A/N

Here I am! Book 3, Raging Flame is now ready for action! This is the one where things start to look up for Korra and the Krew. As ever I can't thank you guys enough when you decide to take the time and drop a review, so keep 'em coming! It keeps me informed ad lets me know what you think of the story!

火

Book 3

Raging Flame

Chapter 1

The Fire's Shadow

Republic City.

It was a grey-streaked sky that hung over the city, the clouds matted together in a almost seamless carpet which would easily dull the sun's light once it rose higher in the sky as the morning dragged on. The city below wasn't looking much better, smoke wreathing many of its districts now that the fires had finally burnt out and the rain had finally stopped.

Korra gritted her teeth, feeling a flutter in her head and swaying a little as she pulled the blob away from the downtrodden man sitting on the wooden crate in front of her, guiding the stream back into her hip flask. She shook her head, trying to stay focused and fight the lightheadedness.

The man looked up at her with awe in his eyes as he worked up his sleeve and patted his arm down for the burns that were previously there. He grinned and whooped for joy as he stood up, grabbing her hand. "Thank you Avatar! Thank you!"

She nodded as he left the alley for the streetside, and quickly braced herself against the nearby wall. She stared at her shaking hands and growled. "I'm not done yet."

Nearby, a tall waterbender in a thick trenchcoat had just finished applying his own healing to a group of children and their guardians. He smiled down at his latest patient, a little girl with bright-green eyes clutching onto a stuffed moose-lion. "All finished up. You're so brave."

As she nodded and followed the rest of her group out of the alley, he got to his feet and rubbed his palms. Boto looked over his shoulder at Korra, and came over with a slight smile. "Korra? You okay?"

She looked up at her childhood friend, and tried her hardest to stop the shaking. "Yeah. Still good."

Boto crossed his arms, not saying anything for a few seconds. "Uh huh. You're about to drop." Korra went to shake her head and push off the wall, only to stumble a little. He grabbed her shoulder to stop her from slipping and gave her a smirk. "Look, I have to go to the Station now-"

"I'll stay." she muttered, moving away from him and on her own two feet.

"But you're running yourself ragged. Come to the station, there's probably a spare cot you can rest up in or-"

"I'll. Stay. I'm the Avatar."

He knew he couldn't change her mind if he wanted to. With a sigh he nodded. "Pace yourself, alright?" Boto patted her shoulder as series of heavy pants breaths floated down the alley towards them. Naga padded into view, coming closer and closer until she stopped in front of them, turning to sniff at the motorcycle leaning against the nearby wall.

Korra nodded, moving forwards and clambering onto Naga's saddle without a second thought.

She knocked her leg's against the polar-bear dog's sides and urged her out of the alley and into the damaged streets.

Underneath she could feel Naga's muscles work tirelessly, able to watch her powerful shoulders rise up and down out of the corner of her eye. The polar-bear dog heaved and panted as she carried Korra down the usually car-filled streets, now devoid and ghostly.

Korra had her eyes forward. Only looking forward. Nowhere else. Just fixating on what was in front of her.

"Avatar!"

She quickly pulled on the reins, urging Naga to skid to a halt in the middle of the street and throw a curious glance up at her. A man, wearing a dusty brown jacket and baggy pants with holes all over them ran up to them. He whitened a little at being so close to something such as Naga, but didn't shy away as he quickly took off his threadbare bowler hat and ran a shaky hand through his hair. "We need your help, in that store over there- my daughter, she's trapped under some rubble. We aren't benders-"

"No worries-" she flashed him a confident smile, filing away her own doubts and insecurities as she hopped down and followed him across the street to a smashed in storefront, the once thick and sturdy crossbeams holding up the roof inside now cracked and broken beyond repair, what little of them remained being the only thing able to hold up the sagging roof.

"Where is she?" the man glanced nervously at her controlled voice, before nodding and ducking underneath bookcase that had fallen on the entrance.

