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Beila gives Dao space. He is extremely right that she's not the best person to be sad about his dead serial killer friend with and that seems to be his principal occupation, so - space.
Beila goes home. Chali's not going to be home until late. She gives Ranyi an abbreviated version of the official story. She writes. She goes to bed.
In the morning she sends Dao a message:
Are you mad at me?
In the morning she sends Dao a message:
Are you mad at me?
Jun did a show last night, so maybe he's holding it together well enough to do a lesson today. It'd sure help take Beila's mind off things; maybe it'd do the same for him. She can always fly away again if he's not feeling it.
Knock knock?
Knock knock?
The news gets worse.
The police nailed down a pattern - the guy found with the missing bones was one thing, but there were other missing persons, alternating genders, late teens to early twenties, all taken from the same part of town. Cops, including cops of the relevant age range, stalk the area, and one of them gives chase to a man who proves to be a firebender. He burns out most of a liquor store, proving it, and the cop loses him trying to meet him on the other side and goes back to help evacuate the units above the store.
There's security footage of the fire and some of the chase, rescued from the liquor store, and the media gets ahold of it.
Chali says this still isn't an Avatar matter. Beila, who has no detective skills anyway, defers to his expertise, meditates, reads her book - turns up to her firebending lesson.
The police nailed down a pattern - the guy found with the missing bones was one thing, but there were other missing persons, alternating genders, late teens to early twenties, all taken from the same part of town. Cops, including cops of the relevant age range, stalk the area, and one of them gives chase to a man who proves to be a firebender. He burns out most of a liquor store, proving it, and the cop loses him trying to meet him on the other side and goes back to help evacuate the units above the store.
There's security footage of the fire and some of the chase, rescued from the liquor store, and the media gets ahold of it.
Chali says this still isn't an Avatar matter. Beila, who has no detective skills anyway, defers to his expertise, meditates, reads her book - turns up to her firebending lesson.
The news is grim today. A self-driving software glitch caused the first Republic City car accident in the last four years, uptown; someone has a concussion and someone else has whiplash from their own car swerving to avoid. The company is swearing to have the software patched as soon as possible. There was a food poisoning incident at the Flame Festival in one suburb, and a fireworks accident out in earth country, but these have resulted in no deaths. Death has resulted from what appears to be a murderer - it's hard to explain natural causes leaving a corpse with most of its bones missing.
The news doesn't speculate. Chali, however, does; Beila brings it up with him once he's home, and he says that out in a little town called Hirakyo there was a graverobbing incident - missing bones. They don't have hard evidence on it yet, but they think the same person may have escalated to taking his trophies from living victims, that this could be a serial.
Disquieting. To say the least. But Chali has no reason to believe that it's Avatar business - no spirits, no geopolitics, no heavy-duty bending. So Beila reads another chapter in the autobiography of Avatar Meixing and goes to her firebending lesson.
The news doesn't speculate. Chali, however, does; Beila brings it up with him once he's home, and he says that out in a little town called Hirakyo there was a graverobbing incident - missing bones. They don't have hard evidence on it yet, but they think the same person may have escalated to taking his trophies from living victims, that this could be a serial.
Disquieting. To say the least. But Chali has no reason to believe that it's Avatar business - no spirits, no geopolitics, no heavy-duty bending. So Beila reads another chapter in the autobiography of Avatar Meixing and goes to her firebending lesson.
The next day there's an article in a scandal sheet insinuating that there may be something inappropriate going on between Delightful Jun and the Avatar.
Beila adopts a strategy of completely ignoring this insinuation until an interviewer asks her point blank, at which point she says, "No," and declines to elaborate further. Because there is nothing to elaborate on.
She shows up, exasperated, for her next firebending lesson.
Beila adopts a strategy of completely ignoring this insinuation until an interviewer asks her point blank, at which point she says, "No," and declines to elaborate further. Because there is nothing to elaborate on.
She shows up, exasperated, for her next firebending lesson.
Beila shows up for her next lesson the following afternoon, having gotten some ocean-wading practice in that morning, and wearing one of her new firebending outfits (white sleeveless shirt, snug blue leggings, hair braided back; she looks more water than fire like this, but that's just cosmetic.)
Beila will need to practice more to be truly a master of waterbending, but she knows the technique, now, and the rest is application she can practice on her own time. The nuns find her an earthbending teacher.
She goes to Dao's house after her first earthbending lesson. "Shifu Riko is a strange person," she remarks.
She goes to Dao's house after her first earthbending lesson. "Shifu Riko is a strange person," she remarks.
The supervolcano spirit is placated; Beila gives an interview about it, forbearing to mention Dao's involvement; the damage is repaired; Beila goes back to her waterbending lessons, her hospital volunteering, and her routine outings with Dao.
They're still not having sex, confessions of kinkiness aside. There's no rush.
But they do make out.
And one day she tells him while they are so doing, "I want you to pull my hair."
They're still not having sex, confessions of kinkiness aside. There's no rush.
