Amon's advice, in theory, was easy. In practise, not so much. Korra did not know where the Equalists hideouts were, and with all their old haunts long abandoned, they were impossible to track. Even the best metalbending police could not find any secret excavations under the city's foundations.

Korra grew restless. She waited for the Equalists to attack, realising it could be the only chance to find them. But ever since the bombing of City Hall, ever since the air fleets had been stationed over the city's skies, the Equalists ceased all large-scale attacks, resorting instead to vicious guerrilla strikes in unpredictable places that she was always one step too late for.

When she told the council – still missing a representative from the north – of her plans to find the rebels, they agreed timidly. After half a day of discussion, Korra realised the only way to bait the Equalists into an attack was to stage a large gathering of benders and important personnel in one place. Which meant one thing: pro-bending was back.

The Fire Ferrets had been invited to start the new season. To minimise the danger to innocent civilians during their upcoming match, the arena was given near-invincible protection. On ground, police in plainclothes melded into the crowd. In water, speedboats and heavier warships perched coldly in the lapping waves. A swarm of airships hung over the stadium; when night fell, their roaming floodlights lit up every crevice of the arena and turned it into a gleaming treasure house. The ultimate target.

Much as she tried, Korra no longer felt the infectious excitement that used to fill her at the mention of pro-bending. It was in the stadium that war had been declared; to return and continue that same war in that exact same stadium, did not feel like the spirit of competition. Mako, too, seemed listless, half-heartedly catching and tossing the discs thrown at him during practise. The night before their match, he confronted her.

'Korra, can we talk.'

'About what?' she said, pulling off her helmet and throwing it inside the locker. Practise had gone badly tonight. There had been no synergy in the team; they mistimed each other's shots and all ended up bruised and frustrated. Bolin alone remained optimistic, taking over Mako's role as captain and encouraging them to keep going, full of assurance that they would win this year.

Mako hung up his helmet beside hers. 'About…well, you know, what happened the other night when Asami was healed…' A tingle of warmth shivered through her as their arms brushed past each other but she bottled it carefully.

'I'm not mad at you Mako.'

'You've been avoiding me lately.'

Korra swallowed her retort at the hurt and confusion in his voice. 'I haven't been avoiding you. If you want to be with Asami then I won't…get in your way.'

'I don't want to be with Asami!' - her hope lifted – 'I don't know who I want to be with! I'm so confused right now, just give me some time and I'll have it worked out.'

Disappointment flooded once again and she shook her head. 'No. I don't want this to drag on forever.'

Mako picked up her hands and held them tightly, staring at her with so much earnest that she quivered and looked away under the weight of his burning amber eyes.

'Korra, I know you hate me for saying this, but I really can't –'

'I know. I'm not making you choose.' Her fingers tightened over his and she leaned forward slowly. Mako's rapid, shallow breaths tickled her face and she pressed her lips shakily against his cheek. 'We'll still be friends,' she promised.

He drew back and stared at her in wonder. 'You – you don't mind?'

Of course I mind! Korra kept her face carefully neutral. 'Asami needs you more than I do.'

Mako wrapped both arms around her and hugged her tightly. 'We'll still friends,' he whispered. Korra winced at the finality in his tone, despite that he had merely repeated her own words.

She closed her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder, inhaling his spicy scent for the last time.

'This is not over.'

Korra dropped the disc in surprise and it clattered to the floor, echoes bouncing wildly off the empty gymnasium walls. She had not been paying much attention to the Fire Ferrets' new training regime, and having Mako there – the sight of his lean, toned body shearing through air – only fuelled her distraction. The sound of Hiroshi Sato's voice crackling from the radio, only seconds ago commenting on the weather, was the last thing she expected.

Watching them practise from the sidelines, Asami stiffened at the interrupted radio. Korra felt so bad for her. She had wanted to hate Asami after what happened with Mako, but Asami was mature enough not to chase after the firebender. Neither did Mako openly seek Asami. Korra was sure the two of them sneaked affection behind her back, but those were only suspicions and she didn't want to know about it either.

