a/n: WHEW! Man, I loved this chapter. I truly did. There are going to be notes down at the bottom, and I really hope you all enjoy this! It's come to my attention that this story is slightly lacking in reviews per chapter. I don't really want to be one of those people who go "REVIEW MY STORY OR I WON'T UPDATE", because believe me, I'm happy with the ones I get. However, having such little feedback is slightly distressing, as I'm not sure what people like or dislike in my story-whether or not I'm getting the themes right or wrong. So yeah, that's kind of my dilemma. Nonetheless, I shall still write this story, as I have grown to adore it as much as any other! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I loved writing it!

Chapter 12: Possible.

"To make the concoction now, all we need to do is crush these here, and add in a little lemongrass for an additional effect, and it's completed. Of course, the patient will have to boil it into a tea first, in order to ingest, but do you understand?"

The ingredients were laid bare on the table, and as Yuen-sai continued crushing the herbs with the pestle into the mortar, Ikki's intense gaze studied his every movement. "How do you know what herb does which?"

"Studied it, mostly." He stuck a pencil in his mouth as he then put the crushed herbs into a small pouch and sealed it up, "grew up at my Aunt's house. We didn't have much in the way of medicine, so she made do with herbs. Some of it grew on me-literally-so I went into the trade." He glanced over at her, "Kesuk didn't tell you?"

Ikki shook her head. "He only told me how you two met. He also said you were, uh . . ." She cupped her chin, "a self-righteous darling."

Yuen-sai choked and thumped on his chest. "He seriously used the word darling to describe me? That idi-Kesuk." Scratching his chin, Ikki had to restrain a giggle as a flush appeared on the herbalist's cheeks. "Well. At least he got the 'self-righteous' part down."

The two continued in companionable silence for a few moments, passing and taking the herbs, and Ikki watching as Yuen-sai recorded his daily work with his chicken-scratch way of writing. When Ikki asked questions, he would sigh and groan, but he complied with her requests of help all the same.

He acts all tough, Ikki thought to herself, but he's not that bad.

"Right, that should finish up here." He finally put down the worn pencil, and tied his hair back. "Is there . . . anything you want?" Ikki looked up at him in surprise. He looked slightly awkward in posture, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tea, maybe?"

"Oh, no thank-you." Ikki paused, "um, Yuen-sai?"

"Mm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Is it more on herbology? I do have a book on it somewhere if you'd like to take it home."

Ikki shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's . . . well, it's something else."

"Oh." Yuen-sai set down the book he'd gotten from his desk, and pivoted around to face the girl. "And you're afraid it'll upset me if you ask."

"H-How did-?"

"No time for that." He waved his hand, as if to air away her mundane questions (which weren't so mundane in her head. "What is it?"

Her line of sight went to her lap. "Everything is messy at the moment. I hurt my friend, Asami, and I've probably hurt more people by making them worry about me after I ran away." She gripped the table in her hand until her knuckles turned as white as ice. "But that's not what I'm worried about. I-I mean, I am worried about it, but there's something else."

Yuen-sai said nothing as a reply as she peered up at him. Ikki wasn't able to read the expression on his face, and a hot flush spread to her ears. She swallowed the fear and continued her story. "My Dad hasn't really spoken to me since the accident. He looks at me and leaves. I think it's because of this." She gestured to her stump. "Has anything like that ever happened to you?"

The ringing in her ears began to blur her vision, and she felt her neck grow hot and her scars itch from the prickling heat. Any bravery she had to face Yuen-sai had gone with the shaky breaths from her lips.

I shouldn't have asked. I shouldn't have even bothered. What was the point in asking him in the first place? Not every person not normal is the same as me, I-I've messed everything up again-

"Calm down. You're hyperventilating."

He had wheeled himself to her side and was holding her shoulders. All his speech was wispy, or maybe that was just her head being fuzzy. It wasn't so clear. Not clear. At all.

Or was it?

Focus, focus . . .

"Did I say something wrong?" She whispered.

"No. You asked a question because you thought it would help you. You didn't say anything wrong."

"I've been saying so many things to hurt people. I don't like it."

"We never do, Ikki."

"I hurt Asami."

"I know."

"I hurt my friends and family."

"I know."

"I hurt Jinora."

"I know."

"I-I hurt my Dad."

His hands were warm as he rubbed her back. Everything began to get clearer. She could tell what the colour of the floor was again. Ikki sniffed and wiped her eyes. Yuen-sai still held her steady.

Eventually, the warmth left her back as he leaned down to look her in the eyes. Around them, they were rimmed red, and her lips pouted childishly. Yuen-sai took her hand in his, and he smiled at her. Ikki liked his smile. He reminded her of her father, in a way.

