Amak trotted inside the cargo hold an hour later looking for Korra, and tugged at her pants with his teeth. He wanted her to come with again.

"What is it now, Amak?" Korra blinked, standing and following him.

Amak pointed up the stairs with his nose and tugged Korra towards it again. He started barking, trying to communicate with the Avatar but failing to do so. The polar bear dog whined.

"You want me to go up on deck again?" She asked, blinking down at the puppy.

The puppy's ears perked up and he nodded, wagging his tail and trotting off up the stairs and checked constantly to see if the Avatar was following.

Korra laughed softly and followed after the pup. "Why do you want me up here, Amak?"

Amak stopped in front of one of the cabins and started pawing at one of the door knobs. He turned to Korra, and dropped down just as the door opened and Noatak blinked his eyes at Korra.

Amak nudged Korra forward, and squeezed through between her legs, starting to tug her inside the room now. Noatak saw this and chuckled, "You're both going to take my bed away from me, aren't you?"

"I had nothing to do with this, Noatak..." Korra giggled, looking down at Amak. "I can go back to the cargo hold..." She turned toward the door.

The cargo hold? That won't do. After Amak made himself comfortable on the carpet, Noatak waved Korra to come inside and closed the door.

"Do you want anything? This ship has a lot of various types of tea." The former-Equalist said, throwing the towel he had draped around his shoulders onto an arm of a chair. Noatak started rummaging through the cupboards.

"I'm fine, thanks..." She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. His hair was wet. Did he just get out of the shower? Korra blushed and waved her hands frantically to banish the images.

"It's always good to have tea before bed." Noatak mentioned, pulling out two cups anyway. He put the tea leaves in the pitcher and set them all on a tray, along with sugar and spoons. He brought the tray over to where Korra was and stepped over a resting Amak, setting the tray down on the end table. "You may have the bed. I'll take the couch over there."

Raising the pitcher, Noatak poured warm tea into the cups. He set the pot back down and passed Korra a cup and a spoon, and opened the sugar container for her.

"No, it's your bed. I'll take the couch. Thank you for the offer though." Korra took the cup and smiled, putting a little sugar in her tea.

Noatak took some sugar after Korra and mixed his tea, taking a sip and setting it down quietly. Then he was silent, playing with the lid of the sugar container, spinning the rectangular shape between the table top and his index finger.

"Something wrong, Noatak?" Korra tilted her head as she looked up at him.

"No, nothing's wrong." He sat upright, putting the lid back on the sugar container. Noatak sat back again, almost quietly before he sighed. "About earlier..."

"You mean that kiss? I can forget it even happened, if you want me to..." Korra offered, staring down at her tea.

"That's not necessary, I only gave you what you wanted." He answered, rather bluntly than what he expected. Noatak was more so disappointed with himself, not knowing what came over him during the time. He gave the Avatar hope, and now he was dwindling it with a pathetic excuse.

"..." Korra didn't reply, instead she stared harder at her tea. She had figured, but hearing him say it still stung. "...Then... Why did you seem to enjoy it? N-never mind." She smiled up at him. "Understood. It never happened and won't happen again, got it."

Noatak knew from the very moment that when Korra hesitated to give an answer, it was no doubt that his words had hurt her.

And if he didn't feel guilty enough he did enjoy kissing the Avatar, and he resisted every urge he had at the moment to swat away the cup of tea that Korra held in her hands, throw her on the bed and ravage her. He was that close, but he was more ashamed of himself for thinking of such sinful things.

He could hear her shift from the bed and set the cup of tea down, whispering his name faintly. Noatak was so lost in his trance that he simply answered with a murmur of who knows what. Then, he blinked his eyes in confusion when Korra's figure loomed over him, and dipped down to bite his earlobe. Noatak almost gasped, but he didn't. He would keep resisting.

