Hey everyone! So, first off, may I say that the new season of Korra has been incredible! I'm very much enjoying it, and I'd also like to thank one of my biggest reviewers from my Return of the Blue Spirit, TheDreamChaser, for suggesting that I create a sequel. Since the new season of Korra takes place about six months after season one, this will start about five months after season one, just to give me a little bit of a buildup.
The Everstorm, while fearsome, did not seem as dangerous as the legends would suggest. Lin pounced at another snowdrift, digging her graying muzzle in as Roku breathed on his hands, using his Firebending to release a hot puff of air to warm the numb appendages. The heat melted some of the ice that had built up in his new cold-weather beard, and the twenty-nine year old watched as the cloud of his breath faded from sight, the ice already forming back up in his beard. He whistled, and the she-wolf appeared at his side again, walking with him as he walked lightly through the heavy drifts and swirling blizzard. "What am I to find?" he wondered aloud, watching his breath puff with every word. "Why would my dreams send me here?"
There was a slight sound off to his right, and he turned, flames springing into existence as he saw an oddly dressed young man sitting on an animal he had never seen before. Neither took any notice of him, nor the storm around them, and Roku watched in amazement as he noticed the aura about them that denoted they were from the Spirit World. They walked to the edge of the frozen forest surrounding the Spirit Portal, and in another instant they were gone.
Roku awoke with a groan, arching his back and hearing a small series of pops before he got up from the sleeping roll, grabbing a set of clothes out of one of the boxes in his room. Only a few more things to pack up, he thought. As he gazed out his window at the Fire Nation Capital City, the sun was just beginning to creep over the edge of the crater, casting a golden-red hue on the buildings. His phone began to ring, and he rolled his neck, before picking up the receiver. "Roku," he clipped out, still stretching.
"What're you wearing?" Lin's voice came out, in a failed attempt to be sultry. Roku chuckled, shaking his head.
"I didn't know you transferred to the Fashion Police." Lin was silent for several seconds, and he began chortling uncontrollably at his own joke. "Oh come on, you walked right into that one."
"Alright, alright. So, how's the packing going? Are you going to be able to move everything back to Republic City on time?"
"Well, assuming things continue on their current schedule, I should be sailing off in the next three days, so I might be a bit ahead of time." Roku smiled as he heard the slight sound of her sighing in relief – not that she'd ever admit that she missed him to his face – before he felt wolf-Kya nuzzle his leg. "I did tell you that I have a pet wolf, right?"
Korra awoke with a long sigh, blissful as she felt the soft fur of her covers wrapped around her. Her arm darted out, quickly grabbing her clothes and she dressed under the covers. Her hair took only a few seconds before it was up in her unique take on a wolftail, and she darted out of her guestroom in the Fire Palace, preferring to hold her boots in her hand and feel the smooth wood floors on her bare feet. Roku appeared next to her after a few feet, dropping down from where he had been doing pull-ups in the rafters to walk beside her. "So, what's the plan for today?" she asked. "More sword training? Or should we go with Firebending?"
"Well, actually I had something else in mind," he said as they walked out of the palace and over toward a structure she had never been in before. She recognized it as a garage just as Roku opened the doors, showing her to a brand new Satomobile with a large blue bow on the hood. "I thought I'd teach you to drive." At her horrified expression, he latched onto her arm, before laughing. "Look, I know that normally it would be the father that would teach his daughter, but I figured since there aren't any Satomobiles in the South Pole, your father probably doesn't know how to drive one. Besides," Roku said, a soft smile gracing his features, "you're a wonderful, beautiful young woman, Korra, and you're the closest thing I have to a daughter."
Korra blushed slightly, embarrassed by the words of affection, but she smiled in return. "I already have parents, but I feel pretty close to you and Lin as well." She took a long breath, before she hesitantly took the keys. "Alright," she said, instantly back to her tough-as-nails self, "let's do this."
"Well, all in all you did fairly well for your first lesson," Roku said later that evening as he held an icepack against the sizeable welt on his forehead.
"I made you hit your head against the dashboard thirteen times," Korra deadpanned as she stabbed at her komodo sausage.
"Roku made me hit my head against the dashboard twenty-six times," Zuko said as he paused between bites of his own sausage. "He also stalled twice."
