A/N:

Hello! I'm alive!

Between work, and life, writing takes longer than I'd like, but I always knew this would happen. Still, as promised, I'm not going anywhere, and next chapter is the end of book 1!

These previouslies are really gonna pay off :D

Thanks for reading!

Previously:

Yue explained to Korra that bending starts in the brain, as means to explain how to use a faux limb. She then showed Korra how to bent water into an external arm, which can function as an additional limb and do everything a normal limb could if not even more. Korra had initial success with the shape, but not so much with the force.

The trio decided to take a longer hiatus once they arrive at the Southern Water Tribe.

Korra and Yue talked about Pupettering and how neither wanted to learn how to do so even though It'd probably be easy for them after all they've learned and accomplished.

And to Yue's great delight, Korra finally told her about Wan and the creation of the Avatar. Yue realized that if Korra managed to skip the lineage and talk directly to Wan, it might mean that if she regains her connection to her past lives, she might have access to every single past life.

Also: Asami invented neurologically controlled prosthetics. NBD.

Please be advised that the end of this chapter has very very minimal spoilers to the Kyoshi novels.

Chapter 9:

"Hey! Where have you been? I was worried sick," Yue scolded the other woman in the purpley space that was their meeting spot.

"I'm so sorry my love," Mara raised her hands in surrender. "It turns out that being here without you just makes me wanna flee. An empty cabin turns into cabin fever."

"Okay, so… you left again? But why didn't you send Paco?"

"He… didn't want to leave," Mara admitted, uncharacteristically sheepish.

"Why?"

"I dunno."

"Mara," Yue warned.

The taller woman sighed. "Yue, you have to understand, you're travelling with two other people."

"You're lonely," Yue realized.

"You have distractions. I, on the other hand, just miss you, all the time. Paco probably senses it."

"I miss you. All the time," Yue argued.

"I know, but…"

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get defensive," Yue groaned. "I just feel guilty."

"I don't want you to."

"I know, but I can't help it. I left you on your own for months, I'm not even telling them the truth. Am I being insanely selfish?"

"I don't think you are. But I know that what I say doesn't matter."

"What you say matters the most," Yue reminded.

"But you are who you are, and I love you for it. And that means you feel guilt even after everything that was taken from you."

"Mara…"

"Just… come home soon, okay?"

Yue has never seen Mara this deflated. But then again, they haven't been apart for this long since they got together. "I will," Yue promised. "Maybe three more weeks? Asami actually wanted us to extend our break, so I think that going home and sleeping next to you for a couple of months is just what we both need."

"I knew I liked Asami," Mara chuckled, very visibly encouraged by the news.

"I can't wait for you to meet."

"When you're ready," Mara offered knowingly.

Yue sensed a little tingle on the back of her neck. She knew it was Paco's way of signaling to her that someone was coming. "I gotta go," she said. "I love you more than anything. Don't disappear on me like this ever again, you hear me?"

"I didn't mean to!" Mara protested.

"I know. I love you. Just a little bit longer."

"I love you, too. Stay safe."

And with that, Yue opened her eyes and was back in the real world, Paco right in front of her.

"And you," she narrowed her eyes, "I know you're technically here, bud don't you ever stay away for this long. You hear me?"

Paco released what Yue could only imagine was a shamed, guilt-ridden cry. He nodded, brought his cheek to Yue's for comfort, then disappeared with a pop.

"There you are!"

Yue turned around to find Asami climbing down towards her from the top of a hill.

"What are you doing?" her friend asked when she found Yue basically standing in the middle of an empty meadow, just staring at the air in front of her.

"I was… meditating," it was an easy lie. Anything could look like meditating if you claimed so with conviction.

"Well, you'll never guess what Korra and I just found! Come. Quickly. We could really use your help."

"Is Korra okay?" Yue's sudden concern was written all over her face.

"Wha…? Oh, yeah, Korra's is fine, it's just… well, you better see for yourself."

Asami took off running, expecting the bewildered historian to follow her.

