AUTHOR'S NOTES: The famous "I'm saving you for last" Amon scene arrives now. Despite how much more powerful and clever Korra is in this story, this scene has a much higher mental and emotional toll on her than it did in the show, and she's going to be reeling from this experience for a very long time (comparatively speaking). Tenzin and Asami's relationship sort of formed as a last line of defense against Korra's faltering stability, and so time will tell whether or not it holds out.
Happy Reading!


BOOK TWO: CHANGE

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE: STABILITY SHATTERED

Korra realized something was wrong only a split second too late. She felt her feet get pulled out from under her, as she felt her knees and then her face strike the ground. She tried to recover, but the metal cable was unbendable, and with her seeing stars, she knew better than to try and combust it. She bent a small outcropping of rock that she seized with a deathgrip, and for a moment it seemed like the cable would snap before she was dragged into the dark. However, instead the rock broke, perhaps from Korra's strong grip, and she panicked immediately.

Seeing herself surrounded by 21 chi-blockers when she was in a vulnerable position put her right into the Avatar State, although much like many of her other episodic moments it was less about knowing what to do and more of something she had abused to the point where she used it more as an attempt to intimidate enemies, or in this case, as a panick-mode defense mechanism.

While she was still fully capable of bringing this entire place down and walking out unscathed, her brief moment of hesitation was all the Equalists needed to tether her arms and pull them apart, leaving her open and vulnerable. She kicked powerful bursts of air from her feet, desperately trying to free herself, but to no avail. She felt her shoulders get struck, although two jabs weren't enough. Attempting to bend again proved to be a mistake.

She cried out in actual pain as she as jabbed a total of 42 times in different places including her arms, hips, back, forehead, and shoulders. The biggest difference between Korra's pained cry and the rare one that betrayed agony was the higher pitch of the latter, which the Equalists heard that evening as they finally subdued Korra. A dizzy collection of stars swirled around her as she blacked out, and for a moment, there was silence.

Across the bay, Tenzin and Asami had been watching from a distance, although they had not actually seen Korra get dragged away. The fact that there was not huge streams of flames erupting from the base of Aang's statue, however (and that Korra had disappeared), meant something was wrong, and both of them knew it.

"She should have returned by now," Tenzin warned, "I'm going after her."

"Stay safe!" Asami gripped the railing of the balcony they stood on tensely as Tenzin raced away. While swift, he did not have the lightning-quick bending abilities that Korra had, and so his trip to Aang Memorial Island would take slightly more time than Korra's.

Asami hung her head in despair, her palms covering her upper face as she realized just how helpless she felt in this dire situation. It was one thing for Korra to run away without warning, but for her to disappear after walking right into what her closest friends and even one of her enemies had warned her would be a trap struck fear into Asami's heart. What had happened to Korra?

She was not sure when she came around, or how long she had been out, but Korra found herself on her knees, still tethered at the arms. She felt too weak to bend, and the dizzy stupor she felt betrayed that her chi was likely still blocked. To her abject terror, she was face-to-face with Amon and in a completely helpless situation.

"I received your invitation, young Avatar," he spoke with the same confidence he had spoken to her at his rally with. Korra winced and turned away, only to find a forceful hand gripping her jaw with considerable strength as he forced her to look him in the eyes. Korra squeezed her eyes shut, her heart racing frantically.

"Look at me, child." Amon commanded, and in that moment, he felt vindicated behind his mask as he saw the terrified face of his enemy.

"Our showdown," he continued, "while inevitable, is premature. Although it would be the simplest thing for me to take your bending here and now, I won't. You would only become a martyr, with benders of every nation rallying behind your demise. We are equals on that front, Avatar Korra—let it not be said that I do not remember a good turn."

Korra wanted to speak; even just to say a simple 'hm?', but all that really came from her lips was a slurred whimper of fear.

"You were fully capable of destroying me in our confrontation at the rally you crashed," Amon explained, "just as I am fully capable of destroying you now. Consider that debt repaid, but let me assure you, that I have a plan. I'm saving you for last, Avatar Korra, and then you will get your duel—and it is then, and only then… that I will not only strip you of your bending and destroy everything you ever lived for… but I will destroy you—and any semblance of stability your already precariously fragile mind might still have will be annihilated."

Before Korra could react or reply, she felt sharp jab to both her shoulders and then to her head again, and blacked out. Whether dreams or visions, Korra saw a mess of things: Aang and Sokka, younger in their days of living in Republic City; a dangerous, sleazy Water Tribe man whom Aang was in hot pursuit of; a powerful Fire Nation woman standing atop the helm of a mighty battleship as her armada approached the Northern Water Tribe; an Earth Kingdom Avatar in chains as repeated doses of silver liquid were forced down her throat; and then… Avatar Aang, once again, racing towards her.

