"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Accompanied by the swift patter of bare feet on smooth stone, a little girl in a jade green shirt and khaki pants flew through the front door of a modest lower ring residence. A middle-aged woman leaning out of the upstairs window was hanging clothing from a line strung between their building and the one next door as she listed to the smooth tones of trombone jazz emanating from a large household radio set on the far side of the room. She turned her head to the interior of the home to answer the repeated cries of her daughter.
"What is it Jaya?" The girl bounded up the stairs two at a time as the music floating out of the radio hit an up tempo and began to cruise and jive. She flew to her mother and tightly wrapped her arms around the woman's waist, nearly knocking her out of the open window in the process.
"Mommy! Can I change the radio station? Pleeaaaaaase?!" The girl looked up at her mother, sticking out her lower lip and opening her eyes as wide as she could to assist in her plead to her mother. The woman sighed in exasperation as she looked sternly down at her daughter. She quirked a single eyebrow at the all too familiar "Sad Puppy-Frog face" that her daughter often used to try and get her own way.
"To what?"
"The election results are coming on tonight! We gotta listen to them! Pretty Please!?"
"Since when, oh daughter of mine, do you have an interest in politics?" The woman asked as she blinked in confusion.
"Oh I don't, but Avatar Korra is at the palace and she is going to read some of the results!" A twinkle of worship awoke in the young girl's eyes as she squeezed her mother more fiercely. "I NEEEEEED to listen to them! Pretty pretty please with a fried Octo-pede on top!?" Her mother quirked a small smile and brushed her daughter's loose bangs out of her face.
"Oh? Is that so? Well I guess there is no harm in putting the results on is there? As soon as your father gets home we will put on the broadcast, now go get cleaned up for diner."
"YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!" Exclaimed Jaya as she leapt around the room and made her way to the bathroom to wash her face.
"And what have I told you about not wearing your shoes!?"
"Greetings citizens of Ba Sing Se, and congratulation on another successful election cycle. This is Bipin Yudhisthir reporting to you live from the Grand Palace of Ba Sing Se as we approach the announcement of the final tallies for this year's regional elections. As the officials prepare we will be beginning tonight's broadcast with a brief word from our host tonight, the owner of the Upper Ring and cherished national icon Prince Wu."
"Thanks Bipin, and might I say you are looking marvelous today, excellent choice of tie it really matches the microphone. Hello people of Ba Sing Se! It's me, Prince Wu! Coming at you live from my home here in the Upper Ring where- What was that? Oh you already said where we are, okay- Nevermind you all know where we are! I want to start with how great this past year has been, for all of us! Just the other day I happened to bump into a tour group here in my home, the palace, as I was having a chat with Governor Shailesh about ways I can help bring other members of high society into more active roles serving the city like I myself play. I asked my friend the governor to place our conversation on hold for a moment so I could welcome my guests properly, and as I was showing them all the royal broach, the national treasure most symbolic of the nobility and public service of our nation's illustrious royal lineage, I struck up a wonderful conversation with a woman by the name of Anju. She told me all about how over the past year her husband graduated from the great University of Ba Sing Se with the financial backing of a regional education grant supported by one of my many charities, and found work at the central FI radio hub here in the city. His name is Ratna by the way; hey he is probably listening right now from work! Hi Ratna, we're talking about you! Anyways, did you all know that we now have more people than ever before graduating from our Universities with degrees in history, math, architecture and telecommunications? I didn't know that until yesterday, can you believe it? And it's not just people from rich families either! With all of the new tuition grants and scholarships being provided both by our wonderful regional governments and by noble, brave, handsome, and charitable private organizations, our Universities are making higher learning something that all of our nation's great minds can aspire too, no matter where they come from! Isn't that something? And not just our nation but people from all over the world, fire nation citizens, water tribe citizens, even more than a few young air nomads, come from all over the world to OUR Universities here in Ba Sing Se, and in Omashu, and even in Zaofu! We've all worked so hard and come so far since the formation of the Republic of Earth Provinces. And when I see the faces of our people I see pride, commitment, and hope for a future where all our kids have a chance to show the whole world what they are capable of! And furthermore I promise that I will do all I can to make sure I- wha? Wait I- NO I'm not done yet- No! Stop hey! I-"
"Thank you, Prince Wu for leading off the night with such wonderful sentiments. And now the officials approach, envelope in hand with the results for this year's elections. Thank you."
