Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. Chapter ten, a mile stone. As of the posting of this chapter, Ageless has taken the spot of the most popular story I've ever written. As usual, I cannot thank you enough for your support. And with that, on with the chapter:

A light snowfall fell upon Makapu Village. The small village had prospered some since the Hundred Year War had ended at the end of the previous summer. The village fortuneteller, known affectionately as Aunt Wu, was standing in front of her salon, watching as the flakes fell. Before her, on the edge of the village itself was a massive wall of dark rock. This was from the previous year, when the volcano that gave the village its name had erupted. Avatar Aang had saved the village by halting the lava flow and creating this wall as a result.

The entire village had been grateful and had repaid the Avatar and his friends by resupplying them on their trip. They had been rewarded with the end of the War the following summer. Now, it seemed that a bight, if not uncertain future lay ahead of them. Wu, in all her years, had never seen a time such as now. A time of hope, and yet a time of uncertainty.

Looking up, she noticed a young man passing by. He was wearing a dark shirt and trousers, had a pack slung over his shoulder and a katana rested on his hip. She had never seen him before, and he looked as though he had been on the road for a long time.

"You there, Ronin, might I offer you a free fortune?" she called. The young man stopped and looked around. When he realized that he was indeed the one she was talking to, he made his way over to her.

"Ronin?" he asked.

"You are a warrior, are you not?" Wu asked, motioning toward his sword. He rested his hand on the hilt in a relaxed manner, clearly showing no intent to draw.

"Something like that. I'm on business, so the term doesn't really apply," he answered.

"All the same, my offer still stands. People come from all over just to have me read their fortunes. They are never wrong," Wu said. The young man remained silent for a moment as he pondered his options.

"I have some time to kill. Might as well," he finally said. Wu smiled and motioned for him to come inside. She led him into a back room where a small fire pit burned.

"Pick one," she instructed, motioning toward a small pile of bones. The young man picked one from the top of the pile and placed it into Wu's outstretched hand. The fortuneteller tossed it into the flames and watched as cracks began to spread over the bone from the heat. He watched as a frown came over the elderly woman's face. The frown only deepened as the cracks continued.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I..have never seen this in person before. There are so many readings, it's almost impossible to get them all," she said.

"Meaning?"

"You will have a long life. One so long that it is almost impossible to see the end," she said in amazement. The young man, however, remained unfazed, as if he was expecting something like this.

"What else?" Wu looked at him with pity in her eyes.

"Your life will be a lonely one. Almost as if you are cursed to go on. And because of your longevity, the fate of nations will be decided by you," she said. Again, he seemed unfazed by this as he continued to watch the flames crackle around the bone. For the first time, Wu noticed his eyes. Although he strapping and young, his eyes were that of an old man, tired and worn. How could someone with a face so young have eyes that were so old?

"Is there anything good?" he asked. Wu took great care in looking the bone over.

"Ah. Here," she said, pointing to a rather jagged crack while taking great care not to burn herself. It was a strange crack, one she had never seen before and was having a difficult time understanding.

"This is a strange one. It tells of your love life."

"My love life?" he asked, sounding a little skeptical.

"Yes. You will be reunited with a past love. Only they will have changed so it is as if they are a different person entirely. No, wait, they WILL be a different person. Yes...yes that's exactly what it means. They will have become an entirely new person in the most literal sense," Wu said. Now the young man was looking at her with a cocked eyebrow. But if he was skeptical, he didn't voice it.

"Is there anything else?"

"No. The bone is too far gone for me to make anything else. Would you like to try another?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Thank you, no, I must be moving on," he said.

"Are you certain? My readings are free, after all," she pressed.

"I think I know enough right now as it is. Thank you again," he answered

"Wait, I didn't catch your name."

"Ah. But you did. I kind of lied when I said that the term didn't really fit. Ronin describes me perfectly," he said before departing.

I opened my eyes and inhaled slowly, relishing the feeling of the frigid air as it traveled down my throat and cooled my lungs. Today was similar to that day so long ago, so I'm not surprised I found myself thinking back to it.

"What are the eight tenants of a warrior?" I asked. There was a light snow falling from the sky, the first of the year to be exact. Korra and I were standing beneath a tree, moving through the forms of her new fighting style.

