"Kyoshi."

"Korra."

"It's so good to meet you!" Korra exclaimed, excited. "I've got a million questions I've been dying to ask you!"

"This… this isn't like before," Kyoshi realised immediately. "This isn't Raava. How did you summon me without Raava?"

"I used the extra power from the new spirit portal to summon your spirit," Korra told the mirage sitting in front of her. "Aang told me how to."

"A new spirit portal?" Kyoshi asked. "What do you mean 'new'?"

"Don't you know?" Korra asked, surprised. "You're a spirit, surely you would've felt it."

"My soul has been resting on this island ever since I died, and I've only been woken up to give guidance to other Avatars," Kyoshi told Korra. "Creating a new spirit portal sounds like a huge task. If you really managed to do that, well done."

"Thanks," Korra said. "Practically no-one in Republic City is happy with it though, apart from the Air Nation, so I've gone through a lot of trouble because of it, and now the spirits want me to close it. So, it's nice to hear someone actually complement me on it."

"I merely meant that it was an extraordinary feat of power," Kyoshi corrected herself. "I don't suppose you can make it vanish, if it's so unpopular? You are capable of closing it, aren't you?"

"Yes," Korra said, "but in order to talk to you, I needed to open it. I tried as many different ways as possible, but in the end, this was the only one that worked."

"In that case, talk," Kyoshi told her. "I don't want to be woken up every time you're at a crossroads, so let it all out now. What's the issue you're dealing with?"

"First of all…" Korra started, then tried to decide which one was most urgent. "First of all, my Avatar spirit is corrupted. I tore open a new portal because there was a giant spirit laser tearing up Republic City, and I just tried to redirect the power. But it also recharged Vaatu in a way, and now, him and Raava are constantly struggling against each other in my body. I can't think of any way to get rid of Vaatu again, so I thought you might have an idea."

"I thought something was wrong," Kyoshi mentioned. "That… is a massive problem. I almost never mediated into the spirit world back in my day, so I honestly can't give you much advice on that alone. Has he shown himself? Is there any effect on the Avatar State?"

"Yes," Korra answered. "I didn't sense it at all until a few days ago in the South Pole, but when I became furious at a general, I went into the Avatar State, except my eyes glowed red this time. I beat an army into submission. I lost my self-control while doing it, but, the thing is… it felt so right. I don't know if I could've stopped it, but I didn't even try."

"I know the story of Raava and Vaatu well," Kyoshi said. "But you had mastered the Avatar State by the time we were severed, hadn't you?"

"Yeah, and I'm completely in sync with Raava now," Korra told Kyoshi. "I don't know if it's a discipline issue, or something else. Did you ever lose control of yourself when you first tried to master the Avatar State?"

"Yes," Kyoshi admitted. "I let my emotions get the better of me multiple times, and misused the Avatar State to express my anger when I was young. I almost never remembered it when I lost control, and when I did, it was always very vague. But you described it as if you knew what was happening, but let it go on. Am I right?"

"He dropped my daughter carelessly," Korra explained. "And they all defended him by attacking me, so I just let them have it."

"Hmm," Kyoshi said, thinking hard. After a moment, she said; "I would say that if you were using Raava's light, what you did could be looked at as an abuse of power. But the natural order of Vaatu is anarchy, as is order to Raava. If you really have mastered the Avatar State, you wouldn't have gone into it so emotional. So therefore, I would hazard a guess that Vaatu influenced your rational thinking to a degree. You may never get rid of his spirit for all I know, but he can mostly likely be tamed, and controlled with your will. But you still must assume responsibility for what happened. If you don't, then it will become a habit, blaming all your problems on Vaatu. You have to get a hold on this problem as soon as possible."

"Do you really think I can do that?" Korra asked. "He fed off my negative emotions, how I can I stay positive all the time?"

"Develop strict self-discipline," Kyoshi answered. "Fasting is a good way to do it. You always had the tenacity to face your problems head on before. The only shackles you have as the Avatar are the ones you place on yourself."

"Ok," Korra began, taking a few seconds to memorise Kyoshi's advice. "That actually brings me on to another question. I've learnt how to use bloodbending, which is illegal, and in the past year I've used it on a few occasions. One was against a gang when I couldn't use the Avatar State, as I was pregnant. But as soon as all the law enforcement heard about it, they kept a watch on me, and caught me doing it again. They tried to arrest me, but I escaped. That's why I was fighting an army in the South Pole a few days ago. They were trying to capture me."

"What's your question?" Kyoshi pointed out.

"My question," Korra said, "is… is it okay to use bloodbending? The second time was purely a mistake, I just tried to reach out for my then-girlfriend when she was walking away, but I still did it."

"You finally realised it, huh?" Kyoshi commented. "Took you long enough."

"Realised what?" Korra said.

"That you like women too," Kyoshi said. "You were nearly an adult and didn't know by the time we were severed."

"That I like women?" Korra repeated. "Oh, I've known for over a year now. But I really need someone like you to answer my question on bloodbending. Not many people can help me on this"

"Very well," Kyoshi said. "However, it is a stupid question, although if you're being hunted across the world, I suppose you might be a little confused."

