It was a few hours later close to midnight that Noatak awoke, with his eyes fluttering open. He blinked to adjust to the darkness and found out that he was at an infirmary, at the South Pole. No, this is not where he wanted to be right now. He needed to escape.

Noatak rolled over and he bit his tongue to keep from screaming at the pain that suddenly ran through his body. Right, the boat exploded. Tarrlok was dead.

Mourning would have to wait.

Forcing himself up, the ex-Equalist leader kept quiet and limped across the room to grab himself a coat. He fought to stay upright and shrugged on a coat before approaching the exit, whence he realized that his Equalist uniform was torn and had bindings wrapped around what Noatak presumed were his injuries. No, they were definitely injuries.

He stepped out into the open, falling against a pillar from the effort. Noatak let out a tired breath and used the pillar as support as he began descending the stairs. Now, where was the exit?

"And where do you think you're going?" Korra stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the limping Noatak. "I hope you don't plan on leaving yet. You're still hurt."

She stalked up a few stairs and stopped right in front of Noatak. "Go back upstairs and rest. Worry about trying to run away when you can actually walk."

He almost scoffed, thinking about how foolish the girl was to approach him. Though he wasn't certain he could at the moment, Noatak could still bloodbend and waterbend. He would be at an advantage if he wasn't in pain right now.

Noatak smirked, "And you're to stop me, Avatar? Unless you want to be bloodbended," He glared and snarled, "Move aside."

"Tarrlok's spirit led me to you when you were dying. I saved your life, Noatak. The least you could do is rest so Tarrlok's attempt to protect and save you isn't in vain!" Korra grabbed his uninjured arm and pulled him back towards the top of the stairs.

Noatak turned to stone at the mention of his brother's ghost saving him. It hurt more than it should have and emotions hit Noatak like sharp glass, piercing through his already broken heart. That idiot Tarrlok. He was supposed to die with him.

Tears nearly came to Noatak's eyes if it weren't for him regaining his anger towards the Avatar. He turned on her, gripping her arm and throwing her against the pillar to release him, and then he ran.

Noatak stumbled down the steps and he ran, limping along the snowy ground and running as fast and far as his legs would take him. He saw Beifong emerge from one of the houses and he ran in another direction.

Korra pursued, chasing after Noatak. She saw Lin, who began to give chase as well, but the Avatar waved her off. She called upon her airbending to propel her forward, but she still lacked good control of it and it caused her to collide with the former Equalist.

They fell hard, tumbling over snow and sliding along the ground where Noatak recovered and caught Korra's wrists, kneeing her in the stomach to slow her down, before throwing her aside again.

Korra cried out and grunted as she landed hard on the snow-covered ground and she got to her feet, scrambling to chase after him. "Noatak! I'm trying to help you, please stop!"

Her call seemed to slow him down to a near stop, until Noatak suddenly lunged at her, pinning her back down on the ground with brutal force. "You have no right to call me Noatak, you here me, Avatar? No right!" He strangled and shook her. "If you want to help me: you should have left me to die!" Tears stung his eyes.

She reached out to try an pull his hands away from her throat. "S-stop! I wouldn't have even b-bothered if Tarrlok hadn't... Led me to you!" Korra managed to choke out as she moved her hands to his chest to push him away. She didn't want to use her airbending because she was afraid of knocking him back too far and letting him get far enough away to escape.

Korra's arms bent back to Noatak's bloodbend command, and the former Equalist snarled through gritted teeth. "You shouldn't have bothered at all," Noatak's voice carried a deep, grave tone to them with hidden pain as he let a tear fall from his blue eyes.

"I wanted to die." Noatak had no clue what he was doing at this point and his grip tightened around Korra's neck.

Korra whimpered softly and gave him a pleading look. "T-Tarrlok wanted to save y-you... This was what he w-wanted! He came to me so I could help you!" She was helpless to his bloodbending without use of her waterbending. Then again, she couldn't bloodbend at all.

What Tarrlok wanted. Right. After a moment of thought, Noatak pulled himself away from Korra slowly and turned towards the previous direction of where they had come from. "..."

What Tarrlok wanted. His brother wanted him to live, without him? Noatak didn't understand. When he reached the open area of the field he fell to his knees in sorrow. "Tarrlok!" He called to the heavens. "Tarrlok you goddamn fool!"

Tenzin, who was watching nearby, stopped the White Lotus approaching. The people that were present nearby peeked out of their windows and doors, curious to know what was going on, but to Noatak there was no one.

There was no one in the world left for him. The Equalist movement was history, along with his family. He had nothing to live for. He had no purpose in life. "Why did you blow the boat up, you son of a bitch? You suicidal prick!" Noatak swiped at the snow under him, oblivious to the tears falling from his eyes.

"Why?" He screamed to the heavens.

Korra stood behind Noatak, having gotten to her feet as soon as he pulled away from her. She felt a pang of sadness in her heart at Noatak's behavior. This man was so very different from the enemy she hadn't even properly defeated.

"Noatak... I'm so sorry that Tarrlok is gone. I wish I could have saved you both... But there's a reason for everything. There has to be a reason you survived, a reason Tarrlok wanted to save you..."

She felt helpless. She was never very good at comforting people and of all the people in the world she could comfort, it was Noatak. Amon. A man she still hated for taking her bending away. A man everyone hated. He was an outcast. She knew he had nothing left; it was over for Noatak the moment she exposed him as a liar. Surely Tarrlok knew that, so why did he want her to help his brother?

"I don't know what Tarrlok was thinking, but... Katara was right. Aang gave Zuko a second chance. I want to give you one." But that didn't mean she would trust him.

"I don't want a second chance!" Noatak snapped at her. He willed himself up and placed his hands on Korra's shoulders, squeezing them in requisition. "You have to kill me." He said.

Korra's blue eyes widened and she immediately shook her head. "N-no... Noatak, I'm not going to kill you!" She should. She knew she should, after all he had done. But he hadn't really been evil, had he? Not really.

Noatak was a damaged man. She knew that. His father had royally screwed him and Tarrlok up and made them seem like bad people. But they weren't. Not to her, not when she thought about it. They were misguided. And Noatak still was.

"How can you believe death is all you have left?"

Noatak refused to answer her question, because there was no answer. He lost everything and the Avatar knew that. What most likely awaited him was a trip back to Republic City and prison. No, he'd rather die.

He shook his head, and started to plead. "Avatar, you must. You must end me."

"I'm not killing you!" She shouted, pushing him away, but taking hold of his wrists. "Noatak, you can try to keep living. Find another reason to exist..."

Korra didn't know why she was so compelled to convince him to keep living. She should let him jump off a cliff or wander off to die alone. But she was the Avatar. She had to protect everyone.

But Noatak was eager to convince her, having a different mindset. As Avatar, it was Korra's duty to protect everyone and by ending his life then they would both win. Noatak was convinced that he would be better off dead. He was certain, and when Korra refused he almost lost his sanity, if he hadn't already.

"I demand that you end my life, Avatar! It is your duty to protect people from monsters like I!" Noatak roared, "Kill me! Kill me! Kill me... Korra."

"Korra please," Noatak hung his head and slipped away from her hold, falling on all fours, but still determined to convince the girl of his destined fate. "Please... I have no purpose. I..."

Noatak fell to the ground unconsciously, lying there with a tear stained face. Right then he looked so innocent, almost like a child in slumber, but in reality he was falling apart.

Tenzin let the White Lotus guards walk over and take Noatak away, back to the sickroom.

Korra stood in the snow as Noatak was carried away. She couldn't believe the pain and sorrow she had heard in his voice. He was so certain that all he had left was death. He truly wanted to die. Korra couldn't kill him.

This man was not her enemy anymore. He was lost, broken and alone. He needed help. She wanted to give him that help.