A/N: So this is my first foray into the LoK fandom, though I've been writing for ATLA for a while. I caved in and decided to post an LoK fic. Originally, I was going to wait until the series progressed a little further before posting a Korra related fic, but (quite obviously) I didn't do that. :) Most of this is just speculation at what I think happened before the series, leading up to what we saw in the first episode. Just testing the waters, so to speak, with this. ^^ There are some first (possibly second) episode spoilers, but nothing major. Hope it's not too bad. Happy Readings! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.

The Calm Before the Storm

It was still fairly early and fairly cold when a lone figure wandered away from the cluster of houses sprinkled along the frozen tundra, and came to stand along the icy, frozen banks of the Southern Water Tribe. The early morning chill didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. The wind was a gentle breeze that caressed her face and whispered unintelligibly to her, not the usual biting winds that howled and nipped at her skin, chapping at her lips and her hands. The sun was nothing more than a bright, thin, red line that rose over the horizon, pushing slowly past the point where sea and sky met, where water and air met. The figure smiled to herself and absently, as often was the case when she watched the sun rise (or did anything that reminded her of him), her had went to the necklace she wore around her neck. It was like this that the little girl found her, and she stood silently beside her waterbending sifu, watching a lone boat patrol the arctic waters and occasionally sneaking glances at the older woman beside her. Behind them, a tiny bundle of fur, white as snow, sat patiently and eyed the two figures watching the sunrise. It wasn't until the sun was completely up that the little bundle of fur stretched and lazily sauntered over to the pair, wedging her way between the two and giving a soft bark.

"Good to see you too, Naga," the woman chuckled, bending down to scratch the polar bear pup behind her ears. Naga gave the closest thing to a smile and leaned into her touch. Beside her, the little girl giggled.

"Are we going to practice waterbending today, Katara?"

The old woman smiled. "Actually, Korra, I was thinking of taking a break today. You've been training so hard."

Korra pouted. "But I don't wanna take a break. That means I'll have to go back home and do chores. Can't I stay with you, Katara?"

Katara shrugged. "If you want, but I won't be doing anything particularly interesting today. I was actually thinking of doing something different."

Korra cocked her head to the side and regarded the old master with a quizzical expression. "Like what?"

"Oh, nothing terribly exciting. Just visiting a few places, that's all."

"Please, oh please can I come, Katara?"

Katara shrugged again. "If your parents don't mind."

"Oh, they'll let me go," Korra said matter-of-factly, stuffing her tiny gloved hands into her pockets.

Katara just chuckled and gently prodded her in the direction of her home. "Ask them first."

"But I'm the Avatar," Korra pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I should be able to do whatever I want."

"Korra…"

She muttered under her breath and stomped off with Naga in tow.

When she returned, she was holding a chunk of bread in one hand and a package in the other. Taking a bite of bread, and disregarding the crumbs caught in her parka, Korra promptly handed the package to Katara, smiling sweetly.

"Mom says to give this to you," she said, between mouthfuls of bread. "She says today is a special day for you."

"That's very thoughtful of her," Katara murmured, taking the package and smiling down at the little six-year old.

"What day is it today?" Korra demanded, looking up at Katara.

The waterbender gave the tiny Avatar a small smile. "My anniversary."

"Oh."

A deafening silence pervaded the air and Korra scarfed down the last of her bread before turning to Katara.

"So, what are we going to do today?" she wondered, shoving her hands in her pocket again and grinning up at Katara with a smile that reminded Katara of Aang.

Katara laughed as they started walking. "Nothing particularly interesting, like I said."

"Can we go on an adventure?"

"You'll have your own in time."

"But I want one now."

"Well, I can't promise today will be an adventure, but perhaps you'll enjoy it all the same."

Korra beamed and trotted after the old waterbender. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the edge of an ice-bank teeming with penguins. Katara noticed Korra's eyes widen in delight and smiled.

"Penguin!" The young Avatar screamed in delight, rushing to catch one. Just the sight of Korra rushing after the waddling creatures made Katara laugh and she was dimly aware of a few tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Hastily wiping them away, she watched Korra in amusement before showing her just how to catch a penguin as she had shown Aang seventy one years ago.

