Maintaining the Balance: Ch. 23

"I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Though the taste was far beyond her expectations, it wasn't long before Jinora felt as though her stomach was twisting in knots. She tried lying on her side as Kahn suggested, but it did little to combat her growing feeling of nausea.

"There is nothing wrong with you, physiologically. Your symptoms are the result of a nocebo effect. You feel guilty about eating meat, so your body is responding as you think it should."

"Uugh..."

Instead of helping her feel better, Kahn's words caused Jinora to groan as she curled up in a fetal position. She knew he was probably right, but the notion that she had just eaten a living creature still weighed heavily on her mind and stomach. Airbenders were supposed to cherish all forms of life, from the largest Flying Bison to the smallest Spider Fly trapped in its own web. Consuming the flesh of an innocent creature that simply went about its life trying to survive felt wrong...

Seeing Jinora beating herself up mentally and physically, Kahn couldn't help sighing. He knew something like this was going to happen, but just as he intended to let Korra make her own mistakes, he had no intention of stopping Jinora from finding her own path. She had her mother's blessing, so who was he to say otherwise?

("I should still say something...")

In an effort to mitigate Jinora's symptoms, Kahn explained the circle of life, the properties of fruits, and how plants were multicellular organisms that irrefutably qualified as living creatures. They were a different form of life than animals, but humans wouldn't even have air to breathe if not for plants.

Listening to Kahn's long, educational diatribe regarding bacteria, natural selection, and other naturalistic philosophies, the pain in Jinora's stomach gradually waned. Not because she had suddenly overcome her guilt, but because she enjoyed listening to Kahn speak. He wasn't very expressive, but his calm, deep, and euphonic tone compelled people to listen closely to everything he said. Combined with his looks, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Kahn had a very mesmerizing manner of speaking.

"You still with me...?"

Blinking back to awareness, a faint blush colored Jinora's cheeks as she averted her eyes and instinctually apologized, muttering, "Sorry...I sort of lost focus halfway through..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Kahn's expression remained neutral as he calmly stated, "This wasn't an official lesson. So long as you're feeling better, it's okay."

Rising to his feet, Kahn walked over to where Jinora was curled up on a couch, asking, "Can you stand?"

Though she was tempted to shake her head, Jinora didn't want Kahn to think she was the same as Ikki. Thus, after a moment of hesitation, she sat up and said, "I'm fine. I still feel like there's a weight in my stomach, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was before."

Nodding his head in approval, Kahn extended his hand for Jinora to grab as he said, "I'm about to start my afternoon training. It's still a little early for you, but moving around is one of the best treatments for nausea and bloating. At the very least, I can teach you a few stretches and breathing exercises."

Accepting Kahn's hand, a radiant yet visibly cramped smile developed across Jinora's face. She would have preferred to simply observe Kahn from the sidelines, but the notion of training alongside him wasn't exactly unpleasant. She just hoped she didn't embarrass herself by passing gas in the middle of a stretch. Even the thought of such an incident was enough to make her want to scream...

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After a relatively uneventful afternoon, Kahn prepared dinner, performed his evening checks around the house, and sent Jinora to bed. She wanted to stay up playing games like Cat Catching Mice and Bouncing Birdie, but Kahn talked her down by reminding her they were supposed to be going to the beach the following day.

With Kahn's reminder, Jinora hurried back to her room after wishing him a pleasant evening. She still hadn't decided what she wanted to wear to the beach, so while Kahn settled down in the living room and sent his Astral Form to keep watch from the roof, Jinora spent an additional three hours going through her entire wardrobe.

Though he could tell Jinora was awake, Kahn had a strict policy against entering private quarters, baths, and bathrooms with his Astral Form. He was willing to make an exception if he was scouting an enemy base, but Jinora wasn't exactly his enemy. There were times when she was a little annoying, but Kahn had come to view her, Ikki, and Meelo as his younger siblings. He knew she had a crush on him, but that didn't affect his views in the slightest.

"Hmmm...?"

Noticing a figure sneaking up one of the side paths leading to the main house, Kahn flew over in his Astral Form to find Ethuza pacing back and forth and talking to herself. His previous actions had left her feeling more than a little muddleheaded, so she was trying to convince herself it wasn't a 'completely' terrible idea to sneak into the Airbending residence and see if he wanted to have a 'chat'.

Exhaling a sigh, Kahn muttered, "Love and desire really do make people behave like fools..."

Shaking his head, Kahn decided to leave Ethuza be and return to his perch. She wasn't hurting anyone, and even if she did approach the residence, he could always send her away after a short conversation.

Fortunately, Ethuza came to her senses after a close shave with a pair of White Lotus Sentries. They wouldn't have done anything to her, but it was bound to generate a few rumors if she was discovered sneaking about in the middle of the night. Thus, after evading the patrol by ducking behind a tree, Ethuza hurried back to the Women's Dormitory without attempting her ill-advised break-in. As for Kahn, he just muttered, "There she goes..." in his characteristically monotone voice.

