"Southern water tribe mail!" Bolin shouted, "YES! For Kuvira!" He paused, "Kuvira?" He read the name again, couragous woman. "Yep, it's for her." Without facing her, disappointed, Bolin handed her the scroll behind his back.

She said, "I'm sorry, Bolin. I know you were hoping it was Korra." She put her hand on his shoulder as she took the scroll from him.

"It's okay," he said, clearly not okay, "maybe she's just thinking of what to say. Maybe not much happens in the south pole. I just hope she's alright."

Kuvira walked back to her cabin to open the scroll in private. She wasn't expecting a letter from the southern water tribe, and was shocked by what she read. "What is it?" Baatar asked, coming up from behind her.

"It's Korra's dad," she said, "Tonraq. He wants me to go down to the southern water tribe to visit with him, his wife, and Korra."

Baatar looked up, trying to think of a reason why she would get a letter from him, and asked, "Did he invite you because you saved Korra's life?"

"Probably," she said, closing the scroll, "but it might also have to do with what he said the last time we spoke."

"And what did he say?"

"After I saved Korra, he said my parents must be proud of me," she answered hesitantly, "so I told him I didn't have parents, he then decided right then and there that he was going to change that. I told him parental figures have a tendancy to regret taking me in. I thought that would be the end of it."

Baatar said, "I think you should go and hear him out."

She asked, "What? I can't leave. We're in the middle of negotiations with three different regions, we still have to deliever the last bandits we captured to the new camp we just built, and we're about to pick up supplies to last another three months. I can't stop in the middle of this."

He grabbed her shoulders and said, "You've been working so hard, you deserve a break! Go on a vacation! I'll hold down the fort while you're gone."

"I've never been to the south pole," Kuvira said, pulling away from him and thinking about it, "when I was little I did want to go there after reading Avatar Aang's stories and hearing his description of the place. I wonder how it's changed since then." She nodded. "I'll go." She hugged him.

Baatar said, "I'm sure you'll have a great time. I'll stay here and make sure everything goes according to plan."

"Thanks. But I don't know what to tell Bolin. He'll be heartbroken. Korra still hasn't written him back."

Baatar asked, "Why not take him with you?"

She shook her head, "No, this is going to be too emotional for him. I'll tell him I'm meeting with advisors alone back in Ba Sing Se. He would understand that."


It took several days by train, an airship, and then a boat for Kuvira to get all the way to the south pole from the middle of the earth kingdom. As she stepped off of the concrete dock and towards the southpole city, she stopped just before she hit the snow and ice.

She took a step and felt nothing. Not any earth or rocks under the snow cover. The snow hardened under the only snowboots she could find on short notice. No earth. She couldn't feel it, not even a few feet down. It was unsettling, yet conforting at the same time.

"Welcome to the southpole!" Tonraq said, walking up to her, "This is my wife, Senna."

"It's nice to meet you," Senna said, "my husband told me all about how you saved both his and my daughter's life. Thank you." She extended her arm out. Kuvira stared at it awkwardly.

He explained, "It's a water tribe greeting. Hold your hand out." He took her elbow and guided her hand into Senna's elbow.

"Oh I read about that once," she said, "sorry, I forgot."

Inside Tonraq's and Senna's home, with Korra away with Katara for healing and physical therapy, the three of them sat down and ate a meal together. Kuvira was half surprised that their home wasn't made of snow and ice. Instead it was rock, just like in the earth kingdom. She could tell these were different types of stone from up there, but it was the same principle.

Tonraq sat at the head of the table and explained, "Kuvira, I wanted to talk to you in person about what we said to each other back when you saved Korra's life."

"I thought maybe that was why you invited me down here," Kuvira replied, poking at her noodles and squid-shrimp with her chopsticks.

Senna said, "My husband mentioned you don't have parents." Kuvira grimanced.

"I don't know what happened to them, but if they passed away," Tonraq said gently, "I'm sorry."

"Oh," she said awkwardly, "they didn't...but I can understand why you would think that."

Senna and Tonraq exchanged confused glances. She asked, "If they didn't pass away, what happened to them?"

Kuvira answered, "Nothing."