And so Yue did.

She climbed over the little hill, breathless. She was in pretty good shape, but Asami practically sprinted and Yue was swearing under her breath. She bent down and put her hands on her knees.

"Hey," the Avatar's voice startled her. She looked up and found her friend standing in front of her, blocking the view. "Ever healed one of these before?" Korra tried to joke, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder. But Yue could see that her friend was unsure. Because when Yue tilted her head to see what Korra was pointing at, she saw that right in front of them was a bleeding whale, somehow carried by the waves to shore.

Yue stared with mouth agape. "Ah, no," was all she managed to utter.

"You think you can?" Korra asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

Yue could see the gesture for what it actually was. The Avatar didn't think she had enough training to heal something this big. Frankly, neither did Yue. "Together I think we can," she offered Korra a soft smile.

They quickly closed the distance between them and Asami, who was instinctively by the animal's head, trying to rub soothing circles next to what she assumed was its temple.

"I tried to keep him wet," Korra explained, just as she Mindebent another large blob of water from the ocean. Rather than dropping it on the whale, she spilled it gently, almost as if she was watering the suffering animal.

Yue tried to examine the injury. There was a lot of blood on the sand.

"How much time do we have?" Asami asked in concern.

"I honestly don't know," Yue provided. "Not long, I'm guessing, based on these pools of blood."

They were getting closer to the pole, crossing one of the southest islands of the Earth Kingdom, surrounded by water. Both Korra and Yue were at the prime of their strength. And yet… Yue thought. She sighed, knowing that Korra was looking to her for answers. "Okay. I'll do the inside, you'll keep closing the wound around what I do, okay?"

"But… that means leaving the whale waterless," Korra pointed out.

"We have to, it's our only shot."

"No, it's not," Asami interjected. "You're the freaking Avatar! And you," she turned towards Yue, "you found a way to Earthbend. Bend a freaking… I don't know! A ditch! Sink the whale deeper! Make a pool for it, and build a ditch to fill it up!"

Korra and Yue exchanged looks. "Um, yeah, we could do that," the historian bit her lip.

"I mean, duh," Korra looked at her teacher sheepishly.

Asami face-palmed. "What are you two waiting for? Korra, bend the earth beneath the whale. Gently. You don't want to hurt it. It doesn't have to be deep, just a little lower than sea level."

"Yes ma'am," Korra saluted.

"And you," Asami addressed Yue.

"Me?"

"You think you can bend a diagonal ditch? Going downwards from the sea towards the pool Korra is creating?"

"I… I've never, um, Earthbent… backwards. I mean downwards? Inwards?"

"Yue! Focus! If you can't bend it down into itself, just lift it out of the way! Ladies, come on!"

"Right, right!" Yue nodded. This was an embarrassing moment for both herself, and Korra, and they both knew that. But they started working as instructed.

"Yue, be ready to seal it once I tell you," Asami ordered. "We want the whale to stay wet, but we still need access to the wound."

"Will we be able to separate the blood on the ground from the water, though?" Korra asked in concern. "Once they mix I mean."

"I think I can do it. I've done it before," Yue looked determined.

"You have?"

"I cut my foot on a shell one time when I was swimming and I healed it in the water," Yue explained.

"Um, okay, but like, your foot," Korra gestured at her friend's feet, "whale," she pointed away at the whale.

"We have to try," Asami cut in. "Come on, Babe, pool, now."

Without any additional arguments Korra bent the ground beneath the whale as gently as she could. Still, the sounds the whale was making indicated that it was in pain.

Yue was quick to remove enough earth into the air and away with her faux Earthbending.

"God, you'll never cease to amaze me," Korra looked at her in awe as water started to fill the pool.

"That's enough," Asami instructed after a few moments. Yue quickly put the earth back down, creating a dam.

"That's perfect, now get to the healing," Asami ordered.

The whale did seem a little more comfortable. As far as they could tell.

"You never cease to amaze me, either," Korra told her girlfriend. "The most, actually."

