Korra looked up at her teacher, flat on her back and her head swimming.

"Six?" She replied to his question, barely audible over the throbbing in her skull.

Kohun looked down at the two fingers he was holding up in front of her face and shrugged. "Close enough." He muttered, helping her to her feet. "Sorry about that. I thought you would be able to block it." The torrent of fire that he had sent at her had thrown her back harder than he had intended.

Korra stood uneasily, taking a moment to catch her balance. "I should have been able to." She said as her vision started to un-blur. The disappointment in her voice was obvious. Sure it was only the second day of practice, but she was just so disheartened by how far back she'd gone. Only about two months ago she had been a master firebender, one of the best. Now she could barely put up a decent fight for more than two or three minutes.

Her mentor just sighed at her defeatist attitude, putting an arm around her shoulder. That confidence that she had possessed as a child seemed to have been ripped from her. Usually going out into the world was an empowering experience, but in Korra's case she had only become weaker.

Kohun turned so that they stood face to face. "You do know what it is that you're doing wrong?" The last two days had been hard on both of them, from miserable failed lightning generation attempts to sparring matches that were far too one-sided on Kohun's end.

She shrugged, not even sure that she knew the answer. "I don't feel it. What can I say?" A hint of frustration was edging its way into her tone. "Whenever I do something I'm nervous and apprehensive and…" Kohun cut her off with a wave of his hand, his brow furrowing slightly as he closed his eyes.

"Breath, Korra." He said calmly. "That's for starters. Let me just think for a moment."

It made no sense. Her waterbending hadn't suffered much at all. She was practicing that on her own. Her earthbending had taken a dive, but it was still fairly impressive. The earth still obeyed her commands, but she wasn't as stubborn and forceful, which made it harder for her to bend the element. Chief Beifong and Bolin helped her every afternoon with it and that seemed to make her progress improve.

Tenzin was guiding her along through her airbending lessons daily. The children's encouragement seemed to help her along with her lessons. Firebending seemed to be blocked for her somehow. And then Kohun came upon a pattern.

"Stay here, Korra. I'll be right back." He said as he hastily ran off towards the men's dormitory. "Just going to get some friendly encouragement."

Korra just stood there, making little balls of fire in her hand and keeping them from going out. It was an exercise that she had always found comfort and meditation in. It allowed her to think, helped her to cadence her breath to the heartbeat of the flame.

After a few minutes Kohun came back, a large grin on his face as he dragged a still-sleepy Mako behind him. He swung Mako forward by his scarf, the young firebender stumbling into the large circular courtyaed that they used as a sparring arena.

"Good morning, Sunshine." Mako grumbled half-heartedly, looking up at Korra.

"Hey." She said back with a slight bit of confusion. "What's got you up this early?"

Mako could only shrug. "I honestly don't know." He pointed behind him with his thumb, referring to the General. "He just woke me up and told me to get dressed and come with him."

Kohun's voice cut through the air in a mixture of confidence and self-praise. "I came here because I realized that Korra's motivation comes from her peers." He spoke as if he had just made some great discovery. "Therefore I have made the decision that from now on, you will be her sparring partner every morning."

Mako let out a sigh of despair that Kohun couldn't help but smile at. "I'd be in my stance right now if I were you." He cautioned the young man looking back at him.

Korra was already prepared, awaiting the signal to start. "This'll be fun." A spark lit up in her eyes. It wasn't business anymore. It was pleasure.

Kohun patted himself on the back as he saw Korra's old impetuousness return to her. All that she was lacking was purpose, passion. Her firebending block was a result of that, not some bloodbening trick that Amon pulled on her months ago. All she needed was fuel for the flames. She wasn't about to let Mako prove himself better than her and Kohun could tell that Mako was just the same. "What's more passionate than a lover's quarrel?" He thought aloud.

"WHAT?!" Mako and Korra asked in unison, casting their gazes towards him.

Kohun, feeling like an moose-deer in the headlights, quickly covered up his mistake. "I said, GO!"

The two immediately forgot about what he may have said as they both began shooting fireballs at one another. Their flames met halfway in between them, creating a raging inferno that they circled around as they tried to outmaneuver one another.

A dance was the only word to describe their sparring. Dodging, weaving, feints, and counterstrikes all melded into one graceful sequence of unrestrained fury. It was the dance of firebenders. They knew each other's fighting styles and each other's rhythm. As a result their movements, although carrying the intent of defeating their opponent, were in perfect sync with that of their adversaries.

Kohun watched as the two fought, making mental notes in his head. No detail escaped his gaze, no small slip up going unnoticed. It was advantageous to have a photographic memory and an almost superhuman attention to detail. It made him perfectly suited to be a combative teacher. He would notice things that would otherwise go without recognition. It was because of these skill that he was able to catch sight of a quick attack from Mako that shouldn't have even been possible.

It was that short move that caught Korra off guard and ended the three minute match with a victory for Mako.

"Excellent work." Kohun said reassuringly to his student, still slightly taken aback from what he had seen a few moments ago.