'We, as non-benders and equal citizens in this city, will not accept a sport that only permits benders to play. If this city continues to display this revolting bending supremacy, be prepared to suffer the consequences.'

Bolin chewed his lip in worry. 'Does this mean tomorrow's match in cancelled?'

'No,' Korra said, sighing with inward relief. 'It means they've fallen for it.'

The floor shuddered with thunderous applause as the Fire Ferrets ascended the arena. Opposite, the Boarcupines rose, stepping out from the shadowed wings and into formation. Korra took her place beside Mako and trained her eyes on her opponents, glancing up nervously every few seconds to check that the airships were still hovering safely over the domed glass roof. She averted her gaze from the rigid set of Mako's shoulders, aching with the longing to reach out to him.

The timer buzzed and the Boarcupines leapt into action. A spinning torrent of water lanced towards her chest and she dodged by circling out the way. It exploded in a fitful shower by her feet; she immediately pulled strings of water from the grates and launched them at the opposing waterbender.

Discs of earth came slicing from the ground, blocking her attack. Bolin knocked them away and launched his own assault at the offending earthbender, buying her an opening. She weaved through the smoke and dust, emerging unnoticed to hurl a solid sphere of water straight at her opponent. The Boarcupine waterbender staggered, stumbled into his teammate and the two fell over the red line.

The buzzer blew, and the Fire Ferrets advanced one zone.

Desperate to regain lost ground, the Boarcupines struck back with feral ferocity. Korra twisted in midair to avoid a blazing stream of fire from their firebender. Her surroundings pitched for one jarring moment as she flipped backwards and her head scraped the floor. Whips of water sped towards her, only to be intercepted by Mako. Fire and water collided in a hissing cloud of steam, soaking her in warm mist. When it cleared, whirling projectiles of earth tore past her face, grazing her helmet as she leaned back and shot a thick jet of water back at the Boarcupine earthbender.

The opposing waterbender defended his teammate, deflecting Korra's attack straight back at her. She swerved and rolled to safety, slamming herself flush against the ground to avoid the hostile water. The back of her helmet crashed against the hard surface and forced out her breath, fogging her plastic face covering. But her vision was not entirely blurred, and as she lay on her back in a momentary daze she saw flashing lights high above the glass roof.

Frowning, she leapt to her feet and ripped off her helmet, staring at the massive spanning archway. The night sky seethed with firing airships. Korra couldn't see what they were firing at, but she could very well guess.

Abandoning the match and oblivious to the shouts of alarm from the referee and commentator, she gathered water and air around herself and launched into the ceiling. Glass shattered as she burst through the roof, shards of it scattering in the turbulent windstorm. Korra aimed and landed on top of the nearest police airship, jamming her fingers into a gap between two overlapping sheets of metal to keep herself in place. She hammered at its sides, yelling for them to open up the hatch inside, but no one answered her call.

Korra drew back her fist and was about to smash the metal when the airship and others in the fleet dropped into a steep dive. She scrabbled for balance, lost it, then went sliding down the polished metal sides, plummeting through the air and landing with a massive splash into the bay. Emerging with a gasp, she sensed a heavy torpedo tunnelling through the murky waters and quickly changed the flow of currents to send the missile back the way it came. She did not stay to watch, swimming instead for a nearby United Forces warship and clambering up its sides.

Soldiers running about on deck manning the cannons did not even notice her climbing over the railings.

'Where's Iroh? Or Bumi?' she yelled over the roars of live cannons.

'Inside.' one of the soldiers grunted without even looking.

'Who? Iroh or Bumi?'

The soldier dashed away to fire the next cannon without replying. Sighing with exasperation, Korra bolted below deck, though she had only taken a few steps when Iroh himself burst from a cabin and ordered everyone to stop firing.

'General Iroh!' Korra said.

