A Cog in the Machine – Book Two, Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths
Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't own The Legend of Korra. All Avatar-related characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of Viacom, Bryan Konietzko, and Michael Dante DiMartino.
[-]
Korra didn't have the slightest idea where she was.
She knew a few things. She knew that, a few minutes ago – or at least what seemed like a few minutes ago – she'd been right on the verge of returning home. She'd confronted that horrific abomination that everyone referred to as "The Cataclysm," and while the encounter had created far more questions than it answered, the titan clearly wasn't interested in explaining itself.
But right as the Cataclysm had been in the process of forcing her spirit back into her body…well, something had happened. She'd felt the sharp surge of electricity she'd come to associate with the Equalists' weapons, and everything had gone dark.
Beyond that, anyone's guess was as good as hers. Obviously it'd been either the alternate Asami or Amon who attacked her. But to what end?
Their alliance, Korra acknowledged, had been fragile at best. Ultimately, her going home would mean their deaths, so she could understand why they might try to sabotage it. But if Uncle was to be believed, the only alternative was dooming all of them to fade away within the collapsing Flow.
One way or another, the alternates were living on borrowed time, and they all knew it.
Still…she also knew that Amon was Amon, whatever timeline he happened to call home. And this Asami had worked alongside "her" version of the masked terrorist for most of her life. Could they have plotted something behind her back?
Whatever the reason, one thing was for certain: their plan had worked. They'd caught her completely by surprise, and trapped her spirit…somewhere.
This place clearly wasn't the material world, but it didn't feel much like the Spirit World either. Was there a word for someplace in between?
It "felt" most similarly to that bluish void where she'd first met Iraki. But she couldn't see, hear, or otherwise sense anything here. Heavier than darkness, and more oppressive than silence.
Indeed, the only sensation Korra was able to recognize or perceive was that of motion. Slowly, torturously slowly, she felt as if she was sinking. Backward, headfirst, as if through water. Except there was no liquid around her to provide any kind of resistance.
She was completely weightless in this place, and that fact absolutely terrified her.
Eventually, in what might've been a couple minutes or a couple years, she felt her slow-motion fall come to an end. She'd landed upon a surface she could not describe in words, except to say that it felt…safe. Warm as her bed on a hot summer's day; intimate as an embrace from parents she could only half-remember.
Open your eyes, Korra.
Without thinking, Korra obeyed the voice, which fell across her ears like sweet honey. A soft, whitish-blue glow greeted her weary eyelids as they slowly blinked open.
Instinctively, she knew this glow was the only thing she would be able to see here. The voice, the only thing she would hear.
Everything else was just too far away. Lost.
But this…this was different. She could never be cut off from this voice, not truly.
Korra had never seen her before – at least, not in this way. But she'd heard the stories from Zaheer, over and over again. How could she fail to recognize the lynchpin around which all of their plans revolved?
"Raava…" Korra whispered, as she collapsed upon the great spirit's back.
[-]
The Avatar had no idea how long she lay there, reclined across the Spirit of Light as if she was the world's strangest bedspread. Raava seemed in no rush to hurry this up.
Finally, when the silence had gone on so long that it was physically uncomfortable, Korra said, "What is this place? Why are you here? How are you here?"
That is a great many questions, Korra. But I will start with the first.
We are nowhere. And I mean that quite literally. The plane upon which your spirit recently resided has been erased. By the…you would know it as the White Spirit.
Once the White Spirit fully consumes a world, then that world not only ceases to exist. It has never existed. Such is the White Spirit's power. It is beyond space, and beyond time.
Right now, we exist between two ticks of the clock. You can interact with nothing else here, for that is all that there is. Nothing.
But you still may look inward. And whatever may have happened to damage our bond…it has not been severed. Without my death, it can never be.
Come what may transpire, I swore my oath to Wan, and I will not renege upon it. You are his reincarnation, and so, I am here for you.
"So…that means we're too late," murmured Korra slowly. "That Flow is gone, and so is everything that was in it. Which means Amon and…and Asami…"
I cannot speak for their whereabouts. Yours is the only mortal soul to which I am connected.
But the one you call "Uncle" would not allow them to come to harm. Of that, I am certain.
"How could you possibly know that?" asked Korra with a frown.
I am connected to all of your previous incarnations. Including Aang. He has a strong impression of the spirit in question.
Regardless, I can confirm that the facsimile of a Flow you just traversed…is no more. Such is to be expected. It represented a future that must never be allowed to come to pass.
And I will do all I can to ensure you complete the process of restoring your soul. It is the least I owe you, Korra.
"I still don't have the slightest idea what's going on. I barely even know where to begin," said Korra, an edge that was almost a growl leaking into her voice. "Can we start with that 'process' you just mentioned? Sounds like it got cut off partway through."
She still wasn't sure she could trust what the spirit was telling her – Zaheer had warned her, at length, that while it simply wasn't in Raava's nature to speak complete untruths, she would absolutely twist any narrative to cast herself in the best light possible.
Vaatu was no different, of course. That was why the plan had depended on reuniting them, balancing out one's flaws with the other's strengths. Yin and Yang, as it always should've been.
Still, right now, it wasn't as if she had many other options.
You experienced a severe shock just as you were about to reconnect with your body. Not physically, but to your soul. It went into the spiritual equivalent of cardiac arrest.
I have always had…troubles, connecting with you. In ways that never occurred with any other Avatar. I have theories as to why, but none are certain.
In that moment, though, I knew I had no choice. It tasked me gravely, but I was finally able to reach you here, within the core of your own mind.
I do not know how long this connection will last. Neither do I know if I can ever repeat it again.
So I will do my utmost to use this time to its fullest.
"And you're gonna do that by…?" responded Korra skeptically. At this point, it felt like she'd been offered enough promises from spirits to last all of her lifetimes.
That is up to you, Korra.
Now that we are linked, you can use some of my power. Not to access the Avatar State or converse with your past lives – the connection is still too tenuous for that.
But I can serve as your conveyance. While we share this connection, time is stopped. We will be able to traverse the folds and fabric of the many realms, both material and spiritual.
I will not be a Guide, suggesting pathways or destinations. My role is not to be a mentor or teacher.
I am you, Avatar Korra. And so where your heart takes you, I will go also.
Where her heart took her…now that was a loaded question if there ever was one. Her heart had been torn in a dozen different directions since the moment Iraki first dragged her into this spiritforsaken mess.
Nevertheless, wasn't this exactly what she'd been asking for all this time? An opportunity to find out her own answers for once, and not just be dragged from place to place like a clueless child?