"Righteousness, Courage, Compassion, Respect, Integrity, Honor, Duty, and Self-Control," she answered. As we continued moving through the forms, I studied the way she moved. She was preforming the motions perfectly, but you could tell that her heart wasn't really in it. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"You alright?" I asked as we finished the set.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, a little puzzled.

"Your mind is not here and now, like it should be," I said. Korra looked away, her cheeks gaining a little color.

"Sorry. It's just...I've been thinking a lot about the other night," she said. Ah, so that's what was bothering her. A strange new reality had fallen over the two of us since that night on Aang Memorial Island. Although we hadn't spoken about it, it was still there hanging over our heads. Looks like it was time to rectify that.

"We should talk about that," I said, leaning my training sword against the tree, "tell me, what's bothering you?"

"Maybe it's just me being stupid, but since the other night I've kinda been expecting a little...more out of you. But you've been going on like nothing happened," she said as she leaned her sword next to mine.

"You're expecting me to act more like a boyfriend. Kissing, hugging, holding hands, that kind of thing," I stated. Korra's cheeks gained some color again, and I knew that I had hit the nail on the head. Personally I couldn't really blame her. As far as I knew, all of this was brand new to her.

I thought back to Wu's prediction all those years ago. I've come across several fortunetellers in my life time, and virtually all of them were full of shit. Not Wu, though. A lot of her stuff came true. If that was the case, maybe I could find a relationship with Korra that was more then just that of a student and a teacher, or friends.

"I must seem like such a teenager to you, getting all hung up on a stupid kiss," she said with her head hung. I looked around us, making sure that we were alone. Once I was satisfied that not even the airbending kids were watching, I hooked my fingers beneath her chin, raised her head, and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. She almost seemed to melt at that, and I kept my hands on her shoulders when we parted so that she didn't lose her balance.

"I know the way I've been acting, but I have a reason for that. And it's not because I don't like you back," I reassured.

"Then, why?" she asked.

"Two reasons. First one, Tenzin," I said.

"What does he have to do with it," she asked, her face scrunching up in confusion.

"If Tenzin finds out that our relationship has developed to this stage, our training regiment will be altered to the point that I can't take you off of the Island. And trust me, there are still some major aspects to come that will require us not being here," I explained.

"Oh. And the second reason?"

"General disapproval." That defiantly got her confused.

"Huh?"

"Korra. You're seventeen. I'm four hundred and ninety nine. That is the mother of age differences," I said.

"Oh."

"Yeah. So, for the time being at least, I want to keep this on the down low."

"So officially we're not dating?" she asked.

"If anyone asks, no we're not."

"And unofficially?" I grinned and gave her another kiss.

"What do you think?" She smiled at that.

"I think I'm going to look forward to our sessions more often."

I sat watching as Korra and her team practiced in the Arena gym. It was early morning, and I was tired, but I was curious to see how my student was translating her lessons into her Pro Bending, which was why I was here. That, and I was just using as an excuse to spend more time with her, but only she and I knew that.

Truth be told I was barely paying attention. Pro Bending didn't really hold that much of an interest for me. When you've seen the things I've seen, people pounding on each other with the elements for sport kinda loses it's appeal. So after seeing what I had come to see, I was just sitting around waiting for them to get done.

"Not quite, you'll need these." The sound of the new voice brought me out of my haze. The team's practice seemed to be over. There was a young woman standing a short distance away, holding a Pro Bending uniform with a half gear on the chest. She had a light skin tone, raven black hair, and light green eyes.

"Hey, Asami," Mako said, greeting the woman.

"Good morning, sweetie," she replied as the Team Captain stepped forward and looked over the new uniforms. Ah, so this was the infamous Asami Sato. Korra had found the girl to be annoying, believing her to be a spoiled rich girl. I was holding my judgment until I had actually met her.

"These look great," Mako said.

"You look great, champ," Asami replied before they rubbed noses. Bolin and Korra looked annoyed by the display of affection between the two. I didn't really care. In fact I was starting to wonder if I had been forgotten or not.

