AUTHOR'S NOTES: What a month! I apologize for the delay on this one, because this is a doozy of a reveal I've been admittedly setting up for this for a VERY long time, and so I was grinning ear to ear as I wrote this revelation. This is all part of a grander scheme to give much more significance to Senna's character throughout this book in particular, and so we'll see where that goes after all of this is over.
Happy Reading!
BOOK THREE: WATER
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN: CIVIL WARS, PART 3
=Southern Air Temple…=
For a while it seemed that the familial tensions between Aang and Katara's children were not going to let up. The rest of the evening was fairly silent, as was much of the next morning. However, whether it was from pondering his actions, meditating to relieve himself of the stress, or something else entirely, eventually Tenzin conceded, and got up to go hunt his older siblings down. He took deep breaths, steeling himself for their wrath, but if they were going to pin him with the reputation of being the grumpy overly-mature one in the family, then he was going to earn that reputation at the very least.
He found Kya and Bumi playing some sort of fast paced dice game, tossing a pair of dice, muttering numbers, and then handing the dice to each other.
"Kya… Bumi…" Tenzin put his hands together, lowering his head almost as if in shame. Kya had been halfway through handing Bumi the dice when the two of them looked up, raising their eyebrows without so much as a 'hmm?'.
"I wanted to apologize for how I acted yesterday," Tenzin confessed, "I've worked so hard to celebrate Dad's legacy that I may have overlooked the parts of him that were less ideal… and I suppose I owe an apology to Korra as well the next time I see her."
"For some reason I don't have even a shred of doubt that Korra will forgive you," Kya quipped, "but hey, we're sorry for dumping our frustrations with Dad out on you."
"Yeah, you didn't deserve that," Bumi added, "but Kya's right; I wouldn't worry about Korra either; I saw firsthand how highly she spoke of you during that whole Equalist hullabaloo. She likes you a lot more than she lets on, y'know."
"It's difficult," Tenzin admitted, "and perhaps I'm a little too rooted in my own traditions to the point where I sometimes forgot Korra and merely saw Avatar Korra."
"Hey now, don't get all gushy on us," Kya rubbed Tenzin's head in lieu of him having any hair to ruffle, "You'll see Korra again, I guarantee it. Besides… maybe this will cheer you up a bit. Mom gave it to me before we headed out with you."
Kya revealed to her brothers a nearly 50-year-old photograph of their family, with a middle-aged Katara and Aang smiling in the background, the latter holding a baby Tenzin. In front of them was a brightly smiling young Kya and a smirking young Bumi.
"That's one good-looking family, huh?" Bumi smiled.
"That's one happy family," Tenzin smiled, noticing Kya and Bumi doing the same.
"You know what they say, Tenzin," one of the corners of Kya's lips curled upwards again in a wry smile, "friends come and go, but family's forever."
"Looks like we'll just have to get along then," Bumi teased as he pulled his siblings in by the shoulders into a big hug. The briefly irritated expressions were swiftly replaced by smiles, and it was truly a heartwarming moment to behold. Aang would have been proud.
=Southern Water Tribe…=
Korra felt a pit in her stomach as she gazed upon the empty wall where her mother's impressively vast hunting knife collection used to be. The realization of what this implied hit her hard, and she swallowed hard. She had no reason to doubt Risha's claims, and so she tore out of the house, wasting no time heading east to try and quell the rebellion before it escalated. However, by the time she arrived there, it was too late. Northern and Southern soldiers were scattered around, either dead or unconscious—Korra preferred not to think which—and there were signs of a clearly powerful waterbending scuffle.
"Tonraq," Korra called out, "Senna?" She used her parents' names as to not give herself away immediately, but there was no success one way or the other. Korra zigzagged through the crowds, avoiding getting caught in the crossfire as she tried to locate her parents, but instead, she found something even worse: one of the larger men had an unconscious Unalaq over his shoulder. While Korra would side with her parents over her uncle, she would rather not see any of them get hurt, and didn't want her parents becoming violent like that.
Deciding that the best way to ensure the safety of her family and the political leaders of the North would be to beeline for the palace, Korra zigzagged through the ranks of rebels and soldiers, avoiding attacks and sometimes using her own bending to carve a path. She hoped that she wasn't too late, although when she found the palace empty except a few unconscious men and women strewn about the place, she had a bad feeling that the conflict was already gaining momentum far too swiftly for her to cool it back off. Still, she hoped for a peaceful solution.
Unfortunately it did not seem like peace was going to be the option of choice tonight. Through the crowds and chaos, Korra spotted an unconscious Unalaq slung over the shoulder of a large rebel built very much like her father.