"Thank you, father," Roku said, his face turning a bit red at the memory. "As I said, you did well, Korra. Once we return to Republic City, I'll find and reserve a track for you to practice on, and once you're ready, we'll see about getting you some practical exercise driving on the streets. After that, we'll stop by City Hall and see about getting you licensed." Korra just nodded, stabbing again at her sausage, and Roku smiled yet again. "I'm glad you decided to return with me when I came to get my things."
"Well, I've never been to the Fire Nation before," Korra said, lifting her head up. "Yesterday I just put on some of the clothes you left me and walked through the streets. It was amazing to see what it's like here without anyone immediately recognizing me as the Avatar. Republic City is great, but this… it's an entirely different experience. Do you think you'll miss it once you move?" she asked.
"A very pointed question," Roku observed, setting down his chopsticks. "Let me ask you, do you miss the South Pole? A person's home is always a part of them, Korra, no matter where they make their new home. The Fire Nation is as much a part of me as the Southern Water Tribe is a part of you." He reached over, mussing her hair, and laughed at her expression. "Get some rest, young lady. We have much to do tomorrow morning."
Around midnight, Roku awoke to the sound of light tapping on his door. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes as the covers fell off his bare torso. "Korra? Wa's wrong?" he murmured sleepily.
"It's Kya," the woman replied, her voice light and almost laughing at his own tired voice. She strode in before he could respond, and sat on the edge of his bed, opening up her water pouch. "Your father told me you had a bit of a welt from driving practice. Do you mind?" she asked, and he shrugged, allowing the healer to do her work. "It was very kind of Zuko to let me stay here while I was gathering herbs," she said, a glow emanating from her hands as she began healing the welt. "Living in the south provides plenty of opportunities to help people, but not a whole lot of opportunity to actually grow medicinal herbs."
"I think your singing kills them," he teased, and she playfully swatted his arm, laughing in spite of herself.
"If we didn't have such a long history with our 'family' than I wouldn't have let you off with a swat," she teased in response. "Of course, we have other history as well, don't we?" She snickered as he blushed. "Boy, if this bed could talk…"
"It would tell of how we found comfort with each other when we needed it," Roku responded softly. That was one of the things that he enjoyed about being around Kya; they both understood each other, and neither ever tried to hurt the other. After Lin began dating Tenzin, Roku and Kya had both been unsuccessful in other relationships. There had been one relationship Kya had with a young man from Ba Sing Se that had been emotionally scarring for her, and had caused her fear of being tied down. Roku had managed to find her sobbing in the palace one night after his travel to the Everstorm, and they found themselves finding physical comfort in each other.
It was Kya who had actually taken his virginity – in the very bed they were in now – and throughout the experience Kya had been nothing but comforting when he had expressed his guilt over his feelings with Lin and his actions with Kya. Over the next year, they both managed to help ease each other's emotional pain, and when they had both decided to end their arrangement, neither had felt any kind of resentment toward the other. "May I just say that it is truly amazing that you haven't tried to kill me over our past?"
"Well, I could say it was because you were too good, but I'd be lying," she teased again, patting his cheek as she finished healing his welt. "Lin and I were, and still are, good friends. Even back then, I knew that you two would be perfect together." She gave him a hug, and he returned it, before she stood. "Now, make sure you behave yourself; I hear that wife of yours is pretty tough." She grinned, and left, leaving behind a small book with a couple of poems she had written for the two newlyweds. Roku burrowed back under his covers, and was asleep in moments.
He was sailing the Southern waters in an older ship, a wood and sail frigate called the FNS Redemption. A teenaged Iroh stood next to his uncle while Roku stood at the helm, steering the ship through the swells of a storm. "Trim all but mains!" Roku shouted, straining to be heard over a clap of thunder. "Speed will do us no good here!" Iroh repeated the command even as some of the crew burst into motion, and Roku strained as another swell tried to send the wheel spinning, his muscles just barely managing to hold them on course as they approached a rogue wave. "Brace yourselves!" he shouted, and a shock ran down his spine as the frigid water splashed over them, soaking him and the crew to the bone. A blinding flash appeared just dozens of yards of the starboard bow, and a deafening clap of thunder immediately followed. The hairs on the back of Roku's neck stood on edge, electrified from the lightning, and he let loose a howling laugh that Bumi would have been proud of.
