They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I really hope that's true because even I must admit its been way too long since I've updated this story. I'm sorry for the long wait. Procrastination, and other distractions aside I've had a pretty tuff time getting this particular chapter to click. This chapter is supposed to get the ball rolling for next arch of this story which I'm really excited to finally start writing. It took a while, but I like how it finally turned out, and I hope you guys do to.

As always I own nothing but the plot and OC's. Anything else rightfully belongs to someone else.

Now enough of me, and on with chapter twenty eight at long last.

28: Unexpected Encounters

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ikki; happy birthday to you."

Vaatu rolled his crimson eyes and sighed in annoyance at the cheerful human song. The chaos spirit was leaned casually against a wall as he watched another of Mako's memories play out before him. After learning Mako's true heritage as a lightning bender from a seemingly irrelevant memory he had started going through all of his host's memories again; this time however he was paying much closer attention.

The memory he currently found himself in was of Ikki's eleventh birthday. The child wore one of the brightest smiles he had ever seen as she was surrounded by close friends and family on air Temple Island. Mako, Bolin, Asami, her uncle Bumi and aunt Kya, even Lin Beifong had stopped by to wish the talkative little air nomad happy birthday.

Vaatu watched as Ikki blew out her candles and everyone cheered. Celebrating the passage of time was a strange concept to him. For the most part time was an irrelevant concept to spirits since aside from power growth it didn't affect them. All spirits whether minor, great, or grand were capable of living indefinitely unless slain in battle, and even then death wasn't always the end. Grand spirits like Raava and himself would resurrect with enough time. When minor spirits are slain their energy becomes one with the spirit world where the energy is reconstituted into whatever the balance deemed necessary whether it be a tree in the human world, or even a new born spirit. Great spirits since they are more powerful went through a process of reincarnation similar to the Avatar. One incarnation can be killed, but a great spirit would eventually return in a new form; different, but in essence the same.

"Alright Ikki do you want cake or presents first?" Tenzin asked snapping the dark spirit out of his thoughts. The air bending master stood with Pema, and smiled as his youngest daughter launched herself at the gifts.

Vaatu suppressed an involuntary laugh as he felt the same amusement Mako did at seeing the excited girl tear into her presents. Glancing around the room he found Mako standing alongside Bolin and Asami. He could feel the same happiness that Mako felt as he talked, and laughed with his younger brother, and the woman he'd considered his best friend.

Acting on a whim Vaatu hurled a fire ball at the CEO's face. Since this was only a memory the flames went unnoticed, and passed harmlessly through the woman's head. While he could experience everything Mako felt at the time he could not alter the memories in any way. That didn't mean that he couldn't have fun.

Turning his focus back to the birthday girl he found that Ikki had already ripped her way through most of her gifts. "Thank you Bolin." She called out happily as she hugged a stuffed fire ferret that was almost as big as she was.

Mako and Asami both gave the lava bender questioning glances, but he just ignored them and flashed his own bright smile.

Vaatu watched silently as Ikki unwrapped her remaining presents. When she finally reached Mako's gift the chaos spirit felt a surge of trepidation from the detective. Would she like his gift? Should he have taken Asami's advice on what to get the girl he saw as a little sister? The chaos spirit already knew how the memory played out, and yet the suspense still managed to get to him.

Carefully the young air nomad opened the large envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. At first she looked confused, but as she read the document her bright smile instantly returned.

"Hey mom; Ikki's a wanted criminal." Meelo called out as he read the gift over his sister's shoulder.

"What?" Pema asked taking the paper from Ikki. Quickly scanning the page Pema let out a laugh as she started passing it around.

As it made its way around the room everyone couldn't help but laugh; even the stern faced Lin couldn't help but smile at it. When the page reached Jinora Vaatu stepped away from the wall and read the document over her shoulder. Even he the grand spirit of chaos and darkness couldn't help but chuckle. It was a wanted poster with a picture of Ikki on it bright smile and all. It read exactly like a standard wanted poster, but Mako had added a few personal touches near the end.