"Korra!" she was not sure if that was her vision or reality, but as she weakly opened her eyes from her prone and bruised position, there was in fact someone approaching her.

"A-Aang?" she moaned.

"Korra!" it was Tenzin. "Korra, are you alright? What happened here? Did Amon attack you?"

"He did…" Korra trembled, "ambushed with me with a couple dozen chi-blockers and…"

A sharp flashback of several dozen hands striking her as if at once surged through her mind, and the bruising pain from these strikes flared up in her body as well. She cried out.

"Did he take your bending then?" Tenzin looked alarmed. Korra paused, reverting to her usual 'bending test' by flicking a small air sphere in her palm, which she did without trouble.

"Thank goodness no…" she trembled, tears rolling down both sides of her face, "but he… he…"

Tenzin braced himself for what he knew was coming, but knew that it was exactly what Korra needed to do right now more than anything.

"HE KNOWS, TENZIN!" Korra threw herself against Tenzin, sobbing almost hysterically, "He knows! He knows and he's going to target me for it!"

"He knows what, Korra?" Tenzin kept the urgency in his tone, but knew that he needed to be assertive to get Korra to open up about her fears.

"He knows I'm weak," Korra whimpered, still trembling, "and he's gonna try and undermine what little mental stability I have left… he threatened me, and… and…" She looked up only briefly, "I was so helpless… they subdued me in the Avatar State! He knows… he knew I was terrified, and he knows I'm terrified of him! Tenzin, what do I do? I've never felt this helpless before and I'm scared out of my mind! I've never felt this frightened in my entire life… not even with Nakkoa… I…" Korra lost her grip again, and for several long minutes, she simply cried it out. For how loud and passionate Korra was when she spoke or screamed, her cry was almost uncharacteristically soft; like a pained, reluctant weeping.

"I should have listened!" Korra was still visibly shaking, her grip tightening on Tenzin enough that he had to try and pry her fingers apart just for her to loosen her grip on him. "It's not just my bending I'm scared of losing… I'm scared of losing my mind, Tenzin! And Amon knows exactly how to make that happen…"

"The nightmare is over now, Korra," Tenzin rubbed her back in that reassuring way, "Amon is gone, and while he may have threatened you, he did not take your bending and he did not destroy your mind. Embrace your fears so you can release them."

"That's… easier said than done…" Korra quivered.

"I know," Tenzin explained, "But admitting your fears is the first and most difficult step in overcoming them. Can you do that for us?"

"No," Korra's voice was still shaky, and she made no effort to hide that tears were still sliding down her sticky, reddened face, "Not yet, at any rate… I need more time…"

"Then let's go home, Korra." He whispered, "You need rest."

While Korra managed to fall asleep once Tenzin had safely escorted her back to Air Temple Island, he and Asami were both unable to sleep. Korra had given her lover a weak smile when she saw her, and Asami had heaved a sigh of relief so large it was as if she had shrugged three heavy metal sheets and Lin BeiFong off her shoulders. Korra was too weak and tired to do much else at this point, but Asami knew they would be having a discussion about it later.

In the meantime, Tenzin and Asami remained awake, staring off into the distance at Aang Memorial Island, which looked so serene and unforeboding from Air Temple Island. No one would have guessed the events that had just transpired, although both Tenzin and Asami were aware that either Tarrlok had been lying about the police airships, or perhaps he too simply hadn't noticed what had happened.

"It is as I feared," Tenzin sighed, turning to Asami as they gazed across the bay, "Amon's threats and mindgames took a heavy toll on Korra tonight."

"She's okay though, right?" Asami and Korra had not really interacted much between Tenzin bringing her home and Korra laying down for a rest.

"In a manner of speaking," Tenzin didn't make eye contact, but it was clear that both he and Asami were on the same wavelength regarding Korra. "Her bending is intact and unharmed, but when I found her, she was hysterical, and admitted to me just how terrified of the whole ordeal she was. She will need you in the upcoming weeks, Asami. Hopefully, I can also continue to serve as a support for her as well."

Asami sighed, shaking her head as she lowered it. "I'll get through to her," her fingers tightened, "if she was as scared as you say, I think it may provide us with the opportunity we need to allow her to open up. I'm not glad that it happened at all, but…" she paused, sighing again. "Korra's been suppressing her own cries for help for months now… and I don't think she understands why it's so dangerous for her to try and bury that."