What was she doing? What on his brother's grave was she doing? He became fuzzy and warm when her fingers caught the zip of his cardigan jacket and pulled down, revealing the shirt he had under. He wanted to grab her wrist, stop her from doing whatever she was planning to but he didn't. He was powerless over her. Korra leaned forward, pressing herself against him and Noatak felt even warmer, and his eyes fell onto her soft lips, coming closer. Closer. He felt her searching for the zipper of his pants...

Noatak cussed, grabbing for the end table as he was snapped back to reality, his chair balancing on one leg and tipping dangerously back. He let himself collapse, and he hit the ground hard, spilling the tea on the floor. He sighed, icy blue eyes wide with shame. His cheeks felt warm and he could not just believe he, former leader of the Equalists, Amon - Noatak just fantasized about Avatar Korra. He was going to hell.

Korra jumped when Noatak fell back and her on teacup clattered on the floor as she stood over him. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She knelt down beside him.

Two broken teacups. Noatak hoped they didn't have to pay for them, but besides that, Korra wasn't helping him recover any faster with her face over his. "... Yes."

He rolled over to the side and sat up and avoided looking at her, knowing if he caught sight of those blue eyes and pretty face again then he wouldn't know what will overtake him next, and he didn't want to find out.

He started gathering the cups on the floor and set the chair he was sitting on back up properly.

Korra blinked in confusion and she placed a hand on Noatak's shoulder. "You sure? You hit the floor pretty hard... Let me help you..." She bent down beside him to help him pick up the broken cups, her hands bumping his unintentionally.

"No, I'm fine." He tried to reassure her, moving to gather the broken pieces that she had taken, but his hand got caught in broken China and he gasped, reeling back and dropping the broken teacups. Noatak went over to the sink and turned on the faucet, rinsing his palm first.

Korra bit her lip lightly and picked up the cup pieces and moved to throw them away. When she was done, she went to check on Noatak. "Have you healed it yet?"

"Yes, it's fine." He said hurriedly, wrapping a binding that he found earlier in the drawers around his healed injury to protect it. Speaking of injuries, he needed to do his physical therapy to his leg. He would just wait for Korra to fall asleep. "You should rest. I'll be at the couch if you need me."

Noatak walked over to the couch and plopped down, getting comfortable.

Korra followed him and leaned over Noatak. "...Hey... I said I'd sleep on the couch. Go lay on the bed."

"I insist, you should have the bed." A bark came from the bed's direction and Noatak looked over, seeing Amak had already taken a portion of it.

"...I think you should have it, especially if Amak is sleeping there. He /is/ your puppy, after all."

"I'm fine right here, Avatar." Noatak reassured, and crossed his arms, turning on his side away from Korra. "Go to sleep."

Korra pouted at him and poked him. "You have to tend to your leg. Katara wanted me to make sure you remember to heal it."

"I will when you get on the bed and go to sleep." The bloodbender said, his voice nearly muffled by the pillow. The Avatar was so stubborn, but Noatak knew he just had to wait her out. Korra will give up, eventually. Not.

Korra sat on the floor by the couch and continued poking him in the back. "I'm not tired though... It's not late enough for me yet..." Even though the moon had long risen.

Noatak made a face, burying his face into the pillow further. "Cut the light, the switch is beside the door." He said, trying to occupy Korra with something for the time being.

The Avatar shot out a blast of air to turn the light out, not leaving Noatak's side. "There."

Noatak frowned and sighed, keeping still. It was nice when a minute of silence passed, but knowing that the Avatar was behind him made his little nap uncomfortable.

Korra eventually sighed and gave up, crawling into the bed next to Amak. She reached over and rubbed the puppy's belly lightly.

Amak had already fallen asleep when Korra climbed into bed with him, and feeling the soothing strokes of the Avatar's fingers, he pawed at the air and fell into deeper sleep. He purred and rolled over.

When Noatak thought that Korra had gone to bed, he sat up slowly and quietly, watching her back to see if he would disturb her should he make any sound. After the bloodbender was sure the girl had gone to sleep he rolled up his pant leg concealing his wound. He bended water from a nearby vase and went to work.