Clinging to the penguin, Korra looked up at Katara, her bright blue eyes sparkling like sapphires caught in the light and asked her one question.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

For a moment, just a moment, Katara was fourteen again. The war was over and the Southern Water Tribe was celebrating. For a moment, it was Aang, not Korra, who stood before her with a breathtaking smile on his face and his hand outstretched as he asked if she would go penguin sledding with him again. She could practically hear Sokka complaining in the background, and the sound of Appa and Momo playing in the snow. But a soft bark drew her back and it was Korra, not Aang, who was standing before her now. Katara just smiled at the little Avatar.

"Don't you think I'm a little too old to be going penguin sledding?"

Korra shrugged. "I dunno. But when I'm an old lady, I'm gonna go penguin sledding every day."

Instead of pointing out the impracticality of Korra's remark, Katara just laughed and watched as Korra clambered on top of the penguin and took off with Naga chasing them, barking all the while. When the penguin was tired and Korra no longer seemed interested in sledding, Katara led them in the direction of the ocean, but she didn't make it far before something cold was plastered to her back. Behind her, Korra was giggling and her eyes were wide in surprise. Katara shook her head and turned her gaze upwards.

Slacking off already, Aang? She asked, hoping her husband could see her now. And here I thought Avatars imparted their knowledge to their successors. Haven't you learned never to challenge a waterbending master to a snowball fight?

Another snowball hit her and grinning like the little girl she had once been, Katara collected as much snow as she could and flung the compact ball at Korra, knowing full well just what the Avatar would do to it. It wasn't long before Korra evaporated it altogether with firebending and threw one back. And so, for the next few minutes, all plans temporarily abandoned in favor of a snowball fight, sifu and pupil battled it out in a snowball fight, just as Katara and her friends had done decades ago. When they tired of that, Korra flopped back against the snow, giggling.

"Will you teach me how to beat you in a snowball fight?" she demanded, looking at Katara.

"Possibly," was the woman's vague response. Shrugging, Korra got up and trotted after her. Every now and then, she'd look over her shoulder and then at Naga beside her.

"Someone's following us," Korra cried, firebending at something behind a mound of snow. Katara half turned just in time to see a snowball connect with the face of an unsuspecting young man. He spluttered as the ice made contact with his skin, but Korra didn't stop there. She made snowballs as fast as her little, gloved hands would allow and wasted no time in throwing them at the man. After a two minute assault, the poor man was quite cold.

"Yes!" Korra cried, smiling smugly. "The Avatar wins. Take that, you lame bad guy."

"Korra, that isn't a bad guy," Katara sighed. "He's part of the Order of the White Lotus."

"Oh," was the girl's sheepish response. "Oops. I still beat him though!"

The man groaned. "Is she always like this?" he asked Katara.

"More or less," was the old woman's response.

"Are you coming with us too?" Korra asked, staring at the young man.

He nodded. "It's part of my job to keep you safe."

Korra grumbled inaudibly under her breath and followed Katara.

A half hour later, the trio was standing at the base of an odd shaped iceberg not far from the Southern Water Tribe. Korra couldn't understand why Katara was suddenly so quiet and why she had a faraway look in her eyes.

"What's so great about an iceberg?" she asked, kicking at a chunk of ice. Beside her, the young White Lotus member looked horrified at what she had done and hurried to replace the chunk of ice where it belonged.

Katara laughed. "This is where I met Aang."

"The Avatar before me?"

Katara nodded. "This is where it all started."

"He lived there?" Korra asked, pointing to the iceberg. "That's what he was frozen in for a hundred years? I thought it would be bigger."

"It used to be," Katara admitted, gazing up at the bowl-shaped structure that had shrunk over the years.

"I'd hate to be frozen in that for a hundred years," Korra said. "Avatar Aang must've been really bored in there."

Katara just laughed. "You know, the first thing he said to me was, 'will you go penguin sledding with me?' Strangest thing I've heard anyone say." She chuckled.

