There was a flash of hot light as the hammer slammed down onto the firing pin. The weapon lurched back in her hand, fire spitting out from the muzzle.
But something was wrong.
Korra watched as a smoothly shaped projectile she should not have been able to see emerged from the firearm. It made no sense. She understood how it worked now. Fate was decided the instant she pulled the trigger. But the mire that Time had become would not allow it, pulling back the slowly rotating bullet as it left the firearm's barrel. Korra didn't understand. Her eyes shifted when a tall figure woven out of nothingness appeared at her side.
"What are you doing, Korra?"
She had to look up to meet the woman's eyes. Kyoshi towered over her, her long, pale face painted with eternal severity. Her presence was almost stifling. Korra's lips were dry. She did not have any words for her. The woman spoke once more.
"What are you doing, Korra?"
She turned her gaze back to man lying trapped on the ground in front of her. His eyes were pulled wide, mouth agape. The bullet was still moving towards him, stretching further the distance between itself and the firearm. Korra watched it and found she did not know how to answer her predecessor's question.
"I will tell you," Kyoshi said, her voice a deep, full timbre, "you are taking revenge."
Korra's expression darkened. "This is justice."
"For whom?"
"For me," she answered, "for my baby."
"And who shall benefit from it?"
Korra turned narrow eyes onto Kyoshi. "You are the one who told me the Avatar must act in her authority. You believed in doing what was necessary."
"I did," she agreed, "for the sake of peace in the name of true justice."
Korra's attention left the woman. "This will bring me peace," she said.
The bullet was poised in the air halfway between herself and the man. Whatever force had pulled Kyoshi into this realm, she willed away. The woman did not disappear, however; instead she turned herself completely to face Korra.
"This man is not the source of your anguish, nor is he the key to your peace," Kyoshi spoke quietly.
The softness of her voice was foreign to every historical script Korra had ever pored through. She looked up and found eyes gentle and understanding looking down at her. Utterly unexpected, words failed to rise to her lips when she opened her mouth.
"You are not the first woman to know this pain, and you will not be the last," Kyoshi told her. "As light is to dark, so death is to life. There is a cycle, an intrinsic balance that each and every product of nature's order must obey, and as such, because you have lost, you will learn to cherish life all the more. This may feel like the end to you, Korra, but I promise you, it is simply a beginning."
"Every promise made to me has been broken," she said, looking away. Death was drawing ever closer to its mark.
"Then remember this," Kyoshi said after a moment, "violence breeds chaos. Justice, true justice, brings about peace, and only in peace can one create life."
Korra gasped softly as the woman placed her open hand at her stomach. Warmth was spreading slowly through her, from the point of contact to her very extremities. And then, inexplicably, her heart began to swell in her chest. Her voice hitched and suddenly, overwhelming, she felt the urge to cry. But her tears would not be mournful, that Korra knew, even if she could not name the intense emotion she was feeling. Only when Kyoshi finally removed her hand did it begin to fade, and as she looked up Korra saw the woman melting away with it.
"What did you do?" she whispered.
"That is the joy you will one day experience for yourself," Kyoshi told her, her form becoming all the more intangible. "Seek not vengeance, Korra," she said finally, "but truth."
Tears rolled down her cheeks as the woman vanished. All that was left was the man chained to the ground by her will, pale in his panic, and the bullet steadily inching through the air towards him. Korra did nothing to stop it. It was too late now. So she stood there, and watched it.
The bullet sliced past the man's cheek and pinged off the floor, ricocheting off the wall behind him and out of sight. Korra stood over him, the firearm pointed at his face. She held her unsteady aim with a shaking hand, and then her arm dropped as the blinding light pouring from her eyes faded away.
"You…you didn't kill me," the man breathed as his firearm clattered to the floor.
Korra did not reply. She stared at him and the man quickly grew unnerved beneath her soulless, unblinking gaze. Korra couldn't feel anything. She was drained, of her anger, of the rage that had been fuelling her; she only just had the strength to keep herself standing. All that was left inside her was a single question.
Why.
"What are you doing?" the man said when she crouched down in front of him. He began to struggle against his bonds when Korra stretched forward her hand. "No. No! Don't take away my bending. Listen, I'll tell you alright?" he blurted out, tossing his head to try and shake her off. "We can deal!"