"Dad!?" she exclaimed, her eyes widening, "Dad, don't do this!"
"Turn around, Avatar," he grunted, "and pretend you didn't see anything."
"No," Korra stepped forward, "Leave Unalaq and go. I'll tell him I tried to stop you but that you escaped. We can prevent a war."
"Lying is unbecoming of you, Avatar," the man shook his head very much like how Tonraq would have, "and no, we can't avoid war now that Mozu-Kaiyo has made her move."
"Mozu-Kaiyo?" Korra tilted her head with a suspicious pout.
Rather than receiving a response however, Korra felt a large chunk of ice slam against her face and sent her spiralling through the air before she landed and skidded several feet.
"Dad, what the fuck!?" Korra barked, massaging her cheek as she sprung back up.
"I'm not Chieftain Tonraq," the rebel warned, bringing up a huge ice wall, "we're just here to take this northern usurper and to cover Mozu's escape."
They glanced outward as if to double-check their own objective, and in this split-second Korra noticed a lone figure—a woman if her size was anything to go by—bolting for the exit. So Mozu-Kaiyo was a woman. Korra's immediate first thought was Risha, but she knew in this moment that she had to make a decision. Did she pursue a woman that seemed to be running or did she stop the rebels that were trying to abduct her uncle for whatever nefarious purposes they had in store for him?
She punched through the ice wall the rebels had brought up and tore after them instead. The woman could wait. As the men descended the steps leading from the palace, Korra bent a slab of ice up and hopped onto the railing, riding down the rail not unlike a skater's grind and corkscrewing through the air. She landed in front of the rebels and cut off their means of escape, bending a huge ice wall in front of them. Stamping her foot she sent it forward almost like an earth wave, where it knocked out all but two of the rebels, including the one that was carrying Unalaq. It was clear they had selected the best men for the job here, because after they jumped and smashed through Korra's ice wall, landing skillfully behind Korra where a pair of snowmobiles were waiting only a few meters away. The roared to life and zipped off, but Korra's speed was not something to be taken lightly either. Her eyes flashed, and she whizzed forward on an air sphere to catch up to them, but their vehicles increased in speed as well. Hearkening back to a trick she had done with Triad mobsters during her first week in Republic City, Korra stopped abruptly, focused on a point of ground between the two snowmobiles, and launched a well-placed combustion beam from her forehead that detonated the ground.
Like she had done with the mobsters' car, the impact had been behind the vehicles, and so rather than face the brunt of the explosion, they were instead flipped over and crashed a lot less painfully than they would have otherwise.
By the time police and soldiers had arrived, Korra had bound the rebels and was nursing Unalaq back to health and consciousness using healing techniques taught to her by the man himself. This was not lost on him as he wearily opened his eyes.
"Thank you, Korra." he smiled, "for saving my life."
"Thank you for teaching me how to," Korra smiled in turn, "I'm just glad I got here in time. Whatever this political situation has become, turning to hostile abductions wouldn't have been the answer either."
"Did they name any names?" Unalaq raised his eyebrows, "because I know that Iknik Blackstone Varrick was the instigator here. He's been stirring up the South to rebel for nearly a week now."
"No names but that one then," Korra frowned, "although the rebels that kidnapped you were covering the escape of someone named Mozu-Kaiyo."
"Mozu-Kaiyo…" Unalaq let the name roll off his tongue. "Yes, I know that name… She was once a famous Red Lotus insurgent, before suddenly disappearing shortly before the famous Battle of Desert Storm. Perhaps your mother took her out." he smirked wryly.
"How do you know this?" Korra pouted. "What do you know about my mother?"
"Being the Chief gives you connections, Avatar." Unalaq explained, "It's as simple as that. Still and all, thank you again for rescuing me. I tremble to think what they were planning."
Korra simply nodded, as if trying to find the words to say.
"Find Varrick," he turned to his soldiers before Korra could speak up, "I want him to freeze in prison with the rest of these traitors. Put up wanted posters for Mozu as well. When we catch her she's spending a life behind bars as well."
"No, wait," Korra objected, "You can't just lock them away. That'll just stir up the South even more and make them angrier. If you make them angrier, they're even more likely to adopt the mindset that you're a usurper, and these kinds of attacks might increase."
"Then there would need to be more force against them," Unalaq warned. "Whether it was me or not, an insurrection against their Chief is not acceptable."
"All the more reason to give them a fair trial," Korra reasoned, "let them stand trial for what they did; every Water Tribe citizen deserves that right, and by going through the legal system you can hopefully help quell the mindset of you being a tyrant."
"Very well," Unalaq nodded, "you make a convincing argument Avatar Korra. That, coupled with you saving my life just now, means I will respect your wishes on the matter."