Korra crouched and squeezed through the gap after him, another bombed-out wreck of a room greeting her eyes as she straightened. She covered her mouth with her arm as she moved forwards, coughing from the dust-choked air as she looked for the man in the grey gloom. He had already sprinted towards a tangled wreck with a woman crouching next to it, her mouth covered by a blue cloth, embroidered with swirling symbols and threads as she gently whispered and held onto a hand poking out of the wreckage of bookcases and rubble.

"Can you get her out of there, Avatar?" The woman addressed her without turning her head, going straight to the point.

"Of course." Korra nodded and knelt down in front of the dark gap in the wreckage, peering into it and catching a glimpse of a tear-stained cheek. She glanced at the woman. She nodded. Korra reached her hand in and gently touched the child's forearm. "I'm getting you of there." Closing her eyes she retracted her hand, only opening them when she was looking down at her lap and placing her hands on the cracked and broken floor. She held her breath and pushed downwards, then slid her hands forward towards the wreckage. The floor rumbled and the wreckage shook, but held as a column rose inside the dark space and grew forwards straight towards Korra.

It punched through the rubble stopping the child from crawling out of there, and as the column collapsed into dust her mother quickly reached her hands in and pulled her out of there. Her relieved sobs reached Korra's ears as she shuffled backwards, getting to her feet and dusting her palms on her furskirt as the man dropped to his knees and wrapped both his wife and daughter in his arms.

"Thank you, thank you!" the man repeated over and over breathlessly.

She waved him off, feeling neither happy nor rejoiceful. Just tired. "No need." she nodded at him, when he stepped forward and clasped her wrists, bowing profusely. "My name is Raiko, if you need anything at all, Lady Avatar, I'm at your service. My family is in your debt."

Korra managed a smile, clasping her hands and bowing in return. "It's no sweat, Raiko." She turned, quickly exiting the store, ducking under the blockage and walking across the street to where Naga waited, seated on her back haunches.

The polar-bear dog whined at her and tilted her head as she stood up on all of her legs, ready for Korra to hop on. The girl shook her head in response as she settled in the saddle and grabbed the reins. "Come on girl. More to go."

Naga barked and padded at first before breaking into a sprint, her pants and heaves quickly returning.

And so it went on. Every street she turned into bore no small amount of scars from the fires the Agni Kai's unleashed a few weeks ago, the people she ran into would need her help, and with no hesitation she would stop and do her best for them. They would thank her, and she would ride off again.

It was better than the alternative. It was better than coming to terms with the fact that she had let down the entire city by not focusing on helping rebuild or rescue, but instead retreating inwards and shutting herself off after what Telei had done to Tenzin.

And then what happened afterwards. Between her and Tai.

Naga's steady breathing lagged, breaking the thoughts she kept returning to as she glanced down at saw that the polar-bear's pink tongue was lolling out of the side of her mouth, lapping at the air to cool herself down. Korra spotted a line of people slowly moving down the footpath nearby, she guided Naga around the corner into the road they all walked into, slowing Naga down and walking down it until she spotted a small building nearby, surrounded by Republic City's much taller buildings.

The smell of cooked sea prunes wafted over to her, the salty and mild aroma making her stomach growl in response for a full couple of seconds. She reached a hand down to rub her belly, and shared a glance with Naga, who was beginning to salivate at the smell.

"Only for a minute." Naga barked in response as Korra slid down her side, holding onto the reins and guiding her towards the diner. People milled around its front, holding bowls while talking in small groups, or sitting on the ground on whatever piece of rubble or section of curb they could find.

"...Still hearing those strange noises coming from the tunnels. Some rumbling too."

"Not surprising. City's been through a lot the past couple of weeks. Could be construction crews doing fix-up jobs."

The talk quietened when she approached, changing to hushed whispers and respectful glances in a instant.

She didn't like how the mood changed so quickly. People began calling out among the groups, urging them to move out of the way and allow her to reach the front counter of the small diner. A clear path now stood between her and the lady serving from a giant steaming pot. "Uh, no, I can wait like everybody else-"

Korra stopped herself and sighed when she looked at the way Naga was constantly licking her chops and straining against the reins. She cast her gaze downwards. "Thank you." she muttered over another growl from her stomach.

