Mizuki awoke in her bed, yet she felt completely unrested. The strong scent of salt water filled the air and she realized it was coming from her. She was barely able to move her limbs, let alone rise out of bed. "What happened?" she contemplated.

You're alone. Like you always have been. You should be used to it by now.

"Has my conscience has always been this loud?" she groaned.

Your friends have left you to pursue their own goals. You left your parents again and again. It's a wonder they put up with you for so long. You were such a weak child, your brother has never forgotten that. You had to leave his coddling. Your sister has been spending more time with the new love of her life, she doesn't want you to interfere. Tenzin and his family are separated from Korra because of you. Sokka can't save you now.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she shouted.

Tarik despises you. Kouki doesn't need a daughter-in-law anymore, not with his new fiancé. Yuan Fen and his family and Lili pity you. Look around you. There's nothing there. Just like what is inside you.

"No matter what I do... I'll always be cursed," she admitted.

Empty your mind and your heart. And you will be free.

"Unbelievable," Yuan Fen complained. The tiny drops of rain earlier in the afternoon progressed to a downpour by the time he left work. He eventually relented and bought an umbrella off a peddler. "At least he's having a lucky day." He passed by the park, feeling a sort of déjà vu, even if it was from a dream. "What are the chances?" he reasoned, but his feet were already dragging him along the path. He glanced at the pond when he passed by though he berated himself for being so foolish.

"Yuan Fen?"

"Mizuki?" Surprise, joy, and concern bubbled inside him all at once when he saw her sitting on a bench by herself. "You're soaking wet. How long have you been out here?"

"I don't remember," she whispered. He sat down next to her, making sure she was underneath the cover of his new umbrella. "Thank you, but I can waterbend, remember?"

"I know and you don't get sick, but I just wanted to."

"You don't have to give me your pity."

"I'm not pitying you. Is it because of pity when you help others?"

"When have I ever helped others?"

"I know Unalaq told you those terrible lies, but none of what is happening now is your fault. You know that, right?" No answer but the sound of the rain pounding his umbrella above them. "Mizuki, look at me." She shook her head. "Please," he begged.

She slowly turned towards him. He felt his heart drop towards his stomach. The look in her eyes seemed so lifeless and the way she carried her shoulders made her seem so… broken. How could she have become so physically and emotionally drained in such a small span of time since he last saw her? "I'm taking you home to my mother. You're not well. We might need to get you a healer," he insisted.

"No, no…" she aggressively shook her head.

"With all the love you have for your family and friends, why do you shut so much of yourself from them?"

"I don't know."

"Why?"

"I said I don't know!"

"No, I think you do. You can lie to yourself, but don't do that to me."

"Mizuki, don't do this to me. Don't be stubborn this one time," he pleaded. "I promise I'll make sure you're okay."

She brought out one of her blue hair ribbons, "Pinky promise." She tied it around their pinkies. "You take my ribbon with you and bring it back to me when we see each other again."

"You are quite serious about this."

"Of course I am. I don't want you telling me that you lost it. I can't walk around with one side of my hair undone."

"I, Kaimu, solemnly swear that I will be with Mizuki again to return her ribbon."

"We will find him," Tarik promised. Then Unalaq told her Kaimu's ship was attacked by spirits.

"It's been two years. He can't come back. We can remember the dead, but they will never live again in our world. Kouki told me after Kaimu was gone that I loved you too much. That I would do anything to make you happy even if it's not facing reality and he was right. I'm sorry, but I can't believe you. I can't humor this delusion of yours," said Tarik.

Why was she all alone in the park?

"Well, you still have us. We'll support you in whatever you do," Mako promised.

"You don't have to go through this alone," said Asami.

"No teammate of ours gets left behind." Pabu squeaked in response on Bolin's shoulder.

"I'm glad you're staying. It wouldn't be the same without you," said Korra.

"You're shuddering. We need to get you inside. I've never seen you like this," said Yuan Fen.

"You know, I remember I saw you sitting by your grandfather's statue that night," Yuan Fen recollected.

"What?"

"You were crying. I left pretty quickly. It was none of my business. You seemed so alone though."

"I wasn't."

"Right, you adored your grandfather. I bet you always told him what you were feeling, everything."

"I did, but I'm not a child anymore. I can bear it on my own."

"We are going to watch you grow up into a wonderful, beautiful young lady. And I know you will make us very proud. Just hold on, little one. Hold on for me, okay?" Sokka pleaded. "I promise I'll find a way to save you."

