Summary: Midway through her mastery of firebending a 15 year old Korra makes the rash decision to run away to Republic City. The world is sent into a fit of hysteria, unbeknownst that the missing Avatar is right under their noses.

Prompt: Korra pulls an Aang and goes AWOL - for the sake of the world, hopefully not for 100 years

Rated: T - perhaps bumped up later

Pairings: Mako/Korra, various others. It gets complicated. There's character development to be had.

Disclaimer: I don't own LOK. If I did, I would have that tankless hot water heater I so desperately need.

a/n - you know who you are, you lovely souls that prompted this...

Chapter 1 - Warm Water

Korra hated her firebending teacher. For a man who preached discipline like it was the world's most crucial lesson, he had a surprising amount of his grey hair singed off. Shouldn't someone so focused on control not have that many bald patches? His unruly hair was only one of the many things that irritated Korra about the old man.

Right off the bat, he refused to give the young Avatar his name. His reasoning was that she was not yet worthy to receive it. When she had mastered his element, they could see eye to eye, but for now she was not privileged enough to be given that knowledge. Of course, Korra thought this was complete and utter bullshit. She was the Avatar. While she wasn't self-centered, she believed that after mastering both water and earth at the ages of 7 and 12 respectively, she was at least worthy of such a minimal piece of information. The man, a muscular, yet wrinkly old bat, was unyielding when his mind was made up about such things. So unyielding that it was irritating.

Discipline was one thing to practice, but Korra was subjected to repeating the same exercises every day for the last 3 years. She had learned nothing from the old man. What use was meditating while slowly melting the snow around her every single day when she already could produce and throw fire punches? She was the Avatar, not a monk. Korra had a feeling that even her predecessor, Avatar Aang, would have lost his patience after the first year

"You are a waterbender, young Avatar," her nameless firebending master would say. He wore traditional Fire Nation garb, even in the South Pole. The man had been offered parkas and blankets numerous times, but he refused, stating his body had an internal furnace. Korra thought he was insane.

"Water is the opposite of fire, and therefore needs more practice. Begin again."

Korra ground her teeth and took another block of ice in her hand. Slowly, she filled her palm with heat and attempted to melt the hard crystal from the inside out. Her nameless sensei observed as a small circle appeared at the center of the ice, melting away and getting larger by the seconds. The 15 year old Avatar glanced up at him as the ice thinned more, eventually leaving a puddle in her hand. She shook the water off her palm as she spoke, annoyance coating her voice, "Can I put my gloves back on now? My hand is getting cold."

"No. Again."

She picked up another piece of ice, her hand growing numb on contact. She would have warmed her hand up with firebending, but warming her hand too much would have melted the ice - and thus rewarding her with yet another demand to start over. She concentrated on the middle of the ice. Once again, it began to melt.

After only a puddle remained, she stared at the firebending master. He looked at the Avatar in disdain, "Again!"

"Again? I've done this over 20 times today. I did it 20 times yesterday - as well as everyday of the past year. Every single time, it was perfect."

The man's face was unreadable as his lips pressed into their familiar line. His eyes squinted at Korra as if he were looking at the sun, "No. Again." And so Korra, without much of a choice, began again.

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Korra's day ended long after those in the compound had gone to sleep. Her nameless master had not ended their lessons, - she had not finished them to his satisfaction - but had simply postponed them. Her muscles ached and and her jaw was sore from the amount she had clenched it in frustration during the day. The young Avatar was on the very end of her wits. She entered her home to find her mother's groggy form leaning against the low table. While her father had duties to tend to in the tribe, her mother often visited the isolated compound.

"Korra," she greeted sleepily. Korra pulled down her snow covered hood from her face as a wordless greeting. Her mother gave a weak smile after seeing her daughter's familiar exhausted state. "I saved some food for you," she motioned to the bowl of sea prunes at the other side of table.

