Here's chapter 21. I've worked HARD on this. Like I literally spent the who fucking day writing this.
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Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Legend of Korra, yadda yadda yadda...
Chapter 21
Asami did not have an idea as to why she was still dating Mako. Did she feel a sense of security when with him? Did she feel genuine love when kissing him? Did she feel… Sexually attracted to him during heated, intimate nights in his or her bedroom? The answer to these questions are all 'no.' But she does not know why she is still with him. That is until she looks up from her plate of food and sees Korra sitting across from her.
She has always held a grudge against Korra for liking Mako. But one cannot just rid their feelings without some sort of closure that causes them to realize their feelings were not pure. And Asami can tell that Korra's feelings for Mako are more than pure.
Yet she still feels envy and indignation whenever the two catch even a glance at one another. It's unjustified ire that fills her when she sees the two of them hang out together, even if they are 'just friends.' She's angry with Korra; no with Mako… No, no, no! She's angry with herself, though she doesn't know, nor can she find, any reason as to why her blood boils with jealousy that makes her sick to her stomach because it's just not the right path to walk down to deal with her anger stemmed from an unknown source.
It's been 6 months after Amon was defeated; 3 months since Korra's 18th birthday, a month since a little more than a majority of the citizens of Republic City were given back their bending (gang members not included), 2 weeks since the rest of the Equalists were gathered then released upon trial, out of jail/prison, or upon rehabilitation… But most importantly, it had been 6 months since Mako rejected Korra in favor of Asami, thinking that he'd have a more stable relationship with one who's less… Insane and irresponsible.
It hurt Korra, yes, but she had no time for being a typical, lovesick teenage girl, as a new enemy arose from the shadows of the city just 1 week ago; Atroz (Spanish for 'Heinous' and is pronounced Ah-trose). He was a fire-bender, and wanted to be the dictator of The United Republic. So 'Team Avatar' came to save the day once again.
This enemy was a more difficult challenge, though. His army was much larger than Amon's, consisting of some left over Equalists and many others from all the other Nations, save for the Air Nation of course. This threat required drastic help from the Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation armies led by the Fire Lord and Earth Queen.
Atroz's militia grew very large very quickly due to an extremely charismatic persona and a more-than-significantly high level of persuasion, influence, and coaxing. He believed that all Nations should be one and not separated into groups like some sort of prison that divides each culture, isolating it from the rest of the world, rather than uniting each Nation and their philosophies in order to become one.
His voice was so soft and gentle, not intimidating one bit. But Korra saw the look in his yellow eyes; the insane stare and cracked, wild determination to bring everyone together in the wrong kind of way.
Korra has lived in the Southern Water Tribe for practically her entire life, and knows everything of the unique cultures of each Nation that should be kept sacred and true to their home, not lost in translation with the other cultures customs and beliefs that could cause major problems between two or more of the Nations. Each philosophy is meant to be kept within its own home, safe and sound in its element. Though Republic City unites each Nation, that's all the world can take. Avatar Aang meant for this City to be the center of peace and balance, uniting each Nation in a smaller way that doesn't cause friction between all cultures. He didn't want the world to bite off more than it could chew, because sometimes, one is enough.
And Korra knew this all too well. She not only has past lives to call upon for guidance, but she has her own knowledge and beliefs to add to her decisions before she makes them. And she chose to keep the four Nations true to their cultures, keeping Republic City as the string that ties them all together.
Each side meets 10 miles from the city in the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom, the four elements available to the benders on either side. Water from large streams of rivers all around them, and earth and sand underneath their feet presented to the earth-benders. An 80 degree day gave the fire-benders an advantage as a strong breeze gave benefited Tenzin's air-bending. Everyone wore armor, especially the metal-benders, as the non-benders, such as Asami, wielded swords, arrows, guns, and shields.
The fight began as soon as a gun was fired from Atroz's army, narrowly missing one of Korra's soldiers. She then gave the signal to begin fighting as determination and justice filled the core of her stomach. With one deep breath, she closed her eyes. When a strong puff of air rose briefly around her, she opened her eyes to reveal a glow of luminous, white-blue light replacing her cobalt irises, giving her custom-made metal armor a shine against it. Her brows furrowed in anger as she opened her mouth, exposing the same white-blue gleam of light that of which escaped her eyes. She shouted from her stomach in what seems like 10,000 voices the most frightening manner, a battle cry that has become legendary. "THIS IS WHERE WE FIGHT; THIS IS WHERE THEY DIE!" At this, The Battle of Outskirts has begun. (Yes! It's a 300 reference).