Tearing sound, the folding of paper.
"And the results. For the coming term, serving as Treasurer we have… and in… Provincial Minister of… Head of City Utilities Office… Trade Minister… National Senate Representative… And finally, your new Provincial Governor of Ba Sing Se. Is. Governor Shailesh for a second term in office! Wow what a stunning night for the entirety of Ba Sing Se. Once again all of our thanks and congratulations to every single citizen who utilized their rights this week in making it out to the polls and casting your ballots, it's you who made these decisions tonight and you who shape our great nation. And now for closing remarks this evening I would like you all to welcome a very, very special guest to Ba Sing Se tonight. Our very own Avatar Korra will be speaking to the people of the city tonight! Avatar please, feel free to take over."
Static, muffled shouts, and indistinct shuffling.
"Wu! Please I was asked to be here I- No you don't get another turn! Let go of me Wu, keep your hands to yourself! Move! Oh… Uh, Hi everyone! This is The Avatar, uh Avatar Korra here. It's great to be here tonight to see the election results personally. I uh was told I should probably prepare a speech ha ha. I even wrote some notecards. Let's see, um… uh… ha all this one card says is 'Don't forget the name of the city this time' ha ha ha… You know what? Forget the cards. I was going to talk about the advanced irrigation projects and the new rail systems Future Industries is finishing off right now but sitting here now I have something I would much rather say.
It's been ten years. Ten long, hard years. Things haven't been easy thus far, I know, I've been all over trying to help out over the past ten years. First the farms weren't putting out strong enough and that took so much effort to ease. Then that situation with Omashu's elections and- well what I'm trying to say is this. You guys are doing it. Things haven't gotten easier, but they are getting better! I don't know if things will ever be easy, I don't think they ever have been, but that didn't stop us back then and it isn't stopping us now! You all are making the world a better place every day. Every vote, every act of kindness, every spare hand chipping in to make things better. I see it, I see it in your faces and I see it here in Ba Sing Se. You are setting an example to the whole world of what is possible when people help one another and try to live up to the standards we set for ourselves. We don't always succeed, but when attempting something wonderful it is wonderful even to sometimes fail. And yes we sometimes fall down, and we've fallen down a lot over the last ten years. But YOU kept getting back up and kept trying! You all have rebuilt this nation for a brighter future, with your own solid hands. Cherish your accomplishments, and pass on your strength to all of the children of Earth that will carry this nation forward.
So uh, that's about all I had to say. I umm… oh yeah! I wanted to say that I will be in the city for one more day and I wanted to invite people to come join me for tea tomorrow afternoon. A close friend of mine owns a tea shop here in the city called the "Jasmine Dragon" and they make the best tea anywhere in the R.E.P. So if you have some free time tomorrow come join me I would love to see all of you, I promise I'm a much better speaker in person ha ha."
"Avatar Korra, thank you so very much for joining us tonight. You were wonderful. And so with that we conclude tonight's special broadcast. This is Bipin Yudhisthir signing off."
Downbeat Jazz takes over the broadcast…
"Unacceptable, you call this 'event security'?" indicted a sharp eyed woman with a polished appearance, and intimidating posture. She wore purple short robes with a white floral pattern collar, matching purple pants and metal gloves and shoulder pads. Her black hair was kept up in an immaculate bun with a single group of bangs hanging free down the left side of her face, drawing the eye towards the small mole located just below her right eye. "If I had not arrived when I did three hours early this morning there would have been no ground sweep, no barricades, no que set up, nothing roping off the entrance. It would have simply been an exposed tea house in the middle of the city, now I ask you is that any security befitting the Avatar herself? Forgive me for assuming that the Ba Sing Se city guards were capable of securing a simple public building. " The captain she spoke to growled beneath his wide rim hat as he flexed his future industry model HS-45 stone form stun gloves.