Korra still wasn't entirely sure she understood everything Raava had just told her. And she definitely wouldn't trust the spirit even if she did.
But if this was her chance to learn the truth behind at least some of this crap, then she was damn sure going to take it.
"Alright…I'll play your game," she said. "I get my pick of blowing up mysteries? Well let's tackle the most recent one first. I need to know what the heck just happened. And that means I need to talk to…"
Despite herself, she hesitated before completing that sentence. She'd been about to say "Asami." The truth of her last-minute betrayal was the most deeply burning question among so many, and yet…
No. She couldn't face her now. Any version of her.
Not yet.
The Avatar let out a deep, rattling breath – despite the fact that there didn't seem to be any air here.
"…Amon," she finished instead. "Take me to Amon."
[-]
Traveling on the Raava express would not end up ranking highly on her favorite methods of transport.
The realms they were traversing were…strange, even by the admittedly loose standards of the Spirit World. There was no form here, no substance – not even the appearance of such. Just color and light and sound, except that she couldn't see nor hear any of it.
It was all the sensation of being overwhelmed by too much stimuli, without any actual stimuli. There was nothing but her, and Raava, and the void.
And the Light Spirit wasn't exactly a bastion of comfort, all things considered. Whatever "link" she might've thought they shared, the truth of the matter was that Korra simply wasn't like other Avatars.
She was the first since Wan to know the full picture of what happened ten thousand years ago. And the first to choose the path of progress and change over stagnation, as a result.
Or at least…she had thought she knew the full story…
Much as she tried not to, she couldn't help but obsess over the Cataclysm's cryptic pronouncement: That was only the first step.
How could it possibly describe the remerging of Raava and Vaatu as a mere "first step"? The Red Lotus' plans would fundamentally transform the world; transition it instantaneously into a new spiritual age. What'd be the point of having some hidden agenda, when the stated agenda involved the complete destruction of society as they knew it?
Whatever the answer, she knew there was only one person who could possibly provide it. Between this, Koh's enigmatic warning, and everything else she'd witnessed in that wretched false future, one thing was clear: she needed to speak to Zaheer.
Would even he tell her the full truth? That was still an open question. Much as she cared for him, there was no denying that secrets within secrets were simply how the non-bender operated.
Still, he wasn't the type to lie to her. By omission, perhaps, when necessary. But if she asked the question directly, there wasn't a time in her life when Zaheer had ever been anything but straight with her.
Whatever his faults, he was still her mentor. Her teacher, her friend. And probably the closest thing to a father that she'd had in over twelve years.
So she wouldn't doubt him. Not unless circumstances left her with no choice.
We are here.
Raava had been quiet for so long – or at least it seemed like it'd been a long time, but if the spirit was telling the truth then "time" didn't technically exist right now – that Korra was surprised to hear her speak.
"How can you even tell?" said Korra. "I still can't actually see anything. What's the difference between this little patch of nothingness and all the rest of it?"
You are as sarcastic as Kuzamu, and as stubborn as Kyoshi. A potent combination.
Now, to answer your question, you need to cease thinking in terms of physical space. We are in the realm of the mind, and the heart. And your heart holds no secrets from me.
With the sheer hatred you feel for the one you call "Amon," connecting to his spirit was no obstacle.
Or perhaps it is more accurate to say…spirits.
Suddenly, Korra found that she could see something. To either side was a singular spot of color, floating amidst the void.
As they drew nearer, she realized what they were: a pair of masks, identical to the one Amon usually wore, save their expressions.
One was twisted in a vindictive scowl. The other, a jocular smile.
"Hello, Avatar," said the frowning mask. When it spoke, it turned to face her, its painted lips almost but not quite seeming to move in tandem with its words. "At last, I can speak to you freely. And not be constrained by this buffoon."
"Now now, my surly counterpart," the smiling mask responded. "Let's not get our underpants in a twist! Not just as a figure of speech. You know…since we're wearing the same pair and all."
"How any incarnation of myself could turn out as vapid and ridiculous as you is a riddle I will never be able to unravel," growled Frowning Amon, which was what Korra's frazzled mind decided to start calling it, just for the sake of keeping all of this straight. "Nevertheless, we appear to still be stuck together. So please attempt not to bother me as the Avatar and I parlay."
"Over what? It's not like I can trust anything you offer," Korra pointed out. "If I wasn't worried about what might happen to Asami, I'd gladly leave you stranded here in the middle of nowhere. Literally."
"Perhaps not before all of this. But the calculus has changed," replied Frowning Amon. "You may not have realized, but while that fool was in control of our actions, I was still aware of everything going on around us. I heard everything he said with our shared mouth. Including his plans with the alternate Miss Sato to keep their stolen bodies."
"You shouldn't take it too personally," said Smiling Amon, and for once, there wasn't a hint of humor in his voice. "Tell me you wouldn't do the exact same thing, if our roles were reversed."
Korra, meanwhile, was sent reeling by this latest revelation. So that had been the Equalist-Asami's plan? Screw up the process of returning to her original Flow, and jump into the real Asami's body permanently?
She didn't see how it could be possible, but then she was dealing with spiritual junk way outside her pay grade right now. Assuming she could truly pull it off…
Well, Korra's blood boiled at the very thought of it. Did that witch truly think she wouldn't notice? She was everything the true Asami wasn't: cruel, and vindictive, and heartless. Not to mention a murderer.
Any attempt to impersonate the girl Korra loved would've fallen apart in minutes.
But then again…maybe the alternate Asami simply wouldn't care. She had killed "her" Korra, after all. No matter how much she protested there was more to the story, that simple fact was undeniable.
Regardless, she supposed she shouldn't have been too surprised. Who wouldn't do something desperate, when the only alternative was oblivion?
Frowning Amon seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "I won't deny that your actions were rational, from a purely selfish perspective," he stated coolly. "Regardless, we are getting off track. My point is that I've witnessed the very same future you have, Avatar. And it cannot be allowed to come to pass."
"And how do you propose doing that?" asked Korra, her eyes narrowing. Assuming she even had eyes right now, of which she wasn't entirely certain.
"It's simple. If difficult to admit," said Frowning Amon. "I need to give you back your bending."
[-]
Of all the possible things Korra had been expecting her enemy to say, that hadn't been one of them.
Everything she knew about Amon – from personal experience, from Zaheer's intelligence, and simply by instinct – told her that he was a zealot. As unmovable as the mountain stones on the matter of his principles.