But Korra didn't want to deal. She didn't want the man to tell her anything. The truth of a memory was the only one he could not twist, the only thing she could trust. Korra just wanted the answer to one question; that was all. The light which filled her eyes was dim, like a waning star, tired, weary. But it was enough to illuminate the path she should take, and by its guidance Korra searched and sorted through the stores of the man's mind till she came upon what she wanted.
The man, Shou Chen, was not an equalist. If his ability to firebend had been a burning hot clue, the revelation of who he really was something else entirely. He was a Triple Threat. Every last equalist she had taken down to get here was a triad man merely garbed in the uniform. It didn't make any sense, at least not until Korra dug deeper. Not until she saw the room and the man sitting on the opposite side of the table did it begin to dawn on her. Not until she heard the words of his cold promise did it truly sink in.
"The Avatar killed my son. I will not be indebted to anyone, do you understand? I intend to repay her, in full."
A thorough search of the underground network was already underway during the course of the investigation, narrowing down the area of interest based on the equalists' escape route and eventual evasion of capture. However, it was only with the aid of Asami's maps that Lin was able to truly direct her group of metalbenders into and through the intricate system of tunnels. She was grim faced when they came upon the first indicator that they were on the right track.
Something had gouged pieces out of the tunnel wall and dusty, broken fragments littered the floor, congregated around a pair of men in equalist uniform. One was unconscious, the other propped up awkwardly against the wall. His right leg was stretched out at an unnatural angle to his body and the man's breath whistled through his teeth. Lin descended on him and unceremoniously tore off his mask.
"Who did this?" she asked, ignoring the pain in the man's eyes when she grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Who?"
"That…fucking bitch," he spat out.
Lin wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, to give her a chance to prove her wrong. She gripped the man's chin when his eyes slid away from her.
"I said, who?" Lin demanded.
He finally answered, and her hand dropped away from his face. She rose to her feet, looking down at him with distaste. Only then did she notice the object strapped against his hip. Two of her officers descended on him at her command and Lin moved on with the rest. It did not take long for them to find the room.
Lin blinked as she stood in the doorway. A man lay unmoving on the ground by the back wall, a large, twisted mass of metal beside him. To the far side lay another, feet poking out from behind a wooden crate, and in the corner furthest from the door sat the Avatar. Her arms were curled around her knees as she stared blankly ahead, a third man trapped in an earthen grip in front of her. His voice was muffled by a strip of cloth wrapped around his head and stuffed into his mouth. His vain struggle to free himself ceased when his eyes found the Chief.
Lin saw that night three years ago all too clearly, storming into a room set alight by the Avatar's fury. She was a whirlwind of power, raging at everything and everyone in her reach. Lin had never let on to anyone, but the fight that ensued to tame Korra had aged her a decade. It was not a fight she wanted to have again. With full awareness of the young woman's situation this time, Lin, in fact, dreaded the possibility. The reality, what she saw before her eyes now however, was something she had neither expected nor knew exactly what to do about.
"Chief?"
One of her men jogged Lin from her state of distraction and she straightened. She drew upon the rigours of lifelong discipline and began to give out orders, directing metalbenders into the room to tend to the three incapacitated men and start securing evidence. Meanwhile Lin, with a sliver of hesitance in her stride, approached Korra.
"I couldn't do it," the Avatar murmured when she crouched in front of her, looking down at her hands. "I wanted to. I tried. But I couldn't." Korra looked up at Lin, a dim, forlorn light behind her blue eyes. "What does that make me?"
The Chief's mouth was tight. She had never had children, but not for lack of trying in her younger years. Nature simply decided that it was not to be. Railing against it amounted to nothing; there was never any closure for her. But in Korra's position, where she had something tangible towards which to direct her impassioned grief, someone on whom to exact retribution? Lin could only wonder what she would have done. She could not dispel the idea that her actions might not have been so different.
Lin looked away from the young woman, unable to answer.
"Come on," she spoke quietly, "let's get you out of here."
From his position on the sofa, Mako looked up as the door was unlocked and pushed open. He frowned when Asami alone walked back into the apartment.
"Where's the Chief?"
"She left," Asami replied, closing the door behind her.
Mako straightened. "Wait, what? She's gone?"
Asami nodded as she walked over to him.
"I don't believe it," he said, dumbfounded. "She just left behind all this evidence."
