Korra Week: Day 1 - Alone
First submission for Korra Week! Hope you guys enjoy! Reviews are appreciated!
"Korra… I know you're faking."
With a sigh, the young Avatar blinks open her tired eyes. She is curled into a tight ball, the covers tucked underneath her chin. When she looks up, she notices the quiet distress in the old woman's features.
"Hello, Master Katara," Korra mutters, trying to muster up the smallest of smiles for her mentor. The attempt falls flat.
"Korra, dear," Katara says again, taking a seat in the chair next to her bedside. "When is the last time you truly got some sleep?"
Korra thinks for a moment. She considers lying in order to ease Katara's worries, but quickly shakes off the idea. Korra has never lied to Katara before, and she's not about to start, regardless of the situation.
"I think… I think I fell asleep for a few minutes last week," she answers slowly. Katara raises her eyebrows in concern.
"Is there anywhere I can heal for you?"
Korra shakes her head. "Nothing really hurts that much anymore, no…" She bites her lip, glancing up at the waterbender. "It's more…"
"The thoughts?" Katara asks, and Korra nods grimly.
"What kind of thoughts, if I may ask?" Korra looks down, and Katara smoothes the tangled hair out of the Avatar's eyes.
"I…I just feel really alone," Korra squeaks out. "And I know that's ridiculous because I've got you and Asami and my family and Mako and everybody – but that's honestly how I feel and I just don't know what to do." She is crying at this point, the tears dripping down her nose and staining the sheets below her.
Katara caresses the young waterbender's cheek and wipes away the tears under her eyes. "This is what keeps you up at night?"
Korra nods solemnly.
Katara looks out the window; the sun is setting, which gives her a few more hours before nightfall. The woman smiles and helps lay Korra back down against her pillow.
"You are never alone, Korra," Katara promises. "I know these may sound like hollow words now, but believe me, you'll soon understand." She fixes the covers around the girl and smoothes down her hair once more.
"Are you leaving?" Korra whispers, her cerulean eyes widening slightly.
"Only for a short while," Katara reassures her. "I have some business I must take care of." She notices Korra's distress and grasps her hand before stepping away. "I'll be back, I promise."
Korra nods once again, and closes her eyes, but Katara knows that she will not sleep on her own. She needs help, and Katara knows just what she needs.
Asami, Mako, and Bolin sit solemnly at the dining room table when Katara approaches. She takes a seat next to the trio and gives each a comforting smile.
"She wasn't asleep, was she?" Asami guesses. Katara shakes her head, and Asami sighs. "I knew it. She's always faking whenever I go in there lately. I can tell by the breathing."
"Did you guys talk?" Mako asks the waterbender.
"We did," she answers. "Korra is in a very fragile state at the moment. What she endured has left her disconnected; she feels alone."
"That's crazy!" Bolin cries, throwing his hands up in the air. Pabu, who was sleeping on Bolin's lap, startles awake and screeches unhappily.
"We need to show her that we care about her," Mako says, staring down at the table intently. "Trying to get her to open up isn't going to cut it anymore."
"I agree," Katara says, nodding. "I've faced a nearly identical situation before, many years ago. I have a plan in mind."
Asami, Mako, and Bolin all look at her curiously. "And what's that…?" Asami asks slowly.
Katars grins. "Can one of you tell me where the nearest farm is located?"
She is seated in her wheelchair, staring out the window at the stars when Lin enters. Korra looks up and regards the chief with dull eyes.
"Did you just get out of work?" Korra asks quietly. Ever since they'd returned to the city, Lin had been working crazy hours.
Lin shakes her head and comes up behind Korra, taking hold of the handles on the wheelchair. "No, I've been out for a few hours now. I was helping set up."
Korra frowns slightly, turning her head to look at the chief as she starts to wheel her out of the room. "Where are we going?"
"Outside," Lin replies simply, sliding the door at the end of the hallway open. The air outside is crisp with the approach of autumn.
Neither talk as Lin wheels Korra down the path away from the dorms and toward the open courtyard. But when the open space finally comes into view, Korra gasps and Lin grins.
