Moving on From a Setback

It was in the afternoon, Kang was sleeping in a bedroom within the compound where he, his father, Pema, Ikki, and the siblings live. He stretched and did some exercises as he punched his punching bag and then started to use a metal Wing Chun dummy. After that he put on his white robes as he didn't bring his katana and just walked out of his bedroom.

He had planned to go to Future Industries to visit Asami in Republic City and to receive a gift for him coming back. As he walked out of the compound, he soon saw his siblings racing in air scooters towards him. This made him curious about what was going on.

"I won!" Ikki said.

"What's going on here?" Kang asked.

"We were doing a race to see who would get to you first," Jinora said.

Kang crossed his arms as he smirked, "Is that so? Looks like you're the winner Ikki." He gave her a head pat as he started to walk towards the docks.

As he continued to walk towards the docks he saw a bruised Korra wearing Air Acolyte robes and it looked kind of funny on her which led to him refraining from laughter.

Korra glared at Kang as he started to cover his mouth from laughter. Korra saw this and glared at him.

"What's so funny?" Korra asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh nothing," Kang said, "other than the fact that you look funny, I mean c'mon! You look ridiculous."

"Well, tell that to your Dad," Korra said, "he just put me through the ringer with the air gates."

Kang scoffed, "Nah, I'm leaving you to your own demise, see ya."

As Kang started to walk off Korra just huffed and gave Kang the middle finger, but was surprised when he gave her the finger back and he didn't even look back at her.

"The feeling's mutual," he said in a joking tone.

...

Kang was at the docks as he soon heard Pema walking towards him with Jinora who was shying behind her.

"Kang."

"Oh what's up, Pema?" Kang asked.

Pema looked behind and Jinora was hiding behind her mother. She looked down and gently pushed Jinora forward as the little girl started to walk towards Kang.

"C-Can I come with you to Republic City?" Jinora asked meekly.

Kang looked at Pema due to the fact that his Father wouldn't approve of this idea, but Pema gave Kang a reassuring smile and nodded which led to Kang nodding back.

"Okay, sure," Kang said, "come on kiddo."

Jinora started to catch up to her brother as they went on the boat and sailed down to Republic City. As they entered the docks Jinora started to be mesmerized by the sight of the city. Unlike her older brother, Jinora stayed in Air Temple Island and never went to the city before.

Kang saw this and held his hand out for Jinora to hold.

"Hold my hand," Kang said, "I don't want to lose you within the crowd."

Jinora took his hand as she and her older brother started walking down the city. He and Jinora walked down towards the warehouse that said, "Future Industries."

There Asami was waiting for Kang and was happy to see him, but surprised as he brought his younger sister with him. Asami remembered Kang's younger siblings as they also attended Galas with Tenzin and Pema. Some other times she would see the younger siblings was when she would visit Air Temple Island to hang out with Kang when they were dating, though most of the time they hung out at Lin's house under very strict supervision unlike the island. During the times she had seen Asami, she remembered that Asami was a nice girl who always played with her and Ikki whenever Asami wanted to hang out with Kang's siblings. The last time they saw them was during their senior Gala in their secondary school that Kang and Asami went to from ages 13-17 which was also the age he decided to join the United Forces.

"I'm surprised your Dad let your sister come to the city," Asami said.

"My Father doesn't know I brought her," Kang said, "her Mom suggested I bring her to show her around the city as she's always stayed in the Island."

Asami kneeled down to Jinora's height as she gave the younger sister of Kang a friendly smile.

"Do you remember me?" Asami asked.

"You're Kang's girlfriend, right?" Jinora asked, "I remember you visiting the Island to hang out with him from time to time."

"Uhh, about that... we broke up," Kang said, "but that didn't stop us from being really good friends, did it?"

Asami looked up as she smiled at her friend, "No it didn't," Asami said. She got up and let them into the warehouse of Future Industries where Hiroshi was present.

"Kang... and Jinora?!" Hiroshi mentioned Jinora in surprise as he didn't know the younger sister was going to come over as well.

"I brought my sister here," Kang said, "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," Hiroshi said, "come on, I have a gift for you."