"I'm not even offended by this," Yue wiped sweat off her face. "You're today's star, Asami."

"Less talking, more saving the whale," Asami gestured at the wounded animal.

Korra and Yue slid into the ditch, each Mindbending her own icy platform to stand on. They placed themselves by the whale.

"God, Varrick would've loved to film this," Asami murmured. No one was around to hear her, but she made a mental note to tell her business partner he needs to figure out a way to make his cameras smaller, so any person could use them to capture memories, take them when they travelled.

"Get the circumference, Korra!" Yue called, and the Avatar knew exactly what she meant. She had to make sure no more blood spilled. Even if the wound wasn't healed yet, she could decrease the rate of the blood loss.

Yue closed her eyes. She raised her icy platform higher so she could let her hands hover right above the center of the wound. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate.

"What are you sensing?" Korra asked from down below. Her forehead was sweaty. Yue could sense the perspiration on her friend's face.

"The heart is intact, I think. I, um… never tried to sense a whale before?"

Korra closed her eyes, trying to tune in as well. "Holy shit, I feel it. You are right, it seems fine. But something is punctured, I can feel something's leaking. What is it?"

"I don't know. Kidney? Maybe?"

"I'm shocked that you don't know everything about whale anatomy, nerd," Korra snorted, but when Yue looked down at her she found nothing but admiration in the Avatar's eyes.

"You're an ass."

"How are we gonna fix it if we don't know what it is?" Korra bit her lip.

"We're gonna try to clot it and hope for the best. At least we'll try something."

"Hey Babe," Korra looked back over her shoulder. "Any knowledge about whale anatomy?"

"Smarts is not one size fits all, Avatar," Asami crossed her arms.

"Well, trying to clot it it is," Korra concluded.

Yue nodded and closed her eyes again. The whale was huge, she wasn't gonna mess around. This wasn't about putting on a show, it was about saving a living being, and if that meant the extra concentration shut eyes could provide, a crutch, she'll do just that. She could feel sweat going down her spine as she attempted to clot the punctured organ. She had no idea what it was, but the process was the same nonetheless. She was hoping beyond hope that they were doing the right thing.

It took about ten minutes of work for her to seal the inner wound, all the while her friend was still holding the circumference of the wound together.

Yue wiped sweat from her forehead and looked down at her friend, smiling. "All your training paid off, Avatar. You're being very impressive."

"Look who's talking. Mind switching places so I can retrieve the lost blood and seal the deal? I wanna do some of the cool stuff, too."

"It's all cool stuff," Yue argued.

"Fine. I wanna do the cool-er stuff."

"You were worried about the blood being mixed with the water. Are you sure you're up for this?" Yue was concerned. It wasn't about teasing her friend, but rather, she wanted to make sure Korra felt comfortable enough.

"Yeah, I can feel it in the water. You were right. It's not hard to distinguish now that I know all that I know."

"Then the floor is yours," Yue lowered her platform just as Korra raised hers.

Asami watched from the top of the pool, smiling. At looked as if the two friends beneath her have done this many times before.

Korra, just like Yue before her, decided not to waste time, not to use this as a learning experience. It was about saving a life. Foregoing Mindbending, she used quick, smooth hands movement to separate and raise large blood drops from the water. She distributed evenly within the whale's body, waiting for her friend to clot the edges of the wound, making the circumference smaller and smaller. They repeated the process a few more times until all blood was back in the whale's body. Yue sealed the wound completely.

They stared at the whale in disbelief for a few moments, partially expecting the wound to reopen and for all of their work to have been for nothing. For a change, even Yue was out of her depths.

"Now what? Korra inquired.

"Let's go back up," Yue instructed. They raised their icy platforms to rejoin Asami.

"Should I Earthbend the ground like, diagonally, and… I dunno? Spill the whale back into the ocean?"

"That doesn't sound very gentle, Babe," Asami pointed out.

"Raise the earth back up to sea level," Yue provided. "Then Mindbend enough water in-shore to wash him back in. Think you can do that?"

