Fighting for You
Chapter two- Spar with me
Previously...
"Well, I'll tell you one thing." Korra turned to look at Asami with curiosity. "What?"
"General Iroh sure is hot." She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "No pun intended."
Korra laughed, and turned away so her friend wouldn't see the growing blush on her cheeks.
Yeah, he is.
The boys had joined Korra and Asami in their room after a few hours, claiming boredom. They sat around talking, and the hours passed by rather quickly. It had been awhile since Team Avatar had had the chance to just relax a little, and be the teenagers they never got the chance to be.
"I'm starvinggggggg." Bolin complained, rubbing his stomach and pouting. "A beautiful face like mine can't go unfed!" He said, while the others laughed at him. Korra smiled. It felt good to laugh. A knock on the door interrupted their laughter and Korra quickly answered the door. It was a different private from earlier, but she assumed he came to get them for dinner.
"Is it dinner time?" She asked, and the private nodded. Bolin practically printed up to Korra and said "Lead the way, my good man!" And followed him like an eager polar bear dog. Asami followed close behind, and Korra stood in the doorway giggling at their antics.
"You goin to dinner Or are you just going to stand there all night?" Mako teased lightly, shoving her into the hallway lightly.
"Hey watch it! The shoving was rude. I can always beat you up you know." She tried to keep a serious face but cracked a smile, and Mako grinned at her.
"Nah," he said "I know I can take you." He shoved her again, harder, and took off down the hallway.
"Hey!" Korra exclaimed, running after him. They reached the cafeteria, Mako just seconds before Korra. "You cheated." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Detectives don't cheat. I just gave myself an advantage." Korra snorted, and passed him, walking towards the table where Bolin and Asami were eagerly eating up the plate of spicy komodo chicken.
"You guys have got to try this stuff it's amazing!" Bolin said excitedly, talking with his mouth full. Korra snorted as she took her seat across from Asami and a server set her own plate in front of her. Korra's mouth watered at the unbelievably spicy smell coming from the chicken.
They ate in silence, and when Bolin was finished he let everyone know with a loud burp. Laughing, Korra airbent a small tornado to drive the smell away.
"Where's General Iroh?" Asami asked, looking around the cafeteria. Korra frowned.
"Didn't he say he'd meet us for dinner?" Korra asked, feeling slightly disappointed. Mako and Bolin both shrugged.
"He's a general. Something probably came up." Mako said, finishing his chicken. Korra sighed, and excused herself from the table. She wanted some peace and quiet to meditate, she had too many emotions running around in her head.
She wandered the ship, until she found the staircase that would lead her to the deck. Several soldiers stood guard around the ship, while others walked here or there. Everyone here moved with a purpose, it seemed. The soldiers always had something to do, and were very dedicated to their job. No doubt thanks to a certain general...
Korra shook her head, walking to the railing and leaning over the edge. She stared at the ocean, and at the waves hitting the sides of the ship. Her eyes moved to the reflection of the moon in the water. Despite the slight distortion the reflection gave, it was still beautiful. She took a deep breath. The moon and the ocean were always comforting to her, being a waterbender. She brought some water up to her, absentmindedly bending it into different shapes as she thought.
Gazing at the moon again, Korra remembered the story of Yue, the spirit of the moon. Sokka himself had dated her, before she...well you know. She was supposedly the most beautiful watertribe princess in history. Korra snorted, only Yue could manage to be beautiful as the moon. She sighed again, and thought about another spirit. One she would meet for herself in the not too distant future. She frowned, unsure of any way she could defeat him. Silent tears streamed down her face and desperation flooded her heart. This was an impossible task. She doubted any avatar in history had had to deal with something remotely like this in their lifetime. For perhaps the millionth time in her life, she wished she hadn't been born the avatar.
Upon hearing nearly silent footsteps, Korra hastily wiped the tears from her face and hung her head low, hoping to be avoided. The footsteps came to a stop behind her, and a familiar rough voice spoke.
"Avatar Korra-"
"Please don't." She whispered, her voice cracking. All she wanted was to be alone, and wallow in her self misery. Carrying the fate of the world on your shoulders can grow tiresome, and for once all she wanted was to succomb to it.