But Korra was far too stubborn to sleep. She turned her head slightly towards the glow of the water and watched him heal his leg. It was looking much better than it had been only a short time ago, when she found him washed up on the shore.

It made her heart ache that she couldn't save Tarrlok, too. Sure, both of Yakone's sons were a little crazy, but deep down, they were good men. Why else would Tarrlok try to atone for what he had done by killing himself, and then saving his brother? Why else would Noatak seek to right the wrong he had made in creating the Equalists?

Korra didn't believe they were bad men. Not really. Not if she looked past everything else.

Noatak had always healed himself throughout the many years of hiding and recruiting non-benders for the revolution whenever he would get hurt, and his wounds had never been so severe before.

He liked it better when Katara healed him. She was good company, while the old master was right about him and Korra, he also enjoyed talking to the healer. Noatak wasn't big on role models and heroes, but if he had one it would be Katara.

His father was wrong. If Katara could hang around with a criminal like him, then she wasn't a coward. But speaking of healers, the Avatar was taught by Master Katara, wasn't she? The girl knew how to heal as well.

Looking up to spy on Korra, he was expecting her to be sleeping but instead they caught each other's eyes again and he nearly drop the water he was healing with.

"Don't mind me. Just making sure you healed." Korra sat up and hugged her legs to her, looking at Amak as she continued to pet the sleeping puppy. Her mind was working far too much to sleep, and there was a tiny nag of fear that kept her from trying.

After all, she was alone in a room with the man who had been her worst enemy for so long. The man who took her bending. A man who could easily kill her.

She almost wished she was back home, curled up under fur blankets and waiting eagerly to train. But a lot had changed over the course of nearly a year. Training was the last thing on her mind now. Many other things invaded her mind, and most of those things centered around Noatak and Tarrlok.

Noatak blinked and continued his therapy. After he was finished he put the water back in the vase and fell back on the couch, his hands behind his back as he looked to the ceiling. "Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"Not really, no..." Korra was silent for a moment. "Did you ever have a girlfriend?" She asked, blinking blue eyes at Noatak.

The bloodbender laughed, sitting up and looking towards her. "I suppose that's not an odd question for a teenager to ask, but no. Not really."

Noatak ran his fingers through his hair and scratched his head. He did find certain women beautiful but he had never experienced a real romantic partnership. What he knew about loving your other half was in the books he's read. Speaking of which...

"Have you ever read of the book 'Persuasion'?" He asked.

"Katara has but I haven't. Why? What's it about?" She crawled over to the end of the bed to sit in front of Noatak, crossing her legs.

"It is a book about waiting, which oddly enough reminds me of you a lot. I suggest you read it, unless you're not fond of books." He smirked, thinking of something for a moment.

"I believe I have it in my office at Equalist headquarters, but I doubt it. They've probably cleared the room out."

"I'm not a big fan of reading... But why does a book about waiting make you think of me?" She tilted her head.

"I thought you'd find it obvious, you're a bit impatient. Actually, you are impatient." The man chuckled, smiling up at the Avatar.

Korra wrinkled her nose and made a face at him before smiling back. "I can't help it. Being patient is boring."

"Patience is valuable, otherwise I would have never gotten so far with the revolution. My brother would have never hid so long, and you would be sending me to prison by now instead of giving me a second chance." He said, "Sometimes we don't even know that we're being patient."

"Well, I guess... I tried being patient with being your friend, so I guess that worked..." She laughed lightly.

Noatak leaned against the couch again with a small yawn and watched Korra further. He didn't feel as abashed as he had before, but he was still trying not to think of silly thoughts. "Well Avatar, what about you? Did you ever have a boyfriend, if you don't mind me asking?"

"No I haven't... I wanted to date Mako, I guess, but I'm over him." Korra replied, rubbing her arm lightly.