"Well forgive me, Kuvira, for mistaking you as the Avatar's personal prisoner, not the head of her personal security. Do tell, when were you pardoned for your war crimes eh?"
"My my, aren't you the disrespectful one. I know your commanding officer you little dirt clod, who do you think it was who trained him? Would you prefer I wrote him a letter detailing your unit's complete lack of preparation for the public appearance of the Avatar herself?" The murmur of the crowd roared through the square as half of the children in the middle ring all waited neatly in line along with their parents between Kuvira's roped out que set up before the tea house whose windows were all neatly covered by stone walls erected earlier this morning.
"Oh they let you write letters now? I wonder by what right a sad, imprisoned, wannabe white lotus, failed dictator can talk to men in uniform that way. If you have something to prove then just try and prove it."
"Your attempts to provoke me are meaningless. My being in the full bondage and custody of the Avatar is precisely why I was ensuring her safety while you and your men slacked off this morning. The terms of my custody were quite clear; the Avatar was to come to no harm while she was my warden. I take that commitment seriously."
"That clause wasn't supposed to entail harm other people might try to bring me Kuvira" responded the tenor voice of a woman from above. The dark skinned beauty glided gently to the ground with an old fashioned air glider staff. As she landed the water tribe woman in the prime of her adulthood rose to her full height making it easy to see all of the lean muscle that lay just beneath her blue, white fur trimmed summer attire. The smooth skin of her face curled and wrinkled as she laughed and placed a gentle hand on the shoulder of the taller purple clad woman. "Why did you block up all the windows? And what's up with the ropes and lines?"
"Well, Avatar Korra first let me say good morning and that I hope you slept well. As for the security measures I have set up I felt that controlling the flow of the crowd into the building would make things more orderly and I covered the windows to ensure that should there be anyone attempting to hijack the appearance they would only be able to enter from the front or the rear of the building, making it easier to defend you."
"I see. And how are people supposed to get tea when they are all outside the building?"
"Well I-"
"And won't the inside of the shop be really dark with all the windows covered up?"
"I suppose, but Avatar Korra I really think that-"
"Come on Kuvira, relax a bit. It's just a tea house ha ha. Come on lets go in and get some tea, let the guards do the whole worrying thing." Korra patted Kuvira's shoulder as she turned and with a firm slam of her heel to the paved street all of the stone barriers blocking the shops windows receded back down to the street they rose out of. With a roll of her shoulder and a roll of her wrist she guided a current of air to the rope blocking entrance to the tea shop and unhooked it from the post, opening the way for the screaming crowd to enter the tea shop. Kuvira stood firm for but a moment before relenting to the will of her warden with a heavy sigh and slightly deflated shoulders. As the captain behind her began to snicker she turned and with a flex of her bicep and a tightening of her fist the man's belt came undone and his pants fell to his feet exposing him to the entire crowd. "Kuvira." admonished Korra gently, as the humiliated captain desperately attempted to cover himself with his hat as the crowd laughed.
"Wasn't it you who told me that conflicts are best resolved without violence?" asked Kuvira as she smiled to herself.
"Well you've got me there. Sorry captain, sounds like you had it coming." She laughed as she entered among the crowd into the confines of the sweetly fragrant tea shop.
The shop was crammed to capacity with crowds of families, all here for a chance to speak to the Avatar. The serving staff flitted to and fro selling their tea to all the families in attendance while a small dedicated group of servers catered exclusively to the table that the Avatar sat at. Her laughter filled the room as she hugged a young fan by the name of Jaya who wore a shirt bearing Korra's likeness on the front. She offered the young girl the seat next to herself and she continued to chat pleasantly with the families in attendance and greet as many of them individually as possible.
Suddenly the crowd began to part as a bespectacled woman attempted to shove her way ever nearer the Avatar, her eyes low before her and her arms grasping and clutching forward. Kuvira narrowed her eyes and lowered her center of gravity before Korra laid a hand on Kuvira's knee to relax her. With a backwards smirk at her prisoner Korra nodded low and Kuvira noticed the young boy fighting through the knees of the assembled crowd towards the Avatar. Kuvira relaxed and straightened her posture as the child finally reached Korra and stood before her his eyes fixed on hers. The woman chasing him was still trying to catch up through the crowd but now her attempts to call to the child could be heard over the dull roar of conversation and it became clear she was trying to stop the young boy. With a smile and a wave Korra signaled to the woman that it was okay, but this did not seem to comfort the woman as her face contorted into one of regret and sadness. The boy huffed and puffed from the effort of reaching the Avatar and suddenly shouted as loud as he was able.