"Wanted for speed talking; multiple counts of going over fifty words a minute in a ten word per minute conversation, and inventing a new word without a license. Warning: Approach with extreme caution, subject is known to be loved, and extremely curious." Jinora read aloud before handing it to Mako so that Bolin and Asami could see.

"Now you've got your own wanted poster just like your grandfather." Mako said with a genuine smile.

"Ironically enough also made by a fire bender." Bumi added from where he stood with Kya and Lin.

"Thank you Mako; this is so cool." Ikki said happily as she accepted the poster back from Mako.

With a tired sigh Vaatu allowed the memory to fade away as all the powerful warm emotions were starting to get to him. Slowly the bright, happy atmosphere faded away leaving the grand spirit alone in dark empty home. Everything was silent aside from the snow storm raging outside, and the occasional roar of thunder.

Slowly Vaatu took a seat at the table, closed his eyes, and began going over everything he seen and felt from the memory. This usually helped him to work the lingering emotions out of his system. The last thing he needed was Mako's emotions compromising his judgment anymore than they already were.

When the talkative little air bender had first found them he had been adamant about leaving her behind and every now and then he was still tempted to leave her tied to a tree. Now he was beginning to have grudging second thoughts.

Between Mako and himself they possessed three things; Love, power, and an unbreakable will to live. While the last thing was something they shared the other two were divided between them. As a grand spirit he possessed limitless power that only a handful could even hope to match, but in his diminished state they could not rely on his power alone. That was the primary reason he was have second thoughts about the child.

Blood or not Ikki was Mako's little sister, and he loved her and her family dearly. While love was a very dangerous bond Mako drew considerable strength from it; this was proven in their duel with Arctos. The minor spirit had initially been dominating the fight, but when Ikki and the wench had been in peril Mako had conceded to his instruction, and with a little reminder of his heritage he had easily overwhelmed the rhino bear spirit.

He would rather not rely on a double edged sword; especially one dependant on a liability like the girl, but their options were limited. Fortunately there were a few benefits to his human side's emotional attachments. Mako felt a great deal of protectiveness for the girl, and when it came to defending her the lightning bender displayed a ferocity that was borderline lethal. When protecting those he loves Mako had the potential to be both dangerous and very, very destructive, and that was something the chaos spirit could both appreciate, and work with.

In the end though it was easier to just bring the child along rather than argue with Mako and the wench over it and while she was a talkative little liability at least she was an amusing one.

Opening his crimson eyes Vaatu stood, and made his way out of the empty home into the perpetual snow storm outside. The dark spirit could have easily flown back towards the cityscape across the bay, but since it was frozen solid he opted to take the scenic route and walk across the ice.

The arctic winds howled all around him as he thought back to another memory he had reviewed recently. The very first time Mako met Kuvira.

Their first encounter had been in passing about four years ago just before the assassination of the earth queen. Mako had been traveling around the earth kingdom with team Avatar recruiting newly empowered air benders into the new air nation. Their journey had eventually drawn them to Zaufu where Mako had first laid eyes on the future great uniter.

Upon arrival they were taken to meet Suyin Beifong the matriarch of the metal clan. When they had arrived Suyin, Kuvira, and their dance troupe had been going through an interpretive dance routine involving metal cables and panels. The performance had been impressive to say the least, but that wasn't what drew Vaatu's attention in that particular memory. What drew his attention was the same thing that drew Mako's attention; Kuvira.

Of all the dancers in the troupe she was the one that held the lightning bender's focus; from her acrobatic suspension in the air to the finale where she and another dancer emerged from a giant iron lotus. Her technique had been flawless, her focus unwavering and the smile on her face at the end showed that she loved what she was doing.

At the time Mako had still been carrying a torch for Korra, but for a few seconds he allowed himself to forget. Due to his enduring affection for the Avatar Mako hadn't given the metal bender a second glance, but Kuvira's skill had impressed the detective, and her flexibility had inspired a few less than noble thoughts that the dark spirit was definitely going to tease Mako about later.

