*Sorry that these updates have not really been all that consistent. I don't have as much free time as I thought that I would have. I am going to finish this fic. Probably not soon. But once I do, I will more than likely take a break from writing fanfic for a few months. It is just far more time consuming than I thought.

Also, please keep my sister in law in your prayers and thoughts. She just had a tumor removed behind her eye and I'm at the hospital with her as I'm typing this. She's in recovery, but they have to closely monitor her.

Thanks again for reading.

Chapter Eleven

We all end up out back at the gazebo. All of us are sitting around the ledge with Tenzin in the middle. Pema is at the little swingset keeping her youngest three entertained. All of us are still scanning the area around us for any more threats.

"Korra, what I'm going to tell you is probably going to make you very upset. But, please listen until the end."

Korra looks around at all of us. "I'm just so tired of people keeping things from me. Tell me so we can move on."

"Korra, my father Aang, was the avatar before you. When he died, the avatar's spirit went into the next chosen host. You. Aang died after being betrayed by a group of witches that claimed to be trapped in the spirit world. What he didn't know is that this was the start of the attempt to use the avatar's blood to open the gates of hell."

"They've been trying that long?"

"Yes. My father escaped, but they took enough of his blood to open a small portal for demons to escape through. He passed shortly after from the injuries that he sustained during the fighting. We covered it up with the help of the medical examiner to make it seem like it was natural causes. When we realized that you were the next avatar, so small and helpless, we knew something had to be done. There was hardly any knowledge of this group or their power. Your parents were terrified and they did what they felt was necessary by sealing your powers. We did it to save you and protect the world."

Tenzin sighs and looks around at all of us, at his family and shakes his head. "Being a family friend, it was easy to watch you and keep you safe. But, there started to be whispers around that something was happening, that they may have found you anyway."

"Which is why I had to get Korra to awaken her power. She was born to save the world, not to hide because it can be scary," I say.

"We felt that there was no other choice at the time. She couldn't have defended herself then. By the time she became an adult, she had lived a normal life, and there was no reason to change that."

"I'm right here. Stop speaking as if I'm not even in the room."

"Sorry, Korra."

Korra rubs her face and the weariness is evident in her eyes. I want to reach out and comfort her, but I remain where I am. "So, who are these witches? My cousins were working with them and-,"

"And I killed them," I finish for her. She doesn't look at me, but I see her whole body tense up. Tenzin's eyes go wide, but he quickly recovers.

"They are members of group that calls themselves Nihilists. They believe that our existence is useless, that there are no such things as morals, and that social and cultural destruction is necessary for their beliefs to be possible. Some of the strongest, most dangerous witches fight with them as well as other awakened supernatural beings. They work with demons and they conduct blood sacrifices to make them stronger. They have no regard for any life and they'll even kill their own allies if it will get them closer to their goal. Hell, they'll kill themselves if it will help their cause."

Mako clutches his fists and I see his eyes glow in rage. I feel the same way. "Korra, do you understand that we can't let any of them live? They'll never stop."

Mako surprised me. He's usually not one to advocate that level of violence. He must be afraid.

"I-I," Korra turns and runs away. I follow.

"Korra, wait," I say after we travel a safe distance from the rest of the group. She stops immediately and turns to me.

"I'm not afraid to kill them to save the world because I have to do so to protect it. I'm afraid that I'm going to kill them because I want to. I wanted to kill those people that were selling those kids. I don't want to lose myself doing it," she admits.

"I know exactly how you feel. Once we cross a certain line, there is never any going back. We do lose a part of our innocence, but we don't have to let that define us. This is war now. This is for the world and sometimes we are the ones that must be sacrificed, but we do it because we're the only ones that can. I'll be by your side and I won't let you be lost. I'll always save you, Korra."

Korra looks into my eyes and shakes her head.

"What?"

"I was so angry with you for what you did that I forgot," she trails off.

