A/N: This fanfic is based upon the clips we see in the trailer for "Legend of Korra." I added some stuff that wasn't from the clips but tried to keep it as true to how I think the first episode is going to be as I could.

~:~:~

A pout tugs at my lower lip and I sigh to myself as I pad down the main street and ponder the events of the morning. Late yesterday, Naga and I finally arrived at Tenzin's island after weeks of travel. I was so eager to explore the city just off the island's coast, I almost immediately I got myself into trouble. Not purposefully, of course, but apparently Chief Bei Fong and her posse of metalbenders take serious issue with vigilantes. And, not surprisingly, being the Avatar didn't help my case much.

Even back home in the Southern Water Tribe, I was scorned for enforcing the law myself. "You still have plenty to learn," my trainers would tell me, "so don't waste your time with such distractions." I'd calmly try to explain how crime fighting, y'know, keeping balance between good and bad, isone of the duties of the Avatar, but they'd never buy it.

And neither did Chief Bei Fong. She said I should only take the law into my hands if it was my duty. I told her if that means joining the police force, I'm willing to do so, but she wouldn't allow it because she doesn't know if she can "trust" me yet. Maybe I "can join some day, but not today." Then she went on and whined about something that sounded like an Equal Fist revolt in the city, but I was ushered out before I could ask any questions. So much for that.

After a long, awkwardly silent pause and a not-so-polite kick out of the police headquarters, I came across a bulky shirtless man booming about something called Pro-Bending. The flier he handed to me looked promising; apparently Pro-Bending is a tournament between two teams of three professional benders. Always anxious for action, I asked the man for directions to the arena.

The arena is where Naga, my polar bear dog, best friend, and animal guide, and I are headed now. Naga's tall, broad shoulders block the sunlight from burning my eyes and her thick white fur tickles my arm as we walk. Her nose eagerly sucks in air high and low; she seems to enjoy the city well enough. And why shouldn't she, with all the new sights and scents to take in?

"You're lucky," I tell her as we trek on. "I can't smell anything but the stink of pollution."

And it's true. It's nothing like the scent or feel of the air back home. Back home, the air is as crisp and refreshing as a bite into a ripe green apple. Back home, the ever-present coolness of the atmosphere and the intimate warmth of a fur coat creates a perfect balance between hot and cold. At home, I feel alive; I can feel every breath of air enter and swirl around in my lungs. But here... my nose clogs with the excrement of dirt. I can feel my throat thickening with grime every time I inhale. But coming to Republic City was my idea, and I'm thrilled to finally begin my airbending training after years of proving my mastery of the other three elements. The impure air, noisy streets, and fish-eyed looks from passerbys are just an unfortunate part of the package.

Eventually, Naga and I come to what I think is the stadium. It's a huge building. An elegant stone arc detailed with carvings of benders and elements boasts itself as we cross into its shadow. I open one of the double doors, and a wall of wind smacks my face. I grimace. Just as I am about to step inside, Naga makes a low ruff sound. I turn to face her coal-black eyes.

"You stay out here, Naga." I scratch behind her ear and brave my way through the entrance alone.

The hallway I find myself in is dark. I have no idea how big it is, but it must be quite sizable, considering my footsteps echo. I trek forward, unamused. My lower lip contracts and my eyes gaze ahead at nothing in particular. I find and crack open another set of double doors and immediately the insides of my ears are scratched with the claws of a cheering crowd.

The arena is huge - I mean gigantic. I mean it could probably fit a Lion Turtle. There are thousands of people in the stands, all screaming like mad.

I hear the swoosh of flame and the splash of water before I see the battle itself. As I approach the railing, a switch in my brain flips and I feel adrenalin start to pump. My heart skips a beat and its steady rhythm takes a jump the way it does just before a fight. I'm jittering with excitement but do my best to walk calmly to the nearest open seat.

Below, I see an arena of earth, divided down the center and suspended above a pool of water. Three benders, one in a red uniform, two in blue,fight. The single bender in red – I think her name's Asami, based on the supportive cheers from the crowd – creates a huge wave from the moat beneath in an attempt to knock out her two opponents. Her target, a firebender, is about to throw an attack; I can't hear it, but the blue waterbender must have called something out to his teammate because the next thing I know, he's right in front of him, bending the water out of their way. The two then charge at Asami and attack with a graceful flurry of blue and red.

It's a beautiful display of talent. My heart throbs. My eyes dart back and forth between the lone waterbender and her two opponents, my pout now an admiring, jaw-dropped smile. I lean forward over the railing and cup one hand over my mouth. "Whoo! Go Asami! Water Tribe represent!" I shove my index fingers between my teeth and emit a head-piercing whistle.

