They had just barely gotten away, and Amon had had to work so hard to keep his cover. He knew he shouldn't have underestimated his own brother. His own brother. It had been a shock to find Tarrlok in Republic City and as a council member, too! At least Amon still had the element of surprise; Tarrlok had no idea who he was.
Amon stopped thinking about his brother and started looking around. He was near the park, and his guards had scattered during their run in with the task force. He decided to head back to headquarters on the back roads as not to be seen, but something stopped him.
"Ida, just bend the water. No need to bend down and fill your jug. Oh, that's right, no bending for you!" Amon heard a girl say from the park. He ran towards her, hiding in the bushes.
"Stop, Umi. You're getting on my nerves." It was his Ida! The same wonderful girl from Kyoshi was here in Republic City. "I have to get back to help Nikki. Her arm got messed up pretty bad, and we've got a healing session tonight."
"Ida, you study too much. Take a break, go to the beach," the girl named Umi said. "That's where I'm going with Tivo tomorrow. Why don't you get yourself a date and come with?"
"Umi, you're trying my patience," Ida said, her hands turning to fists.
"Go ahead, throw some ice at me. Anyways, the real reason you won't go isn't because of your studies or any other stupid reason you could give me. You still think about that stupid Newatoke boy from Kyoshi all the time," Umi retorted.
"His name is Noatak!" Ida yelled. Umi laughed.
"Oh, Ida. Grow up already," she said as she left the park. Ida walked the other way, her jug of water on her head. Amon followed her. He waited until he turned the corner onto a back road and then swooped down. She whirled around, and in her shock, her jug shattered.
"Amon! No! Please! Don't take away my bending! I'm a good person who only heals others! Please!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. It nearly broke his heart, seeing her like this.
"Have you ever tried blood bending?" he asked her. Her face went beat red and her tears couldn't stop flowing.
"I'm not that person anymore. Please, I've changed!" she cried. Amon's eyebrows furrowed under his mask. Had Ida been a blood bender? Was that the horrible past Master Fui Shon had led her from?
"I believe your line is, 'that's illegal'," said Amon, trying to comfort her. Ida's face changed and she stopped crying.
"No-Noatak?" she asked in disbelief. "You're Amon?"
"It's good to see you again, Ida," he said warmly, reaching out to hug her. She pushed him away.
"What happened to you? Who are you?" she asked.
"Ida, I am ridding the world of bending. I am saving this place from the oppression and evil of benders. I am helping people. Ida, join me in this quest," he said to her. She shook her head.
"You have become the very thing you set yourself out to destroy. Noatak, you're breaking my heart!" she cried as she ran away from him, tears flowing.
"Ida!" he called, but it was useless. She was gone.
Ida raced down the street, back to the Healing Academy. The annoying secretary was long off to bed. She ferociously dialed the number to Kyoshi's only telephone.
"Hello?" said a bored and sleepy voice. It was Ulani sitting at the phone tonight.
"Ulani! Get Master Fui Shon!" Ida yelled, still crying.
"Ida, is that you? Are you alright?" Ulani asked, awake now.
"Get Fui Shon!" she yelled again. It took only minutes for Ulani to wake Master Fui Shon from his house three buildings away, but to Ida it took hours.
"Ida, are you alright?" he asked calmly.
"Master, you'll never believe this. Noatak is Amon!" she said.
"Yes, I know," said Master Fui Shon. "What of it?" Ida should have guessed that remote Kyoshi wouldn't have news of a horrible threat in Republic City. She quickly told him about what Amon had been doing.
"I see," Master Fui Shon said gravely after she was done. "I should have known he would got to extremes. His father had too much of an influence on him I'm afraid."
"His father?" asked Ida.
"Yes, his father Yakone. He forced Noatak and his brother to blood bend and hurt animals. Noatak found bending oppressive and wanted to stop bad benders, but I'm afraid his quest went a little too far," Master Fui Shon explained.
"Yakone's thirst for power transferred to him. This isn't about bending to him anymore, is it?" asked Ida.
"I'm afraid not," answered Fui Shon. There was a pause.
"Master, did you say Noatak has a brother?" asked Ida.
"Yes, Noatak told me about his brother Tarrlok in some of our sessions," explained Fui Shon. Ida's eyes grew wide.
"Tarrlok is on the city council," she said in a trance.
"Ida, I think it's time to become a bender again," said Master Fui Shon. "You can help Republic City. You have a gift."
"No! I refuse to bend again. I was a horrible person. I manipulated and controlled people. My purpose now is to teach young women to defend themselves from people who were like me," Ida explained.
"Ida, you used your blood bending to hurt, but now you can help with it. I trust you, and you can trust yourself. You are a superior blood bender," said Master Fui Shon.
"If Amon is Yakone's son, he is a far better blood bender than me," Ida explained. "Master, if Tarrlok is Yakone's son as well, he too has probably been overcome by his father's wish for power. When the two inevitably meet, everything will go badly. The best thing for me to do is get out of here." She heard Master Fui Shon sigh on the other end.
"Ida, your reasoning is correct. Besides, the girls miss you. It is about time you came home."
The two did eventually meet. The avatar girl got involved several times and eventually ruined his cover. No one thought he could be trusted anymore, but he completely believed in his cause. Of course, no one would believe this. He took that girl's bending, and unfortunately he also had to take his brother's. But they were safe now. They were getting away from it all.
"Now that we're together again, nothing can stop us. We can start a new life together. It's going to be just like old times," said Amon to his brother.
"Yeah, just like old times," Tarrlok answered.