Opal

"air"

- Lin, your niece is the new airbender! Isn't that amazing?

Opal is the daughter of Suyin Beifong and Baatar, half-niece of Lin Beifong, and granddaughter of Toph Beifong. She was the first new airbender to be instructed by Avatar Korra.

History
Suyin introduced Opal to the Avatar and her friends as her airbending daughter. Opal excitedly greeted Korra, and Bolin introduced himself to her and said her name was beautiful. The young airbender blushed and reintroduced herself. Opal was also introduced to her Aunt Lin and was eager to meet her after hearing her mother's stories about Lin. Her aunt, however, was not interested in getting to know her, instead wanting to leave as soon as possible. While Korra had originally planned to bring Opal to Tenzin at the Northern Air Temple, Suyin instead suggested that Korra train Opal at Zaofu.



Just before dinner, Opal admitted to Korra that she was not good at the art, thus, the Avatar showed her basic movements and stances. The two slowly walked around in a circle and made eased swirls of air around each other. Opal was complimented by Korra, being referred to as a natural, which she thanked her instructor for.

Later, at dinner, Opal was left slightly stunned when Lin claimed that Toph never believed her children to be a blessing. When Bolin stated his enjoyment of their meal, Opal agreed and said she had never had a bad meal in her life, but was told by the earthbender about his and Mako's street life and encounters with disgusting food. Opal apologized for her lack of awareness, but Bolin assured her it was all in the past. The airbender was also impressed by his adventures since, calling his life exciting.



After dinner, Opal began practicing airbending. Bolin approached her in a flirtatious manner, to which she wanted to know why he was acting weird. When he asked the same question, Opal said she did not like how he was talking to her and began to walk away. Bolin quickly jumped in front of her and apologized, saying he got self-conscious when he knew a girl liked him and thus acted stupid. The girl wondered where he got the idea that she liked him, but soon said she was just kidding, before telling him to just be himself. The two gazed at each other before Korra showed up, seeking Opal's help with a matter.

The two girls approached a still-annoyed Lin in her quarters. Opal apologized to Lin for the visit being hard on the metalbender and acknowledged that she had heard many stories about Lin from her mother and even her grandmother, Toph. She admitted that she was sad because Lin did not want to get to know her. Opal continued by saying that her family could be "crazy and overwhelming" at times, but that it would mean a lot to her if her aunt would be a part of it. Lin only told her coldly to get out; Opal quickly expressed remorse again, believing she had said something wrong. After receiving the angered request a second time, Opal ran out of the room in tears.

The next morning, Opal was feeling better following the altercation. When Suyin offered Korra lessons in metalbending, Opal asked Bolin if he wanted learn as well, but Bolin declined in an awkward manner. She later found Bolin attempting to metalbend without being seen. Told that he wanted to learn the sub-art because he was a fan of Toph Beifong, she advised him not to be afraid to seek lessons from her mother. However, when Bolin countered that she too was scared to leave her home for the Northern Air Temple, despite her desire to learn airbending, Opal realized he was right. Calling their talk nice, the young airbender shared a hug with him.



Sometime later, Opal discovered her mother and Lin physically fighting each other, much to her horror. She intervened, halting Lin and Su as they both prepared to hurl objects at one another, and blasted the weapons away. She reprimanded the two for fighting each other and witnessed Lin collapsing. Sixteen hours later, Opal was passing by the dining hall when Lin spotted her, called her in, and apologized for her earlier behavior, explaining that she and Su had a complicated relationship. Opal concluded that being in Zaofu made Lin uncomfortable. When her aunt suggested that she go to the Northern Air Temple, the airbender told Lin that she did not want to disappoint her mother by leaving her home. Lin stated that Opal must make decisions based on what she wanted, not to make someone happy, confessing that she became a police chief to please Toph only to receive the opposite result. Opal later talked to her parents about the matter, and they both agreed to let her move to the temple for her training.

Before Opal left, a dinner was held by Suyin in her honor. The chef made her favorite meal of raw vegetable kale wraps. As Bolin told her he would think of her whenever he saw kale, she called him sweet. Opal also assured him they would be together soon as Team Avatar planned to go to the Northern Air Temple after finding more airbenders. Addressing his fears about the future, she said, until they met again, they would always have kale, and fed the earthbender some of her wrap. Suyin called for a toast and Opal was complemented by her mother as a good daughter, sister, and friend. Her mother also expressed faith in her ability to be a master before kissing her on the side of her forehead. After dinner, she departed on an airship, waving goodbye to her family and friends.

Personality
Opal is genuinely friendly and easygoing, quickly extending a hand of greeting to the members of Team Avatar when they arrived in Zaofu. She also exhibited some shyness to the group, as she blushed and looked down when introducing herself to Bolin. While practicing her airbending after dinner, she joked around with Bolin after the latter attempted to flirt with her, displaying a little bit of her easygoing side. Her easygoing side disguises her passion and discipline in her interests, such as her focus and training in her newly acquired airbending abilities. At the same time she also possesses a strong belief in honesty and in a person simply being themselves.

She also shows a more serious demeanor as when she stopped the fight between Lin and her mother, angrily questioning why they would be fighting after so many years of separation.

Opal also seems curious and interested in the outside world, reveling in Bolin's tales about his days living on the streets of Republic City. Having spent her life within the safe confines of Zafou, she seemed impressed by his adventures, calling his life exciting. She also inherited much of her mother's humanistic way of thinking, encouraging Bolin to pursue training in the art of metalbending, believing in his potential to do so.

Abilities


Despite being a new airbender, Opal seems proficient at the art, able to create eased swirls of air with Korra, causing the latter to refer to her a natural. While practicing after dinner, Opal was able to perform multiple blasts of air and create a powerful air wave by striking the ground. She was even strong enough to break up a duel between her mother and her aunt Lin, two powerful earthbending and metalbending masters, in a single move.

Trivia

 * Opal in the English dictionary is a type of stone, ironically the character named after it is the only one in her metal and earth bending family who could do neither but air bend instead.