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English
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Part 1 of Photokinesis
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Published:
2021-07-21
Completed:
2022-01-21
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67,173
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22/22
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Arctic Oscillation

Summary:

A series of mysterious reports from the North Pole forces Asami Sato and her girlfriend, Avatar Korra, to investigate.

What initially appeared to involve a few random cases of technology going wild quickly becomes much more than that - a confluence of century-old mistakes, misery, improbable events, and a near-timeless cosmic force.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter Text

The moment she heard the doorbell ring, Korra shot up from her seat on the couch with a gust of wind, her copy of Power Disc Weekly flying off the coffee table. Her cup of coffee flew off too, but she noticed just in time and caught it with her waterbending, cupping it in one hand as she pulled the door open with the other. The sight of the person she’d been expecting brought a wide grin to her face immediately.  

“Asami!”

Her girlfriend laughed, wrapping both arms around her for a moment before Korra stepped aside and let her into the living room. “It’s good to see you too, Korra.”

Yeah, it is.

“Guess what?” The Avatar pulled away, still smiling - the fact that Asami came over pretty much every day at this point didn’t make it any less special in her mind. “I actually remembered to order from Narook’s! It’ll get here in half an hour or so.”

“You say that like it’s an achievement.”

Korra pouted in mock annoyance. “Can’t you humor me, ‘Sami? I worked hard to remember what you liked.”

The two of them sat down on the soft sofa, Korra smiling again as her girlfriend leaned into her. Moments like these, where neither of them had to worry about their responsibilities, were wonderful - and if she was a little warmer than normal, Asami certainly didn’t seem to mind.

I guess my inner flame reacts to being close to her… 

“Sorry I was late,” Asami murmured in her ear. “Stuff happened.”

“Don’t worry about it, you weren’t even late! You just... weren’t early.”

The heiress chuckled and wagged a finger at Korra. “Early is on time, on time is late-”

“Late is no excuse, I get it!” She had heard the phrase enough times to have memorized it - not that it had made a difference. “We can’t all be as punctual as you are, Miss Asami Sato.”

“Well, that is part of running a business, Korra,” her girlfriend chastised. “And you’re the Avatar, you should know how to be on time.”

“Lucky that I have a wonderful girlfriend to make sure I don’t run late, then.”

This time, they both laughed. Some of Asami’s sleek black hair fell over her face, and she pushed it away with her typical grace.

Every day could be like this… that would be amazing...

Despite having been together for over a year, Korra still hadn’t moved in with Asami. Her girlfriend had asked, a month or so ago - there was plenty of room in the Sato estate, and they certainly both wanted to stay together, but after a long discussion they had decided that they weren’t quite ready to take that step. 

It’ll definitely come soon, we both know that, but not now.

“Korra?”

“Yes, ‘Sami?”

Her girlfriend sighed resignedly. “I’m going to have to go to Agna Qel’a tomorrow. There’s an urgent matter that’s come up.”

Huh?

No… don’t leave!

“The Northern Water Tribe?” That was confusing - there weren’t even any Future Industries manufacturing outposts in the North. “What could possibly be going on there?”

After a little pause, Asami responded, still leaning into Korra. “There have been a lot of reports of failing electrical devices from Agna Qel’a and the surrounding area, and none of the engineers there have any idea what the problem could be. Not that they have the best engineers in the Northern Water Tribe, but considering the magnitude of the issue, I think it might be time for me to check it out.”

“Do you have to?” Korra whined, pouting again. “Can’t you send someone else up there? I want to stay with you.”

In response, her girlfriend simply poked her in the side, green eyes sparkling with amusement. “You’re so silly, Korra! You can just come with me.”

“The Northern Water Tribe is so annoying, though.”

Asami ignored her protests and stood up - hey, come back! I wasn’t done cuddling yet! - pacing around the room a little bit, as the engineer tended to do when she was thinking about something. “Actually, it might be a really good idea for you to come with me, Korra. You could be able to help me figure out what’s going on there.”

“I know you love me, ‘Sami, but I’m not an engineer,” the Avatar responded, rolling her eyes. “I don’t think I’d be-”

“No, I know that, silly.” Asami turned, smiling at Korra just a little bit, which made her tingle with more fire-warmth. She loved that feeling, even more so when it was her girlfriend who inspired it. “But - well, a lot of Varrick’s stuff was damaged too, and when he went up there to check it out two days ago, he said that the damage looked like it was caused by spirits.”

Wait… what?

That was shocking enough to make Korra stand up, the thought of Asami-cuddles abandoned for a moment. “Spirits? Why would spirits be messing with technology?”

“That’s what I was thinking you could help me figure out,” the engineer said quickly. “And I mean, I know it’s Varrick, and he’s not exactly the most reliable person-”

No kidding-

“-but I really think he might be onto something here. I’ve communicated with several other engineers - really good ones - and none of them had any idea what was going on. So… well, it might be a good thing if you came.”

Korra smiled proudly. “Good thing you have an Avatar on call then, huh, ‘Sami?”

“Don’t forget I’m the one who takes care of all your finances, love.”

The smile turned to a frown of mock annoyance - not that Korra wasn’t very, very glad to have Asami’s help, of course, finances were horrible, just like bureaucracy in general.

Just another thing I love about my girlfriend, you know?

“Hey, we should bring Mako and Bolin along!” Korra spun a bit in excitement, knocking two more of her power disc magazines off the coffee table. “We haven’t had a proper Team Avatar adventure in ages.”

After a brief moment of consideration, Asami nodded. “That’s not a terrible idea, I guess. We’ll have to see if they’re free, though - I know Mako gets busy with his detective work, and… well, I don’t know what Bolin is doing right now.”

“I’ll invite them over, and we can talk about it.” Korra quickly stepped over to the telephone at the end of her living room, lifting the receiver off as she spun the dial with metalbending. 

I love being able to bend all the elements - it’s so convenient!

“You’re such a show off,” Asami teased, stepping behind her and kissing her lightly on the cheek. “My favorite show off, though.”

“At least let me talk to Mako and Bolin without making me blush, Asami!”

Behind her, Korra was pretty sure that her girlfriend was smirking. “No can do.”

 


 

Asami was sitting next to Korra when the doorbell rang again, loud and insistent as always. 

“Hey, that’s the Narook’s delivery guy!” The Avatar immediately leapt from the couch with a burst of wind, and Asami chuckled - it was always funny how excited her girlfriend became whenever food was involved. “Let me get the door-”

She was interrupted by a loud, familiar voice from outside. “Wait, Korra ordered Narook’s? This is great, Mako!”

Oh…

“Uhh… hey, guys!” Korra opened the door, taking the delivery boxes in both hands before she spun to the side to avoid the very excited earthbender barreling into the living room. “How are you?”

“I’m great! Really hungry, though.”

As the delivery man quickly took Korra’s yuans and slipped away, probably hoping to avoid whatever chaos the four of them might cause, Mako spoke up. “Bolin, I don’t think there’s enough food there for all of us…”

“Yeah, sorry,” Korra confirmed sheepishly. “This was supposed to be a date night before Asami told me about the North Pole thing, and I forgot to order more...”

“Aww… see, Pabu’s disappointed!”

Asami chuckled as the fire ferret crawled out of Bolin’s shirt, whining sadly at the mention of there not being enough food. “You two are so dramatic… here, I can make some of Korra’s instant noodles while we talk. She has way too many packages of the seaweed ones.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault they never taste right!”

“About that, what exactly did you call us over here for?” Mako stepped towards the doorway into the kitchen, following the engineer as she started to search her girlfriend’s disorderly cooking space for a decently sized pot. “Korra sounded pretty intent when she was on the phone.”

“Well… uhh…” The aforementioned Avatar stammered a bit, not quite sure what to say.

And the fact that she’s searching for a pot in her own kitchen doesn’t help...

I really hope she moves in soon… at least I have staff to help keep things organized.

“There have been a lot of reports of spontaneous failures of various electronic devices from Agna Qel’a and the surrounding area, and Korra and I were starting to wonder if spirits might be involved,” Asami explained. “I’m going to have to go up there tomorrow anyway to check it out, so we decided that it might be a good idea to bring all of Team Avatar.”

Mako did not look terribly enthusiastic. “Spirits damaging electronics? That sounds pretty far-fetched… wait, did Varrick give you that idea?”

“He did, yes.” That didn’t make the firebender any more confident, of course, so the engineer continued. “And I know, it’s Varrick, but I think he’s onto something - whatever’s happening is definitely serious. And Korra and I will have to go up there anyway, so it would be nice if you’d come.”

The kitchen was silent for a moment - silent in terms of speaking, at least, because Korra was still rattling around trying to start boiling the water for the instant ramen noodles. Asami wasn’t sure whether or not the two brothers would actually want to - or be able to - go with them, and they were obviously deep in thought about it as well. 

It’s nearly the middle of winter… the North Pole will be very cold…

“There won’t be any sunlight up there, will there?” Mako, being a firebender, had beaten her to the consideration, and he looked quite worried, in his irritable way. “I really don’t want to deal with that right now, you know? Sun deprivation is supposed to be really terrible.”

After another moment of thinking, Asami responded. “Well, I don’t think we’ll be up there for longer than a day or two, at least.”

“That’s… manageable,” Mako mused. “It definitely won’t be comfortable, but I can deal with it for that long.”

“And I’d love to go! I haven’t seen Varrick and Zhu Li in ages - aren’t they up there right now?”

No one else looked terribly enthused at the thought of meeting the eccentric businessman, but it didn’t seem like Mako and Bolin were against the idea-

“Aaah!”

Asami jumped back as a column of steam filled the room, then dispersed quickly, revealing a very embarrassed Korra standing next to the stove. 

“Ummm… I was trying to boil the water? With heatbending?”

A loud slap echoed across the room as Mako facepalmed. “Really, Korra?”

“Hey, I can almost generate lightning now, I should be able to boil some water!”

“Korra, love, I think you’re a bit too good at it,” Asami said, laughing - her girlfriend really was hilarious. “Can you just boil the water normally, so we can all eat at some point?”

The Avatar pouted. “Fine, I’ll do it the boring way.”

As Korra walked back over to the stove to fill the pot again, the engineer looked at Mako and Bolin. “Do you know if you’ll be able to make it? Getting there won’t be a problem, I already had a Future Industries airship reserved, but I don’t know about your schedules…”

“It’ll be fine,” Mako replied, after a bit of thought. “Bolin’s not doing anything in particular at the moment, and Chief Lin-”
“You still call her Chief?” 

“-should be willing to let me go on Avatar business, and yes, Korra, I call her that because I work for her.”

I love it when Korra says silly things…

“Well, that settles it then,” her girlfriend said, placing the pot on the stove with a loud thud and a muffled splashing noise. “We’re going to the Northern Water Tribe to hunt down an electrical spirit!”

Mako facepalmed, hard. “I don’t even know what’s going on at this point.”

Chapter 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“So,” Asami started, settling into her seat, “I think I should explain a bit more of what I know.”

Team Avatar had retired to the lounge room of the Future Industries airship soon after they had left Republic City. The flight to Agna Qel’a would be quite long - they had left early that morning, and they wouldn’t arrive until well after midnight - so they had a lot of time to spare. And there was plenty for them to talk about.

I mean, at this point all we can do is speculate… but brainstorming some ideas based on the evidence we have would be a good idea.

Being an investigative officer, Mako caught on to what she was saying almost immediately. “You mean specific case details? I was about to ask if you had any of those.”

“Detective Mako’s on the case, huh?”

“Yep!” Bolin exclaimed. “He’s gotten really good at his job!”

“Thanks.” The aforementioned firebender looked quite proud at his brother’s compliment. “But yes, we need to try and figure out what’s going on beforehand if possible, so we aren’t thinking about it on the ground.”

“And we’re all here, and there’s no better time than now to start coming up with ideas, like my father said whenever he was working on something.” Asami looked around the lounge - they really did have all four of the group, Korra next to her, Mako and Bolin on the long seat across from them. Even Naga and Pabu had joined them, though she didn’t think they would be useful in this particular situation. “So I can tell you what I know - which isn’t necessarily a lot, but it is something.”

Korra nodded from next to her, her brown hair tickling Asami’s face. “Okay ‘Sami, go ahead.”

Hold yourself together, Sato!

“The first thing of note is that the increased rate of failure reports started right after a very large solar flare about two weeks ago,” she began, watching her friends for any signs of confusion. “There weren’t any more instances than expected during the flare - we can predict them, and ensure that anything that could be damaged or interfered with severely is shut off - but ever since then, there have been far more of these failure events than there should be.”

“Are any specific things being affected?” Mako was very much into his detective role, Asami realized, and he was certainly thinking critically. “Like, is it just snosatos, or radios, or stuff from a certain-”

“No, it seems like anything that has electrical components is malfunctioning.” That was an exaggeration, of course - even if it looks very real on the statistics charts - but it was one that would help get the point across. “Obviously things that are more complex, like some of the advanced weather tracking systems, are much more vulnerable, but that’s to be expected.”

The budding detective across from her raised one eyebrow. “And all the cases are happening around Agna Qel’a?”

“Well… not necessarily, but they’re definitely all in the same area,” Asami replied, rather deep in thought herself. That particular piece of evidence was very puzzling - it suggested that there was indeed something in that area that was the cause of the malfunctions, and combined with the fact that none of the many engineers she’d corresponded with had any clue what the source might be, it had been the reason she’d started heavily considering spirit influence as the cause of the mysterious errors. 

There’s so much to consider… and I don’t really know much about spirits…

“Asami?” Korra’s voice broke through her thoughts, and the engineer looked up. “Are you thinking about something?”

“I was just remembering why I decided Varrick’s spirit energy hypothesis might actually make sense,” the engineer responded. “There’s no other explanation that I’ve thought of that could work, unless there’s something else that we haven’t seen.”

Bolin nodded seriously. “And Varrick invented the spirit vine generators, remember? So he might actually know what he’s talking about.”

“Well, he’ll be there, so don’t worry. One more bright mind can’t hurt.”

I mean… Varrick is bright, even if he is eccentric.

After a few seconds, Bolin spoke up again, bouncing up and down on the couch and causing Pabu to leap off of his shoulders. “Wait, wait, I have an idea! Maybe the spirit portal is emitting some kind of EMP! Remember, like the one Varrick used to take down all those mecha suits?”

“The portals have been open for years now, Bolin.” Mako seemed very unimpressed. “If they were doing anything, someone would have noticed by now.”

“Actually, Bolin might be onto something.”

No one seemed to be too surprised by Korra speaking up - she was the Avatar, spirits were her area of expertise - but what she said next was rather unusual. “Asami, you said there was a really powerful solar flare around the time this all started, right?”

“There was, it was one of the most powerful ever recorded using modern methods,” the engineer confirmed, looking at her girlfriend with interest. “Are you suggesting that that might have had some kind of delayed effect?”

The Avatar shrugged. “I mean, maybe, but I was thinking that it might have done something to the spirit portal.”

“Wait, can solar flares do that?”

Don’t look at me, Mako! I’m not the spirit expert here!

“It would make sense,” Korra replied, thinking hard - the expression was very endearing on her face, in Asami’s opinion. “Harmonic Convergence affected the world’s spirit energy drastically, didn’t it? And a lot of other cosmic events can too - so it stands to reason that a really, really powerful solar flare could, like, enhance the spirit energy from the portal?”

“Well… that could be true, but it still doesn’t explain why all of this is happening a month after the solar flare.” Asami certainly shared Mako’s uncertainty - there was still a time disparity there, and her girlfriend’s theory of an enhanced spirit portal emitting damaging energy didn’t really explain it. “Unless things were damaged and started failing later on-”

“That wouldn’t be the case, I already checked,” Asami interjected - that had, in fact, been one of the first possibilities. “Even things that were brought to the Northern Water Tribe after the solar flare occurred have been failing, so it can’t have been some kind of spiritual amplification.” She sighed, then continued - there was something else here that didn’t add up, too. “The other thing is that the damage is really varied.”

Now everyone else was looking at her - obviously waiting for an explanation - and she hastened to provide one. “Some of the reports are just generic failures that occurred under suspicious circumstances - a component that was just installed breaking, things like that. But there are some cases that are almost textbook examples of EMP damage or nonspecific magnetic interference, and then there are cases where electrical devices overloaded and actually shocked their operators. There just seems to be very little correlation between the failures, except for the area they’re in.”

Don’t confuse them...

Fortunately, her friends didn’t seem confused by her lengthy explanation. “So that’s really the only common factor?” Mako asked, worried. “And no one has found anything that could be the cause?”

Asami shrugged. “That’s the main reason why I’m taking Varrick’s spirit energy theory so seriously.”

It seemed like one of her friends was about to say something, but they were interrupted by a large polar bear dog jumping onto the low table between their couches. To its credit, the table did not collapse under Naga’s weight, though there were a few long scratch marks left in the finished metal when she slid off. 

“Naga!”

Before her girlfriend could say anything, the interfering polar bear dog looked at Asami and whined, very audibly. Pabu, who had leapt off the table when Naga walked across it, climbed in between the polar bear dog’s ears and chittered.

What’s with them?

“I think they know that you’re the owner of this airship, ‘Sami,” Korra said, grinning. “And they know that no one got breakfast, either.”

 


 

As Korra stood in the cockpit, looking out over the dark nighttime sea spread out below them, she felt an unusual tingling crawl across her skin. She had woken up some time ago - it was midnight, but the strange prickling sensation had prevented her from sleeping ever since it had started. According to the ship’s pilot, they had left the northern Earth Kingdom just a few minutes before she had awoken.

Spirit energy.

Without a doubt, there was something going on with the spirit portal. And if she could sense it from this far away…

“Korra?”

Turning in an instant, the Avatar saw Asami standing a few feet behind her - she had been so intensely focused that she hadn’t noticed the door opening, or the footsteps. Not that her girlfriend was noisy, but normally she would have at least felt her through the metal floor…

It’s so… overwhelming, and we’re not even in Agna Qel’a yet…

What is happening here?

“I didn’t expect to see you up, ‘Sami,” Korra replied, stepping a bit closer. “What’s wrong?”

Her girlfriend smiled a bit, hair not actually perfectly combed for once - not that Korra cared. “Only that you weren’t in bed with me. Why are you even up at this hour, love?”

“Spirits.” Her chest prickled particularly sharply, startling her. “I can feel the spirit portal from here - there’s something really, really abnormal about it.”

“I guess Mako’s theory from dinner was right, then, and the solar flare did change something about the portal.”

“Hey, you want to go wake him up and congratulate him, ‘Sami?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Looking at her carefully, Asami stepped forward, gently wrapping one arm around Korra. “You look-”

Suddenly, a blaze of multicolored light shone through the cockpit windows. Her girlfriend yelped and leapt away, but neither Korra or the airship’s pilot - a middle-aged man of Earth Kingdom descent - were startled into motion, though they were certainly surprised. 

Wow-

“That one’s bright,” the pilot noted in mild interest. “Very bright.”

Asami turned back to the windows, looking out at the dancing arcs of polychromatic energy. “Is that an aurora?”

“Yeah.” Korra nodded, still watching the lights waver and twist in the sky - she could almost feel the immense energy trapped within them snapping and cracking under her skin. “These are a lot brighter than the ones earlier, though - I think it’s because we’re getting closer.”

They feel stronger, too… 

“We’re not even at the right latitude, though… and they’re so intense...”

“This has been happening for a while now, Miss Sato,” the airship pilot supplied, not looking away from his control panels. “Over a month, from what some of my colleagues on the cargo airships have said. And there’ve been some violent storms up here, too.”

“More evidence for Mako’s theory, then.” Korra’s girlfriend stepped next to her, their sides touching just a little bit, and another series of probably-unrelated sparks ran down her spine. “The spirit portal must be affecting the weather-”

“And it’s only going to get stronger the closer we get,” the Avatar added. “There were a couple of auroras earlier, but they weren’t nearly as bright as this one, and they stopped after a minute or so. This one’s been going on for almost two minutes already.”

The two of them stood for a while, watching the lights shimmer and shift over the ocean, outlining the waning crescent moon like some sort of abstract landscape painting. It was beautiful - a sight Korra had never seen, an aurora this brilliant and long-lasting - but also frightening. 

It’s just so intense...

“Why did no one tell me about this?”

Asami shrugged next to her, her hair flying about a bit. “I guess the Northern Water Tribe leadership didn’t think it was important enough to mention to the Avatar.”

“Yeah, that could be true,” Korra agreed thoughtfully. “They haven’t been trying to tell me anything since Unalaq - I think they feel guilty about what happened, and they’re avoiding me.”

“We’ll have to deal with that when we get there, then.” Her girlfriend yawned again - it was midnight, not that it would get much lighter in the Arctic in the middle of winter, but undoubtedly she was as tired as Korra herself was. “You definitely should have been informed about this as soon as it started happening - it’s not like it isn’t noticeable.”

Nodding, Korra leaned deeper into Asami’s side. “Well, I can talk to them when I get someone to take me up to the spirit portal.”

“That should-”

As if by a light switch, the aurora suddenly extinguished, leaving behind a mere few strands of light in the sky, and a barely moonlit sea. The tingling, electrified feeling in Korra’s limbs died too, and both her and her girlfriend blinked their eyes in confusion.

That was sudden…

The pilot whistled appreciatively. “Well, that was something.”

“I’m surprised the airship’s navigation instruments didn’t break,” Asami mused quietly. “An aurora of that strength, at this latitude… whatever is producing it could easily ruin our entire suite of delicate electronics.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Sato.” The older man was inspecting his control panel carefully, apparently satisfied with whatever he was looking for. “Nothing seems out of order. And I’ve flown this route a few times - I’d be able to find my way to Agna Qel’a without my instruments, at least given decent weather.”

Korra and Asami glanced at each other simultaneously. They both remembered what the pilot had said barely a few minutes earlier about the recent storms.

That doesn’t exactly inspire the most confidence…

“Hey, I can guide you,” Korra offered. “I can feel the spirit portal from here-”

“Korra, love, if you don’t at least try and get some sleep the electronics won’t be the only things malfunctioning tomorrow.” Her girlfriend was looking at her in a manner that reminded her of Pema’s expression after she had gotten drunk during a bar party in Republic City - and she loved it. “We’ve only got a few more hours at most until we get there, and we should both rest.”

The Avatar put on the biggest polar-puppy eyes she could muster. “Come cuddle with me?”

“Of course.”

Notes:

And - the second chapter, already! I had to roll this one out very quickly indeed due to scheduling constraints, which also means that I didn't get a chapter of Resurrections out alongside it like I'll usually try for. I'm not stopping with that fic, but due to it being a bit more complicated (and not as well outlined) I can't finish the chapters as quickly. But it will be updated and finished, along with this one!

Chapter two, like chapter one, is mostly setup and miscellaneous bits and pieces of Korrasami fluff. Chapter three will contain the first hints of action, as Team Avatar (and Varrick and Zhu Li) approach the Northern Spirit Portal - key word being approach, of course.

I'd really appreciate kudos and comments!

Chapter 3

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The loud roar of an engine, accompanied by the crunch and swish of something sliding across ice, caused Korra to quickly unwrap her arm from around Asami and look to her left. Sure enough, a snosato had just turned the corner onto their street, and was now pulling towards them, dimly illuminated by the streetlamps and the cloud-strewn night sky above.

Thank Yue and La…

“Alright, guys, let’s go!” Korra whistled, distracting Naga from some frozen dead fish in the snow by the road, and waved to her friends. “Our ride’s here!”

Bolin looked at her questioningly, his eyes tired. “I thought you and Asami were riding on Naga?”

“Nope, we’re bringing her, but we’re not going to ride on her,” her girlfriend replied. “It’s safer to stay in the snosato right now - the weather out there isn’t exactly nice.”

“I mean, couldn’t-”

The earthbender was interrupted by one window of the vehicle rolling down - wait, they can do that now? Cool! - and a very familiar face leaning out. “Hello, fellow detectives!”

Well… I guess we’re not going to have to wait on Varrick…

Does he have a pipe and one of those weird hats?

“Hey!” If Bolin had been tired before, he was excited now - though he was still yawning. “Varrick! And the lady Zhu Li!”

“We can chat once we’re in the snosato, Bolin,” Korra said, quickly clambering into the cabin as the vehicle stopped. It was a very large model - one of the cargo shipment ones - and the truck in the back had plenty of room for Naga. The cabin had enough seats for the six of them, assuming they squeezed in a bit in the second row, which Korra personally had no problem with. “It’s time to get going.”

“Wait-”

The Avatar quickly pulled the earthbender into the cabin with a coil of water, Mako following him up and closing the door. “We don’t have time for this, Bolin!”

Huh, he seems energetic.

As the snosato shook from the weight of Naga leaping into the back, Zhu Li shifted and started driving, taking them along the narrow packed-ice roads of Agna Qel’a with surprising speed. Korra looked out, seeing very little of interest - it was dark, and very early, and no one had woken up yet. Besides, the intensifying signal from the north was drawing a lot of her attention.

I almost feel like it wants my attention or something...

“Huh,” Mako said, looking at Zhu Li driving as she took them around a corner in a manner that would have made Asami proud. “I kind of forgot that you were a really good driver.”

“I’m not any better than Varrick, but I’d say I’m more reliable.”

Asami laughed, leaning a little closer to Korra and causing her to tingle with pleasant warmth. “I could say the same about my girlfriend, Zhu Li.”

“Hey, I can’t compete with you, Asami Sato!”

There were a few chuckles at their little exchange, but Korra and Asami ignored them, and the cabin quickly went silent as they pulled through one of the northern wall gates, leaving the confined roads of the Northern Water Tribe capital for the scattered houses and snow plains outside. A few flakes of snow were swirling around the windows now, and Korra could see thicker clouds and faint flashes of light in the sky ahead of them.

It’s so strong now…

We’ll just have to hope the snosato isn’t affected.

“Erm… I know it’s a bit late for this, but are you sure we should be driving right into that, Korra?” Bolin asked tentatively, scratching an equally nervous Pabu on the forehead. “Maybe we could, like, go back and get some more rest first? Wait for the weather to clear up?”

The Avatar shook her head. “We need to get out there now. And I couldn’t even get any sleep while we were on the airship anyway - there’s just too much spirit energy for me to relax. It’s only-”

“Wait, you couldn’t sleep either?” Mako looked at her curiously. “I kept getting woken up by the strangest tingling. It was almost like the sensation I get when I’m lightningbending, but it never really stopped.”

“It’s all the spirit energ! I didn’t realize you were feeling it too, Mako, you never got out of bed.”

The firebender raised his eyebrows, seeming even more confused. “It didn’t feel like spirit energy to me - I just kept waking up with electricity prickling under my skin, and then falling back asleep. And I don’t even think I should be able to feel spirit energy, anyway, so it had to have been something else.”

“Yeah, that’s… really, really weird,” Korra responded, only half paying attention. It made sense that she could feel the spirit energy - she was the freakin’ Avatar, it was kind of her thing - but for Mako to have been affected by it…

I mean, it’s electrical?

“Maybe the same thing that’s affecting the electrical devices is affecting your lightningbending?” Asami apparently had the same idea she did, and was quicker to say it. “I don’t know if that’s possible - I’m not a bender - but it seems logical, at least.”

Mako didn’t seem to be sure. “It could be - I can still feel it, and I did consider trying to shoot some lightning out the window while we were on the airship, to get rid of it.” He sighed. “I’m starting to wish I’d done that.”

“I mean, you did say it was an electrical spirit, right, Korra?”

If Korra had said that, she didn’t really remember it - she was looking out the windows at the icy landscape around them, scanning it for any signs of said spirit, or anything else unusual. They were still a ways away from the spirit portal, but there were already almost no signs of civilization - the Northern Water Tribe had spread along the coast, keeping their distance from the interior, probably for exactly the reason that was prickling under her skin right then.

Why is it upset?

“Korra?” Bolin was still trying to ask her something, and now everyone else was staring at her. “Korra, what’s going on?”

Breathing deeply, the Avatar turned away from the window. “I’m just… looking.”

“Well, get your looking done now, because the weather’s going to get nasty soon!” Varrick exclaimed from the front passenger seat with his usual energy. “The radar’s working, and I can see-”

Something sparked on the dashboard, causing Varrick to yelp - Zhu Li looked startled, but unaffected - as a wave of brilliant light erupted from the sky outside, echoed by waves of energy pulsing through Korra’s own nerves.

Another aurora…

Well, wasn’t that amazing timing?

Mako nearly leapt out of his seat - Korra swore she could see his hair standing on end - but the multicolored shimmer died again within seconds, and all of them settled back into their seats. From behind them, Naga howled nervously for a few moments, then stopped, leaving only silence. 

After a few moments, Zhu Li coughed. “Well, the radar’s definitely not working now, dear.”

“I think a lot of the instruments were just disabled,” Asami said, straightening up in her seat. “That must have been an incredibly strong pulse…”

“Varrick, switch with me.” Before the industrialist could respond, Korra leapt over the seat, half-shoving, half-airbending him into the back next to Asami - sorry! - and letting the surging energy guide her arm. “The portal’s that way.”

“Hey, you stole my seat!”

“Sorry, but I have to guide Zhu Li, or we’ll never get close to the portal in this weather.” Korra settled back in the front seat as much as she could, still trying to feel out the position of the almost pinpoint-precise signal - it seemed to be shifting slightly, though she couldn’t tell why. “And I can watch through the front to see if there’s anything in our path.”

No one seemed to have an argument with that, and the cabin fell into silence. The wind was wailing outside, in that familiar tone that it always did when sweeping across the polar ice caps, but other than that everything seemed strangely calm. The snow was falling softly, a thick sheet of white on the air and in the ground that Korra could barely see through-

What-

There was something out there. Something had moved, something that wasn’t snow, a different shade of blue that looked vaguely like a figure in a parka, or something else entirely. The Avatar felt a jolt of strange attraction run through her, like an industrial-sized magnet. 

Is it a spirit?

Another flicker of motion - the shape was still indiscernible, but Korra could tell that whatever was in the storm, it was looking for her. And she was looking for it. 

“Korra, you-”

Asami’s voice, beautiful as it was, didn’t even faze her - the thing out there wasn’t visible anymore it had vanished into the snow, but the Avatar could feel it, feel it calling her. “I have to go - it’s out there-”

Without hesitating, Korra swept the door of the snosato open, leaping from the moving vehicle into the snow. She couldn’t see the mysterious figure, but she knew where it had gone instinctively.

It’s so powerful…

What are you?  

“Stay there!” she shouted behind her, not really paying attention to anything other than the beacon of energy she was following. “I’ll be back when I figure out what’s going on!”

And then Korra couldn’t see the snosato anymore, only swirling snow all around her as she chased the invisible thing across the ice.

 


 

Oh my spirits, Korra just leapt out of the snosato.

Korra had just leapt out of the snosato in a storm with no visibility, and powerful - possibly malevolent - spirits, and lightning, and had yelled at them to stay where they were for the second any of them could catch her voice before the wind swept it away.

That, in Asami’s opinion, was a good reason to be concerned.

I mean, she’s the Avatar… but I have to worry…

Whatever’s causing all this, it’s really strong. Even I can tell that.

“Stop!” Mako yelled from next to her, but Zhu Li was already on it - the vehicle skidded to a halt with a screech of ice and flying snow, nearly flinging them against the seats. “We can’t move! She won’t know where we are!”

Varrick was saying something, loudly as always, but Asami had no interest in listening - she was looking out the side window in the direction that her girlfriend had vanished, her mind whirling with ideas and possibilities.

We have to follow her-

Kicking her own door open, the engineer leapt into the snow, landing clumsily without waterbending to support her weight - this was so much easier with Korra - and turning to her friends. “We need to be ready to go after her and help!”

“Uhh… Asami?” Bolin questioned, showing no signs of moving. “She’s the Avatar - does she really need help?”

Yes-

“We can’t leave the vehicle,” Zhu Li added quickly. “It could easily get cold enough out here for us to die of hypothermia - and we need a way to get back. We should just wait until Korra returns.”

Apparently Mako was in agreement - he nodded, but he seemed to be paying attention to something else, looking toward the sky warily. “We can’t leave, we don’t have any way to navigate-”
“Hey, hey, hey!” Varrick coughed - it wasn’t really audible from the snowbank outside, but his loud voice was, to some extent. “We should all get back inside and brainstorm, right?”

Be reasonable, Sato. Don’t make decisions quickly.

Asami sighed, quickly hauling herself out of the drifts of falling powder back into the snosato’s cabin. “You’re right.”

With the doors shut, the chaotic wind-noise and snow were muffled again, leaving the inside of the vehicle warm and somewhat calm. Not that Asami could really be calm with her girlfriend chasing a spirit through an unnatural storm, of course, but she could try.

She’ll be fine…

I hope...

“Okay, so, uhh… let’s not panic?” Personally, Asami highly doubted that Bolin was not panicking, but it was the right idea. “We just need to stay in here, where it’s warm and we’re not going to get blown around, or frozen, or zapped by crazy spirits.”

“How are we going to get back without an Avatar compass, though?” Varrick asked loudly. “None of the instruments are working right now, and I don’t want to be stuck out here for a night! I need to test my adjustable mattress prototype!”

Fortunately, the engineer had been thinking about that. “Naga can-”

Another wave of aurora-light nearly blinded them all, then died away just as fast, and Asami swore she heard crackling coming from somewhere nearby. The lights in the cabin flashed, and she quickly removed her shock glove from her belt.

Better be safe-

Mako wheezed from next to her, looking like he was about to explode. “I almost just started burning - I mean, not burning, it’s lightning, it’s cold fire - but it’s so strong, my hair stood on end.”

Resisting the urge to correct her friend - it’s electricity, not heat - Asami looked out the window again. She still couldn’t see anything through-

“Shit.” 

Before anyone else could even begin to ask, Mako kicked the window with his foot, shattering it in a blaze of unruly sparking flame. “Out. Now. Right now.”

“Mako, I thought-”

An unearthly, terrified howl from the back of the vehicle startled them all, and without wasting any more time, Asami opened the opposite door and leapt out, the detective hauling his confused brother and Pabu into the snow on the other side. She could see Naga in the snow - the polar bear dog had broken open the back door, and was tugging her away from the snosato, growling madly. 

Something-

Varrick looked out from his passenger seat. “Now, now-”

As Zhu Li nigh-on tackled him from behind, both of them rolling into the snow, Mako yelled again, his voice just carrying over the snow and wind. “Get away from the snosato! Right now!”

What is-

A brilliant blue glow, like and unlike the auroras they had seen, lit the area around them. Asami covered her eyes to shut out the blinding fluorescence and allowed Naga to pick her up by her parka, the other four passengers barely making it onto the polar bear dog’s back before she began to sprint away.

“Asami, what-”

Just as they all turned to look back, an ear-shattering slash of light struck down from the swirling sky above them, hitting the top of the snosato with incredible force. Sparks flew everywhere, and the vehicle twisted, then exploded, the fuel tank detonating and spewing flame and electrified metal scrap in all directions.

How-

Mako flung his arms forward, a shield of fire barely deflecting the explosion and accompanying shrapnel before dissipating, consumed by the swirling snow and wind. There was an eerie, almost silent pause.

I-

How powerful-

“Okay,” Bolin said, whistling fearfully from Naga’s back. “I really hope Korra gets back soon, you know?”

Notes:

Not a lot to say about this chapter - it's kind of a cliffhanger, and the action started. Next chapter we'll get to see Korra interact with the strange figure (sort of), but things will probably stay pretty mysterious for a few more chapters yet before things are revealed.

Also, I'm tired, despite having posted this in the middle of the day. Such is life, I don't even get it anymore.

As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!

Chapter 4

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Hello?”

Korra knew that it was likely worthless to call out blindly into the dark - her voice would never carry in the snow and wind - but she did nonetheless. A strong part of her hoped that the presence would feel her aura as strongly as she felt its signal, and that it would respond.

Why would it be calling me here?

A crash of thunder less than a minute ago had nearly knocked her off her feet - the almost cataclysmic lightning strike was undoubtedly unnatural, the Avatar had been able to feel it even if she hadn’t seen the descending bolt. She needed to find the spirit that was causing all this turmoil, and soon, before anything else happened.

Then, right in front of her, the figure that she had seen, that she was following, loomed out of the snow.

What-

It was a human, Korra realized, shocked - a human in a faded, tattered, near-bleached parka, the old furs and cloth not concealing the incredibly slight frame underneath them. Rail-thin and worn, but solid. A human, not a spirit - or if it was, one that had a very strong physical presence indeed.

A human couldn’t survive out here, though…

That parka is so old, it can’t possibly hold in enough heat…

“Hello?”

The figure whirled, turning to face her. It was hard to see the person under the furred hood, but her face was almost deathly pale, in sharp contrast to the terrified, almost sparking eyes - eyes that were unmistakably human. She was holding something, a long staff with ends that seemed to shine just a bit. Korra gasped in shock, and the unknown woman - or girl, she seems so small - did too, at the same time. 

“Who are you?” 

All Korra heard after that was a sharp, crackling inhale of shock from the other person - the girl, or whatever spirit was affecting her, did not respond. Perhaps against her better judgment, she stepped closer, cupping a flame in her left hand to shed some light on them both.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” the waterbender said, as softly as she could - the stranger looked terrified, of her or of whatever was possessing her, there was no way of telling. “It’s not safe. I can help you.”

I think - I think she’s being controlled by whatever is calling to me.

“You.”

Korra couldn’t tell if the terrified voice was an echo of her statement, or a response to her presence, and so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Yes, it’s me.”

“Talk to me.” The girl’s hands shifted, and the staff turned, revealing two faintly shimmering blades at either end, like those she’d seen on old Fire Nation polearms - I can’t remember the name - but not quite the same, either. “Don’t forget me. What I am.”

“But what are you?” Korra asked, bending the snow around them into a dome to protect them from the weather. “I don’t know-”

Then she stopped speaking, because the moment the girl had realized that she was waterbending, she had stepped back. Her movements were jerky and uncoordinated, and for a moment the Avatar was reminded of Amon, of how bloodbending affected its victims, and she backed off too, widening the dome a bit.

She can’t be, it wouldn’t make sense-

But it does look like bloodbending… is that just what possession looks like?

Korra struggled to think of anything she could do to separate the spirit from its obviously traumatized host. She didn’t know much about spiritual possession, and the few cases she’d heard of or seen didn’t look anything like this, but-

Without even considering, she raised her arms, a swirling double helix of water following her command and hovering around the parka-clad figure. Terrified as she was, the girl did not move as the storm around them was lit with pure, bright gold, the energy slowly spreading from the Avatar’s hands to the encircling streams-

I can balance-

The moment the gilded water reached the girl’s feet, she unfroze, flinging her hands up in panic, and Korra felt her own energy collide with something deep and unshifting and tightly wound. She breathed deeply, trying to summon more of her spiritual strength to push past the barrier, but then her hair tingled with a dangerous sensation - a sensation that her practice trying to lightningbend with Mako had made her very familiar with.

Oh shit-

That might be a problem-

Even as she launched herself out of the way with a wild burst of air, the shockwave from the immense lightning bolt sent her flying even farther, smashing her into the icy ground some five meters away from where she had been standing. Korra immediately leapt to her feet and shook off the snow, looking to see if the figure was preparing another attack, but surprisingly there was no one to be seen.

“Wait!”

Korra knew full well that it was a terrible idea to charge after the possessed girl - she had just nearly been blown through the ice sheet by a targeted lightning strike from the sky, which was not something that any bender should even have been able to do - but all of that only made her more determined to help her. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it was quite obvious which way the young woman had run - even without the magnetic energy pull, there was a very clear trail of footsteps.

With her waterbending allowing her to stride across the snow, the Avatar quickly caught up to the fleeing girl and called out again. “Please, if you’re in there, listen to me! I’m trying to help you!”

There was no response - only a sudden, ataxic whirl, and a flash of blue, more lightning fired from the figure’s slender, somehow-unfrozen hands this time. Korra had seen it coming, fortunately - her practice in lightning redirection barely allowing her to catch the rapid motion - and she caught the bolt, flinging it upward-

Why is she attacking me?

Is she… scared? Or is that the spirit?

Another quick hand-movement brought her closer to the girl, who was still staring at her, frozen again - at least until she spun the double-ended glaive, and Korra’s attempt to restrain her with ice was interrupted. Despite her uncoordinated movements and terror, it seemed, her opponent was still very formidable.

Korra huffed, sliding to the side as she recognized the very beginnings of another lightning bolt crackling around the possessed girl’s hands. “Why did you call me here, then?”

“You forgot me - please, don’t-”

What is she asking?

“I’m not trying to hurt you!” It probably wasn’t a good idea to yell at the spirit-touched girl, but Korra was frustrated, and confused, and she was also starting to worry about her friends who were lost in the storm too. “I want to solve this, too, but running away isn’t the answer!”

The girl simply spun and fled again, a parting crackle of lightning forcing the Avatar to stop and redirect the electrical projectile - it almost is a projectile, not a steady stream, that’s odd - before continuing the chase. Korra knew, as she had for the past five minutes, that what she was doing was stupid and unwise - but she also knew that there was no way she was going to stop. 

I need to take them down without hurting them…

Wait…

With a new idea in hand, Korra immediately rushed forward, the figure reappearing quickly as she sped over the snow. As soon as she saw the girl turn around again, she flung a swirl of bright flame toward her-

Distract her, then trap her in water-

The spirit-touched girl’s hands moved, obviously trying to deflect the flame, but they had no effect - the fire lashed them, and Korra heard a loud, pained scream-

What-

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

Before the Avatar could finish her apology, another bolt of lightning interrupted her, this one unfocused and sprawling and infinitely more dangerous as such, forcing Korra to dive into the snow to avoid it. When she rose again, there was no parka-clad girl in sight.

“I’m not giving up yet!” Korra breathed deeply, readying herself to charge through the icy ground again. “Whatever-”

“Korra!” 

