It had been three days since Amon took away Avatar Korra's bending, and although she had unlocked her airbending, she was now an incomplete Avatar. It was her job to master all four elements and bring balance to the world, and she had. She had defeated Amon but had lost her water, fire, and earth bending in the process and she was still not able to connect with her past lives. She had failed and, in her mind, she was just a burden on the world now. How long would everyone be safe with an Avatar that could only bend air with the Equalists still at large? Amon had disappeared but all his followers were now being led by his chi-blocking second in command and they were more fearsome and agressive than ever. Since it was revealed that Amon was truly a blood bender named Noatak from the Northern Water Tribe, the Equalists had developed more hatred and distrust for the bending establishment than ever. They believed that their leader's lies and betrayal were further proof that benders simply wished to hold dominion over those who had no control of the elements. Over 1,000 had joined their ranks in the three days since the rally and riots had spread out over the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation as well. Hiroshi Sato had been released from prison and was back to inventing new machines to bring down the "tyranical benders" and, now that the Equalists had no way of taking their power away from them, they resorted to more lethal means of bringing down the establishment that had held the dominant power in the world for thousands of years. It seemed as if all hope was lost.
As Katara went into the waiting room to deliver the news to those gathered that the Avatar's connection to the elements of water, fire, and earth had been irreparably severed, Korra stared down at her hands in despair. Hands that used to concoct such beautiful and terrifying displays of master bending skills that had taken years to perfect but could now only produce weak puffs of air and wipe away tears. Korra decided then what had to be done and resolutely marched out of the dark healing room, determined not to back down from what was ahead of her. It was time to say goodbye.
As she stood at the edge of the frozen cliff, Korra remembered how she once had relished the thrill of jumping off, knowing the water would come to her, to catch her up and protect her. She was never afraid of drowning before; now, as she looked down to the icy depths below her she felt nothing but fear. She knew this was the sacrifice that needed to be made in order to bring balance to the world, in order to protect everyone. She was the Avatar and that was her sole duty, her sole purpose in life and that purpose had yet to be fulfilled. So she cried. And jumped. And fell.
3,000 miles away in an underground sewer in Republic City, among vagabonds and refugees, a baby was born. He was a beautiful little boy with green eyes, but for a fleeting moment his mother could have sworn they glowed blue.