Asami uses a shield of liquid to defend herself from several fireballs, and consequently doesn't notice the gush of water from the side until it's too late. She's knocked out of the ring, and the force from the attack is so strong that she hits her head against the wall on the way down.

The crowd screams even louder now. A booming voice over the speakers declares the match over, the blue team successful. I'm disappointed Asami didn't win, but the benders in blue showed great teamwork. I straighten my back and clap.

I've got to join a Pro-Bending team, I decide. "I wonder how...?"

I eagerly glance at the scene around me and bolt for the set of stairs I see behind the stands. They spiral deep down into the earth. The crowd's cheers bid me farewell, and another entry hall greets me once I reach the bottom. With adrenaline and excitement clouding my judgment, I charge down the hall and veer left once, twice. The room I find myself in is some kind of locker area full of benders, all of whom are male and most of whom are in the middle of changing out of uniform. Those that look me in the eye only stare in blank surprise. My own bright blue eyes widen and my lower lip constricts to its signature pouting position.

"Whoops! Sorry. Wrong room!" I smile sheepishly and hope the flush of heat in my cheeks is a result of the change in room temperature. Casually, I turn on my heel and stride out of their sight, then dash back up the stairs, slowing only as I reach the top.

Way to go.

I think for a minute, and decide to wait up here and see if I can talk to someone about joining a team. I again take my seat and observe the battle arena as I wait for the crowds to leave.

It only takes a few minutes, so I wait... and I wait... and I wait. And nothing is happening. Chin in palm, eyelids lowered, lip contracted, I tap my fingernails on the cold metal railing. Several more minutes glide by, and still no one else shows up. I tug at my brown hair and decide against my pride to head back downstairs to see if anyone's still there.

By the time I reach the bottom of the spiral stairs, I can tell something's going on. I feel the calm atmosphere has charged into one of alarm. Curious, I poke my head around the corner. A man in a red uniform darts past and doesn't seem to notice me; without hesitation I follow him down the hall. His trail curves and ends in some kind of medical room. I peek around the edge of the doorway just enough to see what the scene is.

A team of waterbenders is tending to Asami. She lies on a hospital bed, her dark face choked in pain, her eyes squeezed shut. One of the healers is nursing what appears be the wound on Asami's head. The man I followed in has his back to me so I can't see his face, but his voice betrays his emotions.

"Will she be alright?" He's worried.

"Oh, good, Mako, you're here." The healer, a woman with white hair and mulatto skin a shade lighter than mine, turns to him. I duck back behind the corner.

"Yes, she'll be fine. She'll need to take some time to fully recover; she got hit pretty bad."

"Will she be okay to compete with us in the next match?"

"I can't say. A lot depends on how she feels when the pain wears off, but she might have to sit out for a couple of weeks."

"Whatever she needs. What do you think we should do about a third bender in the meantime?"

"I said she might have to sit out. And that's not my problem."

"Do you – "

" – have work to do? Yes."

Mako sighs a short huff and I take my cue to leave. I turn to run back the way I came, but in the distance I can see the blue team is headed this way. Uh-oh. In a moment of decisive action, I book it down the hall the opposite direction. After several sharp turns, I find another staircase. Safe! I climb the stairs, taking the time to calm my nerves and steady my breathing. By the time I reach the top, I realize I've walked onto the arena itself.

Whoops.

A figure in a red Pro-Bending uniform is practicing earthbending not far from where I stand. I watch him for a whole minute or so, trying to decide the best course of action.

Eventually, I do, and start to approach him. "Hello there!"

The bender lets out a surprised yelp and falls over on his rear.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." I offer a hand.

It takes him a minute to register what is going on. The boy shakes his head as if to clear his confusion and takes my hand. "You didn't scare me!" he insists. I furrow an eyebrow, then shrug.

"Are you a Pro-Bender?"

"I sure am!" He removes his helmet and plants his hands on his hips and puffs out his chest a bit. "My name's Bolin."

I smile, in part because of his friendliness, but mostly because I notice his hair is slicked back to resemble the tail of a turtle duck. I can't help but wonder if it's intentional.

"Korra." I shake his hand. "Is, um, Asami your teammate?"

"Yeah, she is. Did you =-– did you see our last match?"

"Just the tail end of it. Is she gonna be okay?"

"I'm not sure. The healers don't like it when we bother them so I was going to check on her after they were done."

"Oh." A pang in my chest wonders if I should tell him the news or just let him find it out for himself. I pause, chasing the right words around in my head. "Well, in either case, a back-up waterbender wouldn't be a bad thing to find."

"I guess not." He seems to realize something and sizes me up. "Are you a waterbender?"

I smile. "Yes, actually. I'm the Avatar."