The familiar voice caused her to turn immediately - Asami? Did you come to help? - but before she could see what was behind her, something sank into the nape of her hood and flung her upward. She landed on a soft red parka - her girlfriend’s shoulder, she realized.

Why is everyone on Naga?

“Uhh… hey, ‘Sami!” she said, very confused. “Why show up now?”

Her girlfriend sighed from next to her - and it wasn’t a happy sigh. “We need to go.”

 


 

Asami was very glad that Korra had been found, because now she had someone to hold onto as they rode on Naga. The polar bear dog’s loping stride was hard for her to adjust to, particularly when she was already on edge.

I know she knows what she’s doing… but I was still worried.

“So, umm… why are we going back? And why are we riding on Naga?”

From somewhere behind her, Mako coughed in response. “The snosato got blown to pieces.”

“Wait, what?” Korra sounded shocked, at least for a moment. “Was that what that other lightning strike was?”

“Yeah, it was,” Bolin said in response. “I mean, we heard about three million of them-”

Don’t exaggerate, Bolin.

Though it did sound like a lot…

Asami clicked her tongue. “We heard five. But yes, one… absolutely colossal bolt came down and hit the snosato. It must have sparked the fuel tank, because there wasn’t much left other than metal scrap.”

“Huh.” Korra sounded much too even-toned for Asami’s liking. “She tried to hit me with one of those, too - the downward bolts, I mean. I didn’t know lightningbenders could do that.”

She tried-

She?

There was a lot to go through there, as it turned out - and maybe the back of a running polar bear dog was not the best place for that, but Asami would not be dissuaded. “She?”

“Yeah, she,” her girlfriend replied, trying to lean into her a bit before she bounced again as Naga leapt over a small rift in the ice. “I mean, I ran into this girl - she was definitely a girl, and the spirit was possessing her-”

“Possessing?”

Korra looked backward for a moment, probably at Varrick. “Yeah… it was weird. I just wish I’d actually been able to figure out what was going on.”

“Okay, now I’m really, really glad we’re going back to Agna Qel’a,” Bolin said quickly. “Lightning coming out of nowhere and possessed girls? That’s not great!”

The Avatar simply sighed, leaning into Asami properly this time - she seemed sad, or worried, and the engineer didn’t know how to help. “The thing is… I tried spiritbending them to calm down whatever was controlling her, but there was some kind of really strong resistance that I couldn’t overcome. It felt like the time I tried to pull ‘Sami’s really big magnets apart with metalbending.”

Oh, I remember that… 

As the conversation died - no one else seemed interested in speaking - Asami considered the incident that Korra was referring to. The magnets in question were a pair of high-power industrial electromagnets that her ever-curious girlfriend had stuck together during one particularly dull afternoon - and then been unable to separate using normal metalbending. By the time Asami had heard the commotion from her office, Korra had entered the Avatar State to wrench the stubborn magnetic coils apart, nearly breaking both of them in the process. It had been quite an interesting afternoon, to say the least.

That’s… an odd analogy…

I wonder…

 


 

Wading through the heavy snow, she shivered. Every step was incredibly taxing - she knew there was no way a person could walk through this wasteland of ice for as long as she had, survive for as long as she had. But she was not a person, not really, and she kept walking, the coils of energy keeping her alive.

Not warm. The girl couldn’t remember the last time she had been warm, really warm.

I… can’t stop… I don’t…

She… was… has… what I need…

There were a lot of things she couldn’t remember - not since she had awoken in the snow, empty but still living, with something in her mind that hadn’t been there before, that was real, not like the other things she heard sometimes. The presence in her mind was not kind, not really, but it was not horrible, and it appreciated her, and that was enough. But seeing the bender - the Avatar, Raava and her host, something in her supplied, whether it was her or the spirit within her she did not know - had brought something back.

Want, and terror, and a feeling like something had been ripped from her. 

She… she has… what I want…

What we want…

They did not stop walking.

Notes:

Chapter 4! This one's interesting for a lot of reasons, I'm sure you can figure out why having read it. I won't spoil too much, if I can.

The thing with Korra and the magnets is definitely significant foreshadowing, yes, but also because Korra is a dork who would absolutely try to contest her strength against a couple of electromagnets. I smiled the entire time I wrote that bit, because I could see the mental image in my head and it was beautiful.

My other fic is not abandoned, by the way - it's taking a while to update compared to this one, but I am making progress. Slow and steady, especially once school recommences.

As always - I love comments!

Chapter 5

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

As Naga turned another corner, loping down the main street of Agna Qel’a, Korra looked forward to see a familiar face looking at her from the steps of the council building. She gasped, happy and startled, and she could tell that the man was feeling the same way.

“Dad?”

Her father ran to meet her, opening his arms as Korra leapt off of Naga’s back and met him in a massive, very Southern Water Tribe polar-bear-dog hug. “I’m glad to see you’re back, Korra!”

What is...

“Wow, I didn’t expect to see you here, Tonraq-”
“Chief Tonraq.” The solidly built waterbender gave Varrick an irritated look. “And I imagine I’m here for the same reason as all of you. The Northern council informed me about the disturbances recently, so I came to provide what little help I could. Of course, I didn’t find out that Korra had arrived until she had already left.”

The Avatar chuckled a bit, along with everyone else. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to be here - we kind of pulled this investigation together really quickly, Dad. It was very much a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“There’ve definitely been some miscommunications from the Northern Water Tribe as well,” Asami added from behind her. “We didn’t know you were here, and Korra only found out because I mentioned that I had to come up here to check on electrical devices, of all things. None of us had any idea that it was some kind of spiritual event, because they didn’t tell us.”

I’m… I probably need to try and convince them to stop trying to apologize for the whole Unalaq thing by ignoring me.

That’s definitely proving to be an issue...

With a heavy sigh, Tonraq gestured up the stairs and towards the door of the council hall. “We should talk inside. I can imagine there’s a lot to cover here.”

As they strode up the flight of icy steps, Korra breathed deeply. There was a lot going on, and a lot of things that she wanted to talk about and consider, yes - but she had envisioned that being a conversation between her and the three of her friends, and maybe Varrick and Zhu Li. She didn’t want to be talking about the situation with the leadership of the Northern Water Tribe, or even with her own dad, yet. Not until some things had been figured out. 

I’m my own Avatar at this point… I don’t need their help.

And in this situation, I kind of don’t want it…

“You look tired, Korra,” her father said, opening the wide doors with a gesture of waterbending. “What happened?”

That’s… an understatement.

“Our snosato got blown up.”

Tonraq looked incredibly shocked at that, and more than a bit worried. “What? How?”

“It got struck by lightning - the fuel supply must have been hit, because there wasn’t much left of it.” From behind Korra, Asami quickly elaborated on her previous statement. “Fortunately, Mako sensed the impending strike and got us out of the cabin. We rode on Naga from there.”

“Was the storm really that powerful?” Now her father looked really, really worried, his stride gaining more purpose as he led them into an empty council room. “If that’s the case, we need to figure out how to resolve this soon - I don’t think the Northerners are going to be able to deal with these disturbances for much longer. For all we know, it could even spread to the other two spirit portals-”

Oh-

Shit, Future Industries-

Tonraq cut himself off in the middle of the statement, looking at all of them in sudden shock. Korra knew why he was so concerned - what was happening in the Northern Water Tribe was bad enough, but if it somehow began to affect the Republic City portal, which was located right in the middle of the metropolitan area, then the consequences would absolutely be catastrophic.

Yeah… that would be very, very bad...

As they all sat down at the long table of sculpted ice, Bolin leaned back in his chair. “And the spirit-lady shot lightning at Korra, too, right?”

“Lightning?”

“Yeah… I tried to spiritbend them, and I think it just pissed them off-”

Someone that she hadn’t noticed - probably a stuffy old man, it’s the Northern Water Tribe after all - gasped a bit from a chair down the table. Korra summarily ignored them and continued with her explanation. “The spirit was possessing this girl - I couldn’t tell who it was, I tried, she looked terrible - and it kind of called me towards it. They were both pretty calm initially, just really scared, but then I tried to mess with them and everything went right off the edge of a glacier.”

“A spirit wielding powerful firebending, capable of possessing people…” The old man at the table - his name was Kulak, Korra remembered - looked very concerned, and so did her father. “This is a great danger indeed. Something has to be done.”

Er… I don’t know...

“The thing is, I kind of doubt it’s actually a threat,” the Avatar pointed out. “It only attacked me when I tried to interfere with it.”
Elder Kulak looked supremely unconvinced - and Asami seemed to agree, because she spoke in that particular tone she had when she was thinking about disproving something. “Whatever is going on with the spirit portal is still affecting the entire North Pole, Korra. We can’t just ignore something that might be extremely important.”

Hey, I wasn’t planning to!

“I know that, Asami, but trying to attack that spirit and its host isn’t going to help.” Of course, her girlfriend had a good point - Korra knew that - but she really didn’t want the Northern Water Tribe leadership to get any stupid ideas. “I need to go back out there and try to communicate with them again - without messing it up, this time.”

“Well, the thing is, Mako and I can’t stay here for long,” Bolin interjected quickly, his parka shifting oddly where Pabu was coiled under it. “The lack of sun is really bad for him - firebender, right? - and if he leaves, I don’t think I want to stay here, I kind of-”

Wait - firebending!

Shit, I didn’t mention that!

Korra nearly cracked her ice chair in excitement, barely stopping herself from leaping out of it. “I threw fire at them - to try and distract them, after they got all angry - and they couldn’t deflect it, it burned them. So whoever that person, or that spirit, is, they can’t firebend, but they can shoot lightning.”

That outburst of information silenced everyone else for a moment - no one else seemed to know how to react to it. It was definitely weird that the spirit’s host hadn’t been able to block her firebending, and yet was able to generate lightning - which was a high-end firebending skill. 

And it doesn’t explain the directed strikes from the air, either…

“Well, that definitely lends more evidence to the electrical spirit theory,” Asami mused, tapping her gloved fingers on the table in that way she often did when she was thinking hard. “If it’s possessing this girl, then that would explain why she couldn’t firebend, but could generate electrical currents.”

Mako nodded. “Bending isn’t a requirement for generating electricity, obviously - so it’s likely completely unrelated.”

“That still leaves a lot of questions, though-”
“Questions about what?” 

Everyone turned nearly simultaneously to see Chiefs Desna and Eska walking into the room, as somber and unemotional as always. Korra blinked a couple of times - she hadn’t exactly expected her cousins to show up, though it wasn’t unwelcome whatsoever. They were, after all, spiritual experts.

I wonder what-

“I assume they are discussing the overly active spirit portal, Eska,” Desna stated, his voice unsurprisingly monotone. “It is quite noticeable.”

Tonraq - Chief Tonraq right now, I always forget about that - nodded briskly. “I’m glad you ran into us. Korra was just telling us that the spirit possessed a girl and attacked her when they tried to-”

“Okay, okay, that’s not exactly what happened.” The Avatar cut her father off, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea about what had happened. “First of all, I felt something calling to me while we were in the snosato, so I jumped out and chased it - and then I found the spirit out there. Or its host, at least. And it didn’t attack me until I tried to spiritbend it, either!”

“It attacked you after being balanced?” Eska actually sounded confused now, which was quite unusual. “That is certainly… unusual.”

Korra coughed. “Well, I never exactly managed to soothe it - I tried, but it felt like it was already really stable, and before I could push it the girl got spooked and started attacking me.”

...it was already stable…

I hadn’t thought about it that way…

“Well, something has to be done,” Elder Kulak repeated insistently from his seat. “These electrical disturbances are incredibly disruptive, not to mention the possibility of an angry spirit roaming the ice caps. Avatar Korra, you must be able to do something.”

Erm…

“Well, are we even sure that the spirit Korra met is causing this?” Zhu Li replied to the older man with her typical intent grace. “It could be possible that the spirit portal is the issue, and that the spirits are simply being changed or empowered by it.”

Korra considered the idea - it was definitely sound, but something told her that it wasn’t the answer. “It could be, but I still feel like that spirit was too… insistent. Too powerful to just be some minor thing.”

“Then why would it use a human as a host, if it is so strong?”

“Uhm… I’m not sure?” Korra replied, looking at her cousins. “That’s what I want to figure out… but I still don’t really know what that spirit is.”

Of course, Varrick had something to say about that. “Well, if it’s creating electricity, it’s obviously an electrical spirit, right?”

“But electricity is not an element.” Desna blinked, then spoke again. “And a fire spirit would be capable of firebending, wouldn’t it?”
Eska nodded. “We did hear what you said earlier, Korra.”

“I mean, not necessarily,” Asami said quickly, her green eyes shining in that way they sometimes did when she was about to explain something. It was, as always, beautiful. “The prevailing theory is that firebenders generate electricity by polarizing their chi-”

Uhh… they might not get that…

Apparently her girlfriend recognized everyone else’s confusion, because she stopped and reconsidered. “It’s the same way a dynamo works, but with bending?”

...or that…

“Maybe we should adjourn this discussion-”

Whatever her father had been about to say, Varrick jumped in immediately and interrupted it. “We should go have a discussion with science! And chairs that aren’t backed with engraved ice, of course. Historical significance isn’t exactly comfortable, you know.”

“I-”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Korra agreed. “We can go talk about what we saw on our own, and then we can come back and try to decide what to do next.”

...and hopefully everyone will know what Asami’s talking about.

 


 

As it turned out, that was exactly what happened. The four of them left the council hall, following Varrick and Zhu Li - “I have an apartment, really great view of the bay, right? It’s the perfect place,” the industrialist had said, nearly bouncing out the door in obvious excitement - and now they were sitting on significantly more comfortable, not-ice-sculpted chairs, eating some kind of salted taffy. It was nice - definitely a better setting for their discussion, if an unconventional one nonetheless.

Well… Varrick is nothing if not unconventional…

And he is an important ally, even if he’s also technically a competitor of mine.

Asami looked across the room at Korra, who was busily chewing a mouthful of the sticky-sweet candy. “So, you wanted to talk about what happened?”

“Yeah.”

“Yep!” The eccentric industrialist ignored Korra’s very gooey response and continued unconcerned. “And now we don’t have anyone around who doesn’t know what we’re talking about, so I don’t have to explain to the council how a magnet works!”

Her girlfriend grimaced. “Yeah, my dad isn’t exactly the most knowledgeable person when it comes to those things, either. Hopefully we’ll be able to explain this stuff to all of them once we figure it out.”

Somehow I doubt that’ll work…

“Well, we were talking about the possibility that the spirit is associated with electricity, right?” To Asami, that idea made a lot of sense - but it seemed that the stereotypes of the four bending elements extended, as always, into things that they shouldn’t. “It’s obviously generating electrical currents to attack, much like how a lightningbender would, even if it’s not firebending.”

“Spirits have chi, don’t they, Korra?”

It took a few moments for the Avatar to respond - apparently Mako’s seemingly innocuous question was something that took a lot of thought. “Yes… well, actually no, but I know what you’re talking about, and I guess it’s similar enough, right? They could be polarizing their chi to generate lightning in a similar way.”

“So it’s like, an electrical generator spirit?” Even Bolin got what they were talking about, fortunately, unlike in that council room - Asami was glad her friends all listened at least a bit when she started talking about her job. 

...and Bolin was working on that hydroelectric dam, I guess he picked something up there?

I don’t remember him ever getting the whole dynamo explanation from me…

“That can’t be right, though,” Mako mused, shaking his head. “The spirit called down lightning, too, didn’t it? So whatever its powers are, it can’t just be a simple… dynamo spirit?”

Korra whistled excitedly. “Is this, like, cutting edge spirit science? Because that sounds epic!”

Well…

As a matter of fact, such “spirit science” was something that Asami - and Varrick, and a few other semi-notable people in the scientific and engineering communities - had been thinking about quite a lot. There wasn’t much credence to it as of yet, given the often-fragmented exchanges of information between the nations and the common prejudice against the idea of combining technology with spirituality, but more and more the signs were there. Just as scientific theory was starting to coalesce and bind together things that had appeared unrelated before, it seemed that spiritual and scientific theory could also become unified, somehow. It was an exciting thought.

“Hey, Asami?” 

The engineer looked up at Korra. “Sorry, I was… well, I was actually thinking about exactly that. It could very well be cutting edge.”

Maybe… maybe this will offer proof, of some kind?

“Wait, wait, wait!” To everyone’s - and no one’s - surprise, Varrick leapt out of his chair, his mouth also still full of taffy. “What if it’s an electromagnetic spirit?”

“Erm… aren’t electricity and magnetism part of the same thing?” 

“I think that’s what he’s saying, Bolin,” Mako replied, obviously deep in consideration. “It’s not just a walking dynamo, it has more power than that.”

Out of all the things in the room, Asami couldn’t help but notice her girlfriend’s eyes brighten as she spoke. “So it’s manipulating electromagnetic forces? That actually sounds pretty logical - I mean, there are a lot of spirits that can channel the four elements, right, so there could be spirits that can channel other physical forces, too.”

“Wait, could there be spirits for the chemical elements, then?” The engineer was definitely having some ideas now - interesting ones, at that. “It would be really interesting if there was a platinum spirit, or something like that.”

“Or mathematics spirits-”

Mako coughed, quite loudly. “Okay, guys, we’re getting really off track at this point.”

“Yeah, we kind of are,” Korra agreed, before looking at her. “Do you think a spirit could make EMPs?”

As expected, Varrick was the one who actually spoke. “Oh, definitely! I remember in the South Pole-”

No-

“Okay, we don’t need to be reminded of those business deals, honey,” Zhu Li interrupted quickly. “But to go on - there is a problem with that, in that we’ve been able to determine the direction the disturbances are coming from, and their source is the portal.”

That put a dent in the conversation, of course. Asami knew they had been talking about a spirit that was possessing someone - not the spirit portal - so a lot of what they were talking about could be pointless if the entity turned out to be uninvolved. After a few moments, though, her girlfriend stood up intently and shook her head.

“That can’t be it,” Korra said, her voice filled with certainty. “The portal is causing a lot of this, but that spirit was definitely involved. I could feel it.”

...well, we can’t really doubt the Avatar on that one, can we?

“Could it have done something weird to the portal?”

That question caused Korra to shiver a bit, Asami noticed. “I mean, maybe… but it would take an incredible amount of spiritual power.”

“So it would have to be a colossal spirit.” Asami should probably have been more concerned about that than she was, but it was also intriguing - and the idea offered an opening that they hadn’t investigated yet. “Wouldn’t something that massive have been recorded before?”

“Check the archives in Caldera City, in the Fire Nation,” Mako suggested. “They would probably have a lot of information on any electrical spirits, since it would have been considered a subset of fire at the time.”

Her girlfriend nodded excitedly. “Yeah, and we could talk to Lord Zuko! And maybe even Iroh, in the Spirit World - he’d have to know something.”

“I mean, we can’t stay, but that sounds really exciting.” Bolin pouted at the thought of having to leave - which Asami could understand. “We have to go back to Republic City… ugh, that sucks! I really wanted to meet Lord Zuko again!”

Mako raised his eyebrows. “That might actually be a good thing in some ways - we can keep an eye on the downtown portal and get in touch with you if anything changes.”

Hmm…

Well, in that case...

“Varrick and Zhu Li should stay here, then, and Korra and I should go to the Fire Nation alone,” Asami reasoned, looking to see how everyone reacted. Fortunately, no one had any objections to that idea. “That way, we have people monitoring two of the spirit portals - three if we get your dad involved, Korra. And we can tell the Northern Water Tribe to look out for that possessed girl, too.”

Frowning slightly at the mention of the unknown young woman in the snow, Korra nodded in agreement nonetheless. “It’s a good idea - and I don’t think that the spirit will let its host die, so she should be safe. She seemed perfectly alright when she was trying to kill me,” she added with a wry smile. “I just have a feeling they’ll both still be around when we get back. And you, Varrick and Zhu Li?”

“Hey, we get to stay here? Works for me.”

Not like you don’t have vacation homes everywhere… but I guess that’s fine.

The engineer tapped one finger on the table. “Well, if we’re going to split up and start traveling, we should work it out now, before we talk to the council again - and definitely before we leave. So let’s go.”

...hopefully I can explain the science to Chief Tonraq, at least...

Notes:

With this, the first "arc" of this story is almost complete! This was never going to be a really long fic, not like the angsty introspective mess that is the Absconditus-and-Resurrections pair, and the first arc was also always going to be the shortest. So the next chapter should be a transition to the Fire Nation, where we might find out more about this spirit - and we also might find out more about the person it's possessing, and why.

Being back in school has proven just as much of a timesink as it should be, so progress on anything I'm working on here will be much slower now. Again, it's not going to ever stop, but be aware that there might be significantly longer gaps between chapters being uploaded.

Also, for this chapter I actually had to start getting into electrophysics, and someone pointed out to me on Discord that the LoK scientific community somehow knows about Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation already - Jinora references it to Wan Shi Tong when explaining the radio. (That's the discovery of the fact that electromagnetic waves and photons are the same thing, by the way, which is pretty damn important both in this fic and in the real world.) I honestly didn't expect this, and while it doesn't really change the course of the fic much, I still have to consider the repercussions when I'm writing now. Of course, Jinora is also well educated, and not everyone knows or believes these things for reasons that were at least alluded to in this chapter - the way the ATLA scientific community works is more than a bit different due to the existence of bending and other very visible spiritual aspects, and international disagreement and superstition are much stronger forces here. But... the fic will probably explain that better than my 5-minute author's notes exposition.

And with that science note done... comments? Kudos? Send me happiness via the electromagnetic network?

Chapter 6

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“So that’s the plan,” Korra finished, breathing deeply as she looked across the blue-white council table. “We really need more information-”

“And you think that the Fire Nation will know what this spirit is.” 

...I mean, that’s the hope?

The Avatar shrugged, looking at her cousin, who was sitting up straight in his side of the chair. “Well, they are the experts on lightningbending, right? So we figured they’d have the most information on a spirit that’s using electricity as a weapon, even if it can’t actually firebend.”

“And splitting up allows us to monitor both the Northern and Republic City spirit portals, too,” Asami added, knowing exactly what she was going to say next. “Even the Southern portal, if you’re able to keep tabs on it, Chief Tonraq.”

“Unfortunately, I won’t be back in the South for the next couple of days at least.” The older man sighed deeply, obviously worried for the safety of the Southern Water Tribe, and probably also upset that he couldn’t help Korra out. “But I can send an urgent message to inform everyone else about it, and I can make sure they notify you two if anything changes.”

Sounds fine… 

It’s not like we’re not going to be relying on telegraphs from here and Republic City anyway…

“Yeah, that works.”

“I see that Bolin and his brother have already left,” Eska pointed out from her own seat next to her brother. “And you and your partner will be departing for Caldera City in less than an hour, correct?”

A quick nod accompanied Asami’s response. “Yes. Hopefully we’ll find some information fairly quickly.”

“And what if that spirit attacks our city?” Another old man - Elder Athruk, supposedly, Korra really wasn’t interested in remembering all the names - spoke up, sounding rather irate. “We have no defense against such-”

“Excuse me, but I would not presume that we are incapable of handling this situation.”

Ha!

The offending elder winced inward a bit, causing Korra to suppress a chuckle. “I apologize, Chiefs Desna and Eska. I am simply… not sure if allowing the Avatar to leave-”

“Allowing?” 

Geez...

Before Athruk could say anything else, Esna waved imperiously, silencing him. “We will be able to deal with any issues that arise. Korra, if you wish to leave, we have no intention of asking you not to, regardless of what this fool insinuated.”

“Thanks,” the Avatar replied, smiling at her cousins - neither of them responded visibly, of course, but she knew them. “We’re hoping that this will actually prove helpful.”

“Didn’t you say there were some scientific things you wanted to research there too, Asami?” Tonraq looked at her girlfriend with a somewhat confused expression. “Things that were… related to this issue?”

The engineer coughed from next to her. “Well, yeah, there were… but it’s more looking through archives for mentions of spirits that could have something to do with electricity.”

“And you’re looking in the Fire Nation?”

Uhm… that would be obvious, right?

“It’s the best place,” Asami responded smoothly, “because they were the world leaders in technological advancement for a long time. And even if the top scientific authorities are based in Republic City now, the Fire Nation is still very eminent in the world research community, particularly when it comes to electromagnetics - and that’s the field we’re dealing with here.”

“They also have old archives with a lot of information about spirits, which is something Republic City lacks.” Korra felt the need to add that - neither her father or her cousins really seemed to understand the scientific aspect of the situation. “And obviously they’re the original experts on lightningbending - and a lot of other studies in that area, like ‘Sami said - so we agreed that that would be the best place to start.”

“I see,” Tonraq replied, sounding slightly unsure of himself. “Does everyone else understand what’s going on?”

Neither her cousins, nor the few Northern Water Tribe council members who were listening in, gave any indication that they didn’t understand - not that it seemed that they did understand too well, but Korra couldn’t expect too much. She wasn’t exactly looking for too much, either, so that wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like she needed their help or anything.

Really, I just want to make sure they get the idea.

“We should probably go.” Asami had been checking her watch obsessively, as she often did - it wasn’t like the airship would leave without them, but it was a familiar habit of hers. “We might be able to get off the ice a bit early.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

Korra and her girlfriend both stood, waving respectfully to the twin Chiefs of the Northern tribe as they made for the door. The Southern chief stood too, looking as though he wanted to follow them. 

“Dad?”

“I’d like to walk with you, Korra,” the Southern chief said affectionately. “I haven’t seen you in a little while.”

Okay...

As they stepped out of the council room, Tonraq turned to look at her, beaming with pride. “You sounded like a modern scientist in there, polar-pup. Though you’re not much of a kid anymore, even if I’m still going to call you that.”

Huh?

“Well, I do hang out with Asami-”

“I’m just…” Her father paused a bit, obviously trying to think of what to say next. “I’m very proud that you’ve integrated so well into the modern scene, if that’s what people call it.”

“Oh, I was worried that you disagreed with my plan or something, Dad!” Without hesitating, Korra leaned in, hugging her father tightly. “I’m glad you think I’m doing a good job keeping up with the times.”

Asami chuckled from behind her. “She’s a good student, Chief-”

“I’ve told you before, you can call me Tonraq.”

...maybe Dad, soon? 

I hope?

“Yeah, Dad, it’s really not that special,” Korra said lightly, pulling away so that they could continue walking. “Everyone gets involved in these things, these days - I mean, not everyone, but a lot of people do. Science is kind of a big thing now, right?”

“That’s why I’m proud of you, Korra.” Her father grinned broadly - doubtless looking at Asami giggling more behind her. “And it’s part of the reason you’re such an effective Avatar. You know how to talk to people about these things, and you’ve adapted to the change.”

The Avatar chuckled a bit too, then pouted. “I didn’t manage to explain it to those old men, though.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me that we in the Water Tribes aren’t exactly the most up-to-date on these things sometimes.” Tonraq laughed fully this time, then waved his hand, gesturing out the door of the council house into the dark morning snow. “Now, you two should go and do Avatar things, right?”

“Dad!”

Next to her, Asami burst into peals of brilliant laughter.  

 


 

“I’m glad your dad likes me,” Asami said softly, looking at her girlfriend standing next to her as they waited for the airship to be refueled. “I… I don’t know how that would feel, if he didn’t.”

“Yeah, that would… that would suck.”

It seemed like Korra wanted to continue, but she did not, instead sighing a little and moving a bit closer to her side. The engineer was pretty sure that they were both thinking about the same thing - Asami had never gotten to tell her father about her and Korra’s feelings for each other, and while she didn’t think he would have reacted badly, she just didn’t know. Like so many things about her father, that was something that she would never have an answer to.

I mean… Tonraq is fine with Korra liking technology…

But would Dad have been fine with me liking bending?

“Hey, it’s all right.” A strong arm wrapped around her, holding her tight in the dim, slowly falling snow. “I get what you’re thinking, you know?”

She didn’t feel a need to respond with words - they understood each other, in that moment. Unspoken, like the attraction between them, but still real.

“You’re pretty.”

Asami laughed at that - a completely unexpected compliment, very in character. “You’re pretty too, Korra.”

“Yeah, I know that, ‘Sami,” her girlfriend said, chuckling a bit herself. “But, like, in the snow, with this nighttime light? You’re really beautiful. I wish I could show everyone how amazing you are.”

“Oh, I’m sure your dad already knows, at least.” Leaning a bit closer to Korra, the engineer was rewarded with a rush of heat as the Avatar started warming both of them with her firebending. “I think everyone in that room saw how you were looking at me when I was trying to explain the relationship between electricity and magnetism-”

Her girlfriend poked her lightly in the side. “Hey, I can’t help it! Your eyes get this really pretty sparkle when you’re talking about something you’re interested in.”

“Mhm, you tell me that all the time,” Asami replied smoothly, brushing a snowflake off her nose. “And Dad used to say the same thing about Mom, actually.”

I… I wish I remembered her…

Maybe she was something like me… but I won’t ever really know.

For a little while, they both waited in silence, looking through the falling snow at the airship and the delicately lit landing area, and simply enjoying each other’s company. The weather had improved a little bit since their expedition that morning, but the snow was still consistent, and flashes of lightning occasionally lit the sky above them. The engineer wasn’t sure how closely the weather could be related to the spirit they were researching, but there had to be some kind of link - the correlation was just too strong.

At least I got some data from the meteorology station here… I’ll have to check that on the airship.

Suddenly, a bright wave of light illuminated the overcast sky - it was another aurora, the arcs hidden by the dense clouds but still bright enough to shine through them, creating a strange and beautiful ambience. Korra whistled in appreciation and surprise. “They’re still pretty strong, huh?”

“Definitely,” Asami agreed. “You know, common scientific consensus these days is that auroras are actually caused by electromagnetism, too.”

Her girlfriend laughed - it was nice. “Science really is getting everywhere, huh?”

“That’s always been the hope.” Looking skyward, Asami watched the light flicker behind the clouds. “And there are more and more people who are trying to unify scientific theory with spirituality.”

“...wow, really?”

“Yeah, and… Korra, I think it could happen, I really do.” Asami breathed deeply, trying not to inhale any snowflakes - she was excited to talk about these ideas with her girlfriend. “A lot of people don’t notice it, but science is coming to a point where there’s a lot of evidence that our entire understanding of how the world works is going to change very quickly in the next few years. And it might be possible - probable, even - that spirits are going to be far more important than anyone in the scientific community expected.

The expression on Korra’s face was one of interest, and at least a little awe. “Like Harmonic Convergence?”

...the opposite, really…

These things have existed for aeons, or longer, and we’re just starting to unravel their mysteries...

“Not quite,” she corrected. “But - I mean, there are new discoveries happening all over the place, love. There’s a multinational group working in Zaofu that’s proposing and testing theories about the basic components of matter. And we learned twelve years ago that electricity and magnetism are part of one larger force, and then we found out that they were related to light itself… it’s just an exciting time to be alive, really.”

“Whoa.”

Whether deep in thought or in shock, the Avatar did not respond, simply leaning closer to her, sharing the warmth of her bending and affection between them. 

And it’s exciting to be around you, too.

Finally, Korra spoke again. “And you think that there are spiritual equivalents to those… new discoveries?” 

“I don’t know,” the engineer responded. “Spirituality… it’s been at odds with the scientific community for a long time, right alongside the stereotypes about the bending elements and the divisions between the nations. I know it’s part of the reason my dad hated benders so much. He always said that the nations relied so much on their ‘magical connections’ that they never advanced in other ways-”

“You don’t believe that, do you, ‘Sami?”

“No, of course not, love.” It hurt to think about what her father had said, or how it might make Korra feel, but she forged on nonetheless. “I think that a lot of these scientific concepts - these forces, like electromagnetism and gravity and chemical elements - they might have spiritual equivalents, you know?”

The Avatar looked very curious at that suggestion. “So, like Yue and La, where there are spirits that represent the moon and the ocean despite the fact that they actually exist as physical objects?”

“Exactly!”

There was a slight pause, then Korra turned and hugged her full on, burying her face in her hair. She smelled like parka leather and salt, and Asami loved it.

Mmmh…

“You make this so much more fun than the White Lotus ever did.”

“Yeah, I doubt they ever taught you much about what science actually meant there,” Asami agreed. “It’s always more fun when it’s applied.”

The Avatar pouted - she’s so adorable when she does that - and tapped one foot in the snow. “Yeah, I hated learning in that stupid compound. I mean, I hated everything about that place, but somehow whenever I read about historical events or literature it just made it worse. I wanted to get out of there, you know? See some of the stuff I was being taught.”

“That was a terrible thing for the White Lotus to do, I know.” The engineer shook her head, then smirked as a thought entered her mind. “I bet you still hated math, though.”

“Yeah, numbers are awful! And it’s not that I’m not good at it, it’s just… not interesting, you know?”

Asami chuckled, leaning back against Korra again. “I don’t know, I love mathematics.”

“‘Sami, my favorite nerd.”

Oh, Korra, you’re a huge nerd too…

“Hey, who was the one who talked about history for two hours straight when we were on that ship?” the engineer teased lightly. “Not that I’m complaining, of course.”

Her girlfriend huffed again in mock indignation. “I really like studying it, it’s interesting! And it’s kind of important to my job, too, though the old guys in the White Lotus could have not hyped that up so much.” 

...yeah, that’s one good way to make a student hate something…

My dad never did that - he always just let me get involved on my own.

“Oh, so they only taught you the boring stuff?”

“Exactly!” Korra rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed at the thought. “Like, they didn’t say anything about what the Battles of Sozin’s Comet were like, because they wanted to spend a month and a half talking about postwar diplomatic negotiations and trials - and I was seven! I had to get Katara to tell me the actual stories in more detail.”

“Were they really that stupid?” Now Asami was getting upset too - she knew the White Lotus weren’t the same legendary organization that they were during the Hundred Year War, but sometimes they could be incredibly stupid even by normal standards. “Those peace treaties were incredibly complicated! And people in college-level ethics and politics courses struggle with some of those events - the trial of Princess Azula is still widely debated today-”

“Yeah, I know, and they had me write an essay about her later on,” Korra interrupted, sounding even more irritated. “Then they gave it a terrible grade because apparently ‘my conclusion was not adequately supported’ or some shit, when it was completely obvious that they just disagreed with what I’d said. Ugh, I get so annoyed when I think about them these days!”

...honestly, no wonder.

“And they definitely didn’t give me a very current science education, you had to explain stuff that I should have learned-”

“Miss Sato! Avatar Korra!”

Both of them looked over to see a short, middle-aged woman waving vigorously at them with one mittened hand. “The flight’s ready,” she yelled across the landing pad. “Your polar bear dog’s already on board, so let’s get moving! I don’t want to be on this damn ice any longer than I have to, pardon my High Water!”

Oh, it’s Teho!

I didn’t realize she was here… this is great! 

Without any hesitation, both Asami and her girlfriend abandoned their conversation and strode over to the folding stairs that led into the front of the airship. As they climbed past, the pilot turned and looked at Korra warily.

“You sure there won’t be any spirit attacks while we’re in flight?” 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” The Avatar considered a bit. “That spiritual signal from earlier isn’t really around anymore, or at least not in the same way - I think whatever it is calmed down when I arrived, which is weird, but it’s all fine now as far as I can tell.”

Convinced, the pilot waved them into the airship. “Well, on our way to the Fire Nation, then, as soon as we finish loading up these data files. Apparently some of the research boys from the Izumi Institute want information on this spirit anomaly, for some reason.”

“Maybe we could talk to them about it, too,” Asami quipped, smiling a bit as the door closed behind them. “We are kind of chasing the same thing, after all. And I’m sure we’ll have the time."

 


 

There was an airship - a large airship, imposing and impressive - in the open ice field. It was vaguely recognizable to her, something she had seen before a long time ago, even if the design and the figure emblazoned on its side were utterly foreign. But none of that mattered.

The Avatar-

The girl was terrified, why she was not sure - the mention of that name sent cryonic spasms up her spine, into her lungs. She froze for a moment, then breathed again.

Do not be afraid.

No one was watching - there was only an open door at the back of the airship, and a few stacked boxes, left unguarded. A path of least resistance-

The precipitating snow did not respond to her, but even the steady fall of white was enough for the spirit-host to slip, unseen, from the shadows at the edge of the landing strip to the shadows under the entrance, and then onto the airship itself. Not that anyone who saw in the light could have tracked her motion in that moment - but she was determined, and afraid, and calm. 

She-

With a loud, sliding crash, the metal door shut behind her, throwing the room into utter darkness. The girl hissed, breathing sharply and shallowly-

Please, no-

No!

She clutched the ancient glaive - the first of those to touch me, a sign - to her chest, and waited, shivering, as the machinery of the airship rumbled to life around her. 

I...  

Notes:

And, with this... the Fire Nation arc doesn't quite begin, but the Northern Water Tribe arc is definitely over! So, progress has been made. And of course, as Korra and Asami travel to Caldera City, the spirit and its host are still following them...

Asami does a bit of monologuing about science in this chapter, so I figured I should probably give some context. It's a bit of a rant, so skip it if you don't want to get involved in my own lecturing.

First of all, scientific dates and discoveries. Maxwell's Theory of Electromagnetism dates to a paper published (by James Clerk Maxwell, of course) in 1865 - so it's possible that the scientific community of LoK isn't much further along than this. I, personally, took some liberties with the timing, since for various reasons I think that the science timeline in the ATLA-verse would be quite a bit different. I've attempted to construct it as a sort of "nexus moment" where multiple major discoveries (e.g. the atom, relativity, very early quantum mechanics, etc) are all about to happen, and will likely happen within a few years of each other. Feel free to scream at me in the comments all you want, of course - I'll be the first to admit I'm working with stardust here, so to speak.

Also, when Asami mentions prejudice, she's talking about the effect that the existence of bending and spirituality have had on the scientific progress of the ATLA-verse. It's not much of a stretch to imagine that the "real life superstition" of ATLA's magic system (or whatever it is) would have the unintended consequence of making a lot of people suspicious of science and other stuff like that. Combined with the divides between nations and the massive monarchy-induced class gaps that existed worldwide up to the time of LoK (and even during it to some extent) I interpret this to mean that scientific progress would be slower, and also less widely accepted. Again, this is messing with theories and stardust, but I've been thinking about it for a while.

(breathes deeply, like a fermata)

Okay, so with that out of the way... if you're still with me... comments? Please? I would LOVE to talk about this stuff, and I've noticed less of them lately, which makes me sad! So... comments?

If you can't tell, I'm a bit more energetic than normal right now.

(insert mockingly overextended cadence here)

Chapter 7

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Uhhnnhh...

Blinking a few times to clear the sleepy fog from her eyes, Korra sat up, looking out of the wide window over their bed. She could see very little, despite it being late in the morning - they seemed to be flying through a bank of thick storm clouds, and as she tried in vain to peer through the dense cloak of suspended water, another crackle of thunder sounded around them.

Shit…

Is the storm… following us?

Next to her, Asami shifted and groaned incoherently - apparently she was waking up, too. “Huh? Korra?”

“We’re flying through a thunderstorm, ‘Sami.”

“Wait, still?” Her girlfriend shrugged the covers off - she was in some rather revealing pink nightwear, which Korra did her best to ignore. “Has it been like this the whole way?”

“I don’t know,” the Avatar replied, trying to shake the weariness from her voice. “I just got woken up by that weird spirit-signal again, and we’re in a storm… I feel like we should go and investigate.”

...we should probably get on clothes first, though…

Taking a turquoise robe off the bedside table - one of the Fire Nation style ones, right? - Korra watched Asami stand up and start looking through the small closet. Suddenly, her girlfriend was flung into one side of the storage area as the airship lurched, the disgusting sound of twisting metal and failing machinery echoing from outside the walls. One after the other, alarm sirens went off, the wailing only adding to the chaos as Naga began to bark loudly from the lounge room down the hall.

“What the fuck was-”

Korra rolled off the bed - as soon as her foot touched the floor, she extended her seismic sense through the metal of the ship, immediately detecting what had happened. “La’s gills, ‘Sami, one of the engines just got wrecked! And there’s someone in the room at the bottom, where the power supply is!”

I-

“That’s the structural failure alarm!” Her girlfriend leapt out of bed, quickly pulling on her own very stylish red robe, and immediately strode towards the door before Korra grabbed her by one shoulder. “Korra-”

“I just told you, there’s someone down there, and it’s not the pilot!” the Avatar responded - she could feel the same intense signal now, too, coming from the same place her earthbending was pinpointing, and that terrified her. “I can feel it - it’s the same possessed girl from before! You can’t just rush down there, ‘Sami, she’s dangerous!”

“She followed us?”

“Apparently!”

But why?

What do they want?

Standing in the doorway, Korra looked at Asami worriedly. She knew that her girlfriend was thinking about the situation just as much as she was - and Korra trusted her judgment, and her ability to protect herself, but she was also intimidated by the nature of the threat they were facing.

There’s so-

The intercom crackled, the pilot’s rather frantic voice cutting in. “Avatar Korra! The ship’s still flying for now, but it’s not safe to continue like this - if you can hear me, I need you to use your airbending or whatever to help me bring us down!”

“Shit, Asami, let’s go!”

“Korra, wait.” This time, it was Asami who caught her by the arm. “We need to-”

“We need to bring the ship down!” Korra interrupted quickly - she needed to get somewhere where she could bend safely, and quickly. “I know that having a plan is important, but can’t it wait until we’re not in a bedroom?”

Just then, Teho’s voice came on over the loudspeakers again. “Oh, and I just realized the nav instruments aren’t working! We’re over land in the Fire Nation, so it’s not that big of a problem, but I don’t want to fly like this! I don’t even know if you’re listening, but that’s what’s going on!”

“Just give me a moment, okay? I have an idea.”

“Okay, sure.” Another crack of thunder sounded, and she felt the ship lurch. “But whatever it is, say it quickly!”

The expression on Asami’s face wasn’t exactly reassuring. “You should go help our pilot on your own. I’ll go and try to keep the spirit from damaging anything.” 

