Book 2 Chapter 1
New Beginnings
With the war finally over, Republic City started to rebuild. Benders and non-benders came together to clean the rubble and help the wounded. The city truly seemed to finally be at peace thanks to avatar Korra restoring the balance. One by one everyone who lost their ties to their bending regained the ability back thanks to Korra's new found powers. As Korra and the krew walked down the streets in Republic City, cheers could be heard all around.
Mako looked over to the avatar, saw a stronger and even more confident girl than he met just a few months back. "You're amazing you know that?" Korra turned and gave him a little smirk, "I couldn't have done this without you Mako". She stopped to turn and face Bolin and Asami "I couldn't have done this without all of you. Thank you for sticking by me-"
Bolin quickly left the avatar speechless as he jumped in and gave her a big bear hug, making the four come together in a group hug.
"You don't have to thank us Korra, we'll always be by your side no matter what" Asami added. "And kick butt!" Bolin interjected.
Korra smiled and nodded, "We should head back to Air Temple Island, Tenzin said he had something important to tell us".
The ferry ride back was calm and peaceful. Korra looked out at the distance as she saw the city getting smaller and smaller the farther away she got. She saw a bright future for the city, and hoped it would stay like that for a while. Korra was lost in her thoughts, and jumped the slightest bit when she felt arms wrapping around her waist, and realized the familiar grip as none other than Mako. She leaned back into his strong chest, and closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze flowing through her hair. Mako rested his head on top of hers and embraced the feeling of having the love of his life in his arms, not wanting to ever let go.
Everything was perfect. Bolin and Asami turned the corner and stopped abruptly as they spotted the two. "Oh-uhhh let's go somewhere over-not right here" Bolin said to Asami as they started to walk away. "Soooo, Asami, are you still angry at Mako?"
There was silence for a bit before Asami actually said anything, trying to gather her thoughts. "You know Bolin, I'm actually not, at least not anymore. I mean I was at first because of all of his indecisiveness and all, but now I realize that he was never mine to have in the first place. Korra has something special with Mako that we would never have. They're my friends, and I can't feel anything but happiness for them. After all Korra's been through the past few days, she deserves Mako. Let's just leave it at that." Asami sped up and left Bolin behind.
"You deserve someone too..." Bolin whispered.
The krew finally reached air temple island, Korra and Mako walked off the ferry hand in hand, with Bolin and Asami following. They were greeted by the air bender kids as they swooped down from their gliders, Jinora on one, and Ikki on the other with Meelo holding on.
"Hey kids!" Bolin greeted.
Meelo walked up to Asami, "So we meet again Beautiful woman, how you doin?" Asami chuckled and picked up Meelo.
"Korra!" Ikki rejoiced. Jinora walked by, "Daddy's waiting for you in the living room."
Meanwhile inside, "Tell me Bumi, how long are you staying again?" Tenzin said in displeasure to his older brother causing a ruckus while retelling one of his crazy adventures.
"And then we realized that we were being followed, and we couldn't let that happen so we had to sink our own ship to make it look as though none of us survived.." Bumi recounted.
"I swear, you are a mad genius Commander." General Iroh stated. Everything came to an abrupt halt as Korra and the rest entered.
"Ahh, Avatar Korra. It is a pleasure to finally meet you" Bumi embraced the young girl.
"Nice to meet you too Commander. Thank you for coming to our aid during the war."
"In all honesty avatar, you handled the situation very well. You should be proud" Iroh stated.
"Korra, General Iroh and my brother will stay in the city to help rebuild and keep an eye on things until everyone is settled back in and to ensure there won't be any uprisings" Tenzin said to her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "As for me, I've got a council to rebuild" Tenzin turned to Lin, "and I would be more than happy to appoint you Lin as the newest member on the council."
"What happened to the other council members?" Lin said in surprise.
"They've decided we needed new leadership and put me in charge, so if Republic City is to have a council, then it should be represented by those who are willing to fight for it" Tenzin said sternly.
"It would be my pleasure, old friend" Lin said with a smile on her face. "But who will be chief of police then?"