After that fleeting encounter memories became few and far between until her attempt to conquer the United Republic. After her downfall and incarceration they wouldn't cross paths again until a year later. Now here they were on the run together in the spirit world; one serving as his Avatar, the other his shadow. Ever since then the metal bender had proven herself invaluable.

What worried the dark spirit though was that Mako was getting close to her. They worked well together, trusted each other and shared many similar interests. He respected her, and she seemed to respect him in turn. What really frustrated Vaatu though was that when it came to Kuvira trust and respect, were the only emotions he could definitively understand. Anything else Mako felt for her seemed conflicted, and mixed.

It was as if Mako didn't know what to feel about her, and every time Vaatu tried to sort it out it only resulted in a headache. Emotional attachments were dangerous, and they could barely afford his bond with Ikki. There was a chance his worries would amount to nothing, but if the two benders were forming a connection there could be very serious repercussions in the future. Love was very dangerous indeed.

"What do you see in her?" Vaatu muttered to himself as he reached the snow covered docks.

"It's hard to say really. Love has always been such a fickle emotion; especially of you through in the unpredictability of a human heart."

Vaatu whirled around with flames in hand, and froze. What he found before him impossible. There standing several feet away was Ikki. What unnerved the chaos spirit was that her presence here was impossible. There was no chance this was really Ikki, or a memory, because he was still in the frozen landscape of republic city, and the only emotions he could feel were his own. Since the being standing before him was obviously not Mako that only left one explanation; he was dealing with another grand spirit. The child's glowing yellow eyes only confirmed his suspicions.

"Hi Vaatu," The doppelganger said taking a hesitant step forward. "Do you remember me?" She asked hopefully.

Vaatu scowled before he slowly lowered his hand and extinguished his flame. "No should I?" He asked casually to hide his shock. The girl had to be a grand spirit, but that wasn't what scared him. What scared him was that he couldn't remember her which was all but impossible with his eidetic memory. He knew there were others besides himself and Raava, but now that he thought about it he could recall nothing about them.

Her small hopeful smile disappeared, and the girl hesitated a moment before she started walking towards him. "Damn; I knew the chances were slim, but I still let myself hope. I hate it when he is right."

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Vaatu asked as his crimson eyes narrowed in suspicion. He couldn't sense any hostile intent from the being standing before him, but that was no excuse to let his guard down.

Yellow eyes looked up into crimson, and Vaatu was shocked to find sadness and tears in her glowing eyes. "I want to tell you; I really do, but I can't. The rules forbid me from interfering any more than I already have."

Vaatu frowned. "If you can't tell me anything than why are you here?"

Faster than the chaos spirit could react the spirit girl lunged forward. Vaatu braced for an attack, but it never came; at least not in the manner he was expecting.

Slowly he looked down in shock to find the girl hugging him. He could feel her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and her head pressed against his chest.

"I'm here because you're back Vaatu, the real you." The girl said with tears falling down her cheeks. "I've missed you both so much."

Vaatu could only stand there confused about what was happening. What the mysterious spirit before him was saying made no sense. Then there was the fact that she was hugging him; that in and of itself was sending him through a loop.

The spirit stepped back with a sniffle and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry that was undignified. It's just been a really, really long time since I've seen you, and I can't stay any longer."

As the spirit turned to leave Vaatu snapped out of his stupor, and moved to stop her. "Wait! What is your name?"

The yellow eyed spirit paused and glanced back. "All I can say is that the wheels of fate have already been set in motion. Be careful Vaatu, and I pray that you remember soon lest history repeat itself."

Vaatu's anger flared as she gave him more questions rather than answers, but before he could demand the truth she disappeared in a flash of yellow light leaving him alone in the snow.

Ikki sighed as she lay quietly in her stone tent. Between their fight with Arctos and walking all day everyone had been pretty tired by the time camp had been set up. After a small dinner of berries and seal jerky which only Mako and Kuvira ate everyone had turned in for the night except for Mako, who assumed first watch despite Kuvira's protests.