The Avatar wordlessly sauntered over to the table and sat on the ground. She took the spoon already present in the bowl and began to eat up, happy to finally get some food in her empty stomach. A hungry Avatar did not make a happy Avatar. She'd have to let her nameless sensei know that fact.

Upon seeing her daughter's strained features, Senna gave an audible sigh, "I know this is hard, honey."

"You have no idea how frustrating it is," she complained. Stress dripped off her voice. If she weren't so tired, she probably would have yelled in anger. Not that she was angry at her mother - she wasn't. Korra simply needed to unleash her pent up emotions.

"You have done so well so far," her mother tried, "You are the Avatar - you mastered earth and water. You have only two more to go."

"I haven't learned anything! He - whatever his name is - is a tyrant."

Senna was about to speak and sum up the words she used every time her daughter came home in a less than enjoyable mood, but Korra spoke first, "I didn't ask for this whole Avatar thing."

"I know you didn't, honey. You're special though. You have a duty to the world that's been upheld for thousands of years. Now it's your turn."

"What if I don't want that duty?"

Her mother frowned, "You don't have a choice. It's not like you can disappear and just be somebody else. It doesn't work like that."

Perhaps it was time to talk to Tonraq about considering a few stress relievers for Korra. Senna knew that her daughter was teetering on the edge of a breakdown, and she certainly would have liked to avoid such an instance. She and her husband had discussed a few things quietly - getting Korra a pet, or allowing highly supervised walks outside the compound, but never had they spoken seriously to the White Lotus with these suggestions.

Korra put a spoonful of prunes in her mouth and chewed, a miserable expression on her face. "I know."

Senna reached over to rub her daughter's shoulder, "Besides Korra, you turn 16 in a few weeks. You'll officially stop being a kid."

She scoffed, "I stopped being a kid the moment I presented earth, fire, and water to the White Lotus when I was 4."

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"Again," her nameless firebending master repeated. Korra had lost count how many times they had done this drill. It involved producing a flame in her palm at the very perfect intensity. Too weak of a flame would be extinguished by the falling snow and strong winds. Too powerful, and she would burn down the compound's dry wood imports sitting in the tent nearby. Oh yes, her nameless sensei was a high-risk, high-reward teacher. She had made the mistake of being cocky during this drill once before, burning half of the compound's supply of dry wood to a crisp. Fires were a scarcity for a couple of months before the Earth Kingdom sent a boat to restock it.

The 15 year old Avatar took a deep breath in order to calm her nerves. She stared at the White Lotus guards manning the gates and towers. Several were slacking off, while others maintained a rigid and attentive stance. She hadn't once left the compound in the 11 years she spent here. Not once had she been allowed to so much as glance at the world outside of the compound.

"Can't we take a break?" Korra requested, feeling her stomach's familiar pull for food.

The grey haired master sighed in an exasperated fashion before giving in, "Fine. It will probably do some good to get food in your system. Be back in 10 minutes... not a minute longer."

"10 minutes? That's barely enough time to eat."

He grunted and shrugged as he gathered his own lunch out of his satchel, "You best hurry then, young Avatar. Fire is about control - learn to control your free time as a start." With a sigh, Korra scampered off.

A stringy boy in Fire Nation garb suddenly appeared, gasping for breath after his run to the firebending master. The old man raised an eyebrow, "What do you want, boy?"

"Sir!" he greeted, standing tall. He brandished a rolled piece of paper, sealed with the insignia of the Fire Nation, "A letter came in for you. It's from Lord Zuko."

The man took the scroll and smiled a very rare smile, "Ah, I was expecting this. One should always keep up with the news of their home country."

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Korra had initially begun to head to the formidable building near her home. She could probably scavenge some meat from the compound's storage and heat up something herself. Nameless Sensei would be livid that she used her firebending so 'recklessly,' but it was his fault for giving he only 10 minutes. A warm aroma suddenly entered her nose. It was most definitely meat - but not seal. Probably something foreign. She could identify an unknown spice that made the mystery meat even more desirable.

