Here's the next chapter.
Korra sat in a tent, burying her face in her hands. It had been two days since the ambush on the world leaders. Her face was red from the stress of losing her father, friends and mentor. Bolin had tried to comfort her. The young officers of the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes and the two Earth sides waited for what she wanted to do. The war between them was stopped, at least for momentarily, until someone could regroup and take charge. Naturally, Korra was picked.
"Korra, we have reports from the other nations." She heard Bolin from outside.
She quickly wiped the tears from her face, "Come on in."
Bolin walked in with bags under his eyes. Well, she supposed she had them too. No one slept since the attack. Lieutenant Shin was speaking to the other young officers trying to keep them from rioting as she and Bolin had tried to make contact with the other nations.
"It's bad Korra. Really bad." He said handing his report over, "Only Fire Lord Izumi survived the attacks on the capitals. We have word from Kya that she is trying to keep the Southern Water Tribe together and the Northern Water Tribe is slowly falling apart from inner fighting between elders."
She took in a deep breath before reading through it. Once she read about the Southern Water Tribe though, she hid her face again.
"I can't do this, Bolin."
Bolin's brow furrowed forward, "Korra, you have to. Out of all of the nations left, only one has a leader. Your home will be fine if Kya is there but what about the Earth Empire and the Northern Water Tribe? And you won't be alone. I'm here to help where I can."
Korra stuffed her hand down her shirt to find her cigarettes. She counted that she had two left and cursed before lighting one. Bolin quickly followed her. The flat, dry land stood before her with the large lake behind her tent.
"The world needs you more than ever. We're going to be lost or something like this will continue to happen if the Red Lotus regroups."
She put a hand to her forehead, holding back the urge to cry again, "How did we miss signs of the Red Lotus' return and are you sure the rest of the world will just follow me?"
"You have four armies waiting here to follow you if you talk to them. I've spoken to Shin and he has the other remaining officers with him. They want to talk." He did not voice an answer for the Red Lotus' return.
Korra sucked in her cigarette before blowing the smoke out towards the ground, "I don't need armies, Bolin. They're not going to fight us like the Earth Empire has. It's going to be random attacks of terror until they get what they want. We're going to be searching for them for a long time." She paused for a moment as she started for the lake. "How far do you think it is to the other side of this lake?"
Bolin stormed up to her as she was leaving, grabbing her collar, "Korra, you can't disappear again. Do this for your parents. Do this for Tenzin and Iroh. For spirits' sakes, do this for Mako, Asami and the Bei Fongs. What do you think they would be doing if they were here?"
"Mako and Asami would have been killed in that explosion if they were here." She tossed the smoke butt away, walking back to her tent, "Have Shin come over with the other officers. I need to know for sure that they'll help."
The earthbender let out a sigh of relief and headed to inform the others.
xxxx
Within the next hour, the lieutenants of each army met in Korra's tent. She was tense and pacing as they entered. They all sat down, separated by their uniforms. Shin gave her a nodded, letting her know they were ready.
"Afternoon gentlemen," Korra started. Her voice was soft from being nervous.
They all stopped their chatter to watch her. Korra was suddenly lost for words, unable to ask them to help her with the crisis. Bolin mentally slapped himself before standing up and speaking for her.
"What Avatar Korra wants to say is that we have been fighting for almost three long years. We've all seen friends and families die, myself included. Now all of this doesn't matter because the Red Lotus has just destroyed what tradition and leadership we've known. Can we all put aside our differences and return this world to its balance or are we to return to the anarchy that the Red Lotus left the Earth Kingdom in years ago?"
Shin quickly stood up, "Avatar Korra, the remaining soldiers of the Fire Nation army here in the Earth Empire are yours to command. Lead us like we know you can."
An older lieutenant from the Northern Water Tribe also stood, "Avatar Korra, this Red Lotus has left our tribes in dismay. You are our Avatar and Tribal Sister. Guide us like your father would along with Tui and La."
