Enjoy.
Korra woke up to crimson silky bed sheets. She hugged her soft pillow tightly taking in the rare comfort. At least until her foot touched another body. Her eyes shot open and she peeked beneath the covers. She swallowed hard as she was naked underneath. Slowly she looked up, dreading to see who it was that was in bed with her. Her morning nightmare continued when she saw that Zhao was in bed too. A wicked grin met her horrified look.
"We didn't…" Korra started.
Zhao boasted out his laughter, "No. I just wanted to see your reaction. I came in to wake you up for breakfast and thought it would be amusing to scare you."
He got up and took his draped shirt from the chair in the room. His trousers were still on.
"You were awfully drunk last night and made a mess of your tunic. I'm considered evil, but not evil enough to leave you to sleep in your own vomit."
Korra hugged the blanket around her and brought her knees up into her chest, "Thanks for considering my pride. I didn't give you too much hassle, did I?"
Zhao chuckled, "You did, but it was nothing I could handle of a drunken savage."
"Like what?"
"You kissed me like a deprived teenager."
Korra gagged, "I did? I am truly sorry. I'm never touching that stuff again."
"You were a wicked temptress. No wonder you prefer to be sad and alone." Zhao then cleared his throat, "Hurry and get dressed. Breakfast is waiting in the Captain's quarters."
Korra crossed her arms and grunted as he left, "Like I really want to be alone."
She tossed the covers off and stood. A wave of nauseous headaches rushed her head before she started for the washroom. The Avatar quickly washed and dressed, not bothering to fix the messy mop of hair on her head.
The portly captain of the ship welcomed her into his quarters. Set on the table was a typical Earth Kingdom breakfast. It was a bit surprising really. She thought they had a ride to Republic City on a Fire Nation ship.
"Morning Captain. How long until we reach Republic City?" She asked.
"Republic City?" The captain looked between them, a look of confusion written on his face, "We're heading straight to Chongsheng."
"Chongsheng?" Korra blinked before giving Zhao a glaring look, "Alright. Straight to the point then, eh Zhao? I didn't think you'd want to go there."
"It was cheaper for you to pay for a trip there than Republic City. You may thank me later for saving you the rest of your money."
The captain grinned widely, "Technically, I'm not charging you both anything. My family and I recently moved to Chongsheng, and I must say, the town is a lovely place. I'm going to need your help though, Avatar Korra, in removing the ice in the bay, but I'm quite excited to have the Avatar on board. Captain Xiu's the name."
"You moved there?" Korra asked, surprised.
"I did. It seems the town you made has begun to let the homeless and jobless move in and rebuild. That's exactly my reason for moving there."
Korra smiled, a slight blush on her face, "You're welcome then. I'm glad the town helped you."
They began to eat quietly. As she was eating, she would occasionally look up at the firebender. Korra noticed that he still had his guilty smirk on his ugly face.
"What's so funny?"
"You haven't mentioned the bed sheets from this morning."
The ship captain raised a brow as Korra continued, "What about them? They were nice."
"Very expensive too." The ship captain added, "I guess being the Avatar means extra money?"
Korra spat her recent bite of food out, "What?"
"Oh by the way Avatar," Zhao grinned, "Those are yours. You bought them last night on the way to the port and you insisted on making sure that they were on the bed."
She paled, "How much were they?"
"Let's just say, I hope you have a stash of money somewhere."
Korra smacked her own forehead, "Never again. I will not drink another drop of that stuff."
She later climbed to the crow's nest of the ship to clear her mind. The recent stress of the last few days, no, months had really built on her. A certain old friend was also on her mind to talk to. It did not take her long to find Iroh in the Spirit World. He was having tea with some of the freed souls from the Valley. They all stood to welcome her and invite her to take a seat and drink with them. Korra soon found that like the living that were freed, the lost souls were eager to share and make sure that her cup was never empty.
"Avatar Korra," A man from one of the Water Tribes began, "Iroh here, tells us that you do not have plans for your birthday. Why not come here and enjoy your day here?"
"Indeed, it's not every day you turn twenty-nine." Another spoke up.
Korra chuckled softly, "No, I turn thirty."
A chorus of gasps went around the table from the Earth Kingdom souls.
"Oh no, that's bad luck. You must be mistaken." A woman said.
"No," Korra said raising an eyebrow, "Thirty is correct. Is it wrong to celebrate this year?"
Iroh then spoke up, "Old traditions, Korra. Do not think there is something wrong."
Korra nodded, "Oh, well if everyone prefers celebrating my twenty-ninth birthday again, I will not complain!"
Stories were swapped and tea pots were emptied. While she didn't want to leave, Korra had to say goodbye and return her spirit to her body. She wiped a tear away before opening her eyes to climb down.
