Just Like the Good Old Days

I don't own Legend of Korra.

A Second Chance

Noatak's POV:

When I sensed Tarrlok put on the electric glove and set it to the fuel tank, I thought that would be the end of it. I thought we would finally be at peace. But the spirits had other plans for us. It was strange, dying. I felt serene, and thought that, just maybe, the spirits would let us be. Then, suddenly, it was cold. So cold. It reminded me of when I ran off into the blizzard, leaving my brother behind. Every second of that cold made me regret my actions. I wanted the cold to take me and have that be the end of it. But no, I raised my head and saw snow. It was a blizzard. Where was I? Was I in the North Pole again? I shifted and sensed a body next to me. It was Tarrlok! But, not the Tarrlok who had attempted to get rid of us both. No, this was the Tarrlok from years ago, probably no older than four. I raised a hand to my own face. It felt younger, I reached my hand to my hair. Sure enough, the ponytail I always wore in my youth was there. I shook Tarrlok awake, hoping he was alive as well. He roused and looked at me with wide eyes.

"N-Noatak?" He asked.

"Tarrlok. Something's happened."

"Why are you..? Am I...?" He struggled to ask his questions. But now was not a time for questions.

"Tarrlok, we need to find shelter." I helped him up.

The blizzard was so thick, I could barely see. But then, in the darkness, I saw it. A beacon of hope. A light, and a figure.

"Hello?" I called out. The figure seemed to have heard, as it headed in our direction.

Soon the figure drew closer, and raised the lantern to its face. I realized it was a woman. She was clearly Water Tribe, and had black hair tied in two braids that hung down the front of her parka. Her deep, blue eyes were filled with concern.

"What are you children doing out here? You could freeze to death." She said. There was something familiar about her, but I didn't know what. "Well, come on, let's get you two out of this blizzard."

We let her lead us back to her home. A cozy igloo, with lots of animal pelts and tribal decorations. I instantly felt at home.

"Tonraq! Come in here!" She called out.

At the sound of her voice, a tall Water Tribe man entered. He looked tough but had a kind face.

"Senna, what did you find out in that blizzard this time? I swear, if it's another polar-bear-dog..."

She gestured to us, and the man shifted his gaze. I felt intimidated. Strange, as I could probably still Bloodbend this man if he were any threat to us. In the past, the only person who intimidated me was my father. I suppose that was it. I was a child again, so naturally I would feel as though this man was scrutinizing me and Tarrlok, trying to find our flaws. At least, that's how I felt until his face lit up with a humorous smile.

"Senna, when did we have two more kids?" He said jokingly. "The otter-stork must be busy if we had two children that I didn't know about."

The woman chuckled and kissed the man on the cheek.

"I found them lost in the blizzard." She explained. "There's no way we can let them out into weather like that."

They turned to us.

"So, what are your names, boys?" Tonraq asked.

I knew we couldn't give our real names. So, I just altered them a bit.

"I'm Noak, and this is my brother Tarro."

"Where are your parents?" Senna added.

"They're," I hung my head, the truth is I had no idea where my parents were, "no longer with us."

Tonraq and Senna instantly gave us sympathetic looks. Tarrlok looked at me, I knew we were going to have to talk about this later. Senna put a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, you are both more than welcome to stay with us. We already have a daughter about your age. Speaking of which, where is she?" Senna turned to look at Tonraq.

"Korra!" He shouted. When I heard that name, I thought my heart had stopped.

Suddenly, the door to one of the side rooms was knocked down with a crash. Tonraq rolled his eyes, a bemused smirk on his face. Senna, however, was not too happy.

"Korra, how many times have I asked you not to knock down the wall in order to enter a room?"

The little girl tried to count off on her fingers, then shook her head as if it didn't matter anyway.

"I'm the Avatar, mom! You gotta deal with it!"

I was speechless. This was Avatar Korra? How was this possible? Any of this? Then it hit me. The spirits must have decided to give me and Tarrlok another chance. An opportunity to correct our mistakes. And they did that by sending us to Avatar Korra's childhood? This was getting weird.

"Korra, honey, you can't just keep busting down walls like that. It's destructive."

