Thank BG-13! Best Co author!

The twins were sleeping peacefully together a few rooms down from their mother's. The storm outside seemed to be far from vanishing. Thunder clapped and the kids immediately sat up in bed. They looked at each other and smiled. It was just thunder. They lay back down in their bed until they heard a voice echo against the walls.

"Mac…Karah…" it called.

The twins sat up and gave each other a confused look as they searched around the room, finding no one there.

"Korra…help her…" it continued.

"Aang," they said in sync. Quickly they threw off the covers and ran to their mother's room, opening the door. Their father was in bed, but their mother wasn't. They gave each other a worried glance before leaving the room.

"Let's split up," Karah suggested. "We'll meet here after we search the whole house." Her brother nodded and both children went off in opposite directions. A few minutes later they met up again.

"Any luck?" Mac panted, his hands on his thighs. The little Firebender shook her head.

"Outside…hurry…" the voice instructed. Both twins bolted outside and looked around not knowing where to start. "The courtyard…"

The children took off in the direction the voice directed and stopped dead in their tracks. A few feet away from there a figure lay on the cold cement. Karah looked down, eyes wide as she saw a trickle of blood crawl towards her.

"Mom!" Mac called immediately by his mother's side. The little Firebender knelt beside her, gently shaking her mother. Korra let out a small whimper at the touch. Karah sighed in relief. Their mother was alive.

"I'm going to go get Dad," she told her brother. "Try not to move her too much." The little Waterbender gave her a nod and pulled his mother's head onto his lap, earning another whimper from the weakened Avatar.

"It's ok, Mom," he soothed, patting her face.

"Stay…away…" she murmured. He shook his head.

"No. I'm staying here with you. None of this is your fault." The Avatar's eyes tightened as she weakly shook her head.

"Azula…stay way…" she repeated, and that's when he understood. She wasn't telling him to leave, she was telling him to stay away from what did that to her. His fists clenched. He'd had enough. Azula was going to pay for what she did. His thoughts were interrupted by his father's scream.

"Korra!" he yelled as he knelt down beside her. He gently turned her around to face him and caressed her face. He tried to carefully cradle her in his arms but she still let out a shriek of pain. The twins ran ahead to awaken Katara and their grandmother.

"Is she going to be ok?" Mako asked as he saw the water glow in the tub his wife lay in. Katara gave a deep sigh.

"These cuts are very deep," she replied.

"But you can heal them right?"

"I'm not only talking about her physical wounds, Mako. I'm also talking about her emotional ones."

The Firebender nodded, holding his wife's hand. "I'm here for you," he whispered kissing it. "We're here for you. Please pull through, Korra."

The twins looked up when the door to the infirmary opened. Their father had their mother in his arms, who was wrapped up in a blanket. He motioned them to follow him and they made their way to their mother's room, where he gently laid her down, covering her up with another set of blankets.

"You two need to get out of those clothes before you catch a cold," he instructed. The children nodded and quickly ran to their room.

"Karah," the little Waterbender began as they turned their backs against each other to change.

"Hmm?"

"I think it's time."

"Time for what?" the little Firebender asked confused.

"We need to tell everyone about Sozi," Mac whispered.

Mako sat on a chair next to his wife's bed, holding her hand and stroking her cheek tenderly. Korra remained motionless, breathing irregularly but nonetheless holding onto life. He began to stroke her hair when he heard the door open.

"Mako, I need to speak with you," Katara whispered.

The Firebender sighed and turned to look at the elder Waterbender. "What is it?"

"We know who has been controlling Korra." He stiffened. That had gotten his attention.

"I don't want to leave her," Mako stated. The elder Waterbender nodded.

"I'll get everyone."

"I told you I had a bad feeling about her!" Zuko roared. Katara had just told him what the twins had discovered about his grandniece and he wasn't too happy about it. "She's dangerous! Just like her grandmother!"

"Relax Zuko," Katara patiently replied. "And lower your voice."

"Relax? You want me to relax, Katara? May I remind you that last time you told me to relax was when that child came here! 'Just because he looks like her doesn't mean she's like her'. Well guess what? Apparently it is her! And now we have a half dead Avatar because you told me to relax!" he spat. The children winced along with Mako.