Kang, Jinora, and Asami followed Hiroshi until they stopped at a garage and showed a luxurious satomobile which had a white paint job and red interior as well as a red roof.

"This is for me?" Kang asked as he and Jinora were looking at how nice the car was.

"Of course," Hiroshi said, "It's a welcome back gift. Not to mention you have done so much for Asami and was always there for her until you joined the Military."

"Thanks," Kang said, "I don't know how to repay you."

"Just don't wreck it," Hiroshi said.

Kang nodded as he, Jinora, and Asami got into the Satomobile, Asami sat on the passenger's side while Jinora sat in the back for safety. The garage door opened as Kang drove out of the garage into the city and went full throttle on the gas pedal. The satomobile was fun to ride in from Jinora's perspective as she looked out the window and saw the tall buildings of Republic City.

Kang and Asami looked at the rearview mirror as they saw how mesmerized Jinora was, they couldn't help but chuckle at the scene. The two whispered and agreed to take Jinora to the primary school they went to. As they got up to the school, Kang parked the car and Jinora looked towards her older brother and Asami.

"What is this place?" Jinora asked.

"This is the school where you're brother and I met," Asami said, "we were in the same class."

She soon gave Kang a smirk, "And he was a troublemaker."

"Hey," Kang said, "Don't act so innocent, it's not like you stopped me. As a matter of fact, you actually joined in on some of the trouble I was causing back when we were kids. Even when we were dating, trouble always seemed to follow us."

Jinora listened as she found out that her brother was one of the most popular kids in primary school and later in secondary school. Kang was obviously popular due to the fact that the grandson of Avatar Aang and Toph was in their school and it carried on in secondary school. The two became the biggest hot topic as they were a couple in secondary school and everyone was talking about them in admiration while the couple ignored it. Jinora was now amazed as she now knew how her brother's and Asami's dating life started off. She knew how it ended, but she now knows how it started. But soon her stomach started to growl and it led to Kang and Asami looking at her with a teasing smile.

"How about we get some dinner," Kang said, "Kwong's?"

"Are you sure," Asami asked, "I don't think Jinora can eat there."

"They should have some vegetarian options," Kang said, "Also, Jinora has never explored the city."

"I can also eat fish," Jinora said.

"Well she has more options now," Kang said as they drove off to Kwong's for dinner.

...

At Kwong's, Kang, Jinora, and Asami were dressed in formal attire as they were sitting at a table. They looked at the menu and saw that it contained many dishes as well as Pescytarian options for Jinora to eat as they ordered their food and started eating. Jinora has never tried any foods like Kwong's and it was an experience to be reckoned with. It was delicious and Kang and Asami were smiling at the younger sister enjoying the food.

From Jinora's perspective, she saw Kang and Asami sitting next to each other and kind of imagined them being a couple as they were years back.

"What's up kiddo," Kang asked.

He and Asami noticed that Jinora had an observant look on her. She soon snapped out of her thoughts and said that it was nothing as she started to eat dinner. She continued to the two as they started to talk about the sport of Pro-Bending as she learned that the two would always go to see some matches after their secondary school day ended.

...

Kang and Jinora returned back to the Island and nothing really happened as Tenzin just welcomed them back. Pema soon grabbed Jinora to take her to bed as Kang decided to do a nightly walk. But he went into his room and grabbed his red sheathed katana. He soon went to the training ground and unsheathed his katana as he did his 12 Iaido Katas.

After he finished his Katas, he looked around his surroundings and saw Naga who was walking towards him. He smiled as he sheathed his katana and started to pet the polar bear dog who rubbed her head against Kang's hand and started to lick his face.

"Okay, that's enough," Kang said while laughing. He saw that Naga's tail was wagging as he started to rub her belly and the animal got on her back.

"Aren't you a good girl," Kang said as he belly rubbed the polar bear dog.

"Now, where's your mistress?" Kang asked. He soon started to laugh and waved goodbye as Naga simply turned around and walked away.

