SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! It's been a crazy time for me academically. Here's the final chapter! ~Enjoy!

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Bolin calls through Korra's door. She stirs with a groan, muscles tired from the day before.

Korra dresses as quickly as she can and opens the door.

"Morning!" says Bolin, chipper as ever as he gives Korra a quick kiss. "Ready for the big day? We have to eat breakfast now if we don't want it to give us stomach aches in the arena!"

With a sleepy smile, Korra nods and follows Bolin down the corridor to the mess hall. Mako is already there, and it looks like Asami has joined them, too.

Pulling up to the table, Korra sits across from Mako. "So. Strategy?" she asks, taking a bite out of an apple.

"When they cheat, use it against them. Don't get offended, don't yell at the referee. That's when we let loose. They tend to gloat, and we'll use our speed to catch them off guard."

Bolin nods in agreement. "Sounds good. Speed is definitely our best tool. And, yknow, Korra," he adds with a wink.

"Hey," she yelps, "we're a team, remember? I need you guys just as much as you need me. Now let's go kick some Earthquake butt!"

Done with breakfast, the Fire Ferrets push back from the table and head to the gym-turned-arena to change into their gear and start warm ups.

"Don't do too much warming up; we need to be at full strength if we're going to beat these guys," Mako advises. "Do what you need to get your muscles going, but take it easy."

xXx

Korra's stomach is flipping nervously, but she steels herself; now is no time for nerves. They take up fighting stances, and the referee raises the whistle to her lips.

"Let the championship match begin!"

The Earthquakes waste no time in attacking with a vengeance, concentrating their fire on Mako first. Korra douses their Firebender and Bolin knocks away the Earthbender's disc from its path to his brother. The Earthquakes are relentless, and they continue to barrage Mako, almost completely ignoring Bolin and Korra's attacks. Finally, Mako can't keep up and he stumbles backwards into Zone 2.

Quick as the flames that shoot from the benders' fists, the Earthquakes refocus their assault on Bolin. The Earthbender and Waterbender pummel him with discs and waves of icy water. The Firebender holds Korra off, preventing her from being able to protect Bolin. Mako does his best to attack from behind his teammates, but due to the distance, the attacks just aren't strong enough to do more than deflect or distract. Still, it seems to help; as Mako's flames reach for the Earthquakes' Firebender, Korra slams a wall of water at the boy, and the Avatar muses that she really feels on top of her game today as the boy joins Mako in the second zone.

Her usually quick maneuvers are swifter than normal, and there is an extra snap as she releases the water on its way to her opponents. She feels calm and determined, and she finds herself mimicking some of the Airbending techniques that Tenzin showed her, though she continues to Waterbend.

Bolin is knocked back to Zone 2, though, as the Earthquakes reassert their onslaught on the young Earthbender. Now with all three Earthquakes focused on her, Korra stands alone in the front zone.

But she has never been quicker, and she avoids the brunt of their attacks and lands a few 'punches' of her own. With some help from her teammates, she drives the Waterbender towards the back boundary of Zone 1.

As Korra dances away from an Earth disc, she bends a wave of water into a sort of typhoon and sends it across the ring. She watches it knock him from his feet and he rolls into Zone 2.

A cheer goes up in the stands, but Korra lets it distract her and she is broadsided by a Fire strike. Adrenaline thrumming through her veins, she sees it coming in slow motion, and is able to think only enough that she cannot Firebend it away and scrambles for water to protect herself.

She falls backwards to the ground, and rolls sideways to regain her footing. Bolin sends an Earth disc rocketing back at the Firebender, and a mildly smug smirk paints his face. Another cheer passes through the spectators.

Suddenly, it occurs to Korra that this fight has seemed pretty clean. They had planned for dirty play, but they didn't have much strategy for a fair fight against these guys. Speed was still their best bet, but Korra realizes that they are all the more disadvantaged since the Earthquakes are keeping it clean: they still have to constantly have their guards up.

Diving away from a cold burst of water, Korra redirects it and slams it towards the Earthbender, the only Earthquake left in Zone 1 with Korra.

His teammates are not quick enough and his discs are not enough to stop Korra's violent attack and he falls back to Zone 2 with his teammates.

Dashing forward as the buzzer signals permission to enter the opponent's territory, Bolin's focus is broken for the slightest moment. One of the Earthquakes' discs hits him squarely in the shoulder, and he falls to the ground.

Mako surges forward and positively wails on the Earthbender who knocked his brother down, but the boy holds his own and the Waterbender douses Mako with a whipped tendril of water.

The atmosphere shifts; Korra can sense it. "You alright?" Korra shouts, shooting a spray of water at their adversary.

"Fine," Bolin yells back unconvincingly as he struggles to his feet.

Korra rebalances and hardens her glare when suddenly, the Earthquakes' Earthbender flings two discs straight at Bolin, still half on the ground.

If time had slowed before, it is nearly at a standstill as Korra watches the discs spinning straight for her teammate. Her only thought is to protect Bolin, and a strange calm washes over her.

She shifts her stance, closes her eyes, and feels a warmth in her chest as she pushes.

A gush of warm, swirling wind throws the earth discs over the side of the arena and into the water below.

Everything stops.

Then, murmurs, gasps, screams erupt from the stands. Korra suddenly comes back into herself and can't decide if she wants to jump up and down with delight that she just figured out how to Airbend!, or if she wants to run away from everyone because she just blew her cover.

Bolin looks up at Korra with a mixture of fear and amazement, and Mako looks from the Avatar to the referee nervously. No one seems to know what to do, so the ref blows her whistle and orders a time-out on the match.