"You forgot what?" I ask tilting my head sideways, wondering about the change of subject.

She shakes her head again, her blue eyes turning darker. "Nothing. It doesn't matter right now anyway."

"It may matter to me," I tell her with a small smile.

"Asami," Korra sighs. "Not now."

"Korra-,"

"I'm glad that it was you that chased after me."

"I'm glad that it is you that I get to chase. But, you can stop running, you know."

Korra chuckles and shakes her head. "You are something else."

"So I've heard." We're not getting anywhere with this conversation, but it's clear from the look she's giving me that she's feeling something. Maybe she just doesn't know what it is yet. "Okay Avatar Korra, what do you suggest that we do now?"

"We find that bar, we fuck some shit up, we shut that gate down, and we make the rules from now on. No more reacting. It's time to get serious."

"Now, you're speaking my language."

#

"Maybe we should go check on them?" Bolin suggests. He keeps looking around, not really comfortable with just being attacked and us acting so casually. It's always easy to read my boyfriend's moods. He just can't always read the moods of others.

"Asami will take care of her. We'd just be in the way."

"You don't think Korra is still mad at Asami for what she did?" Bolin asks.

"No, I think that after what happened with those kids, she has a better understanding of why certain things need to be done. If anything, it made her respect Asami a lot more," I say.

Tenzin looks at me. "What do you mean?"

"Asami is the first one that she ran to when she got back. Asami stayed with her all night, cleaned her up, helped her fall asleep. Why do you think that is?"

"Asami is attracted to Korra and Korra now sees that Asami will do anything and everything to keep her safe. Korra doesn't quite understand why, but her eyes are slowly opening to what that really means," Mako explains.

"Right," I continue. "Asami is the one who gave Korra the chance to be everything that she was destined to be and she has given her her loyal and pledged to keep her safe until she's able to be the avatar that we need. Korra sees that. When she rejected Asami and told her she didn't want anything to do with her, Asami was more hurt than she wanted to let on. She needs Korra as much as Korra needs her. There's a bond between them."

"You think that the vampire loves Korra?" Tenzin asks.

"I don't know if it's love yet, but that's where it's headed, in my opinion."

"How romantic. I want someone to fight next to me and save the world," Jinora says.

"You're not dating until you're thirty and you're not going to be off saving the world. In fact, you, your siblings, and mom are leaving town tonight. It's too dangerous."

"But dad-,"

"This is not a debate, Jinora. You are leaving. I can't help them if I'm worried about you. These people are dangerous. You are my priority."

"Okay," she says quietly, defeated.

"Tenzin," I begin.

"Opal?"

"Would it be alright if I train with you today? I've never met a master airbender before."

"That can be arranged. It would be my honor."

"Korra and Asami are coming back this way," Mako says.

We all look up as they make their way back to us with smiles on their faces.

"Is everything all good?" I ask.

"Yes. But, we have plans to make. I need someone to go with Asami to figure out where this club is. They're closing early tonight. The rest of us are going to train until we the call."

"I'll go," Mako volunteers.

"Good. Let's not waste any more time," Korra says. Her eyes light up in excitement and she makes a fist of flame.

We're going to give them hell.

#

"Mako, I appreciate you coming with me. You're a great friend."

"It's not a problem, Asami. I just want to be there for you. I told you that a long time ago and I meant it. Anything you need, always."

"I believe you; I just want you to know that I still appreciate it."

"It it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be alive right now, Sams. I owe you this."

"You've repayed me more than enough. I won't hold it against you if you feel that you need to move on to something safer."

"If the world ends, there won't be anywhere for me to go," he laughs.

"That is true. How are you Mako?" I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I'm okay."

I wait, refusing to remove my hand. Mako and I had been lovers for a brief period of my life. He had been on the verge of saying fuck it all and giving himself over to drugs when I found him. He was heavily in debt to some members of a triad and thought that his brother would be better off without him. He was in an alley and I was on the hunt that night. But, what neither one of us knew is that a young man was about to be murdered in that same alley. Mako struck out with his firebending and took the man down, even though he knew that he'd just exposed himself. I could have taken him down for that, but there was something in his eyes that made me pause. I glamoured the survivor and took Mako with me and got him cleaned up.

