"Avatar Korra, this isn't a game," Iroh's voice sounded out from his microphone, reaching every set of ears in the vicinity. "You can't fight us all. Surrender now, or else we will aim to kill!" Korra kept a poker face on, but on the inside, she felt like curling into a ball. She just wanted to wake up. Like it was all a bad dream.

"But it isn't," she said quietly. "I've dug myself into this hole, and I have to claw my way out of it now."

"I can't hear you!" Iroh broadcasted. "This is your final warning!"

Korra sighed, and rose up majestically on a water-tornado. She prepared to reach down inside her soul for Raava. She needed every last drop of power for this one. "You know I won't do that, General Iroh! Don't make me use the Avatar State!"

"It's regretful that it's come to this," his voice buzzed around the dock. He looked down to his left, and beckoned for something. Another ice pillar rose up, and Korra's breathing stopped for a moment. Parts of the bay froze up.

"No, no, no…"

Her mother, father and Naga were all tied up in metal cables, with a metalbender she didn't recognise standing over them. Naga was bound by extra thick cables, and despite all her struggling, even she couldn't snap them. But worst of all, was a man who handed her daughter to General Iroh. He carelessly held her daughter in one hand, while she cried, her voice cutting through the night.

"YOU EVIL BASTARDS!" Korra shouted, fury rising up in her. She felt the Avatar State boiling, threatening to break loose, but it wasn't stable. What she felt inside was malevolent, destructive. But she just held it back for the time being. It wasn't safe to go into the Avatar State as emotional as she was.

"You are forcing our hand!" Iroh argued. "Your father and mother will be imprisoned for keeping your presence hidden despite the agreement your father signed! Your sister and dog will be sent to different facilities. Unless you come with us this very instant."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Korra bellowed, and all the ice in the surrounding hundred metres started to crack. But on the pillar General Iroh II stood on and the one beside him, something much more significant happened. The pillars shook, and Iroh stumbled. Korra's daughter slipped out of his hand, and fell the pillar, on her behind.

Korra blinked, unable to believe what she had just seen. A protective ball of air formed around her, and her water-tornado splashed back down into the bay, and she started levitating towards her child. The soldiers started bombarding her with all their respective elements as she approached the pillars, but one wave of Korra's hand blew them back where they came from. Iroh tried to send a flamethrower at her, but she sliced through it with an air slice. His eyes widened as he was smacked off the pillar and sent crashing into a building behind.

The soldiers watched wordlessly as Korra landed softly beside her whimpering child, all of them reeling from her simple redirection. Korra pulled up the trouser leg of her child, and saw bruising on her thigh.

"How. Dare. He?" Korra muttered quietly. She snapped the cables on her parents and Naga with a flick of her finger. She closed her eyes, hugging her baby close. When she opened them, they were glowing. Another ball of air surrounded her, but this time, water, earth and fire collected around it and started circling it in an endless loop. She floated off the pillar, still holding her child tight.

"What's… what's happening? Is it the Avatar State? But if it is, why…" Senna asked as Naga whimpered. Her instincts didn't like what they sensed.

"Yes, but it's different from the time before," Tonraq tried to answer. "I don't know… I don't know why…" He gulped, and looked again to confirm he wasn't hallucinating.

"I don't know why her eyes are glowing red."

Korra hovered above the middle of the bay, and the United Forces found their feet again. They unleashed dozens upon hundreds of water volleys, discs of earth and fireballs. Korra dragged her left hand upwards, and a two-hundred-foot wave rose up at one side. All their attacks barely managed to dent the wave, which just filled the gaps back up in an instant. She thrust it forward, and the wave crashed down on the unfortunate soldiers, and even though a few waterbenders tried to hold it up, Korra just forced it down even more. Over a hundred soldiers were washed off the pier with barely any effort. She did the same to the other pier, and had the exact same result

Inside, Korra felt all of her frustrations boiling to the top through a red tint. All the hurt, anger, frustration, everything. It feels good, doesn't it? A voice whispered in her head. Show them our wrath! Show them the consequences of messing with the Avatar!

Who are you? Korra asked in her mind.

You can't tell? Well, do you remember saying that you would lock me away for another ten thousand years? it hinted, and it suddenly hit Korra as she watched her body wipe out the other pier. She wasn't detached from her body, but it felt like… she was expressing herself, more than anything.

Vaatu! she realised. How are you here? I killed you at Harmonic Convergence!

You cannot destroy me anymore than I can destroy Raava, Vaatu's creepy voice bounded around her head. When you tore open a new spirit portal, I was… revived, in a way. I have fed off of your emotions.