"Something like that has happened to me."

"Huh?" She tilted her head.

"I have been hurt in such a way. Would you like me to tell you about it? Would it make you feel better to hear my story?"

Ikki nodded. Yuen-sai smiled at her, and reached behind him, pulling out a blanket and putting it around her shoulders. It felt so warm.

He told her about his life with his aunt, how she had took him in after his mother and father refused to raise him because he couldn't walk, and they were farmers. "What good was a son if he couldn't work for them?" He had repeated his mother's words from so many years ago. She saw his eyes cloud when he said that. Yuen-sai remembered. He described how his aunt was an older woman: caring, but withered. She taught him everything she could about herbs, and then some. He told her about how her favourite flower was lavender, and how her clothes always held the scent, even if she hadn't worn them for years.

He described the day she died. It was winter, cold. The embers began to die, and the smoke rose up into the ashy skies. He was fixing up a cup of tea for her when he was fifteen. They lived on their own, in that small village, and the snow howled on outside. She didn't look at him much those days. She would stare out the window, with vacant eyes and distant sighs.

Yuen-sai had wheeled over to her and put the cup next to her hand, and her fingers barely twitched. he waved his hand in front of her a few times, and she blinked. He was relieved when she did that. Ikki thought it was because he knew she was still alive.

Then, he told her he dropped the mug. Because his aunt, for the first time in months, gazed at him straight in the eye.

"Her eyes contained the stars."

Little wisps of light appeared in her dark blue eyes, and he was reminded of the woman who had taken him into her arms at the tender age of three. The woman that had raised him and kept him warm. Her eyes contained the night, and he knew right then (or, Ikki reckoned, a few seconds after right then), they would never see dawn again. Her final venture was then.

"She smiled at me, and left."

Ikki covered her mouth with her hand. "My Aunt hardly ever looked at me in those final few months she had, until then. She knew it was her time was coming, and she delayed it because she knew I wouldn't cope without her. The guilt was consuming her. People don't look where they've failed."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

She conjured up a small breeze in her hand, and the aroma of lavender spread throughout the tent. For a second, she could have sworn Yuen-sai teared up.

"Do you miss her?"

"Everyday." He saw what she did with her airbending. "Thank-you."

Ikki smiled at him, and placed her hand over his. "I like to help people. Maybe I've hurt people lately, but I . . . I understand what I should do now, to make it all better. Or as close to 'better' as I can make it. I need to talk to Asami. Jinora. My Dad. Everyone."

"So you're going to be leaving, then?"

Ikki shook her head. "Not yet. I want to help. Anyway I can."

Yuen-sai's eyes widened. He blinked, and then chuckled. "Look at you."

"Huh?"

"You're glowing with the light of day and you don't even know it."

Ikki whipped her head around to glance at herself. In the reflection of the water basin, in her own line of sight. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "But there's not much sunlight in here. How am I glowing?"

Yuen-sai shook his head. "Ah, never you mind. But I need you to listen to me, here." He put his hands on Ikki's shoulders. "You're a good girl, Ikki. What you've been through, what you've done, it's not going to be easy."

Ikki didn't hesitate anymore. "Everyone always says that. At first, I wanted it to be easy. I wanted everything better right away. I know it's not going to be easy, now. My head is still fuzzy, I still don't like big buildings that have cracks in them, and I still get bad dreams about when I lost my arm. It hurts and then it doesn't hurt, but I know now. Nothing is going to be easy."

"Then?"

"But that's just it, isn't it? I don't need easy. I just need possible." [1]

Yuen-sai placed a hand to her cheek, and she returned it in kind when her hand covered his. "That's right. Just keep that in mind. Always keep that in mind."

Ikki nodded. "I can do it, can't I?"

"Don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't."

"You proved them wrong, didn't you?"

"I keep proving them wrong."

The sunlight crawled in through the entrance of the tent, and for a moment, Ikki knew that both of them glowed in it's light.

"Ikki!"

The two of them turned toward the doorway. Tuyen stood with Kesuk at the entrance, her hands folded over her heart and her eyes filled with tears. Kesuk simply folded his arms, and with hair messed up and bags under his eyes, he winked at her.

All of a sudden, Ikki found herself enveloped in the warm of Tuyen's arms as she rushed over and embraced her, and felt the girl sobbing into her shoulder. Rants of worry and relief came through in incoherent mumbles.

"We were so worried about you! What were you thinking, running away without telling anyone? We've been worried sick! Don't do that again, you hear me? If you need to talk, cry-we're here for you. But don't run away. Don't go where we can't follow!"

