Tenzin arrived at the temple, unable to believe what he had heard. One of the members of the Order of the White Lotus had reported that Akashi had brought nearly fifty airbenders to his temple. Lately, things felt unreal. There were the reports of Zaheer escaping—no one was left to tell the tale. The guards were either dead or in a coma. And now, a bunch of airbenders were appearing.
"See, brother, I told you," Bumi declared happily, walking alongside Tenzin to the temple. "And I'm telling you, I am an airbender as well."
"Though I wonder why airbenders appeared from nowhere," Tenzin replied to his brother, still suspicious. There was a chance of Bumi becoming an airbender, since they shared the same father. But what Akashi reported were native Earth Kingdom citizens.
Soon, a member of the White Lotus order appeared and guided them to the yard, where the airbenders had gathered.
They were standing there, either talking or practicing some airbending technique.
Bumi, Tenzin's brother, laughed. "Look at that, brother. The tales are true."
Tenzin didn't reply. Instead, he looked on, astonished.
His throat became dry all of a sudden, and his fingers started shaking.
For a second, the burden of reviving the culture of the Air Nomads dropped from his shoulders.
For the first time, he felt that he could share his culture with the rest of the world, and he felt that his father's soul was looking at him proudly.
"Finally!" Tenzin smiled. "I'm going to lead our culture. My father's dream is half complete."
"Really?" Bumi gave him the side-eye. "Mother said that she was his dream."
Tenzin faked a cough. Aang, who had one airbender child out of three, had given Tenzin most of his attention. Thus, his siblings didn't know their father as well as he did.
"A man can have more than one dream," said Tenzin.
"Is it father's dream, or yours, since you will have other people listening to you yapping about Air Nomad culture?" Bumi teased. But it was true. During their childhood, Tenzin used to talk a lot about airbending culture to his siblings. The others, feeling abandoned by their father, had ignored his yapping—they would change the subject whenever he started talking or simply walk away.
"Excuse you," Tenzin replied, as if offended. "I had an airbender student before. And he's an excellent one. It says a lot about my teaching techniques."
By now, rumors about Akashi's skills in airbending had spread. Ever since that day sparring with a metalbender, Tenzin had heard about them as a council member. And he had felt so proud.
"Weird. I've heard my nieces and nephew arguing about who taught him the best, and they didn't mention you."
"Hahaha… they're just kids talking. Anyways, I'm going to see my people." Tenzin smiled widely as he approached the new airbenders, determined to train them and bring them to their peak glory. With this many airbenders around, he could finally retire from the council of Republic City and focus on his life's purpose.
Tenzin could already picture that, in the future, there would be airbenders standing before his statue, showing him respect and asking his spirit for blessings.
-x-X-x-
Akashi took his second father-in-law—probably—back to Republic City, near his place.
There, he found Asami waiting, dressed in a coat and looking at her watch with a worried expression.
Akashi wondered how long she had been waiting in front of his place.
After all, he had promised that he would get her daddy back.
But that promise was quite recent; it hadn't even been two days. More like a day and a half.
"Why is she there?" asked Hiroshi, watching Asami from the sky while flying—unwillingly. Truth be told, he had been freaked out all the way from Ba Sing Se to here. But as soon as he saw his daughter, he suddenly became calm.
"She's the one who came to me yesterday and asked me to find you," Akashi replied calmly, and added, "Do you think I wanted to save you for your sake?"
"Thank you for your encouraging words," replied Hiroshi, feeling a bit hurt.
"Relax, I'm joking," Akashi replied as they started descending. "I wouldn't let that woman have an arms maker."
"That makes me feel better," Hiroshi replied, though his tone was still tinged with hurt.
"Stop acting emotional," Akashi said as they both landed on their feet.
"I can't." Hiroshi walked toward his daughter, who seemed to be waiting.
Akashi could tell that she was waiting for him outside his place, not for her father.
He didn't know why she was here.
Maybe she needed a shoulder to lean on, and that shoulder was his. But there was no need for Hiroshi to know that.
Hiroshi stood behind Asami and tapped her on the back.
She reacted quickly, holding his arm and throwing him using a martial arts move.
Hiroshi landed on his back, looking dizzily at the stars in the sky.
Seeing who had sneaked up on her, Asami opened her eyes wide.
"Father!" she exclaimed.
Hiroshi winced in physical pain.
"Glad to see you again," he replied, smiling.
Asami crouched and grabbed her father, helping him stand up before brushing the dust off of him.
"Is this a dream?" she asked.
"No," he replied, pinching her. "As it seems, Akashi is more reliable than you think."
She opened her arms and hugged him. "I thought you were taken far away. Where have you been?"
Hiroshi looked over his daughter's shoulder at Akashi, who nodded, as if permitting him to tell her the truth.
"Ba Sing Se. The Dai Li's secret base," he replied.
"But that's far away." She pulled away, checking again if it was her father. She added, "And you wouldn't arrive this fast."
"Akashi can fly," he said, pointing with his head.
Asami turned her head to see Akashi floating in the air.
He waved his hand at her.
She quickly turned back to her father. "But… how, this quickly?"
Hiroshi laughed. "You won't believe what happened. He broke directly into the palace, attacked every guard, took the queen hostage, and demanded she bring me to him. Hahaha. I yelled at her, cursed, and she took it like a champ because Akashi was there."
"Come on, dad. Don't make it less believable," Asami scolded.
Hiroshi shook his head.
"It can't be the truth. Even if he managed to do it, there's no way he could leave?" Asami asked.
Akashi sighed.
He felt lucky for being with Korra. Korra wouldn't question it, even if it sounded absurd, because she would place trust in him above logic.
"Well. You have no idea what he can do." Hiroshi sighed. "But forget it. What were you doing here, in the middle of the night, of all places? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"Well," Asami scratched her cheek. Akashi noticed it. That was his bad habit when he was trying to hide something. Did she pick it up from him? Or did she have it all along?
"I was going to ask about the progress of searching for you," she said. "I was following up with Akashi."
'No, she wasn't,' Akashi thought. 'She's looking for comfort.'
"Hmm… that's the smartest thing you've done," Hiroshi nodded in approval.
"Are you calling me dumb?" Asami asked.
"No. That's not what I mean…" Hiroshi forced a smile. "I'm saying it's smarter than calling the police."
"Forget about the police. Shouldn't you be concerned about a diplomatic crisis, considering the story you have told me? There could be a potential war on Republic City. Forget about Ba Sing Se and their rebels. The Earth Kingdom is a whole continent, made of many states and cities, and they are powerful. If Ba Sing Se got attacked, the others won't stand by. They could declare war on Republic City."
She crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow.
"Don't worry about it," Hiroshi said. "We have the Avatar. Isn't she your friend? By the way, how's she doing?"
"Oh, right," Asami nodded and turned to Akashi. "She went to a prison. There, she got attacked and failed to stop the release of some lavabender."
"So, he's made a move." Akashi muttered. "How's Korra?"