"Korra, please stay by my side."
"Huh?"
"Korra," Katara sighed and gently tugged on her hand, pulling her away from the vendors in the Republic City market. "The Council will be meeting soon and they're all so excited to meet you. We should be there on time to show respect."
Korra wasn't paying attention again, her head was tilted so far backwards she almost fell over trying to see the tops of the buildings.
"Katara why are the buildings so tall?"
"Hmm? Oh, because city-folk like to build things big, they're called Skyscrapers."
"Sc-uh…sc-uh-"
"Sky-scrapers." Katara repeated slowly.
"Why are they called that?"
"Because they're rumored to be so tall, that they scrape the bottom of the sky."
"REALLY?"
"Yes, but soon, you'll be able to fly higher than them."
"Yeah! Because I'm the-!"
Katara quickly put her hand over Korra's mouth, "Shhhh, Korra, you're still too little to run around cities announcing things like that."
Korra let out an exasperated sigh.
Katara smiled warily at the young Avatar, no matter how she explained it, Korra wouldn't understand why she needed to remain a secret. Right now the city was calm, but Katara knew that most of the public would be going out to lunch soon and she wanted to have Korra at the City Hall before then to avoid the possibility of her wandering off in the crowd, or being carried off. The Council had promised to keep the Avatar's visit a secret since she wasn't strong enough to defend herself yet. That didn't ease Katara's fears though; keeping the Avatar's visit a secret meant no White Lotus guards. Katara was sure there were some following them in disguise, but she and Korra were still prime targets. An old woman and a small child dressed in water tribe garb would draw attention, and if someone wanted Korra bad enough, it wouldn't take much to yank her from Katara's hands. While he waterbending was still strong, her reaction time had slowed in her age. Katara swore to herself she wouldn't let that happen though, she had promised Aang she would protect the new Avatar. As they approached a crowd, she tried to tighten her grip on Korra's hand, when she realized it was no longer there.
"Hi! I'm Korra!"
Katara whipped her head around in shock; Korra had wiggled out of her hand and bumped into a small boy.
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to knock you down!" The boy said, biting his nails and blushing; the small girl was really cute.
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. My name is Korra, what's your name?" Korra had a huge smile on her face. This was her first time meeting anyone outside of the Water Tribe her age.
"Korra!" Katara hurried over to her, "Korra don't disappear like that!" Katara's voice shook with worry.
"I'm fine." Korra smiled up at her. "I met a new friend-" She ushered to the boy.
"Bolin." He said, "And this is my Dad." Bolin pulled on his Dad's hand.
"It's nice to meet you Korra."
"Nice to meet you too, this is Katara, she's-" Korra stopped for a moment, not sure what to exactly call Katara, "She's my best friend."
Katara's nerves were starting to grow on her, "Korra, we really must get going."
"Aww, okay. Hey Bolin, I'll be at the park later, want to play with me?"
"Yeah!"
"Great! Look for me okay?"
"I will!"
On their way again, Katara looked down at the small Avatar.
"Korra," Katara said, "You shouldn't make playdates you can't keep."
"Huh?"
Later in the afternoon Korra was on Air Temple Island to stay for the evening. She pleaded to go to the park but the guards and Katara wouldn't hear of it.
"Stay here and stay safe." They told her. Korra scowled and started to run around the temple island bending earth, water and fire. Katara and Tenzin ran after her, trying to stop her from possibly drawing attention from shore.
Bolin wandered around the park with his Dad and his brother that evening. He looked all over for the girl, from the turtleduck pond to the sandspider box by the playset.
"Maybe you missed her Bo." His dad patted him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, maybe I did." Bolin looked over the park once more from the entrance.
Mako sighed, "You meet new friends everyday in school Bo, you'll forget about her soon enough."
Bolin laughed, now 16 and heading back towards the attic in the probending arena to grab his forgotten water bottle before the match.
"It's weird how the smallest events pop back up in your mind after so many years." Bolin smiled at himself. He turned his head, hearing some chatter from inside the gym.
"I'm tired of you fans walking in here without permission! I'm calling security!"
A beautiful girl with dark hair and water tribe gear cringed at the old man's threat.
Bolin froze in mid-step and fixed his hair. He didn't know why he'd choose that particular phrase, but when he stepped into the gym, the first words out of his mouth were, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"