Scared

It seemed almost years after that incident, yet she was still the naive Avatar that believed she could fix things by punching a few Equalists around and calling it a day. Korra had woken up, streaked with sweat, the blankets twisted around her legs. She rubbed her face, still feeling the rough hands of that masked leader, Amon, grabbing her face to make her look into the hollow gaps of mask, where a glint of gray-blue eyes bored into her own wide and frightened ones. Saying that he would end her—she got up to wash her face, her tendrils of brown hair sticking to her skin like spiderwebs.

"You cannot hide from us, Avatar," he had leered. Rubbing her arms where the Equalists had jabbed her to suppress her bending, she still felt the horrifying, sudden sensation of the strange metal ropes that wound around her feet and quickly whisked her to where they restrained her as if she was a criminal.

"I will not hide," she whispered softly, wiping down her face with warmed water from the basin. She was still getting used to the plumbing in the city, so the frantic gush of the water nearly startled her awake. "I will meet you again, Amon, and I will not be the underdog this time."

Tenzin had told her, white-faced as she had set out to practice with Bolin and Mako, about bravery. "Bravery isn't just about leading a battle or facing down enemies. Sometimes it's about confronting what is inside of you, what makes you afraid." He looked at her again, a fatherly concern in his face. "Do you want to be brave, Korra?"

Now she was training with Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo with some early morning stretches. It felt odd to her, rising tall above the children, the oldest almost ready to get her arrows, but felt a kinship with the three as if they were from her tribe. At first Ikki's various flying inventions had annoyed her to death with Jinora bumping into her while her nose was in a book and Meelo had just plain—well, at times she wished that she could take him back to the South Pole and let a tiger-seal sit on him. Get him to stop pulling her hair and making those creepy faces and playing pranks on everyone with his Airbending and other skills and spirits knew what else.

"All right, Ikki, shift your weight more to the right, more, more, perfect. Jinora, darling, more graceful, graceful, lovely. Meelo, for spirit's sake! Get off the air scooter!" His face turned as red as his robes, and the sisters and Korra diligently continued to practice their stances but snickered in amusement as Tenzin raced after his howling son.

During this time, she would often let her mind drift off, but not this time. Dark thoughts entered her head, replacing the nightmare. No, nightmares were just dreams, Korra told herself firmly. This is real and serious. She looked over at the children, now working on their kicks, and felt a surge something fierce come over her, still thinking that she had to be brave, had to protect them...

She had gone into the Avatar State, a level she had not achieved, in a moment of stress and doubt and things that jumped in her head like crazed spider-hoppers. Tenzin was kneeling right beside her, quite unconcerned about the damage. The earth had spikes that rose that jagged teeth surrounding a large cavern. She hadn't realized it at the time, but his normally orderly robes were covered in dust and and rumpled messily, his bison nearby—but Korra hadn't focused on how, why, or what he was doing here.

Naga was thankfully at the island, safe from her unstable emotions that had torn the earth apart and had blown several Equalists away. If she had gotten hurt or even killed, what would have she done? Naga, the only one she could truly confide in without...what, exactly? Judgment? A loss of respect and confidence?

Korra was prepared, even saying out the lines in her head. She imagined wiping her face clear of emotions except of determination, straightening her back, making a sassy comment. But one look at Tenzin's kind, understanding face made her break down. Tears streamed down her face, undignified sobs wracking her body, even snot dripping out of her nose. She tried covering her face, but just cried more and more.

"I was terrified!—I've never felt like this before! I don't know what to do!" She collapsed into his chest, the powdered earth slightly clinging to her salt-sticky face. The lantern Tenzin had brought with him was nearly knocked over as she gave herself into the comfort of her teacher's arms.

"It's okay to be scared, Korra." he consoled, hugging her.

When he embraced her, Korra remembered that behind the wise sage, the son of the Avatar, one of the councilman of Republic City, and the Master Airbender, Tenzin was also a father.

Inspiration:

Several new trailers have been released on Korra, coming to Nickelodeon on April 14th, eleven A. M., and I assumed that Amon is not Fire Lord Ozai in his strategy. Ozai just wanted to kill the Avatar, or at the very least, imprison him for life. Amon, I think, wants to scare Korra, already confident (it seems) about stopped the revolution, and wants to make her suffer before he wins, like having her fail and fail. Having her captured and intimidating her is a nasty scare tactic, but we all know Korra won't be down for long! I also think that Tenzin and Korra will be opposites, and since Korra has difficulty with Airbending (luckily for us, or else there won't be a series!), they probably would rub the wrong way/ But since Korra is way from her parents, probably Tenzin must step in as a father figure to Korra, as well as her teacher.