Just Like the Good Old Days
Thanks for being patient with me. I do not own Legend of Korra.
Tough Love
Noatak's POV:
The day after Korra's little encounter with 'me' on the island, Tenzin insisted that we resign from the taskforce, not that any of us were complaining, though the job of informing the older Tarrlok of our resignation unfortunately fell to me. How it happened I'm not sure, perhaps because I could be better at persuading the older Tarrlok that none of us were coming back; though I still couldn't understand why Tenzin couldn't do it himself, maybe it was because it should come directly from one of us. Still, this was definitely going to be an awkward encounter. I went with Tenzin to the Council Hall the following morning, and he pointed me in the direction of Tarrlok's office (As if I didn't already know). I knocked on the door and the assistant let me in. The older Tarrlok was sitting at his desk, looking over some papers and didn't look up when I entered.
"Who is it?" He asked the assistant in an unnecessarily hostile tone. "I'm very busy."
"I beg your pardon, Councilman Tarrlok, sir." The assistant answered. 'But, it is one of Avatar Korra's friends, and he says it's important."
Tarrlok looked up then, and when he saw it was me he noticeably flinched. Undoubtedly, he probably was still a little uneasy about me as I surely looked the same as I did when I left him during the blizzard.
"Ah, yes, leave us." He ordered the assistant, who immediately left the room.
I approached him without hesitation, he couldn't intimidate me, to me he was the same as the Tarrlok who was fast asleep back at Air Temple Island. He looked a little nervous about seeing me, only natural, it had been the same when we had been in the taskforce, it was like he didn't even want to look at me if he could help it.
"Noak, is it?" He asked.
"It is. I've worked on your taskforce since Korra joined. I should hope you would remember my name by now." I replied.
"Yes. You told my assistant that you had something important to tell me, what is it?"
"I am here on behalf of myself, my brother, and Korra to inform you that the three of us are resigning from the taskforce."
He looked disappointed.
"I'm sorry to hear that. And I'm certain the press will be unhappy as well."
I narrowed my eyes at him and he flinched again.
"That was a sneaky and underhanded thing you did to her." I said, barely containing my anger for what he had done to force Korra into joining the taskforce. "But I suppose part of it was my fault for not being more effective in keeping her away from you at that gala. After Korra's encounter with Amon," I tried not to wince at the sound of my old fake name, "I don't think it's a good idea for her to stay on the taskforce, and Master Tenzin agrees." He let out an irritated 'hmph' when I mentioned Tenzin. "My brother and I only joined so that we could keep Korra from getting hurt, and so we see no reason to stay either."
He stood up at this, trying to put on that politician's swagger of his.
"Are you sure I can't convince you otherwise? You and your brother are both very powerful assets to the taskforce."
"No, there is nothing that can convince either of us to stay." Part of that was a lie, the younger Tarrlok had not been too happy about us leaving the taskforce; in fact, he had tried to convince me and Korra to stay on it. I suppose he hadn't completely learned his lesson. "Korra will be returning to her Pro-Bending training, she's missed out on it enough as it is."
"So, she considers Pro-Bending to be more important than fighting Equalists?" He was trying to bait me; I could see right away what he was doing.
"Don't talk about Korra like that, you don't know her." I became very serious, I knew that I could intimidate him if I kept a calm appearance, Korra probably would've risen to the challenge, but I kept my temper under control. "This is not a joke, Councilman; I suggest that you stay away from us. If you don't, then I will not hesitate to stop you. And, let's just say, it would not be advisable for you to get on my bad side."
"Who do you think you are, coming in here and threatening me?" His tone was rising, I could sense him slipping.
"I'm someone who doesn't want to lose all he cares about a second time." I said coldly, turning my back and walking out. I hated that I had to speak to my brother like that; but, then again, this man was not entirely the same as the Tarrlok who was still passed out and drooling when I got back to the island. As I walked out, I was able to detect that he hadn't moved; he was just staring after me, as if he knew that I was exactly the person I reminded him of.