And as he'd made clear in speech after speech, the most important among those principles was an ironclad belief that bending was evil. She, as the Avatar, was the embodiment of that evil, and the new world of equality and peace he envisioned after his revolution could only come to pass with her destruction.
Never mind that all that was foolishness in the extreme. In a way, "Smiling Amon" was at least more honest, because he put an appropriately ridiculous face on the rhetoric.
Different as they considered themselves to be, both versions of the masked terrorist thought they could solve all society's ills by curing just one. They didn't realize that the world was too far gone.
That only by destroying society itself could balance be restored.
But all that was beside the point. How could Amon possibly decide that restoring her bending, an act utterly opposed to his beliefs, would serve his goals in the end?
Had he come to the same conclusion she had, in the pit of her stomach? Hearing Iraki despair over their inexplicable lack of bending power, she had wondered whether the act that started all this in the first place – Amon's attempt to remove her bending while she was in the Avatar State – could've been responsible. It seemed too much of a coincidence not to.
In which case, was this an admission on the part of the biggest anti-bender in history, that a bender Avatar was necessary to maintain balance?
Korra would've almost been tempted to gloat, except that as soon as she got the impulse to, both the frowning and smiling masks vanished from sight.
"Hey, what happened?" she demanded, not entirely sure who she was addressing. "Answer me!"
But the one to respond wasn't either incarnation of the Equalist leader.
I am sorry, Korra. I told you, I cannot hold onto these connections for long. Your spirit became so tumultuous that I was unable to maintain the link.
The good news is that the soul of this "Amon" is now tethered to yours. When you return to your physical body, he should do the same.
You need but repeat the same for the other spirit stranded here, and your task will be complete.
Korra knew Raava was right, even if she didn't want to admit it. If this business was really so simple, then she owed it to Asami not to delay.
But it was also clear now that when she did decide to face them, she'd be facing both versions of the Sato heiress. And she…
Still wasn't ready for that yet.
"Take me to Uncle," she ordered the Light Spirit.
[-]
This journey wound up being a far briefer one.
Perhaps it was because "Uncle" was now a native of the Spirit World, while she and Amon and Asami were all considered outsiders. Except this wasn't actually the Spirit World, was it? Maybe it'd been at one point, but after the White Spirit was done with things, it seemed the result no more resembled its original state than the mush in her stomach resembled yesterday's lunch.
Either way, he seemed to have more control of his form than she did. There was no other reason to explain why he was appearing to her as a majestic red dragon.
Even amongst dragons – a still-rare but slowly recovering species, in the wake of the Hundred Year War – he struck an impressive specimen. Curled up in what might've been the serpentine equivalent of the old man's usual relaxed posture, he nonetheless would've towered over her if he unfurled his crimson coils even a little bit.
He bared gleaming fangs and glowing gold eyes, with fins like a mongoose-lizard and whiskers like a catgator. It reminded her why the dragon was often called the King of All Beasts.
The one sign that this fearsome creature was the same tea-loving, kooky old man she'd spent the past fortnight with, however, was his beard. Bushy and pale, the thick hairs seemed like they'd been grown specifically for precocious children to grasp at and pull.
"Korra…" he said, cementing her suspicions. There was a quality to his voice that simply couldn't be replicated. "It is good to see you. I'll admit, I wasn't sure you'd call upon me again."
"Don't flatter yourself. Right now, you're just the person I'm trying to avoid the least," she told him. "What's with all the scales?"
The dragon let out a deep, barking laugh.
"Ha! Well in life, I was called the Dragon of the West," he answered, his whiskers swaying as if blown by nonexistent wind. "Usually I'm content to ride my mount, not be one. But then I see Raava is also, unusually for herself, carrying a burden. It has been some time, old friend."
Longer for you than I, in a sense. My perception of time is quite different from any spirit who started their life as a mortal.
I see every Avatar I have ever bonded with, all at once. At the same time that I convey Korra on her journey, I am freeing Bai from her shackles. Lending Weng strength while he slays the Makapu Moose-Lion. Joining Aang's hand as he uses it to strip Ozai of his firebending.
Still…I am happy to see you as well. You are missed, in the material world.
"I know. But even my nephew cannot rely on this old man forever," said Uncle. "Now, Korra. What can I do for you?"
"The one thing you're good at. Explaining stuff," was her curt reply. "Put all that high-and-mighty wisdom to work, and help me understand what the heck is going on. I got yanked away from Amon before he could tell me much of anything."
The dragon hovered there for several moments, silent save for the slow rumbling of his breath, as if mulling this question over.
"You've probably already deduced this, but the alternate-Flow counterparts to Amon and Asami Sato attacked you at the very moment you connected with the Cataclysm," he eventually spoke. "I surmise her plan was to use the confusion to try and…influence that connection. To ensure that it was her soul, and not the other, that returned to your native Flow."
"Would it have worked?" Korra asked.
"No," responded Uncle, without delay. "Perhaps it is theoretically possible, but it would require intimate knowledge of spiritual matters that neither of them possess. Without that knowledge, all she accomplished was nearly killing you."
I will admit, there was a part of me that was tempted to react by unleashing my full wrath upon her.
But I could sense how much that would hurt you, and so tempered my fury.
"Yeah, well, she's still Asami. Or sharing her body, at least," said the Avatar. "Sure, she's a pretty screwed-up version of her…but then again, sounds like compared to her Korra, I'm the screwed-up one."
She wasn't sure where that thought had come from, but it held a pull over her mind that was difficult to repel.
It sounded like the alternate Avatar Korra had lived quite the idyllic life, by comparison. No dead parents. No massacre. Just a regular old Avatar, going about the ordinary "maintain harmony in the world" schtick, blissfully ignorant of the hard truths the Red Lotus had taught her.
Such a life wouldn't have been as good for the world; she couldn't imagine what that version of herself would've done at Harmonic Convergence. But almost certainly a happier one.
Idly, she found herself wondering if that was the kind of Korra that "her" Asami really deserved. One who could've given her a simple, stable life. Who would've devoted herself wholly and completely to her partner, and not the mission.
Ironic, wasn't it? That the "normal" Korra and Asami would never meet, and were instead both saddled with murderers?
"Just give it to me straight, then," she finally demanded, after a lengthy pause. "What do I need to do to go home now? I'm done with all this spirit crap, I'm just done. Feels like I've been here for almost a year."
"You, Korra? You can return to the material world at any time. You've already fulfilled the terms of your quest," said the dragon. "But it would leave your compatriots stranded in this limbo-like state. They broke your physical connection, so to carry them back to your Flow alongside you…you must reforge spiritual ones."
