It just so happened that only moments after leaving the library, Kyoshi, Rangi and Yun reunited in the hallway, making it silly that they had bid farewell.

“Hey, Rangi, Yun.” Kyoshi smiled as she approached her two friends. The two looked like they were in the middle of a conversation but turned to look at her. “What were you talking about?”

“Yun was telling me about the ‘spiritual issue’ we’ll be investigating while in the Coral Isles.” Rangi turned to the Avatar. Kyoshi followed her gaze.

“According to Jianzhu’s- our- sources in Aringeru, there’s been widespread crop failures.” Yun explained. From what Kyoshi remembered, the island region’s main export, other than fish, was coconut and mango crops. “Rangi thinks it could be bandits or some other, non-spiritual interference.”

Both sets of eyes were on Kyoshi, waiting for her to respond. As the Air Nomad- and therefore, most spiritually profound- of the group, she was being trusted to give insight on the matter. “I’m not sure… I don’t know how bandits could cause crop failure.”

“I know, I know.” Rangi sighed. “It doesn’t make sense to me why it would be the spirits, either, though. There isn’t any great imbalance in the nations or anything. Why would the spirits cause crop failure in Aringeru, of all things?”

Kyoshi only shrugged in response, and turned to Yun for an answer.

“That’s why we’re going. To find out.” He simply responded. “Where were you two headed, anyways?”

“I’m trying to find Kelsang.” Kyoshi answered, at the same time Rangi explained she was looking for her mother.

“Oh, great!” Yun smiled. “Because I’m going to find Jianzhu- I’m pretty sure they’re having a meeting or something. Let’s go!”

Kyoshi exchanged a worried glance with Rangi. “If they’re in the middle of a meeting, shouldn’t we-”

“Nonsense. It’ll be fine.” Yun smiled, giving them a confident smile. “We’ll be fine, they’re probably just talking about training schedules or something like that.”

Rangi scoffed. “Easy for you to say. You don’t get in trouble for anything.”

“Neither do you two.”

“Kyoshi and I don’t break the rules.”

Yun put his hands up in surrender. “All right, point taken. I’m just saying, if that’s what you want to do…”

Rangi sighed and linked arms with Kyoshi. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“I knew you’d agree.” Yun smiled as he started to walk backwards through the hallway. Kyoshi worried that he might run into something.

As they walked through the mansion’s labyrinth of corridors, Rangi slowly loosened her grip around Kyoshi’s arm. Even though Yun was telling a story about his training that day, Kyoshi’s attention caught on the paintings displayed throughout the hall- fine arts from all four nations. Kyoshi recognized some of the paintings to be in the detailed, floral style of her home nation, others in the Water Tribe style of block-printed forms. While she had noticed the pieces before, Kyoshi truly realized how connected to the other nations the small mansion in the southwestern Earth Kingdom was- it was a testament to the Avatar itself.

“What are you looking at, Kyoshi?” Rangi asked, tugging on the Airbender’s sleeve. It was only when Kyoshi’s concentration broke did she realize she had been concentrating- focusing on one of the pieces Jianzhu had on display. It was an ornate, woven tapestry in a style Kyoshi didn’t recognize- a decorative piece meant only to be displayed on the wall and enjoyed by Earth Kingdom nobles, nothing like the art of the Air Nomads Kyoshi had grown up around.

“I was just looking at this.” Kyoshi tore her eyes away from the piece. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.”

Rangi paused to look over the tapestry, taking in the interlocking geometric patterns and delicate calligraphy. “I don’t think I have either. It’s not like the art in the Fire Nation, or anything I’ve seen in this region of the Earth Kingdom. Hey- Yun! What do you know about this tapestry?”

Yun, who had been a few ahead of them, turned around and came to view the piece. “What is it?”

“This tapestry…”Kyoshi gestured at the woven art. “I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

“You should have.” Yun stated as he took a brief glance at the artwork. “That’s the only surviving part of The Epic of Taihou, commissioned by the great Avatar Siu-Leung. It’s one of the greatest pieces of art from the era.”