Just as she approached the front counter and the line of stools up against it she heard clanking, and glanced to see that it was Nisha and Hei. "Avatar, you've been out here non-stop for the past couple of days. Orders come from Commander Beifong herself: get something to eat."

"Some rest couldn't go astray either, if you don't mind me saying." Hei chimed in with a nervous smile.

Korra blinked and rubbed at her eyes, reminded of the tireless nights and constant running around she had been doing for the last week or so. Anything to fill the void and stop herself from thinking about what happened. She finally heaved a sigh and nodded at the two of them. They held their hands out, moving apart and indicating a water tower sitting squat around the back of the diner and the trough nearby.

She ran her hand through Naga's fur as she handed the reins to them. "Make sure she doesn't drink all of it."

They both nodded, leading Naga around the side of the diner.

Korra rolled her shoulders, fighting the urge to stretch as she sat on one of the stools, hearing a squeak from underneath her. Without meaning to she began to tip forward, resting her cheek on the counter and wrapping her arms.

Sitting still was the last thing she wanted to do.

"What'll it be, Avatar?" Korra opened her eyes and looked up, a jolt going through her at seeing the woman from the park, and also the same one who spoke out against Tarrlok's laws a year back.

"Uh. Got any sea prunes?" Her stomach rumbled at the mere mention of food, let alone her favorite.

The woman smiled and nodded. "Plenty of 'em. Won't be a sec." Korra could see into the entirety of the small building as the stout woman stepped back in, passing by a younger woman with the same blue eyes carrying a stack of bowls in her arms and saying something to her. The young woman glanced at Korra and her mouth hung open for a second before she quickly busied herself in her work.

Korra went back to resting her cheek on the wooden counter, folding her arms underneath her chin with a sigh. Before her thoughts could go somewhere she didn't want, she felt a tugging on the hem of her furskirt.

She spun the stool around, blinking twice at the dirt-encrusted kid smiling up at her. "Lun?" she remembered him from the arena during the restoration ceremony. He was the first person on the stage she restored bending to. She looked around for that woman he ran to afterwards. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping out." the kid grinned as he clambered onto the stool next to her, a hand keeping his beret steady. He looked at her with bright golden eyes. "Just like you."

Despite her general fatigue and her slow thoughts, she managed to eke out a smile at his enthusiasm. "I haven't seen you since the ceremony! How's your bending?" she brightened up a little, managing to forget her troubles. "Can you show me?"

"Easy!" Lun opened his palm and held it front of her, sticking his tongue in concentration. He grunted and a series of sparks crackled in the air above his hand. With a big breath he furrowed his eyebrows, and grinned up at her when a strong flame came to life in his palm. "Now you have to do it, Korra!"

With a chuckle she nodded eagerly, glad to lose herself in doing something as simple as sparking a flame. It was easy guiding the warm flowing energy into her palm, pooling there for a spit-second before she focused on making a single spark.

A series of sparks haphazardly snapped into existence above her palm, but no flame erupted into existence.

Korra felt a cold sweat as she stared at her palm, then looked at the confused look coming from the kid. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just warming up."

"Here you go, Avatar." the water-tribe woman placed a brown bag in front of her, before glancing at Lun. "Hey, would you quit hounding her? You've got dishes to clean."

Lun nodded, waving at Korra before clambering over the counter and falling on the other side with a thud. "Oof!"

Korra still stared at her palm before she noticed the bag sitting there.

"Everything alright?"

"Oh. Yes. I've got to get going now." Her thoughts raced to work out what happened as she moved away from the counter with the bag in hand and a worried expression. But nothing came to mind.

Police Headquarters.

"Yes. Yes. We'll send someone over, just hold on and give us your street name- Hello?"

Mako watched as the receptionist behind the lobby's counter shook the reciever and tried to redial the number, her face a little pale and grim.

"Connections are down again! Did you get the street name?" The woman next to her came over with a pad and pencil.

"Jing. Jing, Jing, Jing - Jing something! At least a hundred streets share that name! This is such a damn mess! How can so many people be missing?"

"There' nothing you can do, Mi. Just keep taking the calls, I'll radio to the search squads."

