A Lifetime Ago

Summary: The Spirits delivered a man - who has no recent memory - to Korra's doorstep. Why? Well, that's something Korra needs to figure that bit out. Until then, she's obligated to babysit him.

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Chapter One: It Starts With A Storm

Something was wrong. Very wrong. Korra felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and her skin crept with duck-goose flesh. She paced in the courtyard of the Airbender Island temple. In the distance, the rumble of thunder rolled and, just on the horizon, black clouds roiled with flashing lightning. Something big was on its way. A muggy humidity hung in the normally chilly, breezy Autumn air. The Avatar couldn't shake the knot in the pit of her stomach. She turned to make another pace around the courtyard when a shaft of light fell across her path, disjointing her thoughts.

She recognized the silhouette before her eyes turned to the door.

"Korra, I thought I told you I was going to bed." Mako leaned in the doorjamb, giving Korra a stern look as he crossed his arms. He never liked to sleep alone and Korra, though she preferred a later bedtime, happily accompanied him to their shared room. Though Tenzin heavily disagreed with Korra and Mako sharing a room, he disliked Korra living on her own with Mako in the middle of the city. He could, somewhat, keep an eye on them in his own home.

"Sorry, Mako." Korra approached him, rubbing the back of her neck, "Something's wrong. I just..." She turned to gaze to the dark horizon, unable to find the end to her sentence.

Mako's yellow eyes followed her gaze, his eyebrows dipping a little deeper into a dissatisfied angle. He turned his gaze back to Korra, straining to smile comfortingly, "It's just a storm, Korra. Everything'll be fine, I'll be here for you even if there is something weird coming."

His attempts to comfort soothed Korra's worries, slightly. At least he cared. Tossing a smile at her lover, she murmured, "Thanks, Mako."

"You should definitely get some sleep, though." He crossed the scant distance between them, putting his hands on her shoulders. His smile warmed a little further, "Shouldn't face a situation without proper rest."

Korra glanced over her shoulder, back to the inky horizon. She felt as if the heat blasted against her spine, it ran hot fingers through her body, tickling at her extremities. Regardless, Mako said there was nothing to worry about. The Avatar knew more about winter-like conditions, really, and Mako had lived in Republic City all his life.

Mako caught her chin, pulling her gaze to his eyes, "Please, Korra. I don't want you to work yourself up over nothing."

The earnestness and warmth in his eyes was hard to ignore. At his words, her eyelids did feel heavy and memories of the last week fluttered in her mind's eye. A week of work and training in the Earth Kingdom, hunting down a few vigilante former Equalists, still tying up loose ends to Amon's prior reign.

The longer Mako stared, the more the smoldering heat in her body became replaced with a fuzzy warmth, "Yeah, you're ri-"

Korra blinked rapidly, her breath catching. A sudden dizziness shook her as she reached out to her boyfriend, grasping his shirt tightly. Mako's hands shot to her elbows, trying to stabilize her, "Korra, are you OK?"

The Avatar slumped against Mako as orange lightning lit up the far thunderheads. A loud rumble of thunder shook the world as the firebender hurriedly carried his girlfriend inside, yelling for help.

Xxx

"Korra, are you alright?" Already seated at the table, hair still sleep-rumpled and half-way through a honeydew-watermelon, Bolin cast a worried glance at Korra.

The Avatar jolted, bringing her faraway gaze to her friend. A rough night of strange dreams, whispered words, and a vague sense of being nursed. She felt the bags hooked under her eyes and a thin sheen of sweaty grime on her skin. "I had a hard time sleeping last night, that's all."

"Did the storm keep you up, too?" Bolin quirked an eyebrow, a soft smile on his lips. The thunder and lightning made the earthbender uneasy, reminding him of long nights alone, with only Mako – and sometimes not even that – as a protective company. "Or weren't you feeling good?"

"A little of both, I think." Korra sighed, frustrated at her prior night's passing out. Her ego didn't accept the term 'faint.'

"I also had some really weird dreams," Korra's eyebrows furrowed, thinking of the words and images. She couldn't piece them all together. A dark woman, in shining white; a large centipede; an angry monkey; a soft dragon; an argument. None of it made any sense.

"Wanna talk about i-"

"Hey, Korra, why didn't you wait?" Bolin was cut off by Mako as the firebender entered. He sported a similar 'fresh out of bed' look, but seemed to have fared better in actually getting rest. Though his tone was easy, a somewhat displeasure tinted his undertone as he sat beside his girlfriend, "I was gonna walk you down here."

Korra turned her gaze from Bolin to Mako, an apologetic smile pulling across her lips, "Sorry, Mako."

"I'm just worried you'll faint, again," Mako muttered, a pout tugging at his frown, "If I'm not around, you'll probably hit your head."

The Avatar sighed, suppressing a roll of her eyes. Since she woke up, Mako hounded her like a mother hen-pig.

Mako suddenly sat straighter, lips pressed into a thin line. Korra had, somehow, stepped over a delicate line. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Bolin interrupted.

"Well, maybe you need to lay off the sweaty horizontal tangos, eh?" Bolin grinned, trying to defuse the tension.

Mako grimaced, turning a disgusted frown toward his brother, "Geez, Bo, what's with you and thinking of me and Korra having sex?"

Bolin leaned back, blowing a verbal raspberry before replying, "Hey, it's not like I want to think of it. I was just making a joke."

"Yeah, well, maybe you need to get your mind out of the gutter." The firebender growled, hunching over the table and snatching a piece of fruit from the centerpiece. He bit into it savagely, pink-orange juices streaming down his chin.

The Avatar sighed, too tired to dig into any argument. Instead, she tore her gaze from Mako's juicy chin and grabbed for a bowl of lychee berries. Popping one into her mouth, she slowly chewed, trying to focus her mind on last night's dreams and nightmares. What had they been about, again?

"Bolin is Korra awa-" From the foyer, Tenzin glanced in, spotting his target, "Oh, good, you're up."

There wasn't a warmth in his tone. Actually, if Korra knew her mentor well enough, Tenzin seemed stiff and uneasy. "What's up, Tenzin?"

"It appears you have a visitor." Tenzin glanced at the front door, a nervous gleam in his eye.

To this, Korra cocked an eyebrow and stood.

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The morning light sifted through the window of Tenzin's study, the setting for a mild interrogation. Though unsure of the newcomer, the airbender did not feel it was pertinent to drag him to the police department. Korra, on the other hand, felt rather unsettled by the man who stood before her.

A lithe, tall Water Tribe male – twenty-five? - wearing dated Northern tribe clothes. He held an eerie familiarity. Korra would have ventured he was a fan, given his blatant copy of her hairstyle. Still, the question on her mind begged to be verbalized, "Who are you?"

"My name is..." He paused, as if mulling over the answer. His eyes flickered to Tenzin, before returning to Korra. There was an uneasiness in his eyes and his stance, "My name is Noatak."

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Yes, that's all for the first chapter. :) I like making these short, sweet, and simple.