But they do make out.
And one day she tells him while they are so doing, "I want you to pull my hair."
Beila has been volunteering at the hospital for a week now. About four percent of the population can waterbend, and all benders have to be trained some just to control their powers instead of being plagued by constant accident, but most don't acquire significant skill, and most don't specialize in healing. There is always more demand for waterbenders than there are waterbenders to be had, so Beila's working alongside nonbending and other-element doctors and nurses and techs. They start her in the burn ward, because burns are easiest and Avatar or no she's a novice, and she washes away hurts and refuses to sign autographs and takes her legally required twenty-minute breaks at regular intervals and then heals more.
The school term ends. Beila withdraws from classes. She writes an open letter about that, thanking the teachers and so on for their time and attention, explaining her decision, and she puts it up on the public-facing official Avatar screenserver that the nuns set up for her. She divides her time between classes with Shifu Hayaka, volunteer work at the hospital, intensive meditation, reading, and Dao.
She's with Dao when the earthquake hits, sitting on her roof while he does homework and she reads.
The ground shakes like gelatin, and Beila's been airbending to keep from falling over too long to react with anything other than an instinctive shove of air; but the air is sluggish, reluctant, something is wrong.
The roof has a view of the sea, and the sea is bubbling - no steam, it's not boiling, it's just angry -
And the air is too warm.
Something has the elements spectacularly agitated.
And Beila doesn't know what.
The school term ends. Beila withdraws from classes. She writes an open letter about that, thanking the teachers and so on for their time and attention, explaining her decision, and she puts it up on the public-facing official Avatar screenserver that the nuns set up for her. She divides her time between classes with Shifu Hayaka, volunteer work at the hospital, intensive meditation, reading, and Dao.
She's with Dao when the earthquake hits, sitting on her roof while he does homework and she reads.
The ground shakes like gelatin, and Beila's been airbending to keep from falling over too long to react with anything other than an instinctive shove of air; but the air is sluggish, reluctant, something is wrong.
The roof has a view of the sea, and the sea is bubbling - no steam, it's not boiling, it's just angry -
And the air is too warm.
Something has the elements spectacularly agitated.
And Beila doesn't know what.
Beila studies waterbending, and when she has the basics (waves, ice, the water whip, other relatively simple forms) she's permitted to specialize in healing.
Later on she'll be able to volunteer at a hospital and get her practice in that way, but to start, her teacher advocates practicing on oneself - just a few times, to get a feel for what one's healing bending is doing on both ends at the same time. This dojo produces more and better healers than most, so Beila's inclined to agree with the practice. It's only a few minor injuries, the teacher will be right there to patch her up if Beila doesn't manage the trick by the end of the lesson, and - it's not like she minds, in the right mindset.
Beila gets this faster relative to other students than she did the ordinary waterbending forms. The teacher says she has a natural aptitude. Over the course of her three-hour lesson she heals several burns (these are the easiest injuries to handle with waterbending) and then moves on to slicing her palm shallowly and then pressing healing water into the cut.
It's almost meditative, almost hypnotic. The teacher is satisfied she doesn't need immediate oversight and has gone to see to another student; Beila loses track of time. She's sitting in the dojo courtyard with her bowls of water (one bloody, one clear) and slicing her hand open again at the time her boyfriend is supposed to pick her up.
Later on she'll be able to volunteer at a hospital and get her practice in that way, but to start, her teacher advocates practicing on oneself - just a few times, to get a feel for what one's healing bending is doing on both ends at the same time. This dojo produces more and better healers than most, so Beila's inclined to agree with the practice. It's only a few minor injuries, the teacher will be right there to patch her up if Beila doesn't manage the trick by the end of the lesson, and - it's not like she minds, in the right mindset.
Beila gets this faster relative to other students than she did the ordinary waterbending forms. The teacher says she has a natural aptitude. Over the course of her three-hour lesson she heals several burns (these are the easiest injuries to handle with waterbending) and then moves on to slicing her palm shallowly and then pressing healing water into the cut.
It's almost meditative, almost hypnotic. The teacher is satisfied she doesn't need immediate oversight and has gone to see to another student; Beila loses track of time. She's sitting in the dojo courtyard with her bowls of water (one bloody, one clear) and slicing her hand open again at the time her boyfriend is supposed to pick her up.
Airbenders are pretty thoroughly repopulated now, but they're still minorities anywhere but the handful of enclaves that have retaken the open temples or integrated into the populations that have woven into them. Beila doesn't live in one of those enclaves. She lives in Republic City. Benders are a minority, airbenders more so. She's the only one in her class. It could still be a coincidence that she's supposed to do her history project on Avatar Aang, her some-number-of-greats grandfather, and not casual stereotyping. Whatever. Her partner's not a bender at all unless he's very quiet about it, he's just a random cute boy who sits to her left. Dao, that's his name.
"Hey," she says. "When's good for you to meet up and work on this thing?"
"Hey," she says. "When's good for you to meet up and work on this thing?"