Mako had been poring over it himself in the absence of the two women, quietly marvelling at the lengths Asami went to in order to prepare and equip herself as the Equalist, protecting her identity all the while. She walked around the sofa and leaned over the coffee table, scooping together all the papers and placing them back inside the binder Lin had brought with her.
"She told me she has copies of the necessary documents," Asami said, snapping the binder shut, "everything else, I should know how to handle."
Mako swallowed. "Those were her words?"
"Exactly as she said them."
"I see…"
"Just bear with me. I'm going to put these away."
"Right," Mako said. "You should do that."
And she did, returning a few minutes later when he had found himself a spot in front of the windows, looking out upon the city. Mako didn't quite know what else to do with himself. An uncomfortable sense of familiarity was dawning on him as Asami walked back into the room.
"Did you want a drink or anything?" she asked him politely.
He glanced to the side as Asami came to stand beside him. "No. I'm fine, thanks. Actually, I think I'm going to head off."
"I guess you're heading back to headquarters."
Mako shook his head. "Judging by the way Lin upped and left, I don't reckon I'm needed. I guess I'll just head home and wait for news."
"I'm sorry, about Korra," Asami offered quietly. "I know you want to help."
"There's not much else either of us can do now," he said, shrugging.
"Mako, why did you tell her about us? I thought we agreed to forget about it."
He sighed heavily. "I don't know. It was just a reaction. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to talk to her in the first place," he said. "Korra showed up out of the blue and I was…I was just so angry. It slipped out after I mentioned that you'd been coming to see me. She didn't seem to like hearing that."
Asami frowned. "Why not?"
Mako shrugged again. "Hell if I know."
"Pema had told me that you stopped going over to the island to see her, and when I asked Korra about you she didn't want to talk," Asami said to him. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, that was all."
He lifted his hands. "I don't know what to tell you."
Asami didn't seem to know how to reply either.
Mako decided it was time for him to leave. He did not want to impose his presence on her any longer.
"I can drop you home," she told him.
"Uh, no, that's fine. I'll just –"
"Mako, I need to get going myself, and I'm driving," Asami cut across him. "I insist."
He closed his mouth when she arched an eyebrow. "I suppose it only makes sense."
"It does," Asami said. "Let me get my things, I won't be a minute. Sit tight."
Not much was said between them during the journey. Unlike the last time Mako rode passenger in her saloon, Asami turned the radio on to fill the silence. With his last experience still poignantly fresh in mind, Mako very much appreciated it.
"Here we are," Asami announced as she turned onto his street, "and in less than a third of the time it would have taken you to walk. I'm sure you're grateful."
Her tone was playful and Mako gave a small smile. "Thanks, Asami. You didn't have to."
She smoothly parked in front of his building before taking her feet off the pedals, sitting back in her seat as her hands slipped off the wheel. The quiet sigh she made told Mako she had something to say.
"What is it?" he asked.
Asami looked across at him. "I should be grateful to you," she said.
Mako's frown clearly did not require any words to explain, for Asami then clarified what she meant.
"I never did thank you properly – or at all, for that matter – for that night when you helped me get away," she said. "What you told me probably saved my life."
"You don't need to thank me," Mako replied. "I'm just glad you made the choice you did. Like I said earlier, you'd done more than enough."
"I'm sorry I dragged you into it," Asami said, "that was selfish of me." She grimaced afterwards. "I should apologise for attacking you, too."
The corner of Mako's mouth twitched. "You probably should, I agree."
"It was a step too far, I know. The last thing I expected was for Korra of all people to walk around the corner into that alley. I acted without thinking it through. I'm really sorry."
"And the time you almost rammed me off the road?"
Asami's eyes widened as she remembered. "Oh. Yes…I suppose I should –"
Mako waved away her second apology with a light chuckle. "It's in the past. What's done is done. To be fair, I shouldn't have left your letter lying around in the first place."
"It's probably a good thing you did, all things considered."
"Hmm. I guess."
"Can we put it all behind us, Mako?" she asked carefully. "I…I'd like it if we could start over."
A small smile curved his mouth. He didn't see why not, turning to tell her so. That was when the radio programme currently being broadcasted was suddenly interrupted. Seconds later, Mako's hand leapt forward to adjust the volume, filling the car with the voice of the woman reading the breaking news bulletin. Two pairs of eyes grew round as they listened to her speak.