The firebender shook his head with a sigh as he stepped off the wall, heading past the waiting area and down the hallway to the elevator. Everywhere he went it was the same. People working hard to do what they could for the civilians affected by the attack, only to fail because of a faulty wire in the overloaded phone system. Ever since getting here from his apartment, there had at least six truckloads of officers departing in that hour alone.

He quickly sidestepped out of the way of a fully armored and geared squad of metalbenders, their ordered but fast passage throwing noise all over the hallway as they passed through. Once they were gone, and once he silently wished them good luck.

Rather than take the elevator he veered for the emergency stairwell along side it, knowing that at any moment there'd be a gang of mechanics or a squad of metalbenders in need of quick transportation. Taking the stairs was no drama for him.

Jogging up them two at a time he reached the mid-flight before the second floor, stopping for a moment and looking up to see Boto leaning over the railing and looking down at him, his hands clasped.

He kept his sights on the tall waterbender as he went up the last flight, stopping once he reached the top. Mako folded his arms at his partner, catching the dark bags under his blue eyes. "How many now?"

Boto smirked and clapped his hands together before holding them up. "Still more than I can count. Katara'd be proud. And Korra... she's just been working herself ragged trying to heal everyone she can find. It's... kind of incredible, but she's dead on her feet."

"Hmm." Mako couldn't say he really wanted to hear anything to do with her.

Boto continued on. "I tried to get her to stop but she wouldn't let me." he heaved a sigh at the expression on Mako, knowing the history between the two of them.

Mako nodded, thinking about the encounter he had with the Agni Kai's self-proclaimed leader. "So Saikhan, Beifong and the Commander? And why us in particular?"

The tall waterbender gave him a wry look. "Because out of the majority of the Police Force, we happen to have... deeper ties with the Triads than most. And big reasons to take them down." He looked down and nodded before looking back up. "Saikhan's finally healed up enough to be back here. Just waiting on you."

Boto pushed away from the railing and led Mako down the hallway, his boots echoing on the deep black polished floors. "Look," Boto stopped and turned to him. ", I know its been a while since you were given leave, and that's all done now. But you don't need to throw yourself back into this so soon."

"I can't protect Bolin by sitting on my ass, Boto. I'm okay."

Boto nodded, about to say something but thinking better of it. He stopped at the door in the middle of the T junction, glancing through the frosted glass pane for a few seconds before placing his hand on the handle.

Words floated to Mako as he followed Boto in. "...Desk job, reports. All over again. I thought I was done with all this!"

"One of the curses of being Chief of Police, Saikhan." He heard Lin Beifong say over Commander Makei's chuckling and Saikhan's grumbling sigh.

The two of them moved past the sitting area at the front of the room, stopping in front of his desk and snapping off salutes to the three of them.

"Ah, there you two are." Makei said as he glanced down at Saikhan and tapped one of the sheets in front of him.

Saikhan sighed, scratching a itch near the edge of his bandaged head. He muttered something and looked up at them. Particularly at Mako. "Ready to get back to work?"

"Yes, sir. Gladly."

He nodded, standing up from the desk and running a hand down his face. "Good. It's been nothing but chaos in the past few days down here. You two have proven fairly capable at your jobs, which is why I've singled you out." He turned to the two of them as Makei and Lin shared a glance. "I'll be blunt: the Agni Kais have gone quiet in the past weeks since their stunt at the arena, and we have no idea why."

"None of them have been spotted at all?" Boto frowned. "I mean, I know how stretched we've become trying to cover the entire city, but none at all?" He flashed a look at Mako, who had gone quiet.

"It isn't like them to waste a opportunity like this." Lin added, placing her hands on the desk and grimacing. "We're weak and scattered and they know it. We need to find out where and how they've gone to ground."

"It's probably connected with the number of missing persons being reported lately." Mako glanced at Boto, wondering what exactly he was getting at.

The waterbender had a grim look on him as everyone considered the implications of what he just said.

"It's not something I want to consider." Lin muttered, crossing her arms.

