For as long the spiritual and physical have existed alongside each other, so has the Avatar — the link between these worlds and an instrument of keeping peace and balance. The Avatar is born human so that they understand the people they protect, and, subsequently, their time in the world is limited. Avatar Aang managed to elude death, as he was frozen in an ice-burg for over a hundred years; but even though he lived long enough to accomplish great things and fulfill his Avatar duties, eventually he too passed on.

While the world mourned his passing, his legacy still lived on.

He left behind his wife, Katara, and three children who in turn had children of their own. And in the frozen reaches of the South Pole, his legacy dwelled within a small girl born with bright blue eyes and fiery heart. The world eagerly awaited their next Avatar to make his or her identity known; however, the world had to make do on its own while it waited.

One man seized this time to strike at the very heart of the deceased Avatar's legacy— Republic City.

When Senna and Tonraq were blessed with a beautiful baby girl, it was the happiest day of their lives. Senna's pregnancy had been rough, so they knew from the start their daughter would be an energetic child; but Korra was so much more than that.

In her first few years of life, it became obvious that Korra had a radiant personality. She was walking at ten months, and running away at twelve months. When Korra was a year and half, there was an incident where Korra went missing, and Senna and Tonraq had searched half the plains surrounding the village before returning to round up a search party, only to find Korra curled up in their own hut. The two were horrified at the possibility of this becoming a habit, but finally Senna sighed and said, "I suppose we can take comfort in the fact that she'll always come home after scaring us half to death."

But Senna and Tonraq learned to deal with those quirks among the others. Despite her rowdiness and untamable spirit, Korra loved her parents, and they knew from the beginning that she was a bright girl. And while she gave them multiple sleepless nights and hours of worry with her childhood antics, the real surprises came later.

They discovered she was a waterbender at three years old, and they couldn't have been prouder.

When she was four, Korra almost burnt the house down after setting the rug on fire.

For a while, her parents were very uneasy and tried to find some logical explanation for the incident—a trick of the eyes, she's always destroying the house, she did not just firebend— but a couple months later when she stomped around and started uprooting the stone floors, yelling, "Earthquake!" it became clear that their daughter was more than just special. Simply thinking the word Avatar was disorienting.

One night, as Senna and Tonraq watched over their sleeping six-year-old, they contemplated how to move forward. For the past year, they had taken the initiative to start formally training Korra in waterbending, in both healing and fighting forms. She had taken to her lessons immediately and proved to be a very receptive student— not to mention enthusiastic.

"We can't do this by ourselves," Tonraq gravely whispered to his wife.

Senna sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of her sleeping daughter's face. Korra squirmed in her sleep before relaxing again. "She's so young. She doesn't need this burden yet," Senna whispered sadly. "Who would we even contact? Where could we go?"

Tonraq put his arms around his wife. "We have to go to Republic City. The Avatar's— Avatar Aang's family is there. It's the best place to start." He felt his heart grow heavy even as he said the words.

Senna jerked away from him. "Republic City!" she hissed. "Leave the only home our daughter has ever known? And go to the city, of all places! There's a revolution brewing in Republic City! An anti-bending revolution! Korra would never be safe there…" Senna shook her head and covered her face with her hands.

Tonraq put a hand on her shoulder, and Senna looked up at him. His voice was gentle, but she saw that his eyes reflected the pain and sorrow she felt. "Korra would understand. She's so strong already, but she needs guidance. We both know we have no means to teach her everything she needs to know. As for the city…she may be exactly what the city needs." His voice faltered at the end.

They both looked down at Korra, who was still blissfully asleep and unaware of the burden her tiny shoulders would soon bear.

From her seat by the fire, Senna called out to Korra, who was putting on her parka to go outside and play after dinner. "Korra, your father and I need to speak to you." Korra turned around and looked up at her mother with big eyes and pouted.

"Am I in trouble again?" she whined.

Senna shook her head with a small smile. "Come sit down, dear," she said as she extended her arms to Korra. The little girl kicked off her boots before climbing onto her mother's lap. Tonraq sat across from them, and Korra looked back and forth between her parents' serious expressions. "Korra, do you remember the stories they sometimes tell around the campfire in the village— the ones about Avatar Aang?"

Korra brightened considerably. "The adventure stories! He saved the whole world and flew all around with his friends on Appa. He was a waterbender and a firebender and a earthbender, almost like me! But he could airbend, too. I like hearing Daddy's hunting stories better, though." This made her parents smile. "Why?"