I'll send you right back where you came from! Korra replied. She watched as her body shot down an airship with the largest flamethrower she'd ever produced. It crashed into the water, sinking slowly.

It's not that simple, Korra, his voice rasped. Raava and I are two sides of a coin, we are merely a reflection of your emotions. When you let your emotions get the better of you, I will project my power and release the chains of morality that bind you. You will probably choose to project Raava over myself when going into the Avatar State voluntarily, but, with time, that will change. Humans always stab each other in the back eventually, and your life recently is a perfect example of such. Are you going to let them get away with handling your baby like that?

Where's Raava right now? Korra demanded.

She's the other side of the coin, Vaatu replied. When you're calmer, you might be able to speak to her. But for now, let's put all that learning from the past few months to use. I'll lend you my power.

What do you mean? Korra asked.

That firebender, General Iroh II, as you know him, Vaatu told her. He would have incinerated your child if you hadn't protected her. Take his bending away! You have figured it out with bloodbending. You don't need the full moon, just like with that old man. You have the Avatar State!

That old man? Korra repeated, then remembered the very first time she had bloodbent, against an old man during the daytime who was homophobic to her. That seemed like years ago to her now. That was you?

That was us, Vaatu corrected her, and then his voice vanished. Korra's vision snapped back into focus as the red tint faded and she looked in horror at the harbour. Everything was destroyed. All four airships were sinking in the water, rapidly being evacuated. She floated back down to the surface of the water, where a chunk of ice supported her weight. All of the United Forces were now in full retreat, their tails between their legs.

"Give up, Avatar!"

Korra's head shot around to see Iroh holding her bloodied, beaten up father with a fire dagger to his throat. Tonraq was barely conscious, and Iroh was foaming at the mouth. His usually clean, gelled hair was all over the place. He looked her dead in the eyes.

"It's over!" he declared, a determined glint in his eyes. "Surrender yourself now, or else your father gets it!"

"No!" Korra shouted. "Let him go! That'll be a declaration of war!"

"I need your answer!" Iroh demanded, and inched the fire dagger even closer to Tonraq's skin.

Korra looked down, and closed her eyes. The glowing had disappeared, but even though Vaatu didn't say anything, he didn't need to.

Korra looked up, and the devilish glow had returned.

"Release him now!" Korra and Vaatu's voice demanded at the same time. She stared at General Iroh II.

"You leave me no choice, Avatar!" he declared. "You brought this-"

Iroh's voice suddenly stopped working. He choked a bit, and tried to follow through with slitting Tonraq's throat, but he was stiff. He felt paralysed, but his eyes spotted the moon in the sky and saw that it was only half-full. The fire in his fist went out, and he involuntarily released Tonraq. The Southern Chieftain fell to the ground, hurt, but still alive. Iroh floated towards to the chunk of ice directly in front of Korra. Her ominous, red eyes pierced right through his soul.

"How?" he spluttered out. "Who taught… you… to bloodbend… without the full… moon?"

"The Avatar State dwarfs the power of the full moon too many times to count," Korra answered in her own voice now, completely in control of her actions. She put her free thumb on Iroh's forehead, and shut out all other distractions. A dome of ice quickly covered them, but no soldier was ready for round 2. They all watched quietly in awe, wondering what would happen next.

Korra located all eight of Iroh's chi points. The red glow in her eyes grew stronger, demanding to unleash hell on this sinner's body, but she kept her mind at the task at hand. She located the circulation of blood. The first point was at his left hip. She gathered all her concentration, and sealed the combination of chi and blood. Iroh shook violently, but Korra barely had to pay attention to him to hold him in place.

She went to the second point, and focused deeply before repeating the action. She did the same with the third, and then really concentrated on the fourth. It was the closest to his heart, so she had to be extra careful as so not to stop the pumping action, even though it was tempting. She waited for the tiny break in between pumps, then snapped it shut. She moved over to the other four points, and managed to do them a tiny bit quicker. Overall, Korra spent about a minute doing it, but when she was done, she was certain she didn't sense any internal bleeding. She released her grip on Iroh, and he fell onto his face, panting heavily. He tried to push himself up, but fell back down. Korra used airbending to kick his chin and flip him onto his back.

"Agh!" he exclaimed painfully. He glanced up and saw Korra peering down at him. She spat on him in contempt.

"Go on!" Korra challenged him. "Try anything you want. Any amount of firebending from you has been pathetic so far, so I don't feel there's any need to worry. You should be ashamed to be descended from the Royal Family."

"You know it's bad when a bloodbender talks down to you," Iroh jibed. Then, he suddenly slashed at Korra. Except nothing came out, except for the smallest spark. Not even enough to light a cigarette.