Ikki was stunned by the hug momentarily. But eventually, she melted into it. She put her arm around the small of Tuyen's back, and rubbed to comfort.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She hushed her with a quiet tone, "but please don't worry right now. I'm not going to do this again. I promise, I promise, I'll do my best not to hurt you again. I'm sorry, Tuyen, I'm sorry . . .."

She cried.

"I'm sorry. I'll do my best not to hurt you like this again. I promise. I promise."

"We've got word. Ikki's safe. She's at Kesuk's husband's clinic."

"Thank the spirits for that."

Asami folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "Tenzin, I appreciate you coming all the way out here, but I still think you should wait to hear what Ikki wants."

Adorned in a red cloak, Tenzin stood up straight. "She is a child, Asami. I won't have her idea of 'fun' clouding what she really needs right now."

"She fought with you against Kuvira! Remember? You bring her to a battlefield to potentially risk her life, and that's all fine and good, but when she decides how she wants to recover, you don't give her a choice?"

Tenzin sighed. "I didn't bring her willingly. She and Meelo snuck behind ranks. I told them to go with their mother to evacuate the citizens."

Asami blinked. "Well, then . . . I'm sorry for snapping. But my point still stands, Tenzin. You can't just decide what's best for her without consulting her first."

"Ikki has always been a stubborn girl." Tenzin sat back down, and held his head in his hand. "Once she finds something she likes, she'll stick at it despite any danger. She can be incredibly reckless. One-track mind, I think Pema described her as. I'm bringing her back to the temple so she can recover. I'm not doing it out of spite."

"I know that." Asami knelt down in front of him "I do. But locking her away is what made her depressed in the first place."

"She locked herself away."

"Did you ever even visit her?"

Tenzin was unusually silent. Asami ran a hand through her hair.

"Of course you didn't. You didn't even speak to her until she knocked Jinora to the wall. I know how much you care for your kids, Tenzin, believe me. I do. But ignoring her made her feel worse. I've seen it."

Tenzin gritted his teeth. Asami heard the grinding from where she was. "How can you take her back if you won't even look at her?"

"Because I am her father. She belongs with her family."

"Ugh!" Asami stood up and raked her hands through her hair, "what is with airbenders and stubbornness? Tenzin, you can't-this is wrong and you know it! You don't even listen to your daughter and what she wants. It's like what Bumi said-you want her to get better the way you know how, because you think your way is the right way!"

"You are not her mother, Asami. Don't allow your affection for her to cloud your judgement-"

"Stop that." She hissed. "You took me in after everything that happened with my father. I will always thank you for that. But I don't give a damn about what you think is right, Tenzin. I care about what Ikki needs. And you will not take her unless she wants to go. I won't let you."

Tenzin stood up to match her. "Asami."

"What? You want me to stay back and watch as you potentially destroy her again, after all the progress she's made with me? You want me to stand back and watch as you come back into her life and mess it all up?"

Tenzin's brow rose, "Asami, I think you need to calm-"

Asami didn't even look at him. Her eyes were fixated on her clenched gloved fists. "What right do you have, to just waltz back in here and just take everything away again? After so long, you'd really make it hurt all over again to fulfill your own agenda?"

"You're getting hysterical, Asami, please, try to calm yourself down-" As Tenzin placed a hand on her shoulder, she flinched away.

"Don't touch me, Dad!"

Asami froze as the title left her lips. Her limbs went rigid. Her mouth hung agape.

"I-I . . ." She began to regain control of her body again, and she huddled into herself. "I didn't mean-I-I mean, I'm sorry, I wasn't . . .."

When Tenzin took a step forward, she backed away. She faced toward the floor, and despite herself, Asami began to shake minutely. His face was unreadable. There were mixes of pity, sorrow, anger? Maybe sympathy? She couldn't tell.

"You-"

"I-I'll talk to you later!"

With that, Asami fled. Down she went past the stairs of the airship, past the alienage and the students of Kesuk's class training independently, and she ran until the backgrounds blurred and she could no longer feel the raw ground against her bare feet.

Asami barely ran from anything. Most things, she would face head on.

Not this.

Not this.

She needed to think. Even as she keeled over from running, even if her face was flushed with mortification. She sat underneath a tree, head in her hands, and allowed her mind to race.

I can't do this anymore. It's too much. Too much.

"What? My Dad is here?"

