Ming Hua's body laid on a table in the Omashu hospital morgue, motionless, eyes closed. The doctor sighed as he started taking off his gloves.
"She's really gone, then," Lin mumbled, standing next to General Iroh and Korra.
The doctor nodded solemnly. "Yes, she is. I'm still not entirely sure what it is that happened to her. Her eyes are bloodshot, though there seem to be no signs of internal damage. It couldn't have been from her, um..." He hesitantly glanced at Iroh, who was still not quite at a hundred percent, physically or mentally. "Previous wounds. It's unheard of."
Korra sighed and shook her head, still trying to wrap her head around the circumstances surrounding Ming Hua's death. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for checking, doctor."
He nodded. "Of course, Avatar, General, Chief." He set his gloves on a cart, hesitating. "Does she have any family that you know of?"
Korra shook her head regretfully. "No, I...don't think so."
The doctor nodded grimly, looking back at Ming Hua's body. "I see. Well...what do you wish to do with the body, then? Burial? Cremation?"
Iroh grimaced.
"What are we going to do with her?" Korra asked.
Lin looked down in thought for a moment. "You guys need to start searching for Ghazan again. He's your top priority." She uncrossed her arms. "I'll stay for her cremation."
Korra nodded. "Alright. If you say so."
Lin put a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful, Korra, all of you. Find Ghazan. Stop him."
Korra nodded again. "Thanks, Lin. We will."
As Lin stayed behind with the doctor, Korra and Iroh walked out, heading to the airship.
Korra looked at the visibly distressed general with concern as they walked. "What's wrong?" she gently asked.
He sighed with a shake of his head. "She's...dead. She's just gone, and we don't even know how. I...I never got the chance to apologize for what I did."
Korra frowned, nodding in understanding. She struggled for comforting words. "You didn't do that to her. That was the poison. You shouldn't have to apologize for what you can't control."
"But I could have controlled it. I should've known Raljun was the traitor."
Korra frowned, nodding again. "We think we can control everything that happens to us, but we can't. There's just some things in life that are out of our reach. There's things we can change, and there's things we have to accept."
Iroh stopped rubbing his chin, his eyes widening slightly in realization. "You're speaking from personal experience."
"There's a little bit of your great great uncle in there too."
Iroh looked at the floor as they walked. He finally sighed, his grimness alleviating. "You're...you're right. Ming Hua wasn't my fault. Ghazan forced that by not telling her about the double agent." He looked up, finally smiling. "Thank you, Korra. Tenzin was right about you. You really have learned a lot as Avatar."
Korra smiled back and nodded. "You're welcome. And thanks. It's kinda part of the job description."
Iroh smirked. "Funny you should say that..."
"Funny? How?"
Iroh rubbed his chin. "I've been thinking...about asking Lee if—"
"Guys!" Bolin yelled as he ran up to them. "Guys, guys, guys!"
Korra looked at him. "Bolin? What?"
He waved. "Asami and Lee got the radio working!"
#
As Lee twisted the last pair of wires together, the radio's display whirred back on.
"We got it!" Asami exclaimed, putting her hands on the console. "It's stable now! Well, as stable as it's gonna get, at least."
"Great," Lee sighed as he knelt. He got to his feet, looking at the flickering frequency dials. The radio certainly wasn't entirely stable, but hopefully they did enough to keep it running so they could track wherever Raljun's message went to.
Lee took a step back, scratching his mustache. "So," he started, "Asami, uh...why did you want to work with me so bad—"
"Thank you," she said.
He blinked and looked at her. "Thank...thank me? For what?"
"For what you said at Zaofu."
Lee furrowed his brow. "What did I say at Zaofu?"
"You told me I should work things out with Kuvira," Asami said, holding her arm. "I was rude to you when you first said that, and I'm sorry. But...it got me thinking ever since we rescued Wei. That, and with seeing how much pain Kuvira was in for something she's sorry for, and seeing how honest she was with her kids about her past, I finally realized that I should forgive her. And I did."
Lee smiled. "So you two are like...friends now?"
Asami shrugged happily. "I guess so, or on our way to be. Just, thank you again. Thank you."
Lee nodded. "You're so welcome. Glad I could help."
Bolin clambered into the room, with Korra, Iroh, Kuvira, and the others not far behind. "You two got it working?" Iroh asked.
Asami nodded. "Yep. It's as functional as it's going to get."
Iroh nodded. "Great. You didn't mess with the coordinates at all, did you?"
Lee shook his head. "Nope. It's just as Raljun left it. Let's see..." He bent down, trying to make out the coordinates as best he could from the flickering dials. "He sent the message somewhere near...two-twelve south, and...one-fifteen east."
Kuvira gasped.
Korra turned to her. "Whoa. What? Kuvira, what's wrong?"
"That's," Kuvira breathed, shaking her head, "that's where I built...the spirit-cannon..."
Korra's eyes widened. "Oh no..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bolin said. "Wait a minute. Kuvira, you mean...you mean that place in the middle of that desert where Toph and Opal and Lin and I saved the Beifongs?"
Kuvira nodded, shakily raising a hand to cover her mouth.
Bolin's eyes widened too. "Oh no. Oh man..."
"This," Asami mumbled, "this is bad..."
"Hang on," Mako said. "Just because they're where Kuvira built the weapon, doesn't mean they've rebuilt it. Like they have the resources for it."
"Or the blueprints," Noatak added.
Lee shook his head. "No, this...Maybe this is what they've been planning all along. What if they've been playing dumb? All this chaos? Distracting us, so that they could build it in secret?"
"We're not going to rule anything out!" Iroh said with urgency. "Asami, get to the helm! We're heading to those coordinates as soon as the airship warms up!"
"Sure thing!" she said, hurrying away.
"Kuvira," Iroh said softly to her, "if they really did rebuild that weapon, we won't give them the chance to use it. I promise."
With Korra's hand on her shoulder, Kuvira nodded, keeping her breathing in check.
#
Ghazan lounged on a chair in the hideout near Chin. Soldiers and engineers worked on a spirit-bomb by torch-light in the spacey cavern. They'd made a few alterations to the overall design of what used to be "the Cleanser." For starters, the whole entire cannon part was gone. The energy wasn't going to come out of there anyways. Now it was much more compact.
They had all the spirit vines they needed safely stored away, where they wouldn't be blown up this time in the event of malfunction. And if it did malfunction, Ghazan would be the only one to survive the blast. How liberating. Come to think of it, it was their second supply of spirit vines, actually.
Lately, everything had to be done a second time.
But, ironically, that was only Ghazan's second biggest concern.
"Sir," a soldier relayed, walking up to him as he idly floated a small lava shuriken around, "this bomb's almost finished. They'll be ready for load-up within the hour."
Ghazan nodded apathetically. "Mm-hm."
The soldier moved to walk away, but stopped. "Sir," he asked, with awe, "what's it like?"
Ghazan let the shuriken fall into his hand. "What's what like?"
"You know...being an Avatar."
Ghazan stood up with a long inhale. "Excruciating."
The soldier furrowed his brow. "R-Really?"
Ghazan's answer was a lava shuriken across the soldier's throat.
He stepped over the twitching body. "I'm getting used to it."
He turned to a shocked soldier who had witnessed what he just did. He waved at the corpse. "Clean this up. This just...isn't exactly what I signed on for."
Reluctantly, the soldier went to drag the body away.
"All the more reason to complete the bond quickly," Vaatu hummed from within.
Ghazan scowled, clenching his fists.
All the more reason for everything to burn.
#
"Alright, Park," Kuvira said to him as she knelt, holding his shoulders, "Tenzin's going to take you back to Air Temple Island on Oogi. Anaya and Takeo will be waiting with Pema. You'll be safe there. Okay?"
Park nodded. "Okay, Mommy."
Kuvira smiled. She wrapped her arms around her son. "I love you, so much," she said softly.
He nuzzled her. "I love you too, Mommy."
Once she finally let him go, she picked him up and handed him over to Tenzin. "Keep him safe, Tenzin."
He nodded, gently bouncing the toddler in his arms. "Of course, Kuvira. I will. You be careful too."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Tenzin went to say something else, but Park cut him off by yanking down on his beard.
Kuvira giggled with a hand over her mouth. "He may do that sometimes. Sorry."
Tenzin rolled his eyes, sighing in tolerance. "It's like Meelo all over again..."
#
With Iroh mostly healthy and back at the airship helm, the warehouse where Kuvira built the spirit-weapon wasn't too far a flight from Omashu, just under an hour or so, almost all the way back to Zaofu. That meant some time to talk, to relax, and more importantly, to catch up.
"So," Korra asked Mako and Bolin as they stood in the lobby, "are you guys okay with this?"
Bolin shook his head with wide eyes. "No. No, not really, no..."
They were watching something they never thought they'd see: Zaheer, apparently, having a conversation with Noatak and Lee.
Mako scratched his cheek with crossed arms. "I can't help but notice something's, uh...different about Zaheer."
Lee cracked a joke while punching the air. Noatak laughed and...Zaheer smiled.
"You know what I think?" Korra said with a smile. "I think Zaheer's changed."
"Something changed alright," Bolin said, cringing. "This...this is so weird."
Korra remembered something. She nudged Mako with her elbow. "Hey," she teased, "guess who was wrong?"
Mako rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Zaheer could change after all." He recrossed his arms, deep in thought. "What's to thank for that? Your prison visits?"
"Or maybe," Bolin suggested, "he's just finally realized the grim reality that his flawed belief of anarchy only destroys everyone and everything around him."
Mako and Korra both raised a brow at him. He shrugged. "Just spit-ballin' over here."
Korra sighed with a smile. "Well, whatever it was, I'm glad it happened."
"Man," Bolin said in thought, "if Zaheer changed, that means, like, anyone could change! Even Vaatu!"
Korra lost her smile. She winced, biting the inside of her cheek, those two days in the Tree of Time resurfacing. "I'm not so sure about that one."
Her revelation started resurfacing too.
If Ghazan is actually...
"Speaking of 'not-so-sure'," Mako said, nodding to the side, "what got into them?"
Korra looked up and over at Asami and Kuvira. They were standing near the side of the lobby, laughing and talking and giggling with each other like old friends.
"Wait, wait," Kuvira said amongst her laughter. "He really called you that?"
Asami nodded, giggling just as much as Kuvira. "Yep."
Kuvira couldn't help but laugh more. "Oh Park," she sighed, touching her forehead. "I'm so sorry. He just has thing with remembering names."
"No, no, it's fine," Asami said, her laughter finally dying. "I thought it was really funny. At least he's trying. If he's any indication of what Anaya and Takeo are like, I'm even more excited to meet them now."
"Ohhh my," Kuvira said, finally done giggling. "I'm sure they'll be excited to meet you too. Anaya tends to be a little shy around newer people though."
"That's fine," Asami said with a shrug. "I used to be pretty shy when I was a kid too."
It made Korra smile until it hurt. "They made up," she told Mako and Bolin.
They both raised a brow. "Really?" Mako asked. "Asami...forgave Kuvira?"
"Yep. Last night."
Mako and Bolin exchanged surprised looks with each other. They both sighed in relief. "Well...great!"
"Awesome!"
Korra sighed with a smile as Kuvira and Asami walked over. "You don't even know..."
Once Asami stopped, she looked over at Zaheer. "Okay," she said, "this is really weird."
"I know!" Bolin whispered. "He actually, like...has emotions! I thought all his meditating was weird at first, but now I don't think I'd mind if he started doing it again!"