I got him and Bolin a place to stay and I helped him pay off some of that debt in exchange for him to gather information for me about various things whenever I needed. Then, we started using each other for more physical things. Like his fire, it was heated, passionate, and in many ways consuming. But, I knew that it wasn't love, it was availability, the way it is with Ginger. The difference is Mako began to have feelings for me. I cared for him, but not the same way. I desired his body, but not his heart. I let him go and it took a while, but we rebuilt our friendship. For that, I'm grateful.

"I don't know. I just feel so angry about all of this. Why would anybody want to bring hell on earth? That's just dumb as hell. They are going to ruin the world for their vision. That's sick."

"I know. It doesn't make sense to us because we're semi-sane," I joke. He gives me a look. "I can't speak on their motivations. We just have to make sure that they never succeed."

"And we will." He pauses. "So, you really care about Korra, huh?"

#

We all get dressed in silence. None of us know what's going to happen when we get there, but we're all prepared for a fight. I think Korra and I are both looking more forward to the fight than we'd like to admit.

I'm wearing a black and red leather jacket with some black jeans. I strap on my leather boots and pull my hair back into a bun. I head to the kitchen to mix some of my blood with some drinks so that everyone can get a little boost in case of injuries. Once I'm done, I secure my gauntlets and take the drinks to my friends.

Korra, Mako, and Bolin are all wearing stretchy Under Armour type clothing, blue, red, and green, respectively. They look like a sports team and I scan them in appreciation. They all have very different builds, but they're all fit and the fabric hugs all of their skin in the right places. I hand them each their drinks and tell them to empty it. They comply. Opal takes hers from me, putting a headband on to keep her hair out of her eyes. She's wearing a stretchy long sleeved green v-neck that matches Bolin's shirt, and black yogas. My gaze slides down as she turns.

"Stop staring at my ass, Asami," Opal whispers.

"Stop twirling around slowly so that your ass gets my attention."

"What? I'm telling Korra."

"Don't you dare!" I whisper loudly.

"I'm gonna tell her that my ass is her competition."

"They're eyes, Opal. They look. Your ass is not competition for Korra."

"What are you guys talking about?" Korra asks, stepping into our quiet bickering.

"Asami was just about to admit…"

I give her a look that says, 'I'm going to drain all your blood while you sleep,' and she coughs twice before looking at Korra again.

"Asami was just about to admit that she's tried pouring blood on ice cream as a topping. Very nasty." Opal shakes her head in mock disgust.

"Okaaay then. I'll just leave you to it then." Korra glances at me and then walks away quickly.

"I will slice off a butt cheek if you keep testing me Opal. Then, Bolin will have nothing to kiss and you'll never be able to sit down again."

Opal barks out a laugh and covers her mouth when everyone turns to her. "I'm going to go get a weapon. Korra, would you like to come with me?"

"Opal, I'm warning you."

"Sure," Korra calls. "We need to be ready to go in about five minutes."

"Think of those pretty eyes of yours, Opal. All the things you won't be able to see anymore."

"Asami, how can you compliment and threaten me in the same breath?"

"It's called talent. I also have a talent for dissection."

She laughs again. "Okay, okay. I get it." Opal holds her hands up in defeat and walks away from me backwards as her and Korra go to raid the weapons stash.

"Damn witches," I mutter, careful not to look at anyone's ass as they walk away.

Notes: If you've taken any philosophy classes in college, you've probably learned about Nihilism. I've always found people with those kinds of thoughts interesting. I've never met anyone, but I thought that from what I've studied, their views do fit if taken to an extreme the way I'm doing. If you do not agree with it fitting here, feel free to tell me why.