As I said, you have already succeeded with the one called "Amon." He separated easily from his counterpart, and is both willing and eager to return.
But your "Asami" is still experiencing…difficulties.
"What kind of difficulties?" Korra asked with a frown.
"Her heart is far more…burdened. With what, I cannot say," explained Uncle. If he still had hands in this form, she expected they would've been stroking his bushy beard. "I believe there are other spirits who have taken her in. Staging an intervention, of sorts. But I don't think she can complete her healing until you speak once more."
"Are you talking about the Equalist Asami, or mine?" Korra shot back, more forcefully than she'd been intending.
He didn't respond with words, but he honestly didn't need to; she'd known the answer as soon as she asked the question.
Both.
"I know I need to see her. I know I can't keep running," she said with a sigh. "But give me…just a little more time. If that's okay."
"Since there is no time on this plane, you could technically dawdle around for a few centuries, if you felt like it," Uncle remarked, making a motion that might've been the draconic approximation of a shrug. "But I expect your patience won't hold out that long. No offense."
Korra remained there for some time, stewing over all of this in silence. Eventually, in a much lower voice, she found herself murmuring, "Can I ask one more thing, before I go?"
The dragon dipped his scarlet head. "Anything, Korra," he stated.
"Why don't I hate you?"
The words tumbled from her lips before she could give any thought to massaging them into something less blunt. She felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her, but stood her ground nonetheless.
"The thing is…you're everything I hate about the White Lotus. You're literally the one who started them down the wrong path in the first place," she began again, after a few seconds. "I grew up cursing the name of General Iroh, the traitor who turned an ancient brotherhood into just another stooge for the world's governments."
"Setting aside all of the value judgments you attached to them…" said Uncle. "I won't deny that is an accurate summation of my actions. As Grandmaster of the Order, I took it upon myself to release us from millennia of shadows. I saw a rapidly changing world before us, and knew the Lotus would have to change as well."
"Point it, I should despise you. With every fiber of my being," Korra continued, talking over him. She didn't have the energy to devolve into a political debate right now. "I don't understand why I don't. Except…"
She let out a sigh and shook her head – or at least, felt the impulse to do so. Still no head to actually do so.
"Except that throughout all this chaos, you've been like a rock to me. No matter how mean or nasty or stubborn I've been, you've just…taken it. With that big stupid smile on your face," she whispered out. "I don't know if I could've gotten through all that crap in the Spirit World without your help."
"I did what anyone would," he told her warmly. "The Avatar has always needed Guides. They don't need to like or even trust us. We simply offer our services, humbly. And let you take care of the rest."
"Well…I don't think I'm going to have another shot at this, so…" Korra hesitated before saying the next part. "So, umm…thank you. For being here for me. Even if you did seriously mess up the world."
Uncle let out a hearty chuckle, flecks of fire leaking out of his maw.
"On balance, I will consider that a compliment," he said. "Until next time, Avatar Korra. And you, Raava. I don't think this will be the last time our destinies cross paths."
Then, in a burst of flame that took the shape of an unfolding lotus flower, the dragon was gone.
[-]
You know where you need to go next, Korra.
The Avatar didn't appreciate the extra needling from the spirit bonded to her soul. Of course she knew. Her last two conversations had made it pretty blatantly obvious.
But there was still one more stop she needed to make first. One more mystery that'd been burrowing into her skull since before she even came to Empire City.
Confronting Asami – both Asamis – would mean confronting a whole lot of other things. Love and hate. Secrets and lies. The intertwining threads of their fates, which seemed destined to meet no matter the universe.
There was one other soul who seemed to embody all of those things, and more. Especially if the hunch she'd been fermenting in the back of her brain turned out to be correct.
And besides…dammit, she was going to claim at least one answer for herself, while she had the chance. She wouldn't let this one stay buried, in some distant corner of the Spirit World.
"Raava, tell me something," she declared. "You said something about being able to find people who're connected to my heart. But does it have to be my heart? Every other Avatar is also me. At least sort of. So…"
Who do you have in mind?
"Follow the path of my future heart," said Korra firmly. "Take me to Sagi."
[-]
She found him floating amidst the void – a single wisp of smoke, like a tiny blue flame. So dim that it might blow out at any moment.
It was as if he'd retreated out of guilt; shrunk back to this dismal place, where no one would ever see or hear from him again. But even more than that…
"This is your true form, isn't it?" Korra demanded. "I think I've figured out the 'four words' that hurt Iraki so much: I am a spirit."
The wisp flickered and shimmered, as if caught in some invisible wind. Then, slowly, it began to unfold, like a strange three-dimensional puzzle.
A pair of legs emerged first. Then arms, and a smartly dressed torso, and finally a head topped with silver-hued hair.
"Guilty as charged," said her future incarnation's boyfriend, now reclining back as if across some invisible couch. "How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess. I'm not exactly the smartest girl in the world, but I can put pieces together okay," replied Korra. "Had to be something devastating. They loved you, from the bottom of their heart. That much was obvious. For them to think it was all a lie…it had to be earthshattering. Add in how personally you took the destruction of those Dark Spirits, and…"
"Makes sense. I was always crap at hiding things from them. Guess I shouldn't expect any different from their previous self," Sagi told her coolly. "Well, wanna try double or nothing? Figured out what I'm a spirit of?"
This question, she hadn't thought nearly as much about. And yet somehow, the answer came to her anyway, as if it'd been waiting patiently in some back corner of her mind.
"Memory," she whispered. "You're a memory spirit, right?"
"She shoots, she scores! Guess I know where Iraki gets their perceptiveness from," declared Sagi, now fully on his back with his arms folded behind his head, staring up at some nonexistent sky. "Yep, I'm an embodiment of the concept of memory. I warp humans' perceptions of what they can remember, simply by being around them. Well…except for right now, of course. In this place, I'm as powerless as a common forest sprite."
He shook his head a couple of times, still not looking at her.
"See, a bunch of spiritual head-honchos were getting spooked by what was going on in your Flow. The worlds cut off from each other, spirits turning Dark and getting killed," he continued to explain. "They sent me to investigate. Took some doing, but I managed to infiltrate MIRAI in the guise of a human. And after that, my powers made everyone believe I'd been there all along."
"Iraki thought you were childhood friends," said Korra mutedly. "How long did you really know each other?"
Sagi shrugged his slender shoulders. "Depends on how you count it. But around two years," he answered. "That was my primary mission, you know. Get close to this strange Avatar, who didn't have an ounce of bending power. Whose connection to Raava was so weak. Find out what'd gone wrong. And…if I determined they were a threat to the Spirit World…"
Both of them glanced at the Light Spirit that Korra was sitting astride. Unlike with their previous "guests," she was being perfectly silent throughout this exchange.