"Not bad for my first time," Korra said smugly, although she wasn't exactly in a cheerful mood. She glanced down at her daughter, who was still in her arms. Her eyes faded back to normal at the sight of her baby.

"I guess it's a family tradition, huh?" Iroh joked sarcastically, but there was no sarcastic smile on his face, just an expression that was weary and exhausted. He let his head drop and passed out on the ice.

"You're not finished yet," Korra said, and turned the ice dome back into water. She didn't let it drop back into the sea though, and gathered it above her head with her free hand. She positioned it above Iroh's body, then released it. It splashed on him and he woke up in a frenzy.

"Wha-wha-wha," he spluttered, then looked up at Korra, and put on a fearless expression. "What are you going to do now?" he asked bitterly. "Kill me?"

Korra didn't answer, but instead weakly slashed fire at him, in view of everyone. He automatically tried to part it, but was just knocked backwards into the water. Korra heard a general murmur of confusion among the soldiers, and she thrust her hand at Iroh. A wave picked him up as he tried to swim away and carried him over to land, before dumping him on the dock. He stayed down, defeated.

"Listen up everyone!" Korra yelled, and the port went silent. "If anyone, and I mean anyone, mistreats my family because they're related to me, they will face my wrath as the Avatar! I just removed General Iroh's firebending, and he can consider himself lucky." Iroh looked down, avoiding the hundreds of eyes that turned to him. "I am not a terrorist, but I am human!" Korra continued. "This is a warning! If you have issues with me, that's fine, but do not bring anyone I'm close to into it!"

Korra looked around and saw her parents barely managing to get up. She bounced her daughter up and down, and she giggled, oblivious to the atmosphere. She looked around, and spotted Mako, but didn't look directly at his eyes.

"I have one more announcement to make," Korra declared. "I'm going to put up a fog. I will beat the living shit out of this army again if anyone removes it with bending. I won't attack you if you follow my rule for a few minutes." A couple of objections raised up from the crowd. "Or does anyone wanna go at it again?" Silence. "Good."

Korra splayed her hand out in front of her, and took a deep breath. When she exhaled, a dense fog appeared out of the water, and crept over the ranks. They all did what she said, and she waited until it had covered them all completely to dive into the water. She created an air-bubble for herself and her daughter. They reached the city's foundation, and Korra placed her hand on the ice. A tunnel ploughed open, and they slid inside. Korra pushed the water back out and froze the entrance shut.

Mako stood there impatiently, barely able to see his own hands. He could hear that Beifong was only a metre or two in front of him, chattering away, but couldn't even make out the outline of her body.

He felt an ice-cold hand tug on the back of his shirt, and he looked behind himself, but of course he couldn't see anything. So he walked forward blindly with his arms out in front of him. Everyone was talking at once, so he couldn't tell who had wanted for him.

Suddenly, the ground underneath Mako gave way. He tried to say something but a tiny slab of ice muffled his cry. He slid down a rough slide and landed on his ass in a small cave. He immediately lit a strong fire in his hand, illuminating the entire space, which was seven metres by seven. Then, he saw a figure in front of him cradling a baby, and he sighed.

"Hey, Mako, you're looking… great," Korra began very awkwardly, mainly because it was a huge lie. His hair was greasy and his fringe was splattered all over his forehead. His clothes were stained in multiple places, mainly with what smelled like beer and vodka. He had a fair bit of facial hair growing patchily, which was very uncharacteristic of him. He shaved three times every two weeks, as she remembered, and he had heavy bags under his eyes. And to add to that list, his eyes were very bloodshot.

"Korra, what's going on!?" Mako demanded. "You'll be lucky not to be facing life in prison if you're caught." Korra sat down opposite him, and gestured for him to get comfy. He reluctantly played along, crouching down. "But I guess that may as well be impossible. You've destroyed four airships and our army effortlessly. We're lucky that Asami's financing it all."

Korra opened her mouth, but somehow, the words that she wanted to come out refused to. "Is she still mad?" was what came out, not even close to what she wanted to say to Mako.

"She's locked herself away, and won't talk to any of her friends. I've tried getting through to her, but I've asked to come in about twenty times and she only let me three times since you left. It's eating her from the inside out." He looked at the baby. "Congratulations. If you're wondering, Asami told me that you were pregnant." Korra opened her mouth to say something, but Mako kept on talking. "Before you go asking, I only told Beifong on a need-to-know basis. It's not something we want to extort."

Korra grimaced. She now knew she had to break the news, but another question which popped into her head strolled out first. "So, you and Beifong are on my side?" Korra asked hopefully, sitting up. She was keeping her girl warm with very light firebending.

