This is because I've hit a bit of a rut with my original story on DeviantArt that I've been so very focused on lately (can somebody say twenty chapters in two weeks?), and also because I think my account has gotten dusty in that time. I needed to post something here again, and I couldn't get this story out of my mind. I'm warning everyone now, it will probably go unfinished.

I do not own The Legend of Korra or any of its characters.

. . .

"Oh, Republic City," Korra sighed as she fended off four thugs. "You are totally a place of wonder and awe."

Suddenly, the attackers were blasted back by a less-than-vicious tongue of fire. "What the..."

"Sheng-mi boys! What do you think you're doing?" asked a skinny girl, hands on her hips as she gave them a stern look. "Your mom will not be happy. Fighting with the Avatar? Really?"

"S-sorry, La-aya." said the biggest one, scratching the back of his neck guiltily. "We w-wasn't exp-pecting you to b-be here."

"Yeah, we'll just leave her alone now." said the weasel-faced one, pulling his beefy brother away.

"You'd better. I won't tell Mrs. Sheng-mi, but next time you might not be so lucky." the girl said. The boys uttered more apologies, then slunk away into the cobblestone streets. The girl shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "They're harmless, really. They were just looking to start something. Hi, I'm Laya."

"Um, hi. I'm Korra." said the Avatar, looking the girl up and down. She was a scrapper, to be sure. She had a skinny frame, though she was Korra's height. She wore a red long-sleeved shirt rolled up to the elbows, over which was a short black jacket with short sleeves. She also wore very short red pants and black leggings underneath, with black shoes and fingerless gloves completing the ensemble. Her thick, dark hair was up in a perky pony-tale, with fluffy bangs covering her forehead. Her yellow eyes matched the glittering gold hoops in her ears and the gold coin on the black ribbon surrounding her neck.

"Yeah, I know. Long time fan, first time caller." she said flippantly with a smile. "Anyway, no offense, but you don't seem to know anything about anything in Republic City. Mind if I show you around a bit?"

"Actually, I was just going to meet my friends down at the arena." Korra said.

"Whoa! You're friends with Pro-Benders?" Layla asked, wide-eyed. "That's so cool! I mean, I guess I should have known you'd be friends with Pro-Benders, but, I don't know. Bending as a sport just seemed... beneath someone as awe-inspiring as the Avatar."

Korra laughed. "I doubt I've inspired awe in anybody yet. You can come with me to meet them, if you want. I'm sure Bolin will like you. Not too sure about Mako, though."

"You mean it?"

"Totally. After you heroically saved me from those awful thugs." she teased.

Layla snorted. "Hardly. Oh, my gosh, meeting Pro-Benders with the Avatar! Ah! This day just keeps getting better!" She happily joined Korra as the Avatar headed to the arena, almost bouncing along like a toddler going to a sweet-shop. She babbled, to the amusement of the Water Bender, about how much she'd always loved listening the Pro-Bending tournaments and how she'd never actually gotten to see one in person. When they arrived, Layla was nearly jumping out of her skin with excitement.

"Are they nice?" she asked.

"Oh, definitely. They always-"

She was cut off as a burst of fire came their way when they entered the training room. Layla instinctively leaped in front of Korra and Bent the fire over and around her, then returned it to the direction it had come from. A tall boy with dark hair raised his rather untrimmed eyebrows and blocked the attack. "Korra?" he said. "Sorry. I didn't know you'd be walking in."

"About time you got here." said a broad-shouldered boy, spinning a green clay disk on his fingers as he smiled winningly at the girls.

"I was held up a few blocks away." Korra said, seeming unperturbed by what had just occurred. "Just a little scrape, that's all."

"And who's the girl?" asked the tall boy.

"Oh, this is Layla. She helped me out with that little scrape, so I thought I'd take her to meet some Pro-Benders as thanks." she said, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Um, hi." she said, suddenly very timid. "A-are you the Fire Ferrets?"

The broader of the two boys, Bolin (her favorite), smiled. "You a fan?"

"Try gigantic!" she exclaimed. "You guys are incredible! Everybody else gets where they are because of sponsors and coddling, but you guys are amazing because of raw talent! I wish I could see you fight in person!"

"How about tomorrow?" he asked. "Today's just training."

Her golden eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not really a serious kind of guy, but for you, I can make an exception." he said as he examined his nails, his growing ego painfully apparent in his stance and tone.

Her chest swelled at his words. A Fire Ferret had just talked to her like that! Keep calm, Layla, you're not the average fan-girl. Or... maybe you are.

"Bolin, come on." Mako groaned. "Are you gonna have her join the team now, too?"

"Why not? She totally owned your fire attack a few minutes ago." Bolin said with a shrug.

"Oh, no! I wouldn't dream of breaking you guys up." Layla said quickly. "I just wanna watch."

"That can be arranged." Korra said. "You can even stand where the locker rooms are. There's a fantastic view of the arena from there."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. "I can't wait!"

"Wanna stay and watch us practice?" Bolin asked, spinning the disk again.

"Sorry, but I can't. I should really be getting back home." she said, heading out of the training room. "It was great meeting you guys!"

"Same here!" Bolin called, waving back. "Well, she seems nice."

"Whatever. Now that Korra's here, we can get back to training." Mako said, conjuring a ball of fire and launching it at the net.

Layla walked down the steps to the arena, looking around to make sure she wouldn't hit some unsuspecting pedestrian. The cobblestone beneath her foot crumbled as she made contact, and she stumbled. A strong hand caught her shoulder and pulled her upright. "Better watch your step around here, girlie." said a rough voice very close to her ear.

She sucked in a breath. This was not a voice she expected, nor wanted, to hear at any point ever again.

"We have a deal, hon. Have you made any progress yet?"

"I'm working on it, Ratty." she muttered, brushing his grimy hand off her shoulder. "Just wait a little. You'll get your money."

"We'd better, cupcake." he said, his gravelly voice grating against her eardrums in a way that made her want to clap her hands to the sides of her head like a small child and scream. 'LALALALALA!' "You know what happens when people break their promises."

She sighed heavily. "They get broken, too." she recited.

"Good girl. Next time you see me, pray you've made some headway, huh?" And with that, he was gone, just like an extinguished flame.

Considerably less heartened, Layla trudged home, hands shoved into her shorts' pockets. Sometimes, she concluded miserably, things had to be done, even if she would rather be plucking her fingernails out with rusty tongs.

. . .

I don't normally describe characters in that much depth, but everyone has their own look on this show, so I wanted to make it clear what Layla would generally look like. Just so you know.