A stone in the river.
Just how do you lock up a man who can fly? Lin Beifong spends a good deal of time thinking that question.
The trip back to Republic City is to be a short one. Tenzin spends a good deal of time with the new air benders and discussing matters with Pema. Asami pilots the airships and maintains them. Mako and Bolin discuss their future (Mako doesn't see much potential in opening up a school for lava-benders), and the others, well they rest.
Korra, Korra is tired.
Zaofu is a quick stopover. A days rest and recuperation, an acupuncturist takes a closer look at Korra, and concludes that what she needs is rest. Lin spends most of her time on the radio to Republic City, and there to the White Lotus Society. Zaheer would be put on trial for his crimes, that is beyond a doubt. He's locked away in the bowels of the airship, the rocks binding him since changed to tight manacles. The only people he ever sees are Tenzin and Kya, the ones who are able (and barely willing) to feed him. Kya bends a mush of soup into his mouth. Zaheer's first and only escape attempt ends with Tenzin throwing the air around him so much he is unable to stay still, especially with being bound as he is.
Each member of the Red Lotus society was locked away from their element. In the case of Pai Li, she was locked away in a prison so cold that no fire bender could keep themselves warm. Lin has a, polite, chat with the White Lotus. The original architects of the prisons never comprehended an air-bender, who at the time to be fair would be the direct decedents of Avatar Aang, would do anything to demand such imprisonment. She gives them a week, offering them a tour of Republic Cities own prisons, for 'inspiration' if need be.
The call is drastic enough that it eventually travels throughout the White Lotus Society. It's proposed to make the design open to the public, while reject the idea. The air-benders never had an army. Zaheer was someone who never deserved his abilities and certainly not a reflection of the Air Nation as a whole. It is discussed, and finally, two suggestions are proposed. One would be his execution. It's not a common punishment, exile or life imprisonment is the preferred method, but it would have been performed if the individual in question proved that they were a threat to the world. Ozai would likely have been executed for war-crimes, Amon certainly would have. Finally, the trial happens. The judge decides that Zaheer will be returned to prison indefinitely. A few White Lotus members are prepared to make sure that Zaheer has an 'accident' on the way to prison, but at the last minute, a new order is sent.
He is to live. He is to be made an example of.
Zaheer refuses to answer any questions. His new prison is proposed to be in the Earth Kingdom, locked away in an elaborate cave network, under constant guard. The provisional government agree to ensure he is constantly guarded, and his manacles remain. Any act of violence, and a metal-bender will use the manacles to hold his arms spread out.
He quickly learns that lesson.
And one day, two months after his imprisonment, he has a visitor.
Zaheer's cell stands ten meters tall, part of the natural cave structure next to a small stream. The bars are made of wood, and are replaced weekly, and he is chained to the floor. The chains have a few meters length to them, enough for him to float in the air and meditate, although even then he is monitored to make sure he doesn't talk to anyone in the spirit world. During one session of meditation, the door is pushed forward and in walks a slightly hunched figure. The robes of a master water-bender cover her body, and she pulls herself together, removing her hood before her. In this deep cave, the warmth of the furs is comforting.
There is a familiar poem. Aang mentioned it once in passing. Tenzin repeating it over and over again in his youth, so much to learn and eager to remember it all.
"Let go of your earthly tether,
Enter the void,
Empty and become wind."
She stands underneath Zaheer, until finally he floats down to eye level. There is a moment of recognition in his eyes. This woman, who even at her age, is to be respected, even if only by historical reputation. After all, he knows who her husband was. And what she is capable of.
'What have I done to deserve this honour Master Katara?'
Katara looks him dead in the eyes. "You destroyed my husband's temple. Threatened to kill my son and his children, as well as the air nation. Nearly did as much damage as the Fire Nation did in a hundred years. And nearly killed destroyed the Avatar." She doesn't as much as raise her voice.
"You sound as if you want an explanation."
Katara scowls a little at this. "I'd settle for one".
"It's fairly simple. Without the Avatar, it will be the chaos of the Hundred Year war all over again, but the fighting will be between the people and the governments lording over them. There will be no rallying cry against one large foe, but smaller groups striving for independence. The chaos will bring people together as never before".
"Republic City already did that. You're a little too late".
"Under a council that refused to stand up for its citizens who could not bend? A president who refused to help fight Vaatu?"
"So you started learning about the Avatar Cycle as an Air-Acolyte. To eventually kill her?"