"You could always do both Lin, until you find someone you trust to replace you, and you could teach more officers metal bending" Tenzin stated.
"That's a lot, but I guess you're right. I'll do it" Lin declared. Tenzin began to smile. He felt safe knowing his best friend would be by his side when it came down to running the city. "Your mother would be so proud of you, Lin" Tenzin put his arm around his childhood friend.
"Your father would be proud of you too" Lin glanced up at the man she sacrificed herself to save, "It'll be like old times."
"I wouldn't have it any other way" Tenzin said looking into her eyes.
"Dinner's ready" Pema came in the room. "Here Tenzin, take your son." She handed baby Rohan over to Tenzin, while she served the food.
Everyone made their way to the dinner table. Lin took a seat next to Tenzin, Mako and Korra sat on the opposite end of the table. Bolin and Bumi sat on one side, and was telling one of his adventures escaping pirates to the young earth bender. "Whoa, you are my herooooooo!"
Mako looked at his brother and shook his head. He turned and began to talk to Korra. Asami took a seat on the side opposite Bolin. Iroh walked over to the dining table.
"Mind if I sit here?" Asami looked up at the tall and quite handsome general.
"Don't mind at all, have a seat General" Asami smiled.
"Please, call me Iroh" he said looking at her, "may I just say you have the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen."
Asami blushed, she could almost feel the heat rush to her cheeks. "Umm.. Thank You, Iroh, you're very kind."
Once dinner was over, everyone retired to their own rooms. Mako walked Korra to her room with his arm around her waist.
"Goodnight Korra" Mako leaned forward and gave her a kiss. She felt his warm lips against her own.
"Goodnight Mako." The tall fire bender boy grinned then turned to walk back to the boys dormitory. Korra entered her room and slid her room doors shut. She unfastened her hair ties and let her long brown hair drape over her shoulders. She kicked off her boots and landed on her bed with a soft thud. It felt nice to just lie down and rest. She fell asleep rather quickly, the effects of the war finally getting to her. She could finally sleep in peace knowing no one would be kidnapped, imprisoned, attacked, or taken away. Tonight the nightmares finally stopped.
For Korra at least, for Asami, the nightmares were only the beginning. "hmmm... uhnnn... fuck! Why can't I sleep!" Asami began to get frustrated tossing and turning in bed. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was her father's face looking down at her from the mechatank. Asami sat up in bed and began to think about him. "...he would have killed me... my own father... spirits! Why is my life so fucked up.. " Asami began to tear up "No! not again.." she wasn't going to let herself cry over this again.
She wiped away her tears, got up and walked out her room. The hallway was chilly. All she was wearing was her short pink night gown that reached midthigh. All that could be heard was the softest pitter patter of her bare feet against the smooth marble floor. Rubbing her eyes, she entered the living room to find the light still on. She turned her head to find Iroh sitting on the couch writing something down on a sheet of paper.
He looked up and saw her staring at him in his black baggy sweat pants and a red undershirt. "Couldn't sleep Asami?"
She blinked "Uhh.. no" and took a seat next to him. "What are you writing this late at night?" she said to him with an eyebrow raised and a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh, um just writing a letter to my mother, letting her know the wars over and how long I'll be gone." He dropped his gaze back down to the piece of paper sitting on the table.
Asami leaned her head back on the couch "Your mom must worry about you a lot, being a general and all, fighting in wars and such, risking your life to aid others. That's very noble of you."
"hmm" the general smirked, "I wouldn't say noble. It's just my duty."
Asami giggled at how modest Iroh was being with her. "So what does your mother do?"
Iroh's eyes widened, brow raised. Did she really not know who his mother was? "oh, uh, well, you know she doesn't do anything special. She's JUST the fire lord and runs the entire fire nation. Not a big deal or anything."
"What!?" Asami looked at him in disbelief. "I... feel really stupid right now" Asami's face turned a light shade of pink.
"Haha you look really adorable when you're embarrassed" Iroh said with a big smile on his face.
"Stop it Iroh, you're making me blush!" Asami looked away and started twirling her hair around her finger. How could she have embarrassed herself in front of the fire lord's son, crown prince of the fire nation.