'Looks like I have to find her myself,' Kang thought as he climbed up the tower. As he did he got a bird's eye view of the whole island and saw Korra in another training area and he simply did a leap of faith.

...

Korra was trying to Airbend while saying, "Airbend."

She had a newspaper photo of Lin while trying to Airbend, but she soon gave up and used Firebending to burn the newspaper. She sighed as she walked towards Naga.

"Maybe I'm not cut out to be an Airbender, huh Naga?" Korra asked her pet.

"You are."

Korra looked up at the roof and saw Kang who jumped off the said roof and did a badass landing.

"You just are too stubborn," Kang said, "you need to be calm and collected."

"That's what your Dad has been telling me, but in a less straightforward way," Korra said as she sat down.

Kang chuckled as he walked and looked out towards the bay, he soon looked back at Korra.

"If it makes you feel better," Kang said, "I think you'll get it done sooner than I have."

"Wait, you too?" Korra asked.

Kang nodded as he started to explain his past in training, "Before I found out I was a Nonbender, my Father taught me the techniques and philosophies of Airbending. When I first started to train with the gates, it took me years to pass through the gates."

Korra was shocked as she heard that the oldest son of Tenzin took a long time to master the gates, but granted that he was a Nonbender.

"What happened after you found out you were a Nonbender?" Korra asked.

"I always thought I disappointed my parents," Kang said, "and because of that when I was a teenager I was willing to do anything to get the approval of my parents. So much so that I cut off my relationship with my girlfriend at the time, joined some places that weren't really legal and then decided to join the United Forces, but due to complications I decided to leave and traveled around the whole world with no purpose for quite some time."

Korra was listening to Kang's story as he continued.

"Soon, I found this group of people who were kind enough to let me accompany them in their journey and soon I was inducted into their group and lived by a creed. For once I was somewhere where I felt like I had a belonging. But as time had passed I found out that life wasn't for me, so I decided to leave the creed. But not without them letting me keep things they gave me during my services to them," Kang said while looking at his outfit and katana.

"Sooo," Korra asked, "does this creed have a code or something?"

"It does," Kang said. He unsheathed only his hidden blade on his left hand. He showed it to Korra as he said, "Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent; draw not attention to yourself whenever possible; and never compromise the brotherhood."

Korra seemed to nod as Kang sheathed the hidden blade before they heard a radio.

"Ladies and gentlemen I'm coming to you live from Republic City's Pro-Bending arena," the radio commentator said, "where tonight the best in the world continue their quest for a spot in the upcoming championship tournament. Grab your snacks and grab your kids cause this next match is gonna be a doozy."

Kang and Korra were on a roof where the White Lotus were listening to the Pro-Bending match.

"This Mako's got moxy," the host said, "he advances, fires two quick shots, Yomo is hammered to zone 3."

Korra and the three White Lotus sentries under her were getting excited as they heard the commentator talk. Kang just stood there calmly, listening.

"Clock is winding down, can Yomo hold on? He's teetering to the edge of the ring now! The Fire Ferrets are—"

Korra's excited face turns to a face of shock while Kang's eyebrow raised.

"Korra come down here please!" Tenzin's voice can be heard which led to Korra and Kang hanging upside down to listen. The two climbed into the patio, Korra first with Kang following.

"You shut it off at the best part!" Korra said.

"I thought I made myself clear," Tenzin said, "I don't want you to listen to this distracting nonsense."

Kang just stood there as he just didn't want to intervene in the verbal scuffle between the Avatar and his father.

"But it's their radio," Korra said, "and technically you said I couldn't watch a match, you didn't say anything about listening to one."

"You—" Tenzin grumbled, "You know what I meant. Anyway, shouldn't you be in bed by now?!"

With that, Tenzin swiftly turned away and started walking as Korra simply glared at the older man.

...

The next morning had risen and Kang went to the meditation gazebo before anyone else and started meditating in a seiza stance. Throughout this time that's when his senses become more dialed in. He can now feel, hear, and smell.

Within hours of meditating he soon heard the footsteps of his father, Ikki, Jinora, Meelo, and Korra come over as he guessed that his father had brought her along to join in on the meditation, he was able to hear them from over a meter. But he only noted those moments before focusing on his breathing.