'All waterbenders below deck! Ready to begin the second phase!' Iroh frowned and noticed her. 'Avatar Korra? Aren't you supposed to be inside the stadium?'

'Like I'd miss any of the action,' she said. 'What needs to be done? I can join the waterbenders.'

Iroh nodded and pointed at a small trapdoor, where soldiers in blue where quickly disappearing. 'Commander Shilka is leading the underwater charge, report to him.'

Korra had never heard of this Shilka person before, but Iroh had already disappeared, swept away by the frenzy of battle. She followed the remaining waterbenders and dropped down the trapdoor into the inside of the warship, dazzled momentarily by the bright hurricane lamps hanging from the walls.

When her eyes adjusted, she was in an underwater hangar of some sort. A row of small torpedo-like vessels large enough for two people lined one wall, the back hatch open to admit pilots while the front jutted outside the warship, ready for launch. The dark sea outside battered against the portholes, and occasionally she was able to make out frothing bubbles as the water churned outside.

It became immediately obvious who Shilka was by the gold trimmings and badges adorning his scarlet outfit. He dressed everyone by name before directing them to the war machines. Korra was the last to reach him. 'What are these? They look like mini submarines.'

'Avatar!' Shilka exclaimed, then caught himself and nodded at the machines, 'those are mini submarines. We've just changed the design so that only waterbenders may operate them, which greatly increases their manoeuvrability. I'm about to lead the second charge, would you like to join us?'

'That's what I'm here for.' She leapt into a midget submarine after Shilka. The hatch closed with a cranking grind. At a wordless signal from Shilka, the entire submarine fleet rocketed from the warship, spearing straight into open sea.

Only inky blackness could be seen from the perspex window. Korra sensed Shilka in the seat ahead steering with waterbending, deftly pushing streams of water through the left and rudders. She glanced down at her own controls. Two sets of canisters broiling with pressurised water pointed straight outside the sub; a water cannon.

Their sub slowed down, and Korra craned her head to squint through perspex into the dark sea. A even darker shadow loomed ahead like a colossal mountain.

'What is that?'

'Equalist submarine,' Shilka answered. 'They've deployed all their missiles at our warships on surface. They're not expecting us to come up underneath them, so if we board them we can take them by surprise and arrest them. Fire now. You can freeze the cannons into ice too, I think that'll cause more damage.'

Korra froze the seawater at the mouth of the cannons and blasted them out from the pressurised canisters. Cannonballs of ice ripped through water, smashing into the Equalist submarine. All around them, the other waterbenders had fired their cannons too, besieging the enemy submarine in a volley of iceballs.

The mountainous dark shadow ahead did not so much as budge, but Shilka powered forward anyway. Closer, closer, and finally they were right up against the enemy submarine. Shilka rammed their sub into the bulky metallic walls, throwing Korra back in her seat at impact. There was a sickening moment when metal crunched metal, then with a clanking roar they shattered the metallic skin and were sucked into the ballast tanks.

Water poured through the hole they made, churning and tossing their sub mercilessly. Korra clutched at her controls as they tumbled, her knuckles white with tension. When at last they crashed against the other side of the tank, Shilka wrapped a bubble of air around them and pushed his way out the sub.

They swam through the turbulent water, pulled themselves onto a metal platform and waited for the other soldiers to catch up. When the whole force stood dry and ready for battle again, the group shattered the ballast walls with ice. Water roared through the opening, sweeping the group out into the corridors beyond.

Sirens screamed and strobic red lights flashed over the walls.

'The sluice gate!' Shilka yelled.

As one, the group bent a speeding whirlpool of water around themselves and sailed towards the closing gates. The last soldier had barely made it through when the sliding doors slammed shut. Korra could hear rushing water on the other side, piling against the thick metal, and wondered how long the gate would hold.

'What the…?' An alarmed voice. 'Who are these people?'

They had been washed into a control room full of Equalists.

