Korra was running, running, trying to drown out her thoughts with the sound of her footsteps pounding the pavement, flinging water droplets from clothes soaked by a swim from Air Temple Island as she careened down the brightly lit street. There was no darkness anywhere in Republic City, at least not that she could find. No darkness, no silence, no peace. Well-dressed passerby shouted things (rude things, she was sure) she could not hear as she did her best to weave through the crowds. It was over, Amon was gone, there was no reason for this restlessness, no reason for her to fear Air Temple Island and no reason to fear sleep. She was sure the nightmares would not come back. Would they?

She was watching her feet and not her way as she rounded a corner at random and slammed headfirst into a police officer's metal uniform. The impact nearly knocked her unconscious and she collapsed onto hands and knees. A rough hand picked her up and she found herself looking woozily into the eyes of an older male police officer. He frowned at her, and the frown reminded her rather violently (all of her thoughts had become violent lately, all sparring stances and metalbending wrenching her awake) of Tenzin. She grinned, the lopsided smile she'd become known for in her bashful victory photos after Amon's demise. The officer, however, apparently did not read the papers (he probably could not read at all, Korra thought, and snorted) and spun her around to handcuff her with a clunk.

"You can't be running that fast and not be in trouble," he said, as he began to march her down the street, presumably to a vehicle or the police station, Korra wasn't sure which.

"No, it's okay, I'm the Avatar," she said, her words a little slurred. The officer simply shook his head and said nothing.

To Korra's surprise, the police force's main headquarters were a short walk away from where she had ended up. As the officer walked her through the front doors of the large building, Korra saw Lin walking toward them, looking as if she was headed home for the night. She shrank away and turned her face toward the shadows, but Lin had already seen her and had picked up her step to intercept the two in the lobby.

"Biran, why exactly have you taken the Avatar into custody?"

The officer looked utterly dumbfounded, barely managing to choke out, "Sh- she really is…?" before Lin had taken Korra by the wrists and unlocked the cuffs. The older woman handed the handcuffs back to Biran and smirked slightly at his still shocked expression.

"I won't tell if you won't," she said, and the officer snapped to attention quickly, hustling outside and back in the direction he and Korra had come. Korra tried not to sigh in relief – she hadn't been too excited about sleeping in a jail cell – and instead turned a suspicious eye on Lin.

"Why did you rescue me?" she asked, actually a bit angry once she began to think about it. This time it was Lin's turn to look confused.

"I'm not sure I understand. I suppose I assumed you'd rather not stay in jail for the night? Unless you actually committed a crime and wish to be punished, in which case I can escort you through the prosecution process myself." Lin pulled out her own pair of handcuffs and reached for Korra's arm.

Korra's stomach jumped and she flinched back, not certain what she was feeling or why it unnerved her.

"I didn't think so," Lin said, and put the cuffs away. Korra relaxed slightly but kept her distance as Lin turned and strode out the door and down the street, leaving Korra to stand in front of the station looking confused. At the intersection that framed the station Lin turned around and walked backwards long enough to shout, "Are you coming or not?"

Korra jogged down the sidewalk to catch up and match her stride with Lin's. When Lin did not speak for several minutes, Korra broke the silence to ask, "Where are we going?"

"My apartment," was Lin's reply. Korra blinked. Lin looked over, caught her eye, and recognized the cue to explain. "You wouldn't be wandering around the streets at this hour if you had a place to stay. I have an extra mattress."

Korra looked down at her feet, suddenly overwhelmingly thankful for Lin's no-nonsense, no-questions attitude. They walked the rest of the way in silence, the sounds of the city the only noise between them.

Lin's apartment was ground-level, the floors dirt and the furniture and appliances largely unpurified metal. Korra looked around as they entered, wondering at the strange décor. Most of the Republic City buildings she had seen were wood on the inside, or carpeted if you were wealthy.

"My entire house is a weapon," Lin said as she led Korra to the spare room, "except the walls and ceiling, generally. There are floors above this one." She opened a door at the end of a hall and gestured inside. The room was utterly Spartan, containing nothing but a mattress dressed in plain sheets, a chair in the corner, and a small closet whose doors lay open, baring the empty insides. "Bathroom is this room right here," she added, pointing, "but you can probably find it with your waterbending or something." Lin ended her explanation by nodding at Korra rather curtly and walking away down the hall, around the corner, and (Korra used her earthbending to sense the contours of the apartment) into another room on the other side of the flat. Korra wasn't sure what she had expected, but the sinking feeling (once again in her stomach, that blasted organ) she experienced as Lin walked away told her that this wasn't it. With a small sigh, she walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

There was a small window just above the mattress. Through the window shined the relentless yellow rays of a streetlight, dyeing the room a sickly color and dashing Korra's hopes for sleep. She curled up on the mattress despite this and closed her eyes against the glare. She had dried off by now but was still chilled, and she pulled the blankets closer around her. Naga was not here to snuggle up to, and Korra doubted Lin would be very happy if she lit the mattress on fire to keep warm. She tossed and turned, first unable to close her eyes, then unable to feel her toes, curling up completely hidden under the covers and then stretching out over the entire mattress. Finally she got up, wandering down the hall and into the rest of the house. It was warmer and darker here, and she padded as silently as she could to the large, plush sofa and sat down. The surface of it was cool but the air around her was warm, and she felt her body relaxing. However, her mind continued to race, running through the worst parts of her nightmare over and over again.

She lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes tightly, then sat up and lay down in the other direction. She rolled over, rolled over again, sat up, lay back down. Finally she stood, staring around at the grey, haunting shapes of the furniture in the darkness. She sighed and resigned herself to a long, sleepless night in Lin's guest room, turned back toward the hall to go to bed, jumped and suppressed a shriek of terror before she realized that the looming figure entering the room was Lin, her hair and underclothes mussed from sleep. Lin blinked several times as if suddenly staring into a bright light, then navigated the room perfectly and sat down on the couch, patting the spot where Korra had just been sitting. Korra did not sit.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Lin asked simply, and Korra replied with only a nod. She did not want to talk about this now, did not want to admit to Lin her weakness. There was silence, and Lin seemed to understand. "Perhaps we'll talk about it in the morning? I'll make breakfast." Korra nodded again, but this one held no conviction. Lin nodded in reply and stood as Korra sighed inwardly and made for the hall that led to her room. As she reached the entrance she heard Lin say from behind her, "Aren't you coming?"

Korra turned, surprised, and was met with Lin's outstretched hand and small smile. Korra took the offered hand without even thinking, her fingers pressing comfortably against Lin's palm.

"Where?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"My room is much more comfortable than the guest room. I'm sure we can find you a place."

Korra did her very best not to smile as widely as she wanted to, following Lin into the pitch darkness of her bedroom. Though she could see nothing, she felt Lin take her by the shoulders and pull her forward, Korra taking cautious steps until Lin's hands stopped her. She heard Lin sit down in the dark, felt Lin's hands slide down her arms to take her by the wrists, felt, for a heartbeat, Lin's thighs pressing against hers, Korra's heart running wild for a reason she could not understand but was sure must be the fear of another person in the dark, and then was pulled, down and forward, tumbling onto her hands and knees onto a mattress she could not see. She crawled under the covers, her eyes falling shut almost immediately. She was barely awake enough to return Lin's whispered goodnight, was already asleep by the time Lin wrapped a protective arm around her. Korra slept soundly for the first time in weeks.