"Ngh…" Riko rolled around until she fell from the rather large bed. She rose a brow as she looked around. The bed was empty of her whole family. Where had they gone?

She rubbed her head as she shook the sleep away. She stumbled up and made her way to the kitchen. She passed Naga on the way and the animal decided to tag along with her. When they made it to the kitchen, she was surprised to see everyone there. Her siblings sat at the table eating breakfast while Korra and Asami leaned on the counter drinking coffee in their robes. They smiled at her when she entered.

"Good morning, Riko!" Korra said.

"Er…good morning?" Riko replied. She wasn't used to this. Breakfast wasn't a time they all sat down to eat. Korra and Asami were usually rushing around the house, preparing for their work day. It was dinner that they always had together, when Korra and Asami came home from work and they talked about their day. Breakfast and even lunch was usually a 'fend for yourself' type of deal, even though they had a professional chef in the kitchen all of the time.

Riko looked at the extra plate of food on the table.

"That's for you." Asami said.

Riko glanced back up. "I figured as much." She slowly sat down with her brother and sister to eat the plate of food. They smiled at her as well, making her pout and look away in response. This whole morning was starting off weird to her.

She looked back over to their parents. "Don't you two have work?"

The couple faced each other nervously. Kohaku and Nami giggled excitedly, making Riko raise a brow at all of them. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Asami set her coffee mug down on the counter and faced Riko. "Well, um, we were hoping to hold out on this, but we felt that we really needed this for all of us."

Riko waited for an answer, but Nami beat Asami to it. "We're going on vacation!"

"What?!" Riko exclaimed, jumping straight up from her seat, knocking the table a bit and rattling the silverware.

Asami scratched her cheek nervously. "Yeah, we planned a vacation to go back to the Fire Nation."

"Why?!" Riko asked.

"I already said that I felt our family needed a break and I hope that it'll help release the growing tension here." Asami replied sternly. Riko recognized her 'boss' voice and knew that she was serious. There was no use in arguing, so Riko crossed her arms and looked away. "We had planned it for later in the season when it got hot out, but it's getting pushed up now."

"So what? Are we leaving today or something? That still doesn't exactly explain why you two aren't at work."

"In fact we are leaving today." Asami said. Riko blinked in surprise.

Korra popped up and spoke up. "Yeah we called our works and told them that we're taking a vacation. It's been awhile since we took one."

"Lin was okay with that?!"

Korra nervously dialed the number to Lin's office. "Chief Bei Fong's office."

"Hey Lin! Umm, I need a favor." Korra said, twirling the phone cord nervously.

On the other side, Lin rose a brow. "What is it this time, Korra?"

"I'm taking a vacation."
There was a long pause before Lin spoke again. "I'm sorry, did you say vacation? Korra, you were just in the South Pole a year ago. Wasn't that enough?"

"I need it for Riko…"

Things went quiet again. "What do you mean?" Lin asked in concern.

"We're taking a trip to the Fire Nation, to her old home, in hopes that it'll help cheer her up. We don't know what else to do. Beside, going to the South wasn't much of a break last time."

"Right. Just… Sigh, if it's for Riko, do whatever you need to Korra. I'll support that."

"We were just in the South Pole like a year ago!" Riko said.

"And when was the last time we took a nice, long vacation together as a family?!" Korra responded.

Riko paused. Maybe they had a point. They only went to the South last time to get her healed by Katara, and then the old lady died so it wasn't really much of a vacation. They'd taken mediocre trips to the South before, but those only lasted a week at the most. The best vacation any of them had ever had didn't even include Kohaku and Nami; when Asami first brought Korra to the cabin in the Fire Nation, where they found Riko.

Her family watched as she weighed the options. Suddenly she tossed her chair to the floor and stormed off, saying, "That's fine by me."

The women watched worriedly as Riko disappeared.

Korra found Riko sitting on a boulder by the woods in the backyard. She cautiously approached from behind, even though the girl could probably sense her arrival by using her earthbending. She sat in front of the boulder and the two sat in silence.

"What were you thinking about earlier?" Korra asked gently from below.

A soft wind blew before Riko answered. "I was thinking about the time you and Asami went on vacation, unintentionally adopting a jungle girl in the process."

"That was the best decision of our lives, though."

Riko paused for a few minutes and Korra thought she was ignoring her again. "Really?"