Korra leaned forward with a smirk, looking at Kuvira. "Kuvira? What do you think about Zaheer?"
Kuvira looked over, assimilating the airbender with a gently furrowed brow. "Well...I wasn't expecting it to happen, but...I think it's a good thing that it did."
"Does this mean he's gonna be part of Team Avatar?" Bolin asked, obviously hoping for a "no."
Korra shrugged. "Maybe. Who knows?" She raised a brow at Kuvira. "Is Kuvira part of Team Avatar?"
Everyone started pondering at Kuvira as well.
Lee scratched his neck. "So...is it a skirt or not? I mean, it looks like a skirt."
Noatak shook his head. "You keep coming back to that. I do not think Korra's ever been one to wear 'skirts'."
"C'mon. She's a girl! She's gotta wear skirts sometimes."
"Kuvira doesn't."
"That's cuz she's Kuvira. I...Well she is more of a 'dress' kind of lady..."
"Lady Kuvira," Noatak said to himself with a smirk.
"Yeah don't tell her I said that. Back to Korra. It's Water Tribe custom, right?"
"I...I'm not sure."
"What do you mean you're 'not sure'?"
Noatak shrugged. "I haven't lived in the Water Tribe for a decade. Things change. Culture changes."
"Indeed," Zaheer said.
Lee rolled his eyes. "Oh so you're telling me you never wore a skirt when you were a boy."
Noatak snorted. "Did you?"
Lee snorted back. "'Course not. Not my custom."
The airship's intercom system rang. "Everyone," Iroh's voice said heavily, "we're here...I think."
Noatak looked up with a furrowed brow. "He thinks?"
Lee elbowed him with a smirk. "Hey, maybe the poison messed with him more than we..."
He trailed off as he noticed the massive, cavernous crater outside the airship windows.
"Oh no," Bolin mumbled, looking out the window with everyone. "Th-this is where the warehouse...Well, where it was."
Asami shook her head. "This means...they got it working."
"Or did it malfunction?" Mako asked. "Why would they have blown the warehouse up?"
"Why wouldn't they have?" Noatak shrugged as he walked up. "This is Ghazan."
"Or was," Lee mumbled.
Zaheer narrowed his eyes as he stared out the window.
"Kuvira?" Korra started softly, expecting the worst.
But Kuvira was only gazing out of the window at the crater, not anxious at all.
After a moment of thought, she slowly looked up. "I think—"
#
"N-No, really!" Baatar Jr. stammered on the other, fuzzy end of the radio. "When I was on house arrest, they took me to that warehouse and had me clear out every document I had! I...I got rid of everything!"
Kuvira sighed as she sat, microphone in hand. "Well, someone wanted the blueprints found. Someone on the inside must've misplaced them with the slim hope that Ghazan would find them eventually."
"Someone from the Red Lotus?"
"Most likely. Six years ago."
"Do you think...they're still in Zaofu?"
"I doubt it. They wouldn't be dumb enough to stay with you guys after that. They'd be gone from us running them out anyways."
"Wait a minute," Baatar said. "Y-You said they blew up the warehouse..."
"Yes? What about it?"
"Y-You know how Varrick altered the generator into a bomb when I had him and Bolin hostage?"
"Sure? I..."
Kuvira quickly realized what Baatar was getting at. "They have the faulty blueprints," she breathed, "with the redirected power source."
"Before I worked out the Varrick's setbacks, yes. I'm not saying that they accidentally blew themselves up, but...th-they may have accidentally blown themselves up."
Kuvira thought hard. "They...they might have, but Ghazan is more unpredictable that anyone we've ever faced. He's resourceful. He may have figured out the setbacks. He may have gotten the weapon working. Nothing's for certain yet. We'll find out."
"Oh goodness," Baatar sighed in worry. "Kuvira, please, be careful."
"I always am. Thank you."
She hung up the mic. She turned to everyone else in the communications room.
"So," Mako said, "if we do have a madman on the loose with a spirit weapon, we don't have any way of finding him."
Iroh sighed. "Well, everyone...any ideas?"
After a moment, Korra stepped up. "I think I got something."
#
"Okay," Lee said as he shook his head, "I'm not saying I'd be a better Avatar than you, but why couldn't you have done this like...three days ago?"
"If Ghazan is still alive," Korra explained, wind blowing through her hair, "with an active, spirit weapon, I should be able to sense it from here. And hopefully, he'll be there along with it. I can't sense spiritual energy where there isn't any spiritual energy."
She turned to Zaheer as they stood in the opened exit bay. "Ready?"
He nodded, holding out his arm. "If you are."
"You bet I am," she said with a grin, grabbing on, looking down at the Swamp below. "I'm sorry I was unconscious when you guys first did this. But, you know, spirits of darkness trying to exact revenge and all that."
Zaheer gave a chuckle as he flew himself and Korra out of the airship to the Banyan Grove tree.
As they flew closer, Korra noticed that three entire roots were missing, completely desecrated.
So they knew what to do to power up the weapon...
She wasn't sure what emotion followed the thought that came next.
Why didn't Toph stop them?
As Zaheer landed on one of the many remaining roots, Korra let go. She walked up the slope, and knelt down next to the trunk. She placed her hand against the bark, then closed her eyes. She inhaled. A pale glow emanated out from her as she began to feel for whatever energy she could find.
As he waited, Zaheer raised a brow at a little flinch Korra made as she felt. She didn't stop feeling, not for another minute or so.
Though when she did, she practically jumped to her feet. "You've found it?" Zaheer asked.
Korra shook her head. "No..."
She suddenly leapt off of the side of the root. She fell, cushioning herself with a sphere of air before she hit the ground. Zaheer floated down after her in confusion.
Korra ran to a ridge and hopped on top of it. She looked down the slope at the old woman shivering at the bottom. "I found Toph."
#
Toph grimaced and groaned as she sat on a cot in the airship lobby, muddied, still shivering. One of the nurses gingerly tended to the enormous, deep, burned gash across her back, just barely an inch away from lacerating her spine.
"What happened?" Korra asked her as everyone worriedly gathered around.
Toph coughed. "I tripped. What's it look like?"
"Ghazan," Korra realized.
"Oh," Toph grumbled, wincing again. "So that's his name..."
"How long were you unconscious for?" Kuvira asked.
Toph snorted. "I never was unconscious. I laid there all night. Oh, thanks for finding me, by the way. I don't think any of the swampbenders would've known much about healing, or known much in general."
Iroh stepped up. "Toph, did you fight him? Ghazan?"
She shook her head. "Not really, no. I was going to, but that coward tricked me. I..." She nodded behind herself. "Well, I guess you see what he did."
She raised her head, her crotchetiness evaporating into brevity. "If you guys haven't figured it out already, he has another spirit weapon, and it's operational. I felt two waves of incredible energy from here. He was going on about how he was going to 'change the world', but to me, it sounds like he's only going to destroy it. And he's desperate enough to do it in any way he can."
She looked towards Kuvira. "I tried to stop him, Kuvira. I really did. I'm sorry. He got the better of me."
Kuvira looked down, nodding, her voice quiet. "Thank you."
Iroh sighed angrily. "Darn it. It's only a matter of time before Ghazan tries to use the weapon. But...where would he attack first?"
Korra smirked, nudging Kuvira back up. "Where do my enemies always end up attacking?"
Noatak caught on. "Republic City."
"Oh man," Asami sighed. "Future Industries just finished rebuilding it."
"All the more reason he'd attack there first," Zaheer said.
"That's," Kuvira breathed, "that's where my kids are..."
"That's where...everyone is!" Bolin added.
Iroh shook his head. "No...no, no! We need to get to Republic City now! Someone get President Raiko on the radio! He needs to have the city evacuated immediately! Ghazan could be on his way there right now!"
"I'm on it!" Asami said, hurrying away.
"Everyone else," Iroh said, "get ready."
He looked out the window, his voice soft. "The Black Lotus is going on one last mission."
#
Raiko worked in his office, sorting through papers.
Suddenly, his radio started beeping.
He sighed. He set down his papers to pick up the mic. "Yes? Who is it?"
"President Raiko," Asami said, "it's Asami. Asami Sato. There's no time to waste. You need to have Republic City evacuated, immediately."
Raiko frowned. "Evacuated? What for?"
"It's Ghazan. He's rebuilt the spirit weapon that the Earth Empire used to destroy Republic City six years ago. The Red Lotus is planning to do the same thing again."
"W-What?! Rebuilt the spirit weapon?!"
"Yes. Please, Raiko, we don't know how close Ghazan could be. Evacuate Republic City now while you still have the chance. Hurry!"
Raiko struggled to recompose himself. "O-Okay. I will. Thank you."
He hung up the radio. He immediately switched to the transmission for the police station.
"Republic City is at risk for attack by the Red Lotus!" he yelled into the mic. "We need to have everyone evacuated, immediately!"
#
After they dropped a bandaged and medicated Toph back off in the Swamp (she'd requested to stay there), Iroh set course for Republic City. Everyone geared up in all their armor and equipment for what felt like the first, and yet the last time, determined and ready to stop Ghazan at all costs.
Mako and Bolin strapped on their boots and gauntlets, Asami pulled on her shock-gloves, Lee got on his generator-pack and Noatak his pouches, and after putting on her metal uniform, Kuvira had the audacity to toss a strip over to Zaheer so he could reshave his head. He took the strip with no bitterness or hostility of any sort, only a smile.
Korra smirked at their little exchange. He hadn't really been joining in everyone's conversations all that much, but he would stand to the side, listening with a smile as opposed to his reclusive meditating. Korra was right, and she could hardly believe it: something was so different about Zaheer.
She just hoped she was wrong about Ghazan.
After discussing something with one of the crewmen, Iroh walked over and picked up one of the gauntlets for himself.
"Iroh," Korra hesitantly stopped him.
He looked up with a furrowed brow. "What?"
Korra exchanged concerned looks with everyone else. "You can't fight with us."
"W-What?" he said. "Y-Yes I can! I'm not about to abandon all of you! Look at what we're about to go up against! I have to lead you!"
"Iroh," she gently stopped him again, "you were the one telling us that we can't go into things without thinking. You're not healthy yet, you've said so yourself."
"It's for the best," Kuvira said softly. "Please."
Lee stepped up. "You're only gonna get hurt more than you already are. That's the last thing we need."
Iroh stood there, the gauntlet tight in his grasp. He finally sighed. "Okay. You're right." He reluctantly put the gauntlet back.
"Then, everyone," he announced, "here's the plan: I'll pilot the airship close enough for you all to infiltrate whatever Ghazan is transporting the weapon in. It could be train, an airship, a boat, anything. Whatever it is, we're going to stop it before it reaches Republic City. Stay focused, stay calm, and be prepared. We stop Ghazan and the Red Lotus today."
Zaheer didn't join the hoorah, but he did nod.
#
Ghazan stood in a Red Lotus airship's helm, arms crossed. The engines whirred as the soldiers prepared for take-off.
"Everything ends," he muttered, "today."
#
"Lee," Korra said quietly, "can I talk with you for a minute?"
Lee frowned as he followed her to the side of the lobby, away from everyone else. "Sure, I guess. What is it?"
She turned to him. "I've been meaning to ask...why did you do what you did for Ming Hua?"
Lee blinked in surprise. He looked away. "I...I'm not really sure. It was like when I first saw Noatak bloodbend you and Mako back when he was Amon. It...kinda felt like Iroh betrayed me, like Noatak did, y'know?"