"Avatar Korra!" The cry quieted the room as all eyes fell on the young boy. The boy's eyes were red and swollen from recent tears and he glared the direction of the Avatar. She smiled softly back at the boy waiting for him to speak.
"Yes? What is your name?"
"I'm Nidhi. I need your help with something really important! Spirity important!" Korra's eyes became sad as she looked upon the child with skinned knees and tear stained cheeks as he boiled with anger.
"Well it's hard to hear you from over there," she patted her knee and invitingly waved to him. "Why don't you come over and sit with me, and tell me what I can help you with?" The boy looked around and began to shuffle towards her, awkwardly climbing up to sit on her knee. "See isn't this better? Now tell me what I can do for you Nidhi." The boy leaned in close and whispered into Korra's ear and her face became even sadder. Across from her Kuvira could see the woman chasing the boy near the point of tears herself as she covered her mouth. "Ahhh… I see… Well… I think that before I try to do that, you look like you could use a good story. A Spirity story. What do you say?" The boy thought for a moment before nodding.
"Only if you promise to help me afterwards." Korra smiled sadly and ruffled the boy's short black hair.
"Everyone who would like to hear, I'm about to tell one of my favorite stories so please grab a seat before I get started." The crowd quickly began to find seats, and where none were available the people simply sat on the floor their cups of tea in hand. One by one, children began to weave their way through the crowd and plop down in front of the Avatar, eager expressions on their faces to hear a story from the Avatar. Once all were seated Korra reached into the bag she carried with her and pulled out a leather bound tome, dyed white and pale blue in the pattern of a kite. The pages fit loosely inside; many not yet set into the binding and simply tucked in-between the other pages. She set the book on her free knee and turned to Nidhi before asking him a question.
"Say Nidhi, do you remember what you did this morning?" The boy nodded yes quickly. She smiled and turned to another child in the crowd before her. "And you? Do you remember last week?" The child eagerly bobbed their head yes as well. Korra addressed a third child. "How about what happened a month ago?" The child thought for a second before hesitantly nodding yes. She addressed all the children with her next question. "How about a Year ago?" None of the children nodded but all were scratching their heads thinking. "How about ten years ago?" At this point many adults began to scratch their heads trying to recall what had happened exactly a year earlier. Some of the children remarked they weren't even ten years old yet. Korra laughed and followed with a question that hushed the room, "Are you sure that just because you're not yet ten years old, that means you weren't here over ten years ago?" The room was silent as all waited for the Avatar to explain. She opened the book on her knee to the first page and smiled down at it. "Well this story starts over 10,000 years ago." The amazement of the crowd became audible as all were held with rapt attention. "And the best part is, it's my own story, because I was there for it." The children gasped, the adults all whispered among each other. One young girl remarked that Korra didn't look 10,000 years old.
"Ha ha ha. Yeah I sure don't look that old huh? But you see, back then I wasn't called Korra. Back then I wasn't even a girl. I was a boy, a fire nation boy, and my name was Wan." She gently caressed the book before her, the photographs of ancient murals and statues were layered inside the plastic pages of the book. The name 'Wan' was written at the top of the first page. "And back then I wasn't the Avatar yet either. I couldn't even bend one lousy element. Back then there were only four great benders in the whole wide world. They were the great lion turtles. They bent energy, chi, and they loved humans. But humans lived in a big scary world full of danger. The lion turtles loved the human's sooo much that they used energy bending to give the humans the ability to bend. So they could realize their true potential. But the lion turtles always asked the humans to give the bending back when they were done using it so that nobody got hurt accidentally. I was really young back then, and I decided to pick a fight with some people I thought were really bad. So I snuck out and borrowed fire from the Lion turtle without returning it. I took that fire and went to fight the people I didn't like. I won, but I learned something too. Beating them up didn't make me happy. It made me sad. I didn't want to hurt them. So I stopped fighting, but they were very mad, everyone was mad at me. I stole the fire. So I was sent away never to return to my home. But before I left I asked the turtle for one last blessing. I asked them to be merciful and leave me with fire. The Turtle agreed and I left forever. I lived in the forest for a long time after that, and I made a lot of spirit friends out in the forest. I even met a dragon who taught me to use fire properly and I was the first person to ever learn Real fire bending. And I was happy, because I didn't have to hurt anyone.