Like the 15 year old bender she was, Korra acted on intuition. She craned her head in the direction of the smell; its source was one of the wooden buildings where the guards slept. Several men - some guards, others foreign - gathered around a long table with strips of meat laid out. She cautiously hovered around the men who were choosing pieces of the meat to put on their plates.

"Hello there little lady," a large man with a black beard greeted, "You looking for something?"

Korra perked up, "No. I mean - yeah, are you selling?"

The man chuckled, "No, no. We're having a goodbye meal for several of the guards here. Most of them are being shipped off to Republic City this evening by way of my ship," he smiled proudly at the mention of his vessel. He was obviously a passionate man when it came to his profession. The old captain watched as the girl frowned at his initial words and then quickly added, "You are welcome to eat with us."

Korra eagerly grabbed a plate and stocked up on meat. True to her sense of smell, it was a spice she hadn't encountered before. Something about it made her chest tighten as the chewed meat went down her throat. If this was the standard taste and feel of Fire Nation food, perhaps her nameless sensei had reason to act so uptight. This was great on an occasion, but eating such strong spices everyday would probably drive a man to madness.

The captain chewed on his own strip of meat as other guards began to take breaks from their posts. The young girl before him made an odd face as she finished the first bite of food. "Need some more spice on that?" he inquired.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously in reply, "No. This is more than enough."

The captain chucked, "Suit yourself. It gets better if you put more on."

"Where did you say you were headed again?"

"Republic City," the old man replied.

"What's it like there?"

"Compared to the Southern Water Tribe or just in general?"

"Both," the 15 year old responded.

The captain rubbed his hand through his long, authentic Fire Nation beard, "Well, it's a lot warmer than the Southern Water Tribe," he chuckled, "the buildings are tall, making the palace here look average. Lots of metal. And the roads! There are road everywhere with motorcycles and cars."

"Cars? I remember a few of those when I was a child," Korra wondered out loud, "What is a motorcycle?"

"It's much like a car, but with two wheels."

"How could that work? Wouldn't it fall over?"

The captain laughed, "No, no. It's difficult to explain."

Korra realized that she wasn't going to get an explanation without her becoming terribly confused, and moved onto her next topic, "Where is your ship? Is there a harbor nearby?"

"Yes. Right down the mountain - not too far from here."

"What's in Republic City for these guards?"

"Master Airbender Tenzin - Avatar Aang's son - lives there. He requires protection for his little family of airbenders."

The Avatar gave the man a confused look, "What's so dangerous?"

"Airbenders aren't exactly a common sight - if something were to happen to any one of them, it would be a blow to the future of their kind."

Korra looked at her food in silence before realizing it had nearly been 10 minutes. She set her plate down and thanked the captain, "It was nice meeting you sir. I have to get back to training." The old captain sent her off with a smile and Korra headed toward the now unmanned gates.

She would just take a peek. The gates were large and decorated with the head of a lion turtle. The only question now was how she was going to open them without alerting any of the preoccupied members of the White Lotus. Korra realized she had to first figure out a feasible way to open the massive doorway. She took an earthbending stance and moved to thrust her arm forward. She year old watched as nothing happened, deducting that the door was indeed not made of any earthly materials. Glancing back at the guards enjoying their meals, she reverted to her native element. A large pole of ice appeared from the ground, jutting forward and pushing on the door.

A loud groan sounded from the gate, causing several guards to turn their heads. Eyes widened. A man yelled, snapping many out of their daze. A sprint was made to the door, several of the waterbending White Lotus members riding an icy wave over in the flurry of panic. Upon observation, the door had been opened from the inside out. There was no threat present - just a solid pole of ice having shoved the door open enough for a small man to slip through.

"It's all clear," one of the men stated with a hint of confusion.

