One hit.

 

Two hits.

 

By the third hit on the side of her ribs, Jennie let out a frustrated groan. She balled her fist through the spinning gate in front of her, immediately stopping the other rotating ones around her.

 

“Jen-”

 

“Don’t. Just don’t say anything Irene.” Jennie huffed, closing her eyes to even her breathing out, hands still shaking in silent anger.

 

“You know I have to,” the older girl calmly said, gently getting up from the rock she was sitting on while she watched the younger train.

 

“I’ll appreciate it more if you don’t.”

 

“I guess you’ll have to appreciate my wise advice moderately then,” she smirked, holding her hand out for the other one to take. Jennie begrudgingly took her hand, and Irene inspected it for any other signs of injury. Seeing none, she proceeded to give her a slight pinch on it, making the other girl yelp in protest.

 

“Ow! What was that for?!”

 

“For being impulsive of course,” Irene deadpanned. “As you know, to master the art of airbending you must-”

 

“-Be flexible, find and follow the path of least resistance. I know.” The nine year-old rolled her eyes, walking away from her to pick up her glider.

 

With one lazy of her fist Irene made the glider fly far away just as Jennie’s fingers grazed the handle. “If you know that, then why are you so insistent on opposing to our ways?”

 

“It’s not that I’m opposing... I just think we could do so much better if we take on a more direct approach.”

 

“Or perhaps you’re just scared of not being able to fully keep your emotions in check.”

 

That hurt. She knew it was true, but to be confronted so directly about it…oh the irony. If there was something Jennie prided herself in, it was on her ability to pick up things easily. Every technique the elder monks taught her she was quick to master, a prodigy they called her. Unfortunately, she was also quite prideful and easy to anger, traits that were heavily frowned upon by the air nomads. It was due to this conflict that they have appointed her to the youngest master airbender to properly teach her the ways of the air nomads.

 

Irene was an unorthodox airbender herself. Just as Jennie, she could be quite easy to anger, especially if you about her elderly manners. (something that, to be fair, was quite understandable if you take into consideration that being such a prodigy left her to hang-out with mostly elders since she was eleven years old) The difference was that Irene often chose to attack with vicious words rather than the straight up physical confrontation Jennie always preferred. Irene would also find great loopholes to attack her opponents by tricking them into injuring themselves or strategically push them into one of her many traps (which if Jennie was to be completely honest, was her favorite thing about her). No one could understand her like Irene, so hearing her bluntly call her out on her greatest fear stung. A lot.

 

“Look, I know you have a hard time sticking to the avoidance techniques, but I promise you will get there.” The older girl’s eyes softened as she caressed the sulking girl’s back in slow, soothing circles.

 

“But what if I don’t want to get there? You all talk about how bad it is to engage in a fight, how by doing so only contributes to the conflict in hand but…but what if you are wrong? What if by refusing to put a final end to it, to participate at all, we are doing more damage? I know we are not entitled to be involved in anything we don’t wish to be part of but…but we are so powerful Irene, we have so much knowledge we could be sharing and instead…instead we are here, isolated…do the elders not care at all about what happens to other people?”

 

The older girl remained quiet for a few minutes, silently pondering about Jennie’s words while mindlessly her tattoo’s until she let out a sigh. “Do you know why there’s so few airbenders?

 

“What? Irene-”

 

“Answer the question Jen.”

 

“Because all of them are here and the rest of the air temples”

 

Irene let out a smirk as she got exactly the answer she wanted from her. “Guess again.”

 

“But it’s true, most airbenders come from here! For an airbender to be born outside of the air temples is extremely rare. I don’t think there’s been one for the last century.” Jennie frowned in confusion when Irene’s smirk didn’t falter at the facts she was spewing.

 

“While most of it is true, that’s not the real reason why there’s so few of us.” Irene’s gaze remained passive but Jennie could see the steel behind it, as if she was talking about a huge weight placed on her. “We airbenders have a strong connection with the spirits, a very important reason why even in the age of Raava, all of our people were granted with bending ability unlike the other people of the other nations. This mutual understanding of each other allow us to understand bending in a whole different level.”

 

watched as Irene stood up and mindlessly started to move around as graceful and light as a leaf. Arms moving in a circular motion of variable speeds creating different but powerful gust of winds, mini tornadoes and cyclones all over the training space. They were so powerful that Jennie had to use her own bending to keep herself from being swept back from the force. Irene then effortlessly used the strong winds circulating to make a massive air bubble that sprung her upward into the sky. Still in the air, she then spread said bubble to slice all the huge boulders in the training ground.

 

“You said it yourself Jennie, we are powerful, perhaps a bit too much. And with great power comes corruption, that’s why we must be more responsible than anyone else,” Irene continued, slowly coming down from the air. She was still full of energy after that display of power, reminding Jennie why she was the youngest airbender to ever get her mastery tattoos.

 

“Only those who understand the importance of keeping such power under control, whose heart is as pure as nature itself, can be granted the gift of airbending.” Irene gazed deep into Jennies eyes, commanding her to pay attention to what she was about to say. “To encourage anything but control over it can only achieve catastrophic consequences.”

 

Jennie stood in silence for a moment, quietly looking around at the mess left by Irene’s bending. Pieces of rock scattered all around the floor of the temple, trees were left split in half or bend, spinning gates all unhinged and scattered around. To her amusement she could see how the flying lemurs finally plopped down in relief as they could finally let go of the trees they held onto for dear life.

 

“I know you have good intentions Jen. That’s why I’m sure that once you fully let go of your insecurities and manage to control your emotions, you’ll become one of the greatest airbenders in history.”

 

“Even better than avatar Yangchen?” Jennie asked, knowing full well how the older girl idolized said avatar.

 

“Well not quite as great, no one can be as great as her, you know that Jennie.”

 

“Yah! You should be saying ‘of course, Jennie, you can be anything you want, you’re a goddess’ you know, like a good mentor should,” the cat-eyed girl said, doing her best impression of the other.

 

“As if I would your ego that much. I already it enough as it is since you’re a brat who always needs the constant praise.” Irene rolled her eyes and quickly started moving around to take everything back to the state it was.

 

“That’s not true!” Jennie puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, especially when she saw the other girl not paying any attention to her. “It’s not my fault I’m so naturally talented and amazing that you feel the need to tell me everyday.”

 

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