Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in the next chapter. I was hemming and hawing over how I wanted to explain everything. Then I noticed the chapter was getting 2x as long as the rest, so I decided to break it out. Thanks for reading.

= = = = = Chapter 11 = = = = =

Jinora grabs one of the capes and wraps it around Mirai before sending a projection of her spirit to Korra.

-.-.- on Air Temple Island -.-.-

"Jinora?" Korra says, surprised. "Where the hell are you. Your dad is furious you're not home yet."

"We found Mirai. She's hurt bad. We're coming back, you need to heal her."

"What's going on."

"No time to explain. We'll meet you by the reflecting pool near the pavilion. Get Bei Fong. Mako and Bolin need help in the Old Spirit Wilds."

Stunned to silence, Korra runs off immediately to get Tenzin and others to help. At least Bei Fong is already here.

Pepper finally shows up when Tenzin steps up, "Jinora, explain yourself. How can you go off like that?" No one answers him as Kai climbs down Pepper. "And what is wrong with you?"

"Chi blocker," he says flatly.

'Chi blocker? Where?" Lin says surprised.

Impatient for Jinora's reply, Tenzin jumps into the saddle. "Oh no," he says looking at Mirai's face, swollen, cut, and bleeding. Tenzin hugs Jinora who was shaking from crying. Korra jumps in and gently scoops Mirai into her arms and runs off to the reflection pool. Meelo follows quickly behind with the medical kit.

Lin sees Mirai's arm fall from the cape, shocked that the healer is lifeless. "Can someone explain what the hell is going on? Kai, where are Mako and Bolin? Were they with you?"

"Yeah," Kai says flatly, squeezing his arms, wondering when his Air Bending would return.

Asami comes running up out of no where, "Zhu Li finally gave birth! It was incredible!" She stopped short of the group. "What's going on?" She asks seeing Kai and Jinora with blood on their clothes, but no one even registered her presence.

"We need to get to Mako and Bolin. Chief, come with me and I'll take you to them." Kai begins to tell them the story, starting with Bolin showing up looking for Mirai.

"I'm coming too," Tenzin says remembering Kai is without his air bending.

Jinora starts to follow them, but Kai quickly cuts her off. "You're staying here. Get cleaned up and fill in Asami and Korra." Jinora starts to protest, but nods and goes to the womens dormitory. Asami wraps her arm around Jinora as she passes and walks with her to help.

On Oogie, they fly back to the old Spirit wilds as Kai fills them in starting with Bolin showing up looking for Mirai.

-.-.-

Asami listens patiently as Jinora tells her what happened as she got dressed.

"So who's the boss that these thugs kept talking about?"

"I don't know," Jinora sat on her bed. "We just over heard them yell something about her killing their boss and how he thought she could heal him and how he ended up dying."

"Did she ever mention anything to you about this guy?"

"She just wrote me letters about her Grand Pa. How he was sick and she couldn't…." Jinora's eyes widened. "She couldn't heal him and he passed…"

"Do you think Grand Pa could be their boss?"

"I'm not sure," Jinora said searching her drawers for Mirai's letters. "These are all the letters she sent me."

"Oh great," Asami reached for them. "If we read them we might be able to figure out something about how her Grand Pa is…" Jinora clutched the letters to her chest, a blush crept up on her cheeks. "Oh," Asami said finally realizing, "These are personal letters."

Jinora nodded. "I'm going to have to re-read them." She was afraid that someone might find the sex advice Mirai was giving Jinora in regards to Kai, or Mirai's responses to about Jinora's anger towards her father. It was going to be like someone reading her diary.

"How about you read through the letters and let me know if you find anything. I'll go check on Korra."

"Okay."

-.-.-

Asami arrived to find Meelo trying to comb out the tangles in her hair as Korra tried to heal Mirai. Asami was shocked at how swollen and bruised her body was.

Asami quietly sat down beside Meelo and noticed she was sitting in a puddle. "Meelo, you're soaked!"

"There was no time. We put her into the water and I had to cut off her clothes."

"Why?"

"It was making the water too dirty. There was so much blood and dirt. I just got done wiping her cuts clean. She's completely covered in them."

Asami took the comb from Meelo. "I'll do this while you dry yourself." Meelo quickly dried himself with Air Bending and he started backing up the supplies that were strewn all over the place. Mirai looked as bad as Korra did when she was poisoned by Zaheer...before Su took the poison out.

Finally, Korra stopped bending. "There isn't anything more I can do for her physically."

"What do you mean?"