Zaheer stretches his legs out. "No. The original plan was to recruit her. Opening the spirit portals was necessary, but having the Avatar working with us was always desired. We would have dissolved the governments peacefully if at all possible."
"I think the Earth Queen would have disagreed with that."
"Well, you saw what happened to her."
Katara scowls a little more at this. "I saw the photographs. And you would kill her anyway, wouldn't you?"
Zaheer smiles at this. "Who? The Earth Queen, or Korra?"
"For an air-bender, you seem to take too much satisfaction in killing people".
Zaheer floats a little lower in the air. If it wasn't for the fact his feet don't touch the ground and he has bent his knees, it would be an easy mistake to say that he could not fly. Instead, he reaches eye-level with Katara. "Satisfied now?"
Katara still keeps her voice level. "No. I saw Fire Lord Ozai after Aang had taken his bending away, and I saw just how pitiful he was. Without his bending, he was nothing. I hated the Fire Nation for so long, but Zuko, Iroh and others showed me that so many of them had nothing to do with the war. I saw the good in people again. And I saw Korra, Lin and others after they had their bending taken away, and they were, shells. Part of them taken away, and they did not deserve that. Korra is still recovering after what you did to her, and she has that look in her eyes again." She nods her head forward. "I never want to see that look again."
And then, there's a glare in her eye, gravel in her voice. "People like you. People like Ozai, Amon. People who hurt other people who have nothing to do with their agenda and hurt the world. You don't deserve to be here."
Zaheer's smirk raises a little. "Well, unfortunately for you, my sentence was life imprisonment. I have to thank you for this talk. And for another thing."
Katara's eyes narrow. "And what's that?"
"For leaving the door open."
Zaheer grabs Katara and flies up into the air, and the chains strain at the pull. Katara stretches her arms out pulls them in a circle and the stream from outside rushes into the cage. The water envelops her, breaking Zaheer's hold on her, and Katara lowers herself down. Zaheer sees what she is about to do though, and at the limit of the chains length, he blows a stream of air downward. The water pools at the bottom and runs outside, far outside of Katara's range. Zaheer strains the chains. One starts to loosen from the ground. He looks downward. Katara is straighter now, moving in a spiral pattern. She is using her fingers as well now, arms flowing around. It's not something he's ever seen before. It's ludicrous. "You can't do anything!" he bellows. "You have no water!"
And Katara moves exactly in front of where he would be if he was on her level. Her right hand spread out, arm stretched forward, left arm down lower, as if to hold something down.
And she looks at him straight in the eye, even with him towering in the air above her. "You weigh about 80 kilograms? I have 60 kilograms of water right above me".
And Zaheer throws his head back, the bellows of air underneath him no longer a tornado, but getting weaker. The tornado a wind, the wind a breeze. She's a blood-bender! How is this possible? There is no full moon! There is the void! Enter it again!
And he falls. Bones splinter and he screams. His bending is gone, forever. Ten-thousand years and he may be lucky and regain it. Meditation helps a little, but not as well as before. That connection is gone too. The spirit world, like the air around him, denied him again. Worse than amputation.
"That looks nasty. I'll see about getting a doctor for you."
Katara starts to turn away, a few smooth movements guiding water back to it's proper place, as if it never left. But finally, just before the door, she turns around. Water floods to Zaheer's legs and he feels some of the pain go, but not all. Not nearly as much as she could take away.
"I have visions sometimes" she starts. "I see both my sons on sky-bison, Tenzin well practiced, Bumi still learning, but just how I remember their father with Appa. I see Korra writing journals as a guide for the next Avatar. And I see my grand-children flying. Not using gliders, but flying. And then I have visions of people like you who make me see nothing but darkness, and I don't see you until it's too late". She breathes. Hard. "So as of now, your final sentence has been carried out. Any bender deemed too dangerous, will have their bending taken away. Only the Avatar can restore it, but I will be teaching some of the White Lotus, the most trusted, how to blood-bend, if ever the Avatar is not available." She steps forward. "And I hate the fact that I have to blood-bend again. I won't see you again Zaheer. I never want to see your like again." And she leaves.
The caves have a day/night cycle to them, artificial as it may seem, and it is strictly enforced. Little light enters the cell. No guards or doctors appear to Zaheer, not that night anyway. And he spends his night in agony. He stares into the void, unable to let go of his earthly tether. He will never again become wind.
And in the end, there is only, darkness.