Maintaining the Balance: Ch. 13 (Patreon)

"We believe it's in Korra's best interest if you came and stayed in Republic City."

Though he had been expecting something like this, Kahn couldn't help furrowing his brows ever so slightly in response to Tenzin's words, asking, "How so...?" in a flat, almost threatening tone.

Feeling the hairs of his beard bristle, Tenzin forced a smile as he combed through it with his right hand and stated, "While your presence has been a positive influence on Korra, she needs time away from you to develop her independence. You have said, time and again, that your purpose here is to support and protect her. At this rate, it is only a matter of time before she develops a dependence on you. If you genuinely wish for Korra to be free, you need to give her some space."

"..."

Looking away from Tenzin, Kahn met the gazes of everyone present in the room. Katara, Kya, and Toph were there, but it was the gaze of Senna that Kahn most focused on, asking, "What do you think?"

Though she had gradually come to accept Kahn, Senna couldn't prevent a wry smile from developing across her face as she answered, "I appreciate everything you've done for my daughter, Kahn. I really do. However, Korra needs to learn how to interact with and socialize with other people. Other children. There needs to be more to her life than her constant struggles to try and overcome you..."

Supporting Senna's argument, Katara explained, "Korra is far beyond the level we expected at her current age. Since many of her duties as Avatar revolve around interacting with and helping others, we have decided to let her attend a nearby non-bending academy to gain a bit of perspective on what it's like to be a non-bender. If things continue as they are, you would remain Korra's one and only friend until you're both young adults..."

Narrowing his eyes, Kahn effectively detailed the conversation by stating, "The Order of the White Lotus sponsors orphanages throughout the Four Nations to rear loyal Sentries. If Korra having children her age to play with was ever a concern, they could have imported hundreds to raise and train alongside her."

Adopting a rare frown, Katara stated, "While it is true that the Order has built numerous orphanages, they are not nearly as malicious as you make them sound. We would never force hundreds of children to migrate to the South Pole just to provide Korra with playmates."

Shaking his head, Kahn refused to comment further. He didn't care how the Order of the White Lotus procured new Sentries. His only goals thus far were protecting Korra and opening up a restaurant that specialized in preparing dishes using ingredients from the Spirit World. The food in the Actualized World of Avatar wasn't bad, but Kahn couldn't help feeling as though it could be better. Once the Harmonic Convergence occurred, he would have access to all kinds of ingredients that could cure illnesses and even extend a person's lifespan by several decades. It would take some time, but he intended to completely revolutionize and rebuild the culinary arts from the ground up.

"It doesn't matter. Even if you use logic and reasoning to try and convince me, the only person who can get me to leave is Korra. You may think you know best, but that's just arrogance. I was created by a being that could erase this world from existence with a thought. He even provided me with knowledge of the future, yet, even with it, I can't say for sure what's best for Korra. All I know for certain is that I want to protect her smile. Tell me, what kind of expression do you think she would make if I suddenly up and left? For some strange reason, I don't think it would be a smile."

Though his expression remained neutral, everyone present could tell Kahn was angry. He was, very clearly, not pleased with them.

"Kahn..."

Exhaling a sigh, Katara promptly decided against trying to convince him and instead turned to Senna, asking, "Can you go and get Korra? While I support our original decision, I can't help seeing things from Kahn's point of view. Even if our intentions are pure, we shouldn't be making decisions about Korra's life without her being present. She may only be nine years old, but she is the Avatar."

Nodding her head, Senna promptly departed the room to go and retrieve Korra. As for everyone else, they were forced to stand around and endure the rather tense atmosphere. Kahn was also only nine years old, but the aura he exuded when angry left them feeling as though they were locked in a cage with an apex predator.

In an attempt to reduce tensions, though it certainly didn't seem like it, Toph crossed her arms and remarked, "You're even more of a blockhead than Rokr, and he turned into a statue. It's not like we were asking you to separate and never meet again. If anything, you traveling to Republic City would have spurred Korra to train harder. You need to stop babying her so much."

"..."

Though Toph was blind, Kahn found himself averting his eyes from her gaze, repeating, "It doesn't matter...even if I were to accept your logic, it wouldn't change the fact that I would be doing something to harm Korra. Unless she is okay with us being separated, I have no intention of going anywhere..."

Rolling her eyes, Toph didn't hesitate to retort, "Yeah, yeah, we get it. You care about your beloved Korra. Man, you two aren't even married yet, and you're already whipped worse than a Goat Dog raised in captivity..."

"..."

Refusing to dignify Toph's words with a response, Kahn sat on the ground and decided to meditate until Korra's arrival. This action nearly resulted in Toph forcing him to stand with a blunted earth spike, but she managed to resist the urge thanks to a nudge and a shake of the head from Katara...