"Avatar Korra," an earthbender in an old Earth Kingdom uniform stood, "While you were not able to save our Queen or Prince, we have no choice but to stand behind you, lest we suffer from the likes those traitors once more."
The Earth Empire officers began shouting at their Earth Kingdom cousins, "The monarch was outdated anyways. All hail the Great Uniter and Emperor Bataar!"
Korra grunted, giving Bolin a look. She then shouted.
"There is no Great Uniter, Emperor or Monarchy. They're all dead. Don't you understand that? This war is technically over because there are no politicians to order a continuation of a fight. You all are it for leaders on each side and what's to stop the Red Lotus from attacking you next?"
The Earth Empire officers sat down making sure that the Avatar heard their insults. Soon a United Republic officer stood.
"Avatar Korra, you disappeared when we needed you. Why should we? You can't even speak to us and have to let Nuktuk do it for you."
Bolin interrupted before Korra could speak, "And Nuktuk wants to see the Avatar lead us because she is the hope of the world. There are millions of lives to worry about and our families are a part of them."
The United Republic officer nodded, "Then in memory of President Raiko, we will join."
All eyes went to the Earth Empire officers. The same one that insulted the Avatar stood.
"I suppose we have no choice but to fall in."
Bolin jumped in the air, "Yes, Team Avatar at its finest."
The Avatar gave him a quick smile before finally finding her courage, "Then this is what we're going to do."
After their meeting, Korra went out to address all of the remaining soldiers. She told them that they were going to combine as one army. New companies and battalions would be made and sent to various places in the world to keep the peace until new world leaders could be elected. There were worries about not going home and seeing family but Bolin quickly reminded them in his own way that the world was their home. A few walked away, which was expected. Then something that Korra and Bolin never expected happened. The soldiers got onto their knees and bowed to her. It was a strange sight for them. Bolin put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"You got this, Korra. You are two years a bit late, but this will be your legacy that you leave behind. I knew you were special when I saw you at the arena. I think the others would be proud."
She didn't speak and instead hugged him tightly. He quickly returned the hug, pressing his forehead into her neck.
"Thank you Bolin. You have no idea how much it means to have you by my side."
xxxx
She was getting frustrated as she meditated again. The urge to go into the Spirit World was becoming stronger and she could not ignore it anymore. She hit the side of her tent out of anger when the vision came again. Korra quickly apologized when someone was also behind that part of the tent.
"I am so sorry Lieutenant. I didn't realize you were there."
He came in rubbing his knee, "It's alright, Avatar Korra. It's my fault for eavesdropping."
"So why were you listening?"
Shin sat down, "You sounded like you were struggling with something. I am just doing what the Fire Lord asked of me by making sure you are alright."
Korra grunted, "Nothing is alright with me. I haven't been able to go into the Spirit World for the past five years. Every time I try, I see him and can't."
"The visions right?"
She nodded. Shin put a hand to his chin, humming as he thought.
"I don't know how to help you with this issue. I wish I could give you an answer but spirits; I know nothing about being the Avatar or the Spirit World."
"Then I suppose asking you to help me would be futile?"
Shin nodded. The Avatar sighed and leaned back, holding herself up by her elbows. They both sat there not speaking to each other. Korra began to whistle to have some noise around them. Suddenly Shin snapped his fingers.
"Why don't you tell me about some of your previous fights?"
Korra looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I've told you all of them."
"Tell me again."
So Korra did, starting with the fight with Amon. She later told him about the fight with Unalaq but when Shin asked her to tell him about her fight with Zaheer, she stopped.
"That's it."
"What's it?"
Shin rubbed his hands, finally happy that they were at something, "You can talk freely about Amon and Unalaq like they are nothing but distant memories but when I ask you to tell me about Zaheer, you can't. Why is that?"
Korra's brow furrowed forward in annoyance, "It's painful to think about."