Asami-

“No, that’s-”

“I know it doesn’t sound like it, but hear me out, okay, love?” Her girlfriend looked at her carefully. “The spirit only reacted to you - if I go, it probably won’t bother me unless I try to provoke it, and there’s a chance I might be able to reason with it. And Teho will need your help.”

I-

She might actually be right-

“Okay.”

Once again, Asami stopped her with a hand on her upper arm. “You don’t have a problem with that?”

“No,” Korra replied quickly. “I mean, I do, that spirit is dangerous, but what you said makes sense and I trust you, so-”

“Let’s go, then.” Asami was already moving towards the door, and Korra really, really didn’t want to leave her to deal with an entity as powerful as the one that she had chased through the snowstorm on her own, or really to leave her alone ever, but she was right. The Avatar was not the right person for the job, right now. “We can’t wait around, Korra.”

There was only a moment, unfortunately, to give her girlfriend a happy grin. Whirling around, Korra sprinted out of the door and ran toward the cockpit, airbending to allow herself to stay upright on the slightly tilted floor. She had to help the pilot keep the airship flying, and she had to trust that Asami would be all right.

 


 

Something told her that she had made a mistake.

Perhaps the noticeable list in the airship’s flight, or the clangs and pulses echoing through the framework around her - those were bad, she didn’t want the airship to fall, she never had, but they hadn’t stepped in-

I-

If she-

The girl - the girl just didn’t want to go wherever they were going. She had to follow the Avatar, that was what the entity needed, and she herself had wanted to leave the horrible cold, but the further away they got the more nervous and agitated she became. It built further and further, the imbalance charge, and then at some point-

It was a mistake. 

They happen.

She breathed deeply, the inhuman calm helping to settle her. The airship was out of balance, that was certain - more damage could bring it down. The girl could, if she had to. It would be easy - but why did she want it?

Where-

“I can’t remember,” she breathed to herself, tracing the cool, familiar metal of the glaive handle with her fingers. “I can’t.”

Don’t.

The girl heeded the advice, or tried to. She wanted to know - to know why she was still alive, who she was - but at the same time, there was pain there. 

You don’t need-

Hurt-

The sound of a door beginning to open echoed through the room, and she froze, hands tightening around her weapon, static crawling under her skin.

 


 

Asami was well aware that what she was doing was incredibly stupid and dangerous - she was about to confront a destructive, possibly openly hostile spirit on a damaged airship, while it and its host were cornered. It was the kind of idea that would give any engineer or scientist a heart attack, of course, and the Sato heiress would never have considered it as an option - except for the fact that it was the only one that would work.

It only really reacted to Korra…

It didn’t take her long to reach the room at the bottom of the gondola. Asami pushed the door open slowly and carefully, peeking around it and . There was nothing immediately out of the ordinary there - the generator and its surrounding modules seemed intact, at least at first glance, and there wasn’t-

Well, there was a girl in a very tattered parka poking her head out from behind a box of cables, a strange dual glaive held tightly - and rather inexpertly - in her hands. 

Huh.

She can’t possibly be trying to hide…

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the engineer said softly, in the tone she tried to use when Ikki’s lemur Raspberry Sunburst had stolen her favorite pen. “Okay?”

She held her hand out, palm up, then realized that she was talking to a human - or a spirit, she didn’t know which was worse - and that it was her right hand. The hand that she had, in a moment of rather poor decision-making, put her shock glove on.

Shit-

In a stroke of immense fortune, neither the girl nor the entity possessing her reacted - the figure simply remained still and quiet, watching her. The engineer pulled the glove off as quickly as she could, and slid it away from her on the floor, both their eyes following it.

I don’t think I want to be wearing that...

Another roll of thunder crackled from somewhere above them, though there was no way to see the sky from the lower engine room, even if Asami could tell they were descending-

“...yes...”

The girl’s voice was quiet, and very tentative, but it was there. And it sounded quite genuine - it seemed that the possessed girl was in control, at least some of the time, unless the spirit in question was particularly good at imitating people...

So… maybe she was scared?

She certainly looks worried right now…

Perhaps, Asami thought, it was time to stop staring. “Can I look around this room a little bit? I need to check the machinery.”

If the girl - or the entity sharing a body with her - had an objection to that, then they did not show it, simply continuing to look at her warily. It was almost unnerving how cautious she seemed to be.

Why is she so nervous?

“All right then,” the engineer said with a shrug. “Just keep watching me if you want, all right?”

Not waiting for a reply, Asami began to move around the room, starting her inspection with the generator in the center. There wasn’t actually that much she could check for damage, really, but there was always a possibility the strike had had diffused effects across the entire ship.

Honestly… I’m not even sure how it could have done such immense damage to the engine in the first place, there are specific countermeasures in place to prevent that…

Inspecting a fuse box in case one or more of the safety breakers had been partially damaged, the engineer could feel the girl’s eyes following her as she worked. But when she turned and returned her gaze, there was no further response.

“Why are you so scared of me?” 

The figure gave no sign of even acknowledging her question, and Asami looked away. Breathing deeply, she gave the room another cursory glance - there wasn’t actually that much for an engineer to check. Due to the newer two-sided engine structure of this model, a lot of the components were in rooms at the side of the airship, with only the main power supply down in the bottom. Not that that wasn’t important, but the lightning strike didn’t seem to have affected it.

It was very precise…

Just hit that engine, and it didn't affect anything else... 

“How did you do that?” Asami knew it wasn’t a smart question, probably, but the scientist in her was incredibly curious - and she didn’t feel like leaving the spirit-girl alone with the airship’s power supply, either, so perhaps trying to start a conversation was a good idea after all. “It was such a precise attack…”

Interestingly, that seemed to elicit some kind of reaction from the girl - not that she could tell whether it was the girl, or the spirit within her, or both - and Asami hastened to press the inquiry, at least a little bit. “Did you somehow overload the current within the engine and detonate it? I didn’t even realize that was possible, really.”

“No.”

The voice was more confident - a different timbre from the girl’s whispered fear earlier, almost old and monolithic in its nature. Asami breathed deeply, shocked.

Definitely the spirit…

So the girl is kind of in control, but the spirit is directing her, and allowing her to… channel its abilities?

“Well, that’s good to know,” the engineer said with a smile - shit, I’m glad I spent so much time dealing with social events, this feels like some kind of horrid balancing act - not taking her eyes off the spirit-girl. “I wouldn’t want these airships to be able to fail like that. And I’m glad I don’t have to redo the design quite yet.”

There was a pause, then the spirit spoke again. “I do respect that.”

“Respect what?”

The girl shivered and blinked, then looked at Asami, eyes wide. “I…”

...and I guess they aren’t exactly communicating either?

She was really, really young, the Sato heiress realized, looking at the thin figure in her faded, not-really-blue parka. Possibly fourteen, maybe a bit older or younger - it seemed like the girl had been out on the ice for a long time.

Who are you?

And what happened?

“You can take that parka off, you know,” Asami added, as almost an afterthought. “It’s hot in here. And I don’t mind.”

The girl looked at her again, then moved her hands from their sides, haltingly and carefully, to pull her parka hood down. A stream of long, terribly unkempt black hair fell from it, barely framing her face. It gave Asami a vaguely familiar impression, though for the life of her she couldn’t remember where from.

How long-

“My name is Asami.” She had no clue why she’d said it, but it seemed friendly. “What’s your name?”

Neither responded, at first - then the girl shivered, a few sparks crackling on the ends of her weapon. “Don’t… want to…”

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to answer anything if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” Now the engineer wanted a therapist - they supposedly had good mental health care in the Fire Nation, or at least functional, but they would need to get there first. And separating the spirit and the girl was probably also a priority-

I really hope Korra can figure that out-

“You’re going to be alright, okay?” Asami said softly. “We’ll get Korra - she’s the Avatar, she can figure out how to help both of you.”

...I mean, I don’t know if the spirit wants help or something else…

But it doesn’t seem openly hostile-

“She… she took it.”

Another cut-off, contextless statement, and one that gave Asami chills for some reason. “Korra? What did she take?”

“I…”

The girl trailed off again, her mind either unable or unwilling to draw from her memory. “It’s all right,” the engineer reassured her. “We’re on our way to the Fire Nation, and we’re going to meet with Lord Zuko and-”

At the mention of that name - or perhaps of the Fire Nation itself - the figure tensed and stood straight up, her dual-ended glaive in a defensive stance. Asami didn’t consider herself an expert in social interactions, but at that moment anyone could tell that the spirit-girl’s dark golden eyes were filled with terror.

“Wait, I’m not-”

The girl moved incredibly swiftly - one end of the polearm slammed into the power supply housing and crackled wildly, several nearby wires bursting from the immediate electrical overload. Asami rose too - I need to stop her - but another, much broader motion sent an arc of lightning into the side of the wall, lights flickering wildly as yet another alarm began to go off.

Why-

“Asami!” The intercom was damaged, and definitely not coherent, but Korra’s voice was still audible. “I’m coming - I can sense whatever-”

The engineer didn’t listen too much further - she was trying to get close to the spirit-girl and incapacitate her, the only option she could see considering it didn’t seem like she could be reasoned with judging by how terrified she was. A quick chi-blocking strike to one arm landed partially, but the result was entirely unexpected - the girl’s eyes widened even further and she gasped, staggering back into the wall in shock.

Okay-

I mean, chi-blocking is pretty scary, but...

Suddenly, a cacophony of screeching rang out from outside the airship - to Asami’s horror, the room tilted wildly, the distinctive and terrifying sound of shearing metal assailing her ears as she was thrown to the wall, which was now the floor. The spirit-girl hit the surface a few meters away from her, then immediately staggered back to her feet in panic.

Oh shit-

Even before her girlfriend shouted over the loudspeaker, Asami knew what had happened. “Fuck, the other engine just sheared off! Just hang on!”

“I’m alright, Korra!” she called back, on the off chance the Avatar heard her. Asami was pointedly ignoring the frantic girl now pulling herself up the slanted floor towards the exit - the spirit and its host were a problem that could be dealt with later, once they weren’t in an uncontrolled airship descent with no functioning engines. “She isn’t attacking me!”

I know she can’t hear me...

There was no response, other than the sound of rising wind around them as Korra began to decelerate their aircraft with her airbending. As Asami struggled to keep herself from being thrown about wildly, she saw the spirit-girl slam her glaive into the door, the metal twisting and warping under it in a manner that no lightningbender could possibly create. There was barely time for Asami to call after her before she gripped the entranceway frame, tugging herself upward, and disappeared from sight.

...what the fuck just happened?

Notes:

Well, well, well... things are heating up as we move to the Fire Nation, huh?

There's honestly not much else I can say about this chapter (I'm trying not to spoil anything), so I'll go ahead and apologize - it took a long time to get this one out, and that might happen again sometimes. I have another ongoing fic that has more engagement than this one, as well as a lot of responsibilities outside of fanfic writing.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments, though! Theories about the spirit or the girl, constructive criticism, anything is great!

Chapter 8

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Ugh,” Korra groaned, leaping down onto the craggy ground, “that was really shit.”

Actually bringing the airship down had been a difficult job - that kind of airbending required the Avatar State, and while she had excellent control over it, channeling that much power was still quite taxing. It was definitely nice to be on solid ground again, where things were more predictable, and they wouldn’t fall out of the sky if things went marginally wrong.

I mean, we still have to get us and the spirit-girl to Caldera City...

“Korra!”

As she looked up, the Avatar quickly waved one arm, slowing her girlfriend’s fall with a swirl of wind. “Hey, ‘Sami! Did you and Teho get the radio working?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t really damaged,” the engineer replied, stretching like a cat. “I managed to get a message to the Caldera pretty quickly - we just need to get down to the coast, there’s a Fire Navy battleship with instructions to pick us up and take us there.”

“That’s great!” Another glance at the open door above them revealed that the pilot was still waiting inside, not even visible. “Miss Teho! You need to jump out!”

The older woman did not look convinced. “You’re going to catch me, right?”
“Come on, Teho, she caught me with her airbending just now.”

“Fine,” the pilot said, shutting her eyes before she stepped out of the tilted entranceway. “I’m-”

Oh, come on, you’ll be alright!

Another looping airbending motion slowed Teho’s fall, depositing her on her feet. She opened her eyes and looked at Korra with a grateful nod. 

“See, it was all right.”

“Fair, fair, I shouldn’t have doubted you, Avatar Korra.” Reaching out one hand in a familiar gesture, the pilot smiled broadly as Korra took it in a strong arm-clasp, Southern Water Tribe style. “You did bring that entire airship down safely, I’m sure you could handle one old woman. I’m just a bit nervous, I’ve never been in a crash before and it’s surprisingly unnerving.”

Asami laughed brightly from behind her. “Don’t worry, Teho, I promise this won’t affect your job record. It was definitely that spirit-girl’s fault, not yours.”

Yeah...

“Speaking of which, she’s still alive in there,” Korra added, turning towards the very damaged airship - not that it was necessary to do so with her seismic sense expertly reading the echoes coming from the wreckage. “I can feel her heartbeat - and I don’t even think she’s injured, the metal kind of... warped around her and protected her.”

That feels odd… 

It’s kind of like it was metalbent, but not quite…

“...shouldn’t we try to restrain it? Or her?”

“It’s her - or at least the girl is her, most spirits don’t have genders… and the girl is still in control, at least some of the time.” That was Asami’s thinking-out-loud voice, and apparently the pilot knew just as well as Korra herself did, because neither of them interrupted. “It was actually the girl who freaked out when I mentioned the Fire Nation - there’s a difference in her voice when it’s her talking, and when the spirit is talking - so… uhh…”

Okay, that’s weird...

As her girlfriend trailed off, Korra felt for the spiritual signal again - it was still piercing through the wreckage, just as the vibrations in the earth told her where its physical vessel was. “So the girl is channeling the spirit’s power?”

“Not exactly,” the engineer corrected. “I think the spirit is in control when it wants to be, because it seems like the girl is too scared to do much-”

Asami stopped talking at that, probably realizing that “too scared to do much” was what had caused their airship to crash in the first place. For her part, the Avatar wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

I mean, she just took a whole airship down… but it’s kind of hard to fault her for it, given the situation...

But what are we going to do with her?

Standing a little ways down the slope, Teho clicked her tongue to get their attention. “That’s the ship we’re supposed to be getting on?”

“Hang on...” Sure enough, Korra could see a smaller Fire Navy ship slowing down as it cruised along the shore, its intent obvious. “Yeah, that would be it.”

“Shouldn’t we be going down there, then?”

Hold on!

“I’m thinking at the moment,” the Avatar replied swiftly. “There’s no way we can leave the spirit-girl here, it’s not safe for her or anyone else on the island, but I don’t know how we could get her to come with us.”

“Maybe we could try and get the spirit to take control for a while?” 

Erm…

That did not sound terribly moral. “I don’t want to hurt the girl, though… but there’s no other way to get her to go with us, since you said that going to the Fire Nation was what upset her in the first place. So…”

“...that might be the only option,” Asami finished, sounding just as concerned as Korra herself was. “And for what it’s worth, I think it might be better for her, at least right now, if she’s not in control of herself… or whatever she’s feeling.”

There was no way Korra could think of to respond to that, so she just stood there on the volcanic slope with her girlfriend and the airship pilot, surveying the metal wreckage. It was bright and sunny - the storm seemed to have passed completely - and quite mild, given the season. If she hadn’t been preoccupied with their current predicament, the Water Tribe girl would have taken the time to appreciate the volcanic islands’ beauty.

I really need to go to Ember Island with Asami when we’re done dealing with this...

“All right, I’m going to try to get her out.”

Not waiting for anyone else to respond, Korra took a deep breath and reached out for the twisted wreckage of the airship. It wasn’t difficult to pull the metal and cloth away with her bending, but she did so slowly nonetheless - it was important to be careful when someone was buried, so as not to hurt them. 

Hang on-

That’s not-

As the Avatar shifted a steel support beam, the spirit-girl stirred within her strange metal encasement. After a moment of apparent consideration on her part, the wreckage began to move and warp around her again as she started clawing her way to the surface. It was like no bending technique Korra had ever seen before - the closest parallel were the spherical shields that a skilled firebender could produce, but this was different. Unknown, and unnerving.

Okay, that’s just insane-

A very bedraggled head poked out from under some cloth, looking at them in panic before pulling her parka hood back on again. Around her, more metal shifted, like a bubble of water rupturing.

Huh? 

Why the parka?

Scrambling out of the wreckage, the girl froze for a moment, then turned away from them, probably scanning the area for a way to escape-

“Hey, don’t leave yet!”

The figure turned around and looked at her, and Korra did not hesitate to continue. “You wanted to try and tell me something, right?” 

“Yes.” That voice was definitely different from the shaky one she’d heard before - there was an immense, seemingly primordial power behind it now. “I… need to do so.”

...okay?

I mean, I guess it sort of makes sense that they would push my spirit-healing away… that’s not exactly communication...

“Why can’t you communicate here, then?” the Avatar asked, rather confused at the spirit’s apparent recalcitrance. “I mean… you have a body, can’t you just talk to me?”

The girl was still standing still amid the metal, still looking at them steadily - too steadily. “Not… easily. I am not human.”

Well, thanks, Captain Obvious.

“Well, if you can’t figure out how to tell us what you want, then you’re probably going to have to come with us.” Now Asami was looking towards the shore - Korra could see a small Fire Navy dinghy starting to leave the ship. “We can figure it out later, all right? And that seems to be what you want.”

A quick nod was the only answer they got - the girl was still wearing her parka, electric gold eyes hidden under it as if some part of her was afraid they would be seen. Korra beckoned her closer with one hand - if they wanted to get down quickly, she could earthbend them down the side of the scoria slope, but that would mean that the spirit and its host would have to stand with them for a little bit.

“Come over here, okay?”

The girl stepped closer, still seeming more confident than she had on the glacier. It was rather like dealing with a wild sky bison - Korra had to be careful, and slow, and not spook the spirit’s host or offend the spirit itself. Fortunately, she at least had some practice with the latter.

...I really need to figure out some way of separating them…

“Alright, so I’m going to move us down the mountain with earthbending.” If the spirit-host had any objection, she did not show it, instead stopping a mere couple of meters away from them and watching her carefully. “That’s fine, right? And I won’t let you fall, don’t worry.”

Fortunately, it seemed like the unknown entity didn’t have any objections, and its control over the girl didn’t shift either as they sat down on the rocky ground, though their eyes were still following her. Korra wondered if the debacle on the airship had caused the possessive entity to tighten its control, or if the girl was aware and simply too terrified to try and stop herself-

She backed up closer to Asami, at the same time raising her arms and settling into her best earthbending stance. “Yue and La, this is creepy…”

No, you shouldn’t be invoking the names of great spirits…

They’re pretty creepy, too.

There had been something about that girl’s voice that reminded her of Raava and Vaatu. Ancient, and immovable, and alien, yet all too familiar… in more ways than one...

Don’t start thinking about that stuff right now, Korra… you have to focus!

“You know,” Teho said loudly from behind them as a slab of stone came loose from the mountainside and began carrying them down, “when I thought ‘spirit bridge’ I didn’t consider that’d mean being a therapist, but I guess it makes sense when you think about it.”

Oh, you’d be surprised…

This job involves a lot of insanity, believe me...

 


 

Asami looked across the small table at the girl, who was picking at a plate of spicy dumplings as if she didn’t quite know what she was doing. Which was actually very plausible, the engineer realized belatedly, wondering if she should offer some help. She seemed worse at using the chopsticks than at wielding her old double-ended polearm - even though her other combat skills were completely terrifying...

This gets more and more creepy by the minute…

“Are you all right?” It seemed that her girlfriend had a similar idea. “It looks like it’s been ages since you’ve eaten-”

“I have been… remaining functional,” the spirit-host said flatly, putting down her utensils and staring at them. Her long black hair was hidden under a hooded robe, one she’d replaced her parka with when Korra had suggested it, and that only added to the unsettling nature of the situation. “Somewhat.”

One of Varrick’s horror-mover writers would love this...

Looking at the girl - she really is emaciated, it’s strange that she’s even conscious right now - Asami couldn’t help but disagree. “Your… host... doesn’t look too good…”

“She is not.”

How am I supposed to respond to that?

The engineer and Korra looked at each other - neither of them really knew where to go from there. Given that they had crashed next to the main seaway into Caldera City, it would only be a few hours before they arrived at the Fire Nation capital and met up with the royal family and the Fire Sages, any of whom would hopefully have answers. And if they didn’t, there were the extensive archives of literature and spiritual knowledge that lay underneath the palace. 

But, of course, they had to keep the spirit-girl from causing any more chaos - and that was quite difficult, considering they still knew very little about them. 

This feels so damn theoretical… it makes me uncomfortable, even without all the weird spiritual stuff that I don’t understand well anyway.

Though… then again, no one really does.

“So… you can’t tell us who you are?” her girlfriend asked from next to her. “Like, it’d help a lot if we knew something about you, since you’re so interested in communicating with me.”

“That is not possible.”

Huh…

Asami raised her eyebrows - there was an issue with Korra’s question that she hadn’t noticed. “I know it might be hard for you, as a spirit, to say who you are, but can you tell us who the girl you’re… possessing is? She’s going to need help, once you’re done… using her…”

Trailing off, the engineer watched to see if the nameless spirit-host reacted, still tense in her seat. Their little cabin on the Fire Navy destroyer was comfortable, but it was impossible for her or Korra to calm down in the presence of an unknown force, notably hostile or not. The whole situation was unnerving - possession and electricity and some kind of not-metalbending that resembled the action of a magnet more than anything else - given-

The terrified, innocent girl sitting across from them with, glaive leaned inexpertly at her side, was the vessel for an entity more alien and complex than any either of them had encountered before - and Asami didn’t like it.

“No.”

...huh...

“Why not?” the Avatar questioned. “It’s not that I don’t want to try and communicate with you, but we want to help your host, too.”

The girl shifted in her seat, looking nervous - her eyes dulled, and Asami realized what was going on and started standing up, but then her gaze brightened and she settled down again. The momentary lapse in the spirit’s control was frightening to think about on multiple levels.

After a few more seconds, the girl twitched a bit. “It is… no… not safe.”

Not safe?

“You’re trying to protect her?” Korra looked confused, a sentiment which Asami thoroughly shared. “Did you bond with her because people were trying to kill her or something?”

I mean… that could make sense…

But why are they so shifty about it, in that case?

“She is… assisting me,” the girl said - she’s describing herself, that’s creepy - looking between the two of them, one hand flicking toward her glaive momentarily. “Acting as conductivity.”

Another electrical analogy…

“You’re related to electricity in some way, that much is obvious.” Asami had no idea why she’d mentioned that, but it was the only thing she knew, and the spirit had been quite… flattered when she had brought it up earlier. “But what do you want? We can’t figure that out without you telling us.”

After a few moments of contemplation, the entity replied. “It is… difficult to communicate as a human.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Korra agreed with a chuckle - spirits, I love her laugh - from next to her. “The way you spirits do it is so much easier.”

“Maybe it would make things easier if we went to the Spirit World with them, love.” It was a long shot, given that the entity had probably come through the northern portal and would therefore be just as coherent in the physical world, but it was the best thing Asami could think of. “And they might be able to separate more easily there, too.”

“Separation would… not be possible.”

...okay?

A disturbing idea occurred to the engineer - one that she hadn’t considered before. “Wait, would it kill you to leave her body? Like, are you keeping her alive somehow?”

The girl nodded slowly, but did not further elaborate, instead taking her chopsticks and trying to pick up another dumpling - at least until her old polearm clattered to the floor and she had to get out of her chair to pick it up. Her movements were awkward and halting, in a way that was painful to watch, and her bony, emaciated frame was obvious even under her borrowed Fire Navy raincoat.

She really isn’t doing well…

I don’t even think she should be conscious right now, much less as... formidable as she was earlier.

“So… you found a girl on the tundra who was freezing to death and possessed her?”

There was no immediate response from the spirit-host - she was still trying, and somewhat failing, to eat more of her food.  

“She can’t be dead,” Korra mused in response, turning to look at Asami. “Since she was obviously responding to us earlier… unless this spirit is really, really good at mimicking people, which also doesn’t seem like the case…”

...I guess there’s not much we can say, huh?

After a minute of her girlfriend thinking very hard, the metal door of their cabin screeched open - those hinges are absolutely in need of lubrication - cutting through the uncomfortable silence. “Avatar Korra? Miss Sato?”

There was a short, ponytailed Fire Nation woman in a uniform - a naval ensign? - standing at attention in the doorway. That was rather surprising to Asami - the crew of the ship had mostly left them alone in the cabin after Korra had explained what was going on, likely because they were suspicious of the presence that was accompanying the two of them. And sure enough, the naval officer was warily glancing at the spirit-girl, though fortunately the other party didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

I mean, I am kind of glad that they’re leaving us alone...

“Yeah?” Korra waved brightly. “You need something?”

“No, I just wanted to say that we’re only around… two and a half hours from the Old Gate.”

“Huh, that’s closer than I thought,” her girlfriend replied thoughtfully, looking at her again with her pretty blue eyes. “Want to go up and look at the coastline, ‘Sami? I’ve heard it’s really beautiful around here.”

I wish…

But we can’t leave this… child unsupervised…

As she watched the girl slowly try to eat her hot dumplings - I mean, I guess we’re children too, but not really, anymore - Asami shook her head. “We need to keep track of this spirit and its host, love. Not that I wouldn’t love to watch the scenery with you-”

“Nah, you’re right.” The Avatar paused for a moment, then shifted her chair closer with a smile. “Doesn’t mean we can’t hold hands though!”

Out of the corner of her eye, the Sato heiress saw that the Fire Navy officer was slipping out of the door, whether from a desire to avoid the mysterious spirit or common courtesy . She didn’t really care too much, and took Korra’s hand in hers anyway, enjoying the feeling of closeness it brought.

I mean, it’s not like we’re going to be doing anything in here besides keeping an eye on them...

“Wait, what’s going on?”

The girl did not respond, despite the obvious question - she seemed to have shifted into a deep trance, her eyes half-closed for some unknown reason. Korra twirled her fingers, sending a little whirlwind across the table to brush her arm, but there was no response other than a slight twitch.

Oh… that’s… not really good...

Squeezing her hand tighter, Korra sighed. “This just seems really… wrong.”

“Well, with any luck, we’ll figure it out when we get to Caldera City,” Asami replied. “Just as long as nothing else happens.”

...but what about when we get there?

Notes:

New chapter, yay! And it's a long one, which is probably a good thing considering how slow this update (and all my updates lately) are. Hopefully you enjoyed it!

There's not much to say about this one - there will probably be a Big Reveal in the next one, though, and I wonder just how surprised my readers will be by it. I've dropped a few hints throughout, but it should be interesting... to say the least.

As always, I adore comments and kudos!

Chapter 9

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“So… uhh… it’s a satomobile? To take us to the Royal Palace?”

“Her father invented them,” Korra added helpfully from one side. “They’re really cool! And totally safe, I promise.”

Understandably, the spirit-host did not look too reassured. Asami really couldn’t blame her - they were surrounded by a group of royal guards, and their intimidating presence would be enough to put anyone on edge, much less the very skittish young girl they were dealing with. And that was ignoring the fact that she seemed to be opposed to going to the Fire Nation and meeting with the royal family on principle, at least if Asami was interpreting what she’d seen on the airship correctly.

The spirit is still in control right now… but that could change…

And it’s concerned enough about its host that any threat could cause even more chaos...

“I… fine.” The girl stepped pensively over to the vehicle assigned to carry them back - it was very comfortable, with plush seats and fine finish, but that did not hide the reinforced carriage and windows. “Acceptable.”

That’s… reassuring...

Without replying, the engineer opened the door for them, Korra walking around the satomobile to the other seat in the second row. It was telling that her normally energetic girlfriend didn’t do something like leaping over the top of it to get to the other side, and that they weren’t sitting next to each other as they would normally have done. The present danger of having a volatile and fearful - and very powerful - entity with them took precedence, unfortunately. 

And so, the engineer was sitting in the back seat, alone, while Korra was next to the strange girl. It wasn’t ideal for either of them, but it was also the best arrangement to try and keep things from going sideways - or more accurately, to get things under control in the event that they went sideways. A protective convoy with more royal guards and vehicles had been provided, of course, but their satomobile was empty except for them and a driver-

“We’ll leave when Princess Niko returns, I believe she went to look at something a street vendor was showing off.”

Ah…

Well, that would explain why there’s so much protection...

Sure enough, they didn’t have to wait too long for the Fire Lord’s second daughter to return, a small paperback novel under one arm. One of the ever-present guards opened the door for her, and she sat down next to Asami, looking at the spirit-girl seated in front of them with suspicious interest.

She’s really, really observant… I forgot about that.

...is that a mass-market detective novel?

“Princess Niko.”

“Hello - I’m sorry I kept you waiting, I don’t have a copy of this one yet.” It didn’t seem like the Fire Princess was too bothered by Asami’s stiff greeting, which she was thankful for. “Who is that?”

“We don’t know her name yet,” Korra replied, sounding rather embarrassed. “You heard about the spirit we were trying to negotiate with, right?”

The princess looked supremely unimpressed. “The same one that took down your Future Industries airship?”

“Is that why you came with us, to make sure she didn’t… blow up the royal satomobile or something?” 

Oh, Korra…

“No, I just wanted to,” Niko replied lightly. “Besides, you two have a pretty good track record, right? And you got this far. I’m not worried, I mean.”

Well…

As the royal convoy began to drive through the military port, Asami kept watching the spirit-girl - she was very wary, if the few glances toward the back row of seats were any indication, and so was everyone else. It didn’t seem like she was too worried about them, though - the mysterious girl was scanning the modernized streets of Caldera City, much like Asami herself.

Honestly… I think next to Republic City, the Fire Nation is my favorite place to be. 

But she seems so… confused...

Now Niko was looking at her again, curiosity evident in her grey-gold eyes. “So you’re hoping to use the archives to identify this spirit?”

“That’s the plan, yeah,” Korra responded with a nod. “I mean… we could probably just go through one of the spirit portals and try to communicate in the Spirit World, that would make things easier, but we still have no idea who the girl she’s possessing is…”

“So you’re just improvising.” 

“...pretty much.”

Asami hastened to reassure the princess. “We figured out that as long as the spirit is in control, the girl won’t panic - or at least it won’t cause issues, I’m sure she’s probably still scared - and so we convinced them to follow us while we worked this out. It’s not exactly ideal, but we’ve been lucky so far.”

So far…

I’m not sure how well that will hold up soon… given how upset the girl was at the mention of Lord Zuko in particular...

“This actually sounds like something from a horror novel.” It didn’t seem like Niko was particularly upset by that thought, more intrigued, even - Crown Prince Iroh had told the engineer in passing that his younger sister loved mysteries and creepy tales more than anyone else he knew. “Can you tell me the whole story? I’d… well, it would definitely be interesting to hear.”

Yep… she wants to write an adaptation of it.

Korra sighed from the seat in front of them, still watching the spirit-girl carefully. “Sure, but that’ll have to be later. It’s long, and… well, we don’t really know if they’re listening-”

“Which is to say they definitely are, and we’re trying not to spook them,” Asami added quickly. “That was what took down the airship - I said something that caused them to panic, and… well, they broke some things, including the engines and part of the canopy.”

The engineer declined to mention the extremely odd quasi-metalbending, or the frightening electrical abilities. As fascinating as they were, they were also unsettling - and that could get them in trouble.

Though I’m sure Niko would be very interested...

“Is that why she has the glaive?”

At that, Korra looked quite embarrassed. “Well… we convinced the guards to let her bring it because she’s kind of attached to it? And we didn’t want to try and take it, that would definitely have ended badly-”

“It’s not like she’s too good with it either, don’t worry.”

“Actually, you made the right decision, I think,” Princess Niko replied thoughtfully. “It’s a very unique weapon, and it could be important evidence.”

Detective Niko... right.

“Huh, I guess it was a good thing-”

“Do you have a picture of her?”

Oh…

“Uhh… shit, that would have been a good idea,” Korra huffed, forgetting their company for a moment - fortunately, the princess gave no acknowledgement other than a raised eyebrow. “Now I really wish we had Mako around, he’d have remembered that.”

Actually…

“I can get one.” 

As she spoke, Asami was already looking through her small briefcase - it’s not a handbag, I don’t know why people like to call it that - and soon she pulled out a parcel, encased in bright Varrick Global Industries wrapping paper. She still wasn’t sure why the eccentric man had given his experimental Varri-Capture camera to test, but perhaps he had been smarter than she gave him credit for, or perhaps Mako or Zhu Li had given him the idea. You never could tell with Varrick, after all - there was a good chance both possibilities were true.

Well, I guess luck is on our side still…

I just hope she doesn’t break it.

“Oh, is that that instant-print camera Varrick showed us?” 

“An instant-print camera?” That caught Niko’s interest immediately - she turned her attention to the sleek, expensive-looking blue case that the engineer was unwrapping. “How instant? I’ve seen models that take about five minutes-”

Not instant enough, with all this damn packaging-

“Nah, it takes, like, a second,” Korra interrupted, more excited than Asami had remembered her being when she had initially seen the experimental device. “It’s really cool! Varrick said he designed it based on all the mover recording stuff he’s working on-”

Now the princess’s grey-gold eyes were shining with obvious fascination. “Can you get a photograph with it right now?”

Of course-

“Working on it.” The engineer opened the lens cover of the camera, then raised it - it was surprisingly simple. “Excuse me-”

That was all it took to draw the spirit-girl’s attention away from their surroundings, strangely enough - whether that was a good or bad sign, Asami didn’t know. There was certainly no reaction or reply that could give her any ideas.

Here’s hoping...

“I’m going to take a picture of you, all right? It won’t hurt.”

There was still no reaction from the young girl -  she was watching the camera now, which just so happened to be what Asami needed her to do. Fortunately, there was enough sunlight filtering into the car, that she didn’t need to use the built-in flashbulb for illumination, so the actual picture was easy enough to get, and the spirit-host didn’t object when she pulled it out of the top of the camera, simply blinking once and turning back to look out the window again.

Well…

Thank all the spirits, including that one, that that didn’t cause any issues.

“That’s revolutionary,” Niko said, voice filled with uncharacteristic excitement. “I can only imagine how much that will change forensic work…”

Holding the little piece of film out in front of her as she watched the image slowly come into view, Asami nodded. “I’m just glad we have it with us now.”

“‘Sami, look! That street musician has a fire ferret on his tsungi horn, it’s so silly!”

The engineer tucked the photo into her pocket and looked over at her girlfriend’s side of the car. There was something uncomfortable and odd about the girl in the image, that was certain, but there was nothing to be gained by dwelling on it now.

I just hope she’s all right in there...

 


 

This - this was not a place she should be, and she didn’t know why.

Don’t panic-

It was hard not to, really - the energy was there, and it wasn’t like that she could diffuse, coalesce into electricity or magnetism or light or something that existed, pure and untainted. Emotional energy, something that they couldn’t channel.

The girl shifted against the wall, watching the people - royal guards , something told her, a memory or the entity’s words - eye her. They were suspicious, and wary, and also bored. 

She had no idea why she knew that. It must have been something she didn’t remember, like everything else.

You - memory will harm you.

Shut up!

The spirit did not respond, simply retreating back into its inhuman haze. She gripped her glaive tighter, more panic-energy flowing through her nerves. A different type of current, one she couldn’t handle, directionless-

Why are you trying to… stop me?

Please…

There was no immediate response - maybe there was, written in feelings, but she didn’t understand them. The entity wasn’t trying to harm her, but it wasn’t human. It understood her as much as she understood herself - not at all.

Leave…

Was that her? Or the spirit giving her life, and energy, for its own ends? 

The girl breathed, and shifted - the dim room was suddenly steeped in shadow. The people watching her yelped in surprise, some of them kindling flames to bring back the light, but nothing could penetrate that darkness.

Unseen, the girl ran, trailing a cloak of unlight behind her as best she could. Something was very, very wrong about this place.

 


 

“Lord Zuko!”

As she sprinted across the room, the older man laughed in return before meeting her in a very warm hug. “It’s good to see you too, Korra! And you know you don’t have to call me that.”

Damn, he really hugs like Iroh…

Old Iroh, I mean. In the Spirit World.

“Yeah, I know,” the Avatar replied dryly. “I’d love to just… be informal and hang out, but we kind of have a situation here.”

Well… not here right now. But here?

“You said that you wanted to search our archives for information on a spirit?” There were a lot of people to focus on - Fire Lord Izumi was talking, and Korra knew there was probably some gesture of respect she ought to be showing, but besides the rest of the royal family, the only other person there was one of the Royal Guard Captains. “And that you brought said spirit with you?”

Asami nodded from next to her, similarly informal. “Yes, we left the spirit and its host in one of the reception rooms with some of the guards.”

Host… ugh… that’s still awful...

The Fire Nation royals seemed equally unnerved by her girlfriend’s words. “I forgot that part of the letter,” Izumi admitted, frowning. “And bringing a possessive spirit into the palace… are you confident you can control this situation? Not that I doubt-”

It’s fine…

Really, we don’t know what we’re doing either.

“Sort of?” Korra knew that wasn’t very reassuring, so she clarified. “The entity seems really attached to the girl - it wouldn’t separate from her, even when I tried to calm it down with spiritbending. And they emit a really strong spiritual signal a lot of the time, too.”

I mean… now that I know what it feels like...

“So you can tell where she is right now?”

That was, of course, a pretty reassuring thing to know for them. “Yeah…”

Shit.

Not so reassuring now-

As it turned out, Korra realized, the spiritual beacon had moved, and was no longer in the waiting room - in fact it was still moving, somewhere in one of the myriad halls of the Royal Palace. “Shit.”

“Korra, what-”

“She’s running away.” That was bad, she knew very well, especially considering the last time the mystery girl had panicked an entire airship had gone down. “Uhh… that’s bad?”

Good job, Korra.

“What is she going to do?”

Korra groaned almost simultaneously with her girlfriend. “I mean… we still don’t really know.”

Without pausing, Fire Lord Izumi turned to the guard captain, doubtless to issue instructions, but the older man was already fiddling with a short-range radio. He held it to his ear, but it was to no avail - even from halfway across the room, Korra could hear the static.

“Shit,” Asami cursed, “I forgot they would interfere with electrical devices when they got scared.”

“Avatar Korra, what do we need to do?” Now the Fire Lord was looking at her, and so was everyone else, and that meant she had to think of something - fast. “We can’t allow an unknown entity to roam around the palace, especially-”

“I’m thinking, hold on!”

Okay, wait-

The beacon had stopped moving - if Korra had to guess, the spirit-girl had found somewhere to hide, which would make things easier. Assuming, of course, no one frightened her again-

Waving one hand in the direction of the invisible signature, the Avatar looked at the same guard with the radio from earlier. “Can you get a message out telling all the guards to stay away from… uhh… over there?”

“I can try,” the older man replied tersely. “If this radio will actually work and broadcast something, at least, give me a few moments.”

Okay, that’s bad…

Why are you making things so difficult?

As the Captain of the Royal Guard undignifiedly messed with an electrical device, now assisted by Asami, Korra looked around the room. The entirety of the royal family were looking at her, obviously very worried - except for Niko, who was still holding the little photo from earlier in one hand, writing something down in her chair-

Wait, wait-

“Niko, the picture!” 

The younger princess stopped scribbling in her notebook - she really does act like Mako, have they met each other? - and quickly jumped up in surprise, a bone kunai falling out of her sleeve. “Uhh… yeah, it came out clearly? I don’t know how well that’ll work, though, she looks really Fire Nation, it might be hard to tell-”

At the moment, it was hard to discern whether she or Princess Niko was a few steps ahead of the other - but Korra needed to make her plan known, and quickly. “It’s not about trying to figure out who she is, Niko, but everyone needs to know what she looks like at least.”

“Good point,” the princess admitted. “Here, everyone, come look at this picture - it’s really interesting how good the quality is.”

Iroh was the first to look, striding over to stand next to his sister. “So that’s who we’re looking for? Agni, she looks terrified.”

“She definitely is.”

And… well, honestly being around her is pretty scary...

From across the room, Asami called out, ”The radio’s working! I just had to take the batteries out and put them back in!”
...where have I heard that before…

As the older guard captain started barking into the radio again, this time without the static, Korra turned her attention back to the royal family, who were all gathering around Princess Niko to look at the picture. “Do you think you could recognize her?”

I mean, that’s not the point… but it’s worth asking…

Something tells me they might know.

“I must say, she looks rather familiar in a way.” One hand on her glasses, Fire Lord Izumi was looking over her daughter’s shoulder at the picture. “But a lot of people of old Fire blood look like that - the Royal Family, and various noble houses. Though there is something unique about her...”

Niko, meanwhile, seemed to be unconvinced. “How would someone of High Fire lineage end up on an ice cap, though? No one here ever goes to the Water Tribes, especially not people with a lot of Fire blood - they don’t like the cold.”

“So you’re saying that might help narrow it down, Mimi?”

Huh…

Something wasn’t right here, Korra was sure of it, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what it might be. She simply watched as Lord Zuko stepped over and tilted his head a bit to get a view of the image. After looking at it for a moment, his good eye widened, and he drew in a deep breath.

“Can I have that? I-”

“Yeah, Grandfather Zuko, here.” Princess Niko handed the slip of film over her shoulder - the former Fire Lord moved one careful hand out to take it, his face twisted in some unrecognizable emotion. “Did you think-”

What’s going on-

“Father, what’s wrong?”

Izumi reached over to embrace Lord Zuko, her two children also leaning in. Korra moved closer too - there was something wrong about this, very wrong, the culmination of almost two days of instinctual unease awakening in her - but before she could even speak, the older man started crying openly, wheezy sobs causing him to tremble-

“Azula.”

Notes:

:D

...comments?