After leaving Yuen-sai to his clinic (after a flustered goodbye after Kesuk had kissed him), Kesuk and Tuyen had began to take Ikki back to the clinic on their ostrich-pulled cart. She sat at the back with the rest of the boxed rations, her arm resting on her knee. The cart was filled with herbal goods to be taken back to the alienage, and Ikki had a strong suspicion that Kesuk took these rounds just to steal moments with Yuen-sai in the clinic. Being a teacher and a herbalist left scarce times for intimacy, she had reasoned.

Tuyen turned back and nodded. "Yeah. He came here on his bison. Oogi, I think the name was? He told us all that he was here to pick you up and take you back home."

Ikki bit her bottom lip. "Was Asami okay?"

"Nobody knows." Tuyen looked back at the road for a few seconds, then regarded Ikki again. "She hasn't left the airship since you went missing yesterday. She's contacted everyone she knew to try and find you."

"She didn't come with you?"

"She's talking to your father." Kesuk cut in, "Miss Sato asked me to go instead."

Asami's talking to my Dad? Well, I guess everything will be okay. No, Dad is stubborn. He won't leave until he takes me back to Air Temple Island. But Asami is stubborn too.

"Did my Dad bring anyone else?"

Kesuk mulled it over. "It looked like he was alone."

"Really? He didn't bring my Mom?" [2]

Tuyen shook her head. "He was alone on his bison. There wasn't anyone else with him."

My Dad was on his own? Without anyone else to . . . look at me? Ikki glanced out at the track ahead. Open space, nowhere to bump into.

Shakily, she stood up in the back of the cart.

Tuyen craned her head around. "Ikki, what are you doing?"

"Using my airbending. I need to talk to my Dad and I need to do it fast!"

"What? No!" She protested. "Ikki, don't run off again!"

Ikki rolled her eyes, "I'm not running away, I'm running to!"

Tuyen swivelled around and grabbed her arm. Kesuk scrambled for the other reign, gritting his teeth "hey! If you're going to let go, how about a little warning next time?"

"I'm not letting you run away on your own again. Not when I can stop you."

"But I'm not-" Ikki groaned. She wouldn't believe her with just words alone. "Right. Okay. Tuyen, how good would you say you are you at holding onto people?"

"Huh?"

Ikki held out her hand. "Come with me. If you're that worried about me, then come with me. We can see my Dad together, see if I can convince him not to take me away from here. I promise I won't run away again."

Kesuk's face twisted. "Hold on a minute, I need two people to drive this thing. Tuyen, Ikki, the two of you can't just-!"

"I can go on your back? Would that even be safe, Ikki?"

"Yeah. I've carried people before. You'll just have to hold on."

"Are you two kids even listening to me?!"

Tuyen glanced to the side, then put a hand on Ikki's shoulder. "Are you sure this will work?"

Ikki grinned up at her. Tuyen gulped. "Only one way to find out!"

"IkkiiiAH!"

Her air-rollers readied, Ikki felt the desperate clutch that Tuyen had on her, and though she was a little heavy, she sped on with her laughter echoing around the vast space.

They were but a mere speck in the distance in no time at all.

Kesuk sighed. "Kids."

"Hello? You have reached the threshold of the Bei Fong bloodline. Please, state your intent of the identity of the person you seek to converse with, and thus, you might be in with a chance of conversing with-"

"Bolin, it's Korra."

"Korra! It's been ages! How are you? Is everything okay at Republic City?"

"Everything's fine, Bo. For the most part."

"Is everything alright? You need me to come down and give you a hug?"

"As tempting as that is, Bo, no. I do need to ask you something about when you worked for Kuvira, though."

"Uh. Am I in trouble?"

"What? No! Stop worrying your head about that. Did you ever work on Kyoshi Island? Or do you know someone who did?"

"Kyoshi Island? I never personally went there by myself, but it was one agni of a battle! I heard it took Kuvira-this was after-four weeks to get them to sign over. She personally went there and led the campaign. She met a lot of opposition. Why? Are they still occupying over there?"

"Yeah. Suki's not been too happy about it. Appar-"

"YOU MET SUKI?!"

"Bo. Not the time."

"Ah, sorry. Continue, please."

"As I was saying, Suki's not been too happy. She still earns a lot of respect in Kyoshi Island, and this extends over to the leftovers of the Earth Empire. They're pocket bands, really, but they still won't attack as long as she's not giving in. But it's causing a lot of tension between the supporters and the opposers."

"I'm not surprised."

"Really? Did something happen?"

"Yeah. A lot of the soldiers that are on there-I think-are made up of refugees that Kyoshi Island turned away."

"What? Why did they turn them away?"

"It was after the war ended. Kyoshi Island was in shambles. They had to turn a lot of families away, and they grew up in poorer areas of the Earth Kingdom. A lot of families resented that. The poverty we found them in was . . . it made what me and Mako grew up in look rich."