She heard the general hesitate, before stepping up next to her, their shoulders touching. She looked to the side to avoid his heated gaze. That didn't stop him from inquiring.
"Your friends were worried, you've been gone for hours since dinner." Concern laced his voice, and rightly so. She had stood here staring at the moon for over two hours. Korra mentally berated herself for losing track of time and making her friends worry for nothing. Sighing, she turned her gaze back to the moon, refusing to look at Iroh, and refusing to acknowledge her tears.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, "I must have lost track of time." She could feel his heated stare practically burning a hole in the side of her face, yet she still refused to meet it. She turned her back to him. "Goodnight, Iroh."
He watched her retreating form until she was safely inside. He frowned, hating himself for being too cowardly to ask the reason behind her tears. Although, he supposed it wasn't hard to guess. She was the avatar, on a doomed mission. He shook his head, wishing he could take away her every stress and worry. She was just a young girl...
When he returned to his chambers, he quickly undressed for bed and climbed into his bed drifting off to sleep with the avatar's beautiful face on his mind.
"Korra?" Asami entered their room again, freshly showered and dressed from the bathroom. Asami sighed when she saw the bundle of sheets on Korra's bed. "Come on Korra, General Iroh requested our presence at his morning meetings, we can't be late!"
A muffled grunt came from the sheets, and Asami rolled her eyes.
"I can always call Mako and Bolin..." Asami threatened tauntingly. She knew the boys would be merciless in waking her.
"Too...early..." Korra groaned, reluctantly sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"It's nearly nine in the morning!" The heiress exclaimed, wondering how in agni's name the teenage girl in front of her was responsible for the fate of the world when she hated being out of bed before noon. She watched Korra throw on her everyday clothes before, walking across the hall to knock on the boys door. Bolin quickly answered, and the trio filed down the hallway after Korra, who had slipped out of the room.
"What do you think the meeting is about?" Bolin chattered excitedly. Mako shrugged.
"Maybe its about how you took an extra cookie last night at dinner." He said nonchalantly, smirking at his brother. Bolin gasped, and his head whipped around the hallway to make sure no one had heard.
"You said no one saw that!" He exlaimed, and Mako and the girls laughed quietly.
"I'm just teasing you bro. I actually have no idea what the General would want us at the meeting for." Mako said, shrugging again. This time, Korra frowned.
"Hey, why wouldn't he? I'm the avatar, and this is my mission. And you guys are my team, we have every right to be at that meeting." She said determinedly as she strode past them, rounding the corner and she was out of sight.
"You should have expected that response." Asami muttered, sighing slightly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mako snapped at her.
"It means, Korra isn't thinking logically, as per usual." Asami huffed, annoyance lacing her voice.
"Hey, that's not true. What she said just now was very logical!" Bolin defended Korra quickly. Asami rolled her eyes at him.
"No, it wasn't. Korra might think this is her mission but in truth there's no way we can accomplish it without the General's help. And that means he's calling the shots here."
"Somehow, I don't think Korra's going to let that happen." Mako replied coldly, stopping before the door labeled Meeting Room.
"Well we won't find out standing out here now will we?" Bolin said cheerfully, opening the door and entering. The other two followed suit, and quickly sat in the three remaining seats at the lone, long table in the center of the room. An assortment of maps and documents and such were spread on it and each major or advisor or soldier or whoever they were all seemed intently focused on whatever was in front of them.
"Thank you everyone, for joining us." General Iroh's voice was hard and demanding, and everyone's eyes immediately snapped to him. His lip quirked in a semi smile, he loved the feeling of being in command, or being in complete control. He stole a glance at Korra, who was seated several seats down, next to the fire nation boy she had brought with her and an older advisor of his. "This meeting's agenda has only one item, discuss the avatar's plans for re capturing the southern water tribe." He finished, and now everyones eyes focused on the avatar herself, as her own widened in response.