"Neither do I." Saikhan sighed, before nodding and looking back down at the reports and sheets infesting his desk. "Alright. Dismissed, you two."

Mako and Boto returned the nod and left the office.

Closing the door behind him, Mako turned to Boto. "Missing persons?"

Boto didn't respond immediately, walking further into the hallway before turning to him. "It's a possibility. Many of these reports are only just coming in now, and a majority of them involve people who were hospitalized during the Agni Kai attack."

"Definitely not good."

"Not by a long shot. Which leads me to something else." Boto leveled suspicious eyes at him, tinged with concern. "Why didn't you tell them about the Agni Kai's kidnapping you? Have you told anyone yet? Korra? Asami?"

"No." Mako's golden eyes darkened as he shook his head. "And no-one needs to know."

Korra was definitely out of the question.

Tui Road, Republic City.

Pabu chittered and clambered around her shoulders, bringing a smile to the Eska's usually controlled features. She sat on a bench overlooking Yue Bay, taking in the view while behind her Bolin argued back and forth on the curb behind them.

She scratched Pabu under his chin, feeling a series of taps through the thick fabric of her robes as the ferret's foot tapped up and down like a blur on her shoulder. A pang of sadness hit her, knowing what would be waiting once her father had decided to bring them back to the Tribe.

But she was part of the royal family. And she would do what was told of her. As she should.

Eska glanced at her protector as she leaned over the railing, staring at the grey foggy waters in silence. Reaching up a hand in case Pabu slipped she stood up and approached the firebender, quietly wondering if she had done something wrong. "Sensha. Are you alright?"

"Huh-" Her bodyguard looked over her shoulder, a smile quickly surfacing as she nodded. "Yes. Of course. Just hoping Bolin can hurry up and stop arguing with your brother."

"Unfortunately you'd be better off waiting for a iceberg to melt."

Sensha smirked in amusement. "Maybe."

"This is Republic City! You've gotta see the sights!"

"Do those sights include being ambushed by a gang of thugs? Out of the question!"

"Come on! You're supposed to be having a good time, seeing the sights, doing the rounds, that kind of thing. Live it up, Water Tribe!"

"Is that discrimination?"

"No! I-"

Eska and Sensha shared a glance as they both turned to see Bolin and Desna walking towards them. "Brother, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Mean what, It wasn't anything? He's overreacting!" Bolin got in first, his arms crossed and expression pleading with Eska to help him smooth things out.

"As representative of my people, It is my duty to tell you this: I am not overreacting."

Eska rolled her eyes. "Brother... I'm a representative too. And I'm saying that it was just a friendly mistake. I'm sure Bolin meant nothing by it." She shot her twin a look that could crack ice, the look that usually got him to do what she wanted.

"I-" Desna rubbed his elbow and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before looking at Bolin. "I apologise. I did overreact-"

"Brother, why don't you walk with Sensha to find a restaurant or kiosk where we could purchase something to eat?"

Desna stopped and looked at her. "But father-"

"I know what father said."

"Yeah, I'm your bodyguard, so I need to be near you-"

"Sensha. You are my bodyguard. Yes. And I would like you to go with Desna."

For a moment, Sensha had a irritated look in her eyes as she looked between both of them. She relented and nodded, joining Desna and walking on ahead.

"Sensha won't be happy." Bolin watched the firebender walk away, and sighed. He hadn't forgotten how she saved him.

Eska grabbed his hand and nodded silently, gently tugging him into walking by her side.

He found a flush coming to his cheeks when he glanced at her, quickly finding a way to stop it from showing too much. "So... why'd you send them off?"

To his surprise, the usually shy princess gave him a wry smirk. "I wanted to walk with you. And brother needs to be around someone who is not me."

"Ah." Bolin didn't find anything wrong at all with this. Although as he found himself unable to stop sending glances her way, he fell a little quiet, knowing that he might not be able to something like this again. "Hey, can I ask you something, Eska?"

She dipped her head. "Of course."

"What's Kerisa like?" He reddened as she stared at him, pushing his fingertips together as his nervousness got the better of him. "Well- well I - what I meant is if you kind of like him, in any way. Heh."