"Enough water to… carry a whale back in?!" Korra looked at her friend as if she lost her mind. "With Mindbending?!"

"That's what all that lifting you love so much was for," Yue challenged.

"Korra, you can totally do it, your mind lifting has gotten insanely good," Asami encouraged.

"I…" but the Avatar looked back and forth between the ocean and the formerly wounded animal, and her face set in determination. She dug her feet deeper into the ground, and clunched her fists, knowing that it was merely a psychological need, not something that was actually required for successful Mindbending. But feeling grounded, stable, strong, and ready, put her in the right mindset for the task ahead.

"Don't close your eyes, Korra. You can do this. We know you can," Yue nodded at her in encouragement. The Avatar nodded right back. She Earthbent the whale back to see level, the water in the makeshift pool quickly dissipating.

She Mindbent a small stream at first. The hard part was to make sure it won't get absorbed into the earth. Essentialy, she was trying to expand the ocean, mind lift an insane amount of water. The more water she added, she could feel the Avatar state nagging at her, like stings in the back of her neck, asking to be unleashed, to make this task significantly easier. But she refused it, insisted on completing the challenge in front of her without the safety net. She knew she did the work. For nearly four months. This part was about discipline, about committing, the rest was already in her. Unlocking the next level of her craft was moments away. So she kept adding water, even as her head started throbbing. She kept adding water as her vision filled with black spots. She kept adding water as breathing became more difficult. And in her blurry vision she finally saw it, an extended ocean, a massive mammal being gently carried back into the embrace of the water.

And then she lost consciousness.

She woke up a couple of hours later, lured awake by the smell of soup.

The first thing she saw was the profile of her girlfriend. "Asami?" Her voice was groggy.

Asami turned towards her and gave her a dazzling smile. "Hey, Baby. How are you feeling?"

"I… headachy. Hungry, I think. How long was I out for?"

"A couple of hours. We think you were a little dehydrated. We gave you water. It didn't wake you up but you still swallowed it, somehow. Yue tried to heal you a little bit."

"Yeah, the headache is still there, but it's significantly better than it was right before I… um…"

"Fainted, Korra. You fainted. You had me really worried. But once you drank the water we figured we'll let you rest. Are you comfortable?"

"I am. Thank you. And whatever you're making smells delicious. But, um… what happened with the whale?"

"You don't remember?"

"I think I fainted right as it was starting to work."

"Oh, it worked alright. You did so good. I'm so proud of you. But I think we pushed you too hard."

"No, no. I'm really glad I did it. I feel… I feel stronger somehow. I don't know how to explain it."

"Well you better tell Yue that, because she feels really guilty."

"I feel guilty because I'm supposed to make sure shit like this doesn't happen to you," the historian startled them, carrying additional firewood and dropping it next to their bonfire.

"Bullshit. You know better than anyone that learning means pushing beyond what we think we can do," Korra spat, finally sitting up.

"Oh, arguing with me? Then I guess you really do feel better," Yue teased and flopped on the little boulder they used as a chair for the night. "You really did do good, Avatar. You did exceptionally good, actually."

"It was a sight to see, my love," Asami agreed. "I can't stop thinking about that whale. I wish we could've documented this moment forever. With one of Varrick's mover cameras."

"How did it even sustain an injury like this? It doesn't look like an harpoon," Korra noted.

"Probably some metal shard," Asami seemed angry. "Earth Kingdom industries have shitty guidelines when it comes to waste disposal. I've been trying to withhold business from companies that don't have a better code. They throw all their shit into the water, really hurting the wild life."

"That's my girlfriend, an idealist," Korra smirked. She stood up and started stretching. Even though she only bent with her mind, she felt sore all over. Maybe it was from months of sleeping on the ground. "It'll be cool if we could train Waterbenders to sense the water so they'll feel foreign objects and can assist with cleaning."

"Whoa," Yue gave her an impressed look. "That's an exceptionally superb idea. And one that I've never thought of."

