dolma," Yang says, his head staring away.

"Yang, don't you want to play?"

"I can't airbend, Dolma, you know that," he says, almost at the brink of crying.

"You'll get there—honest!"

Yang stands up and looks at the girl. She has deep brown eyes, big and understanding. He's always appreciated her eyes. She has a flawless face and long, flowing brown hair that reaches just short of her elbows. Dolma is the daughter of the Air Nation's leader, Airbending Master Jinora—granddaughter to Avatar Aang himself. Dolma has the capabilities of becoming an amazing airbender, but she's held back by her mother's disappointment in her.

"I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say," Yang explains, his brown hair bouncing slightly on his head as he speaks. "I'm not an airbender."

"Try to play airball with us—just this once," she pleads.

Dolma and Yang have been friends since Yang came to the Southern Air Temple at age two. The two stuck up for each other, though Yang has only just recently gotten some confidence in himself. They have done everything together—the best of friends.

Yang smiles. "Alright—just this once."

Dolma airbends the two of them up on the wooden poles and she gets the class's attention. After explaining Yang's participation, everyone awkwardly looks at him. The larger, meaner airbender in the class, Kaze, steps forward on the poles. Though he is more aggressive than some airbenders, he has the spirituality and agility of a powerful bender. He is heavyset with a bald head and a foul mouth.

"Why don't you go back to being a stiff in the dirt?" he giggles, among others.

"Just throw the ball. He'll be on my team," Dolma demands.

He looks Yang over for a moment and smiles. "Okay," he says, "then watch out!"

With teams of four on four, Kaze bends the ball over to the goal and almost makes it. Dolma summons a gust of wind to knock it into the air and Kaze counters back to spike it—right at Yang.

The ball slams into Yang's right shoulder, causing him to smash to the ground in utter defeat. A few benders giggle quietly, though Kaze is the loudest.

"That wasn't nice," Dolma says. "Yang, get back up. You can do it!"

Dolma gets the ball and airbends it straight into Kaze's belly, causing a small bubble of gas to emit out and embarrass the kid. Red in the face, he hits Dolma with the ball and causes her to fall backward. She lands on one of the pole ends, hitting the back of her head. She rubs it with her hand and airbends herself up. Looking back at her hand, a small smear of blood resides on her left palm.

"You made me bleed!" she panics.

Yang hears the commotion and slowly climbs up a pole as if it were a rope in gym class. Once he's up, he gets the ball and throws it straight at Kaze. It smacks him on the shoulder, though it doesn't do any damage.

"That's against the rules, Stiff," Kaze says.

Yang flinches at the nickname. "Stiff" is what he calls nonbenders; on their past field trip to the Earth Kingdom, he came up with the name after hearing their nonbending ratio. The name has stuck to Yang ever since.

"You're not exactly playing by the rules, either," Dolma points out.

The other benders get off the poles and help Dolma down as well. It's just Kaze versus Yang. The two stare down as Kaze gets the ball between his hands.

"Last one standing wins," he decides with a grin.

"Bring it on," Yang counters.

Kaze gets the ball and bends it straight at Yang's face, but he dodges and jumps onto a pole, though he jumps on the trunk of it and has to climb back up. Kaze gets another ball and barely misses Yang's face. Yang throws a ball and it makes contact with Kaze's feet, but it then falls down to the ground. Kaze smiles and aims his ball not at Yang, but at Dolma.

"She's not in this!"

"Air is the element of peace," he says as he thrusts the ball and almost hits the audience.

Yang feels a surge of anger. He stomps his foot and demands Kaze to cut it out.

Dolma, sitting down back where she was with Yang, notices a small crack in the ground from where Yang stomped. When he did it again, the crack got bigger. Her eyes grow wide and she calls out to him, though he cannot hear her.

"Don't worry, Stiff, I'm just joking. I'm spiritual, not cruel. Are you a spiritual bender?"

Yang's forehead hurts with a mix of headache and anger. Yang hops over to Kaze and thrusts his fist back in preparation for contact.

"Are you going to airbend me?" he laughs.

"No," Yang says, "I'm going to punch you."

In the background, an older figure walks over with a rather goofy look on his face. He goes to the recess area and finds the showdown between one of the better, though bitter, airbenders and the one nonbender in the group. He sits down behind Dolma and watches.

Kaze stands without making a move—a punch won't knock him down. Yang, surging with anger for both his friend and himself, throws the fist. Dolma watches as the crack from before outlines a circle of sorts, and then a chunk of rock is brought from the ground up through the sky. It follows the same motion as Yang's fist. He punches the air, as Kaze jumps back at the last second, and Yang loses his balance. The rock follows the fist further and smacks Kaze off the poles and into the dirt. Yang steadies himself and looks up to see Kaze gone.

The audience cheers. Kaze groans. Yang looks down to see a rock nearby, obviously pulled up from the ground, and a hurt Kaze. Yang hops down and walks over to Dolma.

"What happened? Did someone throw a rock?" he asks her.

"I-I think you did," she says with a look of pride and surprise.

"What?" Yang gasps.

Behind Dolma, a figure arises. He has messy salt-and-pepper hair, gray eyes, and a smile on his face. Yang knew who he was, but Dolma knows him even better.

"Uncle Meelo!" Dolma squeals with a hug around the airbending master's waist.

"I came running when I heard someone fartbend," he chuckles, "but I didn't expect to see Yang earthbend."

Yang looks confused. "With all due respect, sir, I'm a nonbender. I have been my whole life."

"No, we've been teaching you the complete opposite of earthbending. You're an earthbender! We have to go tell your parents the news!"