The battles rage on as the war continues. Fallen soldiers are remembered, the wooden casket each are within is placed into a dark hole in which they are concealed with a layer of cold, brown earth, never to be seen again; a rigid, cold stone slab engraved with the beginning and end of their lives along with their name that is the most prominent feature of the gray rock that juts from the earth, the same element in which each fallen being has had their last breath on while bleeding from the metal that sliced their skin… For just causes.
Each death made Korra that much more determined to defeat Atroz, not wanting each death to be in vain. She threw every element at Atroz and his army. Dangerously pressured blasts of water, gusts of air that tossed people back violently into the ground or boulders instantly killing them. She shot deadly volleys of skin-burning fire with perfect precision and lethal passion that left her enemies sweltering on the dusty earth, screaming bloody murder. She brought up the earth with her clenched fists as she threw boulders toward her opponents, instantly crushing their bones and/or killing them with just one rock.
But Atroz got lucky, he had the upper hand for just a few measly seconds and her took it. He blasted a large, blue ball of fire at her back, melting the metal of her armor straight through, giving her upper-back a nasty, bloody burn. She fell from the whirlwind of air that held her in the air and fell to the ground beneath her with a repulsive thud and crack. But she was Korra, head-strong, stubborn, and impulsive Korra. She wasn't giving up that easily.
She stood up, though badly hurt, with little effort and stared him straight in his yellow eyes with her normal cobalt ones. Atroz had a devilish, disturbing look on his face as he stood in his fire-bending form. Korra just stood there, her hands at her sides clenched tightly in fists. Her eyes weren't their jovial, happy selves, but were a mix of pure rage and hatred along with much want to end this here and now. On her terms.
Everyone, literally everyone, stood back and observed them intently, waiting for the moment in which one of them dies.
Korra knew what she had to do, but was afraid of doing so although she showed no sign of reluctance; hid the fear of taking someone's life, no matter how much the world is better off without them. This is something Korra can't do
But the fate of the world rests on The Avatar's aching shoulders, not Korra's. So when Atroz shoots a stream of blue fire directly at her face, she dodges it at the last minute, sidestepping to her right before he shot another at her in which she made dissipate into smoke with a strong blast of fire from her throat.
Korra sees another blast of fire reveal itself through the smoke and narrowly dodges it as she jumped above it using a puff of air to not only aid her in safety, but to see above the cloud of smoke in order to see where Atroz is. As soon as she sees him staring at her, she kicks 2 gusts of heavy wind toward him, knocking him down.
The cloud of smoke disappeared as Korra landed gracefully on the ground despite her back injury. Atroz looked up to her from his kneeling position, hands on the ground, eyes pleading to set him free. But she gave him something else; something he deserved for devastating the peace and balance of all Nations.
With tears falling from her eyes; her angry, and rather scary expression silently predicting his sentence. She closed her eyes for a brief second before they glowed that signature white-blue color, indicating she was in the Avatar State once again. She created fire in her right hand, and air in her left. Then she lifted water from the streams and earth from the ground before connecting the four elements, bringing them in her right palm.
With her left hand, she brought up earth-shackles and wrapped them around his hands, which were trying desperately to grasp at the dirt of the cold ground the metal of his armor was scraping against. The lifted her hand, bringing the earth up along with his hands, his torso facing her. The metal plate covering his chest fell off as Korra burned and melted the chains holding it to his body.
She lifted her right hand to him, making the elements grow as they spun in her palm. "THE BALANCE OF THE WORLD SHALL NOT BE IN DANGER ANY LONGER!" The voice of the 10,000 people shouting through Korra exclaimed.
Then, with a thrust of her hand, he was dead. The most disturbing, most revolting and nauseating bloodcurdling scream escaped his lungs as the elements penetrated his chest, completely through his entire body, piercing beside his heart, killing him slowly rather than instantly.
That ended the war. Just one battle between two people; a death match to determine the fate of the world was all that was needed. But Korra didn't want to cause a death; didn't want to personally kill someone.
This caused major depression for the 18 year old girl afterward. She wouldn't eat, sleep, talk, or train with Tenzin, Mako, or Bolin. She'd just slump around the house with a devoid look in her eyes; almost nothing was there besides sadness. Her persona was completely erased from her expression, replaced with despair and despair only.
Korra's routine was the same every day:
-Wake up in the morning covered and laying in a pool of sweat.