Korra's POV:
Finally, I was able to get back to Pro-Bending again. I had been gone for several weeks, and I really needed to catch up. I was amazed at how quickly I had been able to catch up. I was really happy that Noak and Tarro were able to come to so many of my practices; they had a lot of good advice to help me improve. I was still getting a little flustered when Noak would help me; he has sort of a hands-on approach. Wait! Not like that! I mean, he physically helps me with my stance, like he moves my arms if they're not in the right position, and stuff like that. Not anything inappropriate. I noticed that Mako was watching our exchange, and there was a look of…jealousy? on his face. Why would Mako be jealous of me and Noak? He already has a girlfriend, he shouldn't be concerned with who I choose to be interested in. I had been thinking more and more about my relationship with Noak since the gala when he asked me to dance with him, spirits that boy can dance, and I've been wondering if he was just doing it to keep me away from Tarrlok or if he did it because he wanted to. I have definitely figured out how I feel about Mako though, I suppose when we first met I had a little bit of a star-struck fangirl crush on him, but he just sort of brushed me off and now he has a girlfriend so it doesn't matter. But why is he getting all irritated because of how I interact with Noak? And what business is it of his anyway?
Noatak's POV:
I was outside the temple, helping the two Airbender girls to feed the flying ring-tailed-lemurs. Even though those children could be incredibly annoying at times, I couldn't help but feel sorry about what I had tried to do to them and their father in that other life.
"So, Noak," Jinora said, "how's it going with Korra?" I froze, and it wasn't due to the snow falling around us. "You've been spending a lot of time together lately." I could see the knowing look in the child's eyes.
"Uhhh…" Was all I could manage to reply.
"Oooh, yeah!" Ikki exclaimed. "Tell us all about the magical romance!"
"What?" I responded, then tried to shake off their comments by chuckling and ruffling their hair. "Listen to you two, I-I'm not interested in Korra like that, least of all any romantic stuff. And besides," my face began to fall into a glower, "she's probably only interested in that stuck-up, arrogant, pushy Firebender." I then forced myself back into a nonchalant appearance. "But, just in case I was interested in Korra like that, what would you suggest I do?" I was taking advice from children?
"Ooh!" Jinora answered. "I just read a historical saga where the hero fell in love with the enemy general's daughter, who was supposed to marry the prince. You should do what he did!"
"Which was…?"
"He rode a dragon into battle and burned down the entire country. Then he jumped into a volcano. It was so romantic."
"Uhhh…"
"No, no, no!" Ikki protested. "The best way to win a girl's heart is to brew a love potion of rainbows and sunsets that makes true lovers sprout wings and fly into a magical castle in the sky, where they get married and eat clouds with spoons and use stars as ice cubes in their moonlight punch. Forever and ever and ever!"
"The volcano is starting to make sense now."
Just then we heard light chuckling.
"Oh, hi, Pema." I greeted the woman, I couldn't believe I hadn't sensed her approach, I should know better than to let my guard down. "Uh, how long were you standing there?"
"Long enough." She replied. "But trust me; I know what you're going through. Years ago I was in the exact the same situation, with Tenzin."
"Daddy was in love with someone else before you?" Ikki asked.
"That's right."
"So, may I ask what you did?" I inquired.
"Well, for the longest time, I did nothing. I was so shy and scared of rejection, but watching my soul mate spend his life with the wrong woman became too painful. So I hung my chin out there and I confessed my love to Tenzin. And the rest is history."
The two little girls sighed at the romantic story, but it wasn't that simple to me.
"That's a nice story, Pema, but I'm not really the 'confess-your-feelings' kind of person."
At my response, Ikki pouted and Airbended herself so that she was right behind me and grabbed my ponytail and began to yank it, hard.
"Stop being such a meanie, Noak!" The child demanded. "Tell Korra all about the wonderful love that you have for her! Do it! Now, now, now! You boys are so stupid because you can't tell a girl how you feel!"
Pema had to pull the child away from me before she ripped out my hair with her frantic tugging. It was worse than the harassment these children inflicted upon me when we first met. Ikki had launched at me with seemingly endless questions and comments about why I had the same hairstyle as Korra and why we looked so 'cute' together, while Tarrlok and Korra had simply been snickering at my humiliation. But, this little incident had made me realize that I needed to at least make an effort to show Korra how I truly felt about her, and I would do after the Pro-Bending match tonight.