Korra nodded with crossed arms, quietly understanding.
Lee continued. "I've been beaten up like she was before. It's not fun, let me tell ya. The night Iroh tortured her, I, uh...made an apology to her, tea and everything."
Korra smiled. "Huh. I never knew you could cook."
Lee smirked sheepishly. "I can't. I told her we weren't going to do anything like that to her again. I guess I was right, cuz, well, she's dead."
Korra looked away nodding. She bit the inside of her cheek. "Do you think she killed herself?"
Lee sighed. "I...I got no idea."
Korra sighed as well. "Same here. You only talked with her that one time?"
"No. I checked up on her once after we got to Omashu, after the nurse had patched her up. I...asked if killing Kuvira and Park was ever part of her and Ghazan's plan, but she said no. Then I asked about the double agent and...she had no idea."
"Whoa, really?"
Lee nodded. "Something seemed...different about her that whole second time. She didn't act like the crazy madwoman that would force Noatak to bloodbend people. She was...she was just different. I don't how else to put it."
Korra nodded, wrapping her head around all that Lee had told her. She realized something, something that almost caused her to smile. She looked back up, uncrossing her arms. "Okay. Thank you, Lee."
He nodded back with a small smile. "Sure thing, Korra."
The airship's intercom system rang. "Republic City is on the horizon," Iroh's voice said. "Get ready, everyone."
#
It had not taken long to evacuate Republic City, if a city evacuation could ever be considered "short." Ever since noon, every train, car, and boat had been used to transport civilians to safety in nearby United Republic towns and villages. Whatever Wu had done all those years ago during Kuvira's attack, it had certainly enlightened and eased the public into following evacuation orders without mass hysteria.
Bolin had offered the surprisingly convenient solution of having all, or at least most of the citizens just enter the Spirit World through the portal, instead of having them traveling to far off towns for safety, but...
"I'm," Korra mumbled with crossed arms, "I'm not sure. I don't know what would...could happen if more spiritual energy is added to the portal. It could be destroyed and trap everyone in the Spirit World, or it could overflow and destroy all of Republic City."
"It might make another spirit portal," Asami suggested.
"Or would a blast just go through the portal?" Mako asked.
"We won't let them get close enough to try," Noatak said. "One world being destroyed is enough."
Lee snorted, idly tossing and catching one of his staffs. "I'm all for no worlds being destroyed."
With confirmation that Takeo and Anaya were safe with Pema and the airbending kids in a town north of Republic City, and that Tenzin was on his way there with Park and no longer Air Temple Island, Kuvira was finally able to relax and think clearly. Korra's hand on her shoulder and a smile from Asami helped too.
The last group of civilians left the city limits over an hour before sundown. Iroh got radio confirmation from the police force. He thanked them before hanging up the mic.
"And now," he said softly, stepping back, "we wait."
They waited, circling around the spirit portal in the heart of Republic City. They kept a lookout for any trains or other airships coming from any direction. Iroh had asked Zaheer to fly to the airship roof to get a bird's-eye-view, to which he agreed, taking a portable radio along with him in case of emergency.
They waited until the sun hung low in the sky. No one tired (except for Bolin), and no one dozed off (except for Bolin). They kept vigilant over Republic City down below, empty, eerie, abandoned.
They waited...
...but nothing ever came.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Mako mumbled.
"I feel it too," Lee agreed. "Somethin' ain't right."
Korra and Kuvira and Asami exchanged worried looks.
Zaheer's radio buzzed in. "I can't help but feel we're missing something."
"If Zaheer thinks something's up," Bolin said, "something's gotta be up."
"We can't stop looking," Noatak said. "They could be here any minute."
Iroh rubbed his chin, sitting in the pilot's chair.
After another minute of uneasy waiting, a crewman timidly walked into the room.
Iroh looked up and turned to him, standing. "What is it?"
"We," the crewman said heavily, "we were just sent a wire..."
#
Zuko landed his dragon in the Fire Lord's palace plaza.
Izumi stopped talking with her servants, turning at the sound of the dragon. "Oh," she said solemnly. "Hello, Father. How did the funeral go?"
Zuko sighed with grief, still atop his dragon. "It went well. Tenzin and Bumi seemed fine, but Kya was doing worst, I'm afraid."
Izumi nodded. "I see..."
"They'll be alright," Zuko said. "They just need time, time to adjust. They'll..."
Izumi wasn't listening. She was looking upwards with wide eyes.
Zuko furrowed his brow. "What? Izumi, what's wrong?"
She couldn't say anything.
Zuko looked up into the sky as well. He saw an airship.
From that airship, Ghazan smiled. He ordered a soldier to hit the lever, and the exit bay opened up.
As he fell, plummeting down to the Fire Nation capital on top of the spirit-bomb, Ghazan drove a rock-covered fist into the glass. Vaatu lashed out from him.
The purple flash.
#
Iroh slammed into the console. "NO!" he screamed. "Mother! Grandfather! All those people!"
"The...entire capital?" Asami asked in disbelief.
"Well," the crewman said, "m-most of it. Over half of the city just...obliterated, a crater. N-No one's heard or seen anything of Izumi or Zuko. I...I don't know what to say."
"Ghazan," Bolin mumbled. "He really did that..."
Kuvira sat, cradling and shaking her head. "No," she muttered. "No, no..."
"Kuvira," Korra said desperately, holding her shoulders, "stay with me. Please, don't blame yourself for this. This is all on Ghazan. You couldn't have known anything about the blueprints. This isn't your fault."
Kuvira clenched her trembling jaw. "Why couldn't we have just blown that warehouse up, all those years ago..."
"Well," Lee said quietly, "Ghazan kinda did blow the warehouse up."
"Not now, Lee," Noatak whispered, glancing at Kuvira in concern.
Iroh stood with his fists against the console, teeth grinding. He took a breath, attempting to collect himself. "Everyone," he started hoarsely, "we...we have to stop Ghazan. We need to fly out and cut him off before he gets here. One city was enough. I...I can't force you to do this, but please, everyone, the—"
"Iroh," Korra gently stopped him, "we're gonna see this through."
Iroh blinked, losing his rage. He slowly turned around. "You're...you're really...?"
Everyone nodded.
"We won't rest until the Red Lotus is gone," Noatak said.
Mako nodded. "We're in this 'til the end."
"We're with you, General," Lee said.
Iroh met eyes with everyone. Korra nodded at him. He smiled. "Thank you, everyone," he said quietly. "Thank you."
He turned to the control console, and started to pilot the airship straight towards the Fire Nation.
#
They flew out into the ocean for over an hour. The sky had turned dark orange as evening came.
"There it is!" Bolin yelled.
Iroh looked out the window as he piloted the airship. High up in the sky, a much larger airship flew, bearing the symbol of the Earth Kingdom. But the Earth Kingdom had no business in United Republic waters. That airship was hijacked, by the Red Lotus.
"Get to the exit bay, everyone," Iroh said. He spun the wheel and threw a lever. "And be careful. It's time to finish this."
#
"Sir!" a soldier cried. "They're onto us!"
Ghazan turned to gaze out one of the windows of the airship, and saw another airship tailing them. He recognized that airship. It was the same one that they had all escaped in back at the Great Divide.
He wasn't sure if it was Vaatu or his own anger that flared in his chest.
"Stay on course," he ordered with a wave. "If they get in, wipe them out."
#
One of the crewmen opened the exit bay up as Iroh lowered the airship over the Red Lotus's airship. Everyone gazed down below.
"We don't have to fly this time," Bolin asked nervously, "do we?"
"General Iroh's one of the United Forces' best pilots," the crewman said, "but you can only get two airships so close together, y'know?"
Bolin whimpered.
"I'll fly slow," Zaheer stated.
Bolin whimpered.
Kuvira chuckled. "Bolin, would you rather go with me—"
He flung his arms around her, squeaking, "Yes, please."
"We got our teams?" Lee asked.
Korra nodded. "You, Noatak, Mako, and Bolin will find where they're storing the weapon. Kuvira, Asami, Zaheer, and I will find Ghazan. If we can get to the helm, we'll land the airship somewhere along the shore. I'm with Iroh, guys: let's finish this."
After Zaheer and Kuvira had gotten everyone safely onto the roof of the Red Lotus airship, via flying and lowering down on cables respectively, the crewman gave Iroh the all-clear to close the exit bay and fly back up, still tailing the Red Lotus airship, just in case.
"Come on!" Kuvira yelled with a wave as everyone steadied themselves, the wind blowing hard. "There should be an entrance hatch near the stern!"
They traversed along the top of the airship to the rear, where there was indeed a hatch. Kuvira metalbent it open, and one by one let everyone hop down inside, splitting up into their teams.
Zaheer was the last one to enter the hatch. But before he did, he took one last scan of the horizon.
#
"So, uh," Bolin asked as he, Mako, Noatak, and Lee ran through the halls of the airship, "where exactly could Ghazan keep a spirit-cannon in this thing?"
"I know," Mako agreed. "I don't get how he could fire it from an airship."
"Perhaps the exit bay," Noatak suggested.
"It's worth a shot," Lee said with a wave. "This way!"
They turned down a hall, straight into the path of several Red Lotus soldiers.
"We got company!" Mako yelled, leaping and kicking a wave of fire to cut the soldiers off.
"Oh man, oh man!" Bolin said, leaping behind Noatak. "Darn it, I don't have any rocks!"
As the soldiers scrambled back, Noatak pulled the water from his pouches. "Lee," he asked, "can we go by another route?"
Lee nodded. "Probably. We should be able to go 'round. Come on!"
#
Asami palmed a soldier in the face, shocking him down to the floor. Kuvira spun, shooting a strip around a soldier's arm and slamming him into a wall. Korra and Zaheer blew waves of air at the oncoming soldiers.
"How many of these guys are there?" Asami asked, getting to her feet.
"They're slowing us down!" Kuvira yelled. "At this rate we won't find Ghazan before we reach Republic City!"
Zaheer spin-kicked a soldier in the face with air. "You're right. I'll hold them off. You three, go."
Korra deflected a wave of fire. "Zaheer, are you sure?"
He nodded at her. "Yes. Find Ghazan, Korra."
She nodded back. "Alright." After one last blast of air, she waved for Kuvira and Asami to follow her to the helm. "Let's go, guys!"
#
Bolin slammed his shoulder into the door that lead into the exit bay, breaking it off of its hinges and crashing to the floor. The group of soldiers protecting the weapon whirled to him in surprise.
"I was just joking!" Lee told Noatak and Mako as they rushed into the room. "I didn't think he'd actually do it!"
"Agh!" Bolin groaned on the floor, clutching his shoulder. "Less talking, more fighting, more protecting me!"
He hung back as the others engaged the soldiers. All but two of them were nonbenders, the two being firebenders, though not very skilled ones. Noatak knocked one out with an ice chunk to the skull, while Mako and Lee double-teamed the other with a distractive blast of fire and a shock-staff to the neck.
With the room clear, the four of them looked at the weapon, and...
"That," Bolin observed, "does not look like a spirit-cannon."
"Y-Yeah," Lee agreed, scratching his mustache. "Where's the cannon?"
Mako stared the weapon, confused. It...was not the same one that Kuvira had used on that giant mecha-suit all those years ago. It was only a generator, with purple spirit vines glowing within a confined plated glass case, with wiring hooked up to it.
Noatak frowned. "How did this destroy the Fire Nation capital?"