"He sounds silly," Korra giggled. The White Lotus member just looked at the young Avatar with a shocked expression on his face and Katara wondered what exactly the White Lotus was teaching their members. She knew if Aang had been there, he'd have laughed at the young man's surprised expression. Turning her attention away from the young man, Katara turned to Korra and smiled.

"He actually was silly, most of the time. Sometimes, he could be quite serious but also quite silly."

"I'm gonna be a great Avatar, just like Avatar Aang, and the Avatar before him, and the one before him, and…"

"Then, it looks like you have some pretty big shoes to fill," the White Lotus member said.

Korra looked down at her shoes and then up at the man, regarding him with a funny expression on her face.

"What do you mean? My shoes fit just fine." And without another word, she scurried after Katara.

One night, many years later, Katara found herself staring at the iceberg again. Korra had been unusually quiet following Tenzin's departure and Katara knew it was unlike the Avatar to remain so. But having known about avatars and having known Korra for so long, she had a pretty good idea what the young Avatar was planning. Smiling softly to herself, she set off in the direction of the training compound, reaching Korra just as she was saddling up Naga, ready to leave.

"Nice night for an escape, isn't it?" She asked.

Korra flinched, but then turned around to meet her gaze. "I have to leave," she explained. "I have to find my own path as the Avatar."

"I know you do," she said, nodding understandingly. "Aang's time has passed. My brother and many of my friends are gone. It's time for you and your generation to take on the responsibility of keeping peace and balance in the world. But I think you're going to be a great Avatar."

"Thank you," Korra said, as they embraced.

Katara merely smiled. "Goodbye, Korra."

And just like that, Korra was gone.

There was a hue and cry in the village when it was discovered that Korra was gone. The entire tribe was up in arms about her disappearance, but Katara just watched it all with a knowing smile on her face. A few people even asked her if she knew where the young Avatar was but she'd fixed them with an innocent look so characteristic of old ladies and simply told them she hadn't the faintest idea. It wasn't a complete lie; she knew Korra was going to seek out Tenzin, but it wasn't as if she knew Korra's exact location at the moment. So, she kept quiet and watched the commotion around her.

It was some four or five hours later that the Order of the White Lotus decided to grace her with their presence. They wasted no time in getting their point across. As soon as Katara let them into her house, they fixed her with accusatory stares and asked her one question.

"Why did you let Korra run away, Master Katara?"

Katara shrugged. She had no idea how the Order had found out she hadn't done anything to stop Korra's escape, but she supposed it didn't matter now.

"Why should she stay?" the old waterbending master wondered.

"Avatar Aang tasked us with keeping her safe while she trained."

"You know perfectly well he didn't mean you had to watch her every waking minute. A girl needs to have an adventure now and again."

"But…"

"You've all done a wonderful job protecting her," Katara said. "But honestly, there is little point in keeping her under strict supervision in a compound; she'd have run away eventually."

"But Republic City is dangerous. Korra has no protection. What if…?"

"When I was fourteen, my grandmother let me go after a stranger, a boy who I knew very little about, simply because he was the Avatar. I wasn't even much of a waterbender then. Sokka wasn't much of a fighter and Aang hadn't mastered anything other than airbending. We were three kids, ages twelve to fifteen travelling the world by ourselves. Korra is seventeen and she's mastered three out of the four elements. I think she can do a lot better than we did when we first started travelling."

"But, we'll still have to go after her. It's our job as White Lotus members to…"

Katara cut him off. "You can go, but something tells me you won't return so easily," she replied, smiling.

"Perhaps, not, but it's her destiny to master the elements. We can't have her do that if she's traipsing all over the world, getting into trouble."

"Destiny's a funny thing," Katara replied, chuckling. "It's not always set in stone."

"Yes, well, all the same, we'll have to find her."

Katara simply nodded and followed them out, watching as they set off for the compound. In a short while, they'd probably be on a boat headed to Republic City, where Korra was. And things would be different in the Southern Water Tribe. Sighing, yet smiling softly, Katara turned her gaze out to the sea. The wind changed suddenly and Katara looked up, smiling. A single snowflake drifted down from above before settling in her open hand and she laughed. A storm was brewing again, but like all storms, it had an end. And this time, its demise was in the form a young, headstrong but talented waterbending Avatar.