Disclaimer: Nope. I own none of my fanfic originators. One reason I'm weaning off fan fiction lately. Recall that the story is going to go in a Borra direction. Don't like that, don't read it. It's all good.

Conflict

"Korra! Come on, we need to talk!"

Mako didn't hear anything and continued, "Look, it's been a month! You need to quit acting like this! Everyone's worried about you!"

The window remained empty and the room silent. "Darnit Korra, don't ignore me!"

"Y'know…she's not in there." He jumped, turning to see Jinora with a flying lemur on her shoulder. "She's with Naga right now. I can take you if you want."

"Ah…yeah, that would be great." He'd been calling into an empty room for about five minutes. Awkward. Jinora didn't snort or laugh, taking his sleeve and leading him around the side of the island. The lemur chittered at him and crawled up his arm and sniffed his hair. It then returned to Jinora's shoulder. Mako was relatively used to Pabu doing the same thing, so he only flinched a little.

Naga was snorting and digging in the corner of the pen. He could see her broad white back and the tip of her tail easily, and through the fence he saw the flash of dirty paws. And beyond the dog's tail he saw Korra.

She was moving slowly in an unfamiliar stance. Her limbs seemed to wobble, fingers opening like tentacles and flowing shut. He felt a gust of air and frowned; it was too gentle to do any damage in a fight, not like what she'd done against Amon. He thanked Jinora who trotted away and he then entered the gate of the pen.

Korra was sweating, and she was breathing hard as she spun and bent. She didn't notice him for several moments until she happened to turn and she jumped when she did. A rough gust of air from her feet pushed her into the air and she landed on her behind. "Whoa! Mind warning me next time?" she demanded.

"Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt." Naga sniffed him and wagged her tail once before returning to her digging. The broken leg didn't seem to be an issue as she rooted up sticks and rocks. "Jinora told me you were here. I wanted to see how you were."

Korra's clothes were dirty and she leaned against the fence, crossing her arms. "'M fine. Is…Bolin mad at me?"

"No. He's kind of upset you're avoiding all of us though. And he's not the only one." Mako crossed his arms as well. "Aren't you even going to check on him? You've been taking Tenzin's word for it that he's okay instead of visiting yourself. It's like you're hiding from everyone."

Korra twitched. "I'm just trying to get my powers settled. I was…going to check on him. Eventually."

Mako frowned. "When were you planning on coming by?"

"When I felt like the time was right, okay?" Korra began bending the air again, slowly. "Who are you, my mother?" She seemed to avoid looking at him on purpose, and this was more frustrating than anything.

"Who am I? Bolin's brother. And the fact that you haven't come by to see him even once is pretty bad, Korra. Heck, you're my girlfriend; I thought for sure you'd at least care enough about one of us to stop by." His eyes narrowed and Korra stiffened, whirling around.

"I do care! You don't get it. I'm just trying to get my powers under control so I won't do that again! Once I do I'll visit you guys. Besides, someone from the City Council is coming tomorrow, so I have to get this tonight. So I don't need any distractions." Korra stopped trying to air bend, instead heading to the corner to pick up the rake used to scoot Naga's excrement outside the pen. Mako sighed and approached, reaching for the tool.

"Let me do it, you're tired-"

"I can do it myself. Naga's my responsibility, I'll take care of her. I don't need help to do that." Her terse words stung somehow.

"You know what? Fine. That's just fine. Keep pushing everyone back and pretending you're some tough Avatar even though you're too scared to even leave the island lately. Go ahead, be that way." He turned around and wrenched open the gate. "I thought we'd already said we were Team Avatar. We didn't turn our backs on you. Why are you turning your back on us?"

Naga barked as he left and Korra quieted her by putting her hand on Naga's muzzle. Her forehead came to rest on the dog's neck and she mumbled, "I'm not. I'm really not."

She sniffed and rubbed her face on Naga's fur. She always ended up arguing with Mako…why could she just be calm around him? Everything was sparks and fighting around him. It was never quiet and calm, even if the argument was held below the surface.

