AUTHOR'S NOTES: Korra's blatant idiocy and Unalaq's mustache-twirling villainy were two factors that contributed heavily to book 2 being subpar the way it is. By contrast, in this story Korra's very mature due to everything that's happened to her, and some of Unalaq's motives are genuine good intentions this time around. Hopefully these factors help make this story's adaptation of Book 2 a lot more bearable than the original. Feel free to offer feedback in that regard as well.
Happy Reading!

BOOK THREE: WATER

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVEN: ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY

Korra wasted no time springing into a defensive position and launching a powerful burst of combustion at the assailing spirit. She was unsure what effect it might have, but when it missed and exploded several feet above and behind the monster it became a moot point. Long tendrils ejected from the spirit's body, and Korra learned a second later that they were very tangible. The tendrils wrapped around Korra's wrists and slammed her against a wall of ice behind her. Korra retaliated with another combustion blast, but rather than trying to blast it at point blank, she let her beam cut through and explode behind the spirit's head. The monster flinched for a moment before throwing Korra up by her arms and then slamming her against the snowy ground.

The yelling and ruckus woke up Mako and Bolin, who immediately bombarded the renegade spirit with flame and stone as they raced to Korra's aid.

"Got it!" Bolin clenched a fist as his rocks staggered the spirit for a moment. However, like it had done with Korra's attack, the spirit rebounded and bowled towards the brothers.

"Dont got it!" Bolin corrected himself. "Uhoh!" No sooner had he said this then he and Mako were swept off their feet with a powerful swipe from the spirit's tail. Using this reprieve, Korra sprung up and corkscrewed through the air, before throwing her hand out and using a burst of air to steady herself for just a moment in midair, before launching a powerful combustion beam at the spirit's back. It staggered and it's face hit the ground, but it seemed to rebound even swifter than before, and much more aggressively. As it lunged again at Korra, it slammed into a wall of ice that was immediately brought up by a waterbender sliding across the snow at high speeds. Korra recognized the waterbender as her father, and Tonraq whizzed around the spirit, gliding on the snow as he brought up huge walls of ice at sharp angles to try and entrap the renegade entity. He went around twice to reinforce his walls, but halfway through the 3rd attempt the spirit blasted through the ice.

"So this is how you're gonna play, eh?" Tonraq growled, "Alright you glowing purple bastard, tighten those butt cheeks, cuz you're about to—RAAAAAH!"

Tonraq was flung aside, hitting the side of one of the huts. Senna had sprung up immediately, and before the spirit could attack Tonraq, it was peppered with a barrage of ice daggers. Korra used this moment to enter the Avatar State and bombard the spirit with a slew of rock and water. One of her more powerful blasts repelled the spirit so far that it crashed through the carnival fence, causing mayhem then and there. Not one to let a hostile assailant get away, Korra shot after it, her eyes still aglow and her stance somewhat feral again. Her unkempt hair and normally unimposing sleepwear actually made her look all the more intimidating to passersby, most of whom cleared the area as to not get caught in the crossfire. While it was not intentional, Korra reminded any onlookers just how swift her reflexes and fighting skills were as she relentlessly pinned the spirit with a barrage of blue flames to try and subdue it.

Similar to Tonraq's ice wall, it appeared to work for a few moments before the spirit launched a set of tendrils that flipped Korra head over heels before launching her backwards. She spiralled through the air and forcefully collided with a large stack of sturdy wooden crates, which shattered from the force of Korra's impact. Dizzy and disoriented, Korra attempted to crawl back out of the wreckage and regain her bearings, but the spirit moved to close in on her, still ostensibly unscathed. However, as it raised an arm to attack her, it was stopped by a tendril of water that spiralled around it. Korra's eyes shot to her left and spotted Unalaq. Rather than an attack however, he appeared to be bending the water gently around the spirit's body, as if to hold it rather than hurt it. The water began to glow a golden colour and the spirit calmed itself before the water encircled it completely.

"Go in peace…" Unalaq whispered, and the spirit dissipated into golden sparks that blew away as if on the wind.

"That…" Korra grunted as her eyes stopped glowing and she pulled herself to her feet, "that was amazing, uncle! How did you manage to control that spirit when no one else could?"

Well," Unalaq paused for a moment as if waiting for Korra's friends and family to arrive on the scene—which they did within seconds to see what had happened, "as your father could tell you, I have spent all my life studying the spirits and learning their ways. Come now, Korra; have you forgotten everything I taught you in the mountains above Republic City?"

"Well no; I…" Korra stammered, "There wasn't exactly renegade spirits at the compound you could demonstrate on though, you know?"