"No," Mako answered defiantly. "It's just… we've both had parent issues and we don't see it relevant to the investigation." His breath spiked a little bit before the next question, and he shuddered. "And… your eyes… why were they red?"

"It's nothing you can help me with, if you were offering," Korra said sarcastically. "But seriously though, I'll deal with it myself. I've got very important news to tell you, and we don't have much time. Although you might already know…?" she added.

"Know what?" Mako asked. Korra shut her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, there was just a steely reserve there. She squashed down on all her fears and doubts, and held out her daughter in both hands.

"This is Kalla, your daughter."

Mako's heart skipped two full beats. "What…?"

"This is Kalla, your daughter," Korra repeated. "I would've asked you for your name suggestions, but you weren't around, sadly. But you're here now! Isn't that great?" Her mouth curled into a broad, forced smile.

Mako gaped as Korra held out Kalla for Mako to hold, but he didn't leap in ecstasy and grab his daughter like she'd played out in her mind. "When?" he asked, not able to take it in.

"Oh yeah, you probably haven't connected the dots," Korra said, still smiling and holding out her, no, their daughter. Mako took Kalla and held her awkwardly, like she was a bomb.

"What dots?" he asked.

"Remember when we got drunk in your apartment way back last winter?" Korra reminded him, but didn't wait for a reply. "Yeah, it was then…"

"No," denied Mako, frowning. "This is the first time we've had a conversation in over a year. We've barely seen each other, and anytime I ever tried to talk to you, you just ignored me. I genuinely don't remember."

"Well," Korra said, trying to laugh it off. "I know it seems far-fetched, seeing as you don't seem to remember, but, she's ours! So… hooray!"

The 'hooray' died after echoing around for a tiny bit, and Mako put his hand on his forehead, trying to sort his thoughts out. Korra stayed respectfully quiet while he did this, but the answer he came up with was the furthest from what she had hoped for.

"Look, Korra," Mako started. "I don't know what type of game you're playing, but I'm not stupid! First of all, you run away from Republic City after being caught red-handed bloodbending Asami, and hide away for over half a year. Then you wreck the United Forces, and take away General Iroh's bending, just because you felt like it! And now, you're trying to rope me in with you? Well, it's not gonna work!"

"Iroh dropped Kalla and held a dagger to my dad's throat!" Korra argued. "I can't let people get away with that! I have to send out a message!"

"You're not owning up to your responsibilities!" Mako argued. "What gives you the right to decide whether or not they deserve to have their bending taken away from them?!" He shoved Kalla back into Korra's arms, who instinctively held her tight.

"I have the power, that gives me every right!" Korra responded. "And why don't you want to hold Kalla? You've barely had her."

"That's not my daughter!" Mako stated defiantly. Korra's eyes widened.

"What?!" she asked. She heard him perfectly, but she needed to hear confirmation to make sure her ears weren't playing tricks on her. She put a hand on the ice.

"That. Is. Not. My. Daughter!" Mako repeated, emphasizing every word.

"How could you…" Korra said, breathless. But the worst part was, she'd felt for the vibration of his heartbeat through the ice, and it hadn't sped up while he said that. He genuinely believed what he was saying.

"Don't give me that!" Mako told her. "Now, just come with us before you end up dragging other nations-"

"Don't you ever come near my daughter again, or I'll break every last bone in your body."

Mako's eyes flew open as Korra powered a block of ice into his gut. He slumped down, groaning, and Korra held back the tears as she blew him back up the hole and into the fog again. She felt like kneeling down and crying, but she couldn't waste any more time.

Korra popped up into the fog and sensed for her parents through the ice. It was easy enough to tell, given that there was an ice tent covering them, and everyone was giving even the tent a wide berth. It took her some careful manoeuvring, but she made it over without any more trouble. She held her breath and avoided thinking too much as she entered.

"Korra!" Senna exclaimed, rushing over to hug her daughter. Tonraq did the same and for the next minute they just hugged it out, letting all of their worries go for that brief period.

"I'm so, so sorry," Korra said, breaking the hug. "I've dragged you all into this mess. You'll probably be thrown out as Chieftain, dad." She bumped Kalla up and down, and she giggled happily, innocent.

"Korra, I would never, ever, choose being the Chieftain over your father!" Tonraq reassured Korra, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't you forget that."

"All the fancy servants in the world mean nothing if you're not happy, sweetheart," Senna agreed. "We will always back you up, no matter how bad the situation gets."

"Thanks," Korra told them. "It means a lot more than you guys realise."