Tonraq kneeled so that he was at eye level with Korra. She reached out her hand and rubbed it affectionately against the stubble on his jaw. Tonraq smiled sadly and placed his hand over hers. "Sweetie, do you remember what happens to the Avatars after they die?"

Korra nodded seriously. "They get reborn into the next element. That means the watertribe this time," Korra recited dutifully. "Can I go play now?" she asked hopefully.

Senna sighed. "Korra…" Korra looked up at her mother. "Do you know any of your friends who can bend fire or earth like you?"

Korra thought for a moment. "Sura and Kesuk…they can only waterbend, can't they? Why…why am I different?" Korra's voice rose with fear. "Daddy?" She looked at the sad look on his face and tears started pooling in her eyes. "What's happening? Why did you ask me about Aang? Why is Mama sad?" she cried, tears starting to run down her cheeks.

"Shhh…" Senna cooed, wiping them from Korra's cheeks. "We're not sad; we just don't want you to be afraid."

Korra sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm not afraid of anything," she grumbled. "But I still don't understand."

Senna stroked Korra's hair and Tonraq took his daughter's hands in his. "There is only one person in the world who can be a waterbender and a firebender and an earthbender all at once," he said gently.

Korra stopped sniffing and stared at her father. Both of her parents held their breath. "Does that mean…I'm the Avatar?" Her parents nodded, but she still seemed confused. Her eyebrows knit together, like she was thinking very hard about something. "So…does that mean I get to have adventures? And fly around the world?" Her eyes were brightening. "And I get to learn airbending? And I can have a sky bison?" She was grinning now and clapped her hands together. "We can all have adventures! And we can go to North Pole and see the ice palaces! And we can go to—" she kept babbling on, only pausing when she saw her parents' shocked faces. "What?" she asked with a pout.

"You aren't afraid of leaving home?" Senna asked quietly.

Korra thought about her mother's question and her shoulders suddenly slumped. "We don't have to leave right now, do we?" she asked in a small voice.

Senna hugged her daughter tightly. "We have to leave soon," she said gently. Korra pouted before yawning and curling into her mother's embrace. "It's time for bed. We can talk about it more tomorrow, Korra." Korra nodded and stared into the fireplace. Despite her great revelation, Korra still slept through the night soundly in her bed.

Six months after making the decision to leave the South Pole, Korra and her parents boarded a ship at the Northern Port of the South Pole. Several family friends had come to see them off and Korra waved to them from bow of the ship, shouting, "Bye! I'll see you again sometime! Don't forget about us!" She was sad to be leaving her friends, but even despite that, she was cheered by the thought of finally having her very own adventures.

As of lately, the waters close to the major United Republic cities had become dangerous with pirates and equalists supporters looking to make trouble, so the boat couldn't take them all the way to Republic City. Instead, they would have to cross the mountains east of the city in order to reach it. The boat ride took a week, and the remainder of the journey lasted another three. The most difficult part of the trip was keeping Korra's elation at her newfound title under control. When they tried to convince her to keep it a secret, she pouted and grumbled that everyone knew who Avatar Aang was. "Fine," her mother compromised, "Not a secret then, a surprise." Aside from this, Korra's excitement was only slightly dampened by the length and tedious nature of the trek. Otherwise, she reveled every moment of the journey; whether it was exchanging her water tribe garb for more urban clothes or looking through all the street vendor carts in the marketplaces, Korra took everything in with wide eyes, oblivious to her parent's growing dread.

At some of their various stops, Senna and Tonraq would listen to the radio broadcasts from Republic City. The reports were disturbing to hear, describing the vandalism to the City's bending arena as well as protests that were becoming more and more frequent. There was a movement rising under a mysterious masked leader, and he was doing considerable damage to the city's social stability. The Republic City Council tried to respond to the discontent spreading through the city, but every effort was met with resentment and aggression. There was speculation that the city was becoming a war zone. Even the smaller cities in the United Republic were experiencing protests and violence, and there were stops along the way that refused service to benders of any kind. At one point, there had been a particularly bad storm that caused the inn they were staying at to lose power. Korra had been eager to help, using firebending to help people light candles and providing light in the pitch-dark night. At the sight of the young girl using firebending on his property, the innkeeper flew in to a rage and demanded that Korra and her parents leave immediately. It was the first real incident of anti-bending sentiment that Korra had run in to, although she barely understood what had happened.