Korra, meanwhile, decided that she didn't need to hear the end of that sentence. Instead she asked, "So why didn't you?"
Sagi let out a light, airy chuckle.
"Oldest cliché in the book, huh? Fell in love with the mark," he said. "Did you know that when a spirit takes on a mortal form, they take on all that form's weaknesses too? When Tui and La turned into koi, they became just as vulnerable as any other fish. As for me…well, I needed a human body. And who knew the human heart could be so fragile?"
"Guess that explains how you talk," replied Korra. "You definitely don't sound like any other spirit I've ever met."
Another laugh from the faux-teenager. "Yeah, I went pretty native," he admitted. "But can you blame me? Even in the middle of an apocalypse, your world has so many incredible things. The food, the technology – but love's the big one. I've never met anyone like Iraki, spirit or human. One night with them…and I knew I'd be happy if I never returned to the Spirit World."
"They still love you," Korra breathed out, before she could stop herself. "Even after they found out the truth. I could hear it in their voice."
Sagi let out a sigh, shaking his head once to each side.
"I know. That's the hardest part," he muttered. "They'll never be able to trust me again, but they can't help how they feel. Not that it matters now."
"What do you mean?" asked the Avatar in a low voice.
"Haven't you been paying attention? Their Flow is gone. The version of Iraki I fell in love with doesn't exist anymore," said Sagi bluntly. "In a way, that's a good thing. It means the future's changed, hopefully for the better. A new Iraki will be born, and with any luck, they'll have a much happier life. They might not even be the Avatar in the next cycle."
Korra hesitated for a moment, before adding, "Then what happens to you?"
Another shrug from the casually dressed spirit. "I move on. To wherever spirits go when they aren't needed anymore," he told her. "See, there's no reason for me to run into Iraki in this new Flow. The circumstances of our meeting were pretty specific. But…that's okay. If not seeing them is the price I have to pay for my moon peach to have a life that isn't shit, then I'll gladly pay it. A million times over."
Korra thought these words over for several moments, growing increasingly agitated the more she focused on them. On the surface, it made sense. No end-of-the-world meant no memory spirit dispatched to check it out.
But at the same time…
Iraki had been dealt a horrible hand, there was no question of that. Dead father, a mother whose obsessions had turned her into an inhuman monster – and thanks to Korra, a destiny they were neither ready nor able to live up to.
Yet she had seen that in the face of all that pain, all of the misery and bullying and self-doubt…their relationship with Sagi had been the singular bright spot, amidst so much darkness.
Sagi had believed in the young Avatar unfailingly, even when they refused to believe in themselves. Sagi had supported his partner through good times and bad, while hiding the fact that their mission must've been destroying the spirit inside. Sagi had cradled Iraki in his arms and made them feel loved – possibly for the first time ever.
To give all that up…
"Reincarnate," she said suddenly. "Make yourself mortal, truly mortal this time. Find Iraki's new Flow, and start life as 'Sagi' again. From zero."
Sagi looked at her like she had two heads. "It would never work," he responded, almost reflexively. "Even when spirits take mortal forms, they can always turn back. We can pretend at being part of the material world, but we'll still be strangers in the end."
"Maybe not for most spirits. But you're a different story," Korra continued to argue, her voice growing stronger. "You could use your powers on yourself. Forget you were ever a spirit. Forget everything about the last Flow."
She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen the usually confident face of the HOTU pilot twisted into such uncertainty.
"But if I do that…" he whispered out. "How do I know I'll even meet Iraki again?"
"You don't," answered Korra. "You'll just have to trust in love."
It was an incredibly strange thing for her to say, she knew. The words felt almost foreign on her tongue. Four months ago, the closest thing she would've been able to say she felt to romantic love was a stupid, precocious crush on Ghazan.
But her experiences in Republic City had…changed her. She was only beginning to realize how much.
Sagi, for his part, had gone entirely silent, as he ruminated over her suggestion. His watery blue eyes gave no indication one way or another where his thoughts might be.
Finally, however, he folded his fingers together and said, "Well…it'll be a gamble. But they're worth taking that chance. Thank you, Avatar Korra. You're just as kind in this life, as in the next."
And with that, his lanky body faded back into the wisp of smoke. A second later, that wisp scattered, and then there was only darkness.
At the same time, Korra found herself turning to the spirit below her. Her gaze ran across the many contours of Raava's translucent body.
"I need to take my own advice. Time to stop running," she mumbled softly. "Take me to Asami."
Of course, Korra.
[-]
This place wasn't the same as the void where she'd met the others.
It has substance, for one thing, even if that substance was a formless stream of light and color. More to the point, she had substance. She looked down and could see her own arms, for the first time in what seemed like ages.
Raava, meanwhile, had shrunken down noticeably. Instead of an enormous being upon which she could ride, the Light Spirit was now smaller than Pabu, curled up along her right shoulder.
"Where are we?" asked Korra.
Raava's response was spoken in that same deep, ethereal voice – but so much quieter, as if she held less power here.
A part of the Spirit World. Right at its edge. Normally, it is not a place the Avatar can go.
But the one you call "Asami Sato" holds a unique position. One that grants her access to this plane. Here, even after reincarnation, a pinch of the original soul may still remain.
The part closest to the heart.
"I don't understand what you mean," said Korra. "Whose soul are we talking about? What 'position' do you…"
But she stopped, as she found herself surrounded by ghosts.
There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Men and women, young and old, dressed in every style and hailing from every nation imaginable.
Most of them were dim, insubstantial. Like they weren't each a complete soul in and of themselves, but simply an impression that soul had made on this place while passing through.
Korra walked past the countless faces, unnerved by their silence. They seemed to be forming a circle around a certain point, so on instinct she pushed through them. As if compelled by some unseen force.
The closer she grew to the center, the more solid the ghosts seemed to become. Soon, she realized that she recognized some of them from Zaheer's history lessons.
There was Liu Wei, husband of Szeto. Xiulan, partner of Yangchen. Ummi, wife of Kuruk. Rangi, wife of Kyoshi. Ta-Min, wife of Roku. And finally…
Even if she wasn't one of the most famous people of the modern era, Korra would've known her immediately. She had been her first waterbending teacher, after all.
Hello, Korra. I'm happy to see you here.