From the top of the stands, Master Bei Fong runs to the arena level, shoving her way through the throngs of confused students.

"Korra!" the Master yells. The young Avatar buries her face in her hands, but dutifully walks towards her teacher.

"I—I'm so sorry," Korra exclaims. "It wasn't on purpose, please, you have to believe me…"

"I do believe you, Korra. It's alright. It's not how we planned, but we'll make it work. I'll get Tenzin here as soon as he can, and we'll talk it over. Do you know how you did it?" She adds with a smirk.

"You mean was it a freak accident?" Korra tries to laugh, but it comes out more like a sob. "Nah, it just kind of clicked," she says a bit sadly. "I saw Bolin in danger and my mind suddenly saw what I had been missing.

"I felt… I felt something," she continues. "It was warm, and then just, happened."

Lin puts a hand on Korra's shoulder. "Well done, Avatar," she whispered just loud enough for Korra to hear. "Well done."

The referee decides, however, that enough is enough and an explanation will be had. "Master Bei Fong, what just happened?"

"It's under control, Dara," the Metalbender responds. "The competition will be suspended until—"

"Lin, please!" Korra interrupts. Bolin's jaw drops at Korra's use of the Master's first name, but the Waterbender presses on. "I just… I just want to finish the competition. Please? It's not just me here, everyone else has worked so hard for this. I promise, it won't happen again. Please just let us finish the match."

Drawing in a sharp sigh, Lin rubs her eyes and thinks for a moment. "Tenzin will not like this. Alright. Carry on. Finish the match."

The Earthquakes are furious; they scream that it's not a fair fight, and that the Fire Ferrets must be getting outside help or using some other sort of illegal aid. Lin gives Korra a stern glance, to which the young avatar firmly nods her head.

A bit shaken, the referee tries to reestablish control. "Quiet down, please, quiet!" She says, blowing her whistle repeatedly. The crowd finally settles, though a hushed murmur continues to roll through the rows of students.

Returning to their previous positions on the field, the Earthquakes and Fire Ferrets take up fighting stances, and the referee blows the whistle to initiate play.

Enraged by Korra's accidental stunt, though, the Earthquakes lack the focus to finish the fight, and seem to just let themselves get pushed over the edge.

The victory feels hollow as the Fire Ferrets are announced as champions.

xXx

"I feel like such an idiot," Korra confesses. "I'm really sorry, guys; you were fighting so well and I really messed this up for you."

"No, don't say that," Bolin reassures her. "It's just a school tournament, what's more important is that you unlocked your Airbending!"

Mako smiles in agreement. "We were gonna be them anyway," Mako offers. "It's kind of a weird situation, but it's more important in the long run that you've got all the elements now."

"I barely made it a week before I blew my own cover. I'm never going to have a chance for a normal high school experience now. They're gonna pull me out of Elias and have me train out on Air Temple Island with Tenzin and his kids. I can't stay here," she says quietly. "That was the deal."

Confused, Bolin asks, "What deal?"

"When Tenzin and Lin and my parents agreed to let me come to Elias, they said I could stay as long as it took me to unlock my Airbending. It seemed so hopeless though; I thought I'd get at least a year."

"Oh," Bolin says in a small voice. He doesn't know what else can be said.

There's a knock at Korra's door. "Come in," she says dejectedly, and Tenzin strolls into the room.

Bolin and Mako scramble to their feet. "Sir!" Bolin exclaims.

"Good afternoon," Tenzin says. "Might I have a few words with Korra alone?"

"Of course," Mako replies.

"We'll come by later, Korra," Bolin promises. She gives him a sad smile as the brothers leave.

"So," she sighs, "how much trouble am I in?"

"None at all, Korra. I'm thrilled that you learned how to Airbend, though of course these were not the most preferred circumstances."

"But I have to leave Elias's, right?"

"Lin and I have discussed it, and we think that there is still much you can learn here. If you want to finish out the year, you may. You won't be part of your Waterbending class anymore, though. You'll meet with Lin and myself daily to develop your Airbending and see if you can learn Metalbending, too.

But it's all up to you, Korra. Would you like to stay here through the school year?"

Korra fidgets. "I… I think I want to stay. I've got friends here, and like you said, I think I have a lot to learn about Republic City and what it means to be the Avatar. I want to stay," she asserts, more confident now.

She has Bolin and Mako, and even if everyone else thinks she's a complete weirdo, she can handle that.

"Very well. We'll send word to your parents so they know what's going on, but we'll keep you here at Elias for the year."

"Thanks, Tenzin."

"You're welcome. I'll see you Monday in Lin's office for your Airbending training," he says as he turns to leave. "And Korra? I'm very proud of you."

xXx

Korra is glad she has decided to stay, but when she walks into class the next morning, she almost regrets it. Everyone turns to stare at her. The teacher walks in, a bit flustered, and a moment later, Lin Beifong strides into the room as well.

"Korra: up here, please," Lin commands.

Reluctantly, Korra walks to the front of the room. Lin grabs her by the shoulders and turns her to face her classmates. She leans over to whisper into Korra's ear. "Remember, you're the one who wanted to stay. This was against my advice, but Tenzin insisted it was your decision to make. Do not make me regret this," she menaces.

"Class, I'm sure you've heard about what happened at the tournament this weekend. I want to dispel some rumors right now. There will be a formal statement later, but for now: Yes, you saw Airbending. Yes, it came from Korra.

Class, meet your new Avatar."

### FIN ###

Thank you so much for reading all this!

Many thanks and much love to siliad, who helped me with some of the plot development and was kind of a fact-checker, partial beta, and moral support wrapped in one.

I hope you enjoyed it!