"I'll miss you, Korra," Soma said as Korra stepped onto the boat. Korra had spent the last three weeks on Kyoshi Island, training in secret with the warriors, as a favour. While she hadn't been to go and greet the people of Kyoshi Island, all the Kyoshi Warriors had been sparring with her. She had stayed at their request, as they had never had any experience fighting a master airbender before.

Korra had cut her hair, which had reached her waist, back to shoulder-length. She'd only grown it out for Asami, and she found she actually preferred it short, but forgot about it while in the South Pole. It was more practical, and she certainly didn't care about her appearance anymore.

"I'll miss you too," Korra said, pulling Soma into a hug. "You've all learnt so quickly. You can take on just about any airbender now, I have no doubt."

Soma looked down at the wood of the pier they were standing on. "Hey… is it really true? What Avatar Kyoshi said about us?"

Korra smiled. "It is," she reassured Soma. "Avatar promise."

"Thank you, Korra," Soma said. "I know we didn't get off to a great start, but you're a great friend, and Avatar too. Whatever happens with the rest of the world, just know that you'll always be welcome on Kyoshi Island. Sparring with you has been invaluable."

"I'll come back sometime in the future," Korra promised, and hopped on her small boat. It was 3am, so no-one would be up to see her. Ty Lee had swept the mysterious speedboat under the rug very slyly, and nobody on the island had mentioned it again after a few days. Korra regretted not being able to stay longer, but at the same time, she was restless. The Kyoshi Warriors had very kindly leant her a boat, a map and a compass. Korra refused to take too much of their food, as she could fish very easily.

Soma waved sadly as Korra created a current to take her out of the bay. Korra waved back, then focused on getting her directions right. It would take her about a week to get to Crescent Island, seeing as she wasn't an experienced sailor.

In the meantime, she would probably spend her free time fretting in her mind over how Kalla was doing. It tore away at Korra not to be able to see her baby, but she was a little better at handling it now. A few Kyoshi Warriors, who had been mothers themselves, helped Korra through the times when they weren't sparring. She had created countless sculptures of what Kalla looked like to pass the heart-breaking hours, but none of them did justice to her beauty.

Korra was not a good sailor. Even though she had been walked through how to use a map thoroughly back on the island, she was still fairly hopeless. She went off course numerous times, and ended up on a couple of different islands over the next ten days. She didn't actually know what Crescent Island was meant to look like. From what she'd been told by the warriors, there were roughly one hundred and fifty to two hundred elite firebenders living on the island. No contact was allowed from anyone on the island to the outside world, apart from the higher-ups, who ran the drug operation. They imported fresh dirt and grew mainly heroin, but also prepared a ton of meth.

If we know this, why hasn't the Fire Nation gone after it yet? Korra had asked as she replayed the conversation in her mind a dozen times.

They fight to the last man, Soma had answered. And dealing with one combustion bender is hard enough, so you've told me, so sixty is probably impossible to invade. Zuko and his daughter Izumi have tried countless times, but by this stage they've just given up. They don't go invading the Fire Nation, so everyone's just too tired to keep trying. Also, there are rumours from deserters that their leader has a heart of steel.

What's their leader's name? Korra asked.

Only combustion benders have ever claimed to know that, Soma answered, but none of them have ever broke. The fear of their leader finding out is too much of a risk, apparently.

Do you think they'll let me in, seeing as I'm not Fire Nation? Korra posed the question. P'li told me to go there, but she never actually learnt there. She was only taught by a guy who'd been sent over.

I don't know, Soma had said truthfully. You'll just have to hope that they'll teach the Avatar. My advice though, is that if they start being hostile, get out of there as fast as possible. You'll need to think of a very good reason for them to teach you though. I can't help with that.

Korra spent her days thinking of different ways that would hopefully give them a good enough reason to take her in, but she couldn't think of any that didn't break the law, unfortunately. She was adamant now that her using bloodbending wasn't wrong, but she wasn't going to use it if possible. She groaned, as she knew that going on that island probably warranted a sentence, to add to the numerous she already had by now.