Tarrlok's POV:
Once again, Korra had done a spectacular job at her Pro-Bending match; of course, Noatak and I already knew she would be amazing. I was still a little upset by the fact that we had to quit from my taskforce (or the other me's taskforce, whatever), as well as the fact that it became clear that Korra had feelings for Noatak but she only saw me as a brother figure, but I suppose you can't have everything. Noatak and I had been on fairly tense terms recently, and I wanted to make up with him as well as to reestablish my friendship with Korra, so I figured that the three of us should all go out to dinner tonight; you know, as a way to celebrate Korra's team getting into the championship and all that. As soon as Korra and her teammates returned victoriously to where Noatak and I were waiting, I gave a friendly high-five that she happily returned.
"Korra," I heard Noatak begin to say, "there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Really, what is it, Noak?" She asked.
"Well, I-" He didn't finish what he was going to say as Miss Sato suddenly came in to congratulate her boyfriend. I noticed that Korra got a rather disgusted look on her face when she saw how lovey-dovey Mako and his girlfriend were being; I had to admit it was kind of making me feel uncomfortable too. As Bolin walked over, I noticed he was going to say something to Korra too, and I just figured he was going to ask her if she wanted to go out and celebrate the team's victory like me, so I just decided to beat him to the punch.
"Hey, Korra," I said, "how about we all go out to dinner to celebrate?"
"That sounds like a great idea, Tarro." She replied.
"Great, the four of us can all hang out tonight." I turned to Mako and Asami. "I would invite you two as well, but you both seem a little preoccupied." Mako responded by glaring at me, but I just shrugged. That Mako guy really annoyed me, he clearly had feelings for Korra even though he already had a girlfriend, it was ridiculous. I noticed that Bolin was a little off-put by my intercession, I didn't quite understand why…oh, had he been about to ask Korra on a date? Oh well, too late now, not that I regret it much. I just casually slung my arms over Korra and Bolin's shoulders in a friendly manner and looked at my brother. "Just us friends all hanging out to celebrate a triumph."
Noatak's POV:
I was going to kill him. That's the second time in this new life that someone by the name of Tarrlok got in the way of me having a moment with Korra. Alright, true he managed to stop Bolin from asking her out, but he could've just distracted him instead of shanghaiing us all into a friendly get-together. So we all found ourselves at Narook's, eating noodles together. Korra's table-manners were just as awful as they had always been, I didn't mind though as I found it to be rather endearing. It was good to be eating Water Tribe food again, and I sensed that Korra was happy about it as well, not that the food on Air Temple Island isn't good but there's just something about eating your native cuisine that is very fulfilling.
"So, how'd you guys like it?" Bolin asked us, his mouth full.
"It's delicious, and totally authentic." Korra responded in kind. "I didn't realize how much I missed Water Tribe grub."
"I second that." Tarrlok agreed, raising his hand like he would if they were taking a vote on the council. Old habits die hard I guess.
"I must admit," I added, "this place does make quality noodles." Just as they had done in that other life.
Just then, I noticed Korra's attention get diverted to something and I also moved my gaze in that direction.
"Hey," Korra said to Bolin, "who's that creepy guy over there who keeps glaring at us?"
"That's Tahno and the Wolfbats." Bolin replied. Oh yes, I knew who those people were alright. "The reigning champs three years running. Don't make eyes contact." He warned us, holding up his hands; of course, Korra completely disregarded what he said and sent a powerful glare back at the Wolfbat captain in response. This was going to get interesting.
"Uh-oh, here he comes." Bolin stated as Tahno and his cronies got up from their table and started towards us. "Now don't mess with this guy, he's a nasty dude." Bolin immediately resumed eating, trying his best to look as small and helpless as possible. I remembered the arrogance of those Wolfbats in that other life, right before I took their Bending away.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Fire Ferrets. Pro-bending's saddest excuse for a team." Tahno drawled once he reached our table. "Tell me, how did a couple of amateurs like you luck your way into the tournament? Especially you, Uh-vatar." Korra scoffed in response. "You know, if you'd like to learn how a real pro Bends, I could give you some private lessons." He leered at Korra, and I instantly felt like I was going to snap at the innuendo in his suggestion.
"You wanna go toe-to-toe with me, pretty boy?" Korra responded, standing up challengingly and glaring at Tahno.
"Go for it, I'll give you the first shot."
"Korra, don't," Bolin whispered to her, "he's just trying to bait you; if you hit him, we're out of the tournament."
I stood up then, I wasn't about to let this guy get away with talking to Korra in such a manner, even if I did know he would get his due.
"Maybe she can't hit him, but I sure can." I said.
