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"ＦＩＲＥ ＬＯＲＤ Zuko, the Order of the White Lotus has requested an audience with you," his secretary announces while standing before the throne and bowing before his lord. To say that the Fire Lord was surprised was an underestimation. What could the White Lotus want from him?

"Send them in," he orders. His hand moves over to his left to find that of his wife. When their hands entwine, he squeezes it gently. Their sweet moment was short lived when the three old men in their blue with white uniforms enter. The first one of them and the Grand Master bows first before him, followed by his companions.

"Grand Master, it is an honour to welcome you in our home," Zuko responds. He studies the Grand Master intensively. He was short with a bald circle on top of his head, bushy eyebrows and a wild beard and moustache. His eyes are small and looking stern. A man with many responsibilities, weighing an incredible burden on him. Zuko knows the feeling.

"Fire Lord Zuko, it is an honour too. Unfortunately, we are not here to share pleasantries. We'd like to speak with your granddaughter, Princess Daiyin."

Mai's eyes widen and she looks up to her husband, who was balling his free fist now. "And why should I allow that, gentlemen?" A second man, taller with long grey hair and a bun on top of his head, steps forward and speaks. "My Lord, as you know it is our duty to find and protect the Avatar. To guide him or her during the training."

The first man continues. "Avatar Korra has succesfully finished her training in waterbending and earthbending. Next she will have to learn how to correctly bend fire. Your granddaughter, Lord Zuko, has been described as the best firebender of this age. There is no better teacher for the Avatar on this earth."

Zuko slams his fist angrily on the carpet that he was seated on. Fire escapes from the space between the ground and his skin, blasting in a small circle but luckily not harming anyone. "You want to take my granddaughter, the only thing that rests me from late my son and his departed wife, away from me? My heir, the second of my two grandchildren?"

"My Lord, it is of great importance that your granddaughter will teach the Avatar everything she knows," the second man tries again, but Zuko shakes his head. "No, I will not agree. Besides, isn't it the Avatar's purpose to travel the world and find his or her own teachers?" The Grand Master was starting to get upset and Zuko would soon throw them out of his palace.

"The Avatar needs to be protected. She is far from ready to leave the South Pole! All we ask for is your granddaughter to stay there and teach her firebending and you are in our way and so in the Avatar's way," the short man screams.

A knock on the heavy throneroom doors warns both screaming men of a new presence. "Who is there," The Fire Lord yells, still glaring angrily at the Grand Master. The doors push open slightly and Daiyin enters, wearing a simple bloodred dress with a black overcoat, bound tightly around her middle with a ribbon. Her sleeves are long and in a triangle shape. The long locks of hair flow down straight onto her back with two locks framing her face and a bun on the back of her head.

The princess struts inside with the grace of a royal. The White Lotus could easily recognise her agile body and smooth movements. Zuko tries to contain his anger while the princess comes nearer with a blank expression. "What is going on here? I could hear the yelling from the training temple."

Daiyin joins her grandparents by the throne and looks at the White Lotus. Her hand rests on her grandfather's shoulder as she speaks to the elderly men. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, White Lotus?"

"Princess Daiyin. We have come here to seek permission for you to come to the South Pole with us, where you will fulfill the honourable job of teaching the Avatar to bend fire," the Grand Master explains with a bow. Daiyin looks down at her grandparents and raises an eyebrow. "I guess all that noise was you disagreeing with these men, grandfather?"

"This is not how the Avatar is supposed to learn her skills. Her role is to travel the world and bring balance while learning to control the elements, not hide cowardly behind some walls of ice while having teachers crawl at her feet. Why don't you let her," Zuko snarls at the leader of the White Lotus. "Grandfather, please, you need to be calm. Remember what the royal physician said."

The Fire Lord rumbles, but he takes a deep breath and calms down. "That leaves my granddaughter then, to make this decision." He turns his head to his right and looks at Daiyin. "You can speak however you like. Do you want to train Avatar Korra in firebending?" "Just do what your instinct says, Dai," her grandmother tells her.

The princess takes a deep breath and closes her amber eyes. A few wrinkles appear between her eyebrows, her 'thinking lines', as Mai and her husband call them.

She reopens her eyes, which now hold a new glimmer inside them. As if her eyes were liquid fire. "I will train the new Avatar."

•

"ＷＨＥＮ  ＷＩＬＬ they arrive, Katara?" The young Avatar was eagerly waiting for her new tutor to arrive and start her firebending training. She was very driven to learn the four elements as soon as she can and this brings her one step closer. All she could hope for was that this teacher was as good as they told her.  

The older woman looks at her with a patient smile. She was the one to train the new Avatar, the re-incarnation of her late husband Aang, in waterbending. She has seen the young girl grow into a fiery, strong young female, ready to face the world and be who she must be. The Avatar.

"The White Lotus had sent a letter that they will arrive shortly after your afternoon training with Master Balon." Korra rolls her eyes when thinking of the hardheaded earthbender that was her teacher. Soon he would leave the South Pole and go back to his family, his children and grandchildren and soon his first great-grandchild. It was hard to work with the man, but eventually she finished the training.

"If I have to. Katara, do you know what this.. teacher is like?" The old woman scrunches her face up and rubs her chin, deep in thought. "Well, I guess your tutor will not be a secret for very long, so the White Lotus will not mind me telling you this." She leaves it silent for a while, making sure that Korra was on the edge of her seat. "She is the granddaughter of Fire Lord Zuko and proclaimed to be the best firebender of this age." 

Korra's eyes gleam with happiness. This teacher would be great. "Awesome." This news made her even more eager to meet the new tutor. Against her will, she says goodbye to Katara and goes to visit Sifu Balon for one of her last trainings in earthbending. It was not fun, but the Avatar does notice that it is consuming the time she was waiting for the White Lotus.

Before she knew it, the session was over and the Order could arrive anytime soon. Korra was awaiting their arrival with Naga and Katara, occasionally asking what the time was and if Katara could reveal more about her new tutor. She kept her mouth shut about her teacher, which frustrates the young Avatar more than ever.

But then, the sixteen year old sees the gates opening and four snow scooters arriving. The three older men step off their scooters with a little bit of difficulty, but not the last person. She steps off with grace. Probably because she was born and raised a royal, Korra thinks.

The woman takes her helmet and pulls it off her head. The young Avatar was shocked. Korra has seen Princess Azula and Fire Lord Ozai on drawings and portrets before and this girl looks exactly like them. Thick, black hair with a sharp face and beautiful amber eyes. She was dressed in a bodysuit of bloodred leather with black stripes on the side of her legs, waist and sleeves. In the middle of the black stripes were little strips of gold thread. She looks fashionable and practical at the same time. Definitely different from what she has seen Fire Nation women wear before, but maybe she was adapting to a new environment and so a new style?

The girl looks at her with a scrutinizing gaze. "You are Avatar Korra, I suppose?" The watertribe girl nods her head and bows before her new master. "Yes, Master.. ehh, what's your name?" The gorgeous princess smirks and raises her chin in the air. In a rather posh voice she replies. " I am Crown Princess Daiyin of the Fire Nation, the daughter of the late Crown Prince Kazuo and his first wife, granddaughter of Fire Lord Zuko and the heir to the throne. I'm also your new teacher. Nice to meet you, Avatar Korra."

She too bows back. Korra looks in awe at her new teacher. They could become very good friends..