Mako shook his head with a sigh. "Even Ghazan's grand plan doesn't make sense."
Lee grasped his shock-staffs, them crackling with electricity. "Whatever this thing is, let's trash it. One city was enough."
"W-Wait, Lee!" Noatak stopped him. "That might set it off!"
Mako thought hard. He finally sighed. "Exactly," he said, walking up to the weapon.
Bolin raised a brow. "Uh, Mako? What do you mean?"
"There's only one way to destroy it," Mako said, clenching his fists.
Bolin furrowed his brow. "Mako? Mako, I...No. Oh no. No! Mako, no! Don't! Please!"
Mako shook his brother off of himself. "I'm not asking for permission! I have to do this! I'm the only one who can! I'm the only lightningbender here! We're still out in the ocean. The explosion won't reach Republic City or anyone else. You guys need to find the others and get out before I overload the spirit vines. I'll give you ten minutes before I start."
"No," Lee stopped him. "You aren't. You aren't gonna do this."
Mako furrowed his brow. "Why not?"
Lee snorted. "Have you seen yourself? You lightning-burned your arm and got mentally scarred in less than a week, man. You've been through enough lately."
He stepped towards the weapon, confident and quiet. "I'll do this. I can disarm it. You all need to be off of the airship if it blows."
"N-No!" Noatak yelled. "Lee! You can't! This can't be the only way! There has to be another way to—!"
"Noatak," Lee stopped him gently, turning around, "it's been an honor serving you."
Noatak froze, speechless.
"You're sure about this?" Mako asked.
Lee nodded. "Ten minutes. Go get the others."
Noatak blinked. "L-Lee..."
"Come on!" Bolin urged, taking Noatak by his arm. "We need to go!"
As Bolin and Mako dragged him out the door, Noatak caught a glimpse of Lee kneeling down, shock-staff in hand, tearing a plate off of the weapon to begin disarming it.
#
"This must be it," Asami said as she, Kuvira, and Korra approached the door that lead to the airship's helm.
Korra breathed in and out. "Ghazan's just in there," she said, shaking her wrists. "Are you two ready for this?"
Asami nodded. "Of course."
"Only if you are," Kuvira said.
Korra cracked her knuckles with a smile. "Alongside you two? Always."
After Kuvira and Asami readied themselves, Korra leapt forward and air-kicked the door in.
Ghazan turned at the sound of the slam, standing alone on the elevated platform with the main control console, with quite the number of soldiers in the large room along with him, at other consoles.
"Ghazan!" Korra yelled, raising her fists. "It's over! Give up now while you still have the chance!"
The soldiers started moving towards the three of them.
"No," Ghazan calmly called them off. "Everyone...leave. I got this."
The soldiers stopped, exchanging confused looks with one-another.
Ghazan scowled. He slammed a rock-covered fist against the side of his console in sudden anger. "What part of 'leave' do you not understand?! GET OUT OF HERE!"
The soldiers all startled. They scrambled around Korra, Kuvira, and Asami to get out of the room as quickly as they could. The last one even closed the door behind him.
Ghazan sighed, calm again. "Well, well," he began with a smile, looking down at the three of them. "Can't exactly say I'm surprised to see you here right now, attempting to stop me once again. I take it you heard what happened to Izumi? I'll let you know she had a blast."
"The Fire Nation's all you're going to destroy, Ghazan," Korra called up to him. "You're not going to destroy Republic City too. Please, stop this now. No one else has to get hurt."
"But that's where you're wrong, Korra," Ghazan said with a grin. "Everyone has to get hurt. I'm not stopping at Republic City. I'm going to destroy the Water Tribes too, both of them, all the Air Temples, and now thanks to you, I've got the Prime Minister of the Earth Kingdom back in my sights. All the members of Parliament is gonna take a little while longer, but I'll get around to it. It'll be worldwide chaos when I'm done. Every government in the world: gone. A new age. Everything'll be changed, cleansed, forever."
"Korra," Asami said quietly, "I don't think we can talk him out of this."
"Hold on," Korra said softly. "There's just one more thing I need to try..."
She stepped forward, dropping his fists. "You really think you're going to be able to change the world like this? That's what Zaheer thought."
"Zaheer," Ghazan spat, "had some good ideas, but he didn't act on them. Killing world leaders isn't enough. You need to go all the way to truly change things."
Korra shook her head. "No. Zaheer finally realized that chaos isn't going to help the world at all. It's only going to ruin everything, he's said so himself. He's different now. He's changed."
"Yeah, yeah," Ghazan dismissed. "I know. You've 'changed' him, another brain-washed enemy of yours successfully turned into a 'friend'."
Korra fought down the sudden disturbed twang in her chest. "Brain-washed?"
Ghazan laughed. "You really think Kuvira changed because she wanted to?" He laughed harder. "She didn't have a choice! They locked her up like poodle-monkey and let you shove 'forgiveness' down her throat until she started choking it back out!"
He looked at Kuvira. "You know I'm right, Kuvira. I see it. Every time a smile leaves your face, all I see is bitter."
Kuvira grimaced, just as disturbed as Korra. "You're wrong, Ghazan. Everything I did, everyone I hurt, I can't hate myself more for it. I wanted to help my nation, my people, not hinder them. After what I did, I wanted nothing more than a second chance to right my wrongs."
She exchanged a happy smile with Korra. "And I am so grateful that I got one."
Ghazan snorted. "Yeah keep tellin' yourself that, Great Uniter."
Kuvira fumed. "I am not the Great—"
"Kuvira," Korra gently stopped her. "He's just trying to get under your skin. Don't let him."
Kuvira stopped herself. She took a deep inhale and a long exhale.
"Now Zaheer," Ghazan said to himself, "he had absolutely no say in anything you did to him, Korra. You know, I've been wondering how he got so soft, why he saved Suyin. Heck, I even tried asking him myself. But I think I got it now: your little prison visits probably did the trick, invading his mind, slowly chipping away with all your 'I want to help you, you deserve a second chance' nonsense."
Kuvira furrowed her brow as Ghazan laughed. She looked to Korra, expecting her to refute Ghazan with some other wise, confident response, but...
Korra furrowed her brow, her voice quiet. "How do you know I visited him in prison?"
Ghazan smiled. He started to chuckle. He started laughing. He opened his eyes.
They were glowing red.
Vaatu's voice started laughing along with him.
A Dark Avatar.
"NO!" Korra yelled. "Asami! Get out of here, NOW! Find Zaheer!"
"Okay!" she yelled back. "Be careful, guys!"
As she ran out of the room, Korra and Kuvira prepared themselves for the worst. "This isn't going to be easy," Kuvira said, "is it?"
"So," Ghazan and Vaatu said after their laughter, "secret's out, I guess. 'Dark Avatar.' Still tryin' to decide if I like that name or not."
Korra cringed at hearing Vaatu's voice again. She recomposed herself with a deep breath. "So I was right. This is why Vaatu trapped me in the Tree of Time with him. He knew he couldn't defeat me himself, so he sought out my biggest enemy at the time to help him. Huh. And he kept calling me weak."
"Well," Ghazan corrected, Vaatu's voice and glow receding, "not exactly. He thought he had you right where he wanted you. He was all about torturing you for an eternity, but you, you somehow escaped. Luckily, you'd given him just enough energy to seep out into me. So, hey, lucky you."
Korra blinked. "I...I don't understand..."
"Hold on," Ghazan said, grinning. "It gets better. The weapon, Kuvira's weapon...it's a dud."
Kuvira furrowed her brow. "But...then...how did you destroy the Fire Nation capital?"
Ghazan smiled. "If it weren't for Varrick, you would've helped the Red Lotus make the world's first spirit-bomb."
Kuvira lost her breath. "No..."
"That's right, Great Uniter. Instead of making a portal, I'm going to absorb all the energy that's released from your little weapon. The Red Lotus is making one for each nation's capital. We destroy a whole government, and I get that much closer to becoming an Avatar. I really hope it doesn't end up turning me into that giant thing that Unalaq turned into, but I'll take what I can get."
Korra shook her head in disbelief. "No. No..."
"The best part of this little deal," Ghazan continued, "is that since Vaatu was in your mind the whole five years you visited Kuvira in prison, we know all about you two. You shared everything with each other in that little room. I know every fear, every button to press, every little tick that you two can't control."
Kuvira furrowed her brow. "You can't really expect us to—"
"Your parents never loved you," Ghazan interrupted.
Kuvira swallowed.
"So," Ghazan started conversationally, holding his fists out in front of himself, "Korra, I've been meaning to ask, one Avatar to another, how do you, like, turn-on the other elements? Wait...I have to learn them all myself from scratch, don't I?" He sighed. "Oh well. I'll have all the time in the world to learn them after I kill you both, wipe out every government on the planet, and become the strongest Avatar that's ever existed."
Korra took a deep breath, shutting out Ghazan's words. She shifted her footing, fists ready. "I'll get up close," she said to Kuvira quietly. "You keep your distance."
Kuvira smiled as she pulled off two strips. "Wouldn't dream of it any other way."
Ghazan leapt down off of the platform with a yell, lava-gloves blazing, and the battle began.
Kuvira leapt back as Korra leapt forward, towards Ghazan. He slammed to the floor, instantly swiping a lava shuriken at Korra. She rolled to the side, and kicked a wave of air into him. His back slammed against the platform, but he kept on moving, unfazed. He leapt towards her, lobbing two shurikens at her head and legs. She blasted the lower of the two down with fire, but just barely ducked the other.
He ran up and kicked her as she ducked. As she stumbled back, he heave-kicked her again, into a console. He raised a shuriken above his head to strike her down. Kuvira ran forward and shot a cable around Ghazan's chest, pulling him away from Korra, but towards herself.
He skidded across the floor to Kuvira's feet. As she retracted the cable, he kicked her legs out from under her. She slammed to the floor with a grunt. As they pushed themselves back up, Ghazan lunged, teeth bared. Kuvira danced back, missing a shuriken to the neck by a hair. She shot a strip at his wrist, but he moved his arm down. Korra shot a blast of fire at his back, but he threw himself to the side, dodging again.
"This isn't going to fix anything!" Korra pleaded. "Hurting people, killing people! It never does!"
"Try telling that to Little Miss Perfect over there!" Ghazan spat.
Kuvira stopped a little, hurt. "I'm hardly perfect..."
Ghazan smirked. "At least you're self-aware."
Korra kicked a wave of fire at Ghazan. He shielded his face with his arms, just the diversion Kuvira needed. She shot three quick strips at Ghazan's wrists and neck. He noticed her out of the corner of his eye, spinning to the side, dodging two, but one wrapping around his wrist. Before Kuvira could bend it down to pin him to the floor, he melted the outer-layer of his rock-gloves, melting the strip along with it. He lunged, snarling.
Even with Korra and Kuvira fighting in tandem, they couldn't get a hit on Ghazan. He was like a wall of defense. Kuvira kept attempting to stay at a distance, her professed and preferred position of attack, but she was struggling to find openings to immobilize Ghazan. He hadn't let up on Korra for an instant. He had an almost perpetual endurance. If he wasn't hitting Korra, she was hitting him. Ghazan was good at fighting before, but with Vaatu coursing through him, he had turned into something worse, something unreal.
Something they needed to stop.
"How are you so strong?" Korra asked.
"SHUT UP!" Ghazan blurted.
"Uh...sorry for asking?"
