Chapter III:

The Festival of Freedom

"After generations of firelords failed to find you, now the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence!"

"Please listen to me! We don't have to fight, you have the power to end it here and stop what you're doing!"

"You are right. I do have the power. I have all the power IN THE WORLD!"

With these words came an eruption of flames from The Firelord's fists and mouth, the battle that would end The Hundred Year War at hand as he charged at the Avatar.

As the flames consumed the air of the Wulong Forest, somewhere, not far away, a single figure stood and watched with baited breath.

"Come on then Avatar… Show me the battle that made you a legend…"

-Elsewhere-

"And across the Wulong Forest my father and the Avatar did battle, but finally Aang managed to defeat Lord Ozai, and, in a display of humility, spared his life, only stripping him of his bending. And it was by that action that our new world was built!"

The roars from the crowd before Zuko were monstrous as he delivered his speech, Korra seated alongside Tenzin and the retired firelord's family as he went on. She was trying her best to remain presentable, but reminded herself that if anyone wanted to find some problem with her being up front, they'd find it either way.

"Since then we have seen our world given a second chance. Aang and I became dear friends, we rebuilt the world my father sought to destroy. I can even proudly call his oldest son my son as well. It hasn't been a time without its struggles, in our struggles we have lost many," Korra could not help but notice Laru bow her head a little with that statement. "But we have pressed on in an ever-changing world, seeking still to uphold the peace that Avatar Aang sought amongst every man, woman and child of every nation, and we will not rest until that peace is achieved!" Again the crowd roared with joy, Zuko still smiling. When they slowly began to settle, he continued, "I have invited a man who has proven himself a great friend to me these last few years. Please welcome my friend Buro." He referred to the old man from the party Korra attended a few nights before. As he took his place upon the podium, an unusual, uneasy look coming across Tenzin's face.

"Something wrong?" Korra asked.

"There's something about him," he muttered. "I've never seen him before, I'm sure of that… But I can still feel something…"

"Thank you Zuko," Buro said as he faced the crowd. "And to all of you, for today, you who welcome me are also my friends. I was approached a year ago to give a speech on my research on the nature of chi on this day. I have much I can say on the matter, but I shall for now keep centered on the topic of togetherness this festival was founded to celebrate."

"As the studies and tales of Avatar Aang have told us, there was once a time before the existence of elemental bending. Before there were born these great many, with their incredible abilities and feats, there was a time when mankind bent the energy within itself. The force we know as chi, a universal energy lingering inside each and every one of us… We have grown divided, over the millennia, by the elements we bend, the sides we take in battle, and the titles we give ourselves… But I believe there was once a time when this energy was far more a sign of similarity than difference. It is a common connection, linking airbenders to earthbenders, firebenders to water, and even linking the Avatar back to those who cannot bend elements at all."

"I believe there will come a day when we will not be known by our nations and the elements we bend, but simply as brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. For it is my discovery that chi does not simply disappear with death, it is returned to the world itself, to be born anew! Running through us, each and every one of us, is the same chi that existed in our ancestors and will continue to spread long after we are gone. It is incredible, I tell you, and it speaks to that which unites every one of us!"

The crowd devoured Buro's speech as he continued, Korra's attention beginning to fade as she focused on the upcoming flag retirement, trying to remember everything she had practiced with Iroh and the reassuring words of her friends.

She had some twenty minutes to prepare as Buro continued his speech before he finally surrendered the attention to Laru, who Korra noticed was dabbing her eyes a bit before she rose and stood before the crowd.

"At this time, as has become tradition, we shall proceed with the flag retirement," Laru announced. "I am also pleased to introduce this year's retiree," she referred to Korra, who quickly stood up and went to her side. "Avatar Korra."

Now the crowd seemed louder than ever, making Korra swallow nervously. She remembered some of her past experiences up in front of audiences and knew full and well they weren't her strong suit. She tried her best to just smile and wave as Iroh made his way to the top of the flagpole.

"The Avatar and my son have trained relentlessly for this moment," Laru said. "It was not by simple destruction that the old regime was defeated. That would be a spit in the face to the sacrifices made and the ideals of Avatar Aang… My father had his moment to slay Firelord Ozai, but he knew it was not his place and could only cause more hate and violence. So instead he turned the lightning on him, and made it is place to assist in rebuilding what Ozai had destroyed." The flag of the old regime was raised, Iroh and Korra starring directly into one another's eyes. "And now, as we do every year, we see the old symbol of tyranny destroyed!"

The crowd watched, nearly holding their breaths as the lightning began to rise up from Iroh's palms before the deciding moment came. He fired the blast of lightning, Korra smiled a little, sure he had forgotten to hold back, and took her stance. Again the whole world went silent and black for a moment as the lightning passed through her body, but the moment didn't seem nearly so long this time. She managed to extend her right hand again and returned the bolt of lightning, blasting through the flag as its charred remains floated towards the ground. When her senses returned to her, Korra could hear the screams and cheers of the crowd, loud as ever, and the closest thing to a look of approval from Laru she had seen. With that, she returned to her place next to Tenzin as Laru again secured everyone's attention.

"The ceremony is over. Go and enjoy the festival!"

Korra was relieved to finally escape the stage. She was planning to meet with her friends at the central-most Future Industries factory, but knew there were two people in the crowd she had to catch first. And, sure enough, she caught them in its midst and wrapped her arms around them both.

"Mom, Dad, thank you so much for coming," she said, leaning into her burly father's chest as he pulled her into his hug.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world sweetheart," he said. "You put on some kinda show up there… I've never even seen one of these things, just heard the stories the White Lotus used to pass around. And they were right, it's a real sight to behold."

"It'll be so great catching up with you guys," Korra said.

"I made the biscuits I know Naga likes," her mother said. "She'll be a very happy girl when we see her too."

"I've been so busy I've hardly seen Naga these last few days," Korra said. "It's going to be good to finally relax a little when this whole thing is over."

"So then," her father said, snickering. "Its been a while since I've struck fear into the heart of that firebending boyfriend of yours."

This quickly made Korra nervous. "Um… Yeah Dad… That's probably a good idea… But see Mako is-"

"I'm coming along too," her mother added, allowing Korra a sigh of relief. "I'm well aware of how intimidating your dad can be hon, I'll be here to keep him in line."

"You two," he said, shaking his head. "C'mon, I always thought I was a gentle giant."

"You are Dad, but a giant is scary no matter how gentle you are. Especially when you're dating that giant's daughter."

Korra led her parents to the factory and successfully rendezvoused with her friends. Mako didn't see her parents at first, hugging her tight and was about to kiss her.

"I knew you could do it," Mako said. It was only then that he noticed her parents, immediately let go and stood up straight. "Mr. Tonraq. Mrs. Senna. Glad you could make it."

"Don't be so nervous Mako," Her mother said. "No one here is going to bite your head off."

Tonraq however elected to slide in close to him and growl, "Just don't give me any ideas." When Mako seemed sufficiently terrified, he pulled back and laughed. "It's so easy!" Bolin and Asami both laughed as Mako let out an exasperated sigh and Tonraq gave Korra a handful of bills out of his pocket. "We'll catch up tonight. You kids have fun."

"Thanks Dad!" She called as Tonraq and Senna disappeared into the crowd. "And thanks so much for watching me finally burn that stupid flag. I hope it was flashy enough."

"You did great Korra," Asami assured.

"That really is my favorite part of this thing every year," Bolin said, throwing a few nuts into his mouth and offering one to Pabu when he peeked his head out of his shirt. "There you go buddy." Pabu accepted the nut and quickly ate it, then giving Bolin a decidedly pathetic look. "Oh no, you are not getting all my nuts again. You and that…" He stopped, looking into his pet's big, pleading eyes. "I'm trying to say that these are mine and I'm not going to…" With another gaze at his pet's face he sighed and brought the whole bag to his shirt. "… Have as many as you want…"

Everyone laughed as they made their way down the city's square. More than usual the tiny shops were celebrating the city's diversity. Bands of Earth Kingdom musicians inhabited almost every other corner of the streets playing many traditional tunes. Sparsely dressed Fire Nation girls danced next to stands selling roasted meat and fire flakes (which both Mako and Bolin were determined to avoid), and had to pause and chuckle at two weapons merchants arguing with one another.

"The Southern Water tribe has the finest sword-makers on the planet! We were taught by Master Sokka himself!"

"The Fire Nation schools were passed their ways by Master Piandao. Your Sokka was merely his student, we learned from the master!"

"Mako, you think we could buy one of these to put up on the wall at home?" Bolin asked, taking particular interest in the blades.

Before Mako could respond, both craftsman ran over to Bolin and raised their blades in offering. "Please!" The fire merchant said. "I assure you, our blades are the very finest in all the land,"

Whatever arguing was going on before was now escalating. "Don't you listen to him! You've got to buy from me!"

"Would you really buy a sword from a Water Tribesman?! They have to import the molten steel! I can make it with my bear hands!"

"Um… Guys?" Bolin asked, starring at swordsman as they took their stances, ready to dual, then turned towards Mako and Korra as they walked away. "Guys?!" He called.

"Good luck, don't spend too much!" Mako called.

Asami laughed and stayed close, "Guess it's up to me to keep you out of trouble."

Korra and Mako made their way all around Republic City, eating the many kinds of food sold at the stands, playing many of the carnival games and made a few trips through the "Kolau Mountain Cruise", a surprisingly elaborate dark ride in which the two sat in a little boat, gently pushed by on-duty waterbending employees. The boat disappeared into darkness, the lovers kissing as they were consumed by it until the great crystals within the ride illuminated the rest of the way.

"It's beautiful," Korra said. "But the real cave has got to be even better… We've got to get out there some time."

"You mean actually leave this city?" Mako asked. "When you get out, I'll follow you wherever you go. I've been here long enough as is."

"Well thanks for staying as long as you did. It gave me a chance to find you."

Finally their day came to an end sitting on a hill in the city park, Mako pointing to the city's eastern beach. "The fireworks are going to come from over there," he said.

"It's a great night for them," Korra said. "Look at how big the moon is."

They sat quietly in the grass, looking at the citizens who sat down in the grass, the chameleon rabbits scurrying through the bushes and the full moon that seemed so close.

"Sorry to disappoint you Avatar, but we have unfinished business."

The moment the sound of the voice reached Korra's ears she had to sigh in frustration, Mako giving a similar response. "I swear, does he just keep breaking out so he can earn his way back in again? I didn't even know he'd escaped, this has to be some kind of record."

To his credit he didn't look terrible, and in his earliest appearances he had even been frightening. He wore a long, black coat, opened at the center to show off the light but firm armor covering his chest. On his right hand he wore a Future Industries brand shock glove. Most striking however, was the fact that his lengthy brown hair fell over a white mask bearing a neutral expression and a red dot upon the forehead.

"Hi Nilak," Korra said with a roll of her eyes. "Didn't even here you'd escaped yet."

"Insolence! I am not Nilak, I am Amon! Leader of the Equalists!"

"That statement really stopped working after the first time we kicked your butt," Korra said, unamused. "You look really good, but you could barely put up a fight. We got the mask off, we know you aren't Amon. Who knows where he is, if he's even still alive at all, but you aren't him."

"The one known as Noatak might be gone, but you cannot destroy a symbol! Amon is eternal! Amon is-"

"Amon is a name passed between a bunch of self-loathing waterbenders," Mako retorted. "You didn't even break any of your posse out this time, how do you really expect to go about fighting us?"

"What a foolish question," the fake Amon mocked. "After all, you were the one just commenting on the loveliness of the moon…"

The masked man put out his hands and immediately the two began to yell and twitch, shaking as their feet remained locked in position, Korra glaring at him. "Just how long have you been waiting for this?!" She demanded. "It wasn't enough to just be a normal Amon knock-off? You had to get into bloodbending too? They're really never going to let you see the light of day again after this little stunt!"

"Oh it is not I who must fear never seeing light again Avatar," Nilak mocked. "Amon left a very important duty for his remaining Equalists to complete. I feared I would never be welcomed by them, due to my heredity… But sometimes curses truly do become blessings in disguise." He extended the shock glove towards Korra as Mako continued to fight, but found himself trapped in place. "I'll need more time to master his sealing technique, so be a good girl and fall asleep quickly!" The glove began to shine bright as the electricity surged through it. Mako was shouting at Korra to break free, but as she watched the glove and its bright discharge, she quickly stopped struggling, Nilak in turn slowly exerting less energy on her bloodstream to keep her in place as he brought the glove towards her arm.

Korra regained just enough control to grab ahold of the glove, one hand on its center, the other on the forearm. As the electricity surged, she suddenly found herself redirecting lightning again, and not nearly as much as she had during the ceremony. The electricity surged through her body and back into the glove, quickly overtaking it until, with a gasp from Nilak, it erupted and they were both blown backwards, the bloodbender's mask going with him.

"What?! How did you-"

Korra did not give him a chance to finish his question as she closed the distance, raising pallets of rock up from the ground and smashing them against his face. Nilak managed to raise his hand and briefly stopped her assault, leaving her gritting her teeth in pain, before Mako rushed in and threw some punches of his own, hitting him with several blasts of fire and breaking his concentration enough for Korra to return to form and throw some flaming punches of her own. Nilak was forced backwards until he found himself leaned against an old oak tree sitting atop the hill.

"Give it up already," Mako commanded. "Amon is never coming back, you and the Equalists are finished, just serve your sentence already and move on with your life!"

"Never!" Nilak yelled, digging his fingers into the tree and then thrusting his hands forward. With the water he had managed to pull he sent several shards of ice flying at the two, managing a few scratches on each of their faces, leaving them more annoyed than injured. Korra responded by swiftly bending the ice and returning it to him, pinning his cloak against the tree as he continued to snarl and stare in rage.

"You've had enough fun for one full moon!" She shouted, stomping her feet and quickly producing two small pillars of earth, forcing Nilak's arms inside them and, with another stomp, trapping them within. The man howled in anger, screaming at the two as he struggled against his bonds.

"Should we take him to Beifong?" Korra asked.

"Yeah, we probably- Hang on a sec! There they are!" Mako grabbed ahold of Korra and turned her around as the fireworks began to explode in the distance. Korra looked on in awe as the colors began to fill the sky. She found quickly that she was able to ignore Nilak's screams as she looked on and leaned towards Mako, taking his hand and starring as the night sky filled with beautiful mini-constellations, drifting off into tiny separate stars of color before fading away entirely.

"I burned the old flag, got to eat great food, go through an Earth Kingdom tunnel with you and even captured a wanted man, and here I am looking at fireworks," Korra summarized. "It's quite a way to end quite a day."

"In a good way?" Mako asked.

"For sure."

…

After the fireworks finally came to an end, Korra and Mako walked the few short blocks to the police station, the still struggling Nilak in tow. As they forced him inside and quickly warned the metal-bending officer waiting at the front desk not to release him due to the full moon, Korra asked "Chief Beifong in?"

"The chief of police is dealing with a very… Unusual case in the back."

"What do you mean?" Mako asked.

"Sorry, that's classified," the officer replied. "We'll see to it this guy's taken care of." And began to take Nilak away.

As Korra and Mako made their way towards the door, Korra double-took in shock as Tenzin made his way in. "Tenzin? What in the world are you doing here?"

"Korra? I could ask you the same question… Unless… Did Lin call you here too?"

"What? No," Korra said. "We were in the park, one of the imitation Amons came to bother us before the fireworks. Why did Lin call you here?"

"Well, if she didn't tell you than I don't think I should-"

"Save it Tenzin. I hate to say it, but I'm probably going to need her to help identify."

Both of them turned towards Police Chief Lin Beifong as she stepped through one of the doors leading to the back interrogation rooms, which Korra knew so well. The chief was a tired, often irritable old woman, but one of the finest earth and metalbenders to ever live. "He's back here. We've spared no expense, even if he is lying there's not going to be a way he can lay a finger on any of us."

"Will someone please stop being so vague and just tell us what's going on?" Mako demanded.

"Why don't you come back and see for yourself… Because we have no idea what he looks like without his mask on."

Korra could feel her heart both race and seem to freeze. "Wait… You can't possibly mean…"

"Like I said, come on back and see for yourself."

Korra remained in place, struggling to collect her thoughts before she slowly followed Lin down the hall. With a stomp of her foot Lin opened one of the chambers on her left side. "We've been preparing for how we were going to contain him since his disappearance. No expense has been spared."

A massive, clear wall was erected in the center of the room, whatever material it was shaped from too powerful to be glass. A few holes were drilled through the center of the structure, steam slowly rising from them as two large coal furnaces were visible on the other side of the wall. Between the two furnaces sat a man dripping in sweat and breathing heavily, all of Korra's hopes and fear affirmed when she got a good look at him.

She had been wrong about what she had yelled at Nilak, and this was the proof of it. His hair was longer now, a scraggly beard covering his face and tears all across his clothes, but she was sure she recognized the face. A small smile came across the man's face as he looked up at her.

"Hello again, Avatar," he said in his threatening baritone.

"Can you confirm?" Lin asked. "Again, none of us have ever seen his face before… He says he can't bend anything anymore, so he's either going to great lengths to hide it or he's telling the truth."

"I'm sure it's him," Korra said, her mouth going dry as she said it. She approached the holes in the wall, her eyes transfixed on him, hardly able to believe he could possibly still be alive, let alone be standing before her.

"Hello… Amon."