"Of course," Unalaq nodded, "still and all, this knowledge is completely lost in the South, but I would be honoured to teach you everything about it that I know."

"If the Red Lotus gets involved whether accidentally or otherwise though," Korra warned, "I'm going to hold you accountable. I've been hurt before; I don't want it happening again."

"Cautious words from your mother, perhaps?" Unalaq raised an eyebrow.

"We actually both gave her our blessing," Tonraq asserted, with his arm around Senna's shoulder, "whatever issues we may have with you, leave Korra out of them."

"Yeah, this is entirely my deal," Korra admitted, turning to her uncle, "Chief Unalaq, I didn't mean to make it sound like a threat; it's just that I'm sure you've heard a thousand times over about what happened to me, and I don't want it to happen again."

Korra wasn't being entirely honest with her trust towards Unalaq. Perhaps he had actually repented and washed himself of the Red Lotus association the way Kwan had, but his claim of ignorance seemed a little too flimsy in her eyes. Regardless, Tonraq didn't seem to trust him, and Senna was open about her dislike for him. Kwan also seemed to harbour some type of grudge against him, but Korra had thus far not pried into that situation.

"Once bitten, twice shy," Unalaq nodded with a subtle smile, "perfectly understandable, Avatar Korra. Just know that my offer is for your betterment now just as it was 4 years ago when we met in the mountains north of Republic City."

"I… I know," Korra sighed after taking a large breath, "and I can't let my own personal fears get in the way of necessary training I need to be able to take on these spirits and smooth things out before Harmonic Convergence hits full swing."

"It would behoove you to make this decision sooner rather than later," Unalaq pointed out, "the Winter Solstice is in three days, however, so time is running very short. But, if you need a night to think about it, let it not be said that I am an unreasonable man."

Tonraq simply raised his eyebrows, and Senna, who was in the middle of drinking whatever spirit she kept in that flask of hers, snorted. Unalaq ignored them both.

"I'd appreciate that actually," Korra nodded, brushing some snow off her arms. The fact that she was still in her nightclothes and standing barefooted in the snow without flinching was a testament to just how little the cold actually bothered her.

"Get some rest then," Unalaq smirked, "you look rather chilly."

The irony of this statement wasn't lost on Korra, but she and the others dispersed and retired properly for the night within a few minutes. Korra lay alone for nearly an hour as she contemplated what Unalaq had both said and done. The spirit that had so effortlessly laid waste to her, a fully-realized Avatar, in seconds, had submitted to Unalaq in even less time.

She decided to contact her past lives on the subject. It had been a while, and while this wasn't the Western Air Temple Avatar Chamber, there was still enough spiritual residue around them for Korra to meditate and make a connection rather easily.

Almost as if they read her thoughts, the first spirit that she saw before her was Avatar Aang. She wasted no time explaining her predicament to him.

"And I still don't fully trust him," she concluded, "but perhaps even if he was fully aware of what he was doing, that he's changed for the better now?"

"It's not as unlikely as you think," Aang suggested, "one of my best friends was Firelord Zuko, who as you surely know, spent nearly a year pursuing me and my friends relentlessly before he turned around and tried to join me. Much like Chief Unalaq, he even sought to share his knowledge with me to help deal with a much larger danger."

"Are you suggesting that I trust him then?" Korra put her hands together.

"If I were in your shoes, perhaps so," Aang concurred, "It is not to say that I am right in this assertion; I always tried to see the good in people, and may have even been too lenient in cases like Firelord Ozai and the Criminal Boss Yakone… but looking at how you helped Councilman Tarrlok turn his life around makes me think that maybe my decision was the right one after all."

Korra smiled for a moment. Helping Tarrlok turn his life around was one of her proudest accomplishments in her own eyes, and was one of the most commended achievements of hers on a personal level.

"With that in mind," Aang continued, "it is important for the Avatar to maintain a spiritual connection with the world, and Chief Unalaq appears to be able to offer this amply."

"Right," Korra nodded, "you're not going to be mad if I look for a further consensus, are you?"

"Not at all," Aang shook his head, "there was a consensus between four of my past lives that I ought to slay Fire Lord Ozai, but I listened to none of them. We are merely here to offer you advice based on our own personal experiences. What you decide to do with this information is for you to decide, and you alone."

Korra nodded slowly as Aang faded away. She decided to recall a little farther back, recalling instead the experiences of Avatar Zeruda herself.

"You must be in a really desperate situation if you're coming to me for advice, little one." Zeruda quipped after Korra shared the story with her, "I don't suppose you've got a little world subjugation on your mind or the like?"