Ten days after setting out from Kyoshi Island, Korra spotted Crescent Island. She knew that it had been very sentimental to Avatar Roku, and she certainly got a spiritual vibe from it. Raava's energy surged within her as they got closer, trying to clamp down on Vaatu, who was about equal with Raava in terms of energy up until that point. Korra couldn't talk to either of them, no matter how hard she tried. She had gotten a few sounds when she went into the Avatar State with Raava, but nothing she could make out, despite the fact that she had been able to converse with Vaatu. Too busy fighting.

Korra made out a couple hundred small, grey, squat houses on the side of the dormant volcano as she got closer. They were all very plain, two rooms each, and a dark red slanted roof on top. They might've gone into the ground, but Korra couldn't tell. None of them had windows either, making it look very bleak. She heard explosions as combustion benders practiced, and saw flashes of blue and red fire as firebenders fought. It was more like a military camp than anything, with about thirteen Agni Kai arenas set up across the mountainside. Korra braced herself; she might definitely have to make a hasty retreat.

Korra docked at their tiny port, seeing a couple of submarines there beside her. She tied down her vessel and hopped onto the port. Immediately, three firebenders ran out from behind a corner and stopped in front of her. They held out their fists, ready to fight, although thankfully, none of them were combustion benders. She spotted a combustion bender watching her from a guard tower, though. She put her hands up, and smiled.

"State your purpose for being here or else get the fuck away before we blast you off this port!" one growled.

"Hi, I want to learn how to combustion bend," Korra greeted. "This place has a brilliant rep, so I thought I'd come here."

"Cut the bullshit!" he warned. "You clearly water tribe, and even if you are a firebender, we only let people who were raised in the Fire Nation train here. So piss off!"

"I'm not welcome back in the South," Korra tried, not wanting to reveal who she was unnecessarily. "I would be honoured to learn here at such a prestigious organisation."

"Cut the lip-service!" the man growled, and brought his fist back to throw a fire-punch at Korra. But Korra got into a defensive stance, one of the guys beside him grabbed the first man's wrist. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Lee, I think I recognise her," he said, not letting go of Lee's wrist. "This is gonna sound retarded, but I think she might be the Avatar. Look at her. I swear it's her. I saw a picture of her in the papers a little while back when I was living on the mainland."

"The Avatar?" Lee repeated, then looked back at Korra. Korra nodded to confirm this, not able to hide her identity very long, but still kept her hands up.

"That's all the more reason to kill her then!" the third man came in, and Korra took a step back, ready to start swimming. "She's probably here to destroy what we got going here, for the Fire Lord!"

"I'm on nobody's side!" Korra stated. "I've been on the run for a while now. I fought the entire United Forces just about a month ago. They'd happily lock me up right now if they could."

"The fuck you are!" Lee said, and broke out of the second man's hold. He threw two fire-uppercuts and an upwards fire kick at Korra, but she just spun out of the way of all three effortlessly. She didn't retaliate, still not wanting to fight if possible. She heard the guard on the watch-tower call for reinforcements as the man named Lee threw a barrage of attacks at her. She dealt with them all easily, but soon enough though, fifteen more firebenders came around and surrounded her. There was one combustion bender in there too, to add to the one on the watch-tower.

"I'm not here to fight, for crying out loud!" Korra shouted, trying to cover her back, but having trouble dealing with Lee at the exact same time. She could have knocked him out without a problem, but it wouldn't have been smart with all his friends around.

"Stop it, Lee!" a man's voice called out, and Lee froze. His attacks stopped that very instant, and Korra breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said, looking around for the person who had ordered Lee to stop. She saw the only other combustion bender there, a tall man with long black hair and tight features, step forward in front of Korra. He stared at her, and she figured she wouldn't be able to dodge a combustion bender only a few metres in front of her. She bowed respectfully.

"Don't go making assumptions just yet," he snarled with a deep voice. "Under normal circumstances, I'd have you killed right here and now. We select who we deem powerful enough to come to the island, anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't dare come near here uninvited. Had you arrived not even a year ago, I'd have killed you without hearing you out."