"Should we search inside sir?" another guard asked, "Somebody may have infiltrated the compound."

The Avatar's nameless firebending master's audible sigh could be heard, "You idiots. No one has entered the compound. The Avatar has clearly left!"

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Korra had made it out and away from the compound in no time. She knew that the guards would put two-and-two together as soon as they discovered that the gate had been propped open from the inside. She knew that she would be in deep shit and under mass surveillance when they found her. So Korra's simple peek outside the compound turned into more of a run, and her run turned into more of a hide. To be specific, she was hiding in the cargo bay of a ship. She had been there for a few hours when she heard the engine of the ship start. Voices could be heard from the deck above her.

"Tenzin's not going to be happy."

"Forget Tenzin - did you see her firebending teacher?"

"I can't believe we lost the Avatar. Let's hope it doesn't take a hundred years this time..."

She could just feel Avatar Aang's disappointment and pull to want her to head back to the compound. She could literally feel her former lives fill her mind with shame. Guilt would have welled up in Korra's heart it it weren't for her current state of panic. She was on a ship. At least the previous mention of Tenzin confirmed she had chosen the correct ship to Republic City. It could be days - no, weeks - until she was able to leave. What would she do for food? How would she survive? She had not thought any of this through.

She sighed in a fit of stress, her breath visible as it left her body. Korra hadn't realized how cold she was until then. Even with her parka on, she was freezing in her metal prison. She concentrated on warming her body up, but it only reminded the Avatar of her insufferable teacher waiting back at the compound. Or probably searching the entire South Pole for her with the rest of her family.

The creak of a door opening was heard throughout the cargo bay. Wind kissed her cheeks, causing her to cringe at the sharp sting of frozen air. Light footsteps could be heard accompanied by a young, grumbling voice. "Can't they get their own food? Too busy searching the ship for the stupid Avatar..."

The voice got louder - closer - and Korra froze behind a wooden crate. A noise could be heard as a metal container was lifted somewhere to the left of her. She didn't dare look. She didn't dare move. The footsteps moved again, this time returning to where they came from. The 15 year old sighed in relief as they began to fade, as her heart was beating her chest at a hundred kilometers per hour. Suddenly, there was a pause in the noise. The sound of a crate being set on the ground and hurried footsteps back into the storage bay caused her heart to pound.

She could see the shadow created by the light emitted from the door grow nearer until it hovered behind her. An audible gasp echoed throughout the metal room, "You're the Ava-" The boy's voice was loud. Much too loud. Quickly, Korra made her move, stood up, and covered the boy's face. It was a young male who couldn't have been above the age of 10. He was wearing Fire Nation robes, his eyes were wide, and his body rigid. She briefly wondered what he was doing on the ship in the first place, but as he squirmed in her arms realized there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Yes I am," she uncovered his mouth slowly, as if he was at risk to scream. He probably was. She was stronger than she looked; training every day for the majority of one's life tended to build some extra muscle and endurance. The poor kid probably didn't expect to be taken down by a girl. Thankfully, the boy did not scream. He didn't even speak until Korra gave him a reassuring nod.

"They're looking for you," he whispered.

"I know," she replied, staleness in her voice, "They can't know I am here."

"Why?! You're the Avatar. You can't just leave like Avatar Aang!"

"Firstly, Aang was frozen in an iceberg. Not much of a choice in if he wanted to leave or not," she said in frustration, "I can't be found because I needed a vacation. You know how that is, right? Needing a vacation from school?" He nodded empathetically, "Try being in school every day for 11 years straight." The boy still seemed marginally confused, but he probably recalled his own schooling. She could tell that she had struck up some pity with the kid.

After a moment of pause, he spoke, "I won't tell anyone."

Korra was skeptical of that, but she nodded anyway. She could use him for some information in the mean time, "Thank you. Do you know how long this trip will be?"

The boy shrugged, "Probably a few days. The ships are quite fast when we aren't making any stops."