The firebender sighed, putting a hand to his chin. He then leaped up, shooting a flame at her feet. Korra rolled out of the tent before he came rushing out.
"Tell me!" Shin got into a fighting stance.
"What are you doing, Shin?" Korra responded with her arms were out wide.
"That's not what I want to hear. Tell me about what happened between you and Zaheer!" he attacked again.
Heads came out of their tents to check on the shouting. It was a back and forth fight but anyone that knew each fighter knew that the Avatar was the better bender. When Shin was pushed towards Bolin, the firebender spoke.
"Help me get her to attack us in the Avatar State."
"Are you nuts? That's just asking for a death warrant." The earthbender threw his arms up in a dramatic form.
"Trust me. She won't harm us. Just help me reenact what happened to her during her fight with the Red Lotus a few years ago."
Bolin whined before doing what the crazy firebender asked. He caught the Avatar off guard with his sudden attack. Soon they had Korra looking to run from the fight.
"Come on Avatar Korra. Attack us in the Avatar State and this will all end shortly, unless you like to lose to amateur benders like us." Shin shouted again.
"Hey!" Bolin complained.
She finally complied, negating their attacks with her counter. Shin hit the ground with a painful grunt. When he looked up, Korra was already over him about to end the fight. Then she hesitated. The Lieutenant then nodded to Bolin who soon trapped her in a rock cage. Remembering the firebender's request, Bolin tried to imitate what he thought to be airbending movements with his arms.
"Don't!" Korra shouted as she looked away.
"Stop." Shin responded, "That's the issue. You are scared in the Avatar State. So scared that you fall apart and it stops you from using your strength. And don't tell me that you don't have any. I watched how you fought in Ba Sing Se. You are one of the best benders in the world."
Bolin stepped back, releasing her. He felt bad as Korra brought her knees up to her chest. She had looked away forcing the firebender to gently take her face in one of his hands.
"Avatar Korra, please look at me." He said softly, "Was that close to how it happened?"
He took her refusal to answer as a yes. Shin sat down again, imitating how she would sit to meditate.
"Come on, Avatar. Lead me into the Spirit World. He's not here anymore to haunt you."
As they were working on her issue, Bolin managed to get everyone to return to their work. He didn't go far though. He wanted to see his friend make it into the Spirit World. He felt they were close until Korra got up and stormed off.
xxxx
Korra made sure to stay in the same place for a few weeks as the newly reformed force began to spread across the world and report back on what they found. In the back of her mind, she was worried about being viewed as the second coming of Kuvira but Bolin continued to assure her that she wasn't.
"First," Bolin was dancing around as he talked, trying to cheer her up, "You're not threatening anyone with dissenter camps, which is a huge upgrade. Second, you're not threatening state leaders to fall in line. Thirdly, you're not obsessed with building a super weapon to bomb others with."
Korra hummed before letting her head fall to her desk. She let out a grunt from the pain before speaking.
"I will end up threatening the Fire Lord to give up her throne. She isn't going to just let me change her country without a fight."
"But you are not taking over it. You are simply changing leadership. It's sorta like a nice coup. We can even bring her flowers. Besides, the rest of the world seems to take towards it."
"They don't have their leadership anymore. Anything will be better for them."
Bolin put a hand to his bearded chin, "Well, how about if you become too much like Kuvira, I'll just let you know. Maybe a bopping to the head or something? Ooh, or how about another noogie? I know you hate those."
She chuckled, "Alright. If I get too overboard with this, give me one of your noogies."
"I also think you should stop wearing your hair up like the firebenders do. You need to come up with an Avatar style that people will respect and know that you mean business."
Korra rolled her eyes as she let her hair fall. Bolin put his hands up like he was imitating a camera. He moved around, humming as he did. The Avatar reacted with raising an eyebrow.
"Come on, Korra. Give me a smile."
"Why?"
"Do you want me to come up with something while you look annoyed?"
