She knocked on the heavy wooden door and heard a now-familiar voice call out from inside. Moments later, the door opened to reveal the Chief Justice, who had traded the robes of a Fire Nation judge for a more traditional and comfortable looking shawl and had perched a pair of grandmotherly spectacles on her nose. "Avatar Korra, it is good to see you. Please come in and make yourself comfortable."
As Korra walked through the door, she said, "You were rather harsh on Su today."
"It was necessary. She clearly had a plan for how her testimony was going to go. If I'd just let her unwind the tale in her head, we would have gotten little of use from her," Noriko said and shrugged, "so perhaps it was necessary to rattle her a bit. She's strong, she won't be bothered for long. Now please, come and sit."
Korra sat and waited as the justice poured two cups of tea, offering one to Korra. As she watched the judge, she couldn't shake the feeling that Noriko looked vaguely familiar but not close enough to be someone she'd met before.
Noriko caught her eye and the edge of her mouth curled up into a smile. "Distant cousin. Far enough that Ozai didn't consider us a threat when he took the throne," she said, settling into her chair, "but close enough to be chosen for this trial." Once she said it, it clicked into place for Korra and she was jolted forward in her seat, spilling some of the tea. She apologized sheepishly as Noriko's smile widened. "Indeed, I've been told I'm the spitting image of my namesake. Even if it wasn't her original name, my father certainly intended to make a political point when I was born." She glanced downwards at the spilled tea. "And another relative would say there is nothing more tragic than spilled tea, but we can always make more."
She dabbed at the spill with a rag briefly. "Strange how so much responsibility flows through so few people. Me, a child of the ruling house of the Fire Nation. You, the Avatar and a relative of the chiefs of both Water Tribes. If there's no way to avoid it, we must live up to the burdens placed upon us. I must say though, Republic City fascinates me, few places choose who to give the burden of office. Although perhaps parts of the Earth Kingdom will join it soon."
Korra awkwardly sipped at her tea. "That's very interesting," she said politely.
"Where are my manners? I didn't ask you to drop by so I could ruminate over the nature of life. In a couple minutes, I should have a couple old friends drop by for an important discussion. But before they get here, I wanted to talk to you about Kuvira's sentencing."
"Why me? I thought the idea behind bringing judges from all the nations was that we wouldn't have people deciding her sentence behind closed doors like this."
"Very astute, young Avatar," Noriko said, "would that we lived in a world where that was entirely possible. Yet there is a very important reason I've asked you to come here alone." She put down her cup and fixed Korra with a sharp gaze. "I've brought you here to ask if you will take Kuvira's bending away."
Sirens blared as the police Satomobile tore around the corner. "I bet you're glad you got back onto the beat now Sarge," the officer said, gritting his teeth as he fought with the wheel through the punishing turn.
Mako braced himself against the door as the turn tried to throw him from his seat. "Lee, you know I'm a detective. This is better than working as a bodyguard, but I was hoping to get back to investigative work."
He jerked back into his seat as the Satomobile came out of the turn. Lee grinned as he jammed his foot down on the pedal. "Who needs a detective when the perps are breaking the law right out in the open?" As the car raced down the street, Mako started to hear shouting, even over the roar of the engine. As he'd seen several times before over the recent days and weeks, a group was busy smashing nearby store windows, with one young man even uprooting the street itself. The car skidded to a stop on one side of the riot just as another police Satomobile arrived on the other side. Mako stepped out of the car and put his hands on either side of his mouth. "The Republic City police have arrived. Cease this criminal activity in the name of the law."
"Cease this tin-top!" a young man yelled back as he threw a rock at Mako. A quick blast of fire picked the rock out of the air.
"That's our Sarge," Lee said with a chuckle as he ran out in front of the stopped Satomobile, metal wires already extending from the spools at his sides. "One day he'll take the goons down first, ask questions later." The coils arched snakelike in the air, then struck, wrapping around the arms of two rioters. Lee pulled his arms back to his hips and the wires snapped taut. One rioter stumbled forward, scrambling to plant his feet and fight the pull, while the other crashed to the ground. The spools screeched as they started to spin faster and faster, yanking the wires back towards Lee.
Mako watched as Lee and the two officers from the other cruiser quickly dispatched the small group. They were reasonably good at fighting windows and street tiles, but against trained police officers, they barely lasted a minute. A few moments later, they were cuffed and lined up on the side of the street while an officer radioed for a van to pick them up. Mako's eyes scanned across the group: young men, not as scruffy looking as some of the recent rioters, but with the same look young men get when they're walking around hoping someone picks a fight with them.