She had tried her hardest to fall asleep too, but she was just too excited about getting to visit Wan Shi Tong's library. Jinora and Meelo were going to be so jealous of all her adventure with Mako in the spirit world.

After several hours and eighteen minutes of staring at her tents ceiling she finally decided to go keep Mako company instead.

As quietly as she could the air bender crawled out of her tent. It was dark out, and the only source of illumination came from the burned down campfire, and the tiny spheres of light that seemed to dance among the gargantuan trees off in the distance. The only sounds to be heard were the crackling of coals, Kuvira's soft breathing, and the distant sound of Arctos's snoring. The rhino bear had bedded down along the tree line while Ayeon had settled down up among the tree branches.

After a few moments her eyes adjusted to the dim light, and she caught sight of the Dark Avatar seated on a stone bench before the campfire. Silently the young air nomad limped over to him as the fire seemed to rise and fall with his steady breathing. Once she was close enough she realized that Mako was fast asleep.

With a mischievous smile Ikki carefully reached out and pinched the lightning benders nose shut. She expected his amber eyes to snap open, and after sputtering for air he would reprimand her for being up so late. Unfortunately that wasn't what happened at all.

Instead she was seized by the front of her flight suit, and hoisted into the air. The talkative air bender found herself speechless as crimson eyes burned into her own.

"If you intend to kill us in our sleep child I suggest you employ a method more deliberate than suffocation." Vaatu whispered with his arm drawn back and a fireball in hand. "A blade through our heart would probably be your best bet since a knife in our back didn't work out so well for Korra."

"I'm sorry to disturb you master Vaatu. I thought you were Mako. I was just playing a little joke." Ikki explained quickly as he heart threatened to burst from her chest it was beating so fast.

The spirit of chaos glanced around the camp before looking at her quizzically. "You consider oxygen deprivation a joke? Very interesting," Vaatu said with a wolbatish grin and set her down.

Ikki wobbled for a second before regaining her balance. Her sprained ankle still hurt so she was trying to keep her weight off it. Seeing this Vaatu frowned, "Is your ankle still troubling you child?"

"Yes master Vaatu, but I'll be fine." Ikki answered honestly with her eyes downcast. Kuvira had assured her that she and Mako would keep Vaatu in line, but he was still the grand spirit of darkness, lord of chaos, and father of all dark spirits, and should be shown all due respect.

"In that case let me see it." Vaatu said sitting down and holding out his hand.

Ikki hesitated for a moment, but when he glared at her impatiently she quickly sat down, and turned to hold up her leg. With no idea what he planned to do she watched nervously as the dark spirit took hold of her ankle. She winced as he applied pressure with both hands on either side of her foot, but the pain faded quickly as a soothing heat started to radiate through her foot.

Looking up in surprise she found Vaatu looking at her with an amused smirk on his face. "Relax child I don't bite. Mako used to do this when he or Bolin got hurt pro bending."

"Oh; thank you. Um where is Mako right now?" Ikki asked sheepishly.

"His consciousness is sound asleep just like you should be." Vaatu said with mild annoyance before focusing on her ankle. "Why are you still up anyway? I assumed you would be tired after nearly getting eaten today."

Ikki sighed. "I know, and I am tired, but I'm also really excited for tomorrow. I'm finally going to see Wan Shi Tong's library."

Vaatu looked up with a pointed brow raised in surprise. "You are actually excited to visit a library? Going off everything Mako knows about you I find it hard to believe that you are the type to eschew sleep over the prospect of ancient literature."

Ikki just stared at him blankly for several moments before he remembered that Jinora was the one with the extensive vocabulary. "You don't seem like the reading type." Vaatu amended with a sigh.

"Oh well I'm not really. Books are more Jinora's thing." Ikki said rubbing the back of her neck before looking up at the shadowy form of the spirit library. "I'm excited because I'm on an adventure with an Avatar just like my gran gran Katara. She and my grandpa Aang have been here before too."

Vaatu nodded thoughtfully. "You seem to be drawing quite a few parallels between your grandfather's adventures, and our current predicament."

