Ok so the backstory goes like this:
Jesa and Hark realize that Kyoshi is the Avatar, and, at first, they think about abandoning her to be found by the sages, like they did in canon. They were about to? truly. Thing is, before they could, they find out that the Gravedigger and the Living Typhoon would be responsible for raising the new Avatar. And they were... not ok with that. Jesa had originally been the one who proposed dropping Kyoshi off - some remnant of her Air Nomad origins pulling through, reminding her of how unworthy she was to raise the Avatar, how incapable of it. But even in her worst days, she had never slaughtered people the way Jianzhu and Kelsang did.
So, they kept Kyoshi. They returned to the rest of the group, agreeing to keep their daughter's identity secret as much as possible. They would prepare Kyoshi for her destiny, and they would, as was the custom, let her go after her 16th birthday to do her duty to the world. And in the meantime, Jesa had a new mission: to turn the Flying Opera Company into a group that would help her daughter in her work. Spies and helpers and warriors of Kyoshi (hah).
Of course, things don't go exactly according to plan. It starts with Hark dying from a sickness, and Jesa almost dying from the same one - it is Kyoshi who saves her, her grief unlocking the Avatar State and decimating their base in Chameleon Bay even as she drew water to cure her mother's illness. Then, they are unable to find a firebending teacher for her. Oh, there were firebender daofei alright, but none that Jesa would trust with Kyoshi.
Then Kyoshi's 16th birthday rolls around, and they're no closer to finding one. They do find out, however, that Xu Ping An is still alive, and Jesa knows, as well as she knows the tenants she's forgone, that Kyoshi's time with them is over. They try to find out whatever they can about his location, unsuccessfully. Every lead they have leads in one direction: Tagaka.
So, they meet with Tagaka, and they come to an agreement: The Flying Opera Company would offer their services during a negotiation deal, and, in exchange, Tagaka will tell them everything she knows about Xu Ping An's fate. What Tagaka hadn't told them, however, was who she would be negotiating with: "Avatar" Yun and his companions, the Gravedigger, the Living Typhoon, and the murderous headmistress of the Fire Nation Academy.
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