"Do you know if there is food and water down here that I can survive on?"

"I'm bringing the last crate of food up to the galley," he explained, "But when we do eat, I can bring you down a meal and something to drink."

"Can you get me a bucket of seawater within the next few days and bring me a plate of food every day?"

"You can't drink seawater. You'll get sick."

Korra gave him a light smile, "I'm a waterbender. I can just purify the seawater myself." He seemed to have accepted this answer, and told her he would do his best to provide her with as much food as possible - without arising suspicion, of course.

They both jumped when a voice sounded from the door, "Hey kid, what's taking so long?"

The boy shuffled over to the container of food he had left on the floor before replying to the voice, "Nothing! I thought I saw a crate that had some fresh meat in it is all."

The voice, deep and grown, replied, "I wish you had seen it... I could do for meat the next few days. Tenzin won't have any." The boy gave a quick glance in Korra's direction before heaving the original container and heading out of the cargo bay.

True to his word, the boy left a metal pail of seawater near the entrance to the cold cargo bay. He had made a loud thud and knocked on the entrance several times to alert her of its presence. After a general 15 minute period of waiting (just to be safe), Korra retrieved the bucket and set it beside her. She spent her free time in the isolated basement of the ship practicing her waterbending, playing with the seawater from the bucket and confounding it into impossible shapes. When the sun set and darkness filled the room, she lit a flame in her palm and warmed herself. It was boring, but if she was able to see Republic City, it would be worth it.

The boy returned the next afternoon with a meal. He knocked twice, and like before, Korra waited 15 minutes before retrieving her meal. Seaweed and some sort of fish filled the plate, but she wasn't going to complain. Her stomach was aching, having been been absent of the hearty breakfast she would always consume before training each morning. Korra was secretly thankful for her dear little friend. He could have told the White Lotus members, but it sounded like he had some animosity toward the men who bossed him around and sent him on errands. Several times, the Avatar had heard the men on the deck above her yell at the boy to fetch them something or another. This was usually followed by a set of groans and complaints.

The sun set on her second night within the ship. Korra was beginning to get stir crazy, feeling the need to move. She hadn't expelled any of the energy that her body had come accustomed to while training rigorously for years. Even the stupid drills that her Nameless Sensei had her performing were taxing. The Avatar stood up and began to practice earthbending stances. She was deep in concentration when two knocks were heard. She froze, watching as moonlight poured in from the opened door. She felt relief wash over her as the silhouette of her young accomplice appeared.

"Avatar?" he whispered into the dark. Korra lit the room with a small flame, revealing her position.

"Yes?"

The boy walked toward her, his hand outstretched and offering her something. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was a piece of paper. Korra took it gently before realizing it was a picture of herself smiling back at her. She held the flame closer, the words 'MISSING' spread across the top of the page along with some identifying details at the bottom. Information such as her name and height were listed. None of it mentioned the fact that she could bend multiple elements. Probably the Order not wanting mass panic that the Avatar had once again disappeared. "What is this for?"

"They plan on putting these across the Four Nations."

Korra frowned, "I need to do something about this."

"It's too late - I overheard the captain. He said that they already dispersed thousands of fliers in Republic City."

"I can do something," she whispered, bending some of the water from her pale into a shard of ice. The boy wordlessly watched as the 15 year old Avatar undid her hair's traditional ponytails, and held up the ice to the loose ends. Slowly, right below her shoulder, she began to slice her hair. Strands dropped into a slowly growing pile at her feet, the dark brown hair on her head now feeling lighter than before.

"What are you doing?" he questioned. As if it wasn't obvious.

She cut another section, "I'm changing my look. They will recognize me from these drawings."

"You should also change your clothing."

"I can take off my parka when we get to Republic City. They'll be looking for someone in traditional water tribe clothing. Once I get there, I am sure I can find something that I can blend in with more."