"Well yeah," Ikki said as her bright smile finally made it's appearance. "Here we are team Dark Avatar. You and Mako are the Avatar of course, and Ayeon can't bend, but he's really smart so he's our Sokka. Then Kuvira is like my gran gran; the beautiful and powerful bender who slowly but surely falls in love with the Avatar she has dedicated her life to protecting."

Vaatu rolled his eyes at the child's enthusiasm. "I suppose that makes you Momo then." He said as he thought about her comparisons, and the potential problems they could face if the metal bender did manage to claim Mako's heart.

The chaos spirits brooding was interrupted by a partially smothered giggle.

"I guess it does," Ikki said with a small smile. "How do you know about Momo though? You do not strike me as the type who familiarizes himself with the identities of his cosmological opposites' zoological companions."

Now it was Vaatu's turn to stare incredulously although his was from surprise rather than a lack of understanding.

Ikki giggled again. "What? If you use a big word in a sentence I can learn how to use it pretty quickly, and I've already learned plenty of big words from Jinora."

Vaatu just shook his head, and chuckled. "Definitely an amusing one,"

"But seriously how do you know about Momo?" The air bender asked again.

Somehow compelled by the innocent curiosity in her grey eyes Vaatu sighed. "Korra was raised on the tales of Avatar Aang even more so than you and your siblings were. After being stuck inside that thick skull of hers for a few years I've become very well versed in your grandfather's exploits."

Ikki nodded thoughtfully as she watched Vaatu focus on her ankle. When she had inadvertently awoken the chaos spirit she had been afraid of him, but now she felt not so mach afraid as wary. Vaatu was definitely dangerous, and he did still scare her on a more primal level, but now she was seeing him as more than just some rampaging monster hell bent of darkness and destruction. Vaatu was a proud, powerful, and very willful spirit, but not intentionally malicious. The fact that he was actually trying to heal her ankle proved as much.

As Ikki was silently thinking about how nobody back home was going to believe her; Vaatu was brooding over his unexpected encounter with the mysterious spirit in Mako's soul, and all the questions she had left him with.

"Master Vaatu do you ever have nightmares?" Ikki suddenly asked out of nowhere.

Frowning at her absurd question the chaos spirit looked up at the young air nomad. "I do not get nightmares child. I give them." Vaatu said as his crimson eyes flared dangerously. "You would do well to remember child; I fear nothing, and no one."

"Yes master Vaatu," Ikki said as she quickly looked away from Vaatu's piercing glare.

Her submissiveness calmed the chaos spirits sudden ire, and he released his hold on her foot. "How does your ankle feel now?" he asked calmly.

Slowly rotating her ankle she found that most of the earlier pain was gone, and only a dull ache remained. "It feels much better thank you."

"As long as you take things slow, and get some rest you should be able to move without crutches." Vaatu instructed before turning his attention to the campfire.

Taking it as a dismissal Ikki got up to leave, but stopped when she thought of one final question. "Um master Vaatu why did you help me? With my ankle I mean."

Vaatu remained silent for several minutes, and just when she thought he was going to ignore her he spoke. "Mako loves you dearly Ikki. You are his little sister, and protecting you, fighting for you makes him stronger. Despite what you think this isn't some happy little adventure; this is life and death now, and protecting you will be hard enough without you being injured. Here in my world it's do or die, and Mako needs to be as strong as possible if you ever want to see your family again. Do you understand me child?"

"Yes master Vaatu; I understand." Ikki said quietly before crawling back in her tent.

After a few minutes he could hear light snoring coming from Ikki's tent.

Now alone in the night Vaatu looked up at the shadowed library overhead. He could no longer sense the spirit that had been watching them earlier. Sensing no potential threats for miles around the chaos spirit closed his eyes and snuffed out the fire allowing the darkness to embrace him.

"Good night Momo."

"My life is mine to give; not yours to take."

"I trusted you. I believed in you. I loved you!"

"Coward! Face me!"

"You shouldn't have turned your back on me Korra."