Chapter 10

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

That-

That explains so much-

There were a thousand thoughts running through Korra’s mind at that moment - Princess Azula, this is impossible, it makes so much sense - but the sound of Fire Lord Izumi calling out loudly to the Royal Guard Captain cut through them all-

“Wait!”
Everyone stopped and looked at her, and the world slowed down - or maybe it sped up, now that she was out of her mind, she couldn’t move slowly. She didn’t have time to even try and read all the emotions on their faces. This - this was insane, and crazy, and a tragedy.

A tragedy that was in her hands, now.

“Korra-”

“I’m going after her.” She was rambling now, not pausing to stop and put her thoughts together or take a second look at the not-quite-a-plan that was screaming in her head - she had to do something. “Call the guards off - I need to do this on my own.”

This is-

A lot of things were making sense, now, things that hadn’t made sense before, but now she could see the whole picture - and it hurt, to imagine how twisted this entire situation was. And she only had so much time to act before things escalated out of her control.

“I-” The tone of Izumi’s voice was stricken with complicated worry, and more than a bit of shock. “Korra, I don’t think any of us expected-”

“I should have seen it,” she interrupted, her voice carrying across the room, amplified by airbending without her even thinking. If there had been anyone who wasn’t looking at her, they were now. “I should have - I knew what happened to her-”

I know what it feels like, to be empty-

She did know. She had always objected, morally, to what had been done to Princess Azula, but only after losing parts of herself - even temporarily - had she really understood.

This was my fault, once.

I have to fix it.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Korra turned away from the door - I didn’t even notice, I was about to run after her - and back to everyone else. “Fighting her isn’t the answer. It won’t solve anything if we try to capture her, she’ll just escape-”

“We can’t just leave her.” Lord Zuko was no longer weeping, though his face was still streaked with tears - now he was focused through the shock and pain, as the Avatar herself was trying to manage. “She’s unstable, and undoubtedly dangerous - I don’t even understand how she got here-”

“None of us do - I really can’t think of a way this could have happened.”

The Avatar looked at her girlfriend, who seemed far less surprised than she should have been, simply watching the situation play out silently. But then again, this whole situation was horribly logical - all the details made sense, they lined up like in one of those detective novels that Mako and Princess Niko both loved, with a dose of utter revulsion-

...how in Yue and La do I fix this?

I mean… trying to fight her isn’t an option-

“Avatar Korra, we have to do something.” Fire Lord Izumi was looking at her again, somewhat more settled - and spirits, she was using her Fire Lord voice now, too, things were getting out of control now, and she wished she had time to plan, but there wasn’t any. “Having an unknown spirit that can possess people running loose is bad enough, but in the body of someone as dangerous as… as Azula-”

She won’t even say it’s her aunt-

Fuck-

“Which is why I’m going after her on my own.”

Dead silence - they were all still looking at her, waiting. There was no time for arguments or emotion here, much as Korra wanted to say a few things to the older members of the royal family. She needed to explain her plan - or what she had of a plan.

...though to be fair, there’s never a plan for anything involving spirits, is there?

“Korra, I… we just don’t know what’s going on.”

“I don’t either!” she replied, a bit tersely. “I only know what’s going on right now, and that is that we have a really unstable and damaged girl acting as the vessel to a completely unknown spirit-”

“And that’s all we know, too, Avatar Korra.” Izumi was speaking sternly, too - probably in reaction to her rising emotions, she needed to calm down. “That, and that something needs to be done before this palace falls into chaos.”

I-

Korra looked back towards the door, and the beckoning signal. “Yeah, I know. But I need to do this on my own, without anyone else.”

Spirits-

I hope I can resolve this-

“On your own?”

“Yeah - ‘Sami, this isn’t something you can help with.” With a sigh, the Avatar spun and began to rush towards the exit, calling out over her shoulder as she ran. “Just… hang on, ok? And don’t start anything without talking to me, please!”

Then she was gone, sprinting after a ghost and a spirit - both at once. Korra wasn’t sure which she was more worried about.

 


 

This, Asami Sato knew, was a situation that she was not prepared for. She had always been out of her depth when it came to even the most insignificant spirits - much less whatever vast, unnerving entity was possessing Azula - and-

And it’s Azula-

And of course, now almost the entire Fire Nation Royal Family was looking at her for an explanation of what was going on. Korra had bolted out of the room to chase after the possessed princess - I still can’t get that through my head - and given that Asami was her girlfriend, everyone expected her to know what was going to happen next. 

Why did you leave me with this, love?

“Miss Sato…” The Fire Lord fixed her with questioning golden eyes - that was distracting. “Should we be doing something?”

Uhh…

“Give me a moment, please.”

Really, her girlfriend’s decision to leave them behind was sound - they usually were - even if it was incredibly infuriating on a personal level. Asami remembered very well how the girl had reacted when she had even mentioned Zuko - frankly it was a wonder that they had gotten this far, considering who she actually was. And she had good reason to be terrified, didn’t she?

Avatar Aang - Korra’s past life - took her bending, then she escaped and disappeared onto the Northern ice plains. She was never seen again.

She was never seen again.

That was what all the history books had told her - told her and Korra, and the two had spoken many times about the injustice of it all. Her girlfriend had come to empathize with the fallen princess a great deal, after being attacked by Amon and Unalaq, and coming to realize the true nature of the damage that energybending and separation from one’s element could do. Even as a nonbender, Korra’s pained recollections of how empty she felt were chilling.

And the engineer knew what happened to empty spaces, to imbalances.

I mean-

“Asami, we don’t have a moment,” Crown Prince Iroh said - she hadn’t even noticed that she had moved towards the door herself, farther away from the still-confused royal family, and towards Korra. “The whole palace is in danger-”
“Which Korra is trying to fix, and which she said we shouldn’t get involved in.”

If Izumi had been shocked and upset before, now she also looked a little miffed - perhaps her tone had been rather aggressive. “I’m not saying we don’t trust you two, but this… this isn’t a situation anyone could have predicted-”

Korra might as well have-

Really, it makes too much sense in retrospect-

“That’s not the point,” Asami retorted, trying to keep her mounting frustration out of her voice. “Korra explicitly said that if you get involved it will make things worse, and all the evidence we have supports that conclusion. So I’m just trying to figure out what we should do that won’t escalate this.”

Lord Zuko looked at her, still half-crying, and very hurt. “We don’t know… we don’t know what’s going on, Asami, this is so much…”

You don’t deserve to know-

The Sato heiress cut off the snide voice in her head - perhaps it was right, a little bit, but that wouldn’t help right now. Korra was thinking, but probably not enough, as was typical of her. She was the Avatar - it was Asami’s job as the inventor and the engineer to ensure that there was no room for error.

Which… there’s definitely a lot of potential for disaster here...

“I know, Lord Zuko, but please give me time to think.”

Princess Niko chose that moment to speak up, her pen and paper in her hands. “So Korra’s going to try to talk her down, or spiritbend her? That sounds like it shouldn’t cause any issues-”

“It’s… Azula, my sister,” Lord Zuko said wheezily. “None of us can possibly predict what she’ll try to do… especially with whatever power she has within her.”

Still looking at the door, Asami resisted the urge to snap - how could you, she’s your sister - knowing that she had to do something. Her girlfriend had a tendency to act before she thought, and while she was right about the fact that involving the royal family would cause immense problems, she also shouldn’t have run off on her own.

Korra, I love you-

“You all stay here,” she said, her voice shaking slightly as she began to stride towards the door herself. “I can help Korra without escalating the situation.”

No one said anything as she left - Asami doubted that they would heed her request for very long. But that would have to be dealt with later. Right now, her priority was her girlfriend.

And Azula-

 


 

Finding Azula, Korra knew, was by far the easy part - her body was quite literally broadcasting a signal that led directly to her location. The difficult part would be figuring out what to do to calm her down.

This is a crazy, crazy situation-

Fortunately, it seemed like the spirit and its host weren’t completely freaking out quite yet. The entity definitely wasn’t in control anymore - or maybe it’s just as upset as Azula is, I hope not - and the Avatar doubted that they were aware of just how precarious the situation was. With any luck, that would help her calm them down.

I need to stop this somehow-

Not sure how I’m going to do that, but there has to be a way.

“Avatar Korra?”
“Out of the way, please,” she shouted at a guard as she passed them heading in the opposite direction - the young woman nearly dropped her red-and-gold fans at being told to move by the Avatar, running even faster. “You really, really don’t want to get involved-”

There!

The girl - Princess Azula, I still sort of can’t believe it - was standing against a tapestry down the hall as she turned the corner. Even in her borrowed Fire Nation uniform, with her double glaive in her hand, the princess looked out of place. Korra couldn’t help but wonder how she’d managed to slip away unnoticed at all - but apparently she hadn’t resorted to violence to escape.

“Azula!”

From how tense the girl looked when she whirled to face her, a mere whisper would probably have drawn her attention - Korra could feel her heartbeat shivering through the palace’s stone tiles. Her royal golden eyes were wide with shock, the glaive held protectively in front of her, but she made no move to attack or flee. 

This was not the Azula that had conquered Ba Sing Se and struck down her past incarnation, or who had been tried as a war criminal, aided and abetted by the White Lotus. Or maybe it was - how old was she? Fourteen?

I should have recognized...

My past lives would have… but I don’t know what they would have done-

“I - I don’t know-”

It seemed like she was visibly struggling with that name - was the spirit suppressing it somehow, trying to keep her calm? That was the only thing Korra could think of, somehow the least disturbing possibility to her.

This is fucked up…

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” she offered, stepping just a little bit closer, hands at her sides as non-threateningly as she could manage - for what little that meant. “I’m really just trying to fix this… whatever is happening. And that goes for you, Azula, and the spirit. I’m… I’m worried about both of you.”

More silence followed, as they shivered in place down the hallway, brandishing the glaive in fearful defense. The Avatar had no clue how to move forward - she wasn’t attacking or trying to run, simply guarding herself, but that could change at a moment’s notice. There was still so much about this situation that she didn’t know.

And there wouldn’t exactly be time to check the archives, either. Whatever she was going to do, she needed to do it now.

“I don’t care about what happened a hundred years ago, Azula.” Korra tried another reassuring statement - perhaps appealing to the girl and not the inscrutable spirit was the right plan. “I know how you feel… maybe. But you don’t deserve this.”

No one did-

You hypocrite-

“I’m not Aang, I’m-”

Azula shuddered at the mention of that name, and Korra immediately realized that she had made a serious mistake. “No-”

Shit-

The princess turned - and vanished, or at least became nigh-on impossible to see, a mere shimmer in the air that the eye could not focus on. Her wild heartbeat and footsteps were still plainly evident through the floor as she fled, the spiritual power still crackling in Korra’s mental vision, but she was effectively invisible.

Well, that explains… a lot.

Also, it’s terrifying - I’ve heard of that in spirit tales, but-

There was no time to think about that, Korra admonished herself - she needed to follow Azula and figure out some way of getting through to her. An accelerating sweep of air propelled her down the hallway, allowing her to close the distance quickly, one hand out in front of her in case the unseen princess decided to fire a bolt of lightning out of seemingly nowhere, but her footsteps showed no sign of hesitation. 

She was, of course, much slower than the airbending Avatar, and they were coming up on a platinum door - solid, and non-magnetic. Hopefully when she turned-

Wait, what the-

That was a brilliant blue beam of light - a hair-thin, continuous stream, extended from two fingers like an upscaled nightmare version of a Future Industries plasma cutter - slicing the lock off with a terrifying ease. Spirit-Azula jerkily pulled the door open and sprinted off, Korra following her with considerably more care.

I… don’t think that can be redirected…

Another hallway turn - this time the princess whirled and shot off an almost instant bolt of lightning. Korra was expecting this, of course, and redirected it into a tapestry that she was pretty sure had been made during the reign of Fire Lord Ozai. Considering the situation, that was probably poetic justice.

“Thanks for not trying to kill me!”

Of course, the possessed princess did not respond - she was still busy fleeing. That was fine.

Well… none of this is fine… but we’ll figure it out…

Spirits, she really needed time to sit down and think. Not that the ensuing depression and rage at this entirely unjust situation would help, but… this was pretty ridiculous.

“Hey, wait up!”

They flew past a couple more shocked guards, then had another quick lightning catch test - Korra tried to pull up some of the tiles to catch Azula’s feet as she was recovering from casting the bolt, but she was light on her toes and dodged. It stood to reason that she would have experience.

She’s definitely not in good shape, though…

Or willing to kill me, which is nice.

As the fleeing princess sped up a flight of stairs, nearly stumbling multiple times, Korra tried to remember where in the palace they were. She hadn’t been there in a while, unfortunately, and… well, she hadn’t remembered it in the first place. Then again, it wasn’t-

And… there goes another lock.

Yue and La, I’m glad she’s not firing those beams at me...

Korra resisted the urge to make a snarky comment about the princess not being a firebender - that would have been incredibly stupid, even if it would also have been funny. “Would you, uhh… mind showing me how to do that sometime?”

No reaction - though Azula did leap out of a window, which was different, and very concerning. Korra followed her, hoping that her quarry hadn’t broken her legs from the fall - it seemed she had slid down the shingled roof, knocking a few tiles loose, then landed somewhere on the floor. And thanks to the invisibility-bending, the Avatar hadn’t been able to see her through any of that, and for some reason she couldn’t extend her earthsense between the floors of the structure.

Stupid architecture-

“Azula!”

Korra’s feet landed on a metal grate, and instantly her seismic detection lit up again - and something else, water running through a channel under her. She turned, slowly and carefully, to see the possessed princess standing in the shadows under the awning-

Wait, I can see her?

Sure enough, she could - Azula was wavering on her feet, still incredibly frightened, but it was obvious that she was tired, barely able to stand up. No matter the power of the spirit within her, there was only so much it could do when its host was as emaciated and worn as it was.

“Please-”

“Azula, you don’t have to run…” Now Korra was just rambling, trying to get through to the princess, but she knew there was no way any of that would work. “I’m not trying to hurt you!”

I’m… not that convincing, am I?

It might be time to try spiritbending again…

Fortunately, there was water at hand, and the Avatar knew how to wield her native element. Azula spun, a lightning bolt trailing off her right hand, but she was much too slow - Korra evaded the strike and moved to wrap a spiritbending helix around her at the same time, a motion she’d practiced quite a bit-

Come on-

She breathed deeply, projecting calm throughout herself - and from herself to the twin arcs of water coiled around Azula. It took a peaceful acceptance to achieve the mental state necessary to bring unstable spirits into balance, to extend her own quietude outward, but Korra had quite a bit of practice. And she knew how to push the stress and tragedy of the situation aside, even if only for a few moments.

Come on, please-

And, of course, it had no effect. The peaceful glow stopped before even touching Azula - worn and panicked though the girl was, the entity within her was still strong, strong and self-contained in a way that resisted any attempt to change. And unfortunately, that aura of immovable existence was also protecting Azula - even from something that was meant to help her.

You’re pretty well balanced, I guess… I kind of figured from last time.

But she isn’t…

“You… can’t do this…” The princess’s voice was different, more solid, and Korra assumed that the spirit was in charge - but what they were saying was still broken, lost in translation somewhere. “No.”

“I can’t understand you when you try to speak,” she replied, still holding the arcs of water up around them. “We need-”

“You could not understand me.”

That was the unknown entity, for certain - and its voice was so unequivocal that Korra couldn’t argue. “I know, but at the very least I need to help her - and I want to know what you want, too.”

I need to communicate...

The idea of energybending flickered in her mind, but she buried that thought in a moment - to try and replicate the same technique Aang had used to rip the princess’s fire from her would be a disastrous idea. But that did not change the fact that something had to be done, and quickly. 

She’s not going to survive this kind of exertion…

And who knows what will happen once the royal family gets involved...

“Please.” Korra stepped closer, just a bit, and Azula pointed the glaive at her with trembling hands. “Calm down. Let me… let me at least try to heal you a little bit…”

They watched each other, lost princess and Avatar, across the metal grate in the floor. There was an odd familiarity about the situation, something she had been told years ago, but she pushed it away. She had to heal Azula - now.

“Ok?”

Finally, the spirit spoke again, in its strange tone. “Yes. I am - not capable.”

Okay, okay-

Korra began to pull the streams of water around Azula - the princess shivered, then stepped forward, one foot landing on the grate as-

The grate-

Something flashed through Korra’s mind, in much sharper relief - Master Katara, a tale of a burning red sky and wild blue fire - and she reeled back, but then one of the waterbent coils touched Azula’s arm, and she screeched-

No-

I didn’t-

The Avatar rushed toward her - she had made a mistake, a terrible mistake, and she needed to fix it. She didn’t see the sparking rear end of the glaive swing around until the electricity was almost on top of her. Korra tried to redirect it, but she simply wasn’t fast enough to catch the leaping arc-

Pain ripped through her from the hip down, her legs collapsing out from under her, and as she hit the stone tiles she saw Azula crumple next to her, her eyes fluttering closed. 

What did I-

Then the spastic agony overwhelmed her, and her vision went black.

Notes:

Well... this escalated into dark and dangerous territory rather quickly, didn't it? There's a lot more left to work through for multiple parties here, especially now that the action's started.

I hope that Azula's stunning reappearance was well foreshadowed - I tried to leave a few hints, some more obvious than others. The idea was that, like Korra and Asami are both thinking, it should be really obvious in retrospect. And there will be clarification about what our lost princess has been through... even though you should already get the idea. I did say this fic would be dark, after all.

Speaking of Korra and Asami... they're in unfamiliar territory now. I've put a little information about their reaction and their opinion on what happened to Azula, but I'd love to hear your speculations and ideas of where things are going to go from here for them!

Of course... that means you have to... comment...

Chapter 11

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The trail that Korra and Azula had left was pretty easy to follow - with the forcibly unlocked doors and damaged floor tiles, there was little doubt about where they had gone. The question, of course, was what she would find when she reached the end of it.

There were a lot of possibilities… and really, she didn’t like any of them. Asami knew that her girlfriend was the Avatar, but-

I don’t want to lose her-

“Is that… Asami Sato?” One of the palace guards was looking at her in surprise - apparently she had been following the path of chaos as well. “First Avatar Korra, now… do you, uhh, need help?”

“No thank you - but I do need you and everyone else to keep your distance as much as you can.”

This is a… touchy situation to say the least.

“That’s what she said…”

Unfortunately, Asami really didn’t have time to explain to the young woman what was going on, so she simply kept running - there was a flight of stairs, but the engineer was in shape enough that they didn’t slow her down. Not that the adrenaline surging through her would have let her, anyway, but being physically fit was the difference between desperation and control. 

I’m going to have to figure out what’s going on quickly-

Hopefully nothing too bad has happened.

As she reached the next floor and turned to the sawn-through platinum lock - that actually looks like a plasma cutter, what happened here? - she sighed, and stopped for a moment. Just down the hallway, there was a shattered window - a window that had obviously been leapt through.

“Really?” Asami said to herself. “I mean…”

There was no time to pause and contemplate why her girlfriend had followed Azula out of a window. The Sato heiress quickly vaulted through the gap, careful to avoid any of the broken glass on the windowsill or the floor, and promptly nearly tripped on a loose roof tile. After that, Asami was more careful - she stepped slowly down the torn-up slope, then dropped carefully off of it, making use of her martial arts training to land without snapping the bones in her legs like overloaded support beams-

And she saw Korra, prone on the wet ground. Her breath shook - the missing princess was on the floor a couple of meters away on the other side of a steel grate, equally unconscious-

“Korra!”

Her girlfriend twitched and gasped, and Asami saw as she drew closer that her clothes had been charred slightly over her hip - the distinct burn markings of an electrical wound. Lightning, if she had to guess, and she knew how dangerous those injuries could be.

Fortunately, she also had the job experience to know how to treat them.

“Okay, okay…” She wasn’t really talking to Korra, the engineer knew, more to herself, but it comforted her to work through her thoughts verbally. “You’re still breathing, that’s really good… just… shock?”

I don’t think she’s in any danger…

On closer examination, it didn’t seem like Korra was in any real danger - her pulse and breathing seemed completely normal, at least to the engineer, and while the lightning had undoubtedly left some unpleasant marks, the shock had actually been quite mild. Uncomfortable, that was for certain, but not actually serious - intentionally weak, if she had to guess, a stunning strike rather than one meant to wound or kill - which was reassuring. 

So… Azula probably wasn’t trying to hurt her.

Which she certainly could have, based on the strength of her lightning strikes from before-

The other girl was stirring too, now - Asami wasn’t sure what she was trying to do, or even why she was unconscious along with Korra, but she turned a careful eye to her nonetheless. She was worn and wounded, that was true, but she was still dangerous. And she had hurt Korra - and that caused rage to flash in Asami’s mind, regardless of the reason or justification.

“Uhh…”

It wasn’t speech, really - Azula was still facing into the ground, so her voice came out as more of a mumble - but it was a sign that she was awake, and the engineer stood up straighter. If she had to fight the possessed princess, then she would, distasteful though the idea was.

I don’t want to fight an abused fourteen-year-old…

But she’s also very dangerous… even if not intentionally.

A head turned, and a pair of golden eyes fluttered open. On seeing her, the spirit-host immediately tried to move, Asami shifting into a defensive position, but it didn’t seem that Azula could stand properly, and after a moment she simply leaned back to the ground with a weak sigh, breathing fast and ragged. 

Okay...

“So, you’re worn out.”

If the lost princess cared about her statement, she didn’t seem to show it - or, perhaps more likely, she couldn’t summon the energy to reply. It was painfully obvious that, terrifying as her abilities had been earlier that day, the girl was not only frightened out of her wits herself, but also emaciated and physically exhausted, driven to the limit of her strength. 

Maybe I should go get Naga… she’s surprisingly good at calming people down.

Asami shook her head, slowly sitting back down and resting a reassuring arm across her girlfriend’s back. There was far too much for her to think about on her own while standing up, while she was this worried.

Despite the apparently mild nature of Korra’s wound, it would probably still be prudent to go find a healer - but that would leave the possessed Azula on her own, in an environment that wasn’t safe for her, or for anyone who might frighten her. So the most logical option would be to stay where she was, and wait… but that could cause issues, too...

I mean… Lord Zuko’s not going to stay put forever…

“My girlfriend is kind of an idiot sometimes, I know,” Asami mused aloud, glancing at the barely-awake princess. “She probably scared you to death with spiritbending, or something. Not that I’m not mad at you for hurting her… but it could have been worse. So… thanks, I guess.”

There was no response - Azula was too busy slowly, haltingly crawling towards one of the pillars. It didn’t seem like she was injured, but she was breathing hard, as if it was an immense struggle for her to move, and that didn’t seem like a good sign.

She looks like a wreck.

“If I help you, will you promise not to hurt me?” It was a dangerous request, Asami knew - there was no way she could predict what the spirit-princess would try to do - but she looked so pitiable that she couldn’t help but try. “Believe it or not, I’m not out to get you, and neither is Korra.”

“I…”

Azula extended one trembling hand, the meaning of the gesture obvious. That was enough for her - the engineer slowly got up and walked over, then reached down toward her shoulders. “Can I pick you up? And lean you against the pillar?”

A slight nod was the only confirmation she got - the princess was inhaling and exhaling much more raggedly now, from panic or weariness or both. Asami huffed, wrapping both arms around her torso and lifting her, the ridges of unpadded bone far too evident through Azula’s thin clothing as she laid the princess against the column. Immediately, she relaxed, settling against the stone and looking up.

Okay… 

So that worked out-

The engineer heard a much more familiar groan and the sound of someone shifting behind her. Immediately, she turned around, leaving Azula to arrange herself against the pillar for the moment. “Korra!”

“Uhh… hey, ‘Sami…” It certainly seemed like Korra was fine, if a little out of it - which wasn’t surprising considering the electrical shock. “Azula hit me with lightning, didn’t she?”

“Yes, love, she did,” Asami replied, stepping across the grate, her heart still feeling a little bit overtuned. “I think you’ll be fine, though.”

Her girlfriend laughed, her voice already gaining some of its normal strength back. “Yeah… I still think she got the worst end of this deal. And I did scare the shit out of her on accident.”

Huh…

Well… that’s why all of this chaos has happened in the first place.

Making a mental note to try and explain to the princess at some point that lashing out the instant something scared her was a bad idea, Asami sighed, taking the Avatar’s hand in her own. “What happened?”

“That grate was the one… the one she got chained to, you know?”

Ah.

Korra flexed her arms experimentally, not even wincing. “Honestly, this feels like, not much worse than those shock gloves.”

“Glad to hear that-”

Someone else dropped from the roof edge above them - she hadn’t even heard their footsteps on the tiles. The engineer jumped back in surprise, reaching to her belt for a moment before she noticed who it was. 

“Iroh?”

Sorry - I’m so nervous right now, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.

“Yes, and Niko’s behind me,” the Crown Prince said, just as his sister landed next to him, somehow even more quietly. “I’m really sorry - I know both of you asked us not to get involved - but I have to tell you that we’re not the only ones who didn’t listen.”

Oh no-

“Grandfather left to send a radio message to the local branch of the White Lotus.”

 


 

“Really?”

That was exactly what Korra had feared - she could understand Lord Zuko’s fear and confusion and pain, even sympathize with it, but that had nothing to do with the fact that he was getting them involved. Really-

Really he has no right-

“Really?” Everyone was looking at her now. “Really? The La-damned White Lotus?”

“Korra-”

“I don’t want to fucking hear it!” the Avatar yelled, launching herself to her feet - she immediately stumbled, her legs still quite shaky, but the stunning electrical attack had mostly worn off and she quickly reclaimed stability. “I don’t see how anyone could think that this-”

“Korra, you’re scaring her.”

It took Asami’s hand on her shoulder to pull her out of the rising flood of anger within her. She was furious - angry that the former Fire Lord’s first thought for his brutally wounded sister was to try and take her back into custody, angry that it had happened in the first place - but as she turned and saw Azula looking at her with wide and frightened eyes, the Water Tribe girl stopped. 

I am-

She’s scared to death of me - of the Avatar.

Suppressing her rage, Korra breathed deeply before speaking again. “If the White Lotus are coming, then we need to leave. Now.”

“Okay.”

Iroh’s comment - determined and pragmatic, but not quite as much as it had been in the meeting room - drew everyone’s attention, and he hastened to continue. “Mother and Granddad… I don’t think they’re making the right decision. And it’s not that they’re even trying to be cruel, they just… they’re just scared.”

Huh...

“I don’t really care about the reasoning, honestly.” Some of the edges in her voice had been blunted by the Crown Prince’s atypical hesitance - he was obviously quite conflicted, Korra could tell. That made sense, given that he was going against his family. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no way I’m letting the White Lotus have anything to do with Azula.”

Not after what they did the first time.

And what they did with me.

“So, Korra and I both think we should leave,” Asami said smoothly, pacing a bit. “And Crown Prince Iroh agrees-”

“Please, just Iroh, we don’t have time-”

Okay-

“Azula?” The Avatar turned to the Azula, still leaning against the pillar - she really was in terrible shape. “We’re going to-”

Wait… she’s definitely not awake.

“Uhh…”

Next to her, Asami leaned forward carefully and brushed the spirit-host’s hair away from her face. She did not move, simply breathing slowly and deeply - and from what Korra could tell with her seismic sense, she wasn’t really reacting to anything around her at all.

“I think she’s… asleep?” her girlfriend said questioningly. “Or maybe unconscious. Either way, we don’t have time for her to wake up if we want to get out of here before other members of the White Lotus show up, or before Lord Zuko decides to get involved.”

Okay…

Yeah, that would be difficult to get out of.

“Do we have, like, an airship or something we could use?”

“There’s a concealed one, meant for use by the Royal Family in emergencies.” For some reason, Niko was holding the dual glaive, looking at it with interest. “We could use that.”

Huh…

“Okay, cool,” Korra agreed with a quick nod. “Hold onto that thing - I think it’s kinda important - and we’ll get out of here that way.”

Not waiting for anyone else to speak, she turned to the still-unconscious Azula, considering how to bring her with them. She could lift her physically, but it would be easier with bending - water was obviously out, given her paranoia, but there were other options.

...this should work.

A quick stance shift and motion of her arms ripped the steel of the grate loose to hover in front of her. It was a bit harder to bend it fluidly enough to form a new lattice directly under the princess’s prone form, but Korra had spent plenty of time training with Suyin and Lin, and even Toph, and the advanced metalbending skill was something she could perform without too much trouble. In less than a minute, she had created a stretcher for Azula, or at least something that could serve as one.

The Avatar did not wrap any of the metal around her. That, she felt, would just be cruel - not to mention that it would undoubtedly cause a lot of trouble very quickly if she woke up.

I’m not forgetting about that magnetic thing you did earlier…

And I still kind of want to learn it, too.

“Let’s go.”

Without hesitating, Iroh turned and began to stride off. She quickly followed him, levitating the princess as she went, Asami and Niko falling in slightly behind her without any objection. It was tough to keep up - the United Forces general walked fast, opening locked doors with an impressive swiftness that had to have been practiced. The Water Tribe girl had no real idea where they were in the palace after just a few turns, and she certainly didn’t know where they were going. 

“We’re lucky there aren’t any guards around,” Asami muttered behind her as they descended a little bit - her seismic sense told her that they were within the volcanic basalt halls of the lower palace now. “Considering we’re carrying an unconscious body on a stretcher?”

Yeah… that’d be a hard one to explain.

It didn’t seem like Princess Niko was too concerned. “We have the Crown Prince and the Avatar with us, they would let us through. Though I’m sure they would report it to Mother very quickly.”

“Not that we’re going to have to worry about that, I guess, since they’re probably already looking for us.”

Neither Korra nor anyone else spoke after that - the passageways they were traveling through were little-used, but they were still quiet and swift. Once, Azula stirred on the steel stretcher, frightening them, but it was only for a moment before she fell back asleep again. It was only a few more minutes until they reached a particularly well-reinforced platinum door, with a lock that took Iroh a bit longer to open.

“Here,” he said sharply, his voice not betraying any concern. “Get in, quickly - they’ll guess what we’re planning pretty quickly.”

The hidden courtyard they entered was stark and empty, except for the airship it contained - a smaller, lighter model, painted in typical Fire Nation colors but without the conspicuous crest. It was, quite obviously, designed to be used for a quick escape - and that was precisely what they needed.

“Okay, it’s that model.” Her girlfriend immediately quickened her pace, entering just after Iroh did, and Korra stepped aside to allow the detective-princess through as well. “This one only has the cabin and smaller maintenance areas-”

Smaller-

“Oh shit, Naga!”

That’s not good…

“Where is she?” Niko asked, confused. “I haven’t seen her-”

“She was at the back of the convoy, traveling separately,” Korra said, panicking slightly - she didn’t want to leave her spiritual companion and friend behind. “And then I think she was… still in that room with the Satomobiles? I don’t-”

“The garage is right down another hallway, for security purposes - so we should be able to get her if we’re quick.”

Thank Yue and La for that-

Seriously, how convoluted is this lower palace?

“Okay, Princess Niko and I will get the engine started and you and Iroh go for Naga,” Asami reasoned. “It might be-”

For her part, no one needed to tell the Avatar any more - she had already rested the makeshift stretcher and Azula on the ground, and was rushing over to the other door. The Crown Prince barely managed to open the lock before Korra had blasted the gateway open with a rush of air, and sped into the hall. 

“Korra, there’s another-”

I have-

A small piece of metal she’d kept in her hand quickly coalesced into a rod even as she sprinted down the short hall to the garage entrance - as soon as Korra reached the door, she bent the rod into a makeshift key. “Naga! We need to-”

Without hesitating, the giant polar bear dog picked her up and carried her, by the teeth, down the hall-

Good girl-

“Korra!”

Wait, where did Zuko-

The very excited Naga, however, didn’t care much for the former Fire Lord who had come out of some secret passageway that she hadn’t been paying attention to - as she passed, Korra heard him yelp in undignified shock, and then grunt as a large fluffy tail whipped him in the side. “Sorry, I-”

“I didn’t know Toph taught you to pick locks-”

As soon as she and Naga were through the door, the Avatar shut it behind her with more airbending, then launched the improvised lockpick into the tumbler to jam it. Iroh looked at her, concern evident on his face - though, surprisingly, he seemed to approve slightly as well.

“That definitely won’t hold, he’ll just melt it out or go around.”

“Okay, people!” She was still being held by the parka - Korra wasn’t sure if her animal companion was planning to let go of her. “We need to get out of here, now!”

Okay, I need to get Azula into the cabin…

“Naga, put me down for just a moment, okay girl?”

The polar bear dog grumbled through her teeth, but listened, and as soon as Korra landed on her feet she turned to the makeshift stretcher and its still-unconscious occupant. Lifting it again and getting it into the airship was the easy part - it took some fiddling to get Azula into a chair and remove the metal, but she managed it, even with Naga now taking up half the floor space in the cabin.

“Korra, love, we need to go,” Asami yelled - she’s yelling, okay, it is serious - from the control panel. “Like, now-”

Without hesitating, the Avatar leapt into the cabin, the door screeching shut behind her as her girlfriend pushed several buttons at once, causing the airship to lurch and immediately rise very, very quickly-

Okay, I guess I won’t need to help-

“Wait, these can take off that quickly?”
“Future Industries model,” Asami replied as they continued to rise - there were shouts from below now, but everyone seemed to be pointedly ignoring them, and spirit-Azula was still sound asleep in her chair. “It’s a custom one with rapid ascent capabilities - by which I mean highly explosive gas thrusters, so… uhh, let’s not have any more incidents.”

The Crown Prince sighed, leaning against the window - he did not look down, at the courtyard where his mother and grandfather were probably calling up to him, to all of them. “I really hope this works out well.”

Notes:

So, things went sideways immediately. At least Korra was fine, and Naga didn't get left in Caldera City, and we know where we're going... right? Right?

(No, because the law of always forgetting your phone/jazz scores/destination when you leave the house in a hurry still holds.)

Also part of me just finds it hilarious that I wrote all this chaos and suspiciously criminal behavior from Korra, and Azula is still sleeping through it. Of course, she is eventually going to wake up in an airship cabin with two people who are supposedly her grand-nephew and niece, the Avatar, a nice girl, and a large licky dog. So that's going to be... a fun time!

As always, I do love comments!

Chapter 12

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Asami,” Princess Niko said, barely looking up from her book - I didn’t even see her carrying that, it’s enormous - and speaking bluntly. “Where exactly are we going?”

Uhm…

“Korra, did you ever figure that out?”

Her girlfriend looked over from her seat next to Azula - and there was also a large polar bear dog squashing her into the cabin wall in vindictive lovingness, which was probably making it hard to think. “Uhh… the Republic City spirit portal? I was thinking that getting into the Spirit World to communicate was a good idea, so we could work out this whole mess with the unknown entity-”

Fortunately I don’t actually think it cares about being called that to its face-

I guess it’s just not very socially concerned?

“-and then they could, like, explain what happened with Azula?”

“That’s… more thought out than I expected.” Apparently when Iroh wasn’t in a formal setting he was even more wry, which Asami found quite funny. “Can we get in there quickly, though?”

Definitely-

“Well, there’ll probably be a bunch of White Lotus people at the portal as soon as they figure out that’s where we’re going, but we can just act like we’re landing and then bail on them,” the Avatar said brightly. “With parachutes, or airbending.”

“This airship does have a pretty nice set of those…”

There were some uncertainties in this plan, Asami could tell that much, but she was willing to suspend her disbelief. “So we’re just going to parachute off the airship and into the spirit portal?”

It’s not the most absurd thing we’ve done...

“Not all of us need to actually go with you, though, right Korra?” Princess Niko asked quickly, obviously thinking that the answer was yes - though to be fair, she was probably right. “We can fly the airship somewhere else and land it, and then act from there while the three of you are in the spirit world-”

She assumes I’m going with Korra… that’s really sweet, actually.

Also, I obviously am going with her.

“They won’t think that Azula is still on the airship, though-”

The writer-princess averted her eyes, looking out one window, but kept talking. “That’s not the point - we can go find some way of getting you out of there safely, since that area will be crowded with law enforcement and White Lotus people like it’s some sort of crime scene.”

“What they did to Azula was a crime scene,” Iroh muttered dryly. “But obviously it’s the White Lotus, they aren’t going to realize that.”

That caused her girlfriend to grin broadly in agreement, at least until Naga licked her in the face. Asami doubted anyone would dispute the Crown Prince’s statement - the organization seemed almost worse than pointless these days, and considering their role in Azula’s sentencing… 

It’s a pretty justified opinion.

“Yeah, they might actually be stupid enough to allocate everyone to pursuing the three of us instead of splitting up.” the engineer hummed idly, looking at the navigation panel - the autopilot, of course, was working perfectly - and then at spirit-Azula, who was still very much asleep. “Which would help, because then you two could go find transportation for us, or cause a distraction.”

Her girlfriend turned her head to wipe her face against the seat, blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “Adults are so stupid sometimes.”

“Technically all of us are adults, Korra.”

“It’s more that old people tend to be set in their ways, I think,” Asami reasoned aloud from her seat. “And they make bad decisions because of that, where they aren’t flexible enough-”

I don’t ever want to be like that, though.

Not after what happened to Dad-

“-but it’s really hard to understand how anyone could want to exact revenge on Azula like this.”

“Obviously for political reasons.” Iroh, of course, was the one to put the obvious explanation into words - all of them knew it, even if they had been letting it remain in the background. “She was the most convenient person to blame, and everyone was too focused on solidifying world peace to really think about all the moral issues. And then… well, she ran away and was assumed dead, but she’s obviously not.”

“Yeah… obviously not dead.”

The young man cast his eyes downward, embarrassed for some reason Asami couldn’t quite understand. “And the thing is… I mean, Iroh - Zuko’s uncle, that Iroh - was one of the main advocates for taking her bending-”

Oh-

After a few moments of silence, Crown Prince Iroh continued again, watching the spirit-princess warily. “I mean, he was kind of an idolized figure postwar in a lot of circles because of his role in mentoring Grandfather and his status as a Grand Lotus, but if you look at what he actually did, he doesn’t even seem like someone who really ever redeemed himself. And his influence caused a lot of damage in some cases, even if you don’t consider… well, what we’re having to deal with right now.”

It’s… well, it’s really obvious.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Now Korra looked sober, too - a familiar expression by now, but a more concerning one. “I met him, you know? And I never mentioned Azula - I never mentioned a lot of stuff - but he seemed so nice, and he was really helpful, and knowing what I know about him it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.”

The four of them looked at each other, obviously mulling over that statement. It was impossible to really disagree with Iroh’s little monologue - Asami knew that the Grand Lotus of the Hundred Year War was a controversial figure nowadays, in these more modern times - and with the very lost and mistreated princess sitting in front of them, there was no avoiding the point. There had always been a good reason that she and Korra had avoided that little tea shop during their vacation in the Spirit World.

He thought what he was doing was right, I know…

But that doesn’t make this situation any less horrific.

“I don’t even really see how the White Lotus could object,” Niko said briskly, bringing them back to the present. “They can complain, but since this is a spiritual issue and you’re the Avatar, there isn’t much they can do to stop you from bringing her with you.”

“Good point, but I’m still not going to let them even try.”

“I hope you realize that she’s going to have to face them, and the rest of the world, at some point.” The Crown Prince didn’t stand up - there wasn’t room - but it was obvious to Asami that a United Forces-style lecture was imminent. “As much as we’d all like to, I don’t know, throw her into some alternate reality where she could be safe or something, you two need to be prepared to defend her.” He paused for a moment, something else gathering in his eyes. “And she’s going to need help, too, and some way to adjust to everything that happened.”

Glancing at her, Korra nodded, her expression stern. “We have at least a little time, I think - actually, where exactly are we?”

I’m not sure at the moment...

Fortunately, with spirit-Azula asleep, the navigational instruments were working very well, and it didn’t take long for the engineer to figure out where they were. Really, Caldera City and Republic City weren’t that far apart, and they had already been in the air for a decent length of time. 

“Not that far,” she replied quickly. “We have a couple of hours at most, and it could easily be less than that.”

“A couple of hours to plan, then.” Standing up quickly, Iroh stretched and leaned against the wall slightly farther away from the polar bear dog. “And excuse me, I’d rather not get hit by Naga’s tail while we’re talking.”

That’s a good plan… though she seems too focused on Korra to bother trying to mess with you.

Unfortunately I can’t really save my girlfriend from her own spiritual companion…

Evading Naga’s tongue for a moment, the Avatar spoke up quickly. “I know I’m going to try to give her back her bending.”

Ah-

“Immediately?”

“I mean, probably.” Korra sighed, or sort of did before the polar bear dog rammed her nose into her chest again. “Oof - I don’t want to leave her wounded like that-”

“She might try to attack you, though,” Iroh countered, his voice a bit more stern. “And this is Azula we’re talking about - I know she’s in horrible shape, but everything I’ve ever heard about her says she was a terrifying combatant. And we still don’t want anyone getting injured here.”

Well… she is, but not in the same way…

“So you’re worried she might lash out.”

“From what I’ve heard, she’s already done so multiple times out of fear.” Shifting again - he seemed uncomfortable - the Crown Prince spoke again, serious and determined. “And that was with a spirit stabilizing her, if I’m interpreting what you told us correctly. You’re the Avatar-”

“She is asleep, right?”

Niko turned, peering at Azula’s unconscious form a bit more closely. “I think she’s unconscious, or at least very deep in sleep.”

That’s… probably a good thing.

“I mean, hopefully we can wake her up when we get into the Spirit World,” Korra huffed quickly. “Or at least the spirit might be able to converse with us there.”

“Aren’t elder spirits supposed to be almost incomprehensible, though?” Marking a page in her book, Princess Niko rejoined the conversation again. “Agni, for example - no one was ever able to accurately communicate with them, and a lot of people tried - and didn’t Fire Lord Izumi mention some kind of unknowable spirit in-”

“You mean Izumi the Defender, not your mom.”

Iroh nodded quickly in confirmation. “The Fire Lord who fought off the invasion from the Northern Water Tribe. That was… it must have been over two thousand years ago, but the stories of her still persist.”