"My-er my plan?" She stammered, her whole body suddenly on edge. She felt Makok gently squeeze her hand underneath the table but it wasn't enough to calm her. Then the anger came. Here she was, expected to fight an ancient spirit for the fate of the world without the slightest idea of how to defeat him and they were asking her for a plan?! Iroh seemed surprised, and hesitated before speaking again.
"I see. Well ladies and gentleman, it seems we are in need of a plan." He spoke slowly, as if he was waiting for her to cut him off at any point. Her eyes narrowed, and she felt her anger rising even more with his words. He was making her seem like a child! In front of his top commanders in his fleet!
She registered one of these advisors speaking, something about simply going in under a white flag and demand democracy and peace talks.
"No." The word was spoken sharply, and Korra was surprised to find it came from her own mouth. "My uncle is beyond reason, there will be no peace talks." She declared strongly, her eyes now locked with the General's. The swirling amber colors mixed with gold flecks looked calculating, as if she was prey. She gulped, fear fighting clawing its way from her stomach to her throat but she leveled her gaze and was victorious when he was the first to look away.
"Very well. Somehow I didn't think half of the United Nations navy would be needed for peace talks," the general snorted, almost in a laugh. "I propose a stealthy coup. A small, elite team will kidnap Chief Unalaq, who is as of now under arrest for treason. We will hold him here on the ship and transport him to republic city where he will stand trial for his crimes." The General spoke in a calm, unwavering voice, but he himself had his doubts. An airbending master had told him that this would not be an easy battle, as had his own mother. He'd heard that Chief Unalaq would be a considerable foe, but with the avatar there was no way he could lose. Right?
Korra's mind was reeling, trying to comprehend what General Iroh had just said. Take Unalaq captive? Was he crazy?! He couldn't be serious, unless...
"You don't know." She whispered, her eyes fixed on the glossy surface of the wooden table in front of her. She followed the grain of wood, all the way to the head of the table. Refusing to meet the confused eyes which she felt on her, she stood and walked towards the door. "Could I have a word with you General?" She said over her shoulder, gritting her teeth when two Lieutenants rose with him. "In private." She ground out, walking into the hallway hoping he would follow alone.
Following the hallways, which began to blur together a bit, she managed to find her way to the training grounds she had discovered yesterday when she had been hiding after dinner. Luckily it was clear, seeing as it was early enough that most of the ship would just be waking.
She walked towards the middle of the open room, noticing the barrels of water and plates of earth stacked at the edge of the room. She felt a hot surge of anger flash through her and the water in the barrels began sloshing around, feeling her instinctual push and pull.
Turning, she appraised the general standing near the entrance of the room with a rather confused look on his face. He quirked a brow, his eyes darting to the barrels of water, before returning his gaze to her.
"Spar with me." She declared, giving no hesitation as she shot a rapid series of fire bursts towards him. He barely had time to throw his arms up against the attack, before she was slicing water blades through the air. He quickly countered, his fire burning so brightly it turned the water she was bending to steam. He smirked, stepping back and raising his hands.
"Is that the best you've got, Avatar?" She replied by quickly freezing the steam surrounding his body, trapping him in a block of ice. He faltered, as he found himself completely encased.
"Not even close." She said haughtily. He took a deep breath through his nose, and she stepped back as a long burst of fire came out of his mouth, melting all of the ice. She stared at him dumbly, having only ever seen that move performed once...
"What did you expect? I'm named after the Dragon of the West." He drawled, attacking again. Now Korra was on defense, as she dodged his intense fireballs and firewhips, before anticipating his next move and she quickly jumped in the air, twisting and sending an earth disk straight to his stomach. He gasped and stumbled back, and she charged forward, sending another disk into his chest. He managed to throw up a flame, but it wasn't strong enough to stop the disk and he stumbled again, barely managing avoiding falling onto his butt.
Before he could regain his footing she had reached him, and threw her hands out to grab his. But he was quicker than she thought, and grabbed her wrists, holding them above her head. They stood panting across from each other, their breaths mingling in the small space between them.
"Give?" He panted, smirking slightly again. This time, she smirked back.