She reacted by giving him one of her signature cheesy grins. He commented about making it work, finally doing something with it. She teased him about becoming a hair dresser after everything in the world was smooth. Bolin laughed.
"I could call it 'Bolin's Avatar Styled Barber Shop.'" He waved his hand out in front of him, "Now, we can braid it here and pull it back. Then let the rest hang loose."
"Beads. We wear beads and bone in our hair too."
"Oh yea, gotta do the Water Tribe thing. You work on that and I'll be back with beads. I'm sure some of your friends from the Tribes won't mind sharing."
Korra laughed as he left. Pulling a mirror over to her, she began to do what Bolin told her but as she continued she had to stop. When Bolin returned, he caught her in time as she again cut it off at her jaw line.
"No Water Tribe?"
"No. It doesn't feel right anymore."
Bolin sighed, "Alright, get up."
"What? Why?"
The earthbender pulled his shirt off and dropped his pants to the floor.
"Put your clothes back on, Bolin!"
Bolin stomped his foot and pointed to the floor, "Strip Korra. You and I are going to have the most fun we'll ever have, tonight."
Korra raised an eyebrow, "Really? And Opal will be fine with this?"
"Why wouldn't she be fine with it?"
Korra cleared her throat, "Well, normally a girlfriend has issues when her boyfriend takes another woman to bed."
The earthbender took a step back. He looked horrified, "What are you talking about?"
"You just told me to strip and that we're going to have the best of fun tonight. What else would we be doing than getting into bed together?"
Bolin's face paled, "I was talking about going swimming. Wow Korra. Way to ruin a moment."
"Oh." Korra cleared her throat again, "Right, swimming. I knew... that."
"You know, because there's a giant lake, you've been so down lately and you mentioned something about a lake earlier. I thought some swimming would cheer you up."
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Just swimming?"
"Yes," Bolin laughed, "Why would I want to sleep with you? That's like, crazy talk or something."
He saw the glare from the Avatar, "What? Oh, I said that wrong. It's not that I wouldn't. You are still the pretty girl I remember and all, but Opal; those green eyes and her kind soul."
"Thank Bolin. You really know how to cheer me up." she deadpanned.
"Avatar Korra," a soldier wearing the Earth Empire uniform barged in, "I have a… Am I interrupting a private matter?"
Bolin let out a squeak before grabbing his clothes.
"No," Korra sighed as she blushed. She held her hand out to take the message, "It's not what you think. What is this message?"
"I have a message from the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Izumi is demanding to know why she cannot have her armies back."
"Because I left my coat on somewhere in camp. No sleevies today." Korra grinned as she scanned through the message.
Her friend laughed, "That was an Avatar joke, kid. She does have a sense of humor after all."
The young soldier stood on the other side of the table, staring at Korra's sleeveless shirt before finally letting out a nervous laugh, "Right. No armies in sleeves."
"Sleevies." Korra corrected, "It rhymes… you know what? Never mind. It's not funny now that I had to explain it."
The young soldier frowned as it was beginning to become uncomfortable in the tent, "Am I dismissed?"
"Yes. Bolin, we're taking a trip," Korra looked up from the message, "It seems we are doing this sooner than what we wanted."
xxxx
They arrived in the Fire Nation and let Oogie go where the bison wanted. Korra had asked Shin to keep watch over the camp back in the Earth Empire. It was mostly for his sake as he had voiced his concerns like any loyal officer would about having their leader removed. Even after his latest tactic of trying to help her, Korra did not hate the man.
Korra turned away the escort as they entered the palace. They both wore remnants of their old army uniforms, Bolin in green and Korra in grey. She was planning to avoid hurting anyone when she delivered her ultimatum to the Fire Lord. She did expect some resistance. It was only natural. The Fire Lord's family had ruled for generations, but the words of Suyin Bei Fong and (even if she didn't want to admit it) Zaheer rang true. There was no more room for monarchies in the world.