He felt it coming more than he saw anything. He spun, leg slashing out as flames leapt to shatter a boulder flying through the air. From the corner of his eye, he saw another boulder knock an officer off his feet as Lee ducked under a third. The dust cleared. Five benders stood in a nearby alleyway, the front three firmly set in a fighting stance. "Damn, Earth Empire soldiers, what the hell are they doing here?" Mako said, recognizing the uniform the benders shared. He glanced to his side. Lee was still standing but the officer who been hit was only shakily getting to his feet and the other was busy calling for backup on the police radio.
Two more boulders shot forward at the snap of the benders' arms. Mako dove to the side, rolling to one knee and throwing a burst of fire back at the soldiers. The pair of benders in the back raised their arms, pulling up a wall of rock, leaving Mako's flames to scatter harmlessly across the front. As they dissipated, the rocks sunk back into the ground and two of the soldiers launched four quick shots at Mako and Lee. The other leapt into a spinning kick, heel smashing against the ground, shockwaves reverberating outwards as waves of jagged rock and gravel. Lee's metal wires snapped back and forth, turning three of the rocks into dust as one flew by, harmlessly off target. But Mako saw that he was too firmly planted to move himself out of the way of the jagged edges bursting from the ground in front of him.
Lee grunted as he was thrown backwards by the impact, his armour blunting the worst of the attack even as it broke his stance. Mako took a breath to focus, feeling his chi gathering in his stomach. He felt anger and frustration pushing in that he let his squad get ambushed but pushed those feelings away. Just as the energy felt like it would burst out of him, he stretched out an arm, willing the energy to follow the path out through his chest, through his arms, through his fingers. Lightning flashed across the street, the roar of thunder drowning out all other sounds for a moment. He had aimed low, trying to disable his attackers, rather than kill them, and the ground at their feet exploded outwards where the lightning connected, tossing two benders against either wall of the alley and one soldier high into the sky.
He landed moments later in the middle of the street with an audible thump and made no quick move to rise once more to his feet. In the distance, Mako started to hear the blare of police sirens. Backup was almost there. "Damnit, retreat for now," one of the soldiers in the back row shouted, "Shin, get a move on!"
"No you don't," he said and ran to tackle the soldier now struggling to get up. He saw a van coming quick, the driver cranking the wheel to the side. The tires whined as the van spun, officers piling out of the open back doors before it even came to a halt. Mako was starting to run before he even hit the ground, pushing off from the luckless soldier for good measure. "You four, with me. The rest of you, secure these perps and keep your eyes out for more attacks." He ran to the alley, seeing the soldiers flee around a corner and sprinted after them.
There was even more spilled tea on the floor of Noriko's makeshift office than before. Korra started to stammer. "I can't, I've never–"
"You restored people's bending after Amon took it away. I'm sure you can do the reverse," Noriko said calmly.
"But Amon wasn't really removing their bending, he was just using his bloodbending to block the pathways of their chi," Korra protested. Noriko didn't say anything. She just raised an eyebrow and peered over the rim of her cup. Korra's protests stuttered to a halt and she looked down at her nearly empty cup. In her mind, she saw Kuvira bending the metal meteorite during her last visit. Korra sighed.
"Fine, I'll admit that I probably could remove Kuvira's bending," she said, then looked up, locking Noriko with a determined look, "but I won't do it. I refuse to take Kuvira's bending away, even after what she did. I know Avatar Aang took away Fire Lord Ozai's bending and Yakone's, but he never knew what it was like." She paused briefly to steady herself, then continued, "He never knew what it was like to lose all connection with your bending. With something that's been a part of you since you were born." She shivered despite the warmth of the room. "It's the worst feeling I've ever experienced. I could never bring myself to take Kuvira's bending away."
Noriko met her eyes in silence and then smiled. "Very well, I see it would be a waste of time to try and convince you otherwise. I'm glad you have made your decision." Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Right on time," she said to Korra, then raised her voice, "come in, the door is open, and we were just finished chatting."
The door creaked open and Korra was surprised to see her father and Tenzin walk through. They both greeted Noriko, accepted the offer of a cup of tea, and found a seat. "Dad, what are you doing here? And Tenzin, you too!"
"They're here at my invitation. I wanted to hear what they thought about the case. Not to mention, I would be nice to catch up with an old friend while I'm in town," she said, tipping her cup to Tenzin in greeting.
"It is good to see you too Noriko," Tenzin said, settling his airbender robes around him with a free hand.
"It seems you were right Tenzin, Korra won't take Kuvira's bending away," Noriko said.