He stares for a minute, then shakes his head as if it will help him make sense of things. "What? You're -– what? The Avatar?" His emerald eyes are wide in shock and his mouth is stiff as if he is using it for the first time, then his face breaks into a smile. "Wow! It's such an honor!" He grabs my hand again and shakes it like an overexcited child. "Wow, the Avatar! Just wait till my brother gets here, he'll -– "

As if on cue, Mako, still in uniform, enters. Bolin drops my hand and I shake my fingers out. I don't try very hard to hide the pained expression on my face.

"Mako! Mako, this is Korra!" He hunches over, turns away from me, and covers the side of his face with his hand. "She's... THE... Avatar!" His whispering does little to contain the excitement in his voice.

Mako takes a minute to size me up, and I do the same to him.

"The Avatar, huh?"

His voice is raspy. He's much taller than his brother and me; we are about the same height, but the two siblings have the same pale peach complexion. Mako's hair is a slightly darker brown, almost black, shade of Bolin's, but unlike his brother, Mako has gold, almond-shaped eyes that give him the look so signature of the Fire Nation. I pause, wondering if he'll be the one to make the first move, then offer a handshake.

"Yep, that's me. It's nice to meet you."

His eyes lock on mine and he blinks; the corner of his mouth curves in a heartfelt smile. "Likewise." He takes up the offer of a handshake.

"Word is you two are in need of a waterbender."

"Really?" Mako raises a single eyebrow. "Whose word?"

"Um, no one's," I respond as casually as I can. "I saw Asami get knocked out and assumed..." I shrug. I'm not a very good liar.

Mako blinks again, his eyes refusing to betray his thoughts. He pats his brother on the back and guides him towards the center of the ring.

"Right. Well, you're welcome to try out, if you'd like."

"Yes! That'd be great!" In my excitement, I jump in the air and spin around, then freeze and contract my lower lip as soon as I remember I have an audience. I straighten my posture and tuck my arms back in. "I mean, uh, ahem, if that works for you."

Mako smirks and nods. He turns to Bolin. "You start bouting with her, and when I think she's least expecting it, I'll jump in and start to help you, okay?"

Bolin nods his head eagerly. Mako exchanges a look with me as if to ask permission, and with a nod I grant it. Bolin and I each take a place in the inner circle of the ring and shift into a fighting stance.

"Wait." Bolin and I straighten. "We shouldn't fight unless you're wearing protective gear," Mako says.

"Nah, don't worry about it," I say.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

He hesitates. "Just..."

"What?"

"Bolin, don't knock her out of the ring. Asami was wearing her helmet, and she still got hurt. The last thing we want is to hurt the Avatar."

Bolin nods eagerly, and on Mako's mark we begin.

I spring into action right away, creating a ring of water from the vapor in the air. Bolin flips backwards. He clenches his fists and slams them into the ground to create a wall of earth. I strike with a water whip; he spins and kicks the wall, and parts of it come flying towards me. My first instinct is to use a fist of flame to punch, but I catch myself and slice with water. Bolin jumps and flips backwards again and again, sending more chunks of earth my way. I run forward, grinning with devilish amusement and slicing through each boulder.

Suddenly he sucks himself into the ground and disappears. I halt in my tracks instantly. He'll be able to feel the vibrations of any movement I make. I wait and listen, my eyes closed with the intensity of the moment; I hear the ever so quiet shift of earth just beneath me. With a battle cry and a storm of rocks, Bolin resurfaces just as I jump out of the way. I'm not sure when, but sometime soon after -or maybe just before - Mako decides to jump in. The two make a formidable duo. Bolin keeps coming at me head-on, while Mako stays close enough to be a threat, but far enough out of the way to make him hard to hit. I step back, back, back as the two throw ranged attacks. I use water from the moat below to turn the flames to steam and hurl ice through the boulders.

Bolin doesn't even seem to notice his brother's entrance, but I'm almost overwhelmed. Lip pouted in determination, I stampede. Using the rocks as cover, I run until I'm right in Bolin's face and freeze his hands together with another water whip. He struggles just long enough for me to knock him out of the ring, and I take long enough to prepare for the next attack for Mako to knock and pin me to the ground.

Sweat runs down the side of my face and I'm panting, but there is an undeniable glow coming from deep within my chest. That... was... awesome! And legal! They've got to let me join their team!

Mako straightens until he's standing and then offers me a hand. "Well done."

I practically jump up on my own. "That was great!" I exclaim through my huffs of breath, my arms animating my excitement. "I haven't had that much fun since this morning!"

Mako grins. "That long, huh?"

Bolin earthbends himself out of the water. "That was incredible!" His hands are still frozen together in a block of ice. I melt it as soon as I realize, and he rushes over to us and bobs up and down on his toes. "Very well done! That was impressive!"