"It's okay, Noak, I got this." Korra assured me, outing a hand up to indicate that she could handle this herself. She looked Tahno dead in the eyes, and before I even realized what had happened, she brought her fingers to her lips and whistled, summoning Naga who burst through the window of the restaurant with a ferocious roar. Tahno fell backwards, only to be caught by his teammates and groupies; once he regained his composure, h motioned for his associates to follow him and they skulked back to their booth. I was impressed that Korra hadn't risen to the bait, and that she hadn't either pounded Tahno's face in or incinerated him with her Firebending, that girl never ceases to amaze me. We all broke out into fits of laughter.
Later on we all sat down at the bar for drinks; Korra and Bolin got into a belching contest, much to Tarrlok's disgust and my amusement, and afterwards we all went out to Harmony Tower to look at the amazing view. Korra was absolutely enthralled by it, and I had to admit it was nice being up there with her. It would have better if someone hadn't decided to make this a group outing and that Korra and I could enjoy this alone. Every time I tried to get Korra away from the other two so I could tell her how I felt about her, something happened and it didn't come to pass. By the time we got back to the island, I went straight to mine and Tarrlok's room and started banging my head against the wall.
"What are you doing?" Tarrlok asked.
"Banging my head against the wall." I replied casually.
"I can see that. Any particular reason why?"
"Oh, I think you know perfectly well why."
"No, please enlighten me." I could see that sneaky politician's smirk on his face.
"Every time I tried to talk to Korra alone, every time, something happened! And it was all because you had to take us all on a friendly evening out. Why couldn't you see that I clearly wanted to ask her on a date? Why did you…" I trailed off when his grin just kept widening and I thought he would burst out laughing.
"Well, well, well, big brother. Who would've thought it? A former Bloodbending leader of an anti-Bending revolution, who threatened to destroy the Avatar, is falling in love with her."
I felt like I had just been slapped in the face. Along the way in all of this, I kept pushing away the fact that I had once been Korra's enemy, I had sought to destroy her, and here I was being a jealous, angst-ridden teenage boy. The spirits should've sent me and my brother to the deepest, darkest region of the Spirit World rather than this, the ultimate lesson in ironic punishment. I had fallen for Korra, completely and hopelessly, body and soul, and it took me until now to finally admit to myself that it was more than just teenage hormones and the fact that she was probably the single most attractive woman I had ever seen. This could not end well.
Korra's POV:
I was on my way in to play for our quarter-final match, we are so close to the finals that I can practically taste it, and Mako was standing there waiting. He looked irritated, I really don't get why.
"What kind of game are you playing?" He demanded.
"Uh…Pro-Bending? We've got the quarter-final match." I responded.
"No, I mean with the guys. What are you playing at, Korra?"
"What's your problem? Have a little spat with your girlfriend or something?"
"What? No! That's not…urgh! I'm just looking out for my little brother, okay. He hasn't stopped going on about you, and I don't think it's a good idea for you to be leading him on like that."
"What are you talking about?" Now I was really confused. "We were just hanging out with the guys and having fun, not that you'd understand what 'fun' is."
"It's just that…I…" Hold on a minute, I knew what was going on now.
"Wait, you're not worried about Bolin, you're jealous. You have feelings for me."
"What? Jealous? Don't be ridiculous."
"Ha. You're just so full of yourself that you thought I would instantly start falling all over myself for you like so many of your fangirls. Alright, I'll admit that at first I was a little star-struck by you, I mean you're a big-shot Pro-Bender and all that, but you didn't even acknowledge my existence until I showed how great I am in the arena. You're jealous that I'm becoming friends with your brother and the fact that Noak and I are already as close as we are. Admit it, you like me."
"No, I'm with Asami." He protested, but I could hear the denial in his voice.
"Yeah, but when you're with her, you're thinking about me and what me and the guys are doing, aren't you?"
"Get over yourself!"
"Only when you do. I'm just being honest."
"You're crazy!"
"And you're a liar and a jerk!"
Man, I was so mad at him I just stormed off to get ready for the game. The nerve of him! Thinking that he can just flaunt his relationship and then tell me I can't even spend time with the guys. And how dare he accuse me of leading Bolin on? We're just friends and he knows it. But that jerk can't even stand the thought of me spending time with friends because he thinks that all girls should just fall for him, he's just as bad as that Tahno guy with a slutty broad on each arm, only in a control-freak form. Ugh, whatever, I have a match to win.