I do remember reading about her… though I don’t know the tales.

They sound interesting-

“Wait, old Izumi had a dual glaive like that one.”

“Really?” That was an interesting revelation - Asami knew the weapon was unconventional, but for it to be recognizably associated with an old Fire Lord? “It was the same design?”

“Yeah, it’s a well-known relic,” Niko said - then her eyes widened, just slightly. “And didn’t the archivist say that it was lost when Zuko took it to the North Pole, around the time of the-”

Are you-

“Wait, it survived that long?”

Scooting away from Naga’s wildly flailing tail, Iroh shrugged. “It was pretty well taken care of, and constantly reforged according to the instructions Lord Izumi left when she made it - and supposedly it could split into dual swords too, or something kind of like them. That’s why Grandfather was carrying it.”

“Actually, there is a seam in the metal.” Now Korra was focusing intently - or as intently as she could with a polar bear dog trying her best to sit on her - moving both hands in a sort of bending form she’d seen plenty of industrial metalbenders use. “It probably could split if you twisted it the right way. And the metal itself feels a little different, too.”

Really?

“Like some kind of alternate alloy?” Asami asked, her voice ringing with interest. “Not just generic steel?”

“It’s steel, I think, but with some unusual properties.”

I’d have to run tests...

“The Fire Nation did have recorded steel artifacts at that time - other than that glaive, of course.” It looked like the detective princess wanted to say something else, but now she was really thinking about the question, and Asami knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t leave them with half an answer. “And historical progress wasn’t linear for a long time in any of the Four Nations. So it could easily be more advanced in construction than one would think.”

Ah, so you are suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.

Korra looked startled, eyeing the glaive at Azula’s side with a new interest. “So this might be Izumi’s - old Izumi’s - ancient weapon? And it was stolen during-”

“During Azula’s trial, and there were some suggestions that she used it to escape.”

“And old Izumi mentioned unknowable spirits, too, which suggests she had some contact with them.” This wasn’t the kind of evidence that made an engineer happy - but it was enough for a detective, and she had been around Mako and Niko long enough to know how their brand of logical speculation worked. “Could there be some kind of… I don’t know, relic bond? There are stories involving that-”

“And she was the first lightningbender in recorded history,” Iroh added suddenly. “Most firebending historians believe that she invented it, or that some kind of spiritual influence gave her the knowledge.”

Spiritual influences and lightningbending - and an old weapon?

“So, if this is what it looks like, then we really are dealing with some kind of ancient entity here.”

Pushing Naga’s head away from her, Korra waved her other arm in loose irritation. “I knew that five years without some kind of mega-spirit getting involved was really suspicious.”

Very funny-

Azula, of course, did not even so much as twitch. She was still sound asleep, trapped in some kind of nightmare that none of them knew how to wake her up from.

 


 

Finally, after almost an hour, Naga had stopped trying to smother her in loving vindictiveness. Not that Korra was angry, but there was only so much of being licked and nudged insistently in the chest that she could handle at the moment - she still felt rather sore and winded, her legs shaky, and she was definitely tired.

And… I’d rather not be distracted right now of all times.

She watched the unconscious Azula carefully, mostly out of nervous habit - even though she was the Avatar, she couldn’t see auras, and without that kind of unique skill it would be hard for her to discern much. Though, on further observation it seemed like the spirit-princess’s heartbeat was slightly faster than normal. Not being a true seismic lie-detector, she was only guessing, but it seemed like that meant she was more aware, perhaps waking-

“Korra!”

Her girlfriend’s not-quite-shout drew her attention immediately, and she saw something phasing through-

Jinora?

“What the fuck-”

There was a familiar blue spirit-image hovering just over the floor, looking at all of them seriously. The Avatar was immediately worried - if Jinora had decided to come look for them, then something must have happened, or she must have some kind of important warning.

“I apologize for my brother’s-”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve heard worse.” The airbender turned to look at Azula, very warily despite her incorporeal form. “Meelo knows worse, already. Is that really-”

“Yeah, it is.”

Shaking her head, Jinora stepped a little closer, the rest of them watching carefully. “Dad told me about it, and I just… I had to come see.”

“We thought you were going to warn us about something,” her girlfriend said worriedly - Korra could sense her unease, and it was definitely shared. “Like the White Lotus getting involved-”

“Dad talked them down.”

Oh-

“I mean, Lord Zuko was involved too,” the master spiritualist continued, noticing their surprise. “But he and Dad basically overruled anyone who suggested trying to apprehend her - and there weren’t many of those people in the first place.” Breathing deeply, Jinora looked at all of them again. “They’re not out to try and hurt her, Korra-”

“I don’t care, if they get involved it’ll be over my dead body.” Almost standing up, the Water Tribe girl - I’m responsible for this, for her - only barely resisted the urge to shout. “They’ve done enough.”

Iroh sighed wearily yet again. “I’ve already told her, they will eventually.”

I know - but I can’t just allow them to-

“If it helps, Korra, I know that most of them feel at least close to the way you and I do about this,” Jinora said carefully. “And Dad and Lord Zuko definitely do - they’re just being careful, and they’re still really surprised.”

And they aren’t even thinking about the spirit - just about Azula?

Leaning back into her chair, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. There was no doubt that the Crown Prince was right - Azula had been sentenced, and she was considered a criminal, and that was something they would have to deal with. But public opinion of her was much different than it had been at the time - apparently even in the White Lotus, if what Jinora said was true - and Korra was the Avatar. She could afford to push some people around to right that wrong, and she was more than willing to do so.

But that left Azula herself - the Azula that wasn’t being manipulated by a spirit - and there was so much she didn’t know-

“She’s in really bad shape, Korra.”

Yeah-

Before she could ask, Asami raised a finger to her lips and shook her head. It was a good idea - the master airbender was looking at Azula much more intently now, as if trying to make a judgment of some kind. After a few moments, she carefully drifted closer to the sleeping princess, and then closer still.

“I wish I could really see auras, like - well, like Auntie Ty Lee,” Jinora mused, much more quietly. “But I know enough to tell that her spirit is really, really damaged.”

I noticed that, yeah, but-

“That’s probably the energybending.”

With a sigh, Jinora nodded, still looking uneasy. “A lot of it is, I’m sure. But from what Auntie Ty told me when I asked what Ozai’s aura looked like after-”

“Wait, you actually asked about that?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t,” the master airbender teased, rolling her spirit-image eyes a little bit before her gaze sobered again. “And I could be wrong, but it didn’t seem this bad. It’s almost like - I don’t know, I think it would look like faded ink smudged out with an eraser-”

“And you say you can’t see auras…”

Faded-

Smudged-

Energybending, the way Aang had misused it, could be described as a sensation of dullness and bleaching - the Avatar knew that from miserable experience, having been separated both from her bending and from Raava. But spiritual warping, that was something different, and-

“I can’t see it, not really.” Tilting her gaze, Jinora hovered a bit higher off the floor, nearly reaching out to touch the spirit-princess’s hand. “Maybe I can learn when I’m older… but that’s what it feels like it would look like. I can still sort of interact with people’s auras when I’m spiritually projecting like this.”

“And hers is really, really messed up,” Iroh confirmed brusquely. “I mean, we could imagine that, right? She’s being possessed-”

Raising one hand and stepping back, the airbender cut him off. “That’s probably a big part of it. The spirit - it’s not like anything I’ve encountered before.”

“Yeah, I know-”

“Do you really know how powerful this thing is, though?” Jinora turned to look at her, and Korra could see that she was worried - actually worried. “Because the aura it has is almost overwhelming - I have to focus to avoid sensing it and try to feel what’s going on with Azula. It’s like what happened with UnaVaatu.”

“Well, at least she’s not trying to kill us and spread chaos.”

With a nod to her girlfriend - that’s definitely a good thing, AzulaVaatu would have been terrible - Korra sat up in her chair. “Well, we’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“I know,” Tenzin’s daughter said seriously. “Just… please, Korra, be careful, and be as merciful as you can.”

As Jinora’s projection-form began to drift back down through the floor, the Avatar nodded sharply. “Mercy was the only option.”

...really, it always should have been.

Notes:

I apologize for how long it took to get this out - and in advance, because I have a lot going on right now to manage two WIPs with. So it might be a while.

With that said - this chapter is setting up the Spirit World conversation, all the way down to Jinora showing up and having a "what the fuck did we get into moment" for Korra as soon as she gets close to spirit-Azula. Which Korra will be having herself in a bit.

Also I need a name for the spirit OC at some point. I have not been able to think of any really good ones yet - not that this thing will be using its name much, but it should have one. And I suck with names that aren't music-related.

So, as always... comments? Kudos?

Chapter 13

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Okay, so that’s Yue Bay, right?”
Korra looked out of one of the windows, raising one hand to block the late afternoon sun. It wasn’t quite evening yet, though she could feel the influence of Agni steadily waning. “Yeah, it’s the east end - there’s the edges of the city, see?”

And the spirit portal-

The double helix of light was easily visible as they drew closer, dominating the Republic City skyline. They were all looking out of the window at it, but Korra knew that none of them could feel it the way she did - a rift, a vortex that any spiritually attuned being in the area could sense deep within themselves. It was their gateway into the Spirit World, and therefore to a way of actually getting through to whatever entity was possessing Azula.

That’s assuming we can even understand it…

Elder spirits are really weird, and it would make sense that this thing is one given our… track record of communicating with it.

“So, just to confirm, we’re free-falling down and then stopping with airbending just before entering the portal?” Asami asked, inspecting the distant vertical beam. “What if Azula wakes up-”

“She is waking up.”

The wariness in Iroh’s voice was obvious, and as soon as the Avatar extended her seismic sense again, she could feel it - the spirit-princess’s heartbeat had returned to its stressed, dangerous pace. 

Korra turned, trying to avoid moving too quickly. “Keep on course, ‘Sami.”

We have to be careful-

“Are you - okay, I know that’s stupid.” Their eyes met - blue and frightened amber, and once again the Water Tribe girl was perversely grateful for her past lives’ silence. “You’re not okay-”

“She is… not…”

Okay, it’s the spirit for now, then.

Behind her, the Crown Prince breathed sharply in shock, but Korra knew what was going on. “We’re going to get into the Spirit World so we can communicate - and also separate the two of you.”

“Separation…” The possessed princess hesitated for a moment, trying to sit more upright, but she was unable to really correct her posture. “Problem… true.”

...I don’t know what that means…

Maybe she’s too tired?

“Hopefully it’ll be easier once we’re through the spirit portal,” Korra said, trying to keep her voice soft - there was no way to be sure how close under the surface the much more frightened Azula was. “But we’re going to have to jump out of the airship.”

Still fine-tuning the craft’s direction, Asami turned her head to explain. “We’ll be free-falling for a little bit, and then Korra will stop us. Nothing bad will happen. But it’s important that you stay still and not lash out while we’re descending.”

“Should we be down-talking the supposedly terrifying spirit?”

Uh-

Twitching a bit, Azula breathed deeply and shut her eyes again - and at that exact moment, the radio crackled to life, a familiar harried voice coming in quite strongly. And unfortunately, it seemed like the royal escape airship had an excellent surround sound system-

“Korra!”

“Tenzin, now really isn’t-”

The old master airbender didn’t even seem to hear Asami. “Korra - I completely understand that this was handled incorrectly-”

Before he could finish, a quick jab of the engineer’s finger shut the volume off completely. That was good - the loud voice had already jolted Azula back awake, and it had been lucky that she hadn’t full-on panicked - but the sudden silence would undoubtedly make Tenzin think something was wrong. Suddenly, the situation had become much more tense.

This could-

“Is there a handheld one?” she blurted out. “I need-”

“Yeah, here-”

Taking the smaller device, Korra quickly turned it on - quietly, considering that the princess was still watching her, eyes wide. “Tenzin, I really can’t talk right now.”

“Goodness, Korra, I was worried,” the older man responded - wow, he sounds tired - sighing over the radio. “Why-”

“It was a stereo system, and the loud noise really startled her.” 

“Her - ah, I see.” Tenzin breathed deeply again - there was no doubt that he had been doing quite a bit, as Jinora had said earlier that day. “Korra, I trust you, but for the sake of everyone who cares about you, be careful.”

“I’m doing my best,” the Avatar half-whispered in reply. “But I need the White Lotus and everyone else to stay out of my way, all right?”

Do I-

Yes, we can trust Tenzin.

“We’re going to air-fall into the Republic City spirit portal.”

Of course, that wasn’t particularly clear, so she hastened to explain. “The spirit that’s possessing her is terrible at communicating through words - and we really need to get them to separate - so the best place to do that is in the Spirit World. So that’s where we’re going.”

“Ah,” Tenzin replied - he was probably nodding sagely on the other end of the channel. “I’ll leave you to that, then. But please don’t do anything rash.”

This whole situation is rash-

“Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”

There was no response - Tenzin had simply cut off the call after he finished speaking. After taking another deep breath for clarity’s sake, Korra put the receiver away again. “Asami, can you make sure these are all shut off?”

“Yes, they all are.” Her girlfriend turned away from the control panel for a moment and looked back. “Unless someone flies up and breaks into the airship or something like that, we’re on our own from here.”

With a wry grin, Korra looked out the window - they were still at a distance from Republic City proper, but it was definitely drawing closer. “You know, he said not to do anything rash when he hung up.”

“Of course.”

 


 

“Hey, are those the Air Nation?” Iroh asked, looking out of the starboard window. “I don’t exactly like them getting this close.”

Huh…

Sure enough, when Asami glanced over she saw a small fleet of jumpsuited airbenders looping around the airship. There weren’t many - only eight or nine, though it was hard to count given their swiftness and agility - and they were keeping their distance, but they were there nonetheless. 

Are they guarding us?

“You know, part of me expected the RCPD would send airships to try and stop us.” Her girlfriend was watching the Air Nation patrol unit glide around them, and even Naga seemed mesmerized. “But I guess that Tenzin really did get everyone to stand down.”

“You just want to get payback for your first day in Republic City where they arrested you.”

Korra pouted - it was adorable. “Hey, those triad guys were being assholes.”

“Nonetheless, vigilantism is dangerous,” Niko said coolly. “I understand-”

“Wait, what about President Raiko?”

Oh… 

I mean, I don’t see why he’d have problems with this, but it’s Raiko… he always has issues with everything.

“Isn’t he up for reelection soon?” Now Korra was staring down and out of the opposite window, her face much more sober, and the engineer realized that they were above the largest of the remaining refugee camps created by the Great Uniter’s assault months ago. The Republic City skyline barely showed signs of the damage anymore, but there were still many displaced people left. “He should have other things to worry about - I don’t think his chances are very good. Everyone seems to think that he’s a coward now.”

...now that I think about it…

“What if he tries to compare her to Kuvira?”

Looking out the port side himself, Crown Prince Iroh shrugged. “He might try, but it wouldn’t be politically wise given public opinion on what happened to her. And I didn’t think we were planning to make it big news anyway, were we?”

“That would certainly be preferable,” Asami agreed, though she didn’t exactly feel confident - once something of that magnitude got out, it would be big news anyway. “To keep it quiet for as long as we can… but there is a high probability that Raiko already knows.”

It all depends on whether the White Lotus can actually keep secrets… their record isn’t too good these days.

“As much as I don’t want to think about it, it’s probably going to be an issue.” With a deep breath that might possibly have been a sigh, Korra stepped back from the window and sat down close to the princess. “Do you think Air Temple Island will be safe enough for her afterward? I can’t really think of a better place for her right now.”

“Yes, but wouldn’t being there trigger her?”

All of them paused, looking back at Azula - it seemed as though she was half-awake, not quite listening. The engineer couldn’t help but wonder what kind of spiritual struggle was occurring within her mind.

I mean… saying that, I think almost anything could trigger her...

Princess Niko hummed, considering the thought. “Regardless of whether or not you want to, that’s the safest option here, other than perhaps the RCPD headquarters. And Air Temple Island is a much more unbiased and welcoming environment.”

“I would agree,” her brother said, just as bluntly - not for the first time, Asami was struck by their shared seriousness. “And there will be much less press attention there-”

“And we can get Kya to heal her!” 

Oh!

I forgot she was there-

“That’s actually a really good point.”
“She definitely needs it,” Korra continued, leaning against the polar bear dog next to her. “I tried a while ago, but she has barely any chi to work with - at least chi that doesn’t belong to the spirit, and I don’t think messing with their internal energy is a good idea.”

Iroh nodded quickly, though it still seemed like he was considering something. “So you’re going to have her recover there, that sounds workable. I don’t doubt that Tenzin will be willing to help you keep people away, too. From what I remember of him, Uncle loves his privacy even when it’s not necessary.”

True… and he does seem like he wants to help.

“How are we going to get her there, though?” Asami turned for a moment - their time for discussion was running out, she knew, the spirit portal getting much closer, along with the spires of Republic City’s skyscrapers. “We don’t have any transportation-”

“That can be what we do while you’re in the Spirit World.” 

“Wait, that’s actually a really good idea!” her girlfriend exclaimed, then quieted her voice as spirit-Azula winced. “You and Niko can go get Bolin and Mako, and they can get one of the Satomobiles-”

Standing up, the writer-princess stepped over and gently handed the dual glaive to her shivering great-aunt. “If you use an RCPD vehicle-”

“Yeah, yeah, he has to get permission from a superior to use it.” Korra looked out of the window again, and the engineer’s gaze followed her - there were still a few airbenders orbiting them, watching. “But we’ll have to tell Lin anyway, right? So you can just… uhh… do that, too? It doesn’t really matter.”

I mean…

It’s not a bad idea…

“Fine,” Iroh conceded. “I agree, we need transportation, and getting Lin in the loop is probably a good idea-”

“Assuming that she doesn’t already know.”

Ugh...

Actually, there was a way Asami could tell. “There doesn’t seem to be anything in particular going on around the portal, or the edges of the Spirit Wilds.” 

“So anyone who does know is keeping quiet about it-”

“Wait, we can see that clearly already?” Korra almost leapt to the front, causing the spirit-princess to nearly drop the polearm in her hand as she gripped it tighter. “Shit-”

“Yeah, we’re getting close,” the Sato heiress replied, herself looking out the front window - she didn’t want to take her eyes off Azula for too long, but it didn’t seem like she was actually capable of moving. “We need to get ready to jump.”

And we need to make sure that Azula doesn’t panic-

“Where do you want me to land the airship?”

“Go to my estate, there’s a private landing pad.” She was already grabbing a handheld radio with one hand - if the two Fire Royals were going to land there, Asami needed to make sure her own security staff knew. “Hang on-”

Let me get the channel-

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any restrictions on what the airship’s radio could access, and she knew the wavelength of the correct one from memory. “Excuse me?”

“Miss Sato?”

“I’m sending an airship to the landing area at my estate,” the engineer said quickly - they were getting alarmingly close to the downtown section and the Spirit Wilds now. “It’s a Fire Air Force model, but with no symbol, the serial number is 140074. And the Crown Prince and Princess are on board - consider them welcomed guests.”

The voice on the other end of the line hesitated - it was recognizably one of the younger staff members, and they were always unsure of themselves - but after a few moments Asami almost heard them nod. “Got it, we’ll be looking out.”

“Thank you.”

Okay - at least that worked out fine.

“When you two get there, call Mako and Bolin on one of the phones - ask a staff member for their number if you don’t remember it, or call RCPD and ask them to put you through.” Putting the receiver back down again, she took the helm and began to guide them slightly downward, to around the same height that the police airships normally cruised at. “Then you need to notify Lin - and maybe get one of the Satomobiles from my garage, they’ll recognize our friends.”

Iroh nodded quickly, stepping a little bit toward the pilot’s seat. “We can manage that.”

Good, because we’re really getting close.

We’re just going to have to hope that Azula stays fine with this...

“Are you ready?”
The possessed princess did not exactly respond, but she did nod shakily - and given her terrible physical state, Asami knew that that would have to be enough. “Korra, do you want me to pick her up?”

“Yeah, I need my hands free to bend,” her girlfriend responded, her eyes drawn to the helix of energy that was suffusing the reinforced glass windows with soft golden light. “Can you hold her-”

“I can manage that.”

They were actually getting really, really close now - Asami reached over to turn the airship just a bit more, putting them on a course that would cross near the vertical beam without intersecting it. An RCPD airship was cruising above the city rather near them, but it didn’t interfere, and the Air Nationals that had been following them early had all left.

I guess Tenzin gave a no-interference order…

Thank the spirits, that could have been awful if they came after us.

“So we’re really on our own, huh?” As Korra stepped over towards the left door, the polar bear dog whined and nudged her hip, nearly causing her to stumble. “Naga, you’re going to have to stay with them, okay, girl? You’ll see Mako and Bolin soon, they can keep you company.”

With that, they all began to trade places - the two royals stepped to the control panel, readying themselves to take over piloting the airship, while Asami joined her girlfriend in standing next to Azula. The girl - she’s so young, really, barely older than Jinora - was looking at them with an expression of fear and resignation. 

I know she doesn’t trust us…

And she can’t even fight back right now...

“I’m going to pick you up,” the engineer said quietly, as calm as she could. “And we’re going to jump down into the portal, and we’ll enter the Spirit World. Korra will make sure we don’t hit the ground.”

“I… yes.”

Gesturing offhandedly at her spiritual companion to stay, Korra looked over. “Hey, I’m not trying to hurt you. And if I do, I’m going to fix it - I owe you that much, Azula.”

Okay.

“Hey, Niko, take the glaive - I can’t pick her up while she’s holding it.”

Slowly and carefully, Asami leaned down and wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders. She was terrifyingly light, and bony and emaciated, and the Sato heiress could feel her trembling slightly. Either she was too scared to fight back, or too weak, or both - but she was terrified nonetheless.

Sorry we took it-

“Now give it back-”

“Asami, we need to go.”
Iroh was already opening the side door - the sudden roar of wind caused spirit-Azula to shiver a little more, and as the engineer looked down she realized just how close they were to the portal’s energy beam. “You’re holding my hand, right?”

“Until I have to airbend, yeah, I will be.”

Well then-

“May Agni’s rays guide you,” Niko said bluntly, tucking the weapon into her near-unconscious relative’s hand. “And don’t die on the way down.”

Taking one deep, held breath, Asami stepped forward. Without pausing, she and her girlfriend leapt from the open door, Azula still across her back - the handle of the dual glaive was bumping against her, but fortunately the blades were away from her.

Here we-

I should not be falling with sharp objects-

Almost immediately, they accelerated toward the ground - her girlfriend was swirling one hand and then both in a circular pattern, a cone of pressurized air forming around them as they fell. Asami was struggling to keep the princess on her back as they descended, too.

I may not have thought this out-

Then the airbending shield Korra had been winding up hit the ground, and as they slowed down the bubble of spirit energy engulfed the three of them all at once. Asami felt the typical tingling, warping feeling of the portal as her body adjusted to a state that it was not entirely designed to exist in, and then a near-blinding expanse of multicolored light-

What?

Notes:

A longer chapter to cover the last of the events up to Korra and Asami's entry into the Spirit World. We have at least an idea of what it'll be like for them when they leave now.

Also... somewhere, Jinora is pacing around, very worried. And also does not quite realize that she is literally around the same age as the extremely traumatized Azula who will shortly be arriving at her home. I didn't even notice this before but I'm going to have fun with it now.

Next chapter - we get to meet "Jeff the spirit" and have an impressive amount of lore-dumping.

Oh, and. Comment. Please.

Chapter 14

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

...this has to be the Spirit World, right?

Keeping her eyes tight shut, Korra tried to sort through the incredible surges of energy that engulfed her - I can’t control it, it’s not being influenced by me - without the distraction of vision. This certainly wasn’t the Spirit World she was used to - only when fighting Vaatu directly had she felt anything near this kind of tumult, and it didn’t seem like Raava’s presence within her was having the slightest effect.

“Korra?”

Asami-

“I’m coming!” As soon as she opened her eyes, she was overwhelmed further - the light itself seemed to be suffused with an intense shade of rainbow. “What the-”

Asami was standing up, looking equally confused and terrified - before their eyes even met, she turned behind her, and bent down. “She’s unconscious again, Korra… I’m not surprised.”

“Uhmmm…”

This is actually insane... how powerful is this thing?

“Do you not have, like, a physical form?” Korra called out into the invisible presence. “This is kind of a lot!”

No.

The voice wasn’t even a voice, really - that was simply her mind translating the intent, spiritual communion drawn across incredible scale. Just looking over at Asami showed that she had heard-felt the same thing, and had gotten something along the lines of the same message. 

“Should we just… close our eyes, then?”

Korra looked over at Azula, face-down in the grass, then shuddered. “That’s probably the best idea.”

Quickly, she closed her eyelids - it didn’t work too well, as the shifting light seemed to burn right through despite her efforts, but at least it was an improvement. The Avatar reached out, flexing her other senses, but even this was rendered very difficult by the sheer amount of information she had to try and read through.

At least Asami and Azula are probably having a better time, given that they aren’t as spiritually attuned as I am...

I guess I’m going to have to deal with all this for now.

Fortunately, despite all the chaos, it seemed that the Spirit World was still the Spirit World - the ground under them was still the same not-quite-earth, something she could work with, and the not-quite-breeze was similar too, though charged with static that prickled across her skin. And the elder spirit’s aura was slowly calming down, or perhaps she was adjusting to it.

“You weren’t only in Azula, were you?”

No.

Another overwhelming answer, though this time Avatar Korra had been expecting it. It was like Raava and Vaatu again - the defining beings of human order and chaos were too vast to contain in an ancient tree, or a person, or even in a spiritual form. A being of that class simply could not be easily explained, she knew, and this entity was far above anything she had known existed before.

I mean, it’s literally warping the Spirit World around itself-

“So, it’s like not seeing the storm for the waves?” she clarified, still facing nothing with her eyes closed. “Or one flame in a bonfire? There’s a few ways people say it.”

Only one kind of light-

What?

Before Korra could ask the entity to clarify the mental image, Asami spoke, surprisingly boldly. “Our eyes can only perceive a narrow wavelength of light… or hold it?”

Oh!

“So only a little bit of you was inside her this whole time?”

Yes.

The Avatar sighed, just a little bit. It seemed that this spirit wasn’t nearly as verbally skilled as Raava and Vaatu, instead choosing to communicate in vague and intense imagery. Which was fine, but not as fine as she had been hoping - but still fine, and definitely very cool.

Now I wish I’d asked Jinora to come… she’d have loved this.

“Do you have a name?” Korra asked, still not opening her eyes. “Like, what are you?”

I’m really not making this easier, am I?

Jeff.

“Wait, what?”
That was a proper word, at least - but the name was incredibly strange, like none she had ever heard before. It certainly wasn’t a name Korra would have associated with a spirit, though making assumptions there could be misleading at best and outright dangerous at worst-

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like this one cared, so she backtracked anyway. “Sorry, that’s just… I’ve never heard a name like that before.”

Different places.

Apparently Jeff - I don’t know how that works, but whatever floats their boat - was terrible at giving long explanations, though that was probably her brain just trying to condense the information being shoved at her very quickly. Korra was fine with not having her mind melted, though.

“What do you mean?” Now Asami had a hand in hers, trying to stay close as they both fumbled around blind. “What different place could it be?”

...uhh…

“Is this related to that weird multiverse-theory thing?”

The tumult was definitely calming now, and Asami’s voice was more relaxed and firm too - that or they were both finally adjusting to the altered Spirit World around them. “It might be, but now probably isn’t the time to consider that.”

Yeah...

“What exactly are you?”

That was, of course, an entirely futile question - an elder spirit of the scale and power that they were witnessing would be impossible to describe, or at least not without actually killing them through spiritual injury. Like with Raava and Vaatu, or even with the greater forces of the bending elements, there was no way to concisely explain whatever Jeff was. But she had certainly been interested in the response.

I mean… obviously that’s not even their name.

“I don’t think that’s going to work, Korra,” the engineer said, tapping a finger on her upper arm. “But you can open your eyes now. It’s a bit calmer.”

Sure enough, when the Avatar blinked and looked around, their surroundings seemed rather less overwhelming to her. The sky was still perilous to look at - what kind of color is that? - but as long as she kept her eyes firmly trained on the trees, or the grass, it seemed to fade into the background.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

...it’s still really quiet, though.

There aren’t any spirits around… or anything.

As if in synchrony, both of them turned back to Azula, whom they had left in the soft grass. She hadn’t moved an inch, from what Korra could feel - the princess was prone and breathing very slowly, definitely not aware of what was going on around them. It was much the same state of unconsciousness that she had fallen into after their confrontation in the Fire Nation Royal Palace.

“Is she going to be alright?” It was a question, spoken into the air like all the rest - I really wish they would just create some kind of physical form - with no real direction, but hopefully it was one that the entity could answer more clearly. “We have to take her back with us… but you need to separate-”

I have, here.

“Okay, that’s-”

Without help-

“I don’t even know what the fuck that means!” she yelled into the aether-sky - frustration and fear together. “She’ll die, right? I get it! I tried to heal her, she’s-”

A hand - Asami’s hand - tightened around her shoulder, and she barely realized how immensely the spiritual energy of the entity surrounding them had affected her until she took stock. “Korra, we just need to stay calm.”

Stay calm.

That was Raava - a much more familiar quasi-voice from within her, and even if the voice sounded like her own mind the accompanying feeling of order was unmistakable. She was still the Avatar, still had power of her own even if it could not affect anything outside her own aura.

“Would giving her her bending back keep her from dying?”

The damage must be repaired. That made more sense, though Korra heard her girlfriend hiss in surprise - the mental imagery Jeff was supplying them with was not pleasant. I did what I could, but I am not used to humans.

“You did what you could,” Asami said slowly - she had a particular look on her face. “Like controlling her to keep her from destroying things out of fear.”

There was a momentary pause as the two of them looked at each other, and then back at Azula. Everything seemed strangely oversaturated - the light is so weird, maybe that has something to do with them? It would explain those damn plasma-beam things - and the general atmosphere wasn’t exactly conducive to relaxing or thinking. In fact, it was much the opposite, given that there was a dying, traumatized child on the ground next to them.

We really need-

I may have inflicted permanent damage.

Another sudden interjection - this one equally as disconcerting as the last. “What do you mean?”

“Korra, be careful-”

Her memories.

Even though she’d only really heard a fragment of speech in her own mind, the meaning of the not-statement was clear. Korra had dealt with a few cases of possession before, and amnesia was always a common symptom, whether the spirit intended it or not. And one as powerful as Jeff-

But it seemed-

“She seemed to remember a lot, though,” Asami said, interrupting her thoughts - it seemed that they had both come to the same conclusion. “When I mentioned Zuko and the Fire Nation, she was absolutely terrified-”

“And then she drew on your own spiritual power to fight back.” Looking up at the indescribably hued sky, Korra shrugged, invisible sparks rolling up her arms. “Weren’t you supposed to be the one in control here?”

She was in danger.

“But she only thought-”

Oh… no, that could actually make sense.

Her girlfriend sighed, more deeply. “So you weren’t actually in control.”

No.

Oh-

“Wait, so all of that damage was caused by Azula unintentionally channeling your power?”

“I think that’s what they’re trying to communicate, love.” With a slight roll of her eyes, Asami looked back at the princess behind them. “And it would make sense that a spirit could have that effect… well, it doesn’t, but obviously Jeff here is a lot more powerful than we’re used to.”

Yes.

Korra pulled her eyes away from the wild sky - they had fled there for a moment, drawn into the color by some unseen force. “So you weren’t actually controlling her the way most possessive spirits would, you were just keeping her alive? And your influence kind of… leaked out?”

My influence was altered by-

She winced again - please stop with the mental imagery - and looked at Asami, who looked right back. Neither of them could work through all of the things the entity was trying to communicate, but more than enough was coming across.

They were both going to have strange dreams for quite a while - Korra didn’t doubt that.

“Of course.” Her girlfriend sighed once again, sounding exasperated now. “No offense, but you’re worse than some of my interns, Jeff.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem that the elder spirit was too irritated by their griping. Really, Korra wasn’t even sure why they cared about anything a human was saying in the first place - but for some reason they had saved Azula, in typical inscrutable spirit fashion.

I did what I could.

“How did you even… well, possess her in the first place?” Korra asked - it was getting annoying to look at nothing while speaking, but she doubted the immense spirit would bother trying to coalesce into any comprehensible form. “The spirit portals weren’t even open at that time, and I doubt Azula could have meditated-”

Unnecessary.

That made sense, of course - a glance at Asami showed that she understood just as well. A truly eldritch entity - thanks, Kuruk’s journal - probably wouldn’t care about the divide between the material world and the Spirit World too much. And spirits were pretty fickle, too.

Her girlfriend raised one eyebrow. “So you just… decided to keep her alive?”
She - I remembered. The ensuing imagery - it’s like a Varri-tape, but crazier - was at once less and more overwhelming than anything before. She was-

“A descendant of Fire Lord Izumi - the old one, who invented lightningbending.” Looking back at the unconscious girl on the grass, and the glaive next to her, Asami spoke again. “And Izumi the Defender wrote about you, or at least that’s what I assume. So when Azula asked for help, and she had that glaive-”

No-

I don’t want to see that-

“-you answered.”

Yes.

So, that was definitely what had happened - Korra had been thinking of something along those lines before, but now that her girlfriend had put it into words and Jeff had confirmed it, she felt much more at ease. At least she sort of knew what had happened now, as much as was possible-

They still needed to keep Azula alive, though. That was definitely the more pressing concern.

“Hey, ‘Sami, we should probably leave soon.”

Repair her.

“Yeah, Jeff, thanks,” her girlfriend quipped, leaning down to pick up the glaive. “I’m still not sure what you even are, but thanks.”

“Well, they can shoot beams of light and lightning and stuff-”

“Wouldn’t that be more of something related to Agni?” 

I am not the spirit of firebending.

That was pretty obvious - she would just have her bending back then - but Korra certainly appreciated the confirmation. It was easier for her to maintain her own aura if she wasn’t worrying about the possibilities of what had happened, and considering that they were essentially engulfed in Jeff’s manifestation right now, that calm was pretty important.

...this is actually insane.

“You’re obviously more powerful than Agni - and even more powerful than me.” It was weird to say it, but Korra knew it was true - for something to affect the Spirit World so greatly that the Avatar herself could not regain control of their surroundings, that being would have to be of incredible, overarching strength. “So, I mean, I’m going to assume you’re more than just a lightning spirit, or a light spirit, or whatever you were doing when Azula was channeling your strength. But I still don’t know-”

You cannot.

Ah… well, I guess I was expecting that.

Asami huffed petulantly, just a little bit. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I understand. I guess… I feel it, right?”

“Or you don’t.”

“Okay, love, that was only a little funny.” Now her girlfriend was looking at the still-unresponsive Azula again - they both knew they needed to get her out of the Spirit World as quickly as possible. “But we do need to leave… Jeff. Thank you.”

“Yeah, I really appreciate what you did,” Korra agreed - she wished her voice would cooperate. “I mean, obviously Azula does, but I do too. I’m just glad I got an opportunity to fix a mistake that one of my past lives made.”

Yes.

That word didn’t seem quite right to her - it wasn’t enough, like all the other words her own mind had created to try and summarize what the entity around them was saying - but the approval was clear enough. Tinged with detachment, certainly, but there nonetheless.

“So… thank you, but we should go now.”

The Avatar nodded - it was the second reminder from Asami she’d received. “We’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”

Not that they’re going to worry…

I don’t think the same way they do, they’re kind of just… there?

Leaning down, she lifted Azula - her zapped leg from earlier protesting slightly, but not enough to be bad - and laid her over her shoulder. Korra could feel just how light and weak she was, and that was merely the physical indication of the damage that had been done. There would be no way to know how much of the old princess was left until she awoke - and there was a lot of healing that she would have to go through before that point.

“Do you have the glaive, ‘Sami?”

“Yeah,” her girlfriend said, already turned back toward the swirling spirit portal. “We should go. I think we’ve intruded on their time enough, here.”

I would not call it that.

Of course. Intrusion implied that the elder spirit even cared, that they weren’t already something all-encompassing enough that even the Avatar herself could be contained within their aura. “Come on, let’s go.”

She breathed, free hand finding Asami’s, and then stepped boldly forward.

Okay-

The transition between the Spirit World and the physical world was just as smooth as their entry had been, perhaps even smoother without the spiritual fragment of Jeff that had been residing within Azula accompanying them. As they stepped out of the warm golden bubble of light into the Spirit Wilds, the faint background noise of Republic City surrounding them, Korra felt the princess shift slightly on her back.

Okay, that was weird-

“Avatar Korra?”
Huh?

“The car is waiting, and so is everyone else.” Niko gestured at them to follow her, pointing through the tangled vines toward one of the nearby roads. “We’re ready to go to Air Temple Island.”

Notes:

This chapter is really, really odd, and I don't know exactly how good it is. Writing Korra's reaction to "Jeff" - and the entire "Jeff" thing all on its own - was hard to do, because I don't have much experience writing mystical spirit-related things as of yet. That's part of the reason I'm writing this fic - but that doesn't make me good at it. Hopefully you enjoy it.

Next chapter we will get to see some of what's going on with Azula! And the reactions of people on Air Temple Island to her presence, and of others in the city, but we'll worry less about that for now...

The pseudonym "Jeff" that the elder spirit uses was suggested by Theodur in a comment. I still haven't thought of an actual name for the spirit, but given their nature they might not actually have one. And the idea of them calling themselves Jeff was too funny to me. So thanks again to Theodur for that, and for leaving a lot of really insightful comments in general.

So... be like them and comment! Or at least leave kudos... please?

Chapter 15

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“You know,” Bolin piped up from the back seat, “I didn’t expect you guys to be back in Republic City so quickly.”

Neither did I, but here we are.

“The past few days have definitely been quite a whirlwind, that’s for sure.” At the moment, Asami was focused on driving - but she was pretty experienced with Satomobiles at this point, unsurprisingly, and she could keep talking while at the wheel as long as Pabu didn’t jump on her. “I certainly don’t think any of us expected to find Princess Azula, or to encounter a spirit-”

“I mean, Iroh did warn us about it, but it’s different to see it now.”

“She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?” the aforementioned Crown Prince asked, sounding weary. “I mean, I know-”

Suddenly, Korra spoke, her voice hesitant. “We’re hoping that Kya can help heal the physical damage, and at least some of what’s wrong with her mind. But it’s hard to know, especially after she was being possessed by Jeff for-”

“Jeff?”

“The spirit insisted we call them by that name.” It was nice that night had nearly fallen while they were in the Spirit World - there weren’t as many people out to get in the way, or to try and peek inside the closed Satomobile-van. “It was a very strange experience, and I’m glad we were only there for a little while. I don’t think I could have handled it much longer.”

As it is, I’m not sure I handled it at all…

And I think Korra feels the same.

She still felt off, her senses altered in a way she couldn’t quite pin down. “It was… I’ve met spirits, but not one like that before.”

“Yeah, it was actually terrifying, Bolin,” her girlfriend agreed quickly, though she wasn’t speaking too loudly to avoid waking up the sleeping Azula. “They were way more powerful than Raava and I together-”

“More powerful than the Avatar?”

Another shock-flash ran up her spine - the sensation was like getting zapped by a stray circuit. “Definitely - Korra had absolutely no control over the Spirit World. It was… well, overwhelming.”

How long is this going to last?

“Wow.” 

“I mean, it’s all in a day’s work as the Avatar, right?” There was a sudden, loud huff from Naga, followed by the sound of someone getting licked. “Hey, she’s not awake-”

Oh-

“Naga, please don’t wake up the very terrifying princess-”

“She can’t do anything anymore, though, right?” Mako interrupted, his voice sober as always as he turned back from the front passenger seat to look at Korra. “I mean, it was ‘Jeff’ who was giving her the ability to turn invisible and throw lightning-”

Invisibility, lightning, magnetism - and those beams-

There has to be some kind of connection here.

“-Azula herself doesn’t have any firebending anymore.”

No one responded to that dark comment, the interior of the Satomobile falling into silence except for the road-noise and the faint shifting and chittering of the car’s occupants. There were too many metaphysical issues for Asami’s liking - both with the inexplicable aftereffects of their encounter with Jeff, and the fact that her girlfriend was going to try to restore Azula’s fire with her own energybending. As an engineer, there was a part of her that didn’t like anything to do with fickle spirits - and that part of her was much stronger when some unknown presence was still messing with her senses.

This is just so unpredictable… and I know I should trust Korra, but I really don’t want her to get hurt.

“Iroh told us that you were planning to give her her bending back.” The detective was still looking into the back row - his expression wasn’t visible in Asami’s peripheral vision. “Is that actually what you’re going to do?”

“I don’t think Azula can heal without it,” her girlfriend replied firmly. “I mean, mentally she can’t deal with being wounded like that, but physically too. Her own chi is incredibly weak right now.”

With a sigh, Mako nodded, turning to look out his side window. “And after Amon… well, I don’t think you’re going to face much opposition, not in Republic City at least.”

“If anyone wants to argue with me, they can all they want.” 

Yeah… she’s still really outraged. That’s understandable.

“I get it, yeah.” Iroh yawned a bit. “You’re still going to have to be at least a little diplomatic, though. Not everyone’s going to agree.”

Her voice still firm, Korra spoke again. “I’m the Avatar, I can handle that.”

“You have gotten better at being diplomatic, love, that’s true.”

“Tenzin does know about this, right?” Bolin asked worriedly - then there was a loud chitter-yelp from the backseat, and the sound of scrabbling. “Sorry, Pabu! I - no, you can’t jump on her!”

That was accentuated by more chittering - Asami didn’t turn to look, but from the loud huff-barking and Bolin’s panicked admonishments she guessed that the fire ferret had decided to leap onto Azula for some reason. Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it - the girl did not wake up, remaining deeply unconscious in the back row. 

I mean… if anything that’s just a sign of how much healing she’s going to need, I think.