"Naga…I've got to learn how to control the Avatar state. But what if I can't? What if I…hurt someone else? What if I can't keep myself from going into it?"

Korra's fingers clenched in the thick whiteness and Naga whined, bumping her mistress with her cold, wet nose. "I'm scared. It's not like being scared of Amon now. It's worse because I'm scared of me. And there's no getting away from me, no matter how far I go."

"Who's a big, bouncy boy? That's right; you are! Yes you are!"

Jinora knocked on the doorframe, smiling when she heard her dad suddenly cease his baby-talk. "Come in," he said, and his voice shifted abruptly to the calm, careful tones she associated with peace. Peeking around the wooden wall, Jinora giggled; Tenzin had baby Rowan in his lap, one knee still bouncing gently. The baby cackled and clapped, clothed only in a diaper cloth and an orange nightshirt. "Jinora. You should be in bed already."

"So should the baby," she said, not disrespectfully. He smiled, eyes crinkling.

"True. Did you want to talk about something?"

"Just wanted to say goodnight. Are you going to be busy tomorrow?"

Rowan burbled when Jinora took Tenzin's other knee. "I'm afraid so. Sying is going to come see Korra and look over what I've planned for her training. I don't think it's going to go well, all things considered."

"You said Sying doesn't like Korra." Jinora tickled the baby's foot and he squealed.

"I went off of what Lin told me and discovered a few more things. Her real name is Kaneka. She was originally a woman of some importance in the Northern Water Tribe – a noble of sorts – but when she decided to study offensive water bending under Paku, her family stripped her of her status, and her original name. Over time the Northern Water Tribe became more accepting, but in those early years it was probably very difficult for her. She renamed herself a non-traditional Water Tribe name to distance herself from the tribe."

Jinora frowned. "Why did they do that?"

"Because traditionally women didn't fight with water bending. They only healed. It was very strange for the people to accept that women would be allowed to fight." Tenzin stroked her hair and she crossed her arms.

"That's not fair. If a girl can fight, she should be able to," she said stoutly.

"That's the way we believe…although avoiding fighting is always best," he added pointedly. Abashed, Jinora blushed and nodded. "You have to understand that the past generations have changed rapidly, and some old beliefs are still around. And even if they're going away, they affect how people think. Sying was probably very hurt all those years ago, and it's made her very defensive. It's just unfortunate that Korra is likely going to receive more anger than she should."

Jinora leaned on Tenzin, still fiddling with the baby's toes. He was getting big and chunky, just like Ikki had. "I guess you were just trying to understand your enemy, like Avatar Aang taught?"

He nodded and she sensed pride in the way he stroked her hair. "Sying's not exactly an enemy, but she's not a friend. You're right that I wanted to know what she was thinking. I'm worried about how she and Korra will interact."

"Yeah. Korra can be kind of a hothead, huh?"

Tenzin laughed. "I'm afraid so. It'll be interesting to play mediator."

He stood up and carried both his daughter and the baby out the door, heading toward the nursery first. "I could come and help you. Maybe they'll behave better around innocent, impressionable children," she said.

"We can only hope." He still looked distracted but Jinora left him to his thoughts now. She'd hoped that with the defeat of Amon he'd have more time to rest, but Jinora was beginning to realize just how much her father did, during war and peace times. She leaned on his shoulder and was content to smell his Daddy smell, that smell that was a little bit like clothes, baby soaps and the tea they had at meals.

The baby was settled in and seemed content to be tucked in. Jinora waited until they were heading toward the room she shared with Ikki before she said, "Mako came to visit Korra. They argued. I listened."

"Eavesdropping? Well, I suppose it's understandable." She shut her eyes against the lamplight when he opened the door and he snorted; Ikki was in bed with her behind up in the air, as if she'd plopped in and gone to sleep instantly. Tenzin put her down and arranged Ikki more comfortably, tucking the blanket around her. He knelt and extended his arms to Jinora, and she hugged him around the neck. "Things are a little difficult right now dear. But they'll get better. Avatar Aang always said if we do our best, situations improve." He sighed. "He always inspired hope."