-Drags the metal tub into her room, bathes and cries
-Go back to her room where she would water-bend the sweat off her sheet, hide herself in the down feather comforter, and cry
-Slump to the dining hall dressed in only her dirty pajamas and be stared at while she pokes at her food
-Ignore the greetings and waves to her as she goes back to her room and cries for a few hours
-Is asked by a different worried voice to come attend 'Family Time'
-Sits in the chair in the corner of the living room and ignores her friends, Tenzin, Pema, and the air-kids during Family Time
-Goes back to her room to cry
-Arrives in the kitchen with puffy, red eyes and is stared at while she, once again, plays with her food rather than eating it
-Ignores questions of concern from everyone at the table
-Goes back to her room then cries herself to sleep
-Have a night-terror or two and wake up screaming, causing one of the acolytes in the women's dormitory to check on her, only to be ignored.
And here Asami was, realizing she had been acting like a complete bitch toward her for liking Mako, which she wasn't even sure if that's true anymore. Mako doesn't like her like he had. That certain gleam in his eyes whenever she approached was gone, replaced with a strong care of a good friend… A good friend like she should be to Korra during her time of need. She had taken someone who might be the one; the one to comfort her… The one to love her. But she sees nothing in Korra's eyes except for that misery that has caused an unwanted isolation from the world; from her own feelings.
Plus, she doesn't even feel anything for Mako. She never has, really. Maybe it was sorrow with a hint of pity for hitting him with her Vespa. Whatever the case, she just knows she doesn't feel any love for him, but just that of a friend that cares deeply for his safety and feelings. And whenever she looks into his amber eyes, she sees the same emotion she looks at in the mirror every day when thinking about him. Just a platonic relationship, and nothing more.
Korra let out a deep sigh, causing everyone, including Asami, to abruptly look up from their meal of vegan chicken-pork chops, mashed squash-potatoes, sweet corn-peas, and dinner rolls.
She looked up to all of us staring at her, not giving off the least bit of insecurity or awkwardness. Just not caring at all. She looked back down at her food, and picked up a small amount of mashed squash-potatoes with her fork (Yes! They're using forks! Deal with it!). She brought the nourishment to her open mouth, slowly and gently slipping the fork in before closing her mouth around the utensil. She slid the fork from her closed lips then continued to eat.
But the mental victory dance everyone did was short lived after Korra had only taken around small bites of each piece of sustenance that sat upon her plate before she pushed it away. She stood from the table then walked to the hallway with shaking legs.
About 10 minutes later, some unknown force brought Asami to suddenly stand from the table without warning, making the rest jump a bit at her unexpected urge to leave the table in such an improper manner her father had taught was inappropriate and rude.
She disappeared into the hall and made her way to Korra's room, which was around the corner from her own room. She opened the sliding screen door without knocking and entered Korra's dark, depressing room to find a metal tub placed in the middle of the far left end of the large bedroom. A dark figure sat in it, looking a little thinner than usual. Her legs rested outside the tub as her arm's biceps were pulled to her chest, covering her breasts, left forearm upon the inside of her elbow, and right hand brought to her eyes as tears flowed and sobs echoed through the room.
"Korra…" Asami said, sliding the door shut and locking it on instinct before she approached behind her, not at all embarrassed by her friend's lack of clothing. "Korra… It's Asami…" She said a bit louder, but still no response.
She kneeled down behind the crying girl. That's when she noticed Korra had taken out her wolf-tails. Her dark brown hair fell messily over her shoulders in the most beautiful and endearing way imaginable in Asami's mind.
The older girl placed a hand on Korra's wet shoulder, tensing underneath her touch. Her sobs became louder at this. Her cries converted into a more miserable weep, like a child left behind; like a pet left in the rain (Yes! A freaking Green Day reference).
The tanned girl's shoulders shook more with every agonizing second that passed. And finally, she spoke. "I- I killed some- someone…" She forced out with a weak breath between sniffles. "I took his- his life…" She sniffed and wiped a tear away. "I feel like- like a- like I'm a murderer…" She breathed out loudly while, somehow, taking in a deep breath simultaneously.
Seeing her so vulnerable is truly heart-breaking. She had the perfect words in her mind, but couldn't force them through her open lips passed the knot that which sat in her throat, preventing her from comforting the girl that desperately needs it the most. But she would make the words rise from her throat and genuinely speak words of comfort and security to her; just wanting to hear her laugh, see her smile, feel the exuberant joy that once filled her to the brink of overflowing return to her spirit.
"Korra…" She began, nervously. "You couldn't have done anything else… He had too much political power and adherents to have been jailed to end this war." She reassured, squeezing the Avatar's shoulder to reiterate her words in a simple action. "He would've found a way out of it; would've taken advantage of your generosity… You did what you had to in order to save the world." She finished, waiting for a response.