"Not you!" Ghazan spat. He recoiled again, moaning in pain. "CAN IT! I know how to kill them! I don't need your help right now!"
Kuvira raised a brow, and looked over at Korra. "Is that normal Avatar behavior?"
"Don't know," Korra answered without any mirth. She ran up to Ghazan, bombarding him with more fire. He faltered for just a moment, and she pushed him back. Kuvira seized the opportunity. She shot her cables into the ceiling, and pulled herself up over the stairs to the main control console. She frantically searched for the right lever. She pushed one all the way down, causing the entire airship and everyone on it to lurch. She had slowed it down, but not stopped it.
"No," Ghazan growled. "No, NO!" He grabbed Korra by her hair and threw her to the side, her head striking a nearby console as he scrambled for Kuvira. He flung a lava shuriken, curving it at the main console. Kuvira shot two strips at the shuriken in hopes to stop it, but they melted on impact. She flung herself off of the platform, hitting the floor and rolling. Ghazan formed the shuriken into rock just before it hit the lever, so that it pushed the lever back up and snapped it in half. The airship lurched back into full speed.
As Kuvira got to her feet, Ghazan slammed into her from the side. Her back hit a console. As she winced and tried to push herself back up, Ghazan elbowed her in the jaw. His hands flew to her waist, seizing the cable spools on her belt. His gloves started steaming, glowing with heat, melting the spools into uselessness.
Korra tackled Ghazan away just in time. Kuvira yelped, undoing her belt and throwing it aside before the ruined spools burned her.
Ghazan rolled backwards, kicking Korra off of himself. He spun to his feet, yelling, "You're not! You're not gonna stop this! No one can!"
He stomped to Korra, forcing her backwards to the side of the room. Kuvira ran up from behind, shooting two strips at his arms, but he spun at just the right moment, dodging. He shot a rock-glove off his hand and around Kuvira's throat. He pulled it and her towards himself, forming the glove back on his hand and hurling Kuvira straight into a console, left arm first. She bounced right off of one of its corners, crumpling to the floor next to Korra.
"Kuvira!" Korra yelled, stopping herself from helping her up, just in time to blast away another of Ghazan's shurikens. He wasn't letting up this time. He kept pushing, flinging shurikens, but not actually hitting the two of them.
Kuvira stumbled to her feet, wincing, clutching her arm. Ghazan pushed her and Korra backwards, closer to the airship wall. His eyes suddenly flashed red. He flung a half-solid shuriken straight into the door behind them, bursting it open, the orange sky above them. Korra fought desperately to hold her ground, but Ghazan got the better of her.
After one last swipe, he lunged and dropped-kicked Kuvira. She slid across the outer scaffolding of the airship, and fell right off the edge.
"KUVIRA!" Korra screamed, throwing herself to the edge of the metal scaffolding, just barely catching Kuvira by her good arm.
Kuvira lurched to a stop with a grunt, hanging there, dangling in the wind. She looked down at the ground far below. The airship was now flying over the mainland of the United Republic. She looked up, and saw Republic City's yellow spirit portal gleaming on the horizon. A little under fifteen minutes, and the airship would reach it.
"Oh no," she breathed.
Ghazan strode up to Korra as she struggled to not fall off of the airship. "See that?" he said, gazing out at Republic City. "That's the city you're both gonna fail to save. Oh I wanna savor this. How are you gonna run away now, Korra?"
Korra clenched her teeth, still holding onto Kuvira. She grabbed onto the railing with her free arm, attempting to push herself back onto the scaffolding.
Ghazan smiled. "Sorry, Korra, but no."
His eyes suddenly flashed red, and he stomped down on her left leg, Vaatu amplifying his body's natural strength. She bit down a yelp. "Korra!" Kuvira yelled, helpless.
"You can't hold on forever, Korra," Ghazan taunted. He dug his heel into the back of her knee. She growled in pain.
Kuvira desperately tried to move her free, numbed arm to bend a strip up to knock Ghazan back, but she couldn't. She could only watch in dread.
"Come on, Korra," Ghazan snarled. "You fought back Vaatu. Why can't you save you and your friend? This should be nothing for you. I thought you were the strongest Avatar that ever existed?"
Korra buried her face into the scaffolding, her leg throbbing in pain, her jaw aching from grinding her teeth, her arm straining from holding Kuvira. She wouldn't give in. She couldn't. She would not drop Kuvira.
Ghazan began stomping on Korra's leg, each one harder than the last. Korra bit her lip, shivering. Ignoring the pain as best she could, she tried to pull Kuvira up to the edge so that she could climb back on, but neither of them could reach far enough.
Ghazan raised his leg up for one last stomp, and planted it right on the back of Korra's knee.
It snapped.
Korra cried out in pain, howling, craning. The only thing she focused on was keeping her grip on Kuvira's arm. It wouldn't end like this.
Ghazan laughed. "There it is! Give in already!"
"K-Kuvira," Korra gasped desperately. "Kuvira, hold on. I-I got you. We're gonna make it. W-We're going to make it. We...we just need to—"
"Korra..."
Korra stopped. That tone in Kuvira's voice. She knew what that meant. She looked down at her with desperate eyes.
"Thank you," Kuvira said softly, looking up at her, "for everything you've done for me. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for you. Tell them I'm sorry. Stop him."
Korra found her grip on Kuvira's wrist tightening. "Kuvira, no..."
Kuvira's brow furrowed in sadness. She closed her eyes and looked downward, biting her lip. "Just let me go..."
She squeezed Kuvira's arm until her knuckles cramped, but she couldn't hold on any longer. Kuvira started to slip. Their fingers locked for only a second.
Kuvira closed her eyes in acceptance, and fell.
Korra wasn't sure if she screamed or not as she reached down, trying in vain to grab back onto Kuvira. It was too late. She could only watch as fell she out of sight, her vision blurred with tears.
Kuvira was gone.
"Well would you look at that," Ghazan observed. "The orphan might've done something worthwhile after all. I wonder if this is a fitting end for her? It ain't quite the same as a noose. But on the bright side, you won't have to bury her body." He started chuckling. "You'll just have to mop it up."
Korra sobbed into the scaffolding.
Ghazan grabbed her by the back of her shirt collar, hoisting her up with one arm. "You, on the other hand, I'm gonna have to beat to near-death to trigger the Avatar State, you know, kinda like that poison you had so much fun with. I'm gonna be the only remaining Avatar in the new world. So, if you could just, trigger it yourself..."
He drove a rock-covered fist into her spine. She cried out.
Ghazan grinned. "You might save yourself a whole world of pain."
"G-Ghazan," Korra gasped, "don't..."
Another fist. Korra cried out again. She struggled in Ghazan's grasp, her broken leg limp. Another. And another.
Yelling.
Ghazan stopped punching for a moment. He recognized that yell. He turned around.
Zaheer flew out of the door. He slammed into Ghazan, knocking his head against the scaffold railing and knocking Korra free from his grasp. She tried to land on her good knee, landing against the metal with a grunt.
Zaheer continued his flight, diving down after Kuvira.
Wincing and breathing hard, Korra looked up at a reeling Ghazan, determined.
Kuvira's safe. Zaheer's got her. She's okay. Just focus on Ghazan.
Ghazan held his head and cursed, stumbling towards the outside wall of the airship. "You," he rasped, "really think you're gonna be able to stop me? You haven't stopped any of your enemies on your own before. You never have, and you never will. Now's no different."
Korra pushed herself onto her feet, or foot, rather, staggering on her right. She took a glance at Republic City. They were ten minutes away now: not a lot of time, but it would have to do.
She looked back to Ghazan. She held up her fists and cracked a smirk. "Let's just see about that."
With a broken leg, Korra lunged back into the airship helm, Ghazan scrambling after her.
She spun mid-hobble, shooting a blast of air to slow Ghazan down. He rolled to the side, dodging, still chasing her. She leapt with one leg, shooting a wave of fire at the floor behind her, halting Ghazan. She crashed back to the floor, but pushed herself up.
She managed to get to the stairs of the main control console, but there was no way she could climb them. After throwing another fire blast vaguely in Ghazan's direction, she launched herself up with air to the control console, landing on her bad leg. She tried to stifle her yell of pain.
Ghazan leapt over a console next to the flaming floor, cursing to himself. He formed another shuriken and flung it at Korra's head.
She noticed, awkwardly forcing herself back down to dodge the attack, then forcing herself back onto her foot after it passed. She found the broken lever, and metalbent it back down, slowing the airship along with it. She made the mistake of leaning against the console for just a second to catch her breath, glancing out the window at Republic City's portal.
"NO!" Ghazan screamed. He flung another flaming shuriken. Korra caught it out of the corner of her eye. She moved to the right, but it was too late.
The shuriken grazed her left shoulder. She yelled in pain before it even touched her. She slapped her right hand over the burned and bloodied gash.
Ghazan stomped up the platform's stairs, seething. "I drop this airship, and I still destroy over half of Republic City, the largest city in the world. Thousands without homes, their lives destroyed, refugees as far as the eye can see. It'll be the Earth Empire all over again! Is that what you want?!"
Korra leaned against the console, staring at Ghazan as he came closer. "M-Maybe?"
"You really are a fool, aren't you?"
"It's gotten me this far."
"Yeah," Ghazan muttered, bringing his hands together to form another shuriken. "As far as you're ever gonna go."
Korra's eyes brokenly flickered white.
Ghazan stopped with widened eyes. He smiled. "Oh. So that's what you want: an Avatar showdown. Well, then..."
His eyes flashed red, glowing with energy. "Who am I to keep you?"
Korra narrowed her eyes at Ghazan. She had no choice now.
She leaned off of the console and stood up straight, ignoring the gash in her shoulder, ignoring her broken leg, ignoring Kuvira and Zaheer. The only thing she focused on now was clearing her mind and stopping Ghazan.
She breathed in and out, and entered the Avatar State. Raava's blue glow flashed from her eyes.
Ghazan and Vaatu laughed. "Yes, YES! C'mon, Korra, let us end this, once and for all! Who is the strongest Avatar?"
Korra widened her stance as best she could, and held out her arms. Ghazan smiled in satisfaction, and attacked.
Korra didn't fight back, and she didn't stand her ground, but rather, channeled her airbending training, dodging the lava shurikens, shooting the occasional disorienting air blast into Ghazan's face. She had noticed throughout her and Kuvira's fight that Ghazan was not in tune with Vaatu's power. He only wielded it. Ghazan had spent much of the battle using brute force, rather than tripping them up. He wasn't a smart fighter.
At least, not anymore. His and Ming-Hua's fight atop Zaofu's radio tower was a different story. He had known exactly what he was doing then. For some reason, he wasn't thinking clearly now. His mind was muddied. Or, it wasn't his mind anymore.
"I don't like telling people that they've failed," Korra said, Raava's voice intertwined with hers, "but do you know why you're struggling so much?"
"'Cause you're a weaselly, pathetic, cheap excuse of an Avatar?!" Ghazan and Vaatu snarled.
"I've actually fused with Raava!" Korra refuted. "Twice in my life! You're just Vaatu's host! His puppet!"
Truly, Korra was perfectly tuned with Raava, making the other stronger in every way. Vaatu only kept sapping power from Ghazan, and soon, he wouldn't be strong enough to keep fighting. So Korra kept dodging. She was exhausted, but did not stop dodging. She couldn't risk losing another arm or leg.
Ghazan got frustrated, somehow more than before. He kept lashing out, uncontrollably, his shurikens cutting through the metal floor of the airship.