"So you know about what happened at the South Pole?" Korra asked, and the man's mouth grew into a menacing smile.

"Most people here are shut off from the outside world, but I was chosen for my loyalty to the Master to keep an eye on domestic and international affairs," he told her. Although his hair was black, he looked about forty or fifty. "And it was virtually impossible not to hear about what you did. But I do have one question to ask you. If you refuse, I'll have you killed. We are nothing like you've ever faced before, so I wouldn't advise it."

"Go ahead," Korra accepted.

"Did you take away the firebending of General Iroh II?"

A moment of hesitation. Then Korra answered. "Yes. And I don't regret it." Many of the firebenders visibly looked worried by her admission, but the man just accepted it with glee.

"You don't intend on giving it back, do you?" he questioned.

"I made it very clear what happens to anyone who messes with my family because of a problem they have with me. So no, I don't intend on it in the near future," Korra stated calmly, keeping eye contact. "I can restrict your bending temporarily with bloodbending while I work on removing it permanently, so just because you can combustion bend doesn't mean I can't touch your forehead."

"Is that a threat?" he challenged.

"It's simply a fact," Korra declared, not backing down. "And I don't intend to use it unless absolutely necessary."

"I will consult the Master about you," he revealed, then raised his voice for everyone to hear. "I am going to mediate to speak to our Master, do not assault the Avatar unless provoked! I'll be back whenever the Master sees fit." With that, rockets of blue fire burst out of his hands and feet, and he flew off to behind a building, to where Korra couldn't reach him with an attack.

He did that so casually, Korra thought as she watched him fly off. It took Korra a lot of concentration, to even hold rockets for more than a few seconds. Yet he did it as it was more convenient than just walking. She also noticed that he used his index and middle fingers to produce fire, something most White Lotus didn't have the technique or ability to do. Channelling the power which would normally go through your forearm through two fingers took years to master. And she'd only ever heard of blue fire before, this was his first time seeing it.

He came back a few minutes later, graciously hovering down in front of Korra. He had an angry look on his face, but he didn't let it show in his tone as he spoke;

"The Avatar is to have a personal meeting with the Master!" he declared, and all the firebenders' faces dropped, then turned to outrage a few seconds later.

"Why does she get to talk to the Master?!"

"That's a lie!"

"It takes a combustion bender six years to earn that right, yet she can show up and do it in a minute?!"

"ARE YOU QUESTIONING A DIRECT ORDER?" the high-ranking combustion bender shouted, and the yard went quiet. He waited for a few seconds to get the message across, then looked back at Korra. "You really don't know how lucky you are, Avatar. Follow me, I will escort you with four others."

A gap appeared in the crowd, and although Korra got plenty of glares, no-one made anymore comments as she passed by them. The man strutted forward, and when they walked around the corner that most of the firebender had come from, there were four more combustion benders who'd been hanging back in case of a fight. Two flanked her on each side, and the man spearheaded the group.

"What's your name?" Korra asked, and drew a sharp breath from all the others as the ground started to get steeper. The man waited for a minute before answering.

"Tatsuo," he answered stiffly. Korra pursed her lips in annoyance, but didn't say anything. She could tell he was right up his own ass from the few minutes they'd known each other.

"Anything interesting about here you can tell me?" Korra asked, seeing how far she could push it.

"Shut your dirty water-tribe mouth!" one of the combustion benders to her left said. She slapped Korra hard on the back of the head, and Korra turned to argue with her, but Tatsuo intervened.

"Daitan, you are not to attack the Avatar until she has had an appearance before the master!" Tatsuo scolded. "You are a combustion bender; you are well capable of controlling yourself!" The woman called Daitan looked down at the ground, and bit her tongue.

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I just didn't like how casually she addressed you, sir."

"You're forgiven," Tatsuo told Daitan, and shot Korra a dirty look. Korra didn't return it this time, but just ignored it.

