Korra was used to being alone, feeling alone. Yet she couldn't help but feel empty as she turned out the light in her room on Air Temple Island. She should feel anything but empty. She had just gotten back to from her home in the Southern Water Tribe, got her bending back, defeated Amon, and gotten together with Mako if a few short days. Her room had never felt so quiet, the temple never felt so abandoned.
She knew what this feeling was, that emptiness that comes after working towards something for a long time only to find yourself with nothing after it's finished. She felt that way after the Pro-Bending tournament when she woke up the next morning and realized that there wasn't practice in the morning. Yet this was something different.
From the moment Korra found out she was The Avatar there was always something, a new goal to reach, a new challenge to overcome. Now at 17 years old she had done it all. She was now the master of the elements; she had the perfect boyfriend, her enemies defeated. Now what?
She rolled over in bed and feel drifted off to sleep.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" she asked in a voice that wasn't hers. The russet skinned girl in front of her raised her eyebrow, her dark air wrapped up in a style that could only be described as hair loopies blew in the cold wind. "Come on it'll be fun." Not Korra said as she waddled up to a penguin close by and jumped to tackle it. The girl laughed a slight blush turning her cheeks pink. "Got one!" Not Korra exclaimed wrestling a penguin to the ground. The girl shrugged and snuck up on one of her own.
"Ok ready!" She called positioning herself on her penguin. With a flourish they were off. Korra felt the energy of the wind around her, she manipulated it easily allowing herself to gain speed. The girl, a little ways behind, was laughing harder than Korra suspected she had in a long time. "I haven't done this since I was a kid." The Girl laughed.
"You still are a kid." Not Korra replied. She and her penguin went off a jump and she was falling... falling...
Korra started waking up leaning against a tree in an orange tinted wood. She looked up and saw Avatar Aang standing in front of her.
"Have a nice nap?" He said offering her his hand to help her up.
She grabbed it "Yeah, I guess so." She said shaking off the last of her dream. It wasn't the first time she had that dream. She had been having it off and on as long as she could remember. Years ago she had tried to wrestle up her own penguin but found it harder in reality to ride a penguin than it had in the dream.
"Come with me, the others are waiting." She nodded and followed him through the wood, looking around she saw a variety of animals in all shapes and sizes that she never could have imagined, yet looked completely in place in this strange wood.
"Hello there Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra." Said a group of passing bird like creatures, their pink and blue bodies seemed to float more than fly though the air.
After a short walk Aang and Korra reached a small stone cottage covered in ivy with a roof that looked like it was about to cave in under the weight of the moss, this place too seemed to take on an orange glow. Korra figured it must have something to do with the quality of the sunlight.
Aang walked up the stone path to the door and opened it, gesturing to Korra to walk inside. Korra wasn't necessarily an abnormally tall woman but she had to duck to get through the door. She wondered how Aang could fit in such a place since he towered over her. But that thought was silenced as she saw the room.
There must have been some kind of feat of architecture because the small cottage felt spacious on the inside. It might have been the orange tint that covered everything outside but colors somehow seemed more vibrant here than anything she had ever seen at home. Inside the scent of food and tea permitted the air. Closest to the door under the window was a stove with pots and kettles boiling, and on the other side of a room a crackling fire filled the room with warmth. What made Korra stop in the door way was what was in the center of the room. A table so long that it shouldn't have fit in the room was lined on either side with people Korra had never met but knew as well as herself.
"Korra, please join us for some dinner." Aang said leading her to the opposite end of the table where she sat at the head with Aang on her right.
"You're all the past Avatars." Korra said in disbelief. The rest of the occupant as the table nodded and murmured words of welcome. Food was soon served by spirits floating around the room, and Korra found herself talking to her past lives about nothing and everything all at once. They talked about Amon, Pro-Bending, Mako.
Before she knew it Korra felt them and the room grow faint. "What's happening?" She asked.
"You're waking up, it's time to go." Roku said. Korra let out a sound of protest; she didn't want to leave them.
"No need to worry." Kyoshi said, we're always with you.
Korra snapped up awake in her bed to the sound of banging on her door.
"Korra come on get up." Said Meelo through the door. "You've slept long enough. Mom says we can't have breakfast till you get up and I'm hungry."
"All right, all right I'm up." Korra said pulling off her night clothes and struggling into a clean pair of trousers and a shirt. She looked outside at the sunrise on Air Temple Island. With the past avatars and her new family in Republic City she never needed to truly feel alone again.