"Promise me she's not part of that world. That she's still my daughter. That you didn't save our little girl only for her to die when she gets older," her father begged.

"She's still Mizuki. She's healed. I wouldn't let what happened to Yue happen to her," Sokka answered.

"HE LIED!" her younger self screamed. "He didn't save us. I was frozen in time and we are empty because of what he did. He stole our choice in the past and now you have no future. We will lose everyone…

"I have to go." Yuan Fen was about to protest when she gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. It lasted for only a fleeting moment, but he sought to remember the feeling of her soft lips. He believed it would be the only time this would happen to him in reality. When he finally was lifted out of his daze, she was gone. Fear crept into his heart. That kiss felt too much like a permanent good-bye.

Forgive me. You had too much faith in me. With each step she took, she felt lighter and eventually it seemed like she left her body completely.

"Mizuki!" Mako thought it was a stroke of luck to catch sight of her. She stopped in her tracks and he parked his motorcycle on the curb beside her. Fortunately, the streets were virtually empty because of the rain.

"What do you want?" she retorted.

"Good to see you, too," he responded.

"I don't have time for a chat, Mako. State your business."

He was puzzled by her brusque behavior, he was sure they didn't leave on bad terms the last time he saw her. However, she was right, he needed her help. "You know how Varrick's been trying to get the Republic to go into war? He's taking advantage of Asami in order to get to Future Industries. Look, long story short, we planned an off-the books sting operation with the Triple Threats because Asami's shipments were getting stolen and then they betrayed us. I was wondering if you could personally talk to Chief Beifong and convince her to do a thorough investigation on Varrick. I'm just a rookie in her eyes, but I know she'd believe you. You never trusted him."

"You're right, I didn't. Then again, I didn't help him escape the South Pole. Also, you brought in criminals into an illegal operation. In a way you brought this on yourself."

"We need to help Asami. She's going to lose the last thing she has of her family. And Bolin's been spending too much time around Varrick making those movers. It's having a negative influence on him, he's already moved out."

"I'm sorry, Mako, but I have my own life to lead. I'm going back to see my family. I've had enough of the discord in this city." She turned away and walked around the corner.

"Fine! I'll do this on my own!" he called out to the rain.

"You know I'm surprised you asked to see me." Varrick turned around in his desk chair.

"Believe me when I say this isn't a social visit," she said.

"You seem a little different. Did you do something with your hair?" he guessed.

"I don't have time for your idiocy. You are aware Mako believes you attacked your own shipments with Future Industries?"

"And if I am?"

"Well Mako's a goody-goody and a stubborn one at that. Not to mention Asami's his ex. How are you going to stop him from poking around where he shouldn't be?"

"I have Asami and his brother on my side. I'm sure soon he'll see that's where he should be."

"He is dedicated to his job though. Got to maintain those professional standards." She scribbled something on a piece of paper and slid it over to Varrick.

"What's this?"

"An address. May or may not be Mako's. Either your Nuktuk star, Bolin, isn't living there with him anymore. I'm sure you could manage to grab ahold of schedules at the police station."

Varrick placed the paper in his pocket. "Well thanks for stopping by. So what are your plans? I have a feeling you're not planning on staying in town for long."

"As a matter of fact, I have a little trip to make."

"The Avatar is dead, and we cannot open the Northern portal. I have failed you, Vaatu," Unalaq apologized.

"You have not failed me ... yet. The Avatar still lives," Vaatu informed.

"How do you know?"

"Even though my connection to Raava was severed, I can still feel her presence. I made sure that nothing would interfere with the opening of the portals."

"In other words, I had to clean up the mess your children left behind." She approached the Tree of Time. The other dark spirits maintained their distance, sensing the power from the young woman.

"Mi-" Unalaq noticed that both her eyes had become a deep blue color. "Meiyu," he acknowledged. "So you have taken complete control now."

"Did you think such a weak human like her would have lasted this long?"

"Possibly, Mizuki surprised me at times." He turned to Vaatu. "I'll find Korra."

"The Avatar will find you. She has just entered the Spirit World."

"Tenzin would be with her. She could not have been able to come on her own," Meiyu stated.

"A hostage will make it easier to convince her then," said Unalaq.

"I will not fail you, Vaatu." Meiyu bowed in deference.

"I expect both of you not to."

A/N: A lot of callbacks to previous chapters, thank you to everyone following/favoriting!