Korra started to pant as they went up the stairs that led to a grand set of doors carved into the mountain. The others were fine, having no trouble since they probably walked up and down this type of slope every day. Korra hadn't had anything to eat in what felt like six hours, so she was doing it on an empty stomach too, but she didn't dare complain. There was no conversation on the journey apart from when the woman called Daitan gave out to Korra, despite the hostility that she felt directed her way. She stood out like a sore thumb to anyone that saw her, given that she had water-tribe clothing and her skin was significantly darker than everyone else.

When they got to the top of the stairway, there was no visible handle, apart from a small hole in between one of the doors. She heard Tatsuo inhale deeply, and then saw him combustion bend into the tiny hole. She saw the inside light up as a small explosion occurred, which kick-started a mechanism. A few seconds later, the doors swung open silently.

There aren't any marks around the hole, Korra noted. Combustion bending must be more precise than I would've thought.

They went inside the doors, which immediately led to an elevator. From there, the four other combustion benders walked inside, and shut the doors behind them. Tatsuo walked into the elevator, and gestured for Korra to follow her in. Korra did, but was puzzled as the other combustion benders calmly watched the elevator doors shut without them inside. When they closed, Korra opened her mouth;

"Why aren't they coming?" she asked.

"They aren't worthy enough yet to be in the Master's presence on a regular basis," he answered dryly, not looking at Korra.

"What makes you so much better?" she posed the question, and she heard a little tsk from Tatsuo.

"I've served here for over thirty years, the Master has deemed me worthy enough to be graced in by their presence on a regular basis," Tatsuo stated proudly, letting a smile creep onto his otherwise stern face.

"Served here?" Korra asked, irritating Tatsuo by asking more questions. "What are you waiting for? And for how long have you been here?" Korra wanted to know as much as she could about this man, in case any of it might prove helpful in the future.

"Shut up with the questions!" he ordered coldly, the smile disappearing.

"Just those two, and then I'll stop," Korra tried to persuade him.

"You're in no position to be making orders!" he barked.

"What's the harm?" she tried, and he tried to retort, then thought about the questions carefully. After a few moments, he decided that they weren't too probing.

"I moved here as a teenager because I felt the strong urge to protect my nation," he told Korra. "The Fire Lord doesn't approve of our methods, which have proven to be effective, so we had to find funding from a different source, if you're wondering why we're so involved in the drugs industry. We will defend the people of the Fire Nation when that pathetic excuse of an army crumbles under any real threat. We would've stopped Amon, and your late uncle, had they tried come near the fatherland. We don't act within the interests or morality of foreign nations, only our own."

"That's ironic, seeing as combustion benders are descended from airbenders," Korra stated smugly, and smirked as his fists clenched in anger.

"The Air Nomads were the victim of genocide," he told her. "I have never known anyone who is an airbender, and my family have never practiced any tradition of the Air Nation! We live in a world where it is kill, or be killed, you as the Avatar would know that! I'm sure there have been occasions when you've killed before, surely?"

"No," Korra stated matter-of-factly. "I haven't, and I don't intend resorting to that to fix my problems." Tatsuo laughed.

"Life won't always be so kind," he informed her. "We have sent instructors to the Earth Kingdom for generous warlords to remind others of our power and ruthlessness when they happen to have a citizen with the ability to combustion bend. You will eventually realise that removing someone's bending won't always make them go away."

Korra's eyes widened as she remembered what Aang had told her just outside Republic city all those months ago. It was nearly word for word, if she remembered correctly. Even though she had been close to murdering people before, like General Iroh II or Zaheer when she thought he had killed her dad, she'd never actually felt enough conviction to deal the final blow. Unalok was different, he was long merged with Vaatu when she defeated him, and she would've spared him if possible. Korra wondered if she would be able to put her morality aside at a time when it would be needed.

The rest of the trip down was in silence, and when the elevator clunked down at the bottom, Korra felt a stifling heat wash over her as the doors opened. There was a long narrow hallway carved out of the rock, decorated with a red carpet and weavings on the walls. Korra could tell that they were below sea level, but not too deep, from the air pressure. She spotted a few air vents in the roof, which was probably where the oxygen came from.

"Do not speak unless spoken to, understood? And don't look directly into her eyes, ever!" he ordered. Korra begrudgingly nodded, and they walked up to the doors, which had normal handles. He knocked slowly and methodically three times, then entered without getting an answer. Korra followed inside, and was taken aback.

