Disha

"Our breath gives life to our words as much as our actions. Let both matter."

— Disha's advice to Roku.[1]

Disha was a nun and airbending master from the Eastern Air Temple. She was the last airbending companion of Avatar Kyoshi and became the airbending instructor of Avatar Roku when he was in the process of mastering the four elements.^[2]

History

Serving Avatar Kyoshi

Disha was the last Air Nomad companion of Avatar Kyoshi as she neared the end of her life. They were companions for over 20 years; during that time, the Air Nomad observed how Kyoshi became more and more willing to take the lives of her enemies for the sake of justice and peace.

Two years before Kyoshi's death, she and Disha faced off with a daofei leader who sought revenge on Kyoshi for her killing of his father many years ago, to the point that he and his gang had committed atrocities for the sole purpose of getting her attention and giving him an opportunity to fight her. Kyoshi killed the daofei leader, after which Disha pointed out that that he had become a foe because of her past actions; she questioned how many other threats and conflicts they had needed to deal with were the same, before expressing concern for what Kyoshi would turn into should she have lived for another century. The Avatar was displeased by Disha's criticism, prompting the Air Nomad to leave her side and share her concerns with the Council of Elders; the Air Nomads subsequently became unwilling to aid Kyoshi any further.

Training Avatar Roku

By the 16th year of the era of Avatar Roku, Disha had a flying bison named Amra. After Roku was identified as Kyoshi's successor, Disha was selected to serve as his airbending instructor. She and Amra briefly visited the Fire Nation Royal Palace to take Roku to the Southern Air Temple, in order to begin his Avatar training. While in the Fire Nation, Disha attended a ceremony in which Roku said farewells to his fellow Fire Nationals; when he did so with Fire Lord Taiso, she showed a brief look of annoyance when Roku bowed first, rather than waiting for the Fire Lord to do the same.^[2]

While training Roku, Disha also took a special interest in supporting Gyatso, a young monk from the temple who struggled with his airbending following the death of his sister Yama.^[1]

Disha noted that Roku saw himself as a Fire National foremost, and believed he would not be able to see himself as an Avatar until he broke from this habit.^[3] She insisted that he not be allowed to use the room in the temple that was traditionally reserved for the Avatar,^[1] and for the first few weeks after his arrival there, she refused to teach him any airbending, instead taking him on various relief missions and having him learn to how to mend, repair, cook, clean and distribute supplies. During one such trip to an Earth Kingdom village that had been struck by a typhoon, Roku questioned why the villagers did not simply leave, to which Disha explained that many of the younger generation had already done so, and those who remained did not have the means or desire to leave their home. She remarked that after they passed away, the village would likely disappear with them, before telling a dissatisfied Roku that everything was temporary.

At one point, Roku claimed he would be able to do more to help if Disha taught him airbending, to which she replied that one had to learn to let go of the ground in order to fly. She told Roku that his lessons on how to do so had already begun, but Roku dismissed the idea that his relief work counted as such, before claiming that he was not here to be a servant. Disappointed, Disha led Roku through the village to the beach, whereupon the Avatar questioned Disha on why the Air Nomads did not do more to help the people in need. He proposed the establishment of a multinational fund that could be used for disaster relief and the development of struggling villages; Disha expressed interest in the plan, before reminding him of the several official matters that would need to be taken into account for such a venture, before questioning him about who would ultimately make the big decisions. Having not considered such matters, Roku struggled to answer, and Disha told him that he was still thinking like a Fire National instead of an Avatar, hence he was not ready to airbend. She said that if Roku was to be a good Avatar, he needed to see himself as a spirit that belonged to no nation, before assuring him that Fire Avatars traditionally struggled to break their attachment to their country of birth. She advised him that going for a swim in the bay could be part of this process, before proceeding to disrobe and play with a group of children in the water.^[4]

The same evening, Disha encouraged Roku when he was about to give a speech for the villagers by telling him he was the past Avatars and thus their accomplishments were his accomplishments. When the speech went poorly, Roku asked if he could be the kind of Avatar who speaks with his actions instead, but Disha told him that one's words and actions were equally important.