Korra merely looked over at him with a curious glance. She knew that sarcasm wasn't his style. "What are you talking about? I lost."

Kohun chuckled, ever patient with his niece. "You still fought better than you have in the last three days." He walked over to the two, finding amusement in the glances that Mako and Korra exchanged in his victory. "I'm afraid that you'll have to be patient." He lectured the water tribe girl. "It's not going to come back to you all at once. To be quite honest, you haven't practiced this hard in a while and you're a bit out of shape."

Mako held back a small grin, which quickly turned into a stone-faced stare as his girlfriend glared at him. Then it was Mako's turn to be chewed out and critiqued.

"Do not be under the impression that you're so perfect yourself." The General chided in his teaching manner. "You fight too much like a pro-bender. You only attack head on. If Korra wasn't so out of practice she would have remembered that attacking you from that side is far more advantageous."

Mako had a moment of realization. "I was wondering why she kept going in circles."

General Kohun merely ignored the younger firebender, continuing his evaluations. "The only reason that you won so fast was that you were able to catch her off guard with a side swipe." He replayed the image in his head just to be sure his eyes had not deceived him. "I've changed my mind about you sparring with Korra every morning."

Korra and Mako both looked at him, confused. Kohun had said himself that Mako training with her was helping her progress immensely. Before they could protest, the General explained himself.

"I want to train you in a few techniques that I think you could master as well as having you spar in the morning."

The two teenagers looked at each other in confusion. "Why exactly?" Mako asked.

"When you made that swing," Kohun began, making the motion with his arm. "The fire didn't come from your hand. It appeared in the air several feet away from you."

What's that mean?"

The General just shrugged. "It means that you very well could be a very unique kind of firebender. You could be a…"

"Morning everyone!" Bolin's happy voice interrupted Kohun's foreboding tone.

The teacher and his two students looked over towards the dining pavilion, where Bolin was coming from. The happy earthbender, filled with all of the breakfast that he could feed himself, strutted towards his friends with a carefree salute to the General, his face as bright as the sun rising behind him. "Who's ready for the first pro-bending match of the pre-season?"

Korra and Mako immediately made their own subtle celebrations as they recalled that today was the grand reopening of the pro-bending stadium for the pre-season tournament. The entire day was going to be nothing but slugfest after slugfest as thirty-two teams fought to qualify for the place as the season favorite. The three had been waiting for weeks for this day to come and it was finally here.

Bolin remembered himself only a bit too late, another defining characteristic of the happy-go-lucky earthbender. "Sorry. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" He looked at the General with a small cringe in his shoulders.

The tall, imposing man gave a pacifying smile to Bolin. "Oh no, it's fine. You kids have fun." Kohun couldn't help but chuckle. "I assume that Tenzin knows that you'll be skipping his lessons this afternoon." He gave Korra the look that he always gave her when she ought to do something that they both knew she wasn't going to do.

The Avatar crossed her arms in a momentary set back, looking up at her mentor. "I, uh, was sort of hoping that you might keep him busy all day." She shrugged and smiled, always knowing that he was on her side.

Kohun rolled his eyes as the three members of the new Team Avatar already began heading for the docks. "One of these days I might just let you get in trouble." He shouted good-naturedly back at her as she ran along with Mako and Bolin.

Kohun placed his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and began strolling around Air Temple Island, the morning sun filling him with an invigorating energy as a soft breeze scattered leaves across his path. He longed to go into the city, for he still had pressing unfinished business there, but he was under house arrest until his paperwork cleared. In exchange for helping the Avatar and the police in the fight against the remaining Equalists, Kohun was being granted an official pardon for his previous criminal status. Until then he was still a wanted man, though. He felt guilty for thinking about the business that he had to conduct in town, but he had promised to do it years ago and he knew that it had to be done. It filled him with pain just to think about it, what demons he must face in the days to come. He was all too familiar with betrayal.

His thoughts drifted away from the city and back to the current matter at hand: Covering for Korra and her friends. Kohun chuckled a little just at the thought of it. She had stuck him with this duty when she was a child, always charging him with the task of making sure her parents weren't aware of her antics.

Even after a seven year absence, Kohun was already back to keeping the hot-headed Avatar out of trouble. Lucky for him Tenzin was busy enough these days rebuilding the Republic City Council and wouldn't be back on the island until the afternoon. And when he did get back he would be busy working on Kohun's amnesty paperwork. All the General really needed to do was just make sure that Tenzin had a little something extra to keep his mind off of airbending lessons.

With a powerful gust of wind and a quick flash of orange and yellow, his answer tackled him. It was in vain, however, seeing as the weight difference between Meelo and Kohun was too great for the young airbender to even cause Kohun to break his stride.

The playful boy shrugged off his defeat, quickly jumping back to his feet and following behind the strong tower of a man that was the General. "How goes it to you, Big Man?" Meelo asked Kohun, completely unafraid of him.