"He is to be my betrothed." Eska stated with no emotion whatsoever, looking straight ahead and not at Bolin. She squinted and arched a eyebrow and before he knew it she was moving on ahead without him at a brisk pace.

"Eska? Wait up!"

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder before pointing further down the footpath, where Desna was arguing with someone wearing a distinctive purple shoulder cape. "What is it now?" she muttered as Bolin caught up.

The earthbender took in the sight of the water triber's dashing good locks, the fashionable moustache on his lip and the rogueish way he held himself as he held Sensha's hand like it was delicate as a flower. "Verick!" he called out, getting his old friend's attention.

Verick looked up at the sound, peering over Sensha's shoulder at Bolin. A grin grew on him. He quickly gave Sensha a smirk before slipping past her to greet Bolin. "Haven't seen you in a while, Bo'!"

Behind him, Desna seemed set to go off. "-uncouth, slack-jawed, Southern Peasa-"

"Woah, just take a deep breath, hey?" Sensha managed to cut him off before the Northern prince could get anymore worked up.

"What are you doing here?" Bolin asked as he clasped Verick's hand in a firm grip before letting it go. "Aren't you working with Asami?"

"Sure am. But uh... I'm just taking a little time off after being stuck in the workshop for so long trying to get her latest idea off the ground. I'm being literal. he scratched a spot on his shoulder. "And unofficially... I'm chasing up some guys for a few favors they owe me." Verick's usually jovial features grew serious when he looked Bolin straight in the eye. "Appreciate it if you keep it on the low. Especially around Asami."

"Yeah. Yeah, no worries." Bolin said, a little spooked. He blinked and glanced at Eska, who had a stern look.

"You mean criminals if I'm not mistaken."

The industrialist nodded at her. "I'm not gonna lie about it, especially to a high and mighty royal such as yourself, princess. Yes, criminals."

The general ruckus of the streetside presided over the silence that surfaced between them.

Verick's smile returned as he grasped Bolin's shoulder. "Always good to see you, man." He turned to Eska and bowed. "Princess." Finally he turned around, coming face to face with Sensha, her arms folded and eyebrow arched after hearing what he said. But she didn't protest when he took her hand again, something which Bolin completely failed to miss. And focused on a little more than he wanted to. "Goodbye."

With that, the industrialist straightened out his shoulder-cloak and left them, walking across the street and making his way down the dockside footpath.

Air Temple Island.

Tenzin put his hand on the doorframe, bracing himself in case he slipped and fell. He brushed a hand down his face and sighed, ignoring the ever-present pain in his hip and instead smiling at his family as they were seated inside the dining room, showing that he was alright.

Shifting how his palm sat on the bulbous head of the cane he swung it forwards in time with his injured side, slowly hobbling his way into the room and towards the dining table, noticing that two sitting mats were unoccupied and one was missing from its spot altogether. With a quiet sigh he move past the table behind Jinora, Ikki and Meelo, both of who kept a careful eye on him as he made his way to the side where Pema sat with Rohan.

"Honey." Pema reached his hand up to his, he nodded and took it, letting her guide him towards the placemat next to her. With a grunt he slowly lowered himself down, keeping the polished metal cane standing as he used it as a support, ignoring the burning sensation in his hip when he crossed his legs. Tenzin took the cane in his hands, once again seeing the soft golden swirls in its metallic surface before placing it next to him on the floor.

Tenzin looked at the bowl of rice in front of him, and the smaller one next to it filled with diced green leaves. And exhaled a content sigh. He looked at his family as they waited for him to say something.

Closing his eyes and clasping his hands he bowed his head while his family did the same. "We are grateful for this delicious food, for happiness, for compassion and... for blessing us in these troubled times." His thoughts went somewhere else, and he nodded to himself. "And hope that you will grant him a speedy recovery. Thank you."

The table was quiet at first as everyone started eating. Ikki and Meelo quietly argued with each other while dueling with chopsticks, but their attempts to one-up each other were subdued and half-hearted. Jinora kept reading her book, lost in them more than usual as she picked at her food.