Asami's eyes widened at this revelation and she turned her head to face Iroh "You're the crown prince of the fire nation! ...and that means you're grandfather... is Zuko!"
Iroh looked at her with a blank stare on his face "Done?"
Asami took a deep breath "I've been so consumed with all the problems in my life, I didn't even take the time to notice I've been talking to the epitome of royalty this entire time!"
Iroh's expression turned serious "problems? like what?"
Asami didn't want to be that girl to complain about how much her life sucked. "N-Nothing..."
Iroh placed his hand on Asami's shoulder, and she slightly gasped as how warm his hand was on her bare skin. "It's about your father isn't it? Bolin told me what he did back at the air base."
Asami looked down and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"Hey, it's okay Asami. You wanna talk about it?"
Asami bit her lip "I.. I just can't believe my whole family has fallen apart. I lost my mother when I was young. I never thought I'd lose my father too. I just feel so.. alone.. and.. unloved. Why would he do that to me?" Asami began to get angry. "He's my father! He's supposed to love me no matter what, but in the end all he cared about was his stupid revolution and used avenging my mother as his excuse. I-I can never forgive what he did to me..." Asami began to tear up, but didn't want to be seen crying in front of Iroh so she looked away.
"It's okay to cry Asami." As soon as Iroh embraced her and pulled her close to his chest, she couldn't fight back the tears anymore. She cried her heart out and Iroh couldn't bare seeing her so hurt and vulnerable, but for some reason this felt right. It felt right for him to be the one holding her as she sulked in the pain her father brought upon her. He ran his fingers through her dark hair and rested his chin on top of her head. He would sit here all night if it meant that she would feel at least a little bit better knowing she had someone she could trust in her life, and that she didn't lose everything and gain nothing in return. She gained his respect, and she won his heart.
Iroh opened his eyes to see the bright light shining in from the window. He squinted as he looked down to see Asami still resting in his arms, her chest moving up and down as she breathed. He came to the conclusion that they fell asleep on the couch. Iroh was afraid that if he moved she would wake up, so he continued to lie there gazing at her. She looked so calm and at peace compared to how he saw her just a few hours ago. He ran his finger up the side of her cheek and brushed her hair behind her ear. "... hmmm..." Asami blinked her eyes open very slowly, squinting because of all the light shining on her face.
"Good morning sleepy head." Iroh's voice startled her. "Sleep alright?"
Asami sat up, "What time is it?" she questioned.
"Probably 8ish" Iroh said getting up off the couch, "everyone will be waking up soon to eat breakfast, I'm going to go get ready." Iroh started to walk away, but stopped in his tracks when he heard Asami say his name.
"Iroh... thanks for being there for me last night. I really needed to get all that off my chest." Iroh walked back to Asami and leaned down to give her a hug. Iroh was never one to be too forward with women, but there was just something about Asami that made him never want to let her go. Asami closed her eyes at his embrace and before she knew it Iroh was walking away again and disappeared around the corner. She got up and stood by the window to look outside. Something inside her felt different, like she was ready to take on the world again. She felt so rested, and relaxed, and realized she didn't even have a single nightmare.
Mako exited his room, and saw General Iroh come around the corner and walk up the hallway. "Morning Mako" Iroh said as he stopped in front of the fire bender boy on the way to his room.
"Coming back from somewhere?" Mako questioned the general.
"Oh, no. Just fell asleep on the couch last night. I'll see you at breakfast" Iroh said as he walked past him. Eventually Mako made his way down to the girl's dormitory to wake Korra up, and to his surprise he saw Asami walking down the other end to her room.
"Oh, hey Asami" Mako waved "Why are you up so early?" his sharp eye brown raised at the question.
"Oh, no reason. Just kinda fell asleep on the couch last night.. I'll see you at breakfast, alright" and with that she made her way into her room.
Mako stood there for a few seconds until he realized that both Iroh and Asami are up and are telling the same story about them falling asleep on the couch, so were they asleep, together? Mako shook his head, this is definitely something he would be looking into more, but for right now there was a more difficult task at hand. Waking up Korra.