"Now Korra, keep your temper." Bolin said a bit off to her left side, "She's probably already in a bad mood."
"I have this under control, Bolin." She said stopping in front of the main doors to the throne room, "Open the doors."
The guards gave each other a look before one answered, "Avatar Korra, the Fire Lord is not expecting you for another few hours."
"I do not care about appointments. Open the damn doors!"
The guards refused again, resulting in finding themselves stuck in rock and watching the Avatar rip open the doors. Bolin apologized as he followed. They both could see a weary Fire Lord in her seat as she was talking to an adviser.
"Avatar Korra," She stood, "What is the meaning of this interruption? We are supposed to meet in a few hours."
"Change of plans." Korra bowed with respect, "I am here to deliver an ultimatum to you."
"And what is it?"
Korra rolled her shoulders before taking a calming breath, "I am here to ask you to step down as Fire Lord," She quickly put a hand up to interrupt the Fire Lord, "It is for the best of the Fire Nation that the people are given a chance to elect their leaders much like the rest of the world will be doing within the next year."
"You conscript my armies and my ships," the older woman began, "And now you want to remove me from my throne? After all of the help I have given you and you do it wearing a Fire Nation soldier's uniform?"
"I did not force anyone to help me with the Water Tribes and the Earth Empire." Korra added, trying to keep her temper, "Most of them agreed to help and I'm sorry about my clothes. I didn't have anything else. Now I am asking you to help me."
"My answer is no." Fire Lord Izumi said bitterly and then sat down, "Now leave. You are no longer wanted here."
Korra retorted in a sterner tone, "I'm not leaving until you step down."
She saw the Fire Lord's face turn red, "You are just as bad as Kuvira and Bataar, and you are pushing towards becoming like those Red Lotus criminals!"
Bolin quickly put a hand on Korra's shoulder, "Settle down, Korra. Don't lose it now."
He received a smile from her before she turned back to the Fire Lord.
"I am not Kuvira, Bataar or Zaheer. You are not losing your life and I am not using your people for my own gain. I have asked your soldiers to help keep the peace in the world and now I am asking you to do the same. Please Fire Lord Izumi, step down. This will better for your people. What will happen once you can no longer be Fire Lord? You have no heir. If you let the people choose now, you will avoid further conflict later."
Korra sighed when the Fire Lord called for her guards to remove her and Bolin. The earthbender voiced his concerns about being thrown into jail or worse, into the ocean. The Avatar ignored his words before going into the Avatar State and tossing them to the side. She then walked up towards the Fire Lord. Izumi stood, getting into a firebending stance but soon put her guard down when the Avatar held her hand out and left the Avatar State.
"I'm not going to harm you but you have to think about the future of this country. I am so sorry about your loss of Prince Iroh. I lost people I loved in that awful incident the Red Lotus did and also family in the Water Tribes. I'm not asking you to stop caring about your country. I would love to see them elect you as their president if they choose to."
Korra stepped back to give her some space. By this time, Lord Zuko had come out from a back room to investigate what was going on. He saw his daughter step down from the throne and get on her knees with the Fire Lord crown coming out from her top knot.
"Avatar Korra," she started, fighting back her pride and tears of loss, "I hereby step down as leader of the Fire Nation. Please take this as my symbol of resignation and take mercy on myself and my family."
Korra frowned before getting on a knee. She pushed the crown back towards her.
"I do not need this. It's been in your family for centuries. And I don't want you to feel that you are unequal to me. Please, stand up." Korra smiled as she offered to help the woman up, "I do need someone to make sure riots do not start here. Will you do the honor of keeping the Fire Nation in order until elections can take place?"
"It would be my honor, Avatar Korra." The Fire Lord said through her gritted teeth.
Ok... so maybe I do have some smoking fetish like Notros wrote in a review... but honestly, I've mostly seen it done as a stress handler other than a casual habit. I don't condone it, as a non-smoker. It's just an cultural thing that I've seen... and she's almost done.