"Damn . . .."

"Yeah. It wasn't a nice sight. There's been a lot of tension ever since."

"I guess Aang didn't make everything perfect after the war."

"Recovery always took time, Korra. You know that better than anyone."

"I know."

"By the way, how's Ikki? Is she doing better?"

"Better, in a way. She'll get there."

"Good. She's a good kid."

"She's great."

"We all know that. Wasn't Asami making an arm for her? How is she after what happened to Hiroshi?"

"I . . . I don't know, Bo. She says she's fine, but it-she's still in pain over it. She's distracting herself. Aside from that, though, she's doing better than she was a few months ago. She and Ikki are both doing alright."

"I'll be down to see her soon. Promise you that."

"Good. She could use the friends, I think."

"And Mako? How . . . do you how he's doing? I've been meaning to come back down to the city and visit, but Zao Fu, we need-"

"Bo, Mako understood why you had to leave. You owe a lot to Zao Fu, and they're giving you the chance to mend the city. We know you left because you needed to help Opal." [3]

"I know, I just-"

"He's doing good. His arm is healing. Might not be able to go back to being a detective for a good few months. Wu keeps visiting him, and it's sort of annoying him. Bah, he likes getting all that attention, even if he's an awkward turtleduck."

"That guy is still with him?"

"Yeah. Oh, you want to hear some news?"

"What what?!"

"I think Mako's got a crush on someone."

"It's not-"

"Not Wu."

"Thank Agni. But if not Wu, then who-?"

"Well, there's this person at his work. Not sure their name, but it's this Operator he works with when giving announcements. I think he said their name was Harumi? Anyway, he get's all flustered when you mention them being a 'thing', or something like that." [4]

"Well, there's something to tease him about when I come back! Hey, just curious, but are you alright with that?"

"What?"

"Him . . . y'know. Moving on. I know you have, pretty much, but you and Mako were a thing for a long time. Are you okay with that?"

"Bo, it's been three years. I'll always love Mako as a friend, don't get me wrong, but him and me . . . didn't work well as a couple under too much pressure. I wonder about what could have been if we hadn't broken up, sometimes, but I like things as they are now."

"As long as you're both happy, Korra? I'm glad. Great! Great's a much better word, don't you agree, dear Avatar?"

"Plenty, Hero of the South. Now, when you're next in the city. We need plans. Noodles? Bet I can beat you in eating the most. Again."

"You're on, Avatar."

"Tuyen. You can let go of me now. We're not moving."

With a delayed response, Ikki prised Tuyen's talons from her grip, each finger more stiff than the last. Tuyen's face was frozen in an awkward expression of fear: eyes wide and teeth clenched. Ikki blinked, before patting her on the head and laughing a little.

"Okay, Tuyen, I'm going to go find Asami and my Dad. You can wait out here and . . . just stare like that, I suppose? I'll see you in a minute or so."

A muffled grunt was her answer. Ikki only giggled, before she turned away from Tuyen, and took the slow walk up the metal stairs. She opted not to hang on to the railing, instead keeping her physical arm by her side, and her phantom arm leading her to where her father was.

The airship was darker than usual. The repairs must be finished, Ikki reasoned, poking her head in each room to try and find Asami and Tenzin. Nothing. Odd. I can't find them anywhere. They might be in Asami's office, but it's all cluttered with paper in there. And coffee flasks.

"Asami?" Ikki called out. She then added, with a whisper, "Dad?"

She heard a shift from the other side of the airship. Strings of sound rotated around her head, and she pivoted on her heel, and marched down the corridor. "Asami! Dad! I'm back! Where are you?" Her march broke out into a run.

The metal clanged against her feet-cold, winding, all the same colour-and she felt her lungs scream as she ran on. The door began to shake in her vision, the one she was aiming for-faster, faster-she needed to get there as soon as she could!

Her hand reached the handle, and she burst open the door.

Her father, head in his hands, looked up at her.

She observed the room. No Asami. Where is she?

" . . . Dad?" Ikki croaked.

"Ikki." His voice sounded breathless.

"Um." She stood up straight, and looked at the floor. "Where's Asami?"

Tenzin hung his head. "I'm not sure. We were . . . debating on what was best for you, and something struck a chord with her. She got quite upset."

This got Ikki's attention, and she snapped her head up. "What did you say to her?"

"It was more what she said to me."

"I don't understand."