But I was still curious and I wanted to see other humans and learn how they lived. So I left on a journey. That was when I met someone very special. I met my other half, a spirit named Ravaa. She was tied up to her Brother Vatuu and the two of them were always fighting, all of the time. They rolled over mountains and smooshed oceans and destroyed whole forests fighting with each other, and this made me sad. So when Vatuu begged me to separate them and stop the fighting I used my fire bending to break them apart. But then I learned that Vatuu was very bad. He wanted everyone everywhere to be unhappy all of the time and that is why Ravaa was always fighting him, because she wanted everyone to be happy. I felt very bad about setting Vatuu free so I followed Ravaa and we chased Vatuu. But the longer they were apart the stronger Vatuu became and the weaker Ravaa became. Eventually we followed him all the way to another lion turtle, this one flew in the air and had air nomads and sky bison living with it. I managed to chase Vatuu off but Ravaa was very weak. So I asked the turtle to give me air bending too so that I could fight Vatuu and stop him from hurting people. The lion turtle said I couldn't do it, because humans can't bend more than one element. But Ravaa shared some of her power with me and I became strong enough to do it. Then Ravaa and I hatched a plan. We went to all the lion turtles and with Ravaa's help I learned all of the elements. And then Ravaa did something very special. She and I became one person, the Avatar, and we fought Vatuu together. As the Avatar, Ravaa and I became stronger than Vatuu. With our power we sealed up Vatuu so he couldn't make anyone else sad. And Ravaa stayed with me so together we could try and make people happy.
And do you want to know what happened after that?" Korra asked the enraptured crowd, young Nidhi entranced by the story nodded his head. "I stopped being Wan. I died." The children gasped and the crowd began to question if their children should hear the Avatars story. "Ha ha hold on. But then something else happened. I woke up and I was somebody new. I was a baby and my name was, Sonam." Korra turned the page in the book and the title of the page read 'Sonam' and in it were a small number of pictures of broken and faded murals and fragments of texts. "I was an air nomad baby, and I didn't remember back when I was Wan. But Ravaa stayed with me. As I got older Ravaa gave me a special power that helped me remember that I could bend all of the elements and that together we wanted to try and make people happy. I was still the Avatar even though my name and my face changed, and I spent my life trying to stop people from fighting." She turned another page, this one without a title but with one photo of a completely destroyed statue base. "And then I died again, and I woke up as a water tribe baby. And again I didn't remember anything. I don't know what my name was back then but I know that Ravaa was with me and I was the Avatar. Then I died again, and I was born again, and then I died again, and was born again." Korra began to flip casually through the pages of the book, some labeled, but most completely blank. "And I did this for almost 9000 years! And then I was an Air nomad woman named Yangchen, and I taught a lot of people about peace, and responsibility, and I wrote long boring books ha ha. After that I was a water tribe man named Kuruk! And I fought a great battle with a spirit who stole the face of my wife. And after that I was an Earth kingdom Girl named Kiyoshi. And I was a giant! And I moved an entire island off from the shore to try and stop a war. And after that I was a Fire Nation man named Roku, and I did many great things, including saving an entire village from a volcano. And then I was an air nomad boy named Aang. And I lost a lot of people that I loved when I was Aang. And I fought a lot of battles, and I struggled for a long time to bring peace to the world. And then after that guess who I became?" None spoke, all in awe of the tale and history laid bare before them. Nidhi raised his hand slowly and Korra laughed. "Yes Nidhi? Who did I become?"
"Korra?" he asked shyly.
