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storypaint) wrote2013-04-14 06:23 pm
storypaint) wrote2013-04-14 06:23 pm
Entry tags:
[Legend of Korra] the true and simple (Jinora gen)
Title: the true and simple
Fandom: Legend of Korra
Length: 802 words
Prompt: n/a
Pairing: Jinora gen
Other: Happy (late) birthday, Veda!
Excerpt: Jinora had done enough research to understand that Air Nomad culture was really gone forever. All they had left are scraps - a few books that escaped burning, and the memories of a twelve-year-old boy.
Jinora had done enough research to understand that Air Nomad culture was really gone forever. All they had left are scraps - a few books that escaped burning, and the memories of a twelve-year-old boy. She loved her culture no less fiercely, knowing that, but sometimes she wondered what it would have been like to grow up back when her grandfather had been young -- among a crowd, a susurration of like-minded people, where no one worried about forgetting these things, assumed they would always exist.
She saw the Air Temples - her father took her on a tour with him when she was ten. It was not long after Korra got her bending back, and she knew that he had a lot of work to do in Republic City, but he took the time off, anyway, cajoling Lin into helping in his absence. At the time, she'd seen it as a treat to have her father all to herself, which was a rare occurrence. It wasn't until much later that she realized how worried he'd been about his family and his culture disappearing under Amon's boot.
She saw the Southern Air Temple, where Aang had lived as a child. It was lonely, choked with weeds. Her father explained, a bit sadly, that Aang had never had enough time nor acolytes in his lifetime to hope to restore it. Perhaps some of her distant descendants would. Jinora looked at the lonely place and tried to imagine it bustling with life. For the first time, it really struck her: there were five airbenders in the whole world. They had so little left.
They traveled next to the Eastern Air Temple, where Guru Pathik had trained Aang and helped him end the Hundred Years War. It too, was currently uninhabited. Once, the flying bison had been raised here. She would choose one of the ones at Air Temple Island in another year or two. Her father asked her to keep a lookout in case she saw any wild ones here. That was how they'd found the little colony that Oogi had come from. She strained her eyes to no avail.
The third temple they visited was the Northern one, and it at least teemed with life. She'd read the stories about the Earth Kingdom refugees who had colonized it when they had needed a place to stay. It hardly looked like an Air Temple now, even though there was some yellow and orange mixed in with the browns and greens. There was little to recover after the community had retrofitted the temple to their needs. But the fact that there were people there meant a lot. Jinora could tell that her father thought so too.
The Western Air Temple turned out to be her favorite. She loved the idea of a place built with no apparent concern for up and down. Here, Firelord Zuko had joined her grandfather in his quest to save the world from his own father. Jinora sat on the edge of a patio, kicking her bare feet over the edge. She stared down into a valley so deep that she couldn't see bottom. She thought about how Zuko must have felt, making his impossible choice. He'd never written about it publicly -- at least, not where Jinora had been able to read it. She couldn't imagine a world where she would make that choice.
Or maybe she could. Just a little abandonment. Sometimes she thought about running away, just maybe for a while, to a place where she didn't have to be an airbender, one of the five. She wanted to go to college in Ba Sing Se someday. She wasn't sure she wanted to have a bunch of babies, even though it seemed like her duty. What if she wanted to teach, or read, or do something, anything else?
The thing of it is, though, Jinora knew: her father would let her, if that was what she wanted. He wouldn't even be too disappointed; or at least, not where she could see. That mattered. Anyone who tried to get to know her father through what they published in the newspapers wouldn't understand a tenth of him, least of all this.
She thanked him for taking her on this trip while they were on their way home. They were sitting there on Oogi, his arm around her shoulder, his robes shielding her from the cold. The wind was rushing past her ears, singing. They weren't the same Air Nomads as they had once been, but that was okay. It was one of the things that had made history so fascinating, the way it was always changing.
Tenzin smiled and squeezed her shoulder. Jinora drifted away into sleep, and for the first time in too long, she had no bad dreams.
Fandom: Legend of Korra
Length: 802 words
Prompt: n/a
Pairing: Jinora gen
Other: Happy (late) birthday, Veda!
Excerpt: Jinora had done enough research to understand that Air Nomad culture was really gone forever. All they had left are scraps - a few books that escaped burning, and the memories of a twelve-year-old boy.
Jinora had done enough research to understand that Air Nomad culture was really gone forever. All they had left are scraps - a few books that escaped burning, and the memories of a twelve-year-old boy. She loved her culture no less fiercely, knowing that, but sometimes she wondered what it would have been like to grow up back when her grandfather had been young -- among a crowd, a susurration of like-minded people, where no one worried about forgetting these things, assumed they would always exist.
She saw the Air Temples - her father took her on a tour with him when she was ten. It was not long after Korra got her bending back, and she knew that he had a lot of work to do in Republic City, but he took the time off, anyway, cajoling Lin into helping in his absence. At the time, she'd seen it as a treat to have her father all to herself, which was a rare occurrence. It wasn't until much later that she realized how worried he'd been about his family and his culture disappearing under Amon's boot.
She saw the Southern Air Temple, where Aang had lived as a child. It was lonely, choked with weeds. Her father explained, a bit sadly, that Aang had never had enough time nor acolytes in his lifetime to hope to restore it. Perhaps some of her distant descendants would. Jinora looked at the lonely place and tried to imagine it bustling with life. For the first time, it really struck her: there were five airbenders in the whole world. They had so little left.
They traveled next to the Eastern Air Temple, where Guru Pathik had trained Aang and helped him end the Hundred Years War. It too, was currently uninhabited. Once, the flying bison had been raised here. She would choose one of the ones at Air Temple Island in another year or two. Her father asked her to keep a lookout in case she saw any wild ones here. That was how they'd found the little colony that Oogi had come from. She strained her eyes to no avail.
The third temple they visited was the Northern one, and it at least teemed with life. She'd read the stories about the Earth Kingdom refugees who had colonized it when they had needed a place to stay. It hardly looked like an Air Temple now, even though there was some yellow and orange mixed in with the browns and greens. There was little to recover after the community had retrofitted the temple to their needs. But the fact that there were people there meant a lot. Jinora could tell that her father thought so too.
The Western Air Temple turned out to be her favorite. She loved the idea of a place built with no apparent concern for up and down. Here, Firelord Zuko had joined her grandfather in his quest to save the world from his own father. Jinora sat on the edge of a patio, kicking her bare feet over the edge. She stared down into a valley so deep that she couldn't see bottom. She thought about how Zuko must have felt, making his impossible choice. He'd never written about it publicly -- at least, not where Jinora had been able to read it. She couldn't imagine a world where she would make that choice.
Or maybe she could. Just a little abandonment. Sometimes she thought about running away, just maybe for a while, to a place where she didn't have to be an airbender, one of the five. She wanted to go to college in Ba Sing Se someday. She wasn't sure she wanted to have a bunch of babies, even though it seemed like her duty. What if she wanted to teach, or read, or do something, anything else?
The thing of it is, though, Jinora knew: her father would let her, if that was what she wanted. He wouldn't even be too disappointed; or at least, not where she could see. That mattered. Anyone who tried to get to know her father through what they published in the newspapers wouldn't understand a tenth of him, least of all this.
She thanked him for taking her on this trip while they were on their way home. They were sitting there on Oogi, his arm around her shoulder, his robes shielding her from the cold. The wind was rushing past her ears, singing. They weren't the same Air Nomads as they had once been, but that was okay. It was one of the things that had made history so fascinating, the way it was always changing.
Tenzin smiled and squeezed her shoulder. Jinora drifted away into sleep, and for the first time in too long, she had no bad dreams.