“What if she tries to attack someone once you give her her bending back, though?”

It was a legitimate question - she’s still from the Sozin-era Fire Nation, and she’s scared, she could easily lash out - but one that Asami’s girlfriend had an immediate answer to. “I really don’t think she’ll be able to for a while, she’s too injured to pose an actual threat to anyone right now-”

“Didn’t she blow up an airship, though?” Mako asked skeptically. “Even if she doesn’t have the spirit, she was still able to attack us.”

No-

“Korra and I are pretty sure that that was all Jeff.” For some reason, the name still fit very well - not that she was going to argue, even if she was still wondering what the elder entity actually was. “It was kind of like overriding the safety controls on a mech suit - they were strong enough to overcome the damage that’s been done to Azula’s body and allow her to run and fight as though she weren’t injured-”

“And I’m assuming that just hurt her more.”

Exactly…

There’s a reason safety controls exist… and I’m pretty sure pain is meant to be one of them.

Asami still couldn’t see into the two seat rows behind her, or the trunk, but she was sure her girlfriend was nodding. “Yeah. She’s… like I said, she’s really physically drained. And we don’t even know what kind of mental or spiritual wounds she might have.”

“That’s… yeah, I get what you mean,” Mako conceded, looking back again. “I’m just worried about how she’ll react to being on Air Temple Island, with the son of the guy who took her bending in the first place.”

We’re all wondering…

“We owe it to her to try.” 

“And I have to say,” Korra added, her voice shifting to a more upbeat tone, “Tenzin and his family might be the best people to help her recover.”

With that, the Satomobile fell silent again as Asami drove through the colorful night-lit streets of Republic City. Perhaps it was her imagination, or the lingering spirit-influence prickling under her skin, but everything seemed more tense and eerie than normal.

We’re all wondering how this is going to turn out… and we’re all hoping it turns out well.

 


 

“Korra!”

The familiar voice of Master Tenzin drew her attention as soon as the door of the Satomobile had opened, but she couldn’t jump out and greet him - not with Azula stretched partway across her lap, completely unable to move on her own. 

I need to pick her-

A swirling gust of air crept into the trunk and lifted the unconscious princess, suspending her barely above the seat. “Uhh, thanks, Tenzin? Just please be careful-”

“Of course,” the airbending master said, his voice even more cautious than normal. “I won’t hurt her, Korra-”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, there’s just so many people around.” Sliding out of the seat as Azula’s prone form exited the Satomobile, Korra slid out herself, adding her own airbending to the invisible stretcher. “I really don’t want everyone coming inside with us, or hanging around in general. This is going to be kind of touchy for a while.”

I just… if she wakes up…

We have to be really, really careful.

“Is Kya still here?”

Tenzin glanced at Asami, who had immediately moved to stand next to her. “She is, and I informed her of who she would be healing. We can go straight to the space she set up.”

“Okay, so she’s fine with healing Azula,” the Avatar said, then noticed her airbending master’s worried face. “What? I wanted to make sure.”

“I completely understand, Korra.” 

Thank Yue and La-

With a sigh, Tenzin began to stride up the long, twisting stairs - she quickly followed him, helping to maintain the air cushion that was holding Azula’s unconscious form barely a meter above the stone. They had a long way to go to make it to wherever the master waterbending healer was, and they needed to get there fast.

“Just go somewhere else in the Air Temple!”

The sound of heavy pawprints and panting came up behind them - Korra could tell that her girlfriend had decided to ride Naga up the stairs, either that or the polar bear dog had just grabbed her as she sometimes did. “I’m coming with you, love. If that’s all right-”

Of course!

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

They reached the top of the stairs impressively quickly. The door presented a minor problem, because it wasn’t exactly convenient for Naga to stride in - she had to turn around and gesture to the polar bear dog to stay behind even as Asami leapt off of her back, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do. Fortunately, the air-stretcher did not collapse despite the distraction-

“Thank you, Jinora.”

They were definitely all ready for us...

“I’m glad I could help,” the younger girl said in response, keeping the wide main doors open with a breeze of her own. “She’s not being possessed anymore, is she?”

“No, she’s actually unconscious now that Jeff is gone.” There wasn’t really time to stop and talk, so Korra kept moving, and kept airbending. “We really need to get-”

“Jeff?”

Now striding along next to her, Asami shrugged, slightly uneasily. “That’s what the spirit asked us to call them, and I didn’t feel like arguing.”

Yeah, no.

“What a strange name,” Tenzin mused as he led them down a small flight of stairs. “I’ve never heard anything like it before.”

“We weren’t able to identify them, and I don’t think we could have.”

We weren’t able to do much at all...

It was just a matter of trying to figure out what was going on, and trying to understand what they were saying.

“What was it like, communicating with them?” Jinora looked back as she opened another door, eyeing her with a worried expression. “I remember how powerful their aura was when I saw it - they must have had a really strong presence in the Spirit World.”

A tingle shot up Korra’s arm - she could still see traces of the light-sky in her vision, and images that didn’t fit in her memory no-

Careful.

“It was… insane, basically.”

She nodded quickly, thoroughly agreeing with Asami. “I had absolutely no control over the Spirit World around me. And they couldn’t speak - they communicated with thought instead, like one of Varrick’s movers.”

“The spirit was more powerful than Raava?” Now Korra actually recognized where they were - Tenzin had led them to one of the lower rooms in the building, where there was a spring running through the rock under the floor. “I’ve read allusions to the existence of such forces, but to encounter one outright is unheard of.”

Uhh… definitely more powerful.

The instant the door to the pool-room was blown open, a tall, grey-haired woman looked over at them. “Tenzin? You’re back-”

“Is that Azula?” Ikki bounced over from somewhere to the left. “Jinora told me-”

Okay, okay-

“Yeah, it is,” Korra replied offhandedly. She was already moving - the water slid toward her as she bent, wrapping around the unconscious princess and lifting her into the contoured tub. “Was this healing pool here before?”
Even before Azula had settled into the water, Kya was already moving to her side. “I had one of the White Lotus guards construct it with their earthbending.”

Huh… well, that’s nice.

The room immediately fell quiet as everyone watched the pool begin to glow, Kya’s hands tracing deliberate patterns along the surface of the water. It was obvious to Korra that the older woman was not pleased with whatever she was finding - she looked very worried - and her own hands twitched again. 

“Is she going to be alright?”
Still carefully bending, Kya shrugged, her frown deepening further. “Her chi is very weak, and she’s malnourished. She’s probably also in a very bad mental state, I’d imagine, but I won’t be able to tell until she’s conscious.”

I see…

“I’m going to give her back her bending.”

Everyone else turned to look at her - not surprised, but worried and apprehensive. Korra knew that they were scared for her - not scared of Azula - but she kept her expression firm. It was less an issue of disapproval on the part of her friends, and more one of her own confidence and inner strength. 

I’m not going to back down for someone else… but energybending is dangerous.

I have to be unbendable.

In the quiet, she noticed that her nerves were tingling again, and the soft electrical light seemed to be brighter than normal. The Avatar shut her eyes for just a moment, pushing the intrusion-

“Shit!”

She whirled to look at her girlfriend, who was already apologizing. “Sorry about the language-”

“Meelo already brought all those words into the house, Asami, I highly doubt any of us haven’t heard them.” Tenzin raised his eyebrows, looking from her to the engineer, standing still with her hands out-

Ah-

“We forgot the glaive.”

“Oh, the one that Azula was carrying with her?” Jinora asked, somewhat rhetorically. “I can go get it-”

It was time to interrupt - they needed to hold on to the weapon, it was a Fire Nation royal artifact, but at the moment there were other things to worry about. “It’s fine, I think Iroh has it. Anyway, it won’t really matter anymore since it was kind of Jeff’s thing anyway.” Korra stretched, turning back to the healing pool. “Do you think you can get her to sit up?”

This should work while she’s unconscious…

I certainly don’t want to try it while she’s awake, that would end really badly.

Kya did not respond, instead stepping back and settling into a conventional waterbending stance. A long, smooth sweep of her arms brought all of the water in the stone pool upward, pulling the unconscious princess with it - Korra quickly stamped her foot into the ground, earthbending a seat for Azula. The other waterbender nodded, then gently rested her there, bending the water off and back to its place. 

“Is this good?”

“I think so.”

A silence fell across the room as she stepped forward, hands hovering at her sides with nervous determination. The Avatar breathed deeply once, then extended a hand forward to Azula’s forehead, and another to her chest-

No-

Even unconscious as she was, the lost princess’s spirit was still hostile - she was not like the victims of Amon’s corrupted waterbending who were more than willing to allow Korra access to the space of their mind and soul. 

Avatar-

Pleasepleaseplease-

For a moment, she found herself looking directly into Avatar Aang’s eyes, resigned and empty, as they broke with their own white light-

I am not this.

Azula’s spirit couldn’t stand against her in a contest of will, unceasingly determined though she was - she had lost against Korra’s predecessor, after all - but even unintentionally the princess was a threat. Every fleeting memory was like a shard of loose glass, painful and edged and easy to lodge in one’s skin. It was a minefield of shattered-

I am healing, I am bringing life.

A part of her wondered if Aang had been left with any of those miserable shards, from Azula or Ozai or Yakone. Another, smaller part of her wondered if he deserved it, for creating them.

I will not be a destroyer.

There were memories - many memories - remnants of the past, and of fire that had once been there, now sparking again. And there were traces of the all-light’s presence, woven throughout, human memories that spoke to her more clearly than the source itself had-

Ignite. 

Live again.

And as quickly as it had come, the Avatar State subsided, and she staggered backward, breathing deeply, eyes shut-

She immediately tripped and fell into the healing pool - the cold water woke her completely, and she leapt upward and scrambled out, blinking. The light - the real light, punctuated by the all-light still in her mind - gradually faded, and Korra could see everyone looking at her in shock and worry.

They-

“I’m… I’m fine.”

“You’re fine.” Asami lunged forward and embraced her, and when they pulled apart they were both soaking wet, but neither cared. “You’re fine-”

“We’re both fine.”

Turning to the stone chair, Korra saw that the princess was still unconscious - but she had felt the inner flame reawaken within her, her work successful even as intense realization overwhelmed her. “I mean, Azula’s still out, but she’ll wake up, I think. And I’ll be here when she does.”

“She seems a lot healthier now, spiritually,” Jinora added. “Though it’s a lot harder to tell, now that the - Jeff, right? - is gone. Her aura is much quieter.”

Jeff-

Oh-

“Jeff was even more insane than we thought, I think.” She could see somewhat more clearly what they were, now - when it was Azula’s spirit-warped memories, rather than directly - like looking through a mirror-telescope at the sun. “Like, I knew they were more powerful than I am, but now-”

“Did they hurt her?” 

“I mean, maybe, I couldn’t tell,” Korra replied, words pouring out of her, “but they - you were talking about light and electricity and magnetism all being the same thing, right?”

Asami blinked a couple of times, then an expression of understanding started to cross her face. “When we were walking out of the Northern Water Tribe council hall?”

Yeah-

“I think they’re, like, all of that. What you said - unified.”

Suddenly Tenzin cleared his throat - the sound shocked both of them out of their rapt consideration, and nearly simultaneously they turned to look at him. The older airbender seemed nearly as shocked and unsure of what was going on, though, and didn’t actually say anything.

“I won’t profess to understand what you’re talking about, but there’s a pair of bedrooms right down the hall.” It was Kya who spoke - no-nonsense as always, her eyes tilting toward the still-unconscious princess. “Tenzin and Jinora can help move her to one, and you can sleep in the opposite room. Does that work?”

Uhh… yeah?

The most Korra could do was nod, accompanied by Asami. “The literal spirit of light or something asked us to call them Jeff.”

Jeff-

Notes:

A lot happened in this chapter - both Azula getting her bending back, and some more revelations about Jeff. Apparently it's easier to understand the extremely powerful eldritch entity when you're not engulfed in their consciousness, who would have guessed?

We're getting close to wrapping up this story, or at least the long part. With that in mind... what kind of oneshots would you like to see related to this premise, of Azula doing things in the new world?

Chapter 16

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

They were lazing in bed together - not quite cuddling, though Asami did have one arm around her girlfriend’s back, and she was sure they were both thinking the same thing - when there was a knock on the door. A quick and urgent one, too, and both of them knew what that meant without having to ask.

I really wish I’d gotten more sleep…

And more time here.

“Hnggghhh…” Korra groaned, dragging herself to a standing position. “Is she awake?”

Tapping her girlfriend on the back - her back, oh spirits - Asami rolled out of bed on the other side. “Jinora, give us a moment to get dressed, okay?”

“As long as you’re actually getting dressed.”

She sighed as she walked over to the suitcase - it was easy to understand where the master airbender was coming from, Asami often took quite a while to get dressed when Korra was around, but at the moment there was something else that took precedence.

Azula is awake.

“How are we going to talk to her, Korra?” Pulling on a pair of dark-red pants, the engineer noticed her girlfriend staring at her from the side, and sighed again. “Come on, this is going to be really difficult, and ogling me the whole time won’t fix anything.”

Korra huffed a little bit, pulling on her own modified Water Tribe clothing - it was a bit too warm in Republic City to wear the real thing. It also had the nice side effect of showing off her back muscles. “I’m just tired, ‘Sami. I kept having all sorts of weird dreams-”

So did I-

“-and I couldn’t sleep for very long, and I just wanted to relax.”

“I know, love,” she replied, unfolding her overcoat. “That encounter with Jeff was dangerous. I can’t imagine being around an entity that powerful wouldn’t have some consequences.”

Amazing ones, but consequences nonetheless.

“Yeah, it was… insane, that’s probably the best word.”

Pushing the thoughts of unified force spirits and technology away - think about that later, think about that later - Asami sighed. “It’s amazing, I know, and there’s so many people I want to talk to-”

“Hey, now you’re the one getting distracted.” Her girlfriend grinned, stepping a bit towards the door. “But I’m sure Jinora would love to talk about this later, after we’ve explained to Azula… well, uhh… we kind of have a lot to explain.”

And I’m not sure how she’s going to take it-

Probably not well.

“Are you two done yet?”

Now the airbender sounded worried - not that she hadn’t sounded worried before, but she was more so now. “Yeah, just-”

“Well, you need to come out now,” Jinora insisted, her voice amplified slightly by airbending so it came through the door. “She’s awake, and she’s probably so confused. I heard her trying to get someone’s attention earlier.”

Oh-

So she’s really, really awake.

“I really don’t think explaining is going to make her less confused, at least not at first.”

Nodding, Asami opened the door, stepping out with her girlfriend beside her. “We need to at least try and help her calm down.”

We need to figure out how to keep her from getting terrified by Kya and Jinora and everyone else, too.

The door to the lost princess’s room was right across the hall - a door just like theirs, probably even the same room design down to the high windows and bed. Jinora floated out of the way, looking at them as she backed down the passage. The nervousness in her voice and her expression were clearly evident, and the Sato heiress could tell that not all of it was from concern over Azula’s welfare.

She… she could still be really scary.

Her abilities and strategic prowess are almost a legend… and we’re about to meet her.

“You’ll tell me if she’s all right, right?”

“We will,” Korra agreed, just as she raised one hand to knock on the door. The hollow echo caused all of them to tense up, a little bit. “Can we come in?”

Good thinking-

“Yes.”

That was Azula’s voice - the voice that had been terrified when they spoke to her, now almost terrifyingly hollow. “Okay. We’re opening the door now.”

As she took the door handle and pulled it open, Asami breathed deeply, hearing her girlfriend do the same next to her. She could see the lost princess sitting up in bed - it could barely be called that, really, only her head was raised - but her amber eyes were still scrutinizing them warily.

She looks cornered-

“What do you want?”

Korra raised both hands to the sides of her head, a non-threatening gesture - Asami followed suit without hesitation. “We want to help you, Azula.”

“I don’t believe you.” It seemed that the girl was considering something, her eyes still flicking between them. “No one tries to help me.”

I-

“I’m Asami,” she said softly, still not moving her hands. “And this is Korra.”

“You’re a water peasant.”

The jab was directed at Korra, but it was only a thin edge sharpened from fear, and all of them knew it. “I’m from the Southern Water Tribe, mhm. But there’s nothing bad about that.”

She’s still Sozin-era Fire Nation, that’s a lot of prejudice to deal with-

And she’s scared, and I’m pretty sure when she’s scared she’s just going to lash out.

“You’re trying to trick me-”

“No, I’m not.”

The girl tilted her face into the sun - a sliver of it, coming through a small window. “Why are you taunting-”

“Azula, I gave you your firebending back.”

She thinks-  

“Here.” Korra held one of her hands forward, a small orange flame rising from her palm as she stepped slowly closer. “You can hold it. It’s yours, too.”

Asami watched, almost holding her breath, as her girlfriend reached the bedside and handed Azula the flame - the other girl was slow to reach for it, but she did, and as her fingers touched it it responded. A small scion of the blaze coiled off Azula’s fingertips, and the engineer saw the core shift to blue-

It worked-

And then the lost princess shivered, the covers shaking - the flame went out, and she started to cry, sobbing gently into the cover as she tried to pull it over her head. In a moment of split-second decision, Korra reached down and tried to take her hand, but Azula simply shoved it away and wheezed again.

“It’s wrong,” she said shakily, through sobs, looking over the cover at them. “Stop - stop, you can’t - you can’t do this to me-”

“I’m sorry.”

Korra stepped back a bit, leaving Azula her space, and sighed. “This is a lot, I know,” she replied, slowly and gently. “You were possessed by a spirit for so long, and Aang took your bending, and a lot happened. I… I don’t even know most of what happened, and ‘Sami and I are still trying to deal with it-”

There’s so much-

“-but I promise I won’t let anything happen. We’re protecting you.”

The girl was watching Korra now, with paranoid intent - Asami was just a bystander, she knew, an observer. “You’re - you’re the Avatar-”

“I’m not Aang.”

And her girlfriend’s voice was sad - sad and hard, wrought with determination, and Korra was the most determined person she knew. “My past life made a mistake, Azula. And if I have to spend the rest of my life trying to repair it, then I will. I can promise you that much.”

“They aren’t after me-”

“No, they can’t hurt you anymore.” Asami knew speaking was a bad idea - especially what she was about to say - but someone had to. “Azula, it’s-”

“How long has it been?”

She knows.

“Over seventy years, Azula-”

She was interrupted by a sharp inhale, and the engineer swore she saw a wisp of smoke in the air. “I - I can’t-”

“Azula, people aren’t chasing after you anymore,” Korra reiterated, rather firmly - but it was, perhaps, missing the point. “And anyone who gets it into their head will have to go through me, and Asami, and a lot of other people. You aren’t alone.”

She does need to hear that-

“How…” Another hissed intake of breath, and a short sob. “Please...”

“Korra, she’s getting overwhelmed.”

“I know,” her girlfriend replied, half-whispering back, but then Azula noticed - she doesn’t want to be talked about - and glared harder. “Look, Azula, do you want us to leave? You’re-”

“Just go, please-”

“We will.”

Korra stepped back, and then back further, nearly out the door. Asami turned and looked back at Azula slowly, too - the princess was still watching them fearfully, but now there was some panicked curiosity in her gaze too, if she wasn’t mistaken.

She’s considering the situation.  

Just before she left, the engineer realized something - they had to keep Azula informed. “We’ll come back in an hour or so, okay? You need to eat, and Kya might want to check you too - that’s the person who healed you yesterday. She’s just as concerned as we are.”

“And don’t forget, you’re safe here.”

As Korra shut the door behind them, Asami met her gaze. It didn’t seem like either of them knew what to do, even as they started walking back up the hallway towards the main living areas in the temple. They had known the princess would be scared, even seen it when she was possessed, but interacting with Azula when she was lucid had driven the point home with the power of an industrial nail gun.

I-

This is going to take time.

“At least she knows, now. And she can think about it.”

“Yeah.”

 


 

Terror was the sensation that Azula remembered best, she realized.

It was the one thing she could really recall when she tried to sift through the ashes of her memories - she knew she should know more about herself, more about what had happened, but it was impossible to recall anything coherent. Only vague shapes, and the constant fear, and a sense of time that Azula now realized was horribly warped.

“Seventy years…”

I must have been… so weak…

Constant fear...

She had recalled the awful sapping sensation of being flameless - that was horrible enough to resonate even amid the thousand cracked pieces in her memory - and she remembered far too much of the all-light that had suffused her, possessed her, and there was terror and misery everywhere else, too. And now she was lying in a bed somewhere, apparently seventy years later, and she could barely even move for how worn out she was.

And they gave-

A knock on the door sounded again. Azula felt for the time - it was at once a relief and a nightmare to be able to feel the presence of Agni again. It was such an abrupt change-

“Hey, can we come in?” It was one of the voices from earlier - the Avatar, she was pretty sure, the one who had called herself Korra. “We brought something for you to eat.”

“Go ahead.”

There’s nothing I can do.

Without any hesitation, the door opened, and the Water Tribe girl walked in. The other girl, Asami - Fire Nation, maybe, but she has green eyes, a colonial perhaps - followed closely, and Azula noticed a strange symbol on her shoulder for a moment. It wasn’t one she had seen before, a sort of copper badge of a gear, oddly similar to a rising sun.

I know so little-

“Here, Princess Azula,” a third voice said - an older woman, also Water Tribe, with grey hair and piercing blue eyes, holding a smooth, plain bowl. “You need to eat something badly.”

The Avatar handed her a tray - a piece of metal that she bent into a flat surface - and the woman gently laid the bowl of steaming broth upon it, along with a spoon. “Can you eat on your own?”

I’m not-

“I… don’t think so.”

“Don’t worry.” Taking a small, bare stool, the Water Tribe woman sat down next to her. “I’ve fed plenty of people before.”

A part of Azula wanted to refuse - I can’t take charity, not after these people - but hunger and fear were stronger than spite, far stronger, and the soup smelled amazing. “Thank you...”

Sure enough, when she opened her mouth, the princess could taste it - a rich, strong broth - and it nearly made her cry again. She had already wept in front of the Avatar and her friend once, to do so again would be debasing, she knew that, but-

How long has it been since I’ve eaten?

Seventy years?

As she swallowed, Asami spoke. “I can only imagine how confusing all of this must be for you.”

Azula didn’t try to speak, not while she was being miserably spoon-fed soup, but she could feel herself shivering, and they could clearly see it. Their expressions of pity rankled her pride - you can’t accept charity from these peasants, they’re simply mocking you - but the fear of who they were, and what their presence could mean, was far stronger.

I don’t know… but I can’t trust them.

They want me to trust them, though...

“I’m Kya, by the way,” the older woman who was feeding her said, kindness lacing her voice. “I used my waterbending to heal you yesterday-”

Waterbending-

She felt herself flinch weakly at the thought - that was something dangerous, then, even if she couldn’t remember why. Another memory irreversibly lost, left to speculation as to what its lingering traces meant-

I don’t even know why-

“What do you want from me?”

Kya’s spoon paused, a little ways in front of her mouth, and she and the other two looked at her. “We’re trying to help you heal, Azula. And I know that’s hard-”

“No one’s ever done that.” The princess frowned, unsure as to why the two Water Tribe people in particular were even pretending to be kind to her. She had no idea about Asami - perhaps she was restraining them, or sympathetic - but there had to be some reason she was there. “I don’t remember help, I remember all of your people despising me.”

“That was wrong, and it shouldn’t have happened,” the Avatar - her name is Korra, isn’t it? - said confidently, the green-eyed girl leaning toward her side. “And like we said, Azula, it’s been seventy years, and people don’t look at the Hundred Year War the same way - and they don’t look at what was done to you the same way, either.”

So they aren’t-

They say they aren’t-

It only made a little more sense - and that wasn’t enough. “Why do you even care? There’s no possible reason-”

“Do I have to benefit to heal you? To feel that you need healing?”

“Of course.”

“No, I-”

“Okay, Azula.” Turning towards the wall for a moment and breathing deeply - she’s frustrated, that’s bad, I shouldn’t refuse - Korra spoke again, seemingly bolstered by the other girl resting a hand on her shoulder. “You know what? Yeah, I do benefit from healing you, Azula.”

Exactly-

“Then why-”

“I’m doing it because I owe it to you,” the Water Tribe girl continued, her voice filled with an impressive amount of conviction. “You don’t know this, but I had my bending taken from me, too. I know what it feels like. And I’ve been through enough to know that what happened to you isn’t something that I can ignore, and when I said I would do whatever I needed to to help you, I meant it.”

So… it’s about honor, then...

I suppose...

She looked carefully at Korra. “If I take your word for it, what will happen to me?”

Negotiate.

There was never anything-

“Well, you’re not going to face any punishment,” Asami said - she was leaning into the Avatar’s side, speaking as confidently as she, and Azula realized that there was something more between them than she had noticed at first. “Like Korra said-”

They-

Is that not considered wrong?

“-because of politics and people these days don’t think the same. Right now, all we’re concerned about is helping you heal.”

“Where am I?”

Resting the spoon back in the broth bowl, Kya answered, her tone businesslike. “You’re on Air Temple Island, in Republic City.”

...I don’t know those names…

It’s been seventy years, of course I wouldn’t...

“Republic City was one of the Fire Nation colonies, in your time,” Avatar Korra clarified after the silence began to grow uncomfortable - no, don’t let them see - gesturing loosely with one hand. “It became independent a few years after the war. And Air Temple Island is one of the home-places of the new Air Nation.”

“A colony becoming independent?” The end of the war could have brought such things, with the brother and uncle Azula didn’t remember through any other lens than terror and hatred holding all the power. “Without the Fire Nation government? I don’t see-”

She cut herself off, knowing full well that she was on dangerous territory. These people were not openly attacking her, but they could in an instant - and there would be nothing Azula could do. She had to-

You’re at their mercy, you know.

Her vision shook - she was about to cry again, or even more shamefully try to flee, just like-

“Azula, come back.”

That was Kya, the healer’s cool blue eyes looking at her. “Whatever is happening in your mind, Azula, it isn’t real.”

They-

“I…” Her mind sparked again, the memory-nightmare that had jutted upward shattering in a flash of multicolored light. “Thank you.”

It occurred to her that she wasn’t sure who she was thanking - the spirit that had attacked her memories, or the older Water Tribe woman who had distracted her. Either option seemed loathsome-

“Hey, you’re welcome,” Korra said loosely, a surprisingly genuine smile crossing her face. “I’ve had those, too. And you did only just stop being possessed by Jeff, that-”

“Jeff?”

“The insane electromagnetic-light-whatever spirit.” Rolling her eyes, the Avatar chuckled a little bit. “It was really weird when they asked us to call them that. But believe me, we’re still feeling off, and we were only around them for a little bit. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like-”

What it’s like-

The words lagged somewhere away from her thoughts, seemingly unimportant. “You’re saying that you’re not going to hurt me.”

“Or let you get hurt,” Asami added, smiling a little bit herself. “And when you’re ready, you can come see what Republic City is like. I think you might be more impressed than you’d think by it.”

“I-”

In an instant, everything was interrupted by a massive, white creature bursting in, shoving open the door - it was some kind of bear-dog, but not a breed Azula could remember seeing or hearing of. The thing immediately licked Korra across the face, panting, then turned just as suddenly to eye her in the bed. It sniffed in her direction, enormous nose flaring.

No-

“Hey, Naga, don’t bother her.”

The polar bear-dog - that must be what it is, it must be from the ice wastes - whined slightly, then sat at the foot of the bed, looking at her from between her feet. Azula watched it with just as much intensity.

...polite, I suppose…

That… that’s fine… now...

“Now, before anything else happens and we get interrupted again, you need to finish as much of this broth as you can.” The waterbending healer was looking at her again, a certain determined glint in her eye. “You’re severely malnourished, and if Korra and Asami and Jinora and who knows who else are going to come in and out and try to explain things to you, you need to be capable of staying awake without falling into a starvation coma.”

I-

She nodded, quick and pointed, then opened her mouth for another spoonful of broth. There was nothing more she could do - nothing she could do but wait.

Notes:

Wow... this chapter was actual hell to write. Trying to get Azula's POV and all of the little interlocking parts of how she perceives the situation was so difficult, and I still highly doubt it's anywhere near idea, but at 11:00 PM I just can't see any way of going forward. If I'm very lucky my internal chaos while writing this might end up coming out correctly in the narrative.

Also, yes, Korra and Asami are notorious for not getting out of bed early. It's not that they don't wake up early, it's that they don't get out of bed early.

As always, I highly appreciate comments! Especially on this brutal chapter - I need some feedback here.

Chapter 17

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

That was the third knock on the door that day that Azula had heard. Whoever these people were, they were much more interested in interacting with her than she remembered, not that that counted for much-

“Hello?”

That’s… Asami, isn’t it?

“You can come in,” Azula said quickly - she was curious, curious enough for the moment to suppress her nervousness. “Is anyone else with you?”

Start thinking-

This is an opportunity, if you know how to use it.

Another spasm of unplaceable fear ran through her as Asami entered. “Have you been awake all morning?”

“No.”

“I get it, I probably wouldn’t be able to stay awake either.” Careful to keep her distance, the other girl slowly walked over and sat down on the foot of the bed. “Especially with… well, so much to think about, and no one to talk about it with. That can make anyone tired, Azula.”

No one-

The princess remembered having people who would talk to her, at one point, but then she had failed and everyone had despised her. And she couldn’t-

“Why did you come in here?”

Asami shrugged indecisively. “There are some people here who are really interested in spirits, so Korra’s upstairs trying to explain what happened with Jeff. And I don’t know what my other friends are doing, so I came down here to check on you.”

That was an answer - more than she was expecting - but at the same time it was too little. There was so much uncertainty, and fear, and something hotter that had to be anger, and she could barely hold them in under her skin. It was-

And the all-light-

“I know you’re panicking, Azula.”

Now Asami was looking at her, pity in her eyes, and something in her seethed madly. “You aren’t-”

“Can I say something?” 

No-

No, you can’t tell them-

Silence fell over the room, and Azula realized suddenly that Asami was waiting for her permission to speak. It was strange, to be-

“Fine.”

“Thanks.” The other girl shifted slightly, a little farther away from her feet. “I just wanted to tell you that you can talk to us.”

...talk to you...

“I’m talking to you right now.” 

A lash of fear immediately struck - don’t anger them, no - but the jab seemed to amuse the other girl. “You’re not really talking, though, just responding. I know the difference.”

What, does she want me to give my whole life’s story?

I don’t even know-

“Korra was in a similar situation to you,” Asami continued, looking past her at the window with a distant expression. “She was kidnapped by terrorists about three years ago, and they forced her into the Avatar State using liquid mercury, trying to kill the entire cycle. It was… it was too close, and it took her so long to recover.”

Did I-

Another flood of suppressed memories returned - green crystals and lightning, and more glowing eyes, filled with power she couldn’t-

“No, please, don’t-”

Please, please-

“Azula, look at me.”

The room slowly came back into focus. She was crying - crying in front of someone else, and she didn’t know whether that was worse than weeping alone-

“She wouldn’t let anyone in - she wouldn’t let me in.” The pain in the other girl’s voice was obvious, even if Azula’s vision was too blurred with tears to see her expression clearly. “It was all about the fact that she was the Avatar, she had to be self-reliant, at least that was what she was telling herself. And then she left for almost three years, to go find herself.”

Why is she telling me this?

“I don’t even understand what you’re trying to say.”

Asami looked her in the eyes again, even as she blinked the last of the blurred tears away. “What I mean is, you don’t have to shut all of us out. And we want to help you, Azula, but we can’t if you just won’t talk to us.”

“And why do you expect me to believe that you want to help me?” The thought rested in her mind like a heavy metal weight - it was impossible to stop considering it. “I… I…”

Can’t remember… anything, really.

“Honestly… no, I don’t.”

Then why-

“Really, after all you’ve been through, I wouldn’t expect you to trust anyone.” Asami stood, half-turning towards the exit. “Which is why I’m asking you to. We do want to help.”

“I-”

I don’t believe you...

Could I?

“I don’t know…”

The other girl slowly stepped to the door and turned the handle, each motion deliberate. “Yeah, I… I understand that. Just… please, take as much time as you need. We’re not going to leave you alone here.”

Not alone-

“You are leaving.”

“Hey, I’ll be back, and so will Korra,” Asami said, chuckling a little bit as she stepped across the threshold away from her. “Think about it, all right? And I think Kya will be bringing more soup soon, too, and I’m sure she’ll want to check on you.”

As the door closed, Azula felt another tear - a lingering trace from when she had cried earlier, as the other girl watched, debasing and miserable. And then they had asked - no, begged even - her for her trust. Another extended hand-

I don’t understand…

What do they really want from me?

 


 

“So, how is she?”

“She didn’t talk much,” Kya said - her eyes were not quite the right shade of blue, courtesy of the fact that apparently just talking about Jeff for an extended period of time would cause her senses to warp. “Just ate, and watched me like a cat-owl. And asked what I was doing, of course.”

Yeah… that’s kind of what I expected.

And what happened earlier.

From her seat in one of the stiff Air Temple chairs, Lin Beifong coughed and spoke up. “It sounds to me like she’s trying to interrogate all of you, figure out what your intentions are.”

“And we’ve told her several times now that we’re trying to help her, but she doesn’t believe us.” Asami gave her a slight nod of recognition - they both knew what it was she had spoken about, had agreed that it made sense to bring it up. “She pretty much said it to me when I talked to her before lunch. She’s just… having a hard time accepting that.”

...ehm… that’s true.

“Words tend to linger,” Tenzin said calmly. “I’m sure she’s thinking about what you have told her, even if it may take her a while to accept that it is true.”

“So... wait and let her consider it.”

“The trouble is, she’s already had plenty of time to sit and think.” The police chief’s tone was harsh, and a flicker of confused ire stirred in Korra’s chest in response. “She was in prison for a pretty decent length of time postwar, correct? And she was in solitary confinement for all of that, who knows what kind of shit she’s thinking about all of us right now?”

What?

Now she was angry, warped molten hot energy surging in her gut - Korra had thought that Lin was sympathetic to their cause. “She’s still a child-”

“Oma and Shu damn it.”

“Lin, you don’t have to swear.” For some reason, Tenzin seemed to be expressing agreement - that was-

“No, I’m terrible at talking,” the metalbender said dryly, looking directly at Korra. “What I was trying to say is that if you just leave her alone, she’s just going to spiral even more. You’ve got to get her out of that room and prove to her that she has a life left to live.”

Wait… what?

I definitely misinterpreted that…

Kya raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you’d been thinking about this that much-”

“I’m the chief of the RCPD, it’s my job to think about these things,” Lin replied, her voice rather terse. “And at least some of Tenzin’s chatter about this stuff didn’t just bounce right off of me.”

That… actually makes a lot of sense.

“How do we do that without overwhelming her, though?” 

“I mean, we have to at least ask her.” That was the right thing to do, but Korra knew there were other issues there - she remembered her own attitude when she was recovering very well. “She might just refuse, though-”

Suddenly, the door to the sitting room burst open, a blur of white flying in, another burst of weird color-

What-

“Naga?”

Why is Pabu on her head-

“No, wait!” Bolin charged in - too late, of course, the polar bear dog and the fire ferret were already long gone out the other door. “They took my Varri-capture camera!”

Wait-

As her friend rushed off, and Ikki whirled in on an air-scooter a moment later - what is this, some kind of game of tag? - Korra looked at Asami. She was sure that the same idea had crossed both their minds just then-

“If we’re trying to get her out of her shell…”

We need to have other people with us.

“What about Prince Iroh and Princess Niko?” Tenzin questioned. “Could they come along?”

Their expressions from the previous day flashed through Korra’s mind instantly - they’re worried, and really scared for her - and she shook her head. “They wouldn’t want to. I think they’re both planning to wait until Azula is doing better.”

“I think that’s very wise of them.” Kya looked back at her, her eyes back to their mostly normal blue - thank Yue and La - and then sighed. “I wouldn’t expect any miracles, Korra, but I do think you’re making the right decision. Just… please, be careful.”

She cares - we all care.

Now we just need Azula to recognize that.

“We will.”

 


 

This time, the knock on the door was accompanied by noise. 

A lot of noise, in fact - Azula could hear a loud huffing that could only be the enormous bear-dog thing from earlier, and some kind of chattering, and people shifting around. Her senses were more settled now, and she was more focused, so she could hear clearly.

For-

“Azula?”

Korra was the one asking, it seemed. “Yes?”

“Can Asami and I come in?” There was a momentary pause, and more muffled sounds from behind the door. “We won’t bring everyone else yet.”

Everyone else-

Who had the Avatar and her girlfriend - I don’t understand that, I never asked - brought with them? And why?

She could ask them not to allow these other people in, even if she wasn’t sure they would listen. They had before-

I need to learn more.

“Azula?”

Do it-

“Fine, come in.”

Fortunately, only the two girls she’d already met entered, opening the door just a little bit to slip through - the others stayed outside, though the polar bear-dog did put its nose around the edge of the door before they closed it. Korra and Asami stood, well illuminated by the strange flameless light on the ceiling despite how late in the day it was, and looked at her, waiting.

They are in a relationship-

It was blatantly obvious, and somewhere in her mind Azula knew that was supposed to be improper, but at the same time she couldn’t think of a reason why. There were too many things drifting around in her mind, she didn’t know what to believe-

“Hey, Azula.” A light breeze washed across her face - it’s a closed room, what? - and she looked up to see Korra’s hair also waving slightly. Airbending, perhaps, but it seemed gentler than any she could remember before. “I know you’ve got a lot to think about, but we wanted you to meet our other friends. Well, some of them, at least-”

“Korra has too many friends.”

She is the Avatar…

I don’t remember the old one, though… not well… but he had friends…

Really, what Azula wanted was to ask questions - but she also knew that these people would likely get upset if she refused, or if she probed too much. Though, then again she could test, but that was also a bad idea-

She didn’t want their nice act to end, even if it was only an act. 

Don’t bow-

All I can do is-

“Why do you want me to meet them?”

Unsurprisingly, Asami had an answer ready. “There’s… you’re going to have to adjust a lot to living in this time, and we wanted to introduce you to more people who can help with that.”

They’re making so many promises...

“And these are other friends of yours.”

“Yeah, we call ourselves the Krew,” Korra said, a lopsided grin crossing her face. “It’s a pun, right?”

...it is…

What is it with these people making jokes right now?

“Okay, okay, it probably isn’t that good, I just kinda have a legacy to live up to.” The Water Tribe girl rolled her eyes, probably finding what she had said funny. “But I wouldn’t be able to do anything without them. And I think you’ll… well, I hope you’ll like them? They’re nice.”

Nice…

Hadn’t she had friends, once?

This Agni-damned memory-

“They’re your friends, not mine.”

Asami shook her head. “That’s not how it works, Azula, even if it might seem like it. And they want to help you just as much as we do.”

And again-

Everything was getting more confusing by the minute. Azula had plenty of questions - questions about what these people really wanted with her, about why they knew more about her than she did, about the fact that she had been in some kind of spirit-induced fugue state for over seventy years-

“As long as you don’t stay too long,” she said, trying to put an imperious tone into her voice - it was a test more than anything else, but neither Korra nor Asami seemed to care too much. “I’m… well, I’m quite tired.”

And… there’s too much to think about...

“Okay, we’ll let you sleep.” It was a joke, of course - the Water Tribe girl’s face showed that - they hadn’t been planning to keep her awake, apparently. “Just quick introductions, okay? And maybe we can answer some questions.”

That would-

“Go ahead, then.”

Asami turned to the door, calling out as if she’d been waiting for that moment, and Azula felt herself flinch. “You can come in now. Just don’t be too loud-”

Immediately the door opened, revealing the enormous white dog-beast from before - now with a fire ferret clinging to its left ear - as well as two boys looking at her. They were very similar, probably related, but immediately their eyes stuck out to Azula. They were different colors, one-

“I’m Bolin,” the one on the left said - the fire ferret leapt onto him, and he grinned as it wrapped around his neck like a red-and-white scarf. “And this is Pabu-”

“My name is not Pabu, it’s Mako.” 

That was the other young man, tall and gold-eyed - and apparently much more serious, judging by his tone. Azula noticed a long scar down one arm, the branching pattern familiar-

No-

The surge of memory was almost instant. Lightning strikes and light and coiled energy-

“Yeah, Pabu is the ferret.” Avatar Korra’s raucous laughter was a distraction - a welcome one, something that wasn’t the shattered space in her mind. “Bolin and Mako are great friends, though, and we’ve done a lot together.”

“So you want me to make friends with them, as well.”

That’s what they’re saying...

This was certainly very different, given what little she remembered - no one had ever tried to convince her to be friends with them, as far as Azula knew. Had the way people handled prisoners changed over the years?

Either that or they’re telling the truth… and I don’t know if I can believe that.

It… I can’t imagine that...

“Azula?”

Agni damn-

“I apologize.” The words didn’t sound quite right in her mouth - sincere, but something twisted angrily within her as she said them nonetheless. “I’m… well, tired.”

Don’t admit weakness!

The green-eyed boy cut in, again just in time before the hot molten feeling in her could spill over. “Do you want us to come back later? I mean, we can, and I know it’s getting late-”

“No.”

If they leave…

It would be better to try and find out what was happening, at least see what a few more minutes would bring. And when they were there - when they were there, Azula wasn’t alone. There was something between her and herself-

“I’m a firebender, and Bolin is an earthbender,” Mako said, golden eyes still watching her. “He’s also my younger brother. We met Korra and Asami about five years ago, during the Equalist crisis.”

The… what?

There was information - and Mako certainly knew that it was something she wanted, something he could tempt her with. “What was that?”

Weak-

“There was a lot of anti-bender sentiment in Republic City - still is, because of organized crime triads.” Korra shrugged, looking a little more tired at the thought. “And I arrived in Republic City just when all that was erupting into a movement. The Equalists, basically. It was my first big test as the Avatar.”

A non-bender insurrection - Azula could see that, understand it, even if that knowing was the only thing-

“I missed a lot-”

Stop-

“Yeah, you did.”

