AUTHOR'S NOTES: One of my favourite parts about Korra as a character was the fact that not only did she have two living parents, but that she had a generally good relationship with them both. Some of that gets shown in this chapter, as well as an idea of which of them Korra got a lot of her spunk , while they have ups and downs and had a particularly low "down" back in '102, Korra and Asami's relationship isn't in any danger of falling apart, so there's that too.
Happy Reading!
BOOK THREE: WATER
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIVE: THE CHIEF OF THE NORTH, PART 3
It went without saying that Korra and the rest of her friends and family were invited to Unalaq's feast that evening, and the invitation even extended to Tenzin, his family, and his siblings. Whether it was because of his own political influence or from his wife's connection with Korra as one of her closest friends, Tarrlok and Kwan were there as well, the former preventing the latter from drinking again. By contrast, Kya, Bumi and Senna were bantering nearby and had a small stack of money and similarly-sized collection of bottles in front of them. Tonraq was standing near them as well, and while Korra could not tell what he was saying, he seemed to be shaking his head and mentioning something about his position as Southern Chief. Korra was smart enough to put two and two together to know that this had something to do with some sort of drinking game, but unfortunately, she could not be there to watch it play out, whatever they had planned. Even after Tonraq soon returned to sit in a seat next to Korra, she knew she wouldn't have time to ask him about what had just transpired just yet.
Instead, the Avatar was seated at the head table with Unalaq and his family, although it was clear from the way she glanced at her friends that she would have wanted to be with them instead. As she scanned the guest tables and spotted all of her friends, she paused, swearing she recognized a brown-skinned woman in a black dress. It almost looked like Lightning Bolt Zolt's accomplice Risha, but Korra dismissed it as mere coincidence, figuring there was no way that woman had travelled all the way down here. If she had… Korra would have a lot of questions, and so she tried not to think about it, and shifted her mind back to how to deal with her uncle. Fortunately, Korra was charismatic and she knew enough about being polite to be able to play Unalaq's game without arousing too much suspicion.
For a while, things were quiet, and it seemed Unalaq was willing to let Korra and her friends get food in their bellies before trying to do or say anything out of the ordinary. Given everything she had been through, Korra suspected a trap of some sort, and postulated that perhaps Senna was on to something when she suspected Unalaq of foul play. It was all very difficult for Korra to sort out, especially ever since she learned that Nakkoa, an unmistakably crazy and wicked woman, had been extremely powerful and spiritually attuned. Prior to that revelation, Korra had always just assumed that only the morally righteous people could have attunement with the spirits.
Whatever the case, Korra was still friendly enough outwardly, to try and remain on her uncle's good side for the time being. It helped that her father had positioned himself at the head table on Korra's other side, so the Avatar knew that once again, she had backup in case Tonraq and Senna's theories about her uncle turned out to be true.
"This is a wonderful feast in your honour, uncle," she smiled as she ate. She had not seen this many meats and Water Tribe dishes in one place since leaving the tribe herself.
"Oh, this is nothing," he shook his head, smiling subtly, "When this festival was founded, Tribal Elders would commune with the spirits. People would watch the brilliant displays of light as spirits danced through the sky."
"Wow," Korra's eyes lit up with intrigue as she tried to imagine that, "I've never seen it."
"And it's a shame," Unalaq frowned, "since the Avatar is the bridge between the material world and the spirits. This is why I want so badly to teach you—to help you fulfill your destiny."
"I thought my wife and I had made it clear that Tenzin was teaching her." Tonraq asserted.
"Every Avatar before you travelled the world to learn, Avatar Korra," Unalaq retaliated, "the closest you were able to get to escape from your father's confines was the Red Lotus Secret Society. When terrorists do a better job at training the Avatar than those dedicated to protecting her, there is a problem. Tenzin and your father were the ones who, by contrast, suggested you be locked in the White Lotus Compound."
"Our decision changed," Tonraq asserted again.
"Only after the damage had been done," Unalaq interrupted him, "and after Korra was forced to slay a psychopathic murderer in self-defense—an incident she still bears the painful scars from." He glanced at Korra's wrist and then her neck, and while both were covered, Korra knew that Unalaq was aware of her scars, and she lowered her head as if in shame.
"So where were you?" Tonraq's eyes narrowed, "you were travelling with these terrorists and did nothing until it was too late either."
"Tell me, Avatar Korra," Unalaq turned to Korra again, "without considering their histories or any personal biases towards or against them, how useful were the members of the Red Lotus Secret Society as your teachers?"
"I…" Korra stammered, "Don't try to pit me against my dad, Chief. They were powerful teachers, but that doesn't mean they were good people… except for Kwan."
"That's all I needed to hear," Unalaq smirked before turning back to Tonraq, "brother, per my own admittance my vetting process was clearly inadequate, and I was blissfully unaware of the true identities of the men and women I had gathered to teach the Avatar. It was shortsighted of me to accept them after simply learning of their capability and willingness to help Korra become the Fully-Realized Avatar that she is today. Either way, I don't imagine she regrets acquiring such power, or that she would mind obtaining even more..."