They waited, again for her to elaborate. In the silence, the two of them looked at each other again. Finally Tonraq said, "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

She put her chopsticks down and said, "Nothing happened to them, it happened to me." She bowed her head in sadness, not wanting to remember.

"What does that mean?" Senna asked.

Kuvira asked, "Can a waterbender accidentally hurt someone? I always figured it was a tame element...compared to fire...or earth." She hugged her stomach under the table.

Now more confused than ever, he asked, "What exactly are you asking?"

"Have you ever hurt anyone by accident with your waterbending?" she asked.

He looked up, trying to think up of a time when he did. "Well, no...I can't recall any incidents off of the top of my head. Why?"

Kuvira asked, "What about Korra? Has she ever accidentically hurt anyone with her bending?"

"She has," Senna answered, "after she discovered fire bending as a 4-year-old she burned me across the chest. I got to a healer quick enough so you'd never know it today, but after that incident we stressed to her the importance of learning the elements in order. There were a few close calls over the years after that, but nothing major."

Tonraq asked, "Kuvira, did something happen between you and your parents?"

"You did save my life," Kuvira said, finally looking them in the eyes, "and I am grateful you did. I guess I could tell you what they did to me..." she took a deep painful breath to delay what she was about to say, "I was born to a non-bender family. No one in my small village of about 80 or so people could bend anything, so no one knew how to handle my earthbending. When I was 6 years old..." she paused, looking down, wondering how much to confess, "I got upset one day, and made an earthquake by accident. It caused so much damage...people...died. After that no one wanted to deal with me anymore...so-" her voice cracked. After all those years the pain still burned her soul whenever she told the story. She shook it off, "My parents got rid of me," she said, struggling to hold herself together, "they left me in the middle of a forest to die alone. Instead of wallowing in my own misery, I wandered around the earth kingdom by myself. Over two years later when I was 8, I stumbled across Zaofu. I lived in the orphanage there, and Su was my earth and metalbending teacher...up until 8 months ago." She stopped.

Senna covered her mouth in horror.

"What they did was terrible," Tonraq said, "I'm sorry they were so cruel to you."

Kuvira had lost her apetite. "It was my own fault," she added sadly, "if I hadn't caused so much trouble maybe they wouldn't have thrown me away."

Tonraq said, "No, your parents were in the wrong, not you. Raising a child is never easy, bender or not, but you never give up on them or abandon them when things get tough." He slammed his fist into the table.

Senna said, "I can't believe they did that to you. I could never imagine abandoning Korra even in some of our most challenging moments together."

"Thank you for your kind words," Kuvira said. Senna and Tonraq's sentiments weren't anything new for her to hear. Over the years, whenever she told someone her story, many adults would say she didn't deserve what happened to her. Yet if she ended up breaking things in their home or causing earthquakes they would always go back on their word.

"Kuvira," Tonraq said, tenderly reaching his hand out to hers, "we didn't ask you to come all this way just to hear about your past. We have something much bigger to discuss. Senna and I would like to legally adopt you."

"What?" She pulled away. Her breath was gone, "Why?! You don't even know me!"

"You saved my life," Tonraq said, placing his hand over his heart, "you saved Korra, thereby saving the entire world and look at what you're doing now in the earth kingdom. You stood firm in the face of evil and you're a young woman with no family. That's enough for me."

Kuvira shook her head. "Thank you, really, that's very nice of you to consider, but over the years many people have taken me in. They would always tell me they considered me to be like a daughter to them, or as a granddaughter in one case, but I always ended up destroying things and hurting people. In the end, they;ve always turned on me. Even Suyin, after 10 years of living in her city and proving myself to be worthy..." she gripped her pants under the table. Her eyes burned. She blinked away the tears.

Senna said, "Everyone deserves parents, Kuvira. You don't have to prove you're worthy of anything to have a family. After hearing your story, I want to do this even more now."

Kuvira studied their expressions. They were serious. "I am grateful for you," she said, "and thank you for inviting me into your home. I'm sorry to say I don't think I can go through with this." She bowed her head to them. "If I did, I suppose you'd want me to move to the south pole and live with you."

"You don't have to," Senna replied, "you can live anywhere you want. If you'd like to move in with us you can. If you don't, the only thing we ask is that you come by and visit every once in a while."

They weren't going to make her move to the south pole? She couldn't believe it. For over a decade Suyin had wanted her to stay in Zaofu for her own protection, for stability, and so she could teach her earthbending. For years Kuvira had to do everything Suyin said because she saved her life. Now these people, a couple she barely knew, were willing to adopt her and let her live her own life at the same time? It sounded too good to be true.

Tonraq said, "We'll go and visit you in the earth kingdom sometimes too. That way it's a fair trade."

"You really want to do this?" Kuvira asked, she watched as they nodded, "How does Korra feel about it?"

Tonraq answered, "She's in agreement with us."

"Would I have to become part of the southern water tribe?" she asked.

"Since you were born in the earth kingdom," Senna answered, "you'd hold duel citizenship."

Kuvira didn't know what to say. "Thank you," she said sincerely, "but I still don't think you should adopt me." It had been a long time since anyone asked her if she wanted to be adopted. At this point in her life she was sure no one would ever come suggest it again. Yet there she was, thousands of miles away from home in a land she had never been to before, and it was happening once more.

"You're here for three weeks," Tonraq said, "we're not expecting you to decide right away. You have time."


Later that day, Kuvira knocked on Korra's bedroom door. "Come in," Korra said.

Kuvira walked in to see her parcially propped up on her bed. Her paralyzed legs aligned perfectly next to each other. "Your parents must have told you why they invited me here," she said, sitting down in a chair against the wall.

Korra nodded and explained, "My mom asked if I wanted a sister, so at first I thought she was pregnant, which would have been the surprise of my life. Then my dad told me they wanted to adopt you. It didn't cross my mind before, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I've felt bad for you ever since I learned about your living situation in Zaofu." She gave her a genuine smile. "Besides, I've never had a sister before."

"I haven't either," Kuvira said, hugging her stomach.

"Actually, I'm surprised Suyin never adopted you," she added, "I thought since she's all about treating everyone like family, she would have done it a long time ago."

She shook her head. "She mentioned adopting me once or twice over the years, but it never felt right to me." Su had asked her exactly 4 times if she wanted to be adopted. "Besides, that would make Baatar my brother. I'm glad that never happened."

Korra replied, "Well now you can be part of my family."

"If this does become real," Kuvira said, "can you promise me one thing? Please never become jealous of me." She hung her head. "Opal has been jealous of me since the day I got to Zaofu. I never want to go through that again."

Korra confessed, "I'm already jealous of you."

Kuvira sat upright in concern.

She continued, "Not because of anything to do with my parents. Right now I'm jealous of anyone who can walk. But it's about what you're doing in the earth kingdom. I heard it's a mess up there."

"It's okay," Kuvira said, "you can always come up and join me when you're ready. In the meantime, you could write back to Bolin."

Korra's face fell. "He writes about everything you're doing," she said, "what am I supposed to tell him? I can now feed myself, barely." She sighed.

"He wants to hear about you because he cares about you," Kuvira assured her, "not because you're the avatar, master of four elements, bridge between worlds. There's a huge difference."

"It's still hard to hear about how great both him and Mako are doing while I still can't walk," she whined.

Kuvira said, "You're not the first person to have to overcome adversity, Korra."

Korra huffed and asked, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? What else are you going to say, other people have it worse?"

"Maybe they do," she continued, "but that doesn't take away from your struggle. While no one else has been poisoned by terrorists, other people have been wheelchair bound and manage to carry on and live a full life." She paused, remembering her mother.

Korra said, "But no one else is the avatar. I'm supposed to be there for the world and I'm letting everyone down."

"It's not the first time," Kuvira said nonchalantly.

Korra raised an eyebrow at her angrily. As if to ask what is that supposed to mean?

She continued, "Avatar Aang accidently disappeared and inadvertinly let the fire nation commit genocide for 100 years. Have you done anything remotely as terrible as that?"

"No," she answered, "I got poisoned by a crazy group of terrorists who wanted me to be permanetly disabled and weak so they could do whatever they wanted in the world and now I'm a recovering quadraplegic." She stopped and gave a slight smile. "I guess that doesn't sound so bad when you compare it to genocide."

Kuvira smiled at her and said, "I don't know about your parents adopting me and us becoming sisters, but I am staying here for a few weeks. I've always wanted to see what the south pole is like in person."

"Before my healing session with Katara we go out and see the city tomorrow."


The next day, Kuvira woke up to a terrible stomach ache. She couldn't believe it, she had traveled to the otherside of the planet to see a place she read about as a little girl and now her stomach hurt so bad she could barely move. As she got up and prepared to face the antarctic temperatures, she hoped it would go away.

Instead, after a breakfast she hardly touched, Kuvira pushed Korra's wheelchair, attached to skiis for better movement on the snow, through the capital city of the south pole. The cold wind cut through Kuvira's parka, the warmest one she could find in the earth kingdom on short notice.

"I don't know what you want to see first," Korra said, she looked over at Kuvira. "Are you okay?"

"I don't think water tribe food is agreeing with me," she said, "no offense. But go ahead and point some things out." She held her stomach in pain.

"Over there is the Sokka museum," Korra gestured, "and that's the museum of the south's history, including how the fire nation systematically captured water benders. That building is the north pole's cultural center."

Unable to take it any longer, Kuvira's legs fell out from under. She hit the ice, on her side.

"Kuvira?" Korra asked, spinning her wheelchair around, "What happened!?"

"I'm fine," she whispered, forcing herself to sit up. Her vision went fuzzy as she shivered. She couldn't hold herself up and collapsed back into the icy ground.

Korra said, "No you're not!"

The world faded away for Kuvira as Korra shouted for help.


"What's wrong with her?" Korra asked as Kuvira came to, now back in the guest bed of their home.

Senna explained, "I heard some tradesmen talking, apparently the shrimp-squid shipment they brought in yesterday was contaiminated with a virus. She has it for sure."

Korra said, "But I had the same shrimp-squid and I feel fine. You had it too, Mom."

"We were vaccinated against it a long time ago," Senna replied, "being of the earth kingdom, Kuvira wasn't and now she's suffering. Kuvira? Are you awake?"

"I'm sick?" she asked, seeing them both beside her bed, "I'm sorry, I must be the worst house-guest ever."

Senna said, "We don't blame you for getting sick. How do you feel?"

Kuvira hesitated. For years she was never allowed to lie. Whenever Su suspected something, Aiwei was there, ready to snitch. But now she had the chance, even if they wouldn't believe her. Instead of lying, she confessed, "My stomach feels like it's on fire but the outside of my body is freezing and I'm so dizzy I can barely see straight."

Tonraq peaked in the doorway and said, "Katara's here. She's just collecting her things in the dining room.

"What?" Kuvira asked, covering her face with the blanket, "I can't meet her like this!"

"Just give her a chance," Senna said.

Katara stepped in and asked, "How are you feeling, Kuvira?"

"Fine!" she lied through the blanket, "I know you mean well, and I've wanted to meet you ever since I read Avatar Aang's story, The Northern Water Tribe, but I really don't want to meet you in this condition." She motioned outside of the blanket for her to go away.

She replied, "It's okay. When we see each other again outside of these walls when you're feeling better, we can pretend we're meeting for the first time. Now, can I see your face?"

Kuvira slowly lowered the blanket, revealing her fever-riddled head and sickly body. Everyone else left the room as Katara examined her. Later, Katara explained to everyone, Korra, Tonraq, Senna, and Kuvira of course, what she found.

"This is only the beginning," Katara said, "she'll get progressively worse. She's an adult, so she fairs a better chance. I haven't seen a case this bad since Sokka had it about 85 years ago now."

Korra asked, "What's going to happen to her?"

"She'll slip in and out of consciousness," she answered, "and have difficulty keeping things straight, but if she starts to forget her own name, she's in trouble."

Kuvira asked, "How long is this going to last?"

"About three more days," Katara answered.

Despite hearing that news, Kuvira hoped for the best. She hoped she would start to feel better sooner rather than later. Instead, she grew more and more tired. Her stomach refused to keep anything down. She couldn't keep her eyes open long enough to do anything productive.