"She's banged up pretty bad. I healed the superficial cuts. But she's bruised to the bone in some places. Others, her bones are broken, most of them I was able to heal or at least...attach them back together. Her body will have to do the rest. She might have some internal bleeding, but I can't do anything about that."

"But….she's alive right?"

"Yeah, just barely it seems like. She's unconscious, whether it's from the pain or just due to trauma, I don't know. We'll need a real healer."

"But, aren't you as good as Katara? I mean, she taught you."

Korra shook her head. "Katara is a whole other level of healer. I'm good because I'm the Avatar, but healing isn't my strong suit. It takes a high level of Spirituality to be a good healer. I would probably be just as good, if not better than Katara if I had Aangs spirituality, but I don't. I can do the things he could, but it's not the same."

"What if you use your Avatar sense?"

"It won't work. Mirai's practically nothing but positive energy...and it only works on your spirit or soul, not your body."

"Should we take her to the hospital?"

Korra thought for a second. "I want to say yes...but if she was under attack, she might be safer here, where the White Lotus can watch over her. Plus, if people are still after her, we won't be putting innocent civilians in harm's way if they go after her at the hospital. I mean, could you imagine if something were to happen to Varrick's kids?"

"So what do we do?" Meelo asked.

"Let's wait until your dad and Bei Fong return with Mako and Bolin and figure out where to go from there."

-.-.-

Daylight broke by the time everyone regrouped on Air Temple Island.

"You should all get some rest," Tenzin said. "You are all welcomed to stay here. Lin will return in the morning after she's done with the captives."

"Where's Mirai," Mako asked, having not heard anything Tenzin said.

"We moved her to the guest room as it has it's own bath. I won't have to carry her far to heal her."

"Carry her," Mako said, fearful that her legs were broken or she was paralyzed.

"She's unconscious," Korra explained carefully.

"Take me to her."

Asami led the way as Bolin and Korra followed closely behind Mako. "Are you guys hurt," Korra asked, placing a hand on Bolin's shoulder.

"A little, but we'll be alright."

They opened the door to find Mirai in bed, cleaned but obviously bruised. "Meelo's been a great help. He found us extra comforters and cushions to make sure she was comfortable and not lying on a hard bed. We elevated her feet some to help decrease the swelling."

"Her hair is braided," Mako asked, gently touching the plait of hair that was tenderly braided.

"I thought it would help her hair stay less tangled when it was in the water."

"Thanks guys," Mako said, fighting back tears, kneeling beside her bed, burying his face close to arm, afraid to touch her.

The group hugged him. No one told him she'd be all right because no one knew if was going to be. The outpouring of support was too much for Mako, he broke down sobbing. "I'm so sorry. Mirai, I'm such a fool."

One by one they peeled themselves off of Mako. Korra jerked her head towards the door and they all left quietly.

"Bolin, let's go to your room and I'll heal you," Korra said, when they were down the hall far enough to not hear Mako's crying.

"I'll go find Meelo and see if there's something Mako can eat in Mirai's room. I don't think he'll be leaving her side," Asami said. "I'll bring you some food too Bolin."

"Thanks guys."

-.-.-

The next morning, Korra knocks on Mirai's door. After waiting for a bit, there was no answer, so she gently opened it. "Mako," she called out suspecting that he did indeed sleep there. She wasn't disappointed. The guest bed was slightly larger than the regular singles that the dormitories had. Mako had moved Mirai closer inward and had slept awkwardly on his side, face buried in her hair, holding her hand.

"I'm such a fool," he says, eyes still shut. "If I hadn't pushed her away, if we hadn't fought…" his breath staggered.

"They were after her for a reason. If they were chasing her for months, I don't think that her being with you could've changed that. But," she said taking a seat, "You are a fool."

Mako sat up. "It never really was so much about her age as it was my own feelings of inferiority. I felt...unneeded for the first time. And because of that, I felt, well I didn't feel special anymore."

Korra laughed slightly, "Yeah, Asami and I getting together probably did not help that at all."

Mako chuckled to himself, "I thought it would die down after a few months...and then a year….and then maybe a year and a half."

"Wow that bad?"

"My tag line became "Not Man Enough," he said, moving his hand across the air like Bolin would.

"Wow that is bad." Silence fell between the two as Korra noted that Mako never let go of Mirai's hand. "But you know, you are needed and you are special. We've all needed you. You're still Bolin's older brother and you always keep him grounded. And you were my first love. And for Asami, you're like her idol crush dream come true. You've always been special Mako. That's never stopped. And you're special now, because you've met an incredibly powerful bender and she's in love with you."

But how do you know if she will be when she wakes up?

"Come on," Korra got up. "Got get cleaned up. Bei Fong should be coming by soon and I'm going to do a healing session with her."