Korra blasted an oncoming shuriken to the floor. She blew another one behind her. Ghazan bent the one of the floor sharply upwards, aiming to cut Korra's head off. She caught the shuriken in a sphere of air. She spun, and hurled it at Ghazan's head.
He just barely ducked away, but in doing so made himself wide open. Korra slammed into Ghazan. He shouted, stumbling back, shaking his head. He should've fused with Vaatu completely in the Spirit World when he had the chance. Korra spun again, slicing through the air with fire. Ghazan stumbled back more. Korra stepped, leapt, and without thinking, kneed Ghazan square in the jaw with her bad leg. She cried out and fell, as did Ghazan, backwards, tumbling down the platform stairs.
Korra pushed herself up, grinding her teeth, desperate for breath. She hopped with her good leg down the stairs after Ghazan.
He landed on his stomach at the bottom of the steps. Enraged, he threw himself to his feet, clenching his bare fists. He looked up, only to get blasted back with air by Korra. He flew backwards against a console, striking it hard. Vaatu's glow left his eyes.
As he pushed himself back up, Korra ran up to him, her leg popping with each step. She leapt, turning sideways in midair, and air-kicked Ghazan sharply to the left. He flew all the way to the other side of the airship helm. His back struck another console with audible impact, directly on his spine. He cried out, slumping down against the console to the floor, paralyzed in pain.
Korra landed on her side at the same time as he hit the console. She laid there for a moment, finally able to start catching her breath. As Raava's glow faded, she slowly began to realize what she had just done.
She had beaten not just Ghazan, but Vaatu as well, all on her own.
"Korra," Raava echoed from within, "this is not over yet. You must take his bending, to prevent him from hurting anyone else."
"T-Take his bending?" Korra breathed, still lying on the floor. "But...I-I've never taken someone's bending before. I've only ever given it back!"
"You must try, Korra. Please. I will guide you."
Korra stared at Ghazan as he slumped, screaming in pain.
"Okay. I'll try."
She pushed herself onto her knees, and started crawling all the way over to Ghazan. She finally fell next to him as he seethed in pain. She tried her best to kneel, still short of breath. She shakily placed her hands against Ghazan's forehead and neck, trying to hold him in one place.
"To take his bending," Raava said, "your spirit must be steadfast, incorruptible. And I don't doubt that yours is."
Korra closed her eyes, ignoring Ghazan's cursing. She concentrated for a good long while, clearing her mind. She reached out into Ghazan, trying to find that same...pocket that she had found all those times to give Equalist victims their bending back.
She strained. "I...I can't. I can't...find it. I—"
Some awful feeling suddenly poured out from Ghazan and into her. It threw her across the room a ways, right into another console. It was powerful. It was ancient. It was vile.
It was Vaatu's laughter that started echoing in Korra's mind.
"There's only one way you can end this, Korra," he said.
"Kill him."
Ghazan had finally stopped yelling. He only scowled in foiled rage, breathing hard.
Korra could only stare at him as she laid, aching. She started shaking her head. "No...N-No, after all that's happened, I... Th-that...can't be the only way. That can't be it. That...can't be the answer to this!"
"I'm..." Raava said regretfully, "I'm afraid it is, Korra."
"What?" Korra asked. "No! Raava, killing him's not gonna fix anything! It's not gonna change his mind! It'd...it'd only prove him right!"
"If you can't take his bending, there's no other way to stop him from causing more death than he already has. I know it won't be easy for you, but..."
"No..." Korra shook her head desperately. "Raava, please..."
Vaatu laughed. "You heard her, Korra! Kill him! Right here, right now! You don't have to make it slow, but at least make it hurt."
Korra could only stare at Ghazan.
She couldn't. She couldn't kill him. She had never tried to kill any of her enemies. Not Amon, not even Zaheer. She had hoped she could've saved Unalaq's spirit when she purified Vaatu, and she almost died when she saved Kuvira from the spirit blast! Fighting her enemies had never led to...
Sometimes you have to make exceptions.
Korra slowly pushed herself to her feet. She clenched her fists.
Sometimes you need change.
She started hobbling over to Ghazan.
"Yes," Vaatu seethed. "YES! Kill him, Korra! Do as Raava tells you! Feed the cycle of pain that I thrive off of! Slay him! Make him rue the day that he ever—!"
Korra gently knelt down next to Ghazan, on her good knee. She rested her gashed left arm against the console he was slumped against.
"W-What?" Vaatu demanded. "What are you...?"
"No," Ghazan rumbled through clenched teeth, trying to move away from her. "Noo..."
"It's," Korra panted, catching her breath, "over, Ghazan. You've lost."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "No I haven't. I'm not done. Lock me away and I'll come back. I'll kill you, everyone, everything."
"Ghazan," Korra implored, "why? Why are you doing this?"
He turned his head away. "What do you care?"
"Everyone I've ever fought had a reason for what they did. Everyone. Even Unalaq."
"Wasn't he just crazy?"
Korra hesitated. "Well...he was pretty unstable, but living under his brother's shadow probably didn't help."
Ghazan snorted. "Whatever. I'm not like him. I actually know what I'm doing. I...M-Ming and I knew what we were doing! But you took her away from me!"
"We...we didn't do that."
"Liar!" Ghazan shouted. "Lies! All you do is lie! To make yourselves look better than you really are!"
"Ghazan," Korra said, "we didn't kill her. I'm telling the truth."
"Then who did kill her?"
"I...I don't know. We were never going to kill her, Ghazan, or hurt her. Please. We didn't want Iroh to torture her."
Ghazan jerked in anger. "He did what to her?!"
Korra warily leaned back. "Iroh didn't want to torture her either! When Raljun poisoned him, it twisted his mind. He thought interrogating her would be the only way to find you." She furrowed her brow. "You never told her about Raljun."
"No..." Ghazan bowed his head in self-hatred and regret. "No, NO!"
"You didn't tell her a lot of things," Korra persisted, "didn't you?"
Ghazan growled, teeth bared.
"She wasn't our fault, Ghazan," Korra said honestly. "She was yours."
"Shut up!" he yelled in her face. "You don't understand! You don't understand anything! I..." His anger dissipated for a moment, his voice wavering. "I loved her. She was the only thing I had. Do you know what it's like losing someone you love?"
"I..." Korra struggled for a memory, against Vaatu writhing within her. There had been many close calls over the years...but no. In truth, she hadn't.
"No," she admitted, looking down. "I don't know what it would be like."
"Exactly," Ghazan spat. "You don't know anything. You try, you try to act all wise, try to think that everyone you fight is just like you, but they're not. You're always gonna be the immature little girl that just wanted to be Avatar for the power."
"And you're not?"
"Not what?"
"Doing this for power? You can't really think destroying the world is going to fix it."
"Maybe it will! Anything's worth a try! Anything is if it's for the people you couldn't protect!"
Korra leaned back a bit, studying Ghazan as he looked away to the floor again. There was something about him, something hurt. Something...
Korra realized.
"Your sister..."
Something in Ghazan's eyes changed. "What about her?" he rasped.
"She's why you're doing this."
Ghazan feebly slammed his fist against the floor, seething.
"It all makes sense," Korra said, slowly looking at him. "When she died...you blamed yourself. All you felt was anger and pain. You felt like everyone else should feel that pain too."
"No," he snarled. "Shut up. Shut up, shut up!"
"You didn't tell Ming Hua about Raljun. You didn't tell her a lot of things, just to keep her out of harm's way. You wanted to protect her, because you couldn't protect your sister."
"Shut up! SHUT UP!"
"That's what Zaheer meant. That's why you joined the Red Lotus! They believed what you believed. They were like family to you, the only family you had left."
"Korra, I swear on your life I will kill you, your family, your friends, everyone you know!"
"It's not that you never had enough power, it's just that you couldn't control everything around you."
"Korra!"
"You were hurt and beaten down. You felt vulnerable, so you wanted to make everyone around you more vulnerable than that."
"Korra!"
"Is this what your sister would want?
"KORRA!
"Is this what you want? Killing everyone? Chaos? It's not going to help the world, Ghazan. Please. I know so. Kuvira knows so. Zaheer knows so."
"KORRA!"
"If you keep killing people, if you try to throw the world into chaos, you're only going to force someone to end up just like you: without the people they love. Without their family! Without their sister!"
"I...!" Ghazan faltered. "I..."
He suddenly stopped. Korra felt her stomach turn.
Ghazan had the same look on his face as Kuvira did when she first woke up in Korra's arms in the Spirit World.
"I," he mumbled, blank eyes on the floor. "No. No. What...what am I doing?"
Korra could only stare him. That was not the same man that she and Kuvira had just been trying to take down. "Ghazan," she started again, gentle, "what happened to you? Why are you doing this?"
Ghazan slowly shook his head. He sighed. He looked away, mumbling, "I never really had parents."
"You were orphaned?"
"No, not...Well, my sister and I ran away from home. They were never 'parents' to us. When they found out I was a lavabender, that's all they cared about. That's all they saw me as: publicity."
Korra couldn't hide her grief. "I'm so sorry..."
Ghazan snorted. "It doesn't matter anymore. They're...gone. Everyone's gone."
Korra looked down for a moment, rubbing her thumb against the metal top of the console. "What was your sister's name?"
Ghazan smiled a small, honest smile. "Nahla."
Korra smiled too. "What was she like?"
"She..." Ghazan almost laughed in embarrassment. "She was kind of like you and Kuvira, actually. She was always calm and caring, but when things got intense, so did she. She always looked out for me, stood up for me whenever our parents went off on us. She knew I couldn't take being made a celebrity. I just wanted to be...me, doing what I wanted. I couldn't...just couldn't take being forced to accept the publicity. I didn't ask to be a lavabender. I didn't care that it was an ability thought to be lost for a century or whatever. It was too much for me. I was ten."
Korra nodded in understanding. "How did she die?" she asked gently.
Ghazan sighed. "It was when I was older, eighteen, I think. A bunch of firebending soldiers burned down the town in a raid and everyone in it. I was away at another village, with...with Ming, actually."
"You knew each other?" Korra asked, surprised. "Way back then?"
"Yeah. Nahla and I agreed that we needed to run from home, so we stowed away on a shipping boat, to the Fire Nation. I met Ming when I was eleven. She and her mom lived in the same town as us. Ming was..." Ghazan leaned his head back against the console, smiling, tears in his eyes, his voice breaking. "She was always so darn happy all the time, even though she was born without arms. I don't know how she did it. We grew up together, did everything together. All the jokes she made about herself, all those stupid little stories she'd make up after I had nightmares about my parents the night before. She was the only other person giving me hope."
Korra smiled, holding back tears herself. "Especially after you lost Nahla."
Ghazan nodded, sniffing his tears away. "Yeah..."
Korra tried to hide a smirk. "Did you...love Ming Hua back then?"
Ghazan shook his head, smirking as well, his eyes still teary. "She was just a friend to me then. It wasn't until after we joined Zaheer and the Red Lotus, after you'd stopped us when we poisoned you that we kinda...evolved, I guess."
Korra nodded. "Especially when you were rebuilding the Red Lotus together."
Ghazan nodded. "Yeah." He suddenly lost his smile. He shook his head. "I take it back. I take it all back. I had no idea what I was doing. I just kept filling her and myself up with lies, trying to justify everything we did, the people we hurt. We had no good reasons. We...we had nothing."
"You don't want to destroy Republic City anymore?" Korra asked.
