Sooo close to 400 Reviews now! It makes me so darn happy! Did you know that my personal goal is to reach 600+ Reviews on a story? I've had that dream for years. Dunno why it has to be 600, but that was the number my mind decided to hold on to. Don't ask me why.

Once again reminding you that we are veeery close to the end. I hope you'll love what I have in mind for you...

- MAL

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Chapter 26: Separation I

Amon had never been one to listen to the radio much, but with the recent happenings he found that it was impractical not to keep himself ajour. If something important happened, he needed to be aware. His plans had finally be set into motion, and they required careful monitoring if he were to make sure they did not fail already from the start.

He had recognized the voice of his younger brother, Tarrlok, almost instantly. Despite not having seen him for years, Amon still easily caught that familiar tone in his voice, as the chairman sought to enlighten the inhabitants of Republic City about his plans to stop the Equalists.

Not that it surprised him, really. Of course his brother would go against any movement with the potential to throw him off his seat of power. Luckily, Amon knew that his baby brother posed no real threat to him. Only one person had the true power to stand in his way, and he could not wait to eliminate said obstacle.

He sat there for a moment, leaned back in his chair and listening absentmindedly to his brother rambling, when suddenly something interesting happened. The speakers scratched for a moment, then a girl's voice sounded, loud and clear:

"Amon, I challenge you to a duel. No task force, no chi-blockers, just the two of us, tonight at midnight on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this thing. If you're man enough to face me."

There was not a second of doubt that this girl was the Avatar, the one and only; barely had her voice begun booming out through the speakers when he recognized her as well, but not from personal experience – he knew she was young, barely an adult by age, and she was fierce. It could only be her.

Her direct and personal invitation to a duel fascinated and humoured him at the same time. She had guts, he had to admit that - but he liked it. It would be much better killing her when she fought back. The Avatar becoming a martyr was something he could not afford; no, he would goad her to her partial self-destruction, and he would enjoy it.

She was like porcelain – sturdy, but not unbreakable. It just required the right amount of force to shatter her entirely.

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The second the Avatar jumped head-first into the raging sea, Amon felt his heart skipping a beat.

Roaring in desperation, he lunged forward to the edge of the cliff – almost too violently and too close, as he was about to topple over and join her dive.

The darkness of night merged with the splashing water beneath him, making it practically impossible to see anything, to make out her tanned silhouette amongst the black waves and shadowy rocks.

"Fetch a flashlight!" he ordered someone behind him, not daring to look away from the moving deep even just for a moment. Somewhere down there she was, either alive or killed by the jump, and he needed to catch any sign that she was still breathing. She had to be. Needed to be.

Someone handed him the requested flashlight seconds later, and Amon quickly let the cone of light search between sharp rocks and whipping sea foam, but no sign of the Avatar.

Soon three more lights joined his in the search. Amon kept focusing right beneath the cliffs where the waves crashed angrily against the wall-like stone formation, while the others let their lights zip around, one seeking to illuminate the rippling water surface about twenty metres ahead. But Amon doubted she had even gotten that far. The waves were simply too undefiable at this point. Swimming was not a possibility.

Minutes passed without progression. Running out of patience, Amon considered jumping in as well if that meant he would find her. But he knew that it was idiotically dangerous to do so, and he might end up just like her – or even worse.

"Sir, I think she's gone," someone said finally. "Perhaps we should continue looking tomorrow."

Just as Amon parted his lips to disagree, he caught a sudden glimpse of skin, but it was gone within half a second as if nothing had happened. She was there. He had seen her. But there was only one way to get her out...

"Sir?" the person continued.

"Leave."

Hesitating, the three soldiers awaited an explanation, but when their leader insisted on ignoring them, they finally turned off their flashlights and stepped back.

"Are you not coming, sir?" asked another one.

"I will be there shortly. Go to bed," Amon replied, gesturing for the door, still not daring to look away from his target.

Another moment of hesitation passed before they turned and headed back toward the base. Counting to ten in his head, Amon made sure he was alone before unleashing his secret powers.

Bending slightly in his knees, he used his arms to pull the nearest body of water closer to the edge of the cliff. It was quite difficult controlling such an enormous amount of liquid when he had spent the past thirty years perfecting the delicate art of blood-bending. Moving a part of the sea closer felt overwhelming, but he would not give up, would not let her get away or lose her.

