“Perfectly played, yet there is no soul, no voice. How is it, over this huge variety of pieces, from joyful, to mourning, to furious, to patriotic, you have managed to summon the least amount of enthusiasm ever ordained to anything?!” demanded Yukimura, with a scowl. “I have never met such a frustrating student in my life.” 

Echizen pulled his face up into a sneer, letting his violin drop to his sides. “I’m tired, I’m getting some water.” he said, coolly, placing his violin down on his chair, forcefully, the expensive wood clattering against the plastic, with a hollow sound that reverberated across the whole room. Yukimura gritted his teeth at the noise and strode forward, until he was blocking the door.

“Did I give you permission to leave?” asked Yukimura, voice cool and cold. “Sit down, bouya.”

“Don’t want to.” Echizen snapped, and pushed Yukimura, slightly. 

Yukimura felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, and his lips curled up, into a furious sneer. “Is that how it’s going to be, bouya?” he asked, voice low and smooth. “I see how it is. I’ll get you some water, sit down.”

Quickly, he ducked out of the room, and headed to the parlour, to grab the chilled water, which Dan had left behind. When he returned to the room, Echizen looked a little relieved to see the water, clearly expecting something else, with Yukimura’s previous tone and smiled, minutely up at Yukimura, placing his violin aside, from where he’d been fiddling with it. 

Yukimura also smiled at him, with a perfect grin that showed off his perfect teeth, before upending the entire tumbler over Echizen’s head. Echizen gasped, as his jacket and breeches were drenched in water, and the cold started to seep in through his clothes. He stared at Yukimura, in shock, which slowly started to melt away into pure fury, and Yukimura grinned, slightly. It was more emotion than he’d seen from the boy during the entire day, and it was exactly what was necessary.

Yukimura pulled off his cravat and tossed it to Echizen. “Dry your hands, and play Allegro again, from the top.”

Echizen scowled, and looked ready to throw something at Yukimura, so Yukimura reached forward and rapped his baton against Echizen’s back, sharply. “You will play, or I will throw you out on the streets for your arrogance, and I will barr you from entering again.” 

Echizen clearly looked to be contemplating the value of that, by the mutinous set to his jaw and the smouldering look in his eyes, but he picked up the cravat, dried his hands and picked up his violin again, and placed it upon his sodden shoulders, gingerly, and started to play. The fast sharp notes lacked the clarity that they had possessed before, and half of the notes were missed, as his cold fingers fumbled with the strings, but it was angry, it was raw and Yukimura smiled, with relief. 

This, he could work with. 

“Enough,” Yukimura said, clapping his hands together, interrupting Echizen after about the fiftieth mistake. Echizen looked furious at Yukimura and furious with himself, and was clearly about to throw the violin down against the wet ground, so Yukimura stepped forward and carefully liberated the instrument from Echizen’s hands. “Well done. You have finally learnt your first lesson. You must channel yourself into your music, channel your feeling into the dynamics, or the music will only ever be a melody.” 

Echizen stared at Yukimura, with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Yukimura smiled wryly at Echizen. “Nobody ever said that I was an easy teacher. Get dressed and rest. We’ll start again tomorrow, at 10. Don’t be late.”

Looking over Yukimura with narrowed eyes, Echizen bowed, stiffly and left the room, dripping water as he went. His back looked just like Tezuka, and Yukimura sighed, softly, as he placed the violin safely on top of the grand piano and called for Dan to come and mop up the sopping mess.

-

Carefully, Yukimura let his fingers roll over the keys, caressing the piano tenderly, letting the soft sonata drift out through his own windows to the cold night. His pace was slower than the piece really called for, but his finegrs moved slower and less repsonsively nowadays, as Yukimura’s condition grew orse and worse. He knew that he only had a limited amount of time, which was why he was determined to make the most of it.

Once he was done teaching Echizen, he would travel and play everywhere. In the glitzy halls of the King himself, out in the jazzy night-clubs of the age, among the streets and commoners where anybody could hear his music without money, in the countryside with no audience but the trees. He relished it and could not wait for it to become a reality. With these wistful musings of his future, like a sunset, he finished the piece, slowly. 