When the bulletin ended, Mako was pale as he turned to Asami. She was at an utter loss for words as she looked back at him. The shock of what they had just heard stole their voices and for the longest moment the only sound was that of the purring engine.
"Mako," Asami said eventually, "this…"
There was nothing else on his mind but for one thought as she trailed off, unable to finish. He needed to get to headquarters.
When Lin arrived at the steps of the building, things were not as she had left them. The Police Headquarters' tall, sloping shadow was cast across the road, encompassing the throng of reporters gathered in front of it. Almost as one, they rushed towards the police vans as they drew up alongside the curb.
Pulling equalists from the backs of the vans, Lin's metalbenders forced them through the crowd. Korra trailed close behind them, the Chief at her shoulder pulling her forward as she barked at the men and women obstructing her path. They called back questions, all at once, and amidst the din of voices Lin was too focused on the doors of the building in front of her to listen. The Chief drew up short, however, once she stepped through them.
It was as though someone had drawn a line right through the middle of the lobby, and on either side of it stood armoured police officers. The clerks manning desks along the back wall of the room looked between each other, ashen in the face. Lin slowly released her grip on Korra's upper arm, straightening as her eyes passed over the grim faces lined up opposite her. She pushed through the ranks of her metalbenders, a scowl shaping her features as she brushed shoulders with the handcuffed men in their grasps.
"What the hell is going on here?"
A woman on the opposite side of the invisible line stepped forward, the marks of her rank at her breast. Her throat pulsed before she spoke.
"We – we have orders to arrest the Avatar, Chief."
Her eyes grew wide. "On whose authority, Captain?" Lin demanded.
"On mine," a man spoke, sweeping into the lobby with velvet-green robes billowing around his heels, "and I speak on behalf of the United Republic Council."
Lin blinked as Tenzin emerged from the same corridor as the Earth Nation representative moments later. The look in his eyes as she met them sent ice creeping through her veins. He shook his head imperceptibly as she stared at him, brow deeply creased. Lin pulled her attention back to Councilman Guowei.
"What nonsense is this?" she seethed. "What business do you have disrupting -?"
"I would watch my words, were I you," the man interrupted, "before you implicate yourself any further in this mess."
She could not stop herself glancing at Tenzin once more, the prickle of irritation beneath her skin growing as the situation made less and less sense to Lin. Guowei moved across the room towards her, eyes severe behind his spectacles.
"What are you talking about?" she snapped at him.
"Step aside, Chief Beifong," he said, lowering his voice for her ears alone. "I can assure you that you won't be holding on to that title for much longer."
Before she could reply the man seemingly dismissed her, looking up over Lin's shoulder.
"Avatar Korra, you are to be taken into police custody," Guowei told the young woman standing at her back. "I would advise that you do not make this situation any worse for yourself by resisting. Captain!" the man then called over his own shoulder.
Lin threw out her arm as the tall woman stepped forward. "You will explain what is going on here, Councilman, or I will throw you out myself."
Guowei looked down at her over the rim of his spectacles. "Liwei Hong confessed to his crimes," he said. "He told us – and the entire city afterwards – everything. The Avatar is to be arrested on suspicion of the murder of his son."
His words felt like a slap across the face, the shock of it ringing in her ear. She could only breathe her disbelief.
"But Li Hong is still alive."
She had received no report to suggest otherwise. To the best of her ability, the Chief had been personally keeping tabs on the man's condition for the past three years.
"The pronouncement of the doctor at his time of death disagrees," Guowei replied coldly.
She stared blankly at the man, the arm she had cast out slowly falling. That was Korra's doing, a hand on the Chief's forearm.
"It's fine, Lin," the young woman said quietly, and moving past her Korra put her hands together as the Captain crossed the lobby. The clink of heavy metal cuffs as the woman removed them from her belt drew Lin's eye. Her throat was tight as they clicked shut over the Avatar's slim wrists.
"Good," Guowei began, "now –"
"I will see you in private," Lin cut across the man. She looked past him. "And you, Councilman Tenzin. Captain," she barked, "you will escort Avatar Korra to my office immediately."
"I – yes, Chief," the woman said, clearly flustered as she inclined her head.