Despite this opening up she did to Tenzin when she was at her lowest regarding fears, Korra had gone right back to closing herself off, which was particularly problematic after she lashed out from a nightmare, blasting a hole in the wall of her room as she barrelled out and swung her head around in a panic. Tenzin and Asami were too shocked to react fast enough, and when Korra noticed them she scampered back inside in shame. She bent a slab of earth to cover the hole, and refused to talk for the rest of the night and most of the next morning.

She managed to mellow out the day after, and even volunteered to help properly repair the hole in the wall. Attempts from Tenzin and Asami were futile in getting Korra to open up about what was going through her head, and even Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo couldn't get it out of her despite their cutest (and incidentally, sincere) puppy-eyed faces.

"It's nothing," Korra sighed, "I'm just dealing with a lotta stuff and don't really want to talk about it."

"Is that why you're never happy anymore?" Ikki launched a particularly cutting remark at Korra, even if it hadn't been her intent. Korra turned slowly, glaring fiercely at Ikki and her siblings.

"Leave me." She growled, before stumping off in a similar manner to Zoroka.

Asami visited Air Temple Island many times over the next several days, and even started coming there without Korra.

"Pretty Lady!" Meelo greeted her one afternoon with Ikki in tow as she arrived at the island to find Tenzin, "You love Korra right?"

"Sure," Asami didn't exactly want to discuss her love life with a 5-year-old, but she humoured the little fellow, curious to see what he would say. "Why?"

"Because you need to tell her to stop bein' so dang grumpy!" Meelo stuck his lower lip out in a way that was not unlike Korra's.

"Yeah!" Ikki chimed in as she and Meelo followed Asami, "she's been so sad lately…. And a couple times she's been really mean to you. Tell her that if she actually loves you, she needs to stop being so mad at everyone all the time."

"Korra went through some really unpleasant things," Asami tried explaining, "and I don't think she knows how to handle it. I think she's scared."

"Does Korra get mad when she's scared?" Ikki tilted her head, "what's Korra scared of? She's the Avatar; I didn't know they were ever afraid of anything! Grandpa Aang was too busy saving the world to be scared…" She fired off several more somewhat nonsensical statements before they were joined by Jinora.

"Korra's very confrontational," She reminded them, "I'm sure Asami knows it, but Korra does not deal in subtlety at all. I think that's what the problem is."

"Perhaps so," Asami gazed up at the sky before reaching Tenzin's quarters, "but how do you confront someone directly who turns aggressive so fast…?"

This question was more to herself, since the children did not respond as Asami disappeared into Tenzin's study.

"Hello, Asami," Tenzin looked up, and noticing her straight face, continued. "No progress with Korra, I assume?"

"No," Asami sat down, putting her fingertips to her forehead with a sigh, "she's starting to stress me out though, and I don't want our relationship getting that tense, especially not if my father inevitably gets involved. Korra's struggling to bury her issues and she knows she's failing spectacularly. That makes her angry, and so she tries harder to suppress it, which only intensifies the cycle. It's painful to watch. How did you get her to open up the other day at Aang Memorial? I wouldn't want to see Korra in such a state either, but she needs it. She needs to let this out or I'm going to come home one day and find half of my estate obliterated!"

It went without saying that Asami was less concerned about her estate and more about her father as well as Korra herself.

"I'm unsure of what to even do anymore," Tenzin sighed as well, "Reasoning with Korra is becoming harder and harder, and you can't really force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. Dealing with her when she's like that is… trying."

"Jinora suggested I just be straightforward," Asami mused, "Barring the obvious risks of getting right up in an angry Avatar Korra's face, what do you make of that?" Tenzin and Asami may have been well-versed in very different aspects of life, but even Asami recognized and respected Tenzin's age and wisdom.

"It's dangerous," Tenzin warned, "But Korra is becoming very dangerous, so it may be one of our only options to save her from herself." He sighed. "I really hate that I even have to say that about her at all. Korra's a good woman at her core—but she handles her emotions very poorly."

"She's my girlfriend," Asami put her hand to her chest, "I hate that we have to have these talks behind her back at all too! I very much appreciate that you and I are able to get along of course, but I wish we could bond over something besides a volatile Avatar with a murderous streak."

"As do I, Asami." Tenzin sighed. "As do I…"

It was, by all means, a sort of conspiracy, but it was done out of love, with Tenzin seeking to help her out of charity and also out of respect for her as the Avatar and as a young woman; while Asami's desire to help her stemmed both from her passionate love for Korra as well as her own desire to help those she perceived as hurt or in need. The hardest part of this ordeal would be getting Korra to accept the help though—because Korra had a rather nasty tendency to reject help under the premise that it made her weak—and therein was the problem.