Chapter 115
Yuki. Northern Water Tribe. Chief's Personal Training Hall.
Just recently, a couple of days ago, right before the upcoming Solstice Day, I recalled a long-forgotten waterbending technique. It's related to healing, but on a more spiritual level. I'm talking about the ability to transform energy from negative to positive, and vice versa. Unalaq first demonstrated it when he saved Avatar Korra from a dark spirit.
As far as I remember, you need to surround the spirit with water ribbons, which must then be infused with either positive or negative energy. After scouring the Wan Shi Tong Library from cover to cover, I realized that Unalaq himself, Korra's uncle, was likely the creator of this technique. There wasn't a single mention of anything similar... Plus, Wan Shi Tong's reaction showed he'd never heard of it, but he was very interested in my discovery.
After all, the number of light spirits infected by Vaatu's energy only grows over time. This technique could finally help us even the odds, if only slightly.
The Spirit of Knowledge admitted that the rigid thinking of old people pales in comparison to that of ancient spirits. Some of them simply don't recognize or see the threat looming over the world. I myself noticed that lately, I hadn't seen him in the Library as often. Now it's clear what he's been up to... He's trying to reach out to his colleagues.
In the days left before my transition to the Spirit World, I tried to master the technique so I wouldn't have to figure it out on the spot. Creating water ribbons was easy, but how do you turn them gold? How do you infuse water with positive energy? It can't be something unique if it's a technique that can be taught...
It's a shame I only watched *The Legend of Korra* once, and even then, I often skipped what I thought were boring and predictable moments. Now, of course, I regret it. Maybe somewhere in the show, Unalaq explained the theoretical basis for mastering the technique to his niece...
But if we think logically... Unalaq could both heal spirits and, conversely, transform energy into negative, turning spirits dark again. It seems that applying negative energy transformation to humans could destroy their souls. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, since he never saw it through to the end. But it's unlikely anything good would come of it.
All this suggests that both light and dark coexist within a person. And if we take this idea further, positive energy is our positive emotions—love, trust, gratitude, joy, and so on.
"Attempt number one," I thought, focusing on my loved ones. My body seemed to fill with warmth from the emotions I felt. Then I tried to channel that "warmth" into the water ribbons. It felt like I was on the right track, but something was missing.
Hmm, only waterbenders who specialize in healing could use this technique. And I doubt the word "healing" is in the name by accident. So, life energy must be involved—the same energy healers use in small doses. In the next attempts, I adjusted the optimal dose of life energy until the ribbons began to turn a sunny yellow. Around the twelfth try, progress was made—the first few meters of the ribbons turned gold, but then they stopped.