Still, Senna and Tonraq saw no other options but to push on and find Avatar Aang's family as soon as possible.

When the three South Pole natives finally took the trolley into the city, all three were dumbfounded at how it was buzzing and thriving like a hive of buzzard-wasps. "Look at all the Satomobiles!" Korra cried with amazement.

"It certainly is different from home, isn't it?" Senna said under her stopped in a few shops and picked up some supplies before heading to the Dragon Flats district. They found a two-bedroom house with a reasonable rent tucked between a rundown noodle joint and a closed up radio shop. Their home was one story and there were only a few pieces of furniture, but hopefully it was only temporary. They dedicated most of their time in the first couple weeks finding jobs, alternating days; one would go out to job hunt, the other would stay with Korra. It took a few weeks, but Tonraq found good work at the docks and Senna got a job as a seamstress and launderer near Central City Station. Korra was even able to do a little work with Senna by delivering some of the laundry in the neighborhood for a small profit.

However, the job search took time, and they had to stretch their resources thin. They were so busy trying to get settled in that they didn't have a chance to reach Avatar Aang's family. When they were finally settled, only weeks after they had arrived, the city became total chaos.

Amon, started by blowing up the statue of Avatar Aang in Yue Bay, and two weeks after that, he attacked City hall with an army of chi-blockers. By the time Korra and her parents had been in the city for two months, Air Temple Island was deserted, and its inhabitants had long fled.

Two and a half months after the Avatar arrived in Republic City, Amon had fully claimed the city under his rule. Bending of any kind was declared illegal, and all known benders were taken into custody and spirited out of the city in chains.

No matter what compromises and difficult choices Mako had to make in order to survive in such an unforgiving city, he always kept two simple rules: the first was to never forget to be proud of his heritage as a firebender—his mother's last request to him— and the second was to never let anyone know that he was a firebender.

The first one he had promised to keep on that hellish night when his parents died, and second ever since Amon took over the city. It was challenging enough to uphold each rule on its own front, and reconciling them was even harder. After seeing a firebender attack and kill his parents right in front of him, Mako never wanted to even think about firebending again. He was seven when he held his mother's blistered hand, and it was as though she could hear his agonized thoughts. "My love, you are so strong," she croaked. "You take care of your brother. And remember this: fire is life, too. You must always remember that you have a gift. You—" She hadn't even been able to finish the thought before closing her eyes for the last time. The police had arrived on the scene some time later, finding Mako clutching his mother's hand as tears streamed silently down his face. When one of the officers put a hand on Mako's trembling shoulder, Mako had snapped and started screaming and lashing out. They managed to calm him down enough to get a home address out of him as well as the fact that he had a little brother.

The officers took both boys to an orphanage in the middle of the night and came back two days later to drop off a few personal effects they managed to save—their father's coat and scarf, as well as their mother's locket. The culprit was never caught and the boys never heard from the police again. Bolin was only five. Every night he would ask Mako the same question: "When are we going home?"

They stayed in the orphanage for a couple months before they were turned out onto the streets. Bolin was an easy target for the other kids to pick on, and Mako had gotten in too many fights trying to defend him. Between the two of them, they had one coat and twelve yuans. The first night out on their own, they huddled by a metal dumpster and Mako finally understood his mother's words. For the first time in months, Mako created a small flame in the palm of his hands. The sight of the flame snapping and glowing in his hands made his stomach lurch at the memory of his mother and father's blistered faces, but when Bolin's shivering became visibly less intense, he tried his best to push those thoughts out of his mind.

The two slowly but surely adapted to life on their own. While Mako worked odd jobs in the city, he left Bolin in Central City Station with the other kids during the day. Bolin often made a few yuans himself by batting his big green eyes at passing tourists, so the brothers managed for the most part. But when winter came that year, it hit hard. They both needed new shoes and gloves, so Mako was forced to pawn off his mother's locket. Although he hated himself for doing it, Mako knew that his brother's life came first.

It was then more than ever that Mako kept his mother's words in his mind. Those winter nights were hard and, even with new shoes, Mako's firebending was the only thing that kept them from freezing to death. They squatted in abandoned buildings but never stayed long enough in one place to consider it home. Bolin was never happier than when he figured out that he could use his earthbending to help his big brother. On nights when they were chased away from the back stoop of a restaurant or wherever else they holed up, Bolin was able to make them a lean-to or makeshift earth tent. He was clumsy at first, but he practiced during the days so he could show Mako what he learned at night. Mako had to admit it was reassuring to know that they always had that option— and even more so to know that Bolin had a way of defending himself should anything happen to Mako. It was an unforgiving life, but these two brothers were tough enough to live it.