Katara's face – far more vibrant and youthful than the one she'd worn when the two of them first met, twelve long years ago – didn't move as she spoke, and yet the words washed over Korra's entire body like a warm blanket. She forced herself not to get distracted.
"Where's Asami?" she demanded.
The wife of Avatar Aang didn't say anything more, but simply stepped aside. Revealing the figure lying in repose at the center of it all.
It was Asami Sato as she knew her – no cybernetic eye, no artificial fingers, her flawless face unblemished by the violence that'd marked the alternate's Flow. Korra felt hours of tension slide off her shoulders.
But then she blinked, and suddenly, she was looking at the "other" Asami after all. Metal parts and everything, with her serene expression twisted into a tight scowl.
Soon, she realized that she could see both versions, right on top of one another. If she looked at the girl from one angle then it was "her" Asami again. But tilt her head to the side just slightly, and that unsightly circuitry was superimposed over Asami's pale skin once more.
It was all highly disorienting, and made Korra feel like she was starting to hallucinate. But something deep inside told her that what she was seeing was precisely the truth…
The girl in front of her was both Asamis, and neither, at the very same time.
She's been waiting for you. I'm afraid I don't think there's anything more we can do for her.
That was Ta-Min. The Fire Nation noblewoman was kneeling down by the slumbering Asami, concern etched into every line of her face.
"What have you been doing?" said Korra. "What is this place?"
Rangi was the one who stepped forward to answer, her posture ramrod-straight. Even in death, she was ever the military officer.
In life, all of us loved the same soul. You may change from one life to the next, but at heart you're still the same thickheaded oaf each of us fell for. That connects us.
Ummi added her voice, the beautiful Water Tribe girl bending her head forward in apparent shame.
We used that connection to take this one on a…journey, so to speak. Through her own past, and her own memories. But all it seemed to do was shock her into this state.
Xiulan tugged at their heavy cloak, which they'd famously used to obscure their assigned birth sex even from the history books.
We've never seen anything like this before. None of us are complete souls, only…pieces. Left behind while the rest of us reincarnated. But two pieces, fused together like this?
Liu Wei flexed his muscular arms, the Earth Kingdom man looking as concerned as the rest of them, despite his harsh face.
We can sense they want to separate. That they need to separate. But I think you're the only one who can actually do it.
"But how?" asked Korra, her voice low and hollow. "I don't know anything about this kind of stuff!"
Now it was Katara's turn once more to answer. The Water Tribe woman was wearing the kind of indulgent grin you can only use around someone you've known since they were knee-high.
Where's your sense of romance, Korra? Don't you remember all those spirit tales we used to read together before bed? You have your princess right there, trapped in sleep…
Korra shot her former mentor her best "I can't believe you went there" face. But she just kept on smiling, and none of the other ghosts seemed in any hurry to contradict her.
And so, with a great big sigh of resignation, the Avatar bent down and pecked her girlfriend on the lips.
It really couldn't have been called "romantic" – she was both far too anxious and far too exhausted to meet that mark – but it seemed to do the trick nonetheless. Asami's emerald eyes (both of them) fluttered open, as she looked up at the girl who loved her so dearly.
In that moment, everything around them seemed to melt away. One by one the ghosts of Avatar's lovers past faded into the ether, until all that was left was Korra and Asami.
She had to check briefly, but no – her body was still there. So was Raava, perched on her shoulder but quiet.
It was as if the cosmos itself had decided they deserved a bit of privacy. Better late than never.
"Asami…" she whispered, clutching onto the non-bender for dear life. "That's really you, isn't it? The original?"
The raven-haired girl let out a groan, as if she was fighting off a bad headache.
"I…I think so. Well, it is and it isn't," she said, gesturing weakly toward her temple. "I can feel the other me rattling around up here. Vying for control. She won't go without a fight."
"Is it true what Amon said?" asked Korra. "That you could see everything she did with your body, even if you couldn't say anything?"
"It is. I saw everything – including her memories," Asami told her. "What happened between her, and…and her Korra…"
"I don't need to know the details. I know she killed her," declared the Avatar, cutting her off. "Which means, if it's between you and her…well to me, that's no choice at all."
But Asami just shook her head, though even that much movement seemed to take a lot out of her.
"No, Korra, you don't understand," she said. "There's so much more to the story than we thought. The truth is, she-don't you dare tell her!"
The shift in tone was all the more jarring for how seamless it was. One moment she was hearing Asami's normal voice, so gentle and melodious even in her fatigued state…
And the next it became a sharp, furious snarl, the same voice only technically. In every other respect, the two halves of her sentence couldn't have sounded more different.
Korra looked back at the girl in her arms, and wasn't altogether surprised to see the cybernetic eye had made its return.
"I don't know what you're trying to hide from me. And I don't really care," hissed the Avatar, letting the venom in her voice match the Equalist's. "What matters is that as long as you stay inside her body, my Asami is stuck here. So give her back."
"You really think it's that easy?" responded the alternate Asami. "You really think I'd be okay fading into oblivion, just because you asked nicely? There's more at stake here than you know."
Korra glanced askance. "I…I know it's a lot to ask for. But you said it yourself. The rest of your Flow is already gone. At least mine still has a future," she said. "Holding Asami hostage won't change any of that."
"No, it won't. But if I can keep control while you return to the material world, there's a chance I can live like this permanently," the alternate Asami shot back. "Sure, it's just that – a chance. But that's a damn sight better than none."
"Right. And this is all just so you can live, huh?" Korra found herself all but growling. "You'll steal the life of a girl who never did anything to you. Whose only crime was to live a version of your life that wasn't crap!"
"You can call me selfish if you want. I don't care," stated the other girl. "Fact of the matter is that I'm the only piece left of my whole time. If I go, it goes too. And I can't let that happen. Because I…I…"
Whatever she'd been about to say, it seemed to run right up against the things she was refusing to share. Unfortunately for her, that moment of hesitation seemed to provide the original Asami with an opening, as it was her voice that finished, "Because she made a promise."
"What…?" murmured Korra, too shocked by the abrupt shift back to "her" Asami to react properly.
"She…made a promise. To you. Or…Or to her 'you'…" Asami struggled to breathe out. Every word was clearly a war being waged inside their shared head, with the original Asami just barely winning. "Korra, you need to know-she can't know. What happened between them-shut up! It's not as simple as-I told you shut up!"
Asami inhaled and exhaled deeply several times, working to master control over her own mouth. It was clearly a tough fight, if an invisible one, and Korra could see the dim outline of the cybernetic eye flickering in and out of sight, like a bad radio signal.