As the note faded, Yukimura heard a soft applause from the door and he turned around to look at Echizen, with sleepy eyes, but an appreciative ear cocked out. “You’re loud.” he said, in explanation for why he was up. 

Yukimura nodded, and beckoned Echizen over, who looked a little rebellious, but at Yukimura’s second insistent beckoning, gingerly took a seat at the edge of the piano. His fingers automatically splayed out in position over the white keys and Yukimura smiled, softly. “You play, right? Tezuka mentioned it.”

Echizen nodded and carefully, he pressed down across he keys, playing a high, uncertain melody. It was as flat as Echizen’s other pieces, and Yukimura exhaled, with disappointment. Still, he waited until the end of the piece, and let the notes ring in his skull. Carefully he pressed his fingers across the keys near the lower end of the grand piano and recreated it, a little slower and more yearning. This time, he thought about the day he’d spent in Nice’s willow gardens, during the rain, and how he’d felt there, surrounded by peace and hectic chaos at the same time. 

Echizen was watching, mouth a hard line as Yukimura ended the piece. “A different feeling, even if it’s the same piece, in the same key.” Yukimura said, quietly. “I know you have the potential. But you are copying your father’s technique without your father’s emotion and it gives you nothing.”

Echizen was quiet still, as he watched Yukimura’s fingers slide off the edge of the keys. “...why should I trust your words, Yukimura-sensei?”

Yukimura scoffed, softly. “You think if I hated you, I would waste my time on purposefully making you worse? I owe Tezuka a favour and you have potential. You will never reach that potential if you are coddled, however. I don’t hate you. Not at all.” he said, placing a hand to Echizen’s shoulder, gently. “You just need a firm hand. I think you know that too.”

“Sorry, I was helping an old lady cross the road, and there was an acciden--”

Yukimura turned around, one arch eyebrow raised. “Don’t say shit like that, Echizen, you’re not kind-hearted enough for that.” Well, it was true, but the sharp comment still stung, coming from the most ruthless of the Master Benders.

“What are we even doing here?” asked Echizen, scowling a little. 

“You brought your staff from Chitose yesterday, didn’t you?” asked Yukimura, coolly, as he tapped his staff and the wings unfolded easily. “We’re going for a fly.”

Echizen gave Yukimura a confused look. Okay, so people said that Yukimura was insane, but this was weird, even by the rumours he’d heard Momo spread. “You haven’t taught me anything yet.” he said, crossing his arms across his chest. 

Yukimura shrugged, as if asking what that had to do with anything, before gripping the edges of the staff and soaring upwards. “Learn!” he heard Yukimura call, as the pale golden slip escaped from Yukimura and fluttered away towards the mainland, with the strong gust of wind that filled the air. 

Learn? Echizen cursed, lightly under his breath as he unfurled the wings, with the same ease that Yukimura had. As an Earth-born Avatar, it wasn’t as easy to just ‘learn’ airbending as Yukimura made it sound. Fire and Earth had been elements he’d easily handled, even as a child, but he’d never once conjured up any feats known to be attributed to the Air Nation. 

This was suicide. But Echizen exhaled heavily, glancing down towards the churning sea underneath his feet. Fuck. Well, Atobe had made him do some ridiculous things, and Atobe hadn’t been trying to kill him. But Atobe didn’t have a reputation for being ruthless, either. 

Taking a few steps back, Echizen ran for the edge of the cliff and leapt, gripping tightly to the edge of the staff’s handholds, shutting his eyes. If the sea got too close, he’d use a water bubble to catch him. He’d be wet and miserable, but not dead. But when he felt the catch against his sails, Echizen opened his eyes to see himself gliding through the air. Yukimura circled around to come by Echizen’s side. 

“Easier than you think, isn’t it?” asked Yukimura, with a light smirk, “Now you can do what four year olds learn instinctively.” There was definitely a mocking hint to Yukimura’s smile and Echizen wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of an answer. Tilting his angle a little, Echizen tried to soar a bit forward, and felt his heart skip a beat as he started wobbling instead, and circling downwards. 

“Opposite motions.” Yukimura said, instantly, voice clipped and professional. “If you want to down down, point your sail upwards, and you change your centre of gravity. Gliding consists of understanding the motions of the air. This is your first lesson.”