"I don't," Korra sighed, before turning to Tonraq with an earnest expression, "but please trust me, dad. I know you want what's best for me, but with Harmonic Convergence on our doorstep I really need to double-time this spiritual stuff. Tenzin's a good teacher, but he also has his wife and kids to worry about as well as whatever other Air Nomad things he does. I need someone I know I can trust as well, but more importantly that can devote all of his time to me."
"And I would do exactly that," Unalaq promised, "since I do not exactly need to babysit Eska and Desna, after all…"
From the guest tables, Tenzin frowned, even if he knew Korra might have had a point. The commentary from his siblings did not help the situation any, though if Senna had anything to say, she kept her mouth shut.
"Looks like someone's trying to take your place as the Avatar's stick-in-the-mud mentor." Bumi teased with a wide grin as he elbowed Tenzin playfully.
"Bumi," Kya reprimanded him, a similarly mischievous smirk appearing on her face, "don't pick on Tenzin! You know he's always been sensitive!"
"I'm not sensitive!" Tenzin objected, although Kya and Bumi simply laughed, causing the airbender to cross his arms and lower his head with a pout that Korra would have been proud of.
"Hang on a second," Kya turned to Senna as she briefly cast an eye towards Unalaq's table, "Senna, why aren't you up there with Korra and your husband?"
"Presentation," Senna took a shot from her flask, "Same reason Tonraq didn't get drunk. I mean I'm not actually drunk; just tipsy and a little loudmouthed when I'm tipsy. That and I neither like nor trust Chief Unalaq. I'm sure you know a thing about why, Commander Bumi."
"Retired Commander," he corrected her with a nudge, "but yeah, I think I do anyways. Desert Storm, right; with that whole Red Lotus operation in Si Wong?"
"Bumi, we both know that story was made up," in a rare moment, Kya and Tenzin both turned against their older brother.
"I'm not going to ever claim any of my true stories are anything but," Bumi asserted, "especially not the one with Senna here and the two dozen insurgents."
"While I mean no disrespect to Chieftain Senna," Tenzin argued, "the story is simply too bizarre to accept as hard truth. It's simply absurd how you've blown it out of proportion, brother."
"Is it really though?" Senna brandished the broken hunting knife she carried with her. Tenzin and Kya briefly exchanged looks, while Senna smirked, stowing the knife. Bumi simply grinned ear to ear, and for a moment the conversation trailed off.
It was several minutes later when Unalaq finally rose to his feet to address the crowds.
"As your chief," he began, "it is my honour to speak at this festival, which was founded to bring our tribes together and restore the ancient balance between our world and that of the spirits. But I am saddened to see what it has become: a cheap and decadent carnival that celebrates greedy and trivial human needs and hedonism."
Tonraq cast a sour glare at his brother, but Unalaq's eyes were elsewhere. As the Chief's eyes scanned the crowds in front of him, he made eye contact with Senna for a brief instant, where time almost seemed to slow to a halt. In this moment, Senna asserted her dominance by seizing the nearest arctic hen on a stick and shoving the whole thing into her mouth. She demolished it in one bite, all while maintaining her fierce eye contact with Unalaq to the point where he was almost intimidated. However, he did not falter. Korra however, had noticed it and was watching bug-eyed as this brief, wordless exchange went down.
"I fear the time is fast approaching when the North can no longer stand idly by while our Southern brothers slip into total spiritual decay." Unalaq continued, "Angry spirits are already attacking ships in your waters. I only hope that we are not too late to change course."
There was slight murmuring among the crowds as Unalaq sat back down, and if he noticed that Korra had shifted her seat several inches towards Tonraq, he didn't say anything.
"Chief Unalaq, everybody," Varrick suddenly took the floor, rising to his feet, "what a guy! It's always fun to have him in town! Now let's have some fun with Wacky Wushu's Dancin' Otter-Penguins!"
As if on cue, a round man in facepaint and elaborate purple costume appeared between the head table and the guest tables, and began putting on a performance with a trio of otter-penguins. Whether Varrick's diversion had been in Unalaq's favour by dismissing concerns for his words to allow him more leverage, or if it was a distraction to keep the chief occupied during something else, remained a mystery. Either way, Korra and her father exchanged looks before both getting up to excuse themselves for a moment. With the side show going on, no one seemed to notice apart from Senna and Asami.
"He better not be planning what I think he's planning," Tonraq muttered as they rounded a corner out of sight from the others.
"Occupation?" Korra whispered back, "Why else would the North have to get involved here?"
"Tenzin once described you as a 'ruthlessly clever girl'," Tonraq paused for a moment before smirking, "...and I'd expect nothing less from my daughter."
"But what would his motive be?" Korra tilted her head, "He does seem uncannily obsessed with Harmonic Convergence, and while I do think his intentions to teach me are genuine, there has to be some sort of ulterior motive. Kwan suspects something up, and please tell me you noticed mom's little assertion of dominance back there."