Guowei's expression darkened. "You are in no position to make demands of me, or anyone else."
Lin met his eyes. "While I am still Chief of Police, I am the voice of authority here. And I want all of these men processed and in lockup without further delay," she directed at the metalbenders behind her. "Enough of an obstruction to police work has already been so helpfully provided here."
Guowei scowled at her. Lin's own expression was carved of stone as she gestured towards the corridor he had emerged from.
"If you would kindly follow me, Councilman."
Lin was in no mood for niceties as she threw open the door to her room.
"Leave, Captain."
The woman glanced uncertainly at Councilman Guowei as he stepped into the office behind the Chief. "I don't know if I should –"
Lin whirled on her, the gossamer thread of her patience snapping. "Get. Out."
"We will be fine, Captain," Tenzin spoke, maintaining a tone of calm, "you may leave."
She nodded eventually. "Yes, Councilman," the woman mumbled.
"Remove the Avatar's handcuffs," Lin sharply ordered, standing in front of her desk.
"No, leave them."
It was the young woman herself who spoke, her voice low, resigned almost. The captain stood tentatively at her side, looking between them all until Guowei gestured towards the door. She nodded again and closed it behind her, hurrying to leave the room. Lin rounded on the Councilmen as Tenzin moved to stand with Korra.
"When did Hong confess? Why was I not informed of his intentions?"
"This morning," Guowei said, "and you could not be informed because you were out of contact."
"I was –"
"We know exactly where you were," the man spoke over her. "Detective Mako was more than prepared to enlighten us."
Lin's nostrils flared in her speechlessness. "He told you?" she said roughly.
"He had no choice. We were informed that he was seen leaving with you early this morning. The detective arrived back here not an hour ago after hearing the news broadcasted to the entire city and was made to fully appreciate the severity of your and Avatar Korra's situation."
"What news? Why is there a rabble of media parakeets in front of my building?"
Guowei folded his hands into the sleeves of his robes. "As I said earlier, Liwei not only confessed to us, but to the whole city."
Lin fumed at the man's lack of clarity. "How in the hell -?"
"He leaked a transcript of his confession," Tenzin said gravely. "After claiming responsibility for the attacks on Future Industries' employees as well as confirming Zolt and the Triple Threats' involvement in his plot, Liwei has revealed in full the details regarding his son."
"You wilfully deceived the Council," Guowei told her, his tone coloured with a hint of anger. "Now we as a whole are implicated in the cover up you orchestrated."
"Liwei's lawyer provided us with extensive medical reports over the course of the years his son spent hospitalised in the Fire Nation, Lin," he said when she opened her mouth. "The cause of his severe, life endangering injuries was the cause of bloodbending. It had nothing to do with the removal of his bending." Guowei pointed damningly at the Avatar. "She attempted to murder Li Hong, and he was all but pronounced dead until recently."
Lin could not take his word for it; she simply could not. She glanced at Tenzin.
"It is true," he said, bowing his shaven head. "Li Hong passed from this life more than a month ago."
Lin sat down at the edge of her desk. She allowed herself to become complacent over the years, as Li Hong's condition remained unchanged. She had not requested a report on him in over two months, prior to the arrests of his father and Zolt. With the death of his son, the hold they had had over Liwei Hong shattered, the guarantee of his silence no more. In light of that, Lin only wondered why it had taken him so long. If they had known, if they had only known…She swallowed, looking between the two Councilmen.
"Where is Liwei now?"
"He has been transferred over for further questioning," Tenzin replied.
"I –"
"I want to talk to him."
All eyes turned to the young woman as she lifted her head. Her voice was toneless, not even the slightest hint of feeling present. Weariness tightened her face, a glum downward curve to her mouth. With her cuffed hands held limply in front of her, Korra looked like she had given up, completely.
"What makes you think you're in any position to propose such a request?" Guowei said harshly.
"Liwei Hong tried to have me killed," she quietly replied.
The tension in the room coagulated into a thick silence that hung over them all as they each stared at the Avatar. Lin finally, hesitantly, broke it, for it was as though reality had shifted onto another plane.
"Korra, what are you saying?"
The young woman looked at her. "The men you arrested today are not equalists; they're Triple Threats. One of them is called Shou Chen, a prominent member seeking to fill the vacuum of power and claim leadership. He met with Liwei on a number of occasions, and between them they planned the attack. They intended to pin the blame on the equalists by masquerading as them."