"I'll carry her," Mako said scooping Mirai up in his arms before Korra even took a step.

-.-.-

Pema arrived with Lin from NR and brought her quickly to the dining hall. They saved conversation for the table as they didn't want to rehash everything on the flight over. As they were seated in the private dining hall (away from the acolytes), Mako walked in, having just showered from the night before.

"Okay, so now that we're here. What happened yesterday? Varrick was so mad that Mirai hasn't been around. He kept talkking about all the money he paid her and now I was there instead of her. Of course, once Zhu Li's labor progressed, he totally was focused on her."

"How are the twins," Jinora asked.

"Oh my, they're the cutest things ever! She had a boy and a girl."

"Who's the oldest?" Meelo cried. "That's what matters."

"The boy, Kazuki, was born first. His sister is Koyuki."

"Very water tribe sounding right? Because all of the Ks…" Bolin said beaming, hoping someone would recognize his contribution.

"Um, right," Lin said, arching a brow. "Down to business. What the flameo happened yesterday? Those guys you picked up, Harit, Jin, and Shoi-ming...they're not talking."

Bolin started, "Well at least you were there to use your metal bending to get the earth bender - "

"Harit."

"yeah him, at least you were there to get him under control. He's one big dude."

"I'm surprised there was a chi blocker with them. We haven't seen many of them around since the whole thing with Amon," Mako added.

"Don't be too surprised. Just because Amon is gone doesn't mean people unlearn what he's taught them. Do you think this is some underground equalist faction come back?" Tenzin asked.

"No, they wouldn't be working with benders." Lin said flatly. "But they wouldn't tell us who is their boss."

"Jinora," Asami said, "What about your conversation yesterday. Did you learn anything?"

"What is she talking about Jinora?"

Jinora explains about the letters from Mirai and how she wrote about her Grand Pa. She went on to explain that Mirai tried to heal him, but he died because he had a disease.

"Well, it's true", Korra states. "Healing can't fix everything. There are limitations to it, such as birth or genetic defects, extensive internal damage, and some forms of diseases. normally stuff caused by environmental problems . Katara told me stuff like chronic asthma due to pollution can be fixed but not something like cancer."

"What if Grand Pa is the boss that the guys are talking about," Jinora asks.

"Well, well, the guys we put in prison aren't talking, but they will be interrogated later on today. Mako, Bolin," Lin turned to address the brothers, "I need you to come with me. Bolin, you need to file a a missing person's report and Mako, you need to file a police report."

"But everything's already finished," Bolin said, not wanting to leave breakfast. However, the sharp looks from Lin and Mako made him not say anymore.

"Jinora," Lin said, adding another one to the group, "I need you - "

"And what do you need JInora for?" Pema sharply cut off Lin.

"Well, she knows Mirai and has those letters, we need her to come in for questioning."

"Absolutely not" Pema said sternly.

"Mom, it's okay…"

"I don't like the idea of you going down to the station," Pema said much more gently than when she has spoken to Lin.

"Well she's going to do a whole lot more when this goes to trial," Lin said matter of factly.

"Trial?"

"Of course, there's a kidnapping and assault. Plus, one side is claiming murder."

"You don't think she killed their boss do you?

Lin tried her best to not roll her eyes. "Of course I don't, but what I think doesn't matter. It's going to have to go to trial because it happened in NR. Unless we get a confession or there's enough evidence to prove otherwise. Now, Jinora, show me the letters."

Jinora's face flushed. "Umm, you can follow me."

In Jinora's room, Lin leaned against the wall arching her eyebrow as Jinora closed the door. "Something you need to tell me?"

"Are these letters...are they...are the contents going to be made public?"

Lin smirked. "Good stuff in there, eh?" Jinora flushed more. "I'll make sure that Mako and I are the only ones who go through them." Jinora cringed. "We won't tell your father or mother anything about what's in them, okay?" Lin put a reassuring hand on Jinora's shoulder.

"Okay, promise?"

"That good?"

"He'd kill me."

Lin raised and eyebrow. "You're having sex, secretly pregnant, or secretly married."

Jinora stood in stunned silence.

"You're a teenager. Who wasn't at your age?" Lin tried to stop laughing as Jinora's surprised expression, "Don't tell your father I said that."

Jinora smiled and handed the stack of letters to Lin. "I numbered them before I sorted them. The missing numbers contain nothing about her Grand Pa. The ones that have red corners, those are the ones that contain stuff about him being sick. There's this one," she said, pointing to an envelope that was marked both red and blue. "This one says she has a picture of her and grandpa that she keeps."

"We can search her apartment to find the picture."