Pema glanced at Tenzin. "So how was your day?"

He thought to the constant meetings, the constant press statements, the constant worry and the constant concern he felt, for Republic City and Korra. "Difficult." he glanced down at his cane, glad that Lin fashioned it for him. "Is Korra home yet?"

Pema leaned away for a moment to help Rohan with his food, and shook her head. She glanced up at Jinora. "Your food will grow cold, Jinora."

Jinora peered over the top of her book and sighed, before diving back down and disappearing from sight. "Not hungry." the pages muttered.

Tenzin couldn't help agreeing with his oldest daughter, but ate anyway, knowing he'd need it before facing another day's worth of frustration, helplessness, and chaos. It was all beginning to turn into noise to him, something he could not allow to happen.

He hoped it would all get better soon.

Somewhere in the halls outside of the dining room a door slid open with a drawn out grind, being closed with a solid thud.

"Is that Korra!?" Ikki brightened up, getting to her feet and pushing away from the table before Tenzin could answer her and run towards the opening out to the hallway.

Heavy footsteps, each one lagging a little behind the other came down on the floorboards, getting a squeak in answer each time. Ikki disappeared around the corner, jumping at Korra's feet as the Avatar came in view of the room. "Korra, Korra, Korra! How was your day? Did you find any of the bad guys? I hope you did-"

Korra rubbed her eyes and grumbled something, and stilled Ikki with a hand on her shoulder. "Not now, Ikki. I'm sorry." she looked up at everyone in the room. "Hey."

Pema smiled and indicated the table. "We're just about to get into it, you came just in time-"

"I'm not hungry, Pema."

Pema stopped and blinked twice, and nodded once. "Oh."

Korra didn't like the concerned look on Tenzin as she turned away from them. "I'm going to bed."

She left down the hallway and Pema turned to Tenzin. "Honey-"

Tenzin nodded and patted her shoulder. "I'll be back." he took in a deep breath as he grabbed his cane, keeping it rigid as he hoisted himself to his feet while she held onto his hand as a support.

Grunting with the effort he swung the cane in time with his injured side, slowly making his way out of the room after Korra. He came out in the hallway. Tenzin took his time going down its length, until he turned another corner and appeared in the main entry hall to his family's quarters on the island. He quietly cursed faced with the prospect of going up all those stairs to the second level.

With a sigh he took the first step, groaning when his hip burned and ached but he kept going, step after step until he reached the second floor. He saw Korra nearby, out on a balcony jutting out above the entrance to the building.

He made his way over, knowing she would not be in the mood for talk right now. The bottom of his cane scraped against the bottom edge of the doorframe, but the girl didn't stir. He noticed the bandages on her hands and frowned. "You've gotten hurt."

"Bruises. Nothing I can't handle." the girl's brusque tones didn't escape him.

"I've been getting reports of you roaming the city, healing everyone you can find. I'm proud of you."

"Just trying to live up to the name." she muttered, resting her chin on the wooden railing.

Tenzin arched a eyebrow as he approached, the cane thudding into the wood with each step. "You don't have anything to prove."

"I'm the Avatar. And lately I haven't been... 'Avatarring' enough." He knew what she meant, but didn't agree with it. "I could have stopped him from going out on his own, but I failed. I thought he would stay, but he didn't. And now she shows up out of the blue? What do I say to her?"

"Korra. He is responsible for his actions, not you. Please, just-"

"Don't, Tenzin. Just don't."

Talisa stirred, lifting her head and flexing her hand. She rubbed the handmark on her cheek as she shifted in the chair. The room was brightly lit, and she had the balcony doors open to keep a cool breeze flowing to keep him comfortable.

Right, now that was something she could do without screwing up.

Seeing him again was something she always had on her mind, constantly, ever since she last saw him. But not like this. And not knowing whether he would wake up or not. Or if she wanted him to. The irrational, completely renegade thought took hold of her. What if he didn't even recognize her after all these years, or did? But would just reject her out of pure spite? She had so much to say, so much to do, so much to atone for-

"Hush, Rohan." Talisa started and turned in the chair, seeing Pema shake her finger while Rohan grasped onto it and pulled and tugged. The softspoken woman she had last seen quite a long time ago looked so... right. Like this was something she was always ready to do.