Unlike how stark and spartan the rest of the island had been, this room, which was big enough to fit twenty mechasuits comfortably, was lavished with decorations. The walls were filled with tapestries of all colours, the floor was covered with a thick red carpet and blue candles lit the room. There were couches galore, and a queen-sized bed in the corner, but the 'Master', as they were called, sat on a cushion in the middle on a raised platform. They were wearing a velvet cloak, and although Korra could tell that they had white hair, she couldn't make out their face.

Tatsuo practically fell down onto his knees and bowed so much that his nose touched the carpet. Korra did the same to a much lesser extent, although after a few seconds, she sat up. Tatsuo didn't though, and stayed in that position as he spoke.

"The Avatar is here, Master," he declared, any hint of cockiness in his voice from before gone.

"It's an honour to be in your presence," Korra greeted, knowing that she had to win over this person if she wanted to learn how to combustion bend.

"Good," their voice rasped. They were a woman, and a very old one at that. "Is it true, Avatar? Do you wish to learn from me?"

"Yes, I've heard of the reputation of your island, and I know that this would be the best place to learn," Korra requested, looking up at the woman's feet.

"What… what do you wish to learn, girl? We have never let anyone who wasn't raised in the Fire Nation learn here? Why should we treat you different, just because you're the Avatar, hmm?"

"A late combustion bender told me to come here," Korra told the elderly lady. "She specifically said Crescent Island, so I thought I should heed her advice. I wish to learn how to combustion bend. It's my job to keep the balance in the world."

"Ha, ha, ha!" the lady laughed. "You don't know how many times I've heard that phrase from your predecessor, the rotten prick. Do you think I give a damn about the 'balance' of the world? If you did your job, I wouldn't have needed to create this society over sixty years ago!" Korra ignored the jibe about Aang.

"Please," Korra tried. "I'll do anything within my power to win you over so long as it doesn't involve murder."

"Anything within your power…" the woman purred, but it was malicious. Even though Korra had barely started talking to her, she got a nasty vibe. If Katara was a kind grandmother, this woman here was the type who would have their children in an arranged marriage. It was a big assumption, but Korra couldn't shake it.

"Yes," Korra said reluctantly, not wanting to back down from an offer she just made.

"Well, well, well," the woman said, and turned her attention to Tatsuo. "Tatsuo! Wait at the elevator. I think our friend the Avatar may be willing to solve the problem I've had for the past thirty years. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Her voice was very articulate and precise.

"Are you sure, Master?" Tatsuo asked, still bowed down.

"Are you questioning my decision?!" she demanded from him, and he visibly paled.

"No, no, no!" Tatsuo reassured her, and scampered out of the room, closing the doors gently behind him. Korra wiped a bead of seat from her brow, the heat still intense, and stood up. She looked at the old woman in the face.

She had somewhere in between gold and amber eyes, and a ton of wrinkles. When she got up as well, she moved with a natural slowness of old age, yet she didn't give a hint of senility. Her cheek bones were sharp, and she had her all her hair stretched back tightly in a traditional Fire Nation bun. She had the tattoo of a combustion bender on her forehead, except while all the combustion benders she'd seen had red tattoos, hers was blue.

"What do you have in mind?" Korra asked as the old woman walked up and around her.

"There are dozens of things I could request of you," she started, "many of them, you would loathe to even think about, nevertheless carry out. But my utmost concern would be casual for you, believe it or not. You have one ability in the world for certain that no-one else possesses."

"To take someone's bending away?" Korra asked, remembering Tatsuo's question about Iroh II. "Amon could do that."

"Yes," she acknowledged, "but what I want is the opposite. "I want you to restore someone's ability to firebend. Mine, to be precise."

"Your ability to firebend!?" Korra repeated, taking a step back. "You can't firebend?"

"I was the strongest firebender in the world," she informed Korra, checking her nails as if they were talking about the weather. "I fought your predecessor countless times over my life, and nearly every time I came out on top, even when he went into the Avatar State. He was noble, but I was always one step ahead."