Everyone is there. Mako, Bolin, and Asami are in the front of the group, smiling. Meelo and Ikki are seated at Pema's feet, and little Rohan is tossing quietly in her arms. Kya, Bumi, and Suyin wave to her, standing off to the side with Senna and Tonraq. The new Air Nomads are also present; Opal and Kai are beaming at her, and even Ryu is offering a quiet smile.
And behind them… behind them is a giant… bed. Made out of…
"Is that… koala sheep wool?" Korra asks in disbelief.
"That's exactly what it is," Katara smiles, stepping from behind the bed. Tenzin and Jinora are walking with her. Jinora grins like crazy at Korra, her newly tattooed arrows noticeable despite the fleeting light.
"I… don't understand," Korra mutters, looking up questioningly as her friends approach her.
"It was Master Katara's idea," Asami explains.
"Yeah! Apparently, right before The Day of Black Sun, Aang couldn't sleep either," Bolin adds.
"He… he couldn't?" Korra questions, staring up with wide eyes as Katara rests a hand on her shoulder.
"Aang was very similar to you, Korra," Katara says fondly, her eyes slipping closed as if reliving distant memories. "He felt that he had to carry the responsibilities of being the Avatar alone, without the help of his loved ones. He was determined to face the Fire Lord by himself, and that took quite the tool on him, both physically and mentally."
"Grandpa Aang didn't sleep for days," Jinora pipes up, resting her head on Korra's other shoulder. "So, Grandma, Uncle Sokka, and Toph made him a koala sheep wool bed to help him sleep."
"We decided to do the same for you!" Ikki shrieks excitedly.
"But ours is a lot comfier!" Meelo reminds everyone. Pema and the others laugh behind the children.
"Think of it as a slumber party, or whatever you young kids do for fun these days," Lin scoffs, though she is smiling behind the Avatar's head.
Korra looks around at the group, uncertain tears gathering in her eyes.
"We love you, Korra," Tenzin says, kneeling down in front of her. "We want to help you whenever we can. Not because you're the Avatar… but because you're Korra."
"You're not alone," Katara smiles. "So what do you say? Let's get some rest, shall we?"
A beat of silence follows, and soon Korra is nodding vigorously, smiling behind her tears. Mako offers her his hand and she grasps it, laughing as he lifts her from the chair and gives her a piggy-back ride to the wool bed. The others follow; Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo race up to the top in order to claim spots next to Korra, and the adults linger behind, sharing relieved glances.
The bed is able to fit everyone comfortably, and when Korra's head hits the soft surface, she feels a sense of relief wash over her that she hadn't felt for weeks.
Everyone stays with her. Lin was right; it truly is a slumber party. The children lay to her right, and Jinora and Ikki fight to braid Korra's hair. Asami and Bolin rest at her left. Asami holds Korra's hand, offering her silent comfort, while Bolin digs his face into the wool in order to make Korra laugh. It works, and Bolin beams proudly. Mako lies above Korra's head, occasionally supervising the girls with their braiding. When Korra asks where his hair expertise suddenly came from, he blushes and looks away, a smile playing at his lips. The girls giggle and tease poor Mako to no end.
Her friends and family continue to chat excitedly into the night, staring up at the stars and naming constellations that they pick out in the sky. Bumi interrupts their stargazing to tell a rousing war story where he bested a pirate captain in a swordfight with only a toothpick, but Kya and Tenzin voice their disbelief and question whether he's lying or not.
Korra tries her best to listen, enjoying the chatter, but soon her eyes become heaving with sleep.
Katara, situated next to her children, notices this and smiles, reaching over to caress Korra's hair. The young waterbender looks up slowly, a content smile on her lips, and closes her eyes once again.
Surrounded by her loved ones, Korra blissfully drifts off, but not before hearing a reassuring voice echo in the wind… one she knows can only be a figment of her imagination, but she finds comfort in it anyways as she falls asleep for the first time in days…
"I wasn't alone, and neither are you."