The boy yawned and gave a nervous glance toward the door to the cargo bay. "Do you need anything?" Korra wasn't sure what the hour was, but judging by the lack of light, she assumed it was quite early in the morning.

She shook her head, "No. But thank you... What's you name?"

He gave her a soft smile before standing. His brown eyes gleamed in the scarce light in the room. He retrieved her empty plate from earlier with with one hand and walked over to the door. He used his free hand to pull open the latch to the outside world. "My name is Lee."

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Somewhere on Air Temple Island, a old airbending master was panicking. He had received word of Korra's disappearance the day it happened. Upon reading the first sentence of the letter that declared that the White Lotus had misplaced the 15 year old, his first reaction was that she had been kidnapped. It wouldn't have been the first time there was an attempt to snatch away the most coveted teenager in the Four Nations. As he read further, he felt like pulling out the hair of his beard at the stupidity and avoidability of the situation. They were distracted by lunch?! Of all the things, a lunch break was what had lost the world's single link between spirits and people.

His father would have probably laughed at this. Then again, his father knew where his latest reincarnation was. Tenzin, on the other hand had no idea where Korra was, and if she had been eaten by a pack of wild moose-lions yet. It wasn't out of the question. Stranger things had happened when the Avatar went missing. His own father befriended a lion turtle during one of his little stints as a child. Korra was no Aang though. She was more reckless and did not have the weight of ending a war that committed genocide on her entire race.

What would he do if he were Korra? Where would he go? Tenzin thread his fingers through his beard and closed his eyes in thought. When his mind came up blank, he sighed. If he were Korra, he would have most definitely stayed in the compound and finished his training. The old airbending master clearly was not in touch with this generation. He would need to travel to the Southern Water Tribe himself and speak to her parents. Perhaps Tonraq and Senna would be able to share some insight on their daughter's whereabouts.

He turned around to glance at the nearest White Lotus member, "You there!" The man straightened up and stared at Tenzin with determined eyes. The elder man began folding the letter in his hand, "Inform Tarrlok, Lin, and the council that I will be taking an unexpected has been an unprecedented event in the Southern Water Tribe."

The man nodded and sprinted off. Tenzin placed the folded letter in his traditional airbender robes and rubbed his temples. Perhaps some meditating would help calm his frayed nerves.

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The day finally came. The Avatar felt the ship stall up, its engine slowly shutting down after the long voyage. The sound of men moving in a stampede of footsteps to get off of the ship was a welcome sound entering her ears. She waited several hours for the buzz to calm down, thanking Yue, Tui and La - and whatever other spirits she could think of - that nobody had decided to start unloading cargo. The less people who noticed her, the better.

Korra shed her parka, stuffing it behind several heavy containers. She stretched her now bare arms and adjusted to the cold of the cargo bay. She desperately pleaded that Republic City wasn't too cold. If it was, she would look like an idiot with her sleeveless top. With steady hands, the Avatar turned the latch on the heavy metal door. Sunlight poured in, burning her eyes momentarily before she was able to behold the sight before her.

Republic City was better than anything she had ever imagined. The buildings were on a massive scale, sticking up from the ground like shards of ice. They came in many varieties: tall, short, long, and thin. The Southern Water Tribe was similar, but not to this extent. And the cars - they were ever present and hummed through the streets on their silver wheels and sturdy bodies. The thing that most intrigued the Avatar were the people. They were in all varieties of clothing, making it hard to tell which nation they represented. Everybody in the south wore blue. It was the color of the Water Tribe. These people wore browns, blacks, oranges, reds, blues, and greens - all in the same outfit. It was much like the epitome of the city itself; a melting pot of people and nations.

Without another thought, Korra stepped out of the cargo hold and entered Republic City.

a/n - Yes, there will be more. Reviews more than welcome. We will be hearing more from Lee. He is important. Our dear canon characters (Mako, Bolin, etc) will be making appearances next chapter.