Kohun's eyes widened as an answer finally occurred to him. He looked down at the young boy that was walking beside him. "Meelo," He began with a smile. "Would you mind helping me pull a prank on your father?"


There was a tinge of despair in the silence of the dimly lit meeting chamber. The Equalists had retreated to the sewers and deeper tunnel system in the past few weeks. Ever since Amon's death, any form of organization and leadership within their ranks had disintegrated. They operated in small cells completely cut off and independent from one another. Without their leadership and their organization they were quickly dying out. Yet a shred of hope still remained as the police closed in. A message had come through.

A man from each remaining Equalist cell sat at the large wooden table in the subterranean room, their faces holding a grim anticipation. Even in the faint, flickering light of the partially blown-out fixtures the hopelessness and exhaustion was palpably etched into every man's face.

"Good evening, gentlemen." A smooth, lilting voice pierced the silence as the host entered. "I'm glad that you all were able to answer my summons."

Everyone turned to observe the entrance of a particularly unassuming-looking individual. The thinly built man slicked his black hair back away from his forehead, his hand cupping his jaw and moving it slightly as if he had just bitten down on his tongue. His ragged gray eyes darted about the room with a hungry and challenging stare, yet his own posture and body language suggested a calm and commanding attitude.

The other men in the room remained silent, not sure of exactly how to proceed as they recognized one of Amon's darker and more secretive henchmen. Their host seemed to forget about them for a moment as he sat down, running his thumb and index finger against his thin moustache and smoothing it back against his upper lip. His sunken cheeks formed shadows on his otherwise hawkish face. His eyes then darted back up again, the poor lighting making them seem like little spotlights perched atop his highly-set cheekbones.

"Kaiju? It was you who sent the message?" A voice finally spoke up.

Everyone's eyes turned to a man sitting on the other end of the large table, including the hungry eyes of the host. Kaiju smiled, the grin carrying with it all the charm of a snake poised to strike.

"Very good, my dear Zencho." Kaiju began, his tone was strongly sarcastic but fleeting. Every word was being expelled only as a formality. The man obviously carried little patience for his guest's stupid questions. "I'm glad to see that your skills of observation are still impeccable."

Zencho stood, waving his hands up before him. "No. I will not work with you. I would rather die than work with a snake like you!"

"As you please." Kaiju muttered. A quick glance towards one of his guards was enough of an instruction, as the room was momentarily filled with the gut-wrenching sound of Zencho's neck snapping.

As the body slumped to the floor, the other men in the room quickly turned their terrified gazes back to Kaiju. Their host rested his hands on the table in front of him, pursing his lips and tensing his round jaw as if the situation was nothing more than a slight awkwardness. "I always did find his manners deplorable."

Another Equalist dared to speak, his voice carrying a respect born of obligation and fear rather than admiration. "Why…" He paused as his voice cracked. "Why did you call us here?"

Kaiju's dead gaze turned towards the man who spoke. "It's not obvious?" He asked rhetorically. "In the last two months you've all been hunted like a bunch of pigeon-lizards! You were going to win!" He spoke with a belittling tone, as if he was lecturing children who couldn't comprehend 2+2=4.

"You were the most powerful people in this city. The United Fleet was gone! The Council was gone! The Avatar was gone! It's almost as if Amon was the only thing that held you together!" Kaiju's hand moved as he spoke, emphasizing points and stressing his annoyance and anger. "How pathetic is it that once he's gone all of the progress that you made is just…vaporized?!"He grasped at the air with his hands, as if trying to catch a ghost in his grip.

No one else dared speak, the body lying on the cold stone floor a grim reminder of what a few loose words could do to them. Kaiju sat there with an exasperated look on his face for a few moments before another snake-like grin formed on his hawkish face.

"Of course, now that organization and self-restraint are gone we can finally prioritize." The thin man's voice adopted a new tone, his sudden change in attitude almost as disturbing as the murderous glint in his eyes. "When we had all those men behind us all Amon cared about was conquering Republic City and building armies. Meanwhile, in reality, it turned out that we cannot face the benders out in the open and he was revealed to be a fraud. Thankfully we have survived long enough to come to the realization that now our job is so much simpler than taking over a city." Kaiju's voice sliced through the air with the confidence of a businessman.

"We are now a small, well-trained strike force that can and will handle only one target at a time. Amon's mistake was that he thought that success lie in converting the benders, but since then it has only been proven that no one can touch the benders without first removing that one big obstacle that lies in the way."

"Enough!" A grizzled and exasperated man's grunt acted as a wall against Kaiju's seemingly endless waste of words. "What is your plan?"

Kaiju's murderous stare remained unfocused, as if he was daydreaming about some beautiful scene. "Gentlemen," he said as if he were indeed dreaming. "We are going to murder the Avatar."

The speaker from before scoffed. "How can we possibly do that?"

Kaiju gave one last grin, more menacing than all the other's combined. "We have an old friend who recently arrived in town and has agreed to help us. And trust me when I say that he's the perfect man for the job."