Korra smiled. "Of course. We love you. You completely changed our lives."

"But was it really for the best?"

Korra paused to gaze up at the girl. She was hugging her knees to her chest and looked quite depressed again. Korra asked, "What do you mean?"

"What would both of your lives look like if I hadn't tried to rob you that day?"

Korra paused again to think. "Honestly, I think we'd have a lot more sex."

Riko sighed at Korra's frankness. "I think you two already do enough of that."

Korra laughed. "But our lives would be pretty boring."

Riko's eyes widened the more her mother talked.

"I'd just be doing Avatar duties, serving no other purpose except to keep the peace of the world. Asami would keep her company going and produce new technology. We'd probably start to fight because, well let's face it, we're both hotheads, me more so but still. Our marriage might've broke apart…"

Things went silent. Suddenly Riko slid down the rock to sit next to her mother. "But you guys already do those things."

Korra smiled and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, but now we have a purpose." Riko gasped and Korra hugged her tight. "You three give us a purpose to keep going. I honestly don't know what my life would look like without you."

Korra sadly smiled when her daughter hugged her back. The girl hid her face in her shoulder, trying to hide the tears escaping her, and clutched to her shirt tightly.

"So does the Fire Nation sound good?" Korra asked.

Riko tearfully chuckled. "Yeah, sounds great."

That night the city shone brightly as the family drove in the cramp Satomobile. They had to hitch a trailer up to it because there wasn't enough room for all of the luggage in the vehicle. Korra and Asami smiled from the front seat. Riko gazed outside as the buildings pass from the backseat. Nami sat in the middle since she was the smallest and she and Kohaku were currently having a shoving match because Kohaku thought he deserved more room.

Riko rolled her eyes. And she's the immature one. Sheesh. Suddenly Nami fell into her. Asami was about to scold them, but Riko beat her. She growled at her brother. "Knock it off. We all have the same amount of space."

Asami and Korra glanced at each other. They shrugged their shoulders simultaneously. Looks like Riko was taking back her leader role.

They finally made it to the docks and boarded the ship. They all shared one ginormous room. Of course, only the best for a Sato.

The boat was about a three-day cruise, then a few hours of driving and they'd make it to the cabin.

Just as they were driving over a hill, Riko abruptly came to a conclusion. She gulped and hesitantly spoke up. "M-Momma?"

Asami's heart jumped with excitement. It seemed like so long since Riko had called her by that name. "Yeah, sweetie, what's up?"

"Umm, I just thought of something… There's only one bedroom at the cabin." Riko said, blushing a bit. They were not all sleeping in the same bed. There was no way Korra and Asami wouldn't get 'excited' during this trip.

Asami laughed. "Well maybe you should just wait 'til we get to the cabin. You might be surprised."

Riko rose a brow, but decided to wait and see. When they finally got over the hill, everyone gasped in anticipation. Even Riko smiled wide as the cabin came into view. A new section looked like was added. She nearly jumped from the car, but Korra playfully turned around in case she did. Just like old times.

Riko was the first one out of the car when they pulled in the driveway. She impatiently waited at the door as Asami had yet to unlock it. As soon as the lock clicked, Riko ran inside. Kohaku and Nami stood by the car, surprised by Riko's sudden excitement.

It was just how Riko remembered it. The living area to the left, the bathroom to the right, the huge kitchen and dining space in the back, which led to the beach, and Korra and Asami's bedroom on top.

Korra and Asami watched as Riko wandered around the house, reminiscing the first time she met them. Korra started laughing and Asami sighed. The CEO asked, "She still hasn't noticed the new space we added, has she?"

Korra laughed still. "No! And she usually notices things immediately."

Asami slapped her forehead and called out to the girl. "Riko!" The elder teen froze and faced her mother. She pointed to the new addition. "You missed something." Riko, confused, wandered over to the area. Korra tried to contain her laughter. Kohaku and Nami wandered in and were in awe of the house.

Riko saw two doors in the wall of the living room. A ladder stood in between them and led to another door above them. She looked to her parents and they motioned her to go up. Riko nervously climbed the ladder and ventured into the room. She figured out that she could crawl through the lower portion of the door. She froze as she stood up from inside. It was a new bedroom, decorated to fit Riko's needs. The bed was lowered to be level with the floor, so she could roll out of bed and not roughly hit the floor like usual. A small lamp sat on the floor beside it. The floor was soft to touch. There was a fair-sized closet in the corner. The room was simple, but that's what Riko liked.

