Beauty and the Beast, a Korrlok Songfic (with chapters!)
Author's Note: Alternate Universe naturally. Tarrlok still has his bending in this story whereas in my other previously published oneshots of mine (Fare Thee Well, and its alternate ending, Time Falls Away) he doesn't.
Each chapter will have a line and/or lines from the song "Beauty and the Beast" and the corresponding story section underneath. Also, I will be gleefully bloodbending canon as I see fit, especially with the case of the Prologue below and there's also the implication that Korra never discovered Tarrlok's past in this universe. But anyway, um I done here I know some of you were waiting eagerly for this so here... *makes a present of it and dashes away* ENJOY!
Prologue
Once upon a time, in a far away land, a young councilman lived with his family, an older brother, Noatak, and his stern father, Yakone, along with his mother, a warm and caring woman, in a shining mansion located near Republic City.
Although he had everything his heart desired, the councilman was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then one day, one winter's day, an old beggar woman named Hama came to the mansion and offered him a single winter rose in return for shelter. He refused, repulsed by her haggard appearance and then his father gleefully bloodbent her into submission, but before she died Hama held out the rose to the young councilman, warning him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. She then admonished that a dreadful fate would befall him and his older brother before breathing her last.
The councilman and his family disregarded the old woman's words of a doom that was to befall them. Yakone, the father of the household, taught his sons bloodbending, the same skill that had caused the old woman seer to fall at his hands, and they learned it well, although both of them had serious compunctions about such a skill and the employment of it.
The punishment the old woman had spoken of came after the death of the parents of the brothers and they inherited the mansion. Noatak aspired to do away with the art of bending, trying to remove the stain it had left on his life, and drew the councilman into it with him. The councilman's loathing of bloodbending and the pain his father had created for him because of it strove for a different way, attempting to make safe the city of the Republic founded by an Avatar he greatly admired, Aang.
Later, fate caused the two brothers to collide again in the form of another Avatar – one the councilman hoped would be an ally, but she turned against him, leading to his capture of her. She escaped and his brother decided to side with him, but the councilman would have none of it, although to his surprise Noatak allowed him to keep his bending, though by now the councilman sincerely regretted any involvement with his arts of bending and the dark skill his father had trained him and his brother in, so the councilman decided to undertake a punishment – long foreseen by old Hama – himself.
He exploded the gas in their escape boat after the Avatar had exposed his brother on her own, leaving his brother dead yet he somehow survived, but the wounds he'd received on his face and body from the attempt to kill both him and his brother transformed him into a hideous beast and he was overcome with a powerful longing to return to his family's mansion, where he found all of his family's retainers still there and willing to serve him.
Ashamed of monstrous, disfigured appearance, the councilman concealed himself inside his mansion, trying to forget the actions that had lead him to this place of self-loathing and regret and isolation from the outside world. He then decided to cultivate flowers like he had often helped his mother do in the past, keeping curious people at bay with his bloodbending, though he hated to do it.
One of his roses was truly enchanted, and it seemed to him that it glowed with a soft blue light. He cherished this rose the most, since it had whispered to him a secret. If he could learn to truly love another, and earn her love in return, then his past would be absolved at last.
As the years passed and the councilman hid himself away in his mansion with only his servants and his beautiful winter rose for company, he began to fall into despair as he looked at his face and hands, badly burned from the explosion. He fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could learn to love … a Beast?
Tale as old as time,
True as it can be,
"Korra!" Tenzin called, hurrying over to the young Avatar. Korra glanced up at him from her seat on the council, her face squeezed in a curious pout,
"What is it, Tenzin?" She demanded, gesturing to the others seated around her, Lian, the Fire Nation representative, Lieu, the former Equalist and now the man who had taken Councilman Sokka's place as nonbender representative, but the Earth Kingdom representative and the Water Tribes were notably absent. They had been discussing the financial difficulties plaguing Republic City. Tenzin had left the city in search of more money for its treasury for this very reason,
"I have made a terrible mistake," Tenzin admitted, his brow furrowing in regret. Korra rose from her seat to comfort her mentor, but he shooed her away, taking out from under his robes a winter rose.
Korra's eyes widened at the sight.
The winter rose that I asked of Tenzin to get for me!
"It has come at a great cost, Korra," Tenzin mussitated, finally glancing up to meet her troubled eyes. He silently handed her the rose. Korra took it from him, clutching it each delicately. The beauty of it was truly amazing, she whispered to herself, as she appreciated the soft blue hues that made the rose seem to glow.