Tenzin sighed and knelt down, eyes not focused on her. "Ikki, Asami is . . . not in a good place right now. The passing of her father may be affecting her more than she'd like to admit, and it's hurting her. I-your mother and I both think it would be better for you, and her, if you were to come home. Let her heal by herself for a while."

"What?" Ikki shrugged his hand off, taking a defensive position. "Dad, what are you saying? Being on her own would be worse for Asami! She's been alone for long enough!"

"Ikki," Tenzin cut in, "we're not saying Asami has to stop seeing you. We just think it wou-"

"No, no, Dad. Stop." Surprised, Tenzin's jaw closed, and was silent. "You. You think it's best if I come back to Air Temple Island because I ran away from Asami. Why didn't you ask me first? Why couldn't we just talk?"

He struggled to find the words. He still couldn't look at her. "Ikki, I know you may see fault with my choice, but I'm your father. I'm only doing what I think is best for you."

"I know, Dad."

"You . . . you know?"

Ikki nodded. "Yeah. I do. I know everyone's been worried about me. I know I've hurt a lot of people by pushing them away."

Tenzin paused. "So, does that mean you're coming home?"

"No." She said, "no, I'm not. Dad, I feel better here. Asami helps me. I help her."

"But-your recovery-"

Ikki smiled at him. "Not everything is going to be easy for me, Dad. Being at Air Temple Island isn't going to make me any better faster than being with Asami. Everything is going to be a bumpy ride."

"Your mother-"

"Dad, stop." She placed a finger to his lips. "Dad, please. I know I'm a little kid, I know. I know Mom is scared about me being so far away. I get it, I really do. But you've got to listen to me. Listen to what I need. And I need to stay with Asami. Not just for me, but for her, too."

Tenzin straightened up his collar. "Do you truly think that?"

"I do, Dad. I want to stay with Asami. Being with her helps me feel better, and I help her to focus on something other than work, or her Dad. I miss everyone back at Air Temple Island, I really do." She sighed.

Her eyes then looked straight into his. She didn't break away. Remember this, Dad. "I want to stay with Asami. And you're not going to change my mind."

For a moment, everything seemed clear. The minute those words escaped her lips, Ikki felt clarity. The greys surrounding them washed into colours of every type, and at the centre of it was her gaze on her father. She held steadfast, despite the fear. In spite of it all, Ikki remained strong.

I want this, Dad, don't take it away from me.

"You truly want this."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Mm-hm."

Tenzin stroked his beard. "I want for you to come home, but you're defiant in staying right here." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I won't force you away, as you are clearly getting better here, however . . . I do think it's time you saw your family again, even for a short visit. It's been five months, Ikki. They miss you. Jinora especially."

She slumped. "I know they do."

"How about we work out some kind of compromise for the situation, then?"

"A compromise?" The very thought had her curiosity peaked. "How?"

"Simple. You stay here with Asami, for the time being. But," he raised a finger, "you decide how long each week you want to come back to the temple."

"You mean how much time I want to spend with Mom and the others."

"Exactly."

Ikki bit her lip. "And you won't mind how much time I suggest?"

"It has to be reasonable," he warned, "but no, I won't argue with what you decide. It's your choice, after all."

She cupped her chin, sat crossed-legged on the floor, and squeezed her eyes shut so she could race freely through her mind. Her long hair fell over her shoulders, filled with dust and herbs from helping out Yuen-sai and taking Tuyen on their fast-rack venture, and she was looking more like a wild vagrant than the granddaughter of the previous Avatar. Ikki didn't care much for her appearance, however. She was thinking too much of other things to truly care about that.

"Two days. Two days and one night." She concluded.

Tenzin knelt down next to her. "Is this what you want?"

"Yeah, that's what I want." Ikki smiled, "it means Asami gets weekends to herself to do whatever she wants to do, without worrying over me. Maybe Korra could take her out somewhere nice."

"Korra certainly is fond of her."

Ikki giggled. "You have no idea, Dad." She then stared him straight in the eye. "But . . . that means that Asami can visit the island anytime she wants to, no matter what. Even if I'm not there with her. She's a part of our family too. Okay, Dad?"

"Okay."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"You swear not to break it?"

"I swear on anything I can give."

Ikki's chin trembled. "Dad, can you look at me now? Without . . . being afraid of me?"

"Did I hurt you?" His voice sounded pained.

"Yes."

"If I said sorry, would you forgive me?"

"Y-Yeah . . .."

"I am so sorry, Ikki." Ikki collapsed into his arms, and began to sob. She felt her father's chin quiver above her, and then a few splashes on her hair were felt. "I'm sorry, my Ikki. I've been such an idiot. You did nothing wrong. I am so proud of you. I am so, so proud of how far you've come. Even if an old man like me doesn't show it much."