"Well, teammates, I'll see you before the match tonight. Asami and I have a lunch date," Mako said as he hung his arm around Asami.

"It's nine thirty in the morning," I said, looking at my pocket watch.

"Okay, we'll check you guys later," Bolin said as he waved after the couple. Apparently my words were falling on deaf ears today. Korra finished putting her gear into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder.

"Soo, Korra. There they go, here we are, all alone in the gym, just you and me, two alone people. Together. Alone," Bolin said as he slid over to Korra. Now I would like to tell myself that after five centuries I'm not really the jealous type. You name it, I've probably had it done to me in a relationship at some point. But that didn't mean that if Bolin so much as laid a finger on her at that point I wouldn't have removed it entirely. Although I couldn't be entirely sure if it was out of jealousy, or simply because I was annoyed at how many times he said the word alone.

"I actually have a training session with Ryou," Korra replied, pointing at me as if to remind the earthbender that I was still there. My old heart soured a little at that. Despite all that, I surprisingly felt a little angry with myself. I thought I had mastered my emotions long ago, and yet here I was feeling like a teenager eager to spend time with his first girlfriend. If this was the case, I needed to sit down and reevaluate just how much she had an effect on me.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you guys later then," Bolin said, looking a little downtrodden before he headed off on his own. Korra watched her friend go before she came up to me.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"After you," I replied. Although I didn't say anything, I was a little concerned about Bolin. He seemed like a great kid, if not a little naive. And it was obvious that he had a thing for Korra. She, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to it, which told me one of two things. The first was that she was just as naive, if not more so than him and simply didn't realize what his advances were. Or, she did know what they were and was purposefully ignoring them because she had a secret relationship with me.

Personally I figured that the latter was the more likely. And no, that wasn't cause I was trying to stroke my own ego. Korra, from what I had seen even in the days immediately after leaving the Compound knew enough about social interaction that she could pick up on most things. Even she could have picked up on the signals that Bolin was sending her.

Regardless if Korra recognized them or not, she was going to have to do something about it and soon. I'd seen Bolin's type all my life. They may act tough, and sometimes even have the brawn to back up the act, but when you got right down to it they took things to heart way to easily. Unless Korra let him down easily, I did not see this ending well.

"So what do you think of our chances tonight?" Korra asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"You know my opinion of Pro Bending," I said.

"I wasn't asking your opinion of the sport, I was asking what you thought our chances were." I was silent for a short time as we walked, reviewing what I had seen of her team when I was daydreaming.

"You and the brothers move like a well oiled machine. Play like you practice, and I'm sure that you guys will win," I answered honestly. She smiled at that. We walked for a little while in silence, enjoying each others company. It was only after we had boarded the ferry back to Air Temple Island that Korra asked her next question.

"What did you mean when you said that my training will require us to leave the Island?" she asked.

"You are nearing completion of the first segment of your training. The final test will require a trip into the wild to truly see what you have learned and mastered," I answered.

"But...the tournament..."

"Relax. By the time this trip will come about, the tournament will have been long over," I said. She fell silent at that, looking up at the passing statue of Aang. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile.

"You have accomplished much in such a short time. You should be proud," I said. She smiled and gave me a hug.

"Thank you, Ryou," she said into my ear. I pulled back and gave her a quick kiss.

"Tell you what, you win tonight's match, and I'll reward you with a meal at a Water Tribe place I know," I said. Korra's face brightened at that.

"You're on!"

I'm not sure if it was the promise of food or a thinly veiled date, but in the end results are results. Korra and the Fire Ferrets absolutely slaughtered their opponents, taking all three rounds and ending with a solid knockout of the other team. In fact, the match was so one sided that I had to wonder if the other team truly sucked that bad, or if they had been paid to take a fall.

To put it lightly, had this been a battle there would have been no survivors.

Korra met me right after the match ended and we set off into the city. Her hair was still wet from the quick shower she had taken, so it shined under the street lights as we walked. We chatted back and forth about the match and what points she could have improved on. Finally we arrived at the place we were going, Narook's Seaweed Noodlery.