Much like the tea party she had in the Spirit World, her reception to Chongsheng was just as lively. The townsfolk made sure to escort her and (to her dislike) Zhao to a recently built home made for her. Korra did not get much time to explore the home though, as the elected chief of the town had issues to bring up with her. An elderly man by the name of Rozulon, was chosen as chief of the town. He had spoken about an Avatar that came far before Avatar Yangchen when they first met.
"Avatar Korra, we have some issues and we're in dire need of aid. Our rail road, you had spoken of, was never made from Ba Sing Se. We have no road to call for help when the bay here is iced over." He said, his deep voice was soft.
"They never made the railway line? You haven't had a train come here at all?" Korra shook her head in disbelief.
"Not a word from the Earth King." He continued, bowing in respect, "I hope that this does not impede any plans you had in mind?"
"No," Korra returned her respect to him with her own bow, "It's my job to make sure this village can survive on its own. I did not free you all just to leave you here with no one to turn to."
The man bowed even lower, "We are all in your debt, Avatar Korra. Should you need anything, please let us know."
Korra smiled, "There's no need. It's my pleasure to help."
The old man returned her smile as he directed her to the town center, "Well then, we the town of Chongsheng have a surprise for you. Since you spent many months living with us and making all of our tools with this new metalbending skill, we decided to commission a statue in your honor."
"A statue?" Korra said with a hesitant tone.
She recalled the 'gift' Republic City had given her and it wasn't well, grand. As she looked up at the new statue, her jaw dropped. It was not as large as Republic City's, but the wooden carved statue hit her heart like a full blast of stone to the gut. It was beautiful, she thought. From her braided hair bun to the boots, every detail was there.
"This is," she stuttered, "I don't deserve such a thing."
"Nonsense. A great Avatar needs good recognition." Rozulon said, "And, may I remind you that if you feel tired from the hassle of Republic City, you are always welcomed to live here. But come, we have food to eat."
Korra laughed as her stomach growled, "Yes please."
Zhao, whom had been standing in the background, laughed softly, "A humble Avatar? And here I thought you were tough."
"If you don't stop sneaking up behind me," Korra started, poking his chest with a finger, "You will see how tough I am."
With that, she stormed off. Zhao was left smiling. He was enjoying his time with the new Avatar.
He was not enjoying his time with the Avatar. She had brought up the idea of sparring just outside of town and was currently wiping the floor with him. Even when she decided to use firebending only, he realized that Korra really was an excellent bender. And though he had gotten on her nerves when he joked and jested, Zhao was the one losing his temper and patience with her taunting.
"Come on old man, can't handle a Water Tribe Savage now?" she grinned, looking down at him after tripping his legs from beneath him.
"You will pay for your words." He responded.
"No, I do think that I won this round. Like I did the last one," Her grin widened, "And the one before."
He growled, not taking her offered hand to return to his feet. Instead, he stayed on his back in the snow listening as the Avatar put out the small fires around them. He finally sat up and found himself really watching her bend the snow around. Perhaps he was being overly crude with his teasing.
"Avatar," he finally spoke up, "I have been thinking about what I want to do, now that you gave me this second chance."
She stopped, to listen to what he was going to say, "You have?"
Zhao nodded, "I think, since you have been travelling alone, that I want to join you on your Avatar work."
He knew that her reaction was going to be amusing to him and when he watched her shoulders fall and heard her sigh, Zhao smiled.
"Really? Are you sure?" She started, "I mean, it's not glorifying at all and everyone is going to judge us no matter what we do."
"That just gives me more of a reason to join you. I need to learn how to not glorify my actions, right?"
He watched her head drop as he was correct, "And everyone that knows of my past actions dislikes me. I would be your perfect shadow."
"Great," Korra said without a hint of joy, "Just what I needed; a shadow."
The next day, Korra and Zhao found themselves meeting with the townsfolk. Like Rozulon had told her before, the rest of the villagers continued. They were shown where the train tracks were supposed to be and that they had started on a train station, yet it was unused and no word from Ba Sing Se was beginning to bother them. The Avatar and the firebender shared a rare look of agreement and decided that they would travel along the road and finish clearing what they could as they journeyed to the capital. It would take the two of them about two months, mostly hiking through the steep mountains of the north and perhaps longer if the railroad was not cleared all the way. They were supplied with food, Chongsheng's copy map of the planned railroad and winter clothes. Korra wished that Naga had stayed near the village but the townsfolk encouraged her that the polar bear dog could not be that far off.
To Korra, this town was her work. Her legacy that she knew would continue and she was not about to let it fail.