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With the sky beginning to illuminate above the horizon, Kahn performed his morning sweep of the property before heading to the kitchen to start breakfast and prepare a picnic basket for lunch. He was pretty sure that Jinora would want to stay at the beach for most of the day, so he made sure to prepare plenty of snacks and beverages.

When Kahn finally exited the kitchen, Jinora was already waiting for him at the dining table with her head down. She had stayed up pretty late the previous night, not because she was sorting through clothes, but because she was too nervous and excited to sleep.

"Good morning, Jinora. Sleep well...?"

Groaning in response to Kahn's words, Jinora reluctantly raised her head to say, "I would feel better with a cup of black tea or coffee..."

Responding with a curt not, Kahn left the breakfast on the table before heading back to the kitchen to prepare a little pick-me-up for the moody Airbender. He could have had Jinora do it, but he generally preferred the tea and coffee prepared himself.

Returning after a few minutes, Kahn found Jinora looking apologetic as she said, "Sorry...I didn't mean to sound rude..."

Shaking his head, Kahn placed down the tea set before taking the seat next to Jinora and saying, "I accept your apology. Now, eat up. We may be on break right now, but there is a reason it's called daily training. So long as you're my student, I won't tolerate slacking off."

Though she nodded her head in understanding, Jinora made sure to pour cups for both herself and Kahn before turning her attention to the food he had prepared. The lack of meat made her feel genuine relief, not because she still felt guilty, but because she couldn't risk another 'mishap' like the day before.

Bloating and stretching were a dangerous combination...

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With breakfast coming to an end rather quickly, Kahn waited for Jinora to finish cleaning the dishes before the two of them made their way over to the Airbending Training Arena. It took the form of a stone platform with an Eight Trigrams Formation engraved around a 10m wide Taiji, the black and white symbol traditionally associated with Yin and Yang.

The Actualized World of Avatar drew inspiration from traditional Chinese culture and philosophies. The Earth Kingdom, in particular, was a parody of the Ming Dynasty, while the Fire Nation was loosely inspired by Japan and other island nations in Southeast Asia.

Though there were innumerable variants, the martial forms of Bending were based on traditional martial arts such as Tai Chi, Hung Gar, Ba Gua, and the Northern Shaolin Style of Kung Fu. In matching order, these four arts served as the foundation of Waterbending, Earthbending, Airbending, and Firebending.

As an Airbender, Jinora's foundation was centered on Ba Gua, a form that utilized light, circular walking techniques, and an attacking style known as the Eight Trigrams Palm. Because of this, her training focused primarily on balance, flexibility, swiftness, and spatial awareness.

Though the Air Nomads had developed a form of training using a series of spinning gates, Kahn wasn't particularly fond of it. They were excellent for beginners, but their nature as fixed obstacles meant that pretty much anyone could pass through them so long as they had a proper sense of timing.

Ever since Kahn had taught Jinora how to sense Chi, her training primarily revolved around emulating the other Bending styles while wearing a thick blindfold. An Airbender's most important sense was their ability to detect even minute changes in the surrounding air currents. A true Master could even detect and react to attacks from their blind spot, so, much like how a skilled Earthbender might train their Seismic Sense, Kahn had Jinora work on her Spatial Awareness.

During her flight training, Jinora had gained the intrinsic ability to sense changes up to three meters away from her body. With an additional two and a half years on top of that, she had managed to expand the range of her senses to seven meters. While this might not sound like a lot, it was a truly ludicrous amount when most people couldn't even sense things out of the corner of their eye, much less seven meters behind or above them.

The only complaint Kahn had about Jinora's progress was her inability to keep track of her feet. She could respond to rubber projectiles thrown at her, but she would randomly trip on uneven surfaces. In other words, she was great at sensing things moving through the air, but had yet to master 'probing' her surroundings using her self-created air currents.

Fortunately, Jinora was only seven, going on eight years old. She was so far ahead of the curve that she could take another three to five years and still be on track to becoming a True Master. Kahn's expectations were just a little inflated due to how quickly Jinora had improved in just a few short years.

With such thoughts on his mind, Kahn waited until Jinora was wrapping up her hour-long routine before saying, "Good job. At this rate, you'll be able to give your father a run for his money by the time you're ten. Just be sure not to let it go to your head."

As it was pretty rare for Kahn to praise someone, Jinora's face blossomed into a smile before she quickly caught herself, cupped her hand together, and said, "It's thanks to your teaching. Without it, I could have trained my entire life and never achieved flight. Thank you, Ma-"

Taking advantage of the fact Jinora had lowered her head, Kahn extended his hand to muss her hair as he stated, "Stop. I've said this before, but I'm not your Master. I also wouldn't praise you unless I thought you deserved it, so, once again, good job."

Removing his hand from Jinora's now messy hair, a faint smile developed across Kahn's face as the diminutive Airbender looked up at him with an expression that was equal parts gratified and pouty. She disliked having her hair mussed, but she also enjoyed receiving praise. Thus, for a brief moment, Jinora didn't know if she wanted to admonish Kahn for treating her like a child or thank him for his ostensibly sincere compliment...