Chapter Two

Mako reluctantly left her before Tenzin could discover a boy in his teenaged surrogate daughter's room. Jinora came to fetch him and showed him to a guest room where he slept in fits.

The next morning, Bolin came over on the first ferry. Korra was still asleep, but Mako met him at the pier and told him what had happened.

"Poor Korra," Bolin said, looking over to Aang's Island.

"Yes. But at least she's staying here. And we'll manage to help her somehow."

Pema came out to meet them then and invited them in to breakfast. They ate quietly, listening to Ikki chatter about some bull frogs she found, when Korra wandered in.

She looked considerably better than she had the night before, though still somewhat subdued and the dark circles under her eyes hadn't quite faded.

"Hey Korra," Bolin greeted her hesitantly.

"Bolin." She looked surprised, but not unhappy to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay, of course. Sorry I couldn't come sooner."

She shook her head. "No, thanks for coming."

"Korra, sit down and eat," Pema said, "It's too early to talk about anything just now. After you've all eaten, you can go to Tenzin."

Korra sat and ate. She didn't inhale her food like the brothers expected, but ate slowly and purposefully.

Finally, though, there was nothing more to eat.

"Why don't you go wait out in the courtyard, and I'll go find Tenzin for you," Pema suggested.

"Yeah!" Ikki and Meelo jumped up to tug on the boys' shirt sleeves. "Can you show us some pro-bending moves? Can you can you can you, please?"

The two brothers exchanged looks before glancing at Korra guiltily. They didn't know how she'd react to their being able to bend and fight when she couldn't.

She caught their look. "Don't worry about me, it'll be fun for them." She shrugged. "Let's go, okay?"

The kids cheered and dragged the older boys along.

Mako and Bolin sparred against each other, if a bit half-heartedly, while the young airbenders applauded and watched, their eyes glued to the brothers, and Korra watched the Republic City skyline.

"Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, don't you have your own studies to attend to?" Tenzin asked as he strode toward the ring where they were all gathered. The three groaned, but obediently shuffled off toward the compound.

Once they were alone, Tenzin said, "I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what we need to do, and I've come to the conclusion that we need to find out exactly how Amon is taking away a person's bending, or if he is just blocking it. I suspect what he is doing is simply a more advanced method of chi-blocking, and can be reversed."

Korra jumped up. "Really?"

He nodded. "I want to examine your chakra."

"My what?"

"Your chakra. Usually, we would wait until your training was more complete, but I feel we don't have any other choice. Your chakra are pools of energy within your body. They allow energy to flow throughout your body, and can be blocked by negative energy. Once cleared, though, you should be able to enter the avatar state. At least, that's how it normally works."

"How can I enter the avatar state if I can't bend? What would happen?"

"I don't know," Tenzin admitted. "But I think if we clear your chakra, your bending will return. However," he glanced at the two brothers, "It can be a very emotional and personal experience."

"We'll just, ah, go wait… somewhere," Bolin said quickly.

Mako nodded. "If you're sure you don't need anything else from us now, we'll go back to the arena. So you know where to find us if you need us, okay?" He stepped forward and placed a hand on Korra's shoulder. "And be sure to come get us if you need anything, got it?"

She nodded, her face resolute but grateful all the same.

Once the two of them were alone, Tenzin lead Korra up to the meditation pavilion. "Before we get started, I want to make we won't be making things worse. Please sit, and I'll look into your energy."

"Do I need to do anything?"

"No, just focus on your breathing. Slow and steady and in and out. Practice your meditation," he said with a wry smile.

She rolled her eyes.

They both sat, and Korra watched as Tenzin gracefully took up the airbender meditation pose and slip away from the mortal realm. She could tell the moment he was gone from the way he seemed to stop breathing and became as still and unmoving as stone.

Korra didn't even have a moment to try to meditate before Tenzin snapped back to life.

"Change of plans," he said. "I think preparing you to enter the avatar state is just what Amon wants. And it's too dangerous; your energy is coiled up so tight it's a wonder you can function at all."

"What does that mean?" Korra's shoulders slumped in dismay.

"I'm not sure yet. I know it may be hard, but please tell me again about what he did when he took your bending. And what happened at the rally."

The girl shuddered for a moment as the memories flooded back into her brain. "After…after he ambushed me, he pressed his hands to the back of my neck, and then the center of my forehead. It wasn't painful, exactly," she struggled to find the words, "But it felt wrong."

"And at the rally?"