"Yeah?" Korra bit her lip. She didn't expect a compliment. She almost didn't voice the idea at all.

"Oh, that's freaking brilliant," Asami confirmed.

Korra smiled back and forth between the two women sitting by the fire. She walked around and placed herself in front of Yue. "Hey," she said, purposely towering over her friend.

"Yeah?"

"We saved a freaking whale!" the Avatar chuckled and yanked Yue up in the air, into a tight embrace.

"We saved a freaking whale," Yue grinned over her friend's shoulder, struggling to breathe just a little.

"You guys are an insanely good team," Asami gave them both a toothy smile.

There was no jealousy there, Yue could tell. It was a genuine compliment about their craftsmanship and partnership. Better yet, it was about their friendship. "Couldn't have done it without the ditch coordinator," she reminded, earning herself a smirk from the engineer. Because it was about their friendship, too.

The nights became significantly colder. The closeness to the pole didn't help, neither did the fact that winter was upon them. They were very grateful to have spent the majority of their journey in warmer weather, but that final leg was challenging. They quickly realized their tents weren't doing much to protect them from the cold and figured they were all better by the fire, snuggled in a little circle created by Naga and Tui's bodies.

"I love being this close to home, but I have to say, I never travelled in this climate for an extended length of time," Korra admitted. "A fishing trip overnight? Sure. A romantic viewing of the lights after they came back? Absolutely. But this?" she shuddered a little for emphasis.

"Not a fan of low temperatures, Avatar? Some Water Tribe Girl you're proving to be," Yue scoffed.

"Hey, speaking of low temperatures, I've been meaning to ask you for weeks and I keep forgetting!" Korra sat up in her and Asami's sleeping bag, waking up her sleeping girlfriend in the process. "Did you ever try to alter body temperature with Waterbending? There are some tales about this, but I wasn't sure if it was just some Water Tribe folklore."

"It's no folklore, but I never tried," Yue shrugged.

"How come?" Asami asked groggily, sitting up as well.

"Oh, Babe, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Korra smiled sheepishly. "I just got excited that I remembered to ask!"

"Well, I'm awake now, and I want to hear the answer," Asami yawned. "So?" she turned to Yue.

"I was scared," Yue admitted.

"You Bloodbend but body temperature scares you?" Korra looked at her in puzzlement.

"There was only one person I could really try this on and I wasn't willing to risk their lives. Even though the idiot wanted me to." Yue seemed like she was getting angry about something that occurred long ago.

"Why? What's the difference," Korra was genuinely curious, especially as someone who struggled with Bloodbending.

"Well, at least with Bloodbending I have some control. I'd be able to stop myself. I started very small when I was just learning. With temperature, there's a much higher risk of going past the point of no return. I'm sure that if it came to life and death I'd try it, but healing through Bloodbending helps with blood loss so hopefully… there'll be a work around that won't require the temperature technique."

"Aren't you curious though?" Asami inquired. Curiosity of the unknown was something she and the historian shared.

"Of course I am. I'm always curious. But there was no one to teach me and it was just too monumental."

"Who will teach me then?" Korra pondered.

"Oh, you wanna learn it don't you?" Yue smirked, happy to see the work they did together created a new kind of bending appetite in her friend.

"Of course I do! A smart lady told me I need to master the elements," Korra winked.

"Don't worry. Easy breezy. Once you reestablish your connection to your past lives, you can learn it directly from the only Avatar who ever had the ability."

"Kuruk?" Korra guessed. He was the last Water Avatar before her.

"Nope," Yue shook her head, a victorious smile on her face. "It was Avatar Kyoshi."

Korra's smile mirrored Yue's. "The more I learn about her the more I feel like I'd love to hang out with her."

"Yeah, probably," Yue agreed. "She was a pretty awesome broad. And while you're at it, ask her how she lived to 230."

"Wait, she what!?"

"Yep." And with that, Yue turned her back to her friends, snuggled into her bison's comforting fur, and fell asleep.