"You don't have feelings for the boy, not even the slightest?" Noatak shifted closer to the edge of the couch, resting his elbows on his knees. "You say you're over him, but it doesn't seem like it."

"I guess I kinda still do, but after the way he's been acting, suddenly caring about me despite being with Asami, it's just not right. I don't want him if it hurts Asami, she's my friend."

"Yes, I've noticed." Noatak recalled the time when Hiroshi had pulled out a pocket watch, and inside was a family portrait. "Perhaps if I convince Hiroshi, he and his daughter can be a family again."

Maybe... But what about you? You don't have anywhere else to go, do you? What happens to you after the movement's been handled?"

"..." Noatak didn't answer her, and turned to look out the window at the moon. He was usually used to planning ahead, but ever since he was discovered, and that the death of his brother occurred, it was a mess inside his head. "Travel, get away from all of this. I always wanted to become a writer."

Laying back down, Noatak sighed and closed his eyes. "Maybe when this is all over, I can write about us. The only unfortunate thing is that everyone would be routing for you." He smirked, chuckling at the idea.

Korra smiled. "That'd be a book I'd read... But only if I get an autographed copy!" She crawled off the bed and moved to sit on the couch beside Noatak. "You can always come back to the compound, you know..."

"I think it's best we go our separate ways." He said, "I'll still give you an autographed copy of my novella if that's what you're worried about."

"No, it's just... Katara likes having you around... She even mentioned taking you on as an apprentice." She replied, settling into the couch.

Noatak blinked, looking up at Korra. "She hadn't mentioned anything about training me," he smirked, "This isn't just a ploy to get me to come back, is it?"

?"...Not completely. She actually wants to train you. She didn't say anything because she knew you'd go back to Republic City to deal with the Equalists... It's an offer for a home." She looked down at the floor.

"Well, as much as I appreciate it... she shouldn't be wasting any more time with me." He said, but Noatak liked the idea. He wouldn't have refused it if he didn't feel so guilty, so alone. He knew he wasn't alone physically, but mentally, his mind was on the verge of insanity.

?"Can I ask you something? I only knew you guys as jerks, but... Tarrlok said you two were really happy once... I'd like to know the happy Tarrlok and Noatak." She turned to look up at him.

"I'm sure my brother gave you a one sheet of what life with me was like; that was our fun days. Once we found out we were bloodbenders, those days were over." He turned to her, looking directly in her eyes to see if she could read the misery and yearning of his. The yearning to be young and free again.

"We were just like any family, together and happy. We didn't have much, but all we needed was each other. My father would take my brother and I to places up in the glaciers and we'd go camping there. He'd tell us stories of the war and the Avatar, but it was all a lie. What hope he gave us - he hated them. He lied to us."

"He's gone now. You can be happy again. We'll stop the revolution together and then you can be happy." Korra looked away again. She couldn't handle looking at him with that sad look in his eyes.

?"... I don't want to stop the revolution." Noatak turned away, looking out the window again. He started thinking about the Equalists and what they were up to besides rebuilding what they've lost. "Even as a bender, I still want to help the non-benders. The revolution wasn't entirely built on a lie, despite bending bringing peace to the world, it could also be used for evil. I don't want the revolution to stop. I just want to tame it."

"Then I'll help. You've made good points, you just went about it the wrong way..." To a point. Actually, Noatak hadn't really done anything against the law.

?"Hm, I suppose that's true." Noatak smiled at Korra, examining her features for a moment before shifting again. "We should get some rest - still not taking the bed. You can."

?"I'm not tired and I don't feel like moving." Korra was stubborn. And she was determined to make Noatak keep his bed.

"We'll have to do this the hard way then," the bloodbender said, before tugging at Korra's sleeve to get her to move an inch before sliding under her and lying down. He crossed his legs on the couch's arm and yawned, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can sleep while sitting if you're going to be stubborn." Noatak closed his eyes and tried to get some rest.

Korra stared at the window, eventually drifting into a light sleep beside him.