"He let Lightning Bolt Zolt fight for the right to keep his bending, but Zolt lost. Amon dodged every attack, and did the same thing to him as he did to me. Put his hands on his neck and forehead, and Zolt's lightning turned to fire, then to nothing. He couldn't bend anymore."

"The lightning turned to fire first? You're sure of it?"

"Yes," she looked confused. "Is that important?"

"Oh yes. If Amon were truly taking bending away, the lightning would have stopped all together, not reverted to fire first. What do you know about lightning bending?"

"Not much. My firebending master wouldn't teach me. He said it was too much power and I was too emotional to control it," she said a little sulkily. "I tried it on my own, but I only made explosions. I stopped after I realized how dangerous it was. I know Mako can do it, though."

Tenzin nodded. "Yes, I expect that's true. In order to bend lightning, you must have inner peace and absolute control. I suspect that with your history as the avatar, you will never be able to achieve the peace needed. There is too much conflict in your past lives."

Korra pouted. When she still had her bending, she'd hoped someday she'd be able to do it, if for no other reason than because she learned Mako could, and her competitive side hated the fact that he could do something she couldn't.

"I'm surprised Mako can do it," he confessed. "Especially with his background. It shows a great level of maturity and control on his part."

Korra raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know about his background?"

He coughed. "It isn't hard to learn about the up-and-coming rookies in the pro-bending tournaments. And what kind of guardian would I be if I didn't check up on the boys you're spending all your time with?"

She wanted to be angry at him, but didn't have the heart. Instead, she was surprisingly touched. Her own father would have done the same thing.

"What does that have to do with Zolt and Amon?" She asked, getting back to the topic at hand.

"It means that I believe Amon did something to disrupt that inner peace, which essentially disabled Zolt's lightning, and then went further to block his energy so he couldn't bend. Basically what his chi blockers already do, only with longer lasting results. Amon probably believes he's taking it away permanently because the block won't wear off unless it's purposely removed."

Korra absorbed all of this. "At the rally, he said the spirits were angry and gave him this power because the avatar has failed humanity and he is supposed to restore the balance."

Tenzin thought for a moment. "It is possible that the spirits are involved, or even taught him this technique," he said slowly. "But that does not mean he is in the right. It could be a malevolent spirit, simply wanting to spread chaos."

"What could I have done to fail humanity?"

"Nothing," he assured her firmly. "You are still too young for anything you have done or could have done to make such an impact."

Korra frowned. "Aang was younger than I am when he stopped the 100 Year War."

"But he didn't do it alone and he was an exception and you've been in training this whole time. No other avatar was near so young as either one of you. But that doesn't matter right now. What matters now is unblocking your energy."

"Can you do it?" The hope in her eyes was almost painful to look at.

"It will take time, but I think so."

"How much time?"

"It depends on how quickly you're able to untangle the coils. It may be very difficult."

"Aren't you going to be doing it, though?"

He shook his head solemnly. "No, you need to clear your own chi. If I were to do it, I could seriously hurt you without knowing."

Korra's spirits fell drastically. "I could barely get meditation down. How in the world am I going to clear up my energy or chi or whatever I need to do?"

"You'll manage somehow," he smiled encouragingly. "You managed to learn how to move like an airbender. I'll teach you how to think like one yet."

o-o-o-o

Mako leaned stiffly against the ferry's railing as Bolin paced in front of him, looking back to Air Temple Island, thoughts of Korra swirling around in his mind. He'd never seen her so scared and vulnerable, and that scared him. He needed the fiery girl who called him out when he was a jerk, or who called him stupid nicknames when he was irritating her.

He was surprised to realize he simply needed her.

"There got to be something we can do," Bolin insisted, breaking through his thoughts.

"I know, I know." Mako sighed. "I just don't know what she needs."

They thought in silence for a long moment. The ferry nearly reached the pier when Mako finally spoke again, after a deep sigh. "I think the only think she needs that we can provide is a friend. A human friend. Did you know she told me her best friend is her polar bear dog?"

Bolin smirked in spite of himself. "That makes perfect sense."

"Doesn't it?" Mako smiled in remembrance of his own reaction and how similar he and his brother were. "But it's kind of sad, too, don't you think?"

"I suppose it is." Bolin stopped his pacing. "But what more can we do?"

"Something special. Nice. Something to show her we think of her as a person and not just the avatar. Something Korra would love." He snapped his fingers. "I think I know what we can do."

A/N Oh man I hope that chapter made sense. I'm incorporating my head canon and theories and I don't know how well I explained myself. But either way I hope you're still enjoying this.