But finally, she managed to steady her voice enough to say, "It was a mercy killing. The other Korra asked to die. My counterpart didn't have a choice."
Korra felt her throat go dry as bone.
"What? Why? That doesn't make any sense…" she whispered.
Asami's entire body tensed up; she was clearly fighting off another attempt from her other self to take control.
She was just barely able to hold on long enough to answer, "I think…I think it was to stop herself from becoming the Cataclysm."
As soon as the words had escaped her lips, the Equalist Asami was already wresting back command, tearing her gaze away from the Avatar. Even without the telltale sign of her mechanical parts, Korra would've been able to tell the difference from their expressions alone.
"Guess I'm quite the blabbermouth in your world," she said with a groan. She sounded utterly defeated. "You weren't supposed to find that out."
"But why not?" Korra asked, her bottom lip trembling. "Why wouldn't you want me to know that…"
"Because it makes it sound so noble!" shouted the alternate Asami, cutting her off. "Like I was making some great sacrifice to save the world. Carrying out the grand design of the Avatar herself!"
The cyborg panted heavily, but somehow, Korra was pretty sure it wasn't because of any continued power struggle. If the original Asami was listening, then she was clearly giving her counterpart a wide berth to tell her tale.
"There was nothing noble about that night…the worst night of my life," the other girl choked out. She seemed to be beyond tears, and yet her throat was hollow and scratchy nonetheless. "I did it because she asked me to. And then I never even got a chance to grieve. Because that's what I had to be. The girl who killed the hated Avatar. The savior of the Equalists – when they needed one the most."
One hand reached up to her artificial eye, squeezing the metal so hard that she looked like she was trying to crush it.
"I've held the truth in my heart for so long that I don't even know how to tell it. No one could find out, or it'd all be for nothing," she went on, her voice growing quieter with every word. "All I had left was me. My mission. And my promise. I've lost everything else. And now…I can never get them back…"
"That's why you hold on so hard to that promise," said Korra, her voice equally muted. "It's the only thing that hasn't been taken from you."
"Yes. And now…" the alternate muttered, as at last, the first beads of tears began to leak from her remaining eye. "It's the only thing I have left to guide me."
Korra didn't know what else she could do. What else she should do. So she did the only thing her heart seemed willing to permit.
She held the girl, who looked so much like the young woman she loved, close to her chest.
And let her weep.
[-]
Korra didn't know how long the pair spent in that position. Again, "time" didn't seem to be a very relevant factor in a place like this.
All she knew was that when Asami next looked up at her, it was with both of her gorgeous, jade-green eyes.
"Asami…" whispered Korra. "Are you…is she…?"
The other girl slowly nodded her head. "She let me go," she said, in a breathy voice. "I think, deep down, she always knew she would have to. But her pride wouldn't let her do it without a fight."
"How can you be sure?" asked the Avatar.
Her girlfriend narrowed her eyes in response. "Well, we are the same person," she pointed out. "Just…trust me. I can tell she's sincere. She wants us to have the chance she and her Korra never did."
"I…I guess that makes sense," Korra replied, scratching her head awkwardly. "Sorry for being paranoid. It's just that the last time she seemed to give in too quickly…"
"You're not wrong. She's just as cunning as I am. I wouldn't trust her either, if I couldn't see all her thoughts firsthand," said Asami. "It's so weird, to have memories rattling around my head that aren't mine. The things she had to go through – I've lived such a privileged life by comparison. I just wish things had ended happier for her."
"You know, I don't think very many people would be able to forgive someone who tried to hijack their body," remarked Korra. "You really are something special."
The heiress shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I just don't see much point in holding a grudge," she told her girlfriend. "Wouldn't help anything. It's too late for that."
Korra nodded mutedly. "Are you…gonna be okay?" she asked, her voice low.
Asami responded by throwing her arms around the waterbender, and hugging her tight.
"I…think so," she breathed in Korra's ear. "Let's just go home, okay? I don't know how much more I can take of this place."
The sensation of Asami's lips so close to her face sent a thrill up Korra's spine – a rather unwelcome one, given that she couldn't afford to be distracted right now. She forcibly wrenched her attention over to Raava, who was watching all this with that same, expressionless "face."
"So, did that do the trick?" she said to the spirit. "Is Asami's soul, y'know…linked now, or whatever?"
Yes, Korra. You have now succeeded in recreating the circuit through which you came to the Spirit World in the first place.
Three of you entered, and so too shall three of you depart.
"Guess that on balance, that's a good thing. Still kinda wish I could strand Amon here, but I'll take it," responded Korra. "I'm ready to go back."
Very well, Korra. But one last thing, if you will indulge me.
And suddenly, the spirit was slinking down Korra's body, like she was some great slug.
Before the Avatar could say anything, Raava was pressing one of her tendrils against her chest, directly over her heart.
I still do not understand why our connection is so…frayed. This may be the last time I can speak with you for some time.
Were your Avatar Spirit fully functional, I could channel for you the wisdom and power of every past Avatar. You would need but to ask.
But…if that cannot be so…
Then let me at least pass along to you one technique. Something that you will need when you return to the material world.
Korra knew she probably should've said no. She could just imagine Zaheer's face right now, watching his pupil open up her very chi for a spirit to toy with.
Nevertheless, she found herself quietly nodding her assent.
This technique was developed by Avatar Kuzamu's waterbending master. A priestess who claimed that she herself was an ancient Spirit of Water.
Despite her blithering incompetence and propensity for whining, her raw power was undeniable. Particularly when it came to the healing arts.
Use it well.
It was an incredibly strange sensation. Knowledge flowed through her mind in an instant, but it didn't feel as if she was actually learning anything new.
More like she was remembering a move she'd always known, somewhere in the back of her mind.
Was this how Avatars who could access their past lives felt, all the time?
It is done, Korra.
And so, with that…
The time has come.
Raava's singular blue eye began to glow brightly. Belatedly, Korra realized that her own eyes were matching it.
The last sensation she felt was Asami's fingers slipping around her own, offering a comforting squeeze.
Then, the glow expanded in every direction, until it was all she could see.
[-]
Korra's back was killing her.
That was the first thought that crossed her mind, and it took her a few seconds to realize how strange that was. Because throughout her journeys across the Spirit World and beyond, physical pain and exhaustion simply hadn't been applicable concepts.
Which meant…
The Avatar blinked awake, and realized that she was standing in the middle of the Equalists' factory base once more.
Several other observations swiftly followed. Amon was still looming over her, his thumb pressed roughly against her forehead. Asami was still gripping onto his legs, the electricity in her shock glove long since discharged.