The Avatar and her friends were looking at her again - she shut her eyes. It was impossible to move past the barrier of her fragmented mind-

“I need to sleep.” She was desperate - it was bleeding into her voice, and she hated it, hated that mercy-

“Okay, we’re leaving,” Korra said, her voice soft - Azula wondered what the expression on her face was like, her eyes still tight shut. “Good night. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Night-

There was barely any sound as the Avatar and her friends - her girlfriend - left the room, even the noisy animals quiet. When she opened her eyes again, the door was shut and the strange light on the ceiling had been put out, leaving only the last remnants of daylight coming through the window.

Notes:

Another chapter of Azula's fragmented mental state. Things from her end are not that great, unfortunately, especially now that she's no longer being possessed by Jeff and her memories are starting to reform. Along with something else she forgot after she lost her bending - namely her pride, and as Iroh said pride is merely the source of shame.

(Did I just unironically quote Iroh? Yes, he did say some pretty wise things during the show, sure, even if he is a morally whitewashed character.)

Aside from that... fortunately, Korra and Co. have a brilliant idea about how to get Azula out of her own head. Namely, to channel good old Mrs. Frizzle (remember that show?) and get her out of that room, if only for a little bit. This will go exactly as you expect.

"Seatbelts, everyone!"

Now that I'm done with the Magic School Bus nostalgia... I'd love to hear theories about where they're going! Especially theories I can use as ideas, too. So... please comment?

Chapter 18

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Other than a few clouds in the sky, the next morning had dawned crisp and clear, with a fitful wind blowing in from the bay. Korra breathed deeply, letting the cool air fill her lungs. They had a lot to do, and she wanted things to be as nice as possible.

“So we’re going to take her to Avatar Korra park?” Bolin asked, breaking the silence as the two of them waited near the ferry. “I thought you didn’t want to overwhelm her.”

“The problem is that Air Temple Island will be a lot worse.” Leaning against the waiting Satomobile, Korra sighed. “It’s all airbender stuff, and there’s the giant Aang statue looming over everything, I can’t imagine what she’ll think of that. I think it might be better to just take her into Republic City proper - get her lunch, let her look around and all that - and then go to ‘Sami’s house.”

I know Kya is willing to stay there for a while…

And it’s better for her than being in a place with so many reminders of Aang.

From what the older healer had told her, she had a feeling that Azula’s memories were starting to become less fractured. She did doubt they would ever become truly coherent - an inference Korra could agree with, having had experience both with spirit-possession in general and the particular effects Jeff’s presence produced - but it was obvious that they were still enough to scare the girl.

That’s just… she really can’t be lucky for a moment, can she?

“She’s staying with you and Asami, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Korra replied, still watching the exit for the other two members of the Krew. “Like I said, all of us think it’ll be better for her - Tenzin and Kya included, I asked. And I’d rather Azula be with us when the news that she’s back gets out.”

And-

“I don’t think ‘Sami will mind me staying there.”

Her friend laughed brightly. “Yeah, I don’t think she will either!”

Yeah...

Suddenly, the distant door opened - Korra could see up the long, winding ramp that Asami was stepping out, her hair flying slightly in the remains of the breeze as she looked down. Just behind her was Mako, pushing a wheelchair - and in that wheelchair was Azula, blinking in the sunlight, her mouth wide open in shock. She was looking out over the bay, along the path the ferry would take-

The view from that door, Korra knew, was spectacular - the great skyline of downtown Republic City, imposing and gleaming and modern. And the statue of Avatar Aang was clearly visible as well.

I hope they move quickly-  

It did seem that Asami and Mako had the same idea - they were descending the long, winding ramp as quickly as they could manage with the wheelchair and its stunned occupant. Korra tapped her foot impatiently, resisting the urge to pull up one of the tiles with her earthbending and levitate all three of them down to the side of the Satomobile.

That would just scare Azula more.

Even if it were safe for the princess to firebend - for her and for them - Korra didn’t want to cause her to do so by frightening her. She needed a better opportunity, somewhere she could take things at her own pace-

“What-”

That was Azula - she was close enough to hear now. “What - I’ve never seen-”

“I know it’s been a long time, and you aren’t used to things anymore.” Only a quick use of airbending allowed her to hear clearly what Asami was saying. “That’s why we’re bringing you with us, to see what Republic City looks like now.”

Yeah… and to get you off of Air Temple Island, and hopefully away from that damn statue...

“What - what is that?”

Her girlfriend, of course, was expecting the question. “It’s a Satomobile. Like a carriage with an engine inside, so it can move on its own.”

Thanks, ‘Sami-

“You’re putting me in this… thing.” It was obvious that Azula was trying to be intimidating again, as she had yesterday - and it was actually very effective. “And then where are you taking me?”

“We’re going to Avatar Korra Park,” Bolin said after a few moments. “And maybe some other-”

“Why are you lying to me?”

...well, here we go.

I was wondering when this would happen...

Looking at the girl in the wheelchair, it was frighteningly obvious how she had become a victim after the Hundred Year War. Even in her current state - terrified and confused, with no idea where she was or even who she was - Azula seemed incapable of backing down. It was that aura of strength that had made her a victim of the White Lotus’s manipulations in the first place, and had made it so her predecessor and his friends never considered that she was a child. 

And it would make getting through to her difficult, too - Korra could only hope that the princess would allow herself to change, to recover.

“We aren’t lying to you-”

“You can’t possibly be telling the truth.” Azula’s sharp golden eyes flashed across all of them. “I don’t know what you’re trying, faking kindness toward me-”

“It’s not fake-”

“It can’t possibly be real-”

She and her friends had been considering Lin’s words since the previous day. Prove to her that she has a life left to live.

Actions speak louder than words.

“Look, I completely understand that you don’t believe us,” Korra said, directing her gaze at Azula - the princess glared back, of course, but slightly less angrily. “I wouldn’t expect you to-”

“That’s what she said - yesterday.” Now Azula was looking at Asami. “I can at least remember-”

Then the girl shut up - she doesn’t want to admit she’s weak - and stubbornly looked down at her feet. That only lasted for a few seconds, though, before something that Korra had been expecting for quite a while happened - Naga leaned forward and tried to lick her face.

Oh Yue-

Immediately, Azula started, blue sparks jumping off her hands, and the polar bear dog backed up quickly-

Naga-

All right, she’s fine-

When she looked back at Azula, the girl was staring at her, and now the fear in her eyes was completely obvious. She was expecting something to happen - she had just tried to burn Naga, even if perhaps unintentionally - but Korra wasn’t going to punish her for it. She just needed to be diplomatic about warning her-

I’m not a parent-

“Please don’t try to hurt Naga,” she said patiently. “I understand you don’t want to be licked, but you can just tell her no and she’ll leave you alone.”

The princess looked at her, eyes sharp as if daring her to act. “What, too weak to punish me-”

“I’m not out for revenge against you.” With a deep sigh, Korra backed up slightly towards the Satomobile. “I don’t like that you lashed out at Naga, but I’m not going to try and hurt you back. I just want you to not do it again.”

Hopefully that’s the right way to say it...

“Are we ready to go, then, Korra?”

Quickly scanning her friends’ faces, it didn’t seem like any of them had an objection to Asami’s reminder - and while Azula was still very intimidating, she apparently had no intention of actually objecting. That thought caused Korra to feel rather queasy. 

She doesn’t feel like she can say no… that’s bad.

“Like Asami said yesterday, you don’t have to believe that we’re trying to help you just because we say it,” she reiterated, stepping to the side as Mako moved the wheelchair to one of the back doors. “But we’ll prove it to you.” 

Her girlfriend nodded, then opened the door - she was lingering, not getting in the driver’s seat yet. “One of us can pick you up-”

“I can walk.”

Seriously?

Korra was pretty sure that Kya had said the girl wouldn’t be capable of much physical activity. But at the same time, she had been the same-

“I’ll help you, then.” She quickly extended a hand, holding it within Azula’s reach as Asami opened the door. “But be careful, okay? You’re still really weak.”

I hope-

With a short huff, Azula gripped her hand as tightly as she could. 

 


 

Even if Azula tried, it seemed impossible for her to remember what it felt like to sit, unconcerned, on the grass.

She couldn’t remember the majority of everything else around her, of course - the shimmering steel buildings that seemed to slice into the sky around them, the bustling city, the strange machine that had carried them to the park. But Azula knew she should have been able to recall-

I remembered that-

“Hey, do you not like the miso?”

I-

The soup was different from what she had had on the island, but it wasn’t bad. “It’s… good.”

“I’m glad.” The older girl looked away from her for a moment - she was watching her girlfriend, who was entertaining several children by waterbending shapes near the stream. It was very different from the few imposing images of the Avatar she remembered, or the enormous statue that had loomed over the bay- 

“So, what do you think of Republic City so far?”

I… don’t know…

“It’s… I couldn’t tell yet.”

The answer was clear, almost immediate - don’t be open, they’re trying to manipulate you - but it felt like she was sliding on ice trying to follow it. Azula knew that was bad, that she was already losing her self-control-

What control did you ever-

“It’s definitely a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Asami said - gentle as they were, the words were something focused, unlike her own thoughts. “I think you’ll like it, though, once you get used to it.”

“Is the Fire Nation like this?”

Really, Azula didn’t remember the Fire Nation - not well, not through all the broken-glass mist that the all-light had intoxicated her with - but it was her nation, nonetheless. Her home - she had fought for it, her whole life, and only suffered, and now she couldn’t even recall- 

Are they-

“The Fire Nation is pretty advanced too these days, don’t worry.” It was concerning that the other girl knew exactly what she was thinking, apparently, but the information was more important - and Azula was hungry, terribly so, but she knew enough to not eat too much yet. “I work with a lot of other tech people from Caldera City and a few other places in the Fire Nation. They’re one of the most scientifically advanced parts of the world, along with Zaofu, and of course Republic City.”

There was another name she didn’t remember - or that she didn’t know in the first place. “What is Zaofu?”
“That’s the city of the Metal Clan.”

The Metal Clan-

That girl - Toph - she bent metal-

Yet again, Azula realized, she knew absolutely nothing. There had been no Zaofu or Republic City in her time - there was complete absence there, instead of the hazy probability that meant she knew something but couldn’t remember. But Asami was a scientist - she was just starting to realize that, the young woman spoke with too much interest and knowledge to be anything else - and that meant that she-

“Hey, ‘Sami!”

That was Korra, sprinting back over, and the other girl simply laughed, standing and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Did you finally get those kids to leave you alone?”

“Yeah,” the Water Tribe girl replied - she hadn’t stopped hugging Asami yet, either, and Azula watched in curious apprehension. “I mean, I’m sure someone else will come over here at some point, there is kind of a giant statue of me right in the middle of the park, but I might as well enjoy some peace and quiet.”

“Where did the other two go?”

I-

Bad-

The question had slipped out too fast, and Korra looked at her oddly. “Mako and Bolin? I think they went to get lunch somewhere else, they weren’t feeling going to the same place.”

“I see.” She was still suspicious, but less so - it didn’t seem like the Avatar was lying, or a particularly good liar. “They’re… good friends of yours.”

“Like Korra said, Team Avatar.”

Azula nodded slightly, watching - the two still had their arms around each other. “And you two are… more than friends.”

That’s supposed to be wrong-

But I don’t even remember if any of this matters - and I don’t know if it did-

“Yeah, we are,” Korra said, her tone shifting just a little bit. “Times change, though. I know that the Fire Nation banned same-sex relationships during your time, but that’s not true anymore.”

“I can tell.”

But why-

“Azula, I know it’s weird to you, because of what you learned when you were young.” The sudden sobriety in Asami’s tone was concerning. “But a lot of what you were taught was wrong.”

She tensed - have I heard that, no, I don’t know - and looked back at the pair, her bowl of miso broth now completely forgotten. So that was their plan, they were trying to convince her to follow them-

But I don’t even understand-

They have to be trying to manipulate me.

“So you’re trying to convince me to follow you,” she said, her own tone hardening in response. “That’s why-”

“We’re being nice because we want to help-”

“Yes, you want to-”

“Azula, we’re trying… I’m terrible at explaining this, I’m sorry, but please hear us out.” With a sigh, Asami paused and restarted. “We just don’t want you to get stuck holding onto the past-”

I don’t even remember, I don’t even-

“-and not being able to heal.”

The two of them were looking at each other again, and Azula recalled what the half-Fire Nation girl had said earlier, that she had helped Korra recover from being poisoned years ago. It was something she seemed to care a lot about - that both of them seemed to care a lot about, and that wasn’t something the princess could quite comprehend.

There isn’t anything else-

“Hey, Korra! Asami!”

Following the distant shouts, Azula saw the two brothers - they are brothers, they mentioned it, I was listening - running back toward them. They were both carrying folded boxes, the same sort of folded boxes that their food had come in earlier - and a fire ferret, of course, perched on Bolin’s container, clinging on for dear life.

“I see you got dumplings,” Korra commented, leaving their conversation by the wayside. “One of the food carts?”

As he stopped near them, the firebender - Mako, he has a lightning scar, how - nodded. “The ‘Fire Nation’ ones are actually almost as spicy as the real thing.”

He does look a little red…

“Can I have one?”

The four of them looked at her, and Asami sighed. “I’m pretty sure Kya already told you you aren’t ready to eat solid food yet, Azula.”

“I might have remembered that.” She definitely shouldn’t have asked - that was undignified, to beg from these people who were trying to manipulate her-

But you don’t even-

“It must suck to not be able to really walk around yet, huh?” Bolin said commiseratingly. “I can get you back into the chair if you want, and wheel you around so you can-”

“You don’t have to pity me.”

The mere thought felt stale in her mouth. This wasn’t the Fire Nation - wasn’t the superiority she knew, and that seemed to be slipping away from her as though she was crawling on ice. Even with the little she was aware of, things were not the same as they had been-

Smiling wryly, Asami shook her head. “It’s not pity, Azula, it’s empathy. You really sound like Korra did.”

“Yeah, she is kind of right.” It seemed that the Avatar was in agreement with her girlfriend, and the two brothers were also giving glances behind her back that suggested to Azula that they too understood. “We’re not here because we’re trying to mock you, or hurt you, or convince you to do anything. Though I would like it if you’d stay friends with us.” Stopping for a moment, Korra beamed again - the same lopsided smile as before. “And I really want to learn how you did all that crazy magnet trick-”

“We can talk about lightningbending later, Korra, you’re still not that good at it.”

So he does know...

And he’s teaching the Avatar… interesting…

That was one thing Azula remembered too well - the unknown katas and knowledge that the all-light had wielded through her - even if she was too weak to handle it. And these people were genuine in their interest, and the genuine were never-

“Also, you should stop pressuring Azula,” Asami said, glancing back at her. “I’m as curious as you two are, but please don’t start interrogating her about-”

She wants to know about her discipline-

“Yeah, sorry.”

“-she’ll talk about it if she wants to.”

“Hey, Azula, have you ever heard of lavabending before?”

The comment from Bolin immediately intrigued her - she knew of the ability, from old legends and research on the past Avatars who wielded multiple elements together - but what he was implying was entirely different. “Is that possible?”

“Yeah, it is!” A showman’s smile crossed the earthbender’s face - he pulled with one hand, and suddenly the black volcanic glass bands on his belt shifted and flowed away, forming into a glowing orb of molten rock in the air between his two hands. “Asami came up with the idea of having the obsidian on my waist, by the way. It’s really cool, right - or hot, get it?”

Of course-

How powerful are these people - and they’re just making jokes?

“I think you might have scared her, Bo.”

For a moment, Azula resisted the urge to shout - I’m not scared - but it would be futile. They knew they were stronger than she was, at the moment, and they could choose to keep her from regaining her strength if they wanted-

You will never rise again-

“Uhh… are you sure you don’t want me to show you some more of the park?”

“I already saw the statue,” Azula retorted dryly - it had been quite interesting, less intimidating than one might have expected from an Avatar - certainly less so than the previous incarnation’s looming, unnerving presence. “And the ‘skyscrapers’ too. And it’s not as nice when you can’t walk more than a meter on your own.”

Korra nodded quickly, her expression still pitying - or perhaps something else, an emotion she didn’t understand. “We can just go to Asami’s if you want, it’ll be a lot calmer there. And I’m sure she’d love to explain-”

Their house?

“So you’re taking me with you after this.”

“Yeah.” The scientist - it makes sense, it does - turned to look at her as well. “Korra and I think you’ll like it better there than on Air Temple Island. But you can go back there if you want.”

I-

Really, Azula knew, there wasn’t anything she could do other than work with the Avatar and her friends. But she could learn more - from Asami, and from Korra, and any of these people who seemed more than willing to talk with her - and perhaps gain some understanding of the situation she was in. 

Just wait, and think.

Notes:

Well, well, guess what it is - another chapter! I'm back to normal content in this series, after the small Iroh-related oneshot, so here's Azula's field trip.

I wanted to do a lot of stuff, but unfortunately Azula can't do too much without being able to walk around. So there'll probably be a time-skip at some point of a couple of days to where she can, so the final big complicated issue of this fic will be able to happen. But we will get more fluff (?) and interaction with Korra and Asami, and various other people.

Also, if you want to know what exactly happens at the end of this, 1) read the oneshot and 2) check the tags. Honestly, we've gotten past the worst of the drama, at least in this larger fic - the aforementioned oneshot does have some drama and angst in it too. But this is actually winding down, believe it or not, because things are getting better.

Uhh... comments?

Chapter 19

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Can I talk to Asami?”

Opening her eyes, she saw Kya looking down questioningly, a gauntlet of water still wrapped around her right hand. That water had been on her temples a few moments ago - the healer was trying to do something to soothe her mind, and as much as Azula distrusted anything of the sort she couldn’t easily refuse-

I don’t want to be ordered around, Azula. 

But if you want anything, ask me and I’ll do my best.

The older woman did listen to her - that was unusual in itself - and what she was doing didn’t harm her. A few times, when she closed her eyes as the water flowed over her skin, she had even felt a deep, soothing blue

It didn’t distract much from the hunger pangs, though-

“I believe she’s working at the moment, but I can take you up to her office.” Bending the water back into the flask at her hip - I’m not going to hurt you - Kya stepped over to the wheelchair. “Did you want to ask her something?”

“I… yes.”

Asami - Asami was nice, and that made some part of her feel reassured even though she knew it was all a lie. Out of all of them the engineer was the easiest to-

“Here, I’ll come get-”

No-

I have to be able to move on my own.

“I want to try to walk,” Azula said bluntly, sitting up. “I did earlier-”

“You walked down this hallway earlier, Azula, but not up the stairs.” Now the healer was looking at her - kind, but undoubtedly uncompromising. “And I know we could take the elevator, but you’ve already moved an incredible amount today, considering how injured you are-”

“You can just say it.”

Don’t-

Rolling the wheelchair closer, Kya sighed. “I know you think you’re weak, but you aren’t. The fact that you’re asking me to let you walk again already shows just how strong you are, Azula.”

“I still have to-”

“How about this?” The older woman gave her a look - it’s not pity, Azula, it’s empathy - and extended a hand. “You can walk down the hall while holding onto the wall for as long as you can, and I’ll take you in the wheelchair once you aren’t able to.”

She’s-

It was a challenge - that much was immediately obvious to Azula. But it was one she had to take on, for her own sake, and Kya wouldn’t mock her-

“Fine.”

Don’t trust them… 

They’re trying to manipulate you.

“Here,” Kya said warmly, helping her to her feet. “You can try to stand up now.”

It was difficult to even balance for longer than several seconds, the princess had found - her legs didn’t quite seem to remember how to walk. She knew she had been walking, running even from what Korra had told her about how they found her, but that had been the all-light that called itself Jeff-

What a strange-

“Try holding onto the wall, or at least stay-”

She interrupted the older woman with an indignant huff, grabbing the door frame to steady herself. “I don’t want your help.”

“But you very clearly need it.” A little bit of amusement slipped onto Kya’s face. “And we’re not helping you for any reason other than that you deserve it.”

You deserve this-

The vicious splinter of memory had a far different tone than the Water Tribe healer’s voice had, but it sounded eerily similar, and Azula stumbled, nearly falling from-

“Here, put your hand on the wall again.”

It was impossible that Kya was trying to help her just because she wanted to - you deserve this, psychotic - but at the same time it was the most reasonable thing she could think of. And Agni, she wanted-

Damn it-

Don’t let yourself-

“Here’s the chair, Azula, you’re going to be fine.”

She couldn’t walk all the way down a hallway on her own. She was not fine - absolutely not fine in the least. But she could pretend-

They already know I’m not fine-

Taking a seat in the wheelchair, the princess sighed as Kya pushed her into the elevator. She had wanted to make it to wherever Asami’s office was - somewhere on the third floor, down a hall and up an elevator - on her own, but clearly that was not going to happen. And if she couldn’t walk all the way down a hallway without falling apart, there was no way she could defend herself.

“If I may ask, why did you want to talk to Asami?”

I-

And there was the problem - she knew exactly why she wanted to talk to Asami, or her girlfriend, or anyone else. They were acting nice toward her - trying to get her to be friendly, to join them - and it was working. Azula hated that she was falling for an obvious trap so easily, it had to be fake-

But Agni, she wanted it, wanted to feel close-

And her past seemed so far-

“It’s none of your business.”

The older woman laughed. “I had a feeling you would say that. But you can trust us-”

“How many times are you going to say that, then?” The elevator doors opened - another thing that was new, that interested Azula. “It’s obvious you don’t really-”

“Until you believe it.”

That’s exactly what Korra said...

They really want me to trust them, don’t they?

Clearly they were willing to go to great lengths to convince her-

“Asami?” An accompanying knock startled her into opening her eyes - they were in a completely different hallway, Kya rapping on a door next to her. “Are you in there? Azula asked to come up and-”

“Hang on just a moment!”

The voice was muffled, and it was impossible to hear anything else from the other side of the door. Unlike the thin walls in the Air Temple, the Sato estate had excellent soundproofing, a vaguely familiar feeling to-

The door opened, Asami looking at her. “Did you want to talk?”

I-

I do-

“Yes.”

As Kya turned the wheelchair and pushed it in, Azula scanned the room intently. It was an office - or perhaps a workshop, if the scattered devices on the desk were any evidence. She could see a glove similar to the one that Asami habitually wore - I think it’s some kind of weapon, or a tool - and a mechanical model of a Satomobile. From one corner of the room, Naga the polar bear dog lifted her head, looking at her curiously, then laid back down.

Without a doubt, it was an interesting place - and the other-sense told her it was very charged, as well. Even if Azula didn’t understand what it meant yet, there was recognizable energy, she had been feeling it on and off-

“So, why did you come up here?” The engineer put some papers down and smiled brightly at her. “More questions?”

“I want some answers.”

She had been half expecting Asami to refuse - but instead the expression on her face morphed in a moment to one of resignation. “I knew you would eventually. Kya, can you just pull the wheelchair somewhere she feels comfortable? This is going to be rather long.”

Why are they-

Clearly the people who were taking care of her had expected the question, broad in scope though it might be. Azula wondered what they would say - almost more than she wondered what the actual tale of her ruined mind was. There was no denying that the thought was frightening, but not knowing seemed far worse to her.

“What happened to me?” She had to do it - to ask, to find out. “I need to know, Asami-”

“It’s not good, Azula.”

“Do you not think I can handle it?” the firebender replied tersely - a sudden flare of returning flame surged in her chest. “It’s my past. If you really want to help, then you’ll tell me what happened to me.”

I have to know.

With a deep sigh, Kya looked at her, blue eyes filled with unrestrained trepidation. “We’ll tell you what we can. But it won’t be pleasant.”

Even with only the chromatic sand of her memories to sift through, Azula knew that she had been expecting nothing else.

 


 

Mako put his mug down with a thump, and a loud sigh. “I don’t think the RCPD can stop him from just showing up, Korra.”

Damn it… I knew this was going to happen.

“You said he’s on his way right now?” 

“According to the message Mother sent, he left with Druk a few hours ago-”

“Which probably means he’s almost here,” Princess Niko interrupted -she hadn’t even bothered with the hot cocoa. “And he’s definitely going to want to see Azula-”

I just-

“Yue and La, how does he even think this is a good idea?” With a huff, Korra wrapped her hand around her own mug, unfreezing the drink. “She was terrified of the mention of him even when Jeff had her on whatever mental anesthesia they were using. Now?” She breathed deeply again, the ceramic growing significantly hotter. “It’s going to be awful.”

No one even bothered to state their agreement - it was completely obvious. Their planning meeting had been interrupted by Fire Lord Izumi contacting Iroh to warn him that Zuko was on his way, and everyone knew that that was a disaster waiting to happen. Korra knew that the old Fire Nation diplomat was too important to simply dismiss offhand - and she also knew that he was just as stubborn as she was.

Great…

So he’s going to want to see her… but how do we keep her from freaking out?

“I mean, Azula can’t hurt him, right?”

“Probably, but I really don’t want to underestimate her either,” Korra replied with a sigh. “She may not be possessed anymore, but she has her firebending, and she might be able to surprise him.”

“Surprise Grandfather?”

I know-

Stupid though it might have sounded, this was Azula - and the Azula that had wielded powers that unnerved even the Avatar herself. “You didn’t fight her, I did. And Jeff possessed her for decades, there’s no telling what kind of consequences that might have had for her bending.”

Again, no one knew how to respond to that, and the room descended into concerned silence. Korra was having a hard time not lashing out - she was pretty mad at Zuko, both for notifying the White Lotus and now for showing up on them without asking. She had wanted control over the situation-

“Why did he even come here anyway?”

“From what Mother said, he’s worried about her,” Iroh answered, looking out a window towards the courtyard - watching for Druk, probably. “And I think he also wants some control over the narrative when the news that she’s back gets out. He’s going to make a personal statement.”

Ah… that’s actually smarter.

Not that Zuko is stupid… I mean, maybe he is, but not that stupid.

“The miracle is that the information hasn’t leaked yet, whether from the White Lotus directly or from one of the major governments.” Taking another sip of his hot cocoa - thank the spirits they’re selling it everywhere now - Mako breathed deliberately, adding to the firebent warmth in the room. “I’m pretty sure all of the world leaders know by now, but they’re keeping it silent.”

Niko looked directly at her, a proud smirk crossing her face for a moment. “I think Korra may have had something to do with that.”

“Yeah, I… kind of pushed everyone in the network into keeping it secret.”

I have to sometimes-

“A little bit of Avatar intimidation goes a long way, I guess,” Bolin said with a chuckle. “But people are going to find out eventually, right? So you’re just trying to make sure it’s not, like, a huge thing.”

“Pretty much.”

Korra didn’t like politics, but she had gotten competent at it, at least. It was as much a part of the Avatar as Raava themself, and as much a force of order and intrigue that had to be treated warily. And having the assistance of Tenzin, and the cooperation and trust of the different world leaders of her time, helped a lot too.

They’re not… well, angry at the Fire Nation that way anymore.

There’s still tension, but no one is looking for blood like they were back then.

“We have to work with him.”

“Yeah, I know,” Korra replied, looking out the window into the approaching sunset. “And it’s not like he’s trying to hurt - help, really. But Azula isn’t really accepting help from anyone.”

 


 

I lost-

It wasn’t as though she didn’t know - everything Asami and Kya said slipped neatly into her mind, filled in gaps where the all-light had taken like a flame brushed feather-gentle across a scroll. Detached, not like memory - thank Agni I don’t have to feel - but logically it all made sense.

She was Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai, and she had lost. And she had always known that the consequences of defeat-

It was wrong-

The whole world knows that now-

“It was what they should have done,” she replied - who are you trying to convince, yourself? - her voice artificially smooth. “I lost, what else was I-”

“That doesn’t make it right!”

Of course, Azula knew that - when had anything in war ever been moral? That was the easiest way to end up dead. “Of course not-”

“That’s all we want you to think about, Azula.” One of Kya’s hands rested on her shoulder, and she winced involuntarily. “It wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t right. Just think about it.”

Don’t patronize-

“It was, I would have-”

Would she have? She wasn’t trying to fight now - she was trying to run, and cowardly though that was Azula preferred the thought of escape to any notions of revenge or honor. Those things had left her imprisoned and alone, possessed by an alien spirit and reduced to a shadow of her former self-

And there was no revenge to be had against these people anyway, not these people who were talking to her as she sat in a wheelchair with a polar bear dog’s head settled in her lap-

“Azula, can you breathe with me?”

They know-

Focusing her eyes on a small machine on a shelf, she spoke again, more hollowly. “I know what a conscience is, but when you’re fighting a war you can’t afford to listen to it.”

And for some reason, that statement seemed to break the hearts of the two women in front of her. Azula could hear something in her mind - this is weakness, this concern - but it was the voice of her father, she knew now, and it sounded hollow-

“You listened to it a lot for someone who thinks they didn’t,” Kya added, a little dryly. “That doesn’t make what you did right, but it doesn’t make you a monster, either.”

How-

Had she said that? Or did these people just know everything about her, about a past that didn’t even belong to her anymore?

“The Fire Nation was trying to help-”
“That’s what you remember, right?” Her expression sad, Asami looked at her - like watching a drowning man grasp at reeds from a bridge. “It was wrong, Azula. The Fire Nation was trying to win a war, so they made it about helping others instead of what it was.”

She’s telling the truth… or what she believes…

And something went wrong…

Another deep breath - in and hold - and then she spoke again. “Is that why we lost, then? Because we weren’t superior?”

“Because people have the right to live their lives,” the engineer responded, conviction leaking into her voice. “And when that right is taken away from them, they fight back.”

When we-

“And that’s why this happened.”

“That’s why people fought back against the Fire Nation.” Kya’s hand had not left her shoulder - that part of her that wanted trust was grateful. “What happened to you happened because some powerful people decided that the best way to keep the peace was to blame a child, and because no one ever stopped them until it was too late.”

So morality mattered - that was what Azula was getting, what she was being told. Maybe she had been thinking it already, in those weeks she couldn’t remember whatsoever that she now knew had been spent in an asylum and a prison as her fate had been discussed. And that was wrong, despite it being the best decision logistically, the decision that she should have made-

Would I have?

“This is too much, Azula.”

That definitely wasn’t a lie-

“Look, I know this is a lot, but we at least want you to understand that you aren’t in danger with us,” Asami said uncertainly. “We’re not going to try and punish you for things you did over seventy years ago, and that you shouldn’t have been punished like that for in the first place-”

“Punished ‘like that’ - so what, you’re going to imprison me?” That was a frightening thought, frightening fragments-

“We just said we aren’t going to do that, Azula!”

...they did… yes.

Listen more carefully.

Finally lifting her hand away, Kya spoke, her voice suddenly more brisk. “What we want is to help you live. And for that, you need to be healthy, and you need to eat, because I just realized it’s about that time of day.”

Of course the healer knew how to distract her - even with the conversation, Azula could feel the gnawing emptiness in her gut, surging even more at the mention of dinner. It was getting late, and she was really starving, and if she didn’t have to think about this anymore for even a little while she would take that opportunity.

“Are we going to the dining room, then?” Asami questioned. “I can ask Lei to bring more broth-”

“Can I have mochi?”

The two women looked at her - the Republic City engineer and the Water Tribe healer, cooperating somehow. Asami was opening the door - she’s going to push the wheelchair? - and Naga was standing up, nudging her with her enormous nose. And of course, Kya was deep in thought about her request-

“I think you can have one.” 

“That…” The wheelchair jolted as it started moving out of the door, and Azula breathed deeply again. “That would be nice.”

Notes:

Is this... recovery? Maybe?

Actually it's impending drama, because Zuko is coming and Azula is wrestling with questions like "I'm not a monster?" and "what happened to me was wrong rather than the natural consequence of losing out?" and things like that. But it's also recovery, and that's important, because I need happiness in what I write and I'm way too good at inconclusive bittersweet endings.

(Also polar bear dog therapy is a go.)

I'd love to hear from all you readers about what you think of this chapter!

Chapter 20

Notes:

Trigger warning for a character threatening/momentarily considering committing suicide.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“I still don’t think this is a good idea, Zuko.”

The former Fire Lord simply nodded as he slid off of Druk’s head, the dragon promptly coiling up in the sunniest spot in the courtyard. “I’m well aware, Korra. And I certainly overreacted when I notified the White Lotus immediately, and I apologize for that. It was a poorly thought out decision.” With a deep sigh, Lord Zuko looked down at the ground. “I hope I can make up for it.”

That’s… that’s more up to Azula.

Especially now that she knows what’s going on.

“Well, it helps that we’re the ones telling everyone that she’s alive,” Korra replied, looking at the old firebender with a grin. “What? I’ve been hanging out with your kids for a while.”

“And it helps that no one leaked the information-”

Mhm-

“Yes, Korra certainly made that clear enough.” With a laugh, Zuko reached out to hug his granddaughter - she looked rather uncomfortable, but accepted it nonetheless. “We may still have problems, but I think the wider world will be all right with her being alive. Especially considering she’s in the Avatar’s hands.”

The last statement made Korra wince. She and Asami had spoken about that the previous night, before they went to bed - the world would definitely expect them to act as Azula’s caretakers, and they weren’t unwilling to take on that role, but everyone seemed to be forgetting one thing. In the end, that decision was down to Azula herself, and there was no telling what choice she would make.

Assuming, of course, that she wasn’t simply planning to escape out of paranoia. Which, in the Avatar’s opinion, was incredibly likely, at least once she was healthy enough to flee. They would just have to try to dissuade the princess from that as best they could.

This isn’t exactly as controllable as any of us would like…

And control isn’t what Azula needs at all. 

“So, are we going to go and talk to her?” 

Korra felt her girlfriend shrug, tugging on her hand a bit. “We need to have a conversation about what that’s going to be like first. And probably also some lunch.”

Yeah… that too…

As she strode along next to Asami, the Water Tribe girl wondered what Azula was doing at the moment. Kya was waiting in the dining room for them - assuming their plan for the day had worked out well, she would have brought the firebender an early lunch. And they had warned her in advance, too, and made it quite clear that if she didn’t want to talk to Zuko-

“You realize that she might say she doesn’t want to see you, right?”

“I remember you mentioning that yesterday,” the old man said with a sigh. “Didn’t you say that she doesn’t know-”

“She was afraid of you even when Jeff was possessing her.” Just a glance over her shoulder was clearly enough for Asami to get the point across “And she asked us to tell her what happened to her yesterday, and we did. So I don’t know what she’ll think.”

Certainly-

“As long as you respect her wishes, Zuko, it’ll be fine.”

Behind her, Korra heard the old firebender sigh. “I will, though it may make working on the address more difficult. But I don’t see how I can’t just say outright that she doesn’t want to see me, after all. The public might simply have to accept that.”

Yeah…

The thing is… I really don’t know much about what she’s thinking, or about how to help her… well, help her help herself.

“Does she know who we are?” Iroh asked, from slightly behind his grandfather. “That Niko and I are her… well, niece and nephew?”

…and there’s that… I don’t know how that will work out…

“She hasn’t met you or Izumi yet, and we haven’t told her because she didn’t ask much about her family.” According to the summary Asami had given her, Azula hadn’t actually asked much when she was listening - she had been concerningly quiet, and concerningly self-deprecating. That was something-

“Wait for me!”
Jinora?

Quickly turning around, Korra saw the young airbending master running down the hallway towards them, followed closely by her boyfriend. Apparently they had-

“Why did you guys come here?” Mako questioned, shifting a little bit away from Princess Niko - the Water Tribe girl had to suppress a giggle at that. “We’ve already got enough-”

Fluttering to a stop in a swirl of air, Jinora looked at them - she was wearing a familiar expression of determination. “We wanted to see if there was any way we could help. I mean… I know what happened to Azula, and I think I could help if I talked to her.” 

I mean… that’s not a bad idea…

Clearly both of the airbenders had been thinking about this for a while - and Korra didn’t exactly want to refuse, because they had a good point. If there was anyone else who was equipped to help Azula deal with the clearly overwhelming amount of trauma, it was Jinora, and Kai was a surprisingly good person to talk to-

And they were both around Azula’s age. Maybe that would mean something.

“We can talk about this over lunch,” Iroh said, ever the diplomat. “We’re not going to see her until after then anyway. And I think Zuko-”

Well, we should talk-

But we can’t just send them away, they’re right.

“No, actually it might be a good idea for Jinora to try and talk to her first.” Korra shared a glance with Asami as they walked through another doorway, getting a slight, terse nod in response. “It could help her calm down. But I agree that we should talk about it over lunch.”

“Did you two already eat?”

Kai’s quick nod was almost audible behind her. “Yeah, we did. We can just wait with you while you eat.”

That works.

Apparently no one else had any objections, because the minute or so more they spent walking to the dining room were spent in absolute silence. Even once they had all sat down and Kya had joined them, no one really spoke - it seemed that all of them were in a very serious mood. Which, Korra would be the first to admit, even the best ready-made sushi and dumplings wouldn’t easily fix, given the situation. 

This is going to be really tense no matter what…

I honestly can’t tell whether it would be better for Azula to talk to Lord Zuko or not at this point… she always has the option to wait.

“She is fine, right?”

At Jinora’s question, the waterbending healer sighed. “Physically, she will be completely fine - she needs to take it easy, but none of the damage is something that won’t heal quickly. Mentally-”

She’s still suspicious and unsure-

“-considering how much trauma she has to deal with, I don’t know what will happen.”

“You are planning to stay here and work with her, right?” Asami asked from next to her, one hand brushing Korra’s side with worried quickness. “I think she’s really liked you so far-”
“Yes, I’ve made sure Katara knows that I’m not coming back for a while, and I believe she also knows why.” Breathing deeply again, Kya shrugged. “I don’t think she’ll object in the least - Mom may be stubborn, but she’s not cruel. And she recognizes what happened.”

Too late , was the subtext - the same regret that Korra knew Zuko felt. She recognized it too late.

And Azula is so hurt-

“So that’s another person who knows.”

The atmosphere in the room coiled, charged - don’t think those words, you’ll start feeling the wires in the walls again - as Mako spoke, his tunapus roll ignored. They all knew what that meant.

“We can’t count on our secrecy to hold much longer,” Princess Niko agreed, a confirming nod from her grandfather adding to the severity. “Not with the information spreading like this.”

“And we do have to control the narrative.”

As much as those words sounded corrupt to her, Korra knew that the royalty and her old friend were right - she was that aware of politics. “Is anyone else going to eat right now? Because if not, we should just go and do this now.”

I really don’t think I can…

“It doesn’t look like it.” Leaving her plate, Kya stood, gesturing to the door. “We should go and try to work this out with her, then. It’s not a good idea to let her sit in her own thoughts, we’ve learned that much.”

That convinced everyone to stand - haltingly, and in Lord Zuko’s case with an incredibly pained expression, but they did rise. Korra rose too, holding Asami’s hand tightly as they both pushed their chairs back, readying to leave the room. 

“And Zuko - if she says no, then you accept that.”

The older firebender nodded sadly. “I understand.”

It seems like he does… but it’s hard to know.

Katara always said Zuko was one of the most stubborn people she knew…

“We’ll just stay outside-”

“Actually, Iroh, it may be a good idea for you or Niko to talk to her,” Lord Zuko interjected thoughtfully. “Azula has good reasons to dislike me, but she may not feel the same about you. And knowing her, she’d find it amusing that her grand-niece and nephew are older than her.”

Leading them out of the dining room, Kya huffed. “Maybe, but it’s not a good idea to spit that in her face either.”

Yeah…

Like their initial walk from the courtyard, the two minutes they all spent walking through the halls towards Azula’s room were completely silent - silent, but incredibly tense. Had it just been Korra and Asami, or Kya, or even Mako and Bolin as well, they would not have felt so concerned, but they had a number of other people with them, most of them people whose presence the lost princess would not take as well. Even the fact that there were so many of them there at once could easily make her suspicious.

“Maybe we should stop right here.” It seemed that Bolin was aware of the issue, too - he had spoken rather softly, at the top of the last stairs before they entered the hall where Azula’s room was. “Korra and Asami can go and talk to her first, and then… well, hopefully we can figure out what’s going on?”

I think that’s a better plan.

We really don’t want to scare her… or give her a reason to be more wary than she already is…

“Thank you, Bolin.”

With a nod, Kya waved them both forward. “I agree, the two of you are the people she seems to listen to most, other than me. And she seems to relate to you more, too”

I don’t know…

“Come on, love,” Asami said, tugging her hand. “It’ll be fine.”

Following her girlfriend, Korra approached the door. There was something wrong - an unease she couldn’t shake - and even as she reached up to knock briskly, she breathed deeply, worried.

“Azula?”

There was no response. And when she extended her seismic sense through the floor as best she could - damn separated floor architecture - there was no heartbeat, either.

Somehow, Azula had escaped.

 


 

Leaning back on the hard, scratchy wooden surface of the crate, Azula breathed. In and out - like Kya told you, meditation - to calm herself, and also to rest. It had taken a lot of effort to get to where she was, and it would take a lot more to do anything further.

Don’t hurt yourself by trying too hard.

Again, something that the people who were holding her captive - taking care of her, trying to help her - had said. And it was good advice, and advice she had taken seriously when she was wheeling the chair down here, and when she was climbing onto the box to avoid being detected-

They had been helpful - were helpful, Azula knew, and that made her feel conflicted about trying to flee in the first place. But she had to, nonetheless-

And now she had no idea how to move forward.

Think…

You still need to get out of here.

That would be difficult, without a doubt - she had known that from the beginning - but she was desperate. Desperate like she had been after her bending had been taken, from what Asami had told her, desperate enough to flee into the icy wasteland north of Agna Qel’a-

Deathly desperate, suicidally so. It was a mercy that she couldn’t truly remember what that had felt like, even if she knew what had happened now.

Thank you…

The all-light had been trying to help. Whether it had succeeded, Azula wasn’t sure - it had sustained her life, but what it had left her with was a life filled with unknowns, things she didn’t understand and couldn’t-

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive this.”