Echizen scowled, but followed Yukimura’s instructions, slowly changing his direction, experimenting with how he could glide in the wind, and how to change direction. There was something exhilarating about the way the chill air swirled around his face, even if the cloud of hair around his face was frustrating, especially with how often strands ended up in his mouth and eyes. No wonder most of the air benders he knew shaved off their hair. 

Before long, he was completely able to control his direction and he let out a small whoop.  “I’ll race you and beat you, Yukimura!” he called out to his teacher, who seemed content to glide circles around Echizen, hair fluttering in his motion.

“No, thank you.” Yukimura said serenely, “I’m going to start changing the direction of the wind motion now. Let’s see how well you can deal with it.” With that Echizen felt his stomach plummet, as he started spiralling out of control. Shit, he hadn’t realized that Yukimura had been controlling the wind speed! With a scowl, Echizen tugged himself up in the opposite direction, just narrowly avoiding the crest of a large wave. Luckily catching a wind upwards, Echizen smirked, as if he’d meant to do that on purpose and swerved through the clouds, rapidly changing angles.

It was easier than he’d thought, but of course, anyone, bender or no, could do this, with enough time. This required no airbending. Echizen wanted to know how to control the wind like Yukimura was. Still, as he circled back up to Yukimura, catching the winds precariously, Yukimura seemed completely prepared for the question. “Not yet. You’re not ready yet.”

“When then?” asked Echizen, a light frown. 

Yukimura just smiled cryptically and surged forward, out to sea. Echizen reluctantly followed his path, out against the bitter winds. Despite the fact that his cloak was doing shit all to protect him from the cold, Echizen didn’t feel as miserable as he’d expected to. His nuisance of a hair aside, the sensation of gliding like this, as the sky slowly lightened and the wave slowly hissed underneath them was peaceful. The smell of salt in the air and the clear tang of fresh air was exhilarating, and even Echizen could admit that this was a nice introduction to the world of airbending. Better than Atobe’s teaching had been (not that Atobe had ever spent much time on explanation, preferring to throw Echizen straight into the water and watch him flail).

“So what are we doing?” asked Echizen, catching a swift breeze that pushed him closer to Yukimura. 

“We’re heading somewhere that every airbender must visit before they learn our art.” Yukimura said, his voice serious, and a pensive expression on his face. 

“Let me guess, every five year-old’s already done this.” Echizen said, rolling his eyes. 

“Actually, we don’t let people come here until they are of age and are serious about pursuing a mastery of airbending.” Yukimura said, looking over his shoulder. “You are merely sixteen, but you have seen death already, thanks to the fiasco in the North. I overrid any complaints about your age, otherwise you’d have never finished your training promptly.” 

“...thanks.” Echizen said, grudgingly. He gave thanks where thanks was due! Even to insane, condescending people. 

They drifted in silence for a little longer, as the sun slowly rose ahead of them, making it a little harder to see ahead. “Almost 800 years ago, the heavily militarized Fire Nation rose up and attacked the people of our world.” Yukimura prefaced, carefully. “Your predecessor, Avatar Aang, was involved in a freak accident and was unable to stop it. And even if he had not been frozen in the ice, he would have been murdered or tortured to insanity, so perhaps it was for the best that he remained frozen, until he could adequately help the world. But in his absence, the air temples burned. Once, airbenders used to be nomadic monks, who sought only to isolate themselves and be truly in peace with nature.”

Echizen nodded. He’d reached the spirit world twice in his life, and all of the Avatars from the element of Air had dressed like monks. He knew this history. “And then they joined the modern world after Tenzin’s attempt to revive the nomadic temples and principles failed.”

Yukimura nodded, looking a little pleased to see Echizen’s knowledge. It was the first genuinely happy expression that Echizen had seen on the man’s face since he’d shown up to the Western Air Islands. “Too many people wanted to be part of the modern world and it took too long for the Air Nomad Culture to integrate the best parts of modernity into their principles. Now, the air nomads are only a small section of the Air Nation, the most traditionalistic and devoted members, towards peace and stability.” There was a light sadness in his voice and Echizen tilted his head. He was one of the airbenders that consistently bucked the old ways, in order to make himself strong, but still, he sounded sad by the loss? Did that even make sense?