"B- but what would- A- Aang think of m- me…?" She cried, making Asami wince at her stammer of depression.
"You aren't Aang, Korra." Asami answered immediately. "Although Aang never killed anyone, he never has faced a challenge like this." She began in a firm, yet caring and gentle tone. "An army of for than 25,000 people had threatened the world during Aang's reign." She took a deep breath before continuing, closing her eyes so they could slowly open. "You took a life to save many. And although there were many fallen soldiers, their death wasn't in vain."
At this, Korra shifted her position in the tub, staring at the raven-haired girl who had taken her hand from her shoulder at the movement. "It still doesn't- change the fact I killed someone…" She stated with a sniffle, her stammering gone. "… I'll never be able to live with that…" She confessed as she held her gaze on the older woman, making Asami's stomach twist and churn at those words in disbelief.
"Maybe you won't." She began in confidence, knowing exactly what she's going to say. "Although you may not be to stand with this everlasting pain guilt, and remorse of taking someone's life heavily forcing itself down onto your shoulders, but you will have to learn to live with it even though it's your greatest regret." She said in a loving tone as she reciprocated Korra's gaze, staring into the icy-blue eyes that once use to be of cobalt that shined like sapphires left in the morning sun.
"I'm sorry for taking him…" Asami admitted, figuring this is the only moment she might get to tell her.
Korra looked at her with slight confusion. She sniffed. "Took who…?" She asked in the most innocent voice, really not knowing what she's talking about.
"For taking Mako from you…" She began in a guilty voice. "I don't even like him as much as I have, or thought I have, before. We haven't talked about our relationship yet, but I can see in his eyes that he feels the same way I do: that our connection was misread as love, but is merely platonic…"
Korra looked at her for a few more seconds then giggled. It was the most beautiful sound in the world; music to her ears. "I don't like Mako." She began with a slight amused grin tugging at the corners of her soft lips. "I mean, I thought I did. But when I kissed him at the arena during the tournament…" Her mouth was open, but no words came out as she was trying to put them in a way that made sense. "… I felt nothing. And when I saw Bolin, it only backed-up the fact that my 'love' for Mako was just a small crush…" She paused, sniffling once again, eyes still puffy and red. "I think it's just that he and I are too similar. We fight often over trivial shit, and buck horns when we yell at one another… It was just a phase I guess. Being intrigued by his stoic charm caused me to fall into a false love spell, I guess…" She finished.
"Then why do you avoid us when we're together?" Asami asked, too curious of the answer to speak in a placid tone, but still in a firm care for the girl that she didn't take it the wrong way.
Korra seemed to shrink back a bit at her question, but answered it anyway. "Well… After we received the news that Amon and Tarrlok died in the boat explosion, and that Hir- your father was thrown in federal prison…" She began, catching herself from saying 'Hiroshi' in front of Asami in fear she wouldn't want to talk with her anymore. "I saw you hug Mako, and he hugged you back." She turned her gaze to the floor. "I felt so guilty that I had been the one to figure out his treason," she continued, straying from the phrase 'your father', "I wanted to be the one that held you because it was my fault. I wanted to be the one that fixed that mess; wanted to be the person who would be there for you, not because I'm the Avatar, but because whenever I'm around you… I feel the core in my stomach tie itself in knots. At first, I thought it was a twinge of jealously, but… The mental list of things to be jealous about just didn't add up." She took a deep breath then dipped her right hand in the tub, gathering water, and splashed it onto her face trying, and failing, to rub the blush that had burned a deep red on her cheeks. "I then realized that the knot was a stronger, more fortified feeling of what I felt for Mako when I saw him win that pro-bending match so long ago…" Her words trailed off as she looked Asami in her jade-green eyes that glimmered in a thin sheet of tears.
That knot Korra was talking about suddenly made itself known in Asami's own stomach. "Korra…" She gently took hold of Korra's cheek with a nervous, trembling hand.
But being the impulsive person she is, Korra thrust forward, capturing Asami's lips with her own in a strong kiss that made butterfly-moths flutter in Asami's stomach before she responded by kissing Korra back with great passion and vigor.
Asami pulled away to look at Korra and finish the sentence she started before she was reborn, attached to the Avatar's lips. "… I feel the same way." She confessed, getting a wide grin that she hadn't realized she missed so dearly from Korra before reconnecting their lips in a sweet kiss.
Sorry if it was a bit long, but I wanted to pace it. Plus, I got a little carried away. Woops X)
Any who, Rate and Review if you liked it because feedback makes me happy :D
I'll see you cool gator-cats on the flip side B|
-TheClaudMaster