Tenzin's words sank in. She darted a look at his face, noticing that it was haggard, weary.
"What great cost, Tenzin?" She heard herself demand again. She placed the rose on the table, glaring at it. It was one of her most important missions now, since Amon had been removed from power, to ferret out the matter of the rumoured "Beast."
Tales had floated on the wind to Republic City about a grotesquely lovely mansion situated near the sea haunted by a disfigured creature. The creature, the tales reported, had a hideously burned face yet surrounded itself with gardens of luxurious beauty sculpted out of ice (to shield the living flowers hidden in a greenhouse deep inside) but no one dared come near since the creature was said to be cursed with the art of bloodbending….
However, it seemed that her rash request for a winter rose had brought Tenzin right to the monster's doorstep.
"The Beast…" Tenzin trailed off. Wearily, he sat down in Korra's unoccupied council chair. She stood next to him, her blue eyes probing him. Tenzin shook his head as if unwilling to continue, but Korra nodded at him aggressively, leaving him no choice but to explain,
"I was on a mission deep into the Northern Water tribe," Tenzin began. "I recalled that Jinora and Ikki had requested trinkets, which were easily secured… but your request was another matter, Korra."
"Yes? How was it another matter?"
"It brought me to the home of the Beast. Much to my surprise, when I arrived at his mansion, I found a fire burning inside and a warm meal waiting for me. I went and ate, and then shadowy figures lead me to my room for the night."
Korra crossed her arms somewhat belligerently,
"Okay, you discovered the Beast and got my flower, but I don't see where the great cost comes in, Tenzin."
Tenzin held up a finger, warning Korra to hush. Deflated, Korra subsided into an impatient silence.
"The next morning, I arose and made my way back outside to my pack mule that I'd borrowed from one of the liveries here for my journey, and as I was traversing the gardens of the Beast I came across..." he paused to exhale a sigh, indicating the rose lying on the table. "This rose. Remembering your request, Korra, I reached down and grasped it."
"You didn't!" Korra heard herself gasp. She immediately took Tenzin's hands in her own calloused ones, her healer's instincts at work. She determined with a glance that his veins had been compressed viciously, but much to her surprise, there was no serious harm done.
"He then bloodbent me," Tenzin went on as Korra expelled the pent-up air in her chest in a long sigh of relief. "For trying to steal his most precious rose he claimed… but surprisingly, his bloodbending didn't harm me all that much... He then demanded what I was doing there. I tried to keep my wits about me as I answered him, thanking him for his care of me during my time in his mansion, but he only bloodbent me closer to him, as I helplessly tried to explain about why I had taken the rose and who it was for... When he learnt that it was for the Avatar of Republic City, he issued me an ultimatum."
"What kind of ultimatum?" Lieu asked whilst Korra waited nearby, her crossed arms and puckered lip betraying her anxiety over the situation.
Tenzin merely took the rose from the table and held it up to Korra again,
"He said that in exchange for this rose, he would either kill me or take me as his prisoner… or the one whom the rose was intended for." Tenzin's grey eyes were pools of weariness and anxiety. "I told him no, Korra."
"I'll do it!" Korra said, banging her fist on the table. The elders in her presence jumped slightly. "Tenzin, I can't let you do this. It was my request and my folly, and so I will go to confront the Beast."
"He said that he would take you – or me – as his prisoner," Tenzin added unhelpfully, narrowing his eyes at Korra. Korra sensed that once again he was displeased with her impulsive behaviour. This only intensified her desire to confront the Beast herself. It could only be good for Republic City, wouldn't it? She asked herself. Then the Beast would stop terrorising travellers with his bloodbending and everything would be at peace again. "Orkill you."
"Then my sacrifice would be for the benefit of Republic City," Korra insisted. She wanted to meet this Beast and bring him to justice. Her mind turned to his beautiful garden that the Beast owned. He couldn't be that bad if he grew such beauty, could he?
"Very well, Avatar Korra," Tenzin conceded, realising that nothing could change his protégée's mind when she was determined to go do something – especially if it was something that he had explicitly forbidden. "You had best start making yourself ready to leave."
"He won't kill me, Tenzin," Korra said with a laugh in her voice. Tenzin frowned at her, but Korra didn't notice. She was too excited about her upcoming adventure and confrontation with the "Beast."