"What do you mean stupid?" Korra asked, slightly insulted.

"Bending is not evil, nor righteous," Kyoshi explained. "It simply exists, just like poison. Bending has been misused for unnecessary wars too many times to count, but back when it was first granted to us humans, it was to defend ourselves in the wild, like a poisonous slug. Poison is only produced by the slug naturally to ward off predators, as the Avatar State is a defence mechanism to protect the Avatar.

"Bloodbending, as you describe its public standing today, could be compared to firebending not even eighty years ago, in the earth kingdom or water tribes. Or lavabending in my day. Just an expression of bending. But the general misuse of bloodbending for the wrong purposes, like Yakone with Aang, or Amon with yourself, has shunned its users."

"So you're saying bloodbending is good?" Korra asked.

"It has generally been used for the wrong purposes," Kyoshi corrected her. "But in the instance of when that man Tarrlok used it to subdue you is a good example. He may have had bad intentions in general, but he just used bloodbending to stop you from using firebending to give him third degree burns. He didn't abuse his power, he only brought it out as a last resort. The exact same way the Avatar State is intended."

"So, when I used it against the Triads, that was okay because I had no other option, and it was acceptable because they were going to kill me?" Korra asked, understanding what Kyoshi meant by Tarrlok bloodbending her.

"Right on the money," Kyoshi told her. "But when you bloodbent your ex-girlfriend, that was wrong. I would give you a pass on that one if it were up to me, seeing as you couldn't control it, but the consequences of that are evident, regardless of whether or not you meant well. No bending is evil, no matter how dangerous. The bender themselves determine that."

"That is so much more helpful than you can possibly imagine," Korra told Kyoshi sincerely. Korra had just been given an unbiased answer, and it gave her so much confidence.

"If you need me to say it, you should explore the other elements as well," Kyoshi stated, and suddenly a memory which Korra hadn't thought about too much popped up.

The words Kyoshi had just uttered were the exact same as Zaheer's. And even though Korra hated to admit it, all the recent events pointed to the notion that Zaheer had maybe been right, especially if such a strong Avatar was on the same wavelength as him. Granted, Zaheer did abuse his airbending, but both Zaheer and Kyoshi were very intelligent people, and didn't say anything without considering it carefully.

"I'll… think about it," Korra said. "But, there's more I need to tell you. You see, when he dropped my daughter, Kalla, I went into Avatar State using Vaatu, with red eyes, and smashed him into a wall. But when I had returned to normal and was holding my baby, he threatened my dad's life. I went back into the Avatar State with Vaatu, but I would've used Raava if not to follow through on what I was going to do. I separated him from my dad with bloodbending, and then, in my rage, I consciously took away his firebending."

"You were able to energybend while infuriated?" Kyoshi asked, surprised. "Wouldn't that have back-fired?"

"No, I used bloodbending to do it. I got a few pointers on how to go about it, but I figured out most of it by myself," Korra told the image of the massive woman. Kyoshi's eyes widened, the only change in her expression the entire conversation so far.

"That's remarkable!" she complemented, amazed. The she resumed her neutral expression a second later. "But you don't know if that was an abuse of your power or not?"

"That's right," Korra confirmed. "I partially did it to scare away anyone else that might try to attack my family for being close to me, but I wanted to make him hurt so bad."

"Well," Kyoshi started, choosing about her words carefully. "I can tell you, without a doubt, that if anyone had hurt my child, I may very well have killed them. While I don't think that taking away a person's bending is a power that you should use without heavy consideration, it was a good decision in that case. You would know better than me on this anyway. You had your bending taken away yourself, so you have personal experience. If it was only to protect your parents and your daughter, you, especially as a mother, have the right to use whatever power you can to protect her. But I warn you – always keep perspective, otherwise, you are not serving your duty as the Avatar."

"I will," Korra promised, then waited a moment before asking her next question. "I'm not sure if you've already answered this, but I don't want to be second-guessing you later. Only the people that are close to me don't want me in jail, and even with that, I've pushed away some of my best friends in one way or another. There was a whole army sent after me because of the laws I broke, but I've ran away from the law time and time again. Should I turn myself in, and face the consequences of disobeying the law, or keep running?"

"You've matured greatly from the hot-head teenager I remember," Kyoshi acknowledged with a smile. "I suppose being a mother will do that to you too."

"It's been on my mind for longer than that," Korra told her.

"Yes, it probably has," Kyoshi agreed. "It has always been the Avatar's sole duty to serve the people, and you must always hold that highest in your priorities. Otherwise, we would be no more than a glorified dictator, using our divine power to hand out judgement, if we didn't respect that fact. But the harsh truth is, you can't always be the good guy. Sometimes, you have to do what no-one else will do, even if it hurts you to think about doing it, even if you will be the scapegoat afterwards.

"If you don't act when you have the chance to stop a problem, the rash will spread. Avatar Roku is a perfect example. He was a good man, but he let his personal friendship with Fire Lord Sozin blind him. He spared Sozin because of their previous friendship, but it came back and he has forever felt guilty about the 100-Year-War."