"I don't think Sozi knows what she's doing," Karah interjected. The adults turned to look at her.

"Is that a possibility?" Mako asked. Katara thought about it for a moment.

"It is," she finally replied.

"What makes you think that?" Zuko asked as calmly as he could.

The twins looked at each other. "Sometimes it seemed as if she was coming out of a trance," Mac began.

"Like she didn't know where she was or what she had been doing," his sister added.

"So there is a part we can save?" Sytka asked sleepily.

"It looks like it," Ty answered.

"But how do we test the theory?" Lin asked. Bolin, Asami and Lin had been called to the island after they found Korra to help with the…predicament.

"There isn't a theory to test! We need to get rid of her while we still can," Zuko replied impatiently.

"That's enough Zuko," Katara said sharply, all patience leaving her. "How can you be cruel to your own flesh and blood?"

"Am I the only sane person here?" he asked with disbelief. "She almost killed the Avatar!"

"But it seems Sozi doesn't have control," Mako whispered, caressing his wife's cheek.

"I thought you wanted to protect your wife," the elder Firebender said sourly. Mako stood up from his seat next to his wife.

"Are you insinuating that I don't care about Korra's well being?" he asked, as his hands turning into fists.

"Calm down, both of you," Tenzin said stepping between the Firebenders. Everyone remained silent for a while until the Nonbender of the group spoke up.

"I've heard stories that your mother could…tell when someone was lying?" Asami said to Lin. The Earthbender gave her a nod.

"Yes, she could tell by sensing the person's heartbeat," she explained to everyone.

"But Azula was able to get past that," Korra weakly whispered.

Everyone's attention snapped to the Waterbender who was trying to sit up in the bed. Mako immediately sat down and pulled her close so she could lean on his chest.

"That's right," Katara agreed. "Azula was the only able to get past Toph's 'lie detector'."

"We need to take her down. Now," Zuko repeated.

"No," Korra whispered again.

"You know, one thing I admired about you was that you faced a problem head on, Korra," the elder Firebender began. "You aren't the kind to beat around the bush like Aang was. She needs to be stopped. May I remind you how she almost made you-"

"That's enough!" Mako yelled as he made a move to stand up. Korra let out a small whimper at the sudden movement and he immediately sat back down, apologizing. She took in sharp breath before answering the elder.

"I know what I almost did," she began. "But Azula inhabits a body of a child. I won't take her life. It's not who I am. There has to be a way around this."

Zuko groaned. This sounded way too familiar. "Aang, do you mind? I'm trying to talk to the new Avatar here," he mumbled.

"It's not Aang," Korra replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"So how are we going to stop this evil spirit lady?" Bolin asked.

"There isn't anyone who can," Tenzin commented.

"There is," Korra said. "Me."

"No," everyone in the room replied.

"Korra, you're hurt. You can't fight her," Mako said. She shook her head trying to get away from his hold.

"I'm the only one who can," she said, breathing heavily at the effort she was making.

"No Korra, you need to rest. Let us handle this," Katara replied. The Avatar finally gave up trying to get up and collapsed against her husband's chest, grinding her teeth in pain.

"Let's discuss this in another room," Tenzin suggested, seeing Korra yawn. Everyone followed. "Mako, we need you too."

The Firebender hesitated in leaving his wife's side.

"We'll stay with Mom," Karah said. He nodded and laid Korra down, covering her and giving her a light kiss on her temple.

"What about you, kids?" Lin asked.

"We'll stay here too," Ami replied. Ty snorted, knowing that was far from the truth.

Asami eyed the kids but nodded as she followed the rest of the adults to another room.

"What are we going to do?" Sytka asked sensing his cousin had something up her sleeve.

"We need to confront Sozi. We can't let anyone hurt her. Korra doesn't want that," the nonbender explained.

"You go, we'll stay here," Mac said taking a seat next to his mother.

"Yeah, Mom needs us."

The group of three nodded.

"If we don't come back in half an hour," Sytka began.

"Then we probably need you to look for us," Ami finished.

"Not while I'm around," Ty said with a smirk. The twins nodded.

"Be careful," they whispered.