When she did, her head hurt from the sunlight. She had to keep the blackout curtains up. Because of this, she would see a figure sitting beside her bed in a wooden chair. "Mom?" she whispered.

Instead of hearing her past angry mother's voice, a scratchy but warm and reassuring voice asked, "Yes Kuvira?"

"Where's Dad?"

"He's making lunch," she answered, "do you want any?"

"Not this time."

On the third day, Kuvira could finally take in sunlight again, and her stomach calmed enough for her to be able to eat normal food. She wasn't sure of the past few days. Did she really call Senna and Tonraq her mom and dad? She didn't want to think about it.


The following days in the south pole were much more uneventful. After she fully recovered, she saw the museums and sights Korra tried to point out to her on her first day. Together, as a family, they enjoyed different events. Kuvira couldn't believe how great they worked together and how much fun she was having. It felt as though it had been years since she truly had fun even though it was only eight months since her time in Zaofu came to an end.

After a week of ice skating, sledding, and museums, Kuvira met back up with Katara during one of Korra's physical therapy appointments.

"It's so great to finally meet you," Kuvira said, "I've read every one of Avatar Aang's stories and you were always my favorite to read about."

"It's great to meet you too, Kuvira," Katara replied, "I've heard all about what you're doing for the earth kingdom."

Korra gave them a side-eye of disbelief. It was actually happening. Both of them were really pretending like they hadn't met before, less than a week earlier.

Kuvira said, "I've always wanted to ask you something, and I figured since you published the story into a book, you'd be okay with me asking."

"Whatever it is I'm sure I've heard it before."

"Have you ever regretted not killing Yon Rah for what he did to your mother?" Kuvira asked carefully.

Korra's mouth dropped. "Kuvira..."

"No," Katara answered, "if he had been the powerful commander I always imaged him to be in my mind, I might have. But by the time I managed to track him down with Zuko he was a frail pathetic excuse of a man. At the time I wasn't sure if I made the right choice but over the years, I can assure myself I did. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious," Kuvira lied. The truth was, there were times she wanted to retaliate against those who hurt her in the past. When she read Katara's story on not taking action, on letting the man who killed her mother go, she couldn't believe it. In the past she had her own dreams of hunting her parents down and showing them no mercy for what they did to her.

On the way back home, Kuvira pushed Korra's wheelchair on skis across the snow. Korra said, "I think this week is the first one in months where I've felt normal. I didn't know I could have fun in a wheelchair, thanks Kuvira."

"I told you that you could live a full life, even like this," she said, "but I would have figured you'd have a metal chair, not a wooden one."

"Metal doesn't do well in sub-freezing temperatures," she replied, "you're not bad at pushing a wheelchair either, even on skis. It took my parents a few weeks to get used to it."

Kuvira confessed, "My mom was in a wheelchair. I used to push hers all the time." She held her hands on the wooden handles of Korra's wheelchair carefully. She remembered being little, not tall enough to see over her mother's head, but pushing her through the village. The sensations were familiar, but she didn't have to hear the grinding of wood against the dirt. Instead Korra's skis glided across the snow with ease, nearly silent.

Korra asked, "Oh, I didn't know. What happened to her?"

"She broke her back," she said quickly, "and never regained the ability to walk."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's all in the past now."

When they returned, Senna and Tonraq had party decorations all over the entire living room and dining room. "Welcome home, Kuvira!" Senna said, "And Korra. Sorry it's a bit late."

Korra asked, "What is all this?"

"We were planning on putting all of this up when Kuvira arrived," Tonraq explained, "but then the supplies got stuck out to sea for an extra few days and Kuvira was so sick for a while we felt it was inappropriate. But now it's up. Welcome to the family!"

"You did all this for me?" Kuvira asked, staring in awe.

Senna said, "Of course, parents love celebrating their children."

As Kuvira walked around, she remembered the good times of the previous week. How they helped her when she was sick. How much fun they had while ice skating even if she did struggle to stay on her feet. The trips to the different museums. How they explored the capital city together. She also remembered all the time people claimed to want to adopt her, how eager they were to change her behavior or gloat about how great they were to take in a little orphan girl. This felt so different.