"No, definitely not." Korra shook her head, "I… actually wanted to talk about you directly. I know you were reviled for what you did, but didn't you try to atone?"

"I suppose I did," Zeruda shrugged a shoulder, "but I do not imagine it is fair for you to compare your uncle, who at worst is a shady politician, to me, who was a militant warlord that conquered every nation in the world apart from the Northern Water Tribe. Furthermore, he is offering to teach the Avatar. I, by contrast, was the Avatar. I did not deserve forgiveness, and that is the verdict I pass on this Water Chief."

"Well, um… thank you for your wisdom, I suppose." Korra shrugged as Zeruda's spirit faded away. Zeruda was definitely the odd one out in this situation as well as many others that involved Korra's past lives. Against Zeruda's wishes, however, Korra had made her decision to train with Unalaq by the next morning. Tenzin and his family were preparing to leave, and Korra caught up with him before they departed and informed him of her decision. She was somewhat surprised to see that he was already packing his belongings up with his family.

"I hope you're not taking this personally or anything," she scratched the back of her head with a guilty expression on her face; "you've been a wonderful teacher for me and such, but with Harmonic Convergence on the horizon…" she trailed off.

"No, I understand, Korra," Tenzin nodded, "and it's been a pleasure serving you. I trust your judgment on this as well." he bowed after his remark, before immediately getting to his work. He was nearly ready to go when Katara appeared, with Kya and Bumi in tow.

"I think you've forgotten a couple of things," she smiled up at her youngest son.

"Mother," he sighed, casting a brief glance at Korra before turning back to Katara, "I think I need some time alone with my family right now."

"This is your family, Tenzin," Katara reminded him, "when you get to be my age, you'll be thankful for the time you got to spend with your siblings. I think it's important that you all visit your father's old home together."

Tenzin sighed, glancing back down at his siblings and then again at Korra, in defeat.

"Come on," Bumi grinned, "it'll be fun!"

"Yeah," Kya added, "I'm dying to see that laid-back 'Vacation Tenzin' I've heard so much about."

"Alright, hop on…" Tenzin sighed, and after noticing Bumi struggle a little, he kicked his leg back just slightly to give him a burst of air to help him onto Oogi's saddle proper. Before he boarded himself though, Korra approached him with that same concerned expression she had had after her frivolities on Air Temple Island.

"Are you sure you're okay though?" She spoke quietly, hoping not to draw the attention of Tenzin's children, siblings, or mother, "this isn't because of me, is it?"

"I'll admit," Tenzin sighed again, "I will miss you, Korra. I have done my best to try and teach you everything I know, but it seems my limits have finally caught up to me after Chief Unalaq managed to calm the spirit that none of us could."

"Hey, don't blame yourself for that," Korra shook her head, "it got me too, and I'm the Avatar—fully-realized and everything, apparently… well, except for this spirit mumbo-jumbo I guess. How do you define fully-realized in this sense?"

"My father was considered a fully-realized Avatar and he didn't know any of those Red Lotus techniques that you do," Tenzin mused, "but I digress. I suppose I just got a little more attached to you than I anticipated, and saying goodbye proved trickier than I had expected."

Korra did not reply verbally, but pulled Tenzin into a tight embrace, releasing him only when he grunted slightly.

"I'll handle things down here, Tenzin." she smiled as Tenzin hopped aboard Oogi. "You take your family and have fun at the Air Temple. If you visit the Western one, tell Fukui I said hi!"

That was an interesting thought for Tenzin as he coaxed Oogi into the sky with a 'yip yip'. Korra always spoke very fondly of the Western Air Temple, and whether Tenzin liked it or not, he realized he had grown rather attached to the young Avatar, especially since he had been one of the few people that had managed to get through to her and help her through her rather severe trauma and help a young girl get back on her feet and mature into a strong and compassionate young woman. He smiled as he gazed out in front of him.

"Spirits, but that Sato girl's a lucky woman," Kya quipped, "that kid's a charmer."

"She's lively too," Bumi smirked, "she'll be telling true tales like me when she's my age."

"She's incredible…" Tenzin whispered, even if no one else heard him.

"I know that change can be difficult, Korra," Unalaq snapped Korra out of her zoning out as she stared at Oogi getting smaller and smaller as he flew north with Tenzin's family towards the horizon, "but the decision you made was the right one, and you will not regret it."

"I believe you," she nodded. "And I'm ready to learn."

"Excellent," Unalaq put his hands together, "we will begin your new training immediately. I have great plans for you, Avatar Korra…"

Korra nodded, but could not shake the feeling that there was more to Unalaq's words than the man was letting on—and that left an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach.