"Hold the breath in your lungs." Tenzin's baritone inflection echoed gently, soothing Korra's thoughts. "Focus on it." The breeze off the waters brushed through her hair and crawled like a lover's fingers down her spine. "Release gradually, feel the peace spread out through your chest." It filled Korra's stomach like a warm soup, or vigorous laughter.
Beside the Avatar, Jinora's blank expression provided the standard to aspire towards. Even Tenzin himself could not match his daughter's affinity for the spiritual. Her arms hung relaxed at her sides, and her closed eyelids and soft lips were entirely free of tension. Even breaths entered through her nose, expanded her chest, and sighed out of her mouth.
Natural as she may be, there was a time where even Jinora could not find peace in the Avatar's presence. When Korra's behavior during meditations had caused Tenzin to ban her from attending. Korra opened her eyes, which drew immediately to the faded pink line running from just above Tenzin's ear to the point where his spine met his skull.
The airbending master frowned and opened his eyes. "We all have our scars, Avatar Korra. It is your choice whether they taint your story or add character to it. I forgave you long ago."
"I know. I still can't forgive myself."
"Shall we try again?"
Korra swallowed, sighed, and nodded. Tenzin was not the first bending master she had scarred, but he was the last. And the one she felt the most regret over.
The scuffle of boots across the courtyard behind the pavilion disturbed all three of them from their meditations moments later. Three men in the archaic indigo and white robes of the White Lotus stepped from the past and into view, each stroking their lengthy mustaches and lengthier beards. Cold, identical eyes both in their blue irises and the scorn they projected drifted to Tenzin.
"We would like a word alone with the Avatar," the oldest of them, a stocky man with wisps of pale hair poking around his neck, said.
"You can wait until we're finished, then," Korra spat.
"It's quite alright, Korra," Tenzin said. The lips of each of the White Lotus members' lips twisted maliciously. "Hopefully you will still make it to dinner tonight?"
"If it's at all possible."
Korra bowed, and both Tenzin and Jinora returned the gesture. The Avatar waited until they were out of sight before the placid mask she'd adorned melted into a disdainful fury. "What is it?"
"We grow concerned about your continued attachment to Tenzin and his family," the eldest of the White Lotus said. "Your training is complete, and your use for him ended."
"They still train me in spiritual matters."
"There are far superior teachers regarding the spiritual than that fraud."
Korra clenched her fists. "There is no one in this world more spiritually adept than Jinora. And Tenzin's meditations help me a lot."
"You must not grow too attached, Avatar. Attachments are a weakness to exploit."
Even your parents can be your downfall. The Avatar has no parents, no friends, no attachments of any kind. The Avatar is a spirit of justice beyond earthly concerns. As the heir to such power, you must also rise above such earthly concerns. Korra's parents were no more than a dream anymore. Sometimes she would remember them one way, sometimes another. More often she could not remember them at all.
"We will find you another spiritual mentor. One that-"
"I don't want another spiritual mentor. I will train with Tenzin and Jinora, I will eat dinner with them tonight. You need to stop interfering in my life before I lose my temper. You're no more immune to me breaking your neck than any other piece of shit criminal out there."
"You will not threaten us!" The three White Lotus stepped forward, standing tall, harsh words echoing off the pointed roof. "Do not forget your place, Avatar! The White Lotus existed long before you, and will continue to do so long after you are forgotten bones in a forgotten grave."
Korra flinched, her eyes dropping to her feet. Just like the scared girl who spent her nights crying in a bare cell, curled atop her hard bunk waiting for the pain to fade away. It never did. They had made sure of it every day.
"We are always watching, Avatar. You can hide nothing from us. You are allowed only what we allow you. Do you believe Tenzin and his family to be an exception because airbenders have only recently returned? They are no exception. Nothing is more important than the lessons we must teach you. Nothing is too sacred to sacrifice in the name of our cause. Not a man. Not a family. Not even an entire culture."
The role of the bender in the modern world grows more tenuous with every passing day. What need is there to throw a rock when you can fire a gun? Why rely on the limitations of the human body to create fire when machines can do so without fatigue or conscience? You must be the same as these machines, Avatar. Powerful, efficient, and entirely without mercy. And we are the engineers who will build you, no matter the cost.
The shadows fell away, and Korra dared to look up. "There are rumblings of an opposition leader growing too strong in the Northern Water Republic. Also, pirates on the trade routes between the Fire Nation and the Earth Empire have caused enough trouble to gain notice. Either of these problems would serve as a needed refocusing of your priorities. Your work in Republic City of late has calmed the waters substantially. Your help should not be needed for some time. Considering the distractions caused by Tenzin and…others…it would be best if you were to remove them for some time. Goodbye, Avatar. We will be watching."
Korra listened as the boots of the White Lotus representatives faded away. Her body tensed, like a rubber band pulled taut, until a snarl exploded from her throat and her foot kicked away a section of railing, the splinters splashing like rain into the foaming waters below.
###
"As it so happens," Asami said, "I know all about them. I've lost two ships to these pirates."
Of course she did. Korra had learned long ago that if drove, sailed, or flew from one place to another with the intent to be bought or sold, Asami Sato knew who, what, when, where, how, and the risks involved.
"In fact, I was planning on hiring some protection. What better protection could I ever hope for than the Avatar?" Asami strutted forward, hips swaying. "And I bet I wouldn't have to pay a dime."
Her lips brushed against Korra's, her tongue flicking out. "Sami…" Korra's lips granted entrance, and the Avatar's protests fled back down her throat.
Somehow, Asami knew to pull back anyways. "You okay?"
"Not particularly. Bad day."
"I know the feeling." Asami kissed her gently, without expectation or demand. "What can I do to help?"
Leave, Korra thought. Stay forever. Listen while I talk your ear off and lay my every burden on your shoulders. Fuck me until I forget them.
"Just be you," Korra said. "That usually works."
She had almost run that afternoon. Snuck into Asami's mansion, packed her things and left without a word. Korra had tried her hardest to let the whispers take control. To let the Avatar make the decision. She was beginning to realize how far away the whispers were these days.
"Is it the White Lotus?" Asami asked.
"They know. Or at least suspect. Them suggesting I leave Republic City is their way of threatening Tenzin, Mako, Bolin, you, everyone that I've grown close to. Leave or else."
"And they'll deliver on that threat?"
"They always have."
###
Korra slid along the top of the snow, a smile on her lips, falling flakes melting on her face. The dull glow of a hundred lights and crackling fireplaces pierced through the white where the town lay atop the hill. Home. Her home. The place where her Mom had given birth to her, where her Dad had laughed while reading her goodnight stories. Where they waited now for her.
It hadn't been too hard to sneak out of the compound. Korra was an old pro now. She doubted they even knew she was gone. They'd be angry when they found out, but hopefully she could get back first. If not, so what? She was the Avatar and they needed her a lot more than she needed them. Maybe she would tell them she wanted to live with her parents, and wouldn't train again until they let her.
She ran through the empty streets, past the rows of houses and hills of snow where the plow had cleared the asphalt that morning. She took a left at the convenience store and a right at Boomerang Avenue. She ran up the driveway of the one-story house with the doghouse in the front yard. One chubby fist banged excitedly on the front door.
A hard-faced man in an indigo and white robe opened it. "Avatar, you must come with me."
Korra backed away, a pout on her face. "Where's Mom and Dad? Where's Naga?"
"They are not your concern anymore, Avatar."
"My name is Korra!"
"Your name is irrelevant. It is not who you are. You will come with me now."
Who she was? She'd show them who she was, little girl or not. Korra stepped back, lifted a sheet of snow off the ground, and readied to throw it. A hand closed around her wrist, and the snow fell with a thud back to the ground. The man in the doorway stepped forward and grabbed her other wrist.