But he soon started to get annoyed by Korra's antics due to the fact that she has been restless throughout the meditation session and for her, it hasn't been a damn minute.

"I think I'm doing it wrong," he heard Korra say.

'That's because there's nothing to do, genius,' Kang thought, before his father echoed his thoughts aloud.

"Let your mind and spirit be free," his father added, "for air is the element of freedom."

Korra soon started to laugh at Tenzin's statement which led to the Airbending Master raising an eyebrow.

"Is something funny?" Tenzin asked with a slight annoyance.

"Yeah," Korra said, "you're telling me to embrace freedom, but you won't even let me listen to the radio. And forget leaving this island."

'Well she does have a point,' Kang thought as he continued to meditate. He decided to open his eyes as he started to get up and walked off.

Tenzin stopped what he was doing and shifted his attention to his older son.

"Where are you going?" Tenzin asked, "the meditation isn't over yet."

"I've been meditating for five and a half hours," Kang said, "I also have plans going on." He soon started to walk and go to Republic City as he was informed about a Pro-Bending match that Asami wanted to see as there was a team that she was a fan of. But before she wanted to do some combat training before they went.

———

Kang and Asami were in a combat training area in the Sato Mansion, Hiroshi was doing some work for Future Industries and left Kang and Asami alone. Kang was practicing his martial arts that he developed and was testing it on Asami who was also adept in hand-to-hand combat.

Kang's Martial Art was basically when the practitioner waits for the opponent to strike so they can block the hit and transition to a powerful counterattack. But if the opponent doesn't strike, then you must take initiative by pulling off a flurry of attacks.

This martial art costs a lot of stamina and because of that, Kang's stamina is extraordinary.

Asami didn't attack which led to Kang going on the offense and because of that Asami knew that this was a lose-lose situation. She knew that Kang was good at countering attacks, but it seems that when he was gone, he had developed his martial art before he came back from the United Forces.

After an hour, Asami was drenched with sweat while Kang was barely breaking a sweat. The two sat on a bench next to each other while drinking some water.

"You're not breaking a sweat," Asami said, "though I shouldn't be surprised, your stamina was always impressive."

Kang gave her a weird look, "That can be taken out of context."

Asami snickered at what he was referring to and playfully smacked his shoulder.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Asami said while having a smile on her face. Kang and Asami just started to laugh at each other as they just hung out before washing up for the Pro-Bending match.

———

Kang was outside the mansion, waiting for Asami as she started to approach Kang. He shook his head towards Asami as she started to give him a confused look.

"Why are you shaking your head?" Asami asked.

"You're late," Kang said, "You said you were going to be here like 45 minutes ago."

"Well a woman has to look good, right?" Asami asked.

Kang started to chuckle at his ex-girlfriend as he just accepted her excuse, "You're not wrong."

...

The two got into Asami's Satomobile and drove to the Pro-Bending Arena and went to their seats. The reason why they went to the Pro-Bending arena was because Asami's favorite team, the Fire Ferrets, were competing tonight. Kang knew about this team when he and Korra were listening to the radio last night.

As the two were watching the competition, Kang was looking towards the competitor's box where the teams would relax before going into the ring and saw Korra with his good vision. This made him chuckle and shake his head in amusement. This led to Kang having Asami go without him as he decided to sneak into the Pro-Bending gym and tried to find Korra.

It didn't take long as he heard two teenagers talking and he went to where the talking was the loudest and managed to get into a training room where Korra was throwing rings with Earthbending, the one who was training her was a bulky teenage boy who had his hair raked back, but had one bang that was hanging down and curled. Another teen was sitting on the stairs. He was taller and had spiked hair and had kind of that wannabe 'I want to be alone' persona.

The said taller teenage boy looked towards Kang and narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?" the boy said.

Korra and the stocky boy looked back to see Kang who had his arms crossed and smirking towards Korra.

"Took you long enough to actually escape," Kang said.

"Wait, what?" Korra was confused.