"Never." And she quickly pulled her knee up into his gut and thrust him onto the floor, landing atop him with her knees pinning him on either side.
"Ha. I win!" She declared triumphantly, her eyes meeting his for the first time in the last few minutes. Immediately lost in a sea of golden amber, her sapphire eyes narrowed when she realized he looked quite to content. "And just what are you so happy about?" She grumbled, confused by his constant mood swings.
"Oh nothing. It's just, I'm quite content with losing so long as every match ends like this." Her eyes shifted down, and a rush of heat reddened her cheeks as she realized she was straddling him.
"Oh. Oh!" She clambered off of him quite ungracefully, awkwardly twisting her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
"It's okay Korra, I was just joking." He chuckled lightheartedly, before clearing his throat. "But ah, if I recall there was a more serious issue you meant to discuss with me?" Korra gulped, the familiar feeling of fear and dread filling her stomach like a heavy weight.
"You mean to capture my uncle, Unalaq, do you not?"
"Yes, did you or did you not here my plan back in the battle room? Which is where we should both be, discussing strategy!" He snapped, his frustration getting the better of him. He couldn't see where this girl was going with this, and why she had dragged him out here to spar with him and then ask him a simple question like that!
"No amount of strategy is going to defeat him! Don't you get it?" She cried, throwing her hands in the air. "We're all doomed. There is no hope." She whispered, her voice cracking on the last word. Iroh's eyes widened, what did she mean, no hope? She was the avatar for Agni's sake!
"What-He might be a skilled waterbender but I assure you-"
"IROH!" She yelled, cutting him off and grabbing both of his arms furiously, forcing him to look her in the eye. "You have no idea what you're up against." She warned darkly. When a level of understanding finally crossed into his eyes, she released him. "You're going to shut up and listen to, and you won't interrupt until I'm done." He nodded.
"In just under two weeks, an incredibly important spiritual event is going to occur. It's called Harmonic Convergence. The last time it occurred was ten thousand years ago, when both the southern and northern spirit portals were opened and allow the spirit world and human world to interact. During Harmonic Convergence, the spirits of Ravaa and Vatu, light and dark, battle for the fate of the world. During the last Harmonic Convergence, a man named Wan fused with Ravaa, becoming the first avatar, and managed to confine Vatuu into a spiritual prison which has held him captive and unable to allow darkness into the human world for the last ten thousand years. Of course, he has been gathering his strength for the impending battle and even now I feel Ravaa's light dwindling..." She trailed off, meeting Iroh's concerned gaze.
"And you...Ravaa is inside of you?" He looked bewildered. Korra smiled gently at him.
"I'm the bridge between the two worlds. The avatar is the ultimate reincarnation of Ravaa, she lives inside of me and grants me the powers which I posses, such as the ability to travel into the spirit world and my access to the avatar state." She took Iroh's hand, and placed it on her heart, concentrating all her energy on the light she can feel within herself, and the power that surges through her when she makes contact with Ravaa.
"Gah!" Iroh gasped, pulling his hand away sharply. "That-That was-"
"Pure light. Goodness. But its growing faint. And when Harmonic Convergence arrives...I fear I am not powerful enough to defeat Vatu." She lowered her head in shame with her confession.
"Last night. This is why you were crying." Korra could only nod her head.
"I- I'm so sorry." She burst, tears leaking down her face as she grabbed him and buried her face in his chest. "I should be able to stop this, I should be able to know what to do. But I don't- I have no idea what to do! No avatar besides Wan has ever been able to defeat Vatu and he was incredible not to mention-" She hiccuped, cutting herself off.
"Not to mention what?" Iroh asked gently, stroking her hair softly. Korra shuddered, the horror of her next statement overcoming her.
"My uncle plans to fuse with Vatu and become a dark avatar during Harmonic Convergence, so that he can kill me and unleash ten thousand years of darkness onto the world."
AN: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for reading, sorry this chapter took longer than expected but I didn't feel like I could cut it any sooner than I did... Anyways I know Korra isn't really supposed to know about Wan at this point in the series but I promise all will be explained in the next few chapters! Reviews always welcome :)
Love, Mia