"When I left home at ten, I went to the Fire Nation to learn firebending," Korra lowered her head, "I'm sorry, Katara, I lied to you."
"No, you didn't," said her old mentor, "you are not obliged to inform the world about your identity if you don't feel you're ready," her gentle blue eyes met the glance of the avatar, "when I first met Aang," she referred to the avatar's predecessor, "he did the same thing. In the middle of the Hundred Year War. Imagine that!"
"It was my fault to show my abilities too early, I was too hot-headed to tell the world that I'm the avatar." Korra continued, "when I clearly didn't have the ability to protect the ones I love. Besides, I was responsible for the Civil War, I killed the chief of the Northern Water Tribe." Her voice full of bitterness, "from that day on, I swore to be the most powerful bender so I can create a world where justice is delivered, and order is restored."
"I understand, Korra," Katara put her wrinkled hand onto the avatar's hands, "it was not your fault to kill Unolaq in self-defence. But it is of no use to dwell on the past. Revenge is not the answer."
"This isn't about the past," the avatar argued, "it's about the future." She spoke passionately, "I have a vision of the future where wars no longer exist, and it cannot be achieved without order." Her glare was filled with mania, "Justice is an essential part of order; the Red Lotus killed innocent people, and Suyin invaded an independent country. There must be consequences for these actions."
"I used to think the same," the master waterbender explained patiently, "when my mother was murdered by a man called Yon Rha, I, too, felt powerless. I swore to hunt down this man and end his life, but when I was about to strike down the very person who burned my mother to death, I realized this will only make the cycle of revenge to continue."
"After Zuko and I defeated the Fire Prince Azula, the person who wanted to burn the entire Earth Kingdom to ashes and was responsible for the death of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people, I didn't kill her." Katara continued, "neither did I want to seek revenge on the Fire Nation, because after I spent time going undercover in this country, I understand that they are not war machines. They are just as human as me, with two eyes and two hands. I shouldn't punish the whole country for the actions of a few people, because I will hurt the lives of innocent people along the way." Her expression became more serious, "and this, is not justice."
"None of these would happen if they just agreed to put Suyin on trial." Korra thought her mentor was referring to her campaign against the Earth Republic.
"No, I'm not talking about that," Katara spoke, "I'm talking about what you did to their Special Forces, and the things you had done to the Platinum-bender. You were responsible for the death of your former comrades, Korra. They put their trust in you. And I couldn't imagine what their Colonel went through when I see her wearing the Platinum prosthetic on the right arm," her face was stern, "Toph used to tell me, Platinum a metal so pure that in order to bend it, one has to manipulate the metal directly instead of the trace amount of earth inside the metal. She said the person would need sheer force of will in order to bend it, when they were so desperate that they have no alternative but to face the metal head on." However, there was no anger in her voice, "why would you do that?"
"I admit, I wasn't in the right mindset when I made that decision," the avatar felt a sense of guilt surfaced into her psyche, "I wanted to make Suyin suffer, and wiping out her most invested troops, betraying her and take her loved ones away from her seemed to be the perfect options at that time." Korra closed her eyes, her face full of sorrow, "I have broken my codes of moral, and I disappointed you, Katara."
"No, you didn't," the waterbender said solemnly, "you might not be able to fix the past, but you still have the power to change everything that's going on in the present."
"I've gone too far," the avatar shook her head, "they wouldn't let me go easily."
"I have faith in you, Korra," Katara spoke, "you have the ability to figure this out."
…
Asami saw her friend came out of the igloo with a solemn face, "Hey, how did it go?" the president gently jabbed her fist into Korra's shoulder as an attempt to cheer her up.
"It went better than I expected." The avatar responded with a forced smile, "I want to stop. Is that too late?"
"Nope. We already halted the attack on the Earth Republic." The president replied, "Beside, I already got enough mineral resources for our economy, I want the war to end, too. We can work out a peace treaty with their Great Uniter."
"Would they agree, though?" the avatar laughed bitterly, "if you were at their position, would you agree to sign the treaty?"
"Probably not," spoke Asami, "but if we agree to give up all the occupied areas and help them to rebuild their damaged infrastructures, we have a much better chance."
"They would put me on trial." Korra mocked herself, "the first avatar ever charged with war crimes, that's a bit sarcastic, isn't it?"
"I won't let that happen." There was determination in the President's eyes.
…
Chameleon Bay.
"Here's the destroyer prototype for your navy," Varrick pointed to the ship parking at the harbour, "The ship was made from Titanium, not as effective as Platinum against metalbending, but much cheaper on the cost," he explained, "only under 5% of metalbenders can bend Titanium, considering it is a highly purified metal. Besides, it's harder and lighter than Platinum, which increases the defence against the attacks of firebenders and waterbenders, as well as the ship's speed."
He gestured to the young men in business suit behind him, "this is Mako and Bolin, firebender and earthbender," he pointed to the brothers respectively, "they're part of my research team, helped me tremendously in testing the materials for the prototype."
Suyin nodded at the brothers, but she couldn't hold back her frown. She had seen them on newspapers, they used to work for the government's propagandas back in the United Republics.
"They will take you on a tour for the ship, and after that, we will test the weapons." said the businessman.