Suddenly, there was a sharp left turning breeze. Echizen drifted with it, and Yukimura followed him, before making a steep dive towards an island. Echizen followed him as they skimmed down, closer and closer towards the land. The sun was up now, illuminating the trees and the beautiful cliff surfaces below them. “Careful now, use your earthbending if something goes wrong.” Yukimura warned, as they started to circled down, towards what looked like a chasm. Echizen grimaced, but followed Yukimura down into the chasm, despite his heart beating out of his chest. 

His eyes widened as they dived in and he saw, almost instantly, a huge, upside-down temple structure. “That’s insane...” he murmured and Yukimura laughed dryly, as he gripped onto the top of Echizen’s glider and pulled them in, until they both landed lithely on a jutting out ledge. 

“Welcome to the Western Air Temple.” Yukimura said, glancing upwards towards the statues of the female monks that lined the walls. “It and the Northern Air Temple were known as the female monasteries for the Air Nomads, and for the insane architecture, improved by Avatar Yangchen. It was the first temple to be ruined by the Fire Nation, by virtue of sheer proximity.”  

Echizen placed a hand against the old fountain, still feebly spewing out water into the cracked bowl, frown on his face, and tapped against the slightly peeling paint. He knew that significant amounts of government money went into upkeeping the Air Temples that weren’t in use, as important historical relics, but there was no hiding the fact that this was an old and derelict place, despite the initial wonder. 

“Do you know why it is, that of the three nations they wanted to attack, the Fire Nation choose the Air Nomads? Do you know it is that the Nomads decided they needed to adopt a lifestyle of peace and pacifism?” asked Yukimura, his voice sharp and dangerous. Echizen whirled around, and brought his hands up, into an attack stance.

Yukimura chuckled, darkly. “Right answer. Sozin was scared of the Air Nation. Had the airbenders not pledged pacifism, they could have taken over the whole world, because of their deep connection with the spiritual world. The Air Nomads never bore a child that didn’t bend, because they knew how to tap into their chi properly and allow bending to blossom. That knowledge fades, but it is still a trademark of the Air Nation.”

“People say Sozin killed the Air Nomads first because they were an easy target...” Echizen answered, keeping an eye on Yukimura’s feet, circling around slowly. There was barely anybody out here, it was too remote to be a popular tourist spot, like the Northern and Eastern Air Temples were. Nobody would hear him scream, if Yukimura decided to kill him. It had been foolhardy to trust Yukimura so easily. 

“Wrong.” Yukimura said, in a sing-song voice, as he tapped his staff against the earth, lightly, letting the wings fold away. “Sozin’s son, Ozai, took over the Earth Kingdom and the Southern Water Tribe. But he did not destroy them, he subjugated them. But every single airbender was slaughtered. He knew their power and he feared it.” 

“So...now the world is going to fear airbenders, and you’re going to kill me here?” asked Echizen, pulling his fists closer to his chest.

Yukimura snorted, shaking a little, before he started to laugh. The laugh reverberated off the ceiling and Echizen could hear the sound of animals scurrying away from where they stood. Echizen didn’t loosen his stance, only giving Yukimura a wary look. “No.” he said, inbetween chuckles, “For one, that’s a rather bad plan. You’d just be reborn again. If I really wanted to defeat you, I’d capture you, and only just barely keep you alive. But that’s not my plan. I am a Master Airbender, despite all of my modernization.” He gestured towards the blue arrows that extended from under his fringe and through the edges of his clothing. “No unnecessary violence in my lifestyle.” 

“Then what?” asked Echizen, eyes narrowing. He was getting tired of the half-answers and leading questions. 

“It’s a warning. To what you can become. Sozin feared us with good reason. To learn airbending and pursue mastery is to take on a huge burden of responsibility on your shoulders.” Yukimura said, sounding slightly weary. “With airbending comes an ability to control and kill someone, with ease. It is not like metalbending which requires ultimate control, nor like lightning which requires a heart and mind that is perfectly disciplined, nor like blood-bending that requires pain and hatred to fuel it. Bending the air in someone’s lungs is easy. A beginner could do it. And must not do it.” 