"That's right! Now I am Korra! And I'm from the water tribe again. And I like sea prunes and urchin soup, and I love the smell of good noodles." She closed the book slowly and looked directly into Nidhi's eyes. "But then something bad happened to me a while ago. I lost my special power that let me remember who I was when I wasn't yet me." She patted her hand on the tome in her lap. "And that's why I'm making this book. So the me that comes next can remember who we were like I once could. But that's not the end of the story." She leaned in close to the boy and smiled at him. "You were once other people too." The boy blinked in amazement. "Everyone is always becoming somebody new, somebody different that they were before. All of the time. Death is just an illusion, a temporary parting, sad but impermanent because nobody is gone for long, we're always here. Living, breathing, loving and laughing." She wrapped her arms right around the boy and held him close as she continued her explanation. "So I'm sorry to say Nidhi, but I could go to the spirit world. And I could look high and I could look low, but I wouldn't find your mother or father there. I can't bring them back here to be the same people they were, because now they are new people. And they are starting their own new lives with new parents of their own. And they will live their own new adventures." Nidhi began to cry and clutched close to Korra as he wept.
"But I miss them! Wahhhhhh!"
"Hey there, it's okay to cry because you miss them. That just means you loved them. But they aren't gone, they are living new lives. Does that sound sad to you?" The boy slowly stopped crying and through sniffles replied,
"No… but who will take care of me now?"
"Well my special Avatar powers aren't just for show you know. So let me try something really quick." She put a hand on his forehead and her eyes began to glow blue. She smiled and hummed to herself. "Let's see. Aha. Yes. It looks like there is somebody who loves you a whole awful lot. And they are here too. They want to make sure you are warm, aaaand they want to make you soup when you get sick, aaaand they want to tuck you in at night and kiss you to sleep. Aaaaand I think if you open your eyes," she stopped glowing and smiled gently as Nidhi turned around to look at the crying woman in glasses standing only a few feet away. "You might find she is closer than you think." Nidhi looked at the woman then back at Korra, then looked down in thought. Most of the crowd was now in tears and the kids were returning to their parents to hug them and say they loved them. Nidhi looked up from his thought and nodded at the woman. He got up off of Korra's knee and walked over to hug her knee.
"I'm sorry Aunt Avani. Can we go home now?" The woman knelt down and held the boy close, and kissed his head, and cried, and held him. Korra smiled, but as she did a part of her heart she had never felt before began to tug in a way she couldn't quite explain. Behind Korra, Kuvira looked down at her own hands and nodded a newfound resolve to make her life a good one, to make her impact on other people positive. To atone for her mistakes. To be more like Korra.
Asami Sato sat reclined in a chair, her reading glasses affixed to her face and her hair perfectly in place as she scoured over a rough blueprint in her hands, idly chewing on the butt of the pencil she held, accidentally smearing lipstick on the pencil in the process. Suddenly she found her vision blocked entirely as two strong hands descended to cover her glasses. Then before she could voice a protest a pair of lips covered her own from above. The upside-down kiss was uncoordinated and made her laugh but it was also sweet and filled with love. As their lips parted she laughed aloud and said,
"Korra, when did you get back from Ba Sing Se? I missed you babe."
"I missed you too Sami. And I'll tell you all about the trip later. And then after that there is a long conversation I want to have with you about something that happened while I was there and a decision I think I want to talk about making with you." Korra removed her hands from Asami's eyes and in one sweep of her hands scooped her wife up in her strong arms. "But first I want to remind you of what you've been missing while I've been out of town doing Avatar stuff."
"Oh do remind me Mrs. Sato, what have I been missing?" She wrapped her arms around Korra's neck and pulled her in for another kiss as Korra walked them off into a more private setting.
~End~
Wow. Woooooow. Who would have ever thought I would be doing this again. I didn't that's for sure. Well this has been eating me up inside since just about right after the series finale (Which I thought was a flawless culmination of the shows ideals) and I've finally decided to get it down. I hope you all enjoyed it and if after that there is enough positive interest I might continue with a more serious follow up along the same subject matter. In any case, I love you all! I hope you enjoyed!
Love,
Danthemanwithaplan7