Guowei spoke after a long moment. "Where is your proof to support those claims, Avatar Korra?"
"Even if I told you how I know, you would not believe me."
"Then there is no reason to even entertain the idea of doing so," the Councilman said dismissively. He missed the look that Tenzin and the Chief shared between themselves, both recalling a past argument about how to pry answers from Lieutenant Bao's lips, before the latter met the eyes of the Avatar once more.
"Lin, he won't deny it," Korra said.
She pursed her lips. "What makes you so sure?"
The young woman lowered her eyes. "Because he took from me what I took from him."
Guowei stepped forward as the Chief crossed her arms underneath her chest. "I will not allow this." He glared at Lin. "If this is true, if, you cannot under any terms guarantee Liwei Hong's safety should you put him in the same room as the Avatar."
"I will take full responsibility for the part I have played in all of this, Councilman Guowei," Korra said, "everything, if I can just talk to him."
"Korra," Tenzin said carefully.
She closed her eyes and turned away. "No. Enough. I'm so tired, of running, of fighting. I just want it to end. Councilman, please believe me," she said to the Guowei. "I won't harm him. We've hurt each other enough already."
He looked over her, long and hard. "I will not permit you to be alone with him in that room," the man finally said.
Korra sighed heavily. "I understand."
The door of the room slid open and Liwei looked up from his hands, locked together on the table in front of him. A man in typical grey police armour stood in the doorway. He quickly lost Liwei's attention. He went back to staring at his hands, feeling the cold kiss of steel around his wrists. The metalbender stepped into the room and moved aside, in doing so revealing the young woman standing behind him. Liwei looked up again as he glimpsed her, and his hands fell still.
He straightened in his seat as the Avatar walked towards the table, a female officer at her back as the door slid shut behind them. With tightly bound hands, she reached out and gripped the back of the chair opposite him. She did not meet his eyes as she pulled it out for herself. The two metalbenders stood not too far away when she sat down. The Avatar set her hands in her lap, shoulders slumped with melancholy weight. Liwei's eyes were narrow when she finally lifted hers to meet them.
"Your plan didn't work," the Avatar told him.
Liwei blinked, caught off guard. "What plan?" he said coldly.
"The one in which you arranged for me to be killed, convincing Republic City that the equalists were the ones to blame."
Liwei managed his expression, keeping his gaze from shifting towards the officers occupying the room with them.
"I have no idea what nonsense you're talking about, Avatar," he dismissed her.
"Shou Chen disagrees," she said. "I found him when I went looking for the equalists who attacked me."
Liwei shrugged. "Not a name I'm familiar with."
"He's a Triple Threat," the Avatar continued, "one who agreed to work with you in exchange for an opportunity to strengthen his potential leadership of the triad. He's already told me everything I needed to know, and more." She nodded her head at the wall behind him. "He and the Chief are next door, corroborating the details."
Liwei sat back, a cool smile on his lips. "And why should I believe you, Avatar, when you have not a shred of proof to your name?"
"I don't care whether or not you believe me," the young woman told him. "I just wanted you to know that you failed, despite your plan, despite your intentions and all your resources; that's all. You couldn't kill me. You failed, Liwei."
The thin curve of the man's mouth faded away as a shadow crossed his face. It crept into his eyes as they grew chill, and Liwei leaned forward across the table.
"Do you think I was ignorant of the daily news while I was in that jail cell? Do you think the rumours did not reach me?" he murmured, the whisper of malice in his voice. "I assure you, I was glad to hear them. You see, Avatar, I am a businessman. Where you see failure, I see opportunity. And what an opportunity it was to consider that, at the time of the attack, you were pregnant."
The young woman swallowed as he spoke, her eyes tight and small as spite oozed from every last word he uttered. Liwei did not care for anything else beyond this moment, not when he had little left to care for. His reputation; his livelihood; his son – it had all been taken away from him. He had nothing left to lose. This moment was his, and he would make the Avatar remember it.
"How did it feel, when you lost your child?" Liwei asked. "How did it feel to lose someone you loved and cherished to the point that no matter the actions they committed, you would protect them, seek to avenge them, perhaps? I want it to be a pain you never forget, Avatar, because then you will appreciate what you have done to me."
