WARNING: Suicidal attempt. Please do not read if you are sensitive to such topic.

P.D.: I'm falling asleep. Forgive my grammar. Point out my mistakes, that helps me.

Neighbor

When she opened her eyes, everything seemed surreal. White, too white, so white her eyes were hurting. She closed them again, unable to go back to sleep. Sleeping was always such a problem for her the past three years. She was amazed of how much sleep she managed to get this time. Then her memories came back to her: she didn't go to bed last night.

Last night she was in her shitty apartment floor. The apartment wasn't that bad itself, it was the mess Korra had let pile up for weeks: dirty clothes, trash everywhere, rotten pizza in the couch, empty liquor bottles, a thousand cigarette butts and empty coffee cups (she would never drink tea again).

She tried, Raava knows she tried. But life just seemed too threatening even when there was no threat around, not anymore. She knew she was out of danger still she felt so vulnerable and weak. She wanted to blame someone for what happened three years ago, she wanted to blame his father, the Chief: If he wasn't so determined to eradicate gangs from the Southern Water Tribe, those crazy people would have never kidnapped her.

A week. A whole horrible week and all the awful things they did to her during that time left her broken. They were not asking for money nor imposing conditions of any kind to the Chief, they just wanted revenge, to make him suffer by torturing his only beloved daughter. They succeeded.

Still, she couldn't blame his father. He was just doing the right thing, he didn't even see this whole shit coming. No one did.

That terrible day she just went out for tea. Just for a stupid box of fucking tea. She never made it to the mini market. She had taken self-defense classes, always worked out, was in good shape and her cousin Desna knows she punched hard. She always had thought she was a strong woman herself until that day. She saw a tattooed arm sneak around her neck and a bald guy with a nasty scar on his eyebrow punch her in the stomach. All the air abandoned her. She felt something hit her head and all the light abandoned her as well.

The rest she tried really hard not to remember. She hated when those damn memories came to her mind without permission. Leaving her shaking and sweating and feeling helpless. After two years secluded in her home with the sweet care of her mother, and several failed sessions with the psychologist where she refused to talk, she felt better. Her nightmares were less frequent and she felt ready to go outside to the world again.

But everyone knew what happened to her. Being the Chief's daughter draws the media attention. She tried to regain her old normal life but everyone treated her different with some kind of pity like she couldn't do anything on her own and that just reminded her what had happened to her. It was awful.

Then she decided to come to Republic City. Against her parents of course. The guilt Tonraq felt was as strong as the sadness her daughter felt. He obviously didn't want her to go away where he couldn't protect her. Even when those bastards were going to be in jail for the rest of their lives Tonraq felt uneasy about Korra leaving her home. She did it anyway, thinking a new start would help her.

It didn't. It has been six months now and everything just got worse. Here in Republic City no one knew her, so no one understood her either. She had several jobs but she always managed to get fired after a week or so. Some days she woke up and the sun was shining, birds were singing and she felt capable of anything. Next day she felt helpless and useless and she didn't want go to work.

Some days she felt just right and then something happened and the rest of her day turned dark and sorrowful. It could be a stupid little detail. It could be that her boss turned out to be bald, it could be a client with similar tattoos as her kidnaper, it could be a particularly loud raspy laugh, it could be the small stupid dark room where they kept the cleaning stuff, it could be the friendly touch in her shoulder from one of her co-workes, or a woman who came to buy a box of tea.

If it wasn't for her parents sending her money she would be living under a fucking bridge. Then on a particularly gloomy night, after drinking half bottle of vodka she realized just how useless she was. She couldn't live on her own. She tried and couldn't make it. She tried to maintain all these irrational fears under control but she couldn't. She knew she wasn't in danger anymore but still she felt afraid. All the time she was afraid and she was sick of it. It made her so useless and she was really worn out.

She looked around at the mess she had made of her apartment, the mess she had made out of her life, of herself. She saw the half empty bottle on her hand and felt disgusted. She went to the bathroom to empty the bottle in the sink and then accidentally she looked at her reflection in the mirror. And she felt more disgusted, more disgusted than ever in her life. Rage took control over her body and her mind.

She got outside of the bathroom and threw the bottle against the wall with all her strength. Naga, her dog, whined scared in a corner.

-I didn't meant to scare you girl- she said with remorse petting the dog's head.

She went to the kitchen and poured all the dog food in to the floor. Then filled a large bowl of water.

-The landlord is supposed to come tomorrow for the rent- she said to the dog -I'm gonna leave the door unlocked so he can find me and call my parents- tears rolled down her cheeks as she scratched behind the dog's ear -they will take you back to the south and take care of you- she said.

She left the sad dog in the small kitchen and went to the bathroom and closed the door. She took her ankle boot laces tying them up together and she took plastic fasteners from the bathroom drawer. Then she tested the shower pipe: it was high enough and supported her weight just fine. She tied the shoe laces on the pipe, making a slipknot at the end.

Ridiculously balancing her feet on the shampoo and conditioner bottles, she put the knot around her neck and tied her hands at her back with the plastic fasteners. She took a deep nervous breath thinking about the helpless future that awaited her in her life, and kicked the bottles.

Her body fell heavily just one or two inches as the shoe laces tensed up. She felt the chocking pressure. She felt as if her eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. She stuck out her tongue involuntarily in a desperate attempt to take air in to her lungs. Her surviving instincts kicked in, she tried to support herself with her feet against the wall but it was all slippery.