"You beat him multiple times, even when he had the Avatar State?" Korra asked, trying to feel for her heartbeat, but the carpet was too thick to sense vibrations through.

"Yes," she declared, walking around Korra. Korra moved away, weary of a potential knife attack, but she didn't get one. "I would charge on the Fire Nation palace, but he was always able to defeat enough of my army that we would be forced to retreat. Then, the last time we laid siege, was the only time he managed to defeat me. That was over thirty years ago, coming up to thirty-one. Do you know why my tattoo is blue?"

"No," Korra admitted.

"It's because I am the only combustion bender in recorded history to be able to split my combustion attack into two! And I could still control them both flawlessly," she stated.

"In two?!" Korra repeated, momentarily dropping her guard. "That's incredible!"

"It was," she agreed, stopping and looking at Korra in the eye. "That's the reason why the few people who know this secret still respect me, even though I've lost all my bending capabilities. Especially Tatsuo. When he first saw it, he was in awe and grovelled at me. He has proven to be an exceptional combustion bender, and my most loyal servant. I thought he could perhaps be the one to equal me, but he never met one criteria I came to realise myself twelve years ago."

"What's that?" Korra asked, eager to learn.

"I am not descended from someone of airbender genes," she said. "But I had something even more important; I'm descended from an Avatar, and their blood still courses through my veins."

"An Avatar," Korra said, then an idea came to her head. "Does that mean I could do that too?"

"Perhaps," she hinted, "if you master the technique. It would usually take years upon years for someone talented, but I reckon that you could have it done in under six months."

"Really?" Korra asked, getting enthusiastic. "How come?"

"You're the Avatar!" the woman told her. "Uou have more potential than any else in the world by a mile! But there is one requirement you aren't born with."

"What is it?" Korra asked.

"Do you hate anyone deeply enough that you would combustion bend against them?" the woman asked. "Once you unlock combustion bending, it isn't necessary anymore, but you must hate them enough to imagine blowing them up while in training."

Korra thought of someone she despised, someone she could almost certainly never forgive, and immediately, one man came to mind. Not General Iroh II. The man who rejected his own daughter when her mother couldn't be around.

Mako. She'd generally avoided thinking about him up until now, as he wasn't worth her time, but this was an acceptable occasion.

"Yes," she answered clearly. "One man in particular."

"Good," the woman said, and then knelt down in front of Korra. "Do it now, and we can begin training tomorrow."

"Do it now?" Korra repeated. "You mean, restore your bending?"

"Yes, that is the agreement!" the woman snapped. "You restore my firebending and I teach you personally how to combustion bend. I am the best firebending teacher in the world, you should be begging to be taught by me!"

"How did Aang manage to take away your bending?" Korra asked, a little sceptical. "How could he touch your forehead if you're a combustion bender? He couldn't bloodbend, as far as I know." Korra would've been blown up by now otherwise if this woman could, but she needed to make sure.

"I was smashed into a wall and knocked out," the woman answered, annoyed.

"I don't think it's something I should do on the basis of knowing you for five minutes," Korra told her. "If you're going to get your bending back, you'll teach me first. That's my only condition."

"That's preposterous!" the woman shouted, snapping her head up. "You came to my island to learn from me! You will obey my terms!"

"I don't need to know how to combustion bend as much as you want your bending back," Korra stated calmly.

The woman stared at Korra furiously, but the desperation was clear in her eyes. After a minute of neither backing down, she chuckled bitterly.

"You're nothing like your predecessor," she admitted. "He was a coward, and tried to run away from his problems. But you're the opposite. Very few people have beaten me verbally in my life. We'll get on brilliantly." She stood up and looked Korra in the eye. "From now on, you will refer to me as Master. We will begin training tomorrow at dawn, with the rising sun." She turned to walk back to her seat.

"I think we should call each by our first names," Korra said, and the woman turned back.

"You really love to take risks, don't you?" the old woman stated.

"I'm Korra," Korra started. "You?" The woman smiled like a fox, accepting the request.

"Azula."