The two of them also appeared to be returning to themselves, albeit with some difficulty. They clutched onto their heads, groaning groggily.
Or at least, in Asami's case, she did so for about two seconds. Then she collapsed completely.
She did, after all, have a bloodstained hook sword jutting out of her back.
After everything that'd happened, Korra had all but forgotten the events immediately preceding her trip to the Spirit World. The images came flooding back in an instant.
Tokuga, turning coat on Lightning Bolt Zolt and joining Amon. Tokuga, following Amon's increasingly deranged orders as he sought to shock Korra into the Avatar State. Tokuga, plunging his blades through each of her friends in turn.
Tokuga, doing the same to the girl she loved, when the rest of his carnage failed to achieve results.
Although her muscles screamed in protest simply to move, Korra pushed past the pain and managed to catch Asami in her lap. While she might've been in better shape than some of the other victims, due to the weapon plugging up her wound, she'd still clearly lost quite a bit of blood.
Of course, all this activity quickly drew the eyes of every person in the room who was still conscious. A group that seemed to have shrunk quite a bit since she last saw them.
From the looks of things, Jargala and her Creeping Crystals had used the confusion to beat a hasty retreat. So had Zolt, Tokuga, and about half the Equalists.
But the remaining half, led by Amon's Lieutenant, immediately leapt to their feet.
"You're awake," he said, as if he didn't fully believe it. "What in the world just happened?"
Korra, however, wasn't in the mood to answer any questions right now. She shot toward the Lieutenant like a rocket, forming a claw of ice around her hand and lifting him by the throat.
"Where are they?" she snarled. "What'd you do with my friends?!"
He hadn't replaced his mask since he removed it to make a point to Amon, so she saw every last shred of fear in his eyes as he stammered, "They're…over there. By the boilers. We set them aside, tried to patch them up best we could. Please, believe me. I never wanted…"
But she didn't wait for him to finish that sentence. Instead, she used her waterbending to reach into the boilers in question – the biggest source of fresh water she could find nearby.
To use Kuzamu's technique, she would need that water. And lots of it.
Paying no heed to the Equalists around her as they moved to help a stunned Amon to his feet, Korra focused on bringing as much water as possible into a sphere around her. She took it from every source she could find: the boilers, the pipes, discarded hip-skins dropped by either herself or her cousins.
Then, she assumed Octopus Form, eight thick "tentacles" of liquid emerging and spreading in every direction.
True to the Lieutenant's word, the bodies had been piled up in a corner, crude bandages applied to try and stem the bleeding a bit. But if they were still alive, they couldn't have much time left.
Each tentacle swiftly inserted itself into the chest of one of the fallen. Asami, Mako, Bolin, Kuvira, Baatar, Eska, Desna…and despite a moment's hesitation, she included Iroh as well.
One, two, three, four…Korra counted their heartbeats, one by one. Dreading that she wouldn't feel some of them.
But no – eight. Some were fainter than others, but she sensed eight heartbeats. She wasn't too late.
"Thanks, Raava," she said to herself, too quietly for anyone else to hear. "Now let's see if this works."
Korra didn't entirely understand the technique on a mechanical level, but it didn't matter; she'd been passed on the knowledge from a man who was already a master. The best she would've been able to describe it might be: "chi transfusion."
After all, waterbending healing was all about stimulating the body's own chi paths, allowing the healer to jumpstart or accelerate the natural healing processes of their patient.
This was that same concept, taken to its absolute extreme. If their chi wasn't strong enough to heal her friends' injuries before they succumbed…
Well then, she just needed to give them more.
Fortunately, there was no one on the planet with more raw chi than the Avatar. Korra was able to reach inside her own core, and shared its bounty freely, using the water as a medium to control the flow of energy.
In a sense, it was sort of similar to what the Harmony System did using technology. Though hopefully with fewer side-effects.
Given that she was healing wounds that might take months if not years to fully mend, and doing so in a matter of minutes – well, she wasn't sure how to quantify this sort of thing, but she knew she was using a lot of chi.
Not that she cared. If it meant Asami and the others would be okay…
After spending so long in any number of timeless voids, Korra's sense of time was utterly shot, but she was pretty sure she was standing there for at least ten minutes. Mercifully, the Equalists seemed either too awestruck or too frightened to interfere, and Amon was being held by two of them, still recovering from his own experience.
Ounce by ounce, cell by cell, the Avatar worked to replace the blood and flesh her friends had lost with her own life-force. It was painstaking, meticulous work, and if she hadn't been trained by a genius like Ming-Hua then she doubted she would've been able to do it.
But finally, after what seemed a heartwrenching eternity, Korra began to hear a chorus of choked gasps.
Bolin's coughs echoed throughout the factory, resonating from his muscular chest. Kuvira's breaths sounded surprisingly soft and vulnerable, as a similarly recovering Baatar helped prop her up, despite his own exhaustion. Eska literally just kept repeating the word "gasp" over and over.
Their cries were ugly, and discordant, and probably quite embarrassing for a group as strong and prideful as they were.
Korra had never heard anything so beautiful.
Asami was the last to awaken, as Korra cradled her in her arms. The non-bender blinked slowly, her hand drifting over the place where, until just a few seconds ago, she'd been bleeding all over the floor.
"Wow…" she whispered, as if anything more eloquent was beyond her. Then she buried her face against Korra's chest, holding onto her body with shaking arms.
The waterbender felt that she could've stayed like this forever, but of course the universe wouldn't be so kind. The Lieutenant was already striding toward her, determined to say his piece before the recovering members of "New Team Avatar" could intervene.
"I don't know what you just did. I've never seen anything like it," he said. There was a definite sense of urgency in his usual rumbling tones. "But if you're done, then there's something I think you should know. You too, Amon."
"What…are you…talking about…Lieutenant?" asked Amon, his breaths strained and halting. He was still propped up in the arms of two chi-blockers, apparently unable to move.
"You three…were stuck like that for hours. We tried to move you, but it was like you were glued in place," the Lieutenant began to explain. "Anyway, while you were out, some things…happened."
"Just get to the point," Korra snapped. Even in the midst of elation over saving her friends, the last thing she had an abundance of right now was patience.
The mustached man didn't answer with words. Instead, he nodded toward one of the few remaining Mecha-Tanks, whose operator grabbed a piece of sheet metal along the wall and pulled it aside. It seemed they'd used it to cover up a hole ripped open during the earlier battle.
In any event, with the barrier out of the way, Korra now had an unobstructed view of downtown Republic City, right across the bay.
And the fact that it was on fire.