"Anytime," Tonraq said. He took his hand off her shoulder. "But there's one or two things we were… wondering about."

"Like what?" Korra asked.

"Firstly, what's your plan for now?" her mom asked. "There's no way you can stay here, there could be attempts on your life!"

"I know," Korra admitted. "I'm thinking of getting a boat to somewhere I've got in mind. I don't know the people who live there, but I think they'll let us stay there for a few days before I figure my next move out."

"Us?" Tonraq repeated. "Korra, I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a great idea for all of us to be travelling together. I think it would be smarter if you went alone."

"No, no," Korra said, "I meant me and Kalla, obviously." Her parents exchanged a nervous glance. "What? What's wrong?"

"Korra," Senna said, taking her hand. "I know this will break your heart, but… your father and I think that it would be best if we minded Kalla. Wait!" she said as Korra began to raise a fierce objection. "Just hear us out." Korra closed her mouth obediently as her mother continued. "You know we're only looking out for the both of you. You'll probably be watching your back 24/7, and taking care of a baby is already stressful enough, as you know." Korra nodded.

"So that's why we think," Tonraq started, "that it would the best for Kalla if you let us take care of her while we wait for this all to blow over."

"But you don't even have the same skin tone!" Korra argued, after taking a moment to let what her parents had suggested sink in. "People will figure that that's not your daughter. It's been okay tonight, but questions will start to come after a while!"

"Korra, please, do it for Kalla," Senna said gently. "All we want is to keep her safe."

Korra looked away, the tears starting to appear again for the second time in an hour. She went up to the wall of the tent and banged her head on it. It was heart-wrenching, what her parents were suggesting.

But the annoying thing was that they were spot on. It had been proven literally ten minutes ago, when General Iroh had dropped Kalla. It was her fault for Kalla being in that situation, and the result was the docks being decimated in her anger. But if she had been unlucky, Kalla could have landed on her head. Korra shuddered at just the thought of it. She noticed Naga at the far end of the tent, watching quietly.

"What do you think I should do, girl?" Korra asked, walking over to her polar bear-dog. But she blinked in surprise when Naga bared her teeth and growled menacingly. Korra then tried to pet her, but got a shock when Naga jumped up onto her hunches and backed away, all the time snarling.

"What… why?" Korra asked in disbelief, standing back. "Naga…"

"Korra," her dad said, "there's something else we need to talk to you about. Your eyes, they were red. What's happened to the Avatar State?"

"I'm not sure," Korra sighed, her shoulders slumping as she turned back to her father. She smiled as she looked at Kalla's content face. "This is the first time my eyes have ever gone red. But it's something that only I can tackle as the Avatar. It clearly bugged Naga though."

"Korra, you don't have to face this alone," Tonraq said, worried. "It's dangerous to bottle up everything inside."

"Thanks, dad, but I don't even know too much about it and how to get rid of it," Korra rejected. "If we need help, I'll look for it however I can."

"That's good to hear,' Senna said. "But we still think that Kalla would be better off with us. Think of the future, her future. Please, Korra."

Korra gazed down at her daughter's light blue eyes. They were full of hope. They looked back at her mother's, and at that moment, Korra realised that she had a responsibility as a parent to look out for her child. She'd already fucked up as the Avatar enough over the last ten months. She could at least try to be realistic about this.

"I love you, Kalla," Korra stated, and tickled her daughter's cheek. Kalla gurgled with happiness, and Korra burnt the image into her memory, before putting on a poker face. She reluctantly handed Kalla to her mom, who held her granddaughter with great care. Korra hugged them all one last time, then looked over at Naga. Naga was giving her a deathly stare, but Korra didn't challenge it, even though it pained her deeply. She walked outside the tent to the edge of the water.

The fog was beginning to lessen up, and in another few minutes, it'd probably be gone. She noticed a speedboat which had drifted out a bit into the ruined bay, and it was fairly intact, apart from a few scratches here and there on the paintwork.

"That's my ride," Korra decided. She froze a raft of ice in the water, and hopped on it. She wobbled a tiny bit, but then used a wave to carry her over. She jumped into the boat, and looked at the controls. She vaguely remembered Asami explaining to her how to drive one of them. She bent a tiny bit of metal off the seat and moulded it into the key-slot. When it fit perfectly, she twisted it, and the engine hummed into life.

Korra used waterbending to turn it around, then accelerated out of the bay. She nearly had a full tank of fuel, which was good, because she was going to need it. As she left the Southern Tribe in the distance, she picked up the map lying on the floor and worked out her route. It would probably take a few days to get there, but she was set on it.

"Next stop, Kyoshi Island."