"You murdered my son," the man hissed, his jaw clenched tight, "and then you threatened me into silence. I complied for his sake in the hope that, one day, he might wake up again. I sought after every kind of treatment that money could buy, sparing no expense. And it was in vain, all of it. Then in the end, Avatar, he died, and I his father could not be there by his side in his final moments because you put me in here. You killed my boy, and now I have nothing left. Nothing."
"So you tell me that my plans failed, but I say no," Liwei told her, shaking his head. Bitter mirth lent an ugly curve to his mouth. "I say that I have done exactly what I intended," the man said. "I repaid you the kindness you showed to my son, in full. I pray that it hurts you for the rest of your miserable life."
The lump in Korra's throat was difficult to swallow, and pressure was building behind her eyes. There was only one thing she wanted to do, but she couldn't do it here. She would not cry in front of him, Liwei's hateful smirk pressing thorns into her flesh. She would not give him the satisfaction. Korra bowed her head as she slowly pushed her chair back and stood to her feet, hiding her face. She blinked hard when a tear threatened to leak into being, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath.
"Remember me, Avatar," Liwei said as she turned towards the door, "and remember my son. If there is any justice in this world, you and I will rot in prison together."
Korra almost glanced back as the door to the interrogation room slid open once more; instead, she squared her shoulders and stepped out into the corridor. The two Councilmen and the Chief of Police were waiting for her. Mako was there, too. She saw her pain reflected in his eyes. They had all been listening.
"I'm sorry you had to do that," Lin said quietly, lifting a hand to Korra's shoulder.
She took another deep breath to steady her voice. "I told you he wouldn't deny it."
"We should begin questioning of Shou Chen and the men involved in the assassination attempt as soon as possible," Tenzin spoke. "We –"
Guowei silenced his fellow Councilman with a raised hand. "That can wait."
"We just all but heard the explicit confession of a man who conspired to take Korra's life!"
"And that should take precedence over what drove him to such despicable lengths in the first place?" Guowei argued. He turned to face her. "We had an agreement, Avatar."
She looked between them all, noting the degree of apprehension shared between Tenzin and the Chief, and then as she dropped her eyes, Korra gave a small, almost invisible nod.
"I know."
The Councilman looked up at the officers flanking her shoulders. "Escort the Avatar to –"
"Wait."
Guowei's brow furrowed as Mako's hand closed around Korra's wrist. "This is not the time, Detective."
"Be reasonable," Lin said. "Give them a moment."
Guowei held her eyes before curtly giving his permission.
Mako turned to face her after stepping away from the group, taking Korra by the hand and bringing her with him. She followed listlessly, until a short distance separated them from the Chief and Councilmen.
Mako didn't want to move too far, lest he raise Guowei's suspicions. A quick glance over Korra's shoulder confirmed that the man's eyes had not left them, though Tenzin and Lin respectfully turned away. It didn't help him try to find the words to say as his attention shifted back to Korra. She watched him with a tight, despondent gaze as his hands slipped over the cold steel binding her wrists, his fingers curling around hers. The corners of his own eyes prickled tellingly and he fought to hold back.
"I'm sorry," Mako whispered, though for what he did not say. From the look on Korra's face, it didn't matter. His hands curled tighter, as though trying to press warmth into her palms.
"Kay," he said, breathing her name, "what happens now?"
She didn't answer. Her eyes fell away from his, shining with tears that slowly wended their way down her cheeks. Her words remained trapped in her throat when she opened her mouth. Eventually, Korra looked up again. Her smile faltered even as she forced it onto her lips.
The pressure on his chest drove air from Mako's lungs, his heart clenching. He had a thousand things to say, but not a single word carried enough meaning. And then Councilman Guowei called her name and panicked, Mako stopped thinking, letting go of her hands and holding her face between his own.
The taste of salt was on Korra's lips as he met them. His kiss was desperate, filled with the hope that she would understand. But Korra didn't respond to it; she couldn't, because two pairs of hands were at her shoulders, pulling her away from him. One of the officers planted a firm hand to his chest when he moved forward with a sound of protest. The man's eyes were apologetic as he shook his head.
Korra finally spoke before they turned her around and led her away. Her voice was hoarse, little more than a murmur. Mako would never forget it.
"Don't wait around for me," she said.