My eyebrows and cheeks lift in a smile. "Thank you."

"So can she join our team, Mako? Please please please please? She's the Avatar and she's a waterbender and she's great and she's the Avatar and –- "

" -– Bolin." Mako takes his helmet off. "You'd never forgive me if I said no, would you?"

~:~:~

"Just once?"

"Don't push yourself too hard, Korra. We've been training all day and -– "

I shoot a blast of fire just past Mako's ear. He smirks and lowers into a battle stance.

"Once."

Without words, I aim another fireball, this time at his head. He spins out of the way and kicks, sending a wall of flame towards me. A playful pout cartwheels across my mouth as I jump through the fire, guiding it out of my way with a gesture of my hands. The two of us go back and forth in a dance for I don't know how long; soon I see an opening and take it. I drop to the ground and spin, locking Mako's ankle with mine and knocking him over. I position myself over him as if about to deliver the last fatal move of an Agni Kai. I almost expect him to grimace but he knows better than that. Instead, raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Whoo hoo!" I throw my arms into the air before helping him onto his feet.

"Consider us even now,"I say as I place my hands on my hips triumphantly and he brushes himself off. "I think that's a good note to end the day on, don't you?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, I take off my helmet and head down to the womens' changing room. "I'll be back in few. Meet me back here?"

"Sounds good."

Bolin had been practicing with us earlier today but decided to call it good after about four hours. Today he had brought his pet fire ferret Pabu with him. I don't know why he thought it was a good idea to bring him along, but Bolin seems to have a thing for animals –- he even convinced me to let him take care of Naga until Mako and I return to the apartment the two brothers call home. After I finish changing, I meet up with Mako and we set out. I'm near fatigue, but the ache in my muscles and warmth flushing my cheeks and neck is welcome. After an entire day of only practicing waterbending, I'm just glad I got to spar with fire –- and fighting fire with fire against a skilled opponent isn't exactly a downer, either.

The city smells rancid all day and night, and then the setting of the sun brings out the ugliness of its colors. The daytime pleasantness of silver, green, and red buildings are now a dirty brown, and the lights coming from the windows are sickly yellow. As we come to a clearing, I feel the my ears perk and the hair on my neck prickle. I feel a chill of danger run up my spine. I stop walking and intensely listen for something.

"What is it?" Mako asks in a calm whisper.

I glance over my shoulder. "I think we're being followed."

As if on cue, two figures, a male and female, drop from the sky. Their faces are covered by masks, their eyes bright and round and yellow, their uniforms an identical green, their waists adorned with a utility belt.

"Equalists," Mako growls and shifts into a battle-ready stance.

"Equal what?"

The two strangers charge at us. Without hesitation, I leap into the fight. I feel a rush of new energy and use it as fire against my opponent.

She makes it obvious right away she's not a bender, so I'm expecting an easy victory. But this fighter is formidable. She blocks every kick, parrys every punch, and meets my ferocity with her own. I can't hit her at all. She keeps jabbing at me with nothing but her fingers, but I'm able to block well enough. My mind rushes, trying to simultaneously figure out what her goal is and the best way to beat her to it. My eyes widen in fear as she almost hits my shoulder. But like a natural firebender, I turn my fear into positive energy that only strengthens my fight.

Mako shouts in pain and I hear him get thrown across the ground. I spin around to see the second Equalist, Mako's former opponent, running towards me.

"Mako!" I cry. I spin twice and send two blasts of fire at my opponent's feet, then one more right at the second Equalist's chest. I run towards Mako and stand over. My eyes narrow and lip contracts as I spin around to brace for another attack. The two attackers charge me, and I send an even more powerful blast of fire at the both of them. Still they come. Time to mix it up. I slam my foot on the ground and send two boulders flying at them.

It works.

The force of the attack pushes the both of them a fair distance away, and I run at them with full speed. Just before I reach them, they throw smoke pellets to the ground. The air pops, and much to my dismay I find myself right into the thick of the dust. I do my best to wave the stuff out of my face and mouth. I cough and look around wildly but the strange masked people are gone. I double check just to be sure, then hurry back over to Mako.

Mako pulls himself up. His cradles his right arm, which hangs lifelessly, as if dead. I offer to help him walk, but he insists only his arm bothers him.

"Who were those guys?"

"They're called Equalists." Mako looks around the clearing one last time before he and I cautiously make our way towards the light coming from the main street. In a hushed voice, he murmurs, "they must have attacked us because you're the Avatar."

"What?" I ask, bewildered. "Why?"

"They don't like benders. So I assume they especially don't like you."

"But how did they even know I was the Avatar?"

"I have no idea," Mako rasps. "But whoever told them is no friend of ours."

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