"Oh please," Kang said, "I have countlessly escaped from a heavily guarded place before as well. The White Lotus suck at their job."

"So you're not going to tell your Dad?" Korra asked.

Kang started to scoff as if it was a stupid question.

"It's not my job to watch you," Kang said, "so why should I?"

"Uhhh," the bulky teen said, "who is that?"

"Oh right," Korra said, "Kang meet the Fire Ferrets. Next to me is Bolin and the one sitting on the stairs is Mako. Mako, Bolin meet Kang Beifong."

"Wait, he's Kang Beifong?" Bolin asked.

"Wait, how do you know him?" Korra asked.

"He was caught participating in an illegal fight club and got arrested for it," Mako said, glaring at Kang.

"And his Grandma Toph was my hero," Bolin said.

Kang chuckled as he walked towards Korra and Bolin, "So what are you two doing?"

"Bolin was just showing some new stuff," Korra said. Kang nodded as he went towards the net and looked at the disks. He picked one up and spun it with one finger, he then tossed it and let it flip and soon caught it. He looked at Korra and threw it at her with fast speed. She caught it and saw Kang who was in a southpaw boxing stance.

"Throw the disks at me," Kang said, "I want to show you how I move."

Korra shrugged as she threw two disks at the same time. Kang smirked and simply weaved between the two. Korra soon started to throw four at once and it led to Kang doing a corkscrew flip dodging all of them with precision, but little did she know that Kang caught one of them and threw it back at Korra who stopped it. Bolin, Korra, and even Mako who had his eyes slightly wide were shocked to witness what Kang did. He managed to redirect the projectile towards the sender and it has never been done before.

"How are you able to do that?!" Bolin asked with amazement in his voice.

"Months of excruciating training in redirecting many projectiles starting from small rocks from Earthbenders to sharp metal shards from Metalbenders, shurikens, and kunais," Kang said, "you name it."

Korra and Bolin nodded with amazement as Mako simply stood up.

"Well, I'm going to turn in," Mako said, "good night Bo."

Bolin waved to his older brother as Korra asked, "You guys live here.?

Bolin nodded, "Mhm," he said, "in the attic. It's nothin' fancy, but we have some good views."

"Oh I bet," Kang said, "hey, Korra, we should head back."

"Oh right," Korra said, realizing that it was getting late, "I have to get back, see you around Bolin."

"Yeah," Bolin said, waving at the duo as they started to go back to the Air Temple Island.

———

In the morning, Kang decided to watch Korra go through the gates and saying that her performance was poor was an understatement, it was downright horrendous. Kang had a look of disgust as he saw Korra's abhorrent showing at passing the gates.

"Patience, Korra!" Tenzin called and just as he said that, Kang noticed that Korra was about to do something she was going to regret so he dashed towards her faster than a blinking eye and used a chi-blocking technique to stop her from what seemed like Firebending. Korra at that moment started to go limp as Kang caught her.

"What did you do to me?" Korra said.

"Stopped you from making a mistake," Kang said as he threw her over his shoulder, leading to accidentally being a little too rough as her arms were flailing around.

"Hey," Korra said, "can you be a bit more gentle."

"Nope," Kang said as he walked off. Meanwhile, Tenzin was just simply stunned at his oldest son's speed, he wasn't able to react and see what he was doing as it was all just a blur. As for the Chi-blocking, he knew it was a very different version than the ones known in the whole world. Though at the moment, he was thankful that an ancient training tool wasn't burned by some angry teenager for an Avatar.

———

The sun had just set on Air Temple Island. It was getting later in the fall, so the temperatures were getting lower and lower each night. Tenzin and his family were wearing their heavier, long-sleeved garbs as a way to stay warm before they would eventually be forced to use their gas heaters later in the season. Ikki and Meelo were fidgeting around in their seats as they waited for the food to arrive. Jinora meanwhile was reading from a small red-covered book. He and most of his children with the exception of his eldest son were sitting around the dinner table as his wife brought them their meals. Well... at least most of his children were.

"Okay, everyone here?" Pema asked, looking around as she brought in a tray with bowls of soup and a large plate of salad. "Wait, where're Korra and Kang?"