"Do you miss him a lot, Daddy?"

Pausing, Tenzin looked at her and Jinora felt shy at his gray, gentle eyes. "All the time, Jinora. Of course, he's here in Korra. But it would be nice to talk to him, just him, sometimes. He always seemed to know what to do."

Imagining life without her dad made Jinora shut her eyes and hug him tighter. "You do too, Daddy. You always know what's best. It'll work out with Korra and everybody, just like you said."

"I hope you're right. Sometimes I'm not sure what I'm doing," he admitted. Giving her a kiss on the forehead, Tenzin stood up. "I have to finish a few things. Would you like me to tuck you in?"

"No, I can do it. 'Night, Daddy." He left and Jinora watched him go before changing into her nightclothes and climbing into bed. It took a while for her to fall asleep, thinking of a faceless, icy woman and Korra huddled against Naga.

Bolin bent his right arm, ignoring the tightening of the scar and the slight pain that came with it. He stuck his jaw out and turned, motions sturdy. The weights lifted and flew toward the wall across from him, and with a swift clench of his fist he stopped them just before they hit the wall. Both hit the ground gently and he darted across the room, squinting at the wall. There were several cracks and indentations in it.

He grinned. "Sweet. I'm getting my control back. No new cracks," he said. Pabu put his paws on the wall beneath Bolin's hands and patted it. "Yeah, I know, fix it before Bro gets back." He smoothed his palm over the spot and the cracks mended, molding together and flattening. Pabu clapped and Bolin picked him up, setting him on his head. Glancing at his arms, Bolin wrinkled his nose.

"Yep. Still looks like Republic City." The burns had faded, leaving scar tissue. They were pretty ugly, but Bolin reasoned that his bending was recovering and everyone was alive; it could be a lot worse. Not everyone had a run in with the Avatar state and lived to tell about it.

Pabu clambered down to his forearms and forlornly licked the scars. "Aw, don't worry Pabu. It'll be okay. Want to split a dumpling with me? I wrapped up Mako's and put them on the fire to cook." He tugged the front of his shirt to let get rid of the sweaty feeling as Pabu jumped to the plate sitting on Bolin's bed. The room was rather small, but until the pro bending arena was fixed and the apartments rebuilt, it was what they had.

Tenzin had offered to let them stay on the island, but Mako had refused. Bolin still wasn't sure why. Maybe it had something to do with the accident, although that seemed silly. Korra had gotten upset. Everyone did it. Heck, Mako did it all the time. Well, minus the potentially lethal fire bending. Nobody but Korra did that.

Thinking on it, Bolin realized it was very possible that Mako didn't want him around Korra while he healed. But whether it was because he was worried about Korra or Bolin, he couldn't be sure.

The door opened and Mako stepped through, shutting it irritably. "You're back. How is she?" Bolin asked. Mako sat down on his bed – across from Bolin's – and planted his elbows on his knees.

"Stubborn. And being dumb. She didn't say when she'd come by, and Jinora had to show me where she was." His face set in frustration. "Tenzin says she's too scared to go into the Avatar state. I don't get it. She was never so cowardly before. Who knows when she'll get back to normal?"

Bolin frowned. Instead of replying, though, he gave Mako his portion of the dumplings and waited for his brother to fall asleep, brow lined and breath tired.

Then he switched out of his dirty clothes and pulled on new breeches and a long-sleeved shirt. It was itchy and uncomfortable on the scars, but the last thing he wanted to do was upset Korra with the sight of them. Pabu climbed into the collar of the shirt and curled around his neck, and Bolin scrawled a quick note for his brother. Leaving it by his brother's bed, Bolin quietly crept out of the apartment into the street.

If he asked one of the Lotus Guards he'd probably be allowed across the bay. Hopefully. Ignoring the dirty streets and gutter, Bolin set out for the docks, jogging through the empty roads.