"Don't look away from me again, o-okay?"

"Oh, sweetheart," He picked her up in his arms, and held her close. "The world would have to take my eyes before that happened again. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"I-I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, sweetheart. I always will."

Sunlight filtered through the wilting foliage of the tree like the artificial lighting cracked through the blinds in her office, and even then, Asami found the light upon her to be fragmented and broken up into tiny little pieces. The snow began it's soft descent into the world below, combining frozen water with ash from the heat of war. A mixture not unknown to Asami, and something she had come to recognize on sight.

She sat there, underneath that tree, looking out at the vast emptiness beyond the alienage. Though she had intended to stray further, a thought nagged in her head that she shouldn't run too far. Perhaps it was work that called her, or a secret hope of being found. Either way, she remained. Sat down, legs crossed, and eyes barely open a slit.

Why did I call him 'Dad'? She questioned over and over. Truth be told, she had an inkling of why.

Maybe Tenzin was right. Maybe she wasn't able to look after Ikki.

Asami clenched her fist and closed her eyes. She drew a deep, sharp breath through her nose, and groaned on the exhale.

"May I sit?"

Her green eyes widened to regard the person next to her. Head-to-toe in traditional Air Nomadic garb. Blended with modern clothing adapted by her own design.

"S-Sure." She stammered, turning her head to look at her hands fiddling with the hem of her sleeve.

"Beautiful view." He commented.

Asami didn't think so. "It's common."

"Ash mixing with snow is common to you?"

Asami made no further expansion on the conversation. Tenzin sighed and stroked his beard. The tension in the air seemed entirely one-sided, and Asami didn't find that fair. Still, she could hardly complain over such matters. It was her own hand she had placed in the fire. It was only natural she'd have the burns and not him.

"It seems I've made a lot of mistakes in the past few years." Asami slowly craned her head to see his expression. It was one of distant regret. "With Korra, with Jinora . . . and now, with Ikki. Maybe I was too old when I became a father for the first time. Could have blamed it on reckless youth."

Despite herself, Asami smiled. "You have always been hot-blooded for an airbender."

Her jape caused an earnest chuckle. "Perhaps. Or maybe I gained that trait from being near Korra for so long."

Asami ducked her head down. "Tenzin, listen, a-about . . . about earlier. I didn't mean-I mean, it's true Ikki needs to decide what's best for her-not that you don't have any input, and maybe I let my own emotions interfere-what I mean to say is . . ."

"Do I remind you of him?"

"Pardon?"

Tenzin cleared his throat. "Your father. Is there something in him you see in me?"

"I . . ." Asami's voice died along with her composure and she buried her head in her hands.

She heard Tenzin lean back against the tree, and place a hesitant on her back. Of course he would feel awkward, Asami thought to herself, I'm not part of his family, I've not had a close affiliation with him like Korra has, and even he, Mako and Bolin have had sparring matches. Where do I fit into all this? When did I ever fit in? I was "Mako's girlfriend" when they all met met me. Even after all this time, I still feel . . .

"I didn't know him well. Hiroshi, that is." His voice interrupted her thoughts, though she still couldn't look up at him. "I know he was a brilliant inventor. I also knew that your mother, Yasuko, she was a writer?"

Asami felt her throat close up. "Yeah. She wrote articles and poetry."

"You know, some of her books are in Air Temple Island's library. Jinora liked reading them when she was younger."

Asami let that fact linger in the air, as she lifted her head and gazed at Tenzin with uncertainty. "You . . . you mean that?"

"She was a talented woman." Asami folded her arms across her chest in order to keep her slamming heart from shattering the bone and tearing the skin, and she watched Tenzin with a sorrowful intensity, as he spoke words she never thought possible to hear again. "Though I don't remember any of her words from memory."

"I . . . see." Doubt trickled into her mind. I don't remember much of her words either.

In the distance of the alienage, Asami spied Bon and her other engineers finishing up repairs on one of the heating systems that had been supplied by Cabbage Corp. The sweat glistened off their foreheads like they were in the middle of an Earthen summer night despite the cold, and Asami's eyes widened as they continued their hard work.

At first, they had doubted her. Doubted her abilities to take over an esteemed company at just nineteen years old. Why wouldn't they? She barely knew what she was doing. Stumbling through the world of paperwork and business deals with the dust trailing off behind her. Yet, they had stayed. Perhaps out of obligation to her father, or her mother, or simply because they were loyal to her.

Asami held her head high. Why have I been piling all this on myself?

"You do remind me of him."

Her words made Tenzin turn in surprise. "Pardon?"