Once he had raised the levels of the water nearest the cliff, he started pulling the waves up over ground. Saltwater splashed in over the edge in rhythmic cascades, pushing at his boots again and again, nearly forcing him off his feet at one point; then, as he had intended, her lifeless body was carried along in a wave, and finally she slumped to the ground.

Pushing the excess water back into the sea, Amon hurried over to the Avatar, dropping to his knees by her side. Her skin was cool to his touch and her pulse was either nearly gone or entirely nonexistent.

She could not die just yet. He would not allow it!

Blood-bending had proved to be a quite versatile ability countless of times in his past, but in truth, Amon was not sure if it could be used to save lives as well. He would not give up without trying, however.

So he leaned in over her, using his control over her bloodstream to provoke her heart, pumping repeatedly. Again and again. Pausing, he slid his mask aside, bent down and pressed his mouth against hers, blowing deeply twice, before resuming the pumping – repeating the cycle several times.

But she did not move, did not breathe, and he felt as panic washed in over him. This could not be happening!

Just as the first beads of sweat had formed by this temples and he was about to lose hope, a stream of water suddenly started spilling from the corner of her mouth, followed by a series of coughing. Rolling her over, he helped her empty her lungs of saltwater until they stopped wheezing almost entirely. When the coughing finally subdued, she slumped back to the ground, gravely still, but undeniably alive.

Sighing in relief, Amon slid his mask back in place, rose to feet, and picked the Avatar up from the ground, holding her close as he carried her inside.

If there was something he had learned from this disaster, it was that she could not stay here in this base. She posed a too great distraction to him. Too many troubles in a time when everything needed to run smoothly if they should maintain hope of being ready in time for Saturday. She was too problematic right now.

That, and the fact that what he was feeling for her, whatever the hell it was, was becoming far too risky and dangerous to himself and his ultimate goals. Her mere presence could end up compromising everything he had ever worked to achieve, and he was not interested in allowing himself to fall at her feet entirely. Tonight, he had been too damn close to risking his life in order to save hers, but he would never put her above himself ever again.

Ever.

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The sound of a running engine was the first thing Korra registered as she slowly came to senses. An immense pain in her skull followed, her head throbbing, aching, stinging.

Wanting to lift her fingers to assess the painful lump behind her right ear, she soon realized that she was tied up and could barely move. Only after that she truly became aware of her surroundings.

She was lying on the backseat of a car, her knees bent so that somebody had been able to cram her inside while she had been unconscious.

At first she had hoped that whoever had found her had just tied her up until making sure whether she was a friend or foe. At least this was what she hoped dearly, because that would mean she had finally succeeded in getting away from Amon.

But, as her sight had finally regained most of its usual reliability, she soon realized that the uniformed driver in front of her was an Equalist, or at least clad like one. She assumed it meant the same in the end.

Testing the rope bindings for a moment, she sighed, slumping her head down onto the cushioned seat once again; of course they were nothing short of perfect – tight and absolutely unmovable. She was not getting away from this one, that was for sure.

Two questions formed in her wary mind: What had happened, and where were they taking her?

She remembered being almost free. The feeling of flying for a split second, before plunging into the cold water, where everything went black. What had happened down there? And how had they managed to get her up? If she remembered correctly, the cliff had been surprisingly tall...

Unable to find other possible explanations, she figured that they had simply used some sort of fishing net or ropes to catch her and drag her out of the sea. On her way up she had probably hit the cliff or something, because she did not remember how she had earned the bruised bump behind her ear.

But, even with that mystery solved, she still did not know where or why they were relocating her. And the fact that Amon was not the one guarding her personally was a surprise, even though she did not miss his presence even for a second. Yet, the lack of it planted disturbing ideas in her mind, and right now anxiety was the least thing she needed to experience. So she brushed it off, concentrating instead on the nature passing hastily by the car windows.

For a while, all she could see was forest. Every now and then glimpses of sky broke through the treetops, but the blue was quickly replaced by dark greens and browns. After some time she concluded that she had absolutely no idea where they were going. Not that it meant much, however, because she was certain that she would remain a prisoner wherever they took her. The fact that they had tied her up like this was not to be mistaken.