Meelo guides Yang away from the others and begins to walk toward Yang's parents' apartment. However, the elder then glances back to tell Dolma, who was following behind quietly, that her mother wanted to talk to her.

"Why?"

"I dunno, you know how uppity she is about being in charge."

. . .

"I'm sorry, but as a nonbender, Yang doesn't fit in with the others. Perhaps you could relocate him to Republic City and have him work at Future Industries? They're always hiring," Yeshe suggests.

"We both know Republic City isn't the 'city' that Avatar Korra departed. I'm not sending Yang to work in that dangerous place," Tashi shakes his head.

"No need! Your kid needs to go to Ba Sing Se," a familiar voice announces as he walks into the doorway.

"Oh, yes, let the whole Air Nation walk in the front door!" Igme wails.

"Oh, Igme, sometimes I really want to Airgni Kai you," Meelo smiles. "But seriously. Ba Singe Se is the place for Yang."

"Why?" Tashi asks.

"I'm an Earthbender, Dad," Yang says quietly.

Igme nearly faints and plants herself in a chair. Tashi runs his fingers through his hair in both disbelief and pride. Yeshe is full of only confusion, but Meelo is obviously happy about the optimistic turnout.

"How is that possible? Two airbenders make an earthbender?" Yeshe stammers.

"He's adopted—did I not tell you?" Tashi suddenly slows his wording and frowns a little.

"Adopted?!"

"That suddenly makes sense," Meelo nods.

"Jinora said we could keep him. We found him in Ba Sing Se in the first place," Igme says.

"Then you need to get him to Ba Singe Se so that fancy Earthbending Master can tutor him to his potential," Yeshe says.

"Does Jinora know?" Tashi asks.

"Considering Dolma saw the whole thing, I think she knew before we got to tell you guys," Meelo says.

. . .

"Mom, I don't want Yang to leave. We're friends," Dolma whines.

She sits on the opposite side of her mother's work desk. They reside in a small room in the temple; this is where Jinora does her private meetings.

"Well, if Yang is an earthbender, then he has to be taught by the best," Tenzin's daughter decides. "I'll call up an air bison and have Yang transported tomorrow."

"Can…Can I go?" she begs.

"Absolutely not. You have to earn your tattoos. Did you know I was three years younger than you when I got them?"

"So I've heard," Dolma mutters.

"Don't disrespect me. You can't go anywhere until you get your tattoos."

"You saved the world and your forehead was bare," Dolma begs.

Jinora looks up. She is just over five and a half feet tall, but her hair is up in a bun to make her taller. She wears square-framed reading glasses. Dolma's always pictured her as a beautiful librarian of sorts. Jinora, however, only focuses on the Air Nation—not her daughter.

"You can't go and that's final," she says with distaste. "That boy isn't for you anyway. Your father would be upset at your actions."

"Too bad he's dead," Dolma counters, though she soon realizes the horror in what she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's fine. Get out," Jinora mutters and goes back to look at her computer screen. "I wonder if they'll one day make a computer you can fit on your lap?"

When Dolma walks out of the room, Jinora starts sulking as she picks up a picture of her late husband. She knows Dolma doesn't know better, but words hurt. She sets the picture down and looks back at the budget of the air temple.

. . .

The Next Day

After a full night of packing, Yang wakes up early to collect his things. He has five bags and drags them outside, up the stairs, and over to the edge of the temple. Nearby, an air bison named Fluffy hovers in the air. Yang tosses his bags over on the saddle of the six-legged, white-furred animal and walks back to his apartment to tell his parents goodbye.

He gets to the front of his former home and sees his parents standing in the doorway, his mother's head leaning against his father's shoulder. He walks over to them with tears welling up in his eyes.

"I always knew you could bend," his father says with a hug. "I just didn't think about you not airbending. That's an error on my account, and I'm sorry."

"You had a one-in-four chance," Yang offers.

He looks over to see his mother sobbing profusely. She smiles. "I was going to save this for your birthday this year, but I think you'll need it now."

She hands him a small index card with the information on some man in Ba Sing Se. He looks at the card and turns it over to read the hand-written note on the back. "Yang's biological father."

"I heard on the radio an interview about him leaving a child somewhere for someone to take care of, but he never saw the baby again. He says it's his biggest regret. Maybe he can house you and you can give him comfort."

Yang smiles and thanks his mom for caring so much.

"I just want you to know that you can always visit us, and when you master earthbending I will arrange a bypass for Jinora's rules. You will have a home here no matter what," she smiles with more tears streaming down her face. "You've grown up so fast…I guess I'll see you around, then."

"We love you, son, and we offer you the best of luck. Please write back and let us know if you see your sister anywhere," Tashi says in an almost whisper.

"I love you guys, too, and I will!" Yang nods and hugs them both tightly.

He hops on the air bison and notices a figure at the head, though the fogginess of the early morning makes it impossible to distinguish anyone. He waves goodbye, wipes away tears, and tells the driver to go ahead.

"Right! Fluffy, yip yip!" a familiar voice says.

As the bison flies north from the Southern Air Temple, the fog lifts. Yang crawls up the saddle of the bison to see Dolma as its driver. She glances back and smiles at him.

"Hey," she says.

"Um…hey? How did they let you drive me there?"

"Well, my mom didn't exactly. I begged Uncle Meelo and he was all 'who am I to stop an adventure?' and snuck me out!"

Yang sits beside Dolma and watches the ocean below. Maybe this journey wasn't a bad idea after all. The two friends go north, into the temporary unknown, into the beginning of an extreme adventure.