Disha and Roku later returned to the Southern Air Temple with Gyatso and the rest of the Air Nomads. As Gyatso watched the other Air Nomads jump off their bison and use their gliders to fly to the temple with envy, Disha assured him that he would be able to join them again in time. She then landed Amra in one of the temple's courtyards, where Abbot Rabten and another elder monk had gathered to greet them. After Gyatso dismounted and disappeared into the temple once he had bowed to the two senior monks, Disha informed Rabten that there had been no progress made on his recovery. A short while later, Disha wrote a note for Roku that was delivered alongside various messages for him that had arrived at the temple during the relief mission; the note advised him to not read a single piece of correspondence if he wished to learn how to detach himself from the Fire Nation.^[1]

Some time after her and Roku's return to the temple, Disha learned that Ta Min, a friend of Roku's, had come to the temple in the hope of speaking to him. She suggested that Ta Min be turned away, but Roku chose to receive her. Later, while meditating in her favorite spot within the temple's floating garden, Disha found herself eavesdropping on a conversation between Ta Min and Roku, during which Ta Min relayed a request from Prince Sozin for Roku to intervene in a suspected Earth Kingdom occupation of an uncharted island in Fire Nation territory. Roku turned down the request, but persuaded Ta Min to stay at the temple for a few days, and Ta Min departed shortly afterwards.

Once Ta Min was gone, Disha revealed herself to Roku and remarked that Ta Min would make a formidable diplomat one day, before indicating that she had been listening in on the pair. She commended Roku for choosing not to get involved in the territorial dispute Ta Min had spoken of, prompting Roku to ask if he was now ready to learn airbending. Disha answered that he was nearly ready, before reminding Roku that he had spoken as a Fire National in his last assurance to Ta Min, having used the words "our people" and "our land" when speaking of the Fire Nation. The two of them then saw a pie hit a nearby statue, Gyatso having attempted to hit Roku with it. Disha dismissed it as harmless airbending practice when Roku protested, before tasting the pie's remains and calling out to Gyatso that while his aim needed work, his recipe was improving.^[5]

Despite her previous apprehension about Ta Min's presence, Disha would go on to bond with her during her stay, even gifting her a set of Air Nomad robes.^[6] A week after Ta Min's arrival though, she and Roku were attacked by an earthbender who claimed to have been hired to kill Roku by Earth King Jialun. Both of them survived, but Roku took the attack as proof that Jialun was planning something nefarious, and decided to get involved in the dispute Ta Min mentioned. Disha protested Roku's decision, claiming he was not ready to take up the Avatar's role, that he was acting solely out of anger and a desire for revenge, and that him choosing to intervene in a matter involving the Fire Nation whilst unprepared would both complicate the situation and reflect poorly on him as the Avatar. She insisted that Roku continue assisting the Air Nomads in their relief efforts; Roku pretended to agree,^[7] but later snuck out of the temple with Gyatso to travel to the supposed disputed island.^[8]

Physical description

Disha was a short and petite older woman. Unlike most Air Nuns, she chose to keep her head completely bald instead of shaving only the front half.^[4]

Personality

Disha was serious and wise. She spoke calmly and patiently, often kept her hands clasped behind her back, and had long pauses of silence. She was not didactic in her teaching, but rather had Roku learn through experience. She did not actively push back against him when he voiced his Fire Nation-influenced beliefs, but rather came back to him with critical questions to help him understand that the scope of his understanding about the world was still relatively limited. She understood the complexity of various situations, such as how "doing more good" was dependent on one's definition of "good", and all the various official matters that needed to be taken into account if they were to give more aid to people of different nations.^[4]

She believed one needed to "let go of the ground" before they could try flying, refusing to teach Roku airbending before he had developed a more open view of the world and himself.^[4] She believed the Avatar should be a spirit of no nation, to the point she believed it was not their responsibility to get involved with territorial disputes over "illusionary boundaries".^[9] She tried to help Roku understand the troubles and views of the common folk. She taught him to do basic work like cleaning, mending, repairing, and cooking,^[4] and specifically kept him in humble living conditions as part of his training, despite more comfortable conditions being available for the Avatar. In order for him to learn detachment, she advised him to not read letters from his friends and family in the Fire Nation,^[1] and made him clean the temple's crematorium.^[10]

She turned more stern when she believed Roku was acting out of anger and revenge.^[9]

Like other Air Nomads, Sister Disha also had a playful side, laughing when she saw children being chased by turtle ducklings they had previously chased, and when she dove into the water to "save" the children from the turtle ducks.^[4]

Appearances

Chronicles of the Avatar

• The Reckoning of Roku

Trivia

• Disha's sky bison was called Amra.^[4]

Preceded by Kelsang

Avatar's airbending master 66 BG - unknown

Succeeded by Gyatso

References