I wrote this story to easily go along with the show's story line, but depicting a more mature content. Begins directly after Korra's escape from Tarrlok. Some repetition description of the tv show in later chapters to reinforce my scenes.

Rated M for adult content & sexual intensity in later chapters.

I do not own Avatar or the Legend of Korra! Just a fan who wanted to share what she saw behind the original story.

The Complete Story
Ch. 1

The Worst Could Have Happened

"Is she ok? What did Tarrlok do to her?" Mako asked as soon as the healer and her assistant came out of the room. Him, Bolin, and Asami had been waiting for hours outside Korra's room. The healer just shook her head and started to pass by. "WHAT DID HE DO TO HER!" A plume of fire burst in his hand. The assistant flinched and backed away, but the elder healer woman stopped and calmly turned back to face them.

"Tenzin will tell you what you need to know. He asked that no one speak with you until he does."

The fire died out in Mako's hand & he felt as if the floor were beginning to shift beneath him. Bolin was instantly there, holding him up.

"Everything is ok Bro. Korra has been roughed up before. She is back, safe. They can heal her just like she healed my shoulder...am I right?"

Mako didn't want to worry his brother, but he had a feeling that this time was different. Maybe it was from the declaration that no one was to talk to them but Tenzin, or the anxious posture of the healers assistant as they walked out of the building. Korra looked so broken when he had carried her from the back of Naga to the saddle of the flying bison. She began to mumble on the flight back to the island, words of distress that were undistinguishable. The flight felt like it took all night, when he knew it had to be only minutes. Tenzin immediately called for the healer as Mako hurried her to the first empty recovery room. Mako waited by her bedside, holding her hand until Tenzin entered and insisted that the healer and her assistant be the only ones in the room. Beifong went back into the city to question the ex-metal benders she had rescued from the equalist prisons. Tenzin went to inform his family that Korra was back, but was not gone long. At some point later, the healer called only Tenzin into the room. The trio had no choice but to keep waiting… even now that the healer had left.

The thoughts kept repeating inside his head that maybe this time Korra had lost something they wouldn't be able to heal, although he couldn't figure out what that was. The nagging blackness inside him threatened to overwhelm him.

Asami put a hand on his shoulder, "Whatever happened to her, she'll get over. She is so strong."

He squeezed his eyes shut and walked away to stand by himself. The hours that they had been waiting was plenty of time for usually reasonable fire bender to find several ways to blame himself for Korra's kidnapping. If he had placed the pieces of Tarrlok's plan together ahead of time, he could have saved her. The rising level of recklessness in Tarrlok's actions should have tipped him off that the man was losing his grip with reason. If he had put up a fight to not be taken to prison, Korra wouldn't have been driven to confront the mad man. Now they had to wait on Tenzin, who he felt sure was thinking of the right way to tell that they had lost her… and that it was his fault.

Mako was so lost in guilt that he wasn't aware of Tenzin slipping silently through the door until the big man cleared his throat and motioned for the three of them to follow him outside. Pema was sitting on the outside steps, awaiting the news. She looked up at Tenzin. Although his face remained carefully emotionless, she read his eyes in a way that only a wife can and a look of shock registered on her face. Mako could recognize the despair underneath.

"No…" she whispered and silent tears rolled down her checks. Bolin and Asami, confusion registering on their faces, waited to hear what Pema already foreseen. Mako grabbed Bolin's shoulder to steady himself. Don't say it… he whispered in his mind… please don't say it…

"Tarrlok abused her harshly. Many bones were cracked and broken. The healers were able to completely mend the outward abuse she took. She is still dehydrated and some effects of frost bite are lingering. We speculate that she was left in the snow for a time before Naga found her." Tenzin opened his mouth to say more, but only a strangled noise came out. His eyes fell to the ground as one hand began to nervously rub the back of his neck. "Tarrlok also did… other things…"

When the air bender's gaze lifted he stared straight into Mako's eyes, and a small ache begin to tug in Mako's chest. He saw now what Pema had seen before any of them. This time, the world was knocked out from beneath his feet. He fell to his knees and hid his face in his hands.

"What do you mean other things?" Bolin was asking. Bolin's innocence always astounded Mako, even though his brother had more experience with woman than he did. Bolin never saw the evil side of the world.

"We believe he forced himself on her. Her virtue is broken…"