Authors Note:

Welcome to "Of Bending Lost and Bending Gained!" There are now several chapters up. I hope you will enjoy this story and take the time to share your opinions. I don't own the Legend of Korra. Now, forge on dear readers!

Korra drew a deep breath, centering her energy before breaking into a complicated series of airbending forms. Powerful gusts of wind swirled around her in mini tornados as she spun, kicked, and punched her way across the training grounds, bending at an imaginary opponent.

"Good!" Tenzin called from the side lines.

"Stay focused, commit to each move before you make it!"

Korra threw a wide kick, twisting to land on her opposite leg. As her foot came down she continued to turn, over rotating directly into the wall of air she had just bent. The wind hit her like a fist to the gut, and with a loud exhale she fell backwards, landing face up staring at the cloudless blue sky.

Tenzin sighed, bringing his hand up to rub his temples. This was the eighth time Korra had attempted the routine and she kept tripping up in the same spot.

"Agghh!" Korra cried, leaping back to her feet and blasting a powerful ball of fire in front of her.

Tenzin said a silent thanks that there were no two thousand year old artifacts nearby.

Korra stood panting in the center of the training grounds, her hands resting on her knees. Tenzin approached her warily, ready to deflect any unexpected elements.

He placed a hand on his student's shoulder, hoping to calm her. Korra turned to look up at him, exhaustion plain on her face. Her ponytails were disheveled and the back of her tunic was littered with strands of grass and dirt.

"Why can't I get this, Tenzin? I'm a terrible airbender!" She cried, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"First I couldn't bend air at all and now that I've worked through my block I am the worst airbender in history! I'm a hopeless cause." She moaned

Tenzin sighed. "That's not true, Korra. You've made monumental progress since you got your bending back. And Avatar Aang had a just as much trouble with earthbending as you are with air. Every Avatar has their own set of challenges. You shouldn't expect so much of yourself."

"I just want to be able to get this, finally." Korra said, slamming her fist into her hand.

"You will." Tenzin said firmly. "You just need to be patient with yourself."

"Yea yea. I know…Patience." Korra said bitterly. She sighed and looked up, cupping a hand to shield her eyes as she peered at the sun.

"It's about time, isn't?"

Tenzin nodded.

With a disgruntled wave of her hand Korra headed off in the direction of the girl's dormitory.

"I'm going to go change to go into the city."

"Alright." Tenzin called, walking towards the house to meet a smiling Pema. "We'll take Oogi. Be at the dock in fifteen minutes."

"Okay." Korra agreed absently. Her thoughts were already focused on the task to come.

Mako hurried down the sidewalks of Republic City towards the town hall. The streets were far busier today than they had been since Amon fell almost two weeks ago. For that period of time the city had been in a state of subdued activity. Benders and non-benders alike didn't leave their houses unless necessary. No one was sure which areas were safe or which group was in power. The Equalists had suffered a heavy blow when their leader was revealed as a water bender, but it did not squash their rebellion like Korra and Mako had hoped. Many of the Equalists continued to wreak havoc in the days that followed, vying for control over the city they had so recently possessed. Chief Beifong resumed her old post and directed a quick resection of the city, regaining control and restoring some semblance of normality to the lives of the citizens.

Just as quickly as this had been accomplished they all boarded a ship to the North Pole. Mako was so incredibly grateful that Korra had gotten her bending back. Seeing her for even the brief amount of time that she had been without it had been gut wrenchingly painful.

Mako was apprehensive about the day ahead. Korra had only been back in Republic City for four days, and this was the first time that she was going to attempt to restore the bending of citizens who had been equalized by Amon. It had taken a lot of convincing from Mako and Tenzin to get Korra to wait as long as she had. The painful loss of her own bending fresh in her mind, she had wanted to set about restoring the bending of the citizens immediately. This four day truce had been won only once they sold her on the idea that this event needed to be organized. They had no idea how many people's bending Amon had taken, and they couldn't just announce to the city that the Avatar would be standing around waiting to restore bending to citizens. It could result in a riot.

In the end they had decided to disperse things by zones. One particular section of the city would be done by day, and any person who lived in the selected zone could gather in front of the City hall to have their bending restored.

Mako tugged nervously at his black gloves. He was only a few blocks from his destination now. He was supposed to meet Korra and Tenzin behind the town hall before they began.

Clusters of police officers were stationed at each street corner, and Mako began to encounter more and more people with each block.

His stomach started to churn sickeningly. The point of sectioning the bending restoration was so that Korra wouldn't have to unlock too many people's bending in one day. Accessing the Avatar State couldn't be easy. And to be honest, Mako had little faith in his girlfriend's assessment of when she had worn herself out. A great capacity for selflessness was one of the things he admired about Korra, but it was also one of her most frightening qualities. Growing up on the streets with Bolin had given Mako a heightened instinct to protect those he loved- and he loved Korra. Those words still tasted sweet on his lips. He had only admitted it to himself for the first time a few days ago. He loved her; and now it was all he could do to keep himself from watching Korra like a hawk every second of every day. Mako was uncomfortable with the plan they had created. He had insisted on being present as she worked to restore people's bending. If Korra couldn't tell herself when to stop, Mako planned to be there to do it for her.

As he rounded the last corner Mako took in a sharp breath. The square was flooded with hundreds of people. It was a slurry of colors and noise; a disorderly crowd, desperate to regain their bending.

Alright, there was all our exposition. We won't have to crawl through another chunk of information like that for the rest of the story. And if you've made it this far, you might as well check out chapter two.

Reviews are wonderful.

-Mgirl