"And expensive." Tonraq muttered.

The little Avatar pouted, then used Earthbending to repair the wall. She was already so advanced at such a young age? I guess it's not so surprising. She then noticed me and Tarrlok. She approached us, a curious look on her face. She marched straight up to me, her eyes seemed to challenge me, as they had done before. Or would do in the future? I'm not sure, it's confusing.

"Who are you? And why do you have a ponytail? Ponytails are for girls."

"Korra," Senna spoke to the child, "this is Noak and his brother Tarro. They're going to stay with us."

The child's face lit up with excitement.

"So the otter-stork brought me brothers?" Then her face fell. "But I wanted a baby sister."

I laughed. It was impossible not to laugh at the adorable naïveté of the young Avatar.

Tarrlok's POV:

Okay, I could handle the waking up from my attempt at murder-suicide to discover I was four-years-old again. Heck, I could even handle being taken in by Avatar Korra's family, even though all logic and reason made this an impossibility. But what I couldn't handle, was the fact that my brother was laughing. I had to admit, Avatar Korra had been very cute with her little quip about wanting a baby sister instead of two brothers, but I never expected Noatak to laugh. He hadn't laughed in years, I don't even remember the last time I heard him laugh. Avatar Korra didn't seem too happy about being laughed at though. She turned to glare at my brother, she still had that adorable pout on her face.

"I don't like him. Tell the otter-stork to take him back." She then turned to look at me. And, surprisingly enough, she sniffed the air. "He smells like a lady."

"I do not." I protested.

She turned to her parents.

"The lady-smelling one can stay, but the other one has to go."

"Korra, be nice." Senna told her. "These boys lost their parents. We are going to look after them. You are going to treat them like family. Understand?"

Korra pouted again, but said nothing.

"Now," Senna continued, "I'll bet you children are hungry. I'll get dinner ready."

Tonraq took his daughter's hand and led her over to take a seat by the firepit. He then noticed that we were just standing there.

"Come on, boys, don't be shy. You need to warm up after being in that storm."

We walked over and sat down. It felt wonderful to be in a familiar sort of setting. I had missed native Water Tribe life. But I still felt nervous, and I could tell that Noatak felt the same way. The Avatar's family had taken us in so quickly. They were so clueless as to how powerful we were. If they knew the truth about us...I don't even want to think about it. Another thing made me uncomfortable; if my father had been so horrible to me and Noatak when he learned we were Waterbenders, who's to say the Avatar's father would be any different. He probably didn't think we were Waterbenders, that's why he was being so courteous to us. If he knew we were, he would probably berate us and say we would never be as gifted as his daughter. She was the Avatar after all. I knew Noatak was thinking the same thing. No matter what, we had to keep our Waterbending a secret. Then it occurred to me, were we even Waterbenders? Had the spirits let us keep our abilities, knowing full well what we were capable of? Not to mention the fact that Noatak had taken my Bending away, had it been restored? It wasn't important now.

"Daddy," Korra said to Tonraq, "can we practice Waterbending tomorrow?"

It was as if the spirits had been reading my thoughts.

"I thought we would all go penguin-sledding instead." Tonraq replied. What was going on? In my childhood, we had to beg our father to let us do normal childhood things, and he would often never consent and force us to practice. And yet, Korra was the one asking to practice, and her father wanted to goof-off.

"Yeah! Penguin-sledding!" She then turned to us. "Do you guys like penguin-sledding?"

"We don't know." Noatak answered. "We've never been."

Korra's jaw dropped in shock.

"Never been penguin-sledding? Well then we definitely need to do that tomorrow!"

"Dinner's ready!" Senna called.

Later, we were shown to a bedroom that we would share with Korra. Senna fetched more animal pelts and blankets and made beds for us. Before she left, she kissed Korra's forehead and gave me and Noatak hugs. For the first time in years, I was truly happy. I felt so safe and secure. Maybe the spirits knew what they were doing after all.

Hope you all like the first chapter. How's Korra's life going to be different with Noatak and Tarrlok in it in a different way than they were originally? Wait and see. Love you all, and please review.