With a gasp glowing blue eyes shot open, and Raava leapt to her feet with flames in hand only to be met with silence, and a cold breeze. Slowly the grand spirit of order and light relaxed, and took stock of herself and her surroundings. At some point she had shifted her form to that of Korra's eighteen year old self complete with wolf tails, and parka.

Looking around Raava couldn't help but smile. All around her was a glimmering expanse of snow and ice while up above the northern lights danced across the starry night sky. While it looked like she was back in the southern water tribe she recognized this place for what it was; Korra's soul.

Raava sighed in relief. As long as Korra's spirit world was intact that meant she was still alive. Somehow they had survived their encounter with Vaatu.

Thinking of her other half caused the order spirit to frown. They may be alive, but Vaatu was free once more to sow chaos and destruction. They needed to act swiftly before his full power returned.

"Korra are you alright?" Raava asked as she reached out to her Avatar's consciousness.

She waited for a response, but silence was her only answer. With a frown she tried again, but there was nothing. Their bond was still intact but for some reason she couldn't make a connection. Something was wrong.

Closing her glowing blue eyes Raava concentrated everything she had into making contact with her Avatar. Fully focused her keen senses expanded outwards encompassing every corner of Korra's soul. Right when she started reaching beyond the confines of Korra's inner world an excruciating pain lanced through her body.

With an agonized scream Raava collapsed to her hands and knees in the snow. After several minutes the pain began to fade until there was only a burning sensation in the middle of her back.

With a pained groan she recalled experiencing this kind of pain with Avatar Aang. It had hurt then, but now without thousands of past lives to insulate her so the pain was much more severe.

"No, not again." Raava whispered as her heart filled with dread.

"Ikki!" Jinora called out for what felt like the hundredth time as she continued her search.

By now her throat was sore, her feet ached, there was a sadistic smiling cat spirit hunting her, and now it was getting dark. Despite her exhaustion she wanted to keep searching, but due to the thick forest canopy overhead she couldn't count on any star or moon light to search by. The spirit world was dangerous enough during the day when you could see the dangers coming.

Running around in the dark she was more likely to find another playful spirit like the cat than Ikki, and if she did it was unlikely she would be saved by another benevolent spirit like Root. Since she'd rather not be eaten; her only other choice was to seek shelter for the night, and continue searching in the morning.

As the remaining day light faded into night she made her way to one of the larger giant trees in hopes of finding a suitable place to rest in extensive root system.

Seeking shelter was definitely a good decision since she was now fumbling around in near pitch black conditions, and had nearly tripped five times over an exposed root. Jinora continued looking for five minutes when she heard a twig snap out in the darkness.

"Who's there?" She asked warily while trying to keep her emotions in check. The dark forest was spooky enough without her fears twisting it further.

"Whoever you are please show yourself." She called out again when another twig snapped closer this time.

It was far too dark for her to see anything that wasn't right in front of her. Thoughts of the cat began to worm their way into her mind. She had run as far and as fast as she could in hopes of putting as much distance between her and the predatory feline spirit. Could he have caught up with her already?

Slowly she began to move away from the tree. If she needed to run her chances of escape were much better without random roots threatening to trip her up. As she continued to move cautiously she noticed everything had gone silent. There were no sounds what so ever, only dead silence. Even the small lights that had been moving around in the distance had disappeared. This did not bode well.

As she moved to step over a root she misjudged how big it was and stumbled over it. By quickly turning around and stepping backwards she kept from face planting. However after a few steps she backed into something large and furry.

With a startled gasp she whirled around, and screamed. The spirit reared up, and loosed a human like scream revealing its sharp teeth as its sharp claws swiped through the air.

With another scream Jinora leapt back only to trip backwards over another root. Unable to arrest her fall the back of her head struck the ground hard. The last thing she saw was a large shadowy figure approaching before passing out cold.

There we go; another chapter down. As always thank you for reading, and reviewing. Please leave a comment, or review, because your feedback means a lot, and it really helps me to persevere and keep writing. I will do my best to update sooner with 29 so stay tuned, and again thanks for reading.