“I’ve never heard of it before…” Kyoshi ignored how the statement felt like a lie and stepped back from the tapestry to marvel at it. “I don’t recognize the style either.”

“It’s from around Jinsha, near the southern reach of the Si Wong desert.” Yun hastily replied, taking both Kyoshi and Rangi by the arm and pulling them down the hallway. “Now, are we going to look at old rugs or are we going to go find Jianzhu?”

“Fine, fine.” Rangi scoffed as she shook off Yun’s grasp. “I was just interested in it. We’re leaving now.”

Kyoshi let her gaze linger on the tapestry for a moment longer, letting herself get lost in the intricate pattern and the eerie familiarity of the tapestry. She feared if she looked at it longer, she would get lost in an eternal, dreamlike memory.

“Kyoshi, you coming?” Yun called from down the hall. He and Rangi had already left, and had apparently paused their bickering to call back to her.

Resting it’s uncanny draw, Kyoshi turned away from the artwork and jogged down the hallway to meet up with her friends. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

It wasn’t long before Kyoshi, Rangi and Yun arrived outside Jianzhu’s office. Despite being on the third floor of the estate, it was built to be in the heart of the building, which led to the only door leading to the office being in a dim, windowless corridor so small, dark and thin Kyoshi almost thought it would collapse in on itself. It was one of her least favorite places in the estate.

The door to Jianzhu’s office was closed, but Kyoshi could hear muffled voices beyond the thin walls. She recognized one as Kelsang’s- her father’s voice deep in worry. Kyoshi couldn’t make out what was being said, the words muffled by the walls.

Yun pressed up against the wall to hear better, passing the lantern he had picked up to Rangi. “Wow- it’s everyone.”

“What do you mean, everyone?” Rangi asked, displeased in her newfound lantern possession.

“All my bending teachers. Jianzhu, your mother, Kelsang. Master Amak’s even there.” Yun whispered. While Kyoshi knew of Yun’s waterbending teacher and had even spoken to him on occasion, she didn’t know him well enough to pick his voice out of a crowd. When she moved her head closer to the wall, though, she could pick up a masculine voice with a water tribe accent.

“We shouldn’t be doing this. It’s espionage.” Rangi huffed.

Yun simply waved her off. “Shhh… I’m focusing. They’re talking about me.”

As Kyoshi listened further, she could make out what was being said. Jianzhu seemed to be interrogating Hei-Ran about Yun’s recent training.

“It’s going well, as well as it can be at this stage.” Rangi’s mother reported, her military background showing in the directness of her statements. “Things could be moving a bit quicker, but there’s not much we can do about that. As a student, he doesn’t leave much to be desired.

Yun tapped Kyoshi on the shoulder and beamed in pride. She gave him an affirming smile back- her friend’s dream had finally come true, he had moved on to his second element. Even a year into his training, the truth seemed to foreign to be real.

“That’s good.” Jianzhu replied. “I still want to hear reports on every session the two of you hold. Even if he’s your student now, I still need to keep track of the Avatar.”

Kyoshi was about to pull away from the wall out of the dullness of the conversation when Kelsang spoke up. “He hasn’t produced any flame yet, has he?”

Kyoshi glanced at Yun for a moment, only to see a look of fear painted across his face. His teachers were taking his greatest secrets- his failures- and parading them across the lawn for everyone to see.

“I’m afraid not.” Hei-Ran replied, her voice growing deeper. “I’ve been as patient as I can, but-”

Something dropped, the metal lamp that Rangi had been carrying. Instead of in the firebender’s hands, the object clattered to the wooden floor. Kyoshi scooped it up and extinguished the flame inside with a puff of air before it could cause a house fire. The firebender had put her arms around Yun’s in a gesture of comfort while the Avatar buried his head in his hands.