Talisa cleared her throat and vacated the chair, sweeping her hands towards it and smiling at her friend.

Rohan gurgled happily in her arms as Pema went over and sat down in the chair with a sigh, keeping Rohan in her lap as Talisa stepped back and sat on the corner of the bed, trying to take up as little space as possible.

Rather than look behind her she kept her gaze straight ahead, clasping her hands together and leaning forward slightly. She glanced up at Pema. "Spirits, the whole time I've been here, you've been the best mother I've ever seen. Always knew you'd be the family type." Somehow the ghost of a smirk touched her lips. "And with Teacher?"

Pema's cheeks reddened only for a moment before Rohan's giggling got her attention. She smiled at her youngest child as he played with her hair. "Cute, coming from you, Tali. You practically jumped Anzo before the either of you turned 21."

Talisa conceded with a nod. "Heh. Got me there." she crossed her arms and stared at the floor. "They're lovely children."

"Hmm." Pema smiled, letting it drop as she glanced at the boy in the bed.

"So, how long has he been staying on the island?" Talisa whispered.

"Around a year now. Just before that nasty business with Amon. He-" Pema sighed and looked her old friend straight in the eye, knowing she would not take this well. "He was trying to kill him, Talisa."

The airbender's eyes narrowed as she clenched her hands. "He was?"

Pema nodded. "We took him in ever since. He's been through a lot, but he has a home here."

"Good." Talisa couldn't help thinking that staying out of his life would be the best. But her troubles just had to affect him as well, and Tarrin... her eyes grew soft as she wiped away a few tears with her sleeve. "I've missed seeing him." A gasp punctuated her words as she managed to get control of herself as Pema came over, her hand extended.

"It won't do you or him any good just waiting like this. Come on. Let's leave him to rest."

Talisa looked up at her old friend, quickly heaving a sigh before nodding and letting Pema lead her out of the room.

Korra couldn't sleep again.

She rubbed her arms from the cool breeze coming into the dark room, only lit by the moonlight from the clear night outside. She had her knees drawn up against her chest as she sat in the corner of her bed, her back right up against the wall, her own breaths being the only thing she could hear.

If she closed her eyes for even a second, she knew that once she fell asleep, she would get the nightmares again. She would see the eyes of that strange pale woman, taunting her about her failure.

But when she kept them open, she couldn't stop thinking about how close she was to almost losing another friend in the space of a week. Kya had done the work, not her, she could barely keep it together after seeing the state he was in. The wounds he had suffered forced Kya to use something that she knew nobody would ever forgive if they knew.

But it saved him.

Training and training was all she set her mind on since then, honing her skills anyway she could, expanding what she knew of her abilities in order to be ready for the next time Telei would show up again. It was inevitable, she knew he was out to use her for some purpose, she didn't know what. Whatever it was, his actions threatened Republic City and had hospitalized Tenzin and Bolin, something she would never forget. She knew that whatever he needed she had to stop him from getting.

Korra heaved a sigh. How could she stop him getting her if she couldn't even stop him from hurting Tai?

She opened and closed her palm, staring down at it and remembering the wrong sensation of a spark trying and failing to ignite. Was something wrong with her bending? It terrified her to think that even after all this time Amon still had his grip from her, even from beyond the grave.

The Avatar made a huge effort to get out of her own thoughts, reaching inwards for a answer to her problem. She closed her eyes and stretched out her legs before crossing them. Taking a deep breath she focused on the rhythm of her own heartbeat and breathing, enough so that the world close around her and darkened to a comfortable darkness.

Slowly as what usually happened, the doubt in her mind dulled somewhat, being swept away by a calming wave of relaxed thoughts. She used the opportunity to search for Aang. To seek his guidance like she had done in the past. She needed to talk to him about her bending, and about Telei, about Republic City about all of it-

Her eyes flew open with a gasp as her heart raced from the discovery of feeling and hearing nothing.

Aang wasn't there.

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