"Are you suggesting that I kill my friends if they try to detain me?" Korra challenged, ready to dispute with Kyoshi.

"No, Roku is an extreme case," Kyoshi cleared up. "But you know better than anyone else alive the dilemmas of being the Avatar and serving all people. At the same time, you have to back what you believe is right. Do not become a puppet to world leaders for fear of being ostracized."

"But I have become ostracized, and now I'm unable to show my face at my own home-city!" Korra argued. "How can I go about serving people if they want me locked up?"

"There was a time when the Earth King tried to have me locked up for disobeying him, when I was the only person who could stop the uprising in Ba Sing Sae," Kyoshi started.

"I've heard the story before," Korra told her. "It's the most commonly told story about you."

"You may not have heard all the details," Kyoshi informed Korra, and the water-tribe woman tilted her head. "He tried to force me to do his bidding, but I forced him to cower and respect my opinion. He was only looking out for the Upper Ring, but I submissed him into granting basic rights to the peasants. If I let myself be taken away to prison, they would've rioted throughout Ba Sing Sae without restraint. I can guarantee you that, if you turn yourself in now, a crisis will emerge that only you have the power to stop, and it will leave you aching with regret when you can't do anything about it."

"What are you trying to get across?" Korra asked, not really getting the way Kyoshi was phrasing her sentences.

"Rulers of all kinds must obey your authority as the Avatar, whether they like it or not," Kyoshi stated, loud and clear. "They all come crawling back eventually when they realise that an Avatar was put on the planet for a reason. If they won't admit it, the people will."

"What if there's a war going on, and I'm told to keep out of it?" Korra asked, trying to get a good grasp of Kyoshi's logic.

"Then you are obliged as the Avatar to stop it. You were given the power to sustain peace and order. If you pretend that it's not your problem, then you are embodying Vaatu's purpose of existence; chaos and violence. Like I said before, you will have to make hard decisions in your life. It is your fate. Tyrants will thrive on your passiveness otherwise."

"So, should I go killing whoever I find guilty?" Korra asked, not fully convinced by Kyoshi yet. "That's just being a tyrant itself."

"Only if absolutely necessary," Kyoshi told her. "But Aang revolutionised the role of the Avatar, and you have the ability to uphold his legacy. He knew that taking away one's bending was a violation worse than any, less preferable than death to some, and he used it wisely. Only you can decide whether or not to use your power on those who may, or may not, deserve it. Therefore, you must be absolute in your conviction and its logic. This goes for all your decisions in general as well."

Korra looked up at the ceiling, thinking deeply about what Kyoshi had told her. Kyoshi just waited there patiently, letting Korra mull it over. It was a lot to take it, but Korra had absorbed every word.

She's talking from well over two hundred years of experience, Korra thought. That's what she's concluded from her lifetime. I don't know the next time I'll get to talk to Kyoshi, if I ever do again. She knows better than me, who's only been in the outside world for five years, and half of that hasn't been serving anyone.

"That was really, really helpful," Korra told Kyoshi after a few minutes, and Kyoshi accepted the gratitude with a curt nod. Korra stood up. "You've helped me hammer in what it means to be the Avatar, or to remind myself, more so. I'm not flawless, but I'll do what I think is best. I'll accept advice from others, but I won't let anyone force their political ideals on me. I'll make the world leaders accept me, but not at the expense of the ordinary citizens. Thank you for your wisdom, Avatar Kyoshi."

"Spot on," Kyoshi said, and Korra began to walk to the door. "Wait," she called out. "I have a request to make of you, if you don't mind."

"A favour?" Korra asked, twisting her body around. "Sure, what is it?"

"I reckon that since you connected with my spirit and summoned me here without Raava, that others will be capable of that too," Kyoshi began. "Maybe only a few have the ability, but I wish not to be disturbed by anyone, other than the Avatar if they need guidance."

"That's fine," Korra accepted, and started to keep walking.

"And a message. And a question for you as well," Kyoshi added. Korra turned around fully.

"What else do you want me to tell them?" Korra asked.

"I want you to tell the Kyoshi Warriors that I'm aware of everything they've done, and I couldn't be prouder to have them named after myself," Kyoshi said clearly, and although she was a mirage, Korra could see the meaning in her eyes.

"Of course," Korra said with a smile. "And what did you want to ask me?"

"What's your plan? Where do you intend to go next?" Kyoshi questioned, more to get Korra thinking than for her own curiosity.

"I…" Korra trailed off, her mind blank for a few moments. But then one place appeared in her mind, and she knew at that moment that there was nowhere else she could even contemplate going, now that she had thought of it. "I know exactly where I want to go."

"Where?" Kyoshi asked.

"Crescent Island," Korra answered definitively.

"Ah, I see," Kyoshi said. "That's smart. You intend on speaking to Roku. It's always good to get a variety of opinions."

"Maybe I'll do that too," Korra said, raising an eyebrow from the mirage of Kyoshi. "But I've got a bigger reason than that. I'm going to take your advice on exploring all the different types of bending. I'm going to learn how to combustion bend."