A/N: I went back and forth for quite a while on how to write a Zaheer who'd been consumed by the hopelessness of his solitude. The result ain't pretty.


As soon as the lone guard looked up at her, Korra knew that this visit would be different than the last.

She'd seen Zaheer's hatred then, nine years ago, his cloudy eyes studying her as if trying to determine how best to rip the air from her lungs. He'd guided her all the same, helping her become the Avatar she needed to be to defeat Kuvira's forces. Even if he was almost certainly out of touch this time — the White Lotus guards made a point of not interacting with a traitor — but Korra had planned her approach out in detail as best as she could without Asami to help her.

The relief in the young woman's expression, the wild edge to her crisp salute, threw Korra's thoughts to the wind.

"Is everything alright, Ren?" Korra asked, landing with intentional impact. Ren was a Republic City native, a talented seismic Earthbender who'd joined the White Lotus as a teenager only a few years ago. Famously reserved, more of a loner by nature than even workaholic Mako. "You look troubled, and I don't think it's because you're overwhelmed to see me."

Ren cracked a forlorn smile at that, and Korra's concern eased a little. At least the girl had retained her humor. "No, it's not that…though it is lonely here," Ren said glumly, crossing her arms. "My last posting was too crowded, I guess, but I don't mind company every now and then. Here, I don't really see anyone for days at a time."

Korra grinned encouragingly as she Earthbended the lever that would open the gate. It ground open with a crackling rumble born of little use. "I'll see about shifting the rotation schedule when I get back. No need to trap you here for two whole months."

As she stepped forward, Ren's gauntleted hand closed around her forearm. The tiny links pressed into Korra's bare skin. "Avatar Korra, wait. Please forgive me, but…I should warn you. About Zaheer. He's not the same man you saw before the Renewal. He's…changed."

Korra frowned. There it was, the shadow in Ren's words, in her tone. "More than I should expect from nine years of imprisonment?"

Ren nodded. Too quickly, the movement spastic. Professionalism shuttered her expression, but in her rusted-copper eyes was a glint of fear. "I don't know. No, he's not free, nothing like that," she said hurriedly, seeing Korra's sudden alarm. "I still, I mean he's still there, but…I don't know how to explain it."

So if he's still there, and she knows he was already evil…then what's happened?

She clicked her tongue. It didn't matter. She couldn't wait for the radical anti-royal faction in the Fire Nation to grow any larger. With Asami estranged from the other world leaders — including, her aching heart reminded her, Korra herself — and the rest of her friends too close to one side or the other, Zaheer was her only option.

He knew how to bide his time while preparing revolution. He would know how to stop others who did the same. "Then all the more reason for me to enter."

Korra looked up at the mountain with new eyes. The raw energy seeping out of it boiled with malice, simmering in Korra's senses. With how the shadows writhed in the setting sun's light, the rocks seemed to be breathing. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away as she could.

Spirits. To purify this darkness she would need Jinora's help.

First things first.

As the stone door grated down behind her and the lift began its sturdy descent into the bowels of the mountain prison, Korra briefly touched the Avatar state. Cleansing, tumultuous, reassuring.

To steel herself for whatever she was about to face.