"So? What do you think?" Korra asked. The couple had followed Riko up to see her reaction.

Riko faced them with a huge smile on her face. "I freaking love it! It's awesome!"

They smiled as well. "Good, because this is where you'll be staying for the remainder of this trip." Asami said.

Kohaku and Nami wandered up and were in awe. "Dude! This room is so cool! I wish I could stay here!" Kohaku exclaimed.

"Maybe your room is just as cool. How do you know if you haven't seen it yet?" Asami said.

Kohaku crossed his arms objectively. "I can already bet that Riko's room is still cooler than ours."

Asami ushered them out. "Well let's go find out."

Riko sat on the back porch. She sighed in contentment as the wind blew through her hair. The ocean waves lapped at the sandy shore. It brought back memories to the girl; happy memories. She looked to the sandy shore and chuckled. That's where she showed up for the second time, but covered in boar-q-pine needles. Asami and Korra were always good to her.

The back door slid open and her brother and sister wandered out. "Woahhh." They said in unison. Riko laughed. "I know, right, it's beautiful here."

Kohaku seemed curious yet hesitant. "You used to live here?"

"Yeah." Riko seemed to get lost in thought as she stared out into the ocean. "Well, I more so lived in the jungle nearby, but the beach was a trip made often."

"How'd you manage out here?" Nami asked quietly.

Riko stared at her siblings. She'd told them about her childhood a dozen times. "Why are you asking me about this again? I've already told you guys the story."

Kohaku jumped from foot to foot. "We know. We're just surprised by the place."

Riko shook her head with a slight smile. "C'mon, I think Asami's making dinner."

They sat at the table inside. Asami had just put their plates down. Korra smiled at them as they took their seats, though Riko was more hesitant. Korra noticed this and grabbed her hand. Riko gave her a soft smile, easing her worries.

Riko couldn't help but to think about the first time she stepped into this house. She unknowingly attempted to rob two of the most powerful women in the world. She scoffed at the thought. How stupid could she be?

Asami sat the main dish down on the table and took her seat as well. She saw Riko smirking to herself in thought and leaning into her palm and knew she was having flashbacks, but it looked like nicer ones this time. "Riko?"

"I'm good, momma. I just can't believe I tried to rob you almost ten years ago." Riko said.

Korra smiled and looked to Asami to reply. Asami chuckled. "And we're so happy that you did that."

Riko couldn't sleep that night. Through the open window she could hear all of the sounds of nature that she missed. She dragged herself out of bed and stood by the window to look. Just looking at her old home made her wish to return to the forest. She heard the snoring of her family and shook her head. With her decision made, she jumped out of the window and ran to the forest.

"Kids! Time for breakfast!" Asami called. She looked to her tired wife as they waited for their children. Korra laid her head on the table and almost fell back asleep. Kohaku and Nami stumbled out of their rooms and sat at the table. They waited a few more minutes for Riko, but she never came. They figured she was still asleep and ate without her. As Asami finished, she ventured into the girl's room. She gasped and yelled for Korra. However, Korra never came running. Asami huffed and ran back into the dining area. She froze before she had the chance to freak out.

Riko smiled goofily at the back door, sitting on all fours, and had brought some animal guests with her. She was covered in dirt and mud and scratches. Her family was frozen in shock at the sight of her. Riko growled an order at her monkey friends and crawled inside.

"Riko? W-What even?" Asami stuttered.

"Umm, I was getting some food for some friends." Riko said. She pulled some bread out from the cabinet and went back outside. "I'll be back later. It's important."

Before her parents could even ask what she was talking about, she took off running with the monkeys back into the woods.

"What just happened?" Kohaku asked.

Riko dashed in between the trees with the monkeys following overhead. After some time, they arrived in an opening. Riko walked up to a rather large tree and looked up into it. She growled a gentle greeting with a smile. She received a raspy chirp in response and the old chimp crawled down to meet her. She smiled more as she handed him some bread and then let the rest of the pack pass around the bag.