"Thank you, uncle." Korra smiled warmly.
"But of course," Unalaq smiled, "and what say you about Mozu-Kaiyo?"
"If we can't apprehend her I at least want us to try," Korra noted, "The others covered her escape, so she's clearly involved in this insurrection."
"Noted," Unalaq smiled, "Your desires shall be made a reality, Avatar Korra."
Korra nodded, thanking Unalaq once again as they parted ways. Her emotions were rather mixed when she returned home, expecting to find her parents' hut empty. However, Tonraq and Senna were both there, the latter still sporting red stripes of war paint on her face.
"I hope you're not too mad at me," Korra looked at them with a humble expression.
"Of course not," Senna shook her head, while Tonraq opened his arms, "we heard about what happened. Are you okay?"
"I…" Korra stammered, putting her arms around her father, "I'm so glad neither of you were there. I don't know what I would have done."
"I had no idea how far Varrick was willing to go," Tonraq frowned, "My brother and I have our differences, but I would never attack him without provocation."
"I'm sorry for thinking either of you had anything to do with those rebels," Korra apologized, tears forming in her eyes, "this whole conflict has me in an anxious, stretched-out state that's really throwing me out of sorts, and the stress is just…"
"I'm the one who should apologize," Senna admitted, "The bad blood between me and your uncle goes back a long time—a very long time, love. I knew him before I knew your father."
"That reminds me," Korra turned to Senna, "the rebels mentioned someone named Mozu-Kaiyo, and they covered her escape. Do you know anything about that?"
Senna took a deep breath and then sighed.
"I do," she admitted, "I… am Mozu-Kaiyo. The Ocean Shrike, they used to call me. It's a nickname from my days back in Desert Storm."
"MOM!?" Korra actually recoiled at this admission, "Mom, you just said you… are you… you're telling me you were IN this rebellion!?"
"I…" Senna took a deep breath. "Sit down, Korra. I need to tell you the real story of who I once was… and why I tried so hard to leave that all in the past."
"Senna…" Tonraq put a hand on her shoulder. "If this gets out…"
"Our daughter deserves to know, love." Senna frowned, before looking Korra right in the eyes.
"Korra… I'm sure you've had so many questions over the years, and I feel worse and worse the longer I hold this in. You'll probably realize what this is leading to before I even finish, but please… just let me say my part."
"Spirits…" Korra muttered, "Mom… mom what are you getting at?" She looked worried, and there was a tenseness to the way her mother stood that did not sit well with Korra.
"There's a reason I know Nakkoa and Kwan so well." she explained, "There's a reason that Kwan and I have such a rough relationship. There's a reason I know so much about your uncle Unalaq and his involvement in the Red Lotus society—yes, he used to be part of it. He knew full well what he was doing when he recruited them to train you. There's a reason I was so heavily involved in Desert Storm, and why it's so traumatic for me to speak about."
"Mom…" Korra looked almost frenzied, "Mom, no. Please don't tell me…"
"I was a Red Lotus insurgent in Desert Storm." Senna sighed, "Nakkoa and Kwan despised me because I sold them out. Unalaq hates me because word of his connections almost got out, thanks to me. I betrayed the Red Lotus; I cut all ties with them, wiped my slate clean and never looked back. I gave all of my information to the Water Tribe and United Republic Soldiers that came to fight that war in Si Wong."
Korra was utterly dumbfounded, and looked horrified at this revelation. Every new word her mother spoke twisted the knife further.
"That is how we destroyed the Red Lotus insurgents, Korra." Senna continued, "That is why I am the 'Hero of Desert Storm'. I was the one that betrayed my organization, and they nearly did me in because of it. That is why Kwan and I are struggling to make amends. Chief unalaq hates me for the same reason I hate him: we both threaten to expose each other's secrets—and that is what keeps us both in check. If he manages to gain control of the throne he will arrest me, and likely execute me. He has the means to and the evidence to. I was hoping simply to remove him from power tonight. I did not want him dead, but I would do so to protect my family… I want to live, not only for myself, but because the last thing I want to do is gut my daughter by having her watch her mother be killed at such a young age."
"Mom, that's impossible!" Korra glanced at Tonraq as if begging him to remark that this was another one of her wild tales that they would just laugh about as they tried to diffuse the tensions, but his face was solemn; his eyes shut.
"I wear that proof every day, Korra." Senna sighed, turning around. To Korra's utter astonishment, Senna stripped from the waist up, revealing a surprisingly muscular back much like Korra's. However, it was not her mother's sudden stripping act that shocked Korra as much as what she saw there: covering a broad swathe of Senna's back was an enormous Red Lotus tattoo.