"You must not grow attached, Avatar. Even your parents can be your downfall. The Avatar has no family. You must rise above such earthly concerns."
"What did you do to my parents?"
"They have been relocated. Perhaps someday, when we feel you are ready, you can see them again, but now is not that time. If you continue to sneak away from the compound, we may be forced to take more drastic actions. Do you want that?"
Korra sniffled, her tears cold on her cheeks, burning her eyes. "No."
"Then come with us. And stop this foolishness."
The snow crunched mournfully beneath Korra's boots. They had bound her hands, and between the cold and the uncomfortable rub against her dried out skin, she could feel her wrists chafing raw. "Why are you doing this?"
"To make you the best Avatar we can. The Avatar you have to be to keep the world in balance."
###
"You think the White Lotus will come for me?" Asami asked.
"Not right now. Right now they're more worried about Tenzin and Pema. They're the family the White Lotus spent my entire life denying me after all, and I'm sure they never expected us to grow close. None of my other bending tutors can stand to speak to me. But yeah, eventually they'll realize what's going on with us, unless I break it off. And if I could have, I would have long ago."
Asami smiled and squeezed Korra's hand. "I'm not sure whether to tell you I love you or to get out of my house."
Korra's laugh was a booming echo halfway to a sob. "I know you're joking, but that would make things so much easier for me. Call me a bitch, slap me, and kick me out, please."
"Sorry. That's your burden."
"I know." Korra's throat clenched beneath the Avatar's crushing fingers, the long, burdened digits merciless and refusing to be pried away. "I need you to say it, Sami. I need you to say you're willing to go all in with me. It's been a long time coming, but I think I'm ready to do this, to take the White Lotus on. You're the biggest reason why. But I can't take that step unless you're there with me, because alone I'm still that little girl who ducks her head and obeys. I'm sorry to put that on you, but this is it for me. This is when I either become the monster they want me to be, or become something better, and spirits, I want to be better."
Korra focused on the towering window to her left, staring at the garden beyond. A branching crack of lightning tore through a thunderhead out over the water beyond the city, but the wind lashing at the trees gave no indication which direction the storm would go. Korra closed her eyes, waiting for the thunder to shake the world.
The roar never came, and a pair of arms encircled Korra's neck, pulled her in. Soft hair tickled her nose with a smell he knew and loved. She gently squeezed around Asami's waist, pulling her lover into her lap.
"I'm with you, Korra. I'm no spirits damned pushover. If the White Lotus want a fight, they'll get one. And believe me, I have the power to win."
They woke the next morning still dressed in the clothes they wore the night before. Korra remembered little. They had gone together to eat dinner at Air Temple Island, hand in hand. They had laughed drunkenly while walking the Sato estate, daring whatever White Lotus may be watching to notice. Hand in hand, they fell on Asami's bed and held each other, content. Korra could vaguely remember falling asleep and denying it.
A Future Industries cargo ship awaited them at the dock a few hours later, one among a fleet of various vessels docked in the harbor. Deep sea fishers, other cargo ships, cruise ships, some idle, some crawling with crew, some loading, some offloading. Asami swaggered confidently over to her ship and spoke with a well-groomed man in a captain's jacket, the Future Industries logo embroidered on the breast. The captain looked past her at one point, saw Korra, and smiled nervously. Then he saluted and made off to continue giving orders to his crew.
"Nervous, huh?" Korra asked when Asami returned.
"Yeah. Chang has been captain of this ship for twelve years. He cares more about that scrap of steel than he does his wife. Now I promised him you would do everything you could to limit damage to it. Don't let me down."
Korra shook her head. "Never."
Asami smiled, and leaned up to kiss Korra's cheek. "Then let's get it done."
They walked hand and hand towards the docking ramp.
I know these chapters have gotten progressively shorter, but that's not really intentional. I'll always keep them above 2000, and aim for at least 2500.
Also, I love to hear everyone's thoughts on the story. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated, or even just a comment every few chapters so I know people are still reading.