She watched at the old monkey gratefully nibbled on the bread. White furs were sticking out of his graying fur and he had grown rather skinny since the last time she had seen him. It'd been almost ten years now since she left. The gramps had been a youngin' then, but now he led the group of monkeys in his old age. Riko always gathered food with him in the old days. However, in his old condition, he couldn't hunt for himself anymore and relied heavily on the group.

After he finished eating, he crawled over to Riko and hugged her. Riko smiled sadly and returned the hug. They curled up together and the pack huddled up to them and they all fell asleep for a nap.

A few hours later, someone entered through the front door. Asami peered up from the couch and gasped. She threw the sleeping Avatar off of her lap and ran over to her.

"What was that this morning?!" Asami asked.

Riko chuckled nervously and rubbed her head. "Umm, I couldn't resist to go back to the forest for a while last night and I met up with some old friends. Gramps actually has gotten old so I came back to bring them food."

By now Korra had stumbled up from the floor and made her way to the doorway. Asami was fuming and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "You could have at least told us that you were leaving for a while!"

"I-It was the middle of the night! I didn't want to wake you up." Riko responded.

Asami sighed and walked away. "I guess I can't get mad at you for that."

Riko blinked in confusion. "You're not mad?"

"I mean I am a little bit, but I understand, hun."

Riko paused to think. "Sooo, does that mean I can go back to the forest as I please?"

Asami nearly chocked on the air she was breathing. Korra rubbed her back to help soothe her. "Um, we might need to think about this. We've only been here for a day." Korra said to her daughter, who frowned.

"Why would you want to go back to the forest?!" Asami asked when she stopped coughing.

Riko's frown deepened. She stuttered trying to form an answer and shrunk away. "Uh, well, it's just that it feels like home and there's a lot of memories there…"

Korra slammed her hand over Asami's mouth before she said something stupid, which was rare for the CEO. Korra sweated as she responded. "Um, Riko just give us some time to think about it, okay? Ya know your brother and sister are around back playing on the beach. Why don't you go join them?"

Riko dejectedly walked to the porch and made her way to the beach.

Korra hastily pulled away from her wife before she blew up on her. "Asami, please just consider it first. I know what you're thinking, why would she want to return to the place of her awful past when she has a loving family here? But we're here for a month. She'll have plenty of time to spend with us AND with her jungle pals. It might help with her depression to see how her old home is doing."

Asami pursed her lips at Korra's attempt to defend Riko's wants.

Riko wiggled her toes in the sand as she reached her siblings' campsite. Oddly enough, Nami was the one sunbathing and Kohaku was splashing around in the water. The waterbender pulled up her sunglasses when a shadow blocked the Sun. She smiled when she saw her older sister standing above her. "Riko, you're back!"

Kohaku heard and looked over to see her. He rushed to get out of the water to meet up with her. "Hey, sis! So what happened this morning?"

Riko laughed nervously and sat down on one of the beach towels and Kohaku joined her. "Well, I ran out to the forest last night and met up with some old animal friends of mine. So when I came back this morning, I was trying to get them some food."

The younger two went 'ohhhh' as if they understood that.

"Momma's not happy about it."

Kohaku smiled awkwardly. "Probably not."

Riko sighed. "I know she's done a lot for me, but can't I at least relive some memories while we're here?"

"Are they good memories?" He asked.

Riko smiled. "Yeah, they are, for now at least."

"They you should explain that to her. I think she might come around."

"Maybe. Well, while I'm out here with y'all, why don't we get in the water?" Riko asked, smiling slightly.

Nami scowled and pulled her sunglasses back down. "You two go ahead. I'll wait here."

Riko and Kohaku rose a brow at each other before assaulting Nami and dragging her to the water.

"Ahh! Wait, stop you two! I don't wanna get-" Splash! "…wet."

The older two obnoxiously laughed and jumped in with her. The girl immediately splashed them. They still laughed and splashed her back. However, with the girl's waterbending abilities, she was able to beat them and made her way back to the beach. "You two are the worst!"

They still laughed and continued throwing water at each other.

Korra heard her children approaching from the back porch and went to greet them. Riko and Kohaku were soaked, but were still laughing and smiling. Nami frowned a bit, even though she sat in the Sun plenty long enough to dry herself off.

Korra laughed at the sight. "Hold up, kids." She then used her waterbending to dry them off. "Did you have fun at the beach?"

"Yep." Riko and Kohaku said together.

