"I practiced some. I can keep it narrower, but not all the way," Beila reports. And she turns so she isn't facing him and shows the improved fire punch.

Beila tightens her grip on her air to force herself centered, and retries her kick.

Jun watches thoughtfully. "Better," he says. "Something's off, though."

"What is it?"

"Not sure yet. Show me the whole sequence again?"

Beila starts over.

As requested.

"Okay," he says, "now that I'm looking closely - it seems like there are problems with your form that I can't see, but the element can still feel. Now there's a riddle."

"...Maybe because I'm supporting the movement with airbending?"

"That... is probably it," says Jun. "Well, that's going to be interesting to deal with."

"In the spirit world I can't airbend at all and if I want to go anywhere under my own power there it involves crawling, or sitting and scooting, I'm afraid it's not really optional."

He shrugs. "After you almost set yourself on fire with it, I pretty much assumed that if stopping was an option you'd have tried it already. We'll handle it."

"I guess fire reacts more to formal precision than the other three do? I didn't have this come up at all with Shifu Hayaka or Shifu Riko. Let alone when I was learning serious airbending in the first place."

"Or it could be that there's not much of a difference in the element, but I'm way more of a hardass about it than your previous teachers," he offers as a competing theory.

"Also possible. Okay. Do you know how we'll handle it?"

"Not yet. It might just be that you'll need a lot more practice than I was expecting."

"Okay. I can practice."

"Practice away."

Beila repeats the sequence, five times in a row, before stopping to glance at Jun for note.

"Can you feel at all how - wobbly you are?" he inquires.

"I can feel how much wind I need - if I pay more attention than usual, which means less attention left for the fire. I'm pretty subconscious with the motion-assisting airbending by now."

"Hmm. Then for now, I think, focus on the fire as much as you can."

Beila nods, and she does another set of five.

Even though correcting her form is not going to be as useful as he'd hoped, it's still worth doing. So he lets her know where she needs a touch-up, and he demonstrates everything again to show her what it looks like done perfectly.

"I think I can survive being pestered by nuns," laughs Jun. "Did they have particular complaints, or were they just annoyed that you didn't ask them first?"

"They also think you have a reputation for lewd behavior, apparently."

"Yep," says Jun.

"There doesn't seem to be a consensus that I'm likely to find that relevant, but they are concerned about the effect on the media. But," she shrugs, "I'm used to the media being stupid. They may also pester you, though. Shifu Riko's strategy involved standing very still, staring into space, whenever questioned by a reporter."

"The media has been known to pester me even when I'm not teaching firebending to the Avatar. I'll live," Jun says serenely.

After his show, some media hangs around to pester him.

He makes his smiling, friendly way through all the fans who stayed to chat with him, and then turns that same friendly smile on the obvious reporter.

"Hello!" says the obvious reporter, who is both obvious and a reporter. "Rumor has it you've taken on a new student. How is that going?"

"Rumour works fast," he observes.

"It sure does! What can you tell me about your new student?"

"What if I don't want to talk about my new student?" he asks, smiling some more.

"Oh, come now, I'm sure you must have something to say about her. Is she going to be studying with you for the foreseeable future? How is her progress?"

"She's going to be studying with me as long as she wants to be," he says, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Is that all? I'm a busy man."

"I'm sure you have a few minutes. Are you and your new student getting along? She's moved on to her last element very quickly; do you think she's ready for it?"

"But what if there's something else I'd rather do with my few minutes?"

"I won't take much of your time. Isn't there anything you can tell me?"

"That shirt looks terrible on you. You should wear warmer colours."

The reporter glances at his sleeve. "About your student," he clarifies.

He shrugs eloquently.

"What sort of teaching style are you employing?" the reporter tries.

"You're not a firebender, so it's hardly going to matter to you, is it?"

"Just out of curiosity."

He shrugs again.

"Are you planning to teach her to use lightning?"

"You know, if you insist on talking to me, I really think we could find a much more interesting way to pass the time," says Jun.

"What did you have in mind?" asks the reporter obliviously.

He laughs and shakes his head.

"Is there something you're reluctant to share about the details of your relationship with your new student?" asks the reporter.

"Why, whatever could you mean by that?" he asks innocently.

"It's not unheard of for students and teachers - especially Avatars and teachers, like your new student's ancestor - to develop closer associations," insinuates the reporter. "Given your own reputation, it's natural to wonder if something like that might be developing here."

"Oh," says Jun, with a flirtatious smile, "so this is about my reputation? Well, why didn't you say so?"

"...It does have people wondering, yes, care to shed any light on its relevance?"

"By people," he inquires, "do you mean, specifically, you?"

"On behalf of readers and listeners everywhere, yes."

"But readers and listeners everywhere aren't the ones who are currently staying late after my show to ask me personal questions," says Jun. "So - given my reputation - I have to wonder if there isn't a little more to it. Hmm?"

The reporter blinks. "I'm just looking for a little information on how things are going with your student," he says.

"Sure you are."

"Really," says the reporter. "What can you tell me about that?"

"I'm not sleeping with her. I'll sleep with you, if you want."

The reporter takes a step back. "...No thank you. What are you doing with her, tell me something about the lessons...?"

He shrugs. "Well, if that's not what you're here for, I don't know why I'm wasting my time talking to you," he says, and turns back toward the stage door.

"Please, just - a quote or something -" says the reporter, stepping forward again.

"Shush," he says, making a little shooing motion with one hand as he ascends the few steps.

"Please."

"Nope," he says sunnily, and disappears through the door.