Having pushed Kyoshi back, I followed up, maximizing my advantage over her and forcing her onto the defensive as she showed signs of struggle, though a small wave of flames interrupted my flow, giving her a moment to strike back, which I evaded before raising my arm, blocking Roku's fist.
"Even against a woman, you don't hold back." Following up, Roku knocked my hand away and kicked, a small flame following his foot, while I thrust my palm forward, stopping his attack with one of my own as a gust of wind snuffed his flames. Thrusting my other palm at his chest, he crossed his arms, but the air still forced him back a few steps.
While looking at Roku, I saw a rock flying at me from the corner of my eye, causing me to cross my arms and leap backward; I further offset the force of the impact by doing a backflip before landing, though my arms still stung. Eyeing Kyoshi, I lowered my arms and dashed at her, bursts of compressed vortexes under my feet increasing my speed as I neared her quickly.
Meeting her fist with a palm, she pressed her lead, attacking with punches and kicks; it wasn't noticeable from her bending, but it was apparent she's learned martial arts. Still, just because she knew martial arts, that didn't mean she held the advantage, I met everyone of her attacks. I blocked her kicks, redirected her punches, interrupted her flow, and even forced her off-balance; I quickly gained the advantage once more.
It only began to even out when she covered her limbs in a sort of rock armor, forcing me to either redirect her attacks or evade them entirely; any attempts at blocking would earn me a fractured bone, and that's if I were lucky. However, for someone like me, dodging was even easier than blocking; it was in my nature as an Air Nomad, we moved like the air, unhindered by anything.
Digging my palm into Kyoshi's chest, forcing her back, Roku quickly joined, attacking me beside Kyoshi, who was regaining her bearings; if Kyoshi's movements were centered around strength, Roku's were like a dance, moving gracefully with uninterrupted flow. Even when I blocked or redirected his attacks, he'd still manage to retain his flow, which I found more challenging to handle than Kyoshi, though I could afford taking hits from Roku.
With Kyoshi joining Roku, the difficulty sharply spiked as I was forced to deal with both of them in close quarters; Kyoshi's limbs were covered in stone and Roku's movements would be followed up by a flames, making it where I was required to use my own bending to keep the stalemate.
As I kicked Kyoshi's arm to the right, Roku's fist connected with my chest, causing me to wince slightly while I pushed off the ground, spinning horizontally as I kicked Kyoshi from above, forcing her to raise her arms, blocking my leg. Pushing off her, I landed on the ground behind them and kicked her back, causing her to sommersault forward while Roku pressed me, though I slipped through his attacks and hit his stomach, followed by hitting my palm against his chin, snapping his head upwards.
Just as I was about to hit him with my third attack, I a massive boulder was flung right at me, causing me to click my tongue, though before I could move, the boulder suddenly shattered, exploding into pieces as a stream of water was seen to held within the center. However, what occurred next confused me as the water flew surged towards me, forming a sphere as I was lifted into the air.
Looking to my left, I glanced at Korra, who lifted me into the air in confusion. "Korra, what are you doing?" Even then I was inside a water sphere, with sound bending, my voice was still clearly heard. However, before, I got a response, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, causing my vision to swim as my consciousness blurred in and out before I finally succumbed.
'K-Korra?'
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3rd POV
With a deep sigh, Kyoshi exited the water sphere, having knocked Aang unconscious with a sneak attack when his guard was briefly lowered. "Aang!" While Korra ran towards Aang, worried for his health, Roku plopped onto the ground, catching his breathe while wiping beads of sweat.
"Whew, that was a workout." Scratching his head, Roku looked at Aang, who was resting atop Korra's lap while she tended to the injury on his head. "W-What was that for Kyoshi!? You could've seriously hurt him!" Biting her lip, Korra glared at Kyoshi, who stood opposite of her. "I wasn't going to give up the chance that presented itself." Without an ounce of regret Kyoshi looked at Korra before glancing at Aang, who laid peacefully on his lovers lap.
Korra's expression was stern as she looked away, shifting her focus back to healing Aang, which didn't take long, as after five minutes the bleeding had stopped. "I'm taking him back to his room." Softly grunting, Korra hoisted Aang into her arms; glancing at the two other Avatars, she walked past them, heading to Jathr.
As Roku and Kyoshi watched them leave, the latter finally sat down while heaving a deep breathing. "Even with both of us, that was too difficult… You should've stopped holding back, Kyoshi." Slightly frustrated, Roku leans back and glances at Kyoshi, raised an eyebrow as she rolled onto her side, looking at him. "What?" "If you didn't hold back we wouldn't have wasted so much time; with the two of us, we would've brought him down much quicker."
"Under what reason do you believe I was holding back?" Confused at Kyoshi's words, Roku looks at her solemn expression, his eyes slightly widening in understanding. "Y-You weren't holding back?" As Kyoshi shook her head, Roku laid against the ground, staring at the somewhat cloudy sky in sheer confusion.
"That doesn't make sense. You've sparred with Aang countless times, I've personally seen it and it always ends in a draw." Rubbing his cheek, Roku glances at Kyoshi, unable to fully accept her claim, though she just shakes her head. "Why do you assume Aang was never holding back then?" Her question freezes Roku as he opens his mouth, trying to argue back, but he's unable to as she was entirely right.
"Maybe in the beginning we were equals, but over the years he's surpassed me." Sitting upright, Kyoshi unbuttons her upper garnments and opens them, revealing her torso; her upper torso, her chest, was covered in bandages, but her stomach had several bruises, a few of them were even deep purple. "Do you think I'd willingly suffer these injuries if I could prevent it?"
Roku was stunned into silence as those injuries were a dead giveaway; no one would willingly suffer such injuries unless they were messed-up in the head. "I guess even among Avatars there is a difference to talent." Muttering under his breath, Roku sat upright while scratching his head, only to sigh and stand up.
"So, what do we do about Aang? He'll wake up and he won't be happy." Grabbing Roku's outstretched hand, he helped Kyoshi onto her feet while she buttoned her shirt. "We talk to him." "Talk? That didn't go so well the first time." "Well, do you wish to fight him again." "... I suppose nothing bad can happen if we try to talk to him."
While Roku and and Kyoshi started walking towards Jathr, Korra was already on her way to the top, using a sphere of water to lift themselves rather than taking the numerous flight of stairs. Once they reached the correct branch, Korra landed and dispelled the spherical water, she then used her bending to dry both of them, pulling the water from their clothes and off their body.
Walking along the branch, Korra enters Jathr, heading further down the halls before she arrives at the door to her room; entering, she closed the door and set Aang down on her bed. Sitting beside him, she turned his head and controlled the water from a nearby cup to envelop her hands before she placed them against the back of his head, causing the water to faintly glow.
As Korra continued her healing of Aang, over an hour passes as she alternates between breaks and tending to him before starts coming too.
Softly groaning, his eyelids flutter open, only for him to turn and glance at Korra a few moments later. "Korra." "How do you feel, Aang?" Leaning forward, Korra observed Aang, who rubbed the back of his head, wincing slightly. "Fine, but it stings." A brief moment of silence envelops the two of them, though Aang breaks it.
"Why Korra? Why did you stop me? You. You know what it means to defeat Father Glowworm." With eyes full of hurt, Aang looks at Korra, who averted her gaze, unable meet his own while she bit her lip, unsure how to respond.