"No," Ghazan said. "I don't. I...I can't."
Korra smiled. "Great." She looked out the window. They were floating right over Republic City now. "Then let's call your men off, find everyone else, and shut down that spirit-bomb."
Ghazan's eyes widened. He shook his head. "I...I can't. I can't do that. I can't look your friends in the eye after all I've done: Zaofu, the Fire Nation, what I...what I did to Kuvira, a-and her kid in the Great Divide?! No...They'll hate me."
"Yes."
Ghazan looked up at Korra, more grief in his eyes than confusion.
"They will hate you at first," she said. "But if you do enough good, they'll see that you've changed. They'll forgive you. It'll take time, but they will forgive you. They forgave Kuvira, they forgave Noatak and Lee, Lord Zuko was forgiven by Aang and his friends, so I don't see why you can't be forgiven too."
Ghazan blinked. He slowly looked down, still teary-eyed.
"Besides," Korra said with a smirk, "Bolin could use a lavabending teacher. That might be a way to win him over, at least."
Ghazan nodded, smiling through his tears. "Yeah. Yeah, he could use one. He's a little sloppy."
Korra giggled. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes that you're gonna be his teacher."
Ghazan found it within himself to chuckle too.
Korra sighed with a smile. She remembered. "Toph's still alive."
"Sh-she is?"
"Yep. We found her at the bottom of a hill. She was in critical condition, but she's alive. She's recovering in the Swamp now."
Ghazan leaned his head back again, sighing in relief. "Oh...good."
Korra smirked. "I can't promise she'll be as accepting as Bolin."
Ghazan almost laughed. "No, probably not." He suddenly stopped. "Wait..."
He looked up at Korra. "I'm gonna get sent to prison for this, aren't I?"
There was no denying the fear in his eyes. Korra knew that look. Kuvira's five years in prison almost broke her, and what Ghazan had done would most likely earn him a life sentence. A repentant person in prison...there was nothing more torturous or pointless.
"I don't know if I can stop that," Korra admitted. "But if you are, I won't abandon you. I'll do everything I can to keep you sane, just like I did for Kuvira. I'll visit you, everything." She perked up excitedly. "I'll even teach you how to meditate into the Spirit World!"
"Y-You really think I can do that?" Ghazan asked. "Vaatu was the first 'spirit' thing I've ever done."
"Anyone can if they try hard enough. The spirit-cannon was the first spirit thing that Kuvira had ever done, but even she can meditate into the Spirit World now."
Ghazan nodded. He was silent for a moment. He weakly rubbed at his chest, his voice quiet. "Thanks for sucking Vaatu out of me by the way. He's been tearing me apart ever since he invaded me."
"Trust me," Korra promised, "I'm going to seal him back up and make sure he can't reach out to anyone ever again, permanently."
Ghazan nodded. "Good."
Korra thought for a moment. "Maybe I can learn how to properly take your bending away, so that you won't have to get sent to solitary again away from everyone. Somewhere more...comfortable."
Ghazan nodded, eyes slowly darting over the floor. No prison was a good prison unfortunately. "Okay..."
Korra held out her hand to help him up. "C'mon. Let's land this airship and shut down the spirit-bomb. No one has to get hurt anymore."
After another minute of contemplating, Ghazan nodded. "Alright...okay." He finally looked back up at her. He took her hand with a small, hopeful smile. "Thank you, Korra."
Korra smiled back. There was no Vaatu creeping through her thoughts, no guilt about losing her past lives, just amazement at what she had done, at what Ghazan had done. "Of course. You're welcome."
Kuvira stepped into the doorway and shot a metal strip straight into Ghazan's chest.
It embedded deep, through his heart. He didn't even have the chance to realize what had happened to him as he lurched and gagged, still clutching onto Korra's hand.
With a soft gurgle, his hand slipped from hers to the floor. His eyes closed as his head rolled to the side.
Korra lost her breath.
Ghazan was dead. Sorry. Redeemed.
Dead.
Korra still held her hand out, as if Ghazan was going to grab back on. She was speechless, frozen. What she had just done for Ghazan...that was all just...He...
Korra whirled around on her knee, questioning, doubting, denying that Kuvira had just killed Ghazan.
No. It wasn't Kuvira at all.
Zaheer was the one that stood in the doorway.
He dropped a handful of metal strips. They clattered to the floor.
Korra's eyes followed the strips as they fell. She blinked, staring at them. She looked back up at Zaheer. Then at the strips. Then back at Zaheer. She fought for words. She fought against her thoughts.
She felt Vaatu bubble back up within her.
Why? Why did he do that? He...he just killed Ghazan. Why?
Where's Kuvira? He went to save her. D-Did he kill her too? But he dove after her...
Why did he kill Ghazan? What did he do with Kuvira?
Why did he do that?
Where is she?
Why?
Where is Kuvira?
"Why?" Korra asked, stumbling to her feet, looking at Zaheer. "Why did you do that? I...I-I got through to him! He was sorry for what he did! He...he regretted what he did! Why did you do that?!"
Zaheer said nothing.
"How could you do that?!" she demanded as she stumbled towards him. "He was your friend! Everything you two have been through together, that...that means nothing to you?"
Zaheer said nothing.
"W-When I was trapped and tortured by Vaatu, I...I stood up for you! He kept coming back to you never being able to change! But you did! When...What you said when Ming Hua died, that...that was all a lie? You changing...was a lie?"
Zaheer said nothing.
Korra found herself grabbing Zaheer by his collar, slamming him hard against the airship wall. He still kept silent. He didn't even grunt.
"How dare you?!" she yelled in his face. "All this time, all those years I visited you, giving you guidance, helping you find balance, you helping me meditate into the Spirit World. None of that matters to you?!"
Zaheer said nothing.
Korra shook him. "How can you be this heartless?! Did you..." She stopped, realizing. "You didn't save Kuvira because you wanted to save her. You saved her just so you could kill Ghazan!"
Zaheer blinked.
Korra shook him so hard that the back of his head hit the wall. "You MONSTER!" she screamed in his face. "You're never going to change, ARE you?! You're always going to be a murdering, lying freak that just wants to see people suffer! Your friends! Innocents! Everyone! You...You...MONSTER!"
Korra suddenly felt faint. She let go of Zaheer, stumbling back and falling to the floor. He stepped away from the wall, rubbing his throat, still not saying anything.
"Z-Zaheer," Korra whimpered, propping herself up, "I'm sorry. That wasn't me. Th-that was Vaatu. I..."
There was no use lying. That wasn't Vaatu. Even though he was resting, sneering just beneath the surface in satisfaction, there was no denying that that had all been her.
She looked up at Zaheer. He stood in the doorway, looking down at the yellow spirit portal beaming up from Republic City below, the wind blowing.
"Why?" she asked. "Why did you do that?"
"Loose ends," he replied.
"W-What do you mean?"
"He was a threat," Zaheer said, keeping his back to her. "All he would do given the chance is kill more people. He was never going to change."
"B-But, Zaheer," Korra said, propping herself up more, "Ghazan did change. He made his choice. He was sorry for everything he did."
Zaheer only stood there, still gazing down at Republic City.
"I killed Ming Hua," he admitted.
Korra could barely fight down the nauseation. The bloodshot eyes, no external wounds: he killed her the same way that he had killed the Earth Queen. "W...Wh...Why?"
"I was suspicious of Raljun being the traitor ever since I searched the airship crew with him. I knew he'd radio Ghazan if something happened to Ming Hua. It was all just a matter of...putting things into motion."
Korra struggled for words. She forced herself to not look back at Ghazan's body.
"You're right," Zaheer mumbled. "I am a monster."
"No," Korra said. "No, Zaheer, please. Ghazan made his choice. You can make that choice too. You don't have to be like this."
"You really think I can change," Zaheer mumbled. "Even after this."
"Especially after this."
Zaheer went quiet again.
He looked up into the orange evening sky. "There are different kinds of people in the world. There are some like Kuvira, like Noatak, like Lee, that can realize what they are doing and change themselves because of it. But then...there are some like Unalaq, like Ming Hua, and I...I think I am one of those people too."
Korra shook her head. "No. N-No, Zaheer, you can't think like that. No one's 'born' to be anything. Anyone can hurt people. It's the easiest thing to do. Even I'm guilty of that! But... But just like anyone can be evil, everyone has the capacity to fix those mistakes too!"
Zaheer snorted softly, almost...content at hearing Korra's words. "Listen to yourself. You used to be so...cocky. So proud. So...willing to make yourself out to be stronger than everyone else. But now? You're letting yourself be weak, vulnerable like it's confidence. You would plead with someone for days on end, just to begin to understand them, like you did with Kuvira and I."
Korra struggled for words. "Well...of course. Someone has to. I'm the Avatar."
Zaheer chuckled quietly. "Yes you are."
He turned around and looked at Korra on the floor. He smiled. "You are a wise young woman, Korra, I have said it before. You are the Avatar this world deserves. You will guide its change more than any other Avatar has, more than I ever could. You think your power has limits, but you will prove it limitless, once again."
Korra sat there, propping herself up, exhausted, staring at him in confusion.
Zaheer kept smiling as he shot another strip into the control console.
It went straight through. Sparks flew. Everything lurched.
The airship was going down.
"Z-Zaheer?!" Korra yelled. "What—?!"
Zaheer stepped out the door, off of the scaffolding, and flew away.
Korra scrambled to her foot. Everything in the airship shook.
Everyone...they're still on here.
She looked over at Ghazan's body. There was no point now. Unless she stopped the spirit-bomb, him, her, everyone, Republic City was all going to be gone.
Korra ran, she didn't know where to or how, but she ran. The exit bay made the most sense. She didn't run into any soldier on her way there. Everything kept shaking. She swore the airship was going to crash before she reached the spirit-bomb.
Surprisingly, it didn't. She stumbled into the exit bay, and found herself looking at a mangled heap of wires and plating, with crackling purple spirit vines in a glass case.
It exploded.
The wave of spirit energy threw her against a wall of the exit bay. She just barely reacted in time to begin energybending it. She strained desperately, pushing her arms forward into the blast. She didn't really know what she was doing when she saved Kuvira from the spirit-cannon all those years ago, and she definitely didn't know what she was doing now. All she could do was force the energy upwards and hope.
She struggled. The airship around her was groaning, being torn apart. She forced herself into the Avatar State, Raava's flash barely noticeable against the weapon's. Hopefully the extra power would help her just make another spirit portal and transport everyone there.
"Not if I still have any say left in this, Korra..."
Vaatu gripped something within Korra, a sharp pain erupting inside her. Everything started fading into black. She was losing. She was losing herself. If she died in the Avatar State, it would not only kill her, but Raava as well, cutting off the cycle of future Avatars.
No... No! I already lost all my past lives. I am not losing all my future ones too.
Even if I have to...do it on my...
Korra realized. She breathed out, and left the Avatar state.
She already failed countless times in the past. She wasn't going to add to that with her death. She kept holding on, forcing Vaatu down as much as she could. She felt the spirit energy course through her, into her. It almost felt like it was filling her. She felt something distant, yet familiar. Something that was reaching out for her. No... Many things reaching out for her. She reached out too and...
But it was too late. Vaatu's grip on her completed. Everything faded into black.
On my own...
Before Korra lost herself completely, she could've sworn she had heard another voice echoing, one drowning out Vaatu's power...one that sounded an awful lot like Tenzin...
#
Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Noatak stopped running along the beach and looked up into the sky.