"I'd expect nothing less from her either!" Tonraq actually chuckled, "The first time she did that to me was when I knew she was the one. The rest is history."
"Are you saying she wears the pants in your relationsh—wait, what am I saying!?" Korra clasped her sidelocks, "I don't need to know about my parents' bedroom habits."
"Without spilling too much," Tonraq's expression was one of wry amusement, "I'll simply say that she holds a lot of sway—but not enough to take down your old man."
"Dad, please," Korra winced, "stop. You're embarrassing me and there's no one even overhearing any of this."
"You asked nicely," Tonraq chuckled, "so I will. As for my brother's motives, I couldn't say. It likely has something to do with power, especially if our little theory about him being on a political power trip winds up holding water."
"That's the problem," Korra shook her head, "Whether or not I like to admit it, Unalaq was a fantastic teacher back when I was with the Red Lotus. Even now he displays the most incredible spiritual attunement I've ever seen in a person except for maybe Zaheer."
"But…" Tonraq raised his eyebrows, clearly expecting that Korra was going to follow up.
"But you seem unconvinced," Korra explained, "Mom definitely doesn't look convinced. I've gotten mixed vibes from Asami and Tarrlok, Kwan definitely doesn't trust him, and even Tenzin seems reserved about him… or maybe he just doesn't want to let me go…"
"I think it might be a little of both," Tonraq smiled at her, "Tenzin was particularly attached to you earlier on because you were a reincarnation of his father, but as we've mentioned before, he was sort of our eyes and ears in Republic City for you. No doubt during that time, he got emotionally invested in you and cared for you like his own child."
"I…" Korra fidgeted with her fingers for a moment, "I think I noticed it… and I was definitely rougher on him than I should have been,"
"Just know this," Tonraq took her hands, "I understand that we may have made mistakes with you in the past, especially regarding your Avatar training, but we do want what's best for you. We've also learned that locking you in a compound isn't going to help achieve that."
"Speaking of which…" Korra cast her eyes to the side, "what's it like there?"
"The compound?" Tonraq coaxed Korra's chin up, "it's a jagged mess of ice and rock now; the land never stabilized after your attack. I think you must have plunged through bedrock with some of your moves or something, but at this point most of the tribespeople simply ignore that area and act like it doesn't exist."
"Damn it," Korra shook her head and struck her forehead with her palm, "Sorry about that…"
"It's not me you need to apologize to," Tonraq assured her, "but apology accepted. Come; we can discuss more of this later. If we're gone too long, someone will eventually notice."
"Right, right," Korra nodded, and they returned to the feast without incident.
The rest of the evening was fairly quiet and eventless, although shortly before everyone retired for the night, Asami appeared and asked Korra an unexpected—but not unwelcome—question.
"Did you want to sleep together tonight?" by itself, the question was remarkably suggestive, although with the context in which Asami delivered it, it showed more of a loving concern. Internally Korra wasn't even sure if she had it in her right now to get frisky and do other such things anyways.
"Sure, of course!" Korra smiled before pausing, "what brought this on, exactly?"
"Lovers shouldn't need to ask this question, silly," Asami chuckled as she ruffled Korra's hair, "I just thought you looked tense and might want someone to play with your hair as you fall asleep." In truth, she had a very clear ulterior motive: she wished to be there in case Korra had another episode like she had had on the boat. Unfortunately, Asami felt like there was no actual way to convey this to Korra without coming off as untrusting, and so for now she simply spoke about her outward motives, which were also true. Besides, if Korra kept her wits about her that night, everyone won, and so Asami didn't feel the need to bring up a precaution for something that hadn't even happened yet.
"Well I mean," Korra scratched the back of her head with one of those humble, genuine smiles on her face, "I'll never say no; I just don't want to accidentally kick your gut or nail you in the face with my arm or something. You know how I sleep."
"I'll take the risks," Asami pecked her cheek. "Now come on; let's get some beauty rest."
That alone was a difficult point for Korra to argue with, and for some reason, it was different this time around. Korra was used to tossing and turning for several minutes (sometimes even hours) before she could finally fall asleep, but snuggled into the warmth of her lover, who also took the time to play with and try to detangle her hair, made Korra rest a lot stiller than she would have otherwise. She hummed softly, feeling truly at peace in this little moment as she lay there in her lover's arms, however brief it may have been.
However, like many good things in Korra's life, she felt, this moment wasn't meant to last. As she gazed out across the room from where she lay on her bed, the form of a small woman appeared, as if she had materialized out of nowhere. Korra feared her mind was playing tricks on her, but even as she blinked and tried to focus, the woman's silhouette did not vanish.
"Who are you!?" Korra didn't fully spring up, but propped herself up on one arm. She tried to sound aggravated, but the fact that her eyes were glowing indicated that there had been a reflex triggered out of fear.
"I am merely a figment of your broken imagination…" the woman whispered in response. Korra swore the voice sounded familiar, but almost as if this was the trigger word, she vanished, leaving the dim room as silent as it had been moments ago.