Tarrlok's POV:
As Noatak and I watched, it became clear to both of us that something was going on between Korra and Mako. They were clearly arguing amongst themselves, which is never good for a team, and they almost seemed like they were going to lose, but luckily Bolin stepped up to the plate for them and won them the game. After the match ended, I high-fived Korra and Bolin.
"Great game, guys." I said. "But Korra, what was up with you and Mako? You guys get in an argument or something?" I knew full well that Mako was within earshot.
"Huh." She scoffed. "He was getting all jealous because I've been hanging out with you three. I mean, it's none of his business who I hang out with, am I right?"
"Pfft, totally."
She then turned to Bolin. "And he also had the nerve to accuse me of leading you on, Bolin. Can you believe him? We're just friends, right?"
"Yeah." He agreed, though with some slight sense of disappointment. "Just…friends."
As Korra walked off to change out of her uniform, I put my hand on Bolin's shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Welcome to the friendzone, buddy. There's always room for one more."
He nodded sadly.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being friendzoned. It just means that our relationship with her is sturdiest, but any romantic relationship will always be uncertain. No matter what, we've got to be there for her." He nodded in agreement. "And besides, are you sure you had genuinely romantic feelings for her?"
"Huh?"
"Well, when did you start thinking that you two were meant to be together or whatever sentiment you had?"
"I guess I started feeling that way after I almost got 'equalized' by Amon."
"And there it is. You're not in love with her; you're in love with the fact that she saved your Bending. It's just hero-worship, and it can't replace true friendship."
He seemed to brighten at that. Wow, I never knew I could give such good advice. I thought the whole 'inner wisdom' hoo-ha was Tenzin's shtick. I guess sometimes you can surprise yourself.
"Hey," I added, "how's about we go for a best-buds only night. We can eat our weight in noodles and talk about manly stuff."
"Yeah, with no girls or annoying big brothers to bug us!"
And so we made our way over to Narook's once again.
By the next morning, we learned that staying out all night and scarfing down noodles was not such a great idea. Luckily we had our 'annoying big brothers' to carry us home.
Korra's POV:
Last night, after Bolin had managed to snag us a victory, I had another yelling match with Mako. He really just can't get over himself. Lucky for me, Noak showed up and managed to get me away from him and back to the island. I really hope Mako learns that the world doesn't revolve around him and we can just go back to being friends. Noak was really comforting, and I sensed that he wanted to say something to me but he was struggling to get it out, he'd been like that a lot lately. This morning, Noak and I both realized that Tarro hadn't come back all night since he and Bolin went out for their 'guy time', when they got back it turned out that 'guy time' means getting wasted on noodles right before our big game. Tarro spent most of the day asleep on the bench in the locker room, Noak finally managed to bring him round when the game started up, and they both called out wishes for good luck, we would definitely need it. Mako was still mad and Bolin was a wreck, we clearly didn't seem like we would win. We eventually got to a point where we would need a knockout to win, and Mako and Bolin got blasted into the pool. It was all up to me now. I was not going to let the team down because of my fight with Mako, even if he was the one who started it, so I grit my teeth and Pro-Bended like I'd never Pro-Bended before.
"It didn't seem possible, folks," I heard the announcer, Shiro Shinobi, say, "but the Fire-Ferrets are headed to the finals!"
I did it! I got my team to the finals! I was ecstatic as the guys came over to hug me and pat me on the back in congratulations. I turned to Mako, firmly resolved to stop whatever was making him be a jerk.
"Look, Mako, I know you're confused or whatever, but I really want us to be friends, okay?"
He sighed and nodded in agreement. Just then, those arrogant Wolfbat jerks came in. Tahno made a few snide comments before heading off to his match. Asami then came in to see her boyfriend and to compliment me on my victory. I have to say, Asami's a pretty cool girl, why she likes Mako is a complete mystery to me though. I then turned my attention to Bolin, who had gotten a nasty blow to the shoulder; as I healed him, I heard the bell ring and the winners announced. The Wolfbats had won? Already? We all hurried over to see it for ourselves, and sure enough those three jerks were standing there triumphant. I looked over at their opponents who were being carried off on stretchers. This was not a good sign.
Hey, hey, folks. How'd ya like my new take on this episode? Mako's a total jerk, and I felt like making that clear to everyone, including Korra. Well, hope to see you soon. Bye.