"I'll do it," she said quietly, "I'll let you adopt me," she said louder, facing them.

"Really?" Senna asked happily.

Tonraq asked, "What made you change your mind?"

"You've been so kind to me," she said, "you invited me into your home. You helped me when I was sick-but you don't keep bringing that up. When I first met Su..." she hesitated, "I wasn't in the best condition and for years she talked about how she took me in under her wing. It always felt so wrong but here you guys all treat me like I really am a part of your family."

Korra said, "That's because you are."

"Because you're an adult you can sign your own paperwork," Senna explained, "we can go down to city hall and sign the papers in front of a judge tomorrow."


That night, as Kuvira slept, she remembered what it was like to have parents. She remembered them having rules, yelling at her, telling her what to do, that everything she ever did was wrong. Instead of her parents saying it, it was Senna and Tonraq. Kuvira lost her temper. She shouted and slammed her fists down, causing the entire building to shake and crack. Senna was in the way. She fell through the floor, landing on the ground so hard Kuvira heard the cracking. Tonraq screamed out to her, she was dead.

Korra jumped up and screamed, "You killed my mother!" The avatar state activated, the glowing eyes and fearful expression.

"I'm sorry!" Kuvira said, "It was an accident! Don't hurt me!" The air left her lungs. She couldn't breath. She grabbed at her face while Korra brought flames out and attacked.

Kuvira nearly catipulted out of bed, grabbing her neck and face as she remembered how to breathe. She choked on nothing, stifling a scream as she carefully laid back down. As the real world came back into focus, she saw the walls and ceiling we cracked. She let the tears come in silence. Maybe no one noticed. Maybe no one knew she just caused an earthquake.

By the next morning, Kuvira had fixed all the cracks and hoping no one noticed anything was off. She was wrong.

At breakfast, Senna said, "There was an earthquake last night."

"There was?" Korra asked, "I didn't feel anything."

"The whole neighborhood shook for a few minutes," Tonraq said nonchalantly, "The kitchen is ruined."

Kuvira said quickly, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Senna asked, "For what?"

She confessed shamefully, "I should have said something before. Sometimes I earthbend in my sleep. I thought it wouldn't be a problem here since everything is snow and ice but there's rocks under us right now."

Korra said, "But you've been here for days and we haven't had any problems."

"It only happens when I have nightmares and I had a terrible one last night," she explained, "I had an argument, and I destroyed your home and Senna you feel through the floor and died and then Korra went into the avatar state in order to kill me. It was awful!" She held her head.

Tonraq held her hand and said, "It's okay, Kuvira, it wasn't real."

"Yeah don't even worry about the avatar state," Korra said, "I haven't been able to enter it since you got the poison out of me. Besides, I'd never want to hurt you." She smiled at her.

"You can't go into the avatar state?" Kuvira asked, looking up. Korra shook her head. She added, "I guess after hearing that you probably don't want to go through with adopting me."

Senna said, "Of course we do! We'll get ready to leave after we're done here."


In front of the judge, the elderly man brought out the proper papers and said, "Kuvira, all you have to do is write your birthday and birthplace here and then Senna and Tonraq will write their birthdates and birthdays here and it'll be offical after all of you sign."

Kuvira wrote her name out carefully, then her birthdate, just nine months before Korra's. She stopped at birthplace.

Senna asked, "What's the matter, dear?"

"I don't know the name of my original village," she confessed.

Tonraq asked, "What about the region?"

"I don't know that either," she said, "I know it was in the far east. It was probably somewhere in Yulin, but it could have been somewhere else. I just know it was close to the ocean. It took less than a day to walk there but still several hours."

Senna asked, "Can she just put earth kingdom?"

The judge said, "Write 'unknown, earth kingdom.'"

Kuvira nodded and obliged. In a few minutes, it was over. She was officially adopted. As they walked home together as a family for the first time, Kuvira said, "As amazing as this is, can we keep this a secret?"

"You don't want anyone to know you have a family now?" Korra asked.

"Well you're not exactly low profile," she replied, "besides, in case anything happens, it'll be better this way."

"Alright," Tonraq said, "we'll respect your wishes, Kuvira."