"Uncle, there's a waterspout ahead!" Iroh shouted out, and Roku narrowed his eyes, taking in the sight of the tornado-esque spiral rising from the sea, too close for them to veer from. At the very edge of his vision, he saw light arcing through the clouds, and he released the wheel, shouting to his nephew to take over even as he vaulted over the rail to the deck below. He ran across the slick wood, weaving between sailors as he ran forward and onto the bowsprit, the equivalent of a jutting log the only thing keeping him from falling into the water. He reached the very end just as the skies lit up again, and he threw his arm to the sky, feeling the lightning arc into his body. In another second he was redirecting it, sending it flying into the waterspout, watching as it exploded, feeling the blast of water and wind and ice slap his face even as the bowsprit burst beneath him, and he suddenly found himself falling, the icy water opening below to swallow him whole-
He awoke with an explosion of breath, flailing for a moment as he felt icy bands close around his chest, before the memory wore away and he was back in his bed, the strong warmth of the sun pouring through his open window, the servant who had thrown it open eyeing him with concern over his action. "Are you alright, Prince Roku?" she asked.
"My apologies," he said as he tossed his legs over the edge of the bed, feeling the soft carpet of the floor in his toes. "Just an old memory reappearing in my dreams. Nothing to be concerned about." The woman bowed slightly, leaving the room as he changed from his sleep pants into attire resembling what his father had worn when he trained Avatar Aang. He sat in front of his mirror, rubbing his eyes while trying to shake the last vestiges of sleep. A pair of feminine hands slipped over his eyes before he could open them, and he couldn't help but grin.
"It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, But the girls in the city they look so pretty…" she sang, and Roku laughed at his sister's comical impersonation of their Great-Uncle before joining in an equally bad impersonation.
"And they kiss so sweet that you've really got to meet, The girls from Ba Sing Se!" They were bent over laughing for a couple of minutes, before Ursa rested her chin on top of her brother's head, releasing a long sigh. "I'm borrrreeeedddd…" she moaned, comically pressing a hand to her forehead. "Come on, let's spar!" she said, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him from the room. Roku laughed, even as he made the comparison between his sister and his aunt again for the thousandth time. There was no doubt that Azula had been beautiful, and Ursa had gained many of her features through their father, though she had their mother's eyes and nose, and a kind, bubbly personality that was all her own even after fifty-two years of age.
"Ursa, I really have to check on Korra," he began, then grunted as she dragged him around a corner and accidentally swung him into a column. She laughed, dragging him along further even as he rubbed his face, before he dug his heels in, quickly dragging his sister toward the dining room. "Seriously, just five minutes of family meal time and then we can spar as long as you want, alright?" Ursa huffed, but there was a slight smile evident just at the corner of her lip.
"Well, you'd best chow down quick. The Fire Lord wants a spar."
They sat down at the round table just as Zuko entered, and they sat patiently as the servants set out a simple breakfast. Korra entered just as they left, her hair in something of a mess, and grunting and cursing under her breath. "Morning," she grumbled out, before beginning to shovel food into her mouth. Ursa and Zuko ate quietly, while Roku looked at his pupil with a concerned expression.
"Are you alright, Korra?"
"Yeah, damn peachy," she muttered, digging a fist into her abdomen. Roku's eyebrow quirked slightly, before he leaned forward.
"Is something wrong? Are you feeling ill?"
"I'm fine," she snapped. "Can you just stop asking me what's wrong?! I just want to eat!"
"Look, I'm just trying to help," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't much appreciate the attitude, especially after I spent all of yesterday getting my head slammed against a dashboard."
"Roku!" Ursa snapped, smacking his arm. "She's on her period, you moron!"
In an instant all the blood seemed to have drained out of his face even as Korra's turned beet red, and his mouth worked as though he were trying to think of something to say. "I… er…" he managed to stutter out.
"Can we not talk about it?" Korra asked, her voice strained as she rubbed her temples.
"Of course," Zuko stated, glancing up from his tea. "Being married for decades and a father to a woman for even longer has made me very skilled at not mentioning certain things." Korra groaned, burying her face in her hands in embarrassment. "At least you won't have to deal with it with Lin for much longer Roku."
"Yeah, breakfast is shot to hell," Korra said, getting up and stalking out of the room. Roku still sat there, trying to find something to say, Zuko laughing mentally the entire time.
Well, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Review, tell me how I did.
-Zeratide, out.