"All I know is that Kang is with Asami," Tenzin said, "Honestly, Pema, I'm at my wits end with that girl!" Tenzin groaned as he put an elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand. "I don't know how to get through to her," he brought his fist down on the table in frustration.

"Dear," Pema reassured her husband, rubbing his shoulder with her free hand. "Granted that Korra may be the Avatar , but she's still a girl. The best thing you can do right now is just give her some space," she sagely advised.

Tenzin smiled warmly at his wife's comforting words. He then turned his determined gaze to his children sitting across the table. "You must promise me that your teenage years won't be like this," he intoned.

Ikki and Meelo merely looked on in confusion as they failed to properly understand what the adults were talking about. Jinora, however, merely looked over the top edge of her text and boredly stated, "I will make no such promises," before turning her attention back to her reading.

———

Kang and Asami were in formal attire as they have decided to have dinner at Kwong's again, but without Jinora this time which meant that the ex-couple were able to talk about anything they wanted.

"I missed this," Asami said.

Kang chuckled, "I know right? We would always go here once every month, we would also see Tanho and his crew. He would catcall you all the time."

Asami giggled at the memory, "Yeah and I would always have to hold your arm and he would think we were dating."

"We did at one point," Kang said with a smile.

Asami smiled and nodded at what Kang mentioned, "We did, though I never knew what made us move one."

"Maybe it's due to the fact that I was just really far away and wasn't going to come back for quite some time," Kang said.

Asami giggled again, "Perhaps..."

"So, have you tried finding anyone yet?" Kang asked.

"No," Asami said, "I haven't. What about you?"

"Same here," Kang said.

"What about Korra?" Asami said, "You live with her and your Dad is training her, right?"

Kang shook his head and waved his hand, "No, she isn't my type really. She's too stubborn and brash."

"Reminds me of someone," Asami said with a raised eyebrow to Kang. He gave her an unamused look, "She's too much to handle," he said.

"Oh and your brother and sister are not?" Asami asked.

"Ikki and Meelo are just kids, Korra is a raging hormonal teenager," he said with annoyance, "she almost destroyed the gates and I had to stop her with Chi-Blocking."

"Did you now?" Asami giggled as the two kept talking after dinner.

———

Tenzin was looking out to the statue of Aang as he was thinking about Korra joining the Fire Ferrets and the way she moved until a voice called out for him.

"Figured I'd see you here."

Tenzin looked back and saw Kang who was walking towards him.

"You just came back," Tenzin asked.

Kang nodded and looked at the statue of his grandfather while standing next to his father.

"I've been thinking a lot lately," Kang said.

"About what?" Tenzin asked as he looked at his older son.

"About everything, my life I have been living, the choices I made, the consequences that came with it, all of it," Kang said, "I have always blamed myself for my biggest personal problem which was being a Nonbender. And in doing so, I rebelled doing a lot of heinous things like extortion, delinquency, and was involved in other legitimate criminal activities, all just because I was a Nonbender."

"What are you trying to say?" Tenzin said.

"What I'm trying to say is that," Kang bowed down and kept bowing as he said, "I'm sorry for being selfish, Dad."

Tenzin's eyes widened as he heard his oldest son call him Dad. This made him sad as he didn't know how much his son was drowning himself in this self-hate. Tenzin simply put an arm around his son and gave him a hug.

"I forgave you for your troubles a long time ago," Tenzin said, while hugging his son, "it's time you forgive yourself."

He didn't feel anything until he felt his son's back twitch and soon the instant return for the hug, but a stronger one.

Tenzin's eyes softened as he simply just patted his son's back, letting his son cry for all the terrible things he had done towards his family.

———

A/N: So a background on Kang's past, he is a nonbender which led to him blaming himself. In doing so, he went down a wrong path. He got involved in crime and in doing so when he got caught (He was much worse than Suyin when she was a kid). He was disappointed in himself which led to him joining the United Forces as a way to try to redeem himself, but due to it not being for him, he left and as he said earlier joined this group called the Hidden Ones.

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