Now personally I didn't really care much for Water Tribe food. It was always some kind of sea food, be it fish or seaweed or some other sea plant. Having grown up in a fishing village, I'd had enough of that. Noodles though, that was something I'd had a weakness for my entire life. That, and the place served good booze, but that was neither here nor there.

Funny enough, I'd actually stumbled across this place the last time I was in the city. It had just opened then, and it hadn't changed a bit since. Apparently it was fairly popular with the youth of the area, so the place had a few patrons when we got there. We got a table and sat down before placing our orders.

"So, do you mind if I ask kind of a personal question?" she asked. I shrugged as a waiter sat our drinks down.

"Depends on the question," I replied.

"What was Kyoshi like?" she asked.

"Didn't you learn about your past lives?"

"I did. But until I connect with them, all I've got to go off of is some history books. It'd be nice to hear about it from someone who actually knew her," she said.

"Knew her, or KNEW her?" I asked. Her cheeks flushed at my double meaning.

"I..I..you know what I mean!" I chuckled at her discomfort.

"You and her are a lot alike, actually. You're both strong, stubborn, and not afraid to go after what you wanted," I said.

"I feel like there's a but coming," she said.

"There is. Kyoshi was a stickler for rules. Very code and honor bound. You're more laid back, more go with the flow. In a way, you're easier to work with."

"Easier to work with?"

"Yeah. Once Kyoshi got it into her head about the way something should go, she would insure it went that way. Her policy was one of swift and decisive action, more often then not from the edge of her fans. You, on the other hand, aren't quite willing to take it as far as she did. You'll beat the crap out of someone, but killing them is out of the question," I explained. A waiter came by and sat a pair of bowls on the table, and we both set to eating on the noodles.

"These are authentic! I haven't had legit Water Tribe food since we left the Compound," she said through a mouthful.

"You never realize just how much you love meat until you have no access to it," I replied. Our evening continued on relatively well from that point. We laughed. I told her stories of my adventures. She asked questions about her past lives. Overall, we had a good time, and after several bowls between us it was time to head back to Air Temple Island.

We walked in silence, enjoying each others company. At some point, Korra intertwined her hand with mine. There wasn't anyone around who could identify us. To those we past, we were just another young couple out for a stroll. I found myself more relaxed then I had felt in a long time. For some reason, with Korra it was like I could almost let go of the harshness of the past. Meditation, wandering, even drinking hadn't given me this level of peace.

"I have another question for you," she said.

"Hm?"

"You said that you fought all throughout the Hundred Year War. How did you do that without anyone noticing your...condition?" she asked.

"Every five to ten years or so I'd leave whatever unit I was apart of and reenlist somewhere else under a different name. Photographs hadn't really been developed yet, so it was easy just to show up with a fake name on some fake papers and slip right in," I explained with a shrug.

"You really wanted to fight that bad?"

"I wanted to die that bad," I answered, my voice soft.

"And now?" I thought of the Observer and his words. The Spirit that maintained the boundary between the Physical and Spirit Worlds had been a reason to stay ahead of death, true enough. But now, I had more then just that to hang on to.

"Now, I actually have things worth living for," I said, giving her hand a squeeze. It may have been from the cold, but I saw Korra's cheeks blush under the street lights. Suddenly, I felt the hair stand on the back of my neck, and it wasn't from the sudden gust of cold air that came down the narrow street we were on. After all my years, I'd learned to trust my instincts.

Someone was watching us. I came to a halt, looking both in the direction we were going and the direction we had come from. The thing about instinct like this is that it doesn't actually tell you if the person watching means you harm or not. It just simply lets you know you are being watched. The rest is up to you.

"What is it?" Korra asked noticing my shift in demeanor. I released her hand and held up a finger, motioning for her to be silent. She must have realized that something wasn't right, as she remained quiet and began to look around as well. I closed my eyes and listened to the area around us. At first, all I could hear was the sounds of the city, and the roar of a gust of wind. Then, just as the wind died down, I heard it. The faint sound of smooth metal sliding against metal, and the soft creak of fiber cable straining under tension.

My eyes shot open and my hand flew to my belt, drawing my sword hilt and extending the blade at the same time. I was just in time to swat the arrow that flew out of the shadows away. Two more followed, but I repeated the process, deflecting the arrows away from myself and Korra. I assumed a ready position, holding the sword straight out in front of me and watching for the next arrow.