“What is more responsibility to me, Yukimura-sensei?” demanded Echizen, pulling his fists down, with a fierce scowl. “I already have the world on my shoulders. If that was all you wanted to do, this was a waste of time.” 

He turned around and felt his breath catch in his throat, unwillingly. Echizen felt his heartrate speed up and just as the edges of his vision started to blacken, he was able to breathe again. Echizen collapsed to the ground, wheezing heavily, as he tried to pull air back into his aching lungs. “Listen to me.” Yukimura demanded, coldly, staff pressing against the bottom of Echizen’s spine. “I do not accept insubordination from a child who has only just started to explore the depths of human depravity and skill.”

Echizen scowled. That was it. He’d really had enough of Yukimura and everything that Yukimura said and did. Good bender or not, Yukimura was not someone whom Echizen was going to lie down flat for. With the twitch of his palm, he brought the Earth underneath Yukimura up and sent Yukimura flying. Yukimura reacted midair, and gracefully landed a few feet from Echizen. 

“Oh, so you want to fight, bouya?” asked Yukimura, smirk on his face. “What an unfair fight. After all, you have mastered two elements. I’ve only mastered one.”

“I’m going to wipe the floor with you.” Echizen said, with a cocky grin. Instantly, he sent the floor around Yukimura up, using the upheaved earth as projectiles, large spikes reaching up to stab the flying Yukimura. Yukimura didn’t even seem fazed by them, as he sent three whirling hurricanes in his direction. Echizen pulled an Earth wall up and over him, wondering exactly how much flack he was going to get for destroying part of a Historical Relic for a training exercise. 

Echzien shut his eyes and kept his feet firmly on the earth, waiting for the vibrations of Yukimura’s landing. He couldn’t stay up in the air forever, right? To his surprise, a hole of air blasted through the top of Echizen’s dome and Echizen felt his breath freeze again. Using the little effort he had left, he bended the wall up, as quickly as he could and as Yukimura dodged, he sent the feeble water from the fountain towards Yukimura, before collapsing on the floor. To his surprise, he could breathe again, and instantly, Echizen scarpered to his feet, breathing heavily. Yukimura had been thrown to the ground, the force of the fountain’s water being more significant than Echizen had initially thought. 

In fact, now the water was flowing properly, like it must have done in previous times, and Echizen grinned a little, before swearing as a huge gust of air almost sent him toppling off the edge of the building. “Good!” Yukimura said, sprinting forward, gusts of air forcing Echizen to constantly defend. “You recover quickly enough from injury, that will give you a huge advantage over others! But not enough to beat me!”

Echizen felt his breath still again, but this time, he was completely ready and Echizen pulled the statues of the old Avatar Yangchen down, to collapse against Yukimura, before collapsing to the ground. But Yukimura created a huge spinning air shield, which deflected the pieces from both Echizen and himself, as he landed on top of Echizen. Echizen found himself able to breathe again, as the debris settled around them.

“Destructive, aren’t you?” asked Yukimura, looking up with sheer amazement. But there was an exhilarated grin on his face as he looked down at Echizen and he was sweating slightly from his exertion. “Not bad for a bouya.”

For a moment, their eyes met completely and Echizen felt like he understand Yukimura’s eccentricity, if only for that moment, in the shared glow of a good battle. “I’ll beat you next time.”

“You wish, bouya. Even if you know three elements, you still won’t be good enough to defeat me.” Yukimura said, a slight smirk on his face, as he brushed back his long hair, carelessly and glanced up towards the wreckage of the statue around them. “Besides, this was a long-range battle and it ended all together too quickly. You’ve a lot to learn.”

“Then teach me.” Echizen countered, extending his staff to prod Yukimura’s back. “Don’t just talk.”

Yukimura shrugged, his expression mild. ‘Soon.” he said, vaguely, before his expression turned more sober, as he stared at the carved hand that had fallen by his feet. “For now, let’s see if the Avatar is as gifted in repairing things as he is in breaking them, since repairing and fixing the world is supposed to be his skill.” He fixed Echizen with a cold look and Echizen scowled, as he slowly let his image of what the Temple had looked like form in his mind.