Nami scoffed. "I just wanted to sit in the sun and they dragged me into the water."

"I can drag you back into the water if you like." Riko said with a mischievous smirk. "Gah, no!" Nami screamed as Riko went to pick her up off of the ground.

"Riko." Everyone paused. Asami stood there with her hands on her hip. "Put her down." Riko obeyed and slowly set her sister down. "C'mon, we need to talk."

Riko nervously looked to Korra. "It's okay, badgermole. Go on." Korra said with a smile.

Riko followed the CEO up to the master bedroom upstairs. Asami sat on the bed and patted the area next to her for her to sit. Riko felt as if she had just been pulled into some sort of executive meeting with Asami.

Asami cleared her throat. "I've thought about what you said and Korra and I have talked about it." She sighed. "You can spend time in the forest."

"Really?!" Riko asked excitedly.

"As long as you still spend time with us." Her mother nodded, letting the girl tackle her into a hug. "Thank you!"

Asami let out a chuckle. "You're welcome, sweetie. I'm sorry I got so frazzled earlier."

Riko laughed. "It's okay, momma. We all have moments."

Asami smiled and finally hugged her back.

Riko spent the rest of their vacation jumping from having fun with her family and going to see her animal friends in the jungle. They went out to eat at a dinner-and-show one evening. While they ate their authentic fire nation cuisine, firebending performers put on a show on the front stage. After their fire breathing act, they asked the crowed for a volunteer. Riko sneakily shoved Kohaku out of his seat, forcing him up. It was his birthday after all. He scowled at her as he was led to the stage. He wouldn't admit it, but he had a lot of fun trying to fire breath with the actors. That night, Riko snuck off to the forest again. She helped gather food and water for her chimp friends and then returned home. She then slept and stayed at the cabin for a few days.

"I want to stay here." Riko demanded.

Asami tried to blink away the shock. "I'm sorry, w-what?!"

Why would Riko even try something like this? Especially when they were just a few days away from leaving the beach house.

"What do you mean you want to stay here?!" Korra asked.

"I don't want to go back to Republic City. I like it here. It's just like how I remember it." Riko said. Dirt covered her and scratches littered her body.

"But Republic City is your home!" Korra yelled. Riko remained emotionless. "We're not leaving without you!"

"Well that's too bad." Riko said and began walking back to the jungle.

Korra and Asami looked frantically at each other. If they stopped Riko, they'd be oppressing her. But if they let her go, they may never see her again. They weighed the options.

Korra suddenly ran after her daughter and grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. "What about Karina?"

Riko froze. She'd almost forgotten about her since they came here. But could she really live on without her? What would happen to her?

"What about us? The same thoughts that are going through your head are going through our heads. Please, please, don't leave us." Korra begged, now gripping tightly to Riko's sleeve.

Riko stood still, lost in thought. Korra eased her grip as the girl began walking back into the cabin. It may not have been an answer, but it might as well been good enough.

Riko sat on the back porch all evening, unable to escape her thoughts. Korra wandered out and sat down next to her. "So have you figured out your thoughts yet?"

"Neh…"

Korra chuckled. "Well let me know when you figure it out, badgermole."

They sat there together watching the ocean waves in silence for a few minutes.

"I didn't think through my decision and the aftereffects of it and I should have. I'm sorry, ma."

Korra quirked a brow, but then smiled brightly and yanked Riko closer to her. "So you're coming home with us, right?"

Riko smiled slightly. "Yeah, of course."

"I think you'll agree with that decision even more once we get home."

Riko's smile turned into a smirk. "Why? What's at home?"

"Hm? What? Oh nothing." Korra sing-songed, averting her gaze.

"Sure." Riko rolled her eyes.

Korra stood up and held her hand out. "C'mon badgermole. It's getting cold out."

Riko sat bored in the car with her family. They had just gotten off of the docks and were finally going home. She sighed at the sight of the tall skyscrapers and buildings. The Sun reflected off of the many windows. No more forest.

Kohaku and Nami jumped in excitement as they neared home. As they pulled into the driveway at last, Riko suddenly felt excited for no apparent reason.

The front door opened and out ran the huge beast that is Naga. Korra happily greeted the animal and they hugged. Riko smiled until she heard a punctuated cough from atop the staircase.

Dropping her bag, she gasped and nearly cried. "K-Karina?!"