Korra assumed a bending position as our assailant stepped out of the shadows, wearing her Equalist uniform. Takeko had another arrow nocked in her bow and had it drawn back, ready to let it fly. There was something off about the way she moved though. This was the woman who had bested the Yuyan Archers in both grace and skill. But here, she was moving in a more clunky fashion, like she wasn't at the top of her game.

"Amon change his mind and decide to finish us off now?" I asked. The female archer didn't answer, but rather let her arrow fly. I deflected this shot as well before lunging forward, slicing her drawstring and rendering the bow useless. She hissed in anger as she sprung back and drew her swords. Then she leapt forward, swinging her blades in a furious motion.

She may have been skilled with a bow, but Takeko was only average with her swords. They were only to be used as a last resort, if someone got too close for her to use her bow. So I stood there, one hand behind my back as I parried away her blades with relative ease. She seemed to be getting frustrated as this went on. As we went, I noticed her eyes. They were dilated, her pupils being so large that they almost drowned out the green of her iris.

"What did they do to you?" I asked as I locked our blades together. She yelled in frustration and kicked me backwards before bringing her swords down in a downward strike, intending to bury them in my shoulders. I held up my own blade at a sideways angle, catching both of them while keeping all three level with my face.

"Takeko, this isn't you. You're under the influence of something, snap out of it!" I ordered.

"The only thing I am under the influence of is my Master," she replied, "and my Master has ordered you to die!" I would like to say that timed seemed to slow down after that. That I saw everything with hyper clarity. The unfortunate truth is that I didn't see any of that. In fact, I didn't see anything again after that.

Takeko threw all of her weight forward in order to break the lock. However that momentum forced my own blade right back into my eyes. I suddenly saw red, and then pitch darkness as plain exploded across my face and skull. A yell of pain and shock erupted from my mouth as I stumbled backwards, my left hand flying to my face. Then a boot planted in my chest, and I was sprawled out on my back, my sword flying beyond my reach.

Blood was streaming down my face, and I could see absolutely nothing. I could hear just fine though. The sound of flames reached my ears as Korra jumped in to my rescue, throwing fireballs at our attacker. This was enough to force Takeko to flee apparently, as the sound of Korra bending soon came to an end, followed by a hand appearing on my shoulder.

"Ryou? Are you okay, talk to me," she said, her voice coming from my right and having a worried edge to it.

"How bad is it?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"I can't tell, there is too much blood. We need to get you to a hospital," she said.

"No, no. You can heal me, I know you can."

"Ryou this is beyond me. A proper doctor is the only chance you have of your eyesight being saved," she argued.

"How bad is it?" I asked again, adding a little venom in my voice to show I wasn't fooling around.

"The blade buried itself in the bridge of your nose and your eyes themselves," she answered. I felt my way up her arm until my hand was at her shoulder.

"Help me up, and get my sword," I instructed. I felt myself being pulled to my feet, and I had to stand there for a moment leaning against the wall while she got my sword. By the time she came back, I could feel the blood had already worked its way down my cheeks and was dripping off the tip of my nose. Finally she came back and I leaned on her, putting my arm around her shoulder as I did so.

"Not exactly how I pictured this night ending," I said.

"Oh, and how did you see this playing out?" she asked.

"I was gonna take you back and as you out on a second date before giving you a goodnight kiss," I said. Okay, this was good. The pain may have been disorientating, but if I could still joke that meant it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"Sounds like a stereotype if you ask me," Korra grunted.

"I know, that's why I added in the blood and blindness."

"Whatever. Just focus on putting one foot in front of the other," she said, "and for the record, you big loaf, I'm gonna hold you to that second date." I smiled at that, although between the blood and the stinging pain it probably looked more like a grimace.

"One foot at a time," I replied.

And that's a wrap. And a cliffhanger. Just a heads up chapters from this point on will switch more between Ryou and third person POV, for obvious reasons. So what do you guys think of these new developments? Like em? Hate em? Let me know by dropping a review, leaving a PM, ask a question or ten, and I'll see you all next time.