"My father. You do remind me of him." Emerald eyes glossed over as the sun hid behind the clouds. "He wasn't a perfect man, Tenzin, agni knows he wasn't. A part of me still despises what he did all these years." Her heart began to pound against her chest, and she felt a hot flush of anger boil her blood. "How could I not hate him? He tried to kill me, kept the fact he was funding the equalists-using my mother as a means to manipulate me into joining him! And even after all that, he sacrifices himself for me-for the city I repaired?"

A bitter smirk wiped away her mournful expression, "yet I still care. Agni knows why, I still care. I still can't forget the man that raised me, that protected me, that cherished me. He tried to steer my life in a way that I wouldn't get hurt because of the trauma I went through watching my mother die."

Surprise shook Tenzin to his core. "You watched . . .."

Asami smiled a little. "I was under the bed."

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

Asami shook her head. "It's alright. You don't need to be sorry for that." She sighed deeply, and wiped under her eyes. "I guess for a moment, earlier, it was like I was talking with him again. I was angry and upset. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." She found that there were more words to say. "But you did remind me of him. Limiting Ikki, shutting her away from things that could help her . . . it was too familiar. At the same time, I know how much you love Ikki. All your children. Seeing firsthand how worried you were about her was exactly what my Dad was like. I see that in you."

Tenzin covered his mouth and coughed sharply. "Well. Thank-you."

A little amused, Asami managed a light laugh. It then turned upside down, and she looked down at the ground that had been littered with the remnants of spring. "I guess it doesn't really matter how I saw him now. I just wish . . ." Asami sighed. "It doesn't matter."

Tenzin paused, until he stood up and walked around to kneel in front of Asami, looking her dead-straight in the eyes. The sudden movement meant she had to hold herself up by the palms of her hands (serving as a pillar of support), and was utterly shocked by the tender look on his face.

"Asami," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "your father has passed on. But if he had any semblance of humanity in him, I know he would have been proud to call you his daughter. You, are the one who is saving my daughter. For that, I owe you everything. If you were my child, I wouldn't hesitate in announcing my pride in you to the world."

Her mouth hung agape, and her throat dried up faster than a draught in the east. "Y-You-" She cut herself off, embarrassed by the squeak in her voice.

"Don't deny your sadness, Asami." He told her the words she would never be able to forget, "out of anyone, you're the one person I would say is the most entitled to grieve. And if seeing echoes in your father in me helps in anyway, then I'll do what I can to make you feel better."

"I-I can't-there's too much-I-I-" She rambled, forcing herself to look away.

The warmth from his hands on her shoulders was too familiar. Too much like her parents. Too much. But she couldn't pull away. She seeked it. Craved it.

Tenzin wouldn't let her go, though. She felt his words pull her back to reality. "You helped Korra, and everyone else all these times, and didn't expect a word of thanks. You had every reason to turn away, but you didn't. Do you honestly think you have to fight this battle on your own?"

". . . Yes?" It was more a question than an answer. The lines blurred along with her vision.

"You don't." He told her, "you don't, and if I can bring comfort in anyway, let me know."

Those were the last clear words Asami remembered from that moment, as her sobs broke into wails and her composure shattered. She fell forward into Tenzin's arms, and for the first time in ages, she felt safe. Korra had brought her comfort, and she would always appreciate that, but the hot tears that streamed down her cheeks because of Tenzin's paternal urging brought her closure.

A hole in her heart had begun to be sewn by her clipped heartstrings. She had to tug on the knots to know they were now, and the untangling would be long, but it was possible.

She didn't need easy. She just needed possible.

a/n: And that's a wrap! Please review! Also, a few notes:

[1] From the movie Soul Surfer, which depicts a girl's journey to relearn surfing after she lost her arm in a shark attack, and having a large reliance on her family and her faith in order to achieve her dreams. So, guess what was a big inspiration for this fic?
[2] Ikki has barely ever seen her parents apart, and Tenzin never visited her much without her mother.
[3] My headcanon after the battle in Republic City is that Bolin went back to Zao Fu to help with repairs there, and to get back into the good books of the rest of the Bei Fong family. Opal actually tried to get him to stay in Republic City, but Mako insisted he go and do what he can to mend the relationship between that family and himself. Plus, y'know, Lavabending. Good for defences after the remnants of the Earth Empire. A group that loyal won't abandon Kuvira's goals completely.
[4] The Operator that Bryan shipped Mako with (was sat next to Mako during the evacuation scene), in my mind, is genderfluid and is named "Harumi". They may make a brief appearance in this story, but only as a cameo appearance.