...

..

.

"Korra...Korra...wake up, sweetheart..."

Hearing her mother's voice, Korra awoke to find its owner staring at her with a concerned expression on her face.

"Mom...? Did something happen...?"

Rising to a seated position, Korra did her best to force herself awake until Senna caressed her head, saying, "Nothing like that...I just wanted to ask you something..." in a soothing tone.

Tilting her head to the side, Korra resisted the temptation to rub the sleep from her eyes as she asked, "What is it?"

Sweeping away a few stray hairs from Korra's face, Senna forced a smile as she asked, "What do you think of Kahn?"

Though she was a little confused by the sudden question, Korra didn't need to think about her response before answering, "He's a smelly, know-it-all jerk, but *yaaaaawn~* but I really like him. He's my best friend. And one of these days, I'm going to...going to...beat him..."

Dozing off towards the end of her statement, Korra nestled against her mother with a contented smile on her face. She felt that her mother was behaving strangely, but after a long day of playing and celebration, she was too tired to care about the reason.

Exhaling a sigh, Senna gently caressed her daughter's head before lying her back down. She didn't have the heart to wake her a second time, so, after watching her daughter sleep for a few minutes, she got up to inform the others they would talk first thing in the morning.

What Senna didn't know was that Kahn's Astral Form had been watching the interaction between her and Korra. He typically only used said form to spy on the Order of the White Lotus or search outside the compound, but, fearing Senna might try and manipulate Korra into chasing him away, Kahn went against his own rules and decided to listen in on their conversation.

Feeling a little guilty, Kahn lowered his head in shame before preparing to return to his body. Before he could, he noticed the figure of Senna frozen at the entrance of Korra's room, seemingly frozen in time.

"Wha-"

Interrupting Kahn's reflective remark, a hand plopped down on his head as the voice of a man teased, "You're a lot more uptight than I expected. Loosen up a little. Learn to relax and enjoy life."

Jerking his head away from the hand, Kahn turned around, an expression of shock coloring his face as he found the man that had created him, Vahn Aldrnari Mason, standing less than a meter away.

Though he was capable of changing his shape and size, the current Vahn was around 190cm tall with a head of wild brown hair, glowing aquamarine eyes, tanned skin, and handsome features that would make most women, even Goddesses, gawk like a young maiden before their idol. Kahn would never describe the man as perfect, but it was remarkably difficult to find so much as a single flaw in Vahn's appearance or demeanor.

Amused by Kahn's reaction, a resonating chuckle emanated from Vahn's throat as he pulled out a brilliant, rainbow-hued crystal and explained, "I may have been a little hasty while designing your Template. It was never my intention to make you a tagalong or selfless guardian for Korra. I just wanted you to keep her safe and prevent the White Lotus from grooming her into a convenient tool."

Tossing the crystal over to Kahn, Vahn's figure began to blur along the edges as he added, "That's a baby version of Rindo's Ultimate Culinary God System. The genuine article would be a little too overpowered, so I removed the Quest Function and modified it so that its primary purpose is to process and store ingredients. You can think of it as a sort of Inventory with extra benefits."

Staring between his Creator and the gently pulsating crystal in his hands, Kahn was a genuine loss for words. Unfortunately, Vahn didn't appear to have the intention of waiting around. Instead, half his figure disappeared into the void as he said, "I removed the parameter that compelled you to behave a certain way. With the amount of time you've spent in the Spirit World, I doubt you'll have any substantial issues. Still, you should expect to experience some puberty-like mood swings until your body and mind reharmonize. Try not to be so edgy in the future, okay?"

Finished with what he had to say, Vahn waved his hand before promptly disappearing into the void. He usually wouldn't interfere like this, but he couldn't just ignore Kahn after seeing how standoffish the young Avatar was becoming. After all, it was more than a little his fault. Loi-chan may have distracted him, but that wasn't a valid excuse. He should have paid more attention when he was preparing Kahn's Template.

Fortunately, the Actualized Worlds were essentially just fiction from the perspective of Vahn and anyone viewing them from the outside. He had seen the person Kahn would become and taken action to prevent it. Now, so long as no unexpected changes occurred, he would be a heck of a lot happier than the Dark Avatar that had shoe-horned himself into being the counterbalance of the Light...

Unaware of the radical changes Vahn had made during his relatively short stay, Kahn just stood in silence for several minutes before exhaling a sigh and implanting the pulsating crystal into his chest. A sensation similar to sinking into a warm bath enveloped his body as a soft, almost mechanical whirring sound began to emanate from the back of his mind. Kahn tried to focus on it, but a gentle, soothing, and distinctly feminine voice disrupted his thoughts, asking, "Oh my, you're a little cutie, aren't you~?" in a mischievous, almost feline-sounding tone.