Save Me
Rating: T
Fandom: The Legend of Korra
Words: 1156
Characters/Pairings: Amon, Korra; Amorra-ish intentions
Author's Note: And now, time for the thrilling conclusion. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this; I do hope you enjoyed it.

"Why do I feel like you're leading me to my doom?"

"Because for all you know, I am."

"Great."

"Oh come now, Avatar. I thought you'd be relieved to leave my apartment."

"You have no idea. But was the blindfold really necessary?"

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"…No?"

"I didn't think so."

"How much further?" Korra whined as Amon steered her through the streets of Republic City.

"Not much further."

"Good, because this got old real fast."

"Your impatience never ceases to amaze me, Avatar."

"Oh shut up."

They continued on in silence, Korra trying to ignore the way her skin tingled where she could feel his fingers against her shoulders. When night had fallen and Amon had determined that it was safe to leave his apartment, he'd led her down the stairs and then blindfolded her before leading her out the back door. She had the very distinct feeling that he was taking her in circles to keep her from being able to identify the building he lived in.

"All right, you can take the blindfold off," he said.

Korra reached up and pulled the cloth from her eyes, looking around to see if she recognized where she was. "The park?"

"I figured neutral territory was best," he answered.

"So…this has been the weirdest day of my life," she informed him. "But not completely terrible."

"No, it surprisingly wasn't," he agreed.

"You know…maybe we should talk more often."

"We didn't exactly talk a lot today."

"Well no," she said slowly, "but I think I'm more willing to listen now."

He eyed her, trying to determine what she was getting at. "I think it may be too late for that, Avatar. The time for talking has long since passed. Action must be taken, and I will be the one to lead the charge."

Korra pouted, her lower lip jutting out to a ridiculous degree. "That's stupid."

"Regardless, the seeds of war have been sown. It would be foolish and irresponsible of us to try and ignore that for something that might not even last."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Probably right?" he echoed in disbelief.

"Okay, you are completely and totally right," she amended. "Better?"

"Much."

Cocking her head to the side, she studied him in the lamplight. He stood, posture rigid, staring over her shoulder at the fountain behind her. Strange that he'd deliberately lead her to a part of the park where she was at an advantage, though perhaps it was nothing more than one final gesture of good faith between them before they parted ways and resumed being enemies. "I…uh, that is…um…thanks for helping me last night," she finally blurted.

"I did what I had to do. Nothing more, nothing less." He sighed. "Go home, Avatar, and give up this silly crusade of yours. Nothing good will come from it."

She wanted to protest, tell him that he was wrong, but was stopped by the sound of voices. Pulling water from the fountain, Korra slid into a defensive stance while Amon did the same. They waited for something, some sign that they were going to be attacked, but were surprised when someone called, "It's the Avatar! She's safe but she's fighting Amon!"

Grimacing, Korra sent a water whip racing at Amon. He easily dodged before slipping into the shadows, just as the members of the task force flooded the patio.

"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" came Tarrlok's oily voice. "Tenzin said you didn't come home last night, and the rest of us were just worried sick."

"Yeah…it's…complicated," Korra answered as she turned to face the approaching councilman. He was wearing his task force uniform, a pleasant smile on his face and his arms open wide as if he were going to embrace her.

Tarrlok slid his arm around her shoulder and guided her to one of their trucks. "Don't worry, no explanation needed! No doubt you came into the city to get some Water Tribe food since you were homesick and on your way back to Air Temple Island you were ambushed and attacked by the Equalists. You must have just managed to escape when Amon caught up to you. It's a good thing we were nearby."

Korra didn't bother to correct him. It wasn't entirely accurate, but she doubted that Tarrlok would believe the truth anyway. In this situation it was wiser to just keep silent and let everyone believe what they wanted. Anything to spare her the awkward conversations about how she spent the afternoon sitting on Amon's couch doing the puzzles in the newspaper and arguing over the best way to make stewed sea prunes.

"I'll take you home," he said and he meant it. He escorted her all the way to Air Temple Island and Korra was certain that it was the only time that Tenzin was happy to see Tarrlok show up on his doorstep unannounced. Tarrlok wasted no time in relaying Korra's ordeal, albeit the version he had concocted on his own. In the end it didn't matter, of course, as no one besides Amon and Korra would ever know the truth of the last twenty-four hours.

When Tarrlok finally left, Pema escorted Korra to the kitchen and made her a pot of tea. "You don't have to talk about what happened if you don't want to," she said with a kind smile. "I just want you to know that we were worried and hoped that you'd return safely."

Korra smiled in hopes of conveying her thanks and then drank her tea in silence. Part of her wanted to talk about it, about how she had tried to reach out to the enemy and talk over their differences, but another part of her wanted to hold it like a precious secret.

She now had two conflicting images of Amon. Front and center of her mind was the image of the leader of the Equalists, masked and cloaked in mystery and shadow. He would always haunt her mind, a threat just looming over the horizon. But the man she had met in his apartment, who cooked Water Tribe food and fussed over the Sudoku puzzle in the newspaper, intrigued her. She wanted to get to know him better.

As she crawled into bed for a long deserved rest (long after assuring that Pema and Tenzin that the wound on her head wasn't severe, it just looked bad), Korra wondered if she'd ever see the man behind the mask again. During the day she'd look up from whatever she was doing to find him studying her, his face reminding her of a curious child studying a new animal they had stumbled across while out exploring. It was odd, it was almost as if he was debating with himself as to why they were enemies in the first place.

Shaking off her unease, Korra allowed herself to sleep. It wouldn't do to dwell on things that could never be.