The pain was horrible. It had been just a few seconds but she felt as if it had been minutes. Her mind was faster than the death. She thought about her parents, how sad and broken they would be. She didn't even left a fucking note! She heard Naga barking and whining desperate at the other side of the door. She would never see her beloved dog again and Naga would suffer too. She was so selfish! This was just too painful and it was taking too long: she even had time to think and regret this decision. This was such a bad idea!

Two minutes -that she felt like hours- passed and finally she started to drift. Everything slowly turning black around her. A deafening ringing sound on her ears. The pain subsiding and her thoughts loosing coherence. Just before everything went black she remembered when her kidnapers knocked her out, it was the same blackness. "I can't believe that's the last thing on my mind" she thought before drifting into unconsciousness.


It was her day off. People usually go party on their day off, but they are not cops. They are not tired as she is in the seventh day of the week. Her work is hard: patrolling the streets everyday, standing on her feet eight hour per day with an occasional persecution. Dealing with violent people, drunk idiots, aggressive husbands, drug dealers… in her day off she just wanted to seat on her couch and watch baseball.

The pitcher threw a fastball. Too easy. The ball hit the bat with force and got shot up in to the infinity of the universe. It was a homerun. Just when the ball was going beyond the stadium, a glass smashing sound against the wall startled Kuvira.

She muted the t.v. and payed attention: she was a cop after all. She was not on duty right then but she was always there to serve and protect. Besides, she had noticed her beautiful neighbor lately. She loves her smile and the way she talks to her dog. Sometimes she watched her come home with gloomy eyes and she wondered what made her so sad. But it would feel weird to just pop out of nowhere and asking what was wrong. Despite being a badass, when it comes to woman Kuvira is pretty shy.

She waited but she heard nothing. She sighed relieved. She was about to resume watching her baseball game when loud barks and howls coming from next door got her attention. It was her dog, there was no mistake. And she sounded desperate. Never heard her howling before so she freaked out while keeping her police cool demeanor.

She put on her boots, got her gun and got out of her apartment wearing just her boxers and a tank top. She knocked but the only answer she got was the dog scratching at the door and running everywhere just to come back and scratch again. This was no good.

She turned the door handle, it was unlocked. She entered and noticed the mess everywhere. It was not a good sign. She continued to wander around with her eyes. The dog was furiously scratching the bathroom door, the only closed door. Kuvira hurried waiting for the worse. The beautiful girl that had been her neighbor for six months was now hanging from the shower pipe.

Kuvira somehow managed to get her down. She was unconscious, but alive.


Tears rolled down her cheeks and in to the pillow as she remembered what she did. She didn't know if she was crying for trying to kill herself or for being still alive. A little bit more conscious she noticed she was in the hospital.

A girl asleep was in the chair beside her bed. She stared trying to recall where she had seen her before. It was useless. The woman seemed to sense being watched and woke up, locking her deep green eyes with her blue ones.

-Hey- she said groggily, smiling

Korra looked away, ashamed. Kuvira was about to take her hand but refrained, she didn't want to invade her personal space. Instead she offered a glass of water.

-It's ok. I won't judge. You have been out for a day. I took care of your dog- she said still smiling. Her hand near Korra's without touching it.

-Thankyou- Korra whispered painfully, her throat hurt, talking hurt, breathing hurt, swallowing the water hurt. She watched Kuvira's hand and was grateful for the respectful closeness. She cried silently for a few minutes. After a long silence she managed to calm down -Who are you?- she asked looking at those green eyes and wiping out her own tears.

-Name is Kuvira. We have been neighbors for about six months-

Korra looked perplexed. She never noticed her.

-How did you find me?- Korra asked.

-Your dog started howling and I thought something was wrong- she answered.

She started crying again. It was weird: Normally Korra would be ashamed to be crying in front of someone: it made her look and feel weak. But somehow with Kuvira this didn't happen. Maybe it was because she was a stranger, someone who didn't know her story and still was looking at her not with pitiful but with relieved eyes.

-Did you call my parents?- Korra asked.

-I was about to, but I fell asleep- Kuvira said

-Please don't call them- pleaded Korra -I don't want to worry them-

Kuvira narrowed her thick eyebrows, thinking. Korra was a grown up woman, she could take her own decisions, still, she needed help.

-Alright- Kuvira said -but you are calling them tonight to say hello to them- ordered Kuvira

-Ok, sounds good- said Korra.

-And you are going to a psychologist, and to a group therapy- said Kuvira.

Korra looked at her stunned and insecure.

-I can take care of myself- she said angry -nobody needs to know my shit. It's my own business- she managed to say despite the soreness in her throat.

-Yes, you can take care of yourself, but you need help- said Kuvira crossing her arms -and now is my business too. You are my neighbor and I care about you- she said -besides, I'm already friends with your dog- she said grinning.

Korra looked at her own hands. The plastic fasteners had left bruises. She needed help. Someone was tending her hand to her, just like her parents and friends did before. But this time it was different: she got to her lowest point. She did need help and her pride had been getting in the middle, just another mechanism to hide from herself.

-Nobody is asking you to do this on your own. Everybody needs help at least once- said Kuvira, worried that Korra would push her away.

Korra breathed Heavily, as if this was the most painful decision she had taken. Somehow trying to get better was more painful than trying to kill yourself. It was scary, it meant she had to talk about… everything, it meant to stop escaping her own feelings to be able to handle them.

She cried, harder this time but between sobs she nodded.

The Legend of Korra belongs to their respective authors. This is a purely recreational work of fiction.