i'm the avatar and you gotta deal with it!

[anatural]

When; Saturday, October 6
Rating; PG
Characters; Korra (anatural) & Li (mortemscintilla)
Summary; Korra is suddenly a baby for the day. She sneaks out the apartment and is found by Li.
Log; She woke up that morning in a strange room, with a strange girl. She covered her mouth to stifle a scream. Where was she? Where were her parents?

Carefully...very, very carefully...she slid out of the bed. It was like sneaking out to steal some jerky after bedtime. If her White Lotus teachers could see her now, they wouldn't say she was brash & reckless.

She made it out of the apartment and onto the street. This. This wasn't the South Pole.

She'd been focused before on her goal -- getting out of the apartment & finding her parents (or Master Katara) -- but the shock of these unfamiliar surroundings was too much for her. A few blocks away from the apartment, she curled up in a corner and burst into huge, ugly sobs.

Comments

[anatural]

[She leans down and starts picking at the bandaid.]

What's that?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He stops her hand. But gently. ]

It's to keep the cuts safe. Until they close on their own. [ Her childish mannerisms skew his calculations. Make him ... protective. Except he's not supposed to be protective of someone he plans to kill. ] No more bending, all right? Let's get you lychee-juice instead.

[anatural]

[She sighs loudly.] Ooooookaaaaaaay.

[mortemscintilla]

Good. [ All smiles. He pauses, then extends his hands. What the hell. ] Want a piggyback ride to the store?

[anatural]

[She gives him big, confused eyes. They don't have pigs in the South Pole.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ ...Yes, let's make things harder. ] You climb up on my shoulders. I carry you. [ And make sure you don't run away. ] It's simple.

[anatural]

OKAY!

[She scrambles up, not waiting for him to lean down or help her in any way.]

LET'S GO!

[mortemscintilla]

[ Whoa. He's not a tree! Holding her legs, he rises slowly. ]

How's the atmosphere up there?

[ Something about the lightweight form, the girlish enthusiasm, brings up a flash of memory. Pai. Except it's been decades since he's done this, even with her. After becoming a Contractor, the life -- the Pai-ness -- was sucked right out of her. ]

[anatural]

[Korra just hollers her approval. WHEEEEEEEEEE!

She takes a deep breath and tries to airbend, but nothing happens. She pouts.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He tips his head back, focusing on her little face upside-down. ]

Something wrong?

[anatural]

[melting]

I can't do it.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Perfect innocence. ]

Can't do what? Use one of your powers?

[anatural]

Airbending. I can do water and fire and earth but I can't do air.

[This vexes her. Greatly.]

[mortemscintilla]

Is that so? [ All he's seen her do is air-bend. Yet she'd admitted that, back home, Amon stole her powers. Was it, then, a mental block she suffered from? Or was it the loss of her other powers that had propelled her mastery of the final one? He can only speculate. ] Well, give it time. If you can make fire-storms and ice-showers, it can't be long before you air-bend too. [ Privately, he suspects Korra -- child and adult -- needs teachers. These seem like the type of powers that blossom to their fullest with careful cultivation and focus. ]

[anatural]

Master Katara says that too.

[She doesn't sound convinced. Her firebending master says airbending is all about spirituality and she's no good at that.]

[mortemscintilla]

Is 'Master Katara' usually right about these things?

[ Interesting, this window he's getting into Korra's world. All the names and terms she's tossing around as if they're common knowledge. He tucks them all away for future leverage. ]

[anatural]

Master Katara knows everything! [said with blithe confidence, as though she hadn't just doubted the older woman's wisdom a moment ago]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Child-logic. A curious thing, despite its frequent forays into the irrational. ]

Then I'm sure she's right about this too. You just need to be patient. [ One-handed, he opens the swinging doors of a bistro. The lady at the counter smiles at them. To passersby, they probably look like siblings. A perfect cliche of siblings. Better than parent and child, he decides. At the display, he directs Korra's attention to the dessert tray. ] Interested in anything?

[ Cake for breakfast? Why the hell not. It all probably seems new to her. ]

[anatural]

Ooooooooooooooooh.

[She presses her face against the glasses and stares at the weird looking foods.]

What is that ?

[mortemscintilla]

Cakes. [ He pauses. Adds, for the sake of clarification, ] They're sweet. [ An easy smile and some choice words, and he's convinced the server to scoop out a sample for Korra. Her older self expressed an aversion for desserts. If the child was similar, he'd stick to getting her bacon-&-eggs with a serving of lychee juice. ]

Here. [ Proffering a thin cake-slice cradled in a napkin. ] Have a bite.

[anatural]

[She takes a bite and immediately spits out out on Hei's shirt.]

BLECH!

[mortemscintilla]

[ Ugh. Outwardly his face betrays nothing. But his smile is a touch too fixed. Don't punish children. Not in public. ] Don't like it, huh? [ The servers are giving Korra simpering, how-cute smiles. Ignoring them, he places Korra's order with a tall glass of lychee juice. And a jumbo-special for himself. He's going to need all the fodder he can get. ]

[ And all the patience. ]

[anatural]

[Korra kicks her legs impatiently while they wait for their food to arrive]

Where'd Mommy go?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He glances up from dabbing the cake spit-up on his shirt. ]

I told you. She had some errands to run. But she'll be back soon. [ Proffering distractions with a gentle smile. ] In the meantime, we can check out the unicorns in the Zoo. And let you practice your bending in the City Limits. How's that sound?

[anatural]

[Distract Korra: success!]

What's a unicorn?