A tear trickled down her face, questionably warm like the directionless flame in her chest. She had to stay quiet and undetected - if they find you, they’ll stop trying to be nice, you’ve already pushed them far enough - but it was pitch black and impenetrably silent in the strange warehouse closet. And Agni-

Agni, they’re so good at making me want things-

It felt like she was fighting against herself, when she tried to shut them out. When Asami tried to talk to her about the new technology, or Kya was healing her and kindly asking how she felt, or Korra showed her odd bending tricks that she had never seen before. And the princess knew that if she stayed - if she stayed, she would end up letting them in in the end.

She would end up trusting them, and everything she had heard told her that-

“They aren’t lying, are they?” Azula whispered into the shadows, something - electricity, the wires, energy - humming insistently around her, prominent in the emptiness. “I know-”

I know when people are lying, I know-

They aren’t-

“But what does that mean?”

The situation was incredibly complex - and the princess was well aware that her escape from the bedroom had only made it more so. This new Avatar and her friends seemed to be trying to be nice to her, which was completely unexpected, especially given what they themselves had told her about her past. But even if it wasn’t a ruse - it could be, but I don’t know what they would get out of it - they would be angry at her for trying to run. 

Which meant that if Azula wanted to take back her life, she needed to get out at some point before they found her. Unfortunately-

I barely managed to get down here-

Extending one hand, she summoned a flame - a clear cobalt flicker in her palm, the color and feeling that she missed intrinsically in a way she could barely comprehend or remember. But it was only a flicker, in the end, a tiny shard of life.

Why did they even bother giving it back?

There’s nothing left-

“Princess Azula?”

The faint azure of her flame was suddenly joined by another light, a soft blue glow that illuminated the room with gentle dimness. Looking up, she saw the outline of a girl hovering above her, somewhat short hair and wide eyes and an arrow on-

How-

It wasn’t the Avatar - the Avatar that took my bending, not Korra - but it was an airbender. A master airbender, she knew what the-

“Azula.” The girl spoke again, watching her. “Azula, everyone is really concerned.”

She’s worried-

“Worried about what, that I’m going to escape whatever you people have planned for me?”

The airbender - she can’t be real, how, I’ve done research on the airbenders and I never learned of this, but she doesn’t look like those did - appeared almost pained. “I know you’re scared, but we aren’t trying to hurt you.”

“I can’t believe that,” Azula responded bluntly, rolling over with some effort to look at the ethereal figure. “They told me what happened, airbender-”

“My name is Jinora, by the way.”

Jinora-

What in Agni’s name was she supposed to do in this situation? From the beginning, the princess had known that escape was a slim possibility - she was too desperate to not attempt it anyway, driven by the alternating horrors of fear and mindless despair. But now, with an intangible airbender following her-

“What do you even want?” She had asked that question so many times, and always gotten the same answer, but wariness - no, fear, I know - forced it out of her again. “You’re keeping me here and healing me, and saying you want to help, but what does that even mean for me?”

I know you want something-

“You’re planning to do something, I know.”

The projection looked at her, clearly concerned - and probably also trying to think of how to respond to her question. She wasn’t any older than Azula herself-

“Earlier today, your brother showed up,” Jinora began. “He wants-”

Of course.

Of course they were just trying to-

Raising her flickering right hand over her face, Azula scowled. “So this was all-”

“It’s not what-”

“Not what?” Her flame was a mere shard of power - but it was there, and she had let the cold take her before. Firebenders were hard to burn, but not impossible-

I won’t let them take my-

“Azula, please don’t do that!” the ethereal airbender said, terrified. “Just, please-”

“And why not?”

Why should I even take the chance?

There’s no way I can understand-

Shaking her head, Jinora shifted anxiously in the air. “Look, Azula, if you don’t want to talk to Lord Zuko I can tell Korra that, and he’ll leave. You don’t have to… to hurt yourself.”

“That’s not the problem,” the princess replied, voice dark - she didn’t move her hand, but the weak flame nearly extinguished itself. “What kind of future do you think I have here? Asami and Kya told me-”

“Azula, it’s been over seventy years.”

It’s been over-

How many times had that empty thought echoed in her mind in the past days? 

“No one is going to hurt you for things that happened such a long time ago.” With a sigh, the image of Jinora drifted along the wall, hands nervously gripped together. “You shouldn’t have been hurt in the first place for them at all. Azula, you need to let it go.”

We just don’t want you to get stuck holding on to the past-

“You’re seriously suggesting that I can just let them come and get me and nothing bad will happen.”

“It’s not a suggestion, Azula, I know nothing bad will happen,” the airbender-image replied - and she wanted so badly to listen, wanted so badly to accept that the child’s promises of mercy were true, even if she didn’t know what it meant for her own future. “None of us will let anything bad happen.”

Moving a bit herself, Azula sighed. “As if you’ll have a choice-”

“Have you met Korra?”

I-

That was undeniably true - the Avatar didn’t seem nearly as easy to push around as her predecessor. And she and her friends also seemed committed to helping her, and there really wasn’t a way to deny that, not when she was hearing and seeing it-

“Then tell them I don’t want to talk to… my brother.” Whatever Zuko wanted from her - he didn’t do the moral thing, didn’t care, none of them did, I don’t understand - Azula wanted none of it. “Banish him-”

Jinora actually laughed - it was a very friendly laugh, a disarming one. “Hey, I’ll let them know, all right? They already made sure he was ready to leave if you said no, and I don’t think he’d go back on that.” She stopped for a moment, considering, then spoke more softly. “And is it all right if I tell Korra and Kya where you are? This doesn’t look too comfortable.”

They won’t-

I don’t know that, but what can I do?

“Go ahead.”

The flame in her hand extinguished, and Azula let it fall, closing her eyes. There wasn’t really any point to any of this, she didn’t understand what was going on, and dear Agni-

“You’re going to be all right, Azula.” Something brushed her hand, or her, in a way that wasn’t quite physical - her eyes fluttered open to see a blur of soft blue. “I’m sorry, I wanted-”

“You didn’t hurt me, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said wearily. “I’m just… tired.”

So tired…

The blue light faded away into blackness, and Azula shut her eyes again. Once again, there was nothing else for her in that moment but to wait.

Notes:

Well... uhh... Merry Christmas? Or "Merry Crimbo" as some friends of mine said while shitposting at one point. Not that this chapter has much of either...

In all seriousness, this is the lowest it gets in this fic, with Azula holding a flame over her face in a storage closet. She's still terrified, and more than that, she's not sure what her life is going to be like, and not having proper firebending for a reason she doesn't understand isn't helping either. But next chapter will be a very significant improvement, I can promise that, and I think it's one you'll like.

Also, I updated Resurrections yesterday on Christmas Eve. Just wanted to mention it here in case people missed it... and there will probably be a New Year's sort of oneshot coming out soon in this 'verse, involving the Southern Water Tribe. So that's something.

Comments are, as always, appreciated!

Chapter 21

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

She’s back-

Jolting suddenly, Jinora looked around, turning to Asami in a panic. “Is Lord Zuko listening?”

“He’s in her bedroom with Iroh and Niko.” It had been the Crown Prince’s idea - the three of them would wait in the one place that they were sure Azula wasn’t hiding in while the rest of them figured out what was going on. “And we’re at the bottom of the second floor stairwell, there’s no way they can hear us. What is it?”

“Well, first of all,” the airbender replied, taking Kai’s offered hand, “she really doesn’t want to talk to her brother. She… she held a flame over her face when I mentioned it.”

Oh no-

“She didn’t actually hurt herself, did she?”

“No, but for a little bit it seemed like she would.” The shock on Jinora’s face almost hurt to look at - Asami highly doubted she’d been ready to talk down someone who was actively threatening self-harm. Just the thought was quite frightening. “I think she’s really scared and desperate, and that’s why she ran. She doesn’t know what’s happening to her, and she doesn’t really believe that you’re trying to help, or that you were telling her the truth about Zuko showing up and you being willing to stop him.”

That was a lot, Asami realized, that they needed to actually address - not that they hadn’t been trying. “So we really need to explain everything we can to her.”

Which is a good point… 

But we also don’t know exactly what we’re going to do… and we can’t really make her trust us, either.

“We’re planning to ask her to stay here, right?” Kya said exasperatedly from somewhere behind them. “So we need to do-”

“Where’s Korra?”

Uhm… I mean, that’s a good question?

“She went to go find Naga, I think the idea was that she could track Azula.” Mako, slightly surprisingly, stepped into the conversation with his typical severity. “But now that we know where she is, that doesn’t matter. Can you guide us to her?”

“Yeah, she’s in one of the warehouses.”

Not elaborating, Jinora simply leapt to her feet and started walking - very quickly, forcing all of them to immediately start moving in order to keep up with her. It was clear that she was worried, and that was plenty of reason for Asami to be worried too. None of them wanted the princess to get hurt, or to hurt herself-

And she was sure Azula knew that, even if she didn’t believe it. Certainly she and Korra knew that they cared about her, and it was probably pretty obvious, almost as obvious as their own relationship had become after they had revealed it. And their support of Azula wasn’t something either of them were planning to back down on, either.

It’s convincing her of that that’s going to be the problem…

Especially since Zuko showed up on us like this… we really should have just told him no from the beginning, in retrospect…

Huffing in irritation - and more than a little bit of worry - Asami glanced behind them. “And of course Korra’s still looking for Naga… hopefully she finds her way back here.”

“Polar bear dogs have good noses, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Kya replied, starting to run. “And Naga likes Azula, I think. I don’t know what Azula thinks of her, but she doesn’t seem to hate her - and even if she did, that dog is persistent.”

Which is the only strategy any of us has at the moment-

“Yeah.”

The six of them kept running after Jinora, down another flight of stairs onto the ground floor - there definitely wasn’t time to use the elevator, and it wouldn’t have been efficient anyway. Asami knew where they were going, to an extent - the young airbending master had mentioned a warehouse, one of the outlying buildings on the Sato estate, and if she had to guess it was probably the closest one to the mansion itself. Even getting out of the house undetected had to have been incredibly straining for Azula, so she probably hadn’t gone far.

“Do you think she’s hurt?” That was a blatantly rhetorical question - she’s definitely hurt, she wouldn’t have run off otherwise - so Asami continued more carefully. “I mean, is running off like this going to worsen her physical injuries? She-”

Surprisingly, Bolin interrupted her, quite energetically. “She’s using a wheelchair, right? So she wasn’t really running, was she?”

…thank you, Bolin… I appreciate the effort…

“That’s still a lot of physical exertion, though, those things aren’t easy to move.”

“We’ll have to see, Mako.”

Their first priority, Asami knew - and I think everyone else agrees - was finding Azula. Then they would have to convince her to actually listen to them again, since clearly she hadn’t before. And also get Lord Zuko to actually leave after that-

This is a mess…

I really don’t know how we’re going to get her to calm down.

As they sprinted out into the chilly afternoon air, the engineer saw Jinora turn - her theory had been correct, apparently, they were headed to the closest of the Sato estate’s warehouses. Korra had tried using her seismic sense outside, but the buildings were all shielded with layers of non-earth materials, so the interiors of the workshops weren’t visible. Whether or not Azula had known it - I didn’t mention that to her, did I? - she had chosen a very good place to hide.

“I don’t think I thanked you, Jinora-”

“You’re not the only ones who want to help her,” the airbender replied, not looking back as she ran up to the entrance of the warehouse. “She’s my age, Asami - I don’t want to see her hurt like this. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Yeah…

“Well, the door’s open.” Like the rest of them, Mako was slowing down - they were all in pretty good shape, and it hadn’t been that far of a run, but Jinora had stopped sprinting at the entrance anyway. “Aren’t these locked normally?”

With a quick nod, Asami stepped over the threshold and flicked a switch, bars of fluorescent lights illuminating the interior. “Yes, but sometimes people are moving things and leave them open for a while, or they just forget.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if someone just let her in, either, Azula’s confident enough to pull that off.”

The authority trick… yeah, I could see her doing that.

And the staff all know she’s here to some extent… which was always going to be a problem… 

They really needed to resolve this entire situation fast, before word got out that Azula was still alive. At this rate, they didn’t have much-

“She’s in here.”

Jinora had crossed the room incredibly quickly, and was standing next to the door of one of the smaller storage areas. This one was closed, Asami realized - the escaping princess had pulled it shut behind her, and now she needed to unlock it so they could get in. Fortunately, all the doors had code-locks, making it easy for her to open them.

Wow… I guess someone just left this one open, too… I really should have had a talk with the staff about all of this… well, I did…

The door slid open, light flooding into the room and revealing a prone figure lying atop a storage crate, her wheelchair backed up against it-

“Azula!”

Is she-

Even as Kya rushed into the room, clearly just as shocked and concerned as she was, the firebender stirred, raising her head. “If you expected me to be dead, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Don’t say that-

“That’s really not funny, Azula,” Jinora said, her voice shaking slightly. “Not after what you said earlier.”

The princess did not respond, instead simply sitting up and looking at them, both feet hanging off the edge of the crate, barely above the ground. Asami had no idea what to do, but it didn’t seem like Kya had any such hesitations - she stepped over to Azula’s side.

“Please don’t do something like that again.” Clearly the healer was being as careful as she could, even if she was also quite upset - and she was a bit better at it than Asami herself was. “You frightened all of us, Azula-”

“Fine, I believe it.”

What?

Shocked though she must have been by that strange statement, Kya kept speaking. “I know that’s very difficult for you, to trust us, but we’re responsible for you right now. And none of us want to see you hurt - and running away like this is a very good way to get yourself hurt.”

“Yes, I realized that as soon as I figured out I couldn’t go anywhere from here,” Azula replied, her voice still clearly scathing. “At least I avoided my brother-”

Cutting herself off, the firebender snorted, then laid back down on her box. Asami looked at Kya, who also seemed rather at a loss-

How do we handle this?

I mean… she doesn’t trust us…

“Lord Zuko showed up uninvited-”

“Of course, why wouldn’t he? You told me that much.” It seemed like Azula was at least hearing them out, though it was hard to tell - the girl was incredibly difficult to read, even groaning in exasperation into a wooden storage crate. “I told you already, this is what happens-”

No-

“Forgiveness is real, Azula.”

Of all the people Asami had expected to speak - I don’t know what to say, it’s just like - Kai had not been one of them. She had barely even remembered that the young airbender was there - he was hanging back, as quiet as Mako and Bolin-

“I suppose all airbenders say the same thing,” the girl said, sitting up. “Though apparently that doesn’t hold true in reality. Why am I not surprised?”

“You’re surprised because what my father did was wrong, and we’ve told you that, but at the time it wasn’t made clear to you.” A flicker of surprise crossed Azula’s face - Asami didn’t think that she knew who the waterbender was related to. “Trust me when I say, Azula, that it was quite possibly the action he regretted the most in his life, because he knew-”

“Then why did he do it in the first place?”

Because people make mistakes-

Spirits, she really is a child, isn’t she? She’s just so good at pretending-

And now the girl was looking stubbornly at the wall, and Asami said the best thing she could think of. “You know why they did it, Azula.”

“You’re right, I do know that. Rather uncharacteristic of them, if you ask me.” Laughing rather hollowly, Azula looked back at them. “And you’re trying something different, sure. But I don’t really know what I’m supposed to try here.”

What does that mean?

“Despair,” Mako provided from behind her. “You don’t know what opportunities you have-”

“You seem to know that pretty well.”

Gesturing loosely at nothing in particular, the detective sighed. “I mean, I know what happened to you, and why it shouldn’t have, and I’m pretty familiar with why it did too at this point. And Chief-”

The sudden sound of rhythmic thumping and a door somewhere behind them flinging open startled all of them into looking back towards the entrance to the warehouse. Asami recognized the sound even before she turned - it was Naga, galloping in with Korra on her back as if she was being chased by a rogue mecha suit, her tongue hanging out and tail wagging frantically.

They found us…

But what’s Naga so excited about?

“Sorry it took so long,” Korra said as she leapt off of the polar bear dog. “I didn’t realize Naga was in the courtyard of all places-”

It didn’t seem like the dog in question was interested in stopping, though - she nudged Asami aside quickly, nearly knocking her over, then pushed her way into the storage room. Ducking to the floor to avoid the large fluffy tail, she watched in slightly amused panic as Naga barked loudly.

“Don’t you dare-”

Pausing for only a moment, the polar bear dog grabbed Azula by her robe - just like she does with Korra and I sometimes, what’s she doing? - and backed out of the doorway, turning around. Asami didn’t bother trying to stifle her laughter, and neither did anyone else - the sight of a very grumpy princess being held with her feet slightly dragging the ground was too funny. Especially when Naga took off towards the exit with her.

What is even happening?

 


 

“Where is this animal taking me?” Azula yelled out - it was undignified, but then again so was this entire situation, and dignity didn’t seem to matter anymore anyways. “I-”

“No idea!”

So the dog just decided to carry me off somewhere… 

I thought this was some kind of plan to carry me back to my room, but no, I suppose it’s just completely random.

There was dog spit dripping slowly down her back, and she was bouncing up and down a little bit because Naga was sprinting along while carrying her like a stubborn puppy, and she had absolutely no control over the situation. Not that she’d had any control in the first place-

“Put me down.”

The polar bear dog simply snorted, seemingly amused, and turned towards what Azula recognized as the Sato mansion’s gardens. There were footsteps behind her that didn’t belong to the giant beast, but they seemed far away-

And now the sun was in her eyes, and she had to raise a hand to block it. For a moment Azula thought about firebending - maybe it would get her to drop me - but she also didn’t want to make either Avatar Korra or her large pet angry. They didn’t seem upset about her escape attempt, strangely-

Well, they’re upset, but not angry-

“Would a ‘please’ help?” she quipped dryly. “Or do you not have enough manners for that?”

This time, Naga didn’t even make a noise of acknowledgement, which certainly didn’t make the princess any more confident. If she was being pushed around - or carried, as it seemed - by an oversized bear dog, what hope could she possibly have to have her own life?

Even if they aren’t lying… which I have to admit, it doesn’t seem like they are…

What do they think I’m supposed to do?

Azula knew better than to imagine that she wasn’t a marked target - that her loss hadn’t left her in the dust of a forgotten age, one she understood as poorly as the era she lived in now. And her fire was merely embers, futilely reignited-

They’re trying to be kind-

As Naga turned through a large gate, Azula saw a great red scaled thing in front of her - and then the red thing unfurled just as she was starting to realize what it might be. It was a dragon, lounging in the midday sun of the courtyard, raising its immense ruffed head and regarding them curiously. A real, actual dragon - and for some reason, the polar bear dog was carrying her right to it.

Was there some kind of animal conspiracy going on here? Her family had organized the murder of the dragons what seemed like an eternity ago - had one of them returned just to judge her? And why was the Avatar’s spiritual companion in on it?

“Naga - wait, Druk?” She could hear Korra somewhere behind her - and the dragon has a name, how do they even know that? Does it belong to someone? - but the princess was only focused on the immense beast in front of her. “What-”

With a final huff, the polar bear dog laid her down, quite gently, underneath the dragon’s head. Azula felt unsettlingly like she was being offered up in some sort of ritual, and considering the weakness of her inner flame, the lack of direction-

I can’t possibly-

Should I even bother?

The dragon - Druk, that’s old Fire Nation, I have to remember - promptly also huffed, much more effectively, and with accompanying smoke. Then it leaned down, and bumped her questioningly with its nose.

What are you doing?

“Should we do something?”

And of course the Avatar and her friends were just watching, right along with Naga. What kind of-

A long, trailing whisker brushed across her face, tickling her nose-

Hello!

Whatever Kya had been saying in the background was immediately drowned out by a very excited, happy feeling - a mental smile, if that made any sense. Azula looked up to see two enormous golden eyes watching her with interest, and a large mouth with large teeth. 

“I’m assuming you’re not going to hurt me, then?”

That seems to be a trend-

“Azula, don’t worry-”

No!

The long whisker, which Azula was starting to think had quite a bit more significance than she had expected, had touched her forehead again. She wasn’t entirely sure how Druk’s dragon-telepathy worked - I suppose they had to communicate somehow - but clearly the thought of harming her was quite abhorrent to the giant lizard.

That didn’t make the fact that she was slumped in front of him any better - also, I don’t even remember how I know that he’s male, this kind of thing is far too familiar - but at least she wasn’t in imminent danger. A dragon did not seem like the kind of creature to lie-

Don’t be sad!

Azula sighed and let herself sink into the ground - it wasn’t like there was much else she could realistically do, encouraging smile-telepathy or not. Or that was worth doing-

I don’t know-

Apparently she was even confusing Druk-

With another snort, the dragon raised its head, opened its mouth, and grumbled. Azula looked up to see-

And the dragon promptly breathed fire down at her. She raised her hands - I can’t block, no control, do I even care - but the flames seemed to spiral more around her than anything, shades of blue and green and pink and purple and other colors flashing to life. Azula could feel her own inner flame responding to the beautiful vortex of fire in a way that she couldn’t quite place- 

“What do you-”

A thought came to her - she breathed deeply and then exhaled in a practiced motion, sending a jet of her own cobalt flame to meet Druk’s. It felt natural, in a way that had been sorely missing, even if it wasn’t what she had-

See!

The swirl of multicolored flame stopped, drifting and extinguishing, but the warmth didn’t quite leave her chest, even when she too stopped breathing fire. Clearly the dragon was quite pleased with whatever he had done, and Azula couldn’t say she disliked it either.

Did he just try to… teach me?

They are the original firebenders…

“Azula!”

Druk bumped her with his enormous snout again, more forcefully this time - stand up! - and so the princess did, picking herself up off the ground and turning to face Korra and her friends. “No need to worry, I’m fine.”

“Please don’t run away like that again, Azula, you scared us.” She hadn’t realized how close the Avatar and her girlfriend had come while she was lying on the ground, or how worried their voices were. “We were never going to let Zuko talk to you unless you agreed, we told you that, right?”

They did… 

“I do remember that,” Azula replied soberly, though her voice didn’t feel quite as heavy as before. “But I didn’t exactly believe you, and I probably should have.”

It wasn’t as difficult to admit as she had thought - especially not with her inner flame burning brighter now than it had been, and more content. And it drew quite a few smiles from the group in front of her, too. That had to be worth something in the current climate.

Looking from her to the dragon, Kya blinked in confusion. “Did Druk… communicate with you?”

I-

“What he said, I don’t know, but there was something there.” With a shrug, the firebender - it’s part of me, drive - stepped forward, tentatively extending a hand. “I’ll have to think about it.”

With a laugh, Korra took her arm, and Asami took the other - it felt strange, but Azula didn’t really want to argue with the kindness. She could live with it for now, that and the reassuring feeling that the dragon had given her for the moment. And she could try to figure out what it meant.

I’ll figure it out… I hope.

At the very least, I’m going to try.

Notes:

Right, so, uhh... don't ask me how this chapter works, because I don't know. Naga took it and gave it to Druk or something. This isn't exactly what I saw (to a greater degree than usual) but I think it works out pretty well! With the Good Animals and all.

A little of Druk's communication was inspired by Ultranos's "emoticon dragons" thing, which was mentioned in passing on a couple of their posts. I found it really hilarious, and they've been giving me really good ideas for other parts of this 'verse, so I made use of that idea.

I also updated Tinted Lens to feature a newly added OC as part of this 'verse. There will also be a little oneshot involving Azula and Katara in this 'verse coming out soon, and at some point later something involving her and the rest of the Fire Royals, and also the mentioned OC. So this little project is getting quite the expansion!

As always, I'd love to hear from you!

Chapter 22

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Azula?” Korra looked at the girl - the only person in the little bedroom not to have finished eating, a single cherry mochi still on her tray. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

There was a moment of silence - that wasn’t a good idea, I shouldn’t - but then she responded, “I’m thinking.”

Yeah, that’s pretty obvious…

Even as Azula delicately picked up the pastry and took a bite, the room seemed filled with tension. It didn’t seem like the princess was too nervous, but Korra was well aware that she was good at hiding her true thoughts - the events of that day had been plenty of proof of that for all of them. And she was almost certainly suspicious of them, and their-

“It’s still hard to believe that I saw a living dragon.”

Oh…

Yeah, that would probably be pretty thought provoking.

That had actually been the first time Korra had seen the true dragonfire - and even from a distance, it had appealed to her in a recognizably spiritual way. Mako had said the same thing too, before he left that afternoon. 

The thought of being within the vortex of living flame, close enough to feel-

“I’ll admit that I’ve had enough of things speaking directly into my head, though,” Azula continued wearily. “Well-intentioned or not, it’s disconcerting and I don’t want to deal with it.”

Same-

That was a subject that Korra really wasn’t sure if she should go into further - I don’t think she knows that we know about what happened during the comet, and she might not even remember - but Asami spoke before she could make a decision. “I hadn’t had that many interactions with spirits before, so Jeff’s telepathy was definitely new. You weren’t exactly awake for it-”

“Trust me, it’s not easy to forget.”

Not bothering to elaborate further, Azula picked up her last mochi again, taking another bite. She didn’t seem particularly happy, but that was understandable.

And she doesn’t really let-

“I’ve noticed that none of this answers the question of what you people are planning to do with me, though,” the princess said suddenly - almost as an afterthought, though the intensity of her gaze made it obvious that it wasn’t. “That’s what I’m concerned about.”

Yeah… there it is…

“We really don’t know what we’re doing.”

There were multiple worried glances trying to catch her attention - but then Azula responded, quite pointedly. “So you’re just going to do what, keep me here? I-”

I mean-

“You can stay here as long as you need to,” Asami interrupted. “We don’t mind. We’d love it if you did, actually.”

No answer - the firebender was deep in thought once again, even ignoring her half-eaten mochi, and no one wanted to interrupt her. Jinora and her aunt in particular had been utterly quiet throughout the conversation.

I guess they feel like this is something between the three of us?

Or they’ve been letting her speak first, which is probably a really good idea-

With a considering sigh, Azula glanced at all four of them in turn, golden eyes lingering on each of them. “What are the terms of me staying here, then?”
Oh-

“Hey, I’m glad you-”

“Korra, don’t take a running jump off the first glacier you see,” Kya cut in, half-seriously. “She hasn’t said ‘yes’ yet.”

For the first time in quite a while, the tense quiet broke - Asami was laughing brightly, and Jinora and even the wary princess both had slight grins on their faces. Korra chuckled too - yeah, that’s true - and spoke again, more carefully.

“So you’re considering it?”

“Yes, ‘considering’ being the important word.” Azula’s gaze had returned to hard amber in a moment at the question. “It’s not like I have many other options, is it? Not unless I want to throw myself on my brother’s mercies, or those of anyone else.”

Is… she saying she trusts us more than them?

That sounds… good…

“First of all, you have to actually listen to us when we tell you things,” Kya said, almost scoldingly - clearly she remembered that the princess had ignored their reassurances about Lord Zuko’s visit earlier that morning. “I don’t think you know how much you scared everyone when you ran off like that.”

With a quick nod, Korra voiced her agreement. “I know it’s hard to understand-”

“You seem to know quite a lot about me.”

I don’t know how to explain-

“Grandpa Aang talked about you a lot, Azula, and so did the people he was close with, like Grandma Katara and Ty Lee.” If the girl had a reaction to Jinora’s answer, it wasn’t visible on her face - Korra could only imagine what she was thinking. “I think it was their way of trying to make up for what they allowed to happen, to make sure that the world didn’t remember you as-”

With a scoff of irritation, Azula interjected, “So they took my bending and used me as a political dummy - at least that’s what you’ve told me - and then turned around and tried to act like they cared? I don’t see how that’s supposed to be reassuring in the least.”

“It wasn’t about trying to erase what they did-”

“And clearly I would have preferred it if they hadn’t done it in the first place.”

I mean… she has a point, but so does Jinora…

“We’re talking about conditions here, right?” Asami interrupted. “Let’s not get off topic.”

“Aren’t we-”

With a brisk shake of her head, Kya gestured towards the firebender. “No, Asami’s right. That’s what Azula wants to discuss, so let’s discuss it with her.”

Oh-

I’m getting ahead of myself again… thanks, ‘Sami.

“I agree.” Looking around to gauge their reaction, Azula continued. “So the first of your requirements is that I follow your-”

“Listen to us,” Korra interrupted. “I mean, I don’t think it’s the same thing. You’re free to disagree with us, we’re not the damned White Lotus.”

“Fine.”

After a few moments of silence, Azula suddenly raised a hand and held it up in front of her face - a small blue flame came to life in her palm, flickering gently. Her mouth quirked upward, slightly, and Korra felt herself beam-

“What are you smiling about?” The fire vanished as quickly as it had come, and Azula let her arm fall back onto the bedcovers. “I-”

“I’m just glad that you have your fire back.”

For some reason, Azula decided to ignore Korra’s answer, and simply sighed. “It is there, at least. And clearly Druk communicated something to me, I just don’t think I fully understand it yet-”

“Fire is life.”

Oh-

Korra hadn’t expected Jinora to speak at the same time, but it kind of made sense. Even if she didn’t know it the way a firebender would, Tenzin’s eldest daughter - studious, and spiritually inclined, as she was - would have held that particular childhood tale close.

“Fire comes from drive,” Azula replied, almost unconvinced by her own words. “That’s what I learned-”

“Aren’t we getting sidetracked again?”

“No, we aren’t.” Jinora and Azula were still watching each other - whatever was being communicated in their gaze, it was something intense, and Korra leaned imperceptibly away. “That’s another important thing. You have to be willing to open yourself-”

You already said-

“-to the inevitability of change.”

Is that Guru Shoken?

Holding each other’s gaze for a few more moments, the two girls looked away, Azula eyeing the remaining half of her mochi and Jinora looking out of the window at the darkening twilight. It felt like there was something still left to be said, but Korra didn’t know what it was-

“Didn’t you mention something like that when we were in that park?”

Wait, I remember-

“We did-”

“Of course, ‘a lot of what you were taught was wrong,’ wasn’t it?” Now the firebender’s sharp glance was back. “Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that you all would say that-”

Jinora shook her head once. “I know what the Fire Nation said about airbenders, Azula, and I don’t think you really believe it.”

Oh-

And, as the seconds passed in complete silence, Korra realized that Azula actually had no idea how to respond to that. Either she was trying to think of a way to justify the Sozinist propaganda she’d been brought up on, or she was - well, she was probably still thinking about the flawed justification, but either way Jinora had just managed to stun her into questioning herself. 

“And what are those lies, then?”

Is she saying Jinora’s lying, or that she thinks she was lied to?

Or maybe both? It’s so hard to tell with her-

“The Air Nomads as a society were pacifists, Azula,” Jinora said, carefully but without compromise. “Fire Lord Sozin had them wiped out because he wanted to conquer the world and didn’t want the Avatar to interfere. But he never told his people that, because he knew it would make them doubt him and the war he started.”

Korra wasn’t entirely sure what to expect - is she going to try to fight back? - but after a solid minute of silence, she turned away from the utterly silent firebender to look at the other three people in the room. None of them seemed entirely sure of what to do either-

“I’m thinking about it.”

Picking up her mochi, Azula put the last of it in her mouth, chewing rather slowly as she looked around at them. No one responded - Korra didn’t know about everyone else, but she neither wanted to interrupt the princess finishing her dinner nor disturb her thoughts. 

I mean, that seems good, right?

She’s thinking about it…

Finally, Azula sighed and spoke again. “Are there any more conditions, then?”

“Well, you obviously can’t go around trying to kill people or breaking the law in general,” Korra replied, letting a little bit of jest slip into her voice - the princess smiled very slightly in acknowledgment. “And it probably isn’t a good idea for you to go places without us until you understand how things work-”

“Yes, I’d rather not get run over by one of those Satomobiles.”

Uhh-

Clearly Azula noticed the abashed expression that crossed Asami’s face, because her eyes leapt-

“That’s actually how I ended up joining Team Avatar.” Her girlfriend smiled, and Korra felt a goofy grin cross her own face as she remembered that particular moment. “I hit Mako with my Satobike when he was crossing the road-”

“And then that whole love triangle thing happened, and we got together. Yeah, I remember-”

“Relationship activities aside, does that sound good to you, Azula?” Kya cut in, giving them both a look - yeah, we might be getting a bit off topic - before turning back to the firebender. “You can think of it as a probationary period, if that makes it easier to understand.”

Second chance-

She should have gotten that in the first place.

Glancing up at the ceiling for a moment, Azula huffed. “At least give me some time to think about it, I’m tired.”

Her voice was surprisingly nonchalant - that was, in Korra’s opinion, probably a good thing. It at least meant she was comfortable talking to them informally.

She has to be the one to open up…

“We can come back tomorrow, that’s fine.”

“Just don’t run away again.” Kya stretched, standing up from her chair - Korra was the first to follow suit, there was no doubt that it was getting late. “And I will say that Fire Lord Izumi’s speech about your… well, unexpected return to society, will be on the radio tomorrow morning. If you want to listen-”

“Of course, I want to know what to expect,” Azula replied dryly, taking a moment to rest her empty plate on the nightstand. “But-”

The ceramic dish flew across the room and landed in Jinora’s hands - then she turned and handed it to Kya. “Sorry, couldn’t resist… Meelo and Ikki love doing that.”

There was no response from Azula - the princess had leaned back in her bed as she was talking, and turned away from them, though Korra thought she saw another half-smile on her face as she did so. Her intent - she’s tired, and she wants time to herself - was very obvious now, more so than it had been even a few minutes ago. 

It’s pretty damn clear she wants to rest…

And to think about what we’ve said, I’m sure.

None of them spoke any further, the four of them filing out of the room with their plates - but as they closed the door, Korra heard a quiet, almost whispered “Thank you.”

 


 

“So we’re just waiting for Fire Lord Izumi to start the speech?”

Azula was sitting back in her wheelchair, letting the intermittent mid-morning sun soak into her light jacket. The feeling was lovely, and she wanted badly to get up and try a few firebending katas, but with Kya around that would end before it began.

Not that I wouldn’t fall over in a moment if I tried either… 

At least I know I have fire now… though I still need to figure out what it was that Druk was trying to tell me.

And so she was leaning back, letting a polar bear dog prod her chest with its nose. If yesterday hadn’t proved that Naga was as insistent as her owner-

“Yes, it should be-”

Suddenly, the small device on the tea-table - the radio, I saw one in Asami’s office - crackled, and then a man spoke. “And now, live from Caldera City in the Fire Nation-”

“Is that the pro-bending guy?”

What-
“Yeah, he does a lot of this stuff,” Korra replied quickly, “come on, we have-”

“-an announcement from the Fire Lord Izumi!”

Immediately, all five of them went silent. Azula strained to listen - there was nothing around to ring in her ears except the radio itself, and she needed to hear every word.

Maybe I can hear what the reaction-

“Good morning to the people of the Fire Nation, and greetings to the rest of the world.” The voice was unfamiliar - Azula could hear the family resemblance, and she knew it had to be the Fire Lord, but it was still incredibly strange. “This won’t be a long speech, and it’s not even about something that is likely to affect most of you personally, but I still ask that you take a few minutes to listen.”

And that - that was even more unusual, even considering the things she didn’t remember. For a leader to openly ask for attention-

Everyone has been doing a lot of that-

“I’m sure most of you are at least aware of the extreme injustice that was committed against Princess Azula after the Hundred Year War.”

She couldn’t hear what the spectators were saying - maybe there aren’t any and she’s just speaking directly into the radio, I don’t know how things work here - but she could see Korra looking at her. “I told you, the world has changed a lot.”

Change-

“My father and I have tried to create a legacy that would prevent what happened to her from ever happening again,” Fire Lord Izumi continued, her voice coming strongly through the radio. “As did Avatar Aang and Master Katara, and Toph Beifong, all in their own ways. There have been many belated apologies to the dead, and promises to do better, but none of those ever made a difference to Azula herself.”

“What is she even trying to say?”

“I think-”

Jinora was cut off by the radio again, as the Fire Lord continued her speech. “A few days ago, Avatar Korra went to the Northern Water Tribe to investigate the ongoing spirit disturbances there, and found that, somehow, Azula had survived.”

Utter silence, both from the device and from the courtyard around her - even Naga was quiet, and if there were spectators to react to the revelation, the princess couldn’t hear them. Those words were echoing across-

“It’s likely that we will never know how she lived through having her bending removed, or how she was preserved in ice, or even what caused her to awaken again,” Izumi went on - what does this mean, what is she trying to say - as they all listened intently. “But regardless, Avatar Korra returned her firebending, and intends to-”

“Can you stop it?”

Everyone looked at her - immediately, Asami’s hand went to the radio, a single push of a button cutting it off. “Why?”

“What else is she even going to say?” That wasn’t really the problem - or at least only a part of what Azula knew she would actually have to deal with. “You said it first, you haven’t decided what you’re doing with me yet-”

“Azula, there’s no way I’m going to let any of them-”

Yes, I’m well aware that you’re very adamant about not letting governments push you around-

With a wave of one hand, she cut Korra off. “You’ve made that clear, but it doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t made that decision yet, and you all seem to be waiting on me. So I don’t see much of a point in listening to any more of the speech.”

The world already knows…

It’s just me who doesn’t, now.

She was pretty sure they all understood what she was saying - and they were waiting on her, even the damn polar bear dog that was trying to rest its head in her lap. Giving her the initiative to make a choice-

“What other options do I have?”

That was a question she really should have asked before. Clearly she was-

“The most obvious would be a mental health care facility,” Kya said, her voice kind but utterly serious nonetheless. “They would be able to help - one of the major reforms that Lord Zuko led in your name was an overhaul of the Fire Nation’s psychiatric system, and the other nations also had similar initiatives - but I don’t think I have to say that that might not be the best option for you.”

An asylum-

The thought unsettled her - she had known it was a possibility, even if Kya was only mentioning it now that she was asking. Reformed or not, Azula didn’t particularly want to take her chances with that.

“And it would be worse if I really remembered what had happened, you don’t have to tell me that much.” The damage the all-light had done to her memories was oddly specific at times - plain facts were easy to remember, anything that could bring emotion far less so. “You’re right. I don’t want to find out.”

“Then stay here with us, Azula,” Korra replied hopefully. “Kya is a pretty skilled therapist-”

I don’t really remember them… and was I even imprisoned long enough?

Certainly I wasn’t there to receive mental help, if the story Asami told me is true…

“So I would stay here, and you all would coddle me into becoming a good person.”

The healer shook her head. “Being a good person is a lifelong process, Azula, not something that I or anyone else can just give you. What we’re offering is guidance.”

They want to-

“And you think I’ll accept?”

It was a rhetorical question - clearly they did, and she didn’t see-

“I think you want to, Azula,” Jinora replied - the confidence in her voice was striking, impressive even. “You wouldn’t be listening to us if you didn’t.”

There was no doubt that the young airbender had her there - she had been engaging with all of them, after all, letting them try to convince her. Not that she liked the thought of changing in the least, but given that it had been so long, and things had changed around her, Azula knew it would be idiotic to not consider it.

That makes you a traitor, doesn’t it?

It might - no, it wouldn’t, the Fire Nation isn’t trying to conquer the world anymore - but there wasn’t much Azula could do about that. And given the current state of things-

“Fine.”

The reaction was immediate. “Is that a yes?” Korra asked, excited - the firebender winced slightly. “Sorry - but are you agreeing? To stay with us-”

“Yes, I am agreeing to live with you.” The sudden enthusiasm - they approve, but they’re also really glad, at least I think so - was a bit shocking. “Don’t get too excited about it yet.”

Laughing brightly, the Avatar shook her head. “Not a chance.”

They’re all concerned about me…

Perhaps, Azula considered, part of the shock of their excitement was that it was directed towards her. It was a nice feeling, just like the light of Agni melting into her, her own inner flame slowly growing into the warmth.

“I suppose I can live with that.”

Notes:

Well, here we are. At the end - or as I've said before somewhere, the end of the beginning, with Azula finally making her choice.

I know this might seem like an odd place to cut it off, but from when I started writing this piece this was where I saw it coming to a close. I realized pretty early on I couldn't leave it self-contained like that, so I created the larger Photokinesis series to hold this, as well as the various oneshots and short fics detailing parts of Azula's later life. And I have had fleeting ideas for an adventure arc or two in this 'verse that incorporates more of the spirit-related ideas. And, of course, more light themes, since that was the catalyst for this entire work.

My next big priority (other than the extremely pressing performance-related things I'm dealing with) will be the Robust 'verse - both finishing Resurrections, and also editing/rewriting some of the earlier chapters of Absconditus to bring the entire duology into a more cohesive unit. But there is one other thing I have immediately planned for this 'verse, too, and don't be surprised if random content happens. Especially in mid-February where I will get my free time and sanity back.

Once again, I always love hearing from you! Comments make my life better - really, I'm not kidding! And they make others' lives better too.

Notes:

Welcome to a new fic, then! This features several things I haven't written about yet, such as LoK in general, Korrasami (which is my first time writing a romantic relationship that is not fully background), and much more in-depth exploration of the ATLA world's spirits, among other things, so constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. (Especially on the Korrasami - I'm not a romance writer, but I want to do that ship as much justice as I can, it's unironically iconic.)

As with seemingly everything I write, the title is both a piece of music and a reference to some video game. In this case, Risk of Rain 2, which I have not played yet, but I have listened to the soundtrack extensively, as a musician/artist would. The particular track that this fic is named after somehow played just as we were crossing the summit of Loveland Pass in Colorado at night, and the imagery that evoked forced me to choose it as the name of this fic. This is pretty much how my brain works at any given moment.

This fic also features, in no given order: ATLA spirit headcanoning, electrophysics that I spent far too much time researching, ATLA history that I also made up, bending action scenes (and headcanoning!), and a shocking number of electrical storms. Also, an actual written outline, for the first time in my history of writing fanfiction. I still couldn't get the summary right, though.

As always, I hope you enjoy this, and I would love to hear from you - both comments and kudos are highly appreciated!

Series this work belongs to: