Jade Island

Over the days that followed, Kahn often visited Kori's home to spar with her, and the two grew much more familiar with each other.

Kori's bending was really quite average. Although earthbending and firebending could not be judged by the same standards, and earth countered fire to some extent, she was still nowhere near a match for Kahn.

And so, the reality of their so-called sparring sessions was-

They could fight to a draw when Kahn went easy on her.

Kahn had no interest in crushing weak opponents. He wanted to spar with Kori because her bending fascinated him-

It was earthbending, after all, one of the four great bending arts, something entirely different from firebending. Of course he wanted to study it properly.

Although Kori's mother was a stronger earthbender, he could hardly fight her mother. That would be far too rude.

He could only keep milking Kori for all she was worth.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!"

Kori lay on the ground without a care for appearances, panting heavily.

Her sweat-soaked bangs clung to her face, and her sticky clothes pressed uncomfortably against her skin. She looked thoroughly bedraggled.

Kahn had worked up a little sweat too, but it was nothing serious. Standing atop an irregular earthen platform, he hopped lightly down and strolled toward her, calm and unhurried.

"Come on, it was just a little sparring. Did you really have to go that hard?"

Kahn offered Kori a hand. Without standing on ceremony, she grabbed it and used his strength to pull herself up.

She bent over, panting, with both hands braced against her legs, and said irritably:

"Hah, hah... you're one to talk! Did you have to try that hard? Couldn't you let me hit you just once?!"

She had not meant to push herself so hard either, but none of her attacks could hit Kahn. She refused to accept it, and in the heat of the moment, she ended up exhausting herself.

How could he be so good at dodging? He was like a monkey!

Uh...

So this was my fault?

Kahn spread his hands with an innocent look.

In all fairness, while he had not opened the floodgates, he had certainly let some water through. Otherwise, Kori really would not have needed to tire herself out like this, because it would have ended very quickly.

Of course, part of it was also that he wanted to see more of what earthbending could do.

He thought some more, then said, "It would be better if you could add a few more variations to your attacks."

Earthbending was a very well-rounded bending art too, offering both offense and defense, as well as surprise attacks. For instance, one could form earth spikes directly beneath an enemy's feet, bury enemies in the ground, turn earth into sand, alter the terrain, or even travel underground...

Kahn's thoughts scattered in all directions at once.

As for Kahn's suggestion, Kori simply spread her hands. "These are the only moves I know. I haven't learned the others yet."

"Then never mind."

That was a fine reason. Perfect. Unassailable!

There was nothing wrong with it, though. This was a normal bender's rate of progress. Leaving himself and Azula aside, even Zuko actually counted as a very talented bender.

Meanwhile, Kori's mother watched them from the pavilion, with fruit and desserts laid out on the stone table beside her. Seeing that they had finished, she rose, clapped her hands, and said with a smile, "All right! I think you two could use a rest!"

As she spoke, she walked onto the training ground and assumed an earthbending stance.

Leaving its power aside, earthbending unquestionably ranked first among the four bending arts when it came to tearing up the terrain.

After one round of practice, Kori had battered the entire training ground beyond recognition. There was a hole on the left, a block of earth on the right, a depression in front, and a mound behind. It looked as though a brutal battle had taken place.

Under her mother's earthbending, the pitted ground Kori had wrecked was restored in an orderly fashion. Before long, the training ground was as good as new, no different from usual.

Kahn watched with keen interest, the infrastructure fanatic's genes rooted in his soul stirring restlessly.

An ability this wonderful ought to be used for construction. Building houses, building bases, carrying out engineering projects-wouldn't that be great?

Using it only for combat would be a criminal waste of heaven's gifts!

If I had to choose, I would definitely choose firebending.

Ah, there was no helping it. Firebending just looked a little cooler.

Looking cool was king!

Seated in the pavilion, Kori and Kahn ate desserts while listening to her mother recount amusing stories and everyday happenings, along with the local customs of Jade Island, her and Kori's hometown.

Jade Island was an interesting city.

Both Fire Nation people and Earth Kingdom people lived there. People from the two different nations shared one country and one city, breaking the tradition of the four peoples living separately that had endured for over a thousand years.

Bending was passed down through bloodlines, so marrying within one's own people was an unspoken iron law of this world. Firebenders could only be with firebenders, and earthbenders could only be with earthbenders.

Over more than a thousand years, very few people had dared cross that iron boundary.

Yet the emergence of cities like Jade Island had broken that iron law!

Kori was the product of two people breaking that tradition. Her father was from the Fire Nation, while her mother was from the Earth Kingdom and was also an earthbender.

Jade Island combined the strengths of both the Fire Nation people and the Earth Kingdom people. It brimmed with vitality, its streets bustled, and its people lived comfortably. Even Kahn could not help longing to go there as he listened, thinking that he had to see it for himself someday.

The pride that faintly emerged as Kori's mother spoke also made Kahn somewhat curious.

After all, Jade Island had originally belonged to the Earth Kingdom, and Kori's mother herself was an earthbender. Yet all he heard from her was praise for the Fire Nation, which felt somewhat odd to him.

Perhaps Kahn's thoughts had unwittingly shown on his face and Kori's mother noticed, for she asked with a smile:

"Is there something you want to say?"

Kori, still chewing with a piece of cake held in her hand, looked at him too.

"Uh, well..."

Kahn hesitated, then asked cautiously:

"I do have a question. It might be a little rude, so please forgive me.

"Jade Island was originally Earth Kingdom territory, and you're an earthbender too. Don't you and the Earth Kingdom residents of Jade Island want to return to the Earth Kingdom?"

"What do you mean? What do we have to do with the Earth Kingdom?"

Kori tilted her head in confusion. At her age, she could not yet understand such questions.

If they had not known each other well, this would indeed have been a rather taboo subject.

Even if they did know each other well, it still was.

Fortunately, after spending this time together, Kori's mother had grown very fond of this polite, well-behaved, hardworking boy who did well in his studies. She spoke about him every day, and he had become the very image of someone else's perfect child in her eyes.

If Kori had not been so thick-skinned, they might already have become enemies.

And after learning about Kahn's background, her fondness had turned into tender sympathy. She almost regarded him as her own son.

So Kori's mother was not displeased by his question, merely surprised. She had not expected Kahn to think about such things at his age.

One only had to look at Kori beside him. She could not even understand what he was asking.

Perhaps Kahn's experiences had forced him to think about such things at this young age.

At that thought, Kori's mother felt even more sympathy for him.

She did not brush him off. After thinking for a moment, she answered seriously:

"The situation you're describing does exist, of course, but mostly in territories the Fire Nation hasn't occupied for very long. At that point, they're still Earth Kingdom people."

"But the second generation grows up receiving the Fire Nation's education, ideas, and traditions from birth, and personally takes part in building their cities. Those cities prosper through their hands. Although the first generation's views still influence the second, they're more willing to believe what they see with their own eyes than an Earth Kingdom that exists only in their parents' stories."

"And that's even more true from the third generation onward."

Kori's mother wiped the crumbs from the corner of Kori's mouth and said with a smile:

"By Kori's generation, we're already at the fifth."

"Jade Island was built from nothing through generations of effort by our family and its other residents. So although I'm an earthbender, there's no question about it-"

"I am a citizen of the Fire Nation."

A profound confidence and pride lay behind her words. Those feelings had not come from nowhere, but were founded on the efforts of her ancestors through to the present, something no outsider could dispute.

"If I'm the fifth generation, then you're the fourth, Mom?!"

"That's right! My sweet girl is so clever!"

Kori and her mother began playing around, laughing together.

Once they stopped, Kori's mother said to Kahn:

"If you have the chance someday, you must come visit Jade Island. Let us give you a proper welcome."

"I definitely will."

Kahn answered, but as he recalled her explanation, many thoughts ran through his mind...

Forget it. Stop there.

As I was now, I wasn't qualified to worry about these questions yet.