Things became much more difficult when the city fell to chaos at Amon's hands. Mako was eight and Bolin was six when that happened. The rallies around town had actually been convenient for all the street kids, as they could walk through one of these crowds and pick a dozen pockets without being noticed. Mako wasn't too worried about the masked figure Amon—it wasn't like one crazy guy could take over the entire city, right?

But soon, these protests became violent demonstrations, and the streets became even more dangerous at night. Mako could remember when they made a public spectacle of dragging the gang leader Lightning Bolt Zolt onto a stage and electrocuting him until he bit his own tongue off. Mako came home from that gathering with empty pockets and an emptied stomach. From then on, Mako made sure to be careful about where he used his firebending, and he was reluctant to let Bolin use earthbending at all. Some nights they went cold and without shelter.

Mako didn't really have a way of getting news since he didn't read the newspaper or own a radio, but the kids on the streets had a way of finding things out first. The day Amon and the other equalists attacked the city, there wasn't a single kid hanging around Central City Station. Mako knew what that might mean, and he and Bolin found an abandoned warehouse a few blocks away from City Hall to take cover in. They watched from the top floor as the metal-bending police force was taken down by chi-blockers and Air Temple Island burned, and they saw the banner bearing Amon's mask cover the face of City Hall. The boys were too afraid to go out even after the fighting and explosions had died down, but later that night they were awoken by cries coming from the street. They looked out the window and saw dozens and dozens of people being dragged out of their homes and through the streets by masked chi-blockers. There were men, women, and even children being taken to the square in front of City Hall where empty police trucks were lined up. Mako watched with horror as the people were shackled and lined up before the trucks. Mako could hear loud cries of protest, but any physical resistance was met with a shock from the equalists' electric gloves. Eventually, people stopped resisting.

As the trucks were being filled and replaced by empty ones, Bolin tugged on his older brother's sleeve. "Mako, what're they doing? Where're they taking all those people?" Mako turned around and gripped Bolin's shoulders, ignoring his flinch. "Bolin, you can't earthbend anymore."

"But, why n—" Mako kneeled down so that they were eye level and shook him once.

"You can't ever earthbend, d'you hear me? Ever," Mako said vehemently, and even though Bolin could see how upset Mako was, he shrunk back from his brother's grip. "Wh—" Mako squeezed his arms even tighter.

"They'll take you away, Bolin. That's what they're doing; they're taking away all the benders. If they find you, they'll take you away." Mako's voice started to crack. "We have to keep it secret, you and me both. We won't tell anybody, and we won't ever get caught because if we do they'll take us away to spirits knows where! Do you understand, Bolin?"

The terrified look in Mako's eyes brought Bolin to tears. "I won't tell anybody I swear. I won't earthbend! I won't tell! I swear, I swear…" he blubbered over and over again, until Mako pulled him close. Bolin gripped his brother's jacket and cried, "They won't take us away…I don't want you to go like Mom and Dad did!" Mako hugged his brother tightly.

"We're gonna be okay, Bo," Mako whispered, tears pricking at his eyes. "Were gonna survive this, we always have—just you and me. Family sticks together."

The two watched in silence as hundreds of people were taken from the city, and with each truckload that left, Mako strengthened his resolve to protect his brother no matter what happened.

The next day, Mako slunk through the crowds at the rally held by Amon at City Hall. Amon announced to the citizens of Republic City that they would no longer be ruled by a faceless icon, the way "the almighty Avatar and the corrupt council once ruled this city," but rather by a man just like anyone else. After this declaration, Amon took off his mask, and revealed the horrible burn-scar that distorted half his face. The people in the crowd gasped and cried out with horror. "I myself bear the evidence of the evil brought into this world by benders. I have been chosen by fate to lead the battle for equality and freedom of all non-benders! We will no longer be manipulated and oppressed by those who would threaten us into submission. We will no longer be afraid of those monsters! Even now, many of those benders who would rise up and try to silence us have been disarmed and expelled from the city. They are criminals, every last one of them; to anyone who is league with these criminals, consider yourself an enemy of the people as well. We will no longer let the tyrannical bending establishment threaten our ways of life, our jobs, and even our families! We will stand together, and we will be the example to the world!"

The cheers this speech received were far louder than the cries of the people torn from their homes the night before.