Before Kyoshi could respond to the event, the door opened, letting Jianzhu, Hei-Ran, Kelsang and Amak file out.

“Avatar,” Jianzhu nodded at his pupil, then turned to Rangi and Kyoshi. “Lieutenant Rangi, Nun Kyoshi.”

Kyoshi gave Jianzhu the appropriate bow, her motion mirrored by Rangi save for the placement of her hands. She spared a glance at her father, who seemed more agitated than usual. She’d have to ask him about it later.

Yun gathered himself enough to greet Jianzhu. “Greetings, Sifu. My friends and I were just looking for you.”

Jianzhu raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yes,” Yun cleared his throat. “Detailing our trip to Aringeru?”

The earthbending master nodded sagely. “Ah, yes. I’d figure you’d have questions. We can discuss it later, at tonight’s gala.”

Over the few years, Kyoshi had attended multiple gala’s hosted in Yun’s honor. It was almost a bi-weekly tradition now. She had never really gotten used to them.

Hei-Ran put her hand on Yun’s shoulder, and exchanged a glance with him, Rangi and Kyoshi. Kyoshi noticed how similar her eyes were to her daughters. “You all should get cleaned up for the festivities tonight. Lu Beifong is visiting, we need to look our finest.” The words seemed almost coming from her, the gaze she sent to Jianzhu only confirming Kyoshi’s suspicions more.

“Alright.” Kyoshi took both her friends by the hand and started to lead them down the hallway. “We’ll see you soon.”

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, where’re you from?” Hwang asked as he leaned over the table to make eye contact with Kyoshi. One of Lu Beifong’s many grandchildren, he had attended the gala alongside his family in order to do business with the Avatar and his benefactor. Instead of paying attention to the tableside discussion of politics, however, he had taken to bothering- and maybe even flirting with- Kyoshi.

“The Eastern Air Temple.” Kyoshi answered, adjusting the folds of her robes. She had changed into a more formal version of the typical Air Nomad attire, one that showed off her tattoos.

“Ahhh…. yes. “ Hwang nodded, signifying that he had no idea where that was. He took only a moment of pause before putting his hand to his chest. “Me? I’m from Gaoling, but you probably already knew that.”

Kyoshi gave Rangi a glance from the other side of the room. The grand dining hall was set up in a fashion that each element was separated in the order of the Avatar Cycle, meaning she sat directly across from Yun with Rangi to her right. There were always a majority of Earth Kingdom citizens present, though, and more high-ranking among them typically thought it their right to sit with whoever they wanted, regardless of element.

Rangi seemed engaged in a conversation with her mother and a visiting dignitary from the Fire Nation, invested enough that she didn’t even notice Kyoshi’s pleas for help.

“So what’s being an Air Nomad like? Your tattoos are nice, when’d you get them?” Hwang continued, ignoring Kyoshi entirely.”

“Uhm, it’s nice.” Kyoshi turned to her father, only to find he was engaged in a conversation with an Earth Sage Kyoshi didn’t recognize. “And I got my tattoos about a-year-and-a-half ago.”

Hwang nodded sagely and took a sip of his sake. “Now, usually I can’t stand tattoos. They’re so… you know… criminal? It’s not even a good look.”

Kyoshi nodded and moved away from Hwang. Even though she hadn’t responded, he continued. “I don’t know why your people endure it, either. Doesn’t it hurt? Why would you do that?”

Thankfully, Kyoshi didn’t have time to respond before Jianzhu stood up, calling the room’s attention to him. After greeting the party for the third time that night, he started to explain the trip he would be taking the Avatar-and-companions on to the Coral Isles in a week’s time. As Kyoshi had heard most of it from Yun already, she allowed herself to ignore most of what Jianzhu was saying. One thing stood out to her- he didn’t mention what the problem was, only that it needed to be solved. When Kyoshi glanced around the room, she noticed that the only people that seemed to take issue with this were the other foreigners, Rangi included.

When she looked to Yun, he looked perfectly content, truly within his element.