The airship was falling.
"Oh no," Asami breathed.
"W-What do we do?!" Bolin asked. "What do we do?!"
Mako sighed. "Nothing. There's nothing we can do. We—"
The airship suddenly erupted with purple energy. It tore through the hull in seconds, and kept growing. They had a minute at the most before the blast reached Republic City.
But, suddenly, the blast stopped growing. It started shrinking instead. The airship was completely gone, but there was still a sphere of floating purple energy.
"What is...?" Noatak mumbled.
The sphere started slowly lowering down over the bay. It wasn't moving on its own. There was...Someone was inside of it, controlling it.
"I-Is," Bolin asked, "that...Tenzin?"
Mako narrowed his eyes as he stared at the sphere. The person inside was about the same height as Tenzin. They were wearing...what looked like airbender robes. They were bald too.
As the person floated down more, closer to the surface of the water, and the energy dissipated, they all saw...
It was Aang.
Bolin squeaked.
The water underneath Aang started rising up, surrounding him in a sphere of water. It all flowed around him, until a glow emanated from within. After the glow had faded and the flow slowed down, it fell back into the bay.
Floating over the water now, was Korra.
"H-Hey!" Bolin exclaimed. "It's...it's Korra! She's okay! She stopped the weapon! She—"
She fell into the water. She didn't start swimming.
"Oh no!" Bolin yelped.
"I'll get her!" Noatak yelled, leaping into the water, forming an ice raft beneath him. He started propelling himself out to where Korra had splashed down.
He reached her in no time at all, and dove down into the water himself. After a tense moment, he burst back up to the surface, holding Korra in one arm and paddling with the other. He pushed her onto the raft, before climbing back on himself and propelling them back to shore.
#
"...a..."
"...orr..."
"...orra...!"
"Korra!" Noatak said, gently shaking her.
Korra lurched awake, gasping, writhing, trying to get to, to—
"Korra!" Asami said, kneeling down. "You're safe! It's okay! We're all here! Relax!"
Korra stopped. She blinked, staring blankly. She moved her hand to the ground, patting. She felt the soft sand of Republic City's beach.
She looked up to see Noatak, Mako, Bolin, and Asami. They all sighed in relief.
Noatak took his hands off of Korra's shoulders with a smile. "Thank goodness. We thought we had lost you."
Korra blinked, looking at him. "Oh...D-Don't worry, guys. I'm...I'm just a little shaken up. I'm fine."
She moved to stand, completely forgetting about her broken leg. She bit down her pain as it flared, and plopped back into the sand. "W-Well, for the most part."
"Can you heal yourself?" Mako asked, taking a glance at the burned gash across her shoulder.
She shrugged. "M-Maybe. I might have to find someone else to help me with my leg."
She looked over at the water gently flowing onto the shore. She reached out to start bending it towards herself, but stopped. Everyone was staring at her like she was a ghost.
"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
They all exchanged looks with each other. "D-Don't you remember?" Bolin asked. "What you just did?"
Korra shook her head. "N-No. Not really. I energybent the spirit-weapon and..." She trailed off. She put a palm to her forehead. Everything felt fuzzy.
"You didn't stop the spirit blast," Noatak said, still kneeling. "I...I think that was Aang."
Korra looked up at him. "W-What? Aang? N-No. No, I...I remember bending it. But, it all started..." She trailed off again. What was going on?
"Korra?" Mako asked. "Do you think you might be...?"
Korra tried to clear her mind. She tried to think. She thought and...she suddenly realized. She realized where all that energy had been flowing, energy she'd never had enough of before. It hadn't been flowing to places that were destroyed, like she had been thinking for all those years, all those months. When Vaatu was inside of her, he slipped up. The energy had cleared something away, and something put back in its place. She realized it hadn't been flowing to places that had been destroyed...
It had been flowing to places that had merely been blocked-off, stolen, by Vaatu.
Oh Vaatu. You had to try something crueler than just destroying them.
Korra focused, searching for that feeling, that same one she had discovered all those years ago, when she was trying to find a way to defeat the man that had just saved her from drowning.
She burrowed deep down. She...she felt them. She saw them. Aang. Roku. Kyoshi. Kuruk. Yang Chen. So many others she recognized, but never got the chance to speak with.
All the way down to Wan, the first Avatar.
"Y-Yes!" Korra exclaimed, laughing, teary-eyed. "I'm...I'm reconnected to my past lives!"
"Yah-HOOOO!" Bolin erupted into cheers and laughter, along with Mako and Asami, pulling all four of them into a hug. Noatak only wore a broad smile as he knelt.
Korra laughed. It was her past lives that she felt. Or, at the very least, their essences. Vaatu had actually managed to destroy something. Their actual spirits were gone, their power, but their memories...them, they'd returned.
But...
"Wait," Korra said, stopping. She looked out at the water. "W-Where's Kuvira?"
Noatak's eyes widened. He looked out over the bay as well. "And Lee..."
"D-Did they make it out before it exploded?" Bolin asked.
"Oh no," Korra breathed, dragging herself towards the shore. "Lee was still in there too? H-How did you guys get out?!"
"Zaheer flew us down!" Mako said. "He went back for Lee and you and Kuvira!"
Korra stared at where the airship had been. It...it couldn't be. Not him too. Not to mention Ghazan and...and all those Red Lotus soldiers that were in there. How had—?
Coughing.
Everyone stopped. They turned around and looked down the beach a ways.
It was none other than Lee, trudging through the sand, with an unconscious Kuvira slung over his shoulder. Korra couldn't have explained the wave of relief that hit her if she tried.
Bolin ran up to him, laughing. "L-Lee! Kuvira! You guys are okay!"
Noatak stood in surprise. He smiled. "Another beach-rescue, eh?"
Lee gave a chuckle. "Y-Yeah. I think I'm trying to go for a record or somethin'. Oof." He stumbled to his knees, nearly dropping Kuvira. "L-Little help here..."
He and Bolin gently laid Kuvira down in the sand. Noatak helped a breathlessly smiling Korra onto her feet as everyone else walked over.
"How did you get out of the airship?" Asami asked Lee.
He snorted. "I jumped."
"Jumped?"
"Yeah. Out a window. Landed in the water." He nodded at Kuvira. "Found her washed up on the shore. I was gonna go down with the ship, but Zaheer came in and talked me out of it. Well, I mean, I stayed for another couple minutes trying to get it to blow up later, but...things like that tend to blow up pretty quick after you electrocute the main-frame. Lost the generator-pack when I hit the water." He looked forlornly over his shoulder. "I'm gonna miss that thing..."
Korra smiled and shook her head. She couldn't believe it. She looked as Kuvira as she laid. Her hair had come undone, and one of her shoulder plates had been torn off: Zaheer's doing. At least he had dropped her into the water before he...
Kuvira wasn't moving.
At all.
"Oh no," Korra breathed. "I-Is she...?"
Lee lost his smile. He slowly looked down at Kuvira. "I...I thought I heard her breathing..."
"No..." Korra stumbled towards Kuvira. She fell next to her. She put an ear to her chest. There was no heart-beat either. There was no denying it this time.
Kuvira was gone.
"No..." Korra started sobbing into Kuvira's shoulder. "No..."
Everyone lost their smiles, falling mournfully silent.
Asami looked away from Kuvira's body. She couldn't look at it. She bit her lip, holding back tears. She clenched her fists, still wearing her...
Still wearing...
"My shock-gloves..."
Korra looked up from Kuvira's body to Asami, tears running down her face. "W-What?"
"My shock-gloves!" Asami exclaimed. "Their total power has been toned down a bit, b-but it might be enough! I-I might be able to resuscitate her!"
Korra's eyes widened. She looked down at Kuvira.
Asami ran up and fell onto her knees next to Korra. She placed her shock-glove-clad hands on Kuvira's chest, one over her heart, and the other just below her sternum.
"Clear," she said, triggering a shock, though Korra still stayed at her side.
Nothing happened.
"T-Try it again!" Bolin said.
Asami clasped her gloves together for a moment, trying to channel and build the electricity a bit more. "Clear."
Still nothing. Korra's jaw trembled.
"Clear." Another shock, at half-power that time, but nothing happened.
Asami inhaled through clenched teeth. "Come on..." She pooled the shock-gloves' energy to the highest possible level she felt they could go before they burned her hands off or exploded. She rubbed her palms together, electricity crackling.
"Clear!"
With that last shock, Kuvira lurched awake, gasping and sputtering and coughing out water, the most oddly relieving sound everyone there had ever heard.
The Prime Minister curled up on her side and heaved the last of the water out, still coughing a bit. Once done, she rolled onto her back, catching her breath, staring up at the orange sky. She had brushed death far too many times in her life, and this incident was probably up there with Korra saving her from the spirit-cannon.
Kuvira finally regained enough strength to prop herself up on her elbows. She looked around at everyone staring at her.
"We...we won?" she asked hazily.
"Oh." Korra broke out in sobs again, wrapping her arms around Kuvira, squeezing her tight. "Yes. Yes, we won..."
Kuvira blinked in Korra's arms, feeling lost, but also comforted. "I think my arm's broken," she said quietly. "I can't feel it..."
Korra stopped hugging Kuvira for a moment, remembering. She looked down at her left arm. She was right: it was snapped, twisted at the elbow.
"I can fix it," Korra said. "Lay down. Relax."
"W-What about your leg?"
"Your arm's more important than that. Come on."
Kuvira nodded, exhausted. She breathed out as Korra helped her ease herself onto her back. Once she was completely down, Kuvira turned her head to look at Asami, and managed to breathe out, "Th-thanks..."
Asami nodded, smiling, holding back happy tears. "Don't mention it." She was grateful that Bolin patted her shoulder.
Korra bent a small stream of water from the bay. She enveloped her hands in it. She gently placed them on Kuvira's arm. She shifted at the cool, familiar sensation.
As she healed, Korra couldn't help but smirk. "So," she started conversationally, "I'm kind of reconnected to my past lives..."
Kuvira lurched back up, propping herself up with her good arm. "You're what?!"
"Hey! I just said to relax!"
Kuvira sighed and nodded. "Alright, alright." She laid back down and let Korra resume her healing. She smiled. "Huh...How did you do it?"
Korra's smile faded. "I...don't know..."
She looked up at the sunset. Iroh's airship was slowly lowering down to land.
Something couldn't stop Korra from thinking that...that maybe Zaheer had known what would happen.
#
Zaheer flew.
He flew northward, and never stopped, not once. Not to rest, not to sleep, not to eat, nothing. The sun and moon had risen and set several times. He hadn't been keeping track. Rather atypical of him. It didn't matter.
He flew and flew, all the way to the Northern Air Temple. It was just as he remembered it: broken, ruined, most of it melted away from...Ghazan's lavabending...
Zaheer kept flying, past the temple. He flew on until he reached Laghima's Peak, also just as he remembered it. It was where he had unlocked the power of flight, where he had nearly killed Korra's father, where he lost P'Li...
Zaheer landed on the hard terrain on top of the plateau. He walked, expecting to find her body. But no. There was nothing anymore. Not even soot.
Nothing. Empty.
He walked up the slope of the plateau, gazing out at the cloudy sky. He walked until he reached the very edge, a void of cloud and fog below.
It was then that Zaheer felt something he had never felt before.
A single tear.
It slowly rolled down his face, off of his chin, and fell.
It fell all the way down the side of Laghima's Peak, for miles upon miles.
And so did Zaheer.
END