It came as almost instinct to the waterbenders. Scooping the water that had pooled, they lashed out at the Equalists, knocked them back into the wall and froze over the water, trapping them.

It was over so quickly. Korra studied the prisoners, expecting hatred, but all she got from them was undiluted fear. The Equalists trembled before the United Forces.

'You're all under arrest,' Shilka said coldly. 'For terrorism and instigating war.'

'Wait.'

To everyone's surprise, Korra melted the water that bound the Equalists. Fear still rooted them in place; she hoped they would thaw soon.

'I've come to understand that not all of you joined the war because you wanted to fight,' she said. Shock, confusion and disbelief flitted across their faces. She didn't know what to make of that; surely some of these people were the orphans that Amon had told her about, but she had no way of telling whom.

The soldiers behind her made noises of disbelief.

'I've come to offer you peace,' Korra continued. 'You don't have to fight. I've come to offer you a new life –'

'Avatar Korra, what are you doing?' Shilka hissed. 'We came here to capture them –'

'No, you guys came here to capture them, I came here to talk to them,' she said, then turned back to the shocked Equalists. 'If all you've ever wanted was a home, there's always one waiting for you, on Air Temple Island. You can even begin a new life as Air Acolytes.' This she had not gone over with Tenzin; she didn't exactly have the authority to invite dangerous strangers into his home but she hoped he'd understand.

No one reacted, and Korra felt herself grow hot under the scrutiny.

'Get them! Get them!'

She started, as did the soldiers. Masked Equalists flooded into the room, backed by mecha tanks. They were fearless. They were seasoned warriors, unlike the terrified Equalists on ground.

Leading the charge, oblivious to the shards of ice thrown his way, was Hiroshi Sato. Korra had to give it to him – he was brave. But he was still her enemy and so long as she lived she would never let him win.

Hiroshi aimed a clawed hand at her and fired a grenade; Korra swiped it aside with a blast of air and it pummelled into the closed sluice gates, exploding in a brilliant fireball. With a sound of buckling metal, the gate folded inwards and the pent-up water behind gushed into the room.

She was prepared for this, but even so the raging current knocked her off her feet. Other soldiers seemed to have similar difficulty, but the Equalist mecha tanks stood invincible against the assault of water.

'We need to get to higher ground and close the second gate!' she heard Hiroshi say before turning his tank and clanking away. Equalists scrambled after the man, and Korra nearly did as well until she checked herself. Tonight, she was not here to fight. Tonight she was here to make peace. When Shilka and the other soldiers made to follow, she called them back.

'Don't. Let them go.'

'Avatar Korra, we have them cornered!' Shilka said. His whole body was angled at the retreating Equalists, poised for flight. 'They're fleeing. If we don't strike now, we may not get a chance later!'

'I know,' Korra said desperately, bursting with the impulse to give chase as well. 'But this war will never end if we just blindly fight each other. Please, trust me, I'm the Avatar.'

She swam back up the corridor, struggling against the current to reach the ballast tanks. She hoped and hoped that the soldiers would follow, and finally, after much grumbling, they did. When they finally arrived at the tanks, their midget submarines had been crushed by pressure. They would have to physically swim their way out.

By the time the group kicked their way through water and broke the surface, the flashes of fire cannons from the surface armada had already ceased. Only moonlight illuminated the water's surface.

Below surface, Korra could feel fanatical eddies of rip currents as Hiroshi's submarines sank even deeper and tunnelled away. A swarm of submarines followed, withdrawing from the naval battle and leaving the United Forces to their victory. When the open sea lapsed back into its usual calm – calm that was not calm but the rhythmic beating waves – Shilka turned on her almost angrily.

'We had them. We had them right where we wanted. Why did you let them go?'

'Some of them don't want to fight,' she said. She hoped it was true. She didn't want to think that they'd thrown away an great chance for nothing. But the more she considered it – the more she remembered the Equalist's blank and sceptical faces, the more she wondered if she had made a huge mistake in trusting Amon.