Empress Of The Old World {Legend Of Korra}

PART 3: Tea Time

The bright colours and the pretty scenery was not something that Sukara thought she would miss. The spirit world had been her prison for so long that it brought the comfort of familiarity. The company wasn't terrible either.

Iroh Senior stood just across from her as he poured out cups of jasmine tea.

"What brings you home?" he asked, placing himself down in the spare seat, "is it the nightmares again?"

"I should probably have just gone through the portals," Sukara said, dodging his question, "they're not even that far. My body is in the South Pole at the moment."

"You're body needs calm to prepare itself as you solve your problems," he told her wisely, "meditation is vital if you are going to sort through this turmoil. And I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is."

"I don't even know how I got here," Sukara shrugged, trying to create small talk in order to avoid his questioning, "I don't think I know the difference between sitting still and opening a rift to the spirit world for my soul to step through."

"Sukara," he said, patiently waiting for her to finally speak her mind, "please. Tell me what is troubling you."

Sukara took a deep breath. She wanted to talk to him. It was why she was here but, sitting in front of him and allowing the words to leave her mouth was proving harder than expected.

"I'm scared Iroh," she finally said, looking down into the the tea cup in front of her, "I'm terrified all the time. I don't want to hurt the people I care about but, it's like I can't control myself. I can't avoid every aggravating situation, that's not how life works."

"Do you know what is causing these angry feelings?" Iroh asked, a light frown on his brow as he thought.

"There was a man," Sukara explained, "he knew all about me. He was turning spirits dark on purpose to strengthen Vaatu."

"Hmm, feeding the dark spirit," Iroh said, mostly to himself as he spoke his thought process allowed, "it would result in negative energy, producing a dark aura. This kind of behaviour will not end well, where is this man now?"

"He's dead."

"I won't ask you what happened," he told her, not really wanting know unnecessary details, "Vaatu would have been weakened in Harmonic Convergence. Strengthening him is a dangerous game. I'm glad that you came to me."

"I feel a lot better now, a lot calmer than I was," Sukara continued, "but I don't know if that's because Korra delt with some of the spirits or because I used up a lot of energy destroying the hollow. I felt so drained afterwards, I wasn't sure."

He took a moment to think again. Even though she was older, Sukara was still quite young at heart. She had never been allowed to grow the way other people did. Between an emotionally abusive childhood, responsibility of ruling an empire and thousands of years of solitude, she had very little experience that was worth holding onto for development.

"It is possible that by doing that you took some of Vaatu's energy," he said finally, "keeping him in his weakened state. That won't last forever though, you will need to find a way to control him. You are so good at helping other spirits find their peace, why is it, do you think, that you can't help your own?"

"It's not in Vaatu's nature to be peaceful," Sukara told him, a confused look on her face as she knew that he already knew that, "it is quite literally his purpose to be the opposite."

"Then be the opposite sometimes," Iroh said cheerfully, "not harmfully destructive but a little chaotic. Compromise with yourself."

Still with a confused expression, Sukara chuckled a little at his happy demeanour.

"Have some fun. Be angry," he went on, "anger is natural. If you're feeling it, let it out safely. The problem comes when you suppress it and then it explodes, hurting people you don't want it to."

"Hey, you don't get to quote me at me," Sukara laughed, "that's not fair."

"Sometimes the best advise is your own," he told her gently, a big smile on his face as he sipped his tea, "now run along before your friends start to think that you died."

Making Sukara laugh one last time, Iroh shooed her off, sending her back to her body in the human world.

--

Sukara was a little dizzy as she came back to. It took her a second to realign herself in the moment as she opened her eyes. She could see a body that was not her own laying in front of her. Looking down, she saw a book hovering over the face of the person resting in her lap. Gently, she pushed the top of the book down to reveal Kuvira's face, which broke into a smile as she saw that Sukara awake again.

"Hello," Sukara smiled, her hand resting softly on the book.

"Hi."