Korra's eyes widened and she turned to Tenzin, eyes narrowing. "You knew that she was going to ask me to take Kuvira's bending away and you didn't tell me?"
"She only told me this morning and specifically requested that I let her ask you without any forewarning, so that she could get your honest response," Seeing Korra glance over to her father, Tenzin added, "and as far as I know, Tonraq was unaware of this plan. It may have been more difficult to convince him to keep this a secret, even for an afternoon."
Tonraq sat with a pensive look on his face. After a moment, he met Korra's eyes. When he spoke, his voice was troubled, "Korra, a lot of people were hurt by Kuvira's actions. If you decide that you won't take her bending away, there will be people who blame you for the damage she caused."
"Dad," Korra said, and looked down at her cup, before meeting his eyes once more. "I felt what it was like to lose your bending, twice. I couldn't put someone else through that, even if they have done terrible things." She sighed. "I know people will blame me for that, but I just can't do it. We should try to restore balance with her sentence and taking her bending away might make people feel better for a little while, but it won't change what's been done."
Her father smiled. "You've grown so much sweetie, I couldn't be more proud of you."
She blushed slightly. "Dad, stop it."
"He's right Korra," Tenzin said with a smile.
Noriko set down her cup. "I'm glad we could reach an agreement. The Avatar is right, people often call for those who commit crimes to feel the pain they themselves suffered. Sadly, once they've gotten their payback, the original hurt still lingers. Now how Kuvira can restore balance with Republic City and the world is a difficult question," she said, then added with a sly smile, "but with this collection of minds, I'm sure we can think of something. It would be helpful to have a plan before I speak with the other judges. Would anyone like some more tea?"
"Sergeant Mako! I think we've cornered them!" one of the officers shouted, gesturing towards a nearby building. "We've got officers inbound to cover the exits if they try to metalbend through a wall."
"Good job, let's take them before they think up anything clever," Mako said as he ran over to the building's door. He placed an ear on the door briefly and, hearing nothing from inside, kicked the door down in a burst of flame. He walked inside, quickly clearly the doorway so the officers could see inside. The room was empty, tables and chairs overturned in the soldier's apparent rush. As he looked around, he saw nobody on the first floor and a lone stairwell leading to the floor above. Halfway up, the stairs turned a corner, blocking his view to the second floor. He took a few steps, backing away from the stairs, trying to get a better vantage point. He gestured to two of the officers, then at the stairs before dropping into a fighting stance, fists raised to cover his face.
They approached slowly, climbing the stairs one careful step after another. The first officer reached the bend and paused, holding up his hand to stop the officer behind him. He looked back and nodded at Mako, then spun around the corner, arms raised and wires uncoiling at his sides. Nobody moved. Nobody made a sound.
He took another step, then another. The second officer joined him at the bend and turned, quicker now, towards the unseen second floor. He took one more step, disappearing from Mako's view. The stairs creaked and everyone froze.
Suddenly, there was a crash and the officer flew backward, dust streaming from his armour, to hit the officer behind him. Mako could hear rocks clattering down the stairs, sending the second officer stumbling as he tried to keep his balance after the unexpected impact. He rushed over, bounding up the stairs, two, three at a time. As he rounded the corner, two rocks careened down the stairwell, ricocheting off the walls at Mako's head. He dropped into a crouch, letting the rocks fly harmlessly overhead. There were two soldiers standing on the second-floor landing by a pile of rocks, clearly the building had been prepared for an attack.
His left arm lashed out, sending a jet of flame up the stairs. It hit nobody, but Mako wasn't aiming to hit. He dashed up the stairs in its wake, reaching the landing before the flames had cleared. Left, right, punch, kick. Mako struck wildly, throwing flames all over the room. They weren't on target. It didn't matter. Seeing the distraction, the officers gathered themselves and charged the stairs.
"There's no way out and we've got you outnumbered. Give yourselves up now!" Mako said as the last officer reached the second floor and uncoiled his cables, preparing to strike.
"Not quite, there's still one way out," the soldier who had ordered the retreat earlier said. He stretched his arms out to either side. "And you're coming with us!"
As the soldier closed his palms, Mako felt the whole building rumble underneath him. "He's trying to pull down the building. Take them, now!" He ran forward, the seconds feeling like they stretched on, agonizingly into minutes. Each step feeling like an eternity. Like moving through water, he watched the soldier raise his closed fists over his head, close his eyes and mumble something to himself. Then his arms dropped, and the floor went with them. Mako pushed off from a piece of the floor as it started to fall away, desperately reaching out, diving with all the strength he could muster.
The stones fell, burying everyone in the room under their weight.