Looking down at herself, she was reminded that she was still wearing the slightly-too-tight men's uniform which she had stolen. One of the buttons had popped open on her chest, and the fabric by her left upper arm was sliced open several places. The hammer that had been fastened to her belt earlier had been taken away, and the inner soles of the oversized boots were still soaked from the dive. Outside on the black leather were faint white splotches where the saltwater had dried.

Bored, she rubbed the salt off on the car seat, leaving stains, then proceeded to watch the toecaps uninterestedly for a while.

She did not care where they took her, as long as he was not there as well.

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The drive did not take more than half an hour or so, as far as she knew. But she really could not be sure, seeing as she had been asleep for an unknown amount of time up until then. For all she knew, they could have been driving since midnight. She doubted it, however; what would Amon gain from having her transported this far away from him?

Finally, the car pulled into some sort of courtyard, gravel hissing beneath the weight of the Satomobile and its two occupants. Only then, Korra realized that another car had been following them closely; the gravel cracked as the other car parked next to the one Korra was in, and a growing nervousness settled in her stomach. What if he was actually in the other car?

The doubt abated soon enough, however, as the door by her head opened, and Equalists in standard uniforms proceeded to drag her out of the vehicle. Once her torso had been pulled out, another Equalist grabbed her legs as well, and she was lifted like a tree log all the way inside the building. Needless to say, she felt they were kind of stupid, until she remembered that despite her loss of weight during her captivity, her muscle mass actually made her heavier than most people could easily carry.

And right she was, because the second they had entered the building, she was dropped carelessly onto the floor.

Barely had Korra time to look around in this new prison of hers, because as soon as she had collided with the wooden floor, two Equalists proceeded to turn her around and renew the chi-blockade still lingering in her system. She bit her bottom lip and accommodated the stabs without complaint.

As the two Equalists then decided to unload the cars, the third knelt beside Korra, holding forth a pair of kali sticks, which Korra knew from experience were electrified.

"I am going to untie you now. You will follow me without a struggle, do you understand?" the person spoke from behind their helmet. When Korra did not reply immediately, the Equalist added: "Amon has granted us permission to use these on you as much as we see fit. Of course, we'd prefer that it was not necessary at all..."

It was a laughably cheesy way of threatening her, but as much as she wanted to retort, truth was that she too preferred that the kali sticks were not used on her. So biting back all resistance, she nodded, keeping her expression as indifferent as possible.

Once her bindings had been removed, Korra rubbed her wrists and then proceeded to asses the still stinging bump on the side of her head. A small line of scab told her that she had been cut open at some point, presumably by a sharp rock, and the sore crust also revealed that the wound had not been cleaned, or at least not thoroughly enough. She would need to tend to it at the first given opportunity; an infection this close to her brain was not to be trifled with, especially not when she was this far away from the nearest town and somewhat decent healers. None of the three Equalist soldiers here were schooled in the arts of healing, she was certain. Learning to fight and being brainwashed by Amon's propaganda was all they did.

Without further word, the Equalist began walking, and Korra followed behind. She was led to the left and through a hallway with a series of identical doors. They stopped at the end, and the Equalist gestured casually toward the last door.

Confused, Korra turned the handle, not sure what to expect. What she found was a room with spartan furnishing; a bed, a dresser, a minor two-seater couch, an empty bookcase, and a door leading to a small, private bathroom. Metal bars blocked the window at the far end of the room.

"So...?" Korra mumbled questioningly, eyeing the stranger by her side. Green goggles stared back, silently awaiting.

"I get that you want me to go in, but what exactly am I doing here? Why have you relocated me?" the Avatar continued.

"Get in," the Equalist replied simply, ignoring her question. When Korra still showed hesitation, the stranger clicked the buttons on the kali sticks, and immediately an electric hum told Korra that she was about to be in even more trouble.

"Alright, alright," she snapped, finally entering the room.

"And you will stay here," the Equalist said firmly before leaving, closing the door. Korra did not fail to notice the lack of a click in the lock, but even though a light feeling of relief erupted inside of her, she was certain it did not mean she was free. With those electrified kali sticks, the truth was probably quite the contrary.

Taking place on the couch, she sighed, resting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands, eyes closed. Her temples and eye sockets were still pounding painfully, her skull aching mercilessly. But the uncertainty was the worst; the fact that nobody would enlighten her about her sudden transmission worried her, and she could not ignore the thought in the back of her mind telling her that something huge and terrible was about to happen.